"Tea." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. He set down the cup of tea on the table beside the couch.

"…Thank you." I said weakly, taking the cup to my lips and drinking the warm tea.

He pulled a chair and sat beside me. Then, he sighed. "You really frightened me back then. I guess what they said was true."

"I'm supposed to frighten people." I said back. "And I'm fine anyway. You know that as well as I do."

"I know." he said back, I glared curiously at him. "Look, I just don't want you to die in a month. It's my job as head branch, and your older cousin, to keep you safe."

I laughed hoarsely. "You know as well as I do that I can't die. You saw me once, back then. I can't die, no matter how hard they try to kill me."

"…True." he sighed and glared at me. "But, that doesn't change the fact that I gave my promise already. I have to protect you, you know that?"

I laughed again. "Then I'm just grateful that Hiro wasn't here instead of you. I don't want to know what he'll do."

He laughed. "You don't want to see him when he's panicking. And I'm more adept at handling severe wounds than he is."

I looked over to my well-bandaged leg. It was fresh. "Thanks."

He laughed. "It's my job as head. Now tell me what happened."

"…It might have met Mother before she died."

"…It might have met your mother?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "So you were fighting that person to find out about your mother?"

"…It was to defend her honor…or someone like me." I shook my head. "I don't know, the person didn't described that well, parts of its memories were lost."

"…Minako." he shook his head. "You know that your mother and father died, right? You can't bring them back. I'm sorry."

"…"

"…They were the best teachers I could have ever gotten." he said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "And I know you think that as well, but it's the past. I don't blame you if you want to find out more about your mother and father, but you can't bring them back, you must always remember that."

"…I understand."

"I'm sorry, Little Minako." he shook his head. "So, your friends are going to come and visit you, right?"

"…Yeah. Is that okay with you?"

"Fine with me." he took my empty cup and went to the sink. "You haven't told them yet, have you? You're not going to tell them?"

"…I want to keep it a secret for as long as I can."

"…Fine with me. Hiro and Yaku's out. So it's only going to be me."

"Okay then." I sighed and went back to sleep.

…

"Wake up, Little Minako. They're here."

I rolled over and saw the many S.E.E.S members with worried looks. I sighed and sat upright. "…This is Rekka, my cousin."

"…"

"…I'm fine." I sighed again. "I just need to let my leg rest for a while."

"…"

"…" Rekka walked into another room, leaving me alone with S.E.E.S.

"You defeated that Shadow?" Mitsuru asked, concerned.

I nodded.

"Alone?"

I nodded again.

"But how? And why did you want to defeat the Shadow alone?" Mitsuru demanded. "And how did that Shadow talk?"

"…The third question, I don't know."

"The first and second?"

"The first…I have trained. And prepared myself for an enemy with those traits." I answered. "The second…I don't do well in groups, sorry Junpei and Yukari, but that's the truth."

"…You knew enemies of those kind would come?"

"…I just prepared myself for the worst." I shrugged. "I didn't really know if they would come."

"…We have prepared a room for you in the hospital." Mitsuru said. "We need to get you treated."

I shook my head. "I told you before, I'm fine. I just need to rest for a while." I stared at the worried S.E.E.S members. "…But for a while, I'll stay here until I get better. Can you make up a reason for me to skip school for a while?"

I knew it was the wrong thing to ask from Mitsuru, but I wonder what my classmates would think if I come in with a bandaged leg.

"…Fine. But just this once." Mitsuru finally said and sighed.

I stared at Junpei and Yukari, who were extremely worried. "How did you four get here without getting through those punks?" I asked curiously.

"…"

"…Your cousin." Junpei finally spoke.

I raised an eyebrow, amused. "My cousin? You mean Rekka? What'd he do?"

"…"

"…Okay, I understand." I said, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. "…Don't you have school tomorrow?" I asked.

"Right." Mitsuru said, standing up and bowing to me. "I'm sorry that we cannot do anymore the last time.

"And I was knocked out, so I couldn't do anything to help you…" Yukari's voice trailed off, feeling guilty about the situation.

"It's okay, Yukari, Mitsuru-senpai." I answered. "I was the one that had sent off Junpei and Yukari. It's no problem. And thank you, Mitsuru-senpai, for getting a reason for me to skip school for a while."

"…And thank your cousin too, Arisato." Mitsuru said and was about to walk away.

"Wait! Mitsuru-senpai! Come here for a while." I said, giving the sign for her to come. "Next time, be sure to visit. Hiro lives here as well." I whispered.

Mitsuru's face turned red, but the blush instantly passed once she faced the confused S.E.E.S. She then strutted out the building with S.E.E.S following her.

"Ooh." Rekka gave a low whistle as he came back to the room. "So that's Hiro's girlfriend? I never knew he was that good. Never thought he'll be able to get her though."

"Yeah, that's why it shocks me as well." I said. "Mitsuru-senpai is the 'Queen' in school, figuratively and literally."

"Oh, I see…" Rekka said. "Never thought that she was Hiro's type though."

"Eh? Really?" I laughed. "Yeah, he looked like a person who would date a middle-schooler."

"I have to agree with you there." Rekka admitted. "But I don't know what he sees in that Mitsuru."

"Oh, have I told you that Mitsuru was the heir of the Kirijo group?"

"Really?" Rekka gave another low whistle. "No wonder. She seemed like a very bossy person."

"Bossy indeed." I laughed. "But she's a good person, but she might be quite hard to befriend, since only a genius can understand what she mostly talks about."

"I can guess from how worried she seemed when she came in here." Rekka said. "She was rushing to meet you."

"…I think I understand." I said. "I'm going back to sleep. Good night! I'll talk to you tomorrow!"

…

"Little Minako!" Rekka called out. "Hiro and Yaku are back!"

I yawned and sat upright. I looked at the clock that was ticking away on the wall. It was after school already. "That was fast! But that's good as well then, more payment, right?"

Yaku grinned. "Yup! And I heard from Rekka about your leg! Hurt that much?"

I shook my head. "Not as bad as last time."

"Got a time off too, didn't you?" Hiro asked, messing with my hair. "Slacker!"

"Hey!" I said playfully. "I needed to talk to you three about this branch anyway."

"…You didn't do your research did you?" Rekka asked, staring at me with a bored look.

"Hey! I was busy trying to get away from my 'aunt' just to get to the branch there!" I said in defense. "You think I had enough time to research?"

"Oh yeah, how was it this time?" Hiro asked with a curious look. "Was it better or worse?"

"Eh…I'll say in the middle." I answered. "She's not as evil as the one before, but still."

Hiro shook his head. "I didn't mean that! I meant how much 'damage' did she get from you this time? Did she go to the hospital?"

"Well…" I said. "I did crush her arm…so probably so. But it's not as bad as the one before."

"How bad was the one before?"

"Crushed his…" I started, then stared at the boys. "You don't want to know."

"Why?"

"It was his…" my voice trailed off.

The boys took the hint and began trying to imagine the poor man. "Hey." I said in defense. "At least he didn't die!"

"…Of course." Yaku said and grimaced at the picture that had appeared in his mind. "But getting his…crushed, is almost the same as dying."

"…"

"…Never mind what I said…" Now, I feel plain guilty. "And thanks for the 'good-luck' charm."

"You used it?" Yaku asked, widening his eyes in worry.

"Yeah, it broke though." I said as I pulled out the broken-in-half 'good-luck' charm. "Sorry."

"…What did you fight?" Yaku asked as he examined the broken 'good-luck' charm.

"Something that can resist physical attacks." I shrugged. "Your 'good-luck' charm worked though. Just need to melt the armor and use that, that was it."

"…If you say so." Yaku said, pocketing the broken 'good-luck' charm. "Do you want me to repair this?"

"Yes, thank you." I said and Yaku went into another room. A few seconds later, I could hear hammerings coming out from the room. Rekka closed the door to prevent the noise from coming.

"…Minako."

Oh, so Minato's back. I wonder what he was doing.

"Are you okay?"

Oh, so he does care for me.

I glared at him. I hope he got the message that I am okay. I don't think he got it, since he kept on observing the group.

"Eight more days." Hiro offered. "You want any help?"

"Nah, this is my job." I declined, and drank the tea that Rekka gave me. "You're already busy anyways, the branch is almost always empty."

"…True."

"Can I see the reports for the year?" I asked, reaching my hand out.

Hiro gave a low whistle. What, now everyone does that? "Already getting into research mode! Now that's our Little Minako!" he said and gave me the huge pile of folders. I grimaced at the look of the folders and glared at him. "Hey, you missed a lot of things over the ten years." he said as he drank his coffee. "It's not my fault if you have to read them all. Knowing you, you'll probably take up a year or so."

"…Fine." I said, pushing away the folders. "You want to brief me orally instead?"

"…Lazy as ever." Hiro muttered.

I groaned. "Oh come on! I'm tired!"

"Fine. Just this once." Rekka said as he came over to sit. Hiro grabbed a chair and sat as well. "We have a 50% increase in jobs over the past five years."

"So that's 25% of our original clients back?" I asked and sighed. "It was my fault that we lost the original 50%."

"Hey, you can't help it. And it's not your fault." Rekka said and I sighed again. "And the rules said so, if the former-"

"Hey!" Yaku shouted from the other room. "How's the New York branch?"

"Getting better as well!" I shouted back. "They got a 70% increase! …I think I understand, this place was where they-"

"Come on, Little Minako!" Hiro cried out. "It's not your fault, it never was!"

I sighed. "Stupid rules."

"Hey, look at the bright side." Hiro pointed out. "At least you were better than all of us when you were six!"

I laughed. "Fine, you got me there." I looked over at the pile of folders. "Can you give me the folders of the jobs only? I need to review them."

Hiro picked up some folders on top of the 'folder mountain' and gave them to me. "That's for the past three years until now."

I groaned. "Thank you very much!" I began reading the papers that were laid out in front of me.

A beeping sound was heard from the computer a second later. "Hm?" Rekka said as he examined the computer. "Hiro, get going! Paulownia Mall! Guy with a crooked nose! Hospitalize!"

Hiro grinned and stood up, looking very energetic. "How many minutes?"

"Twenty-five!"

"Challenge! Time me!" Hiro said as he ran out the building.

"Twenty-five minutes?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "They really have put a lot of trust in you three."

"…Hey, you got a week off." Rekka said as he turned on the timer on his watch. "…You're going to stay here for a whole week and read those papers?"

I tossed the papers aside. "Yeah, I'm bored. I need to meet some of those clients."

"…Your leg."

"It's fine, it's not bleeding that much anymore." I said, moving my leg around. "I can handle it, but if it gets too severe, we can come back."

"…Fine. Hey Yaku!" Rekka shouted. "You're in charge!"

"Fine with me!" Yaku shouted back. "Hey, get me Koromaru, will you? It gets lonely here sometimes."

"Okay!" I shouted back. I followed Rekka out the building.

"…Why did you come at midnight two days ago?" Rekka asked.

"If I come before or after midnight, what do you think you'll say?"

"…Good point." Rekka sighed. "But you know, you did made us worry."

"…I shouldn't be worrying all of you, but I guess it can't be helped." I shrugged. "And who are we going to be visiting?"

"Our usual client." Rekka said. "She might not look like it, but she asks for us most of the time. I don't know what's bothering her though."

"So the one that requested earlier-"

"Yeah, that's her."

"…Oh. So what does she look like?"

"A lady." Rekka said. "She's not retired, still working. She said that she has a daughter about your age."

"…"

"…She might be mentally unstable, or heart broken, if a lady with a daughter your age asked for the branch multiple times."

I nodded. "So what does she normally ask for?"

"Some guys." Rekka shrugged. "But she might have a connection with them, but I'm not sure."

"Do you agree?"

"I never agree." Rekka said. "But half looks reasonable enough, half don't look reasonable enough." Rekka sighed.

"I can imagine." I sighed as well.

We walked to a pink house. Pink. From roof to walls, all pink. Minato and I grimaced. Rekka didn't look at all that affected, but that must have meant that he was quite accustomed to the look of the house. He knocked on the door and a lady with short, brown hair, who looks a lot like somebody I know, opened the door and led Rekka and me, and unknowingly Minato, in the pink nightmare of a house. Once inside, we found Hiro already sitting on a chair.

"So." Hiro said. "How many minutes?"

Rekka glanced at his watch. "Twenty-four."

Hiro frowned. "Aw."

"Hey, you're getting better." I praised.

"Oh, are you their friends?" the lady finally said. Then she looked away when she saw me, looking guilty.

I raised an eyebrow, amused. "Are you Yukari Takeba-san's mother?"

The lady looked shocked. "Yukari? My daughter?"

I knew it.

"You know my daughter?" Yukari's mother asked, now she looked distraught. She grabbed my shoulders and shook me. "Tell me where she is!"

"…Yes, I know your daughter." I said. "But it seems as if she doesn't want to meet you, I'm sorry, not just yet. And I can't make her see you if she doesn't want to."

She was about to argue, but she shook her head and sat down, a few tears running down her cheek. "I'm sorry." She wiped away her tears. "And you are…?"

"My name is Minako Arisato." I answered.

"…Oh! Arisato?" She asked, shocked.

It's a wonder how rumors get around so fast around here.

"Yes, I'm their cousin." I nodded.

"…Well, Minako-san." Yukari's mother said, her voice trembling. "Can you please look after my daughter? She might look like she's strong, but I'm sure she's feeling the same way as me. And someday…I want to meet her again…and she how much she's grown."

I nodded.

What the? Everything froze? A tarot card?

Thou art I… And I am thou…

Thou hast established a new bond…

Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Lovers Arcana.

Everything went back to normal and the card disappeared. Is this what Igor was talking about Social Links? Hm…interesting.

"…You were talking about Yukari before. Maybe it has something to do with Yukari."

Minato could be right. It might be because of Yukari. I'll have to talk to Yukari later then.

We then heard a snore coming from Hiro.

"Hiro! Wake up!" Rekka shouted at him, slapping his head. Hiro woke up instantly. "Are you done? We have to go back and pick up Koromaru."

"Oh! I almost forgot." Yukari's mother searched her bag and pulled out a 100,000 yen note and gave it to Hiro. "Your payment. And thank you once again!"

"…Takeba-san." Hiro said, rubbing the spot where Rekka had hit him. "You will have to learn to be independent. We cannot end your problems by-"

"I know." Yukari's mother said, looking guilty. "That must be the reason why Yukari hates me so much. But anyways, thank you."

"…" We walked out of the house and went to the shrine. I heard a happy bark and Koromaru ran out and licked Rekka's face.

"Come on, Koromaru!" Rekka shouted. "Yaku's feeling lonely."

Koromaru barked happily and ran towards the branch with great speed. Rekka's phone beeped and he read the text message. "Hiro, you got another job. Go and do it. Hospitalize. Iwatodai Strip Mall. Guy with a suit. Thirty minutes."

"Fine with me!" He shouted and dashed off.

"All hospitalize?" I asked curiously. "No-"

"Truth be told, all of their reasons are unreasonable." Rekka told me. "But we don't do requests that are very unreasonable."

"…Are we going to visit another client?"

Rekka sighed. "I don't particularly like this client that much, but he is an important figure, so I can't mess around with him. But we should visit him anyways, you'll meet him sooner or later."

We walked over to the Paulownia Mall. "Oh! Rekka-kun!" A man with a suit called out when we approached him.

"…Tanaka-san." Rekka muttered quietly.

"Oh, so you brought a friend with you." Tanaka said. "You are lucky to meet me in person." he said to me. "Would you like an autograph?"

I don't even recognize him. Who the hell is he?

"…Tanaka-san." Rekka cut in. "She's not from around here. She came from New York. And she doesn't watch TV."

"…I see." Tanaka said with a slight disgust. "Well then, young lady, I suggest you watch my TV program, I am a star!"

If you were, I would have recognized you by now.

"Anyways, enough about me." Tanaka sighed in relief, and grinned creepily. "Now how about investing in my program? I am sure to make you a millionaire! No, a billionaire! No, a trillio-"

"I'm sorry, Tanaka-san." I lied. "But I don't have enough money."

"Oh…" Tanaka said, disappointed. Then he grinned a second later. "Well, if you got the money, be sure to invest it in my program!"

I half-heartedly chuckled and Hiro came running towards us. "So! How many minutes?" he panted.

"28 minutes and 30 seconds." Rekka said as he checked his watch. "Getting better."

Hiro grinned. "Good! Tanaka-san! I finished!"

Tanaka grinned, and frowned a second later. "Here is your payment. 150,000 yen." he spat as he pulled out the notes from his leather wallet. Hiro took it and pocketed the notes.

"Is this it?" I asked.

"Two very interesting clients. No wonder they have unreasonable reasons."

And what's that supposed to mean?

We walked back to the direction of the branch. It was already nighttime, no wonder the punks are here already, waiting for a victim to come. I don't think they saw me though, since I was right behind Hiro and Rekka.

"EEEEEEEEEEEK! IT'S HIIIIIIIIM!"

So much for the macho-looking punk.

The gang ran away like girls, even I don't run away like that. I stared at Hiro and Rekka in curiosity.

"Don't ask."

I didn't. I don't want to imagine their tortured faces.

"Yo! Yaku!"

Koromaru stood up and barked happily. He then proceeded to run towards us and began to lick our faces in delight. "Hey boy, where's Yaku?" Hiro asked. Koromaru looked at the direction where Yaku was last at, but there was no response from Yaku. "He must be sleeping." Hiro said as he walked over to the chair.

Koromaru growled, ears pricking up.

"Wait." I commanded. "Rekka, cameras."

Rekka nodded and opened the computer. He switched to the camera scenes. "Yaku!" he shouted and ran to where Yaku was at. Hiro, Koromaru and I followed him to the room.

"…Go away." Yaku muttered as he threw a spiked boomerang at an uninvited guest, who was clinging on a corner of the ceiling. The uninvited guest dodged, but the boomerang scratched the surface of the guest's face. The boomerang went back to Yaku's bleeding hand. The spikes on the boomerang scratched Yaku's hand, making his hand bleed even further.

"…" The uninvited guest stared at me. I glared back.

Hiro took out a dart and threw it at the uninvited visitor's arm, making him paralyzed.

I threw and spun the deadly 'good-luck' charm with great speed and power at the guest.

The guest, unable to move, let out a small cry.

But it didn't do the guest any good.

The guest's head got sliced clean off, blood dripping from both his neck and head.

The 'good-luck' charm fell down on the floor.

The guest's body went limp and fell down on the ground. Rekka took the guest's head and stared at it in disgust. "It's one of them." He muttered and let the guest's head drop to the ground with a thud.

I sighed. "Again? This was the thirtieth time this year."

Hiro's eyes went wide. "Thirtieth? As in thirty?"

I glared at the guest's sliced head. "Yeah. They're growing in numbers, and they don't care about the ones that they sacrifice. Ungrateful…"

"…Check the person's body. There's something that's not right here…"

I took Minato's advice and checked the pockets of the guest's suit. Yup, he was correct. "Yaku. Trace this recorder." I said, turning off the camera. Then I threw the camera to him. "They know I'm here now. That's why they sacrifice him…he's a newbie. He's still weak, they probably meant to kill him in one way or another…"

"So they're going to come after you again, sooner or later."

"…Can you clean it up?" I asked, glaring at the head again. "I have to get back to the dorm. …If they're going to target me, then I'm sure they're going to get rid of S.E.E.S, they're a nuisance to them. I need to protect S.E.E.S until they get better. …Hiro will come with me, is that okay?"

"…Sure." Rekka nodded. "Two is better than one, anyways. Yaku and me will be okay here. Just be careful."

I nodded back. "Thanks." I glared at Hiro. "Pack up, you're going to stay where your girlfriend stays."

Hiro sprinted off and packed his stuff. He came back when the rest of us were already waiting for him near the entrance. Yaku had already bandaged his bloody hand. He had also retrieved the used-and-repaired 'good-luck' charm and had given it back to me.

Rekka had prepared a small, covered bottle filled with liquid and tossed it at Hiro, who carefully took it, careful not to let it crash to the ground. I put on my contact lenses. Then we walked out of the building and walked towards the dorm.

I flicked open my phone and dialed Mitsuru's number. Fortunately, I got Mitsuru's number since Mitsuru insisted to exchange each other's numbers in case something like this happened. "Mitsuru-senpai." I said as soon as she picked up. "Someone wants to talk to you."

Hiro turned red. He should have seen himself in a mirror. Sorry Hiro. I gave him the phone and he began to tell her that he was going to stay at the dorm for a while and I'm coming back to the dorm as well. I thought I could hear Mitsuru scream "EXECUTION" from the phone there-

-Wait, is that ice coming out from my phone?

I don't care what she does to Hiro as long as she doesn't break my phone in any way!

"…Here, your phone." Hiro said with no expressions. I took back my phone and carefully put it back into my pocket.

"…I don't want to know what she's going to do, is it?"

"Yes, you do not want to know."

Oh, is Mitsuru that embarrassed to have Hiro stay over? I knew from the start that it wasn't a good idea. Oh well, what's done is done.

"Hey! I'm back!" I called out when I opened the front door of the dorm. "My cousin, Hiro, or Mitsuru-senpai's boyfriend, will be staying here for a while because of family problems."

Hiro nervously stared out at the group who was glaring at him, probably they have been briefed by Mitsuru from her side of the story, whatever side that is, but I doubt it's a good side.

"…I am going to sleep." I said shortly. "Mitsuru-senpai, it would be better if you'd show my cousin around. Thanks!" and I marched to my room without looking back. If I did, Mitsuru would probably kill me.

I locked the door as soon as I got in and flicked open my phone. "Minato."

"How are you? Are you okay?"

"As you can see before, yes I am okay." I said. "I thought you got the message before?"

"…Maybe. …So how about the clients?"

"…As you have said before, they look interesting." I replied. "Very interesting."

"…You do not want to research your target further? Are you sure you're doing the right thing?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure. I never am." I grinned. "But I have to take the risk, every now and then. Just like my whole life."

"…Our mother."

"You mean my mother?" I said with a bit of sarcasm. "…That Shadow might really have met my mother before she died in the 'accidental' car crash."

"…Minako. I'm your twin brother."

"I don't know if you really are!" I shouted at him. "You're just a ghost that I met that claims to be my dead twin brother!"

"…Ten years ago. You killed. When you were only six."

"…! How did you-"

"I know because I have always been watching you, even without a physical body." Minato said as he reached out his hand to air-pat my head. "I know your deepest secrets. What 'group' you are in…what your target is…what your goal is…and…your resolution…"

"…If everything that you said was true." I said slowly. "Then I will acknowledge you as my twin brother…but are you really dead?"

"I have told you this before, I am not dead." He said calmly. "…You'll find out what I mean, sooner or later."

"…I would prefer it sooner."

He chuckled. "Be patient Minako. Don't worry, it won't be that long."

"…Fine then." I said. "Good night."

He nodded and left me alone for the night. I sighed and slept until the next day. It was May 3, 2009 the next day.

DLWolf: Okay, I'm just going to leave it at that. Can you guess what group Minako is in? I'll reveal it in 2-3 chapters later, but if you can guess correctly before then, then I'll make an extra chapter! I'll make one character, that the winner chooses, do something that the winner wants! It includes: dressing-up, truth/dares, mind-controlling, and others!

All: …

DLWolf: Good job everybody! Go home for today!

All: …Go to hell.

DLWolf: …I can make all of you disappear by typing less than ten words. You want that?

All: *Runs away*

DLWolf: Nyehehehehe. Yes, I have that kind of power. I am the author.

Ryoji: …

DLWolf: Hey Ryoji! Long time no see! Do the disclaimers please!

Ryoji: Disclaimers: DarknessLightWolf does not own P3P/P3 and any of the characters in it. …May I have some cookies?

DLWolf: …Later, when you actually do something in the story. It'll probably be ten or more chapters later. Be patient.

Ryoji: I hate you.

DLWolf: Fine with me. Okay, Traisa, the reason why I didn't make Minako put back her contacts was because she didn't have time to, and S.E.E.S didn't notice it anyways, since they were too occupied by worrying about Minako's severed leg. At this point, the twisted plot will continue, try and guess everyone!

Minako: …I'll give out a hint: it has something to do with my family and my past.

DLWolf: …Fine, you can only give out that one hint. …Anyways…please review this chapter, readers! No insults please! Thanks for reading everyone! See you later, readers!