Hamuko was having a real hard time concentrating on Mitsuru's briefing. Did Minato just glare at her and walk away without a word? That never happened before. Hamuko expected him to stand real close to her but he was far away from her when she woke up.
"Are you listening?" Mitsuru asked.
"Y-Yeah," Hamuko bit her lip, still looking at the stairs. "W-What do we do now?"
"Get Arisato here and then we'll discuss," Mitsuru replied.
"Um," Hamuko cringed and stood up, she didn't like Minato's aura at all right now. There was something different and she wasn't expecting anything good out of talking to Minato but she couldn't hold it. "I'll go..."
Yukari noticed her hesitation and Minato's attitude earlier. "What happened? Did they have a fight or something?"
Hamuko took a deep breath and started making her way towards the steps.
...
Minato puffed out smoke and leaned back on his bed. This was his first cigarette in a long ass time. He used to smoke a lot before but Hamuko's promise made him stay away from smoking but right now, he couldn't bring himself up to honor that promise.
"Ugh, what the hell happened?" he imagined Hamuko smiling at him which usually brought him calmness but right now, it did nothing. He still felt empty and numb.
Minato was busy musing when the door to his room was slammed open, making him cringe. "Fuck!" he stood up and growled, the sound infuriated him for some reason.
"Uh," Hamuko didn't expect him to lash out like that. She had done it countless times before and he never exploded like that.
"The hell do you want?" Minato spat, holding onto his head.
Hamuko took a step back. Minato was glaring her down again and Hamuko was finding it hard to breathe under the pressure. "Um, Minato?"
"What?"
"Are you okay?" she looked down and gasped. "And you are smoking!?"
"Can it," Minato said, puffing out more smoke. "I need it right now."
Minato focused his attention on her face again and still, there was no urge to run over and hug her. "..." Hamuko locked her gaze on him and stared at him intently, normally he would blush and abide to her will but this time, Minato kept quiet and held her gaze, without blinking or flinching.
Something was very wrong about this. "F-Forget it. Um, Minato, Ken is-"
Minato rose a brow.
"Taken away by Strega," Hamuko continued.
"I don't care about that little shit," Minato spat out. "Brought him on himself. He'll pay for this with his blood and he deserves it."
"..." Hamuko gritted her teeth.
"Hell, who gives a crap if he dies?"
"... I give a crap," Hamuko replied.
Minato hissed and walked closer, standing real close to the redhead. "I don't give a fuck."
"Minato!" Hamuko yelled at him.
"What, woman!?" Minato yelled back, only louder than her.
Hamuko could feel his rage. Minato wasn't joking around. He was pissed, pissed at her. "..."
"Idiot," Minato spat and walked towards his bed. He finally yelled at and silenced Hamuko. And as he walked further, Minato felt no guilt or pity for what he did. Hamuko was shocked and silenced and Minato didn't give a crap. He still felt empty.
The blue haired devil sat on his bed and glanced at Hamuko who was rooted to the spot. "I'm not going. End of story." h lighted up another cigarette and started smoking again.
"But Minato," Hamuko bit her lip, blocking out the tears. Minato was sitting there, not caring about the fact that she was hurt and distressed. "We can't make it without you..."
"Go away, Hamuko," Minato said slowly, not being able to bottle the rage any further. He was seconds away from launching himself and mauling Hamuko of all people, he had never even imagined that before but right now, that was all he was thinking. "Go away before I do something we both regret."
Hamuko let lose a single tear. "M-Minato..." she cried but the male simply laid back on his bed and covered his face with the pillow, totally ignoring her pleading.
"..." Hamuko turned around and walked out of his room. She lost Death and lost her bond with Minato along with it. "Dammit..." she sniffed and ran away.
Minato removed the pillow when he felt a sense of dread. He turned around to see a demon glaring at him from the corner in his room.
"..." Minato kept staring at Pharos who growled and disappeared into the darkness.
...
Hamuko nearly fell down the steps because she was so caught up in the little spat she had with Minato. She was wishing, pleading that Minato would come after her but he didn't. "He's gone..." she breathed out, her heart clenching at the thought. The link was gone.
"Is he coming?" Mitsuru asked.
"No, he's not coming..." Hamuko replied and quietly went ahead to sit on the couch with her head low.
"Did something happen between you guys?" Junpei bit his lip. "Minato doesn't seem normal..."
"..." Hamuko refused to answer and Mitsuru bit her lip.
"We can't do this without him," Mitsuru said slowly. They had no chance against Theo and Sho and with the new powerup, Takaya was possibly stronger than the both of them.
"We can worry about him later," Shinjiro spat. "If he wants to stay then so be it. Illl go alone if you guys are scared." he turned around and looked at his childhood friend. "Aki, what about you?"
"... I'll come along, with or without Minato," Akihiko replied. "Ken needs our help. We can worry about Minato's problem later."
"It's all my fault," Fuuka sobbed, making everyone turn to her. "They want me and instead they took Ken-kun... I wanted to yell at him that I'm the one but I was so scared..."
"Fine, if he doesn't want to go I guess we have to handle it by ourselves," Mitsuru stood up, looking at the support persona user. "Yamagishi is the one who they want..."
"We cannot take them head on," Aigis said, standing close to the redhead who was still silent. "I suggest a plan or ambush."
Mitsuru breathed out. "... For now, try to keep calm and wait for the Dark Hour," the senior suggested. "When the Dark Hour comes, Yamagishi will search for them. I don't know where they are so I cannot formulate a plan right now... once we find out the location then we can start."
"For the time being, remain calm..." she looked at Hamuko. "And avoid Arisato for now. He's unstable once again and I do not want any more trouble."
"Shit," Shinjiro balled his fist. He didn't have much time to live but he was determined to save Ken before hitting the grave.
"We'll save him," Akihiko assured.
"Hamuko, you need to eat," Yukari suggested.
"I'm fine..." Hamuko murmured, still looking down.
"If Minato isn't coming, you're our only hope," the brunette helped Hamuko up and guided her towards the kitchen. "We need you at full strength fort this one..."
"... What happened to him?" Hamuko asked slowly.
"..." Yukari had no answer.
...
"Shit," Minato turned around on his bed, unable to find any peace or comfort. It was weird, he was able to sleep peacefully a few days ago but right now, the blood lust and rage was starting to surge and there was no one to control it."Shit, shit, shit!" he pulled on his hair.
He tried to think of Hamuko but that only did the opposite and pissed him off even more. "Grrr..."
His face reddened because he couldn't hold it anymore.
Minato yelled on the top of his lungs and the scream reached everyone downstairs.
"What the hell?" Junpei blinked. That was horrific to even listen to and it came from Minato's room.
"Minato!" Hamuko stood upon upon hearing the scream but Mitsuru blocked her way, shaking her head.
"No, not right now," Mitsuru said. "Wait for it. We'll handle it together."
"Ken needs us..."
"..."
"And we need you,"
Hamuko sat back and bit her lip. She couldn't let Ken die but she also couldn't let Minato hurt himself like that. "Dammit.." she closed her eyes when Minato's hellish scream reached downstairs again. Only a few hours till the Dark Hour.
"That b-bitch..." Minato breathed out. "Think she can order me around..." he sat back and panted, rage brewing inside of him.
...
"What's the plan?" Jin asked, grabbing Ken by the collar. The younger male was blinded and tied up, all he could do was mutter since Strega had placed a cloth in his mouth to prevent him for calling out to help. "This brat is really getting on my nerves..."
"Why don't we kill him?" Tsukio suggested.
"No, remember, they still have a support persona user," Takaya said. "If we kill him, they might sense it and not come after us. Our objective is to kill the one who has a similar power to Chidori..."
"I understand," Jin nodded.
"Let me finish," Takaya grinned. "Once we find that individual, we will kill both of them."
Jin grinned as well. "What place?"
Takaya breathed out, rubbing his chin as he thought of the perfect place. "Some place where they have no chance of escape.. Hmm..." Takaya walked around his room. "The Tower of Demise." he said seconds later.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes, destroy all the access points so they won't be able to escape," Takaya smiled. "A few of them are dying tonight, no matter what!"
"Yes," Jin and Tsukio nodded.
Takaya looked at the helpless child who was trying to struggle. "Call Theodore and Sho. This requires everyone. Everyone gets a bit of the fun."
...
The Dark Hour hit the world and Fuuka immediately summoned her persona and got to searching for Ken. "..." the rest of the team waited and Minato wasn't along with them. The demented teen had locked himself in his room and refused to come out.
"Tch," Hamuko kept staring at the door, hoping to God that Minato would come walking in but that didn't happen.
"Focus, Hamu-tan," Junpei encouraged. "He'll be fine."
Hamuko nodded slightly.
"They're in Tartarus," Fuuka announced and Shinjiro balled his fist.
"What about Ken? Where is he!?"
"... He's with them," Fuuka sighed. "And he's alive..."
"Tartarus huh?" Shinjiro scoffed. "Let's head there right now."
"No wait, we need a plan," Mitsuru stopped him. "We cannot fight them head on."
"Do it quickly then," Shinjiro spat. "Those bastards might kill Ken if we don't go there soon."
"Tartarus..." Mitsurus started thinking, walking around the command room. "Our biggest advantage is that Strega doesn't know who our support is. Furthermore they cannot detect us... Hmmm..."
"If anyone can think of a plan, its Mitsuru-senpai," Junpei smiled. "Come on senpai, think of something epic."
Mitsuru walked around for 2 more minutes and came back to the team. "This is the best I could come up with..." she took a deep breath. "Yamagishi will stay here... One of you will need to be the persona user that Takaya is looking for..."
The team looked around, exchanging glances.
"I'll do it," Shinjiro said.
"No, not you," Mitsuru sighed. "Takaya knows you are not the one..." she turned around to the rest. "Just this once. Which one of you will volunteer?"
"I'll do it!" Junpei cried.
"I can do it too!" Yukari added.
"I as well," Aigis said.
Mitsuru bit her lip. "Hmmmm," she began thinking again.
"M-Me too," Hamuko said weakly, standing up and joining the rest.
"I don't think Iori and Akihiko are fit for the job," Mitsuru said. "You have fought them head on before, so has Aigis and Hamuko..."
"So what?" Shinjiro growled impatiently.
Mitsuru fixed her gaze on Yukari. "Takeba..."
The brunette gulped as everyone turned to stare at her. "I-I..."
Shinjiro glared at her.
"I'll do it," Yukari nodded.
"I appreciate it," Mitsuru smiled. "You don't have to worry. We'll be right behind you. You need to go alone for a while and once you get Amada, we will launch a surprise attack and hopefully, get out of there."
"You mean by the access point?" Hamuko asked.
"Yes," Mitsuru nodded. "I will say this right now. Split up the moment we meet with up Takeba and Amada. This is dangerous but our only chance. Yamagishi will guide us to an access point and hopefully, we all will come back alive."
"Senpai, what about Minato?" Hamuko asked for the hundredth time.
"... Yamagishi will stay here so it makes sense for Arisato to stay here as well," Mitsuru bit her lip again. "No one can change his mind right now so I suggest we leave him be."
"Let me try once more!"
"No," Mitsuru shook her head. "We're wasting time. He'll be alright, just wait a while, please."
Hamuko's shoulders slumped. "Alright..."
"Well then, shall we head on?" Aigis said, walking towards the door.
Shinjiro was the first one to head out.
Followed by Akihiko.
The rest followed.
...
"I'm tired of waiting," Sho growled."When will Minato come? I bet they're scared!"
"They will come, trust me," Takaya grinned.
"I have something to talk to you about," Sho said. "After this, you and I need to have a talk."
"..."
"Seems strange that you of all people started wearing a hoodie,"
Takaya grinned in return. "Jin, what floor is this?"
"84," the hacker replied.
Takaya looked at the tallest member of the team."Theo, are you completely healed?"
The rouge persona user grinned and nodded, quite eager for the battle.
"Good, you can make that girl scream all you want," Takaya could feel it. Someone was coming.
...
Yukari was shaking. The moment she arrived on the floor, she sensed a butt load of negative energy coming from the other end of the room, she wasn't a support persona user but even she could sense it.
"Takebe, remain calm," Mitsuru said. "We're right behind you. Just grab Amada and call for us, we'll be there."
The brunette nodded.
"Hamuko, are you ready?" Akihiko shook the redhead who snapped out of the trance. "Stop thinking about him right now! Ken needs us."
"I-I'm ready," she said, gripping her naginata tightly.
Yukari took a deep breath and stumbled her way forward. "..." she looked back to see the team hopeful. She had do it. "I-I can..." she took another deep breath and walked forward.
"Keep walking forward," Fuuka directed.
"..."
"And please, please be careful," she pleaded.
Yukari closed her eyes and kept walking as the rest of the team kept following behind her silently.
Takaya smirked when he saw someone coming from the other side of the floor. "And there she comes..." he walked forward, relishing the look of fear that Yukari had. "Please come forward..."
Yukari gulped and shivered when she laid her eyes on Strega. Sho was there. Theo was there. Takaya was there. How the heck were they going to get out of here alive? Minato wasn't here either.
"..." the brunette kept walking. "Ken..." she murmured when her sight fell upon the helpless child lying next to Takaya's feet.
"So she's the one?" Tsukio hummed. "Never saw this bitch battling head on..."
Yukari cringed.
"Are you the one who has a similar power to Chidori?" Takaya asked.
"..."
"Speak up, woman," Jin snapped.
"Y-Yes," Yukari stammered a response. "Ken isn't the one. He's just a kid. I am the one who can sense and detect shadows, not him..."
"Excellent,"
"Let him go," Yukari said slowly. "He's innocent. I'm the one that you wanted, right?"
"Steady..." Akihiko bit his lip. "Come on..."
Sweat dripped down Mitsuru's chin and she quickly wiped it away. "..."
"Dammit," Shinjiro cursed.
"Come on Yukari," Hamuko whispered. "Dammit Minato, why did you have to..."
"Jin," Takaya motioned to the hacker who nodded and ripped away the ropes and fold from Ken, finally freeing the middle-schooler. Ken gaped in shock when he saw Yukari standing opposite to him. "Y-Yukari-san..."
"Get going you brat!" Jin growled, kicking Ken hard in the gut, making him roll forward.
"Ken," Yukari ran forward and crouched down. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yukari-san, he'll kill both of us," Ken whimpered. "Why did you come? This was a trap..."
Yukari heard a click and looked above to see Takaya pointing his revolver at her. "Rest peacefully!"
Mitsuru widened her eyes, looking back at Aigis. "Now!"
Takaya shot three bullets in quick succession, hoping to kill both of them.
"Palladion!"
Yukari shut her eyes, grabbed Ken and backed away as the persona blocked the oncoming bullets that bounced off harmlessly. "I see..." Takaya barred his fangs, he had a feeling this would happen.
In a split second, the rest of SEES came forward, shielding Yukari and Ken as they stood at the front.
"You bastard," Shinjiro spat, glaring at the leader of Strega.
"Wow, the whole lot came along," Tsukio spat. "Well then, time to kill them all."
"Hamuko-sama is there," Theo grinned, glancing at the redhead who looked worried and distressed. She wasn't focused in the slightest.
"Minato isn't there," Sho spat out.
"We meet again," Takaya smiled at the enemies. "We have been meeting a lot recently, haven't we?"
"Just what do you want?" Mitsuru spat.
"You do not need to know now," Takaya reloaded his weapon. "As all of you will be dead in a few minutes. Good riddance."
"Minato isn't here, dammit," Sho snatched the gem from Jin and growled. "Where is that bastard?"
"..."
"Whatever, he's probably in the dorm. I'll go after him. The rest are worthless and weak," Sho spat.
Takaya sighed but didn't object. He actually wanted Sho out of his way. The redhead male smashed the gem next to his feet and disappeared in a puff of green mist.
Mitsuru sighed, that made things a little more easier.
"Minato," Hamuko whispered. "Be safe, please..."
"The rest of us will be more than enough," Takaya looked back at the teenagers.
Mitsuru and Junpei pulled out their swords.
Shinjiro took out his battle axe.
Aigis reloaded her guns and Akihiko pulled on his gloves.
Yukari stood up and grabbed her bow. SEES was ready to battle.
Theo smirked and so did Takaya. There was a huge gap.
"You will die," Takaya promised. "Every access point in this floor is destroyed..."
Mitsuru widened her eyes. "..."
"Rest peacefully,"
"Shit," Hamuko shouted. "Minato! Where the fuck are you!?"
The battle finally started.
...
Minato finally walked down the steps and saw Fuuka in the lounge with her persona. "..." he didn't give a crap and didn't ask her about Hamuko or anyone else.
"M-Minato-kun," Fuuka shivered as she looked at him. Minato's eyes were bloodshot for some reason and he looked mighty pissed.
"Don't want anything worthless," Minato hissed. "Keep your damn mouth shut if you know whats good for you."
"..."
"..."
Someone's coming," Fuuka shrieked seconds later.
"Ugh," Minato walked forward and the door was sent flying, crashing right next to Minato's feet.
"I've found you!" the voice made him cringe in disgust. Sho was here.
"Fuck you!" Minato shouted on the top of his lungs. "You piece of fucking shit! Why don't you leave me the fuck alone!?"
"Heh," Sho stared him down, pulling out his blades.
Minato stumbled forward and projected a sword, lazily taking his stance.
Sho sized him up from head to toe. Minato looked different as well, much like the red haired girl earlier. He wasn't focused, he almost looked bored.
Minato growled. He felt rage but nothing more. No extra drive or motivation.
"Shit!" Minato spat as Sho advanced.
"Shit!" Hamuko spat as Strega advanced.
This was going to be a long night.
Raidou : Hello. Raidou here. I am one of the co writers of this fic. Me, nights and Steve have been reading some of the reviews, and we kinda stopped counting the lemon requests after the 100th one.
No, kidding. But, sorry to say, we won't be writing one. It's just not our style. Sorry. :T Hope you enjoy the rest though.
Steven Cold : Another co-author here and I've read the request for lemons too and sorry to say, none of us have the capability to write a decent lemon. This story isn't about lemons, yes it is romance driven but most of it is action and angst. If we do write one, it will be plenty bad and that kinda kills the story ya know? Sorry again but hope you enjoy the other elements.
Nightly7 : Again, sorry to the people expecting a lemon. We just aren't good at that. :T if anyone wants to volunteer and write once then be my guest, I'll send you a quarter but you'll have to take care of the shipping charges.
Jokes aside, sorry for the wait, had to think of a believable plan and well, SEES is bleeped and maybe Minato is too.
This was just a trailer, things will get far more brutal in the coming chapters and get ready for a death in the coming chapter.
Thank you so much for the support, you have no idea what it does for motivation. Keep them coming.
Hope you enjoyed and see you guys later.