Chapter 8

Since no one else is here to the disclaimer, I'll do it. I don't own Persona 3 or the characters in it. They are owned by Atlus. However, I do own Nagito who is also co-owned by Immortal Thunder.

April 20 – morning – Gekkoukan High

Today was a normal school day like any other. Class was being taught be Ms. Ounishi, the science teacher. Nagito was surprised to have a normal teacher teaching the class for once.

April 20 – lunctime- Gekkoukan High

Nagito was eating lunch by himself in his classroom. After being with relatives that never cared about him he had learned to fend for himself, so he cooked his own food and packed his lunches. There was a lot of things he wasn't confident in, but his cooking was one thing he was confident in. The problem was, he made too much for a single person to eat. He wanted eat with Mitsuru, be he couldn't find her. Yukari and Junpei were eating somewhere else, too. "Hey! It's Nagito-kun!" A girl from the open classroom door yelled. "It really is Nagito-kun! Another girl said." When I mean said, I really meant squealing. A few other girls were squealing as well.

Nagito felt he was in danger, so he opened the other door in the room and ran for his life with the fangirls chasing him. I always wanted to be popular, but never THIS popular! Nagito thought to himself.

Nagito had managed to give them slip by hiding in the gym. "Huff, huff, huff..." He panted, relieved to get away from those crazed fangirls. "You alright?" A female voice asked from behind him. He turned around to see a girl. Like Nagito, she had long black hair tied in a ponytail. She also had black eyes. Instead of a blazer, she was wearing a sweater vest.

"Y-Yeah... I was running away from those fangirls." He said.

"Sorry about that. There's a lot of girls like that here." She said. "You're Nagito-kun, right?

"Yeah, you know me?" He asked.

"The whole school knows about." She said. "I'm Rio Iwasaki, captain of the tennis team, nice to meet you." She greeted, extending a hand to Nagito.

"You already know my name, but I'm Nagito Ishikawa, nice to meet you, too." He replied, shaking her hand.

Then, time suddenly froze.

Thou art I

And I am thou

Thou hast established a new bond

Thou shall be blessed when creating Personas of the Chariot arcana

Time then returned to normal.

"What are you doing here, though? Club activities don't happen until after school." He said.

"I always eat here. Every girl in my class keeps talking about boys and dating." I come here to eat my lunch in peace." Rio said.

"Oh, okay." He replied.

"Would be interested in joining the tennis team? New members can join on the 23rd."

"Isn't the tennis team a girls-only team?" He asked.

"Well, it isn't a girls-only team, it's just only girls that have ever joined." Rio said.

"I'll put in it into consideration." He said. He said goodbye to Rio and returned to his classroom to eat the rest of his lunch before lunch ended.

April 20 – after school

Nagito and Junpei were leaving together to go to the arcade when they heard a girl squeal.

"Look!"

Oh no! Not again! Nagito shuddered in fear.

"It's Akihiko-Senpai!"

They turned around to the front of the building to see Akihiko surrounded by fangirls. They weren't the same fangirls that chased him earlier. Nagito immediately felt relief wash over him.

"Have you ever noticed how much girls flock around Akihiko-san? I never really talked to him much, but now I have a good excuse." Junpei said with his usual grin. "I know he's the captain of the boxing team, but I never thought he would be such a chick magnet. I mean, you don't even see girls flock like that on TV."

Akihiko noticed the two past the girls surrounding him. "Hey, are you two busy?" He asked them.

"Not at all! What'cha got in mind?" Junpei asked excitedly.

"I'd like you two meet me at Paulownia Mall. You know where that's at, right? I'll be at the police station."

"The police station? You when we're not hanging out with your friends?" Junpei asked disappointingly.

"Who, these girls?" Akihiko raised his eyebrow. "I don't even know their names. They talk so much they give me headache." After saying that, he walked away. The fangirls sighed in disappointment.

"How could he not know their names? Seriously, just look at them!" He said exasperated.

Nagito didn't tell Junpei about what happened to him earlier because he didn't want him to be jealous of him.

"Oh, well, let's go." He said, his face immediately turning back into a grin.

April 20 – after school – Paulownia Mall, police station

Nagito and Junpei entered the police station to see Akihiko talking to a police officer behind the desk.

He noticed the two walking in. "Hey there, guys. Good timing. These are the guys I was telling you about." He said to the officer.

The officer was giving them both a calculating look.

"This is Officer Kurosawa, he keeps our squad well equipped. He's been helping us out for a while now, but he always requires a fee for his weapons." He said.

"Of course they do, nothing in life is free." Kurosawa said.

"I realize that." Akihiko replied. He turned around to face the two. "This is from Ikutsuki-san." He said, handing each of them 5,000 yen. "Pick out something you like. I'll see you later." He said, leaving the police station.

"I've been informed of you two. My job is to protect this city at all costs. I'm just an ordinary police officer, but it doesn't take a genius to know that something strange is going on around here. I'm only doing what I think is right." Kurosawa said.

"I don't mean to be rude, Officer, but won't you get a lot of trouble if you get caught selling weapons to teenagers?" Nagito asked them.

"Yes, that's true, but I know you kids aren't ordinary. Like I said before, I'm doing what I can to protect the peace. I don't care what risks I have to take." He replied. After hearing him say that, Nagito thought he was the coolest cop he ever met.

Nagito had decided to a purchase a knifeproot coat. It was the most expensive piece of equipment he currently had, but after he was impaled by bladed tentacles last night, he wanted protection from that happening again.

Junpei didn't buy anything. "Psh, 5,000 yen. I'm in a bad mood now. Let's go to the arcade some other time." He said.

"That's fine." Nagito said as he watched Junpei walk out of the station. Since he had some money left over, he went to the arcade on his own. He was surprised of the variety of arcade games they had. They had Mortal Kombat, Tekken, Marvel vs. Capcom, BlazBlue, and a bunch of other stuff.

April 20 – evening - dorm

"Welcome back." Mitsuru greeted.

"Hello, senpai." Nagito greeted back.

"I was told that you were looking for me at school today."

"H-Huh? Y-Yeah, I was..." Nagito replied nervously.

"Was there something important you needed to tell me?" She asked.

"N-No, it wasn't really important or anything, it's just that, I-I wanted to ask if you would each lunch for me, I had made a bento for both us." He replied.

"You wanted to have lunch with me? That was very kind of you to want to do that, but I already had a lunch prepared for me." She answered. "You could have asked Iori or Takeba to eat with you."

"I-I know, I just thought since you're always so busy with student council, you don't have time to eat, so I wanted to make something for, if not, I could help you in some other way. W-We are friends, aren't we?"

Mitsuru was taken aback by the word "friend". "I-Ishikawa..." She said shocked. Her face then formed into a genuine smile. "Yes, of course we are. I'm also very thankful that you tried to make me something. I'm grateful, Ishikawa."

Nagito's face started burning red. "Uh, n-no problem, s-senpai..." He stammered.

Time then froze.

Thou art I

And I am thou

Thout has strengthened thy bonds

Thou shall be blessed when creating Personas of the Empress arcana.

Time then resumed.

"I-I'm going back to my room to watch TV, I'll see you later, senpai." He then walked upstairs to his room.

I can't believe Ishikawa wanted to have lunch with me, of all people. Maybe I should take the time to have lunch with him sometime. Mitsuru thought to herself.

Chapter 8 end

A/N: I know that Rio doesn't appear in the male side of P3, but I like her way better than Kazushi.

Social Links:

Fool: SEES (2/10)

Empress: Mitsuru Kirijo (2/10)

Chariot: Rio Iwasaki (1/10)

Personas:

Orpheus

arcana: Fool

skills: Bash, Agi, Gurentou, Tarunda

Apsaras

arcana: Priestess

skills: Bufu, Rakunda, Posumudi

Thanatos

arcana: Death

skills: Tempest Slash, Vorpal Blade, Mamudoon, Megidola