Velvet Residence

…. *Munch*….

…. *Munch, Munch*….

….….*Mun-gck*….

…"Here's water."

…. *Gulp* , "Huhhh,…thanks."

"That's why I told you to chew at least 20 times when you eat rice."

"Shut up. You're not my mother."

The four velvet siblings and one messiah were now sitting together on the floor around a small table which was placed in the middle of the room, with Minato's futon tucked in the corner. Caroline and Justine sat together facing their older sister, while Theodore sat facing the young (actually no) Messiah.

"Soooo, What do you think, Convict? We are pretty good cooks, huh? Huh?" Caroline said with a haughty voice while smirking.

"Well,…I would have to say good job seeing that I am not dead yet."

"Hmm, of course. Of course. We did a pretty good job." Caroline said back completely missing the sarcasm.

"Please…" When Justine cut in looking squarely into his eyes. "Give it time."

….

"Ahem!" Margaret broke the growing awkward silence with a cough. "Anyway, onto the pressing matter." Minato stopped looking at the fried rice? in front of him and turned towards her.

"Makoto-sama, we checked what you ask for, and we discovered some interesting…for lack of better words, things."

Minato stared at Margaret with his deadpan eyes for a, no, about five seconds.

"I asked you to check what?"

"Before you went to your learning place," Justine interjected again. " You gave us your phone and asked us to check, you said and I quote, 'Weird eyeball thing'," Justine said without her face changing.

"Oh, right I did that." Minato said as he remembered about the morning after Margaret's explanation about…Tatsuo?

"Right, so what did you find?"

"It's called Metaverse Navigator." Caroline suddenly cuts in. "It's a navigator to the metaverse."

….

….

"…that doesn't really explain anything."

"I was getting to that!" Caroline angrily snarked back. "Anyway, remember what Justine said about Mementos?" Minato nodded and she carried on. "Well, seeing that you can't get there by normal means, and that's when this app comes in." Caroline said as she took out Minato's phone and put it on the table.

Then she opened the 'Metaverse navigator app'. "See, this bar where you can type?" Caroline asked towards Minato and he nodded back looking at the phone screen. "There, you have to type 'M-E-M-E-N-T-O-S', then hit the search button and suddenly you will be there!" Caroline said, although she wrote Mementos she didn't touch the search button.

"That would be if it worked as intended." Justine said while taking the phone to the front of her. "But, we've been trying that all day, it didn't take us to Mementos."

"Oh yeah, it didn't work when I tried that yesterday either. " Minato said with a glass of water in hand.

"Our theory is that the metaverse became unstable both because of its creator absence and Nyarlathotep arrival." Margaret said with her eyes closed. "And that's why we can't access the place."

"So,… how long do you think it would take to become…stable again?"

"It could be just days or even forever seeing that we can't actually investigate and also the fact that we can't be sure if the dark energy is Nyarlathotep or some other malevolent being." Margaret said back thinking while Minato just listened.

"…so this is just a…portal to Mementos, huh?"

"Hmhm, that's not all it does, convict." Caroline said wiggling her finger in front of him with a smirk on her face. 'Honestly, why's she looking so proud?'

"Not only Mementos but this app can also guide us to the human's corrupted hearts,…in other words, Palaces." Justine said with her stoic face. 'It's like looking in a little mirror.'

"Exactly! BUT! the process is a little different in this case." Caroline took the phone from the front of Justine again.

Minato looked towards at the Margaret while tilting his head. "…Um, we decided to leave those two with the explanations, giving that both me and Theodore only learn about this, just this morning.…And Caroline was very enthusiastic about explaining it to you by herself."

'Seriously, is she acting all proud because she knows something and I don't?'

"Blah blah blah, whatever. Look at this, convict." Caroline said as she put the phone in the middle so that everyone can see it. "See this, when in mementos you just have to type your destination, but if you want to go to a palace you have to type out three things." Caroline said pointing the phone like a kid explaining their grandpas how to use the modern phones…honestly that was not far from the truth as he didn't really know anything about this.

"Soooo, in the first bar, you have to type the name of the person whose heart you want to enter, and then you have to type the place which he thinks is his palace and, oh you have to be near the place, too then finally you have to type what the palace owner thinks of that place as?"

"What he thinks of the palace as?…isn't he gonna think his palace as…you know, palace?"

"Like I said yesterday, as all the human's desires are different, the palace that desires will take form will also be different."

"It could be anything, from just a normal house, car, ship or plane…"

"…to even stranger things, like jungle, space, the moon or even the sun." The twins explained back and forth.

"Huh, is that so?", 'I don't get it.'

"Basically, this acts as both a key and a door humans' hearts."Justine summed up their explanations. "Any questions, Makoto-sama?"

"Well," Minato said as he put down his glass. "I actually have several questions."

"What? How dumb are you?" Caroline said in condescending tone. "Which part you don't understand again?…AND don't you dare say all!"

"No, I get how it works (not really but still), what I want to ask is…how do we actually know if one has a palace or not?"

"We don't," Caroline answered with a shrug. "We just type the names and hope for the best. It's actually just a guessing game."

"…Fair enough. So, what about the place?"

"Ahhh, that would also be a guessing game."

….

"…And what he thinks of his place is also…"

"Yep, a guessing game."

"I see." Minato took the phone towards him. "So, this app is technically a guessing game, huh? …I didn't know god can make games, Ahahah!" Minato made some kind of gesture with the fork on his hand while widening his eyes just a little.

…But the siblings just stared at him…weirdly.

….

"…You know, it's a joke…"

….

"…because the app is a uh, guessing ga-"

"Makoto-sama, Did you hit your head on your way home?" Margaret suddenly cut in while he's explaining his joke.

"Uhhhh, I don't think so. Why do you ask?"

"Because You don't do jokes!" Theodore said back. "I mean it's pretty surreal to hear you and Joke in a one sentence."

Minato didn't say anything back for a second. "Oh, Theodore I thought you were gonna stay silent for the whole night." Then he suddenly spoke.

"What?"

"You were not speaking the whole time, just staring at this fried rice while sweating. What's wrong?" Minato tried to change the subject and it seemed to work as the twins turn their attention at Theodore and Theodore making his best expression of surprised Pikachu face.…But, it did not work for Margaret as she stared the messiah with scrutinizing eyes…and he knew that.

"Wha-wha, I mean, nothing's wronnnggg. Everythinnnggg's fine." Theodore said nervously while looking everywhere but except him.

"Well, okay." Then Minato tried to eat his food again.

"Uhhh, uhhhhh!" When some weird sound came out from Theodore again. "Yo-you're still gonna eat that?"

"Relax," Minato said while putting on a gentle smile. "This is no news for me." Then he put the food in his mouth again while Theodore looking like he's trying to stop him. "Back in iwatodai, I used to eat food like this for breakfast,…and lunch. And now I'm eating for dinner, too." Then his expression became a little sad, as Margaret watched over. "…of course, the first time I ate that I was sent to ER but…now I feel fine." Then his expression turned to normal again.

"Really, you feel fine?", Justine cut in AGAIN. "You don't feel any nausea, urge to vomit or rampant desire to gouge your eyes out, rinse them and eat them by yourself?"

….

"…Seriously, what did you guys put in here?"

"Nooothinnngggg! We didn't add anything at all. There's nothing dangerous. Right, Theodore?" Caroline said turning for confirmation towards her brother.

"Huh!? Ah! Yes, there's nothin-nothing dangerous, yo-you don't have any-uh-things to worry a-about!"

"…okay." Makoto shrugged and continued eating again. "…Anyway, I also have something to share, too."

"What is it, Makoto-sama?" Margaret asked back politely.

"…Well, I found something weird at my school."

"You mean, other than you?" (You know who said that)

"…Yes. Other than me."

"Do carry on, Makoto-sama."

"…Well, I actually noticed this even before I met Caroline and Justine and both of you, but I guess I just kinda forget about that with everything that's going on." Minato moved his head around for a second. "There are some students, not much but not too little to be called normal either, and they were kinda mostly injured. And Again, these injuries are a little too much to be called normal, too."

Margaret thought to herself for a moment. "And why do you think that that is connected to our situation?"

Minato said nothing for a moment, just staring everywhere but nowhere. "…Remember how one of my friends got stuck in Tartarus?"

"Yeah?", "No."

"Hm?" Minato and elder velvet siblings turned towards the twins at their answer as Caroline said 'Yes' and Justine said 'No'.

"You knew about this, Caroline?"

"Yeah, don't you remember? It was uhhhh, that green haired girl, wasn't it?" Justine looked at her twin with wide eyes, when Minato cut in.

"Teal haired, but yeah. Yamagishi Fuuka." Minato said, while Justine was lost in her own thought.

"You think they are also wandering involuntarily to the metaverse, and that's where they got those injuries?" Theodore said.

"But, you can't really go to metaverse without this app!"

"…What about those from metaverse crossing over here?"

The siblings turned towards Minato. "…I'm just saying. What do you think, Justine?"

His question broke Justine out of her stupor, but she quickly recomposed herself. "…We can't also be sure of everything, but I think this sounds a little far-fetched."

"…." Everyone doesn't say anything for some time, then Margaret broke the silence. "Makoto-sama, is there any other reasons why you think we should be concerned with this?"

Minato thought to himself for a moment. "…Well, gods don't do anything without reasons and…I think there might be a reason for Philemon to get me in that school.…Maybe its not what wrong with the students but, the school itself."

"You think, this school may be the same as your old school?" Minato thought back to his old school which changes into a hundreds floors tower at midnight that's crawling with monsters as Margaret presented the question.

"…Maybe…"

"That's actually possible." Justine said back. "That school may actually be a someone's palace."

"But, if we want to check, should Makoto-sama test with everyone's names from his school? That would take a very long time." Theodore said thinking to himself.

"And there's nothing that say it couldn't be someone from outside the school." Margaret also added in.

"Well, like I said." Minato said while eating. "…I am still investigating. I'm just putting it out here not to leave you guys in the dark.", *Munch* , "We will get to it after I get something concrete. You guys just focus on the wildcard, uhhh, wildcards for now."

"As you wish, Makoto-sama. " Margaret said making a small bow. He doesn't know if it's genuine or if she's mocking him.

"…So, any leads on wildcards, either of them?"

"No, but we are sure that they are not near our vicinity. We don't feel anything when we went to market." Theodore said with a frown.

"I see…Hm?…"

….

"…What do you mean…'when we went to market'?"

"Hm? Us and Theo went to the market to buy ingredients, of course. What else?" Caroline said back to his question.

"…Ah, of course, of course…"

….

"…What do you mean 'Buy ingredients'? Did you guys steal them?"

"Of course not, Makoto-sama. We bought with our money like normal humans would."

"…Oh, you guys do have the money from compendium."

"Not really, we found some money in the closet and we just took them."

….

"…You took my money?"

"Technically, its lord Philemon's money."

Minato rolled his eyes and turned to Margaret. "I hope this is the last time you used that card because it's not funny anymore." Minato said towards Margaret but she just smiled back elegantly. 'That's it. She's mocking me.'

"Ahem, Anyways." Margaret said. " If we don't have anymore to discuss, we should warp this up. Makoto-sama has to go to school, tomorrow."

"…Oh." ,' Ahhhhh, she does care about me after all….…I know. I'm a sucker.'

"Yes, I still have to prepare the rooms for us." Theodore said standing up.

"Oh, we will help." Both Justine and Caroline said, doing the same as their brother.

"Well, I suppose I also must prepare the compendium." Margaret also followed suit. The four velvet siblings stood up from sitting around the table but they were all stopped by Minato.

"Wait, I still have a question left."

"What, Convict? Make it quick."

Minato paused for a moment, looking at the velvet sibling around the table. "This has been bugging me for sometime. And I still haven't figure this out, which is really saying something because…I'm really smart."

Caroline and Margaret rolled their eyes, as Justine asked the question. "What's the matter, Makoto-sama?"

Minato once again looks at the siblings, standing around the table…

….

"…Since when did we have a table?"

x-x

…*Ding…Dong*

"Okay, that's it. Make sure you guys do your homework." *Yawn*

'Why am I always sleepy?' Minato yawned quietly as the class is over. 'Man,…School sucks. Better go home now, I'll just investigate tomorrow.' With that thought, Minato started to put his stuffs in the bag.

"Arisato-san, haven't sleep much today either?" The girl who sat beside him, Haru Okumura asked with a smile on her face.

"Not really. I only got about 8 hours of sleep."

"Umm, Isn't that enough?"

"Not for me, no." With that Minato finally finished putting his stuffs and stood up from the desk. "Well,…later."

"Oh, then see you tomorrow, Arisato-san." Haru said to him with a bright smile that could warm any hearts.

"Uh…?"

"What's the matter?"

Minato stared at the girl a little longer than normal. Then his lips curved into a small smile. "Yeah, see you tomorrow, Okumura-san."

The girl also stared at the boy's smiling face with madly red face for a little longer than normal. "Ahhh, ah, yeah. See you!"

Minato nodded and turned towards the door. 'The school may not be so bad after all.'

"Arisato-san, Are you ready?"

….

Minato turned around towards the voice to see the student council president standing before him.

….

"…*Blink, *Blink* Ready for what?"

"You know, the tour!"

"…ohhh, but you know, I was-"

"Shall we?" Makoto asked interrupting his sentence. 'Why does that smile look so scary?'

"Uh, sure…lead the way." Minato said putting up a forced smile.

"Of course. We will start from 1st floor first, then. Please follow me." Saying that Makoto Niijima went out of the room as the blue haired boy followed her close behind. 'Remember what I said about the school…forget it, this sucks.'

Haru Okumura watched their strict student council president and the mysterious transfer student got out of the classroom.

….

"Ehe, at least I got his genuine smile."

x-x

"Shujin Academy is one of the well-known schools in Tokyo. Many of its graduates are now in higher places of society. And of course, Shujin Academy is also famous for its strict discipline."

"Huuuhhhh…"

"Shuji Academy layout is not difficult to remember. The first years are on the third and us, 3rd years are on the first floor, with the second years on the middle. Of course, there's also the roof but it's off-limits for students, although that didn't stop trouble makers from going." Makoto said with a weary smile.

"Is that so…"

'This guy's starting to get on my nerves.' As a student council president, It's Makoto Nijima's duty to protect the students. That's why she had to act fast because it was looking like (to her), that Arisato was flirting with Okumura-san. But, of course. She knew all about how pretty boys like him…roll. They will flirt with almost any girls. But, he's might be a lot worse because he's not paying any attention to anyone who talked to him. The only one he's at least talk to is Okumura-san. 'Huh! Maybe he's after her money!'

Makoto turned around a little to look at the boy. The boy's just looking around with a bored face. 'I wouldn't think of such an innocent face hiding such intentions.' As she's watching, the boy suddenly covered his mouth.

'Hm? What is he doing?…Is he…trying to stifle a yawn?'

"Arisato-san, are you having trouble sleeping?", "*Cough!* Uck!" The boy suddenly made a startled noise as Makoto pointed out his yawning. 'Did he think I wouldn't notice?'

"Lo-look, I'm sorry. It was just an accident. It won't happen again. I will not yawn again in public next time. Please don't execute me!" The boy said as his face changed from worried to scared.

….

"What do you mean 'Execute'?"

"Huh?"

As she's watching, the boy's face changed from scared to confused to deep in thought to his neutral expressionless face again.

"…Sorry,…wrong person."

'Is he right in the head!?' Makoto looked at the boy in front of her quizzically. "Oh! Uh, wrong person. Is that so?…Uh, I see." ,'I can't understand half the words he's saying!', "Well. uh, well, there's really not much on the 1st floor." Makoto recomposed herself again. "You can reach courtyard and practical building from right here. And we passed the bread store on our way. And…I think that's about it."

"Let's continue from the second floor. Shall we?" Saying that Makoto climbed up the stairs. 'I don't know if he's dangerous or just plain stupid.'

And from behind her, Minato also followed suit, as he whispered into the air so that she wouldn't hear. "That was dangerously stupid."

x-x

"You must remember the faculty room, right?'

"Not really."

"Huh?"

"Huh?" Minato looked around the place he's in. "…Oh. Of course I do. I was just… joking."

'For a second, it sure looks like he really did forget.' But, can it be? He can able to answers questions without even looking at the board. He can do maths faster than her. She could even call him a genius. How can one such as him can be this scatter-brained?

"Oh,…it says meeting room here. Is it your meeting room?"

'Uh, for now, I will just observe him.', "No, this is for the teachers and parents.…Oh, Arisato-san, is your parents here or do you just live alone? I didn't find any way to contact you."

"…Well, I don't live alone but not with my parents, either."

"Oh, are they still in Iwatodai?" Makoto asked turning around towards the boy.

"…Well, they are." A sad smile appeared on Minato's face.

Makoto looked at his face for sometime before it hit her. "…Oh…I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"Oh, don't worry." Minato said back to her with the sad smile still on his face. "It's been too long. I'm already over it." Then his sad smile changed into a genuine smile. "Besides, we can't let past spectres hold us from moving forward."

'…hm…', "Aheheh, Arisato-san, you sure are strong. As for me though, I don't think I would get over it no matter how long." Makoto said looking towards the ground.

Minato looked at the girl with his usual unreadable face after hearing that. Normally she hated them when they look at her like that because she didn't need their pity. But, this time she didn't really mind, and this might sound a little selfish but, after all they were in the same boat.

"It's not a matter of getting over them or not." Makoto looked at the boy. "…what matter is, like I said before, you shouldn't let them hold you back from living your life. You only got one after all. Don't waste it thinking about people who won't come back." Minato said with a gentle smile.

"…Hnngh, Arisato-san…I really couldn't read you at all. One second you are spouting nonsense and then, suddenly you looks like you are wiser than all of us here."

"…Well, if it's any consolation, you are not the first one to try and fail." They both laughed a little together as a soft laughter filled the place.

….

"Well, we have not finish the tour, so let's go to the library. It's on the first year floor."

x-x

"Are you an avid reader, Arisato-san?"

"You could say that.…I've read whatever chance I got before but…I think I may be a little late behind…"

"Well, I hope our modest library can provide you with what you need and If you need some other books, you can put a request on me."

"You can do that?"

"Well, if I can. I couldn't guarantee anything, of course."

"Huh, I do appreciate it…And talking about that…Can I ask you why we're standing at the entrance and not inside of the library?"

….

"What do you mean? We can't enter the library and talk, it might disturb others and the library is a great place for studying. We shouldn't intrude upon them." Makoto said back with a tilt of his head.

"…Oh, that.…Of course I knew that.", 'Really?'

"I didn't expect less of a fellow student council member."

"Hm?"

"You were a student council member before, right?"

"Well, not officially.…I just helped them if they need something."

"But, on your papers, you are listed as Vice-president, secretary and treasurer."

"Ugh.", 'Damn it, Mitsuru…or is that Philemon?', "Um, like I said it's nothing official, just some help with the members."

"So, what do you say? Would you like to join our student council?" Makoto said back with a smile. 'Why's she ignoring me?'.

"Well, I've only been at this school for three days, so I think I might not be qualified." Minato answered hoping that it might work…

"Just leave it to me to decide whether you're qualified or not." And it didn't work. "And if you're not familiar with our school, I'm doing this tour for you now, aren't I?"It sure didn't work. "But, still I'm surprised. Kendo, track and swimming. I must admit I didn't see you as someone who be interested in sports."

"Well, appearances can be deceiving." For example, a harmless frail student might be a death god. That's not true. That's just purely hypothetical (It's not).

'Oh, wait! Now's my chance…', "Saying about sports,…Niijima-san…this school has a volleyball club, right?"

"Oh, Piqued your interest, did they?" Makoto said with a proud (smug) face. "Our volleyball team this year is very talented. And most of all, our present coach is also very drove to win the nationals.…What? Arisato-san, Do you want to join?"

"Not really. It's just as you said. It's just 'Piqued my interest'." Minato said back making air quotes. He didn't mean to. He just felt like he wanted to.

But, the girl before him didn't seem affected. "Well, I've already planned to show you the gym. Nothing's like the present, then." With that Makoto headed for the stairs.

'This is a little ahead my schedule but…I suppose it doesn't matter. And Niijima-san seems oddly…wait,' "Niijima-san?"

"Hm?" Makoto stopped walking and turned around. "Is there a problem?"

"…What did you mean by…saying 'On my papers'?…Students aren't able to look at other students' documents, right?"

….

"Oh, silly me. The gym is more closer to practical building. We could just move from right here." Saying that Makoto turned away from the stairs again.

"Oh…is that so…, wait, please don't ignore my question."

x-x

"Mishima! What the hell was that supposed to be!?"

"Uh! Sorry, Kamoshida-sensei."

"Tch. What a useless kid." Then he turned his attention to a female student. "Suzui! Are you blind!? Focus on the weak font!"'

"Yeah, sir!" Saying that Shiho jumped and strikes the ball into enemy's court. *Bam*

"MATCH! *whistle*" Kamoshida blew the whistle loudly.

"Hnngh, hnngh…" as their match's over, Shiho also collected herself by wiping sweats from her brows. Shiho looked towards their coach to see him walking towards Mishima-san while muttering various kinds of profanities as the boy cowered in fear, nervously looking around.

'He's gonna get beaten again, isn't he?' It pained her to both say it and admit it but Kamoshida-sensei abusing his students physically was not a new occurrence. Even she was included in it.

Shiho unconsciously touched the bruises on her face. *Creak*

As they heard of a sound of the door opening, Kamoshida stopped cursing and turned towards the door, as she, too, looked towards the door. 'Is that senpai…with…Niijima-senpai?'

"Really? A prosecutor?" Minato said turning towards Makoto.

"Yep." And she replied back with a small smile.

"A prosecutor…like with, uh, with the police?"

"Hm?" Makoto turned towards him. "Aren't all prosecutors with the police?"

"…True enough." Minato said back with a small laugh while scratching his head. 'Hm, they seem…chummy. Huh,…I don't like it.'

"Okay. Again, from the top." At Kamoshida's voice, Shiho turned around to see the man walking towards the duo with a wide (fake) smile.

"Niijima-san, what brings you here?"

"Oh, Kamoshida-sensei. Sorry to intrude, I'm just showing transfer student around."

"Transfer student?"

Minato looked at the man then introduced himself. "Minato Arisato…from class 3."

"Class 3? Ah, Chuuno's new kid. Suguru Kamoshida." He said as he extended his hand. "A pleasure to meet you."

Minato looked at the extended hand for a moment before following suit. "…It's a pleasure for me too."

"Arisato-san, as I said before, Kamoshida sensei is an olympics gold medal winner."

"Oh…is that so…" she can't tell if he's impressed or not, because his face was just the same.

"Hahaha, no need to compliment me so much. It's just an old trinket from long past." Kamoshida said lying through his teeth. "So, new kid, interested in joining the team?"

'Huh, Senpai gonna join the team?' Shiho turned her attention from their practice match.

"Sorry, that's a hard pass."Minato said back almost immediately. '…was that a yes or no?'

"Hahaha, figures. You look like you couldn't even walk straight." Kamoshida didn't miss his chance to put other people down. But, Minato didn't seem even a little bit concerned.

'…So, that's a no.' Part of her was disappointed that he won't join, while another part of her was relieved that he won't have to go through his school year like them. And another part of her was completely confused by what he's doing now.

While Kamoshida and Makoto were talking among themselves mostly about school stuff, Minato was looking around the place wildly as if he's searching for something. Their eyes met for a second, but he didn't react either because he didn't notice or he just ignored her.

'What's he doing?', "Suzui-san! Look out!"

"Wha?", "Hm?", "…." Shiho turned around to see a ball right in front of her face. "Ah-Oof!"

"Suzui-san!" "Suzui!"

"What the hell are you idiots doing!?" Kamoshida shouted as he ran up to her. "Suzui, Are you okay!?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." She said back holding her head.

"But, you should at least go to infirmary even if it's nothing." Makoto also said as she reached near her.

"Okay, then I will take her there."

"Oh, please don't trouble yourself Kamoshida-sensei. I'll just take her there." Makoto said as she sat near Shiho holding her up.

"Th-thank you, Senpai."

"Oh, that's not a concern."

"But,uh…, oh! Aren't you showing around the new kid?"

"It's fine. I've already shown him most of the school already. Arisato-san, is it alright with you if we stopped the tour here?"

….

"Arisato-san?" Makoto turned around as she didn't hear the boy's answer.

"Hm?" Minato stopped looking around and looked towards her.

"I said if it's alright with you to stop the tour here?", 'I wonder what's he looking for in the first place?'

"…Of course. No problem."

"…Okay, then." and It looks like she's not the only one who noticed Minato acting oddly. "Ahem, well then please excuse us, Kamoshida-sensei."

….

"…Transfer student, huh."

x-x

Velvet Residence

Minato opened the door with a click. "I'm back." He said in a lazy voice as he entered the house.

"Oh, welcome back, Makoto-sama." Margaret said looking up from the table.

"…where are the others?" Minato said as he unceremoniously dumped his bag on the floor.

"They are with Theodore, checking if other rooms are in a condition to be able to live in."

"Seriously. You guys went through with that?"

"We do need a place to rest after all."

"Hmmmm," Minato sighed as he took out a change of clothes from the closet and went into the bathroom.

"But, you don't have to worry about anything. Justine and Caroline gonna stay together in one room and one room for Theodore and I don't need one seeing that I'm going stay here. So, we only took two rooms." *Clang*

Minato came out from the bathroom in the middle of buttoning his shirt. "What do you mean you're going stay here?"

"Well, we must have someone to protect you."

"I don't need protection."

"Hmph, we'll see."

"HAhhhhhh," Minato sighed as he, again went into the bathroom.

"So, do you find anything from your investigation today?"

"Yeah, I did." Minato shouted from the bathroom.

"What did you find?" Margaret said back in response.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Yeah, nothing." Minato said as he came out of the bathroom. "I went to the place most of the injured students gather…to check for any shadow activity." Minato said as he went to sit in front of Margaret.

"And?" Margaret asked as her eyes follow the boy.

"And when I reach there…I kinda realized that I don't know how to check for shadow activity."

….

"So, it was kinda a waste of time." At Minato's answer, Margaret let out a theatrical sigh. "Don't give me that, what about you on your end? Any wildcards leads?"

"Actually we do."

"Oh."

Margaret paused for a moment. "We can say with complete certainty that, at least the wildcard we're looking for is not in this city."

"…Both of them?"

"Well, one of them. The other we can sense but it's too muddled to actually pinpoint his location. We think it must be the false god agent."

"…well, at least we got something."

….

The room got silence as neither of them said nothing for sometime.

….

"…So, Makoto-sama. Are you making any friends at school?"

"What are you, My mother?"

"I'm just asking because of a theory I have." Margaret said as she looked at the Messiah in the eyes. "Seeing that you got your arcana from your social links, I think this might also work in this case."

Minato made a weird face at Margaret. "…That's not much of a theory.…That's like way too obvious."

"It doesn't matter, Are you making any friends at school?"

"Wel-" *Knock, knock*

Minato and Margaret turned towards the door. "Sister, it is us." Theodore voice came in before he opened the door.

"Oh, the convict's here already?" Three of them walked in and sat in their respective places.

"Welcome back, Makoto-sama." Justine said as he only nodded. "May I ask what are you two talking about?"

"I'm just asking Makoto-sama if he has made any friends at school."

"Oh, the way to regain the universe arcana."

"Yes, so, Makoto-sama?"

Minato didn't say anything back for a moment, just staring at the ceilings. "…Well, I do."

"Really!?" Caroline suddenly shouted. "You got friends!? With that attitude!?"

"…." Minato turned towards her with an exasperated face. "You do know that I'm only here because I hav-had friends." Caroline rolled her eyes at his response. "Anyway, that's not gonna work because, one's fine but the other's is sort of a landmine."

"Why?" Justine asked the messiah.

"Turns out her sister is a prosecutor…who works with the police because apparently all prosecutors work with the police." Minato said rolling his eyes.

"So?" this time it was Margaret who asked.

"No, it's not so. I think her name was Sae or something."

"No, that's not what I'm talking about." Margaret said with her eyes twitching. "What I said was a question…'So?'.

"…Soo, Well, what would you, as a sister would do if some new guy you've never met before is getting close with your sister?" Minato said back.

"Talk all the bad things about him in hope that she would leave him?" Theodore cut in with an answer and all turned to him. "That's what Margaret did with Elizabeth, although it didn't work.''

….

Everything got suddenly quiet.

"Hm, did I sa-OOF!" Before Theodore could finish, a book went magically crashing into his face.…Nobody saw how did that happen. Nobody can understand how did that happen. (well, I do but…she was kinda looking at me rather scarily).

"Well, that's also true but what she would do is check if that new guy's background clean, you know, any crimes or bad records."

"Would she really do that?" Justine asked.

"Maybe, maybe not but we can't entirely rule out the possibility."

"So, what?" Margaret said fixing her hair that is surprisingly in a mess, "It's not like you have any criminal records."

"No, I don't have any criminal records but I can't let them check my background."

"Why?"

"Why!?" Minato asked back with a face that he couldn't believe what he's hearing. "Well, for starters, if they check my background, they would know that my back is literally on the ground.…Seriously it is 5 feet deep in the ground!"

"Really? 5 feet?"

"What do you want me to say?" Minato turned to Caroline while sighing loudly. "It's not like I was there to see it.…I mean I was there. And…I'm still there but…Ugh, Justine you get what I'm saying, right?"

"Um?" Justine looked surprised as she got suddenly questioned. "Uhh…Kind of."

"But, Makoto-sama, It's not like we had a choice. The repairment of universe arcana is of utmost importance. We can't be picky."

"I am not picky. Didn't you listen to what I just said?"

"Makoto-sama…" Margaret said without turning her eyes away from him.

"Why are you giving me that look?"*Stare* , "I said I'm no-"*Bam* Margaret suddenly stood up and slammed the table. "Makoto-sama!"

….

Both of them stared at each other without moving as the twins watched them uncomfortably while Theodore was passed out beside them.

….

The staring contest continued for sometimes before Minato surprisingly broke the silence. "*Sigh* , Okay. Fine."

Margaret also sat back down. "You ready to admit?"

Minato didn't say anything back, not meeting her eyes. "I suppose…she reminded me too much of her." Minato said with a sad tone.

….

"…I don't know who you're talking about, but…" Margaret said looking the boy directly. "…you of all people should know that they are not the same person."

"I know they're not the same person. I know they are completely different people, even their arcanas are different. But…uh…in the end it doesn't matter I guess.…It didn't lessen the pain…." Minato said again looking at the floor.

….

"You don't have to bear that pain alone anymore, Makoto-sama. You are not in a seal waiting and hoping that one day, your salvation would come. You are now with us, right here, Right in front of me. So, even if one day, there comes a time when you have to bear that pain alone, just for now though,…know that you are not alone…not anymore…not with us here…not with me here."

Minato just stared at the woman in front of her with silver eyes.…"Hnnghhh." Minato sighed again. "Fine, I will give it a try. You happy? You just made your god sad today." And he said that with a smile on his face.

Margaret didn't say anything back. She just stared at the messiah in front of her with a smile. A very lonely messiah with a smile that could put heaven to shame.

Minato didn't say anything back and turned towards the moon that's shining on the sky through the window. 'A year, huh. …I hope they didn't find out about of me, but…' With Minato thinking that, everything is silent with nobody saying anything, just living in a gentle bliss with Margaret looking at him and him looking at the moon.

'Not alone anymore, huh…so you do care about me, Margaret…'

….

-x-x

….

….

Caroline nudged her twin. "*Psst* , Hey, Justine! What do you think we should say!?"

Justine also nudged back, "Just be quiet, Caroline!"

-x-x-

Akira will enter the story in next chapter and we are finally moving into canon arc.