Minato and Sho clashed weapons in the middle of the bridge again, occasioning more vicious streaks of multi-coloured sparks that danced around the blades.
Sho dug his feet into the ground and pushed forward, hoping to push Minato to his back foot but the blunet didn't budge and only responded with pressure of his own.
Sho stumbled momentarily but ended up grinning again. Minato's strength was astounding since he was fully healed. The redhead inched his head forward and gave another competitive grin. "Oh, that makes my blood run hot."
Minato scoffed and disengaged.
Sho backtracked and swung his blades around. "That's it Minato, give me all you've got!"
"You can't handle all of it," Minato mocked.
"We'll have to see about that," Sho crouched down and rolled his shoulders. "I love new challenges."
Minato snorted. Sho seemed a little different.
The redhead shot like a bullet for Minato who took his stance. Sho jumped up and rolled in mid-air, swinging his blades at a furious pace as he came crashing down right down on Minato.
Minato bit his lip; he could feel the air pressure from the attack.
Minato timed the blades and brought his sword up at the last second, stopping Sho's blades just inches away from his face.
"Heh," Sho chuckled, pushing downward. "Think I can handle it?."
Minato pushed Sho back who shot ahead in the next second, bolting across Minato with a slight swipe of his sword. Sho ended up behind Minato with his back turned.
Minato felt a sharp pain on his cheek. He touched the spot and ran his finger across the fresh wound.
Sho turned back and rolled his shoulders again. "First blood…"
Minato shook slightly as more blood trickled down his cheek. "Huh…" he whipped around and eyed the redhead with a cold glare.
"That's the look," Sho said. That was the look of the angry demon that took him to the limit. "Come on, you freak!"
Minato licked the blood off his finger-tips and bolted.
With a collective shout, Minato and Sho clashed their swords with every bit of the energy they had in their system occasioning another show of furious sparks.
Minato pulled back and lunged in with a straight stab that Sho sidestepped.
The taller male responded with a downward slash that missed Minato by inches. The blunet came back with a punch that Sho evaded and retaliated with another swipe just when Minato rebounded and threw another strike.
The two attacks landed. Sho was hit in the middle of his nose but his blade managed to graze Minato's chest.
"Ugh," Minato shrugged off the pain and shot ahead again, firing off slashes and forcing Sho backwards.
Sho blocked and parried Minato's single blade with his twin swords but every collision was making his wrists shake and he loved it.
This was what he was waiting for.
Sho shot forward with a straight stab that Minato ducked underneath and aimed his sword for the redhead's legs.
Sho jumped over the blade but Minato ran right into him, shoving his shoulders up Sho's solar plexus. The scarred male coughed out and Minato sent him crashing to the ground with a right.
Minato wasted no second and pounced on Sho, ready to slice his throat but his foe saw it coming and quickly rolled out of the way. The blunet didn't stop and stalked forward, delivering a kick up Sho's gut that sent him crashing into a nearby car.
"Nice…" Sho got up and rubbed his chin. His punches were more powerful than before.
Minato shook his head and started pressuring him again, much to Sho's excitement. "Yeah! Keep coming forward, don't make me do it!"
"I'm not the weakling that you fought last time," Minato evaded a stab and retorted with a slash that Sho blocked.
"Ugh," Sho pushed Minato backwards who quickly closed the distance with a series of overhand slashes before coming inches away and uncorking a spinning slash.
Sho grunted in pain as the blade managed to graze his shoulder.
"Piece of shit!" Sho cursed and kicked Minato in the gut, sending the shorter male a few inches up.
"Heh," Minato responded with a smirk as he grabbed Sho's leg and simply tossed the redhead into the nearby car. Sho landed with his head meeting the hood of the car and collapsed to the ground.
"Damn, he threw me like a toy," Sho growled.
Minato hovered over him, ready to end his life but Sho cupped his ankle and tripped Minato face-first into the vehicle as well.
"Shit," Minato cursed, rubbing his face.
Sho slithered away and gained distance again.
Minato turned around and cleaned the blood on his face. Crashing into the car further worsened the wound on his cheek. "I'm going to mutilate you for this!"
"Do your worst!" Sho grinned.
Minato bolted and Sho braced himself.
…
"Finally, it's down!" Akihiko cried as the gigantic shadow finally crashed down after the team destroyed the three statues.
"Talk about a boss battle," Junpei gave out a sigh and summoned his persona.
Hermes darted towards the shadow but was blown backwards when the monstrosity pounded on the ground, invoking a wave of energy that crashed into the members of SEES.
"Crap," Hamuko blocked it by shifting her weight to one-side but her arm took the brunt of the attack. "Is everyone alright?"
"Yukari-san is injured," Fuuka informed.
Hamuko signalled to Aigis who quickly ran off towards the brunette.
The shadow roared again, punching the ground and calling out smaller shadows to the battlefield.
Hamuko sighed. Minato had trained her kicks but against such a large target they were useless. "Everyone summon, blast those things to pieces!"
"Hades!" Hamuko summoned and let out a grin as the lord of the underworld materialized on the battlefield, freezing the smaller shadows in their place.
The rest of the teens summoned as well and this time, the massive shadow crawled a step or two backwards.
…
Minato dug his knee up Sho's gut and nearly knocked him head off with a brutal punch. The redhead stumbled backwards, barely blocking Minato's relentless slashes.
"Ugh," Sho got grazed on his sides and arms, forcing him to retreat further but unlike last time, Minato wasn't letting him catch his breath, he was continually pressing forward with a shit eating grin on his face.
"Damn," Sho crossed his blades and ran ahead for the demented bluenet.
Minato weaved through the attack and spun around to crack Sho in the middle of his nose again. "Come on!"
Sho stumbled backwards with a grunt of pain.
"Sho me your moves!" Minato yelled, widening the psychotic smile on his face.
Sho widened his eyes and then narrowed them to slits.
"Don't tell me the Sho is over," Minato scoffed with the same smile on his face.
"…" Sho remained silent.
"Sho-rely you can do better,"
"You son of a bitch," Sho took a step forward, beyond pissed at the 'jokes' coming from Minato. "I'm going to cut your tongue to pieces for this."
"All fun and games," Minato said. "Do you really think I'm being serious here?"
Sho growled. "Don't you dare toy around with me!"
"Show me then something and I'll take this more seriously," Minato shrugged. "Where is the hard work you put into your training? You fool, the answer is in front of you, just accept the goddamn truth."
Sho hissed and ran forward, holding his swords at his sides.
Minato crouched down and gauged the timing.
Sho got into striking distance to unleash a cross-slash but Minato let out a grin and yelled, invoking a blast of blue mist that made Sho halt.
"Hahahaha," Minato let out a cold laugh as the temperature plummeted. Sho bit his lip as Minato summoned his persona, the red serpent that he so occasionally used. "This is my old personae. I've gained a ton of new ones."
Sho panted.
"Give it up," Minato called off Samael and let out a sigh. "Stop being a child and go away."
Sho lifted his head up and smiled again. "Perfect!"
"Huh?" Minato narrowed his eyes.
Sho took a deep breath and pulled out another sword from the sheath on his back. It was a lot shorter than his other two swords but Minato knew for a fact it was just as sharp as the others.
"I have my own tricks as well," Sho said.
"What? Going to throw that at me and hope for an opening?"
"You have no idea," Sho tightened the hold around the two blades in his hands and placed the hilt of the third sword into his mouth. He bit hard on the handle and grinned again.
Minato raised a brow. Sho was seriously going to fight with a sword in his mouth?
"Pathetic," Minato spat. "This is your training?"
Sho shook his head and took his stance. "L-Let me show you." It was a little difficult to speak because of the hilt between his jaws but Sho was content on letting his swords do the talking for him.
Minato snorted and rushed forward with his single. His first objective was to knock the third sword away and break Sho's teeth. "Stupid boy, the battlefield is no place for these stupid games."
"Games!?" Sho yelled and met his charge head on. "T-This is no fucking game!"
Minato got within striking distance and aimed a wild slash for Sho's neck.
"Hmph," the redhead cocked his head to the side and blocked Minato's blade with the sword in his mouth, much to Minato's surprise.
"What?" Minato was sure that the clash was going to send the blade flying but it was still in Sho's mouth.
"Heh," Sho gave a lopsided grin and pushed Minato's sword back.
Minato was ready to rush in again but the little shove managed to leave his upper body open and Sho capitalized on it with a cross-slash that ripped through his cloth and flesh.
"Gack!" Minato gave out a small scream of pain but immediately went to the defensive as Sho shot like a bullet and pushed forward with a straight slash.
Minato blocked it with his sword and weaved through the second one.
"Ugh," he couldn't block the third sword and suffered another cut on his arms.
Sho took the chance and kicked the shorter male right in the gut, sending him backwards with another grunt. The redhead closed the distance and started unloading with his three swords, firing out hundreds of slashes in a couple of seconds.
Minato was forced to dodge and evade, he couldn't even think of attacking because Sho was relentless, handling the third sword just as well as the ones in his grip.
"Shit!" Minato suffered another cut on his chest, it wasn't deep and he pulled back just enough to avoid a fatal stab but the pain was still there.
"Come on!" Sho roared as he spun around and came crashing down onto Minato with all three swords.
Minato blocked the hit and fell to his knees after the collision.
The blunet kicked Sho's legs and rolled away from another low-swipe of his sword.
Sho ran ahead and kept throwing wild slashes and short kicks, pushing Minato backwards.
Minato growled and shot ahead, aiming his own attack but Sho blocked it with his single sword and spun around, slashing Minato on the shoulder with his third sword and cutting up his leg with the one in his hand.
"Fuck!" Minato cursed and backed away, rubbing the wounds to ease the stinging.
"See?" Sho said through clenched teeth. "This is hard work!"
Minato smirked slightly. "This is new, Sho. This is definitely new."
Sho grunted and readied himself for another assault. The battle was far from over.
Minato took a deep breath and projected another sword into his other palm. "I admit, you are an amazing swordsman…." he crossed the blades and let out another crazed grin. "But I'm not too bad either."
Sho bit hard on the third sword. This only got more interesting.
The two ran for each other again and collided in the middle of the bridge.
"Ugh," Minato's blood spilled to the ground but the psychotic teenager ended up grinning once more.
Sho looked at his reflection on Minato's blade and was not surprised to see himself grinning like a madman as well.
…
SEES were having a little bit of difficulty with the gigantic shadow. None of them were seriously injured but the goddamn shadow barely stood still and was too large to attack with weapons.
The only thing effective was Aigis' bullets and she rained them down with caution because her team mates had to close in on the shadow to summon their persona.
"Damn thing!" Junpei cursed as the shadow flew up again after summoning the elemental statues.
"Are you getting tired?" Mitsuru asked.
"Me?" Junpei grinned. "Not at all. I've got more than enough left in the tank!"
"I see the shadow is tiring," Aigis observed as she readied her guns again.
"Makes sense, he's been summoning those little pests since the beginning," Hamuko groaned and held her sword up. "Come on, keep attacking the damn thing. We can do this!"
"What about Minato?" Yukari asked, looking over to Fuuka.
"…. He's struggling," Fuuka said slowly. "Sho is giving him a hard time."
Junpei looked at Hamuko and Mitsuru for orders.
"He'll be fine," Hamuko assured them with a wave of her hand. "Trust me."
"Are you sure?" Ken asked. "Maybe two of us can go and help him?"
"If anyone of us goes there to help him, he'll go on another rampage," Hamuko faced the statues again. "Those two need a talk, a long talk because the two are more similar than they think…"
"Huh," Akihiko mused and ended up chuckling. "I can see where you are coming from."
"Focus on the shadow then," Mitsuru drew up her evoker again. "I have full faith in Arisato's abilities to beat Sho and come back and help us."
"Nah, we won't need him this time," Junpei smirked, looking over at Hamuko. "Right, Hamu-tan?"
"Indeed," Hamuko nodded. "Get ready everyone, it's coming again!"
The shadow roared and the statues started firing off the elemental spells.
…
"Shit, shit, shit," Minato was again on his back-foot, getting cut up and kicked by the rangier and taller Sho who kept pushing forward with slick slashes and closed the distance with quick footwork.
Minato ducked underneath the third sword and ran forward.
Sho saw it coming and ripped through his stomach with the swords in his grip.
Minato whipped around as Sho came rushing forward, swinging all three swords.
Minato cross-blocked the three blades with his dual words, occasioning more sparks between the point of contact.
Sho soon pushed Minato away and spun around like a tornado.
Minato hurriedly blocked the three sword slash and was blown backwards by the impact. "Wow, didn't expect this…"
Sho came running forward with his three blades.
Minato shot at the precise moment, weaving through the three swords and cutting open a small cut on Sho's stomach which caused the redhead to growl and smash the hilt of the sword right in the middle of Minato's neck, throwing the blunet forward.
Minato got up and laughed. "Damn, this one is tough."
Sho panted, his gums were bleeding due to the pressure on the hilt of the sword in his mouth. He could taste his own blood and unsurprisingly, it brought a thrill to him.
"Come on, bring everything you've got," Minato dared him, readying his blades again. "I'm far from beaten. This is just the beginning."
Sho's eyes lit up. "Fuck yeah!" crossing the two swords at his chest, Sho shot forward in a zigzag pattern towards the wild card who let out a deep breath and dug one sword into the sword.
Sho growled and bolted, tightening the grip around his blades.
Minato pumped a power-charge into his arms and spat out a blob of blood. "Just one second…"
Sho got within the pocket and unleashed a cross slash and a horizontal swipe from the blade in his mouth. Minato saw the blades aligning behind one another and grinned.
Minato let out a laugh and readied his own strike.
Sho was stopped in his tracks when Minato blocked the first blade with the tip of his sword, rendering Sho motionless in the middle of his attack. The three swords were lined up against each other as they were blocked by Minato's single blade.
"What the…" Sho tried to power out but Minato quickly dug the second blade out of the sword and gashed Sho on the chest as hard as he could.
Sho let out a yell and quickly backed away to nurse the gash on his gut.
Minato stepped and unloaded his own slashes with dual swords, catching Sho by surprise and cutting him up further.
Sho regained his wits and weaved the through the next one. He quickly found an opening and spun around with the three blades before forcing Minato back on the defensive.
"Shit," Minato growled and pressured forward. "Enough backing away!"
"That's the spirit!"
The blades clashed constantly as the two persona user kept pressing forward with slashes and stabs, neither of them was in the mood to back off at this point.
Minato was getting gashed and picked apart with kicks as Sho kept kicking his ribs from range as he unloaded innumerable slashes with his three blades but despite that…. Minato was starting to like it.
Finally finding an opening, Minato bobbed through the swords and cracked Sho on the nose again.
Sho came right back and the two went back to trading slashes under the full moon.
"Where are your bonds!?" Sho demanded. His mouth was starting bleed but he was least concerned.
"Right here with me," Minato whiffed on a long slash and responded with a kick up Sho's ribs.
"Ugh," Sho shrugged it off, eyes widening in hate and rage. "Weakling!" he aimed another diagonal-cross slash that Minato blocked with the same technique from earlier.
Minato smashed the hilt onto Sho's face and followed it up by a slash that narrowly missed his eye.
"Tch," Sho spun around once more, cutting Minato by the tip of his swords.
Minato took a single step back and got within the pocket again.
The two disengaged momentarily and got back to slashing and parrying each other.
"Hard work," Minato spat as he blocked one blade and kicked the other one, leaving Sho wide open for a few moments.
"That's right!" Sho shot ahead with another tri-attack that Minato sidestepped.
"Bullshit," Minato ducked underneath the slash and came up with a uppercut to Sho's chin that wobbled the redhead slightly. "Do you think I just sit on my ass?!"
"Ugh," Sho was forced backwards as Minato came forward with slashes.
"I've never busted my ass like this," Minato grunted in pain as the blade barely missed his neck. "Do you know why!?"
"Because of your bond!?" Sho roared. "Bullshit!"
"Heh," Minato smirked as he parried the two blades and head-butted Sho before he could attack with the third one.
The force sent the redhead backwards.
"You remind me of someone Sho,"
Sho yelled out in rage and shot like a bullet for Minato.
Minato readied his blades. "Yes, no wonder I don't hate you as much as those bastards…"
"Shut up!" Sho yelled as he swung his blades around, wanting to cut Minato to tiny pieces.
Minato swallowed the shallow cuts and responded with his own strikes, producing more sparks between their blades.
"You and I are nothing like!" Sho pulled back and went back to pressuring Minato again.
"When I first arrived here, I was just like you," Minato found the opening but didn't stab Sho, he merely kicked him away.
Sho regained footing and growled.
"Bonds are bullshit and for the weak," Minato rubbed his wounds, he was covered in blood but still had a lot left in him.
"Grr,"
"I was just as stubborn as you are right now," Minato recalled.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Sho yelled and ran forward at lightning speed.
Minato blocked and parried all his attacks and responded with short punches and kicks that forced Sho backwards but he kept coming forward, determined to shut the blunet up for good.
Minato found the opening a lot easier this time, partly due to the fact that Sho was getting reckless and wild with his attacks.
"Wake up, you fool," Minato jumped up and punched Sho to the ground. The redhead quickly got up to see Minato shaking his head at him. "Don't be afraid to bond with others."
"Shut your fucking mouth!"
Minato got pissed and punched Sho to the ground again.
"I can see it in your eyes," Minato looked deep into his cold, grey eyes. "Fighting is all you know, right?"
Sho pulled on his hair. "Quiet!"
"I'll fight and beat your ass much as you want," Minato spat. "Come on you son of a bitch, you can only understand people by fighting them, right?"
"Fight me and understand what it means to have someone pushing you!"
Sho growled and his eyes started to shine.
Minato widened his eyes and took a step back. "Huh…"
Minazuki quickly placed the third blade into his mouth and stood up with a cold expression plastered on his face. "Minato Arisato…"
Minato blew his fringe up. "Oh right, you two are a couple." for the first time ever, Minato was determined to help someone other than Hamuko.
Sho was indeed similar to him. He wasn't as cold as he used to be, but those ideals, the thirst for power, that thrill that made him grin like a devil during battles, it was so familiar.
Minazuki ignited the two blades with flames and stared Minato down.
"Ready for round two?" Minato smirked as he licked the blood off his lips.
Minazuki gave a grunt, holding the burning swords at his sides, ready to slash and burn Minato to ashes. Minazuki was determined to guard Sho and his ideals, changing them would take hell of a lot more.
Minato came rushing in and was forced backwards with the swing of the flaming swords. "Huh," the blunet ducked underneath a long slash and came up with a slash that Minazuki blocked with the blade in his mouth.
"Sho is not over, huh?"
Minazuki smirked and pushed Minato backwards.
"Thanatos!" Minato yelled as he finally summoned the Death God who materialized on the battlefield with a mighty roar of dread and hate.
"Come on," Minato dared. "Summon your persona; I know you can use it."
Minazuki crossed his blades and hung his head. "Tsukiyomi…"
Minato felt the rush of power and grinned. Thanatos just got his dance partner. "Good…"
The lunar God hovered above Minazuki who gave a death stare to the blunet.
"You aren't stopping me," Minato shot ahead with his persona behind him.
Minazuki met his charge head on.
"Ugh," there was a sick collision of steel against steel, persona against persona which occasioned a shockwave and several small embers of flames that spread across the bridge rapidly.
Minato looked above to see Tsukiyomi and Thanatos locked in a struggle. He focused his attention back on the scarred redhead who was glaring harshly at him.
"Sho!" Minato yelled at him. "Don't be a bitch!"
Minazuki growled and pushed forward.
Minato felt the burn all over his body as Tsukiyomi kept trying to overpower his persona.
"Sho!" Minato yelled out his name again. "Listen to me, you piece of shit!" the ignited blades were burning him at close range but Minato was determined to save someone else, he was determined to save Sho.
The two personae started fading away but Minato and Minazuki willed them back onto the battlefield.
"Megidola!" the two shouted in unison.
A brutal explosion of almighty energy followed the commands. Thanatos and Tsukiyomi unleashed the spells at point blank, forming a sphere of purplish force for a few seconds which soon exploded and caused the bridge to rumble violently.
Minato was blown backwards, crashing into a nearby car. "Grr.."
Minazuki was smashed into the railings. "Tch…" he got up and readied himself for more. Igniting his blades and biting hard on the hilt, Minazuki shot ahead for Minato who waged a finger.
The collision of blades made the flames swirl around the two persona users.
Minato hurriedly avoided the forward stab of the flaming sword and kicked Minazuki away to switch to a fire resistant persona. "Should have fused a Null Persona…" he lamented.
Minazuki came right back with more slashes that forced Minato backwards.
"Shit!" Minazuki broke through Minato's defence and smashed his one sword to pieces by a tri-attack.
Minato twirled the single sword around and backed away to create space as Minazuki came raging forward with more burning slashes.
Minato gripped his sword with two hands and parried the oncoming slashes with equal ferocity, spitting hellfire around the two teenagers.
Minato kept parrying the slashes and started yelling. "You aren't going to talk, huh?"
Minazuki breached through and cut open his other cheek.
Minato growled and hammered the redhead to the ground. Minazuki quickly stood up and blocked Minato's slash with his third sword.
"Fine, unlike Sho, I don't need to talk to you," Minato spat. "I'll just beat your ass and make you understand…"
"…" Minazuki gazed hard at the blunet.
"I want that moron to mature like I did,"
Minazuki stopped and Minato bashed his face in with a brutal straight that send the scarred male wobbling backwards.
Spitting out blood and shaking his head, Minazuki and Minato clashed blades again. Two against two.
"Sho!" Minato yelled out the name again.
Minazuki's cold expression finally twitched but it went back to neutral seconds later.
"You thick headed moron," Minato pushed forward and Minazuki replied with his own force. His third sword was still firmly in his mouth.
"I-I'll kill her," Minazuki murmured, hardening Minato's eyes.
"Fuck you!" Minato pushed him backwards and smashed his head onto Minazuki. The redhead could feel it, threatening Hamuko brought out the beast once again.
"…" Minazuki was broken out of his thoughts as Minato kept pushing him backwards.
"You aren't touching her, you goddamn bitch!" Minato growled.
Minazuki finally moved his head and aimed a slash for Minato's head.
"Grr!" Minato inched forward and caught the third blade in his mouth, cutting up his tongue and mouth, much to the shock of the redhead who stood rooted to the spot.
Blood gushed out from the wound in Minato's mouth who gritted his teeth, not minding the gash on his tongue.
"W-What the…" Minazuki muttered. How in hell? Was Minato insane?
Minato finally pulled the third blade away with his bare teeth and tossed it out of the bridge, into the blood red-sea below. Spitting out blood, Minato grinned at the redhead.
"I respect what you've done," Minato complimented. "I thought I'd beat you fairly easily after getting my health back but we're still even…"
"Pushed ourselves to the limit and beyond," Minazuki responded. "We knew this battle would be the greatest."
Minato took a look at his wounds and chuckled. "Congrats…"
Minazuki tossed his other blade to the side, coming even with one sword.
"I swear, if you met me a year ago, you'd tear me apart," Minato said. "Hell, Sho did tear me apart a few weeks ago when I was being a moron…"
"Tch,"
"Listen to me," Minato scowled.
Minazuki shot ahead with a slash but Minato blocked it with his own blade and brought them closer to stare into Minazuki's eyes.
"This will only help him grow," Minato urged with another scowl. "Just grow up and stop being a retard!"
Minazuki pushed him backwards and started to pant. The summoning, the constant pressure and attacks had drained him.
Minato rolled his shoulders. "Even now, I'm thinking of Hamuko. I have to beat you, I have to live through this to see her again."
"S-Shut up," the redhead growled.
"You won't understand it like this," Minato easily parried the forward slash and punched the redhead across the face. Minazuki shrugged it off and ran right into Minato's fist again.
"Ugh," Minazuki kept trying to slash Minato but started coming up short.
"We're completely even but now…" Minato cocked his head to the side and avoided the slash. "I'm going to take control…"
Minazuki spat out blood. "Because of her…"
"I've got something extra, which you don't," Minato easily evaded the slashes from a tired Minazuki and replied with a nasty haymaker that floored the redhead again.
Minato watched him get up. "Damn, this is hard but I've learned…. So will you."
Minazuki grew silent.
"If fighting is all you know, then keep fighting," Minato said, looking up at the skies. "Keep fighting to know people better, keep fighting to bond with other people…."
"Minato…" Minazuki whispered as the blunet stood a few yards away from him.
"This is for Sho," Minato replied. "Isn't protecting him your highest priority?"
"Stop making him suffer all alone," Minato spat. "He's suffering and I know that all too well…"
"Hmph!" Minazuki braced himself and yelled on top of his lungs, invoking a red wave of energy that swirled like him as he summoned his persona one more time.
Minato invoked a wave of darkness as Thanatos emerged from his soul again. "Hopefully, this teaches you…" he sighed. "You beat the shit outta me Minazuki but you know I'm winning this…"
"…"
"Like it or not, bonds keep you going," Thanatos gave out a roar behind him, causing Tsukiyomi to fade momentarily. "It is for the weak just so they can grow…"
The two personae hovered over their users, ready for the final clash in the long, bloody battle.
Minazuki gave another smirk.
Minato responded with his signature smirk.
The two readied their swords and braced for the finale of the long rivalry. Minato knew this was over, he only hoped that all the battling, all the signs, and all the words got to Sho so he could get out the darkness.
Minato hoped that he could pull Sho out of the darkness…
"Just like Hamuko pulled me out," Minato breathed out.
Minazuki crouched down and ran for the demented teenager.
Minato thought of Hamuko and Pharos and met the charge head on.
"This is over!" Minato yelled out as the personae came closer and closer.
Minato's face stopped just inches away from Minazuki's. The disgusting scar on his face momentarily started to glow a pale blue color. "Heh…."
"Ugh…"
There was a sickening sound of metal against metal and a bestial roar of pain that was heard all over the bridge.
…
Hamuko widened her eyes and looked back with a gasp, finding the other side of the bridge up in flames.
"Hamuko," Akihiko called out to her, fearing the worst. "W-What's wrong?"
"Is Minato okay?" Junpei asked worriedly.
Hamuko's expression twitched slightly and she kept staring back, not minding the shadow.
"Should we head over there?" Ken asked.
Hamuko's dead expression melted into a proud smile. "No. Minato won…" she widened the grin. "He did it…"
Junpei looked back at the near-dead shadow. "Awesome. Better kill this thing before he comes here."
Hamuko faced the shadow again who gave out a roar of pain. "Indeed…" the redhead pressed the evoker to her temple again.
"Persona!" the rest shouted in unison one more time.
…
Minato grunted in pain while holding his gut. The final attack managed to rip through most of the flesh on his stomach. He staggered forward and hovered over Sho was beaten and burned from the attack.
"You piece of shit…" Minato growled and looked down at his stomach. "Look what you did to me…."
Sho kept staring at the moon, not minding Minato.
"Tch," Minato held his blade up.
Sho didn't blink as Minato stabbed the blade right next to his face, missing it by mere centimetres. "I still hate you, in case you're wondering…"
"Fuck off," Sho snarled.
"But I'm not going to kill you," Minato scoffed. "Like it or not, you're going to change."
Sho forced himself up and grabbed his broken sword. "I-I'm not done yet…" he took a deep breath. "The answer is still not clear to me…"
"I'm going to keep testing this theory, in a way you probably won't like but I don't care," Sho spat.
Minato shrugged. "Keep fighting. You'll get your ass kicked until you realize it."
Sho spat out blood and turned on his heels. He limped forward, leaving Minato alone on the bridge. "Good luck with Takaya…"
"That goddamn bastard…"
"He's immortal and all but…." Sho blew a raspberry. "You'll get around it…. Whatever…"
"Sho," Minato called out to him, making the redhead stop.
The scarred male turned around and saw Minato giving him another faint smile.
"You're a tough bastard," Minato complimented.
Sho responded with his usual grin. He gave the blunet a two finger salute as a thank you for the hellacious battle. The battle that he always wanted….
SMASH!
Sun Arcana Rank 1.
Turning around once more, Sho lumbered his way forward, eventually disappearing from Minato's view.
Minato let out a deep breath and collapsed to the ground. Minazuki got him good, even during the last exchange; he managed to gash Minato up. Thankfully, he was able to move a couple of inches away to save his heart.
"Minato!" he heard the shout and sighed in relief. Seemed like the wusses managed to do their job by protecting Hamuko and defeating the shadow.
"Hey," Minato gave them thumbs up as the members of SEES came running towards him. They looked happy, despite being unsure of what was going to happen, they looked relieved after beating such a huge shadow.
Hamuko crouched down and winced. "He sure did a number on you…"
"Yeah," Minato sighed out. "Hopefully, this heart to heart talk had an effect on him…"
"I know, the Dark Hour might still remain but dammit, we just kicked ass!" Junpei cheered. "We need a party for this, senpai!"
"Yes, party for me," Hamuko agreed.
"Yes, party for Hamuko," Minato scowled at the heiress.
Mitsuru chuckled. "Alright, you all deserve it."
"I want shrimps!" Yukari raised her hands.
"I want eels!" Fuuka said.
"I want the goddamn intestines of every punk that stood outside Hamuko's room a few days ago," Minato growled. "And I want them roasted!"
Hamuko sighed. "Calm down, Minato. I want no conflict for a few days at least…"
Minato sighed and got up. "I'm a sadistic asshole but I can get behind that too."
"Well done guys," Akihiko held out his hand. "I know as long as we're a team, we'll get through this."
"For sure," Mitsuru chuckled and placed her hand on top of the boxer's.
"Damn right!" Junpei did the same.
Yukari did followed.
Fuuka did was next.
Aigis smiled and joined them.
Ken did so after standing on his toes.
Hamuko grinned and placed her hand at the top. "I know we will…" she looked at the side to see Minato standing with his arms crossed. "Hey Minato, come on."
"Do you really think I'll do something as cheesy as this?" Minato scowled.
"For me?" Hamuko smiled.
"Shit," Minato walked forward and placed his hand on top of Hamuko. He gave it a little squeeze and smiled as well. "Well done punks, you guys have grown and I respect that."
The team shared a smile underneath the yellow moon.
SMASH!
Fool Arcana Rank 9.
Minato blinked. That was new… but for some reason; it didn't disgust him like it did before.
Hamuko blinked. Minato didn't pass out or scream like the previous full moons for some reason. But as she looked at the blunet smiling slightly, Hamuko was content with him being like this. He had come a long way.
The team went back to the dorm and slept after a tough mission.
"Brother…" Pharos hovered over Minato's sleeping frame and his head started to pound. "Ugh…" he held onto his head and faded away.
Minato turned around on his bed and slipped into a deep slumber once again.
Phew, another long ass chapter with a long ass battle. I know, I should have shown the shadow battle more but it kinda broke the flow. Sho's battle was more important because character dev and what not (not to mention it was an easier battle to write) hoped you enjoyed it because Sho turned into goddamn Zoro with his three sword style! \o/
As usual, thank you for the reviews (and the well wishes, I'm alright now, thanks a bunch) will keep writing for you wonderful peeps, just keep motivating us, means a ton.
Kinda tired right now and my co-author isn't available to I'll clear the typos later... till then, hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading.