Blood and violence up ahead. Behold Death it all its glory :D
What the hell!?" Hamuko shrieked. "You've gotta be kidding me!"
Meanwhile, Minato was busy chuckling at the situation. He was particularly amused by Minako's reaction to what she had just seen. It was actually kinda funny to watch as well. "I told you so," he said simply.
Hamuko stomped her foot on the ground, hard. She was trying to let out her anger that way. If not, she probably would have blown up with a great amount of force and with a huge explosion. Something that absolutely no-one would have wanted. "Dammit! I can't believe I came second place!" Hamuko glared the most intense of glares at the bulletin board, fully hoping that if would burn into ashes if she stared at it long and hard. She knew it probably wouldn't happen, but wishful thinking kept her staring at the 'accursed' board.
"I told you," Minato merely repeated with a slight smile.
"And it was only by three marks too!" Hamuko wailed. The best words that could be used to describe how she felt right now was a mix between anger and a classic example of the 'how could this happen' feeling.
"Winning is winning…" Minato shrugged before catching a glimpse of asshat and pink-obsessed bitch. Junpei appeared to be sulking as he looked at the board with a resigned expression. It was the kind that told you that this sort of reaction happened all too often. Yukari seemed to at least be looking pleased with her results though.
He finally turned back to Hamuko to see that she was pouting like no tomorrow. Not only that, but she was trying to control her urges to just rip that 'accursed' board to pieces. "Oh come on, you lost fair and square," he said before walking off.
Minato walked back to the dorm and opened the door to have Mitsuru look up from her newspaper and greet him. "Welcome back," she said with a cool tone, like usual. Minato didn't reply, but he at least had enough politeness, somehow, to nod and acknowledge the greeting.
"I heard that you had topped the class. Well done," Mitsuru smiled slightly, seemingly impressed with his superb results. Minato merely shrugged it off though.
"Been doing that since the dawn of time," he replied with a blank expression. It was something that was pretty normal for him, and he had done so pretty much every time that he had ever sat a test: top it and tear it to shreds while the others around him wallowed in their misery as they realised how much of dumbasses they really were.
He walked over the table where Hamuko was sitting, who was resting her head on her folded arms. Minato pulled a slight smirk. Now was a good opportunity. Or, perhaps the best opportunity. "Hey Hamuko. Congrats on getting second," he greeted with a warm tone.
She raised her head, having an expression on her face that looked much like a disgruntled cat disturbed from a good nap. Unamused and scowling. She growled, "It was only by three marks. Don't get cocky."
"Winning is winning," he only repeated before noticing Junpei and Yukari coming down from the stairs. Yukari looked pleased while Junpei looked like his PSP was destroyed multiple times and fixed, only to have it broken again. Or put it simply, completely hopeless and utterly devastated.
"Hey Minato-kun. Congrats on topping the grade," Yukari cheered. Minato didn't return the sentiment and only pulled out a chair and put his legs on the table.
"Yeah…" he replied before turning to Junpei. "So Junpei, what did you get?" Minato asked with a patronizing tone.
"Aw man, just leave me alone," Junpei said with a disheartened tone. It happened, every single time. But of course, every single time he would somehow regain all his energy the next day so it wasn't really that much of a concern when one thought about it.
A few moments later the doorbell rang, and a man arrived with a parcel in arm. Hamuko perked up immediately from her earlier brooding about the exams with a skip in her step, and thanked the man before taking the rather long parcel.
"Hamuko, what's that?" Yukari asked with a curious tone.
Hamuko giggled before tearing the wrapping off the box in frenzy, obviously eager to get to whatever what was inside the box.
"This…" Hamuko began as she lifted the naginata from the box. "…is the Holy Grail of awesomeness," she grinned. The cheeky expression that Hamuko had, actually made Minato smile a little. It really was worth it to get it for her.
"Whoa, is that a new one?" Junpei asked with an almost incredulous tone.
"Yup! It was around 80000 yen. The blade's wicked!" Hamuko grinned.
"How did you get that much cash? Weren't you working at the café?" Yukari asked with a surprised expression. Hamuko just turned to Minato and smiled warmly at him.
"He bought it for me," she answered.
"Wha?" Yukari yelped in surprise. She couldn't get how or why a jerk like Minato would do something like that. After all, he was spending that cash on someone else!
Junpei blinked in surprise at the answer, only to have a mischievous grin creep up on his mug as he found the perfect opportunity. "So, you two have something going on?" he asked with a slight smirk.
Minato's eye twitched at that. Why the hell would he ask that of all things? Not to mention, who the hell was he to ask that?
Hamuko blushed softly before answering with an equally soft voice, "We might…" Junpei yelped in surprise. He definitely wasn't expecting that of all things to come from Hamuko's mouth. And it was Hamu-tan of all people too! But before that… he actually tripped over a chair in reaction to that revelation and crashed into the floorboards.
Hamuko giggled before saying, "I'm just joking."
Unbeknownst to her, Minato was struck hard by those words and sadness was starting to spread through his chest as he was thinking things through his mind.
"But honestly, I thank him from the bottom of my heart for buying this," she smiled before making some experimental swings with her naginata. "I'm ready to open up a can of whoop-ass on some Shadows!"
Finally shrugging off the feelings that were starting to fester within his mind, he stood up with a determined expression. "Let's go there then," Minato said with a commanding tone before turning his gaze to Junpei. "Asshat might be able to get some things off his mind."
"Wise choice my man," Junpei nodded eagerly and patted Minato on the shoulder, making him turn to him with an icy glare.
"Hands off," he growled. Junpei flinched and chuckled nervously before slowly taking his hand away. With that, Minato started to walk towards the stairs and up them, but he stopped just before taking the first step up the flight. "But… if anyone disobeys my orders again, he or she's gonna get beaten within an inch of their lives," Minato snarled before walking up the stairs.
Mitsuru had heard the conversation, and she stood up. "I think it would be a good idea for us to go to Tartarus like Minato had suggested," she said as she walked to the top of the flight of stairs. "Anyone who disobeys Arisato's or my orders will be Executed," Mitsuru said with an almost eerily calm and cool voice.
However, the three remaining teens that were left downstairs were shivering and trembling at the thought of getting beaten and Executed. Which one would be worse!? Both of them were equally bad things that they just did not want to get caught up in.
"Well… I'm sure Minato wouldn't hurt me," Hamuko smiled slightly. Now all she had to do was stay on Mitsuru's good side and she would get out of the trek unscathed by any punishments from higher up. "Geez, why do I feel so warm and fuzzy now?" she wondered aloud as she thought about Minato never going to hurt her.
The team of SEES began to get ready for their Tartarus trip. Little did they know, that it would be their most difficult trip yet…
"Alright, Takeba, Junpei and Hamuko… Do as I say, and don't' run away. Heal yourself to keep alive but don't look to me for help," Minato ordered as the team entered Tartarus.
"Ahoy, leader!" Hamuko saluted him. "I'll bring pain and broken bones on them Shadows!"
Minato gave her a worried look. Hopefully, and hopefully, nothing bad would happen like that last time. "Just be careful," he sighed.
Hamuko just smiled. "Don't worry about me, alright?"
"Wait," Mitsuru cut in, making everyone stand to attention. "I don't sense any Shadows…" she informed.
Minato raised an eyebrow at that. "Are they playing catch or something?" he asked with a sceptical tone. "There's gotta be some around, this is the fucking nest."
"It is strange, but I assure you my Persona does not sense any Shadows," Mitsuru said with a tone of finality.
"Your Persona's on crack then," Minato replied. He was absolutely sure that there had to be some around.
"We'll move," Minato announced. "Keep walking punks, but in a group. We don't need a ghost to haunt you when you're alone," he ordered. At the mention of 'ghost' Yukari actually shivered. If there was anything that she was afraid of, it was ghosts.
"Wuss," Minato muttered as he saw Yukari before walking ahead. "Come on ya dumbasses!" he called. With that, the team began walking on after him.
"Woot, check my loot!" Junpei cheered as he waved some cash in Minato's face.
Minato just slapped it out of the way of his vision. "Geez, not in my face."
"This floor sure has a lot of treasures," Hamuko noted before grimacing. "But my blade's hungry for some Ichor!" she groaned. There might have been a lot more money and items lying around, but there was a reason she wanted that new weapon of hers: to destroy some more Shadows. But this floor just wasn't giving her any to do so and fulfil that wish.
"The floor's pretty big too," Minato said. "We might as well take our time and get as much stuff as we can though," he sighed.
But that was before he heard something. Something metal? Metal, rattling even. The sound was pretty faint, and distant. However, that didn't change the fact that it was there, lingering at the back of his mind. Minato merely shrugged it off for the moment. It was probably just him imagining things.
They kept walking around the floor, collecting money and treasures…
"You have to get out of there!" Mitsuru yelled, carrying a great amount of panic and dread in her voice.
Minato raised a brow at her outburst. "Why?"
"You have to run," Mitsuru only , Minato asked for the was no answer from Mitsuru.
However… a deep demonic voice rang out in the hallways, a great amount of foreboding and fear festering within everyone's souls as it did. "Humans… lurking in this tower?"
Yukari and Hamuko visibly shivered as the atmosphere became frigid and frozen with killing intent, only becoming more agitated as the voice passed by them, even if it only just brushed past them.
"Who the hell is there!?" Minato shouted, despite the tremors that were starting to make themselves known in everyone around him.
"You should be careful what you wish for," the voice replied coolly.
"Come on out into the open, scum," Minato gritted his teeth. Fear was slowly, but surely starting to well up in the group, the voice disappearing for a moment as it chuckled.
"Minato!" Hamuko called as she tackled him to the ground to avoid a speeding bullet that would have pierced straight through his skull if Hamuko didn't help him. Minato groaned as he recovered from the fall, glancing at the wall that the bullet would have collided with.
The wall was completely collapsed into a multitude of small pieces.
"I told you! You have to run!" Mitsuru cried in horror as Junpei and Yukari were frozen in place. They might not have been able to see it, but that didn't stop them from standing deathly still. Something out there was moving amongst the shadows and it was creeping closer, and closer to them. It never stopped sending shivers down their spines. Minato and Hamuko were soon stuck the same way to the floor as the saw the thing that was slowly floating towards them.
"It's Death! You have to get out of there!" Mitsuru shouted.
The creature that floated towards them was huge to say the least. The dark brown coat that it was wearing was tattered at the ends and stained with blood. Whether the blood came from its coat dragging along the puddles of blood that were scattered around the tower or whether it was actually someone's blood was something no-one knew. There was no face where the head would be. There was only a sickening yellow eye that peered out from the darkness, moving slowly and scanning the teens. Two chains intersected around its body, forming a cross from the two rings that were circling around its body. Presumably, the chains that had been making that earlier rattling noise. The last thing, and probably the most imposing and frightening thing were the revolvers that it carried in its hands, bigger and longer than Minato's height.
It was the Reaper.
"Shit," Minato muttered, immediately regretting not running earlier.
The monster looked between the team members and laughed, "Foolish children."
Minato gritted his teeth as he kept his gaze on the Reaper, trying to support Hamuko to stand and move.
"What do we do!?" Junpei asked as he and Yukari moved closer to Minato.
"Only what we can do. We have to fight," Minato growled as he shot his Evoker and summoned Orpheus. The musician played a furious tune as Minato called, "Agi." However, before anything could really happen, the Reaper shot one of its revolvers. A bolt of crackling electricity was summoned and it blasted Orpheus back into blue shards of glass.
Minato screamed in pain as felt his very soul shake from the assault. The Reaper roared menacingly as it charged at the teens.
"Damn," Minato yelled as he shoved Hamuko away. Minato side-stepped the Shadow and drew his sword, aiming to slash the Reaper but the very next second Minato was blasted away by a Bufudyne that froze him completely.
"Minato!" Hamuko cried as she looked at Minato who was shaking from the cold. The Reaper roared again as it launched fire everywhere.
Junpei grabbed Yukari's wrist and threw her away from the direction of the flames. Due to Hermes's resistance, Junpei took a little bit of fire and dodged the rest. The teens collected around Minato who this time gave a different order: "Run!" The team didn't need to hear that twice as they ran like bats out of hell.
The Reaper was high in pursuit. Minato gritted his teeth and ran faster with the others behind him. A loud bang was heard and Minato quickly side stepped it. The bullet slightly grazed his cheek before it blasted the wall apart.
"Darn it!" Minato cursed to the heavens as the team reached a dead end. The Reaper laughed coldly as it shot a gun again. A huge ball of fire was launched towards the teens so Minato switched to Pyro Jack and pulled Hamuko away who was shaking in fear. The attack blasted them head on but Minato didn't feel pain. Junpei was able to withstand it barely but Yukari screamed from the pain.
The flames subsided and Hamuko looked over to Yukari who was struggling to stand.
"Junpei now!" Minato yelled as Junpei summoned Hermes who darted towards the Reaper. Death grabbed Hermes by the skull and shot him with his gun on the face. Junpei dropped to the ground as he felt his head split open.
"Death!" Minato dropped to the ground as his own 'Death' appeared behind him. Thanatos launched at the Reaper and tackled him away, driving him onto a wall. Minato stood up and commanded them to move away. Thanatos immediately disappeared before the Reaper could even think of launching a counter attack.
"Run!" Minato shouted once more as the Reaper recovered. It let out a horrific roar and charged at the teenagers.
"Mitsuru, where is the fucking teleporter?" Minato asked.
"I don't know. Keep running. I'll inform you," Mitsuru frantically answered. Minato nodded as he kept running.
"Minato! Save Yukari." Hamuko shouted as Minato looked at Yukari who was burned and struggling to run… Minato could care less if she died.
"Please! I'm begging you," Hamuko cried as Minato bit his lip… If Yukari died, then Hamuko would be heartbroken and Minato didn't want that.
Dammit! Just this once!
"Tsk… Keep running. I'll try to stall him," Minato commanded as he turned around and took out his sword. The reaper laughed as it raised his guns and brought them down onto Minato.
Minato blocked the guns with his sword but it got shattered into pieces. Minato quickly summoned a rapier made up of ice and rammed it onto reaper's chest who staggered back, if only slightly.
Minato ran towards the slow Yukari. The Reaper gave out a screech and launched a deadly ball of purple energy at Minato and Yukari.
"Get down," Minato yelled as he tackled Yukari to the floor. Yukari blushed as Minato's face was inches away from her. The Reaper floated towards the two. Minato grabbed Yukari by her ribbon and lifted her up.
"Junpei catch." Minato yelled as he channeled a Garula into his hands and blasted Yukari away. Thanks to Io's resistance to wind, Yukari didn't feel pain and only flew backwards. Junpei caught Yukari and rested her on the ground.
Minato felt his back break as the Reaper smashed his gun onto his back. He dropped to the ground in pain as the Reaper slammed the gun again.
Minato yelled out in pain and rolled away. Hamuko cried, "Minato!" The Reaper blasted Minato backwards with a Bufudyne but the bluenette switched to Unicorn, at least making the pain lessen.
"We gotta help him!"Hamuko drew her evoker and ran towards him with the rest of the two behind her. Minato barely dodged a gun strike which was aimed for his head. He dashed left and shot himself.
"Chimera!" The multi faced persona roared as it launched a fireball at the Reaper who didn't even flinch.
The Reaper launched a fireball of his own which made Minato shout once more. Gritting his teeth, Minato swallowed the pain and made a mad dash away from the Shadow. Fighting at a close range would be suicidal.
Bang!
Minato screamed in pain and dropped to the ground.
Blood was pouring out from his left leg… He was shot. The Reaper laughed, "You're done." The Reaper pointed his gun at Minato's skull and was about to shoot until…
Io and Hermes took the Reaper by surprise, making him back away from Minato. Hamuko came running towards Minato who was clutching his blood stained leg. Hamuko frantically pressed the wound but that only resulted in more cries of agony.
"I'm sorry," Hamuko cried. Meanwhile Junpei charged at the Raper with his sword but was easily side-stepped. Yukari prepared a gust of wind and threw it towards the Reaper who like before, didn't even flinch.
"Damn it!" Junpei cursed as he barely dodged a block of ice. "Hermes," The messenger of gods darted towards the reaper but was blasted back by a purple ball of energy. Junpei screamed as he felt the Almighty attack rip him to the core.
"Junpei!" Yukari cried as she readied her bow to strike but a bullet exploded in her hand along with her bow. The Reaper laughed as Yukari cried out in pain… Her hands were totally battered right now.
With that, the Reaper turned his attention to the bearers of Death.
"Hamuko!" Minato shouted, shoving Hamuko away who was still attending to his injured leg. The bullet that was intended for Hamuko hit Minato right in the shoulder.
Hamuko watched in horror as Minato's shoulder was torn apart. The bluenette could not even scream as he limped away from a Megido attack.
"Darn it," Minato cursed. "I don't have a choice…" Summoning Death with two broken limbs would be difficult… But he had to save Hamuko.
A dark energy exploded from Minato who commanded, "Come forth." Thanatos gave out a roar and materialized almost instantly. Minato fell onto the ground as he started coughing. Thanatos unsheathed its massive blood stained sword and flew towards the Reaper.
The Reaper could barely react before the sword was plunged into its stomach, only giving out a horrific roar that sent shivers up Hamuko's spine. The Reaper began blindly firing his guns and a lot of them hit Minato's Death.
Minato yelled in pain as Thanatos gave out a roar and disappeared into black mist.
"Fuck," Minato limped his way up and grabbed Hamuko. "Run! Take them and run," Minato choked out."I might be able to stall him off."
Hamuko looked at him in shock, "Don't be stupid! You can barely stand. You'll…. Die."
Minato glared at the Reaper "So what? Nobody would care! Heck I'm not afraid of dying," Minato snapped as he shoved her away and took the blizzard head on. He slammed against the wall, shivering.
"Damn it," Minato coughed as he slowly slid down but made a dash towards the right as the Reaper sent another bullet that was meant for his head. The debris collapsed onto Minato who was trapped. Slowly he moved out from the debris.
"Not even Death can beat him," Minato muttered as the Reaper laughed demonically. He pushed himself off and glared at Hamuko. "Get the fuck out here, don't you understand?"
"No! I won't let you die." Hamuko cried.
"Dammit! I'm already dead," Minato yelled in despair. "I'm just a living corpse right now." It was true. All he had was pain whether he felt it or inflicted it.
Hamuko began tearing up at his words. "You idiot! I don't want you to die…"
Minato was silent at her words. What the? She cares? Minato's eyes widened. He charged up a Agi into his hands and blasted Hamuko back. She staggered away from the attack but thankfully thanks to Orpheus, the attack didn't hurt.
Hamuko didn't know if he was pissed but got her answer moments later as a Megido blasted the ground, creating a huge crater. Minato collapsed to his knees. His SP was dangerously low, since he summoned Death multiple times now.
"No! I'll save him," Hamuko swore as he gripped her naginata. Junpei and Yukari stood up as well "Minato saved us at the monorail now it's my turn."
"Hamuko! Don't!" Minato almost begged but it was too late. The three standing teens dashed at the Reaper. The Reaper actually sighed and shot his guns. A gust of wind blew that made Junpei smash against the wall. Hamuko gritted her teeth and charged ahead along with Yukari who was standing thanks to Io.
"You foolish girl," Minato screamed but Hamuko shot herself with her evoker. The beautiful female Orpheus appeared in front of her and grabbed the lyre, slamming it onto Reaper's face who sighed again. He pressed the revolver onto the mechanical body and shot the persona multiple times.
Orpheus was ripped to pieces and Hamuko collapsed onto the ground.
"Hamuko!" Yukari cried but a bolt of electricity quickly silenced her. Every member of SEES was down. Minato used the wall and supported himself to stand. Dia's would be no help to his damaged limbs. Blood was everywhere and the Reaper towered over them.
Hamuko slowly got up and tried to summon her persona again but was blown backwards by a tornado. She was about to collide against the wall but Minato caught her. The two bearers of Death barely stood as Junpei and Yukari were out.
Minato rested Hamuko on the ground who was quite beaten up herself. Minato wiped the blood from his mouth and whispered. "So this is it?" Hamuko painfully nodded "I guess." Nothing could save them now.
"Minato! Hamuko!" Mitsuru cried not even bothering to use their last name… But all that was fruitless. The Reaper slowly advanced towards them.
"Use us," A voice collectively rang inside their heads. Minato blinked and so did Hamuko but then… Like a reflex, the two raised the evoker to each other's skull. They didn't know what would happen but they didn't ignore the voice.
"We call upon Death!" The two shouted and shot each other. Blue mist and glass shards exploded from the temples and the two Orpheus Personae appeared behind them. Minato and Hamuko clutched their heads in pain and the two small Personae collided with each other resulting in a thick, black mist… A terrifying roar echoed in the hall. Yukari and Junpei shivered and turned around to see the scene.
The mechanical bodies of the personas were ripped open and tossed aside. Hamuko groaned as she clutched her head a little bit of headache creeping in but for Minato it was a lot worse. The power rushed into his head and Minato felt pain that almost crippled his very soul. He clutched his head and collapsed on the ground, screaming his lungs out. Behind them was Death…. In all its glory.
Thanatos was a lot larger than before and the roars it gave made even the Reaper shrink back. Minato's vision blurred as he coughed out blood onto the ground. Something was forcing his entire body apart and consuming him energy at an astounding rate. Suddenly Minato stood up, panting hard but he was grinning like a crazed maniac.
"Kill it!" Minato shouted in glee as the real Death charged at the Reaper. The Reaper in desperation shot another round of bullets but none of them even affected Thanatos who plunged the sword into Reaper's stomach.
"Break him," Minato laughed darkly as Thanatos took the sword and slammed it right into the Reaper's eyes. The Reaper roared as it lost its only eye. Thanatos grabbed the Reaper by its clothes and repeatedly slammed him onto walls. He grabbed the head and smashed it onto the ground before running a sword through the bandaged head. Blood splattered everywhere as Death dominated the Reaper.
Minato stopped laughing and slowly closed his eyes. Hamuko ran towards him and supported him to stand, Minato breathing heavily and extremely exhausted.
Thanatos grabbed the almost dead Reaper by its torn clothes. Thanatos opened his jaws and a bright purple sphere of energy formed between it.
"Take heart," Thanatos whispered into Minato's mind as he let loose the Almighty ball on point blank range. Minato dropped onto the ground as he felt his last bit of SP leaving him. A huge explosion ensued as smoke and debris blew everywhere.
Minato smiled sadistically as the smoke subsided. The whole place was wrecked apart. The ground was cracked and the broken body of the Reaper was on the ground, presumably dead.
Hamuko gulped and looked at the Reaper who didn't move. She clasped her mouth with her hand "We did it?" she asked herself. She couldn't believe it.
She was about to cry and jump in joy until she felt a shove. "Get away!" Minato yelled, pushing Hamuko out of the way. A lightning fast bullet missed her by mere millimetres and it hit Minato instead. The Reaper cried out as he used the last strength to fire the bullet and it finally died, disappearing into a cloud of black and red mist.
A pool of blood was forming on the ground as Minato's eyes opened wide in horror. He placed his hand on the chest and looked at it. Blood, and lots of it. Minato coughed out some and looked below…. There was a huge hole in his chest. Hamuko's heart skipped a few beats as she looked at Minato's blood stained uniform. Minato coughed out some more of that scarlet liquid and then collapsed on the ground.
Minato's breathing went erratic and he blood rushed from the wound on his chest. More precisely, his heart.
"Minato!" Hamuko cried as she ran towards him. Minato's breathing was shallow now and blood just came rushing out… He wasn't going to hold out any longer.
"Arisato!" Mitsuru cried on the line as Minato's breathing slowly went lower.
Minato slowly closed his eyes and it rolled to the back of his head. His heart was finding it difficult to pump blood through his body, not after it was shot by a wicked bullet
Hamuko lifted him up "Please don't go!" She started sobbing, "I'm sorry! ITS ALL MY FAULT!" Junpei and Yukari were speechless while the latter was tearing up. Yukari sniffed even if Minato was a jerk, he was still a team member.
Hamuko clutched Minato's head on her chest and began to sob loudly. Everyone was silent as a pool of blood formed under Minato.
Minato kept shaking in her embrace with rapid jerks and painful movements. If Hamuko didn't know any better, he was going into arrest.
Hamuko kept sobbing… His words earlier drove a sword through her heart and now he was slowly dying. She tightened the hold around him. "I'm so sorry."
Minato was slowly plunging into the abyss…. Until a dark energy surrounded him. Minato screamed inside him mind as the wound on his chest began to close up painfully. Minato's breathing returned again…. Although it was hardly noticeable, his heart stopped for a few seconds but then started beating again.
Minato slowly opened his eyes to see Hamuko crying over him. Clutching his head to her… Chest. Minato painfully raised his battered arm and wiped her tears away.
"Not now Minato-kun!" She bawled but then realized who wiped the tears away.
She looked down and saw a bloodied Minato in her arms, smiling at her.
"I guess… I need a new sword as well." Minato chuckled slightly as he pushed her bangs from her eyes. He slowly supported himself to sit up. "But gosh, stop crying already."
Hamuko didn't stop sobbing but buried her face into his chest. "You idiot! You had me worried sick," she bawled.
Minato patted her back "Sorry. I don't know myself how I survived."
"Baka," Hamuko muttered as she hugged him and Minato although painfully returned it.
"Woah." Junpei smiled, he was glad to see Minato alive "You two really DO have a thing going on eh?"
"What if we do?" Minato hissed. "Got a problem with that?" Even if he was close to dying his attitude was still going strong.
Junpei sweat dropped and backed away. "Not at all," He gulped.
"Good," Minato replied as he kept petting her back. "Come on Hamuko, I'm alive. We have to go otherwise some other bastards might come."
"Let them," She sobbed. "I'll rip them to pieces if they try to take you away from me again."
Minato's heart skipped a beat at what she said. Minato found himself Hamuko's hug, feeling at peace and warm. Not in a measure of temperature, but a different kind of warm. It was a feeling he didn't want to lose, and a grip that he didn't want to break free from.
"Is this… Affection?" Minato asked himself quietly. He didn't even know the meaning of the word up until now. A sound of shattering glass echoed inside his mind as Orpheus' voice spoke.
'Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personae of the Death Arcana," Orpheus said softly, but at this point Minato didn't care. He returned the hug and oddly enough, he was smiling like he never had before.
Hoshi: Don't you just love having lots of updates after another? Well cool, because it was only luckily that we actually had some more free time to get this chapter out! More violence, violence and... fluff. You thought I was going to say violence, didn't you? XD
Anyways, this chapter was probably the most epic yet and the longest fight so far so I/we hope you guys like it a lot!
Keep reviewing, support is appreciated~!
Anyways, ja ne for now!
Night: This chapter showed Minato's special ability. Although it isn't much detailed (Which will be later on) But it can be noticed pretty easily. A free cookie for anyone who manages to tell what Minato's ability is. Keep reviewing. The tom and jerry chase was kinda fun to write :D