CHAPTER 5: Golden summer

07/08/09

Konata was patiently waiting in front of her shoes locker, holding her school bag in both hands and rolling her body back and forth with her ankles. She didn't get any chance to talk with Junpei since the last full moon and, seeing he looked all serious, she thought something might have happened during SEES' last operation. She wanted to be there to cheer him up, since she always does it for dear friends.

"Ah, here he is!" she thought aloud, as she saw her capped friend walking to the school entrance with a very fast pace. Immediately, she stretched a hand to him. "Wassup, dude!"

Junpei didn't answer. He just kept on walking with the same pace. Konata didn't seem to like it; she puffed and then leaped in front of him, stretching both arms and legs outwards so to block the path.

"Hey!" she blurted. "Aren't you gonna say hello?"

As if his mind snapped out of some trance Junpei winced for a moment and then fixed the cap on his head. "Ah… sorry… didn't see ya, Kona-Chan." He said without looking at her.

Konata crossed her arms and nodded. "I'll forgive you… for now!" she then looked up to him and smiled. "You, me, a match with the mech simulator in the Game Panic! How'bout it?"

He seemed like hesitating for a moment. "Uh… sorry, Kona-Chan… I gotta go study, since exams are coming up…"

Konata stood there watching him run off. "That's new…" she mused aloud while scratching the rear of her head. "He never took school and studying seriously… it's almost as he's been… AVOIDING me!"

"Right. Especially since you never work hard in anything!" A female voice said at her back. Konata turned around to face Kagami.

"I don't understand that guy, Kagamin." The small girl puffed. "One day he's all perky and cheerful and the next day he's all glum and anti-social!"

Kagami cupped her chin with a slight smile. "Maybe he's tired of getting bad grades and decided to get a little more serious about exams… you know, a CERTAIN SOMEONE should follow that example…"

Konata faced her friend with an annoyed expression. "Did anyone ever tell you that you're such a nag when exams approach?" she then faced the direction Junpei left to. "Anyway, I think it's more than just that… maybe it's related to SEES?... probably SOMEONE has been mean at him!"

"I haven't said anything to him, just for you to know!" Yukari said as she approached the two of them. "He's been acting like that on his own, it's not my fault!"

Konata crossed her arms and smirked. "Did anyone bother to teach you that overhearing is impolite?… Takebaka!"

Yukari seemed like being irritated by that nickname. "This is the fifth time in a week you called me that way! Stop it!"

"OK… I'll stop… if you stop calling Junpei 'Stupei'!" The little girl gloated as she ran off, leaving both Kagami and Yukari in awe.

07/11/09

Once the class was over, Kumiko headed down to her shoes locker. Immediately, she unlocked it and winced as she noticed a paper envelope over her shoes. She could feel her whole face turning red as she grabbed the envelope and opened it. She couldn't believe it! A love letter for her?

What she read once the letter was out changed her expression in a fairly annoyed one: "Gather everyone together in the lobby. We must talk about something important. –RK."

Kumiko curled the letter in her hands and angrily threw it outside. That idiot!! Making fun of me with such a childish prank!

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"I see you're all here…" Rei said as he sat to the table with the Kagayaku members. "That means that Kumiko-Kun has gotten my message."

Kumiko drummed her fingers on the table, looking around. "The only reason I don't remark that is that I'm polite and don't swear…"

"So… why did you call us? It is about those data we gathered in the last operation?" Athrun asked.

Both Rei and Miyuki nodded. "With Miyuki-Kun's help, it took me less than expected… we found lots of interesting info about the Dark Hour and Tartarus… and the Kirijo group."

"You mean" Athrun asked with a shakily voice "that they're somehow involved in all of this?!"

The professor nodded with a serious expression and started explaining. "I don't know if you heard about this, but there was a big incident in this area, ten years ago… an explosion by the Gekkoukan High School."

Kumiko interrupted. "Oh, right… I remember that… that's what prompted my parents to move… it was big news back then since many people died… but again, for some reason, no student was injured."

"No but…" Rei resumed his explanation while fixing his glasses on his nose. "… I've found out something peculiar as I checked a few school records: a large number of students was reported absent back then… and they all had to be hospitalized after hearing a strange voice and collapsing."

Shinn's eyes opened widely as he choked. "It's just like the girls who used bully Fuuka!"

Athrun grunted. "So that means that the shadows are involved as well… but what's the connection between all of this? And what does it have to do with Tartarus and the Dark Hour?"

"I'm getting at it. Don't rush me!" Rei said with a grimace as he stared at Athrun, coldly. He then cleared his voice and continued. "The Kirijo group conduced some researches on the shadows, discovering some hidden abilities within them… abilities that also seem like involving time/space phenomena… and thus, they tried to harness them for their ends… that'd be fourteen years ago, under the supervision of the former leader of the group, Kouetsu Kirijo…"

Kumiko nodded. "Mitsuru-San's grandfather."

Rei didn't reply, he simply nodded back.

"They wanted to use shadows in order to manipulate time and space?! What for?!" Shinn asked.

Miyuki shook her head. "We couldn't get that information from these data."

Rei's expression became more worried as he passed a hand over his mouth. He then shook his head and resumed his explanation. "Whatever the original idea was, it was sure to change the world drastically. Kouetsu Kirijo assembled a specialized teams of scientists… and… you might be surprised of who was part of that team!"

"Who?" They all asked.

"An eccentric scientist named Shuji Ikutsuki."

This caused everyone except for Rei and Miyuki to jump. They all were surprised about that. Shuji Ikutsuki… a scientist? And one who worked to a crazy experiment with shadows for the Kirijo group?! Did the SEES kids know about it?

Rei waited a few seconds and then continued: "Then, ten years ago, their experiment reached the final stage… but… the power of the shadow they were using for the experiment was just too much and greatly altered the world's balance, resulting in the Dark Hour and the appearance of Tartarus."

Miyuki continued Rei's explanation. "As for the gigantic shadow they used in the experiment, its body split into twelve pieces, which only appear during the full moon nights… and… as you can easily imagine, the reason why the school turns into Tartarus during the Dark Hour is…"

"…because that's the place where the experiment was conducted…" Kumiko frowned. "No wonder, since the Kirijo group basically OWNS the area."

"…and the Kirijo group recruited the SEES kids in order clean up the mess they made back then, right?" Shinn asked. His voice made clear he was trying hard to keep calm.

Kumiko closed her eyes. "That's one way to see it."

Shinn got up from his chair. He couldn't clearly take any more of that. "Wait a minute! That means they're just being used by the group!! How can they go along with that?!"

"I think it's obvious! They're not telling them! The Kirijo group is deceiving them!" Kagami spat back, angrily.

"Deceive? You think?" Kumiko coldly asked. "They decided to join SEES on their own, no one was ever forced to… well… unlike Mitsuru, that is."

"Mitsuru? What about her?!" Athrun inquired.

Kumiko shook her head. "It's not my place to tell you this. I want to respect her privacy. But I can tell you one thing: those who made that fateful mistake were punished already… and those who didn't die back then will always live in the shadow of what happened. Mitsuru is bearing the burden herself… just as we all are doing right now. We aren't any different."

That's right… Shinn thought. We're Persona-users as well… so we're all involved… just… are we just being used like the members of SEES?

"But what about the shadows from back then?" Tsukasa asked "Why did they came back just now? I mean, it's been so many years!"

"That's one thing we need to verify. That and if this all will really end once they're taken care of. Regardless, we must act quickly, if we want to protect this city." Rei said, leaving all of the teenagers in deep thoughts.

07/12/09

Kumiko was walking through the Port Island Station square. She just kept on walking and walking, as if she was driven by some unknown force, her eyes not meeting anyone. As she approached the staircase leading to the back alley, she spotted Akihiko walking away and hid, deciding to avoid him. Why did he come here…? Must be because of him! Once her classmate was gone, she swiftly walked down the staircase. On the steps leading to a pub was sitting Shinjiro, both hands in his coat's pockets, as always. She could feel her chest filling up as she approached him.

"Jeeze…" he muttered. "To think I told you to not come here over and over… don't tell me you're gonna ask me to join your team… if that's so, I'll tell you what I already told Aki."

Kumiko quietly shook her head. "No… I just wanted to see you."

"OK, you saw me. Now get lost."

"Come on! We've always talked!… admittedly I don't know you as much as Sanada-Kun, but…why do you keep on treating me as a complete stranger?"

Shinjiro didn't reply. He simply tilted his head in an interrogative way as she leaned to the wall.

"You may have forgotten me, but I couldn't… you and Sanada-Kun were the first ones in my classroom who didn't think I was a weirdo… although you often teased me back then, there was no actual malice in your ways."

He closed his eyes with a smile. "…so it WAS you, Kumi."

She graced him with a slight smile. "Been a while, Shinji-Kun"

"Why did you come and see me? You have plenty of other friends now. You don't have to waste your time with me." He grimaced.

"No, but… I haven't talked to you in a while, so I wanted to make my birthday a bit more decent… I'll probably spend my birthday party with just my grandmother… my mom lives in another city… and when I think about my father, well…"

Shinjiro sighed. "Is that it? That's the problem with girls, you just complain about every little thing. Since when do you whine about every single little crap? I thought you were tougher than that, Kumi…"

Kumiko left out a bitter chuckle. "Maybe you're right… it's just that so many things happened in such a brief notion… I try and act cool and collected, but sometimes, I feel like my head's going to explode…I'd just like to break down!"

"Heh… typical of you… always wanting everyone to think you're the 'ice vixen'. why don't you just try and be yourself for a change? You can't pretend nothing can faze you forever. If you want to let out your feelings, just let'em out."

The girl frowned as she stopped leaning on the wall. "Funny coming from someone who preferred disappearing rather than talking to his friends when he needed them the most…" she said as she walked upstairs.

As he watched her walking upstairs, Shinjiro thought of the conversation between himself and Akihiko just a few minutes earlier: his friend, as well, told him to not lecture him after quitting the fight like he did two years earlier. "…you're just as stubborn as Aki."

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Kagami kept on walking back and forth within the hotel lobby, under the concerned eyes of Athrun, Miyuki and Tsukasa. She had been upset since the meeting they had the previous evening, the thought of the Kirijo group using SEES to erase their mistake was too much for her to handle.

"Please, sis… calm down now!" Tsukasa shakily pleaded as she watched her elder twin with growing worry.

"I… I can't be calm! It just ticks me off! That Kirijo Group has been kept this whole mess secret all this time and used the SEES kids to clean it up with no one knowing it!"

"But it can't be helped!" Miyuki tried to calm her down. "It's not like people are actually going to believe everything is happening… besides they also have to think of their position."

"I know! But that's not what makes me so mad! What makes me mad is how they involved people who had nothing to do with this without thinking twice just to play god!"

Tsukasa was about to say something, but couldn't find the right words, so she stayed silent instead. Sis must be worried about Sanada-Kun… I only hope Kenji-Kun will be OK…

After thinking for a few seconds, Miyuki spoke up. "We should investigate further on the incident of ten years ago. Even the info we gathered so far weren't much… for one, we couldn't know the exact purpose of that experiment… if we could check the Kirijo group's real intentions, maybe we could prevent further tragedies to happen… and in case, we could warn the SEES members."

"But how are we to get those info?" Tsukasa asked, placing a finger over her lips. "Those must be classified info under the strict supervision of the Kirijo group…"

Athrun passed a hand over his face and then faced the girls with a decisive stare. "Let's access their database." He said, causing the three of them to gasp.

"W…we can't do it! It's illegal!" Tsukasa cried.

"I know it's dangerous… but it might be the only way for us to know the truth about it. I'll ask Kurohagane-Sensei once I get the chance. Just trust me!" He said before walking upstairs.

The three girls shared a concerned look. "…but Kuro-Sensei never listens to him…"

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Junpei was sitting on the steps in front of the theater at Port Island Station. His frowning expression was a clear contrast with the bustling lively image of the big square.

A familiar voice caught his attention, but he acted as if he didn't notice. "Hey, so you were here!"

He didn't reply, he just glimpsed in the direction the voice came from to see Konata rushing towards him. The small girl took out a pamphlet and started fanning herself, inside her T-shirt. "Phew! Today is really hot… to think we're basically facing the sea, imagine how hot it is in a big metropolis!" She chuckled, more to herself than to Junpei.

Once again, she got no answer… the capped teenager simply nodded.

Konata simply sat next to him. "Say, we didn't get the chance to hang around together lately… and you always looked so down… I was worried there was something wrong with you. Let it out, pal! Tell it all to Kona-Chan!"

"…Why are you always like this?" He muttered.

"Huh?" She turned around and looked at him, perplexed.

He faced her, anger and frustration in his eyes. "It's all just a game to you, isn't it?! Do you even take anything of this seriously?!"

Konata stared at him for a while, in awe."Look, I was just trying to-"

Junpei rose up on his feet, still looking at her. "You still wanna know what's wrong with me?! Fine, I'll tell ya! I'M what's wrong! When all this mess started I was like 'fighting is my duty, so I'm gonna fight'…but, damn, fighting is the only thing I'm good at… weren't I a Persona-user, I'd be completely worthless!… still, I can't fight worth shit… not compared to HIM!"

"But…Junpei-Kun…"

"Dammit, nothing I do is good enough! But what can YOU understand?! It's all nice and easy to you, you must never work hard for anything! You'll NEVER really understand how I feel! So just leave me alone…!"

Half of a minute of silence followed after. Junpei sat back on the stairs while Konata kept on looking at him with a seemingly neutral expression. She then broke the silence. "I guess you're right… I can't understand you, because you won't open up to me! But you really think moping around like that will help?"

Junpei didn't reply, but his face made clear he didn't want to continue the conversation any longer.

The small girl couldn't take that anymore. She turned her back to him and started walking toward the station, angrily. "OK, I'll leave you alone! See what I care…"

Once she was up the staircase, Junpei left out a hoarse, bitter cackle. "What to be expected…? A lame guy like me can't even treat friends properly… man, I really do suck…!"

He then noticed Konata rushing back to him and blinked; the girl didn't say a word, she just stood there in front of him for a few seconds; then, she violently kicked the lad right in the shin and re-walked back toward the staircase, leaving him to kneel down and moan in pain.

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With a very deep sigh, Shinn sat on the bench lying under the cherry trees in the playfield, right next to the Naganaki Shrine and stood there, watching the kids playing. Normally, that would have made him reminisce of his family and would have felt sad and depressed. Strangely enough, not that day: he had so many things in his mind he didn't even have time to get lost in sad memories. The Kirijo Group, the Dark Hour, SEES, Kagayaku: all these thought caused his head to spin. The Kirijo Group wanted to manipulate time and space… is me being drawn here a result of it? He asked to himself as he stared at the ground. And now that group uses Persona-users to erase their mistakes…that means that we could end up with being used ourselves… or are we already? Nevertheless, nothing has changed since I was warped here… isn't there any way for me to get out of this mess?!

His attention was then caught by parents coming and picking up their kids, some of the children being happy, some others begging their parents to stay a little bit longer, but complying in the end. After a few minutes, the playground was deserted; only a single child stayed there, alone: a little boy with an orange and brown soccer outfit.

Shinn approached the boy, asking if his parents worked far away from there.

"I have no parents… I just wanted to stay here." The kid replied with a perfectly neutral voice, despite the gravity of the matter he was talking about.

The teenager's eyebrows arched as he stared down the kid, surprised to see in his eyes – the eyes of an elementary schoolboy – the same sadness he always saw when he looked at himself in the mirror. This made him think that the boy could have lost his family due to someone else… just like him. Shinn rubbed his nose and chuckled. "We're in the same club huh… I'm Shinn. What's your name, little guy?"

The child looked at him, serious. "I'm Ken… but… please don't call me 'little guy'."

Shinn left out another cackle. "Hey, I thought you might have said that! Anyway, if you're not waiting for your parents, who are you waiting for?"

Ken nodded with a smile. "The shrine girl… you know her? It's this kind girl with a very nice cleavage who attends a high school around here."

Shinn didn't exactly know what to answer: he didn't expect such a remark about a girl, not from an elementary schoolboy! Just… how old is this kid? He thought as he blushed.

"Since my mom died two years ago, that girl and her grandmother took real good care of me…"

"Ah… I see…"

"Shinn-San…? You said you've lost your parents, right?" Ken asked as he lowered his head.

"Huh…?" Shinn blinked, his blush fading away. "Why you ask, kid?"

"…Could you move ahead and keep on living your own life despite this massive loss? Is there a way to do it?"

Shinn was speechless. All he could expect, except for a grader asking him about such a delicate matter… "…you know what? I really don't know what to say… I'm clueless myself!"

The little boy left out a hoarse cackle. "I'm sorry. That wasn't an easy question to answer…"

"Nah, don't stress about it…"

"…I asked you because… well, um… I think the only thing I can do right now is getting rid of the cause… I mean, if someone took something precious away from you, wouldn't you want him to be taken care of?"

A realization struck the teenager like a lightning. This kid… lost his family by someone else's hand? I guess we aren't that different then… but… it was already hard enough for me, let alone such a child…

The child smiled with a slight blush. "…I usually don't talk about this with other grown-ups, but… I can tell your situation isn't too different from mine…"

"Definitely…" Shinn mumbled in awe. Then his mind snapped and realized it was almost lunchtime. "You're not too bad for a kiddo… hope we get to talk more." He said as he threw something to Ken and walked away.

The kid opened the envelope around the small thing to see it was a piece of candy. Seeing that, he pouted. "I'm not a little kid…!"

Ken Amada: An elementary schoolboy and an orphan who often comes to play to the playground by Naganaki Shrine. Even though he's just a child, he often acts in quite a precocious way by making unexpected remarks or drinking black coffee and doesn't like to be treated like the child he is. His mother died two years earlier and it appears the cause wasn't natural…

07/16/09

It had been three days since the that term's final exams started. All of the Kagayaku members were gathered in the Kotobuki Hotel lobby, which was shrouded in the grimmest of silences. When he descended the stairs to the lobby, Rei looked around to see everyone's faces: they all looked like ghosts, completely drained of their energies. Even Athrun and Miyuki, who were no pushovers when it was about schooling.

"Tough tests, everybody?" The computer teacher asked with a soft chuckle.

He got no response, aside a disgruntled moan on Kumiko's part.

"Well I have some news for all of you that will cheer you all up."

Kumiko slowly rose her head. "…did they make a reformation to ban midterm and final exams for good?"

Rei scratched his cheek and kept on smiling. "Well, no. But listen… do you all have plans for the summer break?"

Tsukasa smiled sheepishly. "Well, me and my big sis are planning to go back and pay a visit to our family…"

"How cheesy… summer is made to go to the beach." Konata nodded, a serious expression on her face.

Kumiko replied: "Now that I wouldn't mind at all… I love the beach…"

"Me too…" Athrun sighed.

Konata and Shinn shared a smart glare. "Yeah, especially the babes in bikini, huh?"

"Why do you ask, sensei?" Miyuki asked,

"Well, have you ever heard of this place named Yakushima? It's a very beautiful vacation site and the beaches are sandy with crystal-clear water."

Kumiko left out another sigh. "Just my favourites… too bad Yakushima isn't exactly a cheap place to spend vacations to…"

Rei chuckled, satisfied. "Normally, yes. But I happened to have a place of my own in Yakushima, big enough to host all of you. How about it? Once these exams are over, you'll have a small break from school, and…"

"…a group of teenage girls at their teacher's place… it sounds kinda pervert if you ask me." Kagami said, embarrassed.

"Didn't you hear, sis?" Tsukasa said, trying to cheer her up. "Kuro-Sensei invited all of us over. That means Shinn-Kun and Athrun-Kun are coming with us!"

Kagami didn't reply, she simply thought: That worries me even more… we'll have to handle TWO pervs…

"Oh please, please, please! Let's go, Sis!" The short-haired twin begged, staring at the older twin with sweet, sparkling eyes.

"Well I'm going!" Konata gloated. "It's not an everyday event when you get the chance to visit a wealthy vacation place without paying! I want to take advantage of this…"

The girl with twin tails left out an exasperated sigh. Then, to Shinn. "What about you?"

Shinn pointed a finger at himself and paused for a bit. He then said. "I don't have plans for summer… so whatever…"

As the teenagers kept on talking about the upcoming break with more and more excitement, Rei started to walk upstairs. After a while, he was caught up by Kumiko.

"Rei-Sensei… why Yakushima?" She asked a bit coldly.

Rei fixed his glasses and stared at her. "What, you don't like Yakushima? I thought you liked sandy beaches? Besides, the girls in bikini are exquisite there."

"You don't give me that." Her eyes were as piercing as blades. "Knowing you, you have a reason to pick up that particular place for that break…"

The man closed his eyes with a slight smile. He then shook his head. "Heh… you don't miss a thing. Well you're right, there IS a reason I got a place of my own there… you see, that's the place a survivor of the incident that occurred ten years ago will have his summer break to."

Kumiko frowned. "…?! Are you talking about…"

"Excatly…" the professor replied, his face becoming more serious. "Takeharu Kirijo: current leader of the Kirijo Group and Mitsuru Kirijo's father."

07/18/09

"Yay!! It's finally over!"

Konata's tiny voice echoed in the classroom, which started to get empty as the students walked outside.

Kagami rested both hands on the desk and smiled. "I want to hope you used that energy in the test too."

The small girl pointed a finger to her friend. "Who cares about the test? I'm thinking about the break to the beach now!"

Kumiko left out a slight chuckle. "I have to admit I'm almost as excited as she is."

After talking for another while about the break, the five girls started to walk to the school exit. Around midway, they ran into Junpei, who looked very awkward for some reason. Konata looked at him with a neutral face, which made him feel even more uneasy.

"Um… Kona-Chan…"

"What?" She coldly asked

The capped teenager scratched the rear of his head. "I… I was a real jerk lately and… sorry if I offended you… are we still cool?"

After thinking for a few seconds, she smiled at him. "I might. But you owe me a videogame match one of these days!"

Then both of them shared a thumbs-up and smiled. Then, the six of them walked outside where they saw Shinn, Athrun, Fuuka and Natsuki. Immediately, the Kagayaku guys caught up with the girls.

Shinn, for one, looked really glad about something. He told everyone that Fuuka and Natsuki were getting real along, which was a great relief to him. Then, Miyuki noticed a deep-looking scratch on Athrun's face, but the dark-haired senior just said "Don't ask.". Shinn explained that Natsuki was asking Fuuka to stay with her for a "mandatory study session", but since she couldn't at the moment, Athrun proposed to let him help… the rest was obvious.

As the team walked away, they spotted the board chairman, Shuji Ikutsuki, approaching the SEES members, a little boy in his tow.

Shinn stopped on his tracks. "Ken?!"

Immediately Kumiko turned around to see the scene. "Ken? Ken Amada??"

"Huh? You know him?"

"Well, me and my grandmother took care of him since the kid's mother was involved in some incident…"

Shinn smiled nervously and blushed, thinking back of Ken's remark. "But what is he doing here?" He asked more to himself than to Kumiko as he tried and overheard the chairman's explanation. All he could make out was him being safer in the Iwatodai dorm and the fact the kid had the potential. This latest notice caused him to scream "WHAT?!" and forced the whole Kagayaku team to hide behind the wall.

"What did you hear, Shinn?" Athrun asked.

"That weirdo with glasses… Ikutsuki… he said that the kid has the potential!" Shinn nervously whispered, causing everyone to jolt and then look at Kumiko, as to ask: "Did you know?"

The dark-haired girl looked like in awe herself. "Now that's a surprise… I didn't know he was a Persona-user as well! But… letting a kid join SEES?"

07/20/09

Right after getting off the ferry, Rei escorted the Kagayaku kids to his place in Yakushima. Everyone was just surprised to see that the professor's vacation place was quite a luxurious villa, not any less flashier than all the others. As soon as they came in, they were greeted by a shimmering marble floor with a majestic blue carpet, pillars rising here and there and expensive-looking plant pots. The walls were filled with paintings of beautiful women resembling to certain anime characters.

"Woo!" Konata jumped around like a little girl. "It's as big as the Rygs' mansion in Wild ARMs 5!"

Yeah… Kumiko thought with a chuckle Except that in this case, the master is a pervert professor, not a manly yet kind ninja…"I'm positively amazed, Rei-Sensei. How can you, a computer teacher, allow yourself such a place?"

"Who said I'm JUST a computer teacher? I have many other jobs, you know? Did you forget I'm also in charge of the RK?"

The teacher then clapped his hands. After a few instants, four housemaids appeared: one had smooth, long brown hair and a very sweet and innocent face; the second was a lively-looking maid with orange hair; the third looked like a timid yet diligent maid with green hair and glasses; the fourth was a blonde little girl carrying a big teddy bear.

The brunette bowed down to the group. "Welcome to Rei-Sama's vacation house. I hope we can be of your service."

Konata examined the four housemaids thoroughly, unable to shake away the feeling those four girls looked insanely familiar to some girls she saw in an anime.

"These are this house's pride." Rei nodded merrily. "Hope you can get along. If you need something, you can ask them."

Kumiko rested her head on her hand. Don't know why, but I expected something like this… but on the note Konata said earlier… he sure likes good-looking maids, just like that WA5 guy…

"Now" Rei said with a smile. "Why don't you go to your rooms and prepare yourselves to go to the beach?" Then, to the brunette. "Chikaru… could you please escort them to their rooms?"

Chikaru nodded and asked everyone to follow them. As Kumiko started to walk upstairs, Rei held her.

"Oh, Kumiko-Kun… I've prepared something special for you to use during this break…" with that, the man took out a very skimpy bikini and showed it to her. "You'll be sure to make the whole beach guys go 'YOWZA!'… Don't worry, it's your cup size… um… D, isn't it?"

Kumiko's expression didn't change, she simply took out her chakrams and put the blade on one of them really close to Rei's neck. "…OK… you have five seconds to tell me HOW you came to know about my cup size… then I'll kill you…" she coldly muttered.

Rei didn't seem to be fazed by her threats and kept on smiling. "Aw, you know me, Kumiko-Kun… you know I am a good observer."

The girl released the guy with a grimace and muttered. "Why don't I just go to the beach…" before going upstairs.

Noticing that Shinn was still there, Rei approached him. "Aren't you going to your room to get changed?"

Shinn shook his head. "I… I really don't feel like going… is there any place where I cool off?"

Rei faced the little blond girl with the teddy bear. "Kagome, would you like to give Shinn-Kun a tour of the villa?"

"Please, this way, Shinn-San." Kagome quietly said as she took Shinn's hands and both started walking around.

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Athrun was proudly standing in front of the sea, both hands on his side, looking like God's given gifts to women. He donned green and dark blue trunks and a pair of fashionable sunglasses over his head. Looking around for girls to notice him, he cupped his chin and grinned. "Ah, the seaside. The perfect hunting ground for such a hunting pro. I'll make all the ladies in this beach mine, yes sir!"

A small voice echoed at his back. "Gee, are you done rambling?". Athrun looked behind and saw his teammates: Konata wearing her old school's swimsuit, Kagami wearing a sporty black and white two pieces, Tsukasa with a frilly red two pieces and Miyuki with a very sexy-looking black bikini.

"O…ooh, heavenly vision…" Athrun grinned satisfied as he approached the four girls. Immediately, he stretched a hand to Miyuki but before he could touch her, a sharp-bladed chakram almost chopped his hand off. From the water they all could see Kumiko, the other chakram in her hand.

"Watch out! I'm keeping you on eye!" She yelled.

Konata couldn't help but laugh at the sight of it. "I guess some things never change, huh?"

They all then saw three boys approaching them: it was Kenji, Junpei and Akihiko: the first wearing blue swim shorts, the second with orange trunks and the latter wearing a shirt over his swimsuit.

Kenji bowed down to all of them. "You girls're here too? What a coincidence!"

Tsukasa smiled at him. "Yes, we're spending the break at Kuro-Sensei's place."

These words caused Junpei to jolt (And his cap jolted with him). He then shakily pointed a finger at the girls. "…girls… at a teacher's… place…?!"

Konata friendly patted his butt. "Pull your head outta the gutter. Shinn and Athrun are with us too, it's not just us girls…"

"Anyway…" Akihiko shyly interrupted. "Have you girls seen anything to use as a marker? I was hoping to get a good swim…"

Both Junpei and Konata glanced at each other and then at Akihiko. "You're unbelievable! You have a bunch of swimsuit cuties in front of you and prefer doing sports?!" Konata blurted while gestured at Kagami.

At first, the girl with twin tails frantically looked at both Konata and Akihiko. She then blushed and swayed her gaze. "Hmph! Not that I expect any compliment from you, but…"

After hearing that, the silver-haired boxer stood there, staring at his classmate, his mind undeniably pointing how remarkably cute she was. Akihiko blushed and lowered his gaze, murmuring: "It looks… er… pretty good on you…"

"Look," Kagami replied, both hands on her waist "you don't have to force a compliment just because Konata-San told you to say something…"

"I'm not forcing anything…" He said, barely audible.

Junpei punched the palm of his other hand, a satisfied smile on his face. "Ooh, I know! We're gonna have a swimsuit contest!" he then gestured at Kagami. "Contestant nr.1 is miss Kagami Hiiragi! Her swimsuit choice is both simple and very pleasant to watch. Let's give her a warm round of applauses!"

"Please, stop it!" Kagami cried, as she became almost purple.

Junpei walked closer to Konata. "And now contestant nr.2: Konata Izumi!" He then looked at her a little better, noticing her peculiar choice of swimsuit.

"What?" she asked. "It happens to enhance my loli charm, don't you agree??"

The capped teenager rubbed his nose with a chuckle. "I don't know if it's devious or appealing, but I gotta agree with you on that!" He then approached Tsukasa and Miyuki. "Next is contestant nr.3: Tsukasa Hiiragi!... hmmm… I must say your swimsuit enhances your natural cuteness, Senpai!"

Tsukasa didn't find the words to reply so she simply giggled in a sheepish way.

"And now contestant nr.4: Miyuki Tak… woo…"

Miyuki blinked as she blushed slightly. "Um… is something the matter?"

Junpei could only emit a moan as if he were in a trance. Kenji grabbed him and slapped him through the face. "Thanks man… it's just that… her adorable face… and that bikini showing all of her…"

Konata nodded with a playful smile. "…you mean the swimsuit enhances her natural sexiness? Totally agree on that… Yuki-Chan should wear a swimsuit everyday!"

Miyuki gasped and covered herself while blushing violently.

"Hey!!" Kumiko's voice echoed again from the water. "Isn't anyone coming here to swim? The water is wonderful!"

Akihiko left out a satisfied chuckle. Fukuyama's here, huh… this could be a good chance for me to challenge her in a swim contest…

"Yo, Kumiko-Senpai!" Junpei frantically waved his hands. "Come and participate to the swimsuits contest!!"

Kumiko shrugged and shook her head with a slight smile. She then walked outside the sea water, showing her swim team swimsuit. Seeing that, Junpei's jaw dropped as he left out an exasperated sigh. "Man, what a waste…you have such a bomb of a body and you restrain it inside that cheesy swimsuit?! A girl as hot as you should wear a skimpy bikini!... on a second thought, this way, you and Kona-Chan kinda remind me of two sisters from a H game I've been playing."

The girl blushed slightly and knelt down in the water, so to not be seen.

"Nevermind!" Junpei gloated, both hands behind his head. "I think I'll follow your example and swim!" Then, imitating a fanfare, he jumped in the water, followed by Konata, Tsukasa and Akihiko.

Meanwhile, Yukari, Mitsuru and Fuuka approached the group, they all wearing their respective swimsuits: Yukari wore sunglasses, a pink and light blue bikini top and blue jeans shorts; Fuuka wore one similar to Tsukasa's, except it was light blue and Mitsuru, the most beautiful of the three, wearing a white bikini, embellished by a big red flower over her left shoulder and a white satin veil tied on her waist. Athrun was in complete awe as soon as he saw her.

"Woow, Mitsuru… you're the most beautiful girl I saw so far…" He said, utterly satisfied.

Mitsuru swayed her gaze, blushing because of the compliment. "… I, uh… didn't expect to meet you here, Zala…"

The young man wrapped an arm around her shoulder while fixing his sunglasses on his head. "Heh, I'm really starting to think we truly are connected by the red string of fate…"

Last thing Athrun knew was Mitsuru's rapier stabbing him over and over and then getting kicked in the sea, being left there, floating like a corpse. Then, the red-haired girl walked to Miyuki and greeted her.

"Why are you here?" Yukari asked, suspicious.

"Oh? Kurohagane-Sensei invited us all over in his villa here. Asuka-San is here too, but he didn't want to come."

Yukari looked at her, frowning. "Really…? How convenient…"

"I don't mind, Takeba." Mitsuru smiled. "After all, Kagayaku members, like us, are trying to figure out the reason of the whole situation and are trying to deal with all of it. As long as one team doesn't interfere with the work of the other, it should be fine."

The brunette's frown became deeper. Just as always… it's always YOU taking all the decisions, we don't matter, huh? I still think we shouldn't trust them so much… She thought as she approached the water, wetting her legs up the ankles. Her thoughts were then interrupted by someone splashing water on her. Angered, she turned to the direction the splash came from and saw both Junpei and Konata, acting innocent.

"Knock it off, Stupei! It's not funny! You'll ruin my new sunglasses!" Yukari cried.

"Hey!" Konata chirped. "If you don't get wet to the beach, what's the point of coming? Come on, Junpei-Kun! Let's get the Takebaka!!"

Junpei's smile broadened. "CHARGE!!" And both of them started splashing the brunette mercilessly.

Meanwhile, Kumiko and Akihiko were having a series of swim races, mostly ending in her victory or a tie. After an underwater race, both classmates' heads popped out of the water and inhaled, merrily.

"Ok, I acknowledge my defeat…" the silver-haired teenager proclaimed in-between light breaths. "You truly are worthy of your 'mermaid' nickname, Fukuyama! How can you swim that fast underwater and endure so much?"

Kumiko pushed her hair behind and looked away while blushing. "Stop it… I only won because I'm in the swim team… if we competed in a boxing match, the result would have been different."

"A defeat is a defeat, no matter the field!" he said as he crossed his arms. "Consider yourself good, Fukuyama. You're the first person to beat me, sportwise."

"Yet…" she gestured at Kenji, who was swimming back and forth at an incredibly high speed rate while Tsukasa was having a hard time swimming behind him. "…I still am a slowpoke compared to THAT guy…"

"I think you'll have no problems for the tournament, then." Kumiko's classmate chuckled.

The girl nodded. "He's amazing… he doesn't look very sharp but seems like being able to do virtually everything…"

"Hey, why don't we make a few races with him? We can use him as a target to reach so to become faster!" He said as he resumed his swimming. Kumiko sighed and dived in the water after the two of them.

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It was around 6:30 pm when the Kagayaku members returned to Rei's villa after the pleasant day to the beach. They all were a bit tired, but felt really relieved (Maybe except for an aching Athrun…). Once they reached the gateway, they were greeted by a man coming out of the villa: he was dressed like a refined gentleman, wearing a dark suit and a tie, but his eyepatch over his right eye made him look a little bit scary. When Miyuki and Tsukasa greeted him, he simply nodded and kept on walking.

"Wow… what a scary-looking person…" Tsukasa whispered, a hand over her left cheek. "A friend of Kuro-Sensei's?"

Kumiko blinked, perplexed. "Uh… I don't think so… who could he be? Looked like a mafia guy…"

They were then caught up by Rei and Shinn. "Oh, I trust you saw Kirijo-San passing by, huh? He might look rough, but he's a real gentleman." The teacher said.

Athrun jolted. "That's Mitsuru's father…? This scary?? No wonder she's a tough one herself…"

Rei then beckoned them all to reach him in the living room, saying he wanted to talk about something important. They could only figure it was related to the head of the Kirijo Group coming there.

"When I told Kirijo-San about my interest in studying time-space phenomena, he realized I was involved in researching the true nature of the Dark Hour. Naturally, my notoriety played a major role in this. I doubt he would have told it to just your average Joe. Anyway, he said that he wanted to atone for his family's sins and decided to give us a few clues. Just like he'll give some to his daughter's group."

Athrun cupped his chin. "I can understand him helping SEES, but why us as well?"

"Yes… one wouldn't expect so much trust… when I questioned that, he said that their family motto was: 'two in harmony surpass one in perfection', making me realize that trust between each other is very important for him."

The professor paused for a moment as he grimaced; then he continued: "According to him, the Kirijo group was originally planning to build a time manipulating device harnessing the power of the shadows… able to change the flow of time and the course of events."

"Aw, come on!" Kagami shrugged. "That's sci-fi nonsense."

Kumiko looked at her with a slight smile. "Wouldn't it be cool though? You could go back in time and erase bad things happened to you."

"You said originally…" Miyuki started to ask. "You mean the group strayed from their original plan?"

Rei grimaced even more as he nodded. "The man who supervised the project, Kouetsu Kirijo, seemed like coming to hate this world very deeply during his latest years… he started experimenting shadows for another goal… something real terrible and inhuman only a madman could conceive…"

A grim silence fell in the living room. Seeing that no one made questions, Rei continued. "Unfortunately, Kirijo-San didn't tell me what the plan was exactly… but I have my theories… and they're all but pleasant…"

"So, in the end, it's nothing but that man's words we can rely on… that's not much as a clue…" Konata mused.

Rei half-heartedly took out a DVD. "He didn't seem like lying… but it's clear something is missing… I especially thought that after watching this. It's a copy I made of footage he showed to me about the events of ten years ago."

Seeing that, the man placed the DVD inside his DVD player and turned the screen on. After a few seconds of flickering, the unsteady recording of a brown-haired man appeared on the screen as something chaotic occurred on the background. The man started speaking to the camera as the image and the sound froze here and there:

"I pray that this recording reaches safe hands... My employer has become obsessed with a loathsome idea. This experiment should have never even been conceived... I'm afraid what I've done will result in an unprecedented disaster... But if I hadn't, the entire world may have paid the price..."

Kumiko frowned for a moment. Was the price the man was talking about related to the end the demon mentioned in her dreams?

From that point, the sound and image definition became fuzzier and fuzzier, but still possible to watch. "Please, listen carefully... The shadows that were amassed here have been dispersed as a result of the explosion. To end this nightmare, you must… eliminate all of them! I am to blame for this. I knew the risks, but I was blinded by the promise of success... And so, I didn't raise any objections... It is all my fault..."

The professor then turned the TV and the player off with a sigh.

"Kurohagane-sensei…" Miyuki said in a very shallow voice. "What is it all about?"

Rei sat on his chair. "His name is Eiichiro Takeba. He used to be a researcher for the Kirijo Group and worked under Mitsuru's grandfather for his big plan… according to my knowledge, he died in the events of ten years ago…"

Konata's mind snapped. "Takeba…! Is he Yukari's father? Was the reason she joined SEES…?"

"But according to this video, he's responsible for the whole situation!" Kagami said with growing worry. "And it appears SEES' mission is the right way to handle the issue…"

Rei eyed Miyuki. "What do you think of this video?"

Miyuki fixed her glasses over her nose and frowned. "I am not 100% sure but… the video itself looks really unstable… and I don't think it's due to the fact it's 10 years old… or a camera malfunctioning… it almost sounds like some parts were… cut on purpose."

The man nodded. "That's what I thought myself… something's totally wrong here… and our job is to figure out what."

Kumiko simply nodded, not really knowing what to say at the moment, her mind wondering about which one could have been the real truth about the events occurred ten years earlier and how to get rid of the Dark Hour. Nevertheless, she could feel their job was far from over. Next to her, Shinn sunk his head even lower, resting his forehead on his clasped hands. Looking at him, Miyuki asked him what was wrong; his only reply was a hoarse cackle.

"…Conjectures again…? How long are going to put up with that?! This is getting ridiculous…" He muttered in a bitter tone. He then snapped his head up at Rei. "Right! Who says that what we're looking for is the absolute truth and not just a messed up lie like the ones I've heard so far?"

His reaction caused everyone to blink in perplexity. Everyone but Rei, who kept on looking at Shinn. The junior rose up on his feet and walked towards' the staircase, stopping on his tracks when Rei grabbed his arm vigorously. "What are you getting at, Shinn-Kun? This attitude of yours isn't helping… if we want to get to the truth--"

"Who says what's true? You?!" Shinn snapped at the professor. "Can you prove that our mission really has a purpose… or you're just making us believe it while using us for your goals?! Well I had enough bullcrap! I'm tired of having to fight to cover someone else's butt!!"

With that, the lad violently shrugged Rei's hand off his arm and ran upstairs. The professor shook his head while glancing at the staircase. "…there's not just one truth… don't you get it?"

Tsukasa shyly proposed that someone had to go and talk to him and make him reason, which prompted everyone to look in Athrun's direction; the womanizing young man shook his head and said he wouldn't have listened to HIM. Seeing the situation, Kumiko decided to talk with Shinn herself.

Takeharu Kirijo: The current leader of the Kirijo Group and Mitsuru's father. He's a survivor of the tragic events occurred ten years earlier, which seemed like triggering the current time-space anomalies. Nevertheless, he feel responsible for the way his father's action severely altered the world's balance and wants to do something to fix the whole matter… or so he says…

Eiichiro Takeba: A scientist who used to work under the Kirijo Group. According to an old record from the Group, he appears to be the primary responsible of the appearance of the Dark Hour, by releasing the shadows the group was experimenting on while these were used in the final stage of their experiment. He's also Yukari's father and the primary cause of her joining SEES.

At first, Kumiko knocked to Shinn's room's door, but got no response at all; after a while, one of the maids, Lemon, told her she saw him going to the terrace, an air of pain on his face. Immediately, Kumiko walked towards the terrace and saw him there, both elbows resting over the wooden railing as he kept on staring at the horizon. At first, she wanted to sound harsh at him and pointed up a finger in an almost stern mother-like way. Before she got the chance to say something, Shinn started to talk.

"You know…long before I was dragged in this place… I was leading an averagely ordinary life with my parents and sister… no, not exactly average… let's just say we were somehow special and that didn't really make things easy for us at times… but we were happy nevertheless…until…"

Kumiko walked to him, resting her arms on the railing like he did. "…Until…?"

Shinn rose his head to the moon. As he kept on telling, he started clenching his fists as his voice became more and more shakily. "We were having some field trip, all together. Nothing too fancy… it was then that… the spot we were in was involved in a battle… a battle due to a massive war raged where I'm from… it was a matter of moments… I went a bit farther to recover my sister's cell phone, which she dropped… the last thing I remember… was a big explosion… and… my family's charred and torn apart bodies…"

Kumiko passed a hand on her own lips. She couldn't imagine Shinn having such a dramatic past; she always thought he was just an ordinary bratty boy.

"Since then… I vowed to get my revenge upon those who caused my family's death… and I kept on fighting for that reason… but… but now I'm stuck here in this place, having to fight a battle that had nothing to do with me in the first place, in a situation I never asked for!" he then dropped his head as tears shyly started to pour down on his face. "I thought… I thought it would have been OK fighting as long as it granted me a way to go back home… but… it never happened... and now I find out that my situation is due to someone else, who uses others just like I'm probably being used… why do I have to put up with this? It's just too much…" he faintly sobbed as he sunk his head over his forearms.

"No one asked for this situation… at least, I never did…" Kumiko whispered, while placing a hand over his trembling shoulders.

Immediately, he shrugged it off while snapping at her. "What do YOU know?! You don't know how it feels losing your family due to a dire situation, so don't start preaching!"

Her face grew grimmer. "I do know how it feels… I've lost many things due to the Dark Hour myself… and I wound up with a power I never asked for, fighting a battle I never wanted to fight… that's why I think I can relate to you, that's all."

Shinn wanted to talk back, but just couldn't. He didn't expect such an answer from someone who always looks as unfeeling as her. Looking at her, he noticed how soft and understanding her gaze was, which caused him to weep even more. "I… I just don't know what to do anymore… I'm so confused… do I have a reason to fight this battle? If there is a reason, please tell me!"

She slowly shook her head. "It's not my place… you're the one who has to find it out… that's also what I told you when Kagayaku was formed, remember?... and once you get your answer, you'll even be free to leave the team if you want to… no one will blame you for that… but if you think there IS something to fight for… don't forget, we're a team, we are to support each other."

Shinn blinked for a moment. He then smiled slightly and wiped off tears from his eyes. "Didn't expect that coming from you… you sure are full of surprises…" he then leaned his back on the railing and sighed. "Heh… I must have looked miserable to you… Don't even know WHY I started talking about that things to you in the first place!... oh well, I think I'm a little better anyway."

The girl scratched her head. Saying just "thanks" won't kill you, you know… Then Shinn moved away from the railing and went inside, saying he wanted to have a walk on the beach to cool off.

"Oh wait… you shouldn't go too far!" Kumiko stretched a hand to him. "It's almost the Dark Hour!"

Shinn turned around with a hop and waved his arms at her. "So? It doesn't really make difference where you are when the Dark Hour comes, so who cares? Besides, I'm not on a leash!" He arrogantly said from afar. All Kumiko could do was watching him go toward the beach and sigh with a hopeless smile as she shook her head, wondering if that argument they just had could have a purpose.

As soon as he left the villa, Shinn kept on walking on the sandy beach, not knowing he wasn't that far by the Kirijo family's vacation villa. He only noticed when he saw two people talking, a few meters away from him; hiding behind a palm, he could recognize the two as Kenji and Yukari: the first looking quiet as always as the latter looked quite upset about something. The argument seemed like escalating until he said something to her that caused her to calm down. Shinn left out a slight gasp when he saw him hugging her. Don't know why, but Konata would have loved remarking this scene… I just know it! He thought with a slight blush. Then Junpei came rushing, causing the two to detach themselves.

"Awww, on the best part!" Shinn cried, cursing when he noticed that caught everyone's attention and stood behind the palm, no breathing. Then, noticing they stopped watching in his direction, he decided to sneak back to the villa.

07/21/09

Rei was tinkering with the computer in his room, inside his vacation villa in Yakushima. After typing something, he left out a sigh. His work was then interrupted by Kumiko walking in.

"Working so soon in the morning, Sensei?" She asked while stretching.

"I'm not working… my computer just caught a peculiar signature." He replied without moving his face away from the monitor. Then, when the girl inquired about the signal, he said: "It appears a machine has been moving on its own from a local lab owned by the Kirijo Group. An anti-shadow weapon they developed, to be precise…"

Kumiko's head tilted. "Is it some sort of automate tank? Want us to take care of it?"

Finally, Rei turned around to face her. "Nah, don't bother. I'm sure SEES will be able to handle the issue… besides, SHE's not planned to attack humans."

The girl blinked. SHE? He talks about that weapon as if it were human… what does he know?

The professor put both hands on her shoulders and merrily pushed her outside. "Anyway, let's go to the beach. I'm sure you want to enjoy the place… and I want to keep Chikaru and the others some good quality company. Don't you know that a good-looking girl can't afford to waste time on the beach?"

The girl started to walk, almost causing Rei to stumble. "You'd better not act lecherous to the beach on me."

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"Man… why did I came here?" Shinn sighed deeply as he kept on trailing the way to a beach which was more distant from the villa than the ones everyone went at. As he walked, he arrived to a small vista point to the sea, with a romantic bench to sat on. Immediately, he sat down and looked at the horizon: beyond the grassy cliff he was on, a massive blue sea opened in front of him, made even more beautiful by the perfectly azure sky. The fresh sea breeze had fun with his jet black hair as left out yet another sigh. I thought it would have helped me to sort out my feelings, but… man, I don't like beaches at all, they only made me rethink about what happened back then!

Then, a sound caught her attention: the voice of a girl, humming a sad-sounding melody; when he looked in the direction the voice came from, Shinn could see the flowering image of a blond girl wearing a white and blue dress, dancing and singing as if she didn't have any care in the world, her violet eyes sparkling in merriment. Shinn's head tilted, not really knowing how to react to that and then he went back to his thoughts.

His attention was brought back to the girl when he heard her screaming and then a splashing sound. Immediately, he looked over the marble railing on the edge of the vista point cliff, wondering if she fell off and wound up in the water. No way, man! I doubt one is so stupid! But he winced when he saw her there, flailing desperately in the water so to stay afloat.

"Wha… she can't swim?!" He thought aloud as he removed his sleeveless shirt jacket and dashed onward to get in the water. Immediately, he swam to the strange girl, who kept on struggling even more, worsening her situation. He grabbed her firmly, trying to get her where the water could be lower, but in all response, she waved her arms even more violently, her nails scratching his cheek and causing both to go underwater. After a hard struggle, he finally managed to drag her where water was lower and leaned on a rock, completely out of breath, just like she was.

Once his breath was back enough for him to talk, he spat at the girl: "What are you crazy, jumping off that way when you can't swim?! What, you want to die?!"

The girl chocked as soon as he uttered those words, her eyes wide open. "…Die…?! No! I…I don't want to die!!" She cried, raising gradually her voice, as she dashed back in the sea.

Shinn jumped back in the water so to recover her. He tried to make her reason, but she kept on struggling even more.

"Noo! Dying is bad!! I don't want to die!! I'm scared!!" She cried as he tried to stop her. She moved so violently she even elbowed him right in the face. "I'll die if I'm shot! No!!"

Shinn hesitated for a moment as a realization struck him: could this girl have suffered a similar trauma to his? Was her happiness shattered because of everyone else, just his was? As if some unknown strength overcame him, he managed to halt the girl's fierce movement and flipped her so to hug her tightly. Finally, she seemed to calm down.

"It's alright," he whispered to her. "You won't die. I promise, I'll protect you…"

The girl hesitated for a few seconds, then tears started streaming on her face as she sobbed faintly, causing him to apologize softly.

"I'm sorry… this is my fault… it's OK now… don't worry, I'll protect you."

She slowly lifted her head to look at his face, her eyes still swelled with tears. "…Protect…?" she asked.

He looked at her. "I won't let you die."

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Kumiko was just done drying up after her swim in the sea and took out a manga to read as she sat under her umbrella. Her female team members were all around her and seemed like enjoying quite a sight. When she inquired about what they were looking at, Konata explained that the SEES guys were all taken in something Junpei called "Operation Babe Hunt": namely, picking up girls. She then added they tried with a few of them and did quite poorly.

"But hey…" Konata mused. "I didn't expect Akihiko-Kun to take part to this operation… maybe he doesn't swing that way like I thought… MAYBE."

"I just don't get men at times." Kagami puffed as she crossed her arms with a blush. "They have five girls right here and don't even bother flirting with them! Besides, we already know each other: picking us up won't be so hard…"

Tsukasa didn't reply to that. She seemed like staring at an empty space for some reason.

A male voice at their backs replied. "That won't do… the real challenge of flirting is always trying to seduce girls you DON'T know. Don't you get it?"

They all turned in that direction to see Athrun, still donning his swimsuit and fashionable glasses.

Kumiko slapped her forehead. "For some reason… that sounds like something you would say."

"Hey look!" Konata pointed her finger to the SEES guys. "Now they're trying to pick up… uh… hey, aren't those Kuro-Sensei's maids?"

"Oh, so it seems…" Miyuki replied while fixing her glasses. "I did not expect to see them to the beach."

Then they all tried to overhear how the scene was going. They could hear Junpei saying that they looked awfully familiar, which caused Konata to remark about thinking the same thing herself. All his words could get was Kagome coldly asking if that was his idea of picking up a girl.

"Oh, I know plenty of other ways to…" Junpei nodded proudly.

Lemon lowered her gaze with a slight blush. "I am flattered, but… well…" she shyly whispered as Kizuna waved her arms to someone approaching.

In a matter of seconds, they all saw Rei approaching to the four maids: he was wearing some tight black swim shorts. Chikaru put her arms around his neck. "… as you can see…we already are in good company." She said with a sweet expression.

The three teenagers couldn't help but jolt at it. The looked at Rei, surrounded by all those babes, in a swimsuit which clearly showed how well-built his physique was… all these girls… all just for HIM?! "We give up… there's no way we can surpass such a guy… it's crystal clear he's too much for us to handle…" Junpei's shoulders dropped. Still… I wouldn't mind to become like he is now…he truly is the best… just… this girls… who are they? I KNOW I saw them somewhere…

Both Kenji and Akihiko didn't know what to say at the moment, still in awe; the latter kept on looking inside his own shirt, grimacing about the massive physical difference between himself, a boxer, and Rei, a plain computer teacher: compared to him, the silver-haired boy felt like a stick!

With that, the three of them walked away, looking for another group of girls to pick up. Kagayaku members wondered if this could be the right time.

For once, it seemed like things were going smoothly, as the girl they talked about seemed like going along with their intentions… although she mentioned something about them having no balls and needing to embrace the unknown.

"Looks like things work out this time…" Miyuki commented, clasping both hands together.

"Wait… something is not right…" Athrun frowned. "Yeah, she looks pretty hot, but… for some reason, my woman-tenna tells me something's way off about her…"

It was then that Akihiko pointed something about that beautiful lady: she had hair on her chin! This caused everyone, even the Kagayaku members, to wince, while Athrun said he was right.

Then, the SEES members started to walk away and ended up a few meters away from Kagayaku's umbrella. They' were quite down due to the result of that pitiful so-called operation. Seeing that, Athrun approached them. "Didn't exactly go smoothly, huh?" he asked, causing Junpei to grunt, while Kenji sheepishly asked if he saw it all.

"Well it's not like I wanted to take part of this thing…" Akihiko mumbled without looking at Athrun. "But when I'm in a match, I want to win."

Athrun shook his head. "Picking up girls is not the same as competing in a boxing match. If you do it with that spirit, no wonder you couldn't do it."

The silver-haired teenager was about to talk back, but Junpei halted him, saying that, given Athrun's expertise with girls, he could have given them a hand. Kenji added that after all, it couldn't go worse than that.

The blue-haired senior cleared his voice and looked at the pack. "…I don't even know where to start pointing your flaws… you, Junpei… your methods are too cliché, and your face doesn't exactly give a safe feeling to girls. That's very important to make a contact with a woman."

"For once I agree with you." Akihiko nodded.

"Stop acting all superior!" Junpei spat at Akihiko. "You haven't scored either!"

"Now, now!" Athrun tried to calm the two of them down with a smile. "As poorly as you did, you're lucky you ran into such an expert I am. I'll help you all get a girl no problem!"

He then started looking around for a girl they didn't try to pick up earlier: someone looking beautiful and good enough. It was then that something caught his attention. "A-ha… now that's the perfect target!" he gloated, pointing at the neighbour dock.

Looking in the direction Athrun pointed, the three of them couldn't help but gawk: on the dock was standing a mysterious-looking yet very cute girl with short blond hair, wearing a light blue dress and a bizarre metallic headset. Her inexpressive-looking eyes were firmly staring at the ocean, the wind moving her skirt around. Immediately, the four guys hid themselves behind some rocks, right behind the girl.

"Talk about saving the best for last!" Junpei merrily whispered. "She's so cute…!!"

The Kagayaku senior's smile broadened. "Isn't she? Isn't she? I have good eye."

The capped junior's expression changed in a more serious one. "This is our chances to make up for our failures so far. But instead of going together, we'll go one-by-one!"

The four of them then decided the order of their turns with a rock-paper-scissors match, which was won by Junpei. Before he could head and meet the girl, Athrun halted him. "Wait a sec… I'll go first… after all, I'm the one with more experience… and I promised to teach you how it's done, so it has to be me." He then started to walk to the dock, while Junpei kept on complaining about him winning the match.

As if he didn't hear anything else, Athrun walked to the girl in blue. Before approaching her, he fixed his hair, sunglasses and swimsuit. "Good day…" he started to talk with a very smooth voice. "This big beach is too lonely just for you… Don't worry, I will make it super special for you. You will not be able to enjoy it without me anymore…"

The girl turned in his direction, her face not changing in any expression. "I do not comprehend." She mechanically said.

"Oh come on!" He shrugged with a smile. "What? Do you prefer staying here alone rather than with me??"

"Acknowledged," she said with the same, seemingly artificial voice, her head tilting in an interrogative way. "I prefer staying here alone rather than with you."

This caused Athrun to walk a few steps backwards, in complete shock. I…Impossible!! I was… rejected?! It took him a few seconds to process the shock and walk back to the pack.

Akihiko looked at him with a malicious smile. "…nice shot, 'great master of seduction'."

But Athrun didn't reply. He simply kneeled behind the rock, signing circles on the sand with his finger.

"Geeze…" Kenji scratched his cheek. "Seems like it was such a shock for him…"

"This is what he gets for trying to cheat!" Junpei said, angrily. Then he got up to approach the girl. "OK, wish me luck!"

The capped teenager slowly walked to the girl, his face turning redder and redder. When she first faced in his direction, he acted innocently and whistled, just to approach more when she looked back to the sea. "Um… how is it going?" he stuttered. "I noticed you're staring at the ocean…uh… do you come here often? I am Ju-Ju-Junpei."

The girl faced him. "…Ju-Ju-Junpei?"

"Um, I just want to talk for a moment." He said, becoming almost purple.

The girl spoke in her emotionless, mechanical voice. "…I am looking for a human. You are not the one."

Just like Athrun, Junpei took a few steps back and then ran behind the rocks, facing the others with teary eyes. "She's a tough one, Senpai!" he sobbed.

"Don't worry about me." Akihiko said while clenching his fists. Immediately, he walked to the girl, still avoiding to look at her. "Say, do you like the ocean?" he asked, a bit shakily.

"Is the question addressed to me? She asked, neutral.

"Um, I like the ocean too. Did you know that the triathletes who train at the beach perform better than those exercising indoors?"

"Wow… he actually formed a conversation!" Junpei remarked from behind the rocks.

"That won't do" Athrun muttered, observing the situation. "You can't get a girl's interest by talking about sports!"

"Ah, Athrun-Senpai! You recovered!" The capped one said, looking at him.

"Um… you're sucking your thumb, senpai?" Kenji asked.

Athrun sighed, a single tear rolling through his cheek. "Don't ask."

Meanwhile, Akihiko was still talking about sports and stuff with the mystery blondie. It all went well until she said: "That information is irrelevant.", causing him to freeze in shock. After a few instants, he walked back to the others.

"I won. I talked to her more than both of you." He said with a slight smile.

"This is no competition, you dolt!" Athrun spat to him, literally chewing his own thumb while weeping.

"Man, this sucks…" Junpei sobbed while leaning on Athrun's back.

Akihiko looked at both, awkward. "Stop crying, the two of you… you make me feel bad!"

Then, Junpei grabbed Kenji's shoulder, who blinked. "That's it. If you can't do it, I'll be traumatized for the rest of my life!"

After some hesitation, Kenji moved to the girl, looking at the three of them who kept on silently telling him to go on. Gulping, he walked close enough to the girl and greeted her. Once again she turned around, but this time, she had a slight jolt, which caused Junpei and the others to be curious.

Immediately, the capped one moved out of their hideout, followed by Akihiko, even though Athrun tried to stop him. When the girl noticed them. she said: "Initiating evasive maneuver. Confirmation must be made to a secure location." and started to run towards the forest.

As the three SEES kids moved in the forest to chase the girl, Athrun returned to the other Kagayaku members, defeated.

"Can't be helped." Kumiko shrugged. "Men can't reason when they saw a cute blonde girl, huh?"

Athrun simply collapsed on the closest bed, moaning.

"To tell the truth" Rei said at his back. "I'm not surprised of the result. Believe me, you have no chance to score with her."

"Is that cute blondie a friend of yours, Kuro-Sensei?" Konata asked.

The professor shook his head. "Nah… it's the first time I actually meet her… but more important, Athrun… I just received a call via transceiver by Shinn. Looks like he's stuck beneath a vista point a bit away from here. Are you coming with me to recover him?"

Athrun didn't reply. He just rocked his butt back and forth.

"You're so useless" Rei puffed. Then, to Kizuna. "Prepare a boat. We'll have to recover him by ourselves."

Kizuna made a bunny ears pose with her hand. "Sure thing. Leave it to me!"

As the two of them walked away, Konata resumed browsing an anime-related magazine. Then she winced. "A-ha! Here it is!" she then showed it to everyone. "Look, Kuro-Sensei's maids are identical to the girls from this anime named 'Strawberry Panic!'!"

Immediately, they all moved closer to her. "What a resemblance…" Miyuki said, cupping her chin.

"Come on… it can't be them…" Kagami said. "They're fictional characters!"

Well, it seems like he knows a good deal about different dimensions and stuff… and he said he studies time-space phenomena…It might be possible to him… still it's surprising! Athrun thought, without moving from his beach bed.

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Putting away his transceiver, Shinn took a few steps towards the girl he rescued, who was putting her dress to dry on the fire he built. The lad winced when he noticed that she was wearing no bra and immediately turned the other side, frustrated, when she looked at him. Then, she sat by the fire, back by back with Shinn, smiling because she felt warm.

"So," Shinn started, so to break the ice. "what's your name? Are you from around here?"

The girl looked at the fire, as if she was in some sort of trance. After a few seconds, she answered: "Name… Stellar. My town… don't know."

"What about you're family? Who do you live with?"

"Don't know father… or mother… used to live with Neo… Sting… and Auel… then… a big light… now, Stellar lives with Takaya…Jin…Kurz…Dennis…. And Chidori…" Stellar answered, serious.

Shinn felt even worse about that girl, who appeared having no family. Then, he wondered: was the big light she saw the same he saw when he was warped in Iwatodai? Then maybe, that girl could have come from the same world and time he came from? "Well, you're alright now. I, um… I'll stay and protect you!"

She turned her head to face him. "Will you protect Stellar…? She won't die?" She faintly asked.

Shinn smiled at her. "Yes, I won't let you die. Oh, by the way… my name is Shinn Asuka. Just call me Shinn, OK?"

"Shinn…" Stellar repeated with a slight smile. Then, she suddenly sneezed, causing Shinn to tilt his head with an awkward smile. Immediately, he frantically searched his stuff for a tissue pack. Then, when he found it, he turned to Stellar, but she was no longer sitting there; in fact, the girl was searching something in her dress. After a few seconds, she returned to Shinn, which turned around to not watch her bare torso, and gave something to him: a shiny piece of a seashell. He looked at her, as to ask "For me?". She simply smiled.

Shinn turned the seashell on the palm of his hands, his mind unable to think about something else but this girl named Stellar. There was something about her, something peculiar he didn't feel for any other girl. Yes, he wanted to protect Fuuka, but the urge to protect and stand by this girl was much, much stronger. Shinn wondered if it was due to the fact that this girl probably was originary from his same place and a victim of the whole situation, just like he was…

His thoughts were then interrupted by a small horn playing from the sea. Immediately, he looked at the horizon and saw a small motorboat approaching their direction: on board of it there were Rei and Kizuna.

"A-ha! Found him!" The redheaded maid proclaimed.

"What is it, Shinn-Kun? Having fun jumping off cliffs now?" Rei asked with a smart-aleck smile.

"I don't jump of cliffs for fun, y'know…" Shinn grumbled, hands on both sides. "I had to help someone who was on the verge of drowning."

Before Rei could ask who that was, Stellar came closer, causing the professor to frown. So… she was warped here too…? Maybe it's fate… but… will it play the same or change? Nevertheless, things are bound to get complicated…

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"We're back!"

Lemon closed the villa's gates as soon as Rei, Kizuna and Shinn walked in. Right after taking the two teenagers in the area, the professor offered Stellar to ride her home, but, for some reason, she refused and walked away on her own, so the two guys and the red-haired maid went back without her.

"So, Shinn" Konata said as she fastly walked to the trio. "Have you found a new hobby?"

The black-haired teenager slapped his forehead with a grimace. "Not you too…"

Rei placed a hand on Shinn's shoulder with a smirk. "Looks like our Shinn-Kun here has found and rescued a lost kitty who was about to drown. A very nice-looking kitty with vivid violet eyes and blond fur."

"See? It's like I said." Kumiko whispered while sharing glares with Konata. "Men can't reason when a cute blondie is around."

Tsukasa, who didn't get the drift, remarked: "Aww, why didn't you bring it home? I would have loved such a cute kitty cat!", causing everyone in the room to glance at each other, speechless.

"By the way… where's Athrun? Why isn't he here to scold me as usual?" Shinn asked, looking around.

Kagami looked in the upwards staircase with an ironic smile. "Oh, him? Let's just say he's still traumatized for being dumped by a very cute girl to the beach and now he's locked in his room, licking his own wounds…"

Meanwhile, Kumiko went to the table with a pencil and a piece of paper and started drafting a sketch of the blond girl Athrun and the SEES guys tried to pick up. "I think this is about how she looked… by the way, Rei-Sensei… you said you don't know her, but you could say there was no way Athrun could pick her up… so that means you DO know her… so, which is it?"

Rei chuckled. "I'm not lying. This IS the first time I actually see her… the thing is, I have data about her and her real nature, so… it's just natural I know."

All of the present teenagers blinked, not understanding what the man meant by "real nature". Seeing that, Rei started to explain. "You see, that girl is no human: she's what you'd call some sort of 'mechanical maiden'; in other words, she's actually a humanoid-shaped anti-shadow weapon which was created about ten years ago as a countermeasure to fight shadows going beyond human control."

Kumiko passed a hand over her mouth, her eyebrow arching. She finally started to understand why Rei called 'she' the tank his computer detected that morning. "Mechanical…maiden…? anti-shadow… weapon…? You mean she's… a battle android??"

"…And I thought these kind of things were only possible in anime! Wow!" Konata happily remarked.

"But that could also explain why she rejected Athrun's advances!" Shinn smirked.

Miyuki sat down, thoughtful. "A humanoid mobile weapon… designed to battle shadows? If she's a sentient machine, it means she can also summon a Persona. She must be equipped with quite a sophisticated AI!"

"Yes, and according to my data" the professor kept on explained "This robot suddenly activated after a ten years long stasis due to the massive damage she got in a battle… but the reason she 'woke up', I can't really say."

Konata shrugged with a puff. "Well, she was made by the Kirijo Group, right? So she's going to SEES, huh? Well tough luck, I wouldn't have minded having a robot in my team…" she remarked before going to the villa's private arcade.

When everyone else went to their own home activities, Kumiko kept on drawing sketches on her piece of paper, a satisfied smile broadening on her face. A real, living battle android… I HAVE to see it!

07/22/09

For the last day in Yakushima, both SEES and Kagayaku spent the whole day to the beach, together, before leaving for Iwatodai the following day. As soon as they met, Konata and Junpei decided to jump in the water together. A few minutes later, the SEES girls came, the blue dressed girl in her tow.

"And you are?" Miyuki asked with a smile.

The blonde girl looked at her without blinking. "I am Aigis. My mission is to destroy shadows. I have been assigned to SEES." Then, to Mitsuru. "Do we have a mission to the beach?"

Immediately, Kumiko approached Aigis and examined thoroughly, putting her own face a few inches away from hers. At first, she seemed like frowning, then her expression changed into a very pleased smile. "…how beautiful."

Kumiko's remark caused all the present guys to wince, as Junpei started imagining some possible yuri-ish scenes between the two girls.

The brown-haired girl took Aigis' hand and examined her arm. "Take a look at this…! This shape, this design… it's both appealing and functional!" then, she focused on the legs with a faint giggle. "And these parts? Even though the foot segment has no heel, it's still balanced, providing high mobility… and the built-in thrusters making her possible to perform very high jumps!!" She then placed both hands on the robotic girl's shoulders and faced everyone with an incredibly joyful smile, leaving them all dumbfounded. "Such an efficient and good-looking humanoid design!!… she's just like a piece of art, isn't she??"

After less than a minute of shock, Junpei – who's yuri-ish fantasies died out as soon as Kumiko started talking about Aigis' excellent design – looked at Konata with an embarrassed smile. "Hey… what sneaked in her bed last night?! She's, like, completely different than usual!"

Konata wasn't really fazed. "Nah, I think she's just what you'd call a mecha nutty of sorts… she just loves robots and high technology."

"I never knew…" Akihiko scratched his own cheek. "Well, I guess that explains why she could figure out Aigis is a robot so easily…" then, to Kumiko. "But Fukuyama, that's supposed to be a secret, can you please stop jumping around and shouting that?"

Realizing she just lost her usual calm attitude, Kumiko cleared her voice and faced Aigis with a smile, trying hard to not act in a fangirl-ish mode. "Your name is Aigis, hm? That's it, from today, I'll call you Aigis-Chan!" She then took her hand, intimating to come.

Aigis looked at her companions. "Is it part of my mission?" She asked.

Kenji shook his head with a smile. "No, no! We're just here to have some fun… do you know what fun is?"

The android nodded. "Recreation is the refreshment of one's mind and body."

"Right" Kumiko said. "So, let's go and have some fun…!" She then stopped on her tracks and looked at Mitsuru, a bit concerned. "Uh… she CAN get in the water, right?"

"Yeah, I think she's waterproof." Yukari answered.

After a few more steps, Aigis stopped and looked back. "It is best that we all engage in this activity together. An activity in which only one person derives enjoyment is not the optimal method to 'have fun'."

Kumiko chuckled. "Heh, you're right, Aigis-Chan. Come on, everyone! What are you waiting for??"

As everyone else followed after Kumiko and Aigis, Akihiko stood there with Miyuki. He was still astonished of his classmate's change of attitude.

"She's so different right now… she's usually so cold." He remarked.

Miyuki faced him with a smile. "I think we're actually seeing the true Kumiko. Now she's really being herself and finally unlocking her heart. I pray that things will stay as they are… for her sake as well."

Aigis: A humanoid-shaped anti-shadow weapon developed by the Kirijo Group ten years earlier, prior to the terrible incident. As a humanoid robot, she has a sophisticated AI able to replicate human-like thoughts and reactions, so to enable her to use a Persona. She was kept in a stasis due to some serious damage, but mysteriously reactivated as she sensed something. Once reawakened, she was attracted by Kenji and made of sticking with him her new mission. Her Persona is Palladion of the Chariot Arcana.

07/23/09

10:30 PM, back alley behind the Port Island Station. Shinjiro was sitting on his usual spot, surrounded by a series of rowdy-looking punks and skimpy-dressed girls who're mostly complaining about their ass teachers and relatives, smoking and drinking cocktails they got from the neighbour club. Then, one of them saw a pack of six people approaching them. "Aw shit, it's them!" He spat as he walked away, followed by all the other people. Only Shinjiro stood where he was, unfazed. As the group approached, he saw it was the pale young man with long silver hair and tattered jeans and his cohorts, of course including Kurz and Stellar.

The mysterious internet avengers.

The pale man grimaced. "Why do they always run away when they see me?"

Hmmm… maybe cuz you're as creepy as hell? "…Beats me." Shinjiro replied.

Then, the long-haired man gestured his green and black-dressed right-hand with sunglasses, Jin, to give the red coated one "the capsules". After receiving those, Shinjiro got up and started to walk away, but Jin stopped him.

"You're acquaintances have been quite busy lately… both groups…" the pale young man stated, coldly. "They're activities when the moon is full, the frequent visits to the tower… why are they taking this burden upon themselves?"

Shinjiro didn't reply.

Immediately Kurz grabbed the punk's shoulder. "Hell you KNOW, don't you?! You want to protect them, huh?! After all, they're all your friends!! Both that SEES group and that ecchi girl from the other group… But there's no use, you dumbass!"

The red-coated punk shrugged the cross-dressing psycho off. "Stop it! I have nothing to do with neither of them."

Kurz was furious, he was about to jump at Shinjiro, but the German fat guy stopped him. "Then you have nothing to worry about. Speak up."

Shinjiro grimaced. "I don't know the details, but… supposedly, if you destroy all of the creatures when the moon is full, both the tower and the Dark Hour will disappear."

Both the pale man and his right-hand jolted. "Why are they doing such a thing?! Using their power to destroy the Tower of Demise?!"

Kurz shrugged with a smile. "Get real! There's absolutely no way those weaklings can destroy that huge thing!"

The red-haired girl in white threw an ice-cold stare at him. "Who gives YOU the right to say that, after you lost to the second group TWICE?"

With that, the six of them retreated, leaving Shinjiro there. After about a minute, two more people approached him: Kira and a girl with mid-length blond hair and brown eyes, wearing mustard-colored pants and gloves and a red T-shirt.

"Man, those people always give me the creeps!" The girl grumbled.

Kira looked concerned. "I don't have a good feeling about this… I'm afraid that the day those people will interfere with the other two groups is nigh. At this rate, a battle between Persona-users will be unavoidable…"

Shinjiro didn't look at neither of them and kept on walking away.

"Shinjiro…!" Kira cried.

"…Hmph… yeah, I know… you already said that an umpth of times… but… you know I won't go back. I can't… not after what happened." He said before leaving for good.

Once he was far away, the girl in the red T-shirt puffed, both hands on her waist. "Hmph! I've met many stubborn guys, but that one's a real champ!" then, to Kira. "What was he talking about? You know about it?"

Kira didn't reply. No, he didn't know about what could have happened to Shinjiro, nor the reason he kept on refusing to fight. One thing he knew: the situation was escalating in a possible crisis and he wanted to prevent it as much as he could. If only he could get into that guy's shell and help him overcome that problem.

07/25/09

The classroom's sliding door opened with a loud noise as the coach stepped inside in his green suit and approached Kumiko and the others.

"Here you are, Fukuyama!" his powerful voice echoed in the room. "Sure hope you haven't forgotten about what will happen on August 2nd…"

Kumiko rose her head from her sketches and nodded with a sigh. "I know, I know, Mister. The tournament, right?"

"That's right. You and Shugo have been chosen to compete. So, from July 27th to August 1st, you'll come and train, got it?! I'll make you work like you never worked before!!"

Once the coach left the classroom, Kumiko banged her head on the desk and left out a soft moan. "I totally forgot… the meets… here goes a portion of my short, short summer…"

Tsukasa placed a hand on her classmate's shoulder. "Now, now, Kumi-Chan. Both you and Kenji-Kun are excellent swimmers, you'll do just fine."

In all response, Kumiko left out another moan.

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Shinjiro was once again sitting among the punks in the smoky area of the back alley evening. Once again, the weird pack of six people approached him, causing the other people around to run away. And once again, Jin gave him a strange flacon of pills.

"It appears one of the two groups have added a new ally… well, it's more of a pet than an ally…" the pale young man stated.

Shinjiro swayed his gaze. "…makes no difference to me."

"It also appears that what you told us is true. How lamentable… now we have no choice but to intervene."

The tough-looking teenager frowned. Kira was right after all, and now both SEES and Kagayaku would have been in danger!

The pale man continued. "Destroying the Dark Hour equals to denying this unique power we possess… that cannot be tolerated."

"Do whatever you want." He bitterly replied as he got up to walk away.

Kurz blocked his way with a smirk. "Hey, you bastard! I know you just wanna run back to your friends… or, are you going to your little lady friend?"

Shinjiro froze him with his piercing stare. "Buzz off, pansy. You're startin' to piss me off."

Jin juggled a grenade in his right hand. "They… all of'em … they're goin' down, ya hear me? And you'll be next if you're on their side!"

The tough guy kept on walking, passing beyond Kurz, who kept on waving frantically his arms as to call attention on him. "Like I said, it doesn't concern me."

The fat man looked at him walking away and smirked. "Hey, chief! You're taking out SEES, huh?" he then said to the pale man. "I have an idea to take care of the other group… but I need someone's support for this plan. Think I can have Stellar to join me?"

Behind him, Stellar didn't say a word, she just lowered her head as if something bothered her.

The foreigner patted her head with a smile. "Don't be so worried, cutie! I would never let a hottie like you do something dangerous!"

Jin grunted. "Well I hope yer plan will be better than Kurz's failures…"

With that, the weird group started to walk away; everyone but Kurz who looked quite irate. Damn them! They think I'm no good, huh?! You'll see who'll be the last standing… you… and this whole world! You'll kneel down before Kurz Waber!!

07/29/09

"Geeze, where did that dog go this time?!"

Kumiko looked around as she descended the staircase leading to her family's shrine. The moon already turned its white light into a pair green one and the red, blood-like liquid started dripping from the street lights and walls. Usually, Koromaru was always back before midnight… but not this time.

Grimacing, the girl looked up at the moon. "It's the Dark Hour already… oh well, I guess I'll have to wait till it ends before he comes back…" she mused aloud as she carefully placed new flowers over her grandfather's death place.

She moved to walk towards Kotobuki Hotel, wondering if everyone would have felt like exploring a little of Tartarus.

Then, she heard it. A bubbling sound to her right.

Immediately, she spun around, ready for action and saw two shadows appearing out of some blood-like puddles on the floor. She clenched her teeth as she put herself into a fighting stance. "Shadows… roaming outside Tartarus when the moon is not full?! How…?!"

One of the two shadows was on her, but she promptly dodged the assault, causing it to fall. "Dammit… if I only had my weapon…"

The second shadow focused for a moment; then, it threw a grim stare at the girl who got lost in its eyes. Horror struck her as she realized she couldn't move a muscle! The shadow's stare paralyzed her!

The knocked down shadow took advantage of the situation to stand up again. The paralyzing shadow immediately leaped on the momentarily incapacitated girl, ready to attack. Kumiko squeezed her eyes shut, expecting pain.

The shadow's bubbling sound was replaced by a guttural growl. Kumiko opened her eyes to see Koromaru right in front of her, the fur on his back standing up like spikes as he snarled savagely. "K…Koro?!" The girl's eyes widened. The dog could move within the Dark Hour?! The shadow attacking Kumiko was momentarily stunned by Koromaru's appearance and waved its arms menacingly. The dog leaped on it, a blur of white and grey against the dark blob, sinking his sharp teeth in the thing's flesh. The shadow struggled savagely to set itself free from the animal's painful grasp. In a desperate effort, it tore the dog off with its stretching hands and slammed him on the street floor, causing him to whine.

"KORO!!" Kumiko cried, still unable to move.

The two shadows bundled together and slowly backed off from the stunned dog, ready to leap on him. Seeing that the animal still couldn't move, the two leapt on him, biting and scratching him wildly. The girl watched in shock as the two monstrosities kept on mauling her dear pet.

They circled him, the dog badly hurt, laying in a small puddle of his own blood, the two shadows ready for the final assault. Kumiko cursed herself, her lack of power in that very moment, in the very moment her beloved dog was in grave danger she couldn't even lift a finger to fight. Somebody… anybody! Help!! She mentally screamed, tears stinging her eyes.

As in answer to her prayers, someone threw a healing item to her, her paralysis fading away. She sunk on her knees, still stunned, as she saw Akihiko rushing to her, the Evoker tightly in his hand.

"Fukuyama! You OK?!" He asked, bending over her. The young boxer remained awestruck in seeing such a helpless look in the usually stoic young woman.

Before she had the chance to talk, both teenagers' attention was caught by a strange blue-ish glare coming in the direction Koromaru was standing. Slowly slipping on his feet, the dog left out a weak howl as energy particles separated from his body and taking shape over his head. In a matter of seconds, a gigantic, fierce-looking dark dog with three heads appeared over Koromaru. Both Kumiko and Akihiko remained speechless in seeing such an unexpected turn of events.

"That dog... a Persona-user?! How can it be?!" Akihiko whispered in awe. His eyes went to Kumiko, who was pressing both hands on her cheeks. Did she knew?! He wondered.

As Koromaru left out another howl, the Persona dog howled after him, releasing a powerful wave of flames and literally dissolving the two shadows. As the two creatures disappeared, the Persona faded away. A few seconds later, Koromaru collapsed on the floor, exhausted and badly wounded. Finding enough strength to get up, Kumiko immediately rushed to her beloved dog and knelt over him. In seeing her, the dog weakly thumped his tail.

"Koro…" she whispered, stroking his soft fur, her eyes watering.

Akihiko walked to the two, concerned. "Fukuyama… what happened here?"

"Shadows… shadows appeared… I… I couldn't do anything! I… I…!!" She sobbed, rocking her head back and forth.

Kumiko's classmate winced. He never saw the girl that upset earlier! She must have really loved that dog…

"What… what am I to do…?!" She pleaded as tears started rolling shyly on her cheeks. "I… if something should happen to Koro as well…"

He shook his head and faced her, decisive. "Kumiko Fukuyama!" he shouted, causing her to wince. "Nothing good will do if you freak out like this! Now it's not the time to lose cool… not if you want to save this little fella!"

Kumiko didn't reply. She simply nodded, her eyes still lost.

Akihiko's gaze went to the wounded dog. "I, too, want to save him… but I can't do it by myself! That's why we must work together…" he then bent down over the dog. "He's bleeding too much… we need to stop that first. I'll try and use my Persona's healing skills on him, but I can't promise anything… can you use healing too?"

Kumiko quietly shook her head and lowered her gaze.

"I see… then, please… stay back…" He whispered, reading his Evoker and summoning his Persona.

She then noticed something shimmering in her back pocket: it was the weird card she received from that funny painter named Maxwell. As if someone suggested her to do it, she held the card in her left hand as the Kamen no Fuuin seemed like resonating with it. It was then that Kumiko's Persona appeared, its sixteen eyes emitting a quiet glare as a faint light enveloped Koromaru's body, combining with Polydeucus's healing skill.

Kumiko's eyes widened. What the… did Orochi learn a healing skill just now?! Then, she remembered Maxwell's words: the cards he could drew had the power to let unique Personas master new, useful skills. I'll have to remember thanking that guy next time I see him… Kumiko thought as the light faded away, alongside the two Personas and Maxwell's card. The two Persona-users looked at Koromaru, who seemed like being a little better.

Akihiko sighed. "Looks like we somehow stopped the bleeding… but he's not out of danger yet. I'll contact Mitsuru and ask for her help; I'm sure she might be able to fetch a doctor."

With that, he moved a hand over his transceiver and contacted the dorm. After a few minutes, the whole SEED gathered around Kumiko and Koromaru, who weakly thumped his tail to Fuuka and Yukari. Akihiko explained his teammates the whole situation.

"You mean this dog is a Persona-user?!" Junpei jolted.

Aigis seemed like listening to something. Then, to everyone: "He says: 'this is a place of peace, so I protected it'."

Getting up on her feet, Kumiko rubbed her own eyes and pointed at the flowers by the staircase base corner. "Yes… that's… where grandfather…"

"By the way, Aigis… you can translate dog language too?!" Junpei asked, still in awe.

The robot girl shook her head. "Canines do not have their own language. Speech is not the only mean of communication."

They all expected Kumiko to have a fangirl-ish reaction, which never came. It was to be expected, the girl was still quite shocked by what happened to her dog.

"In any case" Mitsuru said "We'd better report to the Chairman. I know it's midnight, but I'll try and arrange things for a vet."

As the SEES members walked away, Kumiko grabbed Akihiko's hand for a moment, still looking helpless. The silver-haired smiled softly to her. "It will be OK, Kumiko. Trust Mitsuru, she'll do whatever it takes to help that little guy."

She lowered her gaze, without saying a word and stood there as SEES left.

07/31/09

"Come on! Stay focused!! We'll never win the tournament if you slack off like that!!" The swim team manager, a tanned girl with jet-black hair named Yuko, kept on yelling at the teenagers swimming back and forth in the pool. As soldiers who just heard an order from their commander, most of the swimmers started moving double time.

Kumiko was working hard with the training herself. Once she completed her last lap, she rested both arms on the pool edge as she caught some breath. "What's wrong, Fukuyama-Senpai? Your timing got worse in the last few days!" Yuko said, approaching her.

Kumiko didn't meet her gaze. She just looked at the water beneath her. "…sorry. Just need to catch my breath a little."

With that, she got out of the pool and sat on a bench as she watched outside; she could see athletics club members training in the meantime.

"You OK, Senpai? You look pretty down."

The girl turned in the direction the male voice came from; she saw two juniors standing next to her: Kenji and another tall and slender boy with short black hair and slightly less tanned than Yuko.

She shook her head, looking neutral. "You're wrong, Kazushi. I'm perfectly OK. I guess I'm just a little tired."

Both Kenji and Kazushi shared an eye and then looked at her. The latter said, with a slight blush: "Well, OK if you say so… it's just that… well, you seemed even more inward lately. I was… well… kinda worried our Mermaid could have something wrong!"

Kumiko looked behind herself. "… you'd be in trouble if me, one of your representatives, weren't in top notch shape for the tourney, huh… but, even if I weren't, there's still Kenji-Kun."

"Hey, it has nothing to do with you being a representative!" Kazushi puffed as Kenji scratched his cheek, looking completely clueless.

Once his classmate walked away, Kenji placed a hand on the senior's shoulder and graced her with a slight smile. "Try and cheer up, OK?"

Kumiko was dumbfounded. She kind of expected Kenji to know why she was like that… but it seemed like he had no idea at all. Seeing that, she gestured him to come closer and finally asked about Koromaru's conditions. As a reply, he simply shrugged, saying the one should have asked Mitsuru-Senpai about that.

08/02/09

The day of the 18th annual high school swim tournament.

The races all started right after the opening ceremony, where young athletes made a pledge to compete fairly. Kumiko, Kenji, Yuko, Kazushi and a few others members of the Gekkoukan High School swim team were sitting in their own stand. Unconsciously, the first looked back, where the audience was sitting: she could see all of her female teammates there, rooting for her. Surprisingly, Shinn was with them, which stroke her as quite unexpected, since he didn't sound too enthusiast about the whole tournament matter.

"Senpai!" Yuko called her to the attention. "You're the next, so start getting ready."

"Hey, look! Senpai!" Kazushi pointed to the pool, where the juniors were currently competing. "Kenji and Mamoru Hayase are head-to-head!"

Her eyes went to an athletic-looking young boy who was swimming as fast as Kenji. "So that's the famed Mamoru, huh… the so-called undefeated monster… he looks plain to me. It's so true: you can't judge anyone by appearance…"

"Way to go, Kenji-Kun!!" Yuko cheered.

"You're the man! Go get'em!!" Kazushi rooted.

The whole race stayed as a tie between Kenji and Mamoru most of the time, until the last lap, where Mamoru suddenly boosted, claiming victory. Although Kenji didn't win, second place against Hayase the monster was quite a feat, and both Kazushi and Yuko weren't that displeased.

Then, Kumiko's turn came: at first, the girl stood back because she had a slight delay in her start, but she quickly recovered her pace and, lap by lap, she managed surpass all the other girls with no problem at all. Once she completed the final lap, a big roar could be heard from the people gathered around. Kumiko could once again see her friends cheering madly for her. Both Konata and Tsukasa, who were rooting in quite a cheery way, increased the fuss they were making as their friend won. Tsukasa was the happiest of all, not just for Kumiko's victory, but also Kenji's second place.

Yuko congratulated with both Kenji and Kumiko, while Kazushi seemed quite bitter about Kenji not winning against Mamoru. "I thought people only exaggerated when they said that Hayase annihilates his opponents… argh, next time, we'll be victorious!!"

They all interrupted as Mamoru Hayase himself walked to them: he was wearing a light blue sports suit and his skin was of a similar hue to Kazushi's. He overall looked like quite a simple yet athletic boy.

"You were both great." He said to Kumiko and Kenji with a smile.

"Too bad I couldn't win…" Kenji replied while smiling sheepishly.

"Hey, if you want to I can give you some advice for you to improve your technique! How'bout it?"

"Sure, why not?"

He then smiled at Kumiko. "So you're Gekkoukan's Mermaid. You truly are worthy of your name."

"…not really." She said, looking embarrassed.

"You have the potential to become a professional swimmer, I can tell." He then looked at the pool, red coloring his cheeks. "And… hope you don't mind if… I can sometimes share some tips with you… that is, if I don't bother you…"

She looked at him with a slight smile. "I'll consider that."

"Terrific!! See you around then!" Mamoru said as he left.

"Wow, he must have been quite impressed with both of you!" Yuko said. "And Kumiko-Senpai… looks like you got yourself an admirer!"

Yuko looked quite amused by the whole thing… but not Kazushi. He looked quite bitter at the whole matter for some reason. Before leaving, he said. "Next time you see him, tell him I'm gonna kick his ass! I'm outta here!"

Both Kenji and Yuko blinked, perplexed. "What's with Kaz?" The junior asked the two girls.

Yuko's mind snapped, a playful smile shaping on her face. "Oh, I see how it is…"

"How it… WAIT, you can't possibly mean…" Kumiko shook both hands in front of herself, blushing madly. Was she really at the center of a love triangle between the two swimmers? The only thought of it flustered her… she never got the chance to develop a love relationship with anyone and now she was about to be contended by two guys? The whole thing felt so strange to her, who usually was ditched by every guy due to her peculiar tastes. As cute-looking as one might be, most of Japanese guys aren't particularly fond to Otaku girls and she feared both Kazushi and Mamoru would have shunned her, once they came to know this. Nevertheless, she still bore special feelings about someone else, someone long lost, who respected her and cared for her, no matter the tastes… how was she supposed to deal all of it?

08/06/09

Shinjiro grimaced as he stared at the full moon. So big and spectral, it almost felt like as it was returning his gaze, mocking him. In a matter of less than an hour, its white glare would have swiftly switched to pale green, resuming the idiotic, creepy routine occurring each passing day.

He hated it all.

Ever since that fateful day.

A movement was then caught in the corner of his eye, so he faced that direction.

He sighed. "…again? How do I say 'don't come here'?!"

Kumiko didn't answer. She simply leaned her back on the closest wall, not swaying her gaze from the thin coated young man. Why is he wearing a coat in summer? Her mind wondered, making her feel kind of stupid for asking herself such a question, in that situation.

"Lemme guess… there's something bothering you and you needed to talk about it with ME, of all people…" he said with a sardonic tone. "Well, you're wasting your time here… I ain't the right person for that. If you want someone to give you a friendly shoulder, go back to your other friends, cuz I got no time."

This last statement caused Kumiko to chuckle. Shinjiro simply tilted his head in an interrogative way.

"'I got no time', he says… you stay sitting in this place the whole day, doing nothing. I'd say you even have too much spare time on your hands." She shrugged.

The shifty teenager wanted to talk back, but finding no words to reply the truth she just said, he simply grunted while staring at the graffiti on a wall.

"…whaddaya want anyway?"

"…Just doing what you suggested me… I'm trying to be more honest to myself." She said, avoiding his gaze.

Without saying a word, he simply stared at her. Her eyes. She wasn't changed at all in those two years, although she wanted people to believe she was hardened.

"Just answer my question… why did you ran away back then? You disappeared with no trace and with no explanation. Have you ever stopped to consider how those around you would have felt?" The girl's words sounded harsh, but her eyes betrayed her worry about her long-lost friend.

He snapped at her, causing her to wince. "You got no right to judge me!"

Kumiko lowered her gaze. She couldn't understand at all: of course, two years earlier he had his perks and at times he wanted people to think he was tough and a bit mischievous, but… what could have happen that changed him so deeply?

Shinjiro got up and turned his back at her. "Right, people knowing nothing should just keep their piehole shut."

"I don't want to judge you, Shinji-Kun. I'm just trying to help!" she said, raising her voice gradually.

"There's nothing you can do to help, so forget it before you get hurt."

This left her dumfounded. What did he mean with getting hurt? Why did he keep pushing her and every attempt of help away?

A male voice speaking Japanese with a German accent boomed in the back alley. "Awww, isn't that nice? A love quarrel, huh?"

Immediately, both Kumiko and Shinjiro faced the iron railing, a few distance from them. A foreigner fat young man was sitting there: he was wearing a brown jacket over a square-patterned shirt and mustard-colored pants. The newcomer graced him with a friendly smile.

"Well well… so you're Kumiko, huh? I always wanted to know how you looked… your friend Emiko always talked me about you."

Kumiko grimaced. "UGH! Of all people…"

Shinjiro looked at her. "Hm? You know the lard-ass?" he whispered.

"Yeah…" she whispered back. "His name is Dennis… he used to be a friend of mine's boyfriend… until he broke her heart, dumping her. Didn't think I would have run into him here of all places. Not that I mind, I still owe him one for making Emiko-Chan cry."

"…this IS a small world alright…" Shinjiro grimaced.

Dennis pouted. "Aw, I see you haven't forgiven me yet, huh? But you know what they say: there's no way to control other people's feelings. It simply didn't work out between Emiko and me. Can you really blame me for that?"

Kumiko pierced him with an ice-cold stare. "THAT, I might forgive… but not you changing your attitude radically and treating my friend like dirt all of the sudden."

Shinjiro blinked. "He really did it? What an ass…"

The German young man's expression changed into an annoyed one as he faced Shinjiro. "You, of all people, should shut the hell up." then, to Kumiko: "You say I'm bad, but what I did is nothing compared to what that guy over there did."

Kumiko's eyes went to Shinjiro, who avoided both hers and Dennis' stare, while clenching his teeth. "What slanders are you babbling about?!"

Dennis smirked. "Oh? I assume he didn't tell you… well, allow me to enlighten you. He's not just a lowlife roaming around this poop-hole… he also worked as a major informant for a group of murderers."

Kumiko didn't want to believe a word Dennis would have said, she knew she couldn't trust him enough. But she could feel the doubt digging its way into her mind. Dumbfounded for a moment, she then shook her head. "Shinji-Kun is not like that! Stop with baloney!"

"You're right… he's even worse!" Dennis laughed. "As a matter of fact, two years ago…"

"Stop it, Dennis!!" Shinjiro interrupted him, looking really upset.

Kumiko was pretty confused about the whole matter. Was Dennis referring to what caused Shinjiro to disappear two years earlier… or just spouting nonsense as always? What did he know? What did Shinjiro know? What was the truth about what happened that day?

"Don't talk as if you weren't part of the mess, lard-ass!" Shinjiro spat. "After all, you ARE part of that pack of internet murderers…"

That shocked the girl even more than Dennis' accusations. "You're… one of the internet avengers…?!"

Dennis' smile broadened. "Oppsie-daisy! The secret's up… but don't say that term, 'internet avengers'… that's just a side job to get extra money! We prefer to be known as Strega. That's our group's name after all."

The girl clenched her teeth. Things weren't going well at all.

The fat German man took out a gun and examined it. "I'm afraid I can't let you go, now that you know, Kumiko. Too bad, I always deemed you as a nice girl."

Kumiko put herself in a battle stance as Shinjiro moved in front of her, as to guard her.

"But I can't forget we used to be friends. I want to give you one chance to fight back. If you feel you're up to the task, follow me."

He then jumped off the railing and dashed upstairs, to the main square. Kumiko moved to follow him, but Shinjiro grabbed her arm tightly.

"It's a trap, can't you tell?!"

"Think I don't know?"

"Then why are you going anyway?"

She gently pushed his hand off her arm. "I have a few scores to settle with that guy… besides, it's dangerous to let him roam free. Getting rid of him and his group is part of my mission."

Shinjiro wanted to ask her about her so-called mission, but before he had the chance to, she already left, running after Dennis. The shifty-looking teenager didn't know why, but it was as if his body reacted before his mind could registered it and he, too, ran after Kumiko.

Dennis: A German guy who used to be Emiko Midorikawa's boyfriend before he dumped her in a very rude and heartless way. He's also part of the internet avengers group known as Strega. At first he might hit you as a nice guy, but he's actually quiet sneaky and has a strong perverted streak, as his potential demonstrates itself.

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"Kuro-Sensei!! It's terrible!! Kumi-Chan is…!!" Tsukasa cried as she entered Rei's room, where the rest of Kagayaku members were gathered.

"…gone. I know." Rei quietly nodded. He already noticed how Kumiko's chakrams were missing from the storeroom. After Koromaru's incident, she probably decided to bring her weapons along in the event the Dark Hour surprised her outside.

"How can she be so careless?!" Kagami said angrily. "Tonight it's a full moon and she's our leader!"

The computer teacher shrugged. "Relax. She can take care of herself… and… I have a hunch she's going to have someone with her… she went to THAT place."

Both the twins shared a confused gaze. The man seemed like always knowing everything, but his explanations weren't as clear at times. What was he talking about exactly? What place was that?

Before they had the chance to ask, the whole hotel started shaking violently. Immediately, Miyuki focused to summon Personomicon, so to see what was happening.

"What's going on, Miyuki?! Is it a shadow?!" Shinn asked, clinging to the wall.

"N…no…" the pink-haired young woman stuttered. "This reading… it's… a human… a Persona-user!"

They all jumped as they heard it. A Persona-user, attacking Kotobuki Hotel?! They wondered about that one being part of the internet avengers Kagayaku investigated on.

"Who cares who's attacking?" Konata smirked. "Sorry for stealing one of those cool videogame guys quotes, but… if an enemy appears, we'll just have to destroy'em." The last sentence she said with a very low and cool-sounding tone. With that, she grabbed her sword and Evoker, rushing downstairs.

Konata's perkiness caused several reactions from the Kagayaku members: some of them (Like Tsukasa and Shinn) to be amused, while others (Kagami, for one) shook their head in disbelief.

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Dennis was simply standing in front of a building in progress, the whole place deserted due to the late hour… and even if it wasn't, silence would have covered it all due to people being Transmogrified. The ground around him felt hollow, it would have probably came down with a big explosion… which was perfect to set up his snare.

"You're here." He smirked, without turning back. He was sure Kumiko and Shinjiro caught up with him. Which they did.

"I have only one question for you, Dennis." Kumiko said in an icy tone. "What are you and this Strega are trying to accomplish? Why do you kill innocent people?!"

The foreigner shrugged with a smile. "Like I said it's nothing more than a side job… or rather, some sort of hobby. But like I said, there's more about us… we're not simply killers despite of what you think."

The girl was sickened. A hobby?! That was simply insane!

Dennis' smile broadened as he searched something under his jacket. "It's all for our vision…"

Before she could ask about the vision, Dennis finally reached what he was looking for: an Evoker, similar to those used by the SEES members. I knew it… they ARE Persona-users as I suspected! Kumiko thought.

The fat German young man spoke once more: "Our leader, Takaya, has a vision… which I strongly support: Persona-users are different from common people. You might call them 'the chosen ones'. They're an ELITE, possessing a power just a few have! And the Dark Hour is a world only to be explored by this elite few."

"That's bullshit!" Shinjiro spat. "That kind of power is nothing but a pain! Besides, how can YOU think crap like that?! You should know that because of that power…"

Dennis smiled at him. It could seem like a friendly smile, but he could feel some twisted evil behind those stretched lips. "I am completely different from them… and from you, my rowdy friend… I half hoped you, of all people would have understood…"

This caused Shinjiro to falter and become silent. Kumiko grimaced; here they started talking about things she couldn't figure out again! Before she got to talk, Dennis spoke to her.

"What about you, Kumiko? What do you think of our great vision? I'm sure you ARE aware of the greatness of your… of OUR power?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" she hissed. "I'd be off better without such a power."

The foreigner blinked, perplexed. "What? You mean you'd rather live a completely worthless, ordinary life?!"

"Didn't I make myself clear?" She replied, crossing her arms.

The German fat guy's smile turned into a frown as he clenched his Evoker tightly. "Looks like Takaya and Jin were right after all… there's no way to talk with anyone from those groups… nevertheless, we can't allow anyone to get rid of the Dark Hour… that's why you all must be disposed of… and that's why you're going to die here."

He then looked at the full moon with a smirk. "By now, those two must be taking care of that SEES group…"

After seeing Shinjiro frowning, Kumiko stepped onward. "My comrades won't sit idly!"

The Strega member chuckled. "…too bad they're going to be busy for a while… I arranged a little surprise for all of them… I wonder how they'll fare against her…"

The shifty teenager clenched both fists before rushing towards him. "…her? Son of a bitch, don't tell me you…?!"

Seeing that, Dennis put the Evoker on his temple and pulled the trigger, causing a red energy aura to appear around him. "Come to me, MARA!!" Surrounded by glass-like fragments, his Persona appeared; both Kumiko and Shinjiro felt utter disgust when they saw the green …THING… on the golden chariot appearing above the guy.

The girl covered her mouth, her face as white as a sheet. "THAT'S your Persona?! I knew you were nothing but a freaking pervert…!!"

"…I'd say he's more like a FUCK-tard, heh." Shinjiro remarked with a slight, awkward grin.

Dennis simply smirked. "You'll take these words to your graves." With that, he ordered Mara to use its special, unique fire skill named Maralagidyne to cause a violent burst in the area. Purposely missing the two teenagers, the explosion caused a powerful shockwave which made the hollow ground under their feet break.

The two of them fell underground without even knowing what was going on.

The German guy looked the pit he just created in a mix of pride and arrogance, his twisted-looking Persona still towering above him.

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The gigantic black, red and golden mechanic wolf-shaped Persona delivered another assault to the hotel building, causing part of the wall on the corner to come down. Thankfully, the Kagayaku kids and Rei were already outside when it happened. Immediately, Miyuki pinpointed the location the Persona was summoned from – a few meters away from the hotel – and guided them all there. Alone on the streets there was a single blond girl with a white and blue dress and deep violet eyes, clutching a gun-shaped Evoker tightly and smiling as she saw her Persona returning above her. Hearing footsteps on her right, she faced that direction while getting all tense, the grip on the pseudo-gun tightening.

Shinn's heart almost stopped when he saw the girl. "…Stellar…?!" he whispered.

"So she's the one attacking us!" Kagami spat as she readied her machinegun. "I don't understand what's happening, but it's clear she means business…"

Konata nodded as she stood in a battle stance. "Right. Let's go get her!"

The two girls started running toward the blond one but Shinn stepped in front of them, stretching both arms and legs.

"What are you doing?! Step aside!!" Athrun ordered.

"Please, wait!" Shinn cried. "I think I already met that girl… I'll try and talk her out of it!" he said before walking to Stellar, who stepped backwards, clearly frightened. "Stellar… is it really you?"

She stared at him, dread in her eyes. "You… who… who are you?!"

"Don't you remember? It's me… Shinn!" He stretched a hand to her.

As a reply, she took out her knifes and slashed in front of her, blindly. It was just thanks to the boy's good reflexes that she didn't chop his hand off. "S…Stellar!! What are you doing?!"

"Who are you?! Don't…don't know you!!" She shrieked, pointing one of her knives at him.

Those words struck him as a brick. Sure, they only met once, but how could she forget about him while he could never forget the warm feeling that only moment gave to him. He couldn't believe it! "Stellar… what are you…" he stepped to her once again.

Stellar's eyes widened even more. "NOOOOO!! STAY BACK!!! STAY BAAAAAAACK!!!" she screamed as she drew her Evoker. Without even thinking, she squeezed her eyes shut and pointed the gun at her forehead, pulling the trigger. In a burst of red energy, her black mechanic wolf-shaped Persona appeared again; he then charged at Shinn with a very violent impact that caused him to be knocked towards the closest wall. Immediately, Kagami told Tsukasa to look after him, which she did after panicking for a few seconds. The short-haired twin sighed in relief when she saw him moving. Immediately, she took her Evoker so to summon her Balshemikos, hoping his healing skills would have worked well.

The other Kagayaku members looked at their opponent whose hair were concealed by the blond forelocks: her body finally stopped shaking as she caught some breath, her Persona disappearing from above. Then, she lifted her face: the fear in her eyes turned into some sort of determination as she gripped her knives again.

"…now it's clear… you're… enemies… like the others said…" she breathed as she stepped forward.

The other fighters shared a glance. Could "the others" be the rest of the group? Possibly the internet avengers? Nevertheless, this girl meant business, so they needed to be ready to fight. Immediately, Konata asked Miyuki to analyze her weaknesses, but for some reason, it took more time for Personomicon to get an answer. Meanwhile, they all tried to cripple her with physical attacks but she promptly dodged them all, literally spinning around like a dancer. After dodging all of the assault, Stellar started to attack every fighter individually with her knives, fortunately causing just slight damage. She then took advantage of the situation to charge with a loud yell at Miyuki, who was standing back and concentrating. Noticing that, Rei dashed in front of her and vigorously grabbed her attacking arm's wrist, causing her to loosen the grasp on the knife, dropping it. Then, the professor leapt backwards while holding the young woman with glasses, which thanked him with a blush. Frustrated about the whole situation, Stellar shouted again and moved to attack again. This time, her blade was stopped by a hand clutching it tightly, blood dripping on the floor. The girl halted, her eyes widening in shock as she saw the slim male teenager in front of her.

"Stop it, Stellar…" he whispered, his scarlet eyes showing pain. "You don't have to do this… you don't have to!"

She could feel her eyes watering as the start of a throbbing pain to the head showed her bits of images of some sort of locked down memory.

Shinn smiled at her… a smile that seemed so familiar to her in that very moment. "It's OK… you don't need to worry… I'll always be with you… and protect you… I promised."

Finally, it all started to come back to her… she finally started to remember him… his smile… as the headache covered everything. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she collapsed in his arms, unconscious. Seeing that, the rest of the Kagayaku kids walked closer.

"Shinn-Kun!! You shouldn't get up! I still am not done with your wounds!" Tsukasa cried, clearly worried about him.

"You don't need to worry about me, I'm much better." He smiled slightly.

"But, but… but your hand! Look how much it's bleeding!" she stammered. "Wait, I'll ask Balshemikos to heal it!"

Shinn put a free hand on her shoulder. "No need, really. It's less bad than it looks. Besides…" he then walked to Rei. "Sensei… about this girl…"

Rei examined Stellar's face: although unconscious, she emanated a strong sense of sadness, tears still watering her cheeks. He frowned for a moment and then nodded. "I know. For now let's take her to the hospital… then, we'll talk about what we'll do with her. We can never be too cautious…"

Shinn shook her head and then looked at her. "I'm sure she's nothing more than a pawn… a victim of this situation… I know… I feel it!"

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Kumi…? Kumi… KUMI!!

"…huh?"

…Phew… you're still alive…

"This voice… so familiar… who…"

Dammit, girl… snap outta it!

"…Shinji-Kun…?"

Kumiko opened her eyes wide as her eyesight focused on his annoyed face. She put herself in a sitting position, her whole body screaming in pain. Before she got to talk, he said: "See? I told ya it surely was a trap made by that Mr. Lard-ass!… that's why I can't stand girls like you, they never listen…"

She didn't answer, she simply swayed her gaze with an awkward frown.

"Anyway, you hurt anywhere? Can you stand up?"

"I'm a bit sore, but… I think I can manage it somehow…"

With that, she got up, but once she finally stood up on her feet, an excruciating pain on her left feet forced her to kneel down.

Shinjiro left out an exasperated sigh. "Now what…?"

"My ankle…" she mumbled, grimacing in pain. "… I can move it, so it's not broken… but it still hurts…"

"Tch… I knew it…" he said, placing a hand over his forehead. He then looked at her for a while and sighed once again and knelt down, his back facing the girl.

Kumiko blushed. "What…? You want to carry me? But… but… but I DO CAN walk, it only hurts a little. And besides… I think I might be too heavy for you…" she stuttered.

"Right. If I'd let you walk on your own, we won't be out of this hellhole before Christmas… and we don't have enough time. There's not much air to breathe here… Besides I'm not as frail as you think, I'll have no problem carrying someone like you."

…Are you calling me a fatty? She thought with a frown. She then shook her head. What am I thinking in such a delicate situation?

After letting her climb his back, he checked to be sure she was clinging herself and started to walk on a steady pace, looking straight ahead. On her hand, Kumiko felt a strong sense of awkwardness and didn't know where to focus her stare exactly; one would expect a punk living on the street to have quite a disturbing stench, but he still felt the same of two years earlier, he only emanated a new, slight smell of smoke. Despite his rough appearance, she could feel he was still her long-lost friend and somehow felt safe just being with him. But if she felt safe, why was she so agitated?

She felt compelled to break the underground silence, so to calm herself down. "Umm… Shinji-Kun…"

"…what?"

"…I'm sorry…"

"Hm… about what…?"

"When we met again a few months ago… I didn't recognize you and so…"

He left out a hoarse cackle. "What? You still thinkin'bout that? I didn't even remember that."

"Well, I just felt I had to tell you…"

"I see…"

He then paused, as if he was thinking of something. Then, without looking back. "Say…"

"Hm…?"

"Was planning to ask you… what was that crap about 'my mission' you said back then?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Well… you talk of a mission, but your attitude says you're not eager one bit… so I was just wondering, I guess… you fight cuz you must fight, not cuz you want to fight… dontcha?"

"…so?"

"Kumi… do you even HAVE a reason to fight? Cuz if you don't, you'd only hurt yourself."

She smiled grimly. "You refuse to talk about yourself and now you ask something so personal…! You sure are selfish…"

He returned the very same grim smile. I know I might sound selfish to you, Kumi, but… if I did tell you what happened… what would you think? You'd just hate me. It's a logical result… "…as harsh and straightforward as always, Kumi… just like a certain childhood friend of mine."

She decided to talk anyway. "My reason to fight… I'm not exactly sure I even have one to start with. Maybe it's just like you said."

Shinjiro seemed confused. "…why don't you just quit the fight then? You can't fight without a reason."

Kumiko's eyes looked grim and distant. "…I can't do it. I can't simply turn my back after getting involved in all of this personally."

"You're losing me… but seriously… 'personally'?"

She nodded and closed her eyes. "… do you know how I got the potential in the first place?"

He silently shook his head, still looking the road ahead.

Kumiko sighed and started to tell her story with a somehow grim yet cold tone."…it all happened around three years ago. My parents and I decided to come and check on grandfather and grandmother here in Iwatodai. You see, after the big explosion in the year 1999 occurring in Port Island, my parents – especially father – got very concerned about living here, so we had to move in another city. You can't even imagine how hard was to mom trying to persuade father about dropping by for a few days. Father… he just couldn't stand mom's parents… just like he couldn't stand most of the world. No, maybe the incident was just an excuse to get farther from them and the rest of the town."

"So your old man is someone way nihilist, huh? Doesn't seem nice to deal… But who am I to tell?" Shinjiro shook his head. He had lost his parents when he was still a kid so he didn't know exactly how to deal family, but he could figure out Kumiko didn't have it exactly easy.

"Yeah…" she grimaced. Then, she resumed her tale. "Anyway, we spent the night at grandpa's place… and as always, my old man vented up all of his bitterness and frustration by insulting grandfather's lifestyle and arguing with mom until late night. Man, his ranting would have kept a bear from hibernating! It was then that…" her grip on Shinjiro's coat tightened "they both got dragged into the Dark Hour."

She paused for a moment to catch some breath, rubbing her cheek on his back with a deep sigh. "I don't remember much about back then, as you can easily imagine… but… I can clearly remember father being enveloped by some black muddy stuff and collapsing on the floor… he feel victim of the shadows… and maybe mom would have met the same fate if I… if my potential didn't awaken…. I can still remember Orochi towering above me and literally tearing those things to pieces… and my mother's shocked eyes…"

Shinjiro bit his own lower lip. "Your father is one of the Lost, then… I shouldn't have asked then, must be painful to remember… sorry."

She neutrally shook his head. "Not really. I still think he brought this upon himself… being fed up with the world and not showing any bit of enthusiasm about anything… just bitter all the way."

"…so… the reason you can't turn your back to the whole matter is… you want to avenge your father?"

"No." her voice was as piercing as cold daggers.

"Then… why…?"

"I hate this whole madness so much I could die… Shadows… the Dark Hour…and those strange dreams I started to have since that day… everything. I want them to vanish. Plain and simple… if it all vanished, then it will all back to normal… and me too. I'm not a champion of justice nor an avenger. I'm not fighting for an ideal. I fight because it's the only way to put an end to all of this."

Shinjiro smiled softly and stopped walking for a moment. He then glanced at her. "It will be OK, as long as you do what you think it's right, I guess." Kumi… you're so strong. I wish I had at least half of your determination.

With Shinjiro stopping, Kumiko took advantage of the matter to check on her injured foot. The pain was steady, but much, much weaker. She asked him to drop her and she started to do a few steps around. She could walk with no problem, fortunately. "Now it's better… sorry for having to carry me up till… now…?"

Her eyes filled with worry as she turned around to face her friend: right after dropping her, he leaned to the tunnel's wall, looking like in a great pain. The air seemed a little thinner, yet breathing wasn't that hard yet, so what caused him to be out of breath?

"Hey… what's wrong? Are you feeling OK?" She asked, approaching him and placing a hand on his shoulder, which he shrugged off. She winced when he looked at his face, so pale and sweaty as he tried hard to smile.

"Aw, stop it, will ya? It's nothing really… why must you always make a big deal over bullshit?" He said in-between heavy breaths.

"How can you say you're OK?" She cried. "Your physical conditions look terrible! We must get out of here as soon as possible…"

"I said stop it!" he raised his voice as he stopped leaning on the wall. "I'm… I'm just a little out of breath after carrying you. Bur you're right, we need to get outta here pronto… although…" his eyes flashed in front of him, where he caught a movement. "…I'm not sure those buggers will let us through that easily…"

Kumiko turned around and saw a pack made of three big-sized shadows: two lion-shaped with a chain ball attached and a tank-shaped one. Immediately she drew her chakrams, posing herself between the creatures and Shinjiro. "Well, I can always try and persuade them."

With that, she flung one of her chakrams to the farthest of the lion shadows while dashing toward the other one, clenching her other bladed ring tightly. As the flying ring slashed its target, the girl did the same with the other one; as the shadow she was attacked was stunned by the assault, she used its body to boost a backward jump and grabbed the flying chakram which was flying back to her like a boomerang. Once on the ground, she noticed that the shadows didn't seem much in a pain. Looks like I'll have to rely on my Persona's skills… if I only knew which skill would be most effective on them… fighting without Miyuki's support sure is harder! She thought as she focused her mind into the glove on her left hand, the seal starting to glow.

Then, a movement was caught in the corner of Kumiko's eye; she forgot about the third, armor-shaped shadow, which was rushing towards her, trying to knock her down with a full assault! Being in the middle of her summoning, dodging it in time wouldn't have been easy.

Right when the shadow was a few distance away from her, she saw a red-clad frame rushing in front of her and stopping the tank with both hands, his feet stomping in the underground floor.

"Shinji-Kun… what are you?!" She cried.

"What….does it look like? " he muttered as he mustered all of his strength to stop the tank, yet being slowly pushed backwards.

Kumiko was speechless. Was Shinjiro insane, trying to stop a tank all by himself? One of the two lion shadows moved to attack her with a scratch. She moved to dodge it, but her distraction and the fact she was summoning caused it to scratch her right arm. "Ugh… why you…!!" she cried as the shadow walked back and circled her.

Shinjiro glanced her. "Dammit, Kumi! Stop sleeping while standing! Use your power on those things!"

Kumiko clenched her aching arm, trying to stop the bleeding with the palm of her hand. "B…but you…"

"Just… do it, girl! I'll… I'll keep this big guy at bay!" he cried while clenching his teeth. Kumiko's heart sunk as she noticed a streak of blood in the corner of his mouth. Even though he was in critical conditions, he was willing to risk his life to help her.

That was the reason she couldn't falter. She wasn't going to give up. Throwing a piercing stare at the two shadows, she stretched her bloodstained left hand in front of herself, the seal on her glove shimmering as the energy seemed to sprout out of her body. "Please… come forth!" she prayed as the energy transformed into the eight-headed snake. Orochi's heads all opened their mouths while releasing icy energy and literally froze the two lion-shadows. Right after that, both Kumiko and her Persona leapt in-between the frozen shadows as two of the serpent's heads, one to the left and one to the right, grabbed the shadows with their sharp teeth, hurled them upwards and all of the heads started ravaging them. Once Orochi and the shadows disappeared, Kumiko jumped high and hurled both of her chakrams to the tank in a cross-shaped flying attack. "Shinji-Kun! MOVE!!"

After hearing her voice, Shinjiro released the tank and swiftly sidestepped as the tank seemed like stumbling for a moment, once again able to move forward freely. Its momentary stunned status caused it to be unable the chakrams, which marked its metal frame with an X before returning to their mistress.

"Alright…" Shinjiro said while wiping off his chin with the back of his free hand, his other hand holding a massive-looking axe. "You up for some major ass kicking, Kumi?"

Kumiko was dumbfounded for a moment. Despite everything, he was really going to give it all… she wasn't going to do any less! Nodding, she clenched both chakrams as the two teenagers dashed to the stunned tank shadow and started pummelling it, literally obliterating it.

The battle was won and even the underground atmosphere felt a little easier to breathe. Shinjiro leaned his back on the closest wall and smiled at Kumiko. "Not bad, Kumi. Not bad at all. But… your arm…?"

Kumiko, who was using her newly-learnt healing skills on herself, left out a sigh as soon as the treatment was done. The pain to her arm became a slight, steady nag. "It's nothing major to worry about… I had tougher days… but… what about you?"

"…I'm fine." He answered, his eyes swaying as he coughed. "I guess I'm just a little tired due to the underground air here…I'm tired of this hellhole, let's just get outta here."

"…hope the exit isn't too far from here…" she thought aloud.

Then, a beeping sound. Kumiko's transceiver started ringing. Immediately, she reached for her ear. "Rei-Sensei?"

The professor's voice spoke in her transceiver. For once, she was glad to hear it.

"I can finally reach you… that means you're not too far from the surface, just as I thought. Don't move from there, I'm coming to get you!"

The girl blinked. "Come again…?"

"Oh, and please… tell your boyfriend to move from that wall." He said, sarcastically, causing her to blush.

It was a matter of a few seconds. The ground started shaking as the wall Shinjiro was leaning to started to crack, causing him to jolt backwards. Right after he did, a hole formed right where the cracks appeared and the two teenagers could see Rei carrying a drill. The professor graced both of them with a playful smile.

"I hope I wasn't interrupting anything intimate… I mean, you weren't…you know… cuddling each other, right?"

Both Shinjiro and Kumiko looked at each other for a few seconds then looked away with a slight blush, the first clearing his voice without saying a word, while the latter angrily muttered: "…Rei-Sensei. We weren't playing around, you know!"

Rei simply chuckled. "Well you're lucky I happened to pass by. You see, I was accompanying this girl to the hospital by Shinn-Kun's request."

With that, he gestured to Stellar, who was resting right at the entrance of the tunnel he freshly dug. Shinjiro frowned as soon as he saw the girl. "I see… Dennis wasn't just bluffing then." That fucking ass… I'll get him for this!

"Do you know this girl?" Kumiko asked as she looked where they were: it was at a short distance to the port station.

The shifty teenager nodded. "She's from Strega too… but…"

Rei fixed his glasses with his finger and bent down to pick up Stellar. "Strega, hmm… it appears we have much to talk about… but you both must be tired…" he then smiled at Kumiko. "I'll let your boyfriend to escort you home while I take this girl to the Tatsumi Memorial Hospital."

Kumiko blushed and started walking away on her own. "Th…thanks but no thanks. I can go home by myself."

Rei grabbed her shoulder and looked in her eyes. "I mean really… you look pretty bushed and…"

The blue-dressed girl was in awe for a moment. She didn't expect Rei to be so genuinely concerned about her well-being.

He then graced her with a naughty smile. "…and the load you have on the front looks pretty heavy."

His remark caused Shinjiro to sigh in disbelief while Kumiko elbowed him in the face and left with a very fast pace.

Once she disappeared to the horizon, Shinjiro walked to the man, who rubbed the cheek the girl elbowed. "…Did you really have to go and tell her?"

"Nah, not really. But she's pretty fun to deal because of that."

The punk-looking one chuckled. "You call that 'fun'… I call that 'a major pain in the ass'. Pissed women are the worst."

"…hm, I wonder…" he chuckled as he started to leave himself. "Oh, and don't worry about this girl… I'll make sure she won't be treated roughly, even though she's an enemy who attacked us…"

Shinjiro turned his back to the teacher. "…why are you telling me this?"

Rei shrugged. "Oh, no particular reason… you just seem to know this girl, so I thought you would have liked to know."

With that, Rei left cradling Stellar in his arms as Shinjiro watched both of them walking toward the hospital. Unconsciously, he placed a hand over his beanie and sighed. Nice insight, four-eyes… that girl… she's just like me… that's why I…

NEXT CHAPTER PREVIEW!!

Konata: Next, on PERUSURI…

Tsukasa: Summer vacations continue as both groups enjoy their break!

Yukari: … too bad we all still need to take care of shadows and such…

Kagami: And now that Strega is butting in, things are getting more and more complicated…

Kenji: Let's positive thinking! We'll be fine.

Junpei: Where did I hear that before…?

Shinn: Anyway, with summertime and all, we all have more time for our own social and sentimental life. Oh, I mean, all of us! No one specific! (Blushes)

Kumiko: And Kagayaku finally gets a new member.

Kagami: What a relief, since SEES gets all of the Persona-users…

Athrun: A new member? I hope it's a girl…

Rei: You could be quite surprised, Athrun. (Evil cackle)

Fuuka: Um…why are you blushing, Miyuki-Senpai?

Junpei: Hey, now that you mention girls… I saw this very peculiar girl at the station…

Konata: Who could she be? And why do I feel such a foreboding aura about her?

Yukari: Maybe you're jealous?… man, the universe's going to collapse if a girl feels that way about Stupei…

Konata: Takebaka… shut up.

Aigis: Shin Megami Tensei: PeruSuri, chapter 6.

Akihiko: "Girl in white".

Mitsuru: Be sure to read and review… flame, and face execution.

Konata: Don't miss it now, will you! C'ya!!

BLUE VELVET: The Peru*Suri trivia channel: Ep.5

Elizabeth: Welcome back to Blue Velvet. As a custom around here, I will introduce myself to new readers: my name is Elizabeth and this here is my assistant Maxwell.

Maxwell: Hiya!

Elizabeth: This chapter was chapter 5… that means we're already halfway with PeruSuri… and Maxwell, this chapter was certainly very long, was it?

Maxwell: Too long if you ask me… and because of this, this episode of Blue Velvet will have to be shorter…

Elizabeth: But time doesn't run out here in the Velvet Room…

Maxwell: But the readers' patience does!

Elizabeth: Good point.

Maxwell: To think I was planning to interview Kenji Shugo…that will have to wait for the next chapter, I'm afraid. Rather, we'll show you a couple of outtakes for chapter 5!

Elizabeth: Video! (Presses a button in her book and a big screen appears)

Chapter 5 outtakes 1 – Athrun's at it again!

The SEES boys are trying to flirt with Rei's maids as Athrun approaches, fixing his sunglasses over head. "Hey there…" he says, smoothly "Looks like you girls might use some company…"

"Get lost, Zala…" Akihiko mutters.

"Calm down you… a hopeless case like yours needs someone to show you how it's done!" Athrun replies, approaching Chikaru. He then places both hands on her shoulders and looks in her eyes. "Now, why don't we make this whole beach special, my dearest?"

Chikaru seems awkward and points at something behind Athrun. The Kagayaku-er turns around to see a distant Rei surrounded by a red aura. "FALCON… DEEESK!!!" he yells.

Athrun blinks. "Huh? Hey, there is no such a thing as-"

He hasn't the time to end his sentence, for a school desk hits him right into the face, causing him to lose a few teeth as he falls on the sandy floor under everyone's dumbfounded eyes.

Chapter 5 outtakes 2 – Konata's summer reading

The Kagayaku girls are all gathered under their umbrella as Kenji, Akihiko and Junpei approach. The latter notices the mange Konata is reading.

"Ah, Kona-Chan! You're reading it! Do you like it?"

"Sure do!" Konata chirps. "Gotta love this RK doujinshi… such a clean lineart… and the style is similar to the original games' chara design. Plus, unlike most of H doujinshi, it has decent plot which isn't just a pretext for free sex scenes!"

Akihiko looks at both, his face paling. He then points at Konata. "Y…you read H doujinshi?!"

The tiny girl looks back at him, neutral: "Actually, this one is Junpei-Kun's… just like I gave one of mines to him."

The silver-haired boxer grabs his kohai's shoulders. "OK… WHAT…have you done to her?!"

"Um? Nothing!" Junpei chuckles. "Actually, the idea to share H doujinshi was hers. And I gotta say it's a great way to enjoy material with a few resources." Then, to Konata. "Yo, Kona-Chan! Let's go get soaked!"

Konata agrees and both jump into the water while Akihiko just look at them, his mouth wide open in awe. "Girls… are so scary…!"

Elizabeth: The way humans are attracted to sexuality… I find it so fascinating… don't you agree, Maxwell?

Maxwell: Hey, Eliz… what if I…

Elizabeth: Aw, time is such a tyrant… never as much as today. For now, I bid you later days, till the next episode! Later days!

Maxwell: Eliz!! You didn't answer my question… Eliz?... ELIIIZ?? (Groans) This is getting exasperating…