AHHHHHHH I'M SORRY I'VE JUST FINISHED TEST HERE YOU GO I AM SORRY D:

And, to be honest... I feel a bit weird with this fic, now that I've gone around to write a darker one. This one looks soft compared to that ;_;

Anyways, here you go!


Chapter Thirteen: Assembly

The Dark Hour vanishes not long after the Amalgamation is destroyed.

"Looks like this time, the duration of the Dark Hour is tied to some kind of condition," Makoto says, yawning as he drops everything at the foot of the bed. He takes off his jacket and tosses it onto the chair then plops down onto the mattress. "How long was this one?"

"…One hour and twelve minutes," Ryoji says. "You think the Shadows' destruction is the condition to stop the Dark Hour?"

"Why are you asking me?" He says with a scoff. His eyes then travel back to that black spot on the ceiling, a deep frown on his face. "We'll never know what it is until we actually have to fight a Shadow like that again."

"True," The other says with a hum. "…And, I have to say… Aigis looked super scary there."

Makoto shivers. While they're blessed with the cover of the smoke, they've had the chance to see the android hiding in a rather high and advantageous spot. It looks like Mitsuru and the others have already started moving.

"Yeah," He murmurs after a while. "And I think they'll make contact with Amamiya and the others soon, since I don't think keeping quiet about this would be beneficial any longer."

"Which means they might come by the school."

Makoto makes a face. "Which means… we're going to have to get outta school through any way other than the front gate. If they spot any of us, it's gonna be awkward as hell."

"Why?"

He turns to look at Ryoji at that word. Their eyes lock for a long, long time before Makoto tears his gaze away. Of course, he wants to see them. He always wants to. But he just can't, and that's the problem. There are no logics or reasons behind it, he just can't bring himself to.

"Makoto," Ryoji calls him and forces him to look at the other again. But Ryoji's gaze is not judging him, or condemning him or whatever he was expecting. Instead, he's smiling warmly. "I know how you feel. We can meet them if you want to, but if you don't, then I'm okay with it."

"Even if it'll put us at a disadvantage?" He asks, his throat suddenly feels dry. Investigating all of this on their own is bound to be met by dead end, sooner or later. The sooner they reunite with the SEES, the better, but then again…

"Yeah," The taller boy says with a grin. "I'm always with you, Makoto. Don't worry."

I'm always by your side, so lean on me, okay?

Makoto remembers those words clearly, and he lets out a laugh. No matter how irrational his decisions are sometimes, Ryoji'd always stick by him. This guy is priceless, and he'd do everything to make sure he's safe, and it seems the feeling's mutual.

After a while, he sits up and nods… before deciding to say another thing that bothers him. "You know, I've said this before, but you really make me feel gay."

Ryoji splutters and coughs for a few solids seconds before he turns to Makoto, face beet red with embarrassment. "Makoto, what!?"

He laughs. "It's true! But still, thanks… you can always get my head out of the funk, Ryoji."

The boy just smiles. "And you're always welcome. That's why I'm here."

"Gay."

"Am not!"


Ren's still amazed.

Yuuki actually survived sleeping through Ushimaru's class.

He means — what the heck? He never manages to pull that off at all!

"How did you do that?" Ren asks. Yuuki and Mochizuki is about to head out for their next class, which is volleyball (at least they got a better, proper coach now). Upon a confused look from the shorter boy, he clarifies. "I mean, sleeping through Social Study?"

"Oh, that?" He says with a yawn. "Sorry, that's trade secret."

"Hey, come on," Ren almost begs. He wants to know, because that class is the most boring he's ever had in his entire life. It's even more boring that last year's. "Spill some secrets for me, please?"

"I never knew you wanted to sleep through that class, man," Ryuji says from behind, a cheeky grin on his face. "You always seem to pay attentions today."

"You have no idea," Takamaki shares his sentiment, facepalming herself. "Ugh, I wish time would speed up in that class."

Mochizuki just laughs slightly. "Come on, guys. Was it really that bad?"

"Said the one who finished a book during it," Takamaki says, and that makes the taller boy winces.

"Uh… I mean…"

"They got you," Yuuki says with another yawn before he puts his arms over his head in a stretch. "I'm serious, though. It's a trade secret because I don't know how I got away with it, either."

"I don't believe you," Ren mutters.

Yuuki snorts a laughter. "Come on, let's get to the gym already. I heard volleyball is a good sport for stress relief."

"The sport itself is, kinda," Takamaki says. She seems to be thinking about Kamoshida and Suzui, in particular. She frowns. "Not the coach, though. Not the previous one, at least."

"…Okay?" Yuuki says a but reluctantly, his eyes calculating. Ren feels a slight shiver, but he ignores it. Probably the wind. The boy looks at Takamaki for a while before he continues. "Sorry if that brings up bad memories."

"Don't apologize," She says with a relaxed grin. "Oh yeah! What club do you wanna join?"

Mochizuki answers in Yuuki's place. It has become a common occurrence, and they're used to it by now. Although how the boys communicate or read each other's mind like that is still a mystery to him. "We dunno yet, but maybe volleyball, who knows? At least he'll get to vent his frustrations on the balls."

"Gee, I wonder where all of those pent-up frustrations come from," Yuuki mutters.

"I wonder," Mochizuki says with a huff of laughter before he uses Yuuki's shoulder as his armrest, like he always does. Ren suspects that this might be why the shorter boy seems to always slouch his back a little. "Anyways, yeah. But it'd have been better if there is a Kendo club here. Is there?"

"Nope," Takamaki says. "What, you practiced Kendo?"

"He might look like this, but he was a Kendo Club captain, you know?" Mochizuki says with a grin, and Ren spies Yuuki grumbling and blushing a little.

"Really? That's awesome!" Ryuji exclaims. "That means you must be really good!"

"…Thanks," Is all Yuuki says.

Huh. The more he gets to know the Twins, the more they surprise him.

He wonders what kind of tricks they'll pull next.

.

Ren doesn't have to wait long for the next surprise.

As it turns out, despite being a newbie at volleyball, Yuuki has a really mean, really nasty spike serves.

Not a jump serve. A spike serve.

And Ryuji is the one who lucks out and has to be at the receiving end.

"Makoto, try not to break Sakamoto's arms, please?" Mochizuki says with a small laugh as Yuuki rotates up to the server spot. The coach is teaching them the basics (as if they hadn't learnt that during the last year already) and the Terror Twins have already made themselves known among their class that no, you do not want to be on the opposite side of the net from them. Ever.

And that is before they get to the paired-up serve-and-receive routine.

"I'm trying," The boy says, bouncing the ball off the ground a few times.

"Yuuki," The coach calls as he casts his eyes towards Ryuji, who looks like he's about to cry (poor dude, Ren wishes him luck), then back at the boy. "…Tone down the serve a bit."

"Sir," He nods, takes exactly six steps back, then throws the ball into the air.

His approach, the way his body moves as his eyes focus on the ball, and the way he jumps — Ren has to admit that it's simply beautiful. Yuuki looks like a pro player (only downside is that he's short) (Pfft, don't look this way, dude), with little to no wasted movements, and as he arches his arm backwards, Ren feels like he could see where the ball's going to go.

The ball gets slapped hard, and it hits the ground between Ryuji's feet. It bounces off and hits the high wall before dropping back down, leaving the whole gym in total silence.

Before there could be cheers or applauds, the coach turns to Yuuki. "Yuuki."

"Uh… sir?"

"Join the volleyball club."

Well, that's a first.

The class whispers in awe as the boy, who doesn't look exactly pleased but not really against the idea, steps away from the spot. Mochizuki comes up next. He then turns to the coach and, with a cheeky grin, says, "If I can serve like he does, do I get to play, too?"

"If you can, then yes," The coach nods. "Yuuki, go dig his serve."

"Why me," He hears the boy mutters under his breath, but he dutifully jogs over to the other side. Once he is positioned, Ren is not surprised at all—

—to see the same nasty serve from the taller boy.

Unlike with Ryuji, Yuuki hustles under it and gets the ball up into the air, although the sound of the ball hitting his arms is going to give Ren nightmares.

"Ouch," Takamaki whispers from the side, rubbing her arm up and down. "That sounds painful."

"You think?" Ren quips back. To his surprise, Yuuki doesn't seem bothered by it… well, actually, he's a bit bothered, since he's rubbing his forearm a little. "Ugh, I don't want to play with these two, like, ever."

"Amamiya!" The coach calls after he hands papers for the volleyball club to the two. Ren's not surprised at all after seeing their performances. He looks at the coach as the man points. "You're up next."

"Sir, yes sir."

.

"You hit the balls like you're angry at them."

"You hit the balls like you're angry."

They two boys exchange some playful insults once they get to change in the locker room. They both laugh before Yuuki goes for the shower while Mochizuki stays back and dries his sweat-drenched hair. He turns to look at Ren before smiling. "So, how were we?"

"Splendid," Ren says. He wants to shower, too, but Yuuki just snatched the last available spot. "Are you two sure you're not some kind of volleyball prodigies?"

"We are not," He says with a bright smile. "But I personally find Makoto to be extremely talented in a lot of things… except art. He doesn't have the slightest knack for art."

"That explains why he got the stink eye during art class, huh?" Ren says with a smile. He sits down on the same bench as the other boy as he plays with the button of his uniform.

"I'm doubtful you can call the monstrosity he created art," He remarks. "But hey, he compensates with other things. Many other things."

"I think you two are similar in that regards," Ren says truthfully. "Except in art."

"Except that," Mochizuki parrots.

"So," Ren begins to ask, curious. "Are you two going to join the volleyball club?"

"Haven't decided yet, I dunno," The other says, rubbing the back of his neck. "We've got… plans for most days already, and the club has lots of required attendance, so it might get in the way… well, if we can negotiate to join practice a lot less than required, then maybe."

"…What kind of plans?" Ren asks. Well, they are third years now, so maybe they want to focus less on clubs and more on entrance exams?

"You know, exams and all that."

"Figures."

Ren thinks it's odd one'd call prepping for the entrance exams plans, but he lets it slide.

Then Yuuki comes out, his hair damp and his cloth a little soaked from his shower. Mochizuki gets up and enters the stall as Yuuki takes his place, sitting down and ruffling his hair. He then gives Ren a look that could kill. "Why were you two dissing me?"

Ren feigns being hurt. "I would never."

"I know you did," He scoffs. His expression then softens slightly. "Shujin's pretty nice."

"I know, right?" Ren smiles, punching the shorter boy's shoulder playfully.

Yuuki smiles ever so slightly in return.

.

He's surprised to see Narukami, Shirogane, Akechi, and Futaba sitting together at Leblanc when he gets back.

"Uh… what's this?" He asks, unsure. They have no scheduled meetings today, right? Then—

"We're going to call Kirijou Mitsuru," Futaba says, as if that explains everything. Morgana pops out from under the table and hops into Narukami's lap.

"She managed to sneak into the network," Morgana explains, purring slightly. Akechi gives the not-cat a look, but is ignored completely. "There's lots of good securities in place, but nothing our Alibaba couldn't handle!"

"You know, you scare me, Sakura," Narukami says. "Like… a lot. Hell, you hacked into the police database. In less than a minute."

"I'll take that compliment anytime!" She says, cracking her fingers.

Ren walks over and sits beside her, peering at the screen of complicated applications and codes that he's not going to even try to comprehend. He sets his things down and catches Akechi looking at him strangely. Ren cringes. "…What?"

"…Nothing," Akechi says curtly and looks away.

Odd.

"Alright, here we are. You guys ready?" Futaba grins, a finger hovering over a button.

"Can't say I am, but let's do this," He says with a smirk of his own. "It's Showtime!"


Mitsuru had intended to contact them first.

But… she miscalculated.

To think there's someone who's better at hacking than Yamagishi, and that person is a part of the Phantom Thieves, no less.

Sakura Futaba.

She just looks at the screen of her phone, brought up to the big monitor by Yamagishi. Yukari and Akihiko are here, too, much to her relief. Aigis is right beside her, as always.

She nods, and the call is picked up.

"Good afternoon, Kirijou Mitsuru-san,"

As she expected, the girl has distorted the audio, enough to be untraceable by most — but not by their navigator. Yamagishi gives her a thumbs up, and Mitsuru can't help but grin a little.

"Good afternoon to you too, Alibaba… or should I say, Sakura Futaba?"

There's a deafening silence. Then, "So, you figured that out, huh."

"It's no surprise. You're Isshiki Wakaba's daughter, after all," She says. Isshiki was one of Kirijou group's head scientists, who fortunately did not participate in the incident in 1999. Her researches in the field of cognitive psience are invaluable, and her loss has been devastating, to say the least. "And I'm sorry for your loss."

"Huh," The other side hums, and there's sounds of gossip, before she continues. "Thank you. I was not expecting that."

She smiles a little. "Still, you managed to track me down. I'm not exactly… discreet, but I don't think I'm that lenient, either."

"Trust me, it takes some serious works," The girl responds. "…Then, to business. What do you know?"

"It's better to talk of this in person," Mitsuru quickly says. "I know this sounds odd, but I need to explain this face to face. Before that, I will send you all the necessary papers that I can to, where was it, again? The Leblanc café?"

Another pause. "I shouldn't have been surprised by any of this, but… I still do. You are scary."

"I apologize," She says. "To compensate for that, right here and now, I'll tell you as much as I can about the important details. Is that acceptable?"

There's less delay to the reply than the last, Mitsuru muses. "Yes."

And so, she begins her side of the story.

.

It takes them a while, but the call ended in success.

"I've met with one of the Wild Card already," Yukari says as the screen goes black. She turns to Mitsuru with a smile. "Narukami Yu. He's a nice guy, and he got that vibe that he always gave out."

That brings out a lot of memories, good and bad. Mitsuru smiles slightly as she hums, hand flipping the pages of the files in hand. Narukami Yu, currently studying master's degree in Psychology, Tokyo University. His grade is at the very top, with pristine records. She makes a surprised sound. "Huh. He really does remind you of him, doesn't he?"

"And he's Rise-chan's boyfriend, too," Yukari adds.

Mitsuru only narrows her eyes, but she hears Yamagishi squeals behind her.

"Really? He's Risette's boyfriend!?"

"Yeah, it surprised me a lot, too," Yukari laughs lightly, her eyes idling scanning the documents. Mitsuru turns to Akihiko, who just shrugs. She sighs and looks at the archer again, and when she catches her questioning gaze, Yukari giggles. "Don't worry about it, Senpai."

"If you say so," She relents. "So, the other Wild Card?"

"Amamiya Ren," Akihiko says. "Prosecuted due to assault a year prior, transferred to Shujin under Sakura Sojiro's care. Also, from what that call told us, the leader of the Phantom Thieves."

"We'll never know how he actually is until we meet him," Yamagishi says, a finger on her chin. "But, if I am to judge from how Sakura-chan and Shirogane-chan talk about him, he doesn't seem so bad."

"I guess we'll have to see in person," She hums. "Make sure you read through their files again, just to be sure. I've arranged for the dorm to be built not too far from Shibuya station. After all, their safety and convenience must come first."

"It'll take a few weeks before constructions are completed, though," Aigis notes. "But I'm glad that they have already planned their resting hours around the Dark Hour. They seem to organize quickly, do they not?"

Indeed, they did. To think that they'd set themselves for at least two to three-man team during night time after experiencing the Dark Hour once is a good surprise. And Mitsuru is glad that they're willing to open up that much after one conversation, considering that she must've seemed quite hostile, sending them Evokers with cryptic messages and all that.

She did apologize again, but she didn't miss that bit of venom under Sakura's voice.

Sorry, she mentally says to herself.

"We're scheduled to meet them on the 16th, right? Sunday?" She asks as she puts the papers down, walking over to the coffee machine and starts brewing herself a cup.

"Yes. Do you want me to greet them beforehand, Mitsuru-san?" Aigis asks.

Mitsuru is always surprised by her evolutions, not to mention that her ability to think and take initiative is always a good thing. She's becoming even more reliable than she already was.

She nods. "That would be ideal. Try to stay around and help them as much as you can while I organize things from this end. I'll call you again when the preparations for the move out is finished."

"Understood."

"And, everyone," She calls out to the current members in the room. They all turn to her, a bit puzzled, but nevertheless ready to listen. While the circumstances are less than ideal, there are always some kind of silver lining under a crisis. This time is no different.

She smiles.

"As strange as this sound… Welcome back."

They all break into smiles, and chorus at her.

"We're back in action!"


"Welcome back to the Velvet Room, Makoto-san."

He opens his eyes to the same blue elevator.

This time, Igor's smiling a bit more, and Elizabeth looks less pale (if looking more or less pale is even possible for her pale complexion) than she was the last time they met. His attendant bows, and he bows back slightly, before his attention returns to Igor.

"The way you will acquire new and more powerful Personas is… strange. Revolutionary. And very convoluted," Igor says, rubbing his temple. That's a first. "Truth be told, this is the first time the Fool who has already completed his Journey once – and died for it, for that matter – is asked to make another trek down the arduous road called Fate."

"Er… I get you?" Makoto says, unsure.

Trust him, he's as confused as Igor is. And if Igor doesn't know how he's going to get new Personas, then how the fuck is he supposed to know about it?

"And I must first apologize, for mislabeling Ifrit for belonging to two Arcana at once," Igor says, rubbing a finger under his chin. When Makoto nods, signaling that he's listening, the man continues. "It is not that he belongs to two, but rather, that the Universe Arcana represents everything. As such, Ifrit is of the Universe Arcana, but he represents only a part of it."

"So… it's like he's the Universe's Fool," Makoto surmises. His knowledges of the Arcanas are limited, but he does know something about them. "Universe encompasses all other Arcanas within it, so being in the Universe means you can represent only a certain part of it, as well… right?"

"Indeed," Igor smiles. Then his brows furrow a little. "Then again, most of the knowledge of the way you summon a new Persona is a mystery to me still, so allow me some times to find answers to your questions, both asked and unspoken."

"…Uh, okay?" Not like he has any choices, anyway.

"But alas, it is exciting," The long nose says with a wide grin. "You, whose bonds have already been nurtured and strengthened through time, can call fourth the strongest of the strong to your aid… if you have the will to call for them, the strength to endure them, and the unbending determination to guide them under your care."

"…Like Amarok," He says with a small nod. "Yeah… I get that."

"Nurture the strength of your body, heart and soul well, Makoto-san," Igor bows his head slightly. "For whichever other selves you will call fourth next, only with the understanding of your inner voices and your bond with your other self can you bring their true powers out."

His inner voices – like when he called for Amarok. To accept his instinct, the voices he had never heard or cared enough to hear before.

His other self – "By my other self, you mean…"

"Ryoji-san," Igor finishes, smiling. "Your bond with him can grows even stronger yet, and when it does, I will be delighted to see what would transpire."

Makoto smiles slightly as he nods.

But then, Igor's face turns grim. "Makoto-san, we have a bit of an opening, so I must say this quickly."

"…What is it?"

"Do not listen to Ifrit," He says. As soon as the name leaves his mouth, Makoto could feel something hammering away inside his head. He gasps and doubles over, cradling his head in his hands. Elizabeth moves to his side and puts a hand on his shoulder, stabilizing him.

"Why…?" He manages to grit out.

"I cannot say more, but please refrain yourself from calling him as much as possible," Igor states.

He doesn't get to hear another word when the Velvet Room suddenly collapses into itself.

.

He really hates waking up with a start.

And why is his phone blowing up?

"Why is my phone exploding?" He says, blinking away the sleepiness in his eyes. He grabs his buzzing device — it's only 10pm? When the fuck did he even crash? — and sees multiple "HBDs" and "Why didn't you tell me" messages.

Ryoji gives him a sheepish grin. "I kinda told them today is your birthday?"

"…Ah," He murmurs, sitting up and scratching his head. He isn't used to this kind of attention, to be blunt. Not that he usually mind, but… this is gonna interfere with his sleep schedule, isn't it?

"They said they're gonna take you to a buffet tomorrow, so you better get a good night's sleep tonight," He says with that wide, ear-to-ear smile. Makoto just stares at him until he speaks again. "Come on, we both know you could use a bit more food in your stomach."

As if on cue, his stomach growls. He blushes. "Fuck."

"See? Told you," Ryoji laughs merrily. "I'm gonna finish this book first before going to sleep. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah…" He mutters, and is about to lie down when he remembers something. "Hey, what would happen if the Dark Hour appears today?"

"If I don't feel anything going on, I won't wake you up. Promise."

"…Okay?" He says, tilting his head to the side. "Is your… intuition reliable?"

"Uh… no?"

"Ryoji, you're way too carefree about it."

"And you're too focused on the Dark Hour," Ryoji counters, his expression soft. "Live a little, Makoto. Just like at SEES, balancing your rest and your Journey is a necessity, you know."

Not to mention you were dead for almost a decade, Ryoji's expression seems to say.

He tries to argue, but no solid reasoning comes to mind. Yeah, maybe he's a bit too focus on it. He sighs and flops back down onto the bed, typing responses to the ones from Shujin. After he's done, he mutters, "You win. See you tomorrow."

"Sweet dreams, Makoto. See ya."


I'm sorry it's so slow I'll try to pick up the pace I promise ;(

Also, it's cliche as all hell but here me out! In the Arena manga, Mitsuru has never told Yu Makoto's name, so I'm using that here. Besides, I've had good friends who'd died unfortunate deaths, and we (at least we Asians) usually don't go about telling anyone the dead's name.

So there's that. Don't worry, they'll meet in a few chapters ;_;

See you!