3 fast updates, back to back, who does that shit? Nightlyy, that's who! ... Well, when I'm motivated and I am, got to finish this and get somewhere before my college starts. Just keep the reviews coming.
Nothing much to say but read on, this is going to much faster than the previous chapter.
Grab some tissues too.
Onto the story. I swear, I would have dropped this years ago if it wasn't for you guys. Thank you!
As soon as the teenagers got back to the dorm, they collapsed to the ground, mentally and physically drained from their short scuffle with Ryoji.
"Ken," Akihiko hissed, smashing his clenched fist against the ground.
"Yuka-tan," Junpei said lifelessly, staring up at the ceiling.
... Were they really gone...?
Mitsuru closed the door behind her and bit her lip when she glanced around the lounge. Their numbers had dwindled. Start of the month, they were together but now, they had lost Aigis, Fuuka, Ken and Yukari. Ryoji really took them apart, just like he had said.
Sho sat on the couch and growled, ashamed at himself for still being scared in front of the appraiser.
"Who is next?" Akihiko thought, standing up from the ground. Ryoji wasn't finished with them by a long shot. His shoulders slumped and he gave a tired sigh. Well, whatever, if he was going to take his life then so be it.
This was hopeless.
Junpei turned over and sat up. "Hopeless..." he stood up and started making his way towards the second floor.
"Yukari, Ken," Hamuko hissed, clenching her fist. She was the leader and still couldn't do a damn thing to stop that bastard from taking her friends. "It's exactly like ten years ago..." she breathed out. Ryoji took her family that night and now, he was taking her friends.
Minato stood up without a word and stared moving towards the steps.
"Wait!" Sho shouted at him from the couch.
Minato stopped upon his mouth and turned around slowly, giving out a sigh. "What?"
Sho took out one sword and marched towards Minato, getting in his face with a glare. "Let him out." he said, offering his sword to Minato.
Minato glanced at Sho, at his sword and then back at Sho. "No..." with a shake of his head, Minato pulled back and went up the stairs.
"Dammit," Sho groaned and dropped his weapons, sitting down on the steps .
"He isn't coming back," Hamuko said. "That Minato is long gone."
"I know dammit," Sho spat. "I still had to try, almost wanted to punch him in the face to get that side out of him."
"It's funny," Hamuko smiled bitterly. "At first, I wanted nothing but for him to return to normal. And now, I want him to go back to normal. It's so crazy."
"We all need our leader to lead the charge," Mitsuru bit her lip. "He may have been evil before but he became one of us in the end, even with Ryoji inside of him."
"Yeah," Hamuko said, trying to recall the number of times Minato had saved them. "He needs to understand that. Needs to let the past go and think what he has done for us."
"What do we do now?" Sho asked, getting up. He looked over to Hamuko. "Well?"
"We..." Hamuko closed her eyes. "Try to outlast him... till the 31st of December."
"No chance," Sho snorted and trotted up at the steps, leaving the two females alone.
"Senpai?" the junior called, breaking Mitsuru out of her musings. "What are you thinking?"
"Nothing," Mitsuru swallowed the lump in her throat and gave a tired smile. "Try to sleep. Good night."
"Night..." Hamuko waved at her and then collapsed to the ground, not wanting to move. She was more beat up than the rest of them because Ryoji had targeted her the most and she knew why. "So be it."
...
Minato opened the window to his room and looked outside, not minding the frigid temperature because after all that had happened in the past few days, he was numbed to something as mundane as cold. This was normal to him now. With a monster like Ryoji breathing down their necks, the blizzard was nothing in comparison. He held his hand out and caught some of the snow, or rather, a large ice pellet which was surely a record, going by size.
"Hehehe," he gave a bitter laugh. "We are the reason... No, I am the reason this city is suffering so much."
This unforgiving blizzard was because he had pissed Ryoji off and because of that, almost the entire city was suffering. Everything had shut down, from the schools to large industries, all because of him.
Minato looked up at the sky, easily able to locate the moon which was almost full.
The public had no idea what was going on but God knew he was responsible for this all. This was on him.
"I wanted to stay away from this," Minato muttered. After beating Makoto, he had just one wish, stay the hell away from conflicts and fights, from anything that would pile up more misery and suffering on his conscience.
"It's my fault," Minato said, collapsing against the window and sobbing to himself quietly. "I-I'm too weak for anything."
The shower of snow intensified and a cold gust of wind struck Minato on the face, harsh enough to open up a small wound on his face. "..." he said nothing and looked down again, glancing at his shoes.
"I'm pathetic," he said and passed out, collapsing to the ground.
...
Nobody slept.
Nobody ate.
Nobody talked.
They just waited, waited for the inevitable, each and every day and when it came, it was the same story. Ryoji stormed in and tore through the persona users, laughing and mocking their attempts to stop. He paid extra attention to Hamuko and beat her up the worse every time, just holding back enough not to kill her but he made sure to make an example out of her, especially to Minato who was frozen against the wall every time he attacked his friends.
"Do something," Ryoji dared, holding onto Junpei who was passed out. "Do something you bitch."
"Junpei," Minato widened his eye, barely taking a step forward.
"I can't wait to get my hands around your throat," Ryoji stuck his tongue out. "Have a feeling I'll violate you sooner than Hamuko."
"Y-You!" Minato gritted his teeth.
"HAHAHAHAH!" Ryoji's cold voice brought back so many memories, all of them that he tried so hard to suppress but it all came back, along with one harsh truth : He was nothing without Ryoji.
"You can't bite the hand that feeds you," Ryoji started dragging Junpei, daring the broken persona users to stop him but nobody could move after the thrashing he gave them. "Remember that..." he looked Minato in the eye and the blunet pulled back, seeing the very familiar, evil glint in his right eye.
"Without me, you are nothing," Ryoji said. "I'll make sure you regret your choice to your grave and beyond!" with that, he dragged Junpei into the snow and disappeared.
Mitsuru got up and looked around. Just a few left now...
Her gaze fell on Akihiko who was done. He wanted out and just didn't care anymore.
Mitsuru looked at Minato next and her gaze fell.
...
Having no other option and beyond desperate, the remaining member of SEES, sans Minato, ended up exploring Tartarus for some clue, even though they were terrified because Tartarus was the home of Death.
Minato chewed on his fingers the whole time he was alone in the dorm. He prayed for a miracle, prayed that his friends would return along with the ones he had lost.
"Please..."
As soon as he heard the door open, he limped down the steps and saw just three of them.
"He took Akihiko," Mitsuru said, tears streaming down her face.
"29th," Sho looked at the calendar. Just 2 days. They were so close... and yet, so very, very far. Ryoji was toying with them. There was nothing stopping him from invading the dorm and killing everyone in seconds but Sho assumed he was taking his time torturing the ones he caught and letting the others rot in fear.
Mitsuru looked at Minato again and made up her mind. "So be it..."
The next day, Mitsuru forced every one to eat and drink so they could have at least a hope for survival. Nobody was willing to eat until Mitsuru started force feeding them, yelling at them with an unusual edge in her voice. She was trembling and by the time, she served them juice while having ate nothing for herself, she was pale from fear.
Just like she wanted, the three persona users collapsed onto the couches and slept, thanks to the powerful sleep medication she had mixed in with the juice.
Mitsuru took a deep breath and stood alone in the lounge. She pulled out her evoker and glanced at the device with teary eyes, remembering the old days of SEES when she had first got the evoker and carried it all the way to her last days. She kissed it softly and slipped the gun into Hamuko's grip. "Take care of him."
She next went over to Minato and loomed over him. He was grunting and groaning, experiencing pain even in his sleep.
"Minato..." Mitsuru took his bruised hand and gave it a soft squeeze. "I am so sorry for what my family did to you."
"..."
"I will try, I promise," Mitsuru choked out. "You told me not to take the sins of my family on my back but you aren't just someone..."
"This is atonement," Mitsuru pulled back. "Just for you. I pray that you survive and spend a month with the one you love."
After one last look at the dorm, Mitsuru slammed the doors open and stepped outside, disappearing into the darkness and snow. The blizzard didn't seem to bother her and she was able to walk through the frigid temperature thanks to her persona. She didn't bother taking the monorail because it was busted and ran all the way to the tower of demise, reaching the place just seconds before the Dark Hour.
As soon as she came outside the gates, the cold struck her bad because her persona had faded, no longer there because of the demon inside of the lobby.
Mitsuru shivered, trying to rub the snow away from her face and hair. She briefly thought about turning back but decided against it. "No, this is atonement!" she chanted to herself and shakily opened the gates to the tower, walking inside with slow steps because she knew hell was waiting for her inside.
Ryoji was already there, seated on the steps because he knew that she was coming. "Oh?" he stood up when Mitsuru shuffled inside the lobby, barely able to stand due to the fear rolling off Ryoji in waves.
"Are you here to fight?" Ryoji snorted.
"I am here to surrender," Mitsuru replied, holding out her arms as a sign of surrender. "I do not intend to fight you."
"Heh," Ryoji smirked.
"I know that I stand no chance," Mitsuru said firmly, despite her shaking. "Y-You can do whatever you want."
Ryoji sent a glare her way and Mitsuru crashed to the ground. "Good girl," he laughed and started walking towards her, cracking his knuckles. Mitsuru was strong and ice cold but to him, she was just another human. Just another, soon to be victim of the appraiser.
"I-I do have a request," Mitsuru said as Ryoji stopped beside her, towering over the redhead. "Leave Minato alone."
"No chance," Ryoji said, grabbing her chin and pulling her forward. "You have such a gorgeous face. I'll take immense pleasure in ruining it." he said with a sick cackle, sending another shiver down her spice.
"Leave him alone," Mitsuru said again. "What more do you want? He has died so many times before."
"You haven't seen anything yet," Ryoji said. "I want him to die from suffering-"
"Y-You!" Mitsuru growled in rage but that was quickly overtaken by fear when Ryoji bit her hard on her neck, sinking his teeth deep inside her flesh.
Mitsuru stopped, the words dissolving inside of her throat and the fear consuming her soul. It hurt like hell but his grip was effectively stopped everything. She couldn't even scream or move, despite wanting to yell at the top of her lungs in pain and horror.
Ryoji pulled back and giggled in delight as blood started gushing down her neck, staining her white blouse which made it so much appealing to Ryoji.
"You were saying?" he asked.
Mitsuru gave up and slumped to the ground, red eyes now pale as sheet. She said nothing and just stared at him blankly, observing her own blood on his face and lips.
"Good girl," Ryoji towered over her again and grunted. "Very well, time to suffer."
When the three woke up, they yelled for Mitsuru for hours but it was well past the Dark Hour and deep inside, they knew where she had gone. They also knew that she wasn't going to return, ever again.
Hamuko glanced at the evoker in her grip. It was almost like Mitsuru had passed her the torch but what good was it...?
"We're all alone now," Hamuko said, looking over at Minato and Sho. "Just us."
"Fuck this all," Sho grunted. "I never expected it to end this way."
"At least you have us," Hamuko said. "You were going to die anyway, nothing was going to change that."
"It's so cold," she rubbed her arms and hugged Minato who was nearby, hoping for some warmth and comfort. Minato hugged her back, snaking his arms around her because he knew the end was coming.
"Sho?" Minato said, calling out to the redheaded male who was shivering all alone. "Come on."
Sho had never gotten involved in their group hugs before, no matter how much Minato told to him to but now...
"We aren't going to make fun of you man," Hamuko assured with a small smile. "I don't like you either but just this once, come on."
Sho gave up and joined the two, getting into a small group hug which calmed him down somewhat. They stayed there for a long time, shivering against each other like the scared teenagers that they were. It didn't matter if they were superhuman and could summon Gods and demons, at the core they were still teenagers, who were looking ahead to the end of the road, the end to their short life.
All three of them had no one else. No parents. No family. No friends. All of them were taken away.
...
30th...
Just hours before the Dark Hour, Sho came out of his room with his blades, ready for a battle.
"You don't have to do this," Hamuko urged, pulling on his wrist which Sho quickly pulled away.
"I'm sure we can find a way," Minato said. "Don't leave like that man. We'll try to think of something-" he stopped at the glare that Sho sent his way.
"A way?" Sho turned around and shoved Hamuko out of the way, marching ahead towards Minato who held his gaze. "There is only one way, Minato."
Sho stopped inches away from his face and stared his old rival in his single eye, almost puking in disgust when he found nothing but grief and regret. Doubt and Fear.
"Bring him out," Sho demanded.
"..."
"You heard me, you bastard!" Sho yelled at him, grabbing his collar and pushing him backwards. "Give me back my rival!"
"Sho!" Hamuko made a move to get between but Sho glared at her too, telling her not to interfere.
"Come on, man!" Sho hissed, rocking the injured blunet back and forth. "It never goes away, you know that as I well as I do. I can see it in your eyes, I can still see your old glory, it's faint but it is definitely there."
"..." Minato said, not even trying to free himself. He merely turned his head away.
"I want him back! I want to see the psychotic son of a bitch that kicked my ass!" Sho shoved Minato away and the blunet fell against the steps, looking up at the enraged redhead who looked ready to pounce at him...
Sho held the urge and growled again. "You have to find that Minato Arisato. The clusterfuck of a psycho who never gave a shit about anything but his friends and his dumb girlfriend."
Minato looked away again.
Sho sighed and picked up his blades again, making his way towards the door.
"Well," Sho said, scratching the back of his head, looking back when Minato stood up. "It's been fun, Minato."
"Sho.." Minato gritted his teeth, tears welling up in his eye.
Sho then faced Hamuko who was shivering, shaking her head repeatedly as a gesture for him to stay with them. "You too."
Hamuko blinked.
"You better take care of him," Sho demanded. "Just one day, both of you assholes better survive tomorrow and live to the fullest for the next month, got that!?"
"Sho..." Hamuko whispered.
Sho kicked the door open and smirked, nothing like before but he tried, assuring them to not worry too much.
"Toodles," Sho yelled out and bolted out the door, leaving the two wild cards alone in the dorm.
"Just us," Hamuko said.
"Yeah," Minato replied, looking out the open door.
Sho kept his pace and ran through the blizzard, eyes focused on the tower where he was going to have his last battle. "Alright, here goes nothing. Ryoji!" he yelled out the name of the appraiser, daring him to come out. "Get your ass out here!"
Sho looked ahead and saw his outline through amongst the fog and snow. Ryoji was there, waiting for him and soon as the snow cleared up slightly, the redhead caught that insane smirk on his features.
Sho remembered the hug that he shared with the the morons and gritted his teeth.
"I do this for you, Minato..."
"Minazuki..."
"... Even that bitch, Hamuko."
"Come on," Ryoji dared, holding out his arms.
"Fuck you!" Sho picked up his pace and bolted towards Ryoji, eventually crashing into the black haired teen who grinned wider.
Minato and Hamuko heard the scream from miles away.
"He has done it again," Hamuko said. "He took away our friends."
"..."
She looked back outside and moved towards the door, slamming it shut. "He took away everything, again."
Minato had no answer to that. He moved and sat on the couch. Hamuko joined him and they stayed there for the next several hours, trying to console each other because unlike last time, they still had each other, even if for a little while.
31st, New Years Eve...
Hamuko woke up on the couch and rolled over, looking up at the ceiling with unblinking eyes. She moved slightly and got away from Minato, careful not to wake him up because he was up all night.
"I had so many plans for today," Hamuko lamented, looking over at the sleeping body of Minato. "Shopping. Date. Dinner. I was going to jump you, regardless of your broken ribs, dammit."
"Tonight is the final night," Hamuko reminded herself. This meant that Ryoji was going to attack and finish the cat and mouse game. She also knew Minato was powerless to stop him.
"Alright, fine," she sighed and stood up, looking outside the window. The clouds were ominous which made her smirk. "Can't even get a sunshine on my last day. The fates really hate, huh?"
Minato woke up and rubbed his eye. "Tonight is the night..." and he was terrified. Ryoji was going to kill him.
Ryoji got up from the ground and dusted his pants. "Tonight is the night..." and he was ecstatic. He was going to mutilate Minato.
Hamuko knew he was going to strike tonight. Akihiko, Mitsuru and even Sho, all of them had told her to survive and spent the last month in peace alongside him but she knew better, there was only going to be one survivor and that would be because of a miracle.
"We're going tonight," Minato said, standing up. He was weak but it was all or nothing now. He was okay with dying alongside, anything but dying alone with nobody around him. "And you can't stop me tonight."
Hamuko looked back at him and smirked.
...
As usual, as soon as the twilight hour descended upon the city, everything shut down and the people scurried inside their to avoid the blizzard. Inside the Iwaotdai dorm, the two remaining members of SEES donned their uniforms and SEES armbands, ready for the finale attempt.
Minato had told Hamuko throughout the day that he was going no matter what she said and surprisingly, after a little persuasion, Hamuko agreed and told him to prepare.
11 : 45 PM.
Minutes before the Dark Hour, Minato came down the steps, using the railings for support. He glanced down at Hamuko who was pacing around, sweat rolling down her face.
"Oh, you're here!" Hamuko stopped and helped him down. "Are you ready...?"
"Y-Yeah," Minato said, for the first time in a long time, he was holding his old evoker.
"Be careful, alright?" Hamuko said softly. "You're still injured, stay on your guard at all."
"I will," Minato assured. "Let's give it all we got, for everyone we lost."
Hamuko smiled and stepped aside. "After you, leader!" she bowed.
Minato nodded and walked forward, his back turned towards Hamuko who followed behind him, slowly, trying to be as quiet as possible.
Minato grabbed a hold of the doorknob.
Hamuko curled her hand right into a fist.
Minato opened the door and was just about to step forward until Hamuko bolted, punching him full force at the back of his head which caught the blunet completely off guard and as soon as her knuckles collided, Minato lost his footing and blackened out in seconds, knocked out by just one blow.
Hamuko caught him from falling and sighed. She glanced at his tear stained, stitched up, deformed face and hung her head. Slowly, Hamuko started dragging him towards the couch and rested him there, looming over him with a smile.
"I had a lot of fun, Minato," Hamuko said. "You saved me 10 years ago, saved me in so many ways that I can never repay you."
"You gave me years to enjoy," Hamuko squeezed his hand. "And I'll just give you a month to suffer all alone... and even that is unlikely."
Hamuko bent down and stroked his cheek. "But like hell I'll let you die before me, no chance at all!" she kissed him on the forehead for an awfully long time before she pulled back and grinned at him.
"Thank you for everything," she whispered and walked over to the door. Like Mitsuru, Hamuko looked around the dorm, gave a bitter chuckle and went out the door. "Farewell Minato, hopefully we end up together in the afterlife."
Hamuko bolted out the door and ran, not wanting to waste time. She raced through the storm and kept yelling out Ryoji's name, daring him to come out and fight her.
Ryoji listened to her and spawned just a few yards away from Hamuko who stopped running and looked him in the eye.
"You bastard," the redhead spat, shouting over the noise of the storm.
"Heh," Ryoji's voice was easily heard despite being a whisper for him. "Amusing. Like the rest, you place your hopes on an empty husk of a boy."
"There is more to this than that," Hamuko said, taking a step forward. "I hate your fucking guts!"
"I know that," Ryoji replied. "And the feeling is mutual, you little bitch."
"I know this is the end but I promise, you may be a God, I am going to defy you to the bitter end," she swore. "I am going to stick my blade inside you, one way or another, I'm not going to leave so fucking easy."
"Come then," Ryoji said, taking his stance. "But you'll have to wait your turn, I'm going to violate Minato, right before your eyes."
Hamuko growled and charged at him, clutching the evoker to her temple.
"Persona!" she yelled at the top of her heart.
"HAHAHAH!" Ryoji stopped her charge with one hand laughed out louder, his savage laugh echoing in the area. "This is for you, mother!"
Hamuko gritted her teeth. She was in this to the end...
12 : 00.
Hamuko collapsed to the ground and her limbs turned cold. After a savage beating at the hands of Ryoji who had knock her down again and again, she gave up and cursed herself for being utterly useless, she couldn't even buy him half an hour.
Ryoji stood over her and grinned. "Is that all?"
Hamuko tried getting up but was easily shoved back down with his foot. "Ugh..."
Ryoji grabbed a hold of her collar and grinned in her face. "Any last words?"
"I curse you," Hamuko spat out the blood that was pooled in her mouth directly in his face. "I curse you for the rest of your life, you son of a bitch!"
Ryoji widened his eyes, not believing that a mortal had disrespected him like that.
"You may be a God but remember this," Hamuko pulled him closer to the point where their foreheads were touching. She scowled at him and Ryoji hissed back, wrapping his hand around her throat. "I will curse you to my grave and beyond. I will keep praying that someone shows up and sends you to hell for what you did to us."
Ryoji knocked her out with a clean punch which broke her orbital bone but Hamuko ended up slapping him across the face just before she passed out.
"Stupid. Bitch," Ryoji gritted his teeth. He grabbed a hold of her ribbon and started dragging her away into his special lair. "You just dammed Minato even more."
...
...
...
Minato came to but said nothing. He briefly thought about calling for Hamuko but also knew it was going to be futile. He opened his eye and looked around the deserted lounge before standing up without a word.
"I'm all alone..." he said, rubbing his right arm and closing his eyes. "Again..."
This was deja-vu. Ryoji had did this before. It was all because of him. This was his fault. Just like before.
Just like 10 years ago.
When he ruined his childhood.
Minato looked down and grabbed his evoker. He pocketed the device and stood up.
He had two choices.
Stay in the dorm and wait for Ryoji.
Or...
Minato started moving, limping towards the door which he pushed open. The blunet stepped outside and squinted, locating the Tower of Demise from the dorm. "There is no chance... I'm not going to die alone."
Minato was just about ready to move when he caught a glint of silver towards his left side. He moved over to the spot and dug through the snow, trying to locate the glint.
After shoveling away the last bit of snow, he sat on his knees for a few seconds, not believing his luck.
His knife.
His old knife which he had used to murder so many people.
It was right there, even though he had tossed it outside so many weeks ago.
"You have to find that Minato Arisato!"
Sho's voice blared in his head and Minato grunted, begrudgingly taking a hold of his knife, just as a weapon, nothing more. His old self was never going to return, NEVER. EVER.
Minato pocketed the knife and set out towards Tartarus, seconds into the final hour of his life.
And we're here! The final hour. Sorry if you found that a little to fast but one chapter for each character was going to be slow and boring so I picked up the pace and now, it's only left.
Next chapters are going to be brutal. Either Minato does something or the fic ends, simple as that.
Again, keep the reviews coming. I'll see you soon, hopefully.
Cheers!