Author's Note: Hey all! Sorry for the long update I've been pretty busy lately and haven't had the chance to update any of my FF. But now that I am I've made this chapter and that's all that matters right now. Special thanks to Kyubey Mittens for pointing out the currency mistake, thanks to that I went back to every chapter to fix that. Enough with the rambling here it is:

Murder...

How...?

It's just not possible...

Am I actually capable to take someone's life?

I may be a bit stronger than your average Joe, but to the point that I actually can kill someone bare-handedly...

No...!

I'm sure they were alive when I left them for the station, they may have been bleeding and in pain but was that really enough? There was hardly any blood, and they were still breathing.

...

Were they though?

I didn't have any proof that they were, it was possible. Did I in all honesty do it?

*SLAM!*

I was brought out of my thoughts by the officer standing in front of me, he had slammed his hands onto the desk most likely to catch my attention. He was speaking, asking questions, maybe trying to intimidate me into talking; I don't know. My eyes were more focused on the set off handcuffs placed on both my wrists, restricting my movements and symbolizing my current situation. I was blanking in and out constantly, I wasn't even trying to take in anything the officer was explaining it just seemed not to matter to me at all.

But all I knew was this summed up; there are four dead Gekkoukan students, they were the idiots I had beaten up this morning over an important matter, and I am the main suspect.

What more did I need to know?

To any outsider, this was probably an open-and-shut case; young adolescences had an argument which had resulted in violence, which may or may not have been the reason that four of them are no longer among the living...

But to me that was far from it. I'm about to be convicted for a crime I'm not responsible for, or so I believe.

I did lose all sense of reasoning and recognition, maybe in a flurry of rage I could have inflicted more harm than I intended. So did I...?

I'm so confused! I don't understand what the hell is going on!

"*SLAM!* OI! Are you even paying attention! This is a serious matter, and you're not leaving until we get some answers!"

The officer interrogating me, he was the same one that brought me here. He was glaringly mad, and with good reason. I'd be pissed off just as much as him if he had to deal with a silent guy like me in a situation like this.

But I guess that the police's profile of me left out my voice-lessness. The few strings of words that made any sense when I heard him speak were trying to get me to speak up. No pen and paper, so you know he's clueless about me and my state. Normally I would attempt to inform him, but I couldn't find myself to do even that.

I was only thinking one thing.

They're dead...

I took a look around this interrogation room. It was just like those ones you'd see on a police drama, empty and had a one sided window. The table separating me from the officer had documents and pictures sprawled all over it. The one particular picture that I didn't want to see was of them. It was right in front of me glaring at me, deliberately placed there so me of all people would clearly see what the picture held.

They were on it no doubt, the faces of all those idiots were shown in practically HD. But their expressions were not those smug, arrogant looks they all had on when they surrounded me, their faces only had this twisted expression of fear and despair as if they were tortured before their untimely end.

I knew for a fact that they never had this horrid expression on. They were afraid, scared, and were obviously in pain when I beat them. But the look on their faces now were not even close, it was like they had seen the devil himself and experienced true hell.

I couldn't look at it any more, I just couldn't stand seeing them like that; afraid and dead. By now I knew that I wasn't the one to kill them, but I left them in a state where they couldn't even do anything to protect themselves. I may not have been the guy to end their lives, but I may as well have been.

The officer let out a heaved sigh, obviously, I was not going to be "talking" any time soon and he probably has had enough trying to get any info from me much less a confession. But he wasn't done.

"Look we have evidence that you assaulted them, a witness who saw you enter the alley, and if what some of those kids said about your connection with the victims then a motive. Just give it up, we know it was you; don't make it any harder than it has to be."

I have to admit, that is a pretty solid case they got against me. If I wasn't the one being suspected I'd say the guy was guilty. Course, I don't have that kind of luxury now. Hardest part is I couldn't even deny his claims, this is one of the times I wish I could actually talk like a regular person. No one will take you seriously until you say it straight to their face, I swear that was practically the only thing I hated about my missing voice.

I took a toll on the officer, from the way he slowly left his position to the door and the really low yet audible mumbles, any one could see how exhausted he was trying to get their suspect to talk. He's a greenhorn, hasn't done this thing often, you try to get the guy to talk no matter how long it takes and you don't leave him alone. I'll give him some slack, I wasn't really helping him when I kept on staring into empty space blocking him out.

Now that I'm actually thinking about it, I feel completely exhausted. I just wonder how long I've been in here, how many hours I spent contemplating what the hell happened this morning. I still couldn't wrap my head around it; that those idiots from this morning are dead. They may have been idiots to earn many people's hate, but no one deserves to die like this.

And on that note, who'd want to kill them in the first place? Back-Alley punks only kill for two reasons; they want your money or you just piss them off; I already jacked his savings and they weren't in any state to actually get any one mad. Could have been another kid at school, those guys pick on just about anybody smaller than them; if they pushed a guy to the point of murder it wouldn't be that surprising. Of course the only Gekkoukan student they suspected was me, which means they don't have their eyes on any other students so I could rule out that possibility. With the most obvious ones not really possible, I was starting to think it was just some psychopathic deranged killer; one that somehow was able to escape the police's watchful eye.

I'm not going to put down our police here in Iwatodai, in fact I think they're the most reliable and most efficient guys around. Crime isn't something I often hear about on the streets, so you know these guys have been doing their jobs right. I think they have a much better view on justice than any judicial system. A judicial system is used to put criminals away for their crimes, these guys don't do it for that they do that to protect the people. Our safety is their main priority, to them we are the better reason for picking up this job. I heard that one time during a bank robbery they had taken only one hostage while everyone else was forced to evacuate, the hostage was a lone child that was only eight. What they did was they negotiated with the robbers, they told them they would allow them to escape with whatever amount they desired if they let the child go. In the end they still caught them after a couple days, but what they did was risky and would cause many problems with officials, the bankers, etc. if they weren't able to catch them. They risked all that for a little kid who may or may not have ended up coming out alive; I don't care about all those other consequences, they did alright choosing the kid's safety first.

The police have my respect and my full cooperation, they deserve it. Although with things like this it's kind of hard not to hate the police.

My head was hurting from all the thinking I was doing. There was just way too much going on and only so much my mind can handle. If I had my music I'd be a lot more calm and collected than I was now, but alas they confiscated everything on me. Not that I had anything but some money, my headphones, pen and notepad, and my iPhone.

I inhaled...

... Then exhaled

Okay, I can't just overreact and assume the worst. I need to get through this somehow without getting myself arrested.

...

But if I did at least jail would have a roof over my head and at least three meals a day, unlike my current lifestyle. I wouldn't even have to go to school anymore...

...

You know, being convicted and sentenced to prison doesn't sound that bad anymore. Maybe being an optimist is a good thing; at least sometimes.

Either way though, I still don't really want that to happen.

I hear the door open with a different officer in the doorway, this time a more familiar and friendly face. This was the kind of thing I needed right now.

"Hey there Hikaru, it's nice to see you again. Didn't think you'd be back for a while, not after that last incident."

A wry smile was plastered on my face, you just had to leave it to him to pick you out of trouble. He's a celebrity around this island and just about everyone knows him, I'm sure you do too. But just in case, meet Detective Akihiko Sanada. Has strange silver hair(I shouldn't be calling it strange...), a bandage over his left temple area which I swear is only for fashion, and unlike the usual officer uniform he's wearing a red sweater vest with a dress shirt and a tie, while what I believe is the standard issue equipment belt for officers around his waist. He's the kind of guy who every person aspires to be; kind, caring, cool, strong, has a good job, popular, etc. The only thing you don't want from this guy is his fan club; yeah, he actually has a legit rabid fan girl club. You don't want to cross them I swear.

He is the coolest officer I have ever seen on the force, I've seen him in action a lot of the time and when I do I'm usually involved one way or another. To the best of my memory he's never actually drawn his pistol out, he just raises both his fists and the criminals just cower in fear of what's to come. I've never seen someone use boxing as their main weapon like him, with the skills he has he could've become a pro but he decided to become an officer and protect this city.

The first time I met him I was in the middle of a fight with a bunch of guys trying to mug me, I was doing really bad. When he stepped in he practically annihilated everyone with a quick flurry of punches, including me. It hurt like a bitch, my face was in pain for a whole month. I swear a boxer's fist is one lethal weapon. When everything was said and done he hauled all of us to the station to take our statements. I didn't have a good chance of not getting in trouble with eight statements to one. When I wrote mine out and gave it to him he read through it once, put it down, took all the other statements and just ripped them to pieces. He said he knew my statement was the whole truth so he didn't even need to submit the other ones. Ever since then he's always had my back in these kinds of situations when he knows for sure it wasn't my fault. He's been the only adult not to pity me and see me as just a guy trying to get by. He has my respect, with his personality and his fighting skills.

He sat down across from me and heaved a heavy sigh, he obviously was discontent for some reason.

"Hikaru honestly, could you stop getting into trouble so often? I know you're not responsible half the time but c'mon I can't bail you out all the time..."

With the way he talks and how he acts, it's exactly like how a big brother would scold their little siblings when they wronged. With him that's not too far off, he's practically like that all the time. Probably is a big brother to someone, whoever that person is their lucky to have Akihiko as a brother.

I just shrug, wasn't really sure what else I could do without a pen or paper. He saw my answer and let out another sigh, people are really exhausted today with all this sighing happening.

"Let the new guy interrogate the silent suspect, it couldn't have gone that well I take it?"

Another question, another shrug. He started rummaging through his pockets pulling out what I expected, a pen and notepad. I took it and wrote out a quick reply.

"Never Gave Me Chance"

He chuckled, surprisingly he seemed quite amused about this whole thing. Although that amusement was cut short and he had a much more serious expression. I knew he meant business, I'd have to get serious too. I don't know if any of you know how it feels to be blamed for someone's death, bit by bit you feel desolate and guilty. Even if you were not the true perpetrator does not mean you'd feel any different, in fact you might be pushed to your mental limits. I could feel the atmosphere crush my body as Akihiko started to speak.

"Look Hikaru, I know you. So I know that you wouldn't be the one to do this. But with things as they are it's not going to be easy to just let you off the hook. I know for a fact that you couldn't have done it, and I honestly don't want you to take the blame for something you didn't do..."

Really now? In all honesty I thought I really did this time, but you think I'm completely innocent? Well that's Officer Sanada for you, shows you how there can be good people in this world after all. Also shows how much I think of myself. In this kind of situation I don't know how you get a suspect off the list with just a few words, even though it's you if you could I would be really worried about our legal system. Even though things aren't looking well for me, it's not like I can blame anybody but myself and possibly the a$$#0!3 who decided killing three teenagers was just dandy.

That being said, I still don't want to get put in the slammer. I don't know how bad it is but I keep imagining that I'll be locked up with some maniac rapist killer that would drive me off the wall. Fortunately Officer Sanada brought me back down to earth before I could imagine anything else that may or may not scar me.

"Hey, have you been keeping tabs on the news?"

The news? Well no. I don't have any access to a TV and I don't care about any rumors, so I've been living in the dark for a while. Why? Does it have anything to do with my current predicament? I shake my head to assure him that I haven't.

"I see... Well then you haven't been aware of the series of serial killings have you?"

Serial killings? Oh God! There is a psyhco roaming Iwatodai!

"He's been doing the same thing to all his victims; brutally beat them before actually killing them. Somehow he makes sure he doesn't beat them to death, and kills them in another fashion. Right now we can't even determine the cause. He's never left a single piece of evidence and manages to elude us . This is putting a lot of people on edge right now..."

Yeah! No kidding! I mean what the hell is this! There's some big shot killer going around as he pleases killing anyone he feels like. What sort of sadistic person would beat their victims, and manage to kill them in another way? It makes absolutely no sense, I don't even get what the hell this killer as to do with me...

...

Wait...

Oh crap! You have to be friggin' kidding. The police are going to label me the serial killer? Your telling me I'm going to become the public scapegoat? My life is going to go from bad to worse if this keeps up. Actually, now that I think about if I'm a serial killer does that mean I get the death penalty? Does Japan even do that? Oh crap, this is why I hate being a pessimist. This negative outlook will be the death of me one of these days, maybe I'll become one of those guys who decide cutting themselves is a great past time. I paled at the thought. Sanada must of saw my discomfort.

"I take it you know what this means don't you? I'm sorry, but I honestly can't help you out of this one Hikaru. Everyone wants to put this guy away ASAP, and when they finally got a suspect they won't just let him go that easily. The minute we had you the media has been all over us, it doesn't make it easy for us at all to admit that we may have made a mistake."

So even if they find out that I'm probably not the killer, they'll still keep me locked up just so that they don't lose face? How can the police just do this! I'm innocent! I didn't do any killing! Damn it!

...

"Hikaru! Hey, are you okay?"

Yeah, having been called a killer all day just makes me feel great...

"I don't like this any more than you do. That's why I'm trying everything I can to make sure you get out of this."

Huh?

You're going to take on the entire police force to get me out of this? I don't want to sound ungrateful or anything but why? Why do this for a guy that everyone else thinks is nothing but a cold-blooded murderer? All I do is give you more trouble, I may even get you fired if you keep this up. I'm just getting more and more confused, I guess I will never understand people; one minute there accusing you, the next they're trying to bail you out.

"Well that's all I wanted to tell you for now. If there's anything you need just ask, I'll be seeing you later. I don't want you to be causing a ruckus now..."

Before he could finish I swear I heard yelling in the distance. That can't be though, didn't they make these rooms sound-proof or something?

"HIKARU!"

There it was again, was someone calling me? Sanada must of heard it too cause he was just as puzzled as I was.

"Did you just hear that?"

Before I could nod the door bursted open to reveal the last person I wanted to see right now. She came in and struck a ridiculous pose where she waved her arms around almost as if she was trying to signal someone.

"HIKARU I CAME TO RESCUE YOU!"

...

W-what?

What the hell are you doing? Idiot!

The ensuring silence was painful, it almost felt like I was suffocating from lack of noise. Neither me nor Officer Sanada could move, and for one reason or another we could only stare at her incredulously as if it was the strangest thing we had ever seen before. Even Minako couldn't speak up, it was that or she was just waiting for a response for her opening act; I don't know...

"Umm... Is that you Minako?"

...

Eh?

"Hm? Oh! Aki-niichan, it's you! Hello!"

...

What?

As glad as I am that the silence was broken I just didn't get what was happening between these two. It was as if they knew each other, and by know each other I mean really well. Why else would she call him Aki-niichan?

...

Wait, does that mean they're actually brother and sister? That could be...

Wait, that can't be. They look nothing alike, that can't be it.

Then suddenly like Minako, the officer from earlier came in out of breath and seemingly exhausted as sweat was apparent on his forehead. He was muttering a lot of curses as he tried to catch his breath, it was obvious what had happened and I know you guys don't need an explanation.

"I-I *wheeze* sorry sir. She just *wheeze* rushed in..."

Heh, it was kinda funny to see the guy like this. If I could laugh I probably would.

"At ease, it's okay I'll take care of it from here. Go back and take care of your other duties."

"Y-*wheeze*yes sir..."

With that he just left, but it makes you wonder: how can a teenage girl rush into the interrogation room with an important suspect in custody so easily? This is a police station, what kind of security is this? How the hell did Minako get in here? Heck, how did she even know which room I was in? There's probably a ton of rooms like this in here...

You know what, just forget it. Trying to think about that stuff will only hurt my head even more, I really don't need that right now.

Back to what was happening in this room...

Seemed like Minako and Sanada were having a nice conversation.

"So, how's school? Everything fine?"

"Mmhmm! I'm having lots of fun and doing really well!"

"That's good, how about everyone at home? Are things going well?"

"Yeah! Everyone's a bit busy but everything is great!"

"Maybe I should come visit sometime, it has been a while since I've seen everyone. It'd be nice to have dinner with those guys again..."

"Really! Oh I can't wait! I'll tell everyone ASAP!"

...

It went on and on somewhat like that for a while. Their having a great time chatting it up with each other while I'm the awkward third wheel. Seriously, a couple minutes ago we were having a serious conversation about my current situation, the atmosphere was so heavy I could almost see it. Then Minako waltzes in and everything just suddenly gets lighter and I think possibly brighter? What is this! It's like Minako was deliberately placed here for some sort of relief from the tense atmosphere, almost as if this was some badly written cliché scene from a manga/anime/video game/fan fiction. And if this is, by God I would feel like I've been mind f*****.

At least Sanada had gotten some sense eventually and finally tried to question her.

"Umm, Minako. It's great that I got to see you but what exactly are you doing here?"

"Oh, I came here to rescue Hikaru!"

...

Realization just b***hslapped her in the face. I swear she's a complete idiot sometimes.

"That's right! Hikaru come on let's get out of here!"

She instantaneously grabbed my cuffed arms and pulled me towards the open doors, that is until Sanada chose to act by closing and I'm pretty sure locking the door. Minako stopped in her tracks, and chose to blankly stare at the door then at Sanada. All he could do was awkwardly stare back and that had little to no effect on her whatsoever. This was getting us nowhere.

"Minako you can't just come in here on a whim and just take any suspect away from us. I know you know this so can you please stop?"

Thank you Sanada.

"But Hikaru didn't do anything like that! I know! He would never ever ever ever ever do that! Not to anyone!"

...

How did she ever think that about me? If I'm not mistaken early in the school year there was a rumor that I had committed mass murder and had a knack for blood lust. If that's what the school thought about me at first then how come you're thinking like this now? Geez, I'll never understand her logic...

"Minako I get it, I know he didn't do it. But right now I can't just let him go, it might take a while before I'm able to do that. I'm sorry but he can't leave anytime soon."

"B-but...!"

She's awfully stubborn but I guess she knows if she's fighting a losing battle. Her face was a mix of a crying face with a pouting face, I'm sure you can imagine what she looks like.

You know I've been listening in this conversation for a while and I've noticed something. While I know for a fact that Sanada knows Minako, I've noticed that the way he speaks and the way he acts towards her is much different than how he usually acts. It... Seems somewhat more affectionate. Could that mean...?

... No

I... I didn't think he was into that kind of thing...

I mean he does have a fan club of women his age, that he finds extremely annoying, so does that mean he is into that other stuff?

...

And with Minako, DEAR GOD!

Well it could just be my imagination run rampant but I should ask him next time, it's going to bug me a lot. Oh man I can't believe I was imagining Sanada having XXXXXXX with Minako and making her XXXXXXX, while she XXXXXXX him with her XXXXXXXX.

...

Anyway, Minako seemed to be at a loss for words. Her stubbornness must have won out in the end since she just blurted out something that she may have regretted saying. Actually, I regret letting her say it. She was probably just expressing herself, or so I thought.

"B-but... I FINALLY GOT HIKARU TO ASK ME OUT!"

W-what the hell! Out of all the things you wanted to say, this was what you said! What the hell are you thinking? Tadjcfoakfsovufdkdjd!

...

The room once again went quiet for the millionth time today, I swear this room will permanently have a temperature below zero. The silence was ensuing and I really didn't need this added to my headache, but all those thoughts flew out the window when I saw Sanada's face. I don't know how to describe it but it seemed as though at this very moment I was going to experience something I only thought appeared in cliché scenes from a manga/anime/video game/fan fiction; a severe and almighty brother complex. The expression he held made me feel incredibly small and somewhat afraid. Who would have thought this would ever happen to a guy like me?

"I... See, I'm sorry Minako. But Hikaru will be staying with us for a LONG time."

I saw through that! Minako whatever you do please don't give me up! I'll never leave this place unscathed!

"B-b-but..."

"No 'but's' about this, I don't want to sound mean but this is some serious business that should not be taken lightly. I know you understand this Minako..."

Way to get all serious Sanada, I'm getting all depressed again thinking about the murders, deaths, and the on the loose killer; just when Minako somehow managed to get me to forget I'm back to square one. Damn mood killer. Although I can't argue with him now, I've been taking things a bit too lightly. I manage to pull myself out of her grip even though I'm cuffed and plopped myself back into the seat that was reserved for me. Minako seemed to cool down a bit and had indeed decided to give up this time.

Score:

Akihiko Sanada: 1

Minako Arisato: 0

Me: -100

Well that's what it felt like anyway.

Sanada took a look at his watch only to let out a frustrated sigh, it had to be late no doubt. I haven't really noticed time flying by but I guess it just comes with being the suspect.

"Alright, it's getting really late. With everything going on I'll have to stay here to finish up some work. Now, I don't want Minako walking home alone and I can't take her home so can I ask you to stay with me tonight while I finish working?"

I took a quick glance at Minako, apparently she was quicker and answered before I could actually see her.

"Of course! YAY, a sleepover!"

My jaw just instinctively slackened, as if it was something I had accustomed to. Cue the anime/manga sweat drop, this is beyond weird. Even Sanada somewhat had the same expression as me, his was more contained though. But really? She does not act her age at all, is she really a high school student?

*Growl...*

*GROWL...!*

...

In almost perfect sync our stomachs seemed to express their emptiness. All day today I haven't had a single bite, even during school lunch I decided not to since I didn't have any small change only a ¥100 000 bill; no way am I breaking that for only ¥600. I didn't even eat much yesterday, I think my stomach's at its limit.

"Well I guess I should feed you guys. Hey, you guys like instant noodles right?"

Oh My God!

Thank you Sanada! I immensely love instant noodles, it might be my favourite food to eat. Could be because I eat it on a constant basis but whatever. Instant noodles are God material, they taste delicious and just about anyone can make one in less than 5 minutes. Since I don't have anything to cook with, store bought instant noodles is what my at home meals consist of.

As for Minako, I believe she'll eat just about anything that can be presumed edible.

"Yeah!"

"Alright I'll get right to it."

Sanada please hurry!

That was the tastiest bowl of instant noodles I have ever had in a long time, too bad it was only one bowl I would've asked for seconds but I can't really make any demands like that when everyone else in the building thinks I'm low-life scum that deserves to rot in a cell. At least Sanada was courteous to let me have one in the first place.

Well he had to leave the room to get back to work, leaving me and Minako alone in a room together. If you thought I would pull something that would be hentai material then you're wrong. Sanada had the same thought process and proceeded in cuffing my cuffs to the chair. It is beyond uncomfortable and I would really like to take these things off but that doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon. It was mainly quiet in here, with the occasional small talk Minako tried to stir up and with my usual ignore routine. Eventually she got tired and started to doze off a bit, I would say it was really late as well since I'd also like a nap right now.

But now my head is starting to hurt, like it's about to burst from overuse or something. The pain and throbbing got worse as time went on, I feel like I'm going to die if this keeps up.

Thou art I... And I am thou

W-what the...!

Am I hearing things?

What the hell is going on?

In that moment the door bursted open and had startled me and Minako fully awake, it revealed a battered and beaten up Sanada. The injuries were not visible but the way he was holding himself not to mention the condition of his clothes spoke otherwise. What could've happened to him?

"You guys...! Hurry up and get out of here! It's dangerous!"

You say that but...

I can't exactly get anywhere fast when I'm chained to a chair, now can I? Minako was more concerned for Sanada's well-being and rushed to his side.

"Aki-niichan! Are you alright! What happened!"

"Don't worry about me, just hurry up and get out of here before...!"

He couldn't finish that sentence, not when the room had imploded into flames. An explosion had torn through the walls decimating the concrete and leveling the room till it was barely recognizable under all the heap. It had happened too fast I could barely see myself hit the ground. One minute I was about to snooze off, the next I'm writhing on the ground in pain reeling from an explosion that came from out of nowhere. I saw that Sanada had protected Minako from the explosion by shielding her from the blast, she seems to have been knocked unconscious but mainly safe from harm. That's good. As for Sanada he seemed to have taken the blast much better as he's wide awake and doesn't seem to be in too much pain, but looks can be deceiving. Me? I'm covered with what I think are burns all over my body and I think I might have twisted my ankle or the like.

What the F*** caused an explosion like that? A bomb? C4? Nuke? What?

I think I got my answer when a thing with a massive build just waltzed in from the hole that the explosion just made. When I mean thing, I really mean thing. It looked like a giant mass of black goo that was molded into a humanoid shape but replaced his hands with something the size of wrecking balls and probably the weight too. I could be just seeing things since my body seems to just be in a lot of pain but for some reason I highly doubt that. I took a look at what I think is his face, a blue mask with the Roman numeral "I" etched in the fore head. It spoke with the most disfigured voice I have ever heard.

"IiiiiI WIlL KKkkiiLL YoUYOu NnNoow..."

What!

As it said that it raised its huge fists(?) and swung them down full-force. By now instinct had taken over and I had rolled out of harm's way, picked myself up and start running. I didn't get far before I felt a hard giant ball slam into me knocking me in another direction and hurling me into a bunch of desks. Immeasurable amounts of pain coursed through my body, burning every nerve and making me practically bathe in a sea of pain. Every bone in my body ached and it felt impossible for me to move, not good. The thing was quickly heading my way, you know for something that's carrying two heavy balls for hands it sure moves fast; in fact how can it? It's about the same size as Minako but it can carry all that weight? That just defies all sense of logic. Well the thing was pretty messed up in the first place.

Am I going to die right here?

By the hands of this creature thing?

...

I tried struggling around but it was to no avail, I still couldn't move much. There was so much stuff littering the floor; papers, cases, pens, monitors, and an iPhone...

Hey is that mine?

...

With my last bit of strength I picked it up to confirm it. Yup, it's mine. Right now was probably not the greatest time to do this, but if I'm gonna die anyway might as well take something with me to the afterlife if that's even possible.

Thou art I... And I am thou

There it was again, that weird voice in my head. I must be going crazy, right before I get pummeled to death; great...

Dost thou wish to know thine self?

To know myself? It would be nice, if I wasn't going to die soon. By the way I'm more of a modern guy so why is some voice that came from my sub consciousness using old English? Were in Japan too...

Then use thine power to release what was once forgotten, power given to the one who will decide thine fate

Power...? What am I/you talking about? This isn't some sort of fantasy where I have a latent power within me, this is real life. The monster thing was getting even closer, spelling my impending doom. Now that I said that if there's a monster thing here than this could be some sick fantasy world but hell if I care. I'm going to die anyway.

... Memento Urna...

Memento Urna...?

Wow, from old English to some other language I'm not sure of. I'm a little squeaky on my languages but I'm sure that that was Latin. Now what did it mean again? Let see; your moment, my urine, 記念品について, Exponential...

Or loosely "Remember Yourself"...

What's there to remember about myself? If anything I wish I got amnesia and completely forget this $#!Ty life, well wish is gonna be granted and I'm gonna die. But...

Why is it that I feel like I don't want to die? Is it because I want to live as badly as everyone else? Heck no, I've got nothing to look forward to my life is screwed up. I guess I just wanna know what the hell happened to me. I wanna die with no regrets, I wanna die with no ties left in this world, and I wanna die alone. Right now none of that $#!t is coming true, so I'm not gonna die like this.

... It is now time; awaken!

The phone I had locked in a death grip in my hand started to emit a vicious blue aura and I felt the reminisce of power flowing from it, not only that the pain I had once felt was no more instead in its place I felt sheer raw power. An immense amount of energy was flowing through me, threatening to unleash itself. The monstrous thing had merely stood in place almost as if it was gawking at my sheer presence. I slowly stood up with newfound strength, I felt different yet this feeling almost felt nostalgic to me as if it was just a part of me. I looked into my palm to see my iPhone, it didn't seem like just a phone but something beyond that. On its screen it showed a mask that I had seen once before, not too long ago in fact. The face of Igor suddenly popped into my mind and I could only smirk. In a loud yet girlish voice that seemed to come from my phone, spoke clearly so that anything around us could hear it.

"Program P.E.R.S.O.N.A installing... 2%... 15%... 33%... 79%... 100% Download complete!"

Program P.E.R.S.O.N.A?

"Would you like to initiate?"

Normally I would never touch anything that looked so shady, but something else told me I should and if I didn't I was better off on the floor. This thing probably read my mind, cause it just started to initiate already.

"Initiating Program P.E.R.S.O.N.A"

The phone seemed to emit an even stronger aura, it felt so refreshing I could probably get high off of it. Everything from here was pure instinct. I gripped it even tighter than before almost enough to shatter the phone itself, but I didn't care; because for some reason I knew I was right. The most surprising part though, was this:

In a groggy and unused voice I had muttered three syllables, one word. That word would be forever etched into my mind and forever change my world.

"Per...so...na..."

To Be Continued