A/N: Oh, dear me. The announcement that this story would be rather short seems to have brought about quite the reaction. However, the reasoning behind our decision is sound: the story itself is short. We were able to sum it up in a short conversation with each other. Furthermore, we are forsaking all filler. Any scene you see is entirely relevant to the plot or the characters. I wish we could apologize, but frankly, if you want a big meandering story whose plot takes so long to get to the point that it ends up veering far off the intending course, chockful of filler, go read TFT. Or a shonen manga. Those stories have their places, and stories like this one have theirs. A short, (bitter)sweet tale of what happens to two (or more) characters you know about after one story has room to be very powerful without dragging itself out. Quite honestly, I don't know HOW anyone thought it would be even REMOTELY similar to TFT in length… I mean, we started it at Naoto getting kidnapped, with pre-established characters as protagonists. There's room in the story for neither plot nor character development to stretch it out to TFT-length.
Also, I'm disappointed. Several people seemed surprised at Minato getting tossed into the TV. And yet, no one realized the potential implications of him getting thrown into the world where you see your Shadow.
You guys disappointed Evilshroom. Shame on you 8D
"I'm tired of being here… this world isn't worth shit. If nothing I remember is real, if this world refuses to give me anything… then I'll just do everything I can to get back something from where I should be. No matter whom I have to step over to do so."
After that short declaration from a weary boy, the TV shut off. Aigis stared grimly into the blank screen for a few short moments, then reached into her pocket for her cell phone just as it went off.
"Souji-san? Yes, I saw. …Your reassurances are kind, but I would rather you simply permit me to join you when you go to rescue him. …Because I am not an imbecile, Souji-san. The connections were obvious. …I assure you, I am quite capable of defending myself. …Very good. I will meet all of you at Junes tomorrow, then."
"…!"
Fog. Endless fog, inside his head, preventing any coherent thought or awareness.
"…up!"
Minato had no concept of the passage or time, nor the world around him.
"Wake up, ya sleeping bum!"
"HAMUKO?" His eyes snapped open instantly at the sound of that voice. He looked around frantically, searching for any sign of her auburn hair. Not a single sign of her was to be found. His setting, however, seemed quite familiar. He sat in an open entryway, his only company a golden clock, an odd-looking pad, and a vast door set into a clock face that opened into a tower that stretched into the heavens. Or so he knew it did from memory- the air all around was permeated with a fog that made it impossible to see more than five feet in front of him, let alone into the heavens.
"Tartarus…" he muttered. "How the hell did I get here… and how is it even here?"
The reemergence of the tower, which he knew to have disappeared along with the Dark Hour, unnerved him greatly, and set his mind to wondering.
"Tartarus can't be back, unless… is the Seal undone?" he considered. "And I heard… could it be that…"
"She's back!"
"Don't get your hopes up," he scolded himself, even as he felt his spirits soar from the state Naoto's denial had left him in. "Of course, if she did come back… logically, she'd come down to the top. I suppose it couldn't hurt to see…"
"She's back!"
"Maybe… maybe." He felt himself smile. He walked toward the teleporter pad, and his smile faded. "Doesn't work. Figures. I suppose I could always climb…"
The inside of Tartarus was different from how he remembered. The twisting, winding paths, looping and whirling into each other, were replaced with stretching hallways that led smoothly from one place to another, little rooms branching off. The fog which filled the outside poured within as well, hindering Minato's vision. And as he rounded a corner, he found one of the oddest changes of all, nearly smacking face-first into a floating ball.
The creature seemed to be all mouth, with wide, square teeth set in a grin. A massive tongue lolled lazily out of its mouth. It immediately struck Minato as a rather dumb puppy until he saw the mask attached to its backside.
"Well, you're new…" he said, reaching to his hip on reflex. When he grasped nothing but air, he realized his Evoker still was kept with that dirty police officer. He took a step back in worry, and the Shadow, sensing weakness from its prey, loomed closer with its grin seeming to turn victorious.
The Shadow lunged forward, and as if on instinct, Minato held a hand out in a futile gesture to ward off the monster. Time seemed to slow to a halt. In the back of his mind, he felt that familiar presence so much further forward than normal. As close as the mighty musician was to the forefront of his mind, it seemed child's play… as if he could reach out and touch it…
A bright light dispersed the fog around him in its radiance, or perhaps it was a property of the light itself. A card, materializing out of nothing, and emblazoned with the familiar figure of the Fool and the Roman number XXII, appeared from thin air before him. And so the Fool acted on his instinct, and reached out for it, clenching his fist around it.
As if a door in his mind opened up, Orpheus Telos leapt from the forefront, where it had been sitting like a racer at the starting line, tensed and ready for the sound of the pistol. With a single thrum of its lyre, the air about the Shadow superheated and combusted in the intense pyre of an Agidyne, setting it to ashes and ichor within seconds. The Persona turned towards Minato as it faded, as if dissatisfied with the ease of the battle.
"Don't give me that look…" he muttered to the invocation, feeling the meager drain on his spirit from the fire spell restored by Orpheus Telos's Victory Cry. "That summoning was… easy. Really easy. None of that painful backlash like from an Evoker summoning. I suppose that will simplify things."
However, he had few opportunities to engage in any battles. Shadows seemed to avoid the scruffy man making his way through the floors and gave him free passage. And so he walked onward and upward, seeking the source of that familiar feeling within him.
"Okay, everyone. I believe everyone here is familiar with Aigis-san," Souji announced at the usual table in the Junes food court. "She'll be joining us this time."
The rest of the team exploded.
"Senpai, that's-!"
"Partner, she's not-!"
"Hey, we can't let her-!"
"Enough," Souji said calmly. "Look, I share your concerns. But she is aware of us rescuing the kidnapped victims. Furthermore, we will not be able to find Arisato-san without information on him, and Aigis-san is the only one with said information."
"It's still not safe for her," Yosuke insisted stubbornly.
"As I told Souji-san, I am quite capable of taking care of myself," Aigis stated firmly. "I quite highly doubt that the dangers you get yourselves into match up to those I have faced in the past."
"You'd be surprised," Kanji grumbled.
"The fact is, we need Aigis-san's cooperation to rescue Arisato-san. We do wish him rescued, don't we?" Souji stressed, narrowing his eyes slightly.
A general grumbling of acceptance echoed around the table. Souji nodded.
"Then let's welcome Aigis-san as the newest provisional member of the Investigation Team, shall we?"
This time, the table-wide reaction was far more positive, everyone clapping and cheering for the slightly blushing bot. Souji nodded with a smile.
"Alright then, let's go, everyone."
As the group rose from the table and started making their way inside, Aigis following. Souji hung behind and grabbed the arms of Yukiko and Rise.
"I need you two to keep a close eye on both Aigis-san and Naoto, since this will be her first time going into battle," he whispered. "Try to keep them both safe, alright? Rise, if you sense Aigis-san's Shadow forming, alert us immediately."
Nearer the front, Naoto spoke softly to Aigis as they approached the electronics section.
"I… I am truly sorry for the way I acted yesterday, Aigis-san," she said haltingly. "My reaction was… not entirely uncalled for, but still excessive, and led to Arisato-san's kidnapping. I will do all I can to ensure he returns safely."
"Thank you, Naoto-san," Aigis said with a bright smile. "However, I hold you no ill will. If you wish to apologize, do so to Minato. I'll even ensure he apologizes in turn… he was beyond tactless."
As the two spoke, they arrived in front of the massive flat-screen television in the center of Junes's electronics department. Aigis furrowed her brow.
"…What, precisely, are we doing here?" she asked. The others laughed lightly.
"Might just be best to show you," Yosuke said, offering out his hand with a winning smile and planting a foot on the TV's stand. Aigis only looked at the proffered hand and raised an eyebrow. Yosuke's smile faltered slightly.
"Get movin', Senpai, we got stuff to do already!" Kanji grunted, shoving Yosuke back with one strong hand. With a startled yelp, the boy fell through the screen, a slowly fading ripple all that remained. "Someone really does gotta take ya through though, Aigis-san. Ya don't have… uh… a thing…"
"You won't be able to go through alone, Aigis-san," Chie said, cutting Kanji off. "Here, come on. And, uh, watch your step."
Taking Chie's hand, Aigis followed her fearlessly into the portal on the screen. The flashing vortex of white and black disoriented her, as did the fall through what appeared to be absolutely nothing. Her surroundings suddenly materialized around her, and she processed that she was about five feet in the air and still falling rather quickly a second too late.
"I told you to watch your step," Chie said with a small laugh as Aigis rubbed her posterior, a small grimace on her face.
"So you did," the android admitted, taking in her surroundings. She could not, honestly, take in much, the yellow fog all about filling her vision.
"Ooh, I smell a babe!" an excited voice called out from the fog. "Is that Ai-chan, my long-lost non-blood-related twin?"
"Teddie, how the hell does that even work?" Yosuke asked in exasperation as the other members of the Investigation Team started falling down much more gracefully than Aigis had.
"Well you see, incest tones are quite popular amongst otaku, but actual incest is illegal to show," Aigis explained at random. "So the siblings are very often, and quite improbably, described to not be blood relations, but one is adopted. It is common for the female party to be a younger sister. In fact, one particularly popular harem series with a ridiculously long name-"
"Alright, alright!" he interjected. "…I think I can see how you and Arisato-san get along. This isn't an anime, anyway."
Aigis looked around her at the group of Japanese teenagers, including a literal mascot and an attractive young man with a private harem, and shrugged. Noticing something else, she brought up a question.
"Why are all of you wearing glasses now?"
"Excellent question, Ai-chan!" Teddie cheered. "And for you, and Nao-chan…"
The young detective in question had just fallen quite solidly on her rump in the same fashion Aigis had alongside Rise, the last ones to enter the TV.
"…I have a present!" Teddie finished, whipping out a tasteful pair of glasses with blue frames and an odd visor of sorts with a light blue lens. The two girls fit them on, marveling at how they reduced the effect of the fog. Aigis in particular noted how smoothly they slid into her "headphones."
"These are quite masterful…" Naoto said, sounding impressed. "Don't you think so, Aigis-san? …Aigis-san?"
"Behold, optic blast!" There was no effect. "Disappointing. Perhaps if the visor was red…"
"We should get a move on," Souji said calmly. "Teddie, I don't suppose you've been able to sniff out Arisato-san's location without any clues?"
The bear shook his head.
"Alright then. Aigis-san, Teddie and Rise here will be able to track down where Arisato-san is, but they're going to need clues based on his personality. Can you tell us everything you know about him?"
Aigis hesitated.
"That would take… a very long time," she admitted. "But I can tell you some of the biggest things. Minato is a man who has lost nearly everything important to him all at once. He is unbelievably lonely, and feels lost and without direction in this world. He used to harbor a secret desire to be a hero. His childhood was much like his current life, in that he was alone and widely considered to be delusional, until he gained some close friends and someone he loved, all of whom he lost or drifted apart from. I think that right now, his dearest desire is to return to how things were, the only time he was ever really happy."
The group quieted at that, having gained some perspective on the man several of them had dismissed as a weirdo or madman. Rise and Teddie searched the area, and given the wealth of knowledge Aigis had provided, rather quickly narrowed in on a signal.
"I've got him!" Rise said. Souji nodded.
"Let's move out then, everyone. We shouldn't leave anyone in here for longer than necessary."
"…I guess it couldn't be any other place."
Aigis stared at the magnificent structure standing high before her. She heaved a sigh and turned to the others.
"If my guess is correct, he should be in the highest part of the structure." Aigis commented, not wanting to give away too much information.
"Yeah, that's how it always works." Yosuke nodded, with a hint of pride.
"That's my Aigis-san, smart and pretty!" Teddie said dreamily.
"Are you familiar with this place, Aigis-san?" Naoto asked, however, sharp as always.
"It was… an easy guess." She lied. "It's the usual procedure in videogames."
"Well, sorry for being clichéd." Souji snorted. "We don't have time to banter. Let's go!"
As Aigis followed Souji in, she felt several stares fixed on her.
"Just as I remembered it… but there's something amiss." She thought to herself, taking in the entirety of the entrance with a single glance.
"Wow, this place's really beautiful." Rise commented, marveled.
"Kinda creepy if you ask me." Kanji muttered back.
The only thing in Aigis's mind as they moved along, in complete silence, was about how much she missed Fuuka humming songs as they fought.
And so, after a few minutes in a floor that was surprisingly different from what she remembered, they stumbled upon their first shadow. A crawling mass of whatever Shadows were composed of, but much more well defined that the blobs with million arms that she was used to. Perhaps… this was what they referred to as 'Crawling Chaos'? Would it turn into a silver haired girl?
Her actual surprise at seeing that kind of monster probably saved her from a thousand questions.
"Naoto-san, it's time to test your abilities." Souji smirked.
Naoto seemed confused for a moment, but she recalled having caught a glimpse of the attacks they'd used as they fought her Shadow.
As the Shadow, slowly taking a form, lunged towards her, a blue glow surrounded her, like an omen of what was about to happen. She grabbed her gun, and…
…She didn't shoot herself on the head. Instead, she shot at a card that appeared in front of her, making it shatter and gather again, in the shape of some kind of bug-man. Jiminy Cricket?
"Come, Sukuna-Hikona!"
The creature flew up and down, as if testing its wings, and then immediately charged towards the Shadow, epée in hand, making an inconsistent wound in its purple skin.
"Don't worry, Souji-san!" She said, pointing her gun at the mass. "I can handle this by myself!"
Unimpressed by the previous attack, the shape of the blob began changing as well, presenting itself as a mighty knight, looking down at its contenders.
"One of these again?" Chie asked, adopting a… defensive position?
"Stop. She wants to fight it on her own." Souji ordered in a low voice. "I want to see what she's capable of, as well."
Aigis could recall how easy it was for both Minato and Hamuko to sense a Persona's abilities, even more so with Fuuka's help, but, perhaps this boy didn't possess such a skill.
Naoto rolled away just in time to avoid being stabbed by a gigantic lance, and one could only guess that no training she had received in her career could mentally prepare her to fight a knight coming out of people's fantasies. Regardless, she valiantly, or stupidly rather, fended it off with all her strength.
"Uhh… try shooting at its horse!" Their mission control yelled, apparently taking random guesses.
She fired her revolver at the Shadow itself this time, striking the empty armor to no avail. Aigis felt like cringing at Rise's incompetence. Why was Rise not announcing the Shadow's weaknesses? Surely she at least could sense that much. This was turning into a nasty situation...
…One too familiar for her.
"Souji-san, it's about time you help her."
A Power Charge was cast by the Shadow, and so Naoto commented in the distance on the pointlessness of such a flashy 'spell'.
"This is the best way of learning."
"I don't doubt that, but, Souji-san—"
"Alright, what about this?"
A spectral silence filled the room, as darkness itself began forming shapes on the ground, Naoto could not look any prouder of her Mudoon. The Shadow, however, just… snorted.
"NAOTO-SAN!"
The dark shapes immediately changed their direction, heading instead for the shocked Naoto. She attempted to leap away from the dark haze forming around her...
…Only to fall directly into the trap. The knight lunged forward with its massive lance right where Naoto dodged to. She flinched, expecting the worst. Scant moments passed.
Naoto opened her eyes slightly, as she futilely tried to cover herself while lying on the ground. And she probably couldn't have been any more surprised when she saw Aigis standing high between her and the gargantuan lance which almost bludgeoned Naoto to death.
"NOT… TODAY!"
With a cry, Aigis overpowered the knight, using the lance as a pivot to smash it against the ground, making it groan in pain.
That had probably made some eyebrows rise, and she'd be questioned about her unusual strength.
"In for a penny, in for a pound!" She thought as she pushed Naoto away. "Orgia mode!"
Her 'headphones' began spinning visibly, as a snarl appeared on her face… along with a grenade launcher which came out of her wrist and a couple of missile launchers from her shoulder blades which shredded the back of her clothes, showing nothing but a metallic body. She could hear the gasps and exclamations in the distance, but she was way past the point of caring.
"SOUJI-SAN! NAOTO-SAN!" She yelled without turning around.
"Y-yeah?" The albino asked, trying his best to mask his surprise.
"THAT." BANG. "WAS." CRASH. "TOO." BOOM. "RECKLESS."
The horseman was only twitching on the ground as Aigis menacingly walked towards it.
"Nobody likes a solo player." She growled. "So don't keep trying to get your friends killed like that."
With a last sigh, she yelled "ATHENA!", and so her Persona heard her call.
Aigis finally turned around, nothing left but ichor and sparks as her Orgia Mode wore off. "I'm sure you have many questions, but I don't plan on letting my fried die, either."
She took the rest of her clothes off, for they couldn't do anything to hide her identity anymore.
"Let's go."
With Aigis's overwhelming power in comparison to the Investigation Team, and the relatively pitiful resistance the Shadows put up, the group was able to work their way through the pseudo-Tartarus with exceptional ease. Aigis noted that, although the floors seemed individually larger than a single floor of the true Tartarus, there were far fewer, going to a new block every two or three floors. And perhaps most relieving, not a single Guardian to be found.
Before long, the team had gone through the two floors of the block styled after Adamah, and ascended the final staircase. The scene was chillingly familiar; a barren, flat rooftop was open to the night skies, with an eerie green light shining down. Aigis had seen it hundreds upon hundreds of times. No harbinger of death floated with its deceptive peace in the center; no Avatar of Nyx could be found. Only a single man, looking more lost and broken than any human soul should ever be, stood on its apex, staring up where a green moon ought to be. A black and red vortex had replaced it in this false world.
"Minato…" Aigis ventured tentatively, reaching out gently for his shoulder from behind. He turned to face her. Tear tracks stained his face, though his eyes appeared dry. He looked as empty as if he had been stricken with Apathy Syndrome.
"I heard her," he croaked out. His voice was cracked and rough, and held no emotion. "I heard her, Aigis. I know I did."
"You can't hear something that doesn't exist. That never existed."
"She should be here… it's all I wanted. This place isn't real, so…"
Aigis embraced him tightly, while his arms hung at his sides. He didn't cry, or move to return the comforting hug. Minato just stood there, seeming for all the world like he didn't belong anywhere he stood.
"I called for her. Up and down every hallway. You didn't see her either, did you?"
Aigis shook her head silently, stifling some sympathetic tears. She held him still tighter.
"It's all I wanted… with everything we gave, with all the time we spent… I just wanted to see her again. There's nothing right with this world… nothing about it is good at all."
"Things will… things will be better for you, Minato," she said weakly, barely believing them herself.
"No they won't."
"No they won't. I…"
"I hate this life."
"…Why did it feel so much more real in that fake world?"
"Rise, do you sense his Shadow anywhere?" Souji said softly.
She shook her head.
"Nothing, Senpai. I guess he has a Persona already like Aigis does. The Shadow should have formed by now."
Yosuke stretched his back out, smiling a bit.
"Heh, lucky guy, doesn't have to face his Shadow in front of everyone," he said. If it were possible, Minato grew stiller. He pried himself firmly out of Aigis's grip and turned his soulless gaze onto Yosuke, a single spark seeming to flicker there.
"Hanamura. Elaborate."
"Huh?" Yosuke seemed caught flatfooted by Minato's empty stare. Aigis's eyes widened as she realized what was happening. "Well, uh… for almost everyone who comes in here, they see their Shadow and have to accept it, or else it kills them."
"Almost everyone?"
"Those who already have a Persona seem to not see their Shadow," Souji explained.
"Have you looked?" His voice became more intense, his eyes slowly lighting with that same desperate fire they'd had in his pursuit of Naoto.
"Why would anyone want to find those damn things…?" Yosuke grumbled.
"So then you haven't…" he said softly. "Then, what I heard… she is? There are all kinds of Shadows here, right?"
"This is the world where Shadows live," Teddie provided helpfully.
"So she is!"
"Minato, stop," Aigis said firmly.
"She is! Aigis! She's here somewhere! We have to look!" he exclaimed, his eyes wide, all his muscles tightened and trembling.
"Minato, stop! You have to come back."
"Come back? To what? Everything I want is here, Aigis! I heard her, I know I did."
"No, you didn't," Aigis argued, pleading with him. "You're just…"
"Just what?" he shot back, his emotions blazing out of control. "Crazy? Do you think so, too? Like Naoto does?"
Naoto flinched at this, looking as though she wanted to say something, but couldn't bring herself to.
"Like I know Hanamura does? Do you think I've lost my mind?!"
"No, desperate!" Aigis shouted back. "I don't think you're crazy! Just… desperate. You want to hear her. I do too Minato, but you're taking it to an unhealthy level. You're resting your entire happiness on this one possibility, just like you did with Naoto."
"Do you just want me to be unhappy, then?" he asked in a low tone.
"No, I want you to be safe!" she shouted back, gripping him firmly by the shoulders. "I want you to have a chance to find some real happiness, Minato, instead of chasing these desperate hopes of clinging to your past. Please…"
Her voice choked off slightly.
"Please come back with us. I care about you, and it hurts me to see you like this…"
That, at last, seemed to break through some of his anger.
"Dammit, Aigis…" he mumbled without any malice, his voice shaking. "I don't want to be alone any more…"
"I'll stay with you," she vowed. "I'll always be there to try and help you, Minato. Just promise me you won't burn away your life seeking her out in here."
"I…"
"Promise me, please, Minato," the blonde begged.
"…Okay, Aigis," he whispered out, directing his gaze to the ground. "Alright. Searching for her out in this fog… it'd be a fool's errand anyway, I guess…"
The next morning, Aigis woke up to nothing more than a lump by her side. Not even a hair could be seen outside the blanket where Minato was hiding his head.
"He really needs some rest." She thought, reaching out for her mobile phone. "I guess it's okay if we question him later…"
And so she opened the door and left, giving Minato the rest he deserved after having to deal with so much.
"I see, it's a usual occurrence." Souji commented, once Aigis explained the situation. "Those who get thrown in usually need a few days to recover. However…" His eyes sharpened. "I think we deserve a little explanation about your pasts."
Aigis nodded in agreement, and then shifted a little on her seat as she considered how to begin.
"I suppose I should start with the most glaring fact." She offered. "I am a robot."
She had to bear everyone's unbelieving gazes, but something seemed especially disappointed in Yosuke's.
"I was manufactured twelve years ago, in a laboratory pertaining to the Kirijo Corp in Yakushima, as a part of a series of anti-Shadow weapons. That is, robots who recognized themselves as human, and thus could summon Personae." Her head hung slightly. "I'm the only one who remains of 'my sisters'."
Several comments followed this statement, mostly concerning plotting and questions they wouldn't dare ask Aigis.
"Shadows were already present twelve years ago?" Yukiko asked, worried.
"They've probably been around for much longer."
"Damn, then, no matter what we do they'll just… keep showin' up forever?" Kanji lamented, gritting his teeth.
"Not quite so." Aigis intervened, moved. "Back when I was created, Shadows roamed the world every night, in a hour only Persona users were conscious of: the Dark Hour. If anyone who didn't possess a Persona managed to stray into it…" She looked away. "Well, I'm sure you recall the Apathy Syndrome."
"So THAT's was caused it?" Rise asked, outraged. "All those news anchor blaming stressed people for it…"
"Aigis-san, if you don't mind." Souji began. "Can you tell us how Minato obtained his Persona, since he didn't do so facing his Shadow?"
"I was about to do so, but it's quite a long story." She smiled. "To put it simply… that boy had Death itself sealed inside for ten years."
Everyone startled at this affirmation.
"No kidding?" Chie asked, suspicious.
"I sealed it myself." Aigis replied, her usually caring voice taking a dark turn as she remembered something she'd rather forget. "But it was not complete. Twelve enormous Shadows came out of it as well…"
"Bosses appear when someone faces their Shadow, too." Yosuke commented.
"Perhaps everything is related. In any case, that being is long gone." She rubbed her forehead. "Regarding your previous question, Minato found his first Persona the moment he began fighting against those Shadows."
"So he possesses the Wild Card as well?" Souji asked with interest.
"Not anymore, it seems. I doubt he'd have any interest in sharing information with us if he does have more than one Persona."
Everybody fell into a deep silence, but the albino boy was still curious, so he went ahead and asked:
"Who is she?"
Aigis seemed to choke for a second. Of course, that was just a fake expression. "Hamuko Seikatsu, alias, his Shadow."
The tension could be sliced with a knife, and so Yukiko was the first to speak.
"He… wants to see his Shadow?"
"It's not that weird, is it?"
Everyone's gazes turned to Teddie, who had a preoccupied expression. Aigis only smiled at the revelation.
"She was a lot like you, Teddie-san. That girl was quite a flirt."
"So, he had a relationship with his Shadow?"
Before anyone could keep asking, she rose a hand in the air. "We could keep talking forever and none of you would grasp the fullness of the story I have to tell, and, while I don't mind, I'm quite aware that Minato values his privacy more than I do. If you wish to keep inquiring, Souji-san, I suggest you ask him directly."
The boy gave her a calm half nod. "Fair enough. But I was asking with a reason: love makes people crazy. It wouldn't be wise to leave him alone for too long if he's in search of his lover, even more so having a TV in the room."
Realization suddenly hit Aigis, though she tried to remain calm.
"…He promised he wouldn't do such a thing." She bit her lip slightly. "Though I suppose we lose nothing checking."
Aigis opened the door slowly, adjusting her mechanical pupils to the darkness of the room. There had been no noticeable changes in the room since that morning. The bundle under a blanket was still there, but now it brought her an ominous feeling.
She reached out for it, muttering an apology, and so her feeling became true: there was nothing under the blanket but the bag where they carried their belongings, with a note attached to it.
"Dear Aigis,
By the time you see this, I'll be already long gone. I know you; you're too kind to bother a sleeping boy. You've always been more of the stalker kind, haven't you? I'm trying to be cheeky as I write this, because I know that if I imagine your face reading this note, my resolve will falter. I will be brief, so.
I'm tired of this life. Of having no one to relate to, as it often happens that not even you can understand my pain. I know I'm not being logical. I know I've broken my promise. If I was any other person, I'd say I have no will to live left. But I'm too stubborn to accept that.
Forgive me, my dear Aigis. You've been a bastion of sanity for me, and in this selfish moment, I part of my own will, in doubtful mental condition. If you need so, I'm sure you'll find consolation in your new friends. I'm going back, and this is my final decision.
Live your life to the fullest, Aigis. Do what I couldn't do.
Minato Arisato, Kitaro Shirogane, or whoever I may be in this world."
Aigis's hands trembled as she reached the goodbye, and her sight, blurry as it was because of her wet eyes, fell on a last sentence, which changed completely the meaning of the note.
"PS. Don't waste your time trying to find me. I will make sure that none of you manage to track me down. I shall only return once I retrieve Hamuko."
Aigis stood still for a few seconds, until she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"So?" Souji asked, his face showing more worry than she'd managed to see before.
The android took a deep breath, and, looking at the sky, clenched the note in her metallic fist.
"He's gone hunting Shadows on his own. I have to stop him."
With that, she began walking decidedly towards the door, her gaze fixed on the ground.
"Aigis-san."
A hand stopped her yet again, so she turned around, a surprising sight greeting her. Everyone was looking at her, a clear resolve showing in their faces.
"Nobody likes a solo player." Yosuke announced, grinning at her. "Even if it's an uh… robot girl with guns and stuff."
Aigis only could stare back at them, completely in shock.
"I think that what Yosuke-san is trying to say," Naoto intervened, "is that you can rely on us as much as we can rely on you."
Several nods of approval ensued.
And not even a second passed before Aigis threw herself at the group.
"You are right in one thing, Minato." She thought as she celebrated and danced with the different members of the team. "I have found new friends."
In that very moment, regardless of how easy to discern her metallic joints were, anyone who had seen her would have had no grounds to deny that she was just as, if not more, human than those surrounding her.
Do the smiles of those tongue-ball mook Shadows from P4 remind anyone else of the MP Evas from EoE? Seems fitting for this fic. "The pilot's ego barrier is approaching zero!" It all~ returns~ to no~thing~
They do, Evilshroom. They do.