Hamuko opened the door to her room and quickly shut the door, resting her back against it as she slowly slid down. Just moments ago the ambulance arrived to take Minato away from her. Staring at her now red uniform she starting sobbing, the image of a pained Minato impaled by swords now imprinted deeply and harshly into her mind's eye.
"Goddammit why the fuck am I so weak!?" She cried, pounding the floor with her fists. Minato's painful scream rang in her ears again, making more tears leak out from her eyes. Mitsuru had forced Hamuko to get some rest. The doctor gave word that Minato's injuries were very severe and was lucky to be alive.
Not bothering to change and still sobbing, she stumbled towards her bed. Clutching her pillow tight, she continued to beat herself over what happened to Minato with cursing. However the emotional toll that night had on her inevitably led her into Hypnos' clutches.
Hamuko opened her eyes into a familiar dream. In front of her was a blue door that she recognised immediately: The Velvet Room. Slowly turning the knob she opened the door. It was her third visit from the first one she would never forget, as it was the day that she learned of the monster locked inside her.
Hamuko gasped at the sight before her. The empty chair was actually taken but a familiar blue haired boy, but he wasn't awake. He was breathing albeit shallowly, and his multiple injuries were clearly visible.
"Ah, master Hamuko. It's a ple-" Igor began, only to be cut off as Hamuko ran towards the injured boy.
"Minato-kun!" Hamuko gently tried to shake him awake, but there was no response from him. She tried her luck again but Minato didn't move. A shiver of fear ran down her spine… was he dead?
"Do not worry. He's just tired…" A calm voice spoke, making Hamuko turn to face Elizabeth. She smiled at Hamuko, " The injuries were severe but we'll be able to heal them."
Hamuko calmed down a small amount, "Please do it quickly…" she begged.
Turning around, Hamuko faced Igor, "Have you told him about Death?"
Igor shook his bald head, "No."
"Why not?" Hamuko asked with a frown.
"Do you think he would believe that? The worst that could happen is that he kills himself," Hamuko tensed hearing the word 'kill' come forth from Igor's mouth.
"Okay then…" Hamuko turned to the still passed out Minato, eyeing the gashed and burns that dominated his body, "Just take care of him alright?" Reaching out, she placed her hand on Minato's head and petted it gently.
After Hamuko disappeared, Elizabeth summoned her compendium and muttered some spells to heal the critically wounded boy. After a good ten minutes, Minato slowly opened his eyes. The pain was still present but it was lessened quite a bit.
Minato immediately tensed up as he saw the golden eyes of Elizabeth and the bald head of Igor, remembering what happened last time. He tried to get up but regretted it instantly as his leg gave way, making him fall to the ground.
"Please relax. We will not hurt you," Igor spoke calmly.
Minato snarled back, "Oh yeah, because you fucking gave me a massage the last time," Elizabeth picked Minato up and placed him back on the seat, continuing her healing.
Minato didn't object this time as he felt the pain lessen little by little. After a while all of Minato's injuries were healed. Minato hesitated, but muttered, "Thank you," to which Elizabeth smiled.
"Let's just forget that your last visit happened," Igor suggested.
"What was that about anyway? Hunter? Humanity?" Minato questioned, the mysterious music calming his soul a little.
"That's up to you to find out," Igor told him.
"Fan-fucking-tastic," Minato scowled. Igor snapped his fingers, a red contract appearing on the table in front of him. Minato's eyes widened. It was the same contract that the kid made him sign.
"Fucking brat, did I just sell my soul to the devil?" Minato muttered. Igor ignored it, but Elizabeth actually giggled.
"By signing this contract you are hereby welcomed in the Velvet Room," Igor explained.
"Oh don't I feel special?" Minato mumbled sarcastically.
However, Igor ignored his quip again, "We will help you on your journey."
"Like last time?" Minato growled back.
"However, you must accept the consequences of your actions from here," Igor once again, ignored the smartass remark.
"Now onto other matters… I see that you have awak-" His sentence was cut short by Minato.
"Blah, blah, blah, mind explaining the creatures in my head?" Minato had Death for a long time, but he never actually knew what it was.
Igor sighed in annoyance, "I was going to answer that."
"Good." Minato replied and Igor continued, explaining to him all about Personae and how they were masks that helped the user in times of need.
"However, there is one very important thing you must remember," Minato nodded for him to go on.
"There is one person in your world that has a fate similar to yours. This person will be the deciding factor on your journey," Igor was solemn in tone, "I advise you develop a strong bond with said person."
"Mind telling me who that is?" Minato asked.
"That is up to you to find, "Igor replied calmly.
Minato threw his hands up, "A journey of fucking self-discovery, great!" he shouted.
"Until we meet again…" Igor said his goodbyes.
"Toodles," Elizabeth waved.
Minato slowly opened his eyes, feeling like he had been asleep for a very long time. He was greet by a white ceiling. Before he could muse on where he was a voice greeted him.
"You're awake," Minato turned his head to face a worried Yukari, "Um… how do you feel?"
"Where am I?" Minato asked, ignoring her question. Yukari sighed in relief.
"Thank goodness you finally came to… I was so worried about you," Yukari stammered.
Minato ignored her worried, "What the hell was that thing?"
"Those creatures? They're what we're fighting against and the power you used, we call it…" Yukari began, only to for her sentence to be finished by Minato.
"Persona?" Minato added.
Yukari was shocked with her eyes wide, "How… how did you know?"
Minato shrugged in response, "Beats me."
"I… uh… wanted to tell you that I'm sorta like you," Minato tilted his head towards her.
"What are you on about?" he asked with a scowl.
"My dad died in an accident when I was little… and my mum and I aren't exactly on good terms…" Minato really couldn't care less about whatever the hell she was trying to say to him, but it was the next words that set him off and made him pissed. Very pissed.
"You're all alone too right? Since the accident… To tell the truth, I already know about your past." Minato had enough. Slamming his fist on the mattress, he turned to Yukari with a hateful glare.
"What the fuck is wrong with you!" Minatos yelled, stopping her from speaking. Minato's head was burning, and he was inches away from losing control. How dare she bring that up!?
"If you waited for me to wake up… just so you could shove my most horrible memory into my face then I hope you die!" Minato snarled with an unprecedented amount of loathing. Before Yukari could even think of a response, he clutched his head as he felt a headache creeping in, "I don't get it, what the fuck is wrong with you!? Why can't you just leave me alone!? Dammit, they're dead! Why the fuck do you have to remind me!?"
"I don't give a fuck what happened to your parents!" Minato yelled as he got up from the bed and punched the wall, drawing out blood. Yukari was shocked beyond words so much that she even forgot to feel angry. Grabbing his headphones and wallet from the desk, Minato shot a last hateful glare at Yukari who was still rooted to the spot.
"Stupid skank," Minato cursed, slamming the door closed and leaving an almost crying Yukari behind.
"I-I thought you would understand…" Yukari mumbled, trying to keep herself from crying.
Minato ignored all the doctors and stormed out of the stupid building still in hospital clothes, earning him a few odd looks from the people around him. Walking towards a shop, Minato changed into a pair of jeans a black t-shirt.
"Bitch," Minato cursed as he remembered Yukari, "I need to get my head off these things." Mianto looked around for anything that could help. His mind clicked into place when he saw a black haired teenager standing there.
"Got it," Minato said to himself, walking towards her with a charming smile. The girl's heart instantly melted as she saw the charming smile on his face. The next bit was all too easy for Minato. All it took was a couple of sweet smiles and a good choice of words.
"So what are you waiting for here?" The girl giggled, "Let's go to a hotel."
Minato nodded as the two walked to the nearest hotel. A good thirty minutes later Minato walked out looked quite a bit calmer than before. The girl began running behind him hastily dressed and her eyes red from crying. Not that Minato noticed. He just kept walking on.
"What… do you mean it's done?" She asked sobbing.
"It's done. I'm going now." Minato answered simply, not a bit moved by her tears.
"I thought we had something special," she shakily said.
Minato turned around and laughed in front of her, "With you? Yeah right. In a dream. I just wanted to get my mind off of things… so yeah. Thanks." He moved away from her quickly as the girl collapsed onto the floor crying, but Minato really didn't care.
"You can't just leave me," she sobbed.
Minato only chuckled in response, "I just did," walking away from the girl's view.
Minato thought about what to do next. He was thinking until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Hamuko smiling at him. Minato smiled a little back.
"I'm sorry…" Hamuko whispered before bursting into tears, utterly shocking the blue haired boy.
"Why?" Minato asked, as his cold heart wrenched painfully seeing Hamuko crying.
It's all my fault… you almost died because of me," she sobbed, making the people look at them until Minato yelled at them to mind their own business. Minato hesitated. He was never good at talking to people, let alone calming them. But he grabbed a hold of Hamuko's wrist and made her sit on the bench.
"Just… calm down dammmit…" Minato cursed.
"I'm sorry…" Hamuko said shakily.
Minato placed a hand on her shoulder, "It's… okay… please don't cry…" Hamuko stopped sobbing at the tone of his voice… It carried a hint of pleading for her to stop.
Clearing her tears, Hamuko spoke, "I don't know how I can thank you for saving me and Yukari," Minato's expression turned sour at the mention of that pink wearing brunette, but Hamuko didn't notice it.
"Yeah…" Minato replied. He felt a soft hand touch his own, and he looked down to see Hamuko's hand grasping his. Minato blushed looking towards Hamuko who had a determined smile on her face.
"I'll make up for how you saved me," she said with her voice filled with resolve.
"You… don't have to…" Minato stammered.
Hamuko tightened her grip, "I will… I swear." Standing up, she spoke some more, "You saw a lot that night right?" She started to talk about the battle with the Shadow, "You were out for a freaking week." Minato was shocked to hear that.
"A week?" he asked.
Hamuko nodded, "Yup. I had to think of an excuse to tell the teachers."
"What exactly?" Minato asked once more.
Hamuko only giggled in response, "You tripped and fell over… like a dumbass." Minato would usually slap the hell out of whoever insulted him but this time, seeing Hamuko laughing he actually gave out a chuckle.
"Um… By the way Mitsuru-senpai has something to talk to you about," She held her hand towards him, "Will you please come back to the dorm?" Minato thought about it. What would they wanna talk about?
"Okay? Minato replied unsurely, taking her soft hand into his own, "Lead the way."
Hamuko smiled, "Thanks but first… Takoyaki!" She yelled, dragging Minato towards the stall. He was rich no doubt but he never actually spent money on someone else, but this time he bought Hamuko boxes full of takoyaki and strangely he felt happy watching her chow on them, sometimes whining about how hot it was.
"She's… cute," Minato whispered to himself. Truthfully Hamuko was really beautiful and was without a doubt, the most popular girl in school. Her bright red eyes were just… stunning. He felt like he could gaze into them all day…
"Hey dude?" Hamuko shook Minato away from the trance he was captured in. He had actually been staring at her the whole time.
"W-What?" Minato was startled as he was broken away from that daze.
"You're been staring at me for the last five minutes…" Hamuko told him. "Do you think I'm pretty…?" she smiled, drawing out her words.
"A-Ah…" Minato stumbled over his words to which Hamuko raised an eyebrow.
"Um…" Minato cursed to the heavens. Why the hell was he so docile next to her?
"Well?" Hamuko asked, urging him to hurry up with his answer.
"Y-Yes…" Minato finally answered, looking away as a dusting of pink appeared on his cheeks.
Hamuko grinned, pleased by the reaction from Minato, "Why thank you Minato-kun," she giggled, "You have a lot of admirers at school already too."
"Let's forget about it," Minato said quickly, trying to divert the situation.
Hamuko nodded, "I agree. Anyways, it's almost nighttime… we have a lot of things we'd like to discuss with you," She looked worried for a moment.
"However, what you decide will be final." This puzzled Minato. What could she be talking about?
The two walked towards the dorm, Hamuko telling him to follow her to the fourth floor. Minato did, although he really hated to see that stupid Yukari girl again. Minato walked with her up three freaking flights of stairs before he finally reached the room. Hamuko opened it and Mianto hesitatingly stepped in, his heart burning with anger and hate seeing Yukari sitting there. She shot him a vicious glare with he just shrugged off.
"Hmph, so what do you want?" Minato asked stiffly.
"Answers," Mitsuru replied.
"I don't care," Minato spat.
"This isn't helping Arisato," Mitsuru shot back.
"I'm not trying to," He retorted, "You think I forgot about how you tried to kill me when I first arrived here?"
"We thought you were a Shadow," Mitsuru reasoned.
"Yeah? Oh from what I saw, the bastard a bajillion arms. Not tell me were you really high?" Minato growled, laced with venom.
"We're sorry," Mitsuru looked down.
"Oh, of course you are now," Minato glared at Mitsuru, "So now what the hell do you want?"
Ikutsuki began to speak, "I'm sure you're well aware of the Dark Hour?" Minato was busy trying to fight back the annoyance that was boiling up within him. Just looking at this guy pissed him off.
"Yeah," Minato answered, brushing some hair out of his eyes. Yukari forgot all about her anger as she stared into his silver eyes. 'How can someone so handsome be such a jerk?' she asked herself.
"How long have you been aware of it?" Mitsuru asked.
"Ten years," Minato answered simply, leading to shocked gasps all around.
"I see…" Mitsuru articulated slowly, "And about the thing you summoned…" Minato tilted his head towards her.
"What about it?" he asked.
"Do you already know about Personae?" Mitsuru asked to which Minato curtly nodded.
"Well, that certainly saves us some time," Ikutsuki commented.
Mitsuru got up and grabbed a briefcase, placing it on the table near Minato and opened it up. "Arisato, we are SEES, a group dedicated to fight the Shadows that appear during the Dark Hour. We would like you to join us." Inside the metal briefcase was a red armband with the word SEES on it, along with a silver gun just like the one he used a few nights ago. Minato blinked, and looked at each of the people present in the room.
Akihiko looked curiously, while Mitsuru was holding her breath. Yukari looked expectantly at him completely forgetting about earlier while Ikutsuki had a silly grin on his face. Hamuko… had a bright smile on her face… Minato was about to refuse but that night made him rethink that. What if Hamuko got hurt? She placed a hand on his shoulder, "It's all up to you. We won't force you."
"I'm in," Minato declared, looking at Hamuko whose smile only increased.
"Thank you," she grinned. Everyone in the room thanked Minato, even Yukari. Ikutsuki smiled, "Thank you so much. Oh, and about your room… why don't you stay there in your current room? I don't know what the holdup is but I guessed it worked out in the end," He laughed.
Smash! Minato heard a particularly large sound, like the sound of shattering glass.
"Holy crap, the window," Minato commented aloud. He found himself rooted to the spot as a card faded into his vision with the image of a traveler with a rucksack walking along with a small dog behind him, just about to walk straight off a cliff. Minato blinked a few times before the card disappeared and he felt a strange surge of energy flow within him.
"Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personae of the Fool Arcana…" A voice similar to Orpheus spoke softly.
Shrugging off the peculiar phenomena as it finally stopped, "By the way…" The rest of the group member s turned to look at him. "How far is this place from the roof?"
"Just a short distance away," Ikutsuki replied happily. Hearing this, Minato's mind became haywire from pure rage.
"So why the fuck didn't any of you come to help us?" Minato glared at the seniors. "What if Hamuko, me or Yukari died?" He spat, "You need members? But from what I saw you don't give a shit about the current ones!" Hamuko did agree with him. They certainly needed help.
"Minato-kun it's alri-" Hamuko tried to calm him down but Minato was so engrossed in his anger that he didn't listen.
"Well, have you got a fucking reason!?" He glared at each of the seniors once more.
"It was because of me," Ikutsuki admitted, making Minato turn to him, "I ordered them not ot go… I wanted ot see whether you could summon a Persona."
Minato's blood boiled, "Only because of your fucking curiosity?"
"Let me show you what I did to the sunnova bitch," Minato glared at him, walking towards the chairman. He grabbed him by the collar before Ikutsuki could do anything, Minato punched him right in the face. Everyone gasped at the display as Ikutuski was knocked to the ground.
"Well, I just joined club where the higher powers don't give a fuck who dies!" Minato shouted.
"We're sorry… I shouldn't have listening to him…" Mitsuru whispered looking down while Akihiko tended to Ikutsuki.
"Too late," Minato snarled, walking out of the room.
"Are you going to reverse your decision?" Mitsuru asked weakly.
"Oh, I'll join your little club," Minato sneered, "But…" He turned around to face the crowd. "I ain't accepting orders from a scumbag like him." He pointed towards Ikutsuki.
"I did it for my stupid curiosity…" Minato imitated his voice, and with that he slammed the door behind him and left the rest behind.
"Fool Arcana?" Minato asked himself as he shook his head and walked towards his room, "Fucking fools indeed," He cursed as he lay down on the bed and shut his eyes.
Hoshi: And, we're back with another chapter. So soon huh? Welp, please tell us what we can improve and what you liked! =D Catch ya later!
Plz review and no flames. XD