Schizelle : Hello. I'm this guy's... third. THIRD. co-author and while I usually don't help much, I do have a question for you : Do you want to see a lemon somewhere in the future?

See, our chief author absolutely sucks at writing that (and is possibly a prude) so I volunteered to help/write it. If a majority of you want it then well... you will see it. A MAJORITY so do let me know

Now please, do review or he'll whine endlessly about reviews like the hound he is. Enjoy the story and nice to meet you.

Breakfast the next day was awkward. It was awkward for everybody but a little more for Yukari and Junpei as Mitsuru kept glaring at them but along with the embarrassment, there was a foreboding sense of doom, like they were going to get maimed.

As soon as Junpei saw the head of blue hair marching down the steps, he prepared himself for a beating. Yukari gulped and closed her eyes, awaiting the cruel punishment as Minato walked his way down.

But, to their surprise and relief, there was no fiery explosion or an angry tirade filled with nasty curses. He didn't even looked pissed, did not even give them a dirty look, not even once.

"…"

He looked pretty miserable actually…

Minato staggered his way towards the table and dropped his ass on the chair between Junpei and Yukari. With a sigh, he slammed his head onto the table and gave a whimper.

Junpei gulped and placed a hand on his best friend's back, flinching slightly in fear but Minato sighed again, not exploding at him. "There, there man…." the capped teen said, patting his back.

Yukari did the same and rubbed his back. "Um…" she had no idea what to say.

Minato bashed his head on the table and whimpered again, like someone who had spent decades in absolute torture and misery.

Akihiko and Mitsuru exchanged glances. Mitsuru was angry at the two for engaging in….. intimate activities under the dorm's roof but looking at Minato whimpering and sighing like some of wounded animal made her sigh.

No use scolding him because he was already devastated.

Besides, she did not want to awaken an angry beast by poking him.

"Dammit," Minato muttered, reaching out for a glass of juice. He took a few steps and exhaled, not saying anything else and just keeping his head low because he was depressed all night long.

"Hey…. Is there a problem?" Akihiko finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Problem?" Minato replied, looking up at him. "Yup, I had a huge problem all night long…"

"…"

"It was astronomical! It was gigantic!" Minato cried. "And it was right in my pants!"

The rest were left in stunned silence, with the guys staring at him and the females blushing and before he could go on and on about his… problem, Mitsuru snapped and fixed a glare on him.

"That is enough!" Mitsuru hissed.

"There is a kid right here, man," Akihiko said, jerking his head over to Ken who was confused.

Minato looked at them and scoffed. "Clearly, none of you know the problems of having a gigantic don-"

"That is enough!" Mitsuru thundered.

Minato banged his head on the table and then started pounding the piece of wood with his fists, sniffing occasionally. "No one knows my pain…." he choked out. "No one knows what I went through last night…"

"Hey come on senpai!" Junpei cried, defending his best friend. He patted the depressed teen on his back and hissed at them. "Be glad that is at least JOKING and not wrecking stuff around here."

"I've always insulted all of you for being hormonal and sexually frustrated prudes," Minato remembered with another hiccup. "Maybe this is karma…"

"Uh…. Next time?" Yukari gulped and then smacked her own forehead, not believing she actually said that.

"There is no next time," Minato said. "He'll never listen. Damaged beyond repair…. And arousal…"

"He…?" Yukari blinked. Hamuko was a she….

"Him!" Minato cried. "The problem in my pants-"

Mitsuru smashed her fist on the table and threw her plate away, not able to eat with all the disgusting talk going on. "Thank you so very much!" she spat. "I will skip lunch and dinner now too."

"Can we stop this now?" Akihiko groaned. "I mean, we've spent the last 15 minutes talking about his dic-"

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.

"Oh shit," Minato looked up and fell off the chair as SHE marched down the steps, looking pissed off like he had never seen before. "Junpei, save me!"

"You are on your own now bro," the capped teen replied. "I want none of that-"

"Silence!" Hamuko shouted from the steps and took a seat next to Fuuka who was completely silent up till now. She gave a dirty look to Minato and started yelling at the rest to pass her the breakfast.

"Give me the goddamn toast!"

Yukari scurried and pushed the toast in her direction. Hamuko glared at him again and then started eating, a little too fast than usual but she was probably trying to keep herself busy and not maul Minato.

Junpei blinked. This was completely opposite. He expected Hamuko to be shy and Minato to be angry but now, Hamuko was the one terrorizing the table while Minato was quiet and heartbroken. "Wow… She still wears the pants in the relationship…"

Minato sniffed and took in her scent, nearly smashing his head against the table as the horrible night replayed over and over again in his mind. "Ah screw this…." he sighed and sat up, grabbing some breakfast for himself before he started eating. Staying depressed was not going to help at all.

Hamuko gave him a dirty look and Minato merely gave her a broken smile in response.

The others looked on, not able to eat because of the conversation earlier but the two fools kept eating; inhaling almost everything in a matter of minutes, hell, Minato even grabbed their plates and started eating the leftovers so he could get his mind off of his hormones.

Mitsuru looked pissed and after a few seconds, she kicked her chair down and stormed off.

"Well…" Junpei sighed. "At least they are eating." he said. The awkward air was finally lifting up-

"Hello, bitches!"

"Oh shit!" Junpei hissed. Said that too soon…

Sho marched down the steps. His face was beaten black and blue and he looked fucked up as there were a multitude of wounds on his body but he looked happy, happier that anyone had ever seen before. He grinned at everyone and sat down, helping himself to some breakfast.

Hamuko glanced at the fork and then at his eyes. "Huh…"

Minato looked down and then at Sho. He growled and looked away.

"Please don't say anything, please don't say anything," Yukari chanted over and over again, glancing back at forth between the three of the most powerful persona users with two-no, all three of them being extremely short tempered.

"So!" Sho cackled. "Last night was extremely….. Passionate huh?"

Hamuko kicked Minato under the table because Sho was way too far.

"Please stop talking…."

"I mean! We went at it like animals!"

THUD.

"Ouch…" Minato murmured.

"What is he talking about?" Ken blinked.

Thud.

"Ow…" Minato winced.

"N-Nothing," Akihiko grabbed the kid and dragged him away to safety before the three could corrupt him further. "Come on, we should… study or something."

"Animals with a lot of pent up hormone-"

Hamuko pulled back and kicked him in the shin as hard as she could and Minato exploded.

"Just shut your mouth!" Minato spat, glaring in Sho's direction.

"You're right," Sho coughed.

"Thank you!" Minato spat.

Hamuko calmed down a little but kept sneaking glances, murderous glances at the two boys. Yukari and Junpei sighed in unison, finally having a moment of peace and quiet.

"My throat is still sore from last night," Sho sneezed.

"Goddammit!" Hamuko kicked him in the shin and slammed her fist onto the table. "Not a single word now! I am warning you Sho, one word and things will get ugly."

With how busted he was, Hamuko was sure she could beat the utter shit out of him if he spoke another word. Sho frowned at her and shrugged. "Well okay, enough about my night…."

Hamuko calmed down momentarily-

"What about your night, Hamuko?" Sho asked, leaning in closer.

Minato clasped his ears shut.

"What….?" Hamuko turned her head in his direction.

"I mean, I'm sure Minato was the one doing the damage last night," Sho thought back. "From what I've heard last night."

Hamuko climbed the table, fists clenched as she slowly crawled towards Sho on her hands and knees.

"I mean, all I heard was," Sho cleared his throat. "Oooooh, Um, Minato, ooohh- HOLY SHIT!"

Hamuko crashed into Sho and the two collapsed to the ground, with Hamuko trying to wrestle Sho to the ground and beat the crap out of him and Sho trying to move out from under her, telling her to give him some to prepare for the fight.

"Say it again!" Hamuko scowled, squeezing his throat and Sho, beaten and tired from last night could not her off of him. "I dare you, say that again and I'll shove this fork right up-"

Junpei and Yukari restrained Hamuko and pulled her back, getting her off Sho but the female wild card kept thrashing, yelling and cursing all of them for being stupid cockblockers.

"I'll kill him!" Hamuko snarled. "I'll fucking kill him!"

"Dude, help!" Junpei cried, looking at Minato.

Minato thought back to last night and shook his head. There was no way he was going to touch her again anytime soon lest he suffer a horrible case of PTSD. "Nope…" he shook his head once more and ran for the steps. "My hormones are not ready for this!"

"Get back here—" Yukari was shoved to the side and Hamuko took Sho down again but this time, he fought back, excited because another battle was underway.

The battle was underway and the only one who could separate the two was Minato and he had already retreated into his room.

After getting into his room, Minato ruffled his hair and took a deep breath. He searched his closet one last time but like always, the mask was not there. "Dammit…" he slammed the door shut and leaned his back against it, thinking of his next course of action.

There was something evil about the mask.

Not the same evil as Ryoji but something different.

"I can't take chances," Minato muttered. Getting the mask back meant the lost were going to attack again but he did not want to imagine what would happen if he left the mask alone with them, zombies who were most definitely followers of Nyx and Ryoji, or hell maybe both.

"Alright then," Minato said to himself, fishing out his signature knife out of his pocket. He glanced at the weapon and gritted his teeth, knowing he had to control his stabbing urges because the Lost did not deserve death or pain as they were puppets under control.

Still, he had to do this….

Tonight….

…

The day passed on awkwardly with not much happening in the dorm. The team went back to studying and training as the final battle was less than a month away. Mitsuru had fortified the windows and doors with metal and had told the others to be wary in front of the lost when going out in public.

Thankfully for the rest of the team, Minato had gotten over his problem and was helping a number of them train…. Aside from Sho because screw him and Hamuko because she feared a kick between his legs.

"Hey!"

After almost the whole day, Hamuko called out to Minato who was busy teaching Junpei how to throw kicks.

"Yes?" Minato smiled slightly.

"Train, now," she ordered.

Minato released the grip around Junpei's leg and the taller teenager fell right on his ass. "Ouch!" he whined but was happy to see that his two leaders were still together. He still shipped them dammit.

"Get get em bro!" Junpei cheered, obviously to himself because he did not want a kick between his legs.

…

Since they did not have pads for training, Minato grabbed a couch cushion from the lounge and used it to train her kicks. He held the cushion to the left side of his body and told her to kick as hard as she could.

"Torque your whole body into your leg and then fire," Minato advised, raising the cushion just above his waist so she could kick at the perfect height.

Hamuko did so, pushing him back slightly.

Minato smirked. "That's right," he complimented, feeling the force behind her kick even with the powerup he had gotten 2 nights ago.

"Raise it higher!" Hamuko ordered.

"We are practicing body kicks," Minato replied. "You know, you can time a counter for a punch much better with a body kick-"

"Higher!" Hamuko ordered.

Minato frowned but did as she said, raising the cushion to his chest. Hamuko angled lower and kicked pillow easily despite the increased height.

"Higher!"

Minato raised the cushion to his head and nodded her to go on.

Hamuko unbolted a number of kicks, much faster than before and Minato started moving his head, dodging the kicks that would have done some damage if they connected. Hamuko was wilder than before, throwing a number of kicks in just a few seconds, if he did not know any better—

"Are you trying to flash me or something?" Minato blinked-

"Insolent!" Hamuko growled and kicked the pillow out of his grip. She did not stop her training and moved forward, actually looking to kick his head off.

"Woah!" Minato took a step back and started weaving through her attacks, easily but he was a little concerned since Hamuko was not stopping at all. She did have great endurance which meant she could keep on kicking for a long time.

"Hamuko!" Minato yelled after a kick brushed past his fringe. "Calm down!'

"Shut up!" Hamuko snapped and rifled a front kick that narrowly missed his mouth. She charged forward and twirled around, looking to land a wheel kick but it was blocked once more, enraging her. "You asexual freak!"

"You don't even know what you're saying," Minato sighed and cupped her ankle, stopping her in her tracks, only on one leg. She hopped and growled, knowing kicking with her other leg would mean a downfall. "I mean, really, calm down…" he said slowly, soothingly and Hamuko took a deep breath.

"…" she sighed and looked down.

Minato removed the grip around her ankle and she stood on her feet. He cracked his neck and smiled. "Well, real life fight is the best training so this was welcomed," he laughed and went over to his bed, sitting down.

Hamuko shuffled towards his bed and sat next to him, sighing softly.

Minato looked outside the window and while the blizzard was not as severe, there were still a bunch of snow showers throughout the day. After the cold hell that Ryoji had unleashed on the city, businesses were a little slow to pick up.

More concerning than that, the moon was still out of its axis and looked like it was falling towards earth, slowly for his eye but he knew physics and the reality was, the moon was falling very fast and a collision was surely going to heavily damage the earth, if not outright cause the planet to explode.

A number of people had started claiming that his was the end of the world. Their numbers were increasing and that was concerning too but he also had no answer to the moon falling, at least not yet. Reasoning with the believers would do no good.

"Brrr," Hamuko shivered, rubbing her hands together. "It's so cold…"

"Yeah," Minato replied, still looking out the window. The Dark Hour was almost here and he couldn't wait.

"I'm cold Minato," Hamuko repeated, poking him on the ribs.

Minato removed his jacket and placed it on her shoulder, giving her a smile. "Here, you can keep this."

Hamuko closed her eyes and sighed, shaking her head and muttering. "Completely dense and unromantic, I swear," she gave up on her anger and moved closer, pressing herself against his side. "Brrrr." she shivered due to the cold and hugged him tightly.

Minato looked down and smiled, pulling her close. Hamuko moved and straddled his lap, putting her head against his chest and wrapping her arms around his back to get some warmth.

"It's cute how you went from wanting to take my head off to a cat curled up against me," Minato chuckled, rubbing her head.

"Nyaa," Hamuko whined and lowered her head into the crook of his neck.

"Adorable," Minato laughed and leaned back slightly with Hamuko still clinging onto him for some warmth. Thank God, he thought she was never going to hug him again after the disaster last night. "You don't have to hold back, I'm not injured anymore."

Hamuko relaxed and leaned more of her weight against him, literally laying on him but to her relief; he was able to stay still without shuddering in pain like he did before.

"I'm sorry," Hamuko murmured into his sweater, snuggling against him. "For how I've been…" she gave a sad sigh and kept her head low. "I just…"

"It's okay Hamuko," Minato assured, tracing small circles on her back. "I can understand. I was pissed too."

"I just wanted a moment," Hamuko said slowly. "We've not really enjoyed our time together in the past few months, with Makoto, you being injured and then Ryoji. I just really wanted to have a moment."

"Don't worry," Minato chuckled again. "We'll have a lot of moments in the future. I'm not going anywhere."

Hamuko finally looked up to stare into his eyes. "You promise?"

"I promise," Minato widened his smile.

Hamuko brushed his fringe out of his eye and ran her finger just over his previously injured eye. "Have I ever told you that you've got beautiful eyes?" she sighed, watching her reflection in his silver orbs. "I'm glad you got his healed. I can stare at them all day long."

"Same to you," Minato said, brushing her bangs to the side and observing his reflection in her red eyes.

Hamuko cupped his shoulder and slowly trailed her hand down, squeezing his arm that had hardened in the past few days. In fact, his entire body had burned off the flab that he used to carry before and it felt nice to feel his toned body against her.

"I'm glad you got rid of the flab," Hamuko said, pressing her fingers against his sides. "I want my psychopath all lean and fit."

"Getting punched by a God of Death burns a lot of fat," Minato joked. "Are you cold now?"

"Nah, I'm doing better now," Hamuko smiled, his jacket still on her shoulders. "Thanks for the warmth."

"Anytime," Minato replied, looking out the window again.

"Hmmm," Hamuko finally noticed the change in his attire and hummed. "Why are your pants black?"

"I'm glad you asked, darling," Minato said. Finally. He planted a soft kiss on forehead and stood up. Hamuko whined slightly but she was content with the little bit of snuggling and the reassurance that his body was completely okay.

Minato strolled over to his closet and pulled a few clothes out. He walked back to Hamuko and held up a black hood.

"Take off your clothes," he ordered.

Hamuko blinked upon hearing that. "I will do no such thing."

"Yes you will," Minato said. "And I think you'll like it." he pulled on the collar of her sweater and Hamuko gasped, chopping him on the side of his neck and that drew a laugh from Minato. "Cute!"

"H-Hey!" Hamuko cried and tried to struggle but he easily removed her sweater and she reached for the blanket to cover herself up-

Minato quickly wrestled the black hood on her and Hamuko blinked. So this was what he was trying to do. "Huh…" he pulled back and Hamuko nodded. It did feel comfortable.

"Great!" Minato pulled black pants out and walked back. "Now, take off your skirt—" he grabbed the edge and got kicked in the face by Hamuko, sending him backwards while holding onto his nose.

"What the hell!?" he growled. "What did you do that for?"

"Stay away!" Hamuko spat.

"I saw everything last night—"

"You don't deserve to see now!" she growled. "Look away so I can change!"

Minato muttered under his breath and turned around as Hamuko pulled the pants on. "Okay, you can look now."

Minato turned around and was glad to see the hoodie and pants were not too baggy for her.

"So what is this?" Hamuko asked, toying with the string of her hood. "Is this is like a belated Christmas gift? I would have preferred some skirts…. Or a kiss."

"This," Minato pulled out his own hoodie from the closet and pulled it on. He reached down and pulled out black shoes from the lower cabinet. "Is a mission." he tossed the smaller shoes to Hamuko and starting putting his own on.

"Mission?" Hamuko said, doing as he told her.

Minato walked back and pulled the hood on her head. "Yes, mission."

"Ow," Hamuko adjusted it so she could see. "What do you mean?"

"In other words, I'm taking you out for a date," Minato said, opening the window.

"What are you doing…?"

Minato shrugged and jumped out the window. Hamuko suppressed the scream and ran to the window, looking down to see him waiting for her. Having no other option, she sighed and jumped out as well, landing on her feet.

"We're getting that mask back," Minato said, pulling his hood up. "Move slowly and stay behind me at all times."

"How did I get stuck here?" Hamuko groaned and followed him.

Minato moved slowly, straining his ears to catch the sound of the Lost. He had no doubt they were active and were probably doing something with the mask. After a little while, he caught a few low groans and moans and quickly hid behind a nearby tree, pulling Hamuko along.

"It's a Lost," Hamuko said, poking her head from the side of the tree.

"They're several," Minato said. "Keep yourself down and camouflaged, we don't want a fight."

"Right," Hamuko nodded and went back to observing the zombies. It was mind boggling that they were actually moving, all of a sudden because they usually stayed at the same place for months.

"Huh," Minato moved a little as the zombies dragged themselves in a group, going exactly where he thought they would gather. "Come on Hamuko…"

"Right behind you," Hamuko said, quietly moving behind him.

As soon as they reached the tower, Minato cursed and pushed Hamuko behind another tree. He poked his head out and gritted his teeth as there were hundreds of those zombies outside the gates of the tower.

"What the heck is controlling them?" he wondered and watched on as they shuffled inside the tower, groaning and barely able to stand but they still kept moving.

As soon they disappeared inside, Minato came out and sighed. His suspicions were true and the Lost were in the tower and that also meant the mask was most likely inside.

Hamuko came out next and exhaled. "Great, they went into the damn tower. Do you think the shadows will kill them or something?"

"I don't think so," Minato replied. "Either Nyx or Ryoji are controlling them so that rules out the shadows attacking them."

"What do we do now?" Hamuko asked.

"Simple," Minato removed his hood and stared at the peak of the tower. "We're going to follow them."

"HAHAHAHAH!" Hamuko started laughing, slapping the blue headed psychopath on the back. "That's funny, you're such a kidder you little emo blood thirsty psychopath—"

"I'm serious," Minato scoffed.

"No way!" Hamuko spat. "There is no way. Get back to the dorm, now!"

Minato frowned, fixing a hawk like stare on her form with slightly pursed lips. Hamuko gulped under the stare and looked away. He was not going to hurt her that was for sure but he did look a little intimidating.

"And hot…" Hamuko panted, refusing to meet his cold gaze. "Ah dammit, my weakness for silver eyes…"

"You are coming along," he said with a tone of finality and Hamuko sighed, accepting his order.

"Alright alright," she grumbled under her breath. "What's the plan?"

"I'll keep you safe," Minato assured, looking back at the top. "I'll kill any shadow that comes our way because I know they will. Remember, keep moving forward, push those zombies away and when you see the mask, jump over and grab it and boom, we're done."

"Why are you so obsessed with the mask?" Hamuko asked.

"I'm more obsessed with you, darling," Minato said slowly, tracing her spine with his finger which made her shudder. "But I have a bad feeling about this mask, it's definitely evil."

"You better repay me for this Minato," Hamuko yawned. "This is supposed to be my sleep time."

"Anything you want, darling," Minato smiled. "I could have done this alone but…. We haven't fought together a long time, right? I could use some help too…. And someone to keep me in check."

"That's true," Hamuko giggled. "Well then come on; time to get that mask back!"

After a quick high-five, the two ran into the tower and activated the access point. They had held off the exploration for far too long due to his injures and goddamn Makoto and Ryoji but now was a good time as any to explore and possibly get to the top, a place where Minato was sure the mask was.

"Alright come on," Minato walked into the access point and disappeared. Hamuko soon followed and they ended up on the 150th floor, the last place they had left off.

"Okay, like I said, keep moving," Minato said, pulling out his sword when he heard the growls from the nearby shadows. A number of them had scurried away in fear but some of them were advancing towards the two. "Lead the way, Hamuko!"

Hamuko listened and started running, not looking behind because she knew Minato was strong enough to take care. A number of dying growls and roars sounded off behind her and she kept running, catching the brisk footsteps of Minato behind her.

Hamuko saw a bunch of shadows ahead of her and quickly started firing off elemental spells in rapid succession, blowing up most of them. She dodged her way out of the rest and Minato followed, tearing through the remaining ones with his blade.

"Keep going," Minato said from behind. "Do not look, just find the steps."

Hamuko nodded. "Should have brought Fuuka along…" she muttered and raced through the corridors. She quickly located the steps and went up to the next floor. "Come on!"

Minato dismantled the remaining shadows and looked around for any zombies. "Nope…" so they were moving up too. He quickly moved up the steps, not wanting to leave Hamuko alone for long.

The formula continued for the next several floors, with Hamuko leading the exploration and Minato destroying the shadows. He was keen to keep at least one of them fresh enough because getting the mask was going to be tough.

"Found it!" Hamuko said, moving up the steps.

Minato checked the floor one more time and clicked his tongue. They were either at the top or very near it. Oh well, at least he could actually reach the top and see what the hype was about.

The fusion of the vestiges of Death and the World Arcana had resulted in a massive increase in power for Minato and thanks to that, they were easily able to storm their way through the floors, with most of the shadows running off in fear and the rest were easily taken care of.

"Time out!" Hamuko cried, resting against wall to regain her breath. "I was sleepy and you dragged me into this!"

If this was anyone else, Minato would have dragged him or her away but he allowed her to rest, tossing her a beat so she could regain some stamina.

"Also, I didn't sleep last night…." she muttered. "Like at all, after what happened—"

"Shut it!" Minato groaned. "I don't want a problem in my pants inside the fucking tower."

Hamuko sniggered and stood up. "Alright then, come on!"

After bulldozing their way through floors, Minato stopped and inhaled sharply the moment he stepped on the 250th floor because the familiar evil vibe had multiplied. It also meant the mask was nearby….

On the same floor, they started encountering the lost and unlike the shadows, they couldn't attack them and just brushed them off and kept climbing the floors and with every new floor, Minato started panting, knowing something terrible was going at the very top.

"Dammit," Hamuko cursed, trying to get her breath out. Now she knew why Minato was so obsessed with getting the mask back. "Come on Minato, I feel we're not that far."

"Be prepared," Minato warned. "Something bad is going on…"

The groans and moans were getting louder. Hamuko shivered in disgust and shouted. "Can we finish this quickly? I do not want to get touched by freaking zombies!"

Minato nodded and pushed past the lost, quickly moving up the next several floors.

"What number is it now?"

"262…" Minato said, arriving on the floor and taking a deep breath. "The top is on the next floor."

"Oh my God," Hamuko shuddered. She was finally going to see what the apex looked like but she also knew that a lot of those zombies would be waiting for them there, given the number she saw at the gates and the number they encountered on the lower floors. "Let's go together this time."

"I agree," Minato said. He was a little excited to see the top and get this mission over. "Move!"

The two wild cards quickly ran their way through the shadows and the zombies, splitting up in the middle to search for the ladder. Hamuko found the steps quickly and called Minato over.

"This is longer than usual," Minato noted, also noting the stairs went around as they went up. The two fools braced themselves for a struggle and ran up the steps that reached way up.

"There!" Minato said, running around what seemed to be the very top of the tower, with the stairs circling at the sides. "There it is!" he said, glancing at the mask in the middle.

"Oh God," Hamuko gulped as there were hundreds of those creepy zombies at the very top; literally hundreds and she had no idea how to snatch the mask without hurting them.

Minato kept his eyes fixed on the mask despite a number of those zombies crouching next to the mask with their lowered.

"This is some sort of ritual," Minato noted, coming to a stop at the main area without the numerous pillars. "This almost looks satanic."

As soon as the zombies became aware of the two teenagers, they whipped around at the same time and released a collective shout towards the way, as a war cry that told the two to get ready.

"It starts," Minato said. "Be careful Hamuko, DO NOT FALL FROM THE TOP."

"Got it," Hamuko said. They were slow so it would be easy-

As soon as she thought that, the victims of the shadows quickly rushed forward and swarmed the two teenagers with never seen before quickness, taking the two persona users by surprise.

"Damn!" Minato pushed them off of him but Hamuko struggled a bit, her foot on the edge of the platform she was standing on and the zombies kept rushing at her, trying to push her to her death. "Get off her!" he spat and shoved a few of them away, quickly grabbing a hold of Hamuko's wrist and throwing her forward.

Hamuko got to her feet and looked back to see Minato struggling with the numerous zombies who were somehow way faster than before.

"Are you okay?" Minato bulldozed his way through the line.

"I'm fine," Hamuko exhaled. "Caught me off guard—"

As soon as she said that, the zombies swarmed them again, repeatedly attacking with fists and trying to bite the flesh off their bones but this time, Hamuko was prepared and was more than strong enough to push them away and move her way through the horde.

The sudden increase on speed and power had caught them both off guard but now was not the time to think as the lost were coming in repeatedly, holding them down by latching onto them, dozens and hundreds at the same time.

"Fuck this!" Minato spat and started punching, sending a number of them to the ground with a single punch. "Go on! Remember your training!"

Hamuko nodded. They had no choice now. She ducked underneath the swarm and came back up with body kicks and snap kicks to push them away. She kicked a number of them to the ground but more kept on coming.

Minato fixed his stare on the mask and took off running, powering his way through the mass of zombies so he could grab the damn mask-

A vicious screech came from the skies and Minato had to pull back when a pulsing ray of red light suddenly slammed into the mask from above. "What the fuck!?" he stood his ground and endured the quakes that quickly subsided and he took off running again, easily able to overpower the zombies on his way towards the mask.

"Get it!" Hamuko said, flooring the nearby zombies with brutal body kicks that she had practiced. "So we can get the hell away from here!"

Minato reached the point after knocking the remaining zombies down. More of them were running for him but he just had to grab the mask, grab Hamuko and get the hell away from the top-

The first touch of his finger triggered a massive explosion of invisible energy that crashed into Minato's chest just like it did the night before, only far more powerful and vicious, so much so that Minato coughed out blood and was sent soaring through the air and then skidding along the ground until the end of the platform that he desperately grabbed onto with his hand, the very edge that kept him up, at the very last second.

"Minato!" Hamuko shouted in worry, moving towards the edge of the platform so she could pull him up. "Hang on. I'm coming!"

"Move around and get the mask!" Minato shouted, propping himself up with his one hand on the platform. His grip was strong that the zombies stomping on his hand had no effect. "Go get it!"

Hamuko hissed and whipped around, running towards the mask because the nearby zombies were down after the assault by Minato. She ran over them and dove to grab the mask with her right hand, just when Minato pushed himself up from the edge and came back to the top.

"Great!" Minato cheered. "Let's get out of here—" he stopped and paled, shaking his head when he realized what was going on. "Hamuko….?"

Hamuko was standing with the mask in her grip. Her eyes were glazed over, stare on the mask in her hand. She looked in some sort of trance, unblinking at all and just staring at the thing in her hand, horrifying Minato.

"Hamuko?" he called out her name again but got no response. "HAMUKO!? Answer dammit!"

"…"

Hamuko was still in a trance, fingers slightly moving along the edges of the mask. Strangely, the zombies had stopped attacking her and just waited as the redhead kept standing with her eyes and expression both blank.

Minato took a step and just a second later, the zombies jumped on him again, hundreds of them at once, slowing him down and suffocating him. "Dammit. Help!" he called out but Hamuko didn't respond. All she did was that she starting moving the mask…

Towards her face-

Warning bells rang in Minato's mind and he reached into his soul because he had no other choice.

"Orpheus Telos!"

The reawakened persona spawned instantaneously above Minato and slammed the lyre against the ground, evoking a powerful shockwave that blew the nearby zombies far away and gave Minato the time to run towards Hamuko as fast as he could.

"Hamuko!"

He immediately snatched the mask from her hand, narrowly stopping her from putting it on her face as soon as the mask was taken away from her; Hamuko shook her head and started blinking, like she had just woken up.

"What the hell happened?" Hamuko said, having trouble adjusting to the dim light.

Minato glanced at the mask and nodded to himself. He was right, the mask was evil, beyond evil and keeping it with him was the best idea.

The shouts of the zombies alerted the two teenagers and they quickly backed off because the battle was done and the mask was in their grip.

"Um," Hamuko kept moving backwards as the horde of the lost kept coming closer, pushing them to the edge. "Any ideas?"

"Do you trust me?" Minato asked, tightening the grip around her wrist.

"Of course! Who else can I trust if not you?" she snapped.

"Alright then," Minato chuckled.

Hamuko blinked. "What are you-"

Minato fell backwards from the edge of the tower and took Hamuko along with him, drawing out screams and screeches from the redhead as they plummeted from the skies at a furious pace.

"Goddamit!" Hamuko cried. "What have you done!?" she spat. The pressure was so insane she could barely keep her eyes open and now they were headed to their deaths-

"HAHAHAHAH!" Minato enjoyed the experience and laughed coldly at the top of his lungs, startling Hamuko who was about to punch some sense into him-

"Seth!"

Minato roared out and the next second, he pulled Hamuko close and the gigantic beast spawned just beneath the two before taking flight easily with the two persona users on its back. The two stumbled momentarily but did not fall off, adjusting by grabbing onto each other as the Egyptian God flew off into the skies.

"Oh, that's what," Hamuko murmured, looking back at the zombies stuck on the top of the tower. "We did it!"

Seth hurriedly flew the dorm and Minato groaned as his head started throbbing. Personas were a lot easier to summon and control during the rush of adrenaline-

Seth started flickering in and out, threatening to fade back into Minato's psyche-

"Oh no!" Hamuko gulped.

As soon as they glided over the rooftop of the dorm, Minato lost control and his persona exploded into blue mist. The two plummeted from the skies with Hamuko yelling at him and Minato trying to regain some senses-

Before they could crash on their heads, Minato pumped a number of defense buffs into his body and held her close in mid-air. "Hold tight-"

"Oh shit!" Hamuko snapped her eyes shut-

CRASH.

"Ow…" Minato whimpered.

CRASH!

The two crashed through two floors and ended up crashing onto the bed on Minato's room with a loud bang, the bed nearly collapsing due to the weight.

"…"

"…"

"Ow…" Minato bit his lip, the neurons in his back and spine protesting at his heroic, badass daredevil stunt but at least they were alive…..

Hamuko looked up and blinked, able to see the sky thanks to the two holes on the upper floors-

"You wrecked my bed and my room," Hamuko noted, able to see her broken bed and the gaping hole.

"Hehehe…" Minato gave a nervous chuckle. "Couldn't cancel the buff in time…"

"Senpai will not be happy about this…" Hamuko noted. "Like… Not at all. She was already pissed."

"Who cares?" Minato yawned. "We made it out alive, dammit."

"Mmmm, that's true," Hamuko said, resting on top of him. She yawned softly and placed her head on his chest, eyes flickering due to the excessive fatigue and sleep deprivation. "I'm going to sleep now. Sweet dreams, my darling psychopath."

"Sweet dreams, Hamuko," Minato said and seconds later, Hamuko drifted off to sleep on top of him and made no movement to disturb her because she needed the rest, much like himself because had had not slept the whole night.

Minato pulled the mask out of his hood pocket and frowned at the dark spot on the edge, something that wasn't on before. He had so many questions and theories regarding the mask but he decided to not think now because he was exhausted and Hamuko was asleep.

"You did well," Minato said, rubbing the back of her head with a smile on his face. He was so proud of her because she had come a long way from the scared girl that he knew back in April. She used to cry a lot but he couldn't fault her because the scar that Ryoji left on her psyche was no doubt frightening because she was just a kid. "I'm proud of you."

Minato stuffed the mask into his pocket and the Dark Hour ended. He sighed and relaxed a little, yawning because he was sleepy and there was no sleep quite like this.

He had gotten what he wanted, was exhausted and sleepy and the love of his life was resting on him, clutching him tightly as she slept soundly-

However….

A whisper from Hamuko in her sleep managed to scare him and drained the sleep from his tired eyes.

"Nyx…."

Been a while. Can't believe this crossed 100 chapters and we still have 15-20 left! And say hello to the third co-author! You've seen the other two on the ANs but this is like her first appearance. She absolutely sucks at writing battle but she can write a lemon... IF you guys want to see one so do tell, if not, we'll go without it.

Also no, I am not a prude (I write Persona 3 Abridged FFS) I just don't think I can't keep the lemon classy... and I ain't keen on writing it either so she opted to help.

Some fluff for people who are suffering due to falling down. :PPP it was still mostly funny but the build up for the mask is done... except chaos and hell to follow in the next chapters because that is how it goes in Bloodlust. I thank everyone for the reviews! Keep them coming and like she said, do tell her if you want to see, hell, just a simple yes or no would do because along as we're doing something worth it.

Before I fuck off to sleep, I actually leave a few recommendations.

P3 : Death from Within by GrimReaperJr.

Sorta similar but vastly different as well. Minato x Minako pairing with a good start and here is a spoiler : This fic will top BL because from the little I know, the whole thing is going to be crazy and deep. Do check it out if you like the pairing.

P3 : Memories of you by ReachingoutFES.

Can't believe I didn't say this before but this fic inspired me to start Bloodlust. I still think this is the greatest fic in the section because I could get this out of my head. Minato x Minako pairing but goddamn is this tragic and full of feels. This fic solidified the pairing as the most tragic for me, just read it and you'll like it, whether you are a fan of Minato x Minako or not, the fic is a beautiful and a masterpiece. I thank the authors for writing that because without reading that, Bloodlust would not have existed.

That's it. I'm sleepy as fuck right now. The deadline is still 2018, hopefully I can finish this before that. See you guys later-

ZZZZZZZ...