Story Title: The Arcana in Mourning
Chapter Title: IV: Emperor
Author: Mathais
Rating: T
Fandom: Persona 3
Warnings: Persona 3 Spoilers, based on FES.
Pairings: Social Links/Minato
Summary: After the Journey but before the Answer is the mourning. Shorts on the Social Links.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Persona 3; I'm just here to play.
OoOoO
IV: Emperor
Old habits died hard, it seemed.
Though retiring from the Student Council, Hidetoshi was still a trusted student. He may have lost that one teacher's favor, but the general opinion of him was still high, perhaps higher than ever before, and so during the entire commotion when Kirijo-senpai and others left, Hidetoshi was one of those tasked with crowd control. Though some students slipped out, they managed to get the graduation back into some semblance of order, and as it finished up, Hidetoshi stood at one of the exits, a stalwart guard.
It was the best he could do, keeping a stern but kind watch over it all. Catching those who tried to slip out with a firm but gentle hand or allowing those who left to sneak back in without reprimand.
Kindness to temper the discipline. Respect alongside the authority.
Things Hidetoshi were learning, ever so slow and ever so hard, but ever so important as well.
Minato had guided him along this path, and Hidetoshi would do him proud.
His position as guard, however, allowed him to see when paramedics—(paramedics? Hidetoshi repeated in his head with alarm)—rushed by, stretcher in hand. A fellow member of the Disciplinary Committee turned to him in alarm, but Hidetoshi shook his head.
Their job now was to keep the panic from erupting. Graduation was a solemn affair, and Hidetoshi would respect that, but keeping order was far more important right now. No one would gain from chaos, and if he himself wavered, if he moved to see what was happening, others would follow his lead.
If nothing else, he wanted to leave the paramedics undisturbed in their work. A crowd of student gawkers would do little to aid that. He hoped that the first-year students weren't being a bother.
Unfortunately, it caused a more than a little commotion when the stretcher came back, this time loaded with the body of Minato Arisato, one of the most popular second-years, one of Hidetoshi's friends, and someone that his fellow Committee member had a crush on. Before she could do more than open her mouth, Hidetoshi held her back with a kind but unyielding grip.
"We're the Disciplinary Committee," he urgently whispered. "We're needed more here."
"But Odagiri-kun, Arisato—"
"—is in the best hands possible with the paramedics," he cut in. "You can find out what happened later, but what we need to do right now is to make sure that everything is undisturbed so that they can do their work."
The girl took in a deep breath, and Hidetoshi was gratified to see the steel his words brought forth in her. "Of course, Odagiri-kun. I'm sorry."
"It's fine," Hidetoshi said softly. "I'm worried too," he admitted.
She nodded her acknowledgment with a soft smile before she turned straight ahead.
Hidetoshi promised himself that he would get answers, but he had a duty to fulfill first.
But once that duty was over... He had a duty to his fellow students and Committee members as well to figure out what was going on.
Kindness and respect, Hidetoshi repeated to himself. Leadership augmented by compassion.
Give and take.
So when everything was over, when the graduating seniors had filed out, Hidetoshi intended to find Kirijo-senpai. She was one of the most prominent figures of the school and close to Minato as well. He planned on leveraging his status as a member of the Student Council to try and glean some information from her, but someone else caught him first.
"Sanada-senpai," Hidetoshi acknowledged.
"You're Hidetoshi Odagiri, correct?" Sanada asked, which Hidetoshi confirmed with a sharp nod. "Is there a place that we can talk?"
"...I believe that the roof would be the emptiest at the moment?"
Sanada winced and shook his head. "No, no, that's probably a bad place to be right now."
"Then the pool should be empty."
"Yeah, that's probably best."
The two of them walked in silence, Sanada, quiet and despondent, while Hidetoshi carefully masked his slowly growing anxiety under a placid surface. When they reached the empty pool, Sanada shook his head and turned to Hidetoshi, who was surprised to see the remnants of tears in his eyes.
"Mitsuru trusts you," Sanada said. "She says you're a valued member of the Student Council and that you have the trust of the second-years... So I think you're the best one that can do this."
"Senpai...?"
"Minato's in the hospital right now," he said, and Hidetoshi's stomach dropped. "We don't know... We don't know if he'll make it. I know he is with the second-years, and I know spoke about you a lot, so if you could do some rumor control, Mitsuru would appreciate it very much."
"What's... Do you know what's wrong with him?" Hidetoshi asked. For once, Hidetoshi cursed the harsh exterior he cultivated, as he couldn't even inject even a fraction of the compassion or worry running through him right now into his words. His entire body felt numb, paralyzed, and even his voice felt distant. It was the same thing he felt oh so long ago when his father was imprisoned, repeated here and now.
Minato...?
Why?
"He collapsed today, and that's all we know," Sanada continued. "If you could keep some of the wilder theories in check, we'd be grateful."
"I... I can do that," Hidetoshi said.
A task. A task to protect not just Minato but the student body. Something to do, something that he could change. Not standing by the wayside but doing something about the situation. His mind latched onto that fact, and he embraced it.
Leadership through kindness.
Protecting Minato's reputation through the truth. Dampening the rumors, letting the truth prevail, bringing order to the chaos. That was important.
So very important.
"And... When they were taking him away, he dropped this." Sanada revealed a lighter, the talisman that he'd given Minato all that time ago, a reminder of why he'd chosen the path to teaching that he did. Hidetoshi accepted it with numb fingers, holding it close. "He told me the story behind it. Minato was so proud of you back then. I think that you're probably the best place it could be right now."
"Thank you, Sanada-senpai," Hidetoshi said hoarsely. "If it's all right, I'll take my leave?"
"Go ahead," Sanada said simply.
"Thank you," Hidetoshi replied and left. He kept his composure for as long as he could, fingers clenched tightly around the cool metal of the lighter, until he managed to slip into one of the bathrooms.
He then let out an explosive sigh and dropped a few tears.
Minato was alive. He may have collapsed, but he wasn't dead. He wasn't dead.
He could hold onto that hope. He could hold onto the hope that he would make it through in spite of the pain in his heart, in spite of the cold knowledge spreading through him.
He needed to be strong through. Strength enough to support himself and everyone else.
Kirijo-senpai and Sanada-senpai were depending on him. The students were depending on him.
Minato believed in him.
If he couldn't even do this, how could he ever consider guiding anyone else in the future?
The compassion to lead. The kindness to guide.
That was what he learned with the smoking incident.
That was what Minato taught him.
That was what this lighter symbolized.
Hidetoshi girded himself and lifted his head high. With a clear, strong, caring gaze, Hidetoshi looked into the mirror.
He would do this, for everyone who depended on him to be the port in the storm, to be the beacon guiding people.
That was the leadership he learned.
He would do Minato proud.