Chapter 5: Castor - Part I

April 4, 2014-Friday

After the group had finished eating their breakfast, they immediately went straight to the beach, except for the two who went astray the previous day. They claimed to be rather tired, so they went back to their respective rooms to get a rest. When afternoon fell, the red-eyed girl was finally rejuvenated, and so she went straight to the dining room to have some lunch. The girl was served by the maids of the house, much to her fascination. Afterwards, she explored the place.

In the end, she bumped into the others who had just returned from the beach. 'Hamuko' hung out with them, specifically Akihiko, who challenged her to a match of table tennis. It was a very close fight in the end; the battle ended in a tie, since no one recorded the scores... That night, everyone gathered together to eat, including Shinjiro, who had apparently slept all day...

April 5, 2014-Saturday

This was their last day of vacation. Again, the day started with breakfast in the morning. All of them came to the beach this time, even Shinjiro, who was dragged in by both Akihiko and 'Hamuko'. Mitsuru was the one who garnered the most attention. Her swimsuit that day was almost identical to her old one five years ago, but it was a black version of it with a white flower instead of red. Her hair was also tied to the back, revealing the whole of her face. Everyone could've sworn that she was hit on by guys twice every hour. What's worse was the fact that she seemed to have a hard time figuring out her situation... Though lucky for her, Akihiko kept butting in and chasing her suitors away. He looked rather agitated... And for some reason, Junpei, Fuuka and Yukari had times where they huddled together, shooting glances at the two while plastering creepy smirks on their faces. Except Fuuka whose smile was rather awkward rather than evil.

Shinjiro shrugged and advised his female companion to ignore the three. She followed his words, but still worried about what they were hatching up. In the end, the whole group went swimming, played beach volleyball, and did a little fishing due to Akihiko's request. It was the 'youngest' female who ended up with the biggest fish, much to everyone's surprise. Afterwards, they had Shinjiro cook their catch, thanks to another one of Junpei's bright ideas. They had a picnic at the beach, with Mitsuru renting a grill from a nearby shop. It was a wonder how the hell that guy could make an ordinary grilled fish taste so good...

"Hey, careful there..." Shinjiro groaned while watching the auburn-haired girl gobble up her meal. Upon hearing his words, she looked up to him and gave an apologetic laugh. Afterwards, she began eating slowly and carefully, much to everyone's surprise.

"Whoa! Hamu-chan... I've never seen you obedient like that!" Junpei exclaimed.

Yukari smacked him in the head as usual while he rubbed the damaged part. "Watch what you're saying...!" she hissed quietly, pointing to the girl. For a moment, she had a sad smile on her face. Junpei turned to Yukari with a puzzled look on his face. She sighed and face palmed before moving closer to the boy and whispered, "She's not exactly the Hamuko we know, remember? She's her Persona. Of course she's obedient!"

At those words, Junpei frowned and turned back to 'Hamuko' to apologize. But before he did so, she beamed and spoke first.

"No, it's all right... It's enough honor to me to be with my master's friends." She chuckled.

Yukari flinched. Although she was not sure of it, it was most likely that 'Hamuko' had heard what the girl just told the capped man. Speaking of which, it never crossed their minds that she might have stronger senses than humans... Perhaps it was the reason for her big catch too...

'Hamuko' turned back to eating with everyone's eyes suddenly on her. The dog whimpered and nuzzled its nose on her lap. Shinjiro sighed and continued cooking up the rest of the catch.

"Hamu-chan..." Everyone's eyes suddenly turned to the soft-spoken girl. She paused upon seeing all their eyes locked on her. Fuuka took a deep breath before continuing. "We're your friends too. It doesn't matter if you're Hamuko herself or her Persona. What's important is that it's you."

Everyone went silent. Fuuka looked embarrassed and awkward, lowering her head.

"Well said, Fuuka." Mitsuru smiled, then turned to the red-eyed girl, who was now looking down at the picnic blanket.

After a moment, she lifted her head with a fresh smile on her face. "Thanks..." she muttered.

Everyone smiled back and continued their meal. Junpei, patting 'Hamuko's' back, Yukari smacking his head, Mitsuru glaring at the two, Akihiko watching cluelessly and Fuuka laughing innocently...

'Heh. That takes care of that...' The male brunette smirked as he fanned the fish, watching everyone happily.

"I wish we could get together like this another time." The teal-haired girl smiled as she looked up at the bright orange sky. She and all the others were on their way up to the yacht to board it, with all their things completely packed.

"Yeah... I guess... But time sure flies, huh?" the other girl added. She brushed up her light brown bangs to reveal her equally brown eyes.

Everyone nodded in response, except for the red-eyed female in the corner. She was looking blankly into an empty space. While all of them spoke about their experiences in the past few days, the silver-haired male glanced at the auburn-haired girl in the corner and approached her. He placed his hand on her right shoulder.

"Hey, Hamuko, what's the matter?" he asked, looking straight into her eyes.

The girl shook her head in response and smiled. "Happiness is tied with sadness, huh?" she muttered with a faint smile on her face as she turned to the group. The male stared at her with a confused look on his face, but didn't say a thing. The girl turned back to him and continued. "The more attached you are to something, the happier you become, but when it's gone... It's quite lonely..." She sighed.

Again, the man didn't respond; instead, he gave her a smile and patted her head. She smiled back in return and ran toward the group to join them. Akihiko watched from afar with his duffel bag slung over his shoulder. As he watched everyone else, the familiar red-head approached and watched alongside him.

"Quite a turn of events, don't you think?" she said without turning to the male, eyes still on the group.

The man nodded at her response and just like the female, his eyes were locked on the younger crowd. "Yeah. I never expected to see her in that condition again."

The two kept silent for a moment before Mitsuru's calm face turned into a serious one. She crossed her arms over her chest. As for the male, he turned around to look at the vast sea, resting his arms on the railings after putting down his bag on the floor.

"As for the phenomena Shinjiro said they experienced... You don't think...?" the female finally spoke with seriousness in her eyes.

Akihiko kept staring at the sea as the cool breeze blew through his face. "... I don't know. I'll try to find what I can. Being in the force, I may just get a hold some information," he answered... Laughter of the old friends echoed on the ship as they set sail...

"Shinji, make sure you keep in contact with us this time." The silver-haired man held up his fist in front of him. It was already dark when they arrived back, around 11:00 PM. Everyone was tired; nonetheless, not so excited to split up with everyone else.

The brunette smirked and met his fist with Akihiko's. Soon, everyone began exchanging their goodbyes, with 'Hamuko' giving everyone but Shinjiro a shell bracelet she had made back there. She claimed that she had imbued it with her power as good luck. Even Mitsuru received one, much to her surprise. In the end, the group had a group hug, minus the Shinjiro, who looked embarrassed to do such a thing. Though in the end, he just had to join thanks to Akihiko's usual pestering and the Persona's puppy-dog eyes... or at least, according to Junpei, 'the power of love' which got him another bump on the head courtesy of his senpai...

"Oh Hamu-chan... I'll miss you man..." Junpei said as he placed his hands on her shoulders. He was teary-eyed... Though it seemed more like crocodile tears for the sake of making things more dramatic. 'Hamuko' laughed nervously. "Hey! I'm being serious here!" he added, furrowing his brows.

"Oh... Sorry about *pffft* that... I can't seem to... *pfft* take you seriously..." she answered, trying to hold her laughter.

"Haha... Why do I feel like I prefer the 'polite' Hamu-chan... but either way, I'm glad you're back on track. Well anyway, seriously, good luck out there." he answered, releasing the girl. She smiled in return. "Oh, and also, you have my blessings. Shinjiro-senpai may be scary and rough, but he's a good guy." he continued with a wink as he nudged her arm with his shoulder.

"Uh... Thanks?" she answered, looking quite puzzled. Junpei shrugged.

"Oh, and I have a surprise for ya. Just wait for it!" Junpei smirked, coupled with a thumbs-up before joining the others who were headed for the station.

"Hey, and make sure you all eat your vegetables," he snarled before turning away from everyone, who waved as he, his female companion, and the dog went in their own direction. The others chuckled at his final words, making him blush. 'Hamuko' turned to him and grinned, trying to comfort him, though it somehow made him a lot more flustered.

"You'd better take care of her, Shinji..." The silver-haired male muttered under his breath as they watched their backs disappear into the dark night...

"Koro-chan, wait!" the girl shouted as she ran after the white mutt. It ran ahead of them while on their way back to Tartarus. It was still quite far though, but before she knew it, the dog disappeared from sight. She was about to continue chasing after it when she felt a tug on her arm.

"Don't worry. He's probably just excited to get back," the brunette spoke.

'Hamuko' frowned and then gave a faint smile afterwards, feeling a lot more assured. It was Koromaru they were talking about after all - the one and only (as far as they knew) Persona-summoning, knife-wielding, and badass dog as Junpei called it. If it was Koro-chan, he'd be safe...

"I guess I do understand his excitement though... But to leave us like this..." The girl chuckled, turning to the man. He nodded as they continued through the silent streets...

*tick*

"It was nice seeing everyone again! Too bad not everyone was present though..."

*tick*

"Heh. Don't worry about that."

*...*

"What do you me-?"

The two suddenly stopped in their tracks as a strange breeze-like feeling touched their skin. Immediately, they surveyed the area. No blood, no green world, no coffins... But again, people except them had stopped moving. The flickering lights had also stayed still, with some staying off and others on. Time had stopped.

"Shit..! It's happening again?" the brunette growled, tightening his hold on their over-sized travel bag.

It was quiet... Then they spotted two human figures closing in on them, a male and a female. They looked a tad bit familiar, most likely the type they'd seen somewhere before but theydidn't personally know them. The male one had somewhat long brown hair reaching his shoulders pretty much like the female's hair, though slightly darker. All in all, the two looked-like the type who'd hang out in the back alleys...

"YOU! YOU'RE GOING TO FUCKING PAY!" the male hissed.

The brunette's eyes widened in confusion like the girl standing beside him. Before they knew it, the two 'punks', like the businessman, had transformed into Shadows. The male one turned into what looked like a Steel Gigas, though it only looked like one. This one still had the male's hair, a blood-red mask and the muscled body of said Shadow with an extra large pumped up arm, almost twice the size of the body. As for the female, she turned into a seemingly female shadow wearing an ice-blue mask. Her hair was light brown and long, almost reaching the ground. She was wearing a frilly and ruffled combination of crimson and azure dress, which resembled ones used in royal balls in the olden age, though the combination was rather wildly patterned.

"What the fuck are you saying?" He couldn't help but raise the question. They seemed to know him the way they spoke to the man.

The female Shadow chuckled and turned to the male one with a smirk on its face. "AHAHA... LOOKS LIKE HE FORGOT YOU. WHAT A LOSER!" She laughed in a cold, shrill voice.

The male roared and stomped on the ground. It was so strong that it felt as though there would be an earthquake. "FUCK YOU, SHINJIRO! DIE!" it snarled angrily, charging at the man.

The brunette was also about to charge in too when the girl blocked him off with her arm outstretched to his front. 'Hamuko' turned to him with a serious smile on her face. "I'll handle this," she muttered.

The man clenched his fist and bitterly backed off as he watched the girl shine. The Shadow stopped in its tracks after being distracted by the girl's sudden actions. Her skin glowed with a blue light, which was then peeled off like pieces of shattered glass. When the light subsided, the familiar figure of the Persona combination of Orpheus and Messiah appeared.

The two Shadows seemed to have been caught off guard at first and flinched while she released a blast of Maralagidyne at the muscled creature, knocking it back. The female one hissed in anger and summoned up a Ziodyne. Shadow Hamuko managed to roll way and dodge, countering with a summon of God's Hand, which also managed to knock out the female Shadow. Immediately, the two were back on their feet and seemed angrier than ever. The brunette couldn't do anything but watch the girl fight alone. She seemed to be winning though. That's what he thought.

"YOU DAMN BITCH! YOU'LL PAY!" the female Shadow screeched, calling up another Ziodyne. Again, 'Hamuko' dodged to the left.

"ARGH!" She groaned as the male Shadow tackled her. As she jumped to dodge the first attack, the other one waited for the opportunity to catch her off guard. Hamuko's Persona was sent flying to the glass store nearby, hitting it. The displayed glasses immediately shattered and went sprawling to the ground.

Shinjiro, who was nearby, blocked off the possible bits that could've hit him with his arm. He watched as the girl winced in pain from the attack. "Hamuko!" he called out.

The girl flinched for a moment and it took her some time before she got back on her feet. She turned to the man and straightened up her posture. "Stay back!" she roared in a commanding tone, which made the man back off instinctively. It was the same tone she used whenever they were in Tartarus five years ago. Knowing this girl, she was a pushover. Sure, she did the things she wanted to do without your consent, but when told to stop it, she'd stop. Though, they've just known each other for a few days...

"I'm getting rusty..." she muttered, "How about this then?" She held both of her hands out and pointed it at the male Shadow. The next instant, a powerful gust of wind flew out of her hands and headed toward the creature. Dust and smoke covered the area as the sound of the powerful explosion hitting the enemy echoed in the dark night. "Did I get it?" She mumbled while shielding her eyes from the dust.

The moment the smoke slowly cleared, a silhouette appeared... No... Two of them. The Persona's ruby-red eyes widened as she saw the two Shadows unharmed. From the looks of it, the female one had a block on the attack and shielded its comrade. The two smirked; 'Hamuko' growled. Again, she called out a God's Hand on the female Shadow. A gigantic golden hand fell from the sky, targeting the woman...

...?

Before it hit, the male Shadow punched it away as it dissipated into air. The two smirked again. Shadow Hamuko flinched, but kept her stance. This time, the male Shadow charged at her. The female Persona readied her attack, holding out her hand...

"ARGH...! AGH!" she screamed in pain with a double hit.

While she was getting ready to attack, the female Shadow blasted an Agidyne attack at her while the other one followed it up with a powerful tackle. Again, 'Hamuko' was knocked back. She stood up again, spread out her arms, and called out a Pralaya attack on the female Shadow. Again, before it even managed to touch her, the male Shadow had already stood in front and blocked it.

'Is there no end to this?' she thought...

'Shit...! Can't I do anything?' The man clenched his fist while cursing under his breath as he watched the girl get beaten up.

From the looks of it, all her skills were only good for attacking one enemy at once. Whenever she targeted one of the two, the other would either attack her first or block the attack. The male one was resistant to all physical, pierce, and slash attacks while the female blocked agi, zio, and garu attacks, so they supported each other by taking in the attacks they were resistant to. 'Hamuko' also tried to use Black Viper, but it took quite some time to cast that and before she could finish, they'd already broken her concentration.

"Hamuko!" he shouted as the girl was yet again knocked back to a building wall.

Shinjiro was about to approach when she signalled him to stop with a wave of her hand. The girl cringed in pain and turned to the man and gave him a pained smile before charging back to the enemies. He crouched down and rummaged through their oversized travel bag. The brunette started throwing out its contents, hoping to find something useful. In the end, he just created a mess after emptying the bag.

"Dammit...! Of all things, I forget that damn axe!" he hissed, punching the ground. Blood seeped out of his hand after he hit some of the broken shards of glass earlier. In desperation, he took out his lucky charm and pointed it at his head, hoping that it would work this time. Nothing happened. Again, he pulled the trigger as much as he could, but it didn't work.

"I can't leave her like that... Dammit! Dammit!" He threw the gun in anger, but the only sound he could hear was her shouts of pain from getting pummelled by the Shadows. "Castor... Please...! I need you..." he muttered desperately, punching the ground once more.

"Heh. Now YOU need me, huh?"

"...?" He looked down, but all that there was were the broken shards of glass stained with his blood. They showed several reflections of his desperate face. For a moment, they flashed from the light of the moon. He could've sworn he saw something other than his own face...

"WHAT?" The male Shadow and his companion suddenly turned in Shinjiro's direction.

'Hamuko', who was lying on the ground right after being knocked back, also turned in his direction. Light glowed from the broken shards of glass, much to everyone's surprise. After the light subsided, a black horseman impaled with a broken spear with a long, golden hair, riding on an equally black horse-looking creature showed itself.

"THE FUCK IS THAT?" the male Shadow growled, turning to the creature.

"EWWW! IT'S HIDEOUS!" The female one chuckled, while the auburn-haired Persona got up on her feet, wide-eyed and stared at the horseman.

"Castor...?" she muttered.

Even Shinjiro seemed to be in a trance at first, but then he stood up with a confident smirk on his face, turning to his Persona.

"Castor! Kill those bastards! Fatal End!" he commanded. Castor turned to him and seemed as though it glared, which made him flinch in surprise. It then turned back to the enemies and charged at the female Shadow.

"OH, NO YOU DON'T!" the muscled Shadow roared and charged at the newly summoned Persona, trying to stop it from attacking her.

"Watch out!" 'Hamuko' called out. She released a Maralagidyne spell, which hit the male Shadow, stopping it from interrupting Castor's attack.

Instead of following Shinjiro's command, Castor used an attack he'd never seen before. It was Death Bound if he wasn't mistaken. With that one hit, the female Shadow hissed as she disappeared as a fog of black smoke.

"FUCK YOU, SHINJIRO...!" the male Shadow roared in anger as it blindly charged into the man. Before he reached the brunette, 'Hamuko' jumped in front of him with a scowl on her face and blasted another powerful tornado-like gust of wind. The creature cursed as it, like the female one, disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

Shinjiro and 'Hamuko' turned to Castor, who hadn't disappeared yet.

It charged into them, but then stopped, turning to the brunette. "I do things MY way, got it?" It spoke in a voice similar to his master's before the Persona disappeared in a blue light...

Guess that marks the end of the Yakushima vacation?

I didn't include a lot of scenes in my mind cause I don't know how to insert them... Like one part where the girls are all together in the beach and some guys hit on them... Then, 'Hamuko' unleashes an agi spell on them saying not to mess with her master's friends...

And... I believe this is the longest battle scene I've made so far XD

I'm no good at battles... I find it difficult to describe them...

Oh yeah... In order to differentiate when it's Hamuko or her Persona, Shadow Hamuko will be 'Hamuko' as seen from the previous chapters...

-Next Chapter, new charries will be introduced

-Special thanks to the beta reader for this chapter and the next ^_^

(P.S. Check the poll in my profile pls.?)

-Persona 3 and any SMT series does not belong to me-