Guiding Star
Written by Aiyumi
Disclaimer: Persona and all related characters are property of Atlus. Any trademarks that may be referenced in this fan fiction are properties of their respective owners. I am just a fan and do not have any relations to said people/companies.
Chapter 7: Awkward Questions
June 20th happened mostly the same as the other timeline. On the way back to the dorm, Minako ran into Yukari and Fuuka playing with Koromaru, and the dog was as smart and as affectionate as always. Then, at night, there was a SEES meeting on the fourth floor, where Akihiko talked about his conclusion that the big Shadows appeared on the day of the full moon.
Minako mostly spent the following days with her Social Links. This involved joining fashion club to help Bebe with sewing, joining cooking club to help Fuuka improve her cooking, practicing tennis with Rio when no one else from the team would, talking to Mitsuko and Bunkichi at their bookstore, playing with Maiko, among other things. Minako also brought a few more of the school's bread to Pharos, and he seemed to really enjoy even the simplest ones.
It was June 29th. Minako had just finished practice in tennis club. She routinely turned down some random guys that tried to ask her out, and was heading to the gates when she spotted someone fallen on the ground. She approached, intent on helping the person. When she got close enough, she was shocked to realize who it was. It was Kazushi Miyamoto, her classmate. "... Miyamoto-kun! Are you okay? What happened?"
"Ah... It's you, Arisato. I just... uh, tripped and... fell." He spoke nervously.
"Tripped?" Minako looked around and saw nothing he could have tripped on. "Can you stand?"
"I..." Kazushi trailed off. A few awkward seconds followed, and it became apparent that he couldn't stand.
"I'll call for help." Minako volunteered.
"No, I'll be fine! ... I... I just... I've got a cramp, that's all... I'll be fine in a minute!" He protested, but his excuse was totally unconvincing.
Minako called for help. A girl also from her class came over, along with Hidetoshi who was passing by.
"Hey, it's Kaz! What happened?" The girl asked.
"Let's leave the talk for later." Hidetoshi gave no room for anyone to answer. "First of all, he needs to be tended to. Let's take him to the infirmary."
"Y-yeah..." The girl flinched at the disciplinarian's authoritative tone. "Uh, l-let's talk to Hiraga-senpai! He'll know what to do!"
Keisuke Hiraga was a third year senior, and a member of the Health Committee. as the son of an influential doctor, he was very knowledgeable in the medical area. Despite being only a student like everyone else, many other students considered him to be their "official unofficial doctor," and preferred to rely on him rather than Mr. Edogawa, who was the actual nurse of the school.
Keisuke inspected Kazushi's leg in the infirmary, called the track team members over, and exposed the issue.
Kazushi had badly injured his knee, and had been hiding it for a few months now. His parents were aware of it, but his teammates weren't, and he had been practicing and straining his knee the whole time. He said he wanted to continue practicing because he had made a promise, and had to win a championship to convince his five year old nephew to undergo a surgery. Despite his protests, Kazushi ended up being scolded by both the team's coach and Hidetoshi for neglecting his health and trying to hide such a serious issue.
"Kaz, you idiot..." Yuko, the team manager for the track team, had tears in her eyes as she had Kazushi lean on her to leave the infirmary.
"Arisato-san, thank you for helping bring this issue to our attention," Keisuke said. "It might have turned into something much more serious from the way it was going."
"I didn't do anything. I only called for help. The others did most of the hard work. Especially you, Hiraga-senpai."
"Calling for help is just as important." And he came out of "doctor mode." "Maybe I should request some help too... Uh, sorry for this question out of the blue... but do you like orchestral music?"
"Orchestral music...? Hmm..." Minako had to take a few seconds to think. The question was out of the blue indeed. "Um, I don't know anything about the subject, and have only seen orchestras on TV. But the sound is beautiful, and seeing all those people playing in sync is just amazing."
"Isn't it?!" Keisuke's eyes glistened with enthusiasm. "Well, I know this school had a music club before. It was going great, but after most of its members graduated and left, the group disbanded, and the music club remained closed ever since. I got so excited when I heard about the last group that I've been considering reviving the music club, but not many people seem interested. If I manage to reopen the club, would you like to join? You don't need to know how to play an instrument or anything. To tell the truth, I'm an amateur myself. Of course we need members that can play something as well, but I think it's also important to have people that like to listen and share their opinions with the players. Even if we don't get to have a group like the last one, it would be nice to be around a bunch of people that enjoy orchestral music, and have fun either by playing or listening."
Minako knew nothing about orchestral music, and couldn't play any instrument. But Keisuke had said that she didn't need to play, only listen and comment. This tempted her to join, but she was already in tennis club, fashion club, and cooking club, not to mention the Special Extracurricular Execution Squad, among other activities. Minako didn't think she would have enough time for one more club. "Um, it sounds interesting. But I'm part of a lot of clubs already, and also Student Council and Library Committee. I don't think I'll have time to dedicate to another club."
"Oh, I understand." Even though Keisuke looked disappointed, he forced a smile. "But it was nice to meet someone that also enjoys orchestral music. I've seen a recording of the last club's performance. The club had around twenty members. Not that big of an orchestra, but the atmosphere seemed nice. Everyone seemed to be playing to their hearts' content. I liked the recording so much that I made a copy for myself! I can get a copy for you too, if you want."
"Uh, sure."
... ... ... ... ...
Minako spent June 30th's afternoon in yet another one of Theodore's awkward quests. He had asked her to show him around Iwatodai Station.
"So, this is an escalator. My sister told me about it. She said that boarding it is quite a challenge..." Theodore tried to hide the fact that he was trembling, seemingly nervous about boarding the machine. "Hm." He glanced around and located another escalator. "That one appears to function differently. Perhaps it is easier to board...?"
"Aah! No, Theo, wait. That one is..." Minako tried to protest, but Theodore abruptly pulled her by the hand towards the other escalator.
Theodore took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing. One, two, and... three!"
"Aaaaah!" Minako yelped in surprise when Theodore suddenly took her in his arms and ran up the escalator in the wrong direction.
Theodore put her on the ground once they arrived on the upper floor. "This was easier than I had expected!" He laughed sheepishly. "How interesting. I think I will ask my master's permission to place an escalator in the Velvet Room..."
Minako said nothing. Her heart was still beating fast because of the shock. There were certainly witnesses to what had just happened, and her face flushed red in embarrassment.
They went to the takoyaki stand. The cook was amazed because Theodore seemed to be able to identify the takoyaki's secret ingredient just by its smell, and she ended up giving him a few of the treats. Theodore offered one to Minako, and she accepted it.
"Delicious as always!" Minako grinned widely after finishing her takoyaki.
Theodore placed his fingers on Minako's cheeks as though he were trying to hold them in place. "You should be more careful with your cheeks, Miss Minako. The cook had stated that this treat may make your cheeks fall off!"
Minako couldn't resist laughing.
"Miss Minako!" Theodore desperately tried to cover her mouth to make her stop laughing and prevent her cheeks from moving. He only retracted his hand once Minako's expression was back to normal.
"Uh, Theo, I'm sure she didn't mean it in the literal sense..."
"Is that so...?" Theo seemed embarrassed for a second, but he shook his head and recomposed himself. "No. They even use 'that' as an ingredient. Who knows what more mysteries this takoyaki holds... that side effect might be literal for all we know. We must not let our guard down!"
"Uh, right..." Minako rolled her eyes. "Anyway, what is the secret ingredient?"
"It is exactly that. A secret." He looked at her mysteriously. "As some of your kind say, some things are better kept hidden."
"... Okay." Minako decided she wouldn't insist.
After they finished their takoyaki, they made their way back to Paulownia Mall.
They were walking in the mall when they heard Junpei's voice.
"Miiiiina-tan!" Junpei sprinted over to her, with Yukari trailing behind him.
"Hi, Junpei, Yukari-chan."
"Hey, what a coincidence. I ran into Yuka-tan on my way back from the arcade, then now I run into you too! So, who's the guy?" Junpei inched closer curiously.
"My name is Theodore, Theo for short. Pleased to make your acquaintance." Theodore bowed politely.
Theodore's gesture made Yukari nervous, but had the opposite effect on Junpei. "Theodore? Cool! Sounds like a name from one of those foreign movies!" Junpei turned to Minako. "Is he a foreigner?"
"Uh, well... you could say that." Minako answered awkwardly. Rather than simply being from a different country, Theodore was from a different world, which made things much more difficult. "He asked me to show him around Iwatodai Station."
"Hmm...!" Junpei grinned in suspicion. "It's obvious you two get along. Since when do you know each other? What's between you two?"
"Quit asking this kind of questions, Stupei!" Yukari said in annoyance. "It makes people uncomfortable, you know!"
"It's fine, Yukari-chan." Minako realized she had never told anyone about anything related to the Velvet Room, not even in the other timeline. Her friends only came to find out about the place when they were summoned there after she had become the Seal. Come to think of it, no one had ever said Minako had to keep the Velvet Room a secret from her friends. She felt they had the right to know, especially since all of them were back in time thanks to the Velvet Room.
"Junpei-san and Yukari-san, correct?" Theodore apparently thought the same, because he said, "Since both of you are part of her special group, I see no harm in disclosing this. I am the one managing Miss Minako's extra Personas. We met shortly after she awakened to her power."
Yukari's jaw dropped.
"Huh, what?" Certainly not what Junpei expected to hear. "You know about Personas!?"
"Yes. A Persona is a manifestation of the hidden facet of an individual. To run into someone capable of manifesting so many different facets like her is a special occurrence indeed. I feel very honored to have been tasked with assisting her in making the most of her potential."
"So, she's really special, huh?" Junpei said a bit bitterly.
"Yes, and so are all of you, each in different ways." Theodore answered. "Your group's battle is a very important one. Even though Miss Minako's power is an essential asset to your journey's success, so are each and every ability of the other members in your group."
"Our group...?" Yukari finally found her words. "W-wait, do you mean you also know about SEES?"
"Yes. In assisting her, I am also assisting all of you, and am glad to be of help. I wish you all the best in your journey."
"W-whoa..." Junpei glanced between Theodore and Minako in wonder. "But what's this deal about managing Personas? I don't get it."
"You know how I can switch between many Personas." Minako began to explain. "The thing is, I can't have all of them with me at once, and have to keep the ones I can't carry 'stored' somewhere. That's where Theo comes in. Every time I need a Persona that isn't with me, I have to get his help to 'withdraw' it."
"Kind of like a bank, but with Personas?" Yukari seemed curious.
"Yeah." Minako answered. "Withdrawing Personas even costs money, too."
"It costs money!?" Junpei's eyes widened. "Like, how much are we talking about?"
"It varies." Theodore gave a very vague answer.
"Yeah, and some of them... well, aren't exactly cheap." Minako said in annoyance.
"I am sorry, but business is business," Theodore said with a neutral expression.
Minako sighed. "This is why I try to keep my expenses separate. The money from Tartarus goes toward Personas, and the money from my part-time job goes to daily life stuff."
"Wow. I didn't know you were so organized, Mina-tan. But a service to store Personas, and that even costs money. For sure, there are many mysteries in this world..." Junpei mused.
"Agreed," was Theodore's response, even though, to the others, he was the greatest mystery of all at the moment.
... ... ... ... ...
That day's Dark Hour, Pharos came to visit Minako. He materialized in a corner, walked to the middle of the room, and faced Minako who had been sitting on her bed as usual. "Hi, Minako. I hope you haven't forgotten to check your calendar." His tone was a bit dry for some reason. "Exactly one week from now, the moon will be full again. Once more, you'll have two ordeals to face."
"I didn't forget. Thanks for the reminder, though." Pharos didn't respond to her, and she could tell that something wasn't right. "Pharos-kun, what's wrong?"
Pharos sighed sadly. "... You seemed to have had a lot of fun today... I wish I could have been there too."
Minako stood up from her sitting position on the bed and walked over to him. She put a supportive hand on his left shoulder. "Pharos-kun, I know it's hard to have to wait, but we're almost there. You said we'll have to face two Shadows next week. If we defeat them, we'll be two steps closer to freeing you. Once you're free, I'll take you to the mall, to the station, to the shrine, and wherever else you want to go. I promised this, didn't I?"
"Y-yeah." Pharos cheered up a bit at the mention of her promise. "Can we ride the escalator in the opposite direction, too?"
And Minako was reminded that Theodore wasn't the only otherworldly person she had to deal with, and that her outings with Pharos would probably be as awkward. "W-well..." She shuffled uncomfortably. "Better not. It's not exactly a good idea."
"Why not? It looked fun."
Minako felt embarrassed. She recalled what had happened, and that there were witnesses to it - which she now realized included Pharos as well. "No, it wasn't fun. Besides, it's wrong."
"Why?" Pharos asked innocently.
"It isn't safe." Minako answered, with her face still red in embarrassment.
"But you got out of there safely." Pharos countered. "I'm sure we'll be fine if we do it."
His words reminded Minako that he was a powerful Shadow. The argument of riding an escalator the wrong way not being safe certainly didn't apply to him. He would be just fine. "Okay. Only once, just so you know what it feels like. But I'm not going. You'll have to do it by yourself."
"Hm." He wasn't fully satisfied, but accepted her condition. "Will you at least watch me while I go on my ride?"
"Of course." If he were to really do it, there was no way Minako would leave him unattended.
"Okay!" Pharos hopped in place once, then smirked. "I'll show you that I can run faster than him!"
"Huh?" Minako simply stared at him in confusion. She had no idea what he had meant, but at least he seemed to be back in high spirits.
... ... ... ... ...
Days later...
Minako tried to fight the sleepiness in the shower. The warm water gently caressed her body until it hit the ground and went down the drain along with all her problems. The sound of the falling water soothed her. It gave her the impression that if she stayed there forever, the water would keep washing all her problems away, and she wouldn't need to worry about anything ever again. As tempting as that notion seemed, Minako had the feeling that it wasn't the right thing to do. She shouldn't run away from her worries. From the moment she had decided to defy her fate and confront Nyx in the other timeline, she had decided she wouldn't run away from her problems. Wait, she thought, and keywords came rushing in her mind at once. Nyx, the Fall, Arcana Shadows, full moon... "Aaaah!" Minako yelped as she came to her senses and realized what her current situation was. The soap escaped from her hand and fell to the ground.
Yes, she remembered it now. Today was the full moon. She was in the middle of the operation, and that situation must have been the Lovers Arcana Shadow's doing. Minako and her friends were in the lovers hotel in Shirakawa Boulevard. They had defeated the Hierophant Shadow, only to find out they had been trapped inside the room they were in. When they checked the mirror, they lost consciousness, and the Lovers Shadow hypnotized them. Something like that had happened in the other timeline as well, but it had been a bit different.
Minako retrieved the soap, quickly finished washing herself, and turned the shower off. She dried herself with a towel and looked for her clothes, but they were nowhere to be found. Oh no. I must have left them in the bedroom... she thought, and draped the towel around her body. When she thought about opening the door to leave the bathroom, the door opened abruptly and made her jump.
"Arisato, are you in th-" Akihiko burst through the bathroom's door.
"Aaaaaah!" Minako jumped backwards and yelped as the previous timeline's version of the event came rushing to her mind. In it, Akihiko had been the one in the shower. Then he had come out wearing nothing and crept towards her with a zombified expression on his face. In her panic, Minako had slapped him. Only them he had come to his senses, but for a few days, it had been really awkward to be around him.
"Arisato! What happened? Was it a Shadow? Where is it...!?" The very opposite from the other time, it seemed. The only thing in common was that he looked very disoriented, completely unaware of where he was. Once he had finally regained his senses, his eyes widened and he gasped. "Gah! This door w-was a b-bathroom...?!" He closed his eyes and his face flushed in embarrassment. "Uh... I heard you yelp and thought you were in danger and..." He tried to justify himself, and when he noticed it wasn't doing any good, he gave up. He backed away awkwardly. "Arisato, s-sorry!" He blurted out a quick apology to Minako and slammed the door shut.
Minako released her breath. It was a relief that Akihiko didn't act like he had done the other time, and that the towel had been hiding most of her body... no. She shook her head. It wasn't the time for worrying about things like that. They had a mission to complete. "S-senpai!" She shouted. "I think the Shadow hypnotized us! I'm f-fine, but it'll be a few minutes until I can get out of here. So, g-go on ahead without me. I'll go as soon as I can!"
"R-right!" Akihiko replied, and bolted away from the closed door as though it were cursed.
A while later, Minako leaned into the door and tried to listen for any sound outside. Since she didn't hear anything, she concluded that Akihiko must have left. She slowly opened the door, and stealthily left the bathroom. She located her clothes in the bedroom, and got dressed. Minako sighed in relief and was about to step outside the bedroom when...
"Hi!"
"Aaaah!" Minako jumped. "Ph-Pharos-kun? What are you doing here...?!"
Pharos chuckled. "It's rare to find a shower with normal water during the Dark Hour, isn't it? Since we finally found one, I want to take a shower too!" He excitedly hopped on his feet as he spoke, oblivious to Minako's discomfort.
"Huh? ... Well, it should be f-fine, I guess." Minako could only hope he wouldn't ask for her help. Before he had a chance to do so, she quickly added, "Sorry, I don't have time to talk right now. I have to go."
"Yeah, I know. The moon is full today, and you still have one ordeal to face. We'll talk more another time. Good luck with your ordeal, and take care!"
"Good luck to you too," Minako said and left the hotel room. She wondered if Pharos actually had the power to make machines work during the Dark Hour himself, since the Priestess Shadow had proved to be able to control machines during that hour, and Pharos had already absorbed said Shadow's power. Maybe he had that ability, but didn't know how to use it. Or not very well, judging by his struggle with the vending machine the previous month. Either way, Minako hoped he wouldn't mess anything up in the bathroom that might cause problems to the hotel staff later.
"Minako-chan! Minako-chan!" Fuuka's voice reached her when she stepped outside the room. "Thank goodness. The Shadow was causing interference, and I had been unable to reach you. The Shadow unleashed a mental attack on everyone, and all of you got separated. Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah, I'm okay." Minako answered. Akihiko was also there, but he looked away when Minako glanced in his direction. "Where are the others?"
"On the upper floor." Fuuka informed.
Akihiko wordlessly followed Minako to the upper floor, where they located the others.
"Fuuka, what do we do now?" A very irritated Yukari asked. She seemed to be trying to stay as far as possible from Junpei.
"The Shadow is still in the same room on the third floor, and the door is still sealed," Fuuka informed. "Some mirrors in the hotel are emitting the same energy as the Shadow, and probably have a connection to the seal. You must break the mirrors that don't show reflections."
"Grrr. That Shadow will pay..." Yukari said between gritted teeth. She seemed to have arrows coming out of her eyes.
Yukari kept her distance from Junpei and ignored his presence for the rest of the mission. Junpei remained uncharacteristically silent, and Akihiko avoided looking at Minako. Despite the awkward tension among the group, they still did everything as Minako instructed during battle, and they managed to defeat the Shadow.
... ... ... ... ...
The following day, Minako was tired because of the full moon operation. Once she had arrived from school, she did her homework. Since it was Wednesday, she also went to her part-time job at night. She was even more tired when she returned to the dorm. To make things worse, exams would start next week, and she needed to study. Without a doubt, this was one of those nights she would have to study during the Dark Hour. She tried, but she couldn't keep her eyes open, and often found herself dozing off with her head on her notebook. In the end, Minako gave up and decided she would rest now and commit fully to her studies tomorrow.
She spent the following night studying. She was still studying when Dark Hour came, and was surprised when Pharos appeared.
"Mi-na-ko!" He sang her name. He seemed happy, as though he had done an amazing discovery. "There's something I want to show you!"
"Hmm?" She turned in his direction. Right away she noticed that something was different.
"Since I couldn't talk to you after the shower the other day, I tried to preserve this state as best as I could just to show you!" Pharos pointed at his own head. His hair seemed damp as though he had just come out of the shower. "I know you were busy yesterday, and are today, too, but I decided to show you this now, because I don't think I can preserve this state for much longer..."
Minako laughed amusedly. She briefly touched his hair, and it was indeed damp. "Cool. You sure do some pretty different stuff sometimes, huh? ... We should comb your hair, though. If it dries while it's messy, it'll be hard to fix later." Minako stood up, made her way over to her things, retrieved a comb and got to work.
Pharos closed his eyes. He had a dreamy expression while Minako combed his hair. "Ah, this is so relaxing... shower was quite relaxing, too." He opened his eyes and looked expectantly at her. "Minako, after I'm freed from the Dark Hour, can we get in the shower together?"
Minako's eyes widened in shock. "No!" She nearly shouted. The comb slipped from her hand and clattered to the ground.
Pharos recoiled from her sudden outburst. "Oh... i-is that so...?" He stared at the ground sadly. "Why?"
"Because... it's wrong!" She hoped that that answer would suffice, but it didn't.
"Why is it wrong?"
Pharos had asked with the innocence of a little child. This nearly made Minako reconsider. He was just an innocent kid, with no inappropriate intentions whatsoever. It was just a shower... what was the harm in them taking a shower together? before she could change her mind however, Minako came to the obvious conclusion. He had spoken the keywords, "after I'm freed from the Dark Hour." Once that happened, he would become Ryoji, and all his innocence would be gone. No, it was definitely wrong.
"Be-because... people of opposite genders shouldn't enter the shower together." She tried to explain.
"Why is that?" He continued asking.
Minako didn't know what else to say. She put a hand on her forehead in exasperation. "It's because... ... ugh, how can I explain this?"
Pharos chuckled amusedly. "So, this happens to you too? It happens to me a lot. Many times I have trouble to explain things. I have the idea in my mind, but I can't find the right words to convey it. I thought I was the only one. I'm relieved to know I'm not."
Minako could swear she saw a music note coming out of Pharos' head, and she was also relieved, for different reasons. He had finally dropped the subject. "No, it's not only you. I-it happens to everyone." Minako retrieved the comb from the ground at last, and resumed what she had been doing.
Minako finished combing Pharos' hair. While he checked himself in the mirror, Minako went over to her bag. She retrieved a bread she had bought at school, and gave it to him. Pharos sat down on her bed while she sat back at her desk to continue studying.
"Um, Minako?" Pharos said when he was at around halfway through his bread.
"What is it?"
"I don't understand. On the day of the full moon, during the second ordeal, everyone began acting weird. I know they weren't under that spell that makes them switch sides, because they didn't attack each other or heal the enemy, but they were still acting weird as though they had been angry at each other. Why?"
Minako grimaced. Another complicated question. "Uh... it's because the Shadow had messed with our minds." She hoped she wouldn't need to explain that in detail.
"What did it do?"
And her hopes were crushed. She sighed in exasperation. Pharos had just absorbed that Shadow, hadn't he? Did he really have no idea what the Shadow had done? ... Probably not, she concluded, otherwise his innocence would have been gone by now. "It hypnotized us and made us do... things that would make the other angry."
"Like what?"
"Ugh..." Here we go again... Minako thought as her face scrunched up. "I don't know what happened to the others." She tried to step out of the subject.
"You didn't get angry..." He observed.
"Well, not really." Or at least, not this time, though the memory of the event with Akihiko from the other timeline still gave Minako shudders.
"What did it do to you?"
"Uh, well... it made me go in the shower... and..."
"I don't get it. You said it made everyone do something to make them get angry at each other. How can going in the shower make someone angry?"
Minako sighed. "Nothing happened because we snapped out of it before things got bad."
"Hmm. Why did your senpai get so flustered?"
Oh, right. Minako blushed in embarrassment. Of course Pharos had seen that... and it dawned on her that he must have seen her in the shower as well, and that he had probably been doing so... every day. Minako decided to blink those thoughts away before they could get worse.
"Oh! Could it be that the creature was trying to make both of you enter the shower together?" Pharos came to his own conclusion. "Then your senpai became embarrassed because he had almost done something wrong?"
"Um... probably something like that..." Minako thought it would be best to leave it at that.
"Ah, okay... but why is it wrong?"
"..." Minako heaved a sigh. She was running out of arguments. "It's wrong, period. It's a rule of our society. A cultural thing. It's how it works. Just deal with it."
"Hmm." Pharos was clearly unsatisfied, but stopped asking and ate the rest of his bread in silence. Once he had finished, he stood up, threw the wrapping away, then walked over to Minako's desk. He peered over her shoulders in order to see what she was reading. "What are you studying?"
"Japanese History," she answered.
"Those lessons from Teacher Samurai?"
"Yeah." Minako chuckled at the nickname he had given to Mr. Ono.
"Can I take a look?" Pharos eyed the book curiously. "When I watch those images about you, I also hear what the teachers say, but the images aren't clear enough for me to read the books or the blackboard. Because of this, I never caught a full lecture by Teacher Samurai, since he always skips everything and says the rest is on the book."
"Here you go." Minako decided to take a short break and passed the textbook over to him.
Pharos carefully took the textbook and turned it over. "Minako, do you like to study?" He asked while he gently ran his hand over the plastic that covered the book.
"Well, not really," Minako answered.
"Then, why do you study so much?"
"I study mostly because I need to. These things are hard to understand and memorize."
"Hmm? But... learning things is good. I thought learning new things every day was supposed to be fun."
"I don't know." Minako had never thought of school life as something really fun. "At least my teachers this year teach in a lighthearted way that makes the lectures stick easier. I wouldn't say it's that fun, though."
Pharos opened the textbook and began examining inside the cover. "I can listen to what your teachers say, and I think it's interesting. I agree that the teachers this year are easier to listen to. Most of them seem to really enjoy talking about the things they know. A lot of funny things happen in your class, too. Like when a teacher asks your friend about something, but he doesn't know the answer, and you end up answering for him!"
"Huh?" To tell the truth, Minako found that part annoying rather than funny. But now that she thought about it, an outsider might actually find the situation funny. She found rather amusing to watch Yukari and Junpei bickering, even though Yukari probably considers it really annoying. "I had never thought of it that way, but now I think I see what you mean. I wish Junpei would pay attention to the lectures at least once in a while, though. I'm getting tired of giving him the answers every... single... time."
"I don't understand what's so hard about those questions. The teachers always ask something they've just mentioned... your friend's lucky to have someone so nice that always helps him out, though. Anyway, this book is very well taken care of. You covered it with a plastic to keep it protected. You seem to have taken much care to cut and glue the plastic, too." He turned away from the book, looked at her and smiled. "Despite saying you don't like to study, you still treat your book so well, even though it's not even a living thing. You're really so kind..."
"Huh...?" Minako blinked. "This is normal. I'm not doing anything special."
"You only say this because you're kind by nature. It's just the way you are. Kindness is a great quality, and I admire it very much."
It sounded like he was making up compliments out of nowhere just for the sake of flattering her. But Minako had to remind herself that Pharos was an outsider. He wasn't a normal person that grew up in a normal environment. He was a Shadow, with a different view of things. Shadows were born from humans' negative emotions. Maybe this was the reason Pharos seemed to make such a big deal out of such simple things. After all, his case was even worse since he was the Arcana Shadow meant to bring destruction and the end of the world. Yet, he had a very good heart, and for that, Minako admired him.
"You are very kind yourself, Pharos-kun," Minako said with a smile.
"... Do you think so?"
"Yeah, you are." She nodded reassuringly. "I admire you a lot for that, too, you know?"
Musical notes seemed to come out of Pharos' head. A slight blush appeared on his cheeks, and his eyes lit up. Even though he seemed to enjoy the compliment, he shook his head. "No, I'm just trying to learn from you. I still have a long way to go..."
Minako giggled. "And very modest, too." She changed the subject. "By the way, Pharos-kun, would you give me my textbook back? I need to continue studying."
"But I didn't even take a look at the text inside yet!" Pharos protested.
"Hmm. Hey, I have an idea! How about you read the text aloud to me? This way you'll help me study."
"Okay!" Pharos beamed.
Normally, Minako wouldn't give high school-level material to a kid, but Pharos was no ordinary kid. He had accompanied her for ten years, and had listened to her teacher's lectures during her whole school life. Perhaps she could even say that he was on the same level as her.
Minako was bothered that Pharos had been standing the whole time while she had been seated at her desk. Since there was only one chair in the room, only one person could sit at the desk. So, Minako went over to her bed and beckoned him to sit down beside her. He hopped happily towards the bed with the textbook in hand and sat down.
Pharos proceeded to read the Japanese History text aloud. He tripped over a few obscure kanji, but once Minako had corrected him, he would always get them right afterward. In the end, he proved to be able to read pretty well, and confirmed Minako's theory that his knowledge was near high school-level.
"Pharos-kun, you read well. When did you learn to read?" Minako asked out of curiosity, even though she was almost sure he wouldn't know how to answer.
"When...?" He blinked uncertainly, as though he had never stopped to think about it. "To tell the truth, I don't know. Now that I think about it, it's a bit strange. Normally, People have to learn the letters first, and read a lot to get the hang of it, right? The thing is, I don't recall having learned the letters. I couldn't practice reading, either, since the images I see during the day aren't clear enough for me to read anything. Maybe I learned it before I got trapped? I don't know..."
So, Pharos had known how to read as though it were common knowledge, yet he was completely clueless about society's basic rules. The irony...
"It sounds more like you'd always known how to do it. To think I've been struggling with these thousand kanji for years...! I think I'm a bit envious of you now, you little prodigy..."
"Uh, u-um..." Pharos seemed lost between taking Minako's statement as a compliment or as an offense. He stared downwards at the textbook in his hands for a few seconds before looking back at her. "... Minako?"
"Yeah?"
"... What does 'prodigy' mean?"
Minako sweatdropped. It was strange to think Pharos didn't know the meaning, since he had already shown to know many words that were much more uncommon. "We usually use it to talk about a young child with extraordinary talents."
"O-oh..." Pharos' eyes shone in understanding, and a light shade of pink tinged his cheeks. "I don't think I'm that talented, though... b-but your explanation makes sense now. I got confused because the meaning I had known for this word was 'prophetic sign.'"
"Really?" Minako's eyebrows rose. She had to take back what she had thought. Pharos indeed had unusual words in his vocabulary. "I didn't know that one. Well, you always come to warn me about that full moon stuff, too. Maybe you're a prodigy in both senses of the word, then?"
Pharos laughed. He often let out small chuckles, but it was the first time Minako had seen him really laugh. She couldn't resist and laughed as well.
"Anyway, I think I studied enough for today," Minako said once their laughing fit had subsided. "Thanks, Pharos-kun."
Pharos grinned. "You're welcome!" He closed the textbook and handed it back to her. "It was a lot of fun! Can we do this again another day? I want to help you more!"
"Sure we can! I may not like to study, but I had a lot of fun today, too."
Pharos stood up and stared at Minako. It seemed like he wanted to say something else, but he simply stood there with an expectant look in his eyes.
"What is it?" Minako asked.
Pharos shuffled nervously and shook his head. "No, nothing. I'll leave now. Good night, Minako."
... ... ... ... ...
Pharos was really glad that Minako had accepted his help with her studies. It meant that he could visit her even during exam preparation periods. However, there was no way she would be able to study everything she needed in only one hour a day. Minako spent the following afternoon and night studying. She was too tired to stay awake during the Dark Hour, and Pharos found himself with nothing to do once again.
Pharos was restless. He had been awaiting eagerly for this Dark Hour, the time he was supposed to help Minako with her studies again. School textbooks had been out of his reach for all those years. Now that he thought he could finally read them and uncover their mysteries, Minako had to get exhausted and add to the number of days of suspense. No, this was it. Pharos had enough of suspense. The books were so close. He wouldn't let this opportunity slip. He would read those books some more, even if Minako weren't able to share that moment with him. She deserved her sleep, and he didn't want to wake her up. Hopefully, he wouldn't need to. Just get whatever book piqued his interest the most, read as much as he was able to manage during the course of one hour, and put it back where he had found it, simple as that.
Pharos materialized inside Minako's room and approached her bag. As quietly as he could, he took all the textbooks out of the bag. He placed them on Minako's desk as he tried to decide which book to check first. Then, he had an idea. He thought back on his question about showering rules, which Minako hadn't been able to answer properly. She had said it was a cultural thing. Since those books were supposed to hold information about old cultures and such, they might have the answer! But which one? Checking the one at the top first would be easiest. It was the Composition textbook. He skimmed through a few lessons... no, only grammar rules, nothing about showering rules. What next? Physics, maybe? Wait, where was it? Not inside the bag, apparently.
Pharos' eyes caught the shelf where Minako kept other books. He quietly made his way to the shelf and inspected what was on it. Pharos smiled triumphantly when he saw that the Physics textbook was indeed there. Other books of interest were also there, and he decided to take them as well. Pharos silently brought them over and placed them with the other books on the desk. He spent a couple of minutes examining the Physics textbook's contents, but found nothing of interest, much to his disappointment. So much work to find it, and the Physics book didn't contain anything pertaining to showering. But Pharos wouldn't give up. He put the book aside, took the Chemistry book from the pile he had brought from the shelf and inspected it. No, nothing either... he set the textbook aside and went for the Math one. As interesting as expressing things with numbers was, there was no mention of showering there, either.
Pharos sighed. His research had proved completely fruitless so far. Only then, he realized that picking books at random wasn't exactly a good idea. Half of the Dark Hour was already gone. He wouldn't have time to check all the books. He would need to make a choice. Out of the books that remained, which ones were more likely to contain information about cultural aspects of showering? English? No. Literature... probably not. He set both books on the desk along with the pile of discarded books, and noticed he had gotten to the one he had read to Minako the previous day. The Japanese History textbook. Pharos grinned. That book was all about the changes Japanese culture and society underwent throughout the centuries. It was probably the best place to look for explanations about how their daily habits developed to the current state. Since showering was such an important activity to Japanese society, it made perfect sense for the book to cover it!
Pharos considered reading the book from the beginning, but on further thought, he had another idea. Since Minako hadn't known how to explain the customs to him, it probably meant that the lectures hadn't gotten to that point yet, otherwise Minako would have known the exact explanation. This led him to conclude that the subject must be covered chapters forward in the book. No, better yet, considering that bathrooms and showers were recent developments, the subject must be at around the end of the book! With newfound hope, Pharos opened the book from the end and skimmed over a few chapters in reverse. Hope soon turned into disappointment as he was unable to find anything of interest.
When Pharos realized his time was running short, he only had three minutes until the Dark Hour's end. He needed to put all the books back in their original places... and he froze. All the books got mixed when he shuffled them around, and now he realized he had forgotten where he had found each one!
Physics and Chemistry were on the shelf, Composition was in the bag... Pharos tried to calm down and think. He took the textbooks he was sure about and set them in their appropriate places, then went back to the desk. Okay, now the English one... where had I found it? Where!? Two minutes. Aaah! I don't have time! Pharos panicked, but still remembered to keep his thoughts from escaping from his mouth. He didn't want to Wake Minako up.
As an act of desperation, Pharos tried to put all textbooks inside the bag so that Minako would have all of them with her. Unfortunately, only half of the books fit in the bag. Only one minute remained, and Pharos gave up on trying to figure out where to put each book. He placed the remaining books on the shelf, and sighed in relief when he looked at Minako and confirmed she was still asleep.
... ... ... ... ...
It was Saturday, July 11th. Pharos observed as Minako went to school like she always did. Japanese History and Composition classes happened normally, and he nearly forgot his misadventures from last night. Then, English class came, and Pharos' relief was gone. The English textbook didn't fit in the bag with the others, and he had left it on the shelf. Minako didn't have it with her. Basically, he had gotten her in trouble. Pharos felt worse and worse as Minako desperately rummaged through her bag and mumbled about books she was sure she hadn't put in there.
Minako went through all the books in her bag one more time. She remembered having prepared the required materials for today's classes. She was sure she had placed the English textbook in her bag, but for some unexplainable reason, it wasn't in there. She was also sure she hadn't taken the Literature textbook, since she had no Literature classes on Saturdays. Yet, the Literature textbook had somehow snuck into her bag in place of her English textbook and accompanied her to school that morning. Not only that, but there was one more book missing, with another one in its place. That whole deal was really weird... then, Minako remembered. Last night, she had awoken briefly to a strange atmosphere, which could only mean it had been Dark Hour. Minako had been too tired and didn't wake up fully, but she recalled hearing some noises inside her room. No, don't tell me... Pharos-kun... Minako thought. Pharos might have been there and messed with her things. It made sense. He had been very curious about her textbooks the other day. Since Minako hadn't waited for him yesterday's Dark hour, he might have been unable to resist snooping around. That had to be it.
When Minako told Mrs. Terauchi that "she had mixed her textbooks up" and hadn't brought the English textbook, the teacher instructed her to sit with someone. Minako glanced left, but her left neighbor was absent and the seat was empty. She glanced right, and could only hope her flighty friend Junpei Iori had brought his English textbook today.
A/n: I looked up the script for Theodore's requests. He doesn't ride the escalator the wrong way... how disappointing. I found it so amusing when Elizabeth did it :D . So, I couldn't resist and had him do it here!
In this story, I assume that rather than seeing everyday images through Minako's eyes, Pharos has a third person view of what's going on around her (like the way we players see what happens around her), but the images aren't very detailed.
The usage is rare, but there's also another meaning for "prodigy." It can also mean "monster." Shhh, don't tell him. Poor Pharos...