Chapter 32
May 18, 2021; Monday
Kyuto High School; Rooftop
(Lunch time)
"Okay, all those in favor?", Kazuhiko asked.
Several hands from the group of Personae and users raised. He beckoned everyone to lower their hands.
"Those that oppose?"
Two hands shot up: Johei's and Loki's. Kazuhiko sighed and told them to put down their hands.
"The majority sees fit that Yoichi Miryoku and Mimir may join our Suicide Prevention Team."
Yoichi have a questionable glance to Kazuhiko.
"Um, why did we have to do this?"
Kazuhiko shrugged.
"I don't know. The real question should be, 'Why did I allow it?'"
Johei sighed as he rested his head on his hand.
"Well, it was worth a shot."
Mimir floated back up and faced everyone.
"Well then, now that it is official, I am glad to be of service to everyone here. I hope that we work hard together to stop the Harbingers of Death."
Yoichi smiled.
"Man, always more sophisticated than me. But, other than that, I'm honored to work along with you all as well."
After several moments of eating and talking, Kazuhiko decided to adjourn the meeting early today. He walked through the halls to the bulletin board.
"You haven't signed up for any clubs yet, Kazuhiko", Tyr had told him during the walk to school in the morning.
"Yoichi is just settling in, so maybe you should let him get used to his new life while you can check the billboard."
Kazuhiko stopped and faced the board. It didn't look as if there were many options available, due to the amount of time other people had to sign-up.
"Geez, so many clubs are already full. There's only one choice left for a sport or club…"
He looked at the sign-up sheets for the Tennis Team and the Culture Club. Neither looked appealing, but he didn't really have much of a choice.
"Your social links will present themselves once you bond with others, so keep looking for opportunities to connect with the people around you", Igor had once told him.
The options in front of him didn't seem to have many members involved, so he doubted that any social links would pop up, but…
"Screw it."
He took a flier for both and went back to his classroom.
(After School)
Kazuhiko waved goodbye to his friends as he made his way to the Culture Club room. He had already texted everyone that he would be out of action for the day, so he really had nothing to lose.
"Should be right around the corner", Kazuhiko said.
He stopped in front of a door with a handwritten poster that said, "Culture Club Room. All members please be considerate of surrounding classrooms".
"What classes are still in session?", Tyr asked.
Kazuhiko shrugged.
"They probably want to keep it quiet for their activities", he said as he opened the door.
Kazuhiko stepped into the classroom and found a small handful of students inside, most wearing kimonos. A girl, who was clothed in a violet kimono, turned her head to him and stood up. Several other members turned towards him as well as the girl walked towards him.
"Ah, it seems our new member has arrived. Sukima-san, correct?"
Kazuhiko nodded as he looked to the other members.
"I'm sorry I took a while to join; I just had a lot on my agenda."
The girl waved her hand as if to push the comment away.
"Don't worry, it's fine. Besides, better late than never. My name is Maeko Asahina. I am the club manager and a third year. Please address me as Maeko-senpai."
Kazuhiko nodded as Maeko introduced him to the other members.
"And this is Natsuko Hanami, a first year. She's fairly knew to the club so we'll be pairing you both together for activities", Maeko said.
She walked to the table on the ground and knelt before it.
"For now, you can just watch us while you get used to things. We were almost done practicing the Tea Ceremony so the wait won't be long."
Kazuhiko nodded in understanding and took a seat some distance away. Tyr took a seat next to him and watched as the members performed the ceremony.
"This experience seems quite soothing. A tea ceremony they called this, right?"
"Yeah, they're about to pour the tea now."
Kazuhiko beckoned his head to Natsuko who knelt and tilted the teapot towards a cup until…
*tss*
"Ah!"
Natsuko had accidentally touched the side of the teapot and brought her hands back, letting the teapot drop to the ground. The tea spilled all over the ground and the teapot shattered into pieces. Everybody stood up to avoid getting sprayed by the tea and cut by the fine china pieces.
"I-I-I'm s-s-sorry!", Natsuko said as she quickly attempted to pick up the pieces.
"Wait Hanami-chan!"
Maeko quickly put up her hand to stop Natsuko, but it was too late.
"Ow!"
Natsuko had slit her palm from a shard. She pulled back her hand which had started to bleed. Maeko sighed and turned to Kazuhiko.
"Can you get the first-aid box? It should be in a drawer beneath the table."
Kazuhiko came back with the first-aid kit and opened it for Maeko who took out a bandage and wrapped it around Natsuko's hand.
"I… I'm so sorry…", Natsuko said as she went to get a broom and dustpan.
A third year male member shook his head.
"Man, that's the third teapot she broke this month. If this keeps up, we'll have to find a way to get better fundings."
Natsuko returned with the broom and started to sweep up the pieces. Maeko stepped forward and took the broom.
"Don't worry, Natsuko. I'll do it."
Maeko swept up the pieces as Natsuko watched aimlessly. Afterwards, everyone changed out of their kimonos and left, that is, except for Maiko, Natsuko, and Kazuhiko.
"I… I'm sorry Sukima-senpai!", Natsuko said and bowed.
Kazuhiko waved his hands.
"No, it's nothing, really! Wait, what are you apologizing for?"
Maeko sighed and pulled Kazuhiko to the side.
"Natsuko's… still unsure of herself. When carrying out day-to-day tasks, she's okay, but she acts as if whatever she does is wrong. Please, as her partner can you support her through this?"
Kazuhiko hesitated, then nodded. Maeko smiled, thanked him, and left.
"Geez, all this in just the first day", he said.
Tyr nodded.
"I know, but this seems to be a norm for us, so let's just grit our teeth and keep going."
"E-excuse me? Sukima-senpai?"
Kazuhiko turned around to see Natsuko looking down at her shoes.
"I… I'm sorry for what happened just now… and on your first day in the club… but please forgive me."
Kazuhiko waved his hand aside, nonchalantly.
"Don't worry, it's fine. Are you okay, though? Your cut was pretty deep."
Natsuko shook her head.
"No, I'm fine. I'm just really clumsy when it comes to these things."
She looked up at him.
"Maeko-senpai told you to help me, didn't she?"
Kazuhiko nodded.
"I see… then, if it's not too much to ask, can you please help me become more coordinated?"
She brought her hands to her chest in fists and looked pumped as she looked at him with determined eyes. Then, just like that, the fire in her eyes were extinguished and she went back to her timid-like nature.
"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you that on your first day."
She then felt Kazuhiko's hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry; I don't know how much I can help you, but I promise that I'll support you as best as I can."
Natsuko beamed and looked as if she were about to blow-up from excitement. Then, Kazuhiko heard a voice inside his head.
I art Thou, Thou art I
Thou hast established a new bond
It shall be the power of self discovery to rid the world of Despair
I present to thee, the High Priestess Arcana
A tarot card briefly appeared before his eyes, the High Priestess, before time became fluid once again. Natsuko coughed to get his attention.
"Um, senpai? Your hand…?"
Kazuhiko looked at his right hand that was still on Natsuko's shoulder.
"Ah! S-sorry…"
Natsuko blushed and bowed before she excused herself. Kazuhiko sighed as he watched her walk off.
"Well, looks like things are gonna be pretty tough socializing with her."
"You can say that again."
May 21, 2021; Tuesday
Mirror Dimension; Niflheim, Floor 24
(After School)
"Take it out before it uses Mediarama!", Yoichi said.
Kazuhiko broke his chains and summoned Matador.
"Swift Strike!"
With a sweep of it's muleta, Matador summoned a series of strikes on the Völva, killing it instantly.
"Now, take out the rest with Fire skills!", Mimir commanded.
Iselin summoned Hildr and cast a Maragilao on the last of the the Draugrs. She wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead and sheathed her knife.
"Not too shabby backup, you two. I don't know how we could have fought without your support."
Yoichi blinked out his analytical vision and scratched the back of his head.
"It's not much. I mean, I just pointed out their weaknesses. I barely could do any support skills for you guys, much less fight."
Mimir sighed.
"How many times must I tell you? Your ability to support is impervious compared to anyone else. It will have it's moment in the limelight."
Yoichi nodded in thanks as he turned to everyone.
"Speaking of which, how are you able to obtain more Personas? I can sense that you just picked one up in the last battle."
Kazuhiko paused for a moment to consider his words.
"Um… well… you see…"
How am I supposed to say this?, He thought to himself.
"I… get them through shuffle time?"
Everyone stared at him with strange looks, but disregarded his answer.
"Look, I don't know, alright? I just somehow picture a few of them in my mind and suddenly obtain one that I choose."
Yoichi still looked at him with a weird look, but continued to speak.
"Hard to believe that you guys go through this all the time on a regular basis. How do you make time for anything else?"
Johei shrugged.
"We just have very flexible schedules, I guess."
"Speaking of which…", Daichi said as he pulled out his phone.
"Our target should be just above us on the next floor. I suggest that we go there and finish up training for today."
Mikan nodded as she took another arrow from her quiver.
"Sounds good to me."
Some time later…
"Are there any weaknesses, yet?", Kazuhiko asked Yoichi as he dodged for cover.
Yoichi squinted at the wight, but shook his head.
"It's like it's resistant to everything!"
The wight cast it's hand forward, summoning a wall. Johei broke his chains and summoned Loki.
"Wait, Johei!", Yoichi said.
"Garula!"
*PING*
"AGH!"
The green wall repelled the gust of wind right back at Johei and knocked him back. The wight let out a guttural cry as Yoichi cursed.
"Crap, first a Green Wall and now this…"
Iselin raised an eyebrow towards Yoichi.
"What? What's going on?"
"Well…"
Iselin quickly ducked from a spear thrust.
"Johei! What the hell?!", Iselin said as she knocked away another thrust.
Kazuhiko face-palmed while Yoichi explained.
"Marin-Karin; As expected, he's the most susceptible to it", Mimir said.
Iselin struggled to stop Johei's attacks without hurting him.
"Can someone help me?!"
"Lookout, Mika-senpai!", Kazuhiko yelled.
Mikan turned and was sent flying by a nihil blast from the wight.
"I'm okay!", Mikan said as Daichi helped her up.
Kazuhiko was still being held behind the pillar for cover, and couldn't do very much. That left Yoichi to do the healing.
"Alright, just hang in there, Bjorn-chan", Yoichi said as he tried to cast a healing skill.
Iselin endured several more attacks until she was able to disarm Johei.
"Hah! What are you gonna do without your spear now? Ugh!"
Johei then tackled Iselin to the ground.
"Decontrol!", Yoichi said.
Slowly, the insanity in Johei's eyes vanished.
"What? What happened?"
He had his hands on Iselin's chest and didn't speak for several moments.
"What. The. Hell. Are. You. Doing?"
*squeeze* *squeeze*
*POW*
Johei was sent flying from Hildr's punch and landed on top of the the airborne wight, causing it to fall to the ground. Kazuhiko finally ran out from cover and broke his chains.
"Nice job, Johei! Now, Tyr!"
"Zionga!"
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!"
*CRACK-OOM*
Nuzoko Mall District; Cafe
(Evening)
"Why did you have to hit me when I was there?", Johei asked Kazuhiko.
He was enjoying a drink that Kazuhiko had paid for him, hoping to compensate for the lightning that he had accidentally sent through his friend's body.
"Look, I said I was sorry, okay? Besides, there wasn't a better opportunity to finish it off. Let's just be glad that we got the job done today without any casualties."
Yoichi drank his latte, feeling like he well deserved it.
"I actually think I feel better now. Finally being able to do something for a change; It's a good change of pace."
Mikan nodded.
"We'll be relying on your scan ability more often, due to Daichi's limited knowledge of shadows now."
Mikan sat back in her chair as she placed her cup down.
"By the way, how did you get into the Mirror Dimension again?"
Yoichi looked down at his shoes for some time before he answered.
"Well, this guy named Shiroe gave me a QR code so I could go in."
Daichi tensed slightly at the sound of the name.
"So Shiroe's playing with us again, huh? Damn bastard."
Yoichi looked at Daichi.
"Wait, you know him?"
Daichi sipped his drink and kept his eyes closed.
"He was the guy who convinced me that I was a shadow and told me to kill reflections. He's also the one behind all the Suicide Cases."
Yoichi seemed to look more terrified now. Kazuhiko leaned forward to him.
"Did you see his face? Anything that might help with identifying him?"
Yoichi sadly shook his head.
"I'm sorry. When I first met him, I didn't see his face very clearly. I caught a glimpse of his eyes, but that's about it. They were brown."
Iselin humphed as she crossed her arms.
"Great. Now we have the vast majority of people on our suspects list."
Everyone seemed to be in a somber mood until their waiter came to them.
"Why so glum, guys?", he asked.
"Nothing, really", Kazuhiko answered.
"Just tired, is all."
The waiter scratched his chin then went back into the cafe. They waited several minutes until he came back again with a dozen blueberry muffins.
"Here you go, guys! On the house!"
Johei opened his eyes wide and looked from the platter of muffins to the waiter.
"You… you serious?! Well then, don't mind if I do! Ack!"
Mikan held onto the back of Johei's collar as she turned to the waiter.
"Thank you for these muffins, but to what pleasure do we owe this to?"
The waiter waved his hand away.
"Well, just a little gift from a former High Schooler to some students. Besides, you guys come here a lot and leave a healthy tip behind for me!"
Feeling satisfied, everyone thanked him and ate the muffins. Kazuhiko made a note to leave a bigger tip for the waiter on their next visits.
Nuzoko Mall District, Cafe
(Evening)
Nanako's POV
"*sigh*, well it was pretty tough following them around the entire day", Nanako said as the waiter gave her a cup of coffee.
"Don't worry, you'll be able to get to the bottom of this if you keep tailing them. Rest easy, Dojima-chan."
Nanako looked at the sandy haired waiter with an annoyed look.
"How many times do I have to tell you? We've known each other for quite some time; You don't have to keep calling me Dojima-chan anymore."
The waiter chuckled as he pulled a chair to the table.
"I was given orders to be your assessment officer, nothing more. Therefore, I will continue to call you Dojima-chan."
Nanako took the cup and sipped the tea inside.
"Well then, anything come up on your end?"
The waiter nodded.
"Yes, in fact, just when they were here in the early evening. They were talking about Personas and a Mirror Dimension. Not to mention a man named Shiroe."
Nanako nodded.
"Not bad, but I was able to find that out a few days ago. Really, you got to step up your game."
The waiter smiled as he got his own cup and poured himself a cup of coffee. Nanako beckoned towards a pitcher of milk, but he shook his head.
"No thanks, I'm lactose intolerant. Anyways, I'm curious as to what he's like. Kazuhiko Sukima didn't have many files in the data room."
Nanako placed her tea down and looked at nowhere in particular.
"He's very caring of others; He wasn't very social at first, but he gradually opened up. He'll do anything if it's to protect his friends and all that he holds precious."
The waiter slowly nodded as he sipped coffee.
"Hm, he sounds a lot like a person I used to know… Anyways, you seem to be fond of him, given that look on your face."
Nanako flustered, then glared at the waiter.
"Shut up, Amada-kun!"
Aaaaaand we are back! Sorry for the wait; I wasn't waiting to publish on Valentine's Day, I just had a lot on my plate. Speaking of which, Happy Valentine's Day! Be sure to spend your time with that special someone, or, if you're like me, grovel in your room and question why you're so lonely. I'm just kidding, spend time with your friends that don't have dates. Anyways, I'd like to introduce a new side character to the mix: Ken Amada! He's only here for a short time, so don't get too attached; I also won't do an interview for him cause he won't be part of the team. I've been suffering from writers block and I wasn't sure how to get this part past, plus I didn't want to make a new character dungeon because I've been going pretty slow on the calendar. Maybe some more events or social links? Or maybe I should just skip over a few days. I'm not sure. Oh yeah, thanks for all your support for this FanFiction, I really appreciate that a lot of people are reading this and it gives me the incentive to work harder. Now, it's the moment you've all been waiting for! The interview of Yoichi Miryoku and Mimir!
Dangstaboy: Welcome, everyone, to tonight's after show! I'm your host, Dangstaboy, here to interview the two newest SPT members, Yoichi Miryoku and Mimir!
*applause*
Yoichi: Hey! Nice to finally meet you!
Dangstaboy:… How did you know about this?
Yoichi: Well, two reasons. One, everyone else told me about this.
Mimir: And two, I sensed it.
Dangstaboy:… okay… then I guess there's no need for an explanation?
Yoichi: Nope.
Mimir: None at all.
Dangstaboy: Okay then! That makes my job much easier! Question 1 from Adtauthor22: How're you holding up? Is your current situation with Personas a bit hard to get used to right now?
Yoichi: Well, I kind of expected Mimir to show up, since everyone told me before they left, but I will admit I was kind of surprised to see a floating head.
Mimir: I believe that Kazuhiko has it even worse; Some of the Personas he has are outright horrifying.
Dangstaboy: I know, right? I mean, some Personas will be left unnamed, but a lot of them are just weird! Next question: I actually compared you to Doctor Strange at one point. Has anyone called you that as a form of name-calling?
Yoichi: Well, not really. You see, not a lot of people were really into Marvel. Besides, people at Kyuto aren't total jerks.
Dangstaboy: I see. But has there ever been an instance where you were made fun of for your disability?
Yoichi: None that I remember.
Dangstaboy: Very well then. Next questions will be from RosyMiranto. Are you actually playing Chess, Shougi, Xiangqi, Checkers, or ammy other Strategy Board Games? If if it's yes, are you good at it? And if it's yes, do you have any plan to play it professionally?
Yoichi: Well, I was very fond of chess in my middle school years, but I dropped it when I became a first year in High School. Don't get me wrong, I was pretty good at it. As for having plans to play professionaly, I've never thought about it. I wanted to join the Basketball team and it didn't sit very well with chess.
Dangstaboy: But seriously, though? Why drop chess? It's one of the greatest games in history!
Yoichi: I wanted to follow in my father's footsteps and live up to my name, so I chose to disregard it.
Dangstaboy: Speaking of which, that reminds me of another question: How did your father die? Actually, never mind. That's going into the spoiler zone.
Yoichi: Well, I have to say that it has something to do with my birth defect.
Dangstaboy: Your birth defect?
Yoichi: Yeah, my hands. You see, when I was still in my mother's womb, my hands started to develop much later than usual. In fact, they weren't very strong when it was time for me to emerge.
Dangstaboy: Ah, I see. And what about your surgery? Did that affect you very much?
Yoichi: Well, I can tell you that my hands ached even more than before. As for my academics, I didn't fall too far behind. I'm actually pretty smart and it's easy for me to digest information quickly.
Dangstaboy: Oh yeah, RosyMiranto also likes to make kanjis of our characters. Yours is 魅力 陽一. What do you think about it?
Yoichi: It looks pretty neat! But why does my name mean "The sunny one"? My last name seems to be correct, though; Charm.
Dangstaboy: What? Oh, actually I kinda messed up on that. Ichirou was meant to be your name, but some things got mixed and your name turned to Yoichi. In a sense, your name was meant to be Yoichirou Miryoku; Both the sunny one and masculine first-born son, but it kinda shortened to Yoichi because I didn't want to type Yoichirou all the time.
Yoichi: So… what you're saying was that my namesake was a lie?
Dangstaboy: Uh, no! Absolutely not! But let's go to the next question, please. Some readers actually thought of you to be either the Devil or Sun arcana. What do you think of that?
Yoichi: Well, they both make sense. I did seem kinda trapped, and I also felt optimistic, but who doesn't in this story?
Dangstaboy: That's actually true; I purposely made all the characters seem trapped and optimistic at times, except for Shirou. Next question: Did you realize that, while you were the King on the chessboard, you were actually a pawn used by Shiroe?
Yoichi: I know that now. Everybody was a pawn of Shiroe's at one point. However, I won't let him control me anymore. I can promise you that.
Dangstaboy: Truly a badass, Yoichi. Now, how about your feelings for Mikan?
Yoichi: Huh?
Dangstaboy: Oh come on! Don't play dumb with me! Is it something serious, or do you like her as a friend?
Yoichi: She likes me?
Dangstaboy: um… I'll just wait here and see what happens later. Anyways, last question for Mimir!
Mimir: Finally! I was waiting for this moment!
Dangstaboy: It seems that you and Tyr are quite acquainted. How so? Did you meet each other somewhere before you became Personas?
Mimir: Well, there were no records of us knowing each other personally, but we have seen each other on occasions when the Aesir met on meetings in Odin's court. I usually shed some information to everyone else, but that was it. Although, I didn't know that Tyr had that much respect for me.
Dangstaboy: Well, you are all-knowing; You would definitely earn so much of my respect if I had met you. One final question for me, though. What powers do you have besides your analytical vision?
Mimir: There are many vision that I have, although Yoichi still has yet to discover them. In time, I'm sure he will use my powers to their full extent.
Yoichi: Currently, I'm using analytical vision, heat vision, X-ray vision-
Dangstaboy: Wait, did you say X-ray vision?
Yoichi: Uh, yeah. It can see through selected layers so I can see what armor enemies are wearing and what they're carrying.
Dangstaboy: I'm going to have to pause you right there. Mimir, can you please accompany me?
Mimir: Sure, but what do you have in mind?
Dangstaboy: You'll see…
In the real world
Dangstaboy: Hehehehehe, I should have thought of this years ago.
Mimir: You're just like Johei. *sigh*
Dangstaboy: Hey, don't compare me with him. If anything, I'm more like Yosuke.
Girls: What's that noise outside? Is someone there?
Dangstaboy: Oh crap!
Girl: What the hell are you doing here you pervert!
Dangstaboy: Um, just trying to drop off a Valentine's day gift?
*BAM*
