"Who… Are you?" Yukari asked, her mouth gaping wide open with shock, "You don't remember who you are? Can you remember anything?"
"I…" the amnesiac girl started, clutching her head with her hands, "I can't remember…"
"Can't you try to-"
"Yukari," the boxer's hand gripped the brunette's shoulder, cutting off her sentence as well as an attempt to bring her back to reality, "I understand that you're upset after his disappearance, we all are, but she needs rest," he said, nodding towards the new girl.
Yukari looked up to stare at the piercing eyes of her senior before giving a sigh, "You're right, we're not getting anywhere like this," she then turned to face the girl again, "Can you walk?"
In response, the girl stood up. Or at least, tried to, for her knees began to become shaky and she was just about to fall before Junpei caught her. From then onwards, Junpei helped her walk as Fuuka guided the team to the teleporter.
Once the team had arrived at the first floor of the tower, Mitsuru approached the group and Fuuka had already released Lucia back to her soul. However, Yukari was already turning around to head back into the tower before Mitsuru stopped her with her usual commanding voice, "Takeba, just where do you think you're going?"
"I'm going back to find him," she answered simply without even looking back to her senior, "He's in there somewhere, I know he's in there somewhere!"
"No, Takeba, we don't have a clue to where he is. Nothing to pinpoint his location," Mitsuru told her, "I demand you to stay!"
"No!" Yukari said, this time turning around to face the group with fierce emotions, "I don't care if you're not going to help me find him, but I will find him! I'm not going to leave him alone in there!" she shouted.
"Yukari-chan, I can't… I can't sense him in Tartarus," Fuuka began, her lips quivering and her eyes looked as if she was about to cry, "I want to find him too! But we need to go back home and rest before one of us gets seriously injured, or…" she bit her lip, unable to say the word.
"She's right, we need to regroup and think about a strategy, " Akihiko agreed, throwing away his usual need for fighting for reason.
Junpei was silent in the whole argument, but that didn't mean he was short on emotions. It was clearly shown on his face, the mixed emotions of anger, fear, and somewhere in between desperation and hopefulness. But it was obvious that he was holding back his feelings, for the sake of the tired girl he was helping.
Yukari stared hopelessly at the group, her resolve was wavering: what the group had said was true. It was much better to go back home and re-structure their strategy rather than running in recklessly and throwing away their lives for nothing. She hung her head silently as she headed out the tower alone and back to her room in the dormitory.
The group followed her, albeit slowly to make time for the red-eyed girl to catch up. An agreement was reached within the group that they would have a meeting about the events that had just happened, particularly about the new girl, the missing boy, and the mysterious Shadow, the next evening. Even though they were not in the red-eyed girl's state, they were still far too tired to be able to make out anything, and their feelings were still too mixed to be able to think straight.
After the red-eyed girl was taken to an uninhabited room to sleep in for the night, the others went back to their own rooms and rested.
The brunette gave a sigh, she had wanted to skip school for the day. Even in the next morning, her feelings of wanting to rush in Tartarus to find the boy in a one-woman group still had not faded away entirely. Not only that, but the sudden appearance and disappearance of the girl and the boy respectively struck her as weird. Was it the girl's fault that the boy had disappeared? If so, then how did she do it? Magic? It was just… She just wanted to have time to think it over.
But no, she never got what she wanted. Instead, Mitsuru had barged in her room and told her to bring the girl to school that day, of course, if the girl looked well enough. Apparently, Mitsuru had found no records whatsoever about a girl with auburn hair and red eyes, so she had to create the girl's files and place her in a class there and then. That's Mitsuru for you, able to enroll a complete stranger into school in less than a night.
However, she still couldn't shake off the feeling that something was amiss in all of this. Why would Mitsuru want the girl to go to school? Especially after seeing on how exhausted she was yesterday. What was Mitsuru keeping from the group? Still, Yukari had to follow orders and bring the girl to school. She made a mental note to confront Mitsuru later in the evening meeting.
She gave another sigh as she knocked on the door of the girl, "Hey, are you awake?"
No response.
"Well, I'm coming in then," Yukari said as turned the knob and entered the room. To her surprise, however, the girl wasn't there. A confused look on her face, Yukari left the room and went downstairs to report her findings, "Hey, I can't find the girl in her roo- Oh."
Stopping her sentence midway, the brunette saw the girl, wearing an apron, was fixing breakfast, serving some delicious-looking meals on the table.
Yukari gave a small smile as she gave a wave, "Good morning," she called out as she approached the dining table, "It looks like you're well enough to go to school today,"
The girl looked up from the plate she was holding and gave the brightest smile that Yukari had ever seen, "Good morning… Um…" she replied enthusiastically, although the 'um' had hung in the air longer than she had wanted to.
"I'm Take-"
"WOW! It smells like a five-star restaurant in here!"
The cap-wearing boy jumped down the stairs, only waking up because of the heavenly smell of food, which Yukari had to admit was true. Junpei then hopped around the dining table, taking in the sights of the amazing dishes that the girl had cooked up earlier, "These look delicious! Did you make all these yourself?"
The girl nodded more than she had to in reply, "Uh-huh! You have to wait for the others to come down first, though!" she said, wagging a finger at Junpei playfully. Her cheerful behavior certainly contrasted that of last night, she must really have been tired yesterday. But she then tapped her finger on her chin, as if trying to remember something, "Oh, speaking of coming down first, I almost forgot to ask. Where are we, exactly?"
"He he, yes ma'am!" he replied just as playfully, as he sat down and placed his hands on his lap, imitating an obedient little boy, "This is the Iwatodai Dorm, in Port Island. This is all MY place!"
Yukari gave a sigh once more, "Well, as I was saying, I'm Yukari Takeba," she said, holding out a hand to the girl, "Call me Yukari! … And ignore Junpei,"
"Hey! And I'm Junpei Iori!" Junpei shouted as he pointed a thumb to himself, "Call me Junpei! " he said, imitating Yukari, and the auburn haired girl giggled.
"So have you remembered anything?" Yukari asked worriedly as the girl grasped her hand in a handshake.
The girl nodded vigorously once more, "Yep! I remembered my name!" she said quite excitedly, "I'm Minako Arisato! Call me Minako!"
The brunette stopped, taking back her hand from the girl, "W… What…?"
"Minako Arisato!" the girl repeated once more, and then she gave a giggle, "I like how my name-"
"Did you just say… Arisato?" Junpei cut in, his face turning dark, and he stood up to approach the girl and Yukari.
"Hm? Yeah, Minako Arisato! Geez, you people forget easily!" she said with a smile on her face, but quickly noticed the heavy atmosphere in the room, and the smile vanished instantly, "What's wrong?"
"Are you trying to mock us?" Yukari shouted at the girl, "Do you think it's funny to play a joke like that on us?"
"W-What?" Minako was surprised at the sudden change in Yukari's voice, and jumped. She took a few steps back in fear, "W-What are you-"
"It's not funny! It's not funny!" Yukari screamed at her, her voice trembling, "Give us back Minato! You can go to Hell, I don't care, but give back Mina-"
"What is going on in here?"
Yukari stopped short as she was interrupted by Mitsuru's commanding voice. The group turned around to face the redhead, who had her hands crossed, with both the silver haired boy and the teal haired girl behind her, "Let me ask again, what is going on in here?"
Yukari immediately pointed at Minako, "Her! She calls herself Minako Arisato!" she said accusingly, "She's mocking us and Minato!"
"T-That's not true!" Minako said defensively, "I don't know what you're talking about-"
"You lie!" Yukari hissed at her.
"I'm not!" she insisted, "I don't understand what you're talking about and I don't know who Minato is! And… And…" she stumbled on her words, not knowing what else to say in front of the angry Yukari, who really was quite scary.
"Arisato!" Mitsuru said in a strict tone, immediately putting Minako back in line (and making her squeak as well). The Student Council leader then glared at Minako with her piercing eyes in search of the truth, "Is that really your name?"
The girl nodded her head rapidly, as if her life depended on it, and she nodded too much until she became dizzy herself, at which point she stopped, "Yes! Yes, my name is Minako Arisato! That's the only thing that I remember!" she answered, "Please believe me!" she pleaded.
Mitsuru was silent at first, contemplating, before she spoke up again, but this time, towards SEES in general, "Did any of you mention Minato's name in front of her before now?" to which everyone shook her head, "Then she is telling the truth,"
"But-"
"Takeba," Mitsuru interrupted, "We will discuss this further this evening. Breakfast is waiting, we shouldn't let our food get cold,"
Speaking of food, the girl was immediately reminded of the dish that she was holding, "Ah!" she exclaimed, and hurriedly placed it on the table, taking off her apron before she took a seat, with everybody else following her example. The girl scanned the dinner table and bit her lip, "I wasn't sure how many people there were going to be, so I think I cooked a little bit too much…"
But it was quickly evident that it didn't matter, since the boys ate the leftovers. Akihiko reasoned that the extra fuel in the morning would be beneficial for him; it was training day for him today (or at least everyday is training day for him), and he said that he needed the energy. Junpei… Well, he was Junpei, nothing more to that.
Once they were finished, Minako rose to clean the dirty plates, but before she was able to, Mitsuru stopped her, "Don't worry, you have done enough for today's breakfast, it is only fair for the boys to clean up. I need to go to school earlier to finish some work," she said, ignoring the groans from the boys, but turned towards Yukari, "Takeba, my orders have not changed, please escort Arisato to school," Mitsuru then strutted out of the dormitory, and hurriedly headed off for school.
The brunette was silent for a moment, did her senior not see her erupt in anger just earlier? Or did her senior think that pushing the both of them together would help them make up? Either way, the girl had her orders, so she shoved away her plate and glared coldly at Minako, with an equally as cold voice, "Let's go,"
Minako had stayed silent, clearly under the effect of Yukari's glare, gave a reluctant nod as she stood up and followed Yukari out of the dorm.
The whole way from the dormitory to the train station was tense and awkward. Yukari walked in front of Minako, not even acknowledging her as she walked. The red-eyed girl had only stared at her now very interesting shoes, frequently looking up to make sure that she was following Yukari and that her new dorm mate hadn't forsaken her in the middle of nowhere.
The situation inside of the train wasn't much better either. The moment that they stepped on the train made the entire atmosphere icy cold, making the train suffocating. While Yukari stared out of the window to her right, still ignoring the girl, Minako stared down, glancing now and then at Yukari to observe her.
"I'm sorry!"
Yukari jumped with shock, as she stared at the apologetic girl in front of her, who had now stood up and bowed. What was she doing?
"I'm sorry about earlier! I didn't mean to hurt your feelings!" Minako said as she kept eye contact away from Yukari, "Minako Arisato was just the name that I remember! Maybe… If you don't like it, I can change my name! Yeah, maybe I can change it Hamuko! Maybe I can-"
"W-Wait," Yukari interrupted, stopping Minako from growing too passionate about her name-changing, which was an interesting change from being apologetic, so Yukari just couldn't help but slip out a giggle, but nevertheless, "You don't have to change your name, I have to apologize too for saying what I said earlier. I… I was too shaken over my friend's disappearance the other day, and your name was just so similar that I wasn't thinking straight and got angry too easily…"
Minako tapped her finger on her chin, as if she was pondering over a huge issue. After a few seconds, she gave a bright smile to her dorm mate and said as cheerfully possible, "If we're apologizing to each other, then that means we've forgiven each other, right?" she asked, and then held out her hand to the girl in front of her, "Can we just start over then? Hi, I'm Minako Arisato, call me Minako!"
Yukari gave a small smile back as she shook her hand, "I'm Yukari Takeba, call me Yukari,"
"Hey, you said that your friend disappeared, right?" Minako asked curiously, and then placed her hands on her hips with resolve and passion, "Well, I can help search for him too!"
The brunette gave a weak smile and a half-hearted laugh, "I don't think you can help out much," she said, "Even we don't know where he might possibly be, and it will be dangerous-"
"Don't worry! I'm prepared for every danger!" Minako shouted, punching the air to emphasize her point, even though the air didn't really pose much danger, "You just leave it to me!"
Yukari blinked at Minako's enthusiasm. Yes, a huge contrast from the weak and tired girl from Tartarus yesterday, "Sorry, but… It's personal," she said, picking out her words.
The girl gave a pout, but she nodded, "I understand," she then quickly changed her demeanor into one of her usual cheeriness, "But if you need anything, then you can ask me anytime!"
She smiled, "Thank you, I will," she then looked out the window, "Look, Minako-chan, you can see the school from here!"
Obeying her friend's orders, Minako looked out of the window, staring at the beautiful sight of a school, "Wow, it looks beautiful!" she exclaimed.
"Yup, it is, isn't it?" Yukari agreed, nodding her head, "Come on, get your bag, we're almost there!"
As the train slowed to a stop and opened its doors for its many passengers, the two of them stood up and walked through its doors and towards Gekkoukan school. Minako noted many things during her journey to the school, most notably the unique signs that led to her school, such as the trees and pathways and, well, mainly trees.
Once the two have arrived, Yukari pointed at a corridor of the school's, and started her 'tour', "Welcome to Gekkoukan!" she announced to her dorm mate, "The Faculty Office is right there to the left, you should go there first to see where you are in your class,"
She looked warily to her right and left, before continuing in a hushed tone, "Hey, do you remember anything about… Last night?"
"Huh? Last night?" Minako pondered, "Um… I think I was too tired to remember anything last night…"
"… I see," Yukari said, then waved her hand, "I need to go now, sorry, maybe we'll see each other later on in the afternoon. Seeya!" and she ran off to do some (questionable) work.
Minako gave a wave of goodbye at her friend and she started down on the corridor and followed her friend's instructions. Once she has reached the office, she slid open the door to see the redhead Mitsuru talking with who looked like a teacher, "Excuse me, I'm-"
"Ah, this is who I was talking about, Ms. Toriumi," Mitsuru introduced, glancing at the girl as a signal for her to approach the two, which Minako obediently obeyed, "This is Minako Arisato, and I apologize once more for the lack of her files. In a misunderstanding, we were unable to obtain them and they were lost. I promise on my name Kirijo that I will bring in the files by the end of this week,"
"Oh no, there's no rush, Mitsuru. Those files are not very important anyways, they were only things about her background," the woman, who Minako assumed to be Ms. Toriumi, assured, "And I assume that Arisato here is a relative to Minato Arisato?"
Before Minako even had the chance to speak, Mitsuru swiftly replied, "Yes, she is the distant cousin of Minato Arisato," Mitsuru answered, "She had only came from New York yesterday, so please be gentle with her if she appears to be tired. Thank you for your understanding, I will take my leave now," she then stood up and walked out, her heels clacking behind her.
Ah, so Minako was supposed to play the role of 'cousin'. Well, to be honest, she didn't even know said 'cousin', but she guessed that she had to play the role for the safety of her position in the school anyways.
"So, Arisato,"
Minako, taken out from her thoughts, faced the teacher as she continued with what she had to say, "I believe I haven't introduced myself yet. I am Ms. Toriumi and I will be both your homeroom teacher and Composition teacher. Arisato, you will be in my class, 2-F," she nodded, "Hm, that's a coincidence, that's also where your cousin is in right now," she had no choice but to nod again with a smile plastered on her face.
"By the way, Arisato, since I don't have your file now, how long have you been living in New York?" make up a time, make up a time…
"A year,"
"Ah, and how was it, Arisato?"
…How was it? She had never visited New York before, especially because her memory was wiped out! Get a response, get a response… "It was amazing!" she replied enthusiastically.
"That sounds great," the teacher replied, and she checked her watch, "We should go, class is about to start,"
And so the teacher led her student up the stairs and through the winding corridors to reach the classroom: 2-F. Minako stared at the class sign as the teacher went inside to welcome the class into another day of school. The girl had almost missed her teacher's call, she was just so entranced in the thought of going to school. But she skipped inside cheerfully and introduced herself, "Hi! I'm Minako Arisato! Please take care of me!" she then gave a short bow to the class. Ms. Toriumi then assigned her a seat and picked up the class register, while Minako walked over to her assigned seat.
"… Minato," Toriumi looked around, searching for her student when she heard no response, "Is Minato here?"
Yukari gulped while Junpei looked down, unable to make eye contact with his teacher, "Um, he's sick," Yukari piped up, careful to control her wavering voice.
"That's a shame," she said as she noted it down and continued with the registry.
School was normal as per usual. Except for the fact that Minako was the complete opposite of the blue haired/missing boy. Attentive in class, answering questions perfectly right, even going so far as to rouse Junpei from sleep and then telling him to pay attention to class. She was the perfect student model, and the teachers love her for being one.
Though, Yukari had speculated that Minako was a bit tired, especially after the events of last night. It clearly showed, though, when Minako had hung her head for a few seconds, no more, and then snapped back to attention. Maybe she was overdoing it, that was probably the problem.
She felt a slight pity when she saw Minako stumble out of the classroom when the school bell had announced that classes were officially over. Yukari couldn't escort Minako back to the dormitory; she had archery. But her worries were instantly eased when she saw Junpei approach Minako. Well, some of it, though some new worries did rise up.
But after giving a cold glare at Junpei, mentally telling him not to even try anything funny with Minako, she left for her club.
"Brr! Cold, Yuka-tan!" Junpei commented as he shivered from the icy glare that his friend has given him, "Though, it looks like you two have made up, huh?"
Minako gave a nod and beamed at the boy, "Yep! It's a good thing that I didn't have to change my name, though!" she joked.
Junpei laughed, "Well, I was going to get some ramen, but since you're so tired, I'll be taking you back home!" he said, "Leave it to ol' Junpei to be your company!"
"Ah, no!" Minako exclaimed as she waved her hands in the air, "If you want to get ramen, then I don't want to hold you back-"
"Nah, it's fine," Junpei shrugged, "Besides, I think I need to catch up on my schoolwork,"
Minako then stared at Junpei with the widest eyes that she could even do, her mouth gaping open with shock, "You? Do schoolwork?" she recovered from her shock and giggled, "Sleeping in class isn't a good step towards that,"
"H-Hey!" Junpei sighed dejectedly, "By the way, why did you wake me up when I was dreaming? She was such a hot girl… Now I can't dream of her again," and he sighed once more.
Needless to say, that earned him a stomp on his foot.
"Ow! Hey, hey! I was just kidding! You didn't have to take it like how Yuka-tan does!" and Minako laughed at Junpei's statement. The cap-wearer gave another sigh before he smiled and laughed along, "Come on, let's go,"
The girl gave another giggle before she followed Junpei out of the school and towards the dormitory, where they made small talk along the way. Until Minako quietened all of the sudden, and began to look at her shoes for a moment before she looked up at Junpei again, "Hey, um, why are you acting so nice to me even if your friend is gone?" she asked blatantly.
Junpei stopped and looked up towards the sky, sorting out his feelings as a serious look began to attach itself on his face, "Well, to be honest, I feel relieved," he said with utmost sincerity, "It's true that I am sad and angry that Minato's gone, but I feel relieved because I won't be living in his shadow anymore, because he always seemed to be better at me no matter what I do,"
He then gave a dark laugh, "It's true, but I guess I'm a bad person to think that way," he said, "I don't think you're the cause of Minato disappearing, though,"
"Thank you," Minako replied, "But you're better than that, I believe in you!" she exclaimed with a rising passion in her voice.
"Heh, you're the first one to say that," he said, looking away from the girl, "… Thanks,"
She nodded, and they began small talk once again until they reached the dormitory.
"I know that yesterday's event was shocking for all of us, and it is unfortunate that Ikutsuki-san is unable to come today because of his workload," Mitsuru said as she started the meeting, "But first and foremost, I would like to focus on sorting the facts of the events yesterday. Yamagishi, please tell us what you have witnessed yesterday through the eyes of him,"
Fuuka sat restlessly on her chair, her inability to even contact the blue haired boy made her feel useless, and the fact that she couldn't even find where the boy is made her feel even worse. But nonetheless, she said, "I saw Minato-kun fight a Shadow. It was unlike any Shadow that I have ever seen, and the Shadow resembled a… Human," she gulped down her tears, "Minato-kun was unable to damage it, and when he surrendered, the Shadow didn't attack him, but instead looked like it was trying to communicate with him. And… That was when I was…"
"… Thank you, Yamagishi," Mitsuru said in a soft voice, and then looked around the room, "And all the rest, you should already know. Do any of you have a possible theory of what might be happening?"
The room was silent for a moment, as the members of SEES, excluding Minako as she was back in her room, shifted uneasily. They were stumped, nothing like this has ever happened before, some, if not most, had never imagined something like this would happen.
"Maybe… Minato was changed into a girl?" SEES turned to stare at Yukari with shocked faces at even the mere thought of that possibility.
"Wow, Yuka-tan," Junpei muttered, "Even that sounds bizarre to me,"
"Can't you see it?" Yukari insisted, not giving up, "Aside from her personality and her looks, you have to admit that her headphones have this odd similarity with Minato's. And her name! She claims her name to be Minako Arisato, don't you think it's weird?" her points were quite interesting, though her name was a fact that was hard to shake.
"Plus… Can't you guys feel it? Doesn't she remind you of… Someone?" she added, which the team had to admit, there was a special feel about the girl that was only evident in someone else. They raked deep into their brains and memories.
Was it Kenji? Of course not. Rio? Definitely not. Toriumi? Why was she even on the list?
Then, in a second, the entire team got the answer simultaneously, 'Minato'. The girl gave a feeling of Minato. How was that even possible? … Unless, of course, Yukari's theory was correct.
"Even so, Takeba, there are still some other questions to raise if your theory proved to be true," Mitsuru argued, "Why are her personality and appearances contrasting that of Minato's? Why are they not similar? How did her turn into a girl? If it were only a simple gender swap, then why did Minato lose his, or her, memories?"
Yukari was baffled. Mitsuru was right, there were just too many loopholes for that theory to be considered, but it was definitely better than nothing, "T-Then we should investigate this matter further!" she stuttered, "It's the only way to find out the truth!"
"And how do you propose to do that, Takeba?"
Well, Mitsuru is pretty good in this game, but she wouldn't lose! "Maybe Tartarus has the answer. We should go back there and search for him!"
"Takeba, as we have said before, there was no sign of him in Tartarus," Mitsuru countered, "It would be needless to waste both time and energy there,"
"But…"
"Before I forget," Mitsuru interjected, "Takeba, did Arisato remember anything when she was at school?"
Yukari shook her head in response, to which Mitsuru gave a sigh to, "I had hoped that she would regain some of her memories if she were to visit and live like a student in Gekkoukan, but that proved to have failed as well,"
Ah, so that was why Mitsuru had wanted Minako to go to school. It was a smart idea, Yukari had to admit, if only Mitsuru had told Yukari what her intentions were…
23:59:57
23:59:58
23:59:59
Dark Hour
Time had moved fast, the group hadn't even realized what time it was until the greenish light shone into the meeting room, and the room became devoid of the usual hum of air conditioning.
"It seems we have lost track of time…" Mitsuru muttered, as she walked over to the screens that monitored movements in the rooms, and began to type commands into the huge screens, "I had a feeling that Minako had the 'potential', and it would do well to remind everyone that being able to enter Tartarus does not mean that a person necessarily has the 'potential', as Moriyama has proven for us a while ago. Watching her actions tonight would definitely shed light to the truth,"
Mitsuru then pulled up the window which held the recordings of Minako's room only to be greeted by an empty bedroom. Minako was gone, nowhere to be found. Which placed Mitsuru right into action, as she instantly commanded, "Yamagishi, find Arisato immediately!"
Fuuka nodded as she placed the gun-shaped Evoker on her head and pulled the trigger, "Persona!" she cried out as Lucia appeared once again to protect her master in her glass dome. Fuuka closed her eyes to concentrate, and exclaimed once she had found Minako's location, "I found her! She's in Paulownia Mall! But… There's something else… Wait… I sense… I sense a Shadow heading her way! It's not a full moon Shadow, but it's still huge!"
"Akihiko, Takeba, Iori, we need to head for the site immediately," Mitsuru instructed, and the group nodded as they quickly grabbed their weapons and headed out for the Mall.
Meanwhile, Minako had stumbled upon the alleyway of the Paulownia Mall. There was something that had beckoned her to come that evening, and she knew that she had been there before. And there it was, at the end of the alleyway was a mysterious blue door, just begging her to be opened. Minako approached the blue door, and tried the handle.
It was locked.
She did not have the key.
But there was something… Something was calling her, something wanted her from the other side of the door. In an act of desperation, she tried the knob multiple times, in hopes of it being magically opened, and when that didn't work, she knocked on the door, each knock growing in volume, hoping someone would hear.
It was then that time had stopped, and the night had turned green. Minako was confused at what was happening, and she knew that this should not be taken lightly. What she did not know, however, was the fact that a monster, a Shadow, was heading right for her.
But it was too late to even try to flee, said Shadow was fast. Within a few minutes, the Shadow had arrived in front of Paulownia Mall, while the girl was still inside the Mall itself. The huge Shadow then rammed against the doors of the Mall and broke in, and Minako couldn't do anything except being frozen to her spot, staring at the Shadow.
It was truly a monster, the Shadow had a humanoid shape, just like the Shadow that the blue haired boy had previously encountered. But what was different from this Shadow and the last was the fact that the Shadow was five times bigger, as the Shadow ripped apart the building and the structure of the Mall, definitely not built to house said Shadow. The hole on the Shadow's face appeared, like how it had appeared last night, and it began to open and close once more.
"You…"
Minako was surprised as she heard the word slipped out of the Shadow's make-shift mouth, "M-Me?"
"You… Minako… Arisato…" the Shadow uttered with great difficulty, "Why… You…"
"How… How did you know who I am?" she asked, taking a few slow steps back from the monster.
"Minako… Arisato…"
"W-What… What do you want-"
"Die."
Her eyes grew wide as she watched the being roared and raise his hand. In an attempt to avoid being squashed by said hand, Minako ran out of the way as the hand struck the floor with great force, creating a hand print on the Mall.
The Shadow turned to face Minako, from his make-shift mouth was what looked like raging fire, and with every second, it began to intensify and the air in the atmosphere began to turn burning hot. This attack, this one attack, Minako had the feeling that she wouldn't be able to escape from it, no matter what she tried. So she stood, paralyzed in fear, as the word began to strain out from the Shadow's mouth.
"Agidy-"
"Bufu!"
Penthesilea appeared in a split-second to throw off an icicle at the Shadow, disrupting it from its concentration. The atmosphere returned back to normal and the fire in the Shadow's mouth disappeared, and he roared at the distraction that had been caused and turned around to face these disruptors.
The group of four had entered the Mall, panting as they did so, after a run as quickly as they could. Mitsuru had her in Evoker in hand, as well as her rapier, "Arisato-" she was able to say before the Shadow flicked her to the far side of the Mall with a slap of his hand, and she was immediately out of commission on impact.
"Mitsuru!" Akihiko shouted, and pulled the trigger as he aimed the Evoker to his head, "Polydeuces!" his Persona appeared above him as he summoned electricity to attack the Shadow. But not only was the Shadow unaffected (or far worse, absorbed) by Akihiko's attack, it had only enraged him further, and Akihiko followed Mitsuru by flying away as well, still conscious but unable to stand up after impact.
Yukari, having the job to look after Minako no matter what had happened, as she was instructed to do so by Mitsuru earlier on (with Junpei instructed to help Akihiko and Mitsuru if anything happened), sprinted towards where Minako stood, "Minako-chan, Minako-chan!" she called, unfreezing Minako from her trance, "Minako-chan, run! We'll take care of this!"
"B-But…"
"Now!" Yukari shouted when she heard the Shadow roar once more and turned its attention to the two, or more specifically, Minako.
Just as Yukari was about to summon Io, the Shadow had beaten her by summoning the electricity that he had absorbed from Akihiko's attack, "Zio!" it said, the electricity flying at Yukari.
Fortunately, Yukari was able to dodge most of it, but she was still hurt from the attack. And just her luck, the part where she was zapped was her hand which had previously held her Evoker, where the Evoker had now been flung towards Minako. Just like how it happened before with Minato.
Minako picked up the Evoker and stared at it as she began to remember, "… Evoker," she muttered, and placed the Evoker on her head, resting her finger on the trigger, "Orpheus…"
Yukari snapped her head to Minako as she heard what her friend had just said. Orpheus! Minato's first Person! This clearly strengthened her theory of Minato turning into a girl, she was right after all-
"… Telos,"
… Wait, what?
The girl pulled the trigger, as the glass shard vanished as quickly as it had came from the side of her head. The gold and red variant of Orpheus appeared above Minako, emitting a much higher power than the original Orpheus, "Megidolaon!" Minako shouted as the Persona calmly strummed on his harp, creating heavy damage which was inflicted towards the Shadow (and the area surrounding it).
The Shadow screamed in pain, as it began to stumble back and fall. Screeching, the Shadow held out his hand in an attempt to take down the girl with him, but the Shadow was interrupted by its untimely death, as it began to dissipate into oblivion.
The Orpheus faded as swiftly as it had came, and his master fell to the ground from exhaustion, still clutching the Evoker in hand. The words of worry from her brunette friend were indistinct, and before long, she had fallen unconscious.
Author's Note: As always, disclaimer that I don't own Persona or anything of it.
Well, this came out longer than I expected. Reviews are appreciated!
Thank you for reading!