A/N: This chapter is long. Just warning you. XD My fan artist is supremely awesome for sitting on me and blackmailing me with threats of no fanart, so that's why this is up earlier than usual. I think I'm going to bump the rating to 'T', because of the language, and suggestion of stuff later on in this chapter.

The gun pulled back from my head after a few seconds passed. The gaunt man let a bottle of pills slip from his fingers and into the expecting hand of a dark, brooding punk that I was all-too familiar with. I kept my mouth shut, knowing that I was currently still in danger of getting shot by Takaya of Strega, so during that few moments I decided to gather my bearings. Takaya and the punk were standing close to the corner of the building, trying to look incognito and not blatantly obvious. Takaya let the gun fall slack in his fingers once he realized that it was only me; the boy who hung out often with Arisato. Then he tightened it again when he remembered that it was me; the boy who hung out often with Arisato.

Stuffing the pills into his pocket, the punk started to walk off. He brushed past me, and grabbed my arm in the process. "I'll take care of him," he growled, and Takaya chuckled in bemusement.

"See that you do. In a week, then, you'll have what I want?" the gaunt man asked. The punk grunted, and Takaya began to walk off. I was dragged aside by the punk before I could watch where he went. He wheeled me around so I was staring right up at him, and by this point, I was still a bit tongue-tied. I didn't typically run into gun barrels, so I was a tad jarred.

The punk glanced me over, then snorted and loosened his grasp. "Pretend you didn't see that, Odagiri. For your own sake."

I smirked, finally recovering my voice and my confidence. My arms crossed and I raised my chin defiantly. "Aragaki, I can handle myself. Strega does not make me anxious." The information I had been told was still sinking in, but I was determined to use it against Shinjiro Aragaki. He and I had been something of rivals; unwritten and under the radar. He's a punk, and I hate him for it. There was the rivalry and hatred. The list wasn't long, and the reason a little vague, but rule-breakers got under my skin and made me want to hand out common sense on flyers.

Takaya had disappeared into thin air when I glanced around, as he seemed to be abnormally good at, so I decided we were safe from Strega. Whether or not I was safe from Aragaki was a completely different story. There was a need to tread carefully around the punk, as he had one of the most infamous headbutts around Iwatodai. As I turned back to Aragaki, I mentally braced myself for his scowl and the threat of harm. For one split second, my brain decided to go on a different subject altogether; gee, it thought. My life is awfully exciting these days, isn't it? I almost miss studying before I go to bed now.

Then my brain remembered where it was and it came back into focus. Shinjiro, despite my theory, looked a little surprised. This made me surprised in turn, as I usually saw only two expressions from Aragaki. Brooding and sullen. He was sullen when I caught him attempting to skip school. He was brooding when he was in detention. He was sullen when I gave him a lecture about being a rule-breaker and a general failure. He was brooding when he was assigned clean-up duty for the locker room. Both looked potentially homicidal and suicidal at the same time. Which was why surprise gave me a bit of a start.

Aragaki took me by my arm again and dragged me into the shadows completely, pulling me much closer than I would've liked. A little invaded, even, but I kept my mouth shut. He was taller and stronger and probably older than I was, and speaking might make me lose my front teeth or break my nose. My mother was probably already worried about me since I had been sick at someone else's house for about a week. If I came home bloodied, she would probably pass out. The punk pressed me against the wall, fingers tight on my arm. The surprise gone and replaced with inquisitive frustration.

"Where did you hear that?" he asked in a sharp voice. "Strega. Was it from Aki's friends?"

I raised an eyebrow, and swallowed while I tried to remember what had been on my mind just seconds ago. Strega. I had mentioned Strega? What? Oh yeah. His gaze was horrible. It cut right through me and had wiped my mind clean. This was why I tried not to see Aragaki out of school, which was usually something I could accomplish. "A-Akihiko Sanada?" I asked quietly. He grunted. I nodded sluggishly, like I had rocks for brains. This was when I remembered my authority and my need to dominate over punks like him. I yanked his fingers away from my arms. "Yes. It was. I heard this from Arisato. Why did you take pills from Strega, Aragaki? Are you involved with them? I have proper reason to believe th--"

"I'm sick," Aragaki scoffed, looking a little relieved, but not entirely. "Let's say my psyche and I do not get along, Odagiri. Get your scrawny ass out of my sight." The word 'psyche' struck a chord and I stubbornly crossed my arms, scowling, head tilted in a prying manner.

"Sick, Aragaki?" I repeated, looking amused. "Your psyche? You don't happen to mean…a Persona, do you?" I watched his face for an entire few seconds. I had never seen so many emotions on his face at one time. It started with a bit of a slack gaze, as though he hadn't heard what I had said. Then his eyes widened in a bit of dumbfounded shock. Then he snarled in fury, outright hatred. Fear charged through me like an electric shock and I took a startled step back, once more afraid for my face and my skull. Shinjiro grabbed me despite the space I put between us, and he shoved me against the wall, a fist resting right next to my head.

"How much do you know of this, Odagiri? How involved are you?" he demanded.

I swallowed hard. "Aragaki, get off of me," I ordered, but my voice shook. "Y-You're hurting me." He didn't loosen up his grasp or give me room to breathe. There was no space between us. His body was against mine; his eyes were alive in hate. His breath was heavy and hot and smelled faintly of something I could not recognize. Fear was something I was feeling a lot today; my body was getting really tired of it and my mind just wanted to go to sleep. His grip tightened, reminding me that I had a question to answer. "I-Well, if you would--"

"Don't give me any bullshit," Aragaki hissed. "How much do you know?"

"Minato Arisato told me a majority. Strega, Dark Hour, Persona; he told me the basics," I finally admitted, his fingers were moving up on my arm. I didn't want them around my throat. I tried to move away, but he shoved me back against the wall. My mind spun. I was tired, my body ached from heaving all day, I was emotionally drained from being scared, and there was worry of Ikutsuki in my mind. I did not want to add death to this list of ailments afflicting me, because death was not something one could sleep off.

"That idiot!" Shinjiro hissed, thrusting forward, jamming me against the brick. I uttered a groan, my shoulder burned from the pressure. He moved back, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Forget what you have been told, Odagiri. It's a bad dream. A bad dream I can't wake up from, but you can."

I snarled at him. "So you do have his power too!" I accused. "You do have a Persona." Aragaki gave me a sardonic snort.

"You dumbass, Odagiri," he sighed, shaking his head. "You are an idiot. Do you think having one makes me cool? Do you think having one makes Aki's friends cool? This isn't a fucking game. You don't have one, do you?"

I didn't want to answer him. I didn't want to talk to him. The desperate need to just walk away from this, to just go home and fall asleep under my blankets. Was clawing its way to the top of my agenda and this conversation was becoming much more painful than it should've been. My pride didn't let me shut up though; I answered, only because I wanted to prove I wasn't afraid of him. When, actually, I was starting to shake under my slightly dirty school uniform. "Ikutsuki said that I didn't have the same power as you guys…but I'm still different from regular people. So I can be as involved as I feel like being, Aragaki! You are not my mother."

"Dumbass," Aragaki growled. "Do not get involved with the Dark Hour. Only misery comes from it. You will die."

I clenched my hands, folding my arms despite how my shoulder hurt. "I've seen it. Fleetingly, but I've seen the Dark Hour. I didn't become one of the Lost. I'm not dead yet, and I can do whatever the hell I want. I'm not breaking any rules." Shinjiro just gave me a vicious gaze, before he turned and started to walk away. I turned and went the other way; toward home. He said nothing, I said nothing; we went our separate ways with that. It was the end of the conversation. It wasn't until I turned around the corner that I slumped against the wall and shook violently, thinking, This Dark Hour…Is it really that horrible? So much so that he is concerned for my well being?

I went home. I let my mother check me over. I let her strip me naked so she could get rid of my foul clothing. I let her send me to the bath. When I was clean, I went to bed. I slipped under my covers, stared at my ceiling for a good long time, letting everything I had learned today sink in. When my mind calmed enough for me to slip asleep, I had nightmares about monsters and Personae and Dark Hours. I knew now…maybe it would've been better had I never gotten involved with Minato's injuries in the first place.

A week…or five slipped by without me being too consciously aware. I would see the Lost that hung around on the street and I would think to myself how close I was to ending up like them. Minato and I frequently went up and talked on the roof of the school during lunch, and we would kiss or make out if we were alone. I suppose we became an item, undercover and unmentioned to anyone else. We never got too intense if we went in deep, especially not at school. His frame made him easy to grab at, made it easy to run a tongue up his neck, made it simple to grind against in teenage lust. We never went past passionate touches or kisses when I went over to the Dorm with him after school. I never stayed at the Dorm long, in fear of seeing Ikutsuki, so I cut our time together there short.

I wasn't sure what we were. Maybe it was his touches and his kisses that kept me sane during those weeks, but my mind was dizzy and fuzzy with my knowledge of the reality around me. At school, I would try not to think about the monstrous dungeon that the building morphed into at night. I tried not to imagine myself turning into a coffin at night. I would try not to think about how Minato and his friends ran through the halls fighting monsters with physical adaptations of their psyche.

The heat of the summer was fading fast. Minato had gone for a while on a vacation with his mates, but when he came back, he had some stories to tell. Minato told me how they had met a robot, and how a kid had been spending time at their dorm and he had the same power as they did, but I had yet to see the kid myself. I didn't really hear his or her name, either, but Minato talked quietly for me. The boy seemed to be aware how distant my head was these days. I was surprised to find he liked to murmur to me, sometimes I caught what he said and other times I missed it completely. I found it cute.

Aragaki and I had bumped into each other often; surprisingly, more outside of the school than inside. We never spoke. He would give me a curious gaze, he would snort and gaze aside, and then we would move on. These actions made me wonder if he was actually worried about me; like I couldn't handle the truth. The more days that went by, the more I wondered if I could myself.

I sucked softly on a slushy, staring over the edge of the Iwatodai strip mall upper level. It was a familiar action, one I had done earlier this summer. Minato was next to me, his music cranked up to ear-shattering levels. It made my ears hurt, and I was a good foot or two away from him. In public, we didn't show our affections for each other, so we stood a fair enough distance apart. Behind us, the usual gang was talking in excited tones about girls. Junpei was laughing and talking about how he had hit on Fuuka and Yukari during some of their vacation. Kenji was talking about how he had fallen in love with a waitress at Club Mandragora. Kazushi was talking about his knee surgery and how he was anxious about it. Akihiko was being badgered about his not-so-secret crush on Mitsuru. There was another guy, too, whom I didn't quite recognize as well. I hadn't realized how much had changed during the last few weeks with them, as I had been a little wrapped up in myself.

"Guess what," Kazushi started, sitting on a bench with his leg sprawled out in front of him. "I kissed Yuko."

"No shit?" Junpei laughed.

"Really?" Kenji gawked.

"Who's that?" Keisuke Hiraga, of the art club (or so Minato told me), asked, cocking his head. Junpei pulled him into an armlock, and Keisuke made a squeaking noise, tugging to free himself. Akihiko and the other males laughed at his predicament. "Ow! I-Iori-kun, stop!" he squealed.

"Until you call me Junpei, I'm not letting you go!" Junpei teased. Minato chuckled softly, gazing over his shoulder. I didn't look. I had learned to deal with the pack's shenanigans. They were a fun group, and sometimes they could get me to enjoy myself. Sometimes Akihiko didn't join us, as he did have better things to do, and from what Minato told me, he went to go talk with his old friend. We went out on nights and hung at the Paulownia mall sometimes, or we would go and talk at the Naganaki Shrine. Just talk and play on the equipment there, nor caring if anyone saw us looking like idiots playing on a jungle gym. I enjoyed hanging with this group. The usual loneliness I had to deal with was weak, maybe even gone now. We went out often, and that was fine with me. I usually followed Akihiko, Junpei, and Minato home to their Dorm, and Minato and I would go up to his room. I had a feeling that the other members knew of our relationship, but they never said anything.

For this, I was relieved.

"Hey, Hidetoshi-kun," Junpei asked, nudging me. I glanced to him slowly, eyes tired. He gave me his stupid grin and stole my slushy, taking a sip. My scowl obviously did not faze him, and as he handed it back, he proceeded with the rest of his intention. The other guys were chattering away with each other at this point, moving on to talk about girls again, and Minato was playing vague attention to them. I let my focus shift to the idiot before me. "Tonight, why don't you spend the night at our dorm? Minato's a bit anxious; we've got something big going on tomorrow."

"Does it revolve around…?" I started, and he nodded gravely, and then rubbed the back of his neck with a grin.

"He hasn't been sleeping so well," Junpei continued. "If you stay tonight, I bet he'll sleep fine." I contemplated this for a while, then I nodded. I had nothing going on, and if I helped Minato carry out his duty, all the better. I opened my mouth to ask one thing, and Junpei shook his head. "He's busy. Ikutsuki, I mean. You're okay. Minato told me you're anxious about him." I nodded, having no reason to turn this request down now. I sucked on my slushy, and then turned around to watch the group interact. By now, Akihiko was beat red and the others were laughing. Earlier, I knew how small this group had been. Minato had changed that, though. I gave him a glance, and smiled softly, then looked forward and made a snide comment about Kenji, which made everyone turn their laughter upon the other.

As it grew late, I followed Minato and the two others home. We walked two-by-two, Akihiko and Junpei talking about a previous experience in Tartarus. They knew they could talk loosely around me by now, but I doubted they knew how many nightmares I got when I accidentally overheard some of their horrifying stories. I wasn't very good with night monsters and demons, I had learned over this time. Minato was listening to his music, hands in his pockets, while I was just listening to the darkness and watching around myself with my hands hanging limply at my side.

"Shit, another one," Junpei sighed, as they passed another person slumped next to a staircase leading up to a different dorm. "So many Lost. It's a good thing we're going out tomorrow…" Akihiko nodded. I just felt a bit sick. Minato glanced to the Lost person, then to my faintly pale expression, and one of his hands snaked free to take mine for a moment. I was grateful, but a little sad when it slipped back into his pants.

We walked up the stairs to their dorm, and Minato and I said good night to the people hanging out quietly inside. I knew them loosely by now. There was a blonde-haired girl named Aegis, who was the robot Minato had told me about before. Ken Amada, who was the little kid he'd told me about before as well, sat and watched TV. He didn't know about his power yet, from what I had learned. Mitsuru was reading, Yukari was eating something for dinner, and Fuuka was on the computer behind the desk. Akihiko went to sit by Mitsuru, while Junpei pulled off his hat and sat down across from Yukari. We went upstairs. Once at the top of the stairs, Minato turned off his music and pulled his headphones down.

In his room, I pressed him to the door and I demanded physical attention with my mouth. He responded with his own, and eventually I stumbled backwards, smashed against his bed and under him. I dragged him to my level, struggling to remain dominant. We got heated, we got excited. I reminded him he was supposed to get more sleep because of his job. He told me to shut up with his tongue, and it wasn't long before I saw my shirt on the floor and my fingers grabbing at his belt.

After all was said and done, he was snuffling against me, I was barely clinging to consciousness. My hair was a horrid mess, haloed around my head, while his was swept back and only a few locks fell in front of his face. I slipped to sleep, free of demons and monsters in my dreams this night.

Little did I know, a man was watching this all. He sat in a room I did not know about, watching the screen, eyes hidden behind the glare of his glasses. Junpei Iori had his arms crossed with his back to the screen, not wanting to see. The man raised a hand, smirking at the screen. "When the Dark Hour begins, and if he does not change…You are to wake him, Iori. Thank you for your cooperation."

"I don't know what's going on in your head," the boy started simply. "But I don't like it. You promise you won't let this happen again?"

"You have my word," Ikutsuki chuckled. "You have my word."