Peter Pan Syndrome
By: Iachi-chan
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THE PERSONA CHARACTERS!
"Good job guys!" Fuuka's telepathic voice rang through the heads of Minato, Shinjiro, Akihiko, and Ken as the four explored Tartarus.
"These Shadows are getting more and more weird looking…" Ken mumbled, gripping his spear tightly.
"Ugly little bastards," Shinjiro grumbled, watching one scurry away from them in fear.
"Let's keep going," Akihiko said, looking at their leader expectantly. Minato nodded in agreement and walked off, seeing a shadow flee from them again.
"What a pussy. Let's get that one," Shinjiro suggested, pointing to the black retreating form. Nodding once more, Minato lunged toward it, stabbing it with his sword to provoke it. The shadow shrieked in agony and took a form…a child.
"…The hell?" Shinjiro stared at the child-like Shadow. He fingered his axe nervously, how was he supposed to hit that?
"It's just a Shadow guys, not a real thing!" Akihiko called to his friends. Minato looked at Ken, who also looked a bit nervous.
"There's only one!" Fuuka's voice appeared out of nowhere, making the boys snap back to attention.
"We can't let a Shadow get the better of us! Let's get it!" Ken shouted, suddenly motivated. The others nodded and rushed toward it…their weapons had little effect on it.
"Dammit!" Shinjiro growled as he was knocked back by the Shadow. Suddenly, the Shadow raised its arms and squealed, its hands glowing bright yellow.
"I've never seen this attack before!" Fuuka exclaimed. "Brace yourselves!" The bright yellow light soon separated into four individual balls of light, each soon sent hurdling toward one of the SEES members. Ken, Minato and Shinjiro easily dodged it, while Akihiko was too slow and got hit.
"Aki!" Shinjiro shouted, glaring at the Shadow with burning eyes.
"A-Aragaki-san! Look!" Ken said, his voice cracking with obvious surprise and fear. Shinjiro followed Ken's pointing finger to where Akihiko was…wait…where did he go?
"Aki?" Shinjiro called again. The smoke surrounding Akihiko soon parted and revealed the tragic effect of the Shadow's attack. Standing there, looking quit bewildered, was a kid Akihiko. His shirt, suddenly ten sizes too big, exposed his left shoulder and part of his chest. It also reached to his knees, and even went about two inches below his knee, his pants and boxers were on the ground under him, suddenly too big to fit his now tiny body. He looked exactly like he did when he lived in the orphanage…
"Aki?" Shinjiro rushed over and knelt down, hearing Minato and Ken quickly finish the Shadow off.
"Sh-Shinji?" the now child Akihiko looked up at Shinjiro with eyes too big for his head…and Shinjiro felt his heart skip a beat when those eyes looking directly into his. They were suddenly so innocent.
"Sanada-san!" Ken ran over, face red from the battle. Minato followed closely after and stared at his past senpai.
"Shinji…what happened to me?" Akihiko wailed, feeling tears prick his eyes.
"I-I don't know Aki…we just need to get out of here. That should fix you." Shinjiro sure as hell hoped that was true.
"He's…cute…" Shinjiro heard Minato mumble, seeing Ken nod out of the corner of his eye.
"Let me carry you Sanada-san, it'll be quicker that way." Ken reached out to grab Akihiko.
"No, I'll do it…!" Minato intervened. Shinjiro's head spun with confusion.
"I want Shinji to carry me!" Akihiko suddenly shouted, making the three boys look at the once-teen-now-toddler boy.
"Ah…okay…" Shinjiro blinked and picked up Akihiko carefully, putting him on his hip. He felt jealous looks from Minato and Ken for some reason.
"There should be an access point here somewhere…" Shinjiro looked around him and saw nothing. Cursing, under his breath, he started walking, arm under Akihiko's butt to keep him from falling off. Then again, the toddler had his arms clutching at Shinjiro's overcoat, seeing as he couldn't reach all around his waist, making it a little difficult to walk as they searched frantically for the access point.
"Split up!" Minato ordered, and Shinjiro and Ken nodded, flying off to find that damn access point.
"You doing okay Aki?" Shinjiro asked after a few minutes of frantic searching.
"I-I want to turn back!" Akihiko suddenly started sobbing, making Shinjiro grind to a halt and stare at his crying friend. He was suddenly glad that the group split up, he didn't want anybody to see the strong boxer turned toddler crying his heart out. Feeling a sudden surge of parenting, he lifted Akihiko up fully, the smaller boy's legs dangling about three feet in the air. After Shinjiro had lifted the young boy up, he then hugged the toddler tightly, making the silver-haired boy gasp and shakily hug back, hiccupping from swallowing so much air from crying.
"I promise Aki…I'll turn you back. I swear!" Shinjiro whispered into the other's ear, making him shiver slightly.
"T-Thanks Shinji…" Akihiko replied, gripping the coat tightly.
"Let's find that access point and get you back to normal. You're getting heavy." Akihiko flushed and cursed at Shinjiro, making the older boy laugh and continue down the hallway.
After a while of searching, Shinjiro heard what he really didn't want to hear…
"I sense that Death is near!" Fuuka's voice made his hair stand on end.
"No fucking way…" Shinjiro looked around and felt the ominous atmosphere suddenly invade him and Akihiko.
"Shinji…?" Akihiko felt Shinjiro tense as Fuuka said that.
"Where are the stairs?" Shinjiro suddenly shouted and sprinted off, trying to recall the layout of the floor.
"Everyone, please regroup!" Fuuka's voice said again. Good, Minato still had his head. He checked where the blue-haired leader was waiting. Then he heard shouting and a yell.
"Aragaki-san! Sanada-san!"
"Shinjiro-senpai! Akihiko-senpai!"
Shinjiro froze, the voices sounded frightened. No…it couldn't be here already…he was too scared to turn around, he admitted it to himself, but wouldn't say it out loud to others.
"S-Shinji!" Akihiko wailed, burying his head into Shinjiro's coat, wanting to look away, the deep roar that answered Akihiko's scream made Shinjiro turn around and hold his weapon up defensively. Death stared him down, and he felt…well scared for once…He had gone through too much tonight, and he was holding a tiny Akihiko who was screaming in his ear, Yamagishi was pleading with the others to find them, and Death was approaching fast. He finally snapped.
"Aargh!" Shinjiro yelled as he ran up to Death and hit it with his axe, surprising it, and stunning it.
"Shinjiro-senpai, run now!" Minato shouted as he and Ken was already sprinting toward the access point.
"Hurry!" Ken yelled, activating it and disappearing into it. Minato was next, the flash of light making Shinjiro have hope again. Wait…when did he stop having hope?
"Go Shinji!" Akihiko pleaded, seeing that Death was getting its consciousness back. He cursed under his breath and sprinted for the access point, his axe dragging on the ground and creating sparks. "Ow!" Akihiko squeaked as one of the sparks burned a part of his now bare legs.
"Shit…!" Shinjiro cursed loudly as he ran through the access point and soon saw himself at the meeting room of the Tartarus. He sighed happily, but then noticed something…he still had a toddler in his arms.
"I-Is that…?" Mitsuru stuttered as she saw the now small Akihiko cowering in Shinjiro's arms.
Shinjiro nodded tiredly and stumbled slightly. "Just…let me get to bed…Aki'll be with me tonight…just stay out." He left, the trembling Akihiko still in his arms. The rest of SEES only watched as they disappeared, and as the Dark Hour began to melt away.
Back at the dorm, Shinjiro dumped Akihiko onto his messy bed, earning a soft squeak from the toddler male, and an innocent look to be thrown his way. "Not nice Shinji…" Akihiko crossed his arms and pouted. Shinjiro bit his lip…when did Aki get this adorable?
"S-Sorry…I've been through a lot tonight…" Shinjiro took off his hat and let his brown hat-hair free.
"So have I!" Akihiko growled, standing up, his now-too-big-for-him, shirt falling down even farther. He blushed and pulled it up, only to have it fall down again. He was about to pull it back up again, until Shinjiro grabbed his hand to stop him.
"I'll get you something…" the brunette said, searching through his drawers for his old clothes that didn't fit him anymore. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Akihiko was searching through the clothes he had lost in the transformation. Shoes, socks, vest, pants…BOXERS? Shinjiro almost fell over as he saw Akihiko lift up his blue and black checkered boxers. So…underneath that shirt…was nothing covering his now very young body…? Shinjiro's mind wandered and he found himself thinking very bad thoughts about his friend. 'Dammit Shinjiro! Get yourself together! He's your goddamn friend for fuck's sake!' he screamed at himself in his head and continued searching frantically for old clothing.
"Hurry up Shinji! I'm getting cold…" Akihiko said from his seat on the bed, kicking it with his heels out of boredom.
"I'm hurrying, alright?" Shinjiro shot back, scowling as he pulled out an undershirt, boxers, and a pair of shorts from years ago. He tossed them in Akihiko's direction and turned around. "Get dressed quickly, alright? I'm tired as fuck and you're sleeping with me tonight."
Akihiko narrowed his larger-than-normal eyes and slipped on the boxers. They were just a little baggy, but fit almost perfectly. He then put the shorts on, and took off his old shirt and put on the other one. "I'm done Shinji…" he said, sighing softly. The brunette turned around and saw his friend fully clothed.
"After this, we're going to borrow some of Amada's clothes, alright?" Shinjiro said, closing the door to his room and turning the lights off. There was still a faint glow from the streetlights outside of the dorm, so he easily walked over to the bed and climbed in, making himself comfortable.
"M'kay…" a sleepy Akihiko answered him, also cuddling deep into the comforter for warmth. Shinjiro looked at the wall and felt Akihiko's back touch his, making him jump slightly. He listened to the soft breathing become shallower and shallower, before it was almost inaudible. He took that moment to turn around in the bed, so he could watch the covers slowly rising and falling from the soft breaths Akihiko was making. Despite himself, he felt his lips curl into a smile and his eyes close.
~Next Morning~
Shinjiro's eyes opened and the first thing he did was look to see if Akihiko was still in his bed. He didn't see the silver hair peeking from under the covers, so he lifted it up, and took a sharp intake of breath. "Aki?" he exclaimed, throwing the covers off of him and looking around frantically. He put his legs over the bed, and felt something under his feet. He looked over his bed, and saw Akihiko on the floor, sleeping very peacefully. Shinjiro shook his messy bed haired head as he carefully got out of bed without stepping on the sleeping toddler on his floor. He picked up the silverette and put him back in the soft bed without waking him up.
"Mmm…" Akihiko groaned softly as he shifted in his sleep and curled his fist around the soft blanket.
Shinjiro stared at the face of Akihiko and shook his head clear as he felt his cheeks becoming unnecessarily warm. 'He's your friend Shinjiro…He's your damn friend!' he thought in his head. He gathered up things he needed for the day and looked back at Akihiko. Akihiko had rolled over onto his back and was snoring away contentedly. Shinjiro snickered and left the room, closing the door with a soft click.
A/N: HI THERE EVERYBODY! It's me again! I hope you liked this! This is a multi-chapter persona story I hope to continue working on since I love love love Persona! So yeah…I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and this idea for a story…please R&R! I feed off of them. Please don't let me starve! D: