Sorry about the delay! Exams and all, haven't got time to edit. Still don't, but hey, I'd hate to deny you of this!

And papapapuffy, thank you for the review! I'm glad you enjoy this! :D

Enjoy!


Chapter Eleven: Piecing the Puzzles

April 11th, 2017

Makoto hates school.

Correction; Makoto hates waking up to school.

Two weeks after that Dark Hour, and just… nothing. Not a single flash of green. Just complete and utter silence, except for a few people wandering around aimlessly (and, truth be told, maybe a bit inattentively) around their neighborhood. The only normal person Makoto had seen and had a few chats with is the strange old coot named Hajime, who somehow seems to want to befriend him. Even the so-called Metaverse and the subway are eerily quiet. Ryoji can't sense a damn thing, so it's like they're back to square one.

Which is why he has a faint hope that maybe the Dark Hour will begin again today.

"Makoto, you're spacing out," Ryoji says with a chuckle, chewing absently on a Snickers. The taller boy still wears his usual scarf and the same shirt, albeit with the school blazer on top.

"You're breaking the dress code," He comments.

"Not like you aren't," Ryoji shoots back quickly and looks him up and down. Makoto really hates the school's turtleneck shirt, so instead of that, he wears a shirt. He really misses Gekkoukan uniform, especially the bowtie.

And neither of them wears the checkered pants. It's just not their thing.

"Who cares," He mumbles and stretches. "Fuck, I wanna sleep."

"You've been saying that all the time for the past month," Ryoji says, using his shoulder as an arm rest again. Makoto's too damn tired to shrug him off.

"Because someone kept me up all night and then woke me up in the early morning," He growls back.

"Sorry?"

"You're not even apologetic, Ryoji," He says.

"Hey there, Yuuki! Mochizuki!"

They turn to the voice to see Takamaki running up to them. She smiles and exchanges a few pleasantries mostly with Ryoji (because Makoto just doesn't care at the moment) before the taller boy whistles. "Now look at you. You look mighty fine, Takamaki-san."

"Oh shut up," She retorts, hitting Ryoji's arm lightly. She then turns her attention to him. "You look sleepy, Yuuki. Not a morning person?"

"No," He says curtly, yawning once again. He wouldn't be surprised if he'd sleep through the first few hours of classes. And does he care? Of course not.

"Morning's nice," Takamaki says, putting her arms above her head. "Not too hot, and not too cold."

"I just wanna sleep until noon or something," He mutters under his breath. "I guess I just gotta sleep earlier."

"Or maybe drink a few more cans of coffee," Ryoji says, handing him a cool canister. He blinks lazily before taking it and takes a few sips.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"Question," Takamaki asks, and when he nods, she continues. "How much do you usually drink?"

"A few," He replies, not really feeling like talking much. Luckily, Ryoji steps in.

"Three to five cans a day. He's not even fazed by a dozen anymore," The taller boy laughs and puts his arm, this time, on his head. Makoto tries to swat him off, to no avail. "And don't try to copy him, Takamaki. I tried. I thought I was going to die."

"I'm not brave enough anyways," She says with a grin. She then looks towards the school gate and waves at the two other Makoto recognized as Amamiya and Sakamoto. "Hey guys!"

"Mornin', Takamaki. And the Terror Twins, too," Amamiya says, and the name stops him dead.

"Terror—what?" He repeats after almost spitting out his drink.

"Terror Twins," Amamiya repeats, something akin to a smirk on his face. "Rumors fly fast here, you know. Some people saw you at the gym duking it out, and since your voices are so similar and you go everywhere together all the time… people start giving you names."

"Are you serious?" Makoto deadpans. They haven't officially started the semester yet and they're already getting named?

"Yes."

"For the love of—"

"That's pretty cool, innit?" Ryoji butts in, slinging his arm fully around his shoulders and pushing Makoto slightly downward. He tries to protest, but to no avail. "We're now twins. Nice."

He sighs. "Fine, what the fuck ever. That name's going to stick, isn't it?"

"It kind of already did," Amamiya says with a grin. Makoto stops himself from planting his face into the nearest surface. Whatever look he's having must be really funny, because Amamiya laughs. "Come on, I think the name's perfect for you two. You think almost the exact same things, saying almost the same words every time, and you're never seen apart from one another."

"Right? I think this name's cool!" Ryoji agrees with a chuckle.

"Fuck my life." Makoto groans.

"It's kinda already fucked once before by Nyx, though?" Ryoji comments under his breath. Makoto gives him a side-way stink-eye, and the taller boy promptly ignores him.

"Which class are you two in, by the way?" Amamiya asks as they continue their walk. Makoto notices a few groups of students whispering amongst themselves while looking at them. Rumor lovers are everywhere, huh.

"3-D," He replies, looking at the papers. "Yep. 3-D."

"Same class as we three, then!" Sakamoto says. "Nice!"

"This year's turning quite lively already," Takamaki giggles. "We'll be in your care, Terror Twins."

He groans at the nickname, but he quickly tries to make peace with that. Although, being called the Terror Twins with Ryoji from now on… is not that bad of a deal, when he thinks about it. Makoto chuckles to himself before he looks up. "We'll be in your care as well, Takamaki, Amamiya, Sakamoto."


"Two weeks and he returned empty-handed, huh?"

Takamaki comments after she takes a peek at his phone. Ren nods and put the device down, brows furrowed and deep in thoughts. The three that went to Tatsumi Port Island find nothing that would be of use. The old facilities Kujikawa had mentioned are all but destroyed and the local officers didn't really comply with any of their requests, so they're back to almost square one.

The one thing they managed to salvage was the name of the sponsor of whatever happened there, and it's a very powerful family name Ren's heard multiple times before, not to mention the name that built the entirety of Tatsumi Port Island on their own, too.

The Kirijou Group.

He frowns; no one really knows what the group really does. They're known as a multinational trading company that has too many contacts and too many strings. In the last year, the name did come up a few times, but they weren't really into any dirty political plays. With the new Mementos, where keywords weren't even needed anymore, they couldn't find anything. Just as expected.

But that name… maybe he should try to look into it.

As quickly as the thought came up, he messages Futaba.

Futaba, care to look up something for me?

As always, the reply is quick.

Sure! Kirijou Group, right? Akechi did mention that.

I and Mona are looking into it right now. Let's talk when you get back.

She's taken the initiative already. He nods to himself at put his phone away for good, this time. The chair beside his seat moves, and he turns to see that Yuuki has taken that spot for himself. He turns to look around and see that Mochizuki is directly behind the boy, while Ryuji is directly behind him.

"Aren't you supposed to be at the front for the introductions?" Ren asks.

Yuuki groans and slams his head into the table, while Mochizuki just laughs at his friend's suffering. The boy puts up a finger before looking up, "I totally forgot that part. Right."

He stands up, dragging the still snicking Mochizuki with him. They walk towards the door and exit, presumable to meet with their homeroom teacher.

Ren's checked. It's Kawakami. Looks like homeroom teachers are swapped, somehow.

He won't complain, though.

"After almost a month, I can confidently say that Yuuki's an awkwardly funny guy," Takamaki says from the side, her cheek in her hand. "Much like when you first came here, Amamiya."

"Really?" He raises an eyebrow. "Was I that awkward?"

"Definitely." Takamaki shrugs. She then pauses for a bit, deep in thought, then adds. "Maybe less. A bit. Hm, or a lot?"

Ren rolls his eyes.

When the bell rings, Yuuki and Mochizuki follows Kawakami with the former wearing an expression that's a mix of annoyance and just plain sleepiness. They quickly scribble their names onto the board (Yuuki has a pretty neat handwriting, huh) and introduce themselves with a bow before going over to their seats.

"Now then!" Kawakami claps her hands together, calling for the attentions of the class. "First day, same things for you; I'll inform you of the ground rules, yada yada, and then introductions to all your classes in later periods."

"So even teach's bored by all the formalities," Yuuki mutters, already half asleep. He yawns and rests his cheek on his knuckle, waving at Amamiya. "See ya later."

Wait… what!?

Yuuki's fallen asleep, just like that!?

Mochizuki waves for his attention. When he turns, the boy just grins and nods at Yuuki. "He's always like that, don't worry. Leave 'im be."

…He's so not going to have fun in Ushimaru's class.

.

Ren has to wonder how Yuuki always gets the answers right. Or by extension, knows when to answer at all, seeing that he's always sleeping.

He shoots a questioning look at Mochizuki, who promptly says I don't know either, even though he also manages to know when and what to reply when he doesn't pay attention. Like, at all. The guy just keeps himself busy on his phone and a small book he brought with him.

What a pair of total weirdos.

When the bell rings and the class rise, Yuuki stands up, too, although a bit wobbly. He yawns and looks at his wristwatch, then at Mochizuki. They exchange a look before shrugging at the same time. The scarfed boy is the one who turns to him. "So where do you buy your lunch?"

"Right, you're still new. This way."

He and his two friends lead them towards the cafeteria, where there's a lot of people crowding in front of the shops. Ren just groans — he forgot about this whole thing, too.

"What d'you want, Makoto?" Mochizuki asks, rummaging through his wallet and pulling out a few notes and a few coins.

"Hotdog would be nice," He yawns again, sounding disinterested. "And black coffee."

"Got it," The boy says, then turns to the trio. "I'll buy your lunches for you. What do you want?"

"You sure you're okay waiting in lines alone?" Ren asks. Even looking at the long lines is painful. He glances at Takamaki and Ryuji, who share his pain.

"I'll be fine, don't worry," The boy gives him a cheeky grin. "Come on, what do you all want?"

After a bit of hesitation, they sigh collectively before pointing out what they'd like for lunch. They knew the chance of Mochizuki getting all of that during the rush hour is almost impossible, but the boy insists he can do it just fine.

After he left, they find themselves a table and sit together, with the trio talking and playing like usual, while Yuuki just looks at them.

"Wanna join the conversation, dude?" Ryuji asks, amused.

"I'm fine," He says. "I'm not going to do any talking until I get my caffeine."

"Are you addicted?" Ren asks.

"I think so?" He mutters, yawning loudly again. "Yeah. I think so."

He snorts.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Mochizuki says quite happily as he approaches, an armful of their requested food in his arms. He places the coffee in front of Yuuki as he hands them their food. Ren blinks, incredulous.

"How do you manage to get all of this and so fast?" Takamaki voices his own thought. Even with all the Thieves' training, he still can't do this!

"I'm a natural, of course!" He replies, smiling radiantly. The boy nudges Yuuki, who promptly scoots over and starts sipping the coffee before him, another hand holding the smoking hotdog.

"I appointed you our lunch buyer from now on!" Takamaki exclaims, pointing at the scarfed boy. "You are good at this!"

"Gotcha. Leave it to me, then!"

Ren laughs.

Looks like this school year's going to be very interesting.


"Who're you meeting again? Takeba Yukari, as in Takeba-san who plays the pink Neo Featherman?"

"Pink Argus, Senpai," Rise corrects him, stirring the latte in front of her. He's sitting right beside her, and he's not even sure why he's here. As if she reads his mind, she continues, "This is an unofficial meeting. I wanna thank her for her help the other day."

"Help? With what?"

"I asked her a couple weeks back for a favor, since Inoue-san said he wanted to talk to her directly. And I gotta do it, cuz he's already done a lot to keep me in Tokyo," She explains, then lifts the cup to her lips. After a long sip, she says. "And I want you here because having you near me feels nice."

Yu smiles. "Love you too, Rise."

She hits his arm, face beet red. He laughs.

They spend some time chatting idly, purposefully avoiding the topic of the Metaverse and the Dark Hour, because they've had that discussion once, and it's too tiresome for a day like this.

After about an hour, they spot a woman coming in, brown hair slightly disheveled. She scans the restaurant and, after spotting Rise, walks over. Yu gives her a small bow as she sits down, hand absently patting at her hair.

"Sorry for coming in late, I got… a bit caught up in some stuffs," She says, an apologetic smile on her face. When she sees him, she pauses, eyes slightly squinted. "…Have we met before?"

"I don't believe so," Yu says, bowing slightly. "Narukami Yu."

"Nice meeting you," She says with a small smile. "I'm Takeba Yukari."

"Thanks again for the other day, Takeba-senpai," Rise says, leaning over slightly. "Inoue-san would have been in some trouble if you haven't agreed to meet up with him."

"It's no problem, really," She chuckles, then alternate her eyes between the two of them. "Are you two perhaps…?"

"A couple?" Yu offers. "Yes."

Rise blushes and hits his arm again, mumbling something under her breath. Takeba smiles at them, sipping on the glass of water. "You look cute together."

"Thanks," Yu says with a grin, one arm slinging over Rise's shoulder and hugging her a little closer. Much to her chagrin, she blushes even harder.

"Anyways, what did you guys order?" Takeba asks, looking at the menu and changing pages after pages. "All of these sweets look nice."

"I got you these!" Rise says happily, and Yu pulls his arm away to let her have a girl talk with Takeba.

The thing about the Dark Hour can wait.

.

The whole experience is quite refreshing, if Yu's going to be honest.

Takeba is passionate in her work, and she's quite considerate, too. Even though Yu feels alright being left out, she made sure he's included in some of their conversations. The whole dinner turned into a delightful outing, and he totally forgets about their ordeals during that time.

After they're finished, they walk out of the restaurant, refreshed. The night air breezes lightly, and he closes his eyes, letting the wind caress his face for a bit.

Takeba smiles at them as she stretches slightly. "That was a nice outing. We should do this more often sometimes, Rise-chan. Narukami-kun."

"Sure!" His girlfriend agrees, hugging his arm as she does. "Take care, Takeba-senpai! And see you around!"

"See ya!"

Once she's out of sight, Rise turns to him with a smile. "So?"

"So… what?" he says, tilting his head to the side. The mischievous grin on her face doesn't help. Then it dawns on him—she wants to go sweets shopping. "Rise, I've got morning class tomorrow—"

"It'll be fine," She says, hugging his arm harder. "Come on. It's been a while! I wanna eat cakes!"

"Rise, wait, I—" His words die in his throat when she throws him a puppy eye. Goddamnit, "Look, let's go another time, okay? This class is like, 6 in the morning, and it's already 11 pm! There's no shop that'd open at this time."

"But I know a few dozens that do!" She pouts. "Come onnnnn."

"Okay, fine—" He gives in.

But before they are able to do anything else, his phone ring. It's a strange number.

He frowns, and looks at Rise, who instantly takes the hint and nods.

He picks up and mutters an unsure, "Hello?"

"Hey there, Hero-kun," Comes the all too familiar voice. Yu freezes in his track. Rise notices this and looks at him in concern. He doesn't respond to her. He isn't sure what to even say or what kind of expression he should be having.

"Adachi-san?" He says, voice low. "How—"

"Remember that call about the strange greenish world, and that Dark Hour thing at a later time?" He asks. When Yu hums, Adachi continues. "Turns out someone must've been keeping tabs on you. I suddenly got a special request from a certain someone to be released."

"You… what?"

"I got a temporary release. To help 'solve some mysteries', as the wardens called it," He says. Yu could hear a grin on the man's face, and he shivers at the mere thought of it.

"That makes no sense. You're convicted and sentenced for murders, you shouldn't even be released; at least not this soon," Yu says flatly. Rise's eyes widen in alarm, but he stops her.

"I know. It shocks me too, you know," Adachi says, his voice suddenly serious. Yu narrows his eyes as the other continues. "I can't say much, since that someone's wants to talk to you on their own terms. But I think they might be your ally."

"Might being the word," Yu responds.

"True," Adachi chuckles. "Well… I guess I'll see you around, Yu-kun."

And then the line is cut.

Yu stares at his phone for a long, long time.

"What. The. Hell?"


"You still haven't told me why I'm here yet, you know."

Adachi says, arms crossed, as he leans against the leather seat of the limousine. Mitsuru doesn't answer right away, instead pulling out her Evoker. Unlike most people, this Adachi doesn't flinch. He just looks with a bit of curiosity, and a bit of boredom.

"I only pulled you out for your own safety," She finally says, putting the Evoker back to the holster on her leg. Aigis tenses a little as the man moves, but Mitsuru stops her.

"Safety? From what, Shadows?" Adachi says, a playful smile on his lips. He leans back again, one leg crossing over the other. He rests his elbow on his knee, and his smile turns sly. "You afraid I'm gonna die in there or what? That's pretty pointless, you know."

"Every Persona User is valuable, no matter their backgrounds," Mitsuru states, eyes not leaving the man. He doesn't seem to care much, so she continues. "Besides, if the Dark Hour happens again – or rather, when it happens again – you'll be attacked, because you can use a Persona. One person against many Shadows isn't exactly a welcoming idea."

"I don't really care either way," The man shrugs. "But hey, I'm outta that stinking prison for a bit, so yay for me, right?"

Aigis looks annoyed, which is rare. But Mitsuru understands; he kind of sounds like him, but on a totally opposite side of the spectrum. He's aloof, and dismissive. It's the darkest copy of their Leader, or something close to that.

"On two conditions," She says with a sigh. "You'll be under our watch, for one, since if you escape, all falls to me."

"Understandable," The man says with a shrug. "What's the other one?"

"You help us investigate this Dark Hour."

"Go figures," He says, throwing up his hands slightly. He then starts playing with the Evoker she decides to give him, but if those from Inaba don't need it, then she doubts he will. "I'm just surprised you'd let me call Yu-kun. Ain't you guys keen on keepin' this on the down low?"

"We keep it a secret only because we're uncertain on some details, especially before the Dark Hour appeared… And we'll come out when we get all of that sorted," Mitsuru says truthfully. "And we keep it this way… because a mysterious person contacting them would goad them to act, and it paid off; they did have a way to investigate the strange occurrences we detected; sudden rise of Shadows in certain area, or spikes in energy."

Adachi then grins, seemingly having figured it out from her words. Mitsuru mentally notes that this man is still a detective, even imprisoned. "And when this Dark Hour thing appeared, you need to work with them, too, because apparently, no one else have ever experienced it before, and their means of investigations alone won't be enough anymore."

"That is one aspect of it."

"There's still one more?"

"Because the Dark Hour is tied to a certain God… a God we can never forgive," She says, her voice hard and cold. The God of Death, Nyx… the cruel, uncaring god that took much from all of them, even if it's not malevolent on its own. "I will not let another soul die because of the Dark Hour if I can help it."

"So noble," Adachi says, suddenly disinterested. He sighs, a bit too expressively. "Well, whatever, I don't really care either way. I'll help you with whatever this is… as long as it interests me."

"Of course," Mitsuru nods.

She doesn't like working with a murderer; he reminds her of Takaya, of Strega.

But even if he's evil, she just can't let another person perished inside the Dark Hour ever again.


Two minutes until midnight.

Makoto explores every nooks and crannies of the Evoker in his hand, eyes closed. He's gotten used to the feeling by now, the only part of the gun that bothers him is the black trigger. He doesn't mind the color, but it just seems a bit out of place.

He opens his eyes after a while and looks out the window, full moon decorating the sky, its soft, radiant light illuminating their surroundings. He doesn't like the full moon, having associated it with all kind of fuckfest during his time at the SEES, which is a bit too much for his stomach to handle at times. He sighs and slumps back onto the bed, waiting, watching.

Whether he gets to sleep or not will come down to what happen next.

"One minute," Ryoji says, his eyes on the clock.

"Yeah," Makoto murmurs. "I somehow wish it is the Dark Hour, just so we would have something to work with again."

"Huh. So I'm not the only one," Ryoji says, putting down the book he's been reading. "Mitsuru-san and the former SEES should be onto this by now, I'd say."

"True," He nods. "That doesn't mean I wanna meet them again."

"Why?"

He pauses, weighing the words on his tongue. His frown deepens. "I… miss them. I miss all of them, but I'm afraid of losing them, or... I dunno, I just—"

His breath catches in his throat. He isn't sure what he's thinking. He misses them, dearly so, but a part of him is screaming at him not to get close. They've already moved on, from the past, from him. He shouldn't meet them and let them live their own lives while he lives his.

But it feels… hollowing. He feels incomplete, and empty.

"I get it," Ryoji says after looking at his expression, a melancholic smile on his face. He must've at least guessed what he was thinking. "It's okay, Makoto. We'll decide what to do with that later."

"…Thanks."

"You're welcome. And hey, one question?"

"Mm?" He hums.

The clock ticks to midnight, and he could feel adrenaline rushing through him as the sky turns green, and the people he'd seen on the streets before had turned into coffins. He turns to Ryoji, who continues with his inquiry while getting up. "Would the Dark Hour be the first or the last hour of the day?"

"Since it's start at exactly midnight… first? I guess?" He replies, a bit unsure. "Why?"

"Then today's the 12th, right?"

"Yeah. So?"

There's a grin on the other's face as he leans down a little to look at Makoto closely.

"Happy 18th birthday, Makoto."


I both love and hate fight scenes, which are probably sprinkled across the next chapter. Well, I do hope you continue to enjoy this fic regardless! See you later!