Chapter 3: Reunion
April 3, 2014-Thursday
"Man, Senpai's taking too long..." a capped boy moaned, resting his hands behind his head. He was wearing a plain, white shirt and long blue pants. He still had his trademark goatee on his chin which looked the same as ever.
"He never confirmed about coming though..." The mature-looking woman frowned, turning to the capped one. Her hair was a lot thicker and wavier than it used to be. She was wearing an elegant, white peacoat.
Beside her was a silver-haired man, who quietly stood there. His hair was a bit longer too, compared to his high school days, though it was not that easily noticeable. The bandage on his head was also gone now. He was wearing a tan-colored coat and under it was a dark-blue shirt. There were two other girls standing beside the first boy. One had light-brown hair and the other had teal-colored hair. The bluish-green hair was significantly longer now, covering half of her back, while the other barely had any difference.
All of them were in the port that early morning. A few seagulls were high up in the bright blue sky. The sea sparkled under the light of the sun and the cold breeze blew every so often. Behind them was a private yacht owned by the ever-growing Kirijo group. Ever since the president 'died', his young daughter took over. At first, many were skeptical if she could do it, but in the end, she proved herself. Not only did she maintain the company, but she managed to make it rise higher and become more powerful than it ever was.
What were they doing there in the first place? Well, this heiress decided to hold a reunion for the group, sending them messages a month earlier. Apparently, the youngest of the group already informed them that he wasn't coming due to school coming close, while the android was too busy taking on jobs and as for the last one... Well... He never really answered, so they didn't really know if he was coming or not... In fact, he had barely made contact with any of them for the past few years...
The red-head finally sighed. "That's enough... I don't think he-"
"Look! That might be him!" The capped male pointed excitedly into the distance. Slowly, the figure of a yellow car came into shape, a taxi to be exact. Soon, it drew closer and stopped in front of the group.
The red-head smiled and brushed up her bangs while the older male crossed his arms and gave a smirk. "So, he decided to come..." he muttered to himself while the younger adults ran toward the car.
"Shinjiro-senpai! How are ya?" The goateed man smiled as he waved to the brunette, who had just jumped out the vehicle after paying.
He wasn't completely outside yet, since he was pulling something from the inside. It was most likely his baggage though, but knowing the guy, it was difficult to imagine that he'd bring a lot. In fact, they'd probably assume that he'd bring nothing... Least would be an extra pair of clothes...
He was wearing an ever-so-familiar maroon peacoat and a beanie. First thing that came to mind for the girls was the fact that he'd barely changed. Must be the clothes though... What was up with his dress choice? If he'd worn something else, they could surely tell that his face had matured quite a bit. Still intimidating as ever though... Other than his outer appearance, there was this strange aura he was releasing... Or rather... The fact that he was actually smiling seemed to have stopped them in their tracks. Even his best friend looked surprised. He hadn't seen the guy smile like that since...
"Oh my god..." the brown-haired female cried, followed by the teal-haired one from behind.
They immediately ran toward the girl without hesitation and wrapped their arms around her. She was smaller than them, since her appearance was still of a 17-year-old girl. Even the capped male attempted to join them at first, but he stopped and stared at the girls awkwardly with shock on his face. The beanied man grinned at the sight.
"Hamu-chan... I can't believe it..." The soft-spoken woman began crying in joy despite the fact that her appearance as a teenager defied all logic.
Added to that was the fact that she didn't react badly to their actions. Sure, she looked surprised with their sudden outburst, but it was not like she tried denying their claims. In fact, she was now smiling faintly and began patting the females' heads.
"Shinjiro! I... I demand an explanation!" The red-head turned to him with a trembling voice. It was as if she was on the verge of tears just like the other two girls, who were now crying. Perhaps, if her feet hadn't frozen on the spot, she would've joined the others.
"Y-yeah, Shinji! S-she can't be... b-because..." the other male stuttered, walking toward his friend's side.
Shinjiro shrugged and smirked, pointing to the yacht with his thumb. "Shouldn't we get goin' first? I'll explain everything there."
The group was sitting around a round table inside the boat. It was pretty spacious and looked like the inside of a house, more specifically, their old lounge. The difference would be that the walls and floor were all white and gray in color. The girl who was the center of attention a while ago was now sitting beside Shinjiro as she played with the white dog. She'd sometimes give them a quick glance, then turn back to the mutt after seeing their faces. All eyes were on her, watching her every move as if she was some sort of new specimen. At some points, they smiled at her; sometimes, they just gazed at her blankly, still unbelieving of her existence.
It was like the old days when they used to hold club meetings. It took quite a while to get it arranged though, since they kept clinging to the red-eyed girl, who seemed equally confused and surprised as them, in a different way. Her surprise and confusion was caused by her awkwardness being not exactly who they thought she was, while theirs was her sudden appearance.
This time, the brunette did most of the explaining. He started with the event of that night, which immediately caught everyone's attention. As it turned out, they didn't experience it from where they were... Mitsuru was especially sure, since she often had sleepless nights and there was no time that time froze... Same with Junpei, who claimed to stay up late for who knows what he was doing.
He then explained what the female Persona had told him... He sounded rather awkward as he explained about her, giving the girl a quick glance every once in a while. Not once did she try to cut in on his explanations though; the girl just listened while playing with the dog to avoid everyone's attention. Shinjiro also told them about her 'incomplete' memories and gave them a slight hint of her difference from her so-called master. No one seemed to be able to pick it up though...
"So... She's Orpheus or something?" the goateed man asked, wide-eyed.
The other female sighed and shook her head. "No, Stupei... You weren't listening. Orpheus is just a part of her. You never changed after all..." She paused and looked up the ceiling with doubtful eyes and muttered to herself. "I think...?"
"Shinji... Why didn't you tell us about her earlier?" the silver-haired one finally spoke after a moment of mindscrew.
"Aki, you should really learn to use your head sometimes... She came two days ago. How'd you expect me to contact you if I hadn't for five years?" He sighed and watched everyone, who suddenly fell silent. Yukari and Fuuka gave him a suspicious glance. He looked away from them, trying to hide the blush from his face before continuing. "And I almost forgot about this trip because of her."
That was the reason why they ran late. Apparently, he remembered about the reunion at midnight and made last-minute preparations. He barely slept because of that. Speaking of which, he did seem rather groggy, the hair hiding under the beanie was a mess and his clothes were a bit untidy. In fact, it wreaked the smell of closet.
The sound of the waves and the panting of the dog filled the silent room.
The red-eyed girl turned to them awkwardly while scratching the dog's head. "Umm... So... I'm pleased to meet everyone in person... Please take care of me..." she spoke shyly to break the silence. The Persona had a slight blush on her face and bowed at them after standing from her former position with the dog below her.
They stared at her in surprise (since they were expecting a more lively introduction of sorts from her), minus the brunette, who was getting used to it.
Sounds of the crying seagulls filled their ears for another moment...
"Tch. Never knew her 'inner self' could be feminine." Shinjiro chuckled, breaking the silence again.
The girl pouted and put her hands on her hips, turning to the brunette. "Hey! Master is 100% female! She's just... impulsive..." Her voice wavered as she spoke.
The beanied man chuckled again and placed his feet on the table, lowering his beanie. "Yeah... Whatever you say..."
The females gave each other a glance, while Akihiko kept quiet, still trying to absorb everything. It was Junpei who decided to ignore the things his Senpai told him and decided to conclude she was Hamuko and that's that.
"So... You remember me? Your ol' pal Junpei...?" he asked her curiously, with the brown-haired girl making a sigh.
"Of course, Iori-sama." She smiled at him enthusiastically. "I remember everyone. Takeba-sama, Yamagishi-sama, Kirijo-sama, Sanada-sama, Amada-sama, Aegis-sama, and even Koromaru-sama too." She faced them one by one as she mentioned their respective names (except Ken and Aegis, who weren't present).
The others, except the now sleeping Shinjiro, stared at her with mouths wide open. It seemed like the now sleeping man knew that would happen, so he snoozed off to escape further explanations and lecturing her again.
Junpei was at a loss at first, but smirked a moment later as he rubbed his chin. "Iori-sama, huh...? I like the sound of that..." He smiled to himself as he imagined a what-if scenario where tons of females in maid outfits greeted him as that. The man snapped back to reality after being smacked by a certain girl. "Yuka-tan...! What was that for?" he complained, rubbing the part she hit.
The girl fumed and sighed. "If Chidori-san was here... You could've gotten worse you know!" She sighed again.
The male froze and smiled apologetically. Speaking of her... She was around earlier and was the one who sent Junpei off. Chidori and Junpei were currently going out. The girl's memories of the Dark Hour never really returned though, so when he invited his girlfriend, she refused the offer. Apparently, the girl felt it wrong to hang out with people she barely had connections with.
"Hamu-chan... You can call us the way you... your 'master' did," Fuuka spoke weakly with a faint smile on her face.
"Yes. I can't have you calling me 'Kirijo'-sama too... I have enough of that back there." The red-haired one nodded.
"You might get mistaken as one of the maids!" Yukari joked.
The Shadow stared at them and nodded shyly. She smiled faintly and bowed again... "If that's what you want..."
"Oh yeah! Yakushima!" Junpei jumped down the sandy ground excitedly with his bag slung over his shoulder.
The others followed from behind as they looked around the area. It barely changed from when they came there 5 years ago. Same sandy beach, same trees, same sea... Same, yet different people...
"Sheesh... He's still like a kid... That's Stupei for you..." Yukari shook her head as she got down the yacht with Fuuka beside her and Mitsuru in front of them.
Back inside was Akihiko, who was trying to shake the sleepy Shinjiro to wake up, along with 'Hamuko', who offered to help. "I still can't believe I'd see you again... in that form, no less." The silver-haired male smiled while he shook his friend's shoulders. "Erm... What I meant was... looking like a teenager..." he added, returning to waking up the guy, "You're supposed to be 21 by now... but seeing you look that young makes me feel kind of old!"
"You... don't look that old... Sanad... A-akihiko-senpai didn't really change so much too..." she answered, lowering her head, "I'm in master's form when she last summoned me... That's all..." she added.
Before Akihiko could reply, Shinjiro began to move, drawing his attention back to his old friend.
Finally, Mr. Sleepyhead woke up and stretched his arms and rubbed his eyes, seeing the two figures in front of him. "...We're here?" he asked rather groggily.
Akihiko nodded and went ahead of him, leaving the two behind. He turned back to the two before completely exiting the room. "Oh, and you can call me Akihiko," he added before heading out.
The girl nodded while the still sleepy man stared, trying to shake off his sleepiness. "Let's go!" She smiled and pulled his arm forcefully.
He shrugged and followed...
'Tch... You really do love pullin' me around, huh?'
"Hey! I have an idea!" Junpei exclaimed cheerfully as they trudged their way to Mitsuru's vacation home.
They decided to walk together instead of taking a ride in order to enjoy the scenery. Everyone was carrying their loads. Shinjiro's was the biggest, being a large maroon-colored travel bag. Apparently, he was carrying both his and his female companion's baggage. The group was led by Junpei and Koromaru, followed by Fuuka and Yukari behind him, then Akihiko and Mitsuru with Shinjiro and 'Hamuko' way at the back. It looked as if they were children on a field trip, forming two lines.
"Hope it's not as stupid as the speaker," Yukari teased the man, who in turn, rolled his eyes.
"Thanks for that Yuka-tan..." he answered bitterly. He turned to everyone behind him and started to walk backwards as he spoke. "Anyway... How 'bout hold a party for Hamu-chan? C'mon, it'll be fun!" He smiled. Everyone seemed to favor his idea, though the Shadow felt rather reluctant at it and shifted her eyes to everyone one by one.
"Oh! And Shinjiro-senpai can cook for us like he did before!" Fuuka added, clapping her hands together. Soon, everyone else nodded in agreement and began talking about it. The beanie-wearing male kept quiet and smirked.
"Um... Are you okay with that?" The auburn-haired girl turned to him worriedly while the others began their planning, though it would most likely be the brunette who'd end up doing all the work...
He gave her a smile and ruffled her hair. "Why not? I promised you we'd do it again, right?" he answered the girl, who raised a brow. She looked down at the ground and sighed sadly. Shinjiro suddenly pulled back his hand and frowned after realizing his mistake.
"...Sorry... I... don't remember..." she muttered.
The man sighed and scratched the back of his head, avoiding the girl's eyes. Just like she mentioned before, her memories which were not of the Dark Hour were all blurry, in other words, her memories during the morning until before midnight. That may have been most likely due to the fact that she was only summoned during said hour, plus, she was naturally a Shadow... So, that may have had something to do with it too. Speaking of which, her memories of their Yakushima trip were also quite a blur to her, so it was as if it was her first time in the place just like Shinjiro.
"...It'll come back," he added softly, trying to make her feel better.
The girl beamed and nodded...
The moment they arrived, they settled their things inside their rooms. Shinjiro and 'Hamuko' had a bit of trouble though, since they shared in their luggage. In the end, the man took the few items he'd brought and the girl ended up with everything else. She wasn't the one who packed them though... It was him. Apparently, he took out almost everything from her closet while she was asleep... Due to the spur of the moment, none of the two realized how wrong that would sound like... Still, it was 'Hamuko' who picked the swimsuit and undergarments early in the morning...
Right after getting everything fixed up, Shinjiro headed toward the kitchen and was assisted by the maids and chef. Fuuka never dared come near a kitchen after the club disbanded, much to everyone's relief. As for the red-eyed female, she was dragged in by her other companions, who wanted to make up for lost time. They did most of the speaking... Not like she could tell them much that they didn't know already... Or at least, that's what she thought.
So, apparently, Junpei was in his final year of college. He was supposed to already have graduated, but he had to repeat a year, much to nobody's surprise. Chidori was also in college, studying fine arts. She still had two years to go, though her reason for that was the fact that she had to go through high school for some time due to her circumstances. As for Mitsuru, she was currently running the Kirijo group. She claimed that her schedule had become very constrained... It was actually quite lucky that she managed to squeeze the reunion in her schedule...
Akihiko, on the other hand, was currently a police detective subordinate. He said he was close to his promotion due to his excellent performance. For Fuuka... she had opened up a shop which mostly dealt with repairs and upgrades of gadgets. It was quite new, but she claimed that business was booming. Finally, Yukari turned out to be a model. A newbie though... She was about to make her debut on the next month. Turns out, she'd be leaving the country soon, so this little reunion may be the last time they'd be seeing her for a long time.
They also spoke a bit about the new 'Dark Hour' for a while before the meal finally arrived. In the end, they all agreed to look into it more, especially Mitsuru, who suspected it may be a late aftermath of the event five years ago. Speaking of which, it hadn't happened last night, not even at Shinjiro's place... So, did it happen randomly...?
The meal Shinjiro had prepared was pretty identical to the feast he had laid out last time. There was a bunch of new ones though. And a beef bowl. He claimed that it was Akihiko's request...
"What? You can never get enough beef bowls!" Akihiko exclaimed, deflecting the stares he received.
Mitsuru was seated at the head of the table with Fuuka and Yukari to her right. Beside Yukari was Junpei. On the heiress' left was Akihiko. Sitting beside him was Shinjiro and 'Hamuko'. As for the other end of the table... Let's just say it was occupied by a certain red-eyed beast. The dog whimpered when it learned that he had to stay on the floor. Shinjiro and the others felt sorry for the dog... Apparently, the mutt had learned to eat properly on the table and had been doing it for a year now thanks to a certain blue-haired boy who just got his salary cut because of doing so...
Everyone began chatting and laughing as they ate, with Junpei doing most of the talking... Something about delicious dimensions... Shinjiro and Mitsuru would often get him to settle down either with a glare or with a threat. Glares didn't usually work on him anymore though... Thanks to his girlfriend...
"Hey... Why aren't you eating?" He gave the girl a weak nudge on the shoulder, making her attention turn to the brunette. The others didn't seem to notice the two, since they were busy trying to get the capped one to behave.
She fiddled with her fork and gave him a faint smile. "I am... See?" She picked up and gobbled up the pasta which she wrapped around her fork, making a loud, slurpy noise. As she sucked in the spaghetti, the girl made a puffy cheek, making the man chuckle. She, in turn, pouted at his reaction.
"... You got something there..." The girl stared at him as he wiped the side of her lips with his thumb, taking off the sauce from her face, licking it off afterward.
The room suddenly silenced.
"...What?" He looked as if he scowled, although knowing him, that was his confused look.
The girls turned to their food with bright red, stiff faces. Junpei's eyes widened before quietly turning back to his meal. Shinjiro shrugged and turned back to the girl. She was staring at him as if in a daze, her face flushed red. A second later, his face flushed red too. 'Oh, shit...! Did I just...? Crap...' He groaned and immediately stood up and pushed away his seat, ready to leave.
"Shinji, wher ahr yu ghoin'?" the silver-haired male called out with his mouth full of food.
Without turning back to his friend, he raised his hand and walked his way out.
Akihiko shrugged and returned to eating. He stared at everyone else. All of them were quiet. "What's with you all?" the silver-haired male muttered after swallowing his food...
Junpei tapped Yukari's arm and whispered, "Let's all meet at the living room later..."
And yet again... Didn't turn out how imagined it... This chapter was supposed to be with the next one, and the party event was added on the spot...
Oh yeah... And as for the - "Oh yeah... Just wondering, did anyone notice something on the day/date she appeared...? I'll say it on the next chapter... It's not really related to the plot though :P"
So, the day she appeared was April 1st aka April Fools Day... And since Hamuko/Minako is a Fool... Okay... I'm gonna stop there :P
This was not planned (again) though... Just coincidence...
DramaticSleeper -She does remember that... But she doesn't remember 'her' Social Link events aka love events with Shinji
OhtaSuzuke -I was thinking of naming FeMC Minako at first, and then name her Shadow/Persona Hamuko, that way, they'd have two separate names... But in the end, I decided giving them the same names XD
*Special thanks to my beta reader for getting this (and the next ones) fixed up =P
*EDIT:Aaaand I forgot =_= Next chap will be out next week (though, most likely, on the 25th)~
(P.S. Check the poll in my profile pls.?)
-Persona 3 and any SMT series does not belong to me-