Author's Notes: So a shorter chapter compared to previous ones. I have time now so gonna upload this. Tomorrow either expect a really late upload or none at all. I'll make it up on Friday though. Whee... Academic testing... Grh...

~1 SEPTEMBER 2009~

Junpei sighed to his best friend. "Man, I can't believe summer vacation's over."

"Yeah," Hamuko shook her head. "So much for summer romance, huh, Junpei? I can't believe Minato got a girlfriend before we could find someone for ourselves."

Minato blinked at the two. "I don't have a girlfriend," he frowned.

Junpei groaned. "Man, he's completely clueless about dating and stuff too." He perked up. "I did meet someone over the summer though. She's pretty cool. I mean I only spoke to her and stuff and didn't really take her out, but that's a start, right?"

"I'm glad for you, Junpei," Hamuko smiled. "I did the same thing for a guy I have a crush on."

"You're pretty open about that, Hamuko," the capped boy looked at her in surprise. He smirked at Minato. "Not like your brother who has a girl but can't admit it."

"Seriously, I'm not dating anyone," Minato shook his head in confusion. After a while, he glanced at the two juniors. "So… any chances I know who you both are attempting to see?"

"You should know by now, nii-san," Hamuko pouted.

Junpei curiously looked at the brunette. "Do I know him?"

"She's only using you to set up a joke, Junpei," Minato plainly stared at him.

"It's a secret!" Hamuko said in a singsong voice before she gave the blue-haired boy a light smack to the head. "Thanks for ruining that, nii-san."

"Told you," the older twin sighed.

"But seriously," Hamuko turned to Junpei, "if I told you who it was, you'd be surprised. You've met him only twice, I think." She frowned as she remembered the last time she saw Shinjiro.

"How about you, Junpei?" Minato asked.

"You guys don't know her," Junpei shrugged. "She hangs out around Port Island Station's benches though."

Minato blinked at the two. "Hey… I'm getting a really bad feeling about who both of you are pursuing," he sternly told them.

"Dude, so you know who I'm talking about?" Junpei blinked at him.

"If I'm guessing correctly, I think I do know," the blue-haired boy crossed his arms. "Junpei, she's dangerous. I don't want you getting hurt. Hamuko, same thing goes for you. He's just going to let you down in the end."

"Nii-san, that's not fair," his younger sister pouted. "You won't even give us the reason why you think so…"

"Yeah, man, what's up with that?" Junpei stared at Minato oddly.

"It's just a gut feeling I have…" Minato frowned. "I'm an older brother so I worry about these things. The two of you should at least try to be careful."

"Nii-san, you might be the oldest junior at the dorm, but you're only my older brother," Hamuko pointed out.

Junpei frowned at the two of them. "Wait… When are your birthdays again?"

"April 4th," Minato replied as his frown became a scowl. The fourth day of the fourth month… The number of Death…

"Oh, so you both are 17 already," Junpei whistled. "I guess I'm the youngest junior since I was born January 1993."

"You're changing the subject," the older boy shook his head.

"Hey, come on, dude," the capped boy smirked at him. "Have a little faith in us. We appreciate your worrying, but we'll be fine."

"Besides," Hamuko added, "I… already made an arrangement to stop meeting with him…"

"Huh?" Minato looked at his sister in concern. "You did? But…" He shook his head. "That's for the best, Hamuko…" He eyed Junpei carefully. "I guess I only have to worry about you then."

"Dude, if anything happens, you'll be the first to know," Junpei smirked as he opened the door to the dorm.

"I better be," the blue-haired leader sternly looked at the two juniors before noticing Yukari and Ken in the lounge. Both of them were fidgeting nervously so he stared at them suspiciously. "Okay, what do I have to deal with now?"

Yukari looked up as she noticed them come in. "Oh, you're back. Perfect timing."

Junpei raised an eyebrow at them as he closed the door behind him. "Perfect timing…?

"What's going on?" Hamuko asked.

"You'll see," Yukari replied. She called out to the teal-haired girl coming down the stairs. "Hey, Fuuka, is Aigis ready?"

"Ready for what?" Junpei curiously turned his head towards Fuuka.

The brown-eyed junior led Aigis down the stairs and Minato crossed his arms as he noticed the robot was wearing the Gekkoukan winter uniform. "Oh no…"

Fuuka shyly revealed the blonde robot. "H-how does she look?"

"This is how I look," Aigis said, confused by the idiom.

Hamuko smirked. "Are you cosplaying!?" she asked in excitement.

Aigis, not knowing the definition of the term, nodded. "Yes, I am cosplaying."

"N-no you're not, Aigis!" Fuuka exclaimed, resulting in Hamuko laughing.

Minato looked over to Yukari expectantly and the brunette sighed. "She said she wanted to go to school, so I said something to Mitsuru-senpai as a joke… But, the Chairman overheard and thought it was a good idea. So as of tomorrow, she'll be a junior."

The blue-haired boy clicked his tongue in annoyance. Of course she'd be a junior… Let's just find more ways to bind me, Ikutsuki, you bastard…

Junpei's eyes widened as he studied Aigis in the uniform. "Seriously!? He's down with that?"

Fuuka nodded. "He said something about studying her behavior in a social environment…"

"Was the summer festival not social enough?" Minato dryly asked. "This sounds like a horrible idea."

"Well," Junpei smirked as he placed an arm around the shorter boy. "As far as I'm concerned, it's a great idea… Just look at how cute she is in that uniform!"

"Yeah, I'm surprised you're actually able to pull that look off myself," Hamuko smiled as she circled the robot.

"The camouflage Fuuka-san has provided me with seems to be the appropriate size," Aigis nodded.

"It looks very natural on you," Ken complimented her. "No one will suspect a thing. But, why does he want you to go to school? It's not like there's anything special about it."

"I can come up with a few good reasons," Minato muttered, mainly to himself, as he frowned at the robot.

Aigis stared at Minato as she answered the young boy. "With the commencement of the second semester, I intend to synchronize my schedule with the other members'. If I were to remain here on standby, it could delay our deployment. Therefore, I request to accompany our squad leader."

"And there we go," Minato sighed. "Please don't be a burden on me, Aigis. I have enough to deal with without having to babysit you too."

"But I am not a baby," Aigis stared at him in confusion. "And it is my duty to protect you."

"I mean…" The blue-haired boy groaned. "Never mind…"

Yukari frowned at the blonde. "Delay our deployment? Won't you going to school create more problems?"

"I will make any necessary adjustments as problems arise," Aigis told her.

"Uhh…" Yukari stared at her dubiously. "Yeah, you do that…"

Hamuko laughed. "Well, I'm sure things'll be fine. Ai-chan, you can hang out with me at school. If people see you stalking nii-san, he'll get more unnecessary rumors."

Koromaru barked and Aigis looked at the red-eyed girl. "He said, 'I want to go to school, too'."

"Sorry, Koro-chan…" Yukari sighed. "You have to stay here."

The albino dog whimpered and Minato shared his sentiments. "Honestly, Koromaru going would create far less problems than Aigis…"

"Nii-san, be nice," Hamuko scolded him with a smile. "Ai-chan is going to be our classmate from now on after all."

Fuuka giggled. "Class 2-F will be livelier with Aigis around."

"Yeah!" Junpei cheered. "You're so lucky to have your own robot bodyguard, Minato!"

"I don't need a robot bodyguard!" their leader cried.

~2 SEPTEMBER 2009~

"Please wake up," Aigis said to a sleeping Minato. She glanced at the time and fired a plastic warning shot near the boy's face.

"What the—!?" The sound of a gun firing shocked the boy awake and he blinked at the bullet that nearly grazed him. "Aigis!? Get out of my room!" He threw his pillow at the robot. "I told you before! You're not allowed in here!"

"You appear upset," the blonde robot stared at him.

"Out!" Minato stood up and pushed her out the door. "Hamuko!" he called out to the girl coming down the stairs. "Keep her away from me!" He quickly slammed the door and locked it in the hopes Aigis would stay out. As he picked up his pillow from the ground, he screamed into it.

"Come on, Ai-chan," Hamuko sighed as she could barely make out his muffled screams. "Nii-san needs to change and get ready."

Minato frowned as Aigis accompanied them on their way to school. As they reached the school gate, Aigis paused to stare at the large building. "I see," she said. "This must be Tartarus during the daytime."

"That's right," Hamuko smiled.

The blonde scanned the students walking past them. "Currently, I detect no Shadows in the vicinity. However, we must remain cautious at all times."

"It's a school," Minato sighed, pulling both girls along with him.

"I see," Aigis nodded. "I shall record that in my memory bank."

"Aigis, if you want to avoid suspicion, you can't refer to anything regarding your memory banks, processing power, power output, et cetera, et cetera," Minato told her. "Do you understand? That's an order."

"Understood."

"Good. Hamuko, take over from here. It looks like Bebe is having problems with Ekoda," Minato shook his head as he approached their foreign friend.

"Come along, Ai-chan," the younger twin smirked. Hamuko quickly brought her to their classroom and spoke with Toriumi. "Sensei! This is the new student from my dorm."

"Thank you, Hamuko. You can take your seat and I'll handle the rest."

"Aigis, make sure you listen and do as Ms. Toriumi says. She's the one in charge of our class," Hamuko sternly told the robot.

"Understood," the blonde nodded.

Minato carefully stepped into the classroom and sighed in relief that nothing was in shambles. He was about to take his usual seat, but Toriumi called out to the class to get their attention. Class technically didn't start until a few more minutes and Minato had a bad feeling about this.

"Class, we have a new student who will be joining us. She just transferred here." Toriumi looked to Aigis. "Please introduce yourself."

"My name is Aigis," the girl said with a bow. "I am pleased to meet you all."

"Aigis…" Toriumi frowned. "What a strange name… I wonder if she was born overseas. Let's see… Anything else I should know…?" The teacher opened the folder Hamuko had handed her. "Hm? Humanoid tactical weapon? What on Earth…? Clearly, that's a mistake." She closed the file and shook her head. "It just goes to show, you can't believe everything you read." She turned to the rest of the class. "We're shuffling seats today, so everybody up."

"Um, Ms. Toriumi," Junpei frowned. "A few guys aren't here yet and I think some are playin' hookey."

"Which mean they're not here and won't be able to choose their seats," Toriumi said, dismissing the capped boy's concerns. "You can sit anywhere, but you can't sit in the same seat you had previously or next to the same person."

"Damn…" Junpei muttered as he picked up his bag.

Aigis was a bit slow to find a seat, but once the class settled, there was an available seat right next to Minato, directly behind Hamuko. Toriumi noticed the open seat and pointed to it. "That seat should be fine, Aigis."

The robot studied the seat and nodded. "This spot will be perfect… Because I wish to always be by his side."

Minato's face went red. "H-hey!"

"Aigis!" Yukari stood up.

Aigis blinked at Yukari. "Is there a problem?" Hamuko quietly laughed to herself and the robot turned to her too. "My highest priority is to also be with her at all times," Aigis nodded.

"Really, Aigis!?" Yukari shook her head.

Behind Yukari a classmate stared at the archer. "Um, Yukari, why're you standing up?"

Embarrassed, she took her seat and sighed. "Not off to a great start…" And I'm stuck sitting next to Junpei again…

Toriumi stared at the motley group of five. "My, aren't we full of drama today? Do me a favor and save the antics for after school."

Hamuko put her head down as she tried to contain her laughter. Aigis stared blankly ahead as Minato sank into his new seat. Junpei shook his head and pulled his cap down, trying to hide his secondhand embarrassment. Yukari shook her head as she let out another sigh. "Sheesh…"

"Did you check your texts at lunch?" Minato asked Hamuko once class ended for the day.

"No," Hamuko shook her head. "Why?"

"Akihiko-san sent me something and I want to check if you're coming too."

Hamuko flipped out her phone and noticed the boxer sent her a message. "I have something important to take care of after school. I want you to come. I'll be waiting by the gate. Meet me there."

"Yeah, I guess I'm coming."

"Should I accompany you?" Aigis stood up behind her.

"No, go back to the dorm, Aigis," Minato sternly ordered her. "Akihiko-san asked for us and having you around would bring us trouble."

"Sorry, Ai-chan," Hamuko gave her an apologetic smile. "We'll be back soon though, so don't worry."

The twins quickly departed and found an annoyed Akihiko waiting at the school gate. "There you both are," he said as he spotted them. "There's something I have to do, and I want you to come with me."

"Alright," Minato said, tucking his hands into his pockets.

"Where to?" Hamuko asked.

"We're going to get someone," the senior said with a serious smirk. "An old member."

Hamuko's eyes widened. Shinjiro-san? She looked towards her brother, but he remained indifferent. Hamuko returned her attention to Akihiko and noticed he was carrying a small suitcase. An Evoker?

Akihiko led them to Hagakure and the three waited until a familiar tall teenager came out, glaring at them. "You're getting on my nerves!" Shinjiro snapped at the boxer.

"The situation has changed," Akihiko responded seriously. "Sorry, but this time, I'm not asking."

"What?" Shinjiro looked between the twins. Minato coolly stared at him, while Hamuko gave him a confused frown.

"This belongs to you," Akihiko said, shoving the suitcase into the taller boy. Shinjiro stared at it distastefully, but the white-haired boy continued. "We have a new enemy. They're Persona-users, like us."

Shinjiro looked over to Minato. "Yeah, so what?"

"There's more," the boxer shook his head. "Ken Amada has joined our team."

This made the boy's steel eyes widen in shock. Minato blinked when the other half of the retribution Reaper appeared. What!? Ken wants to kill Shinjiro-san?

Shinjiro glared at Akihiko. "What the hell are you talking about!?"

"He has the potential," Akihiko explained, "and Ikutsuki-san has okayed it. He's now a Persona-user."

Shinjiro turned back to Minato and saw the younger boy's knowing frown. "You've gotta be kidding me," he muttered. "Let me ask you one thing… Was it his decision to join SEES?"

"Yeah," the senior nodded. "He volunteered."

"I see," Shinjiro frowned. "Then, count me in." He looked towards the twins. "So, you're the ones leading the operations now, huh?" He stared them both in the eyes. "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you fighting for?"

The two faltered slightly. For my own sake… Minato grit his teeth. But…

I don't really know, Hamuko frowned. But…

The two simultaneously returned their gaze and gave the older boy a determined expression. "To protect someone." They both paused before giving each other a smile.

"Is that so?" Shinjiro studied the twins carefully. Yeah… Even if things around them fall apart, they'll still have each other. "Well, you do your thing; I'll do mine." He looked back towards Akihiko. "Is my room still vacant?"

"Yeah," the boxer nodded.

Shinjiro smirked at Hamuko. "Sheesh… Another girl? First Mitsuru and now her…"

Minato tilted his head to the side and frowned at the senior. That look… Don't tell me he… He glanced towards Hamuko and saw her blushing. Minato bit his tongue to keep silent.

"So what?" Akihiko frowned at the tall boy. "She might be a girl, but she's one hell of a—"

"That ain't my point, numbskull," Shinjiro said, lowering the case into a more comfortable carrying position. "I'm saying you gotta keep an eye out for her. Honestly…" He looked over towards Minato. "And she's your sister, right? You need to take care of her too." He paused when he noticed the younger boy's glare. Yeah… I'm sorry, Minato… Hamuko…

~4 SEPTEMBER 2009~

Junpei smiled as he approached Chidori. "Yo, Chidori. How's your hand?" She absently raised her hand and he saw that the wound was completely gone. "Huh? I don't see anything… not even a scar… Did it heal that quickly?"

"Hey, Junpei…" Chidori studied the boy carefully. "What do you do to make yourself feel alive?"

The capped boy paused. "Uh, I dunno…" He didn't expect a question like that so he tried to make a joke. "Breathing, I guess?" He chuckled despite it not being that funny. "Y'know," he shook his head as he took a moment to consider an actual answer, "I never really thought about it before. How 'bout you, Chidori? Is that why you draw?"

"Maybe…" Chidori glanced down at her sketchpad. "But, most of these are just scribbles… I don't understand myself very well."

"I see," Junpei nodded. "Mind if I sit here?" The girl offered him some space and he sat down beside her. "To tell ya the truth, there is one thing that makes me feel alive…" He smirked as he thought of the Shadows and Tartarus. "When I get to play hero." Chidori looked at him in confusion, prompting the boy to turn on his theatrics. "In the darkest hour, unknown to all but a few, the chosen ones stand against the forces of evil!" He raised a hand and pointed at the sky. "Our hero, Junpei, fights to protect the world from these terrifying monsters!" He stood back up and chuckled some more. "Well, you get the idea. That's when I feel most alive!" She didn't respond and Junpei felt like an idiot. "Um... You're s'posed to laugh."

"So…" Chidori looked up at him. "Do you fight all alone…?"

"H-hey," Junpei's eyes widened. "I was just kiddin' around…"

"You fight during a time that no one knows about, right?" Chidori asked. "So then, no one knows what you've been doing, either. That means you'll never receive any recognition… I'm impressed. I didn't know you're that kind of guy."

Junpei continued to stare at her in surprise. "For real? You actually believe me?"

"Tell me more…" Chidori looked at him expectantly.

Against his better judgment, Junpei nodded and gave her a smirk. "You really wanna know? Okay, but don't tell anyone, alright? Ya see, there's this special power called 'Persona', and only those who have it can defeat the monsters. That's why I meant by 'the chosen ones'. My friends are fighting too… And ever since I joined 'em, we've been kicking some serious ass!"

"Sounds like fun," Chidori nodded. "Are you the leader? Because it sounds like you're pretty strong."

Junpei felt a twinge of jealousy towards his blue-haired friend. Crap… No, Junpei… Remember what Hamuko said. Minato's himself, and I'm me… But… he wouldn't mind if I twisted the truth a bit, right? He doesn't really care since he doesn't like the spotlight. "Y-yeah… I-I guess you could say that." Junpei put on a confident smile. "I mean, without me, things would just fall apart," he bluffed. "Someone's gotta be in charge, after all." He inwardly frowned at himself. Yeah… It falls to those with the 'gift'… "It's pretty tough being a leader," he said, faltering a bit. Man… I feel like crap… I'm sorry, Minato…

Chidori didn't say anything but after a while, she closed her sketchbook. She stood up as she prepared to leave. "Thank you, Junpei… I had fun today."

"Y-you did?" the capped boy asked in surprise.

"It's time for me to go," she said, nodding. "I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

She left and Junpei felt his smile return. He chuckled to himself. "Tomorrow, huh? All right!" He paused as he remembered something. Wait… Isn't tomorrow a Full Moon?

~B*O*N*U*S~S*C*E*N*E~

With all of the rooms of the dorm completely filled, Minato found the lounge to be quite the hectic common area. Of course, it could get noisy at times, but every member usually did their own thing during the evenings. It was actually a nice feeling when everyone gathered together. The atmosphere was enjoyable and Minato loved being able to head downstairs to check on how his team was faring for that day.

That being said, Minato tapped his pencil on the table as he stared at the strange 'family' that made up SEES. Mom's reading a novel as usual, Minato thought as his eyes wandered towards Mitsuru. Dad's taking a nap after reading the paper, he smirked as Akihiko was passed out on the couch. Uncle Shinjiro is making dinner for… anyone who wants it, I think. Koromaru is begging for scraps while he's at it. And we have the kids…

Minato watched as Ken, Junpei, and Hamuko were enjoying the newest episode of Phoenix Ranger Featherman R. Hamuko ended up dragging Yukari into the living room with them and the archer soon became engrossed with the popular children's show. The blue-haired boy would have joined them too, but he and Fuuka had to help Aigis with literature homework.

"Huh…" Minato frowned at the strange family dynamic.

"Is something wrong, Minato-kun?" Fuuka asked him, looking up from explaining to Aigis what a metaphor was.

"Nothing… Just a thought I had," he said.

Hamuko looked over to him and noticed the wistful expression on his face. The boy glanced at her and the two shared a smile. The red-eyed girl turned back to the television set and watched as Feather Hawk gave a cheesy one-liner as the team defeated the episode villain. She chuckled to herself as she had a thought. I wonder if this is how our family would have been if the accident never happened…

"Aigis, that's my fourth pencil," Minato sighed as he tossed the broken writing implement into the garbage.

I guess not, Hamuko smirked. We really are a strange bunch, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Final Notes: Huh... The chapter was a lot shorter than I thought... Makes sense since it only covered 11 pages in Microsoft Word... Had to break it here though because the next chapter is an Operation. So the thing about April 4th... I had to pick a date that was early enough in the school year that properly fit them into the junior class. I'm kinda picky about this sort of thing because I have a pretty late birthday so I tend to be the youngest of my friends since I barely made the age cutoff... I thought it would be appropriate for them to be born in March or April, but checking the cutoff date for schooling in Japan, it's April 1st. Picking March would put them into the senior class. From there, I had to pick the number of death for their actual birthday, because I like irony. I didn't expect Junpei to be the youngest junior though... I kinda thought Fuuka was since her birthday is in December. I always imagined Junpei being more of a summer or fall baby too... Really surprising...