Aaaaaaaaaaaand we are back! Sorry for taking so long; nothing I say will make up for my tardiness so let's just get the next chapter.
Chapter 11
Exam day
(Morning)
August 16, 2021
Kyuto High, Classroom B-2
"Hey, psst, Kaz." Johei whispered.
Kazuhiko sighed, closed his eyes for a moment, then went back to his exam paper. Johei didn't show any resolve of quiting.
"Psst, come on man! You gotta help me!" Johei said.
Kazuhiko continued ignoring Johei and circled a few more answers on his paper. After finishing it, he slouched back and put his hands behind his head as he closed his eyes. He had been at his exam for an hour and knew the material well enough. In addition to his studying by himself, he also had Mikan to thank for his swift and easy accomplishment.
"Just one answer, please?" Johei whispered.
*woosh*
*tonk*
"Ouch!"
"No talking during tests, Mister Shiroka." Mr Ozuma said from his desk.
Johei rubbed his head in the spot where the piece of chalk had hit him. He really wasn't having that much trouble with his tests. In fact, he had finished the majority of it correctly, and he answered with confidence. The only problem was that he skipped over questions he didn't understand right away, and those questions made up for 30% of his test grade. He did come over to the hotel lounge to study with Mikan and Kazuhiko, but he couldn't get the hang of some equations in time.
(Flashback)
August 15, 2021
Matsuhito Hotel; Lounge
"Are you sure this'll help?" Johei asked Mikan and Kazuhiko.
"Eh, not really, but it's worth a shot." Mikan said.
"We discovered a world in the mirrors where everything is backwards and we unlocked JoJo powers called Personas to fight entities called shadows. If anything, this is normal compared to what we do." Kazuhiko said.
Johei was held upside down by his feet that were tied to the top of a tall laundry cart. His shirt was off and Kazuhiko and Mikan were standing in front of him with markers, pencils and paper.
"Guys, I'm not too sure about this." Johei started until Mikan stopped him.
"You're hopeless at these equations. Last resort was this. Remember, you promised."
Johei immediately started to regret his begging in the Mirror Dimension. He offered to do anything for her to help him. She did help him with his English and History, but math wasn't doing much good. She had taught him enough to pass, but because he wanted to get a better grade, he would have to come up front with his bill.
"Yeah, I know, but I don't understand how writing equations on my body is going to help me; It's not like I can take off my shirt in class and check up the equation for a circle on a coordinate plane."
Kazuhiko rolled his eyes and spoke.
"That's exactly why it won't help, Johei. We're not resorting to just that; the internet said that you also have to write the equations on paper and stuff it in your mouth."
Johei's eyes went wide.
"Wait, what? No way in hell that I'm doing that!"
Mikan wagged her finger at him.
"Remember, I'm not doing this only because you were desperate, but also for that promise of yours to do anything if I tutored you."
Kazuhiko then opened a marker and started scribbling on Johei's stomach. Mikan started filling papers with questions regarding certain equations and crumbling them into balls of paper that she stuffed into Johei's mouth.
"Hat?! Hei shtop! Dish ishn't fuddy guyz! HEEEEEEEEEEAAAAP!" Johei screamed.
Meanwhile, Tyr, Skadi and Loki were watching the three carry on with their shenanigans.
"What exactly are they trying to accomplish?" Tyr asked, not knowing the situation whatsoever.
"Apparently, this is a popular urban superstition. That if you write something on your body while ingesting it at the same time, you would be able to make it a permanent memory" Skadi explained.
Loki was opening up his screen to a facecam software, taking pictures.
"I can guarantee you guys one thing: I don't have to write this down on my body to remember this!"
Loki went snapping away more pictures while Skadi rolled her eyes in disgust at him.
"Are you ever a help to anybody?" Skadi asked.
Loki stopped taking pictures for a moment and grimaced.
"If you had a partner like him, would you respect him?"
Skadi went silent for a moment.
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
"Hey!" Johei shouted.
He spat out the pieces of paper that were crammed in his mouth. Kazuhiko and Mikan stopped because they couldn't hold their markers still from laughing.
"Well, should we execute phase 2?" Kazuhiko asked.
Mikan nodded
"Uh, hold on. Phase 2? What is that?" Johei frantically asked as he tried to free his arms from behind his back.
In seconds, the two teens on their feet pushed the coat cart into the elevator and closed it. Johei tried to get off the cart but failed as the doors closed on him. The dial for the elevator showed that he had gone to the fifth floor and stopped. Shrieks could be heard all the way from the first floor. Mikan and Kazuhiko walked back to the lobby, laughing all the way until Kazuhiko caught his breath.
"Man… he had that coming… for a long… time." Kazuhikos aid between gasps.
Mikan was the doing same, but with less succession.
"Hee hee… he … was finally… ha ha… the pranked."
They sat on a couch and finally stopped laughing.
Present Time
"You guys didn't help me at all! You just played a prank on me!" Johei retorted.
Kazuhiko sighed.
"Alright, well you got me there. Tell Loki to come here so he can see an answer."
Johei smiled and gave him a thumbs up.
"Thanks man! You're the best!"
Kazuhiko sat back in his chair again. Yesterday had been fun, but it was kind of unfair what they did to Johei. He decided to make it up to him by letting him cheat just once, they were best friends after all. He didn't faze as Loki stooped over his desk and went back to Johei.
"Okay, the answer's B." Loki said to his partner.
"Thanks. Say, now that I think a bit, why don't you check the teacher's answer sheet instead? That would make things much easier!"
Loki shook his head as he brought up a troll face icon.
"Not a chance. I may do some pretty jacked up stuff but that is crossing the line." Loki replied.
Tyr raised an eyebrow at this.
"Having some good morals, I see?" Tyr asked.
Loki shook his head.
"Nah, Skadi made me promise not to do that or else she'd punch my lights out, literally."
Kazuhiko chuckled to himself.
Good catch Mika-senpai He thought to himself.
In fact, thinking of Mikan brought Kazuhiko back to their conversation after they rescued her. She was talking about a guys that had helped her, but she was cut off.
I wonder who she was talking about.
Kazuhiko shook his head. If it really was an important part of her life, she would tell him when she was ready. He had to make sure that he kept others emotions in check when he was trying to form social links.
"The bonds that you make with others shall determine the path of your journey. The closer you are to the people around you, the more they will begin to trust you and help you, as you would to them." Igor's words had echoed into his mind.
So far, the only people that Kazuhiko had made social links with was Johei and Mikan; the Magician and the Empress. Both were just starting to bloom, although Kazuhiko knew that it would be a long time before either would feel confident enough to talk to him. He opened his eyes and checked his watch. It read 11: 03, meaning he had 7 minutes left until the day would be over and he wouldn't have to go to school tomorrow. Exams, under normal circumstances, would last for an entire week, but these were only for placing people in their correct classes, so the test itself would only be taken for one day. The next day would be the teacher's meeting where their tests would be graded and put up on a billboard the following day. Kazuhiko heard a breath of relief near him and saw johei putting his test on his desk face-down.
"It's finally over." Johei said as he checked his watch.
"And with a little time to spare."
Johei scratched his chin and tore out a piece of paper from his notebook and wrote on it. He crumpled it into a ball and tossed it under Kazuhiko's chair. Kazuhiko sat back and moved his hand under his chair and brought up the ball. He unwrapped it and saw Johei's handwriting.
Where should we go today?
Kazuhiko took out his pencil and wrote back to Johei. He crumpled it back into a ball and rolled it to Johei. Johei read the note.
No idea. Wanna ask senpai later?
Johei nodded to Kazuhiko and he eased back into his seat. The bell finally rang and they both got up from their desks with their school bags in hand.
"Hold on Mr. Shiroka! You too Mr. Sukima!" Mr. Ozuma said.
Kazuhiko sighed and sat back down in his seat as did Johei. Their fellow classmates walked out of the classroom, some rolling their eyes, some laughing, or some not even caring. Mr. Ozuma walked to the two.
"Well, I suppose that you two couldn't wait for a few minutes to talk to each other, hm?"
Kazuhiko sighed and looked down. Apparently, their conversation didn't go unnoticed.
"Well, I'll make sure you two have plenty of time to talk when you're cleaning this classroom. I'll have the janitor watch you two to make sure this place is as clean as it was the first day it opened. I'm sure he's old enough to know that."
And with that, Mr. Ozuma left the room leaving them with the janitor and two brooms. The boys swept the floor while they talked.
"Well, now we do have plans for after school." Kazuhiko said.
Johei rolled his eyes.
"Relax. The sooner we get this done, the more time we'll have. Besides, today's a short day."
The two boys continued sweeping until they were finished. The janitor gave them his approval and allowed them to leave as he went off to another classroom. Johei grabbed his pack and headed to the door.
"Hey, Kaz! Let's go already! Mika-senpai'll be worried about us!"
Kazuhiko nodded as he grabbed his pack and walked to the door. He bumped into Mr. Ozuma's desk and dropped a stack of papers, making a large mess.
"Ugh. You go on, Johei. I'll catch up."
Johei nodded and walked out of the classroom, leaving Kazuhiko to pick up the papers he dropped. Tyr stayed with him, getting the papers that he didn't spot right away. Finally, he was able to get all the papers he collected into a stack. The top paper caught his eye, and he decided to sneak a peek at it.
"Transfer student records?" Kazuhiko said to himself as he scanned the page.
He saw his name on it with a check mark, symbolizing that he had already been enrolled. There were a few more that were there, but they were all foreign exchanged students. Then, his eyes stopped on one picture. He read the caption next to it.
"Iselin… Bjorn?"
"A- HEM!"
Kazuhiko nearly jumped out of his jacket and into the ceiling. He turned around and saw the janitor who just came in to empty the trash bins.
"Don't worry, son. I won't tell on you, if that's what you're thinking. Some curiosity is good, but you should never get into too deep trouble."
Kazuhiko let out a breath.
"Thank you, sir. I'll finish up putting these papers away." Kazuhiko said as he straightened the papers on his desk.
"No need to be so formal. You can call me Shura. Or if the first name basis isn't your style, you can call me Mr. Seijimura."
Kazuhiko nodded as he picked up his bag and made his way to the door.
"Thank you, Mr. Seijimura!"
Mr. Seijimura waved as he pushed his cart to the next trash bin.
"Take care, son."
Kazuhiko was about to turn when he stopped and noticed that the old man had stopped. A card appeared where he was with a picture of a hooded elder in the dark with a lantern. A familiar voice filled his head.
I art thou, Thou art I
Thou hast established a a new bond
It shall be the experience of your elders to rise from despair
I present to the, the Hermit arcana.
"You just gonna stand there, son? I'm sure you've got friends waitin' for you."
Kazuhiko's thoughts brought him back to reality and he found that he had been frozen in place yet again. Getting used to the new social link feel was kind of tough. He had to make sure that he didn't form a bond while he was in a fight.
Kazuhiko soon dashed to the front gate and saw Johei and Mikan waiting for him along with Skadi and Loki.
"So, you got that finished up yet?" Johei asked.
Kazuhiko nodded.
"Where are we going today?" Kazuhiko asked.
Skadi spoke to him.
"Well, we came to a conclusion of two choices, but we'll have to do them tomorrow because of business that we must attend to for today."
Loki continued.
"Yeah, Mikan needs to do some work at the hotel today and Johei needs to do some shopping for food and some new clothes."
"Yeah, the time we spent in the Mirror Dimension kind of torn my clothes so I need to get some new shirts and pants"
Tyr snorted at Johei.
"Nonsense! When young men had shown up to their homes with torn clothing and scars, their fathers would take it as a sign of their masculinity! There is no shame in wearing torn clothing today! Why, that girl over there is wearing pants that are torn so far up her legs!" Tyr ranted.
Everybody zoned out while Tyr rambled on, while Loki perked up attentively.
"A girl showing how much leg? Where?!"
*clang*
"Ouch"
Loki rubbed where his head was and turned back to the group.
"Well, let's go Johei. Just having this place in my sight gives me a headache."
Johei and Loki walked off in the direction of the shopping mall while Mikan and Skadi walked in the opposite direction for the Matsuhito Hotel. As they disappeared from Kazuhiko's sight, he finally started to wonder what he should do.
"Hey, Tyr, got any ideas?" Kazuhiko asked his Persona.
"Maybe we should talk to Hayabusa." Tyr suggested.
"I doubt he has much company in the Mirror Dimension."
Kazuhiko nodded. Hayabusa did seem to live a lonely life in the Mirror Dimension. True, he was a shadow, but that didn't mean that he had to be alone. After all, he was a good help to them with finding Mikan and Niflheim.
"Alright then, let's pay him a visit."
Mirror Dimension; Nuzoko Mall District
"Why are you here?" Hayabusa asked Kazuhiko.
Kazuhiko had to admit; this was a very awkward situation he was in. Just yesterday, he accused Hayabusa of being the cause of the suicide incidents. Today, he told him he just wanted to hang out.
"Well, I was free today and wanted to make amends for yesterday." Kazuhiko said.
Hayabusa frowned under his mask.
"You do realize that it wasn't much of a big deal, right?"
Kazuhiko scratched the back of his head nervously. There really was no good reason that he should be here. At his current state, he couldn't possibly take on Niflheim, especially if he was alone. He stayed silent for a few seconds.
"Well, as long as you're here" Hayabusa said.
"Why don't you help me out with clearing my house?"
Kazuhiko nodded his head.
Great, clearing his house will be no problem. Does he need to move a couch or table or something he can't do by himself?
10 minutes later
"Okay, I know that you said clear out your house, but this wasn't what I was expecting." Kazuhiko said.
Kazuhiko swung his sword in a wide arc, cutting a … Cowardly Maya? He wondered if that was what Hayabusa said it was while he drove his sword into the chest of a possessed statue. Hayabusa, who was used to this, was in an apron and had a broom in his hands.
"Hey! I said get them out, not turn them into dust! Looks like I'm gonna have to do more sweeping." Hayabusa said through his mask.
Strangely, he didn't take off his falcon mask while cleaning. Even more trivial was the fact that he put another mask over his face to prevent the shadow dust from getting in his mask's mouth. Kazuhiko continued to clear the room of shadows with his sword.
"Well, I only have this. Besides, it's more effective than your broom."
After an hour, the two managed to beat out the shadows and clear out the dust. Hayabusa flopped onto a chair and Kazuhiko sat down on a couch.
"Well, I'd say that took much less time than I expected!" Hayabusa remarked as he wiped th sweat off his neck.
Kazuhiko sat back and let out a large breath as Tyr stayed floating beside him.
"Of course it took less time. You had two more pairs of hands to help you." Tyr said.
Hayabusa nodded. Kazuhiko took a moment to wonder how life was for Hayabusa; Always cleaning out his house to keep the shadows out, hunting down shadows by himself everyday, it was enough to make Kazuhiko faint.
"Really appreciate the help Sukima-san."
Kazuhiko shook his head.
"You don't have to be formal, call me Kaz." Kazuhiko replied as he wiped his forehead.
Hayabusa leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees.
"It took me ages to get this place. Clearing it was a whole other story, but I managed to do it on my own." Hayabusa told Kazuhiko.
Kazuhiko took this chance to learn more about Hayabusa.
"How did you start out, anyways?"
Hayabusa turned to face Kazuhiko and looked down.
"It's a long story-"
"We've got plenty of time." Kazuhiko countered.
It was true that Hayabusa had a lot of time to talk. For Kazuhiko, he wouldn't have to come back until 9 PM. The time was currently 12:22 so he had most of the day left. Hayabusa sighed and reclined in his chair.
"Well, I never remembered being a shadow, more like somebody told me. I only remember that I had a mind once I took that child's hidden emotions. That child was very kind hearted, but since those emotions were hidden, I guess he felt like he wanted to help but couldn't."
Kazuhiko leaned back on the couch and Tyr listened attentively.
"When I finally awakened, there was another shadow there. He had taken another person's emotions for a long time, and he stuck out his hand to me. He called himself Shiroe, and he was friendly enough. He brought me to Niflheim and showed me all that was accomplished by shadows. I was astonished at what they did; The child's emotion inside me was horrified at how they hunted down their targets. You might not know this, but Personas are created from beings within the Mirror Dimension called reflections. Reflections are true emotions of people given in a physical copy of themselves. When they are killed, they are devoured by shadows. Reflections aren't easy to find, and when they are found, it takes a lot to down them. The child's emotions that I held couldn't take anymore and I looked away. Shiroe told me that this was the way of a shadow's life."
Hayabusa did his best to bury the memories of the day that he became conscious, but talking to Kazuhiko caused them to resurface.
(Flashback)
"Don't worry if you don't like it. That's only the person inside you that doesn't like it, not yourself." Shiroe said to Hayabusa.
He patted him on the back reassuringly.
"You'll get used to seeing it. After all, we have to provide for those little blood suckers."
Hayabusa turned and met Shiroe's gaze with a confused look. As quick as lightning, Shiroe had unsheathed a knife he had at his belt and slashed the neck of a reflection. Hayabusa screamed as he backed away from it as it bled. The reflection had a female physique, but didn't show any face or skin tone. The two backed away as a lucky shadow pounced on the body and absorbed it. Hayabusa closed his eyes and pressed his palms on his head.
Four years later
Hayabusa was wiping his rapier clean. At his feet lay a reflection that he ad just killed; a shadow already on top of it.
"Disgusting."
Hayabusa looked at the savage little creature as it absorbed the body. It was hard for him to believe that he was once something like that. Some shadows didn't even entirely change after taking a human's emotion. Only when that person had a strong spirit, did a shadow truly awaken. Those who took weak spirited victims just morphed into even more terrifying mishaps. The shadow in front of him was one of those and grew taller until it looked like a battered and scabbed chunk of flesh that grew limbs and wings. In the back of his mind, a voice told him that this was wrong, that he shouldn't have killed the reflection, that in the other world, some part of somebody had died. Gritting his teeth, Hayabusa forced himself to walk away.
He had done this work for a long time, but he always felt the conscious of that little boy. Telling him that he shouldn't kill them, that he should walk away from the other mature shadows, but he knew better than that. He saw before what happened to shadows that went rogue; there was nowhere to run and his fate had been sealed. Hayabusa was forced to live this life for eternity.
Present time
Hayabusa paused for a moment, trying to stop the memories that he had of being a reflection hunter. He deeply regretted doing all that he did before, but being sorry didn't repent him of his actions. Kazuhiko noticed Hayabusa's distress.
"You still feel guilty after what you did?" He asked.
Hayabusa nodded.
"There is no punishment suitable for my crimes. After I destroy all the shadows, I shall pay for my crimes with my life." Hayabusa said.
Kazuhiko drew back in alarm. He was about to protest, but Hayabusa stopped him.
"It's not only because of my guilt, but because I'm also a shadow. The only way for people to be safe is if I kill myself after I wipe out the shadows. I might get overwhelmed and turn on them, so it's a must."
Kazuhiko went silent. He understood what Hayabusa's point was, but he refused to let him do that. Hayabusa had helped them in the past; if he was going to die at the end of their endeavors, it would be as if their success would also bring them all despair. Kazuhiko didn't like his friend's decision, but he couldn't do anything about it. He stood up and thanked Hayabusa for his time.
"I think I'll head back to my world now. I'll see you the next time we come to do some training."
Hayabusa nodded and watched as Kazuhiko walked to the front door.
"Daichi."
Kazuhiko stopped and looked back at Hayabusa.
"That was the name of the child whose emotions I took. I'm practically him now so you can call me that now. Daichi Amasawa."
Kazuhiko nodded and smiled back.
"Okay then. I'll see you later, Daichi."
In a split second, time stopped once again. A card appeared in front of Daichi that Kazuhiko could recognize.
I art thou, Thou art I
Thou hast established a new bond
It shall be the sacrifices necessary to make tpo overcome despair
I present to thee, the Hanged Arcana
So, I finally came up with a name for Hayabusa! I got some inspiration from Whisper of the Heart, a movie that I have come to admire even at my age. Anyways, please review, favorite, follow and recommend this chapter. Also tell me if you want me to keep posting 2 chapters at a time.
Hayabusa's daily life
Waking up
"AAAAAHH! Get off me you vile creature!"
(shoves shadow off the post of his bed)
Morning Jog
"Shit! Stop following me!"
(gets chased by shadows)
Shopping for groceries
"Hey! Hands off my milk, you filthy animal!"
(constantly has to protect his shopping cart)
Clothes Shopping
"Why can't I find something that fits me!?"
(first world problems)
