Author's Notes: Wow. This is interesting. Last chapter was the first time I got so much flak for what I'd presented. Definitely a new experience. On that note, I would like to extend my thanks to Erebus 13. By giving such a detailed and specific critique of my work, I could see where what I had put down might have seemed like it went too far for some people. And that's certainly fair since everyone is entitled to their opinion. But such in-depth critique is exactly what I love about doing these stories in the first place. So thank you, dear reviewer. To everyone who commented or didn't, let's see if this chapter sparks your interest.
As always, replies to all the beauties who reviewed:
ByLanternLight: That was it. Though since I imagine a lot of people will be getting what they wished for in this chapter, I hope nothing bad happens to them. Hope you enjoy the show.
TheRedMan: Ay ay, mon capitan!
Hoshiro Raider: People will interfere? Will they? Hm… I guess it's possible that they will. We'll just have to see what happens this time around, won't we? Enjoy!
Xoraan: I rather liked it since it's so far from what we expect from her. And the image is pretty cute. And I did promise that I'd make Strega scary. I wouldn't do that half-assed considering their potential. And who knows? I might come back to them more than once.
Zelda 355: #Glad you like it. Hope you love it even more this time.
Valkyrie: Thank you for reading. More romance you say? I'll see what I can whip up, just for you.
Jozern: Conflict leads to interesting things, and chaos is a lot more fun than everyone getting along as a perfectly happy family. Not to say that things won't smooth over at some point, but road bumps should be expected at some point. Glad you like it!
Doom Marine 54: Fanboyism, eh? Hm… I hadn't thought of it like that, but I suppose I could be seen as a fanboy if I have a thing for tall, curvy redheads who could totally kick my ass. I don't think that's a bad thing in that context. But I do take your point, and it is appreciated.
Bru022345: Much obliged, and as to the dynamics of SEES, I think you will like what I have in store for them.
No speeches this time, and nothing too unique that would need to be explained. Just another chapter of awesome, so enjoy.
Chapter 8 - Trompement
"Are you alright?" Minato asked as they stopped at an intersection and checked the corners. There was nothing but murky darkness and cold, twisted light. "I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to take a few nights off."
Yukari sighed and shook her head, looking away and tapping her Evoker. "No," she told him slowly. There was an obvious strain in her voice, despite trying to sound steady. "It won't help. Won't change that she's dead. Thanks though."
"I feel really sorry for her family," Fuuka told them from behind, her bandana a mourning black this time. "How they found her… No one should have to go through that."
Yukari let out a short puff of air and stopped tapping her Evoker for only a few seconds before starting again. "Her parents're nice people. They didn't deserve seeing her like that. And not just them; Daisuke-san was a mess. I didn't think he knew how to cry like that."
Minato took a moment to check his weapons, scratching the back of his head. He was a terrible person to talk to when it came to the death of someone close, be they a parent or a child or a pet or, in Yukari's case, a close friend. He never knew what to say to the bereaved. "If you need some time, I–"
"I don't! So stop asking!" she snapped at him, spinning with a glare that only lasted a second before she stepped back, breathing hard and clenching her teeth against her emotional turmoil. "Sorry," she told him after a few moments. "You didn't deserve that. But staying still is just going to make me remember how they found her, so I want to work right now."
The news had hit SEES harder than reports of a new Shadow or an increase in the Lost would have. The student had been a close friend of Yukari's, a bright face in the kyudo club and a candidate for team captain. But a few nights before, between one second and the next, she'd gone from walking home with her friends and planning to sneak in after her curfew to having most of her head blown off, a bloody heap that had been a loved and lively person.
No one had been able to explain it. From the entry point beneath her chin, it had looked like suicide, but all the students with her swore that she didn't have a gun, hadn't been depressed or suicidal, and in fact had been selected as a candidate for an achievement scholarship. Police had canvassed the area and didn't find anything that could have been used as a weapon, and the family didn't believe in owning even a ceremonial dagger, let alone firearms.
When Mitsuru-senpai broke the news to them the morning after it happened and gave her report on the details, no one in the dorm had any doubts. Someone else was travelling the Dark Hour, and they had an innocent student's blood on their hands.
"I understand," Minato told her softly. Yukari didn't want comfort right now, and he could respect that. "I'll drop it. If you want, we can go kill some Shadows and see if we find anyone else."
She looked at him, a grim resolve in her eyes and a small, honest smile on her lips. "Yeah. That works."
Minato nodded and drew his sword, asking Fuuka to find them some trouble. Much as she warned them to be careful, Minato and Yukari found and cut down whole groups of wandering Shadows with ruthless ferocity. Yukari had never missed before, but now her arrows were accompanied by wind blasts so strong that the air hissed with every shot. Minato dodged back a few times when he'd moved close to her targets, but never complained. She needed this, and he wasn't going to stop her. He just ran and cut and blew through the Shadows whether they were rushing him or running away, and before long his sword and clothes were smeared in black gunk and slime.
It had been well timed though. When he noticed how filthy he was getting, the Shadows had already retreated or been crushed. Yukari had a fierce, pained, teeth-baring grin on her face, and even when the Dark Hour ended, even though they hadn't found a trace of any other people, she looked like she felt better.
Minato didn't say anything as he cleaned his sword under the clean light of the moon and the street lamps. When Yukari finished collecting her arrows and joined him by a bus bench, he flashed her a smile and gave her a nod, and it felt like the tension that had been between them since his argument with Aigis lessened from the rush of adrenaline. Fuuka had sent a telepathic parting to them once the Dark Hour ended, heading off to join the others.
"I was wondering," she began after a few minutes of resting and letting the night air cool her off. "Do you think the people who trapped us in the bunker had something to do with this? They had Personas, otherwise they would have been hunted by the Shadows, and they didn't have a problem locking us up with a tank."
Minato scratched at the flat of his blade with his thumbnail, working at it until he could see steel again. "I've been thinking the same thing," he told her as he sheathed his sword. "It's hard to say if someone trapped us in there or if it was just bad timing. Let's not forget whoever was fighting the Shadow before we got there, and that's still a big question mark. But the evidence shows that the suspect is someone with our talents, and that's a pretty short list."
"Why do you think they killed her?" Yukari asked quietly. "It's been on my mind, and I don't like any of the answers that I've come up with."
Minato leaned back and folded his hands. This was good. It involved listening and thinking, and he could do those. "Let's hear them. What's standing out to you?"
"Where they found her," she told him, leaning back next to him and staring into the night. "Daisuke-san said that she was with them when he saw her alive, but she wasn't with them when she was killed. Mitsuru-senpai got me the police reports, and they say that her body was more than six metres away from the others when they put the pieces together."
Minato nodded but didn't say anything. The implications weren't pretty.
But Yukari tuned into his mood and looked at him. "What are you thinking?"
The possibilities were grim, but Minato let out a bracing breath anyway. They were a team, first and foremost. "I think she woke up during the Dark Hour," he told her after a moment. "For some reason, she came out of her coffin and probably freaked out when she saw what it was like. That would explain why she wasn't with the others from one second to the next. She wouldn't have known who was who or where she was, and they say that when you want to be found by someone, you should stay in one place. It makes sense that she would stay near where she came to, and that's where whoever killed her found her."
Yukari glared at the storefronts across the street, her knuckles going white when she clenched her fists. "Terrified and lost," she muttered from between clenched teeth. "She didn't have a chance. Did you know that they found dirt on her knees? It was like she was crawling or hiding when she died."
Minato looked at her from the corner of his eye, taking careful notes. He'd given her a chance to vent before, but he promised himself he'd watch her when he could. There was no way he could understand what she was going through, and he didn't want her to risk herself for the sake of revenge. He who pursues vengeance should bring two coffins came to mind, but he knew that she didn't want to hear it.
"How do you think it happens?" she asked him then. "I know the Shadows can break into the coffins, or at least they can catch people or we wouldn't have the Lost. But can someone wake up on their own? Could they be pulled out if we tried?"
"I don't know," he told her honestly. "And I'm not going to put someone through that just to test it. But that is an option. There's also the chance that her waking up was an accident. Maybe the coffins aren't very sturdy, or maybe hers was hit in the middle of a fight and she came to accidentally."
"That's a lot of maybes," she noted.
"And I don't like it any more than you do. Way too many unanswered questions. But that's where we're at right now. There is something else, though," he continued, deep in thought. "Something that might be part of a pattern. I'm not sure."
"What is it?"
Minato rubbed his face and leaned back, feeling his half-curtain of hair cover his eye and cheek. "Someone has been killing people for the last few months. There are never any witnesses and the time of death is around midnight."
"That's a pretty close connection," Yukari told him, pushing forward and turning to him. "Why haven't we been looking into those murders? It's probably the same guy."
"Because we didn't know about it," Minato replied, drawing out each word with biting sarcasm. "Seems someone in the police department made solving those murders his personal mission in life, and he kept the details to himself. Of course the cases haven't gone anywhere, but now that this murder's brought the details to light, he didn't have a choice and we can go a bit further. Did you ever hear about that revenge website rumour at school?"
Yukari nodded, looking a bit puzzled at the shift in topic. "Put in someone's name and post a price, and sometimes the person would die. That was just a hoax though, wasn't it? Some of those kids went missing, but a lot of the people on that list are fine. I mean, I think I was on there once, and I'm sure you were too."
"Some of the people on the missing person's reports have been confirmed as dead," Minato replied, looking her in the eye as the horror spread across her face. "The website wasn't a 1:1 relationship to the murders since not everyone on the lists died. Not very many at all when they ran the numbers. But some of them did so the connections are pretty strong, and whoever was running the service is still in the wind; when the police took down the website, they couldn't trace it to a set place or person."
"So those psychos are still on the loose," she concluded.
"It could be," Minato told her, stressing his words. "There weren't any girls on the list who are unaccounted for, so it doesn't seem that your friend was killed because of a grudge. And the murders that they can confirm happened in the back alleys where no one goes after dark, so the lack of witnesses could just be from the location. But there is one smoking gun to keep in mind: the people who died in the alleys were shot. Without exception."
Yukari went pale, and a cold fire sparked in her eyes. "It's the same group. They're using the Dark Hour to move around and kill people when no one else is around."
"We can't confirm it since we don't know if the bullets match," Minato commented. "We can't get access to those details, and Mitsuru-senpai's tried. But it's too close to be a complete coincidence. That still doesn't bring us any closer to finding them, mind you, but if we meet any Persona-Users who fight with real guns, we can ask them some questions."
Yukari went quiet for a moment, staring past him. Minato was worried that she would get the bit in her teeth with the new information, but instead she shook her head and turned back to him, her stance square. "Thanks, Minato-kun," she told him, holding her hand out.
"Anytime," he replied, shaking hands firmly. When she pulled back a bit, he didn't open his fingers. "I'll keep an eye open. This island isn't that big a place. If the person or people who killed her are here, we'll find them."
Yukari blinked at the determination in his voice, the lack of any doubt, and gave an honest smile. "I appreciate that."
Minato let her hand go and nodded before looking down the street leading to the dorm. "Let's see if the others know anything. It's been a late enough night as it is."
Yukari agreed and fell into step next to him, and they'd made it a block in comfortable silence before she stopped and turned to him. "Since we're talking, there's something I wanted to discuss."
Minato came to a halt, looking at her curiously. "What's up?"
She raised her hand in the direction of the dorm. "Aigis. I get that you don't trust her, and I don't think she was right for going into your room like that, but you were pretty hard on her before. She hasn't been talking or asking as many questions as she used to, and I think she's afraid of you now."
He sighed heavily, bordering on a groan. He knew this was coming, and he didn't hold it against her for bringing it up. One must sleep in the bed one has made. "I feel bad about that," he admitted. "I had a lot going on at the time, and fighting Shadows and seeing her in my room wasn't a good way to end the week. But I know that's no excuse."
"It isn't," she told him bluntly. "But why does she bug you so much? You didn't hold it against Stupei when he was a jerk to you at the hotel, right?"
"It's different with her," Minato replied, taking a few seconds to get is thoughts in order. "I want to trust her. I know that she's new to all this stuff, and she saved us when we were fighting that tank, so as weird as the circumstances of her joining us were, she's on our side. I get that. But there's an itch in the back of my mind when she's around, like someone's telling me not to trust her, to always listen to what she says and to be on my guard, and I have no idea why. I don't think I've met her before, so I don't know where it comes from, but it's always there."
Yukari's brow creased as she process what he'd told her. "Even when she's helped us out?" she asked a few moments later.
"That's right," Minato confirmed before he looked up at the stars. Yukari didn't say anything, but he knew she was looking at him, and he knew what she was thinking. Minato let out a long sigh before coming back down to earth and looking at her. "I'll talk to her about it," he promised. "Whatever my problems are and wherever that feeling comes from shouldn't interfere with what we're doing."
"I think that's for the best," Yukari told him with a nod. "It's strange that you feel that way, but it's not her fault that you do."
Minato nodded and they started walking back toward the dorm together, taking the back streets so no one would see a pair of students carrying weapons.
"A weird feeling about her, huh?" Yukari continued after a few minutes, looking over at him with a raised eyebrow. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think you do anything normally. Even all this stuff with the Shadows and our Personas doesn't seem to totally apply to you."
"I know," he groused. "And the more questions I ask the less I feel like I know about anything that's going on."
"We'll be here to help you out, Minato-kun," she told him, a small smile spreading on her face as they walked. "No matter how bizarre you turn out to be."
"You're too kind," he shot back, his lips curling up. The last few minutes to the dorm were spent in silence, but their banter had eased them back into the familiar camaraderie that had grown since that day at the kyudo range. When Minato opened the front door for her, he saw that while the strain and anger were still etched on her face, they were less obvious now. He permitted himself a nod of self-approval: his work as the leader had gone well this time.
He took off his shoes and gave his regards to the others when he saw them in the lounge, but when he saw a furtive glance from a blonde sitting on the end of one of the couches, he sighed and rubbed his face again. He considered talking to her in private, but decided against it. He'd chewed her out in front of the others, so he owed it to her to apologize the same way. "Aigis. Do you have a minute?"
She looked up at the sound of his voice, her eyes glassy and her doll's face tilted in curiosity. "I am not in possession of time, Minato-san. Do you mean to ask if I have a stopwatch?"
It was still unnerving. There was something about her that was distinctly off and those whispers in the back of his mind wouldn't ease up. But he'd promised Yukari, and he owed it to the team to not let it become a problem. He walked up to where she was sitting and winced when everyone turned to look at him. It figured. "It's an expression," he explained steadily. "I'm asking if I can talk to you. Would I be interrupting anything?"
"No," she told him, rising to her feet. "I am available if you want to discuss something."
"I owe you an apology." There were a few sounds of surprise and some of his dorm mates turned or shifted in their seats to hear him better. But no one said anything. "I was harder on you than I should have been last week," he continued. "There were a lot of other things going on at the time and seeing you in my room made everything worse, but that's no excuse for me saying what I did. You didn't deserve that, and I'm sorry."
Aigis was quiet for a few seconds before she came around the couch to face him. "It was difficult to hear you say what you did," she began in that agreeable voice that made him cold. "I could describe it as feeling alone despite being around you and everyone else. My directives are concrete, and following them is my highest priority, but I had hoped to be accepted into SEES. Learning from all of you has been very educational, and I hope that I can become part of your group in time. If you are sincere, Minato-san, then I will accept your apologies and work to not be an inconvenience in the future."
"You're not an inconvenience," Minato told her, working through his thoughts. "But there are some differences between us that we need to work out. And that's not because of you; lots of people don't get along right away. We can work on that. So, I hope that you can forgive me."
"I accept your apology, Minato-san. I look forward to learning more from you and working with you in our mission." The smile she gave amplified his unease, but when he pushed the feeling aside and held his words, he noticed a spark of warmth and humanity in the gesture that hadn't been there when he first saw her.
She was learning, he realized, and as off as she made him feel, she was making real progress. Minato shut the door on the instincts telling him to stay away from her and extended his hand. His feelings had been right before, but that didn't mean they couldn't be wrong now. Even when her cold grip tightened uncomfortably around his hand as they shook, he couldn't see any malice or deception in her. "If you don't mind me asking, who gave you the directive to watch out for me?" he inquired as he stretched out the feeling of having his hand almost crushed. He made a mental note to teach her about restraint when working around normal people. "Did someone else tell you to watch out for me? And if so, who?"
Aigis blinked before answering. "I don't recall who gave me the directive. When I received it and how are not known to me."
"Why?" Minato asked calmly. "Didn't the Group keep you running and repaired?"
"They have maintained me to the extent of their abilities," Aigis confirmed, looking to Mitsuru-senpai long enough to nod in what looked like genuine appreciation. "But they have not been able to fix all the damage that I have sustained since my primary activation."
That was new. Minato looked at Mitsuru-senpai, who'd stood up with obvious curiosity on her face and was giving Aigis a questioning look.
"How does that work?" she asked their cyborg companion. "If the Kirijo Group made you, why can't they repair you when you're injured?"
"The damage dates back 10 years, 3 months, 16 days and 4 hours," Aigis replied, her voice flatter than usual and taking on the tone of an overworked wageslave reciting a finance report. "The event was a type-AAA crisis caused by the failure to contain a number of large Shadows. They had undergone experiments directed by Kirijo Kouetsu and overcame their restraints."
Mitsuru nodded grimly when Minato looked at her, his question obvious. "My grandfather," she muttered with clear disdain.
"The details of the damage I sustained are not known to me," Aigis continued. "My purpose was to eliminate the Shadows in the event of their escape, and I have no reason to believe that I did not follow my directives. However, I sustained critical damage in the process, and those employed by the Kirijo Group have been unable to completely repair that damage. When I inquired, they told me that the areas that were damaged were crucial to my continued operation as I am. I have been told that some efforts were made to circumvent the problem, but I have heard of no progress since I was activated most recently."
"And your orders to look out for me stem from that damage?" Minato asked, his eyes narrowed in thought.
"I do not know," the blonde admitted. "The directive activated only when you arrived at Yakushima. I have no memory of when I received it or from whom. This leads me to believe that the damage I sustained has prevented me from remembering when I received the directive or why. Also, my latent programming prohibits me from asking questions of that magnitude or from taking action to rectify the matter myself. I have asked all that I can, and I have shared it with you. I know nothing else on the subject."
"You have directives that you can't resist or question from a source you don't remember, and you're damaged from your fight with the Shadows ten years ago and that's left you with holes in your memory," Minato listed after a moment. "And your instructions to protect me are also a blank?"
"Yes," Aigis told him.
"But they are still present and influencing you."
"That is correct."
Minato rubbed his face, feeling the lateness of the hour and the fatigue from the night's fights in a familiar dragging heaviness. "Why didn't you explain these things earlier? There are lots of things going on that we don't understand, and we would have understood where you were coming from if you'd told us that."
"Kirijo security protocols are restricted by clearance of the highest level, and discussing them with others is, under normal circumstances, prohibited," Aigis informed him immediately. "Also, Ikutsuki-san arranged for my activation and relocation. I assumed that everyone had been briefed on my condition if they found it relevant."
"He didn't," Mitsuru-senpai informed her with a long look toward the stairs leading to the second floor. "I'll talk to him about that in the morning."
Aigis hesitated for a moment just then, blinking at Minato like she was trying to find her words. "I admit," she began slowly, "that informing everyone about this did not occur to me. There has never been a time when my condition and preferences were not already known to those around me. This situation is… very different from what I am used to."
"It's new for all of us," Minato told her, nodding with as much encouragement as he could muster. "But let's remember this as a learning experience, alright? And if there are any other directives or changes that concern one of us or what we're doing, please tell us. Even if we might already know them, it's better to be sure."
"I understand. I will do as you ask."
Minato nodded and looked to the others, noting the approval in some gazes and the respect in others. "I think that's enough business for tonight," he told the team. "At least it is for me. Yukari has the rest of the details, but when we go on patrol, let's keep an eye open for any other Persona-Users. We're not the only ones who can move around in the Dark Hour, and I don't want anyone to take any chances." There were nods and a few grim looks all around, Junpei and Akihiko turning to Yukari with obvious questions. "I'll see you all tomorrow."
Minato ignored the conversation underneath his floor as he washed his face and changed into his nightwear twenty minutes later, after he'd checked his armour and cleaned his sword. He rested in his bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking of the past week and everything that had happened. He knew, now that his head was clear, where he'd gone wrong. He'd been focusing so much on the Shadows and the voices in his head, on what Junior had told him and all the unanswered questions in the Dark Hour that he'd neglected his responsibility to the people he was with the other twenty-hour hours of the day. Whatever else was going on, they were a team, and he knew that they needed to be a strong one if things got worse. That meant that the leader needed to be at the forefront, not detached and off to the side.
He'd screwed up and let things become personal, but the others seemed like they would forgive him in time. It left him uneasy when he thought about how he'd lost sight of his most basic responsibility, but he thought about Mitsuru-senpai and how she so skillfully juggled all her roles without letting it affect her judgment. The steel in her eyes always impressed him, and he smiled as sleep surrounded him. "Live and learn," was the last thing he said before his eyes closed.
"I can't explain it," Fuuka told the group four nights later in the Command Room, her browed creased in frustration. "The Shadows don't normally act like this, and I don't know what has changed."
SEES's detector had been practicing with Lucia when she started picking up on abnormalities. Namely, the Shadows seemed to be reacting to something, but she couldn't tell what, and they were scrambling around the city. When she'd told the team about it two days after Minato's apology to Aigis, Mitsuru-senpai pushed Penthesilea to try and discern the root of the problem. The Kirijo heiress came to two conclusions: that the Shadows were indeed acting strangely, and that she had no idea what the problem was.
"We're not even that close to the full moon," Akihiko-senpai observed next to Minato as he tapped the nearby table. "We've kept their numbers down this time, but this… what's causing this? They haven't acted like this even when the big ones come out."
Minato looked at Fuuka, then around at the others. They'd been asking variations of that question since Fuuka and Mitsuru-senpai made their report, and no one had any answers. "There's only so much that we can tell from readings," he commented, stretching and shrugging off a yawn. Months of exposure and selective sleeping habits had made the Dark Hour a regular part of his routine instead of a heavy burden, and the others had similarly adapted to their nocturnal activities. "If we want to learn more, I say we hit the streets and see what the Shadows are up to. There's a risk, sure, but no more than us going into their nest every other night."
Junpei gave a nod and a grin. "That's a plan I'd get behind. Why hole up here when we can take them on in person? And a fight in a new location would be good practice for us, right?"
The others looked at the two males with a clear mixture of emotions, from Yukari's eye-rolling acceptance to Mitsuru-senpai's approval.
"We will be closer to the dormitory than when we infiltrate Tartarus," Aigis noted. "In the event of an emergency or an unexpected rout, a safe rendezvous point would be closer and more accessible. When considering our long-term objectives, there is merit to the team adapting to a new environment. Provided we exercise caution, I support the motion to attack the Shadows in the city."
"We're not in a position where we can risk serious injuries," Yukari pointed out. Minato knew that she'd been combing the city during the day, looking for any clue on her friend's murderer. Whatever her reservations toward jumping into a fight, they were overridden by the steel determination in her eyes. "Especially if the Shadows are acting strange," she continued. "There's only so much Mitsuru-senpai and I can do to patch you guys up, so if we do this, everyone needs to be careful."
There were nods all around, and the air changed from frustrated curiosity to fierce anticipation. "That decides the combat order," Minato told them. "Akihiko-senpai and Mitsuru-senpai will lead one group, Yukari and I will lead the other. That way we can patch up any wounded if it comes to that. Also, Fuuka will come with me so that we can get in touch if we need to." Fuuka and Mitsuru-senpai nodded in approval. Minato looked around the room to the other active members. Koromaru, Junpei, and Aigis were left.
Koromaru walked over to Minato and rubbed against his leg, making his choice clear with a few happy barks when Minato bent down to scratch him behind the ears.
"I have an idea," Akihiko-senpai told them, frowning and rubbing his chin. "I want to know what you guys think. Amada's serious about joining us in the field and practicing with his Persona. Every time we go out he's asking to come along, and I hate having to sideline him. I want to bring him along and see what he can do."
Minato shrugged after a thoughtful moment. "Same as you did with us, huh? I don't have a problem with it."
"Are you sure he's ready?" Yukari asked, surprised that the team leader had given his approval so easily. "There's a lot to know about fighting Shadows, and Amada might be pretty mature for his age but it's not an easy thing to get into."
"The three of us didn't have a lot of training when we went to Tartarus for the first time," Minato recalled aloud. "I know it's not really the same thing, but there's not a lot that we can do to prepare him for real combat beyond what he already knows. I know he's been practicing, and he seems dedicated. And this way we can test him on our terms rather than him winding up in a fight when we aren't around." He looked to Akihiko-senpai then. "This is just a test though. It goes without saying, but if there is anything he can't handle, you and Mitsuru-senpai make sure he's kept safe. Even if it hurts his pride."
"Of course," the redhead responded. Akihiko-senpai nodded firmly.
"Actually," Minato added with a smile, "do that even if he is doing well. Following orders and working with the team are important skills for any of us, and if he's serious about joining us, then this would be a good chance to take his measure."
"That's a good point," Yukari mentioned. "Keep him safe though, alright? I don't want him to be hurt. He's too young for a lot of this."
"It's his decision," Minato replied. "But I agree. It feels wrong to have a kid on our team, even if he's been pushing for it since he got here." There was also the matter of Ken's evasions and refusal to talk about his reasons for joining. Minato hadn't gotten any closer to those answers, and he knew that he was on the edge of pushing the kid too far, so recently he'd let his questions lie.
"If Amada-san will be fighting with Kirijo-san and Sanada-san," Aigis began, "then I would like to accompany them. I will ensure the group's safety at range and provide Amada-san with the opportunities he requires. This will minimize the risks he will face and ensure that any spontaneous changes are accounted for."
"Thanks, Aigis," Akihiko-senpai told her. The others nodded gratefully in turn.
"Guess I'm with the boss and Yuka-tan," Junpei concluded, clapping his hands and bending down to tickle Koromaru, earning him a fresh series of barks and licks. "Works for me."
"When should we do this?" Yukari asked. "The film festival is starting up at school soon, and I'd like to enjoy that if we can."
"Do you have any plans for tomorrow night?" Minato asked the group. Ready grins and shook heads were his reply. "Then that's when we do it. Let's find out what we can tonight and rest up until tomorrow. If there's nothing else, meeting adjourned."
That was how, almost twenty-four hours later, the teams split up and went to separate sections of the city where the Shadows had been the most agitated. Ken had looked both pale and excited when they'd given him the news, and Minato made a point of stressing the rules a second time to make sure they stuck. Ken had looked a bit insulted when he'd done that, but Minato wasn't taking chances. Not until they knew how deep the kid's potential went, and definitely not before they knew how well he could defend himself. Even if Ken came through perfectly, like Yukari said, having someone this young fighting beside them felt wrong.
Minato and his team had gotten an early start and hit the city just as the Dark Hour arrived, the stench of rank decay rolling over them like that telltale invisible line. The feeling of wrongness had become so familiar now that Minato smiled when his sense adjusted in only a few seconds. "It's probably a bad thing that I've gotten so used to this," he told the others while he rolled his shoulders and flexed his hands. The drop in temperature always made him edgy until the adrenaline started flowing. Then he was too busy to care how cold or hot it was.
"I haven't," Fuuka admitted, looking around and waving her hand in front of her nose. "And I hope that I never do."
"Nah," Junpei told them, taking a deep breath that showed how little the changes affected him. "Getting used to this is a good first step. Means we're even better at what we do than before and we can kick more ass in less time. Gotta keep up our winning streak, right? There's bigger game down the line and we've gotta be ready for it."
Yukari smiled as she nocked an arrow and scanned the darkness. "Glad to see you're focusing on the important things."
"Hey," Junpei protested with a grin as he shouldered his sword, "I'm being serious here."
"So am I," she replied. "When we started doing this, none of us knew what to make of it. I thought it was crazy, and you treated it like a game. We've both come a long way since then, haven't we?"
Junpei stopped and gave her an appraising look. Minato halted to look at them after checking the nearby corners, not sure how his companion would take the honest praise. Even Fuuka looked on curiously, drinking from her chilled water bottle.
"Cut it out, Yuka-tan," Junpei told her after a few seconds, adjusting his ball cap and nodding down the street. "We haven't even started and you're gonna mess up my mascara."
Yukari laughed and walked in step next to him as Minato and Fuuka continued toward their target. "Yeah yeah, big talk. Just don't let it go to your head."
Koromaru barked jovially beside them, his tongue lolling to the side. As they walked, they checked each corned and shadow with the ease of a well-oiled machine, and their banter cut off when they got to the arcade and the temperature dropped even more. Not only did it put everyone on their guard, but the tension rose when there were almost no Shadows to be found. The few they had seen either died from Yukari's arrows or scurried back down the alleys, leaving no trace of ever having been there.
"Something's wrong here," Minato told them, signalling for a halt as he saw the opening of the dark back alleys. The parking lot they were in was even more murky than the rest of the block, making it harder to see than usual. "This is a good place for the Shadows to attack, but there hasn't been any sign of them yet."
"They're probably plannin' an ambush," Junpei pointed out. "The ones in Tartarus're always hard to nail down."
"Minato-kun's right," Yukari mentioned. "I can't see them or hear them, and this is where they should be, right Fuuka?"
"This is where they were last night," the girl confirmed.
"Would they act differently if they got this far from Tartarus?" Yukari asked dubiously.
"We haven't seen that so far," Minato told them.
At their feet, Koromaru started sniffing at the ground, scratching the concrete a few times. Then he stopped and began to growl, his ears set back. The others began looking around, weapons ready.
Fuuka gasped a little and stared at the mouth of the alley. "Wait," she murmured, threading her fingers and narrowing her eyes in focus. "This isn't right…"
A chorus of inhuman screams echoed all around them as a tide of red eyes and rushing claws burst from the alleys. Fuuka shrieked in surprise as everyone reached for their Evokers.
Just like in the bunker, the Shadows' voices reverberated all around him. For a split-second, Minato let those voices wash over him. He felt their bloodlust and killing fury, like all the others, but there was a shrillness to the noise this time. Were they that eager to attack? Were they afraid?
Then the moment passed, and he spun his Evoker up. "Keep tight and don't let any past," he told his team before he pulled the trigger, the ethereal glow already surrounding the others. Like a well-oiled machine they blew whole chunks out of the rampaging horde, timing their blasts to cover each other. The tactic, devised by Yukari, had worked during the ambushes and attacks in Tartarus and lit up the Dark Hour like nothing else could.
This time was different though. And that was immediately apparent when the Shadows kept pushing forward. Black sludge flew and the air stank of burnt tar and sulfur and still their enemies advanced, clawing over each other to get to their prey.
"They're getting pushy!" Junpei grated as he pulled the trigger again, blowing another swath into a stain on the concrete with yellow-hot fire. "What's with them?!"
Minato called down a blast of lightning that blinded him and shook the ground, so close that it hissed through the air. "Don't stop!" he told them as he swung and cut as fast as he could without leaving himself open. Next to him, an ethereal howl echoed through the air, and two explosions tore through the Shadows again. And again, more came.
The two men fought as close as they could without getting in the other's cutting arcs, covering Fuuka and Yukari without giving ground. The Shadows screamed and tore at them, leaving cuts in their clothes and armour that ran frantic red. Junpei swung in wide, fast arcs, and Minato turned and pivoted to get the best angles, and yet there was no way to kill the monsters fast enough. "Fuuka!" their leader called. "Get us out of here!"
"I'm trying!" was her response, her eyes closed in pained concentration. "There's something wrong!"
"Can we work that part out later?!" Junpei grated, setting off a deafening set of explosions before swinging hard at a Shadow clawing at his legs. "We're in the open here! Find an empty alley!"
"No time!" Yukari shouted, nocking an arrow and glowing bright as she took aim. "Something big's coming!"
Minato looked up and saw a huge curved sword held in what looked like a mix of an arm and tentacles. The rest of the Shadow was an indistinct blob of muscles and faces and teeth, but that sword was all he had time to think about. "Break!" he shouted, focusing as best he could. "Split up and get back to the dorm!" He knew it was an empty order; they had nowhere to run to.
Junpei looked at him incredulously. "How're we supposed to do that?! They're everywhere!"
The enormous weapon swept across the space in front of them, sweeping smaller Shadows out of its way before raising, gleaming in the light like the moon on the water. Then it tore through the air, the guillotine's blade coming down.
No time. No chance to coordinate with Junpei. And nowhere to run. Minato reached as deep as he could as he pulled the trigger.
The massive sword crashed into a blazing shield, stopped in place. Every neural pathway lit up in pain. Minato's Personas shrieked so loud he swore his head was going to disintegrate. The force of the collision was a typhoon blast, and Shadows and humans were sent flying by the blast.
"Minato-kun!" Fuuka yelled. She'd grabbed his arm at the last minute, holding steady before pulling him to the only empty alley she could find. She looked around as she ran, the Shadow's hate-filled stare following her, then searching for the others. Yukari-san and Junpei-kun were scrambling for a different alley, using the distraction to blow their way clear. She tried to find Koro-chan, but he was nowhere to be seen. "This way," she told Minato-kun, dragging at his arm and hoping they didn't run into any Shadows. Minato-kun clenched his Evoker in a death grip, the only weapon he had now. His eyes were shut and his teeth were bared; she could only imagine how much pain he was in right now.
She turned two corners and looked around. A few faint explosions were the only report from the others, but she couldn't sense any Shadows approaching. But, she told herself in frustration, that was counting for less than usual these days. Why weren't her scans working?
Fuuka sent a mental report to Mitsuru-senpai, warning them of the massive Shadow they'd encountered and the situation. The heiress's reply had been short and direct, but less than helpful: they were mired in their own fight, and couldn't come to help until they broke through the Shadows they were fighting.
Minato massaged his temples, looking around as he tried to shrug off the pain. "Alright," he gritted after she told him what was happening. Even speaking hurt, but there wasn't much choice. "Narrow spaces and straight paths to rush us. We need to find a safe place to hole up until things change."
"Shouldn't we stay near the parking lot?" Fuuka asked, offering a bottle of water and painkillers, insisting he take them.
Minato washed the pills down with water, then took a few sips before giving it back. Just a couple draws; it wouldn't help him if he got stomach cramps in the middle of another fight. "You stay in one place when you want someone to find you," he told her, Evoker at the ready. "We should keep moving. Can you sense anything nearby?"
"I'm… not sure," she admitted, frustration clear in her voice. "I don't think there's anything around here, but I couldn't sense that thing that attacked us before either. And I don't know why."
"We'll play it by ear then," Minato decided, patting her shoulder and nodding when she looked at him. "Nothing too crazy, no big fights. Let's just stay calm and stay alive, right?"
Fuuka nodded, drawing some strength from him. "Yeah, let's do that."
Minato nodded down the alleyway. "Someplace dark and out of the way. Let's see what we can find."
They walked slowly, as quiet as they could be as they checked each corner. Minato let his eyes adapt to the shifting murkiness, not moving until he was certain there wasn't anything waiting for them. It made his headache worse, but that was a small price to pay.
Four corners passed without seeing or sensing any Shadows, and Minato walked down a narrow set of stairs that reminded him of months ago when he, Junpei and Yukari had met that friend of Akihiko-senpai's. No one was here to give him grief this time, but he watched every corner carefully, fingering the trigger.
"Wait," Fuuka whispered sharply, catching his shoulder. "Someone's here. A person, not a Shadow."
Minato stopped and nodded, looking harder into the darkness. Dumpsters, benches, broken lights… There. At the mouth of the alley opposite to where they were standing was the outline of a person, like Fuuka had said. "Come out where we can see you," Minato told the figure, stance steady.
Shoe heels clicked loudly as they approached, the quiet around them making the sound louder. "You're not much of a detector if you can't sense people until they're breathing down your neck," a voice called mockingly. "Are Shadows all you can pick up on?"
Fuuka flinched. Minato's eyes narrowed, but his defence of his friend stuck to his tongue. The voice was familiar, and definitely male. "I guess you're not a victim who accidentally woke up," Minato surmised, waiting for the figure to come close enough to see.
"Neither are you. But that shouldn't surprise you." The guy came forward several steps more, and Minato clenched his teeth.
Of course. Shirato. His baggy jacket suited the Dark Hour's ambiance, and he didn't seem concerned or cautious, not looking to the sides or over his shoulder to watch his back. All he had was a silver suitcase in his hand and a cold gleam in his eyes that sent a chill up Minato's spine.
Was he confident that he was safe? Had he cleared the Shadows out already? Or was someone else keeping them at bay?
"You never called," Shirato commented, wearing a smile that was anything but welcoming. "I was starting to wonder if you were all talk before. Did the Kirijo ever get back to you on those answers? Or are they spinning lies like always?"
"I kept getting their secretaries," Minato shot back, a strained smirk on his face. Shirato wasn't here for a social call. But what was his connection to all this? Was he just taking advantage of a gap in the Shadows' movements, or could he do more than that? "You picked a bad time though. I'm still deciding , so let's have this conversation some other time, alright?"
"Sure," Shirato replied without so much as a blink. "There's a catch though: leave Yamagishi."
Minato froze.
Fuuka stepped back half a step. "How do you know who I am?"
"Name, grade, class, marks in home ec and machine works, past addresses and you mother's maiden name," Shirato rattled off, his stare boring into her like an impact drill. "That's nothing."
"What do you want her for?" Minato demanded, stepping in front of his comrade. "And where'd you get all that information ?"
That earned him a snort and a sneer. "Information's free if you know where to look. The Kirijo tried purging your records, but, like everything else, they came up short. Like I said, Arisato, no rules or boundaries. What's your decision?"
Minato shook his head, cringing when the pain returned. "You haven't told me enough. What's your part in all this? How do you deal with the Shadows? Why do you hate the Kirijo Group?"
"I'll answer those questions when we're done here," Shirato shot back. "We'll go for drinks and make a night of it. But Yamagishi's a liability. Out of the way. Now."
Fuuka gave a small gasp, her feet rooted. Minato could feel her trembling, could almost smell her fear, and knew that those two things were going to get her killed. But when he examined the offer, he couldn't help the frustration that burned in his throat. Whatever answers Shirato had were going to be out of reach if he didn't move, and more information was worth a lot of risk. But the alternative wasn't an option. He hadn't spent all this time with Fuuka, reading books and going over homework and eating her cooking. If he let her go now, 'Nako would never let him live it down.
"That's not happening," Minato told Shirato, eyes narrowing as his reservations about fighting a human enemy began to fade.
If Shirato was surprised, it didn't show. Just a 'hm' and a step forward. "Suit yourself. More casualties of the Dark Hour."
Insight flared bright in Minato's mind just then, and his teeth gritted. "Like the girl from a few nights ago? The one with half her head missing. Was that your work?"
Shirato smiled. Shrugged. And said nothing.
Anger and fire flooded Minato's mind. He snapped his Evoker around, raising his hand with a name in mind. But a gunshot echoed through the alley half a second before he could pull the trigger.
Minato stared as Shirato was illuminated by a familiar glow. That he was a Persona User was elementary, but why did he have an Evoker?
And the bright metal mass that rushed forward blew through Minato's own half-called Persona, the summoning slowed by the drugs and the headache. Electronic lights and metal arms, a science fiction nightmare. It had stopped his attack in its tracks, then looked down with cold calculation. Its metal arms whipped down, and all Minato could do was try and get back.
It wasn't enough.
A metal pincer flew down and cracked into Minato's left hand, sending blood and his Evoker across the alley. Minato recoiled, the pain sharp and hot through the adrenaline as his fingers bent at wrong angles.
The Persona loomed and swung again, coming straight for him.
And he couldn't stop it this time.
Sorry, Fuuka.
"Minato-kun!"
Junpei puffed and swore and cut, wiping the blood from his face. The Shadows had been hounding them even after the big one sent them all flying. He'd never seen one that size except for the ones on the full moon nights, and even the new types they were seeing in Tartarus didn't come close. All the teeth and mouths creeped him out like nothing else had. Damned if he was going to admit that though. And damned if he was going to go back on what he'd said before: he'd supported Minato on this idea, no way was he backing out.
Another swing, a heavy kick, and a pull of the trigger turned three more into bite-sized Shadow bits. His head was killing him from summoning this much, and his bleeding shoulder was burning enough that he was gritting his teeth with each swing.
"You alright?" Yuka-tan asked, shaking her head to get the sweat off. "I think they're backing off."
A dull grating sound of metal on stone mocked her words. The big one was still nearby, but it didn't seem able to enter the alleys, so it was sending the small ones after them. And so far, those small ones had done a good job of wearing them down. But Junpei noted that the pauses between waves were growing, and they felt more familiar now. Less like they were trying to run through him and more like they just wanted to shred him.
He wiped his hands off and adjusted the hold on his sword. "Still breathin'. Got a plan?"
"Not really," she admitted after she healed his shoulder as best she could. "Stay where that thing can't get to us and wait for the Dark Hour to end."
"Works for me," he told her, checking the corners and looking down the alleys. "If that's the case, we should keep moving. Big and Ugly's too close for my taste."
"Be careful."
They moved off each other, falling into habits ingrained from months of practice and fighting. Junpei checked the corners, Yukari covered him. He looked behind them, she listened for anything coming toward them. It had saved them a lot of pain in the past, and it was serving them well.
The problem came up when they turned a corner and came face to face with a dumpster up against a wall. Much as Junpei knew, they should have been circling around to the mall, and he didn't remember any dead ends like this. "What the hell?" he muttered in disbelief.
"I think we got turned around," Yuka-tan told him, checking the other alley exits.
"Not this much," he replied, looking around. "I don't think this was here before.
"It's not a full moon, so it's not a Shadow doing this," she presumed, nocking an arrow. "And this place is vulnerable. Let's look for another way out."
Junpei stared at the wall, straining his eyes in the dark. "Yeah," he conceded. He was almost positive this was wrong, but being out in the open like this wasn't safe. And he had no idea how much longer the Dark Hour was going to last. "Let's go."
He took the lead and went down two more corridors and three turns, getting his bearings and whispering what should be coming next to himself. Yuka-tan only looked at him the first time he did it, then took it in stride.
"Should be a way out right he– Oh, come the hell on!"
"This is crazy," Yukari whispered. "I know this place, and there shouldn't be a wall here."
But there was. A wall standing in front of them, this time with no dumpster, where it was least convenient. To test her growing theory, Yukari went back to the intersection they'd just passed and looked around the corner they hadn't taken. Another wall. When she came back and looked back the way they came, she could see a wall in the distance where there hadn't been one. "Someone's toying with us," she concluded after she ran her hand across the wall and wrinkled her nose in disgust at the memories the idea brought back. "I think we have to wait until the Dark Hour's over."
"Like that stupid hotel," Junpei spat, rubbing his injured shoulder. "Thought we were through with–"
"Look out!" Yukari shouted, shoving him to the side and aiming up.
"Where is it?!" Junpei demanded, Evoker ready as he looked for a threat.
"It's…" Yukari began, searching for what she knew she saw in the corner of her eye, waiting for an attack.
Fifteen long seconds passed. Nothing came.
"I know…" Yukari began, easing the tension on her bowstring. "I know I saw something up there."
"That's bad news if they get the drop on us," Junpei noted. "Let's keep moving. Even with the walls popping up, it's better than nothing."
"Yeah," Yukari agreed slowly, scanning the rooftop edges one more time and coming up empty. "Sorry if I hurt you," she told him as they started moving.
Junpei shrugged. "Nah. I can handle it, and I'd rather take the chance. Thanks for the heads-up."
Yukari nodded but stayed silent. The prospect of being seen and ambushed was at the front of her mind, and she wasn't sure if she was feeling like they were being followed or if she was just afraid they were. "So much for hitting the Shadows when we had the advantage, huh?" she asked in resignation.
"We're not down yet," Junpei replied without a lost step. "Things changed and the plan didn't work, but we'll kick their asses next time. Hell, we're kicking ass right now. Betcha Akihiko-senpai's racking up a lot of kills for us."
Yukari smiled to herself, glad for the unwavering confidence. "I'm sure you're right."
They were silent for a few minutes as they moved through the alleys and encountered no one. There were muffled explosions somewhere far away, proof that the others were alive and fighting, but the pair checked their corners and counted the time until the Dark Hour ended. Yukari checked around every now and again to see if whatever had crossed their path before was following them, but she saw nothing.
"This is bullshit," Junpei fumed when they turned a corner and saw yet another wall, tightening his grip on his sword as he looked around. "Stuck in here like rats in a maze. I'd love to know who the hell is making these things."
People had different ways of seeing things. But then, people were strange. It was one of the first things he'd noticed when he started living at the shrine. The small humans would argue like pups over what they wore while the large humans were calmer and much less noisy. They would say "yes, your shirt looks fine," and "stop throwing sand at your sister; you'll get her dress dirty," like how they looked mattered more than how they smelled. Smells made much more sense, whether it was the smoky sticks the shrine keeper burned, the oily flower-scent of the females who came to toss money into the box and ask for "good grates," or the gravy-smelling food he'd been getting since he'd fought off the thing that had tried to attack his old den.
This time, when the world went strange, carried different smells of its own. To Koromaru, it smelled like when the fish where he went swimming had been on the beach for too long, or like the boxes the humans put their fruits into and mixed into their gardens. And as foul as it had been, the things that lived here were far, far worse. They sounded like screeching car brakes, and he knew that they, like the first one, didn't like him. He returned the feeling, and just thinking about the thing that had attacked him made his hackles raise.
His new pack, his humans, helped him make the things silent, made the smell go away, and he loved them for it. More than for the walks and the meals and the ball, more than for the warm bed next to the furnace to curl up to. The things didn't belong here, and he made sure that every one of them that he found didn't get the chance to run. Even if they tried, none of them were faster than him.
The large one, though, that one was dangerous. They would need the female that smelled like both a hospital and a mechanic to fight it with her explosives. Until then, Koromaru was looking for his humans. He padded silently over the remains of the things that had run at him, smelling the ground to find the one-eyed human who always threw the ball the furthest or the female who carried the big stick. He stayed to the shadows and kept out of the puddles that smelled like rot, turning corners going down stairs until he came across a new scent. Female, and the same age as his humans. She was close to her time of the month when she would get cranky and talk about feeling "gross" and "cramped," like the females who came to the shrine always did. Her scent was strange, but nearby. He sniffed the air, and then on the ground as he followed it. Along the cement and around another corner, and there she was.
Dead things were around her, and she was looking the other way. Her mane was red like the tall female who wore the pointy shoes, and she wore the same colour of white. This female was different though: her arms and legs were completely covered in white, and she even had it in her hair. How strange.
Was she a friend? She was different from his humans, but still a human. And all the other humans were in their black boxes at this time of night. Maybe she could help.
"Move around all you want," the female said to herself, not turning around. "You won't get out or interfere."
Koromaru didn't know what she meant, so he came forward a few steps and gave a friendly bark. Other humans liked it when they knew he was there.
The female jumped and turned around to see him, her hand at her chest. "Who's th– Who're you?"
Koromaru couldn't answer in words, so he barked two more times and came closer, stopping about eight human-steps from her while panting in a friendly manner.
She bent down a little, a smile on her face. She had a nice smile, and it reached her eyes, red like the other red-maned female. "You're… are you lost? I didn't know dogs could travel the Dark Hour."
That was what his humans called it. Did she know them? Her smell was new, but maybe she did know them and she just hadn't come to his new den yet. He barked a few more times and wagged his tail. The female smiled some more, but then she saw his bandana. Red and black, the female who smelled like a fire in the kitchen seemed very happy when she tied it around his neck. He didn't know why, but was more comfortable than a collar, so he made sure to keep it clean.
When he sniffed at her, more of her scent came through the stench of the place. She smelled like salty water, but not the sort he went swimming in, and fresh bread and cheese. She must have been here for a long time though – her clothes smelled like the rot all around him.
"SEES," she said to herself, backing up a few steps.
Koromaru cocked his head and questioned her with a bark.
"I can't believe… I thought Jin was lying when he said they had a dog. A dog with a Persona… that's ridiculous."
A Persona. That's what his humans called them. The three bound into one who smelled like fire sparks and the cool night breeze, the three who helped him when he needed it. The female looked sad about something, shaking her head.
"He's… this isn't…" She looked over to the rock wall, her teeth bared. "He's not a threat. He doesn't deserve to– No, I haven't forgotten. I know what they are and why we're– Don't you dare say that to me! Have you heard me complain even once?! Then don't imply that I'm… No, he's alone. But even so… I… I don't want to. The others are one thing, but he's a pet, not– No… No, I understand. I'll look after it."
Koromaru stayed quiet as she talked to… someone. He'd been taught not to interrupt humans when they were speaking, so he sat and waited until she turned back to him. She was blinking fast while her face went red.
"I… I don't want to do this," she told him quietly, reaching behind her. "You're not my enemy. You have nothing to do with them, and you're… you're just like…"
She was sad. Koromaru let out a comforting whine and walked forward. Humans needed licks and attention when they were sad.
"Back!" she snapped, hand coming from behind her back and holding something metal and sharp. "Don't make this any harder. It's…I'm sorry… I'm sorry."
Koromaru could smell her tears and hear the pain in her voice. He looked around for the rest of her pack, wondering where her humans were. He turned back when he heard the clink of chains and the sharp thing in her hand held in a tight grip.
What was she doing? He couldn't smell any of the things, so what–
"I'm so sorry."
Her arm flashed forward, and Koromaru yelped as the sharp thing flew past him, slicing open his side. Blood ran as he bit his cries down, jumping to the side when a second one came toward him, even faster.
The pain. His side burned and his legs felt weak. Why had she attacked him? What had he done to…
It was like that time again. The smells, the pain, how little he could move. It was happening again. All over again. Why? Because of… Because…
Her.
His teeth ground together when he growled. She had attacked him, had hurt him, and he was going to fail again. Again. Like before.
No, they told him. Not again. Stand up.
He stared at her, smelled past her tears and shivers and really smelled her. The dark rock around him faded as his growl grew louder, echoing back to him and dulling the pain. It didn't matter. The alley didn't matter. Only she did, and she smelled like the rot. Not because it was on her, but because it was in her. At her core and spreading out, the same as that glowing place where the things lived.
She was the same as them. The same. His growls deepened when she backed up a step, smelling of fear now.
Koromaru spread his legs, ready to lunge. He didn't see the arcs of raw energy around him, didn't see his Persona manifest at his call. He felt the blood stop running. The pain died off. He couldn't stop here; he hadn't even started. She was still standing, after all.
He breathed in and gave a long howl that echoed on the ethereal winds of power his humans had trained in him. They came forth, the heat rose, and he turned the world red.
Minato fell back a step as his senses went white. The sound of a thousand windows exploding and metal screaming a foot from his face sent him into agony again, the energy heating and cutting his face like a shrapnel explosion. He raised his broken hand to keep the light from his shut eyes, but his other arm was being pulled back, almost sending him to his back.
When Minato resisted the pull and opened his eyes, the metal Persona was gone. The walls around him were burned and scarred, and Shirato was holding his forehead and trembling, Evoker clenched as tight as his gritted teeth.
Pained breathing wheezed next to him. Minato looked and saw Fuuka shaking to the point of falling over, also holding her head. Tears streaked her pale face, and Minato used the half-second he had to put everything together.
She'd saved him, putting Lucia in the way of Shirato's Persona at the last minute. But from how heavy that strike was, and how unused she was to fighting, the blowback looked excruciating.
"Nice trick, you little bitch," their enemy spat from the alley. "It won't save you a second time." He raised his Evoker while Minato fought down the pain coursing through his hands and head.
Minato had lost his sword, his Evoker was on the ground somewhere, and Fuuka was in no condition to stay here. And now someone even more dangerous than the Shadows was winding up for another blast with a Persona they'd never seen before. Simply put. they'd walked into the bear's den wearing fresh and seasoned fish. Minato spun and grabbed Fuuka's hand, pulling her as he bolted. "Run!" he hissed. There was a side alley only fifteen or so metres away.
He heard the gunshot and felt the air sizzle behind him.
Fuuka flagged and followed unsteadily, barely staying on her feet. Minato pulled harder and ran faster, trying to keep his balance. Nine metres left.
Metal gears whirred as Shirato's Persona reformed and locked onto them, its glare heavier than its body.
Four metres. "Almost there," Minato told her, his hand clenching hard on hers. "Just a little more."
Crackling heat erupted behind them while their shadows were cast ahead of them, outlined in red.
"Here!" Minato shouted, wrapping his arm and bad hand around Fuuka and tumbling around the corner. He pushed himself into a roll and scrambled down the alley. Not a second later, the brick and mortar detonated just above his head. The explosion left him half-deaf with ringing ears. He leaned away from the burning-hot remnants of the corner while Fuuka curled up and looked, aghast, at where they'd just been. Minato followed her stare, quelling his rising fear and forcing his mind to analyze. Breaking down wouldn't help them here.
"Still alive down there?" Shirato called mockingly. Metal skittered against rock as he kicked something to the side, and they heard him click, click, click closer. "You're pretty fast on your feet, aren't you?" he continued without getting a reply. "But that makes sense; lapdogs would be good at running."
"Are you okay?" Minato whispered, pushing past the pain so he could get to his feet and brush the larger chunks of the wall off his jacket and shoulders.
"I can move alright," she told him, still shaky and pale and filthy from their tumble.
"Looks like this alley connects with the rest further down," he noted, pointing while he kept his eyes on the blown-apart corner. "We need to get back to the others."
"Done making plans?" Shirato asked as his steps stopped. There was a metal clink before something heavy hit the nearby walls, bouncing into view and pushing the two back by sight alone.
Minato and Fuuka froze for a second, the sight of the grenade cutting off their short talk in a snap. As one, they turned and bolted. The explosion was even louder this time, and Minato counted his lucky stars when the felt shrapnel whiz by him instead of connecting.
They took the first right and kept running, breathing hard but not about to even slow down. Their next turn, the only one they could take, left them facing a wall with a dumpster against it.
Fuuka stared at it in disbelief, shaking while she caught her breath. "A dead end? Here?"
Minato shook his head and touched the nearby doorknob, shouldering the door open when he found it unlocked. "Through here." It looked like a home, simple and cramped. Minato had lived in places like this when he was between the residences the Kirijo had set up for him, and they always had a back door for a fire exit. "We can get to–" His words froze when he saw a coffin, glowing red, by the fridge. It was too small to be an adult.
"We can't stay here," Fuuka whispered when she saw what he did. "The people in this place, they wouldn't be safe."
A sudden crash blew more bricks and mortar as the metal Persona punched through the corner next to the house, sending a shudder through them and the floor.
Minato nodded to her and overrode all his ingrained manners, running through the kitchen and living room. He crashed through the back door with a hurried apology before his feet hit pavement with Fuuka close beside him. They were hemmed in by the alleys and the turns, and Shirato's Persona raced behind them. Rolling and crashing around like a homicidal pinball, it was kept at bay only by the corners of walls and when they went into another house, this one home to even more coffins in even less space.
Minato ignored the compunctions, sending a fervent prayer for some measure of help as he pushed past the cold forms in his way. The chill he felt when he touched them left him shivering, and he grabbed Fuuka's wrist to ease her through the tight squeeze. She'd just made it through when the glowing Persona crouched to stare at them through the window, its pincer spinning on its arm like a malevolent food blender.
"Go!" Minato snapped. The walls weren't that thick, and he wasn't going to bet that the coffins around him could withstand a strike from that thing. He jumped over the living room table, raced through the laundry room, and crashed through the door into another alley. They ran until they hit another intersection, and Minato skidded to a stop before he hit the opposing wall.
He flinched a bit when Fuuka crashed into him and spun to the side while staring back the way they came. An icy chill flashed up Minato's spine, and it wasn't from the Persona or the coffins. He turned to the right, slowly, now honestly dreading what else the night could throw at him.
Jeans with a studded belt, tattoos on pale skin, and a face that reminded Minato of the sign on bottles of poison that was framed by long hair and lit by narrow, burning eyes. Even half full, the moon illuminated the man like a stage light on a lead actor. Minato couldn't be sure, but it looked like those tattoos moved like centipedes he man walked forward.
"Arisato, I presume." His voice was low, smooth, and impossible to miss or ignore despite the distance. But it thrummed with something Minato couldn't identify or miss, and his pulse picked up when he heard it. "I'm glad we could meet."
"Be careful," Fuuka whispered hoarsely, looking back and forth between the man and the door. "He's…"
The man silenced her with a frown and a glance. He rested his hand on his hip and called their attention to the gun at his waist. A polished revolver. "Yamagishi," he said with a mild shrug. "You can go. You'll only be in the way here."
The pair looked perplexed. "What?" she asked in disbelief.
"Your friend's been chasing us because of her," Minato told the man, backing in front of her protectively, "so I hope you don't expect us to fall for that."
"Jin has his priorities," was the indifferent reply, "and he pursues what he wants when he has the chance. That is irrelevant though. I am Sakaki Takaya, Arisato. Did he talk about me?"
Minato grit his teeth while the adrenaline made his head pound with every heartbeat. Trying to focus on the man while failing to suppress the new, raw sense of dread was burning him out just by standing there. "No, but I guess you're the other part to his operation and his grudge against the Kirijo Group?"
Sakaki shrugged again, somehow even more indifferent. "The Kirijo don't concern me. They gave us the Dark Hour, and that is as far as they matter." The man took two more steps forward, his lips lifting into a grin. "You, however… you are unusual. Unique. I want to discuss something with you. Something that will benefit both of us. Will you come with me?"
"Not a chance," Minato told him flatly. "Shirato wants us dead, doesn't he?"
Sakaki lifted a hand toward the door they'd just come through. "Maybe. If that's the case, where is he now?"
Fuuka looked around and frowned, touching her forehead for a moment and creasing her brow. From what Minato could tell, she couldn't sense the man or was reading something unexpected.
"You are different from the others," Sakaki noted, calm yet terrifying despite not moving forward even by an inch. "If we work together, we can find out how different. I imagine we would learn a great deal from each other, and Jin has already told you what else we can offer you."
"He attacked us and tried to kill us," Minato replied, clenching his good hand into a fist. "I'm not going anywhere with you."
The resulting silence cooled the air even more, and Sakaki gave a small "hm" as his boots scraped against the ground when he set his stance in place. "Very well. I will see it for myself then." A macabre smile split his face like the Cheshire Cat's while his arms raised in praise. Head tilted back and tattoos shifting, the air hissed and snapped with blue energy as a form took shape above him.
Minato felt the breath leave him and his heart drop: another Persona-User, and he wasn't even using an Evoker. "Get out of here," he told Fuuka a moment later, fear and grim resolve dulling the pain.
Her head snapped toward him, her stare incredulous. "Wh–what? No! I'm not leaving–"
"Fuuka!" Minato snapped as the Persona's outline filled out, showing a monster straight from a horror movie. Bone and bloody sinew instead of wings on outstretched bones, its body sagging instead of standing tall like the weight of its pain was bending it in half, and red muscle moving with sinew under horribly flayed skin. Minato was infinitely grateful that he couldn't see its face. "Get out of here!"
She backed away, trembling, but she knew like he did that Lucia wouldn't work a second time. With a sound like a gasp and a cry, she turned and ran as fast as she could.
What are you trying to do? Minato asked himself, death staring him in the eye. He'd felt this before, but it had never seemed so certain before. Protect her, I guess. Buy her a minute if I can. His Personas roiled and crashed around inside, trying to rise to the challenge before him, but they were caged without an Evoker. Sakaki's dead look told him that his low odds weren't just in his head. "Is this how you're going to find out what you want?" he asked, trying his last card. "Seems like a waste of an opportunity."
"You'd be surprised by what can be learned from people as they die," Sakaki replied, his hand coming down to point at Minato. "So, show me."
The Persona lunged forward, lightning ripping along its bones and its cry a death knell.
Minato shivered, calling what power he could, knowing it was futile but hoping to last long enough for Fuuka to get to safety. He raised his hands, good and broken, in a cross in front of him, and felt everything slow down. His Personas raged, the lightning hissed in spite, and the alley lit up as the bolts arced toward him.
Minato braced himself and grit his teeth, glaring at it head-on and calling as deep as he could.
A heartbeat pulsed through him. His Personas hammered at his chest and stole his breath, running through his veins and burning muscle and bone in passing.
They raced down his biceps, turned at his elbows and flew forward from his hands and forearms. Then the lightning slammed into him like a tsunami, the force of the impact blowing him back and leaving him desperately scrabbling for balance. Heat, light, and a lot of pain lanced through him from front to back like he'd been run through at the shoulders and then yanked apart by pick-up trucks.
He fell forward to stay on his feet, shaking violently and barely aware of his surroundings as his eyes burned and his ears rang. He looked down at what had been his jacket sleeves and thin armour and saw charred clothes and a lot of blood covering his torn-up arms and hands. His dinner turned over at the smell of burnt skin and fresh blood.
There was chuckling from down the alley, and he looked up to see Sakaki and his dead-man Persona coming toward him. In the back of his mind, he was amazed how far he'd been blown back. The skid marks where he'd barely stayed on his feet were almost two metres long.
"Quite a stress response," Sakaki commented with a burning grin. "Amazing what they can do in the right circumstances, isn't it?"
"You…" Minato began, trying to un-tense his jaw. Summoning a Persona without an Evoker was supposed to be impossible, but… had he done it? "You've seen this before? This is what you wanted?"
Sakaki shook his head. "No. This is a by-product. You haven't shown me what I want yet." The Persona's wings stretched out, and it howled in agony as lightning, even brighter than before, snapped and raked across its entire body. "Dig deeper, Arisato! Show me!"
Minato raised his ripped hands again, numb to the pain and distantly aware that he was probably going into shock. But he clenched his hands and called his Personas, forcing them down the same pathways they took before. Pain bloomed in his arms and he felt his blood run when they answered. The light and heat flew forward and surrounded him, scorching his clothes and pelting him with rock pieces torn from the nearby walls. The tearing sensations went right down to the bones this time, and when he was blown back, he overbalanced and fell over himself, tripping and tumbling on the ground as the lightning soared above him. The flash was so bright that all he saw were splotches of colour when he tried to get his bearings. The ringing in his ears, the cold ground under his back, and the light-headedness from blood loss and his muscles screaming from being pushed past their limits, it all told him that, for now, he was mostly alive.
Hands grabbed his arm and pulled him up, shuffling him around a corner and holding him steady when he almost fell over.
"Come on," Fuuka told him, steadier and more in control than before. "Junpei-kun and Yukari-san are here and we can get away from him if we– what happened to your hands?!"
"Not so loud," he mumbled, trying to stop his head from spinning. His stomach was churning and rolling like a washing machine in a centrifuge, and he couldn't keep the bile down completely.
"Minato-kun!" he heard Yukari call from somewhere. Was she nearby? Far away? "Hold still. Don't try to move around."
Minato staggered forward and pushed Fuuka aside when he went to his knees. Leaning on his ruined hands was a new definition of pain to add to his growing list, but he couldn't think of anything else when his coughs and hacks went straight into violently throwing up, cringing as his muscles tensed and rocked which only made it worse.
"There, get it out," Yukari told him while patting him on the back. A gunshot and a hazy blue glow took the edge off the pain and quelled his stomach a bit. It was a small comfort though; he was running on empty and his arms were about to give out.
Minato nodded and fought to get to his feet, trying to turn back to Sakaki and Shirato. Junpei was already by the mouth of the alley, watching and ready. Minato's legs wobbled and quaked when he tried to stand, and Fuuka moved next to him to hold him up. "Where are they?" he croaked out.
Junpei peeked around the corner, Evoker ready and eyes cautious, but he turned back with a perplexed expression on his face. "No one's there. Were they tired or outnumbered?"
Minato shook his head, but that only made the world spin again. He would have fallen if Yukari hadn't worked under one of his torn-up arms and stabilized him. "We've got a way out of here," she told them, nodding to Junpei and Koromaru. When had the dog gotten here? "Let's find the others. Take it slow and careful. Keep your eyes open."
"You got it," Junpei told them grimly, showing none of his bravado from before. Even Koromaru's responding bark was quiet and withdrawn, and he was limping from the half-healed gash on his side.
Minato closed his eyes while Fuuka worked under his other arm. He tried not to think about everything swirling around him, all the questions and the sinking feeling that his decision to lead the team had landed them into this mess. He tried not to think of what they would say when he was in one piece, or how Mitsuru-senpai was going to take it.
And as he thought these things, he heard a deep, sonorous voice murmur in the back of his head. A voice that understood and commanded:
"Let them go."
Kirijo Mitsuru poured a generous serving of honey into her black tea, stirring it mechanically and inhaling the scent of caffeine in hot water. She sighed when she thought of how many cups she'd had since they'd arrived at the hospital. But she couldn't sleep. She had to gather accounts, compile information and wait for the doctors to come back with news on her companions, and once her eyes closed, she wouldn't be back to the waking world for a while.
The office set aside for her and the others was as full as she wanted. Akihiko was clenching and unclenching his fists while sitting in a chair whose comfort was lost on him and Aigis stood at attention, her expression coming close to "troubled." Iori, Yamagishi and Takeba had breezed through their examinations, given vitamin-rich food and drinks before they fell asleep in the waiting room. Amada's exultation and clear joy for a night gone well for his prospects of joining the team, his enthusiasm at being closer to "one of them," had been dampened by the news of their comrades. He'd been pacing outside the room where Koromaru was being checked out until one of the hospital staff pushed him into a chair. He was asleep before he could protest.
"Let's go over what we know," Mitsuru told the two with her, closing the blinds against the rising sun. She didn't need a reminder how much sleep none she wasn't getting. "How is Koromaru?"
"Something sharp cut him from shoulder to leg," Akihiko replied, pale but functioning well despite his obvious concern and fatigue. "They say it was pretty deep, but it healed enough to be manageable. He had other burns and cuts from what looks like a serious fight, and he pushed himself to find Junpei and Takeba. She healed him as much as she could, and the doctors say he'll probably make a full recovery, but he needs rest so that nothing sets wrong. That could take up to a week."
"Persona-Users are known to heal faster than normal humans," Aigis commented. "It is good that Koromaru-san will not be adversely affected from his wounds."
"Do we know how it happened?" Mitsuru asked, tapping the small wooden box on the table in front of her while she took a long drink of too-hot tea.
Aigis nodded. "Koromaru-san said that he fought a Persona-User when she attacked him. He found her after the group was assaulted by the anomalously large Shadow we eliminated. His wounds are a likely result of his fight with this person."
"Do we have a description to go on?" Akihiko asked, getting up to stretch.
"A woman of Minato-san's age with red hair and white clothes," Aigis clarified in her straightforward manner, though it was hard to miss the thin thread of concern in her voice. "He didn't say anything more than that."
Mitsuru half-drained her tea and brought out another teabag while turning the nearby hot water kettle on despite Akihiko's warning frown. "What about that Shadow? Do we know where it came from?"
"It seemed to be an amalgamation of smaller Shadows," Aigis confirmed. "Kirijo Group records note that such occurrences are very rare. If we encounter another one, caution and extreme prejudice should be exercised."
"That's as far as we can go with the Shadows," Akihiko began. "But what about the Persona-Users that attacked Arisato and the others? What was their angle."
"Arisato says they both wanted something different," Mitsuru recounted. "One wanted Yamagishi dead, probably because they know about her talents, and the other seemed fixated on Arisato himself. Yamagishi told me everything she could after she was cleared and I've passed on the names and descriptions onto the Group. I expect them to get back to me shortly." Someone knocked at the door just then, and Mitsuru rose to her feet after draining her teacup. "Come in."
The Kirijo Group's most trusted doctor, Iwata Eita, entered and closed the door behind him, his posture straight despite the amount of work they'd brought him in the dead of night. "Kirijo-san," he said in greeting.
Mitsuru bowed politely in reply, as did the others. The man had been one of the loudest protestors to Kirijo Kouetsu's experiments, and had been selected to be the team's medical expert given his knowledge of Personas and how they affected the human body. He'd also professed to having a soft spot for Takeba, saying she reminded him of his own daughters. "What can you tell us, doctor?"
"Koromaru is going to be alright with some rest," he told them first, opening a metal medical chart. "We have him on a saline drip and some new drugs that should help him recover completely. He'll be groggy at first, though, so keep an eye on him."
"When he is released, I will ensure that Koromaru-san has ample opportunity to recover undisturbed," Aigis assured the doctor.
Iwata nodded, flipping the pages over while his lips set in a firm line. "Arisato Minato is recovering in stable condition. He sustained burns and numerous lacerations to both hands and both forearms, and his left hand was broken in three places. The basic healing he received before he got here stopped the wounds from being worse, though he will need time to recover. Scars and nerve sensitivity are expected, at least at first. Between what he'd lost by the time he got here and what we needed to assess the damage he's sustained, we gave him two units of blood as well. Luckily, his type is very common."
"Blood transfusions?" Akihiko demanded. "He was in bad shape, sure, but why did he need surgery?"
Mitsuru went pale but stayed silent, fingers tight around her teacup. The thought of Arisato, their trump card who came through everything with a laugh and a dry smile, being so badly injured chilled her to the bone and made her fingers itch for her sword. Whoever did this to him had a lot to answer for.
"Corrective surgery, you might call it," Iwata replied, tapping the chart. "Relatively minor, but his injuries were very unusual, and we wanted to be safe. There were also some… peculiarities about him when we ran our tests."
"Arisato's a unique member of our group, doctor," Mitsuru told him. "Even among us, he is different."
The doctor nodded, though his expression didn't change. "I understand, but this is something new. When we tested Arisato after he fainted back in April, we detected certain power spikes and traits in him that were mostly consistent with a Persona-User. Those readings are different now, and the nature of his wounds lead me to believe that he underwent a change in the last twenty-four hours."
Akihiko scratched his cheek in thought. "A change? Like a mutation of his Personas or something? He has more than one of them, would that make a difference?"
"Arisato said he was attacked by a man who could use a Persona without needing an Evoker," Iwata told them. "That's an anomaly in the trends we've seen so far. When Arisato was attacked, he didn't have his Evoker but he still managed to protect himself, at least in a rudimentary way. This suggests that he's beginning to exhibit the same trait, that being attacked triggered a survival response so strong that he summoned his Personas without needing an Evoker."
Mitsuru blinked, floored at the implications as she rested her hand on the box in front of her. "That's possible? Aigis and Koromaru don't use guns as their Evokers, but the process is the same. How can someone bypass the need for an Evoker?"
"And why him and this person who attacked him?" Akihiko asked after scratching his cheek for a second. "We've all been in situations where we've almost died or almost lost control of our power, and none of us have changed or evolved like that."
"That's why it's a unique case," Iwata replied. "All the other cases I know of, Sanada-san, are like what you describe. Arisato broke the rule of averages, however, and manifested his powers to respond to his needs. It is also possible that being near someone who can summon without an Evoker showed him, consciously or not, how to do it. Arisato might have been influenced by the person who attacked him and essentially copied the process and technique when his life depended on it."
"That's a frightening thought," Mitsuru murmured, closing her eyes in momentary thought. "Learning something that quickly and using it on reflex. If that's what he did, then he's a genius in this regard."
"Not completely," the doctor told her, flipping pages again. "That brings me to the nature of his injuries and why he needed the surgery. His left hand suffered from several broken bones, consistent with his account of losing his Evoker. The blood loss came from when something, or more than one something, blew out of his arms and hands." All three looked at him in incredulity and horror. "The burns on his hands and forearms, first-degree and concentrated around the centre of the forearms, can be explained from his account of the events: he was trying to defend himself. However, I have a theory that his Personas used his body as the catalyst. The lacerations he sustained were very irregular, looking like something came out of him instead of went in to cause the damage. If he's strong enough to create that reaction and willing to disregard the need for safety, it explains how he did it and why he survived whoever attacked him."
"You think his own Personas tore through his arms to get out?" Mitsuru asked, aghast. "That's terrible. He gets headaches and has mentioned that the Personas feel like they are alive sometimes, but to cause him this kind of injury?"
"It's a stress response," Akihiko told her, understanding in his voice. "Life over limb. Survival's the first rule. If that is the case, then it makes sense. What does this tell us about him though?"
"Suffering internal trauma from his Personas puts his life at risk," Iwata replied simply. "There's no other way to look at it. If the Personas had taken a shorter route, they might have exploded his heart or come out of his stomach. The injuries are manageable this time, but this cannot become a regular event for him. Even if he is a Persona-User, he's still human, and his body wouldn't be able to handle the strain."
"We'll look after him," Mitsuru promised, already thinking of changes to their team line-up to account for this event. She wouldn't ground him, of course, but having a back-up in place for the chance that he lost his Evoker again couldn't hurt.
"Aside from that, he's conscious and recovering," Iwata concluded, closing his chart. "His arms will need time to heal and his left hand is in a cast, but Takeba did a good job in mitigating the damage. He should make a good recovery if everything goes well."
"Thank you, doctor," Akihiko told the man, bowing. Mitsuru and Aigis followed suit.
"Of course," Iwata replied with a smile. "If you'll excuse me. My shift ended several hours ago."
The doctor left and Mitsuru tapped the box in thought. "Personas without an Evoker," she said to herself. "I thought I knew everything there was to know about them."
"Seems like things are changing," Akihiko told her, looking at her gravely. "This gets me to thinking about someone else we can bring on. He might be able to help Arisato and the others."
Mitsuru knew who he was talking about, and she shook her head when the name came to her mind. "You still think Shinjiro will come back?" she asked, not unkindly but not easily. "He made his decision before, and every time you try to talk to him, you two end up fighting."
"Things have changed," he repeated. "Amada being here might make a difference, and if we're going up against other Persona-Users, we'll need all the help we can get. Even if he doesn't come back, it's better that he knows what's going on so he doesn't get caught in the crossfire."
Mitsuru let out a resigned breath and gave an assenting nod. "Do what you feel you need to. If you can convince him, then I won't stop you."
Akihiko nodded and left the office, heading down the hallway in long strides.
"Was this Shinjiro-san a comrade of yours, Mitsuru-san?" Aigis asked.
"That's hard to explain," the redhead replied, picking up the box and walking around the table, ignoring the chance for more tea. "And it's a very long story. If he comes back, I think you'll see for yourself."
Mitsuru left her office and slowly walked past the waiting room where the rest of the team was asleep, leaning on pillows and covered with blankets provided by the nurses. She walked carefully so she wouldn't wake them and slipped into Arisato's room. His bed was the only one there, and the bright sunlight coming through the window clashed with the sterile smell of antiseptic. When she came over to him, her heart lurched a little when she saw the bandages and the cast, like the doctor had said. An IV drip was attached to the back of his right hand and his skin looked a little sickly.
"Senpai," he greeted from the bed, eyes narrow and a bit unfocused. He seemed to be fighting off the effects of the vitamins and painkillers. He nodded to the nearby chairs, looking smaller than normal in hospital scrubs and propped up on pillows. In spite of the attentions of professional medical personnel, his eyes was still covered by a curtain of hair. "Can I offer you a seat?"
Seeing him this vulnerable was another new experience for Mitsuru, one that left her wishing she'd been there to help him, to protect him. "I'll stand, thank you," she replied with an encouraging smile. "How are you?"
"Tired and drugged, but I can't sleep," he told her simply. He looked exhausted and she knew how hard he found it to sleep during the day. "But it's better than being in that alley. Are the others alright?"
Despite what he'd gone through, he was still in his role as leader. She smiled to herself and wondered how he'd taken it on so easily. "Koromaru should be fine, and the others have been looked after. You were smart, protecting Yamagishi like that. Someone else might not have lasted that long."
"Small consolation when I couldn't help her at the end," he groused. "Feels like everything went sideways from the word 'go.'"
"And none of that was your fault," she assured him in a tone that brooked no argument. "Yamagishi told me what happened. You adapted to the situation and achieved the best result we could have hoped for. You should be proud of that." He didn't look convinced, and she frowned a bit mockingly. "I'll make that an order if I have to, Arisato."
He looked surprised, then smiled a bit. Not enough to dispel the shadows in his eyes, but it was a start. "What's the damage?" he asked, holding up his arms. Mitsuru recounted the doctor's report, including his theory about where the injuries came from and how Minato's talents had changed. "Summoning a Persona without an Evoker," he murmured to himself. "So I'm like him?"
It was easy to see where his mind was going, and she shook her head when she had his attention. "No, you're not. Your injuries are proof that there's a difference between you and Sakaki Takaya." She laid the box on his bed and snapped it open, pulling out his Evoker. Cleaned and polished, Alea iacta est shone at them both in the morning light. "The police found it in the alleys and returned it last night," she explained. "Keep using it, don't let go of it, and you'll have nothing to worry about." She reached out and patted him on the shoulder a bit clumsily, and for some reason the grateful look he gave her, and the heat under her fingertips, made her blush.
"Thanks, Senpai," he told her with a nod. "You're right. I'll hang onto it from now on."
Mitsuru pulled her hand back and nodded. "Good. Let me know if you want to talk about anything."
She'd turned to leave, but stopped when she heard a quiet "Senpai," from behind her. Arisato was blushing about something and looking out the window before he turned back to her.
"There is something I'd like to ask, since you bring that up. And I know it's going to be a bit strange to ask this when I'm…" He raised his hands, careful not to jostle them. "But if you have a moment?"
Mitsuru nodded and gave him a "go ahead" signal with her hand. "I'll certainly listen. What is it?"
He took s a few seconds to get his bearings, shifting around and clearly wrestling with something. "There's a festival at the shrine this week," he told her, slowly and not without clearing his throat a few times. "I was wondering if you'd like to go to it with me when they let me out of here."
Mitsuru blinked, unprepared for the question. It was true that the festival was coming up, though she'd given it no thought before he mentioned it. She respected the traditions of Tatsumi Port Island, of course, but she rarely had the time for such activities. They were more Yamagishi's style anyway. "We can visit it if you like," she told him, prepared to make an exception. "It will be good for the others to do something fun, and it can serve as a group bonding exercise."
"I wasn't thinking of it like that," he admitted, turning even more red but still looking her in the eye. "I was… thinking more along the lines of a date."
Silence reigned in the room for several long seconds. Mitsuru blinked a few times as the words, and the implications sunk in. "Are you asking me out?" she asked, quiet and disbelieving.
Arisato squared his shoulders and looked her in the eye, his tone still friendly and familiar, but also determined and set. "That's right. Not as Student Council reps or team mates, but a real date."
The reasons why she should turn him down, her link to the Kirijo Group, their responsibilities, his injuries and part on the team, came immediately to mind. They were all solid and had good logic behind them. But when she saw the sincerity in his eye, steady and hopeful beyond what the drugs could distort, none of those reasons seemed important. Instead, "Yes. I'd like that," made its way shyly from her lips just before they turned up in a smile. Her heart fluttered like a happy butterfly, and she felt lighter than a minute before. "I'd be glad to go to the festival with you, Arisato."
He let out a breath and matched her smile with his own. "That's great, Senpai. Thank you very much."
"This is on the condition of you being well enough to leave the hospital by then," she told him, back to business but still smiling. "I can't permit you aggravating your condition and making your injuries worse. So make sure you rest up and get better by then."
"I will, Senpai," he promised, looking more like his normal self with his glittering eye and familiar smile.
They exchanged a few more pleasantries before she told him to get some rest and left the room. When Mitsuru slid the door shut behind her, she stepped to the side and leaned back against the wall with a long exhale, surprised by what she had agreed to. A real date? And a real date with Arisato, no less? It wasn't the same as her asking about fast food restaurants or them studying together for tests. This was different, and even she with her admittedly non-existent experience could see that. Just like in the room, when all the logical reasons for why she should be focusing on their responsibilities and the job at hand and not on good-looking guys with nice smiles came to mind, she couldn't beat down the joy in her heart at being asked out. She couldn't brush Arisato off the way she could everyone else. No one else had gotten this close to her before, and how natural having him at her side felt made her smile.
There were still so many things had to be done. The entire team was exhausted, her father had to be informed of the changes in the situation, and she would have to stay on top of any changes in the Shadows and Tartarus until Koromaru and Arisato were ready for combat again. Akihiko trying to convince Shinjiro to join SEES again was bound to result in some fireworks, and she had to be ready for all the possible outcomes. And now, with the festival six days away, she would have to talk to the Kirijo maids about something to wear. Something fitting for the event. Maybe Takeba would have some advice on the matter.
So much to do, and so many more things to consider now than when she'd talked to the doctor, but through the growing mental load and the sleepless exhaustion, Kirijo Mitsuru found that she didn't mind in the least.
The heat didn't matter to her like it did to humans, and the humidity was only a problem if she stayed outside. Her internal batteries could keep her running with full combat loadouts for another two months before she had to consider going back to the Kirijo scientists. She was getting their 'Return to base' signals less frequently now, the compulsion to obey an ignorable buzz in her ear and nothing more.
She was still investigating the power spike and KASW 0-2-0 A, call sign "Aigis." That took top priority, and what she'd learned puzzled her. Being puzzled was a new experience, a state of possessing facts yet not knowing what their significance was or what pattern they were following. The first time she'd felt it, it had been novel and fascinating and raised dozens of questions about her own mental schemas. Now it was what could be best described as annoying. Having questions with no answers was a state of mind she hadn't expected when she'd left.
Why was Aigis living with the human Shadow-hunters instead of the Kirijo Group? Why was she integrating with the humans instead of hunting the Shadows regularly? And given the power fluctuation she sensed the other night, why hadn't she acted?
After speaking to the human wearing green who'd given her the information she wanted, she'd found her target. And he was living with Aigis, talking to her, and neither looked like they were going to fight the other. This didn't make sense. Aigis was an anti-Shadow weapon like her, so why was the human still standing? And why weren't the power spikes consistent? If he was the source of what she'd felt why didn't she feel it when she'd seen him being carried away?
So many unknowns, and every scenario she ran through her processors only left her with more questions. Questions that would change her responses based on their context. Which led her to the only viable conclusion and common link: Tartarus. Aigis and the human went there to explore, and they would both be challenged by the Shadows. Maybe she would feel the power surge again, maybe she would have a chance to talk to Aigis alone. But either way, the possibilities were too varied and too much for her to do nothing.
