Chapter 6

Magic + Vampire

With the newspaper club following close behind me, I follow Elizabeth to the velvet door.

The house in by far more majestic than imagined, with high ceilings and a deeply homey sensation. And the velvet door has its own hallway leading to it.

Velvet blue of course.

"Thanks to the way this property is protected, you won't need the velvet key to open the door here, however if you use it on any other door, it may be used as a fast travel system to this house."

That's very useful, and I say as much as she opens the door for us.

As I enter Club Velvet, I hear a beautiful vocal and piano piece being performed.

It seems to be a live version of the elevator music from my previous room.

I look to the stage and see a woman with her hair swept up into two horn like shapes, and a pianist wearing a blindfold.

They perform beautifully.

At the bar is Theodore once again, and he is talking to Lavenza and another person I am unfamiliar with, a man in dark clothes and a beanie with long black hair.

"May I have your attention everyone. We will be having dinner tonight in the dining area, everyone here is invited." Announced Elizabeth with a happy smile on her face.

The others seemed interested and began filing into a door beside the bar.

"I'm cooking I assume?" came a voice from the kitchen.

"of course, Merope, your cooking is what makes the dinner a dinner, and not an awkward group of people sitting at an empty table." Elizabeth chuckled.

"of course…" came the exasperated voice.

"Come, this way to dinner." Was all she said as she led us to the dining area.

Through the door was a large area similar to the dining area in Mitsuru's Yakushima Villa.

A single large table, large enough to fit everyone, and a large window showing a dark swirling void.

So that's what the sea of souls looks like.

As everybody sat at the table, I noticed two empty seats beside me, one at the head of the table, opposite Elizabeth, and one across from me.

As I began serving myself, I wondered who was to sit there, only for the door to open and my question to be answered.

Running up to the seat across from me was a young boy, silver hair, yellow eyes, and a baggy sweater.

So, this is Jose.

Following him at a far more sedate pace, walking with a rather fancy cane, was an old man with a large nose, wide eyes, and…

A bushy moustache?

As I stared in bafflement, Igor sat at the head of the table saying, "my sincerest apologies, Jose was in the middle of practicing his Divinations. I felt it prudent to let him finish."

He turned to look at me and said, "it is good to see you, my friend. It has been too long."

I nodded and said, "much shorter for me, but you've been through an awful lot, haven't you?"

Igor chuckled, a tired smile on his face. "Indeed, I was manipulated by an infantile god, and sealed away for nearly a year. I'm sure you heard how severely it affected me, and the velvet room."

I nod, still staring at his impressive moustache.

How did he grow it so large?

Igor smiles as he begins filling his dinner plate, "Elizabeth has done well as my temporary replacement. And with everyone's help the room is stable enough. Though until Jose is ready to take his place as my successor, the room will need to be maintained by the residents of the velvet room."

I nod as I start eating.

I don't know why that moustache is so distracting to me.

The room falls into a comfortable silence as everyone eats, occasionally one of the newspaper club would ask a question.

What's your name? What is this place? How do you know Minato?

I suppose it was kind of rude to just drag them here when Moka and Kurumu are the only ones who even know about the velvet room, and I didn't explain it all that much either.

As the dinner progresses, I learn a few interesting facts.

Firstly, the tall woman with the wavy blonde hair is named Margaret, and she is Jose's private tutor for all non-velvet room subjects. She was apparently the attendant for my direct successor.

Second, the two who were on the stage are known as Belladonna and Nameless, and they were among the first residents of the velvet room, both being as old as Igor. Their song being an actual part of how the velvet room functions.

Third, Theodore is Elizabeth's twin brother, and was actually minding her position in the velvet room when she was on dates with me.

And fourth, the most important of all.

Igor actually grew in the moustache rather recently because he actually had it back in the 70s and felt like bringing it back now that he was retired.

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but satisfaction most certainly brought it back.

Though the dinner was quiet, I think that my new friends are starting to understand the sort of power I deal with.

After all, I beat Elizabeth on my own before.

And according to her siblings, she is the strongest in a fight.

That, combined with a small energy flare, seems to have impressed the true Moka and Deshi enough to rank up our social links.

As Elizabeth regales my friends with y journey, I step in every now and again to keep her from over dramatizing things.

I did not break that punk's arm; I dislocated his shoulder.

She still had a towel on, we did not 'get to third base.'

I had no idea that Aegis was a robot when I first met her.

I did not sleep with Yuko.

Or Chihiro.

Or Yukari.

Or Mitsuru.

Or Fuuka.

Or you, Elizabeth, stop that.

Or- actually, kind of with Aegis, but that was somewhat abstract.

Or… actually I did sleep with Mokou… wait, how did you find out about that?

Questionable information gathering and possible violation of personal privacy aside, I do think that everyone is getting along pretty well.

It looks like the pink Moka has enjoyed herself, because I can feel her bond with me strengthen.

As the night winds down, we return to the house and afterwards, we return to the dorms.

-P+V-

Two months later.

Things have been calm.

Almost too calm.

Careful, that almost sounded like tempting fate.

I said almost.

Anyway, classes have gone well.

I established the Justice social link with Gin Senpai.

I established the Priestess social link with another mystery person I haven't met.

Not too shabby.

The fact that you have two people capable of forming the start of a potentially unbreakable bond who you have never even met, is honestly pretty scary.

Agreed.

Aren't you going to check your class ranking?

The midterms? I guess. The tests were easy, I'm supposed to be a third year you know.

Yeah, but it's not like Gekkoukan had lessons on how to blend in with humans.

I vanished into crowds automatically before Gekkoukan. Those lessons were like teaching a fish to breathe water.

…touché.

As I walk to the board in the courtyard to check my score, I see the crowd thick with upset people.

I scanned the board and found my name right where I expected it to be.

"Wow Minato! You're number one! That's great!" came Moka's cheerful voice.

Right at the top I had my name, directly over somebody called Yukari Sendou.

Wonder if she is like Takeba?

It's just a name, I sincerely doubt it.

Moka wasn't far behind in position 14.

Kurumu on the other hand…

"I can't have a score this bad! I just caaaaan't!"

She is going to need some help…

Hey, you see that.

I turn around, on the other side of the courtyard is a small girl being cornered by a group of older boys.

Not gonna happen.

I stride over with fire in my veins, a memory playing in my head of a couple of perverts targeting Maiko at the shrine.

And getting their shit kicked in by both me and Akinari.

He may have been dying, but he wasn't afraid to help me beat those losers down.

I saw a small rock hit the leader in the head, clearly the witch outfit isn't for show.

He went to lunge at her, but I was faster.

One quick knee to his gut and he was gasping on the floor.

"If there is one thing I can't stand, more than anything else, it's trash like you who gets off on hurting those weaker than you." I say as I stare at him and his friends. They snarl at me.

"You even think of attacking her again, and I'll show no mercy."

His friends drag him away, and I turn to see the girl from earlier looking at me intensely.

Moka approaches and says, "are you ok?"

The girl looks at her with admiration.

"You came to save me!" she says to Moka.

Was she watching the same thing the rest of us were?

I have no idea.

She seems busy obsessing over Moka. Maybe I should leave them be.

Wonder why she doesn't like you?

She's young, sometimes kids don't need a reason to dislike someone.

I walked around until I found Deshi.

As I had begun spending time with her, she had been very private, despite her outgoing personality, but she started opening up a bit with me.

Particularly about-

"Thrice damned English!"

Her difficulties with language learning.

"That bad?" I ask as I stand beside her.

She hung her head and said, "I did better than Kurumu, but I absolutely bombed my English test."

Ouch.

"Want to grab a bite to eat and commiserate?" I ask.

She stares at me and asks, "commiserate what mister number 1?"

I shrug. "I saved a girl from some bullies, and she ignored me while claiming Moka saved her."

She gives me a surprised look.

"Seriously?"

I nod. "She seems young, so she probably just decided not to like me."

"Young? Wait, was she wearing a witch outfit?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Yes? Why, do you know her?"

She sighs, "even if I'm not in the committee anymore, I do hear a lot about the school's troublemakers. And unfortunately, Yukari Sendou is one of the more troublesome ones."

Wait, does that mean?

"She is the girl with the second spot in our year?"

She nods and sits on a bench. "She is considered a genius. She skipped a bunch of grades, and now she is here."

She stares at her feet. "She IS smart enough to be here, but she has a bad habit of pranking people who are rude to her. Which makes people more likely to be rude to her. Combine that with the fact that she is a witch, and has more raw intellect than most people in the school…"

Damn, she must be dealing with a lot of crap from people.

Yeah. Maybe we should talk to her. Outperforming her probably didn't endear us to her.

"I'm going to talk to her, it sounds like she needs a friend."

Deshi smiles and shakes her head. "In our world, kindness can get you killed you know."

I shrug, "let them try. I won't go down quiet."

She snorts in amusement, and I return to Moka and Yukari.

As I round the corner to reach them where they had been earlier, I am confronted with an intriguing scene.

"I WUV YOU MOKA!" was what I heard.

Moka blushing as her breasts were fondled by Yukari, was what I saw.

And an expression that belonged on a dirty old man, was what was on Yukari's face.

Uuh…

No Ryoji.

Perhaps you…

No Thor

I think it would be best-

No Odin.

I take a breath before coughing and saying, "perhaps you should do that in a more private setting?"

Immediately the two of them noticed me, Moka putting her head in her hands in embarrassment. And Yukari moved in front of her.

"Stop right there Arisato Minato."

I was standing still, so I didn't really need to stop, but ok.

"I know all about you. Above average physical athleticism, high intelligence, top of our year in test scores, well known for fighting and enslaving a member of the public safety committee."

Wait what?

"You may be smart, but you are a thug who intimidates people into doing what you want!"

No seriously, what?

"that's not even mentioning your tarot reading!"

Oh? That's interesting.

"You aren't going to harm my beloved Moka!"

She waves her wand and several cleaning supplies from the closet start assaulting me.

…

…

"…"

"Ano…this doesn't really hurt me…" I say, as the awkward silence, punctuated by the sound of brooms and wash pans smacking me.

She sweats and blinks before saying, "ah, o-of course not. This is meant to annoy you into submission?"

She doesn't seem very convinced by herself.

The silence is awkward again.

Yukari is clearly waiting for me to do something, Moka looks like she wants to tell Yukari to leave me be, but she is also clearly unwilling to risk hurting her feelings.

For a vampire, she is far nicer than one might expect.

Indeed Kohryu.

"Do you mind if I ask where you heard about me supposedly enslaving Deshi?"

She looks startled but responds "everyone saw you put a seal on that Jiangshi! It was the talk of the school!"

I see.

"Sendou San, have you heard of the game of telephone?" I ask as I sit on a nearby bench.

"of course, I have, I'm a genius." she muttered darkly.

I nod. "So, if everybody told everybody else about what happened, I'm sure nobody knows what actually happened."

She blinks before slapping her own face. "of course. The grapevine, the best source of rumors, the worst source of facts. I'm an idiot."

I shake my head.

"Occam's razor fallacy. You heard something repeated and since it was the story you heard most; the logical response was to assume it's validity."

She looks at me before saying, "that may be but that doesn't change the fact that you are dangerous, and I won't let you hurt Moka!"

With this she drags Moka with her and runs off.

I catch Moka's eye as she lets herself get dragged off, and she gives me that same look.

This isn't going well.

Thanks for that Odin. I hadn't noticed.

-P+V-

"She really just ran away with her. I mean, I get she didn't want her hurting herself by pulling on an unmoving vampire, but she just left you?" was all Kurumu could say as we ate lunch together.

We had been eating lunch alone together every other day. We were connected, and even if the technical portion of our bond was complete, I wanted to know her. That way I could feel for her just as she did for me.

And she bakes for you.

Yes. And she bakes for me.

"She sees herself in her to a degree, I think. She was very lonely in human schools, and Yukari is obviously very lonely here. If I ran across somebody who was as emotionally empty as I was before Gekkoukan I would most likely act the same." I say as I pour some tea into my cup from the thermos.

"I guess that makes sense, but all things considered I think her loneliness is her own fault."

I shrug "if what Deshi says is true, then you are probably right to a degree. But in that same vein, I'm happy she acts immaturely."

Kurumu gives me a confused look and asks, "why are you happy about that? Her immaturity is why she is attacking you; you know."

I lean back in my seat and close my eyes.

"Back at Gekkoukan, there was nearby shrine in the city. And every day except for Sundays, you could find a young girl there, playing alone. She was always sad, and she was always in need of a friend. Her name was Maiko."

I open my eyes and think of her, "she was nine years old and always acting like she was happy. One day I decided to spend time with her, play games, talk, do whatever she wanted. And it became a habit to hang out with her when I had nothing else to do."

"One day, she started talking about why she was sad. Her parents were always upset with each other. And eventually they decided to get a divorce."

Kurumu flinched.

"She poured her heart out to me, and I saw how every day she seemed a little more mature. The stress of things made her grow up before my eyes. Until the day she decided to run away from home."

I sipped my tea, as Kurumu looked at me, almost begging me to continue.

She gets invested quite easily.

" I ran into her parents at the playground at the shrine and helped them find her. After telling them why she ran away in the first place. The reunion was sweet, but divorce was still inevitable. She decided to live with her mother, and she gave me a toy ring, before she left."

I looked out the window.

"That was nine years ago. She's older than me now. That is a very strange feeling."

Kurumu shook her head and chuckled. "And if that ring is anything to go off, if you ran into her, I'd be looking at another sister-wife."

She's not wrong.

I know. that's why I'm not-

Suddenly I feel a strange sensation pulling at my arm.

I frown, "what the hell is-?"

Suddenly my arm yanks up, flipping Kurumu's skirt.

"Oh! Minato, I thought you were waiting for your reunion with Aegis?" she blushed.

After getting a look at my expression, she realized I was not coming on to her.

Calm down boss, she has no idea what she is doing.

Pixie, she knows what she is doing. She doesn't realize the consequences of her actions.

I stand up, forcing my body back under my own control.

"Sendou San, you should not be controlling others. You might not like what happens if you do so to the wrong person." I say, face blank and voice neutral.

She pops up from where she is hiding…

Outside the window?

"Please, I've got control over you, mister big scary bully. My voodoo doll leaves me in total control, there's nothing you can do!" she boasted.

My eye twitched.

As I start walking over to her, she yanks the doll's legs out, trying to make me fall.

I ignore the pull and keep walking.

She pales slightly, and makes it punch itself.

I refuse to let my body move against me.

She panics as she starts smacking the doll against the windowsill.

I ignore the mild sensation in my back.

I stand in front of the window, and she stares at me paralyzed.

"What if?" I asked.

She starts as I ask the question. "w-what?"

I repeat myself.

She looks at me in confusion.

I lean out the window and pick her up under her arms.

She stays stiff in my grip as I put her in a chair.

"What if? What if I was everything you said I was?"

I stare at her as she sits there.

"What if I was a bully, strong enough to take down an enforcer from the PSC? If I intimidated, enslaved, and terrorized people to get my way?"

She started shaking.

"What if you did this to somebody like that. If you took away their freedom, their ability to control themselves, their ability to make their own decisions?"

She is scared.

I handed her one of Kurumu's cookies.

"You wouldn't be getting cookies. Would you?" I say.

She stared at me in confusion, cookie in hand, as I took another for myself.

Man, these are good.

I think you broke her.

"Do you want some tea?" I asked her.

"Ah-uh, y-yes? Please?" she stammers in confusion.

I looked to Kurumu who watched the whole scene with a look of amusement.

"You can use my cup; I bought an iced coffee anyway." And she handed Yukari the empty cup.

I poured her some tea and sat in another seat.

The three of us sat down sharing a baked lunch as Yukari desperately tried to figure out what just happened.

Eventually.

"Why?" she asked.

I tilt my head to play up my confusion. "Why what?"

She gives me a hopeless look. "Why am I having lunch with you? Why didn't you attack me? Why didn't you kill me, I know you can, you ignored my voodoo doll you are way stronger than me, so why the hell are you just treating me to lunch!?" she shouts while pulling her hair.

I shrug. "Because you aren't a bad person. You did bad things, because you were lonely and scared. That doesn't make you a bad person. It makes you human."

The realization that I had perhaps chosen the wrong word came, unfortunately, after I had already said it.

She looked at me with anger and threw her cup at me.

"I'm not some human child! I'm a witch, and I won't deal with you patronizing me!"

She ran from the room pushing past Moka who shouted after her.

The fact that she didn't even realize who she pushed past was a clear enough sign that I had screwed up.

"What happened Minato?" asked Moka with a worried face.

"… I may have chosen the wrong word when trying to befriend Yukari." I said with a grimace.

"Oh no, I was looking for her because I overheard her class representative talking about ambushing her!"

I will strip their flesh from their bones.

Find Yukari first, kill them later.

"Kurumu get Gin on the lookout, and look for her from the sky, Moka you chase after her, I'm going to find Deshi and meet up with you." I say as I start walking to the door.

She will not get hurt because of me.

-P+V-

After collecting Deshi from the cooking club, I started looking for Yukari with aid from pixie and Hua po.

I found her! Hurry boss they found her!

They will regret this.

In Tartarus!

Yes.

As I speed through the forest at full sprint, zeroing in on pixie, I catch the first glimpse of the situation.

A lizardman rushing towards Yukari, jaws wide.

Summon me brother so I may rid them of their fetid carcasses!

With pleasure.

I draw my evoker and pull the trigger.

*BANG*

Everyone else went stiff at the sensation that suddenly permeated the air.

The trees, visibly dead, seemed to further wither.

The air seemed to grow stale.

The fog grew thicker.

The sky, darker.

I realize, I didn't summon Thanatos the persona.

This is Thanatos the god of Death.

So be it, they were warned.

"w-w-what the hell is going on!?" came the panic-stricken voices of the lizard men.

Yukari fell on her rear and scrambled up to the nearest tree.

I arrived on the scene, standing before Yukari.

"Sendou San." I say gently.

"y-y-yes?" she stutters.

"My apologies, I didn't mean to insult you earlier. When I said that your reactions were human, I wasn't referring to your species." I give her a smile as I reach for her hand.

"I was referring to the state of being. To *BE* human is to have weakness, so that you may turn it to strength. To turn loneliness to resolve. To turn pain into experience. To turn mistakes to wisdom." I helped her to her feet.

"To turn fear, to courage." I finish.

She stares at me in wonder.

I turn from her and say.

"Fear or courage aside. You may want to cover your ears and eyes."

He air grows thicker than before.

"This won't be pleasant."

As I feel Kurumu, Deshi, Moka and Gin arrive behind me, I stare at the three lizardmen in front of me.

"Thanatos…"

At the name from my lips, Yukari gasps, and the newspaper club catch their breath.

"Come." I all but whisper.

And Ryoji, being the large ham he is, tears open the earth, chains trailing out and wrapping around the lizard men's legs.

Crushing them.

As he rises from the ground he starts to laugh maniacally.

When did he get so dramatic, I wonder?

"Loathsome cold-blooded pests. You prey on the weak to make up for your own pitiful lack of power. Your kind is little more than a pack of barely evolved geckos, desperately holding on to the tiny bit of yoki that gave you what little excuse for intelligence you hold claim to. I- "

"Enough already. You're warping reality the longer you are here. Just kill them Ryoji." I say, finally losing my patience.

"But Minatoooo, I want to be dramatic. Please, I never get to be all ominous and shit!" he whines.

I sigh.

"You just ruined your own moment; you could have killed them twice over by now, while they hadn't heard you whine like a child."

He blinked.

"Fuck it." He said.

Suddenly the chains dragged the lizard men into the ground and closed the hole he had made.

The crunch of crushed bodies was the last sign of the three of them and their existence.

Ryoji reverted to his human form and slumped as he walked towards us.

"Damn it Minato, you had to make me look like an idiot. Now Sendou San doesn't think I'm cool. Ah! The shame!" he posed dramatically.

Good grief.

"After that dramatic heartfelt apology, I was supposed to go all avenging angel on them and flay them layer by layer till they wished they were dead, and then continue until they had no flesh left because, you know death god, so they wouldn't be able to die unless I let them." He continued, not noticing the rapidly greening complexions of the others.

"Stop it, you would have made everyone sick if you did that Ryoji." I say as I cradle my head in my hand.

He can be so childish sometimes.

-P+V-

The next day.

"I WUV YOU MINATO!"

Ha, you have a habit of making little girls want you! Should I call the authorities you lolicon!

Shut up Ryoji…

My head is in my hand as Ryoji laughs uproariously in my mind.

"Hey squirt, get in line, I'm in second, both Mokas are in third, Deshi's in fourth, so you're in fifth got it?" says Kurumu.

Yukari got a confused look on her face. "who's in first then?"

I raise my head from the desk, "my girlfriend, Aegis. Also, why are you proclaiming your love for me?"

She starts waving her arms around and saying, "are you kidding!? You were so cool! You were so nice to me, and you even summoned the Greek god of death! And berated him for being over dramatic! And- "

"Woah woah, cool it chibi. I think we get it. But you don't know a lot about him. If you're joining the club, we need to get you caught up to speed on the boss man here." Said Gin with a smirk.

Hey, wait a minute…

"Since when am I the 'Boss man'?" I asked.

"Since you just put off such an alpha display that every gene in my body screams, 'he is your pack leader' and I'm totally willing to accept that." He replies with a casual shrug.

And the girls are all in my 'harem,' so they already look at me that way, is obviously the unsaid continuation.

Ah well, at least I have experience as a leader.

"Fine. Welcome to the newspaper club Yukari." I say, giving her a smile.

She blushes and I feel my social links for the fool, and judgement, rank up.

"Thou Art I... And I am thou... Thou Shalt have our Blessing When thou choosest to create a Persona of the Magician Arcana."

How fitting.

"This is great! I guess that explains the Tarot reading I got, it wasn't about you, it was you accepting me." She says as she hugs me.

"What reading are you talking about?" I ask.

Oh right, I almost forgot about that.

She takes out a tarot deck and says, "well, I tried to learn more about you through divination. I'm terrible at tea leaves, and real crystal balls are really expensive, so I use tarot. And every time I tried to get a reading for you, the weirdest thing happens."

She shuffles the deck with magic, looking a bit like Igor and Elizabeth did when they did readings, and she took 3 cards and put them in front.

They turn over one by one, and I am as surprised as I am unsurprised.

Before she speaks, I do.

A card with a smiling man carrying a sack about to walk off a cliff.

"The fool, embarking on his journey. Unknowing and unafraid."

She looks at me startled.

The next card is very different, it matches my own version.

A version I summon in front of me.

"The universe, completion of acceptance. All-encompassing understanding."

The others realize what I'm holding. Having heard about it from Elizabeth.

Finally...

"Death the end of a journey. The answer to life."

The air is somber, the reminder of my future after youkai academy is saddening to them.

"it's also a new beginning."

What?

Yukari looks at me with a determined look.

"Death is both an end and a new beginning, it signifies something in particular coming to an end, and the altered state brought upon by that ending."

A new beginning.

I suppose she is right. That's what you have now, right? A fresh start after the end of your journey?

It is.

"Thank you, Yukari. You helped more than realize." I say as I smile, true joy in my heart.

As Yukari blushes our social link deepens.

That was so wholesome I almost don't feel like making a lolicon joke.

Thanks for that Ryoji.

Anytime Mina-Kun.