Possibly the worst injury in the story and that's saying something. Just a warning, my violent, sadistic buddies!

"Minato, stop!" Akihiko shouted with all his might, hoping that his voice would reach the blunet who was ahead of them. He really wasn't keen on battling the shadow but it seemed like he had to.

"Seems like he's possessed or something," Junpei said during the run. "I don't get it, why the heck is he doing this!?"

Akihiko thought back to the chaos that happened inside his room. "Remember he was hurting himself back in his room…"

"Damn, we need to keep him tied up the next time," Junpei looked back, cursing out loud when he saw Mitsuru running behind them, and Hamuko was nowhere to be found. "And what is wrong with Hamuko!?"

Akihiko bit his lip. "I don't know…." he had no answer for that.

Minato stumbled his way over to his shadow and collapsed to his knees, bowing his head low. The shadow smirked as he walked over to the broken teenager who didn't budge an inch, despite knowing that hell was coming to him.

"Good boy…" the shadow whispered, lifting his head up back grabbing a fistful of his hair. He stared into Minato's vacant eyes, not paying attention to the sorrow and guilt. "Too late to repent now, boy…"

"Too late to ask for forgiveness,"

"…"

"Because let me remind you, you never forgave anyone either, why should you be any different!?" he spat in his face, ripping away his bandages and hurling Minato to the ground. He towered over the injured teenager and started stomping his wounds, twisting and turning his foot against as hard as he could.

"Does this seem familiar to you, Minato?" the shadow asked and the tears stared to leak from the wild card beneath him. He had to energy to scream anymore but the shadow's words triggered another memory inside of his psyche, another sin that he had committed without remorse.

"HEY!" Akihiko shouted at the darkened teenager. "Back off, now!"

"Oh, so you came again," the shadow said, not removing his foot from Minato's body. "Are you here to save him?"

"Damn right," Junpei spat, pulling out his evoker.

The shadow eyed the three and a snicker escaped his lips. "Where is Hamuko?" he asked, looking around to make sure. He wasn't worried about the broken female but her not being there brought him joy.

"…" Mitsuru kept quiet. She had no answer to that….

The shadow took in a deep breath. "I think my words got to her…." he declared with a large smile on his face. "My words ended up reaching her and she realized that this piece of shit isn't worth fighting for anymore."

"Shut up!" Junpei shouted.

"Hear that, boy?" the shadow said, grinning down at Minato's frame. "Hamuko of all people has abandoned you."

More tears escaped his eyes and the team could definitely hear a faint 'Hamuko' coming from Minato who sunk further into the dirt, the words clearly having an effect on him, worsening the guilt inside of his chest.

"That's…" Junpei cringed. He knew Minato was listening to the talk. Those words were definitely painful to hear, especially considering all that he had done for the redhead.

"When will you learn?" the shadow said. "You should learn by now and follow Hamuko, leave him alone and carry on with your lives, there is no point is wasting your blood to save someone who is dammed for the rest of his life."

"1…2…3, now!" Akihiko shouted, running towards the shadow at full speed. Junpei quickly followed him, drawing out a sigh from the shadow. He stepped in front of Minato and welcomed the charge; they would be perfect as examples.

Blade fist and sword was simultaneously drilled into his body but like before, the shadow never flinched, only smirked at the two like Minato used to, rather, the way he smirked at the two during his time in Strega, during their battles. Same shit eating grin and the same look in his eyes, a crude mixture of dread and bloodlust that unnerved the two, just like it before.

"Does this scene remind you of something?" the shadow asked, still not paying attention to the metal lodged inside his body. "Do I really need to remind the atrocities he has committed against you two?"

Junpei pulled out his sword from the darkened body and aimed a swing for his neck which did nothing again.

Mitsuru ran ahead and the two males back off, only to crowd the shadow once Mitsuru joined them. The three punched, kicked, hacked and slashed the shadow with their fists and weapons but the shadow just stood there in the middle, taking the blows with no pain.

"You can't something that you cannot comprehend," the shadow whispered, smirking and laughing at their attempts, the same cruel laugh that they had heard so many times before. Everything about the shadow reminded them of the old Minato and the crimes that he had committed. His facial expressions, his smirk, his laughs, nearly everything, the shadow was just like him, only more brutal and sadistic because he cared for no one, not even Hamuko.

The shadow fired back after a few more minutes, breaking their bones and breaking their weapons with utmost of ease. He easily pummeled the three and tossed them far away with a scoff. "The fact you came to save him, despite nursing so many injuries pisses me off to no end…. You are wasting time in the worst possible way, you are coming in my way, this is the ultimate noble deed, punishing a demon such as Minato."

"He is no demon," Mitsuru scowled. "The only demon here is you!"

"Stupid bitch," the shadow spat.

"No demon sheds tears like he did," Mitsuru stood up. "I'll never forget when he reached out to me in my time of greatest need, despite all that I did to him…."

"I'll never forget what he did for Shinji, try to remember that, if you can't see good in that then fuck you," Akihiko spat.

"I have the most reasons to be pissed at him," Junpei said. "But I agree with senpai, a demon doesn't shed tears like he did."

"Fools!" the shadow screeched, forcing the three to clasp their ears shut because the sound was deafening. "What about the people he has hurt and killed? What about the children he has orphaned? What about the females he has ruined!? What about them!?"

"What about you!?" Mitsuru countered. "Don' think of yourself as a saint, I can see it in your eyes, you are rotten and demented to the core, who are you to punish him!?"

The shadow didn't respond and simply summoned his persona to discharge another powerful wave of almighty energy that sent the three crashing to the ground in pain. "Now, do not interfere…" he warned as he turned around and started mauling Minato against the ground.

"Minato…" Mitsuru cringed, not able to get herself off the ground. "Curse this…" why was he doing this? He was just staring lifelessly at the sky as the shadow kept beating him to death. Why did he follow the shadow and why was he just taking this….?

"Shit, I can't get up…." Akihiko cursed, looking away from the senseless slaughter. "Minato, run!" he was going to die at this rate, right in front of their eyes and there was nothing they could do anymore-

"HEY!" the voice instilled some confidence into the beaten members of SEES but as Hamuko quickly ran into their view, the two gritted their teeth upon the expression on her face. Hamuko wanted nothing to do with the whole ordeal and that sickened each of them.

The redhead looked ahead and it one glance for her to break down and collapse to her knees. Minato was absolutely battered and the lifeless eyes and dead expression further cracked her. She quickly looked away with tears streaming down her face. She couldn't handle being in the same area, not with the nauseating smell of Minato's blood.

"Oh, you came, Hamuko," the shadow spoke, turning around to face her with another smile. "Are you here to join me in punishing him?"

"What are you!?" Hamuko shouted at him, still looking at the ground. "What the hell do you want!? I've suffered enough!"

"You know what…." the shadow thought for a few seconds. "…. Call me Makoto…"

"That name…." Hamuko bit her lip. Minato had told her, Makoto was the name of his father.

"Yes, the name of his father," the shadow confirmed. "I remember him saying that he wouldn't tolerate a criminal in his family and that is exactly what he became…."

"The least I can do for him is use his name because I'm sure his father would have punished his son just like I'm doing…"

"You leave him alone…." Hamuko stood up, barely able to hold his gaze. Makoto gazed into her eyes, delighted to see the fear and hesitation swirling around. Hamuko loved him for sure and keeping her away from Minato, putting her on the sidelines, making her useless was the best way to torture Minato. He knew Minato was wondering why Hamuko wasn't saving him, despite being broken and devastated, he was still hoping for Hamuko to do something…. And Makoto wanted to deny him that.

"Look at him for fucks' sake!" Junpei shouted. "Look at his face, he's crying!"

Hamuko cringed upon noticing the tears and she swiftly looked away again, turning a blind eye to the horror, much to Junpei's ire. Minato never looked away when she was crying…. So why her!?

"Come on Hamuko, do something," Makoto dared. "You are the only one standing, do something to save him!"

Hamuko shivered, finally looking ahead with puffy red eyes.

"You worthless bitch," Makoto mocked. "You'll do nothing, you never did. You had all the power in the world to punish him, you could kill him in the most brutal way possible and he would have accepted the beating but instead…." he spat out the words. "You pitied him; you felt for him, you felt for a monster such as him! You were so attached to him that you broke down after he left the team!"

"How dare you!?" Makoto continued. "How dare you fall for a demon like him, despite knowing all the crimes he had committed!"

"…" Hamuko remained quiet. She didn't know where to look. She couldn't look at Minato because of the agony and pain but she couldn't look at Makoto either because fear and horror. What the heck was she supposed to do against Makoto, someone who had reduced Minato such a mess? She was powerless and afraid. Makoto was a reminder of the night, he was a reminder to the old Minato which was the trigger to her survivor guilt…. But this time, there was nothing else beside the guilt and dread, the warmth of Minato wasn't there…..

She was afraid of being powerless, afraid of getting close to him because he reeked off the same aura that she felt during the bridge. "Dammit…" she cursed, more tears running down her cheeks. Without the warmth of Minato, Makoto was the very personification of her survivor guilt, he was exactly what Minato had become by taking her place.

"Do something!" Makoto shouted at her again. "You can hurt me Hamuko, the kick you landed, I felt it, it pained me. Only you, you are the only one, do something to help your boyfriend…."

"Just leave him alone!" Hamuko shouted. "I'm begging you!"

"Hahahaha!" Makoto laughed out loud. "Begging for his life? That is a new low, Hamuko."

"Hamuko, what are you doing….?" Akihiko hissed. "Begging for his life? Wake the hell up! Why are you begging someone like him? Kick his ass!"

"Do something…." Makoto widened his eyes, pulling out a small dagger from his pocket. Hamuko pulled back but the shadow merely turned around and looked down at Minato.

"What are you doing?" Hamuko asked, terrified of what was going to come.

"Do something…. Run at me,"

"…"

"3…"

"2…" Hamuko finally ran at him but it was too late.

"1…" Makoto released a savage laugh towards the heavens and brought his blade down at full force, stabbing Minato in his right eye which opened up a shower of blood.

"Minato!" Junpei cried out in horror. His eye! The bastard just stabbed him in the goddamn eye and Hamuko was far too late in saving him.

Hamuko collapsed back to the ground mid-way during her run, crying and breaking down in terror as the shadow pulled the blade out of his eye, licking away the blood on the surface with a sick smile on his face. Minato didn't twitch or move but his right eye was gouged, craved inside, busted open for good and there was no healing that, no way.

"Too slow," Makoto shook his head. "This is on you Hamuko, you cost him an eye…."

"No…" Hamuko shook her furiously, barely speaking in a whisper.

"Goddamn you to hell!" Junpei thrashed around and his fury wasn't directed at the shadow this time, he was pissed as fuck at Hamuko for being slow, Minato would have bolted at the very first second. "What did you do!?"

"Minato…." Mitsuru looked away. He was half-blinded for the rest of his life now….

"Minato…" Hamuko simply gave up and hung her head low, the ordeal taking an immense toll on her. Why could she do….?

"Hmph," Makoto kicked Minato into the water, the salty sea that was sure to pain him further. "Come on, save him…"

"…" Hamuko remained silent, not moving or talking anymore. Her eyes were pale and blank, she was done without even taking a single hit.

"The salt water is probably hurting him real bad right now," Makoto supplied with another cruel smile. "Gushing into his lungs, gushing into his open wounds, right into his damaged eye…."

He was pleased to see that Hamuko was still motionless. Her team was yelling/demanding/begging her to get up and jump into the sea. This was not fucking fair, she was spitting on everything that Minato had done for her!

"Get up!" Mitsuru ordered. "You goddamn fool, get up and save him! Is this what you call love!?

"She's done," Akihiko spat. "She's no Minato, she never was…."

"Huh…" Hamuko uttered, still paralyzed in front of the demented shadow who was laughing in glee, cooing over the torture that Minato was going through, his wound were giving him hell, he was sure of it and the water going down his throat was painful because Minato ranked drowning as the most painful death there was.

"You cursed Minato!" Junpei spat. "You killed him!"

Hamuko collapsed face-first against the ground upon those words. "S-Someone please save him…" she begged. "Please…. Save him…."

"There is no one left…." Makoto declared. "He's going to die, unless you stand up-"

"GACK!"

"What the!?" Makoto looked behind to see Minato's body out of the water, supported by someone. "Who dares!?"

Sho spat out the blood from his mouth and hurled Minato out of the water, putting him on the surface once again. He quickly followed him, climbing up the pier and looking down at the battered blunet.

"Sho!?" Akihiko was relieved to see the scarred male. He had saved Minato, the blunet was still breathing but his eye was even worse than before.

"Sho Minazuki?" Makoto said. "Is that really you?" Minato had done so much to him so why was he saving him?!

"Minato?" Sho shook the blunet. "Come on man, wake up! You can't be like this." he pleaded Minato to get up and kick the ass of the bastard who did to him but the blue haired male was still lifeless, not responding to his calls.

"Shit," Sho spat out, glaring at Makoto. "How dare you…."

"This is asinine," Makoto shook his head. "Here is your chance to get him for everything he has done to you but you are saving him!?"

"Shut your mouth," Sho warned.

Makoto lost it and lunged forward with a stab. Sho quickly grabbed Minato and jumped to the side to save him from the attack. "Tch…" he quickly backed off, hissing at the teenagers to get up.

"Sho, thank you…." Hamuko said from behind.

"You goddamn fool," Sho spat out in utmost hatred. "Is this your bond with him, huh!?"

"I…."

The three stood up and Sho jerked his head over to the direction of the dorm. "I was hoping for a miracle, hoping that you'd stand up despite everything and kick the shit out of him for doing this to someone you love…."

Sho rested Minato carefully on the ground and growled. "Just like Minato beat the shit out of Theo for what he did to you."

Hamuko sucked in a deep breath. Minato fought with a multitude of diseases and wounds came back from his death-bed to save her from her old demons….

"Take him and get out," Sho ordered.

"Oh no you don't," Makoto shook his head, rushing ahead to stop Akihiko from picking Minato.

Minazuki howled at his charge, summoning a wave of darkness that halted his advances and allowed Akihiko to pick up the near-dead teenager. Mitsuru grabbed a hold of Hamuko's wrist and forced her to stand up. "Get up…" she hissed, pulling her away.

"Sho!" Makoto growled. The darkness gave them enough time to run away, the Dark Hour was almost over which meant there was no way he could take Minato to Tartarus but….

"You won't survive this…." Makoto swore, summoning his horrifically powerful persona to dissipate the darkness. He glared Minazuki down and slit his own throat, signaling that the redhead was done for.

"Heh…" Minazuki smirked. Makoto was out of his league but something told him to keep fighting, he loved it after all…. And if he could buy Minato some time then it was even better.

….

…..

Makoto tossed Sho's battered body into the water with a growl. Dead weight at this point, his body plummeted to the surface below. The shadow observed the scene for a few more seconds and left satisfied, knowing that Sho was dead. Time was running out and he quickly ran into Tartarus before the Dark Hour ended. Oh well, next time….

Mitsuru and the others said nothing to Hamuko, they were majorly pissed at her but in her current condition, even a little slap was going to cause another breakdown and they wanted to avoid that.

Yukari and Fuuka sobbed upon seeing Minato's condition. His eye was never going to heal and he was half-blind for life now. It was miracle that he survived the sea and they had to thank Sho for that…

"I can't sense him…" Fuuka said. "H-He's gone…"

Before Mitsuru could respond, Junpei's shout came from upstairs and they raced towards Minato's room. "… Why…" Minato was struggling against the capped teen again, repeatedly trying to harm himself like before.

Following the shadow….

Self-mutilation….

Just what was going on with Minato…?

Akihiko was forced to knock him out again because it was obvious that nothing would reach Minato. "We can't leave him like this…." the senior muttered, putting him back on the bed. "He'll just follow the shadow again…"

"…. We should tie him up," Yukari suggested with a sad sigh. "I don't want to do this but for his own good…."

"Sedatives didn't work last time so I guess this is the only way…" Mitsuru said, pulling out another shot from the first-aid kid. "Ugh…" where to inject, his whole body was mutilated badly…

Mitsuru injected Minato with a more powerful dose and he quickly slipped to a deep slumber, finally giving the team a chance to catch their breaths.

Junpei and Akihiko ended up sleeping inside Minato's room.

Mitsuru immediately left to attend a meeting.

"Minato-senpai…." Ken whimpered. When he was finally warming up, this had to happen. They had beaten the last shadow, taken care of Strega and Sho but this horrible tragedy had to happen… Ken doubted Minato could be the strong leader he was before. His body was never going to heal from the insane amount of punishment; even beating the shadow wasn't going to change that. He had left Minato for dead and there was no recovery in sight.

Hamuko wasn't going to anything and she was the strongest persona user after him. Ken could understand what she was going through, looking at Minato suffering like that surely pained her but like the rest, he thought the same…. Minato endured the pain when it was his time, but Hamuko couldn't.

"Hamuko-senpai is the only one who can do something….. But I have a feeling she is more broken than Minato-senpai…" Ken wiped his eyes clean and finally went to sleep.

Hamuko finally pulled her face up from the pillow and sucked in a deep breath, a little bit of hope bubbling inside of her. "The Velvet Room…" she whispered.

She got off her bed and fell face-first to the ground. "That's right…. Elizabeth and Igor can save him…." she nodded at herself. "Elizabeth has already saved him before and I'm sure she can beat the hell out of Makoto…"

Hamuko froze. There was no way she was going out with Minato all alone. She feared that the shadow would attack again and there was nothing she could do against a monster like that.

"I'll ask Junpei and senpai…" she bumbled her way out of her room, stumbling her way down the steps. She opened the door to Minato's room and refused to look at the male on the bed.

"Hey," Hamuko woke the two up.

"What do you want….?" Junpei looked away.

"I need to take Minato somewhere….. And you are going to come with me,"

Junpei thought of saying no but didn't risk it. He sighed and woke Akihiko up who agreed as well because Hamuko looked as fragile as Minato did.

"Um…." Hamuko spoke up. "Cover his eyes up…"

Akihiko shook his head but did so, glaring at the redhead behind her back. He wanted to say so much but like before, he feared Hamuko breaking down like she did before. He was angry at her but he still cared for her. Nobody wanted to take the risk and tell Hamuko what she needed to hear.

Akihiko and Junpei picked up Minato and followed Hamuko out of the dorm. It was nearly 2AM so the streets were deserted. They quickly reached the mall and Hamuko pulled out the key from Minato's pocket.

Hamuko kept looking over her shoulder, fearful of Makoto but the two males assured her that he couldn't appear outside the Dark Hour. Hamuko nodded but went back to looking behind a few seconds later. She was cracked badly, both of them could see that...

"Where are you going….?" Akihiko asked as they stopped right between the police station and karaoke. Why the heck did she bring him here? There was nothing inside the alley.

Hamuko gritted her teeth and carried Minato to the back alley by herself, ignoring their questions. "Stay here for a while…. I'll be back…" she dragged him into the alley and the door was right there. Hamuko struggled with Minato's dead weight and kicked the door open. S

"Igor, Minato needs-" she stopped mid-way when she realized that Igor wasn't there. Elizabeth was sitting alone on his chair and she was shaking her head dismissively, clearly disappointed.

"You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes…" Elizabeth frowned.

Hamuko gulped. This wasn't going to be easy at all…..

Fuck! FUCK! Sorry for the long wait people. ¬¬ My co-authors are busy, exams, vacations, crappy internet so I ended up writing this alone... Next time, the quality will be better. Might be a little rusty because been a long while since I've written Blood lust by myself so hopefully this was below average, yes, that's what I'm going for. ¬¬

Sho died. Minato lost an eye. Hamuko is cracked. Elizabeth is pissed. Think of it as a build up chapter. Ryoji gets a full introduction in the next chapter so that will be something. Chapter 80 now, hopefully I can end it before 100, I'm almost out of writing juice but I will finish both of these stories, no matter what!

Thanks for the support everyone, I really appreciate it, I was going to write shout-outs but since my boys aren't here... maybe next time...

Oh yeah, good luck to sherry, I dunno if you live in the states but if you do, good luck with the LSAT (if you haven't given it already) I'm trying to be a lawyer myself and well... the law market in the states is badly over-saturated. ¬¬ 100 candidates for one seat in the firm... ugh, I'm rambling again, best of luck to you.

Cheers to everyone once again. \o/ See you soon, hopefully.