Chapter 16

Death and Temperance

5/01/13

(Light Hour)

"Persona!" Hitomi summoned her Persona, Dealgnaid, who sliced the Shadow to pieces, using cleave, dealing critical damage, and giving her another chance for her to strike. She placed her evoker to her temple, and summoning her facade once more, she cleaved another Shadow.

"Nice one, Hitomi!" Rin said to her, slashing a Shadow with his two short blades, dispersing it.

"Rin-kun, watch out!" Hitomi pointed at something behind him. Rin turned around and saw a Shadow about to jump on him. It was, however, shot by an arrow at the last minute by Michiko.

"Thanks, Princess!" Rin said, before rushing into more Shadows. Michiko simply sighed, and looked over to Kai, taking a deep breath, and summoned Amergin, who smashed his guitar on one of the Shadow's face, cracking its mask, and turning into nothing. Another shadow appeared behind Kai, and cast an Agi on him, which was the weakness of his current Persona, and burnt him. He was knocked to the ground. The Shadow struck him once more with another Agi, making him dizzy, as well as depleting his health pretty low.

"Kai-kun!" Michiko noticed him badly injured, and ran over to him, taking out the Shadows that were near him, and helping him back onto his feet.

"Are you alright?!" She asked worried. Kai nodded his head.

"I'll be fine..." He answered. Kai cast a Dia on himself, making all the burns from his body fade away. Kai grabbed his katana from the ground, and swung his arm a bit to see if the pain was gone.

"Alright, everyone let's head to the next floor!" The four of them headed up to the next few floors, fighting their way through the Shadows inside the tower.

Entrance of Tir Na Nog

"Wow! They all improved greatly in only a few weeks." Ken said astonished, looking at a holographic screen showing the four persona-users within the tower.

"At this rate, they'll catch up to our level." Mitsuru smirked.

"Kai is exceedingly doing well out of all of us, considering his ability to switch multiple Persona." Terry said amused.

"Amazing..." Daiki replied. A beeping was then heard from Mitsuru's radar device. It was bigger than the regular dots that showed the rest of the Shadows.

"Huh? This presence it's similar to... Death?!" Mitsuru gasped, and began to contact Kai.

"Akira, get out of there now! I sense a presence that's similar to death!" Mitsuru commanded, and he nodded from the other side. A earthquake was then felt within Tir Na Nog.

Back inside Tir Na Nog

"Woah, what's going on?!" Rin exclaimed. The rumbling began to increase, as the four of them felt a large presence behind them. They felt something coming closer and closer; there were huge footsteps coming from around the corner. A ghastly, white hand then gripped the ceiling, before a head appeared. It was an eerie and despairing face, as it fiendishly smiled at them with it's only eye closed.

"Wha-what the hell?!" Hitomi became frightened, her body began to feel like jelly, and she began to feel cold just by looking at it.

"Everybody run!" Kai finally announced, and began running to find the access point. It then let out a huge scream, and began to pursue them. It's footsteps got louder and louder as it slowly got closer to them.

"Where's the nearest access point?!" Kai asked in a rush.

"If you turn left, there's a access point waiting for you there!" The four turned to the left, and saw a access point, and each of them got in with Kai being the last to jump in, before the strange beast could even bite him.

Entrance

The four of them jumped out of the portal, all catching their breath for air.

"Holy crap! I think I lost some years off my lifespan." Rin gasped, trying to stand up.

"What was that thing?!" Michiko asked.

"I'm not sure. However, it seems to be the equivalence of 'Death'." Mitsuru answered.

"Are you guys alright?" Ken asked. Kai nodded his head.

"I think will be fine. Fortunately, I don't think any of us was hurt." Kai said, and sheathed his katana back to its scabbard, and took a deep breath.

"I think that's enough for today. It would be best for the four of you to recuperate." Mitsuru suggested.

"Yeah, I think we'll do that." Kai said, and the four of them headed back to the school.

After School

"Man, I can't wait for Golden Week." Rin said, stretching his arm. "Although after it's over, we'll have midterms to worry about."

"Yeah, which sucks..." Hitomi sighed. She seemed to be very worried about how she was going to do on the exams after Golden Week, then turned to Kai, who was reading his notepad. Her eyes sparkled, as she began to make a puppy dog face.

"Um... Oniisan, would you—"

"If you're asking me to give you the answers for midterms, forget it..." He said bluntly, and was going to leave the classroom, if it weren't for Hitomi tugging on his leg.

"Please!" She begged her twin while holding on to his legs.

"Hey, let go!" Kai shook his leg, trying to get Hitomi off him, as the others just watched them dumbfoundedly.

"That's some sibling relationship those two have." Michiko said, laughing lightly.

"Trust me, this always happened when we were little..." Rin responded, facepalming.

"..." Daiki simply watched the two awkwardly. Rin decided to change the subject, as the two twins continued their struggle.

"Well besides midterms, the school's actually going to do some sort of program with both the second-years and the elementary school division tomorrow." Rin said.

"Oh, yeah. Each of us is going to be assigned an elementary schooler, and be supervising them for the whole day." Michiko explained.

"Sounds interesting..." Daiki responded. The three turned back to Hitomi and Kai, and noticed that Hitomi was on the floor, crying.

"Where's Kai?" Rin asked.

"He escaped..." Hitomi mumbled, as she continued to cry.

"Finally. I got Hitomi off me..." Kai sighed. Walking down the hallway, he noticed Mitsuru on the other side. She too noticed him, and began to approach him with a face that said something's up.

"Akira, can I ask for a favor?" Kai nodded his head.

"What is it?"

"Well, there's two things. First..." She handed him a envelope with an unique design on it.

"Please deliver this letter and my regards to 'him'. You're the only one who has contact with him..." Her face was crestfallen for a moment, before returning back to normal. "As for my second request, I would like you to be the caretaker of Makoto Yamagishi for the program tomorrow. He's the son of one of my closest co-workers and friend." Mitsuru added. Kai nodded his head.

"Thank you. I appreciate it." Mitsuru smiled and walked away. Kai thought about what Mitsuru said about the boy's name.

'Makoto Yamagishi, his name sounds familiar...' Kai thought, before deciding to head over to the Velvet room and give Minato the letter.

Velvet Room

"Welcome back." Minato greeted Kai, as he entered the Velvet room. "How can I be of assistance today ?" He added. Kai rummaged through his school bag, and took out the letter, before giving it to Minato.

"Who's it from?" The blunette asked.

"It's from an old friend..." Kai simply replied, before heading out of the Velvet room. Minato then opened the letter, and took a look at it, before smiling.

Minato Arisato,

I'm doing fine, and I'm sure everyone else is doing fine too. It's been nearly 5 years since we last spoke. As for the others, they are all doing great and are as healthy as ever. We all miss you, Minato Arisato, and we wish that you come back. Please come back, as soon as possible. I'm glad that we are able to talk again, and I hope we can see each other soon.

Yours truly, Mitsuru Kirijo

"I want to see you all again..." Minato said to himself, as a tear dropped down his face. He wiped the drop of water off his face, and smiled.

Paulownia Mall

Kai walked out of the Velvet room, and towards the Paulownia Mall. He looked towards the Aohige Pharmacy.

'Maybe I should stock up on some supplies.' He thought to himself, then nodded his head. He went inside buying five Medical Powders, three Revival Beads, and five Dis-Poisons, Dis-Charms, Dis-Rages, respectively. He headed out of the store, thinking about what he should do next. He still had some time before it would be dark; he had two options: hang out with his friends to improve his Social Links or attend Music Club and improve his relationship with Ken.

"Friends or Music club?" Kai began to ponder for a bit, until he remembered a rumor about how Wild Duck Burgers were hiring people. Kai decided to check it out, and headed over towards the strip mall, toward Wild Duck Burgers, where he saw a paper on the front entrance.

Help Wanted!

We are accepting anyone experienced or inexperienced.

-Wild Duck Burger

'Might as well give it a shot...' Kai thought, as he headed inside the restaurant, and applied for the job.

"Alright everyone, gather around!" The manager of Wild Duck began calling all the employees around. "We have a new guy. He's inexperienced, so be sure to show him around." He added, and looked at Kai, telling him to introduce himself.

"Akira Kai, nice to meet you all." Kai greeted and bowed down.

"Hey, no need to be so formal." A female around Kai's age that had short reddish brown hair with chestnut eyes, wearing the Wild Duck Burger employee outfit, and about his sister's height greeted him.

"Saito, since you're the first one to speak up, you'll be supervising him." The manager replied, shocking her. She then sighed and nodded, before everyone went back to work.

"Geez, why do I have to do it?" The girl was frustrated, scratching her head, before looking at Kai.

"Oh sorry, I haven't introduce myself. My names Kyou, Saito Kyou. Please to meet you." She said, extending her arms. Kai shook her hands in response.

"Say, you go to Gekkoukan?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm a second year..." Kai replied.

"Oh, me too, so I guess will be seeing each other more often?" She asked once more.

"I guess so..." Kai said slightly quiet.

"Well, anyway, welcome to the team. I know the place is a bit greasy, but you'll get use to it." She smiled, The Fool simply smiled and nodded, before he heard a voice in his head.

Thou Art I... And I am Thou

Thou hast established a stable and moderate bond

Thou shalt be blessed when chooseth to create a

Persona of the Temperance Arcana

'Rank 1 Temperance Social Link'

Kai blinked twice before looking back at Kyou, who was still smiling at him.

"Also, part-time's available everyday except for Sundays. You don't have to work everyday, but just make sure you come in once every week. Otherwise, the boss will flip out." Kyou explained. The Fool simply nodded his head, before deciding to follow Kyou to his work station.

Meanwhile at Hagakure

"Hey, cheer up, Hitomi-chan." Rin was trying to comfort Hitomi, who was still upset about what happened earlier. Rin had even bought a special for Hitomi to cheer her up. Hitomi soon mumbled something.

"I'm hungry..." She mumbled. Rin began to chuckle a bit. "What's so funny?" Hitomi asked.

"Sorry. It's just that you remind me of when you were younger." Rin said in a teasing manner.

"Now, what that's suppose to mean?!" Hitomi pouted, and her ramen arrived at the same time. The smell of the aroma slowly put her into a trance, as she turned her head towards the ramen.

"Enjo—" Before Rin could finish his words, Hitomi began to munch through the bowl, eating the noodles, and was soon drinking the broth, leaving her bowl empty afterwards. Rin paused for a few moments, before his expression changed.

"You-you just ate that bowl in only a few seconds." Rin said, bemused.

"Thank you for the meal, Rin-kun. I feel much better now." Hitomi smiled at Rin, who began to blush, and looked away from her.

"It's no problem..." A voice then was heard in Hitomi's head.

Thou Art I... And I am Thou

Thou hast established a changing and fruitful bond

Thou shalt be blessed when chooseth to create a

Persona of the Death Arcana

'Rank 1 Death Social Link'

Hitomi blinked twice before looking back at Rin. She then smiled, and chatted with him until dark where they both headed back to the dorms.