This street was back in her own world. In fact, hadn't she used to come through here all the time after school, usually with Kagami and Tsukasa? Small scraps of memories were coming back, her old life, the people she used to know...

The trees along the side of the street were pink with cherry blossoms. It was the beginning of spring. There were some students walking home, all in the old Ryoo winter uniforms that, judging by the weather, they'd be switching out of soon. She recognized some of them, even after being gone for a year, from seeing them in the hallways or in front of the building each morning before class started. Nobody that she knew by name, though. Looking down at herself, Konata could see that she was still wearing the summer uniform - for Gekkokan, not Ryoo. Nobody seemed to care. Nobody was even looking in her direction, as if she wasn't even there.

Standing there on the sidewalk, taking in all the sights and sounds of her home universe, Konata suddenly realized that she was now alone. The students had disappeared without a trace, as dark clouds came to cover the sun and leave the city in shadows.

The pink flowers withered and fell slowly to the ground, leaving the branches barren and tangled. All color seemed to be leaving, except for two solitary points of red.

On closer inspection... Those red spots were eyes. A man was standing just across the now-empty street from her, all his features in very dark shadow. The details of the scenery surrounding both of them were still visible, but everything about this man was in complete blackness, except for those burning crimson eyes. From his silhouette, Konata could see he had long scraggly hair, down to his shoulders, and wore Western-style boots. His clothing was wrinkled and worn from years of use. An old jacket, some worn-down jeans.

He was saying something to her... She couldn't quite make it out... But whatever it was, it gave her an extremely uneasy feeling, and she knew it would be best to stay far away. But you couldn't outrun him, no matter how hard you tried. He would always be there.

They stood for some time. Konata found she was now unable to move even an inch. The red eyes burned into her own, and his voice grew louder. It echoed throughout the empty street. The buildings in the distance aged rapidly and fell into ruin. The clouds grew even thicker as the wind reached hurricane-like force.

Konata's eyes opened. Her heart was pounding. This was her dorm room back in Iwatodai, she hadn't really been back home... But of course she hadn't. It was still dark outside, probably early in the morning. A dog was barking somewhere. There was a low sound of traffic. Something about that dream had been so real that she just couldn't shake it. Sleep wasn't something Konata was used to, especially not at night in her own bed, and whenever she did go to sleep she never remembered her dreams. The details of this dream were still so clear, unfading, except for whatever the dark man had told her.

What had it been about?

Ignoring that for now, Konata stood up and walked over to the computer. She pushed everything else out of her mind. It was no use trying to get back to sleep now. Only two hours left until she'd have to wake up to go to school, get to class, and then she'd have some time for sleep. For now... Nothing but her and Innocent Sin Online. She grinned. It was almost like the old days.

Chapter 19

All You've Seen Has Gone

Exam results were posted out in the hall, but Konata didn't really care. Her grades didn't matter. School only served as a way to integrate herself into this universe, get closer to the people she was working with. There was no need to pay attention in class, go to cram school to prepare for the crushingly difficult university entrance exams, or generally put forth any kind of effort. She wasn't going to college. From the looks of things, Murakami Emiri was turning out to be even more of a slacker than Izumi Konata had ever been.

As she passed by the crowd of students gathered around the bulletin board, however, she heard Mitsuru call her name.

"Murakami, I'm impressed," she said. "I guess you did take some time to study after all."

"Huh? What - ?" Konata hadn't done any studying. There hadn't even been an all-night cram session this time.

"Look at your score. You're in the top twenty-five percent of our class." This was unusual, Mitsuru was speaking to her without the usual condescending tone.

Mitsuru pointed out her score on the list. She was right, apparently most of the answers that Konata had blindly guessed on turned out to be correct. Some people were already looking at her, one of them gave her a "congratulations." Konata feared she might be identified as one of the smart, dependable kids now...

"Now, if you could get that score up, it would be even better. You still don't seem to be paying much attention during class," Mitsuru said.

"It's just osmosis. I must be absorbing all the answers while I sleep." Konata was grinning, but Mitsuru didn't appreciate the humor.

"Fighting the Shadows is an important job, but you still have to be thinking about your future. Do you have any plans for your life after high school?" Konata's smile quickly vanished as she realized she was getting a lecture. "Our high school lives are coming to an end. You need to be prepared for your life ahead."

Konata thought for a moment. Actually, if she was still taking after her mother and not showing any significant growth (in any direction), she could continue going to high school for years to come if she so desired. And other than that, maybe she'd do some more missions in fantasy worlds, or get around to learning how to pilot giant robots. She had always intended to do that at some point.

And she knew that Mitsuru was only going to be inheriting her father's position as the CEO of a huge corporation. Boring and businesslike. Well, that was fitting, but Konata almost felt sorry for her.

"Actually, I do have some plans..." Konata said. "But as for right now, I was actually just on my way to the school store, so I guess I'll see you later." She turned her back to the crowd of students around the results board and headed towards the entrance hall.

It was after school on a Saturday. The weather was good, so Konata had decided to head out to Pawlonia Mall for some supplies for the team. The pharmacy carried a variety of items they used to treat injuries from their Shadow battles, and the police station cooperated with them to provide weapons. It was so nice of Officer Kurosawa to trust a bunch of teenagers with swords and the like. The only hard part was walking out of the station with them unnoticed.

They had a plan for this. She was carrying a large shopping bag, giving the appearance of having bought tons of clothes, but really she had stopped at the dorm and picked it up, already full, before heading out. Now there was a rapier, a beautifully crafted bow, and some brass knuckles hidden beneath all the merchandise. As long as she went straight back, nobody would notice she carried all of those in the bottom.

Interesting, the things they never explained in video games.

She heard "Koi no Mikuru Densetsu" start playing, coming from her pocket. She had a phone call, probably somebody asking her to pick up something else for them while she was out.

Instead, a woman's voice that she had never heard before, speaking quickly and to the point. "Hello, is this Izumi Konata?"

"Yes..." Hearing her real name explained a lot about the caller already. "Who is this?"

"I represent the Eclipse organization. You are currently working with a student by the name of Iori Junpei. Is that correct?"

"Yeah, he's from this world. He doesn't know anything about the organization, though..."

"He has become a person of interest. If you consider him qualified, you now have the authorization to recruit him into the organization. We are leaving it to your jurisdiction." The official-sounding vocabulary and lack of emotion suggested a routine, maybe a script. The PR department?

"Okay..." Junpei was allowed to join? Wouldn't he be in for a surprise... "I understand. Is that all?"

There was a click and a dial tone. Yes, that was all.

She closed her phone and picked up the shopping bag again, the handle straining under the hidden weight. This was going to be her first time recruiting somebody. Rei had been on her first mission, that one time that they had worked together, but someone else had been sent to introduce her to the organization. Working on her first mission had been all Konata had done with her. Who knows how much training she might have had before that.

So how had Jason recruited her, those years ago? Konata figured it would probably be a lot like that. And she already knew Junpei had combat ability. There was no need to test him on that. Where should she take him for the first mission, then?

There was also all the explanation of this being a video game - well, a world identical to a video game, to be technical, not literally the game itself - as well as her real name. And Junpei already had some experience with Lucky Star. That complicated things.

All the possibilities still ran through her mind even as she took the train back to Iwatodai, and made the hike back to the dorm as evening set in.

Tomorrow was Sunday, they had the day off and could sleep in if they wanted. Things were looking good as far as going to Tartarus tonight was concerned. And hopefully new weapons were as exciting to everyone else as they were to her... The anticipation brought a smile to her face.

"Thessalus!" Jason called, as he raised the Evoker to his temple and fired. The loud bang was accompanied by what appeared to be shards of glass coming from the other side of his head, fading into nothing after several seconds.

His Persona appeared, a golden-caped warrior bearing a heavy lance and intricately detailed shield, its skin appearing like living metal. It wore a crested helmet. It struck out at the enemy, a nine-foot-tall stone giant, and vanished, its job done. Konata dashed in from behind to finish it off with a precision strike from her own blade.

She was interested in his Persona. It was the Hermit arcana, and from some research she had done that signified isolation, understanding, and, more fittingly, guidance. That seemed to fit Jason pretty well. Her own, on the other hand... The Star was associated with optimism, calmness, and, more confusingly, regeneration of both the subconscious and the material world. Whatever that meant. Maybe she was looking too far into it, but it couldn't just be because the arcana matched the name of her anime.

"That's the last one on this floor. Let's keep going," Minato said. It snapped Konata out of her train of thought.

Mitsuru had joined them on the combat front now, her role as observer and team manager taken by a new addition, a girl with short turquoise hair by the name of Yamagishi Fuuka. Unlike Jason and Konata, Fuuka was a new addition who actually came from this world.

They had made considerable progress in Tartarus since Konata had first joined, this current section was unrecognizable as the school. Turquoise floor tiles surrounded a tarnished gold path running down the centers of the hallways, strange rectangular and arched designs covered the walls. A wide teal-colored stairway, with no railing on the sides, stood before them, and they ran up to get to the next floor.

Everything seemed to be in a haze for a while, and when it cleared, Konata could see that she was alone suddenly. It was like the other three had vanished, leaving her alone. This just happened every once in a while, it wasn't anything new or unexpected. The hall stretched out in front of her, and it was too dark to see where it ended.

"Emiri! Are you there?" Fuuka's voice, thick with worry. Her Persona's ability was similar to Mitsuru's, but much more accurate. She could see to floors of the tower farther away than Mitsuru had been able to.

"Yeah, I'm here. Everything's alright. What happened?" Konata spoke to the open air, she couldn't see Fuuka's face when she spoke to them.

"I can't see your position very well at the moment. It seems everyone's been separated. Um... attempt to regroup. I'll try to find the others." With that, she stopped talking, and Konata assumed the link had been broken for the time being.

As Fuuka's voice faded, an idea formed in Konata's mind. She glanced at her sword, a crudely-decorated piece of steel about three feet long, going dull on one edge from overuse and low-quality forging. Compared to this, the most basic medieval swords looked stylish and awesome. She had been considering switching it for something else for a while now, and as long as she wasn't being watched...

She dropped it clattering on the floor, and brought out Laevateinn. Sliding the strap of the sheath over her back, she drew her sword, admiring the beautiful flames as they burst forth, feeling the heat radiating out. The hilt felt comfortable in her hand.

There were a few more unfortunate enemies coming out of the darkness of the corridor now. They were heavily armored, with yellow-masked faces and thick metal rods for arms, the approximate thickness of tree trunks. Just one of the forms Shadows took in this region. Usually these things in particular were such a hassle to fight. Not today.

First she drew her Evoker to summon Pandora. Her Persona shot a blast of icy wind towards the two shadows, catching them off guard. Then, while they were stunned by the force of the first attack, Konata followed up with Laevateinn, the Shadows offering little resistance against the enchanted blade, the scorching flames slicing through them easily compared to the relative weakness of steel. They burst into formless dark shapes, and faded.

God, she loved this sword...

Konata continued down the hall, not seeing any branching paths for now. Or any of her team members, for that matter. She hadn't returned Laevateinn to its sheath, she carried it in her left hand, held out to the side.

She heard footsteps coming up. A moment later, Jason nearly ran straight into her from around a corner.

"There you are." He approached her, then paused, seeing the sword she carried. "What? I thought I told you about that. Put it away before someone sees you."

"I don't think so... As a matter of fact, I specifically remember you could find and use this exact sword in Persona 3, and that means that it's not against this universe's set of rules." Konata gave a satisfied grin. Her otaku knowledge saved the day. Or at least managed to make this mission more entertaining for her.

"Are you serious? So how are you going to explain that to everyone else?" Jason asked.

As if on cue, Mitsuru caught up with them. "Good. Have you seen Minato yet? And - " She paused. "Emiri, what is that?" She stared at the flaming sword in Konata's hand.

"I found it."

"You... what?" Mitsuru's eyes were wide, examining the weapon. It was odd to see her show this kind of amazement at anything. "I see. Can you use it?"

"Yeah, it works pretty well." Konata shrugged.

Minato ran up from another direction, his sword held up over his right shoulder. He stopped as he saw them. "Do we have everyone? Let's - Emiri, what is that?"

Jason gave an exasperated sigh, and ran his fingers through his hair.

"A sword. I found it," Konata repeated.

"You just found it? Just lying around?"

"Not exactly, it was in a chest... We've found weapons before, it's no big deal. Let's just keep going."

"Alright, then..." Minato said. "The stairs were just back this way. Follow me."

Even on Monday, two days after the excursion, everyone still seemed exhausted. They had run right up to the time limit of an hour, almost not making it out before the Dark Hour ended. Minato had been fighting to stay awake throughout class, and now that it was lunch he seemed ready to fall over on the table.

"Hey, Minato. You got the notes from Toriumi-sensei's lecture, right? I didn't quite get all of it..." Junpei sighed. "When are we ever going to need to speak English, anyway?"

Minato scratched his head, not looking up. "Today...? Actually, I wasn't paying attention either..." He yawned. "We were working way too hard last time we went to Tartarus... I'm still feeling it. Probably won't make that mistake again."

"Hey, maybe Jason'll help you with it," Yukari suggested. "I'm sure that kind of homework is simple for an American."

"Yeah, I bet... But can you believe it, though? There must be Persona users all over the world, and if he hadn't come here... I never really thought about it, but the Dark Hour is a worldwide thing, and this city just happens to be the center of it? Isn't that crazy?" Junpei said.

"I'm glad he came here. He is pretty good at fighting them. Just last night, we were really on a roll," Minato said. "And then there was that sword that Emiri found..."

"Huh? I didn't hear anything about that. What's special about it?" Junpei leaned forward, curious.

"You didn't get to see it yet? Oh, that's right." Minato seemed to be waking up. "So we all got separated on one of the floors. You've seen how Tartarus does that sometimes. Well, wherever Emiri got to, she found some sort of fire sword... Seriously, the blade is on fire. And that's what she's using now."

Yukari was stunned. "Seriously? Isn't that... dangerous? I mean, it is really cool and all, but -"

They heard door slide open. Minato turned his head to look. "Speaking of which, here she is now."

Emiri had her usual carefree expression. Whenever she wasn't fighting, she just seemed so relaxed and content. She was even that way when she was fighting, come to think of it. As she walked through the classroom, Junpei couldn't help but notice that she was, in fact, shorter than all of these students who were a year below her. She pulled up a chair and sat down across the table from him.

"Hey guys," she said. "So what's going on?"

"You seriously just found a fire sword lying on the ground in Tartarus?" Junpei asked.

"Oh, that," Emiri said with a grin. "Yeah, I'm quite proud of that."

Junpei gaped at her. "How do you even use something like that?"

"It sounds kind of dangerous," Yukari added.

"Well, I found it with a cover, so if you put it in that the flames go out until you use it again. And I'm already a really great swordfighter, if I do say so myself." Emiri sounded cocky, but for those who had seen her in battle, they knew she wasn't exaggerating. "Anyway, I actually came here to talk to you." She turned over to Junpei, and leaned forward on the desk.

"Me? What's it about?"

Emiri was looking around nonchalantly. "Oh, you know... What are your plans? A few days ago you were talking about how you felt like fighting Shadows was all you were really good at."

That was right, he had been. Junpei didn't get good grades, not only as a result of not studying but also because he just didn't understand how to. It wasn't his thing. And anything artistic or creative was out, that was for sure. But during the Dark Hour, he could really kick some ass. "No idea... I guess I haven't been thinking about it much."

"Shouldn't you be the one thinking about your future, miss Senior Year Student? Besides, you're pretty much the same way," Yukari said.

"Yeah, well..." Emiri paused to take a bite. Her lunch was a choco cornet, as always. It was a quirk they had gotten used to. Maybe that was how she stayed so small, she hardly ever ate a full lunch. "That's part of why I was asking. I've got... a little something planned out, but I was just curious. You know."

A "little something," maybe, but she wasn't saying anything else. And what plans could someone as lazy as her possibly have? You had to wonder.

"So anyway, maybe the two of us could meet up after school today. That sound good?" Emiri's good cheer had returned.

"T-today? Well, um..." Junpei stalled. "Sorry. The coach has been working us really hard. You were the one who told me I should join kendo team, remember?"

"That I did..." Emiri paused, remembering. "It's fine. Just whenever you have time, I've got something I want to tell you about."

Emiri was really starting to sound weird now. She wanted to talk to him alone? About what? She wasn't giving any hints, and all this talk about his plans for the future and everything... Junpei couldn't even begin to imagine where she was going with all this. Sure, he'd find some time to meet up somewhere. Why just the two of them, though?

After school, Konata returned to the dorm in the late afternoon. It was quiet in the lounge area as she entered.

"Hey, you're back already," Jason said, turning his head to see who had come in. He was sitting on the sofa by himself, reading a book.

"Yeah. You the only one here?"

"At the moment."

"Good..." She walked over and sat in one of the chairs. "I've been meaning to ask you about something... Two days ago, I got permission to recruit Junpei to the organization."

"Seriously?" His attention had turned away from his novel completely and he sat straight up. "So have you told him anything yet or not?"

"I'm still waiting to get a chance to talk to him when nobody else is around," Konata replied. "I just haven't gotten the chance yet. But I think he'd be pretty good at it."

Jason thought for a moment. That was true, Junpei had improved even as they'd been here in this universe watching him. "Maybe if we all met up... Just the three of us. We could invite him somewhere, Wild Duck Burger or something like that." He placed a bookmark and, closing his novel, set it down on the table. "So anyway... You were at art club today, weren't you?"

"Yeah. Fuuka and Minato are members. I thought it sounded fun." Konata shrugged.

"Is it just me, or does that not seem like you? Back at Ryoo you never wanted to join any extracurriculars. Then we come here, and you're in just about everything."

"Well... that was different, I don't know." She scratched her head. "Back when I played this game I joined all the clubs I could. I guess I wanted to experience the real thing. So what are you doing here all by yourself?"

"Studying." He noticed her eyes shifting to the novel sitting on the table, which appeared to be some sort of paranormal-mystery bestseller, and added, "Before you got here, at least. It's still not easy fitting into a student life for me."

"Were you getting all this attention back at Ryoo when you were a transfer student? It's crazy, it's like everyone at school knows me." Konata sighed happily. "Being popular is a really new experience for me."

They both looked up as they heard the front door open again. Akihiko, wearing his familiar red sweater vest and a jacket slung over his shoulder, stood at the door. Konata let out a faint sigh. She had been hoping it might be Junpei, but no luck.

"Hey. Just you guys?" Akihiko asked.

"Yeah," Jason nodded. "So how was practice?"

"Too easy. These other guys just aren't putting in enough effort." Akihiko shook his head sadly. "Nothing like you two. You always seem to be on top of things, at least as far as training goes. Maybe you've just spoiled me."

"Hey, Akihiko. Are we set to go to Tartarus tonight?" Konata asked, eagerly.

Akihiko looked shocked. "What? Of course not... We just went two days ago. I'm all for getting some training in, but don't push yourself."

That night, the rest of the team had decided not to go to Tartarus, and Konata really didn't want to go to sleep. It was either go on the computer or look to see what minor missions were available from Eclipse, something she could complete in a few hours. Tonight she'd choose the latter.

After typing in numerous passwords on her phone to get past all the security measures, she checked the side mission list. Skip over anything she wasn't familiar with. The majority weren't even recognizable as movies or famous stories, and other than that most of these seemed to be foreign action movies she didn't care about.

Konata laid on her bed, the lights off, staring at the dimly backlit screen. An expression of dull boredom was on her face. What was there to do tonight...? She continued scrolling down the list.

She stopped suddenly when she saw something that caught her eye. It almost stopped her heart. She sat straight up and read it several times over, the description, the date, the location...

The location...

But this mission wasn't set to go until two days later. Checking the description, it had a few notes. Advance Notice: High-Risk Mission. Seeking multiple volunteers.

They may be "seeking multiple volunteers" but they obviously wouldn't want Konata working on this one. Still... What should she do?

The image of the dark man... those crimson eyes, the graffiti she had seen on that coffee shop in Stovington, her dream from all those days ago. It all went through her mind. Something was going to happen, and all the signs pointed to the fact that she couldn't leave this for someone else to take care of. It wasn't that she didn't trust Jason to handle it for her, it was just... She couldn't really explain it. Two days? She'd think it over then, but she already knew there was only one answer. It would be best to not even mention this to Jason.

And to think, she had almost finished her senior year this time.