CHAPTER 13 / Manifestation

February 18th 2010

Dear Yukari,

I know I scared you more times than I can probably even properly recall. When we were on the battlefield you hated when I took risks, regardless if it paid off or not. Mostly I was just unwilling to let anyone else take a risk themselves. What good is a leader that isn't willing to take the big risks when needed? But, the further up the tower we went, I was more able to find a safer way to test out enemies with the stronger Persona's I finally was getting. Having ones that completely canceled out attacks and strong to others made things simple and less risky overall. Although there were times when I would make a bad choice and switch to a Persona that was vulnerable to certain attacks that the Shadows just happened to be able to use. I guess that is why its called trial and error.

There were a few times when I had made some nearly fatal mistakes too. You lectured me so much when things like that would happen. I know you were so worried that you had diverted your effort to feign anger, in order to hide just how scared you'd been.

Despite how far we came, in the end this was the result. Still I choose this fate so that you and everyone else can keep living on. This way the world wouldn't be forced into such a horrible fate. And yes, I'm scared of what it will be like to be just a seal. I have no idea what kind of existence is in store for me. Is it like a dream? Or is it nothing? Will I cease to be me and only be the seal? What happens to me on this side? Will my body just cease to function?

These questions plague me every day. However, I do not regret this choice. I hope that you will find happiness in your future, although I know I will have caused great pain to you in the present. Just take things one day at a time and I'm sure someday you'll be able to look back at our memories and smile. I know at the very least for me...our time together will always be a source of strength to me.

Love,
Arisato Minato

The Great Seal

Date Unknown

Hamuko blinked a couple times looking at the blue hair boy in front of her. What did he say this place was? The Sea of Unconscious? What exactly was that supposed to mean...and who the heck was he supposed to be? But looking at him she saw the photo Yukari had shown her. There was no doubt in her mind as to who this was supposed to be. "You're Minato...which means this place isn't real."

He smiled and actually laughed, "Well no this isn't real, and really I'm only partially myself. My name is Arisato Minato but I am only an aspect of myself. More accurately I am a projection taking advantage of the nature of the Sea of Unconscious."

She found herself more confused than anything else. He mentioned the Sea of Unconscious again. This place…what exactly was it? The boy, that was supposedly her twin, why was he here with her? How was any of this happening? She had seen him in her dreams before, she was sure of that but...now he was dead, and it also corresponded with a fact she hadn't stated before. That the boy she saw in her dreams had stopped showing up about a year ago. She wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean. She shook her head and focused to what was happening right now, "Where are we?"

"This place is known as the sea of unconscious for a reason. It is the collective thoughts of all of humanity. You could refer to it as the sea of dreams or nightmares, both would be an accurate statement. It's main purpose and truth is that in this realm, Shadows are born. Then again it is because of its special properties that I can also manifest myself here," Minato took a few steps towards her. It seemed to Hamuko like he was uneasy as if he wouldn't be able to walk at first. She confirmed this when his smile seemed to stem from the fact that he had been successful. Satisfied he looked back to her.

Hamuko looked behind him to notice he was standing at the bottom of a staircase...one that led to a giant door. On that door was a statue of Minato that was chained to that door. She had heard of this from Yukari and the others. The description failed to describe how massive it seemed...as Hamuko felt quite small compared to the golden doors. She didn't like the image of the statue chained to the door...it just confirmed what Hamuko had been thinking...that being the Seal was no different than being a prisoner chained to a wall. Except there was no key...no way to free its captive.

"So this seal…is holding something back?" Hamuko asked as she moved forward. She had only gotten vague hints as to what exactly it was supposed to be sealing. All she knew was that he was sealing something bad from getting in.

"Actually it's to keep something from going out," Minato waved his hand and fog dispersed along the ground, revealing a large black puddle that was forming. "That is a Shadow that will eventually manifest, as it has many times already. It is created from many other Shadows coming together to make a being known as Erebus and then it will begin pounding on the Great Seal that I created. It wants to get through so that it can call Nyx and bring an end to the world."

"An end to the world? Wait you said it's a collection of Shadows. Doesn't that mean…" Hamuko was finally starting to understand what had been said to her over the last few days.

"That's right," Minato face clearly showed how this impacted him. While he tried to remain smiling, Hamuko could see the conflict and sadness in his eyes. After all...that meant humanity as a whole was the reason he was here as the seal. "Erebus is the collective human wish for the world to end. And it will most likely never go away. It can be smashed and defeated but in only a year it will regain its strength and continue to attack my seal. But he'll never get through."

"You sound confident," Hamuko grinned and poked his shoulder, trying to ease her supposed twin brother's solemn mood. But it seemed to be much more of a surprise that she could touch him at all. As a result of this sudden physical contact he simply stared at her for a long moment. Then she saw as his thoughts shifted as if he was actually looking at her now. As if her being here had finally crossed his mind.

"Who are you?" Minato asked, a question she thought he would have asked a lot sooner.

"Do you really want to know?" Hamuko was torn as to what she should tell him, she was still trying to sort through her own feelings but seeing him here and knowing that this was also the same one that had been in her dreams...she wanted to believe. For the first time since she was told she had a twin brother she wanted it to be true. The documents all supported this fact but she spent her life not having family. Not really. Even Sayane had pretty much confirmed that it was true. And the actual legal documents supported and matched up with the claim. But even still...was it really fair for her to tell him who she was? Then again how did she even get to this place? And was it all even real? If this was him...only an aspect of her twin brother...would telling the aspect be the same as telling the real him?

"You seem to know who I am. Naturally I would want to know you," Minato replied bringing Hamuko's thoughts back to the present.

She took in a deep breath. Honestly, there had been no decision to make. She wanted him to know. "My name is Takahashi Hamuko, but I learned recently that it was not the name I was supposed to have," Hamuko felt her body tense up as she wasn't sure how he would react or if he would believe it. "The name my real parents gave me was Arisato Minako. I'm your twin sister."

If Minato's jaw could hit the ground, it probably would have. Hamuko took his silence to back up her statement because from what she had read so far he wouldn't believe her that quickly. But the look in his eyes told her that he also didn't dismiss it. So Hamuko took the moment to solidify what she was saying by giving more of the facts.

"Kirijo Mitsuru, with the help of Yamagishi Fuuka, managed to find several documents dealing with your birth, I mean...our birth. I didn't want to believe it and I'm still dealing with it but you can't argue with such solid evidence that they presented. Your journal made them realize they didn't know much about you so they started investigating a lot of stuff about your past because they wanted to know more about the guy that sacrificed everything to save the world," Hamuko spoke softly and in the end was shaking. She was so nervous, what if he rejected her as his sister? Could this projection even understand what she was going through? For some reason...even though she was still trying to accept the fact that she had a brother...she couldn't stand the thought of being denied by him. Maybe she had accepted it...

Minato nodded, "So you're my twin sister." He repeated the line a couple times as if he was trying to get it to sink in. Then another thought seemed to cross his mind. "I had family the whole time and never knew...I had such stupid thoughts too. Thinking, 'If my family won't look for me then I don't need to know them.' I could have probably found you if I had just…"

"That's impossible," Hamuko interrupted him, not wanting him to get angry at himself. It was much more complicated than that. "You don't understand; our parents were employed by the Kirijo Group. They deceived our parents to believe that I had died at birth, and as far as the world is concerned, I was. So you might have found out that you had a twin sister, but in the end you also would have found the death certificate with the name Arisato Minako. However the same day I was given the name Takahashi Hamuko and as soon as they were able they shipped me out to a different Kirijo Group Research facility. Most of the documentation was hand written...and there were only some cryptic references that something might have happened in the Kirijo Group database."

"I see…so that means Mitsuru and Fuuka had to dive quite deep into the Kirijo Group database. That eventually led them to finding those odd exchanges that were around my birth and they were able to find hand written documentations...no doubt from the Kirijo Group's Archive. That's how it eventually led them to you," Minato quickly pieced it together. Hamuko was definitely impressed by her brothers reasoning skills. Despite what she had just told him about he was focused and taking the information in stride. It was better than Hamuko herself...who had remained skeptical up until this point. Now in just this short time with him in this Sea of Unconscious...she wanted to believe it...no, she did believe it. Minato was her twin brother. Everything inside of her was telling her that it was the truth.

"Still...despite all of that, it doesn't explain how I came here. Yukari-san told me they had been here before the Great Seal before, when they were trapped in something called the Abyss of Time," Hamuko shook her head looking at her brother. He looked to be deep in thought. She wondered if they looked similar in any way. As twins they would have some similarities wouldn't they? Well obviously they weren't identical twins but she wanted to feel like they had something they shared. His hair and eyes were blue…and Hamuko was different on both counts there. Her eyes were crimson and hair was brown. Maybe the shape of their nose was similar or maybe the shape of their eyes…she couldn't tell it wasn't like she spent a lot of time memorizing her own appearance.

"The Abyss of Time," Minato repeated softly. "That was a bit different...they were connected to the Great Seal but they were never actually here. Yet they were able defeat Erebus at that time regardless. Well...to temporarily put it to sleep. But you came here because you were meant to see me," Minato said simply. "Some events in our lives are fated to occur. However it's up to us how we react to such events."

"How very fortune teller like of you," Hamuko scrunched her nose. It made Minato laugh and that brought a smile to Hamuko's face. It was the first time she had heard him laugh. She wanted to hear more of it.

"It sounds like they've been telling you all about me. I'm glad that at the very least you'll know about the good part of my life," Minato turned away from her and looked up at the Seal, more specifically the statue of himself. "If it wasn't for the good part of my life then I don't think any of us would be here, and we wouldn't even be talking right now.

"You have a daughter," Hamuko found herself blurting out suddenly and then quickly slapped her hands over her mouth. She instantly regretted it the moment it had left her. Minato turned to her quickly with a look of shock…maybe even anger. Both feelings she wouldn't be surprised about. Hamuko wasn't even sure why she had said it. Maybe it was because she wanted to make sure he knew it.

"A daughter? You mean…Yukari was…" Minato's voice fell flat, the amount of thoughts that was rushing through him…Hamuko couldn't imagine. But Hamuko also didn't want him to go on without know about her.

"September seventeenth, your daughter was born. She'll be six months old in just five days from now," Hamuko decided to take a more direct approach and walked up to her brother, placing her hand up to his chest. "Her name is Arisato Kokoro, the name you picked for her. She's so beautiful Minato." Hamuko put her forehead on his shoulder. "It isn't fair...I barely know anything about you...but I got to see your daughter before you even knew she existed. You saved the world but you are here chained to a door. And Yukari-san...she remains loyal only to you. She could have used her own name or something else for your daughter...but she kept your family name...and gave her the name that you had wanted. She misses you more than you know."

"When I was facing Nyx...there was a moment in which I was given a choice. And it was after I had finally saw the real truth of what was happening and what the real enemy was," Minato spoke softly. "I don't regret the choice I made...if anything what you've told me only reaffirms that I made the correct choice."

"But...now we'll never meet...not really anyway," Hamuko muttered.

"Yes, but we'll always have our dreams...right?" Minato whispered.

She stepped back, "So it was you in my dreams...all these years?"

He nodded, "They always baffled me...mostly because I had never met a girl like you before. Plus you liked to rant about things going on in your life so I thought I was just making it up. That it all was a dream...but right now...its obvious that wasn't the case. It makes you wonder if they've done any research on twins when it comes to Shadows and Persona's."

"Do you think that's what it is? Because we're twins and both had the potential for Persona that we were able to connect that way?" Hamuko asked but then she felt something physically tugging at her. Instinctively she knew what this was...she was waking up. She felt a sense of panic rising in her, she needed to keep talking to him. There was so much more to tell him and talk about.

"It seems our time together is up," Minato smiled although Hamuko knew he did not want this to end either. The pull was getting stronger. "The real world is calling for you."

It was beginning to physically pull her away, but Minato just gave her a comforting look, like it would be okay. But Hamuko didn't feel that way, "No, Onii-chan!" She yelled out. It was her brother! Without a doubt she knew that it was true...now more than ever. She firmly believe he was right. They could share dreams and connect even now because they weren't just siblings but twin siblings. Because of that it had to be possible that even their power was somewhat connected. She wanted to stay here and keep talking...to get to know her brother. "I don't want to go yet!" Hamuko found herself screaming and didn't notice the tears streaming down her face.

"Nee-chan, I am sure we will see each other again. We've met many times in this realm, haven't we?" Minato began to dissipate into the blue smoke and go back into the Great Seal. The Great Seal was leaving her view as Hamuko was dragged back into the fog until she could no longer see anything at all.

March 13th, 2011 / Early Morning

Hamuko sprung up fast and gasped for air, she felt like she had just had a rough fight. The truth of it was...she had fought hard to stay in her dreams with her brother. Yes...her brother...twin brother.

She was dizzy for a moment as she caught her breath and steadied herself with her left hand while holding her head with her right. She was sure that what had happened was a dream, but it was something real that had happened. There was no way she would be able to dream such a thing in such vivid detail or have learned about why her brother had sacrificed his life. And that he firmly believed in what he had done.

"Onii-chan…" she said in a whisper her breathing now back to normal. Now the events of her dream were playing much more clearly than before. She really had called him Onii-chan. And he had smiled at her and in returned called her Nee-chan. She didn't know why it felt so right. But if she wanted to get technical, they were twins so maybe she should have called him Oniisama or something. Hamuko wiped away her tears that had fallen down her cheeks and more than likely had been falling since before she had woken up. She could remember her desperation of wanting to stay there in the Sea of Unconscious...all so she could talk to him further. But she was sure she would be able to see him again in her dreams. She got to her feet and slowly made her way over to the window. "Onii-chan…he's so alone there."

"Erebus is the collective human wish for the world to end. And it will most likely never go away." Her brother's words came easily to her. That meant as long as Erebus existed he would have to stay as the Great Seal. Was there no way to permanently destroy Erebus? Then he wouldn't have to be the seal and…and what? She could have her brother? That was such a stupid thought, they said he was dead and…but was he? She had seen him…his soul was in the Great Seal which meant he was basically alive right?

She shook her head, what was she thinking? Her twin was gone, right? But if there was a chance, maybe she could see him again. Hamuko was surprised by her own feelings on this. The thought of having family lingered ever so strongly in her mind. There was no doubt to what the driving force behind her thoughts was. She knew he was gone but a part of her heart refused to give in to the idea that he was truly gone. But she also realized it might have to do with the fact that she had never physically met him...and she never would.

Maybe she would be able to reach him again in her dreams. It wasn't the most sure fire way to reach him but it was better than thinking she would never see her brother again. Besides...if they were able to connect tonight after he had become the Great Seal...then what would stop them from connecting again?

She got to her feet and took a moment to stretch. It had been a few days, she had better head to the dorm and grab some more of her clothes and maybe do some laundry. It had been way too long since she had left the Inoto Inn. She put on the clothes she had been wearing during the Pseudo Dark hour and then pulled out her mp3 player that Sayane had picked up for her from the dorm yesterday and slipped on her earphones. The small cylinder shaped player hung in front of her like a necklace dangling in the middle of her chest as she opened the door to her room and stepped out.

Hamuko pressed play on the player and the earphones welcomed the sound that came to them. The song from one of her favorite artist filled her ears. This song was from Risette, one of the most popular pop idols at the moment. She found it amusing that the girl was actually a couple years younger than Hamuko but that didn't stop her enjoyment of her voice. Though honestly she enjoyed Risette's earlier stuff...her latest stuff...just seemed to have something missing. Then again Hamuko wasn't an expert, someone with more music experience could probably tell. But Hamuko still enjoyed it.

Once to the lobby she stopped only for a moment to see if anyone was around but seeing no one she quickly left. She pulled out her cell and scrolled to the newest number added to it, Takeba Yukari. She quickly sent her a mail, Went to my dorm to get clothes and do some laundry. Be back tonight. She sent it away and was already out the door and heading down the street.

"Hamuko-chan!" the familiar raven haired girl appeared and jumped at Hamuko. She was definitely happy to see Sayane...she needed something familiar right now.

Taken only a little by surprise, Hamuko, quickly adjusted and gave a hug to her kohai. She pulled her left earphone off but left the other on. "Saya-chan, so great to see you."

"Where you off to, Hamuko-chan?" she asked taking her usual place at Hamuko's right side. The two of them started walking down the street together. This was a normal activity they had done hundreds of times...usually walking home from school, or walking to school. Sayane would be off just to her right and would talk with her, helping her take her mind off of things that didn't matter. And mostly Sayane put a smile on her face, which Hamuko was smiling now.

"Just heading back to the dorms, I need to grab some clothes and maybe do some laundry," Hamuko shrugged. "Sooooo…how is Akira-san?" She was quick to change the subject. "I noticed you two have gotten a lot cozier as of late." Well the two had always been close...Hamuko had just been wondering when it would elevate to the next logical state.

Sayane turned a bright red. "It's only natural right? I mean senpai did save me and…"

"So did you confess yet?" Hamuko grinned jumping right onto the matter, and knowing Sayane would immediately react.

"I..why…um…" Clearly flustered, Sayane couldn't even form a coherent sentence and was turning to a nice shade of red. Hamuko couldn't help but giggle.

"Relax, Saya-chan. Besides you can't honestly think you were able to hide the fact that you like him from me do you?" Hamuko teased her as the rounded a corner. Straight down this road led right to the dormitory. That gave her more than enough time to squeeze Sayane for details. "Knowing Saya-chan you probably blurted it out without even thinking."

Hamuko could have sworn Sayane's head was going to explode with how red she turned. But Sayane slowly nodded her head in confirmation of Hamuko's suspicion. She couldn't have been any happier for her best friend.

"That's great Saya-chan! You were finally able to tell him," Hamuko giggled up a storm, this truly was a great turn of events. The two of them had been in a stalemate for the last year even though there was clearly chemistry between them in Hamuko's eyes. The two of them fit together rather nicely...Akira was a calm, collected individual that looked at things logically, but Sayane was a girl who was ruled by her heart, and somewhat of a Mother hen...but it would be a great mistake to ever make her angry. However, when the two were together they just had a way of...revolving around each other without even noticing. Hamuko had noticed, and had only wished for them to be happy ever since.

"You aren't mad?" Sayane asked finally speaking. The question caught her off guard.

"Why would I be mad? I've been shipping my Akira and Sayane flag since I first saw you two together," Hamuko tilted her head and smiled. There had never been a doubt in her mind that the two fit together.

"But I always saw you with Senpai so I thought…" she was playing with the hem of her shirt and looking away from Hamuko. When she realized what Sayane was really saying she couldn't help herself. "Wait…you thought I liked Akira-san?" Hamuko actually laughed. "No way."

"Why not? He's kind, gentle and always respectful…"

"He also tells terrible jokes and looks like he has a perpetual frown on his face. Look it isn't like that between me and Akira-san. He's just a really good friend of mine. But I could never look at him like…well like you do," Hamuko quickly defended her position.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to accuse you," Sayane said so quickly that Hamuko took a moment to realize what she had said. This was obviously important to Sayane, she had never really said anything accusatory to anyone before.

Hamuko just waved it off, "Forget that, what did he say when you confessed?"

"He was surprised but…"

"But…" Hamuko pressed Sayane for more knowing that it was hard for her to say but she wanted to tease her a little bit.

"He told me he liked me too," Sayane was still a bright red. Hamuko was starting to wonder if it was normal for a blush to turn that red.

"Congratulations! It's about time," Hamuko laughed and put her right arm around Sayane in a half hug as they walked. "We should celebrate."

"Thanks, Hamuko-chan," Sayane finally smiled. Hamuko increased her pace and broke a few steps ahead of Sayane. "Did you learn more about your brother?"

Hamuko was glad that for at least a little while the topic had been on more lighthearted things…at least for Hamuko. The topic of her brother was still hard for her to fathom. Still she had learned quite a few things...horrible truths that she could do nothing about, "Yeah, you know those Shadows we faced? Well from what I've read and heard he's defeated hundreds if not thousands of them." Hamuko linked her hands behind her back and came to a stop. She looked up into the clear blue sky. Strangely enough the moon could be seen hanging in the morning sky.

"He must have been incredibly strong," Sayane commented stopping next to Hamuko.

Hamuko needed to tell her the truth of her feelings...she was the only one she felt she could tell. "I'm scared, Saya-chan. All my life I thought I was alone. I did my best to try and be a happy and normal girl so no one would ever be worried about me. I didn't want to be pitied, but in the end I guess I became alone. It was just easier for me to go through life that way. I can't say any of my foster parents cared about me, and after all this time it turns out that my real parents had died without knowing that their daughter had been taken from them. And then my brother most likely had it worse off than I did. No...I know that he did," Hamuko cheeks seem to be quickly overtaken with tears. "And yet after all this time and everything that has happened the only way I can learn about any of them is through written words and stories by the people that had lived with him and loved him. My brother is gone and I had only been a couple train stops away from where he was when he was alive. I…I could have seen him! He was so close yet...I never got to meet him. I'll never get to know him...Onii-chan..."

Sayane pulled Hamuko into her arms. "I'm so sorry, Hamuko-chan." Everything she had been keeping in...all these emotions she had been unable to express...it was like the opening of a dam.

"Onii-chan…I want my onii-chan!" Hamuko felt the pressure of all that she had learned come to its climax and the emotion overwhelmed her. She had been fine so long by herself in her life, but to learn that all that time she could have been with a brother…one that seemed to be loved by many and influenced so many people. She could feel the love they had for him. But Hamuko wanted to experience that too. But she never would. And she hated it...she hated every second of it.

March 13th, 2011 / Afternoon

After some time had passed, Hamuko was able to settle down and make the rest of the way to the dorm with Sayane by her side. The young kohai must have felt that she needed to stay with her or Hamuko would fall apart. For the most part, Hamuko believed Sayane was right. Hamuko loaded up her laundry and headed down to the laundry room, Sayane stayed with her the whole time. Now they sat with little to do as the laundry wouldn't be done for about fifty minutes.

"Should we play cards or something?" Hamuko asked Sayane.

"I got a better idea," a voice entered the laundry room. Hamako looked up to see Yukari. She held the blue leather bound book in her hands. "I hope you don't mind me being here. I looked up the dorm and one of the girls in the lobby said you were down here."

"No, I'm glad you came by. I wasn't sure how long I could keep fooling myself into thinking I didn't want to read more," Hamuko quickly responded. Maybe too quick…just what was wrong with her? Not too long ago she hadn't known she even had a brother but now her feelings were different. She wanted to know every tiny bit about her twin named Arisato Minato.

"Also I picked up another stranger," Yukari said as she moved.

Akira walked in, "Hey guys."

"Akira-san, it's a good thing you came by. Can't have a proper celebration if one of the happy couple isn't here," Hamuko let a huge grin appear on her face.

Akira laughed, although Hamuko know it was a cover up to hide his embarrassment. "I guess now is as good as any."

"Congratulations," Yukari said to Akira and then looked to Sayane. "I'm sure you're really happy."

Sayane nodded her head; she was not one able to speak in this kind of situation. If it was just Hamuko, she could probably pull it out of Sayane and get her to relax a bit but Yukari was still relatively new to their lives.

"Oh, where is Kokoro-chan?" Hamuko quickly switched topics to ease Sayane.

"Mitsuru is taking care of her now. I think she really enjoys it although she is a bit awkward as she doesn't really understand what to do most of the time. Still her maids are there to help her so she couldn't be in safer hands," Yukari seemed to have been a lot in her life. Hamuko could tell from what the journal had spoken about that Mitsuru and Yukari had not always been as close as they were now. However, there was obviously an event that had changed all of that.

"Alright we have forty-eight minutes left, where did we last leave off?" Hamuko knew she was impatient but Yukari just gave a knowing smile.

"We're about to introduce another member to SEES. His name is Aragaki Shinjiro…"

September 2nd, 2009 / After School

"Sorry it took so long, senpai. Hidetoshi-kun tried to rope me into a Student Council meeting," Minato said as he approached Akihiko. It had just felt like one of those kinds of days. It been so odd to be back in school after the summer break had seemed so incredibly long. Since the Full Moon things seemed to be going by fast. First Koromaru joined the team…a dog of all things. Not that it bothered Minato, he was well aware of how smart dogs could be. He was more surprised about how well the dog was capable of fighting once he was able to properly summon his Persona. It meant that Koromaru's ego had to be developed enough to have a Persona. That meant he was a genius among canines to say the least.

The latest and newest member of the team was Amada Ken. An elementary student that had been living in the dorm already during the summer. While they knew Amada had the potential to be a Persona user it wasn't until Ikutsuki had ran a few test that apparently confirmed it. So only a few short days ago he had officially joined SEES as per Ikutsuki. Minato was not thrilled having such a young kid on the team. Except he could not deny the fighting ability of Amada. He used a spear as a means to make up for his lack of height, and to greater effect than Minato thought he would. Begrudgingly Minato had no choice but to accept him as a valuable asset to the team.

"No worries. I know this is sudden but I have something to do, and I want you to come with me," Akihiko held a grim look on his face. Minato furrowed his brows; normally he'd get annoyed by being told what to do especially on a day he should have been making progress on a social link. Something about this felt important though. It wasn't everyday his senpai called him out to go somewhere with him. Although he wondered why Akihiko was holding onto a briefcase.

"Anything I should know?" Minato asked as the two of them started walking.

"We're going to get someone. An old member of SEES. He hasn't been with us for a while but he'll come back now," Akihiko looked like he didn't' want to say anymore. But Minato had noticed that his senpai had been acting odd since Ken had joined SEES. If this old member used to be a part of SEES then no doubt the case Akihiko had was the evoker and SEES armband.

"Alright, lead the way," Minato fell in step alongside Akihiko.

Before long they boarded the train and made their way over to Iwatodai. Before long they were standing in front of Hagakure. A familiar figure stepped out and immediately spotted them. He angrily walked towards the two of them.

"You're getting on my nerves," the man in the beanie said.

"The situation has changed. Sorry, but I'm not asking," Akihiko's tone was all business; it seemed to catch the other guy off guard. Akihiko held up the briefcase. "This belongs to you. We have a new enemy. They're Persona-users like us."

This didn't seem to bother the guy at all, "Yeah, so what?" He turned and began to walk away.

"There's more. Amada Ken has joined our team," Akihiko's words stopped the other guy dead in his tracks. He quickly turned back around.

"What the hell are you talking about?" the guy was clearly upset. Minato couldn't help but notice this connection.

"He's now a Persona-user," Minato interjected feeling like he had just been along for the ride to help reinforce the pressure onto this guy who he didn't even know the name of. Sure he had been helped by him before but he never got his name. "Ikutsuki is the one that brought him aboard."

The guy just stood there for a long moment and swore under his breath. "Let me ask you one thing. Was it his decision to join SEES?"

"Yeah, he volunteered," Akihiko confirmed it.

"I see," the guy then shook his head. "Then count me in."

"I don't know whatever it is that happened but if you're coming to look out for Ken-kun then I welcome it," Minato looked at the returning member of SEES. "I'm Arisato Minato."

"Aragaki Shinjiro." He said curtly. "So you're the one leading the operations now?"

"Yeah, I'm guessing Akihiko-senpai has said as much to you." Minato said.

"He said some shit about you being able to switch Persona's. Is that true?" Shinjiro looked at him suspiciously.

"Yeah, it's true," Minato knew that question would be asked eventually. He frowned remembering having to explain to Koromaru that he was able to do it. As weird as it had been to explain it to a dog, he was more concerned over the fact that he was sure Koromaru had followed his every word.

"If you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you fighting for?" Shinjiro suddenly asked.

That was a complicated question, but a simple answer, "There is someone I want to protect." Minato hardly felt like it was that simple anymore. There were several people he wanted to protect and he knew that number would grow significantly as they drew closer to the supposed end of their fight with the Shadows.

"Is that so?" Shinjiro walked passed Minato. "Well, you do your thing; I'll do mine. Just know that I'll have your back from now on."

Shinjiro took the briefcase from Akihiko and then started walking off. "Is my room still vacant?" Akihiko nodded as the two walked away.

Minato walked over to the railing and looked out into the sky. "Another new member? He seems reliable but…I can't shake the feeling that something is about to happen."

Author's Note

So...I'm just going to say that no...Shinjiro does not have that big of a role in this fanfiction...why? Well because he's dead, and even the flashback portion he is not around for very long because Minato had very little interactions with him. I'm not saying you won't see him again later, but don't expect some weird explanation or whatever that brings him back...that isn't what I'm trying to do here. Anyway let's talk more about this chapter.

Most of this happens in present day...well sorta. It's kinda hard to know what or when you are within the Sea of Unconscious as it is a place that exists with...and also outside of time. It's strange and typical Persona weirdness that most of us have come to love. There is some foreshadowing in this chapter referencing to later events...so I hope you enjoy it.

Also this chapter got a massive overhaul and a large portion of it has been re-written entirely. Also the Minato and Hamuko section got expanded quite a bit compared to the original version.

Welp, that is it for today. I will see you tomorrow with Chapter 14.