My co authors have abandoned me!111 ... Meh, who needs them, screw em anyway.

Sorry for the wait. My motivation was shot for this and truthfully speaking (My friends call me a review whore but a hound sounds much better), the bad ratio didn't help either but this is going on like I promised. Like I said before, in another story, it was my bday a few days ago and if any of you are boxing fans, you know shit is going down. :PP

Also my other story, fallen messiah is much closer to the end so I've been working more on that.

Already mid 2017, gotta end this before 2018 or else this ain't seeing the end.

Now on we go with the chapter.

"Finally!"

Hamuko shouted out loud as the door slowly creaked open. She was knocking on the damn wood for the past 2 hours and her hand was aching right now. She wanted to shout but as soon as the depressed blunet came into her view, Hamuko sighed and gave up on the idea.

"Took you a while," Hamuko huffed, stepping inside and slamming the door shut with her foot.

"Sorry," Minato scratched back of his head.

Hamuko turned around and glanced at him, sizing him up from head to toe. A number of dry tears were plastered on his face, all thanks to Ryoji. "Um, have you been okay...?"

"No," Minato limped his way over to the bed and sat down, burying his face into his bloodied palms.

"You were crying, weren't you?"

"I've been doing that for days," Minato admitted. "I'd cry right now but I think I'm empty at this point."

Hamuko cursed Ryoji and walked over to him. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. In the end, Hamuko lowered her head and gave a sigh, having nothing encouraging to say. "I wish I could help you."

"When I finally thought my life was getting just a bit better, this happened," Minato muttered. "I wanted this truth so bad before. Now that I got it, I want to wash it away from my memory forever."

Hamuko winced. She wasn't as attached to Pharos as Minato was. She liked the kid, well, used to like the kid but Minato considered him a brother. After finding out the horrible truth, she was sure Minato was badly rattled, drained but worst of all, he was conflicted.

Minato had defended her against Ryoji but Hamuko knew he still cared for Ryoji somewhat. Made no sense because that black haired bastard was responsible for so much but she could sort of understand Minato's pain.

They had a bond, after all, as much as she wanted to deny that.

Ryoji did no favors by putting Minato between a rock and a hard place. The option wasn't even fair, it wasn't a choice, it was an ultimatum. Whichever option he chose, they were going to die and after the little interaction with Ryoji, it was clear nobody had the power to stand up to him.

"Did you... make your decision?" Hamuko asked, biting her lower lip. After everything they had been through, she would have gladly sacrificed her life so Minato could get his health and life back but not in this way.

"What can I chose?" Minato said, clenching his fists. "Whichever I pick, the result will be the same. You guys will die and I'll suffer."

"Which do you want to pick?" Hamuko dared ask.

Minato pulled out a rope from under his bed and then pointed at the ceiling fan.

"You idiot!" Hamuko snapped, wanting to slap him hard across the face but she relented. She snatched the rope away and threw it out the window. "You absolute moron!"

"You asked me," Minato sighed, wiping his eyes. "That's what I want but I won't do that. I'm going to see this to the end, as much as I fear it."

Hamuko sat down next to him and sighed, rubbing her temple. "He calls himself your brother and does this..."

"..."

"No wonder I got disgusted whenever I saw him," Hamuko spat. "No wonder my brain told me to him him despite not knowing him."

"Yeah..."

Hamuko kept going on and on, cursing and berating Ryoji for being selfish. Minato listened to her rant for a while until he held a hand up.

"Just stop,"

"Huh? Why the hell-"

"Just stop, Hamuko," Minato actually got a little louder, surprising her. "I know. A part of me wants to bash his face open for what he did. He's responsible for everything. All this despair and misery, he caused all that. I won't ever forget that."

"But," Minato stood up. "At the same time..." he went quiet for a few seconds and looked at Hamuko. "If it wasn't for him, I would have lost long ago..."

Hamuko stood up. "Wake up!" she said. "He's not Pharos anymore. He's Ryoji. He's his own person now and you saw how he treated us all."

"He's still Pharos," Minato replied. "All the signs were there. He's just like him. No wonder he seemed so familiar."

"No, he's not," Hamuko said. "He doesn't care about you like Pharos did!"

"Shit!" Minato hissed as the tears started running down his face upon her harsh but true words. He punched the wall, drawing out blood from his already busted knuckles. It hurt but what she said was true, or at least half true, Ryoji didn't care about him like Pharos did.

Hamuko froze and slapped herself mentally for her stupid words. "I'm so sorry..." the redhead bowed her head. "I didn't want to hurt you... I'm sorry."

Minato cleaned his face with a few tissues and shook his head, gritting his teeth to stop the incoming wave of tears. He wanted to deny that so badly but it was true in a way.

"It pains me to see you like that," Hamuko said. "I wish I could so something to help you."

"You can't," Minato said. "I see nothing good coming out of this."

Hamuko came to a stop next to him and stood on her toes, her eyes pleading him. "C-Can't you... fight?"

"Fight?" Minato snorted. "I'm sure even a low level thug can beat the brakes off me. I'm pathetic."

"No, remember what I said, during the time of need, you'll be the first one to stand. I know that in my heart," Hamuko repeated. "Come on. I'm terrified but I know, if you stay alongside us, we can beat this Nyx thing!"

Minato shook his head. "Sounds impossible and hopeless. I'll be truthful, Ryoji can kill all of us without breaking a sweat and Nyx is something even beyond him."

"He tried to sleep with me," Hamuko said, looking him in the eye.

"W-What?" Minato was taken-aback by her words.

"Creep followed me all the way to dorm when I first saw him," Hamuko recalled. "He looked like he was going to rape me anyway if I had said no."

"He did that...?" Minato gritted his teeth.

"Yes he did," Hamuko nodded. "Just open your eyes. Beat the shit out of him. He isn't the same anymore. He's no longer Pharos-"

"Just shut up!" Minato finally shouted at her, rendering Hamuko stock still, her red eyes widened in surprise. Minato had actually shouted at her. She opened her mouth to yell back at him but she saw the look in his eye and his quivering lip and stopped herself.

"I'm sorry," Minato sniffed, wiping his eyes with the back of his sleeve. "I'm sorry. I... Just can't do this anymore. I don't want another conflict. I might end up dying of a heart attack if something happens."

"..."

"So please, don't do this," Minato pleaded. "I can't take much more of this."

Hamuko came up to him and smiled, wiping his tears with her fingers. She was not going to be like Ryoji and put his back against the wall. "I understand. Don't worry about it now."

"Thank you," Minato squeezed her hand. "I-I'm going to do something. Hopefully by the end, we end up negotiating something with Ryoji."

"A deal in which no ones gets hurt," Minato whispered. While Hamuko was partly right about Ryoji not caring, Minato hoped and prayed that Ryoji would do something to change her mind and show her that he still cared.

"I still do..."

...

Hamuko walked down the steps and almost immediately, Mitsuru ran over to her. "How did it go?"

"He opened the door so that's a start," Hamuko sighed. "His pillows and bedsheet are soaked with tears. That should tell you everything that you need to know."

"Did he say anything about the decision?" Akihiko asked.

"He said he'll negotiate a better deal in which nobody gets hurt," Hamuko replied. "He doesn't want to suffer and he doesn't want any of us to die so he'll try talking with Ryoji again."

"I doubt that," Sho said. "I'm all for brawling psychopaths but that Ryoji guy going beyond that. I've never frozen like that dammit. He's not normal."

"He destroyed Aigis like nothing," Fuuka said. "It'll take a long time to repair her now."

"Tch, that bastard," Hamuko spat. "Everything was going okay. He had to come in and ruin everything, again!"

"..."

"I swear, everything was going great ten years ago too!" Hamuko said. "He came in and ruined everything. Killed our parents and haunted us for years. Screw him! I hope he dies horribly!"

"You say that right now," Sho said. "When he comes back, you won't be saying that."

"Woah," Yukari spoke up. "That's harsh. We don't need a fight between us, guys."

"He's right," Hamuko admitted with a bitter sigh. "When he comes back, I'll shut up and do nothing."

"Right?" Sho said, standing up. "When I pushed him off you, I was terrified. Fucking terrified of what he was going to do. That was a new feeling."

"I guess, no matter how strong you get, you will always be afraid of dying," Mitsuru said. "His aura is so... sickening but at the same time, it's terrifying. Even the reaper pales in comparison. I don't want to suffer and die either."

"He's not the only problem," Junpei said. "The biggest problem is Nyx and the fall. If Ryoji is so horrible, I don't want to imagine what Nyx will be like."

"That's true," Ken said. "Even her name gave me chills."

"Fantastic," Hamuko sighed. "I can't believe this hell came upon us all so quickly. I never expected this to happen. I'm terrified too... I don't want to die and I don't want Minato to leave us like that."

"We're all terrified," Akihiko said. "And I can't imagine what Minato is feeling right now."

"That brings me to another point," Hamuko said, eyeing the members of SEES. "I've never seen him so broken, ever. I swear, if anyone of you blame him for this..." she nodded slowly and menacingly. "There will be hell to pay."

"Don't look at me like that, dammit," Junpei snapped. "I want to vent but he doesn't deserve this. I feel so bad for him."

"At least you're better than Ryoji," Hamuko sighed. "Try not to push him. A mental breakdown is just a shove away."

"True,"

"Minato!" Yukari looked up and saw the former leader limping down the steps.

Minato came down the steps and winced, looking down at his fractured legs. "I can't take much more of this."

"Settle down," Mitsuru said. "It will be okay." she didn't really believe that but she said in hopes of calming Minato down. She wanted to avoid another breakdown since he had gone through so many of those before.

"Y-Yeah!" Sho yelled. "Any of you fuckers disturb him and I'll spread your intestines on the floor like butter on toast!"

"Seconded!" Hamuko said.

"Have you thought of anything?" Mitsuru asked, biting her lip. She wanted to apologize to Minato over and over again. After what Ryoji had said, it was clear that the Kiriji Group was behind all of this. Minato turning into a ruthless demon was her fault and she even punished him for that, despite it being her fault and not his. "I-I'm sorry Minato.." she said, unable to muster up the courage and apologize out loud.

"No," Minato responded. "Nothing. I've just been crying the last few days. I'm scared. I'm terrified of making a choice because the end result is the same. This will end in chaos and even if I do survive, I'll suffer till the end of my life."

"It doesn't matter if he corrupts me with his bloodlust again, after all we've been through, I don't think I'll be able to forget any of you," Minato admitted. "I don't want you guys to suffer... but I don't want to push Ryoji away too."

"So what do we do now?" Yukari asked.

"31st December," Minato looked up and gave a low sigh. "All we can do now is wait."

"Snow, misery and chaos," Minato said and closed his eyes. "This will be brutal..."

...

The days went on, slowly and slowly. Nothing changed for a few days. Nobody spoke much. They all got up, ate nothing and just stared at each other, trying to find some comfort but with a blood thirsty entity breathing down their necks, it was nigh impossible. There was no joy, no hope and no end to the despair.

Everyday was just a repeat of the previous one.

Mitsuru and Akihiko were lost.

Junpei, Yukari, Fuuka and Ken were terrified.

Sho was quiet.

Hamuko was quiet as well. She tried to cheer them up during the first few days but nothing worked and she gave up on it, turning into a zombie much like the others.

The weather outside grew brutal by every passing day. The snow and storms were unforgiving and nobody went out much, partly due to the storm but there was also this nagging feeling that Ryoji would stalk them in the night and kill them brutally.

Ryoji...

Speaking off the God... The only time the status quo in the dorm was broken was when he stepped inside the building, worsening the already dreadful vibe of the dorm.

Every 'visit' of his was just a repeat of the previous one.

Ryoji came to the dorm once every few days. Nobody dared to talk or even look at him. There was a certain storm in his eye ever since the first spat that he had with Minato and every visit was exactly the same.

Ryoji said nothing, spared no glance to the others and just marched up to Minato's room. He shouted, he yelled and he threatened, promising to kill every last one of Minato's friends if he said no.

Hamuko would stand outside his room, fearful about Minato and wary of Ryoji.

To Minato's credit, he never cried or broke down in front of Ryoji, even though he would sob on Hamuko's shoulder after every confrontation. His answer was the same every time. He said no over and over again, there was no way he was going to abandon his friends.

Every time Ryoji left in a towering rage, Minato would tell Hamuko that he would understand eventually and that pained her. It was painful to see Minato cling onto fading hope so desperately. He had visited over a dozens and nothing changed. Minato never got to Ryoji. Ryoji never gave a shit about Minato's state and his feelings.

She wanted Minato to explode and she dearly missed his psychotic and fearless old self. She wanted Minato to march up to Ryoji and beat the shit out of him, laugh while doing so and bury him into the ground for all that he had done.

But nothing changed, except for the morale of the team. Every visit left the team broken because every time Ryoji came, he seemed more dangerous and angry, the constant rejections from Minato were clearly screwing with his brain. He looked ready to murder someone but he relented whenever Minato came down the steps, which led to Ryoji storming out the dorm.

5th.

10th.

15th.

The cycle continued with no hope on the horizon.

20th

22th.

"I can't deal with this anymore!" Sho spat one day. "Goddammit, my brain is cursing me for the past 20 fucking days! We need to do something!"

"We can do nothing," Akihiko said. "You saw him. I swear, every day that aura of his gets even more stifling. I can barely move when he's here now."

"It's madness," Mitsuru said. "He might be a God but this level of fear is ridiculous. I have been so afraid of anything before."

"We can do then?" Yukari winced. "Minato said he'd make him understand but it's been over 20 days now, nothing has changed. He's not going to listen. That guy is worse than the old Minato ever was. At least Minato always had a soft spot for his parents and Hamuko. Ryoji has nothing."

"We should prepare ourselves for the worst because that's coming," Akihiko said. "I think we have to battle him soon because sorry I give up hope, Minato isn't going to reach him."

"I agree too," Sho said, glancing at his shaking fist. "We're on a collision course. You punks better shake off the fear and start training because we'll have to fight him soon now."

"Ugh, shit!" Junpei cursed. "He'll slaughter us all."

"The result will be the same," Hamuko said. "We die either way so I agree, better train and get our morale up a little."

"Prepare yourself because I feel it, any day now, Ryoji is going to lose it and attack us," Mitsuru said.

"I still hope," Fuuka whimpered. "I still hope that Minato-kun makes him understand. I'll still pray for that. The fact that he hasn't attacked us yet is a miracle. Maybe he'll understand after some more time..."

"I hope so," Yukari sighed. "I don't want to fight against him."

"Nobody wants to," Sho spat. "Even I don't want to. It's disgraceful but toughen yourselves up because I got a bad feeling about this. Now, fuck off and train your asses off!"

...

The temperature plummeted towards the danger zone one cold December night. The snow had turned into a blizzard which was unheard of. A blizzard that strong was never predicted in Iwatodai and the city had never suffered such a brutal shower of snow. None of the experts had any reasoning as to why the city was jammed up by snow. They called it a freak occurrence but the persona users knew the cause very well.

The snow got worse along with Ryoji's sanity. Every failed visit was followed by a more brutal blizzard the very next day. It only served as further proof that they were up against something beyond their comprehension.

"Brrr," Minato shivered against Hamuko. The two were huddled up in a number of blankets but nothing was stopping the cold. "My wounds are killing me..."

"I've got frostbite too," Hamuko muttered through clattering teeth. "I've never felt so cold before."

"This is the worst month ever," Minato said. "Will this ever end?"

"Do you see any sort of change coming?" Hamuko asked. "Anything? Does it look like that Ryoji will understand anytime soon?"

Minato looked away and remained quiet for a few minutes. "No..." he whispered faintly but Hamuko caught it.

"It's 24th today," Hamuko noted. "This has been going on for almost a month now. Minato, we gotta do something. I can't go on much longer. If Ryoji won't then I'm sure this cold will kill us someday."

"T-Tomorrow then," Minato muttered. "He'll come tomorrow. Gather up everyone in the command room... I-I'll beg him this time, get on my knees if I have to."

Hamuko pulled herself away from Minato and stared at him with wide eyes. Minato? Beg? She never thought she would hear those words from his mouth. Even the thought of Minato getting down on his knees and begging someone like Ryoji sickened her.

The last wish that she had was to see Minato beat the shit out of Ryoji. She wasn't alright with this. She wasn't okay with Ryoji bullying and threatening Minato. Ryoji always said that their relationship was brotherly but that was far from the truth. According to Hamuko, the relationship was between a victim and his torturer, with Minato being a helpless victim.

"Dammit," Hamuko looked at Minato with watery eyes. He had fallen so badly in the past few months.

"I..." Hamuko clenched her fist and gazed at him. "I have a wish..."

"That is?" Minato winced.

"I want to see you beat the shit out of Ryoji," she said. "If that happens, I can die with no regrets..."

"..."

"I know it won't happen but I'll be going to sleep every night thinking about it, fantasizing it," Hamuko stood up and left. "Goodnight."

...

A certain black haired teenager stood alone in the raging storm, clad in his usual clothes, not bothered a bit by the weather even though the temperature was well into the negative. The cold was beyond brutal, so much that the school had shut down.

"Huh..." Ryoji muttered, looking up at the thundering clouds with unblinking eyes.

He had doing this for almost a whole month now.

Every single time, the result was the same.

"Huh..."

Nothing changed.

And it was clear nothing was going to change anytime soon either.

"Huh..."

'Ha..."

"Hahaha..."

Ryoji laughed and the storm around him grew colder, followed by the booming of thunder but the boy stood still in the middle, having not moved an inch since the past few hours.

Ryoji glanced at him palm and gave a smile, nodding knowingly.

"I understand, my brother..."

"I see how it is..."

He gave another nod and smiled, looking up at the skies.

"You want it and you will get it, just like you wanted..."

...

The next day, on the 25th, the team got up and Minato told them to gather in the command room because he knew Ryoji was going to show up again.

And he did show up, 10 minutes before the day hour but something was different. Ryoji was calm, almost too calm. There was no scowl on his face. He didn't glare at the others. Didn't bad mouth Hamuko. He just came in the dorm and closed the door behind him softly.

"Ryoji," Minato stood up. "I was waiting for you."

Ryoji smiled at him.

"Mind getting to the command room?" Minato asked.

Ryoji nodded and made his way up the steps without another word.

"Something's different," Sho said.

"Something's wrong," Hamuko added.

The persona users followed Minato and walked behind him. The blunet opened the door to the command and saw Ryoji sitting still on the single couch, eyes fixed on his shoes.

"I have a bad feeling about him..." Hamuko gulped.

Minato stopped next to Ryoji and the God of Death looked up to Minato, blinking and gesturing at him to continue.

"I guess you should know by now..." Minato said slowly. "You probably know my answer, right?"

Ryoji kept staring at him, slowly rocking back and forth but he said nothing for a few minutes.

"Well?" Minato said. "You get it by now, right?"

"..."

"Tell me,"

Ryoji nodded slowly.

"Do I have to get on my knees and beg you?" Minato said, leading to shocked gaps from his team mates but surprsingly, they didn't bother Ryoji like they did before. The appraiser was still focused on Minato, rocking back and forth with his mouth slightly open.

"Tell me and I'll do it," Minato said. "Tell me, do you want me to beg? I got nothing to lose now so I don't have a problem doing that."

"..." Ryoji tilted his head to the side.

"Minato..." Hamuko shivered, fearful of what was going to happen next.

"Tell me," Minato asked again.

"Huh..." Ryoji tilted his head to the other side, his eyes glazed over. He didn't respond and just kept stating at Minato with his vacant eyes.

"Okay, I'll do it-" Minato winced as he started kneeling-

"You don't have to, Minato..." the black haired teen finally spoke up, stopping Minato in his tracks.

"Huh?"

Ryoji smiled at him. "I understand." he nodded knowingly.

Minato finally smiled after weeks and almost want to hug the appraiser. He finally listened to him. He finally got it. He wanted to hug him but first, he had to tell Hamuko that Pharos was still there and he still cared for him. They were brothers after all, nothing had changed between them, absolutely nothing. This was the reason why he relented attacking Ryoji because Minato knew that he still cared.

Minato turned around with a grin on his stiched up face. "See?"

Ryoji slowly stood up, almost mechanically, standing just behind Minato.

"What did I told you?" Minato said, happiness and relief evident in his tone after so many depressing weeks. "He was going to listen."

Ryoji tilted his head again.

Hamuko saw a twitch.

And then a glint in his right eye.

Shit!

That malicious glint.

She had seen it before.

When she had lost Death.

She saw that before in Minato's eye.

"Minato!" Hamuko shouted. "Get away!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

"What do you mea-MMFFF!" Minato's questions was cut short when a cold hand clasped his mouth shut and pulled him backwards until he came to a stop against Ryoji who was ice cold.

"I understand now," Ryoji whispered into his ear, slowly and without emotion.

Minato was struggling to break free but the grip was stronger than anything he had ever felt before.

"I see what you have become,"

"Mmmmpff!" Minato stood struggling because Ryoji's tone shifted, freezing him in place.

"You disgust me!" Ryoji spat with hatred and venom, badly rattling Minato who struggled and tried to come up with a response until Ryoji pinched a point on his neck and Minato blackened out in his grip, passing out with a small pinch.

Ryoji shoved Minato and the blunet landed painfully on the ground, blood gushing out of the wounds.

"You bastard!" Hamuko yelled, pulling out her evoker. "Everyone attack and kill-"

Then she heard it.

"HAHAHAHAHAH!"

She froze.

Then she saw it.

The twisted, bloodthirsty face of the monster that now knew no bounds. Ryoji was unleashed and there was nothing stopping him now.

"Glory to Nyx!" Ryoji held out his hands and another brutal explosion of dark energy erupted from his body.

Hamuko saw darkness incoming and seconds later, the forced smashed against her body. She heard a number of screams from her friends and then she blackened out, falling to the floor.

The last thing she heard was Ryoji laughing like maniac, praising Nyx and promising hell and suffering for Minato and Hamuko.

That happened.

Time to finally started the final arc. Time for shit to really hit the fan. Expect bad, bad bad things to happen.

Later.