Special thanks for Miss Hanamura for correcting this chapter

Chapter 15

Meal of Fortune

4/24/13

(After school)

"Finally! We're free." Hitomi announced, stretching her arms and yawning. She stood up from her desk, and turned around to Kai, who was still soundly asleep.

"Onii-san, wake up!" Hitomi tugged on his arm trying to wake him up. Kai slowly averted his eyes to her. still very drowsy, before he got up and began stretching. He stood up, slouching, and turned his eyes towards his twin.

"Huh, Hitomi, is there something you want?" He asked. The female Akira only nodded and smile, before she looked over at Rin, Michiko, and Daiki.

"Hey, guys! Let's go to Wild Duck." Hitomi said to them. Both Rin and Daiki cringed at the thought of having to see Kai eating thirty orders of mystery burgers. However, they accepted Hitomi's offer, anyway, seeing as that they couldn't refuse. Kai accepted with no second thought, since it had something to do with food. And Michiko accepted, seeing as she didn't have anything to do.

"Sweet, then let's go!" Hitomi said excitedly. The five persona-users then headed towards Wild Duck.

Wild Duck

(After school)

The four them were seated down, waiting for their meals to arrive, as they talked amongst themselves. Hitomi, on the other hand, put on her headphones, and began listening to music by Shoji Meguro.

"You know, it's a bit crazy if you think about it." Rin started, catching the attention of Hitomi.

"What do you mean?" She responded.

"A few weeks ago, we were all regular high school students with normal lives." He smiled sadly. "And next thing you know, we're persona-users." Rin added. Everyone became silent, thinking about the events that happened this past week—when they obtained their Personas to when they began their expedition in Tir Na Nog to even now, when they would have the chance to hang out like this.

"I never thought about it." Michiko replied.

"Me neither..." Daiki replied. They then turned their attention to the twins, waiting to hear a reply from them.

"..." Both of them remained silent, not having an response to this.

"Guess you guys are confused too, huh?" Rin replied; both of them nodded their heads in response. The silence between all of them began to get tense.

Until...

"*Grumble*" The sound of someone's stomach made a noise, releasing the tension in the air. Everybody looked at Kai, who shook his head; they then turned their heads over to Hitomi who was red with embarrassment.

"Sorry, I'm hungry..." She was flustered, seeing everyone looking at her like that. They all began to laugh at seeing her in this state, releasing all the tension around them, and filling the air with a sense of joy.

"Hahahaha, sorry Hitomi." Rin was laughing nonstop.

"Hehehe." Kai chuckled.

"Pfft-hahaha." Daiki was trying to cover his laugh.

"*Giggle* Sorry..." Michiko, who always had a serious and cold look, couldn't resist, and was laughing as well.

"Um..." Hitomi didn't know what to say; her face was red, almost enough to make any boy fawn over her, because of her expression. Rin, who noticed this, had began blushing, and tried to avoid making eye contact at her by trying to hide his red face. This continued on 'til their food came, which they began to eat, enjoying the time they had. Hitomi, who was laughing and smiling, felt closer to everyone, as the sound of glass shattered within her head.

*Crash!*

Thou Art...And I am Thou

Thou hast established an unbreakable bond

Thou shalt be blessed when chooseth to create a

Persona of the Hope Arcana

"Rank 1 Hope Social Link"

"Hope?" Hitomi asked, before she returned back to reality. Seeing everyone enjoying themselves, she simply smiled, and continued to enjoy her time with her friends until dark when they all headed home. Kai told them that he had something to do, and headed on a separate path from the others.

Velvet Room

"..." Minato was staring at the velvet ceiling, bored. There was nothing to do in the Velvet Room other than sleep. However, due to his empty stomach, he couldn't sleep, even if he wanted to. That was when the Velvet door opened, and Kai appeared in front of him, holding a bag of food.

"Hey, Minato, I brought you someth—" Before Kai could even finish his sentence, the blunette swiped the bag from him, and began eating what was inside.

"—ing..." Kai had finished, and took a seat on one of the chairs, watching the former Wild Card eating his food, and waiting for him to be finished. The blunette finished up his smoothie, and looked at Kai with a satisfied look.

"Thank Kami you came! I thought I was going to lose my sanity." Minato was about to hug Kai, seeing him as his image of Messiah. That's when Kai stopped him, and tried to calm him down, before somebody got hurt.

"Calm down..." Minato then regained his composure, and took a seat, waiting for Kai's next response.

"I'd like for you to transfer the power of Pixie to Armegin; both of them are of the Magician Arcana." Kai requested. Minato nodded, and snapped his finger; both Pixie and Armegin appeared in their card-forms, floating above them. Pixie's card then shattered, and turned into small dusts of light, surrounding Armegin's card, and merged with him, making his card glow even brighter. The card then returned to Kai's sea of soul, as he heard Armegin's voice in his head.

Master, I am able to learn two new skills: Dia and Patra; will you allow me to? His persona requested permission from Kai.

"Yes..." Kai answered.

I am most grateful master... The sound of Armegin's voice began to fade away, as the Fool felt his Persona had gotten stronger.

"Thanks, Minato..." Kai said, before turning back around to face Minato once more.

"Minato, I noticed that you're concerned about something. Is there something you'd like to talk about?" Kai asked. Minato, who was shocked to hear this from him, simply lied by shaking his head.

"I see..." Kai didn't seemed to be happy about his response, but decided to just leave him be, not wanting to cause any trouble between them. "But Minato, if there's anything you want to talk about, I'd be happy to listen." He added with smile. Minato, who saw his warm smile, smiled back and seemed to appreciate what Kai told him.

*Crash!*

Rank 2 World Social Link

"Well, I'll see you soon." Kai left the Velvet Room, leaving Minato alone.

4/25/13

(Afterschool)

Kai decided to hang out with Rin for today, as the both of them were walking back to the dorm.

"So, yeah and then..." Rin continued to talk with Kai, who sensed that their relationship would soon be closer.

Hitomi decided to hang out with Michiko for the day, as the two of them talked with each other into the Chagall cafe.

"It's nice to talk to someone of the same gender, don't cha agree?" Michiko asked.

"I agree..." Hitomi replied.

"I'm glad you understand." Michiko seemed to be enjoying herself. "So, what do you want to talk about?" She added. Hitomi thought of something that was both half-joking and half-serious.

"Are you and my brother dating?" Hitomi asked curiously.

"Wha—! Why would you ask that?! Me and Kai-kun are only friends! Nothing more!" Michiko protested; her face was bright red. She decided to change the subject, before it got even more awkward.

"Those are really nice headphones; I don't think I've seen anything like them. Where did you buy them?" Michiko asked.

"I didn't buy them; Kai made them for me." Michiko was surprised to hear her response. "My brother used to tinker with a lot of stuff when he was little. It was sort of a hobby for him." Hitomi replied. "I think most of my toys were from him." She said jokingly, laughing for a brief second. She had a small grin on her face.

"Is something wrong?" Michiko asked.

"Oh, it's nothing really..." Hitomi replied. She took a deep breath, and looked at Michiko with a serious expression. "Can you keep this a secret from my brother and Rin-kun?" She asked. The Lover simply nodded. She then lifted her bangs up, revealing a scar on her head, which surprised Michiko.

"When I was only 14, I was a victim in a biker incident; a motorcycle ran me over, and I was on the verge of death. Luckily, I survived and only suffered head trauma. I lost all my memories of my childhood, except for the people close to me." Hitomi explained with a crestfallen look.

"I'm sorry..." Michiko felt guilty for even asking her the question in the first place.

"There's no need to worry!" Hitomi quickly reassured her. "It was just my memory, nothing serious." She added.

"Still..." Michiko replied, trying to think of something to say. She then just shook her head, and smiled at her. "If you need someone to talk to, I'm all ears." She smiled at her.

"Thanks, Michiko-chan." She smiled back at her. "You know, you might not be a bad girlfriend for Onii-san." Hitomi added, half-joking and half-serious.

"Stop bringing that up!" Michiko face was flushed red. At the same time, Hitomi was laughing at the Lovers' current state. Next thing she knew there was the sound of glass shattering within her head.

*Crash!*

Thou Art I and I am Thou

Thou hast established a ravishing and eternal bond

Thou shalt be blessed when chooseth to create a

Persona of the Lovers Arcana

"Rank 1 Lover Social Link"

The two of them continued to talk until dark; they headed back to the dorms afterwards.

Evening

(Dorm)

"Welcome back." Mitsuru greeted the two female Persona-users upon their return. Everyone except for Terry were seated in the living room. Kai was reading a book while drinking milk, Rin was reading a horror novel, Daiki was playing on his COMP, Ken was reading a manga, and Mitsuru was reading a book as well.

"Hey guys, how was your day?" Rin asked.

"It was alright." Hitomi smiled at him.

"Alright..." Michiko replied. They both took their seats in the living room, and began talking amongst themselves.

"Where's Terry-senpai?" Ken asked.

"He's currently in his room. He said that he had something important to do." Mitsuru answered Ken, and grabbed the blue notebook that was on the table. She then turned to Kai.

"Akira, can you deliver Sheffield his books to him?" Kai nodded, and grabbed the notebook from her, heading upstairs to the second floor towards the front door to his room. Not having the common sense to knock, he twisted the doorknob and opened his door, and saw Terry doing a sleight hand of exchange quickly, switching the tarot cards with playing cards. Kai had already noticed this and tilted his head.

"Terry-san, I didn't know you did tarot readings." Kai said, walking into his room. Terry was panicking, but did not show it, quickly thinking of something to say.

"Akira-san, care for a game of blackjack?" He requested.

"Sure, why not?" Kai accepted his offer, and took a seat one of the chairs. Terry passed him two cards and gave himself two cards too.

"Give me another card..." Kai said. Terry passed another card before he flipped his cards faced up, revealing a total of '20' in his hand.

There's no way he can beat that. Terry thought with confidence. Kai unveiled the three cards, showing a total of '21,' a blackjack, shocking Terry, and draining all the confidence from his body.

"Huh? Looks like I won..." Kai replied.

"No way, how did you win?!" Terry questioned Kai's victory. Kai tilted his head, and answered him simply.

"It was luck, that's all..."

"Bah! Luck doesn't even exist. You must've won in some way possible." Terry was discouraged, for he lost to the Fool at his own game. But then, looked at him with a serious expression.

"I decided that I challenge you, Kai Akira; not today, but another day!" Terry announced. Kai was confused, but simply accepted, anyway.

"Sure..." He replied, and extended his hand to shake. Terry was hesitant to shake his hand, but extended his hand, shaking it.

*Crash!*

Thou Art I...And I am Thou

Thou hast established a Fateful and Destined Bond

Thou shalt be blessed when chooseth to create a

Persona of the Fortune Arcana

"Rank 1 Fortune Social Link"

Kai blinked twice; before looking back at Terry. He gave him his notebook and headed towards his room to end the day.

Tatsumi Memorial Hospital

(Near Midnight)

"It's almost midnight.." Said a slick haired man wearing the Gekkoukan uniform, and whose hair was tied into a ponytail. He stared at the clock on the wall, checking the time. "I'd better head back home." He said to himself, leaving the hospital and heading towards his house. In only a few minutes, it would turn to midnight.

"Maybe I should stop at a convenience store, and buy dinner..." He talked to himself once more, as he decided to head towards a 24-hour convenience store on his way home. He entered the store, and bought an instant bento box for 700 yen, before heading out, towards home. He checked his watch, and looked at the time.

"Only 10 more seconds 'til midnight." He looked at his watch while walking back.

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

0

Dark Hour

"Huh, what the?!" He was confused, and shocked to see what was happening around him. The sky began to turn into a dark green color, the water turned into a red substance—blood to be exact—the moon was a bright yellow, and all the lights had shut down. He took out his phone from his pocket, and saw that it was dead.

"I thought I had it charged..." He put his phone back into his pocket, and decided to continue on his way back home, unaware of the dangers of the Dark Hour. He then heard noises coming from behind him. He halted his steps, and turned around to see what was behind him. A dark blob with a mask that had a 'I' on it was seen.

"What the hell?!" He began staring at the Shadow, analyzing it if it was a threat or not. Suddenly, the Shadow-like creature rushed at him. It clawed him, leaving a scratch mark on his arm, which tore off the sleeve of his uniform, and left a gush of blood on his arm; he watched as it dripped down.

"Gackk!" He grunted in pain; he dropped his bag, and used his other arm to apply pressure to the wound. "I gotta run!" He quickly turned around, and made a run for it with the feral creature in pursuit of him. He continued to run towards the path to home; he looked back and some more Shadows were behind his back. Without noticing, he had accidentally made a wrong turn into an alleyway, which lead him towards a dead-end, trapped.

"Dammit, a dead end." He cursed at himself, looking back and seeing the black blobs slowly getting closer to him.

"No!" He braced himself for the attack. "Get away from me!" He shouted, as a blue aura began to form around him; and in an instant, the Shadows were burnt to a crisp, as he slowly opened his eyes, and saw that they were gone. He felt a presence behind him, and turned around, seeing a man with dark-brown hair and eyes with fair skin, wearing an outfit that consisted of a black turtleneck sweater, dark brown gauntlets, plated boots, and a small cape on his back.

Thou Art I... I am Thou

I am thy fearless warrior of the Connacht

From the sea of souls I have risen...

I am Nera, the one who faced Samhain...

The man slowly faded away, as he looked on in astonishment and confusion. He turned to his bleeding arm, and saw that it was still bleeding.

"Dammit, I need to get this fixed." He grunted in pain, slowly walking out of the alleyway with his right arm pressuring the wound. Slowly, the Dark Hour faded away, the sky return to normal, the blood turned back to water, and electricity began working once again. The young man slowly walked back to his house, not noticing that his student ID had dropped to the ground.

Gekkoukan High, 3rd Year.

Kane Murakami

ID: #75976

Finished Chapter 15, and yay! Persona 5 got announced! Even though it won't come out till next year. :P I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving! :D