Okay, here's chapter 2, and that's really all I have to say for now. Now read! ...and then review!
Aigis walked along the sidewalk enjoying the fresh April air and the clear night sky on her way to Hagakure. She was running a bit late because Koromaru had given her a pleading look before she left wanting to go for a walk. She never could refuse that look so she had quickly taken him to the shrine to play. She was now about fifteen minutes late and everyone else would probably already be there, but Hagakure was now only a block away.
Aigis looked up at the night sky as she walked and she began thinking of the past. Today was April 7th 2014. Five years ago today, he had come here, and a few months later, Aigis had met him. They and eight others had fought shadows together, solved the mysteries of apathy syndrome, and defeated Nyx. He had meant so much to Aigis, and she had promised to protect him no matter what, only to have him taken away from her less than a year after they met. I promised I would do everything in my power to protect you Minato, but now you're up there somewhere protecting me, Aigis thought.
Aigis had never really gotten over the pain of Minato's death, but she had come to accept that along with the choice he had made.
She was now almost in front of Hagakure, and she saw all of her friends inside. Before opening the door she looked up at the night sky again. I'm sorry, she thought, I promised you I wouldn't be sad anymore. She put her hand on the door handle and still looking towards the sky, she whispered, "I'll always miss you, but I'll accept the gift you gave me and live the best life I can."
Aigis pulled the door open and walked in to greet her friends.
"Hi Aigis!" Yukari said cheerfully.
"Hello Yukari, hello everyone," Aigis said. "I'm sorry for being late."
Don't worry about it," Fuuka said.
"Yeah at least you're nice enough to call unlike some people," Junpei grumbled.
Seeing Aigis' puzzled look, Ken explained," He's just grumpy because he can't eat until everyone is here and Akihiko still hasn't arrived."
"But I'm starving!" Junpei whined. "I think we should make Akihiko pay for dinner since he's so friggin' late."
Mitsuru rolled her eyes, "he's probably just late because of work."
"Well while Mr. Fancy Police Officer does whatever it is he's doing, I'm going to die of starvation here," Junpei complained.
"He's working late to protect the public," Mitsuru replied.
"What am I not part of the public now?" Junpei asked. "If he doesn't get here soon, I'm going to starve to death! I don't call that protecting the public."
Mitsuru and Junpei continued to go back and forth like this for a few more minutes when Akihiko walked in.
Everyone greeted him except for Junpei who yelled "You're paying for dinner!"
"Hey everyone," Akihiko said ignoring Junpei's comment. "Sorry, I tried to get here as fast as I could, I didn't even stop at home to change," he said indicating his uniform. "We had a really weird case just before my shift ended."
"What happ…" Fuuka began, but Junpei cut her off.
"Tell us after we order," he said. "I'm going to die if I don't eat soon."
"Fine with me," Akihiko said as he sat down.
They all ordered (Junpei ordered an extra bowl) and Akihiko began his story.
"We got a call right at the end of my shift, about a lot yelling coming from a house," Akihiko began. "Me, and another cop headed over to see what was going on and when we arrived we found that the guy was beating his wife. The guy opened the door, and once he saw us with our uniforms on, he took off and ran towards the kitchen. We chased after him, but by the time we caught up, he had grabbed a knife. We pulled out our guns and told him he needed to put down the knife and come with us. Then the crazy thing happened. The guy started to yell, and swear, and wave the knife around, but then out of nowhere, he just kind of fainted."
"What do you mean kind of?" Mitsuru asked.
"Well, it seemed like he had fainted since he fell to the ground and was just lying there, except for the fact that his eyes were wide open."
"His eyes were open?" Ken asked.
Akihiko nodded, "Wide open, like he was staring at something."
"That's freaky man," Junpei said.
The waiter walked over to the table and set their bowls of ramen in front of them. They began to eat as Akihiko finished his story.
"We called the ambulance, and they took him and his wife to the hospital. We still aren't quite sure what happened."
Aigis stirred her bowl of noodles to get them to cool down. "It's so strange; I wonder what could have caused him to pass out like that."
Akihiko shook his head." I've been wondering the same thing myself."
"Do you know if something like this has happened to him before?" Fuuka asked.
"We asked his wife while we were waiting for the ambulance to show up, and she said she's never even seen him pass out before."
"That just makes it even weirder," Junpei said.
The group ate in silence for a few minutes, pondering what Akihiko had told them when Mitsuru glanced up at the TV in the restaurant. "Hey isn't that the story you were just telling us about Akihiko?" She asked pointing at the TV screen.
The news was on and there was a report about the man who had passed out.
"Yeah, it is," he said. Akihiko got up and turned up the volume on the television a little it so they could hear the story better.
There was a female reporter on the screen, standing in front of Tatsumi Memorial hospital. The story was already in progress.
"According to the police, a man in his mid-thirties passed out suddenly during a fit of rage. The odd part is his eyes were wide open even though it seemed he had fainted. Doctors say that he is still passed out, but is in stable condition. They were unable to identify what caused the man to pass out this way, but they are treating him to the best of their abilities.
"What makes this incident even more startling is the fact that there have been five other cases similar to this one during this week. The first case took place on Monday, with the others occurring on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. The Other patients all fainted with their eyes wide open, and although doctors say they are in stable condition, none of them have woken up. According to doctors, they have not been able to find the cause but they are beginning to think this may be a more severe case of Apathy Syndrome."
At the words Apathy Syndrome the group froze. They all looked at each other in silence still not quite able to believe what they had just heard.
Yukari broke the silence by standing up and saying, "I'm not hungry anymore."
"Me either," Mitsuru said and joined her. The rest of the group stood up along with them and paid before leaving Hagakure.
Junpei sadly glanced back at his half finished meal before walking out of the restaurant with the rest of the group towards the dorm.
"I can't… " Yukari began, but she had to stop and calm herself before she spoke. "I don't want to have to go through this again."
"None of us do Yukari," Mitsuru said.
"Hey wait," Junpei cut in. "Before we start worrying about this we need to figure out if anything is actually happening. Has anyone noticed The Dark Hour come back?" He asked.
They all shook their heads.
"See we maybe freaking out about nothing."
"But five people have passed out in one week alone," Ken said. "That doesn't seem like a coincidence to me."
Fuuka nodded, "We can't be too careful, I think we should watch the news and keep and eye out for The Dark Hour."
Akihiko had troubled look on his face and he was staring at the ground as they walked. He seemed to be thinking about something."
"Is something wrong Akihiko?" Mitsuru asked.
Akihiko looked up and shook his head. "No, I'm fine. I'm just tired."
"If you say so."
They had arrived in front of the dorm where Yukari, Junpei, Aigis, Ken and Fuuka were now staying. They had decided it would be easier to use the dorm since it was close to where they all went to school. Plus they wouldn't have to worry about paying rent like they would if they had stayed somewhere else.
"Hey, lets' try not to worry about this too much okay?" Junpei said. "We'll keep an eye on the news and report if anything happens with The Dark Hour. Tomorrow's the first day back to school for most of us; we have enough on our minds."
"Yes, of course," Mitsuru said. "I assume you did all of your homework Iori?"
"'Course I did! I don't slack off anymore remember! Er… well most of the time I don't." This was actually true. Junpei had surprised them all by deciding to go to college, and getting passing grades in all his classes.
Mitsuru laughed "That's good to hear," She said. "Well, I had better get going, it's pretty late. Goodnight everyone."
They all said good night as Mitsuru walked over to her car. Everyone else headed into the dorm except for Akihiko who turned to walk towards his apartment which was only about ½ a mile away from the dorm.
Junpei was holding the door open for Aigis who was the last to walk into the dorm. She stopped in the doorway and looked back at Akihiko as he walked away. He still seemed trouble.
"You comin' in or what Ai-chan?" Junpei asked.
"No, I'll be back in just a minute," she said, and turned around to run after Akihiko.
Junpei shrugged and close the door.
"Sanada-san, wait!" she yelled.
Akihiko turned around to see Aigis chasing after him.
"What's wrong Aigis" he asked.
"You seem troubled, what's bothering you?"
He shook his head, "It's nothing."
"No, you're worrying about something, I can tell. Ever since Apathy Syndrome was mentioned you've hardly said a word."
He sighed before answering, "All right," he said, "I didn't want anyone else to worry, but I'll tell you."
Aigis nodded and waited for him to reply.
"Well, when that man passed out, and he was just staring like that, it reminded me of something, but I couldn't quite place it. Once I heard the reporter say Apathy Syndrome, I knew that was it. He had that same blank stare on his face. That's what was bothering me. "
"I see," Aigis said. "It seems that something may really be happening."
"I hope not," he sighed. "I would appreciate it if you kept this from the others Aigis, they don't need to have anymore stress put on them."
"Alright," Aigis agreed. "Thanks for telling me about it."
Akihiko just shrugged, "I felt like I should tell someone. Well, I need to head home, it's pretty late."
"Okay, then. Goodnight."
"'Night," Akihiko said and began walking again.
Aigis turned in the opposite direction and began walking back towards the dorm.
When she walked back into the dorm Yukari was getting ready to walk outside with Koromaru.
"Hey Aigis, Koromaru wanted to go on a walk, you wanna come with?" Yukari asked.
"He's already been for a walk today," Aigis said.
Koromaru let out a pathetic whine and his ears drooped.
Aigis rolled her eyes, "Fine I'll go with if you still want to go Yukari."
"Yeah, I could use a walk anyways."
Koromaru bark happily and ran outside the still open door.
I was almost chilly, but still pleasant out when they arrived at the shrine. Yukari and Aigis sat down on the wooden ledge near the playground while Koromaru happily ran around the shrine, sniffing at all the spots that caught his interest.
Yukari sighed, "Maybe I'm just overreacting, but I would really rather not go through something like apathy syndrome again."
"None of us do Yukari. I would rather just live a normal, peaceful life than have to battle again." Aigis said. "You know, if something big does happen again, and you don't want to…" Yukari cut her off.
"No, I just said I didn't want to fight again, not that I wouldn't. He gave his life to save this world, there's no way I would pass up the chance to protect it."
Aigis nodded and smiled. "I'm glad to hear that, the team wouldn't be the same without you."
"You would fight again too I fit came to that, right Aigis?"
"Of course. Minato gave his life to protect this world; I can't let that go to waste."
"I guess we have similar reasons for fighting then."
"Yes, I suppose so."
"I still miss him, but I've realized that he made his choice, so I can live with that. I would still do almost anything to have the chance to see him again though," Yukari said with a sad smile.
"So would I," Aigis said.
"I used to be so jealous that you were the one to hear his last words, but I've gotten over that. I realized that it was just stupid to think that way, and that if things had been the other way around, there's no way you would have been as big of a jerk as I was."
"I can't say what I would have done in your situation Yukari, I may have been even worse."
Yukari laughed, "No, it's okay, you don't have to try to make me feel better, I'm over it now anyways."
Koromaru ran up to the two girls and barked to show them he was ready to go back. Aigis scratched his head and they stood up.
"We've just gotta look towards the future and be ready to take whatever gets thrown at us, right Aigis?"
Aigis nodded, and they started to walk back towards the dorm. If The Dark Hour does return, and we have to fight shadows again, she thought, I'll put my full effort into doing so. As long as I can protect the future you've given us, I can be happy.
Well there it is! Hope you liked it!