May 24th, 2009

Two weeks had passed since the train operation.

SEES' morale was at an all-time low.

Junpei had been uncharacteristically downbeat, his trademark enthusiasm nowhere to be seen. When exams had come up, he had been restless and unable to study. His already short temper seemed to get even shorter, and had been in a few shouting matches with other students.

Yukari seemed to be scatterbrained, with her attention never in the right places when she needed it. During exams, this ended up being a problem. She almost hadn't finished them in time. She rarely smiled, and laughter was even rarer.

Mitsuru was angry all the time. She was icier than usual during all the different activities that she did, and she refused to even look at Minato, even during class. People were noticing and starting to talk, creating rumors which only seemed to fuel her anger. No one in the dorm dared agitate her, not even Akihiko.

Minato had essentially become a ghost to the dorm. The only time anyone saw him outside of class was when he came down to snatch some food to take up to his room. His mood had barely changed, and he refused to speak to anyone. Granted, not many had tried. Only Akihiko had been trying to reach the teen, to no avail.

Akihiko had been filled in on what had happened during the operation by Mitsuru a day after the operation. What Minato had done had hurt all of them, even if the fool didn't see it. He had quickly ingratiated himself as a part of the team, and his pain was affecting all of them. He shook his head in regret as he watched Minato on his security camera feed.

The teen hadn't gotten any sleep in the past two days. He raged at nearly every little thing that annoyed him. He barely ate. He was self-destructing.

Memories of Shinjiro after the incident washed through his head, and tears threatened to spill. Their situations were remarkably similar. The only difference was, they had known what had caused Shinji's meltdown. They had no idea what had set Minato off, and even less of an idea of how to help. He clenched his fists angrily. Minato was a good guy, despite what he had said during the op, and Akihiko was gonna be damned if he lost another friend like he'd lost Shinji. If only there was something he could do…

He slammed his fists on the console in frustration. He hated feeling powerless to help. It was infuriating!

After a few minutes, he calmed down and glanced at the pages set up in front of him. Class rosters for class 2-E from the past couple of weeks were scattered on the desk.

A rumor had been floating around for around a month now about a girl named Fuuka Yamagishi. She was an honor student that was apparently being bullied. She also, according to Ikutsuki, had the potential for Persona. That meant that she was a high priority recruit. The only problem was no one seemed to know where she was.

He sighed and stood up to head to bed. He couldn't help Minato right now, but he could try and help this girl. Maybe Junpei and Yukari would know something…

June 6th, 2009.

He was going crazy. He'd finally taken that final step over the edge. He knew that had to be it. It was the only explanation he could think of for his current predicament.

After the train operation, he'd thrown himself into his research. If Mitsuru had been that upset about that information, it had to be important. Unfortunately, any information in the public record about the laboratory was gone, as if it had been redacted. As a result, he'd called in every contact he had who might know something to try and find out what the Kirijo Group had been up to 10 years ago, but he'd gotten nowhere.

Normally, that would have pissed him off. It should have pissed him off.

The only problem was, he couldn't seem to care.

His burning anger a month ago had progressively dulled into a low flame buried in the pit of his stomach until it had burned out completely a few days ago. In the anger's place, there was a hole where his feelings should have been. He should have been bothered by that. In reality, he couldn't seem to care less that they were missing. Besides, it was better that way.

No one gets hurt if no one cares about you, after all.

It was alright. It didn't matter what finding the truth of the Dark Hour would reveal. Once he found it, he was leaving, for good this time. No one would miss him, after all. He'd made sure of that a month ago. Somehow, the thought made him feel slightly more at ease.

His stomach grumbled painfully, shaking him from his thoughts. He glanced at the clock. 9:46. He'd skipped dinner… again. He sighed and headed downstairs. Maybe Akihiko had left him some leftovers again. When he got to the bottom floor, however, he saw Yukari and Junpei whispering conspiratorially at the entrance.

He stood out of sight and watched them. They were in the middle of an intense conversation. Sadly, he was too far to pick up any of it. Yukari nodded towards the door, an exasperated look on her face. Junpei shook his head in disagreement. She sighed and walked out, intent on leaving him behind. Junpei jumped in surprise, then after a second, ran after her.

He pursed his lips, a small pang of curiosity hitting him. What were they up to? It was almost curfew. If they got caught out after curfew, Mitsuru would execute them herself. Whatever it was they were doing, it would have to be important to risk that kind of fate. Intrigued, he debated going after them. After all, it wasn't like his research was going anywhere right now. After a moment, he shrugged, planted his feet and followed them out into the night.

He'd managed to find and catch up to the two teens rather quickly, their loud, spirited debate having continued well after they'd left the dorm. He followed them at a respectable distance for a few minutes until they walked off the road and began walking towards the back end of the train terminal, heading for the lone alleyway at the back of the station. He frowned. Rumor had it that alleyway was a gathering place of sorts for delinquents and criminals.

What in the hell are they doing?

He crept up to the entrance, peeking around the corner. The two of them entered into a conversation with a group of older teens, evidently asking them about something. He crept closer, trying to overhear what they were talking about.

Before he could get any closer however, Yukari's body language suddenly turned hostile. She turned to Junpei and said something about scum to him, apparently in reference to them. At that, the group of delinquents started to surround them. Suddenly, one of the toughs punched Junpei right in the stomach, causing him to buckle to his knees. The scene made Minato wince. A flash of anger rushed through him, surprising him with its intensity.

Idiots, what were they thinking? These guys could kill them!

He quickly analyzed the situation and made a battle plan. A cruel, humorless smirk formed on his face.

Only thing a bunch of hyenas like this understand is power. Time to show 'em what happens when you mess with a lion.

He stepped out into the alleyway, clapping his hands as loud as he could. Everyone's attention switched to him. "Congrats," He called disdainfully to the older teen, "You sucker punched a high school kid. Guess that makes you a real tough guy, huh?"

"Another one?" The tough who had hit Junpei exclaimed. He appraised Minato for a moment, then turned to his companions. "Guess the rats just wanna come and play today, huh, guys?!"

A shriek of laughter came from the older girls to Yukari's side. Minato took the moment to look the guy over. He had an ugly double piercing connected by a chain. One of the loops was in the side of his right nostril, and the other was in his bottom lip. He smirked. "Wow, that's pretty smart," he said, pointing to the piercing. "You chained your nose to your face so you wouldn't lose it."

The girls behind Yukari shrieked even harder at that, causing the tough to purple with rage. He rushed Minato, hoping to body slam him against the wall. Instead, Minato dodged to the side, then reached out and grabbed the chain on the guy's face.

"Ah!" The punk screamed, his hands grasping at his face protectively as Minato pulled. "Ah! Ok! Ok! I'm sorry!"

"Uh uh," Minato said with a wag of his finger, "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

The punk turned to Junpei as much as his face would allow. "Ok, I'm sorry for hitting you! I'm sorry!" He turned back to Minato. "There! I did what you wanted, now let me go! Please!"

Minato put his hand under his jaw, thinking about it for a moment. His smirk turned cruel. "Nah."

He yanked as hard as he could, pulling both piercings out simultaneously. The tough collapsed on the ground and curled up into a ball, screaming and clutching his face. Minato dangled the chain in his hand as he looked around at all the other toughs in the alley, presenting his trophy for everyone to see. They all stared in fear.

"Anyone else want to mess with them?" Minato asked loudly, his cruel smirk still on his face. "I can promise that I won't be as gentle next time."

Everyone in the alley scrambled away, obviously wanting nothing to do with this psychopath. With the threat passed, Minato reached down and put the chain down next to its still-screaming owner. "Might want to get that checked," He said over the screaming. "You could get an infection."

He turned around to see Junpei staring wide-eyed at him and Yukari glancing at him warily, averting her eyes. He nodded at them, his face settling back into a neutral expression. "See you guys back at the dorm." With that, he walked out of the alleyway and back towards the dorm.

Idiots. Well, if they want to try and get themselves killed, that's their business. I don't really care.

If you don't care, why did you step in when they were in danger?

Yukari followed Junpei back into the dorm. She'd made a real mess of things tonight. She had gone back there intending to ask about Fuuka's disappearance, hoping that someone back there had heard something. When she started talking to the toughs though, a surge of anger went through her at their attitude, and she could not control her tongue. The toughs had taken offense at that, and surrounded them. She'd thought that was it; she was going to end up beaten to death in that alley.

That was when things got weird. Minato, of all people, had shown up. He'd, for some reason, taunted Junpei's assailant and, in one move, ripped out the guy's piercings and scared everyone else in the alley off. The look in his eyes when he'd been displaying his trophy… It was terrifying. Worse, he seemed to enjoy the fear that they had regarded him with. Still, he'd stepped in to save them. He'd said his first words to them since the train tonight. Maybe he was finally coming out of his shell.

She didn't know if that was a good thing.

As they walked in a few minutes later, they saw Minato sitting at the table, waiting patiently with a vacant expression on his face. Junpei took one look at him, snorted in derision, and headed upstairs, presumably to go to sleep.

Yukari, on the other hand, walked into the dining room and sat down in the opposite chair. The two of them stared at each other patiently, each waiting for the other one to start. He finally spoke after a few tense moments, his voice devoid of emotion. "What exactly were you guys doing out there?"

Yukari shrugged. "We were investigating the disappearance of a girl from our school. I thought they might know something."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why are you investigating? Why not leave it to the police?"

She shook her head. "She has the potential."

"Ok," He said with a nod. "What did you find out?"

"That's it?!" She exploded. She stood up, angrily slamming her hands on the table. "You treat us all like crap for a month, then just expect me to answer your questions out of the blue when we both know you don't give a shit about what's happening? Why in the hell should I tell you anything?"

He stood up as well. She squared her shoulders, preparing for a shouting match. After staring at her for a moment however, he bowed respectfully. "I apologize for my behavior the other day."

Her eyes widened in surprise before she snorted in derision. "That's not what I have a problem with, Minato-kun." She shook her head as she slumped down into her chair. "Never mind, it doesn't matter… We found out that Fuuka hasn't been home in 10 days."

He sat back down, his expression unchanged. "That's odd. Shouldn't the school or her parents have reported that?"

"Yes, they should have," She said worriedly. She sighed as she stood up. "I'm going to report to Mitsuru-senpai. Hopefully she knows what to do next."

He nodded. "Wise. Her connections will certainly come in handy for your investigation."

With that, he stood up as well and began walking up the stairs back to his room. She stared after him, sadness in her eyes.

What happened to you, Minato-kun?

June 8th, 2009

The report she'd received from Yukari troubled Mitsuru. The school should have reported that Fuuka had gone missing well before now. She'd made arrangements to speak to the bully Yukari had mentioned, a Natsuki Moriyama, and the girl's homeroom teacher, Mr. Ekoda, later that day. They were going to get to the bottom of this right now.

She turned her thoughts towards the other event that Yukari had reported. Apparently, Minato had followed them on their excursion and saved them from being roughed up by a bunch of punks. Yukari had said that his attitude had not changed significantly, but he appeared to no longer rage at every little thing. Instead, he had just seemed dead inside. Like there was no fire driving him.

After the train operation, she'd ordered another background check done on him, to no avail and her continued frustration. He was so much more than he appeared to be on paper, and the fact he'd found out the connection between the Dark Hour and the lab explosion 10 years ago made him dangerous. He was a mystery that had gone unsolved long enough.

Still, she had doubts that he was as callous as he appeared. He'd been curious enough about what Yukari and Junpei had been doing to follow them. He'd ended up saving them from a hopeless and dangerous situation, twice. He'd been passionate about discovering the truth of the Dark Hour at one point. And there was that hug…

She noticed a set of footsteps mirroring hers as she walked towards Gekkoukan's front gate, shaking her from her thoughts. She spun around. Minato was there, shadowing her.

Her eyes widened as she looked at him directly for the first time in a month.

If anything, he looked worse than he did during his meltdown a month ago. His eyes were sunken and had no life in them. He looked as if he hadn't slept or eaten for days. She stared at him in horror, unable to turn away. Despite herself, she found herself concerned and worried about him.

My god… What is wrong with him?!

He ignored her stare and walked up to her, nodding in greeting. "Hello. Did Yukari give you her report?"

She nodded dumbly, still in shock from his gaunt appearance. "Y-yes. Based on the evidence, I have made arrangements to speak with the girl who was bullying her and her Homeroom teacher today. If anyone would know something, it would be them."

"Agreed," He said, nodding knowingly. "If she hasn't been reported as missing by now, then the teacher is definitely responsible. Good thinking."

She raised an eyebrow. That was a cold way of looking at this situation. What had happened to him that had made him this way?

She sighed. Keeping him out of their lives wasn't working. The loss in manpower caused by Minato's suspension meant that all expeditions to Tartarus had been suspended as well, which in turn had accelerated their need for additional manpower. Still, if things with this investigation were heading where Mitsuru thought they were… As much as she hated to admit it, they needed him.

Besides, who knew? Maybe involving him would help reintegrate him, at least get him back to a working relationship with the rest of the team.

"You know, Arisato," Mitsuru said hesitantly, "I could use your help with this case."

"Really?" He said with a slightly surprised look. "Are you sure?"

She nodded reluctantly. "You've shown yourself to be a capable investigator, much to my chagrin. I could use that during this interview."

"…Alright," He replied after a moment's thought. "Tell me where and when."

At lunch, Mitsuru nodded to Minato and they stood up and walked out of the room. As they walked down to the faculty office, he went over the details of the case that Mitsuru had filled in for him.

Apparently, several girls had shown up unconscious on school grounds, all showing signs of Apathy Syndrome. That had led Mitsuru to open an investigation to see if the Shadows were involved somehow. After a few days, Yukari and Junpei found the common factor between all the victims due to a lead provided by Akihiko: Fuuka Yamagishi.

Apparently, all of the girls who had been affected had all also bullied Fuuka at some point in the past month. Luckily, they had one lead left: Natsuki Moriyama, who apparently had been the ring leader. She was also the only one left who wasn't a vegetable, so she was the best lead they had.

A flight of stairs later, Mitsuru opened the door to the faculty office and stepped inside, Minato right behind her. A brunette girl with long hair was shaking uncontrollably in one of the chairs, and the older man who Minato assumed was her teacher was attempting to console her.

They walked up to the two of them, about to start questioning when the door opened again, Yukari and Junpei stepping inside. Yukari's face twisted in surprise as she saw Minato standing with Mitsuru. Junpei, however, just glared. "What are you doing here?"

Minato glanced at the girl, Natsuki. "Same as you," he replied tonelessly. "I would have thought that was obvious."

Mitsuru cleared her throat, interrupting them before the two got into a fight. She turned to the brunette. "Hello, Moriyama. I'd like to know something, if you don't mind?"

"S-sure, Kirijo-Senpai…" The girl responded, her voice small and weak.

"…Do you know a girl named Fuuka Yamagishi?"

Natsuki's head shot up at the sound of Fuuka's name. "Fuuka! Oh god!"

"What about her?" Mitsuru asked urgently, leaning in. "What happened to Fuuka, Natsuki?"

At that, the teacher, Mr. Ekoda, reached out a hand. "Don't answer that!" He turned to Mitsuru. "Now, hold on, Mitsuru. This isn't an interrogation-"

Minato suddenly grabbed the back of Ekoda's chair and pulled, spinning him away from Natsuki. "No. You don't get to speak until you get spoken to."

Ekoda puffed up angrily. "Now you listen here, young man-"

"No, you listen, you arrogant ass!" Minato replied angrily, getting right in Ekoda's face. "You fabricated school documents to make it look like Fuuka was sick, not missing. That alone would be enough to convict you for child endangerment and conduct unbecoming a teacher." Ekoda paled at that, but Minato continued. "More than that though, you had to have noticed the signs that she was being bullied; you're her teacher. What did you do about it, though? Nothing. No reports to authority, not even a word of public concern for her well-being. We had to rely on rumor and speculation to get this far."

Minato pushed away from Ekoda, a deep anger blazing in his eyes. "I absolutely hate people like you. You get a small taste of power and you abuse it to no end, no matter who gets hurt. You valued your career more than a girl's life." He shook his head in disgust. "If that girl is dead, I'll make sure you answer for it." Ekoda just gaped at him, floundering for words.

Using the opportunity, Minato walked over to Natsuki and crouched down in front of her, looking into her eyes. "Moriyama, look at me. It's alright to talk to us. We won't judge you. We just want to know where Fuuka is."

She gazed at him for a few moments before putting her head in her hands. "Fuuka…" She started, her voice muffled, "She always looked so frazzled whenever I gave her a hard time… I mean, even though she's an honor student, she's just like us. That's how I knew what buttons to push."

Minato nodded, putting on a concerned face and pulled her hands away, forcing her face to be level with his. "It's alright, Natsuki. We don't need to know why. Just tell us what happened to Fuuka… Please."

Natsuki looked at him for a moment, nodded, and swallowed. "May 29th…" She said, her voice dry, "We took Fuuka to the gym, and locked her inside."

"What?!" Junpei exclaimed, his face twisting in shock and anger. "You locked her in?!"

Minato turned and glared at Junpei as Natsuki started to cry, shoving her head back into her hands. "We tried to find her, we really did!" She said, hysterical. "I went back and opened the gym that night, afraid what would happen if she committed suicide! She wasn't in there! We freaked out! Every night since, we went out looking for her!"

Yukari gasped. "That's why…"

Minato nodded before putting his hand on Natsuki's shoulder. "What happened to the other girls, Natsuki?"

She shook her head, tears flying. "I don't know! They all said that they heard a voice… calling their name… telling them to pay for what they did…"

"…It's them," Minato said with a look at Mitsuru, who nodded in agreement. He turned back to Natsuki. "Listen, I'd like for you to stay at our dorm tonight. It'll be the safest place for you."

"If you hear that voice, then let us know immediately," Mitsuru chimed in. At that moment, the school bell chimed, signaling the end of lunch. The SEES members all looked at each other and nodded, accepting the dire circumstances.

Fuuka Yamagishi was trapped in Tartarus.

"Alright," Mitsuru said as they climbed back up the stairs, "We'll meet up in the Student Council room after school to discuss this, understood?"

"Ok."

"Gotcha, Senpai."

The two juniors stopped off on the second floor, heading for their classroom, leaving Mitsuru and Minato to climb the next set of stairs alone. An awkward silence permeated the air between the two.

Mitsuru took a glance at Minato as they climbed. She was still surprised by his actions during the interrogation. He'd been vindictive towards Ekoda, like he'd been personally affronted by the man's actions. He'd also made it clear it was not the first time he'd seen such actions done. Where had he gone or what had he done where he'd seen such things before?

Then there were his actions toward Moriyama. He'd been calm, considerate, even soothing as he slowly, but methodically, prodded her to reveal the truth. Judging by how distraught Moriyama had been during the questioning, it was probably the only way they could have gotten the information this quickly. Still, how had he known that would work? She tilted her head towards Minato. "Your concern for Moriyama was touching, Arisato. I didn't know you had it in you."

"'Concern.' Right," He echoed with a snort of derision. "That girl locked someone who trusted her into a gym, and inadvertently sent her into a literal Hell. Not only that, but she tried to have a teacher cover it up when it looked like it was going to blow up in her face."

He scoffed. "I have tons of concern for a person like that." He looked over at her with his emotionless eyes. "Look, I simply did what I had to do in order to get what we needed. What happens to her after this doesn't mean a damn thing to me."

His cold sarcasm shocked her, but somehow less than she had expected. Somewhere, deep inside, Mitsuru agreed with him. Moriyama did something horrible, something no sane person could forgive her for. Still, seeing how broken up the girl had been and what she had said…

He shook his head suddenly, breaking her out of her thoughts. "So, what will you do with Ekoda?"

She shrugged. "I'll let the Chairman know. He'll probably be put on suspension until we can determine what punishment to give him."

"Probably get off with a slap on the wrist…" Minato grumbled.

"Not if I have anything to say about it…" Mitsuru growled in response.

With that, the awkward silence returned, without a word spoken between them for the rest of the climb.

After the end bell had rung, the SEES members all filed into the Student Council room. When the door had been locked to prevent eavesdropping, Mitsuru cleared her throat to signal the start of the meeting. "Tonight, we are going to rescue Fuuka Yamagishi."

"Alright," Minato said with a nod, "How?"

Junpei nodded in agreement with Minato. "Yeah, she's been missing for 10 days now. If she is in Tartarus, then she has to be dead."

"I don't think so," Akihiko said with a shake of his head. "Tartarus only appears in our world during the Dark Hour. We don't actually know where it goes for the rest of the day. It could in theory, only exist in the Dark Hour. Therefore…"

"Therefore," Minato finished, "She would only been trapped for 10 hours, not days."

Junpei sighed in relief, but Yukari shook her head. "Just playing devil's advocate, but we can barely last an hour in Tartarus, and we have Persona. How could she have survived 10 hours by herself?"

No one had an answer. After a few tense moments, Akihiko's face twisted in rage. "So you'll all just leave her there? If there is any chance, any at all, that she's alive, she needs… No, deserves our help!"

"I think Yukari is probably right," Minato said with a sigh. Akihiko rounded on him angrily, but Minato held up his hand to stop him. "However, I do think it couldn't hurt to look." That drew a surprised glance from everyone.

He gave a slight smirk. "Stranger things have happened. Now, time will be of the essence tonight, and, no offense Mitsuru-san, but we can't rely on just Penthesilea to guide us to her. We need something more concrete, some way to narrow down her location. So, I have a proposal." He smirked, a small sign of life popping into his eyes. "The gym. I think if we are inside when the Dark Hour strikes… We could be dropped very close to her."

Mitsuru shook her head. "It's too dangerous. If you do that, then there is no guarantee that I can support you or even guide you back out again. You could end up lost in there with her."

"That doesn't matter," Akihiko replied with a tone of finality. "We can find a teleporter and go straight back to the lobby."

Mitsuru shook her head again. "You could be wandering for hours if that's the case…"

"That doesn't matter!" Akihiko exploded. "I'm not leaving her to die in there, and if none of you will help me, I'll do it alone."

Mitsuru stared at her friend with pity in her eyes. She knew he took what happened with his sister hard, and constantly blamed himself for it. She looked at the determined look on his face, then at the others. They all appeared to be in agreeance. She sighed.

In for a penny…

"Alright then," She said with a hint of reluctance, "We will infiltrate the school tonight, and set the team up in the Gym. Akihiko, you are fully healed now, correct?" He nodded. "Good, you will be field leader for this operation."

Minato's gut twisted with remorse as he was reminded of his failed outing as leader.

No matter. I don't care either way.

The other SEES members all looked at each other with a firm resolve.

They were going to save this girl, even if it killed them.

Later that night, in the lounge, they were all gathered around the command console as Mitsuru attempted to contact Ikutsuki. They needed his help to gain access to the school grounds. Unfortunately, he was nowhere to be found. After the sixth attempt to contact him failed, Mitsuru sighed in defeat. Without Ikutsuki's help, this operation was over before it began.

Minato looked over at Mitsuru. "No luck?"

"He seems to be busy…" She said, shaking her head.

"It's ok. We don't need his help." Minato said as he pulled a set of keys from his pocket, dangling them in front of her.

Mitsuru's eyes widened. "Where did you get those?" She asked incredulously as she snatched them from his hand.

He shrugged. "'Swiped them from the office on our way out. Figured we might need them, if my theory was correct. It was, by the way."

She tried to get angry with him. She really did. However, his foresight had granted them a way inside. She smirked as she shook her head in disbelief. "We'll talk about this after we have accomplished our mission."

To her surprise, he smirked back, a small glimmer of humor showing through his stagnant blue eyes. "I'm looking forward to it."

At 10 minutes to midnight, SEES successfully infiltrated the school grounds and were set up in the lobby, waiting for the clock to run down.

Akihiko was pacing, anxious and ready for action. Junpei was biting his nails, a habit that reared its head every time he was extremely nervous. Yukari was checking the tension on her bowstring, making sure that it was taut and ready. Mitsuru had brought her mobile terminal and was adjusting it, doing her best to be ready to assist them. Minato just stood in the corner, watching and waiting.

5 minutes before the Dark Hour struck, Mitsuru turned to Akihiko and said, "Alright, it's time. Pick your team."

He looked at his choices. Yukari looked as if she were nervous, unsure if she were ready for a potential slog. Junpei had his trademark cocky grin on, anxious that he could finally stretch his wings after so long being cooped up. Minato looked as emotionless as ever, but underneath it all, he could see a shimmer of life. Akihiko mulled it over. Maybe this was exactly what Minato needed to finally break the madness that had gripped him for the last month.

That settled it. Yukari could stay behind to watch Mitsuru's back. He pointed at Minato and Junpei. "You two are with me. Come on."

They nodded at Akihiko, and fell in behind him as they walked toward the gym.

Mitsuru had qualms about letting Minato be a part of the ground team, but she was not sure that she could have focused one hundred percent on the job at hand if he had been there. He was exuding a strange aura, Penthesilea had felt. It was dark, dangerous and extremely powerful. She only hoped that whatever it was did not interfere with the mission.

Afterward, though, I am going to force him to tell me what his problem is. This has gone on long enough.

At Midnight, The Dark Hour struck, and the lobby they were in changed into the entrance hall of Tartarus right before their eyes. Yukari shook her head after the process had finished. "Ok, that was even creepier on the inside."

Mitsuru quickly turned on the mobile transceiver and set the sensitivity to maximum. "Akihiko, can you read me?"

No response. She tried again. "Akihiko, can you read me? Please respond."

Silence. Yukari shuddered in fear. "Oh god…"

Mitsuru's gut twisted. If she couldn't find them…

Suddenly a static filled voice emitted from the transceiver. "Mitsuru? ..ou hear me?" It was Akihiko!

"Yes, I hear you!" She confirmed. "Give me a moment! I'm using Penthesilea to locate your position!" After a moment, she located him. He was high up in the tower. Very high up. "Akihiko, I can barely hear you. You are just inside comms range. What's your status?"

Static mangled his words, making only a couple intelligible. "Don't kn…where…others…..got…..eperated…"

"Akihiko?" No response. She attempted to boost the signal, but he faded out of contact. "Dammit!" She exclaimed.

Yukari jumped. Mitsuru never swore. She must have been more worried than Yukari thought, which made her really worried. She made a silent wish in her head.

Please be safe everyone. Even you, Junpei.

As he slowly became conscious, Minato's head started pounding. After a moment of lying on the ground, holding his head in pain, he opened his eyes and immediately regretted it. The light shining down from some unknown part of the ceiling was shining right in his eyes. Closing his eyes, he rolled over, pushed himself up to a kneeling position and shook his head. Where were the others? Where was he?

He held his head in his hand as the pounding suddenly intensified. It was unbelievably painful, like being hit in the head with a sledgehammer. He let out a small whimper of pain. "Ugh…"

"Hurts like a bitch, huh?"

His eyes shot open. He sprang to his feet, drew his rapier, and spun around to the direction the voice had come from… and his mouth fell open in shock.

Standing in front of him, was a man wearing the face that Minato saw in the mirror every day; his face. He had the same mouth, the same hair, even the same mole on the side of his neck. The only noticeable difference was instead of the ocean blue eyes he saw in the mirror, the copy had bright yellow eyes, the same color as the full moon.

The copy smiled brightly at him and said, "Wow, you look like shit."

He stared at his copy for what felt like hours, shocked speechless. A sudden irrational anger burst through him as his brain restarted, one as bright as it had been during the train operation a month ago. He snarled as he raised his rapier and growled, "Who are you?"

The copy shook his head, a sad smile on his face. "I'm you."

Junpei was more than a little scared to move right now. The three of them had proceeded to the gym as planned, but after the Dark Hour had struck, he had been knocked out; by what exactly, he didn't know. Now, he'd woken up alone in a room in Tartarus with no way to contact his team and no support from the outside. If he ran into a group of Shadows up here by himself, he was toast. Still, the longer he stayed in this room, the less time he had to escape.

So he steeled himself as he carefully edged out into the hall, his sword at the ready. At the end of the hall, he rounded a corner and shrieked as he ran into a figure. He reacted quickly, swinging his sword at the figure. Then he actually saw what it was he was attacking, and quickly adjusted his aim. The blue haired girl shrieked and fell backwards as the sword dug a hole into the wall where her head had been. Junpei quickly put his sword aside, horror and embarrassment running through him. "Oh god, I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!"

She stared up at him with tearful eyes for a moment, then got up and hugged him forcefully. "Thank god," She said happily, "You're human!"

"Uh, no problem," Junpei said bashfully, blushing at the sudden contact. "Are you Fuuka? Fuuka Yamagishi?"

She pulled away, nodding. "Yes. Did you come to rescue me?"

He nodded, grinning like a madman. "Yes, I did. Junpei Iori, Persona-user and all-round good guy! Nice to meet'cha!"

She smiled at his enthusiasm. "I'm Fuuka Yamagishi. But I guess you already knew that…"

He grinned for a moment before a question popped into his head. "Hey, how did you last in here so long anyway, Fuuka-Chan? The Shadows should have found you by now."

"What?" She said with a frown. "So there are things in here…"

"Huh?"

"I can… feel those things out there, I guess." She shook her head in confusion. "I don't know how, or why-"

"She has the same type of power as Mitsuru, I'd wager."

The surprise voice made the two of them jump. Fuuka leapt behind Junpei as he whirled around, looking for the person the voice had come from. It was Akihiko. Junpei extricated himself from Fuuka's arms with a blush, which he tried to pass off as anger. "Hey, senpai, what's the big deal!? It's not ok to sneak up on people, especially in here!"

"You need to keep your wits about you in this place, Junpei," Akihiko replied with a grin. "You know that." He looked around. "Any sign of Minato?"

Junpei shook his head. "Nope… Haven't seen hide nor hair of him."

Akihiko frowned. "Damn, I hope he's alright."

Junpei looked at the ground, conflicting feelings running through him at the thought of Minato. In the 2 months that he'd known him, Minato had been at the center of everything concerning the Dark Hour. He'd become the lynchpin, the hero, without even trying. When he did that shit a month ago, it had hurt all of them. The bastard had hurt Junpei especially with what he'd said on the train, but it soon looked like he'd been having a worse time with it than the rest of them.

Eventually Junpei's anger had fallen way to pity. The dude couldn't even see that he had a bunch of people behind him, ready to help him. Akihiko, Yukari, even Mitsuru all expressed concern about him in private, despite what he'd done. If Minato had asked for help, they'd have probably listened. The thought made Junpei jealous at first, but after Minato had saved them in that alley, simply by being there at the right time, he realized he could be one of those people too. He could be a hero to Minato, simply by being there for him whether he gave a shit about them or not.

At that moment, he vowed that he would fix whatever had happened to his friend, come hell or high water.

"Me too, Senpai," He said, a look of determination on his face. "Me too…"

"What kind of bullshit answer is that; 'I'm you?'" Minato asked, grinding his teeth. His anger was blazing inside of him, urging him to attack, but his curiosity still stayed his hand. After all, it wasn't every day you met your identical twin.

His copycat just smirked and said, "It's the best one I could come up to describe this… situation."

"What are you? A Shadow?"

"Got it in one," His copycat said with a smile. "Well, I mean, I'm kind of a Shadow. I'm a part of you given form through a set of really specific circumstances."

"What do you mean?" He said, shaking his head in confusion. "What do you want?"

"What I mean is; I'm you," His copycat said, spreading his hands to showcase himself. "I'm the part of you that you keep hidden, even from yourself." He smiled. "As for what I want? Well, one thing really: acceptance."

"…What?" Minato asked, shaking his head in confusion. "What do you mean, 'part that I keep hidden?'"

"Come on, use that big brain of yours," His copy said condescendingly. "Oh, I have an example! So, you have realized that your mood swings for the past month were not natural, right?"

"No," Minato lied, shaking his head in denial, "That's not true."

"Bullshit," His copycat said, frowning. "You knew that something wasn't right. Since when have you ever argued with yourself? Since when has there ever been a time when you weren't in control of your emotions?" He held up a hand. "Don't bring up Haruya,' cause you and I both know you knew what you were potentially getting into."

He stared in shock. "…How do you know that?"

"Because I am you, you idiot! I was there! I saw it all, felt it all!" His copy said exasperatedly. He shook his head in frustration. "For the first time in 8 years, you finally let me loose from the recesses of your mind!"

His copycat smiled brightly at him. "You finally fell in love. For 3 glorious months, you let yourself be open about who you were with someone outside your family. It was magnificent." His smile turned into a mask of rage. "Then that bitch broke our heart, tore it to pieces. She helped her father kidnap us, held us for ransom, and left us to die." He shrugged. "After that, I went back behind your walls of denials and lies… only this time? They were ten times as strong."

"Shut up!" Minato screamed at the copy, his head pounding. It wasn't true. It couldn't be.

"Still don't believe me?" His copycat shook his head. "Yukari was right. What happened on the train was not like you… not at all." The copycat made a gesture with his hand, and, all of a sudden, the memories of what he had said and done that night a month ago shot through his mind. It was more than memories, though: He was shown the emotions that were hidden behind that burning anger.

His regret.

His shame.

His sadness.

His pain.

The surge of emotion was too strong. He felt like he was going to drown in it. He screamed as he fell to his knees, dropping his rapier. "It's too much! Stop it!"

His copycat shook its head, falling to its knees as well. "I can't. That's all you, man."

He worked backwards, viewing the past months in perfect clarity. He could feel it, the sadness, pain, and loneliness threatening to burst from his chest as if it had a mind of its own. Every glare that Junpei gave when he saw him, every glance of fear and distrust from Yukari, Mitsuru's disappointment and anger burning in her gaze, Akihiko's concern and sadness emblazoned on his face; He saw it all. His mind went back further.

Months.

Years.

It was too much.

Tears ran down his face. His heart felt like it was going to explode. His gut ached. He screamed in agony. "Stop it!"

"I can't," His copycat said with a grimace. Tears ran down his face too.

"You need to feel this."

The three teens had explored every inch of the floor they could and still had not found any trace of Minato. Akihiko's worry was starting to blind him. He decided to try and contact Mitsuru to see if, maybe, she could help find Minato. He pulled out his mini-transceiver and tuned it to max sensitivity. "Mitsuru, can you read me?"

Static filled the line.

"Dammit," He said under his breath.

Junpei looked out the window, staring at the moon. "Wow, look at it..."

"Big, isn't it?" Akihiko said with a smirk. "Some research indicates that the Shadows are affected by the phases of the moon."

Junpei snickered as a thought came to him. "Hey, are we sure that Minato isn't a Shadow? I mean, he had that crazy mood swing on the train during the full moon, so…"

Akihiko stiffened. Junpei had meant it as a joke, but… "That's it!" He exclaimed.

"Uh, I was joking Akihiko-senpai-"

Akihiko held up his hand, cutting him off. "Junpei, think about this for a second: Your Persona is an aspect of your personality that has power. You use the Evoker to 'break' that power loose from your mind, right?"

"Duh, but what does that have to do with… Wait a minute…" Junpei's mouth fell open as he put the pieces together. "You mean, in that video, when he used the Evoker…?"

"He 'broke' his mind," Akihiko said with a look of horror on his face. "He split his personality."

Junpei shook his head in disbelief. "Oh god… and he's been going through that alone…" Sadness for the pain his friend had suffered through spread throughout his chest. Something else stuck out to him, something else he had noticed. "Hey, speaking of mood swings, during the train op, Minato went berserk on the Shadow we killed. I remember thinking at the time that it kinda reminded me of the video of his Persona..."

He snapped his fingers. "Hey, now that I think about it, he acted just like that Persona in the video, right down to the howl at the end!" He turned to Akihiko. "Do you think that's why he's been acting so strange? That Persona has been influencing him?"

"…Perhaps. That would explain why he's been so anti-social recently." Akihiko said before shaking his head. "My question is, why'd he act like that only during the operation? He had a full month between using the Evoker and that operation and he never showed any sign of this until then." He sighed. "What could the two events have in common…?"

He glanced out the window, where the full moon shone brightly in the sky. His body stiffened and his heart sank as he made the connection.

"Oh god… The attack on the dorm was during a full moon too."

"But wait, It's a full moon now. Does that mean…?"

Akihiko looked at Junpei with fear in his eyes. He yanked out his transceiver and started to speak urgently into it. "Mitsuru, can you hear me? Mitsuru, are you there?!"

Static distorted her voice as she replied. "Akihiko! Shadows are-" The line went dead.

"Mitsuru? Mitsuru?!"

Static answered him.

"What?" Fuuka said with a hint of disgust. "What…is this thing?"

Both boys turned towards Fuuka. She grimaced, eyes closed in concentration. "There are two large ones…and they are attacking something below us!"

Akihiko's eyes widened. "We need to get back to the lobby, right now!"

"Wait, what about Minato?!" Junpei exclaimed. "We can't just leave him here!"

He grimaced. Junpei was right. If they left Minato, there was no guarantee that they would be able to find him again. Without a Persona, even as skilled as he was, it was a death sentence. If they didn't get to Mitsuru in time, though, both she and Yukari were dead for sure. He screamed in frustration. There was no right answer.

The amount of lives at stake made his decision for him.

"Junpei, we need to help Mitsuru," Akihiko said through gritted teeth. "She and Yukari are facing those things alone down there, and we can help them."

Junpei's face contorted in rage. "By leaving Minato to die!"

Akihiko slammed his fist against the wall. "Dammit, I don't like it either, but Mitsuru and Yukari are both down there. They have Persona, and he doesn't. Two lives vs one. It sucks, but it's a decision I have to make as leader."

Junpei shook his head in disgust. "If that's a decision that leaders have to make, then screw it; I don't want the job."

He straightened himself, then sighed heavily after a few seconds of thought.

"I wanna go back and look for him…" Junpei said with a frown, "…But I feel that he'd rip my head off if I endangered everyone else for him. So I'm not doing this cause you told me to." His face contorted in sadness at the decision he'd made. "I'm doing this cause he'd want me to."

He didn't know how long he'd sat there crying. It felt like hours.

Everything he'd ever said and done over the past few years had come back to haunt him, all at once. For the first time in a month, he felt like he looked; like crap. He looked up at his copycat, who was wiping the tears from his eyes as well. Anger rose up within him.

"Why did you do that!?" He asked, his voice weak, but charged with anger. "What possible reason could have justified that torture?!"

His copycat frowned as he stood up. "I don't know, what gives you the right to inflict that on others?!" He threw his hands into the air in exasperation. "God, even now, you are so consumed by selfishness, that you missed the point completely!"

His copycat walked over to him and dropped to a crouch. Yellow looked into Blue. "Goddamn it, man. You seem to think that by never revealing who you truly are, you are protecting yourself. Newsflash: You aren't. You're isolating yourself. You saw what happened when you finally stopped caring; Pain and self-loathing and repression, all feeding each other in a never ending cycle."

A small smile appeared on the copy's face. "Care to see what happens when you do care?"

Before Minato could say anything, another memory gripped him. It was the small genuine smile that Mitsuru had given him after he had hugged her. The memory moved in slow motion, allowing him to pick up all the details he had missed. He felt all the emotions that he had repressed, hiding behind denials; Lust, happiness, joy, attraction. These feelings assaulted his senses. He could smell her fragrance, feel her warm gaze.

Mitsuru Kirijo was a mystery to him. She was a living contradiction. She was smart, talented and beautiful, yet she was also caring, kind and understanding. Despite her criminal heritage, she fought to save the people of her home from an unknown enemy. She challenged him at everything they did together, pushing him to do better, to be better.

Tears pricked his eyes again.

The truth that had broken him, that he had hidden from, was plain as day; He was falling for her. Hard.

And that terrified him, so much so that it pushed him over the edge into insanity.

The memory shifted. It showed Yukari, smiling at him from across the train. He felt a warm sense of belonging, of care, and affection for her. He could see Makoto's features lurking behind hers, a ghost of a smile on her lips. He cared for her like his sister, the one who she reminded him so much of.

The memory shifted again. Junpei was chatting with him on their way home from school, a warm, enthusiastic presence emanating from him. He felt a sense of loyal respect and the beginnings of a bond, made of fire and blood, take hold.

It shifted again. He was jogging next to Akihiko. They hadn't known each other long, but already, a friendly rivalry was beginning to form. During the last stretch, they raced each other to the dorm, delighting in the competition. He felt a sense of companionship from him. Approval shone in his eyes, happy to find someone who just wanted to know him.

It shifted once more. He saw them all, gathered in the command room, chatting as they worked away on homework and club activities before beginning their daily training. Trust between all of them had formed, even without him realizing. The thing he had feared for so long had formed right under his nose.

It felt…good. All of it. This is what he'd been hiding from?

All of a sudden, the memories stopped, jerking him back into the real world. He shook his head before looking at his copycat, who had a far-away look on his face. "What's wrong?" Minato asked. "What's happening?"

The copycat shook his head, his eyes snapping back into focus. "I was hoping that this would have been finished by now. Guess we're all out of time." He gave Minato a grim look. "Your friends are in trouble."

"How could you possibly know that!?" Minato asked incredulously.

His copy smirked. "I'm a Shadow, remember? I can get you back to the lobby if you want…" He looked Minato over. "…But you can't win this fight. Not like this."

Minato grimaced angrily at his copy. He knew what he felt for them now, and he would be damned if they were taken away from him. He grabbed his rapier and stood up fully. "I don't care, get me down there now!"

"Ok…" His Shadow said with a shrug. He raised his hand. "But don't say I didn't warn you…"

A burst of green light surrounded the twins, and they blinked out of existence.

Minato blinked as the world suddenly came back into focus. He was in the lobby of Tartarus. He saw two gigantic Shadows towering over Junpei, Akihiko, Yukari, and Mitsuru. They were on the ground, wounded.

A girl he could only assume was Fuuka Yamagishi stood in front of the other Shadow, her own Persona forming a protective bubble around her. She appeared to be protecting Natsuki Moriyama from it.

The Shadow closest to his comrades drew its sword up, getting ready to finish them off. He readied his rapier. He knew it was a suicide mission, but if he did nothing, the people he had inadvertently come to care for would die.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. His copy had come with him.

"If you go, you'll die."

Minato shrugged him off. "If you really are me, then you already know what I'm gonna do."

His copy nodded sadly. "I do."

He ran forward, hoping that a surprise attack would give him a chance to get the others off their feet.

Mitsuru noticed his charge out of the corner of her eye. "No!" she shouted, "That won't work! Arisato, get Yamagishi and get out of here!"

Her warning came too late.

He screamed as he thrust the rapier towards the large Shadow's legs. It impacted with what looked like a glass wall 3 inches away from the Shadow's leg, bending with the force then finally shattering as the blade reached its breaking point. Minato felt something in his wrist give way as the recoil traveled up his arm, and he dropped the hilt, grasping his hand in pain.

The Shadow whirled around a second later and kicked Minato, sending him flying across the room. His right shoulder impacted the wall first, and he felt something snap. He slid to the ground, screaming in pain, clutching his right arm.

The pest dealt with, the Shadow turned around and prepared to finish the job that it had started. Minato looked out in anguish at the people he had come to care about.

Akihiko had a defiant grimace on his face, struggling to fight, Evoker just out of reach.

Junpei held his side in pain, a pained smile on his face.

Yukari's face was screwed up in pain as she dragged herself towards her bow, lying just out of reach.

Mitsuru looked straight back at him, a multitude of emotions running across her face, the largest of which was regret.

A pain that he had never felt before shot through him. This anguish was different, stronger than any he'd ever felt before. It made the torture he had gone through earlier seem tame in comparison. It took him a second to figure out why.

He had failed them.

Now he would watch them die.

"We never got to finish our conversation, you know."

Minato's gaze shot towards his copy, who was kneeling right next to him. "What the hell are you waiting for? Help them!" He pointed at the SEES members with his left hand. As he turned back, he was surprised to see that everything was frozen. The Shadows, SEES, even the dust in the air.

"What the…?"

His copy smiled. "Cool trick, huh? Doesn't last for very long though… Anyway, I can't help them. That's not how this works." At Minato's questioning look, he rolled his eyes. "I'm you, remember? Everything you can do, I can do… Well not better, but…" He waved his hand. "You know what I mean."

Minato sighed in frustration. "Ok, I'll bite. What's the point of all this? The memories, the emotions?"

The copy smirked. "To show you how much the path you're on hurts. To show you what you've been missing all your life."

Minato's face twisted in rage. "But why? Why right when they're about to die!?"

His copy shook his head. "They don't have to. You can save them." He put his hand on Minato's shoulder. "All you have to do is accept me. Feel. Live. Be open with them, with yourself." He smiled. "Hell, try to fall in love."

All he had to do to save them was accept… himself?

He thought back on his life. He had never had a close connection with anyone, prior to Haruya. The pain of loneliness had always been there, buried beneath lies he told himself: That it was too risky, that it was to protect his heart.

That was no way to live, he realized. Life is risk. In order to receive, one must give.

He thought back to before his meltdown. He had started to connect with people, for the first time. They had not asked anything of him, except that he was himself. When he had hidden, afraid of the connection; all of them, not just him, were affected. It wasn't just his heart he affected anymore, it was theirs too.

This is what it was to care; to live.

He resolved himself.

He wanted to live.

He wanted to stop hiding.

His hidden side smiled brightly as he started to fade. "Good choice."

And with that, he disappeared.

Everything unfroze. The Shadow screeched as it raised its sword above its head, preparing to strike the final blow.

"Hey!"

The Shadow froze for a moment, then turned towards the source of the sound.

Minato stood up, his broken arm curled against his stomach.

"Yeah, that's right! I'm not done with you yet, asshole!"

The Shadow screeched, sword held at the ready. Minato stepped forward, and the Shadow followed his movement, stepping towards him.

Mitsuru screamed in agony. "No, Arisato! What are you doing!?"

The Shadow closed the distance, raised its sword over its head, and swung.

Minato formed his left hand into the shape of a gun, and put it against his temple.

He pulled the 'trigger'.

The sound of glass shattering filled the room.

"Persona!"

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(This is the second part of the original chapter 3. It hasn't changed much. Anyway, this is part of my ongoing edit. I've been ninja editing as much as possible over the past couple of days, and I think that the first half of the story is starting to flow a lot better now. I will be working on the next real chapter over the next day or so, since my writer's block is "mostly" gone, so here's hoping I can get it done before another month passes. Hope you guys like the way the story feels now! As always, please Review or PM me if you have Questions, Concerns, Criticisms, or if you just wanna say you liked it. See you in the real next chapter! - Dr. Ninja.)

Edit: God this was just as hard to get through the second time. Hopefully this makes Minato's change of heart much more believable and impactful, given the prior changes.