Chapter 6: Castor - Part II

April 5, 2014-Saturday

"Tch. What the fuck was with that?" the brunette growled as he zipped up the bag. All the clothes which were strewn around the floor were now safely tucked inside, though all the broken shards of glass were still everywhere on the floor.

'Hamuko' was at least able to clean up the blood the man left because of punching the ground. Speaking of her, she didn't look like she came from a fight. There was not a single scratch on her body. Aside from the fact that she had used Diarahan on herself, she claimed that it was because she was not a human that she heals faster.

"Er... I think those guys were the ones from the back alleys of the Port Island..." she muttered while running to his side. The man raised a brow, still confused. The girl sighed and continued. "You know... When we went investigating about Fuuka... Second time you met Master..." she added.

At those words, the man rubbed his forehead and groaned. "Oh... Them... Tch..." His eyes suddenly widened as he turned to the girl. "Wait... They were fucking Shadows!" he exclaimed after the realization. The girl's eyes also widened as she fell into a deep thought.

The two continued their way back home quietly as they pondered about the situation. The male Shadow was the man Shinjiro beat up five years ago, while the female was one of the girls he was with. Those guys were humans right...? Then why were those Shadows in their forms earlier? Or rather, why did they become Shadows? They even remembered him... Did that mean the business man they had previously encountered was human as well? Or were all of them Shadows to begin with...? Also... Castor... did he really just speak...?

Before they knew it, the duo was back in front of their home. The Frozen Hour had also ended (most likely right after the defeat of the Shadows, though it was hard to tell), seeing that there was someone in front of the house who was rummaging through his pocket. To 'Hamuko', he wasn't a familiar face, but Shinjiro seemed to know him, seeing that grin on his face. The stranger was wearing a gray peacoat and a pair of long, black pants. He had thick blue hair which almost covered the whole of the left side of his face while his silver eyes gleamed under the moonlight. The equally silver headphones which were dangling on his neck swung as he turned to the two with a blank expression on his face.

"Oh. Boss... You're back..." he mumbled, turning to Shinjiro, who reached for his pocket. The stranger then turned to the girl curiously, who in turn gave him an awkward smile.

"Minato, what're you doing here so late?" the brunette asked as he turned the key on the doorknob, clicking it open afterward.

The man shrugged and pointed to the brown paper bag on the floor, which he picked up. "We're out of milk... Again. I bought some..." he answered in a monotone voice.

Shinjiro groaned and muttered something in annoyance. It was something about the milk.

The silver orbs then moved from the female to the older male. "I didn't know you had a girlfriend," he said with an expressionless face. The two flinched; both of their faces burned red, but the brunette's face wasn't seen by either of the two, since his back was turned on them. The girl shook her head wildly while the blue-haired man smiled. "Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I was mistaken... Then you must be Hamuko-san? Shun told me about you," he spoke.

The girl finally settled down and sighed in relief. "Umm... Yup! T-that's me!" she stuttered, still feeling rather awkward with owning her master's name.

The man smirked. He then turned his head to the girl and smiled. "I'm Megumi Minato, Shunta's my younger brother. Nice to meet you."

She nodded in response and ran back inside, while the man locked up the door and the ever-so-familiar white furball greeted her happily as she entered... Wait... How did Koromaru get in...?

April 6, 2014-Sunday

"Urrgh... Damn... Fucking headache..." the brunette groaned as he held his head.

He was sitting up on his bed after waking up. It was early Sunday morning. Clear skies, sunny day, a perfect way to start the day. The man stayed in the bed for some more time before getting up his way to the bathroom, which was right across from where his bed was. His room was the only one with its own bathroom. All the others living in what used to be a dorm had to share the one in the hallway. Except for 'Hamuko', who could use the female's bathroom all to herself.

He began brushing his teeth after taking a bath. On Sundays, Tartarus opened up late in the afternoon until late night, so he had a lot of free time until the opening. Normally, all he'd do was stay in the lounge and read magazines or watch the Sunday cooking channel. Sometimes he would go shopping for more ingredients or go buy the new issue of the guide to 'Family Cooking' released monthly. Now that he thought of it... Was that how he spent his life during the past five years? No wonder Shunta called him old man... He lived like one...

"...?"

'Must be my imagination...' He shrugged after turning back to the mirror. The man washed the toothbrush and returned it in the cup. He turned around to get back to his room...

"...!"

"Shinjiro-san! I've prepared breakfast!" the girl cheerfully called out from outside while knocking on his door. No response. 'Hamuko' furrowed a brow and formed a sly smile on her face. "I'm coming in~" she added and turned the knob on the door, which was surprisingly open. "Good mor-!" she stopped in her tracks upon setting her eyes on the room.

It wasn't messy or anything. Fact was, she'd been there... She'd slept there... The night she'd appeared and fainted, Shinjiro had brought her back and let her stay there, since her old room was a mess during that time. But enough of the room... She was seeing two freaking Shinjiros! They were staring at each other; one looked dumfounded, the other annoyed.

Although they looked almost identical, the two had significant differences other than the clothes they wore. The 'dumfounded one' looked older, was not wearing a beanie, and was only wearing a white shirt and a pair of pants. In other words, he was in his pajamas. His hair was quite shorter than the other one and he was also a bit taller. The 'annoyed one's' hair was golden-yellow, just like his eyes in contrast to the other one with gray eyes. He was wearing a black beanie and the ever-so familiar peacoat, which was also black in color instead of the usual maroon.

The older brunette turned to 'Hamuko', who was now equally as dumfounded as he was. She was stuttering gibberish words as she stared at them. The girl shook her head and tried to get a grasp of things and turned to the blonde version of the man.

He glared at her. "What're you looking at?" he spoke in a gruff tone similar to his counterpart's voice.

The girl took a deep breath and pouted. "You!Whatelse?Whoareyou?" she spoke quickly as if in a panic. The words came out of her mouth randomly. The man shrugged and closed in on her, staring at her face. She flinched, but maintained her composure.

"Heh. That's how you greet the guy who saved your ass?" he smirked.

The female Persona paused and processed her mind. Her eyes widened and she pointed at the man. "Y-you're..."

"...Castor?" Shinjiro finished her words. Both of them turned to him.

"Yeah, I am. What're you gonna do about it? 'Suppress' me again?" Castor scowled while the girl gave him a puzzled look. So did the brunette. A second later, he furrowed his brow and gave out a guilty expression. The beanied male shrugged and pushed the girl out of his way...

"H-hey! Where are you going?" the girl called out, peeping out into the hallway. All she could see was Castor's back.

He turned to her with the usual scowl Shinjiro used to have. "None of your business," he answered bluntly and walked off.

The girl pouted again and ran after him.

As for Shinjiro, he just watched and stared blankly before finally realizing what had happened. He groaned, slammed his door shut, and tried to follow the two. His running was rather heavy and loud that the floorboards almost felt like they could collapse any second. For some reason though, there seemed to be quite a ruckus downstairs. People to be exact... as if customers were in... Though, that couldn't be right, since it was not opening time yet... Unless...

"SHUUUUNTAAAA...!" His voice rung across the diner, which caught the customers' attention. They turned toward the direction of the stairs, where the owner stood as he stared at the scene.

Normally, you'd be happy to see that business was booming; but not this guy. Heck, he didn't even care about popularity... Sure, he cared about the profits, after all, it's his livelihood, and where else could he generate money to pay off his 'debts' from Kirijo? But out of all these, the most important thing about this diner was the fact that he was doing what he loved... That, and the fact that he wanted to protect the precious memories which the building held for him... Point was, his schedule just got screwed up. No one screws it up.

'Damned brat...! I bet he forgot that we open late today!'

Instead of the blue-haired youngster, a black-haired teenager approached him. He had blue eyes and pale-white skin. The boy had a rather relaxed expression on his face and was wearing a blue apron. As soon as the customers saw that the 'problem' was being sorted out, they awkwardly returned to their own businesses, particularly chatting and picking out their orders.

"Master, the servant which you called forth is currently not available. I believe he set off on a journey to the-"

Before the boy finished speaking, Shinjiro cut him off with an annoyed look on his face. "Oh, right... Today was your return, wasn't it?" he muttered, scratching the back of his head, and let out a sigh, "Yuki, can you get Minato to help and...?" He paused and stared at the occupied tables. The man rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache before continuing. "Have you seen Hamu-... a girl with red eyes walk past here chasing after a blonde guy?"

"I have no need to call him for he is currently at his designated area," he answered with a straight face while pointing at the kitchen. He put his hand down and continued. "As for the people that which you mentioned... I believe they ran off outside."

"Ugh... Just great... This is a pain in the ass..." he moaned, watching the people begin to look impatient, "Get me my apron and 'hat', I'm coming in..." He sighed again, heading toward the kitchen.

"Yes, master!" he answered with a bow.

"... And don't call me that!" Shinjiro hissed, slamming the kitchen door...

'Damn... I hope those two are alright...'

"Castor! Wait...!" 'Hamuko' called out, trying to get through the crowd of people before losing sight of the guy. Finally, she stopped and huffed, finding herself back in the back alleys of the island.

'Eh...? This place? What would he be doing here?' she thought while walking around rather casually. Suspicious looking figures were glaring at her, though she kept a calm demeanour. After all, she'd faced worse things. 'Why did he suddenly run off here, I wonder... And why did he come out?' The girl continued to think as if she was taking a stroll in the park.

"That it? You ain't hiding anything else?" a seemingly familiar gruff voice spoke. It came from a certain corner of a dark alley which 'Hamuko' immediately followed. There, the girl caught a glimpse of Castor and a guy who was around his early 20s.

"I-I swear...!" the man begged as Castor held him up in the air by his collar. He was trembling in fear as the blonde glared.

"Castor! What are you doing?" 'Hamuko' shouted, causing the male Persona to turn to her direction.

He gave out an annoyed groan and threw the man on the ground, who in turn ran off the very next moment. "Idiot! Why'd you come here alone? You know how da-... Y-you didn't have to come here!" he shouted angrily as he approached the girl.

She didn't react, at least the way she usually did. Normally, even with the smallest things, 'Hamuko' would make a big deal out of it and apologize like mad or something of the sort (at least since she came). "Hey! No need to get worked up about it... Besides, it's your fault for suddenly running off! C'mon, let's go back!" The girl pouted as she took his hand and attempted to pull the guy.

He blushed. "...K-knock it off! You always piss me off," he groaned, pulling his hand away after a few steps. "Tch. You push me around all the time... You think you can do anything you want, huh? After what you put me through?" Castor spoke as he cornered the girl to a wall.

'Hamuko' looked confused rather than afraid. She just stared at the man with her clueless eyes. "H-huh? What are you talking about...?" she asked, tilting her head.

The male slammed his hand on the wall and moved his face closer to hers. "You really are dense, huh?" He smirked bitterly. There was a short pause before he continued speaking. "Back then, you ruined everything. I was gonna leave nothing behind, then you come along messing my head up... Then, you decide to leave us just to take care of that damn 'responsibility' of yours without any word?"

'Hamuko' didn't respond.

"... And now, you returned just to torment me again, didn't you? You want to do the same shit you did back then...!"

The girl bit her lip and avoided his eyes. Though she didn't really have clear memories, she had a vague understanding of what he was talking about. Shinjiro's time with them was cut short thanks to the October incident... But she knew his bond with her 'master' was a strong one. She was not sure exactly how they were back then, but somehow his relationship was different compared to the other people she knew. She didn't really remember seeing him after his coma, but there was one thing she was fully aware of: he woke up, and she was gone... Everyone was 'broken' afterwards... most especially him.

Castor sighed and finally moved away from her and stared at the girl, looking rather pleased.

'Hamuko' still avoided eye contact. She seemed to be pondering from what the male just told her. Honestly, she didn't know if she'd be staying for a long time; for all she knew, she might disappear at any moment. After all, her existence was not meant to be... That might deal a blow to him, right? From what she had heard from the others during the reunion, Shinjiro was in a really bad shape after her 'master fell asleep'. In fact, it was only after the incident with Metis and the Abyss of Time (though he wasn't able to help because he was still in bad shape) where he began to return back up. After that, he dedicated his time to Tartarus...

"Well, if you don't need anything else, I'm outta here," Castor continued, turning his back on the girl.

She snapped out of her thoughts and hesitantly grabbed his wrist. "W-wait! B-but... Sh... Shinjiro-san might get worried if you don't return!" she spoke in a desperate, yet weak tone.

Castor turned to her and scowled, pulling his arm away just like he did before. "Tch. That piece of shit? Why would I even care about him? He's nothing but a piece of trash. He couldn't protect anyone. Hell, all he could do is watch while pathetically calling out my na-"

*slap*

'Hamuko' hit him square in the face. The man seemed surprised at the sudden action that all he could do was stare at her blankly.

"That's it. I don't care what you say about me or my master. Insult me all you want, but if you say anything bad about Shinjiro-san, I'll never forgive you!" The girl's expression was somehow terrifying. For him anyway.

For a short moment, the two stared at each other in silence.

"Ugh... Damn bitch... Why do you care for him so much? You barely know him! You can't remember much, don't you?" Castor finally spoke in a gruff tone. His voice was somehow shaking though.

"I care for him, yes... But it's not just because 'I care for him' that I'm mad... It's because he's you!" she answered in a confident tone. Castor flinched. "Look. I don't want you saying bad things about yourself. You are his Persona. That means he's you, you're him. Calling yourself trash... It... I don't wanna hear stuff like that... Alright? Now, c'mon, he's waiting." She took him by his arm yet again. At first, he didn't budge from his position, but he finally followed after 'Hamuko' tugged him harder. For some reason, his legs began to feel like soft jelly... as if he lost all his strength.

"Ugh... Why did she have to..." he muttered to himself while trying to hide his red face from her sight...

The door slowly creaked open as blue cat-like eyes peeked inside the room. It was dark, the tables were wiped clean, and the chairs were neatly arranged. This was what Tartarus looked like after a long day of work. The boy sighed before closing the door. He walked as quietly as he could and headed straight for the kitchen.

"... I have to get something to eat now... That old man will surely deprive me of my meals..." he muttered to himself.

'... But oh man... I can't believe I forgot that we open late today...' He whimpered. The boy, now in front of the kitchen paused. 'Eh? What's that sound?' he thought as he rested his ear on the door, where he heard the sound of flowing water.

A chill crept up on him. Could it be a thief? Or perhaps that murderer he heard about? Or worse, the old man preparing for his punishment! The boy gulped and decided to peek through the small kitchen window. As soon as he did, his eyes widened as he stepped back little by little. Immediately, he ran toward the direction of the stairs...

*bump*

"Ow! ... Uhh... H-huh? Shun-sama? You're finally home... and... isn't it kind of late? It's past midnight you know... Where were you?" The girl blinked in surprise while giving the clock a quick glance.

"Shhh! Never mind that! We have a bigger problem here!" Shunta answered in a panicked tone while covering 'Hamuko's' mouth with his hand.

She stared at him in confusion. The girl sighed and gently took his hand off her face. "Calm down... What's the matter?" she whispered trying to ease the boy.

He looked around and pointed at the kitchen. "There's a hobo in the kitchen! A hobo! And he looks scary too..." he answered in a low voice.

'Hamuko' raised her brows and chuckled a moment later, which puzzled the boy. "Oh, that's just Castor. He's just washing the dishes~" She answered with a warm smile.

The lights were turned on and four figures stood at the bottom of the stairs: Shinjiro, 'Hamuko', Castor, and the ever-so confused Shunta. He kept his eyes locked on the two, from Castor to Shinjiro. His face showed an expression of disbelief.

"O-old man... W-why are there two of you?" he stuttered, "Oh, maan... Don't tell me my nightmares are coming true!"

Shinjiro and Castor rolled their eyes in unison. 'Hamuko' chuckled. Shunta, on the other hand, continued with his 'panicking' until the brunette cleared his throat, capturing the boy's attention.

"He's Aragaki Castor. A relative," Shinjiro said hesitantly in an annoyed tone.

"...A-a long lost relative!" 'Hamuko' added.

Castor groaned. Shunta was still in doubt.

"... And he'll be helping out here from now on," Shinjiro continued.

"Ehhh...? A second old man? You gotta be kidding me!" Shunta blurted out. The two other men immediately sent him piercing glares, which made the boy freeze in an instant.

"Got a problem with that kid? I don't like this as much as you do. Believe me," Castor retorted in a gruff, threatening tone as he cracked his knuckles. Shunta gulped nervously. "She dragged me in against my will," he added, pointing at 'Hamuko', who stuck her tongue out in response.

"N-no... O-of course not..." Shunta answered, moving farther from the two and closer to 'Hamuko'. "I already don't like this delinquent hobo!" he whispered beside her ear, though she decided to just keep quiet about it.

"So... about this morning... We have something to talk about..." Shinjiro suddenly spoke, changing the subject. He approached the blue-haired boy, who was now laughing nervously.

"Ahaha... About that... Look I was- Ow! Ow! Not the ear! Ouch! Hamu-chan! Help me...! Ow...!" Before he finished speaking, the brunette pulled him by his ear into the kitchen. Shunta's cry for help began to waver and was soon forgotten. Now, only the two, Castor and 'Hamuko', were left in the room.

"... I hope Shun-sama lives after this..." the girl muttered worriedly, but loud enough for Castor to hear.

"He'll be fine. That guy may be rough, but he's definitely not the type to beat the shit out of kids," Castor assured her.

"Well, if you're the one saying it, then I guess he's safe." 'Hamuko' smiled at him in relief.

The male Persona blushed and looked away. "Whatever..." he answered weakly. "Now, go to sleep. Staying up this late is bad for your health, c'mon..." he continued, patting her head before heading upstairs.

'Hamuko' watched as he disappeared in the dark. She smiled and gave the kitchen door a final glance before following Castor from behind...

"One and the same huh...?" she mumbled as she kept her eyes on the ground...

"Hmmm... This is starting to get out of hand... Alright, I'm on it."

"Thanks, Aki. I'll be waiting for the result. "

"No problem... Err... Shinji, you sound different... Has anything happened?"

"... No... nothing. You're thinking too much. I-I'm off..."

"H-hey! Shin- *beep*"

Before Akihiko finished, the man put the phone down and turned away.

"Castor! We need help here!" the female called out from afar.

"Yeah, I'm coming!" he answered in annoyance as he grabbed the apron from the table and headed off toward the kitchen...

So? What the hell just happened? Well, more stuff will be explained in later chapters. Like who is this Yuki... Or what happened after 'Hamuko' dragged in Castor... Or where the hell Shunta has been to.

It took me really long just to finish this cause I had a hard time figuring out how to insert all the scenes I wanted... Though in the end, they're not all here, but I guess this is the closest it can get ^^"

Oh yeah, and Minato is actually the reason why I went with 'Hamuko' instead of Minako... Cause I thought it might be weird for them to have almost similar names despite being unrelated (or are they?_). Plus, it might get confusing XD

Reviews are highly appreciated =D

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

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