Hey there, welcome back! Sorry I'm a bit late, just finished taking tests lol. I'm toasted.

Anyways, more downtime because I'm sorry D: But! I promise, the story will pick up its pace... after a few (a lot) more chapters D:

Anywho, enjoy!


Chapter Ten: Repose

"Makoto."

He wakes up to Ryoji shaking him. He groans and pulls the cover over his head.

Ryoji sighs and shakes him harder. "Come on, Makoto. It's already almost noon and you're still going to continue sleeping?"

"Yes," He hisses, curling further into himself. "Stop trying to wake me up and let me nap."

"Less like a nap and more like dying, to be honest," Makoto could hear the exasperation in his voice. He groans and decides that staying asleep any longer would be a hassle, so he just swats Ryoji away and groggily sits up. Ryoji's face lights up instantly. "There you go!"

"You're like a mother hen," Makoto comments, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes as he yawns and stretches his arms above his head. "I hate you."

"Sure you do," Ryoji retorts without missing a beat, and Makoto rolls his eyes as his own response. Still, he gets up and head for the bathroom. "Let's go wind down for today. I think we've earned it."

"Then why don't you just let me sleep," He groans and throws his hands up in defeat. "Our definitions of winding down are in the opposite directions!"

Ryoji laughs merrily. "Come on, you'll enjoy it, I'm sure."

"Right," He bites out sarcastically and starts his morning (afternoon, Makoto corrects himself) routine, brushing his teeth and cleaning his face. The headache and the burning sensation are mostly gone now, so he thinks it'll be fine.

Still, those red eyes from last night look… familiar, somehow. As if he'd seen them before.

He shakes his head and gets rid of that thought before coming out of the bathroom, fully dressed and still really tired. He only managed to get some sleep when the sun came up. He just wants to sleep the day away, goddamnit.

"Where're we going first?" He asks, grabbing his phone and plugging in an earbud into his ear.

"Weapon shops," Ryoji says with a grin. "We're going to pick you a sword."

"…You said we're heading out to wind down, not to buy a fucking weapon," He deadpans, blinking lazily.

"It's a great way to wind down!" He says with another laughter. Makoto resists the urge to facepalm himself and just rolls his eyes with an exasperated sigh. "Once we're done with picking you some gears for beating up Shadows, we're hitting the gym. You want to punch me, right?"

"Yes," He answers without thinking. And, after some thoughts, "Yes, I'd really love to."

"You can do that at the gym, then. I'll be your punching bag for the day," Ryoji says, thumbing himself with a shit-eating grin that Makoto both loves and hates in equal measures. "Deal?"

"Fine," He growls. "Don't blame me if you get a black eye, because I sure as hell am going to give you one."

"Okay! Then it's settled!"

"You're way too eager for this –"

"Come now, let's go!"

Ryoji then ushers him out without giving him another chance to retort.


Ren kind of misses the Untouchable Airsoft, to be honest.

The smell of metal and gunpowder greet his senses as soon as he steps inside. He carefully tries not to put too much weight into his ankle (luckily, it is not broken. He got a stink eye from Takemi, though) as he heads for the counter. Narukami whistles in approval, looking around the shop with interest.

Since Narukami's visit to the Velvet Room, the two Wild Cards agree that they need to be prepared for whatever shitstorm the Dark Hour is going to bring with it. And since they have no idea when one will begin again, assuming that it will occur every night is imperative.

Just thinking about fighting Shadows every single day already exhausts him. He shakes his head, getting rid of the thoughts, before leaning a bit over the counter. "Iwai-san! Are you here?"

"Comin'," The man drawls, yawning loudly. When he sees Ren, he smiles. "Been a while, kid. And who's that with ya?"

"A friend," He says. "I'm going to need to take a look at the usual for me, and um…"

"I prefer working with a katana," Narukami supplies with a small bow. "I'm Narukami Yu, sir."

"No need to be so formal," Iwai says, waving his hand and rubbing his neck. "Katana? That shit doesn't come in cheap, kid."

"I'm well aware, sir," Narukami says with a chuckle. "I believe half of my savings during my time with the blade is… well spent, at least."

"So at least you know what's what. Good," Iwai says, eyes soften slightly as he beckons them closer. He then puts on the table catalogues of weapons and materials. "I gave my shop a few tweaks. Custom-made weapons are always good, but it'd be better if you know what kinda options you have."

"Nice."

"Take your time. I ain't in a hurry." He yawns again. "The shop's lively today."

"Really?" Ren says.

"Yeah. A couple of young weapon enthusiasts came in just before you, picking out a sword and a wakizashi, I think? Eh, doesn't matter," Iwai swats his hand. "Take a good look, I'll be here if you need anything, kid."

"Thanks."

While the other members of their team might need new weapons, they're still pretty satisfied with what they have in hand, so it's just the two with the worst luck in battle who'd get their upgrades, for now. Ren's glad he brings Narukami with him — the man's pretty knowledgeable on the subject, maybe a bit too knowledgeable. But in times like this, too much information is always the way to go.

While they're picking at the materials, Narukami begins. "So, how's this friend of yours doing?"

"What friend?" He asks, running fingers over the picture of a particularly mean-looking blade.

"The one that suffered from some kind of Shadow-related illness?" He says, asking Iwai for one of the blades and testing its weight in his hands.

Ren frowns. While the boy's seemingly all good now, he still can't shake a feeling that he's involved with all of this, somehow. The way they met last night is in no way a coincidence to Ren – the Dark Hour seems to stop all none-Persona Users in their tracks. He had confirmed this by talking with Sojiro, and the man doesn't even know what happened.

But Yuuki and Mochizuki said that they heard them in the shrine, so they might have just gone out to buy drinks from the vending machine, as they'd claimed. But the timing feels off to him. He can't quite put his fingers on it, but he has a hunch that he can't just let this slide, either.

So, he decides to voice his concern. "To me, I feel like they're also involved in this mess… I'm not sure how, I don't have a solid proof. And they don't seem to be affected by the Dark Hour, either, so it's kind of fifty-fifty."

Narukami hums. "An eye on them would be wise. If we can't rule them out, rule them in instead."

"That's actually very smart, Narukami-san."

Narukami snorts. "You said that as if I'm normally an idiot, Amamiya."

"…Sorry?"

The older man only laughs and pats his back with a free hand before trying out another blade. "It's fine. So, what's your weapon of choice, Joker?"

He asks for a dagger. "This."

The older man hums. "I think you might like a wakizashi, you know. Japanese short sword. They're like a katana, only more compact."

"I'm less a front-liner and more of a backstabber," He says, brandishing the blade in his hand. It feels good — the weight, the cold metal against his palm, the shine. "I like moving around and stabbing Shadows from the back."

"We're the complete opposite, then," Narukami says.

After a few more minutes (correction, a few more hours) of them idly chatting and picking out their weapons, they decide on ones they like most. Luckily, Iwai is in a very good mood (which is rare) and the man gives them a huge discount. But even with that, two blades still cost them a fortune.

They left the shop with their bags heavier and their wallets filled with almost nothing but air.

No, that isn't an exaggeration.

"Where are you heading after this, Narukami-san?" He asks, snuggling the bag closer to him. It feels weird not having Morgana around, but the not-cat insists on staying with Futaba, so he has to get used to that.

"I have not a place in mind," The man says. "Wanna go grab a bite? I'm kinda hungry."

"Sure."

.

They arrive at a sushi restaurant quite a distance away from the Untouchable Airsoft. The scent of fresh salmon and seasonings are something Ren isn't quite used to, but remembers fondly.

He follows Narukami to the counter, only to catch a hand waving at the corner of his eyes.

"…Mochizuki!?"

The scarfed boy smiles and waves them over. Yuuki is nowhere to be seen, but there's a backpack in the seat opposite from Mochizuki, so he guesses that's the shorter boy's seat. He nudges at Narukami, and the man nods.

"We always seem to meet like this, huh?" Ren says once they're at the table, Narukami taking a seat beside the talkative boy while he sits opposite from them.

"Yeah. Tokyo's not that small, but it looks like we have the same tastes in some things," Mochizuki says, scratching his cheek and glancing back. "What the hell takes Makoto so long? Did he fall into the toilet or something?"

Narukami snorts a laughter at that. Ren smiles slightly.

"Oh right. Haven't introduced myself yet," Narukami says with a cough before turning to face Mochizuki a bit more. "You're Mochizuki Ryoji, right? I'm Narukami Yu. This guy's friend."

"Oh! More friends! Nice meeting you," Mochizuki says enthusiastically, eyes beaming at the older boy. Then he glances at Ren. "You sure know a lotta people, Amamiya."

"Yeah," He says with a sheepish smile. He then takes a look at the menu. "You ordered anything yet?"

"We ordered everything, so… yeah," He says with a chuckle. "Makoto is hungry. And he's pissed that I woke him up at noon today."

Ren snorts and, after ordering his and Narukami's share of food, says, "I see he's not an early riser."

"I don't think he wants to wake up at all most of the time," Mochizuki laughs merrily. One of the waiters brings to their table exactly seven trays of every kind of sushi imaginable. "Ooh! Here it is!"

"…You ordered these for only two of you?" Narukami asks, incredulous. "It's both incredible and disturbing."

"Said someone who ate two Big Bang Burgers on his own in one sitting," Ren teases, remembering the man casually devouring one after another in quick successions before they went to Iwai's shop. "Not that I'm any better, of course."

"Looks like all of us have some serious appetite," Mochizuki grins.

And then Ren spots Yuuki walking out of the bathroom, half-asleep on his feet. The boy walks over to them, blinks, before muttering a, "Wait what."

"Found them at the entrance so I let them join," Mochizuki explains.

"Oh," He says, before nodding at Ren and then at Narukami. "Um, I'm Yuuki Makoto."

"Narukami Yu," The older man says with a smile. "You look tired."

"I just wanna go back to sleep," He says, and as if to prove his point, yawns loudly. "Fuck, don't wake me up and just lemme sleep in next time."

"I will not," Mochizuki states cheekily. Yuuki groans and face-plants himself into the table.

"How you two are best friends sometimes (most of the time) intrigues me," Ren comments, picking out a tuna sushi that's cleverly hidden inside the tray. "You two are polar opposite."

"Only on some things," Mochizuki corrects him.

"More like most things, Ryoji."

"That's not true!"

"Ugh, what the fuck ever," Yuuki groans and leans back, slowly beginning to eat his way through a tray. It looks like he's already on autopilot.

Ren chuckles. This is going to be a fun dinner.

.

After a long while of more idle chats and laughters (Yuuki barely laughed at any jokes due to how dead he was on his feet), they split up, with him and Narukami walking towards Leblanc.

"They seem like good people," Narukami hums, a gentle smile on his face. "And they remind me of my friends, as well. A bit… desynced, but close. Very close."

"That is true," He says, stifling down a yawn. "I'll still keep an eye on them, though. Just in case."

"Good call."

After a pause, Ren sniffs. "You want coffee?"

"Sure," The older man says. "Black coffee would be nice."

"Alright, then."


"I didn't expect to see you here, Yukari-san."

The woman in question turns to Aigis as she walks closer. Tatsumi Port Island during night time is as beautiful as she remembers. The soft whistling of the wind and the ruffling of the leaves sooth her heart, as robotic and dull as it is.

Yukari stands before a single grave, well kept and well visited. The markings have partially faded, but the name remains exactly as it is.

Aigis smiles as she walks over, stopping beside her, eyes carefully trace the outline of the gravestone. "It's a beautiful evening tonight, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Yukari hums noncommittally, her eyes staring at one particular spot. "…I missed him."

"I missed him, too," Aigis responds, lifting her eyes to look at the woman beside her. "I thought you were already in Tokyo."

"I was," She murmurs, kneeling down and touches the name engraved into the stone. "I felt like coming here… you know, before I have to take up arms for real again."

"I understand," She replies. "…His birthday is two weeks away, right?"

"Mhm," Yukari hums again, only half paying attention to Aigis now.

The android simply smiles and lets silence reign over them. The warm wind of spring blows from the sea, rustling their clothes as they remain there for a moment that seems to stretch to an eternity. Then, she says, almost too quiet for the other girl to hear. "I'll stay here as long as you need me to."

"Thanks," She says.

"Oh! Looks like I'm not the only one."

Aigis turns to see Junpei walking up the steps over to them, wearing the same baseball cap, but now with a shirt and a pair of black slacks instead of his usual baseball garb. Yukari follows her eyes, and the woman smiles ever so slightly. In a teasing tone, she greets, "Hey there, Mister Ace Defective."

"Stop calling me that!" Junpei groans, rolling his eyes. But his expression softens as he approaches them, kneeling down to be at the same level as Yukari. "You hanging in there, Yukari-cchi?"

"Yeah, somehow," She murmurs with a small chuckle. "I'll manage. Just… the new Dark Hour really screws with my head."

"It does, huh?" He parrots. "Gotta wonder what Makoto would actually say in this situation."

"I believe his exact words would be 'not this shit again'," Aigis responds monotonously. After a brief pause, the three of them let out barely contained laughters of their own. She smiles. "I also believe he'll rush head-first into battles and try to do multiple tasks at once — maybe too many to be considered responsible."

"That's spot on!" Junpei says loudly. "How the hell did that guy juggle between us, fighting shadows, being flirted by Ryoji and joining in every club activity anyways!?"

Yukari splutters. "I actually asked him that once. He said 'I just do'. He's way too talented for me to understand, to be honest."

"Yeah, he's definitely one of a kind," He says with a smile, eyeing the grave again. He reaches out to pat the cold stone and says. "We miss you, pal. But we'll not be visiting for awhile."

"That's right," Yukari says, standing up and wiping off a few shed tears. "We'll make sure to win this one for you, too."

"Then, shall we? Did you drive here by any chance, Yukari-san? I… ran here. It is not pleasant for my suit," Aigis says, looking forlornly at the torn skirt in her arms. She might've gotten a little caught up in the moment during the trip here.

Only a little. Crosses her processor and hopes to short circuit.

Yukari smiles. "Yeah. You can join us if you want, Junpei. I know you don't have a car."

"So mean," He sighs, but then stands straight up again "But yeah, that's a good idea. Let's go."

"Let's."


"Achoo!"

"Bless you."

Ryoji says as a reflex. There's not even a thought behind it. Makoto just rolls his eyes and goes about his own business (namely, cleaning and maintaining his Evoker out of habit rather than necessity) on the bed, legs crossed. He yawns stiffly again, thumb delicately tracing the barrel. He then puts the Evoker away and lies flat on his bed.

He idly thinks someone might have talked about him, since he just sneezes.

…That's probably a bit too superstitious.

"You look beat," The taller boy comments, flipping through another page of the book in his hand. Makoto just nods and lies spread eagle on the mattress, not even bother to remove the belt. Ryoji eyes him a bit. "Aren't you going to shower?"

"Tomorrow," He says.

"You stink."

"Shut up," He mutters… then sniffs at his arm. He narrows his eyes – all day out in Tokyo, and there're bounded to be some smell sticking to his cloth. Fuck. "Fuck."

"Told you," The other says with a chuckle. "Come on, go take a shower already, or you're going to stink up the bed, too."

"Yes, mother," He emphasizes the last word as he gets up, getting a weak I am not from his friend. He snorts and grabs his things, his eyes turning to the clock. It reads 11.58 pm. "…If the Dark Hour comes up today, I'm going to be so fucking pissed."

"And wet," Ryoji adds. Makoto grabs his pillow and throws it at the boy's head, earning him a yelp.

"Don't jinx it, come on!" He says, grabbing Ryoji's shoulder and shakes him.

"Sorry, sorry!" He laughs, pushing Makoto's hand away. His sapphire eyes then glance at the same clock Makoto had just looked at a moment ago. "It's 11.59 now. You'd better wait."

"…Right, fine," He says, sitting back down onto the bed and picking at his nails. "…The Dark Hour makes things look like the Metaverse. Maybe this one is a bit different from the one seven years ago?"

"Possibly," He says with a solemn nod, closing his book. "The feeling of the Metaverse and the Dark Hour are pretty similar, too, so I think this Dark Hour might not be just the extra hour of the day, but the convergence of the real world and the Metaverse."

Makoto pauses, then sighs. "That just complicates things even more than they already are."

"But it also means we can investigate outside of the Dark Hour too, doesn't it?" The taller boy comments, and he can't really argue with that. It means more time for them to sort things out, so more wins to them, he thinks.

"I guess so."

And as the clock ticks midnight… nothing changes.

"Fucking finally," He says, bolting up from his bed and shutting himself inside the shower.

He's going to nap his ass off tonight, and he isn't going to let Ryoji ruin it again.

.

Did he say something about sleeping his ass off last night?

Why must he jinx everything himself?

Makoto groans as Ryoji's alarm blares right into his soul, rolling over to the side and covering his ears with both hands. He mutters colorful curses under his breath as he hears Ryoji fumbling around and slamming his hand (must be, because he hears something falling to the floor) onto his own phone. After a few minutes of total silences, he turns back, curious.

Ryoji. Is still. Fucking. Sleeping!

"You've got to be shitting me!" He spits and rolls back again, eyeing his phone with its blinding-bright screen. The time reads 4.30 am. "Why the fuck would you set an alarm this stupidly early and not waking up to it!?"

He slams his own device onto the bed and tries to sleep again, to no avail. After nearly half an hour of frustration and multiple failed attempts at both going back to sleep and waking up the damn mochi, he gives up. That's it, he's not getting any more shut-eye tonight.

He throws the cover off himself and pads to the bathroom. Maybe that would help (it wouldn't, Makoto corrects himself mentally) with his insomnia.

No luck.

He comes back out again and changes into outdoor cloth. If he can't sleep, then he's going to find himself a few (dozen) cans of instant coffee and drowns himself in caffeine until he crashes. Yes, that's the plan, and yes, he's done it before.

The early morning air is cool and comfortable; not freezing, and not too warm. He looks up at the night sky and takes in the sight – with all the shitstorm they've been facing, a quiet night and a moment to contemplate like this is… nice.

He walks towards the nearest vending machine, which is almost ten minutes away, hands in his pockets and music in his ears. He snugs the Evoker closer to his side every time he walks pass someone or something that looks like a Shadow. He still can't get rid of the reflex months upon months of fighting in the Dark Hour did to him.

Makoto realizes he's a bit… jittery without Ryoji around. That's not entirely a surprise, but still, it irks him to no end. He sighs to himself and just tries his hardest to ignore his uneasiness.

He punches the vending machine, and cans after cans of coffee come rolling down. When he picks them up and shoves them into his backpack, he sees an elderly man watching him.

"…Can I help you?" He asks tentatively.

"Oh! Was I staring?" He says. "My apologies. You look like someone I know."

"M'kay," He mumbles and yawns, popping a can into his hand and take a nice, long sip. He is about to head back when he feels an odd compulsion to talk to the man. He looks like he needs a talk. Makoto scratches his head as he resigns to his instinct and walks over to the elder, sitting on a bench nearby. "…May I sit?"

"Hm? Oh, certainly!" The old man laughs, taking his walking cane off the seat. "You woke up early, for someone your age."

"Not that I intended to," He grumbles, taking another sip and turns the volume down a little. "Why are you out here this early in the morning?"

"Waiting for someone," The man says. "It might take longer than planned, so your company is welcomed, my boy."

"I got nothing better to do, anyway," He says, crossing his legs and taking another sip.

"So," The old man decides to start the conversation, thankfully. "I believe I haven't introduced myself yet. Hajime Genji. A pleasure."

He holds up his left hand, which Makoto thinks is slightly odd. He shakes his head and takes it with his own left, and notes mentally that the old man's grip is quite strong. "Yuuki Makoto."

"A good name," Hajime comments with a small smile. He then looks up at the moon. "The wind feels nice today, wouldn't you say?"

"I guess," Makoto murmurs, finishing one can. He tosses it deftly into the bin and starts on the second one right away.

"It's been quite a while since I've had the chance to enjoy things," The old man laughs. "My old house got its door barred a few years back by some buffoons, and it's been… a bit hectic ever since."

"Sorry about that," Makoto says awkwardly. He feels like this man is as random and spontaneous as one can be, maybe a bit less that a certain Appriser.

The man shakes his head. "It's alright. I get to be here now, so I don't really mind much."

Makoto hums.

After a short pause, the man turns to him. "Say, do you have a brother or a sister?"

I don't was about to be his response. But then Ryoji would be left out. He inwardly snorts to himself before nodding. "Yes. A… brother. Sorta."

"What's he like?"

"Annoying at times, but… he's a nice guy to be around." He can't help but say the first part. Ryoji is annoying sometimes, especially with his ungodly hour of an alarm. He hates waking up at fucking 4!

"I see, that's good," He laughs. "My sister is just aloof most of the time, and my brothers are nowhere to be seen, except one. But they're family, and I love them. Cherish your family well, my boy."

Makoto smiles slightly and nods. "'Course I will."

"Good, good," Hajime chuckles. Then he looks up, "Ah, speak of the devil!"

Makoto follows the man's eyes to see a man, maybe no more than a few years older than Hajime, walking out of an apartment. Hajime gets up and bows at him.

"I must be going now. Maybe if we get a chance, we could talk again, Yuuki-kun."

"Sure," He says, standing up and bowing at the older man as well. "Good morning, Hajime-san."

The man leaves with the other male, probably his brother, in tow, and Makoto's eyes follow them.

The old man is weird, but he's nice.

Still, there's a strange gut feeling that Makoto can't quite shake off…

He ignores it and heads back to his room. Maybe a nice warm bath and a few cans of coffee will knock him out this time around.


New Social Link because old one isn't complicated enough? LOL?

Anyways, yeah... this. Slice of life, I think?

See you in the next two weeks, folks :D