It was another three days before Yuri had finally gained consciousness and was allowed visitors. Rise went straight to the hospital and when she entered the ward, she saw that his wounds were nearly fully healed.

He saw her and smiled. That same smile she had come to love so much. He beckoned for her to sit next to him. Rise sat in a chair at the bedside and reached for his hand.

"I was so worried..."

Yuri's smile faded a little. "I know. I'm sorry. I owe you an explanation for... well, everything." He looked sad and Rise could feel his fingers clenching up.

"This is gonna sound insane. But... There's a voice inside my head. An actual voice that tells me what to do. It's not... It's not my subconscious or anything," he said defensively, "It's a person. She tells me what to do. And every time it happens, my head feels like it's about to split open."

Rise sat and listened as Yuri explained how this 'voice' told him to go inside the TV (does he have a Persona?), how he had to face his other self in the shadow world.

"My shadow..." he began slowly, "my shadow wasn't me."

"What..?"

"I mean, the voice said I had to face myself, my darker self in that world. But what appeared wasn't me at all, it was my dad."

"Your dad?"

"His name is Ben. Ben Hyuga. My dad was a soldier who died in battle. And well..." he trailed off, his face reddening a little.

(Is he blushing..?)

"He appears in my dreams. He wears a fox mask. And... Well, he says things."

Rise squeezed his hand, willing him to know that she wasn't going anywhere, that she was here for him.

"He taunts me, treats me like a child. And I fight him every night. In my dreams."

The two nights Rise spent with Yuri, she always fell asleep blissfully in his arms. But he... He never slept. When Rise asked, Yuri always grinned and joked about how he loved watching her sleep.

(Is this why? He didn't want me to know about the nightmares he had, so he never slept when we spent the night together. Yuri...)

"I still haven't explained the most important part. About that thing I transform into. I can't really explain it but... My dad had those powers too. They called him a Harmonixer, someone who could fuse into different monsters. That's what I am."

Yuri looked her in the eye, as if daring her to stay, now that she knew his true nature. But Rise didn't move. If anything, she only held his hand even tighter.

"Why didn't you tell me..?"

"What could I say? I didn't want you to be afraid. I couldn't lose you... All those times I was in the TV, I saw you and the others. I knew you were special too... But I couldn't risk it. I couldn't risk losing you once you found out what I really was." Yuri looked down at her hands and continued: "That was selfish. And I'm sorry, Rise."

She lifted his chin up so he couldn't look anywhere else except at her. "I'm with you. And you don't have to be afraid of anything. I... I'll protect you, Yuri. I don't care what kind of monster you think you are, I'm not leaving. And I'll face it with you, whatever comes our way."

(Don't you know that I'm the one who's afraid of losing you?)

Without warning, Yuri leaned in and kissed her. His hands buried deep in her dark red hair, pushing her closer in. This was different from all the other times they'd kissed. This was urgent, full of fear and mild desperation. Rise kissed him back fiercely, her nails digging into his back and she pushed herself closer to him.

When they finally separated, Rise sat at the side of the bed as Yuri rested his head on her lap, falling fast asleep.

(He must still be exhausted, even though he's regained consciousness.)

She realized that this was the first time he'd ever slept in her presence. She wondered if he was being haunted by memories of his father. Rise decided it didn't matter.

(Whatever it is, I'm sticking with him. He's mine. He's my brown-eyed devil. And I love him.)

THE END