Chapter 6

Right to Die

Per Mitsuru-senpai's permission, Minato delegated Field Leader's position to Junpei for tonight. She actually limited their exploration only to the first five floors, though. Junpei complained to her and demanded to continue from their latest exploration. Junpei won, surprisingly. With a sigh, Mitsuru-senpai allowed them to continue from the blockade. The teen jumped around like an overexcited monkey, waving his katana and grinning all the way to their walk to Tartarus, boasting under the green-lit night of Dark Hour

"I'm so gonna show you how to beat those Shadows crap, Yuka-tan!" he said cheerfully as he flexed his sword haphazardly.

"Yeah, yeah," Yukari humoured Junpei for once. "We have to take the little kid to amusement park sometimes, huh?" her rather snide comment was ignored promptly as Junpei noticed Minato frowned as he walked to Junpei's left side. Junpei fumbled with his heavy sword as Minato corrected Junpei's sword stance with a quiet but stern efficiency. Sometimes Yukari wondered why he knew a lot of things and how the hell he even know how to fire an arrow and struck the enemy with a heavy katana in time.

A few explorations ago, he swapped his double-handed sword with a bow similar to Yukari's after they spotted a golden blur of Shadow. Minato told them to hide in the intersection wall to the golden Shadow's farther right while he crept towards the Shadow quietly. After they heard a usual groan of a surrounded Shadow, they quickly moved out to encounter it, only to find Minato signaled them into Rush attacks.

Minato hunched his shoulder squarely as he gripped the bow with perfect alignment and let loose an arrow. "Pierce attack won't work!" he told them after the Shadow missed his attack easily and he cancelled the Rush signal. They eyed the golden Shadow warily, whatever it was, it may carry something precious. They can't let it escape. Junpei ran to where Minato's finger pointed, an empty hallway to cut off the Shadow's escape. He had became complacent enough to follow through Minato's order, although he did grumbled about wanting to be a Field Leader from time to time.

His guess was right because the Shadow didn't even try to attack them, it ran with a panicked groan towards Junpei who awaited with his Evoker at ready. "Agi!" the licking flame roasted the Shadow as it yelped helplessly. It quickly disappeared into a black mist as a medal appeared from where the Shadow was defeated. Junpei was quite disappointed at seeing the medal, expecting Yen to flow from the body. He tossed the medal to Minato who pocketed the medal in his trousers.


They arrived at their malformed school ground. Eerily tall gothic buildings that touched the moon greeted them as their school area transformed one by one, the bended gate gave way to their approaching steps. Different from their first exploration, now they didn't even glance at the transformation. Yukari would've worried for their sanity when they didn't even deny the transformation or be awed by it, but she receded from saying it when she recalled that everyone in SEES was far from normal life, including herself.

She didn't know much about her other teammates, but she was willing to take solace in the fact that most of them were orphans, in the fact that they didn't even have the luxury of a complete family. Yukari snorted, that whore of a-

"-Takeba, do you read me?" Mitsuru-senpai's voice resounded through her earpiece. "Huh? Yes, Senpai. Loud and clear," Yukari responded, her musings forgotten. "Iori, you are to have a feel of being a Field Leader tonight. I'll allow you only to explore five floors after the blockade. And Arisato, although you do delegated your position this time, do not hesitate to give Iori a few pointers along the way. That is all." with a flick, their earpieces went silent.

"Okay, so, Junpei. What have you learn about battle signals?" Minato quickly turned to Junpei. He was all down to business if needed. Junpei sweatdropped, "Err at least I know about Rush and All-Out Attack signals," he counted with his fingers, a contemplating expression rare on his face. Those were the basic signals they used the most. Minato nodded, seemingly satisfied. "You can learn more from hands-on experience. We're not that far from the teleport warp. Five floors should be easy enough,"

"Let's move out, dudes!" Junpei whooped. Yukari sighed as she stretched out her bowstring, getting ready for support fire while Minato leaned in the back of the group to let Junpei lead on his own.


Four floors of Arqa block proved to be a walk in the park, with most Shadows being weak to Agi and Garu, while Minato filled out the rest. Yukari had to admit that given the opportunity, allowing Junpei to lead for once was a welcome change. At least she's not that irritated at Junpei's nicknames for her anymore. She got used to it, really. Berating him for that nickname was too much a hassle.

"Yeeshh!" Junpei yelled in the front. Seems like another successful attack. Three Laughing Tables weren't laughing anymore. He looked back to his two teammates, burning tables as his background, "Yuka-tan! If you may?" he grinned, getting the hang of leading them. Minato leisurely lifted up his short sword, although his stance suggests that he's no beginner. Yukari loaded three bows at once in her crossbow, nodded,

"This is our chance for an All-Out Attack!"

The blast of eruption accompanied them as they decimated their enemies to the ground.


"Piece of cake," Minato said as he collected a few Yen that appeared out of nowhere. "You've got a good hang of it," he gave a small smile as he dropped the money in Junpei's hand. "Huh? For me?" Junpei was baffled, mouth watering while Minato raked his midnight-blue hair. "Hmm, not really. That comes with the Field Leader's responsibility, to manage the fund for the operations."

"Ooh! Like when we went to the pharmacy? When we met that weird girl? The money you used for supplies was from Tartarus, too?" Junpei caught on. Minato nodded.

"Which means that it's not for buying new games, Junpei," Yukari warned with both hands on her hips. "Weell~ I can't guarantee that, right?" Junpei ran his grubby hands on the coins. Minato sighed, knowing too well of Junpei's intention. "You don't want Mitsuru-senpai to be furious, right?" That got his attantion and he froze. "No. No way in hell," With a heavy heart, he gave the coins to Minato. Who smiled and shoved it back to Junpei's hands and promptly closed Junpei's fingers into a fist with the money in it. "Keep it. Your rewards,"

"Dude, seriously?" the grin was more pronounced and Yukari couldn't find it in her to be angry at him. She giggled, Junpei was tolerable, if not childish.

They found a rare chest with a golden glow around it after a few turns and fights after that. Hurriedly opened the case, Junpei unlocked it. They found a bold red, sexily adorned battle armor that didn't left much for imagination.

"..."

"..."

"Yuka-tan! Wear this!"

The red mark on Stupei's cheek was more than satisfying.

Maybe not.


The archer felt the beginning of a fatigue. She was sure that she could handle a few more battles, but the world that seemed to rotate faster in her eyes and the more frequent misses on her shots spoke differently. It's their fifth floor quota, the 21th floor and the last few batch of Shadows in the corner. Junpei who ran around and bashed Shadows whenever he saw them had also started to slow down. Minato seemed fine, although he chewed another Snuff Soul before he casted a weak Zio at the offending Gigas.

The battle was finished before Yukari knew it and she slumped relievedly to the floor. "Should *pant* we go back, man?" their current Field Leader asked around, getting affirmatives from both. "We did finished the five floor quota, so let's go back," Minato said, sweat had started to pool around his back although his demeanor didn't change the slightest. Too tired to voice her curiousness, Yukari picked herself up. "Should we spread out to find the teleport wrap faster?" Yukari asked. The Shadows on this floor weren't that strong and they had defeated most of them, anyway.

Minato seemed to came into the same conclusion as he voiced his agreement. But before they spread out, he stopped them. "Hold on." They formed a circle, Minato shot his Evoker to his temple. With his last stretch of Spirit, he summoned Inugami and casted Media twice. "Better?" he asked as he put his Evoker in its holster. The world stopped spinning for a while and Yukari felt grateful for the small blessing, "Yeah, thanks."

"Alright dudes, let's spread out," Junpei said as he gave the signal. " Err... Is that okay, Mitsuru-senpai?" Junpei asked loudly through his earpiece. The Router's voice came in and they felt the familiar tingle of Penthesilea's presence.

"I don't sense any Shadow in this floor. Affirmative. Spread out and find the teleport warp."

With a nod, they separated and explored the floor. Yukari ran to the left side of the intersection while the boys separated in the next hallway. The fifth floor of their exploration was its usual size from the few floors beneath it and they had defeated most Shadows in this floor, in which Junpei insisted that they have to clear the 'final stage' as he said it . Yukari hoped that the Shadows won't reappear soon like the devil's spawn it was.

" ...!" Yukari heard a gasp from her earpiece.

Confused, she stopped on her track and asked their Router. "What's wrong, Senpai?" Yukari said as she checked around the bloody maze and the weird gigantic mask etched in the wall. Exploring alone made her too aware of the surroundings since she doesn't have to listen to Junpei's rambling or Minato's quiet command.

It made her afraid.

Her heartbeats picked up. The bloodstained wall that didn't bother her when they explored as a group, now seemed like a crawling paranoia. What happened here? Where did the blood came from? Is it human's? Is it Shadow's? Is it Dad's?

The fear gripped her, what if it's Dad's blood? Or did he died here? Did he died as a pawn of Kirijo?

Too many unknowns. Too many reasons to escape.

"Takeba, run!" something akin to panic coloured Mitsuru-senpai's voice. What is there to run from?

"Iori! Arisato! Head out to Takeba's location!"

The bells of a funeral tolled in her head.

"Death is here!"

Jingling chains was the first thing that came into existence. The rising adrenaline festered her trembling body. Blood-soaked cloth sack worn around its head. A single otherworldly eye that carried uncanny power made her froze in the spot.

"ABANDON ALL HOPE, YE WHO ENTER HERE," Death brandished its revolvers.

Death pointed its guns to her head.

Like a flash film, Yukari remembered the first time she tried to shoot herself with the Evoker.

The alarms in her head went off. The bells tolled louder.

Just like this?

"Yuka-tan!" something other than the void stillness resounded.

Her teammates appeared behind her "H-Holy shit!" Junpei gaped. Minato, wasting no time, ran ahead and became a barrier between Death and her. With a mighty push, he threw Io's medium to the sideline. One of the jet-black revolvers came into contact with his head and he crashed into the wall with the revolver pinned him into the harsh concrete.

"Arisato! We can't defeat it! Escape!" Mitsuru's concern and panic mixed into their earpieces.

Minato went still, his eyes unfocused for a second.

Junpei helped her to stand up. His forehead dripping with beady sweats, his teeth clenched and his fierce gaze betrayed his unsteady grip on the heavy katana. With a roar, he ran to meet Death itself and struck its arm that pinned Minato down. His best friend slumped down to the floor and Junpei thought that lying weakly on the floor doesn't suit him.

Death fired a round from its revolver and created a gaping hole in the platform above them. It charged and the crackling madness signed their death warranty.

"NO!" Mitsuru shouted.

Death rejoiced. A bright ball of light tinted with a dark mist rose above them.

For a second, Yukari gazed upon it.

Beautiful.

A tired laugh wheezened out, "I can't... Let the same thing happened,"

No. Never again.

Minato stood on his full height. His gaze more focused than before and a strange grin pasted in his mouth. Two gems shone within his palm. They knew what those gems were.

Even if Death itself wishes their demise.

"W-What are you doing, dude?" Junpei callled out.

"N-No! Don't do it!" Yukari yelled. Her tightening fist tried to summon whatever courage left within her core of being.

" ...Thank you," he looked back to his friends with a grateful smile, the accumulated intent to kill behind him in the form of a ball of light shone darker.

He tossed the gems to his teammates.

They disappeared from this twisted battlefield in a flash.


Yukari shouldered her practice bow's sheathe, dark rings below her red, bloodshot eyes. She walked out from the classroom as she glanced behind her. His desk was empty. Yukari flicked her gaze to Junpei's empty desk. Junpei had disappeared from the class. She walked ahead and bowed her head down so her short fringe would hide her sleeplessness, avoiding everyone's greetings and turned down the boys that asked her out politely.

Down the stairs and turn left to the empty hallway with a lone tree to the sport club's practice area, she found a familiar figure accompanied by Miki. A wretched sob from the figure surprised her. He didn't seem like a crying type. Hearing his sobs made Yukari's dam of defense broke out. The stinging heat around her eyes that she resisted since she prepared herself for school made its way to the familiar teardrops.

"Dammit! DAMMIT!"

Silence. Yukari closed her mouth with her hands, tears flowing freely from her eyes.

" I *sob* was s'posed to lead them *sob*"

Only those who had fought,

Understood what does it meant to lose.

"H-Hey, Miki-chan! D-don't cry, alright? *sob*"

"Don't cry! Aah! Akihiko-senpai will get mad at me,"

Wet scarlet eyes gazed at Yukari. A tear stain marked her notepad. Miki quickly wiped her eyes and smiled ruefully to her. Yukari found her legs walked to the breezy spot and she leaned to the pillar. Junpei's eyes were puffy much like her own. The air was heavy with unspoken regret.

Miki wiped the stain on her notepad with her sleeve collar, the dirt mark became a proof of what ensued between them. She wrote unsteadily and she erased her words repeatedly.

"I'm sorry," was formed decently amongst the many erase marks. With more fervor, she wrote again with a smile on her face.

"I want to see him,"

"I bet he's waiting in the dorm, maybe he skipped school because he's tired,"

"And then we'll go to the batting center together, just like before,"

"Yukari-senpai should come too,"

Junpei looked away from Miki's notepad, her sad eyes betrayed the smile etched in her mouth and the words within that notepad. Yukari clutched the notepad in her embrace, "Yeah... We'll go to the batting center later, right Junpei?" She wanted to pretend that last night didn't happen.

"I bet that zombie's sleepin' in his bed," Junpei sniffed. "He scored the first rank, Miki-chan! Man, he's not even here to look at his test score." Junpei grinned weakly, flaunting Junior Ranking's paper to Miki. "Me? I became a laughing stock! But I aced PE, though. If he's here, he'd treat me to Beef Bowl to celebrate my PE score,"

The three sat in silence. A few sobs erupted from Junpei, while Miki rubbed his back to comfort him. The archer looked to the faraway sky, the brightness reminded her of the malevolent light that nearly wiped them out last night.

"... Abandon all hope, ye who enter here," Yukari whispered.

Miki's eyes widen. She quickly snatched her notepad from the ground and wrote quickly. "Where did you hear that?"

Yukari pulled up her knees and buried her face in it, "You've heard about our exploration last night, Miki-chan?" Miki nodded with uncertainty, they had censored some information from her due to the secrecy of SEES' operations. But Yukari felt that it wasn't right, because her brother was involved in SEES. She had the right to know everything, because Akihiko-senpai put his life in the line. Just like Dad.

Yukari had the right to know everything, of what happened that day, of what happened to Dad.

No, Miki won't become another Yukari.

"The exploration went awry," she began. Junpei gulped, "Is it okay to tell her?" he looked between Yukari and Miki. Yukari ignored him.

"We were too tired to continue, but we were cocky enough to think that we can spread out to find an escape portal. ...Mitsuru-senpai sensed something more powerful than what we've encountered so far. It wasn't something that Io and I can defeat alone. Hell, it was even more powerful than all of us combined. That being was the one who said those words to me," Yukari closed her eyes and focused to talk it out. It was difficult, not when the fight was still fresh in her mind.

"Minato saved us with Traesto Gems, we won't be here if he didn't toss it to us" the bruise from when her right arm collided with the harsh concrete was nothing. "...The Dark Hour was only three minutes left from over by the time we escaped. We couldn't reach him,"

She gripped her knees tighter. If only Io was stronger, if only she could move her legs faster.

"Those words came from The Divine Comedy! I and Chihiro-san read it once" Miki wrote out. "It was written in the entrance to Hell,"

"Haha... How fitting," Junpei shrugged noncommitally. A confident stride walked towards them and the silver linings of Akihiko's hair turned around the corner. He smiled wearily to them, "It looks like a pile of problems came our way," he said as he moved between them and read Miki's notepad.

"... Hey, shouldn't you ask me to join to the batting center too once we find Minato?" he laughed as he put the notepad on the top of her head. Miki huffed indignantly, "I won't ask you if you still spoil me rotten," was her answer. Expecting that kind of answer, Akihiko snorted and put an arm over his sister's slender shoulder.

"Sorry, but as I said, more problems came our way." Akihiko told them. "Mitsuru received a call from the Kirijo-run hospital, a second year student was found in a nearby public toilet," He sighed and his grip on Miki's shoulder tightened, "Suicide attempt,"

The juniors gasped and Miki put a palm under Akihiko's hand. "She's on suicide watch for now, but we should go there," he nodded and Miki picked up her notepad from the floor, getting ready to follow him. "What the-! We should try to find Minato first!" Junpei rebelled. Yukari winced at his loud voice. Junpei was the one who felt strongly about what had transpired last night. After all, he had seen Minato tossed their last Traesto Gems to escape. They ran away without him. They ran away to safety without him.

"HE'S MY BEST FRIEND, DAMMIT!"

Akihiko punched the wall, "Do you think that I and Mitsuru weren't worried?! He's our teammates! Of course he's important!" He controlled his irate breathing and said calmly, "Whatever you do, don't do anything rash. Mitsuru had confirmed that this girl may hold something that could lead us to Minato. let's meet at the hospital after school"


When Yukari was getting ready to go to the hospital from her archery practice, she overheard a pair of girls that were rumored to be in a gang. Even for teasing, that seemed to cross the line. Yukari sighed, not thinking too deeply about it.


Author Note:

So, I lied. Posting Author Notes in my profile seemed too much a hassle. Also, I replayed P3Fes (I still own PS2!) to lessen the plotholes in this fic, browsed Megami tensei's wiki and read walkthroughs about the enemies. Shadows are difficult to write without them. I'll greatly alter the story in canon from this chapter onward, so expect more change from now on. But what's a fanfiction without changes, right? Thanks for reading^^ Review?

Then, here's a few pointers about this fic:

· "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here," from Dante Aligheri's The Divine comedy, Canto III, line 9.

· The Reaper in this fic is based on its P3Fes's stats and skills. I heard that The reaper in PQ is harder, is it true? The party was about Level 10 when they reached Arqa Block and faced Death. Minato's level is currently 13-14, enough to summon Inugami with Media. In this fic, The Reaper first casted Mind Charge to itself and then Megidolaon. It was my personal experience, actually. It was a total wipeout.