04 October 2009
Port Island, Iwatodai Station
The Dark Hour

"And that... that was the worst thing I have ever done. Or beaten up." Midori's complaints didn't fall on deaf ears as SEES gathered after the destruction of the Fortune and the Strength Arcana Shadows.

Junpei was the first to add his agreement. "A spinning wheel? And a horse? What, did they escape from a merry-go-round?"

The others felt the broken ice and added in their own depreciation for the battle they had just gone through. "It wasn't a battle," Yukari said. "That was a slog."

"Hey, at least we got lots of practice switch-hitting!" Junpei smiled as his term for getting people to get in and out of battle seemed to have taken hold. One person would leave the fight while another came up to replace them. It was really useful in open areas like this, but practising covering each other like that after Midori's introduction a month previously showed that it could be done and to allow people to sit out and catch their breath in time for the next round.

"The two who call themselves STREGA did not interfere." Aigis commented as she scanned the area carefully in case she was wrong.

Midori had only heard about the three people who identified themselves as STREGA. She still hadn't been allowed to see their captive yet, although once she made the connection between Junpei's girlfriend and STREGA, she had instantly congratulated him on using the power of Love to save her.

She still didn't understand why he was so appalled by her comment, and embarrassed by the whole thing.

The others, Takaya and Jin, were still at large. She had been given a good description of them in case she saw them out during the day and was quite willing to give them a good beating in the name of Justice!

"Actually, I think I'll take a different route back to the Dorm." Akihiko said as she returned her attention to the conversation at hand and away from her daydreams of Love and Justice. "See if I can find Shinji or Ken before the Dark Hour ends." She almost offered to go with him, but when she opened her mouth to say something or ask Fuuka to look for them, a yawn escaped instead. Cursing Frosty's lack of endurance, she shook her head to clear the growing cobwebs.

"Midori has the right idea." Yukari finished unstringing her bow after retrieving the arrows that she could. "Why don't we just go back to the Dorm, find those two, and have Stupei yell at them for pulling a stunt only he is allowed to do."

"Hey!" Junpei shot back as SEES began to file out of the Metro station for the long walk back to the dorm. "You want me to scold Shinjiro? Do I look like I have a death wish?"

Minatodai Dorm, 4th Floor Control Room

"Where's Ikutsuki?" Yukari wondered aloud as they entered the room and she failed to locate the man in question. "It's not like him to leave the office while we're out?"

"Maybe he's with Ken and Shinji." Fuuka offered as she took a seat on the couch, mentally preparing herself to look for their still-missing membership.

"I don't know. I mean, does anyone know anything that happened today that would cause those two to bail like that?" Junpei asked around as he rolled his shoulders to work the kinks out of the long battle.

Mitsuru gasped as realization came to her. "October! Oh no! I can't believe I forgot! This is the day Amada's mother was killed!"

Midori forced all her tiredness away as she focused all her attention on Mitsuru. But it was Junpei who put words into the air first. "WHAT? You serious?"

Ignoring him, Mitsuru turned on Fuuka. "Yamagishi. I need you to find them now! They will most likely be together. Akihiko... why didn't you tell me?" The last was quietly whispered to those absent.

"Hey! Will someone tell me what's going on? What do you mean, 'Ken's Mother'?" Yukari tried to get a word in edgewise and Mitsuru caught it.

Remorse crept into her voice as she spoke. "Although the cause of her death was officially made an accident, ..., ..." She took a deep breath to steady herself under the absolute gazes of those others in the room. She had been to corporate cutthroat meetings with less intensity. "We're the ones who killed Amada's mother. SEES." Mitsuru confessed the crimes of the organization before anyone else had joined, when it was just her, Akihiko and Shinjiro. Shinji had activated his Persona, and it had gone on a rampage - "Be glad yours didn't, Komaki" she added to Midori in the middle of her explanation – resulting the death of the innocent woman.

Midori found herself torn. On one hand, she completely agreed with Ken's desire for justice for the death of his loving mother. On the other, it seemed that only Ken still held onto this event as more than just regrets and memories.

Fuuka had activated her Persona with the telling of the tale and was listening with only half an ear as she looked out over the city for the signs of their missing friends. In the silence that accompanied the end of Mitsuru's tale, she found what she was looking for. "There! On the Island! Ken and Shinji! Akihiko is nearby!" She gasped. "And STREGA is there too!"

Midori was already running for the door, pushing into her reserves to keep moving as she aimed for the stairs down.

Love and Justice. That was her creed.

Port Island Transit Station, Back Alley
The Dark Hour

A single gunshot echoed out of the alley, and Akihiko knew he was too late. There was only one person who would use a gun in the Dark Hour, and it wasn't Ken or Shinji. "Damn it!" He cursed himself as he angled across the plaza towards the fading sound. "I should have known! Should have been more careful."

A flash of motion from his right and he saw Midori of all people at full sprint, her face red and unreadable. Beside her was Junpei and Aigis, the rest of SEES strung out behind them based on their own speeds.

They broke into the entrance to the alley just as the second shot rang out. "SHINJI!" Akihiko yelled as they entered into the small area behind the buildings. What he saw would be something he would live with for the rest of his days.

Ken, standing absolutely still as Shinji guarded him from Takaya, his gun raised. Wounds in his shoulder and chest wept a profuse crimson tide that flowed slowly down his jacket darkly.

Stepping back in the face of overwhelming odds, Takaya vanished into the shadows leaving behind a sad parting. "How very disappointing..."

Midori grabbed Ken by the shoulders and yanked him roughly around, spinning the limp boy into Yukari who in turn held him away from the sight of the injured Shinji. But the boy refused to be handled like that and fought with her to see Shinji.

Midori and Akihiko took a hold of him and settled him onto the ground. They stripped off their jacket and vest, each moving to staunch one of the wounds. "What's with the long face?" He said to Ken, coughing as he did so.

"Stay still!" "Be quiet!" The two of them tried to work at Shinji's body while Mitsuru tried to add her own healing magic to the mix, but to no avail. "It's alright" the bleeding man said, pushing through the pain. "You've got all the time in the world ahead of you. Let your anger be your strength." He continued to resist the efforts to help him, looking Midori and Akihiko in the eyes; the three of them shared a moment of mutual understanding. "Come on Ken, you're a kid. Don't waste your life. It's your own, OK?"

Shinji's vision swam. "But... I..." Ken tried to respond to the man who had just saved his life, even though he was ready to do the deed himself. "I..."

"A..ki... take care of him?" Shinji's voice began to fade even as he pulled himself higher.

"I... w..ill." Akihiko gripped Shinji's lapels harder as Midori shifted her own grip from trying to same Shinjiro to making him feel comfortable.

But Shinji would have none of that. He forced his friends away and stood up. "This is how... I choose..." One step away from Ken. Two. A stumble. Three.

Shinjiro Aramaki died on his feet. The only way he would have it.

05 October 2009
Minatodai Dorm, Midori's Room
Morning

Pulling herself out of her room was a chore. All was quiet in the building and she was certain that anyone who had actually gotten sleep last night was either a liar or a monster. It happening again to her didn't make it easier. In fact, her memories last night just made it harder.

He had died during the Dark Hour and they held a vigil for him until it ended when Mitsuru called Officer Kurosawa to the scene. He had arrived shortly thereafter and had taken charge, ordering everyone except Ken, Akihiko and Mitsuru back to the Dorm where they were to act like nothing had happened.

Not possible. But they had followed instructions anyways. Ikutsuki wasn't there still, and lacking a focus to take out her anger on, Midori first washed her hands of the worst of the blood, then went straight to her room to try and get some sleep. But it never came.

Now she was in a fresh change of clothes and heading for school. Or at least she tried. Going down the stairs every step thudding hard in her ears until she reached the bottom landing. Looking around she saw Fuuka was laying down on the couch, gentle snoring coming from her and Koromaru, who had curled up at her feet.

She revised her opinion. Not everyone would be liars or monsters. Some merely delayed their reactions. But they would have to face it in time, one way or the other.

Minato surprised her, coming out of the kitchen with a bowl of rice and some vegetables on a tray. He invited her to join him. "I don't think I'll be able to eat it all" he said as he found a second pair of chopsticks.

"Didn't get any sleep either?"

"No." He said as he poked at the food. "Fuuka only crashed less than an hour ago. She hasn't said a word."

Midori nodded in understanding. "And the others?" She didn't mean anyone else who had returned to the Dorm last night.

"Akihiko came home around Five, went right to his room. Mitsuru and Ken are still out."

"Ken should have come back by now."

Minato signalled his agreement. "I think we should skip morning classes. There's no way to hide this, and that'll give us time to put ourselves together."

"Right."

Gekkoukan Highschool, Gymnasium
After School

She waited until he had finished crying, his knees buckled under the weight of more than his bones. Climbing up onto the stage beside Akihiko, she asked quietly of him "Are you done?"

"Am I?!" He turned to snap at this impudent child who dared to chastise him... but he saw instead the tears falling down her otherwise stoic and impassive face. This, he realized with a start, was the face of someone for whom Death was known to them. He couldn't yell at her for this. Not now, not ever.

Midori kept her eyes fixed on the picture of Shinji that adorned the memorial of plastic flowers and even falser platitudes. She had heard Junpei's yelling earlier and wanted to cheer him on, or for him to at least throw a punch or two. "Do you want to kill him? Takaya? For what he did?"

"Yes!" The answer was a snarl of barely contained rage.

"Good for you." Midori wiped away some of the tears as she brought her hands together in prayer. "Do you know what you're going to do when you have your hands wrapped around that pale bastard's neck?"

For Akihiko, the completely unemotional voice was far more imposing that any vile threats she could have made. "No. I hadn't considered that."

"Ah. When you do. Not if. But when. Do this, please, a favour?"

"What is it?"

"Don't do it for Shinji. Don't do it for Ken, or yourself or for anyone else. What you want, what you need, is justice." She unclasped her hands and turned to face him, crouching down so they were both at eye level to each other. "So when you're crushing the life out of that murderer, don't do it out of some sense of revenge. Do it because you love him." She pointed at the picture of Shinjiro. "Do it that way because Justice without Love is nothing more than petty vengeance, a cycle of destruction that will only lead to more death and suffering. Love is what stays our hands, it is what keeps us going when nothing else can. Love is what called Shinji to do what he did, when all Ken wanted was justice. Love, without Justice is simple sacrifice. Only when Love and Justice come together in harmony can both be true. If you can look Shin-chan's killer in the eye, and still feel love, then, and only then will I let you have your justice. Because if I'm there, and I see any shred of hate, of uncaring apathy, of anything else... I will stop you. I will stop you from making that mistake."

Akihiko digested these words like the words of a master. His reply was soft. "You were in Tokyo. Seems kind of stupid to ask now, but you saw, right? Not just the dead, but the dying? The way you tried to help him, you'd done that before. It's the only thing that makes you and the words that come out of your mouth make sense."

She nodded. his throat being crushed by the demon of 'justice', fire burning away at clothes and skin, a broken body dashed to the pavement coming to rest in the shadow of the bus, a distant scream that came from her own throat as she finally, really, truly understood what it was she stood for "Keisuke... yes. People... didn't want to help each other. They wanted to take what they wanted, what they felt they needed. I tried to stop them, so show that fighting wasn't what we needed. Like Ken. He thought that hurting Shin-chan was what he wanted, what he needed. But when he got it... He found out the truth. Shinji tried to tell him that."

"What did you do, when you found his killer?" Akihiko caught the name – Keisuke, and wondered what their relationship was that she would break like she did.

Midori closed her eyes, remembering Kaido's own expression. "I... it doesn't matter." She hopped down from the stage. "Anyways, Mitsuru's called for a meeting tonight. We need to talk about Ken."

"Let him be. He needs this." Akihiko turned back towards the last material memorial to his friend. "Hey, you watch from there with Miki, will you? I still have things to do. I'll finish what was started."

A new man, a new persona emerging from the feelings he had been confronted with. "I can't carry this guilt forever. I'm getting tired of it."

The two of them walked back to the Dorm together, confiding in each other their memories of those lost.

06 October 2009
Port Island Station, Murder scene
Evening

"Hey there." Akihiko walked with calm purpose over to Ken, the young boy far worse for the wear for having been out on the streets for a night and a day. "Came back, huh?" Akihiko stepped around the police tape that encompassed Shinji's last living moments.

"When my mother died, no one believed me. They still say the fire was unexplained, even though I told them what happened." He refused to raise his eyes. "All I wanted was to make things clear. That she could be at peace when all the truth was revealed. That's all I wanted..."

Akihiko didn't come closer, allowing Ken the space he needed to express himself.

"They said he died in a violent crime, right? That he was being mugged by some thugs and one of them had a gun. It was on the news, and the police were everywhere yesterday. But no one knows the truth. Just like mom... And I'm left behind again..."

"The dead can't come back. They never can, Ken." Akihiko finally began to close on the young boy. "We have to accept this. We have to move on. You may think you're alone in this, but you're not.

Ken forcibly turned his back away from Akihiko, who kept talking. "I'm not going to drag you back. I can't. I won't even say I found you. What you can choose to do is to stay here, forever if you want, trapped by your memories and regrets. But if you still have the will to fight, to make everything that happened to have meaning and see your choices through to the end and stand on your own feet, then come home. I'll accept you."

Akihiko walked away, his piece done.

Minatodai Dorm, 1st Floor Lounge

"How can you be so calm?" Yukari demanded of Midori after she told the older girl that Akihiko would go find Ken, and that they weren't to be disturbed. "It's already been a day! What if he's hurt? If STREGA found him!"

Midori simply looked back though her glasses, the reflective glare hiding her eyes. "Because it's the right thing to do. And Ken can take of himself."

The front door opened, and Ken came in, closing the door behind him. "I'm home" he said, as though expecting that it would be a lie.

"Welcome Home!" Midori called back, not bothering to look at Ken. "Take a bath, then we'll get some supper into you."

The rest rushed over to their lost member, to assure themselves that this was real, but Midori was confident that things would be alright now.

07 October 2009
Minatodai Dorm, 3rd Floor, Midori's Room
Early Morning

She hated being woken up like this in the morning, without her makeup on, or any of her other armours. Squinting, she fumbled her glasses while opening the door. Ken was on the other side. "Hey. What's up?" She finally managed to get her glasses on and the world came into focus again.

Ken bowed. "Thank you."

Confused, Midori tried to process this turn of events. "Um... for what?"

"For... for talking to Akihiko-san. He talked to me. Mentioned some of the things you told him. How you helped him help me." He took a deep breath. "And more importantly, for not making a fuss over me last night."

The Magical Warrior of Love and Justice swelled with pride. "It's what I do. Now, why don't we meet up this evening in the lounge. My dad finally sent me some stuff from work, and I want to share."

Ken looked up, surprise on his face. "You mean...!"

Midori grinned. "Yep! The latest Featherman R action figures, available on store shelves in three weeks time!"