~~A/N~~
Simply put, I am depressed. I'll save you my Sally-Sob story, but it involves my crazy English teacher who apparently hates me and everything I've ever written ever. Seriously, not even a bubbly Italian singing about drawing a circle can make me feel better (Hetalia? Anyone? No…? Okay…) But you guys should be happy that I'm not! Because now I feel like doing nothing pertaining to studying for my final exams, so I'm writing this! I've started and restarted this chapter twice, and it's been crap both times. Third time's the charm?
Repudium: Ego non sua Persona, etiam in lingua mortua. (Disclaimer: I don't own Persona, even in a dead language)
Chapter 16
July 21th
Okay, how the hell did I get myself into this situation?
As I dragged my feet down yet another hall – which was identical to the one I had just left – I contemplated the stupid actions that had lead me to get lost in a giant vacation home without my cell phone.
I remember it like it was thirty minutes ago…
My roommates – Yukari, Fuuka, and Mitsuru to be exact – had woken up extremely early. How, I had no clue. Our little group stayed up really late last night, what with that really morbid meeting. Their crashing around the room in an attempt to get dressed was what woke me up. I groggily lifted my head, feeling as if I had hundred pound weights strapped to every appendage of my body.
"Whass goin' on?" Exhaustion slurred my words.
"Oh, you're up." Pausing only briefly on her way to the bathroom, Yukari spared me a single glance.
"Yeah, I am… Why am I, again?"
Yukari ignored me in favor of slamming the bathroom door. Instead, Fuuka answered. "We were going to go see the Jyomon-Cedar Tree. Mitsuru-senpai said it was a famous spot on the island."
I rubbed my eyes with one hand, and pulled the blankets up to my chin. "A tree? You're kidding… You go to an island resort, and you spend your day looking at a tree?"
"It's better than dealing with Stupei at the beach, though." The brunette rejoined the conversation by peeking her head out of the bathroom.
"…Touché," I had to give her that one. "But it's a tree. Bo-ring."
"I take it you won't be joining us, then?" Oh, there's Mitsuru. I was wondering when she'd make an appearance. Said redhead materialized from another part of the apartment-like place the owners of this palace called the 'guest-room.'
I shook my head. "Nah… I've seen plenty of trees in my life."
"That is your decision." Mitsuru shrugged. "There is plenty else to do here. As long as you don't get into any trouble, you may do as you please."
And thus, I decided to explore the place a little bit. I swear I didn't mean to get myself totally, completely, and helplessly lost. Because I am a moron, I thought it would be a great idea to leave my cell in my room. "Oh, nobody's going to be calling me. I don't need to bother with that thing." Yeah, right.
Good going, Kasumi.
I had found myself in what I believed to be the west wing, but may very well be the east for all I know. I wanted to smash my head into a wall repeatedly until I induced a coma. That would solve all of my problems.
Instead of taking that way out, however, I sucked it up and continued walking. My footfalls made ominous background music for this pitiful escapade, sending shivers of foreboding down my spine with every 'clack.' Amazing how every noise instantly becomes creepy when you're lost.
At last, I stumbled upon a pair of double doors at the end of the endless halls. Everything about them, from their stainless steel frame, to the filthy, chicken wire imbedded windows, screamed 'do not open.' After a moment of deliberation, I did what I normally do when encountered with something I absolutely should not touch or open no matter what.
I opened them.
The room behind them had the same aura of unfriendliness as they. It was dark; the light let in by the open doors the only thing illuminating it. Dust clung to everything, but I wasn't exactly sure what 'everything' was. I could identify computers, but that was about it. When it came to the strange machines stacked next to the computers, I was completely clueless.
'I wonder what these are used for…' I thought idly, advancing farther with uncertain steps. My fingers trailed against one monitor, leaving lines of clean glass in a sea of dirt. Giggling, I added two more lines, then some more, some squigglies here and there, and a few dots.
'Kasumi was here,' the computer screen now read, with some unnecessary decoration around it. I smiled at my handiwork.
Growing bored, I continued with my exploration. Sure, I was still lost, but at least I was lost somewhere interesting.
Eventually, I reached the furthest reaches of the room, which mainly consisted of more strange machines, and a metal table. That was odd… It looked like an operating table, but why would something like that be in a dusty room in the middle – edge? I don't know! – of a Kirijo vacation home? I took a closer look, noting a strange amount of wires that seemed to go from the machines to the table, but were ripped as if what they were hooked up to was torn free. There was also a place to strap in ankles, wrists, and head, reminiscent of a torture device. I shuddered. My imagination immediately filled with images of some sort of killer robot breaking free, killing scientists that attempted to control it, and then going on a murderous rampage throughout the place. 'Oh, my god! What if it's already killed the others? What if it's made it's way to the mainland already? I could be the sole surviving human in all of Japan! I have to stop it! I must be the hero of mankind- what the hell am I thinking?'
I managed to stop my ridiculous thoughts, and began to calm my erratic heartbeat. God, I really was insane. I needed to be institutionalized. 'I mean, honestly. A killer robot? Jeez, it's probably some really old experiment that- HOLY SHIT!' At that moment, a shape appeared in the doorway, the light of the doorway making only its silhouette visible. "AGH! PLEASE DON'T HURT ME, KILLER ROBOT!"
The shape extended one hand, presumably to use some kind of futuristic robot weapon to blast me into ribbons, and then…
…A bright light temporarily blinded me, and when it cleared, I could see the face of the newcomer.
"Kasumi?"
"Ikutsuki-san?" Sure as day, there stood Shuji Ikutsuki stood before me, a flashlight in his hand the source of the blinding light. Yep. He does exist only to terrify me. "W-w-what are you doing in here?" He didn't answer immediately, opting to take a few steps closer, eyes fixed on the strange table next to me. "I swear it was like that when I found it!"
The middle-aged man just pursed his lips. "Oh? How strange…"
While Kasumi was getting herself lost, the three other female SEES members weren't any better off, though their bad situation stemmed only from excessively bad moods. It seems that even after learning the truth, Yukari and Mitsuru were still not comfortable with each other. Poor Fuuka was caught in the middle of it, wishing their hyperactive companion were with them to lighten up the mood.
"Ah, the air is so fresh…" The teal haired girl started, hoping to get the others to start talking. "I never thought a walk in the woods could be so enjoyable. You can't do that in Iwatodai."
"…"
"…"
Fuuka sighed. So much for that. Steeling her nerves, she tried again. "Oh, so listen to this. Junpei was acting like such a pervert yesterday, and I didn't know how to react... It's probably a good thing we came out here by ourselves."
"Huh?" Yukari asked, as if just then realizing the others were there. "…Oh, yeah…"
Breaking the awkward tension was the loud ringing of Mitsuru's cell phone. Fuuka wryly though of that old expression, 'saved by the bell.'
"Mitsuru speaking." When she heard who it was on the other line, she immediately put it on speakerphone for the others to hear. "Please continue."
"Uh… It seems we have a slight problem." Ikutsuki's voice spoke.
"And it was not my fault! I didn't touch anything!" That was Kasumi, which made the others roll their eyes. It was definitely a bad idea to leave her to her own devices.
"Well…" Ikutsuki continued. "I went to visit the part of the lab that was supposed to be off limits.*" That was obviously directed to the purple haired girl, who answered it with an indignant shout and an assertion that she was just lost. "…And a machine that was considered inoperable suddenly left the facility on its own…"
"A machine…?" Yukari questioned.
Fuuka began to focus. She couldn't do anything without her Evoker, though. "What kind of machine is it? I need detailed information to locate anything other than Shadows."
"It's a combat vehicle- an anti-Shadow weapon, to be precise."
Yukari drowned out Kasumi's shouts of surprise with her own sentiment. "A combat vehicle…? You mean like a tank?" Most likely, she was thinking the same thing everyone was. How the hell can a tank get up and walk away by itself? Despite her confusion, Yukari began calling the guys.
"We're not currently with the others, so it might take some time for us all to assemble." Mitsuru explained.
"I see...well, regardless, I want you to handle this as soon as possible. Kasumi and I are on our way there now." In the background, a voice asking 'what does this button do?' could be heard.
"If the target cannot be captured, do we have permission to destroy it?"
Ikutsuki laughed. "I highly doubt you'll be able to destroy it."
"What?" Fuuka said despairingly. "Then how are we supposed to stop it…?"
"Just do your best. I'll call you again later." When Mitsuru pocketed her phone, Yukari let out a frustrated groan.
"Great! No one's answering!"
"Don't worry about it. Let's go back and get our equipment. Then we can have Yamagishi's Persona scan the area... Although, this island is quite large..."
"Jeez, where could they be?"
Where could they be? Well, they were teenage boys.
They were staying at a beach resort.
Open to the public.
And hot girls.
Where the hell do you think they were?
At that moment Yukari was fruitlessly attempting to contact them, the three SEES boys were lamenting their failed 'Operation Babe Hunt,' and recovering from that ahem beautiful woman's… charms…
"This sucks… We're zero for three…" Junpei complained, and Akihiko sighed. Minato? Well, he embraced the situation as he did everything – with apathy. The others were, though, and they were quite bent out of shape.
"What's wrong?" Junpei asked his senpai. "I thought you weren't interested in picking up chicks."
"If I'm in a match, I want to win. I know what our problem is... You can't control yourself."
"What? Don't blame this on me!"
"I'm just stating the obvious."
"B-but, you haven't scored either!"
Akihiko's face twisted into a scowl. "What did you just say…? Enough already! Leader, whose fault do you think it is?"
Minato glanced from one teenager to the other, as if deep in thought.
"Hm… Both of you." He nodded, satisfied with his answer. He was… The others weren't.
"I won't accept a stalemate! It's either him or me!"
"Yeah! This is serious... Now tell us... Who's..." Junpei trailed off, eyes fixated on a spot in the distance.
"What's the matter…? …You see something?" Minato and Akihiko followed the other's line of sight, to find quite a spectacle.
There was, standing on the pier, a beautiful young girl, staring out into the ocean. That term wasn't used lightly. Indeed, the girl was dazzling, with short blond hair blowing in the breeze, a pastel blue dress fluttering along with it, pale white skin, and soft blue eyes… It was enough to make Junpei drool.
"Talk about savin' the best for last…! Now that's what I'm talkin' about! Man, she's cute!"
Akihiko and Minato definitely agreed.
"This is our last chance to make up for failures...but this time we should try one-by-one instead of all together. We'll have a better shot that way." Junpei strategized.
"Sounds like a good plan."
"Alright, then let's decide the order! We'll go clockwise starting with the winner. Ready… Rock… Paper… Scissors!"
'Paper has never failed me!' Minato thought as he laid his hand flat, only to deflate instantly when he saw his companion's hands. Rock, and scissors. Put simply, he lost.
'Oh, screw you, paper.'**
"Yeah, I win!" Junpei cheered, excitement written all over his face. "Okay, I'll go first, Akihiko-san will go second, and you'll go last, Minato. I'm up! With me luck!"
Nobody wished him luck.
From his hiding spot behind a large rock, Minato couldn't hear what his friend said to the girl, but after a very brief exchange – during which the girl didn't even turn around – Junpei skulked back. "Sh-sh- she's a tough one, senpai." He choked, looking genuinely close to tears. Minato rolled his eyes, not wanting to bother with his melodramatic attitude.
Akihiko managed to speak to the girl for a little bit longer, but was eventually rejected. He claimed he won because he spoke to her longer than Junpei, and ended up arguing with said boy while Minato silently approached the pier. The bickering boys managed to stop their fight long enough to wish him luck, and put a little bit of pressure on him.
"If you can't pull this off, I'm gonna be traumatized for the rest of my life."
"We're on the ropes, but it's not over yet... It's all up to you now."
When Minato was mere feet away from the girl, he spoke. "The tide is high…" Did he really just say that? Was that really the only thing his mind could come up with at that moment? He resisted the urge to groan, instead deciding to roll with the punches. He was Minato Arisato, dammit. No lady can resist him.
Surprisingly enough, the girl immediately turned at the sound of his voice. "… You are… Initiating evasive maneuver. Confirmation must be made at a secure location." With that as the only warning, the mysterious girl took off, disappearing into the woods.
Minato watched, shock barely visible on his face, as his two friends ran up.
"Hey, what did you say to make her run away like that?" Junpei accused. Minato just shrugged. "Well, what're you waiting for? Go after her! Go tell her you're sorry! If you don't, we'll all be in trouble! Go on, man. You can catch her if you hurry!"
And thus, Minato took off running into the forest in nothing but his swim trunks, in order to catch up to a strange girl he knew nothing about.
I hate trees.
Let's just establish that right now.
I.
Hate.
Trees.
As Ikutsuki and I were making our way through the forest, I managed to run into at least three of them, leaving me with a very large bruise on my forehead. I blamed my klutz-y behavior on Ikutsuki, who was progressing much slower than I. Every time I started running forward, I'd turn to check on the elder man, only to smack face-first into a wall of bark. Every damn time!
Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore. "Ikutsuki-san, I'm going to run on ahead. You can catch up, okay? Okay good." Without waiting for permission, I delved further into the forest at breakneck speed. Oh, the freedom of being able to run without waiting for an older man! Oh, it felt so nice- OW! "Who the hell put that tree there?"
Though it took way too long, I eventually made my way to the Jyomon-Cedar Tree, which had been the girls' original destination. In the clearing there was a very familiar blue head.
"Minato- wait, what?" I wasn't focused on the fact that he was currently only wearing a swimsuit, no. That I could deal with. What I didn't understand was the strange blond girl currently embracing him.
"…STRANGER DANGER! MINATO! DO YOU NEED AN ADULT?"
Minato turned his head, without separating from the girl, to meet my gaze. He simply rolled his eyes.
"There you guys are!" To increase the awkward level of this already extremely awkward moment, Yukari, Fuuka, and Mitsuru decided to arrive. Their reaction was similar to mine, minus the screaming.
"Um, what are you doing in the middle of the woods, in your swimsuits…?" Fuuka asked.
"You have no idea what we've- huh?" It seemed Yukari had noticed the girl. "Who's this?" She didn't look happy, either.
Ignoring everything else strange in this situation, Mitsuru got down to business immediately. "Listen, we've encountered a problem. I'm sorry to interrupt your vacation, but I need you all to go back to the house and prepare for battle."
"That won't be necessary. We've found what we were looking for."
"Oh what the-" I jumped, clutching my chest. "Stop appearing out of nowhere!"
At Ikutsuki's sudden appearance, the blond girl separated herself from Minato silently.
Wait… What?
Ikutsuki sighed, looking relieved. "You had me worried. You don't have permission to leave the lab on your own, Aigis."
Wait… WHAT?
* In the game, it just says Aigis was in the lab, but since I was in a really dark mood when writing this, I went with a darker atmosphere. It's an inconsequential detail, though. So don't worry about it.
** This is from the play through I read this from, 'My Life is a Goddamn Mess.' I couldn't help myself.
~~Author's Note~~
Writing this did actually put me in a better mood. Huh. Yay!
I really didn't want to have to make three parts of this Summer Spectacular, but I guess I will, seeing as I chose to cut it off here, even though this is pretty short… Oh well. And hopefully I'll get back into Inaba soon. Sorry about neglecting that aspect of this story for so long… m(_ _)m
I don't have much to say here. Even though I am feeling better after writing this, I still am not satisfied with the result. Sorry, guys.
I have Finals starting tomorrow and going through Wednesday of next week. Then I'll be FREE.
Until next time!
