CHAPTER 18 / Self-Deception

February 20th, 2010

Dear Yukari,

I remember waking up the day after the Dark Hour had ended. It was one of the most depressing moments I feel I had ever experienced. Akihiko and Mitsuru treated me like a stranger. Yet in their eyes I could see that part of them that knew they were wrong. I had to wonder why I remembered out of everyone; perhaps it was because it was me that ultimately brought about the end of the Dark Hour. I could never forget that moment, regardless of what kind of power tried to influence me.

When I first saw you that morning, you greeted me with a kiss and for a moment I thought that maybe you had remembered but that hope quickly died. And I think that baffled me more than the others. Because of your Father's involvement I thought you would have remembered. I was sure that you had a copy of the video your Father made on your laptop, I thought that eventually you might stumble upon it and remember but it never happened.

So I can't go just yet. I have to finish this journal. I know you want to know the whole truth about us. Why we're together and why our love is as deep as it is. The parts that bound us together are linked to the Dark Hour and the ordeals we faced together. You need to remember all of it, especially the parts where we struggled the most.

Love Always,
Arisato Minato

March 14th, 2011 / Evening

"We will be discussing tonight's operation but first we need to talk about Takahashi's involvement," Mitsuru sat at the head of the table with all of SEES and Hamuko sitting on either side of the long table. Hamuko felt that the group of SEES had essentially taken over portions of the Inoto Inn considering how much they had been using of it. It wasn't a bad thing, it was the off season so the Inn was more than happy for the business.

"What's to discuss? She has to go. This is about her family after all," Junpei was the first to speak up before Hamuko could object to the thought of being left behind.

"I'm sorry, it seems I didn't clarify myself enough," Mitsuru smiled. "I'm moving to welcome Takahashi as a full member of SEES. And I believe you should have this." She stood up and put a silver briefcase on the table and slid them down to Hamuko.

She hesitated only for a moment before she moved closer to the briefcase and then opened it. Inside she saw the silver gun the rest of them carried and a red armband that had SEES written on it. Hamuko looked up to Mitsuru. Her thoughts jumped to a conclusion.

"These effects belong to you. They were your brothers. I felt it was only natural that you should have them as well," Mitsuru voice spoke with an affection that Hamuko wasn't used to. And it was just as she had expected...objects that belonged to her Brother.

She looked inside and noticed a holster and effects that also seemed to have belonged to her twin, "These were his?" She picked up the gun, she knew it was called an evoker and it was how the others summoned their Persona. "Wait, how was I able to summon my Persona without one of these anyway?" She had been curious about this fact for a while after all.

"In theory an evoker is not needed to summon your Persona, however it takes a lot of concentration and can tire you out quite quickly," Mitsuru explained. "My first summoning was without an evoker, and some of the others here have been able to do the same. It seems that your situation and possibly the things you were subjected to could be a contributing factor. It might have given you a natural ability to summon it without as much strain as we need. However, I still felt the need to give you this."

"So maybe I'll be able to keep my stamina up longer?" Hamuko asked to which Mitsuru gave a nod in response. Summoning her Persona had gotten easier the more she did it, but she was always running out of steam a lot faster than the others. And she felt a physical strain every time she summoned them. "Thank you."

"Is anyone opposed to Takahashi joining us?" Mitsuru looked around the room.

"As long as she wants to, I'm all for it," Akihiko said.

The others all looked to Hamuko. All these people had been with and fought alongside her brother and now they were asking her to fight with them as well. There was nothing to think about here, "I'll do it. Plus I want to get to the bottom of this, not just for my sake, but for Onii-chan's as well."

"Welcome aboard," Yukari said from next to her. The rest of them all gave her the same sentiments and Hamuko found herself smiling as a result.

"Now for the next subject of our meeting. Tonight we will be infiltrating a Kirijo Lab that was run under the Hospital that we first went to when arriving in Inoto. There is a high probability that there will be Shadows in the Lab as there are no records showing of the disposal or removal of the ones that had been brought there for the experiments being conducted. So I believe that Takahashi should lead the assault group in case of a Shadow attack," Mitsuru's suggestion definitely drew in everyone's attention.

"Wait, Mitsuru. She is still relatively new against fighting Shadows. Are you sure about this?" Akihiko was definitely concerned.

"It does seem like a bit much, Mitsuru-san," Yukari added.

"But this is linked to her past. She deserves to be there, and she is able to switch Personas just like her brother. She can set the pace of the battles and we'll be there to back her up either way. She's already proven to all of us that she is capable of keeping up with us in a fight and she will only continue to improve her powers the more fights she is in. Plus I…" Mitsuru suddenly lost steam and got quiet. "…I know that Arisato is watching us. One way or another."

Hamuko didn't know what to say. The thing was Mitsuru was right. Her brother had been watching and had even helped her once. She wasn't sure how he was able to but the rules of the sea of unconscious and the abilities of her brother were still unknown to her. She was sure that even the other SEES members wouldn't be able to provide any answers. Either way she would need to make time to go to the Velvet Room before they left to the Hospital. She only hoped that the door she had found on the way to the Dormitory before would still be there.

"Well, we're doing all this for Minato right?" Junpei spoke up with a grin. "We already found his twin sister, I'm sure we can learn more by hunting down this Yoshimitsu."

"Junpei's right," Akihiko spoke up this time. "It's obvious that he was looking for more in the Arisato family line. Plus maybe we can find out if there is something special about his family line."

"It's odd isn't it? Before we were told that it was because he had death sealed inside him that he gained his special ability to have multiple Personas. But it doesn't look that it was true," Ken added.

"Wait, could Aigis have been able to seal Death inside of him because of his family line?" Yukari suggested.

"I cannot confirm that. His parents did not experience the Dark Hour as he did. As researchers they gained their way into the Dark Hour just as Ikutsuki had. Minato experienced it because of his natural ability," Aigis shook her head.

"What if the trait was regressive?" Hamuko couldn't stay out of this conversation. Plus...the possibility that it was related to their family line...was there not any research done based on family lines. "It might have skipped my parents but was passed on to the two of us. But that doesn't explain how my family line would be of interest to a researcher."

"Then it must go back further in your family line. Somewhere along the way it was noticed, perhaps when the Kirijo Group was still part of the Nanjo Group," Mitsuru seemed to think that this was the correct assumption. "It means it could go back two or three generations back. Perhaps even longer for all we know. Unfortunately I'm not sure I can get any information from the Nanjo Group."

"Then let us focus on what we can acquire," Aigis spoke and everyone nodded.

"Yes, let us stop the speculation for now. We'll gather to infiltrate the facility at ten o'clock. Until then please ready yourselves for battle," Mitsuru said, and then the meeting was over.

Hamuko felt that this was an important step for her to take. First she needed to go to the Velvet Room, and then perhaps after that she could read more from the journal with Yukari. She felt that knowing everything about her brother could only help her resolve on the things that were coming up.

October 25th, 2009 / Evening

It had been eight days since he had last talked to Yukari. He had even been so angry that he hadn't take her into Tartarus with him even once since then, and they had visited Tartarus three times in the last eight days. He knew he needed to take her for preparation of the Full Moon but he was still angry at her even now. No, actually he was sure it wasn't that. The truth was that he was in pain. The truth was that Yukari didn't give a damn about him. She only wanted someone she could get lost with. Someone that she could run away from her problems by using them. And the sad thing was, she didn't realize she was doing it.

Walking into the dorm, after going out with Yuko, he couldn't help but feel awkward when he saw Yukari on the couch. Everyone in the dorm had felt the change between the two of them. And how could you not considering how they had been acting before that? More than that, the rumor about their fight had spread through the school like wildfire. Because of it Minato had receded back to giving everyone the cold shoulder and drowning himself in his music. More guys have been approaching Yukari than usual, all it did was make Minato more aware of the fact that he was angry. And each time he saw it only caused him more pain.

"Greetings, Minato-san. The full moon will be here soon. I'm prepared to go to Tartarus at any time," Aigis greeted him, with an unavoidable fact.

Minato sighed, he couldn't get around the fact that the Full Moon was quickly approaching. Koromaru was barking right after as well and running up to Minato. He bent down and petted the dog on his head. Koromaru seemed to read his mood and nuzzled himself closer.

"Koromaru-san seems to be ready as well," Aigis added.

"You want to go to Tartarus tonight, Koro-chan?" Minato said as he scratched the dog behind his ear. The dog responded by licking Minato's right cheek. "I'll take that as a yes. Tell you what, let me double check out equipment and we'll go tonight." He got back to his feet and put his hands back into his pocket.

After all there was nothing else he could do to really prepare. And he had a feeling they were going to reach the barrier very soon. He hated to admit it but not having Yukari in the group was a hindrance because Minato had to take up the role as the main healer. Ken-kun could do it but he also had some powerful hitting attacks so Minato was giving the kid a chance to work as an assaulter so Minato took the support role. Yukari's main focus was healing...and along with her bow, she was just made the most sense as a supporter. She could keep her distance and still attack but also able to see the whole group and heal when she needed to. Ken-kun couldn't...he used a spear so he had to fight up close, meaning that there were plenty of times when he couldn't watch the group or know what was going on. Granted Fuuka did her best to supplement this by giving constant updates but Yukari was faster and more efficient as a healer overall.

He honestly had no idea how to deal with Yukari at the moment. Igor had once warned him about social links reversing and losing the power of that link as a result. But that actually hadn't happened with Yukari which only told him that Yukari had realized she was at fault. He was trying not to read into it too much...but that had to mean that the relationship was still salvageable...right?

Minato got up to his feet and looked over to Fuuka, "Yamagishi. We're going to head to Tartarus tonight so make sure everyone knows."

"I'll make sure they know, Arisato-kun," Fuuka said looking up to him from her laptop.

Minato's eyes lingered on Yukari, for a moment, she hadn't even acknowledged his presence since he entered the dorm. She was sitting across from Fuuka then let out a long sigh and headed up the stairs. Knowing Yukari...she couldn't handle looking at him...just as she had done in the past she avoided the problem when there were others around.

He made his way to the fourth floor and entered the command room. Mitsuru had allowed him to set up a more appropriate place for him to sharpen his swords and kept many of the other SEES's members' weapons there as well.

Pulling off his backpack, which he had actually forgotten he had on until looking at the weapons. He opened it and pulled out a large number of arrows. Two hundred and fifty of them to be exact. Kurosawa was able to get them in bulk but the downside was that the arrowheads had to be installed to each arrow after they arrived. Minato didn't mind that so much, he enjoyed the busy work especially when lately he had been getting more depressed.

In eight days since that fight he had realized just how much time he had been spending with Yukari. Her sudden absence from his everyday life had been hard to ignore. Often times in class he would simply stare at Yukari's back since she sat right in front of him. He missed seeing her smile and hearing her laugh. But he couldn't change the fact that the girl didn't feel anything for him. No...he was nothing more

He undid the bundle of arrows and brought over Yukari's quiver and sat on the couch in the command room. Taking out a box from his bag, it was the arrowheads that had been delivered earlier in the week, he had been waiting for the actual arrows to show up. These particular arrowheads were meant to be snapped into place, so it was a simple task of putting them on each arrow and then into the quiver. The quiver only had maybe a dozen arrows left from the last time she had used it. He'd been using the excuse that there was a lack of arrows to keep her out of Tartarus. He needed her to go in tonight, although it would probably be a rough excursion. The two hadn't even said more than a couple words since then. And who was to say how well she would take orders at this point.

A few minutes later he fell into a rhythm in time with the music he was listening to. He picked up an arrow, then a arrowhead, snapped it on and then into the quiver. Simple, fast and mind-numbing exercise that kept his mind occupied from other things.

So for a few minutes he didn't even notice that someone was sitting next to him until she reached across him to grab one of the arrows and an arrowhead to snap one together. He glanced seeing Yukari as she put the arrow in her quiver. Minato didn't say anything and instead continued to put them together, and so did she. He would not be the one to speak first.

The two worked in silence, only the music from his mp3 player could be heard other than the sound of them snapping the arrowheads onto the arrows. Minato felt the more at ease in this moment than he had been in days just by being close to her. She didn't have to say anything, but just be next to him. He had forgotten how comforting it was to just have her around. Minato didn't show it though, making sure he didn't accidentally touch her hand, although she was sitting close enough to him now that their legs were touching. And their arms would occasionally touch as well despite himself trying to prevent it. He couldn't help missing her...he loved her after all.

They continued that way for a long time, maybe an hour, possibly longer. They had finished more than half of the arrows before Yukari finally spoke.

"Can we talk?" Yukari asked, just loud enough so that Minato could hear her. He pulled his headphones off and turned off the mp3 player. He wasn't looking forward to this conversation.

"Sure," Minato said but didn't look at her; he simply picked up the next arrow. What would she do? Was she still going to run away from her problems and try to use him to forget them?

"I know you're still mad at me. And I don't blame you for it," Yukari's voice told Minato how hard this was for her but Minato wasn't going to give her an easy way out. "But I do care for you, Minato."

"Are you sure about that?" Minato said with maybe more spite than he had intended. Or maybe that was just how much it truly affected him. So he couldn't stop himself from going a step further. "Do you want to break up?"

Her eyes widened realizing what he had said, "No, Minato. I don't want that." Yukari was suddenly in a panic...did she not realize how strongly he felt about this? About how he refused to be an escape for her?

"Do you even know what you're doing?" Minato side glanced at her as he put another arrow in the quiver. His anger made it easy to keep his eyes cold, and easily conveyed those emotions when he looked at her. "You said you wouldn't run away from your problems. That people that did that were the worst, right?"

She nodded and she already had to know what he was about to say.

"What do you think you've been doing when you're with me? You clam up whenever the topic of your Mother comes up. And I always know when she's called or texted you because then you get needy. You make me get you something or kiss me or get overly affectionate, all so you can forget about your damn problems," Minato couldn't help it, he needed to say all this. He couldn't hold anything back anymore like he had been. It was beyond that point now. Yukari needed to see the whole truth, one way or another. Even if it meant breaking the social link. "You don't actually care that it is me that is there for you."

"No, I do care. I do!" Yukari was shaking next to him. She went to grab his arm but he instead moved away from her, denying her physical contact with him. "Remember how I took care of you when you got sick?"

"Wasn't that because you felt you owed me?" Minato knew what he was saying was painful, but he needed her to see what she was doing. No matter how painful it was for him. Every word he said cut himself deep because he knew he was pushing her away. He truly did love her...wanted to be with her...but only if she could see him...only if she could be honest with herself. "You felt obligated to help me. And you felt you were the only one able to as my girlfriend."

"How can you say this? Why don't you believe me?" Yukari cried, but he couldn't trust her words.

"Why are you lying to me?" Minato growled in response. "Your Mother is reaching out to you now, and you want to avoid it. Do you know why? I will tell you why."

"Minato I…"

He cut her off turning to her, "You're pissed because your Mother has made peace with your Father's death, while you haven't. And instead of talking to your Mother, you cast her aside because she wasn't the Mother that you wanted. Well guess what, you don't have a choice as to who your Mother is! The truth is when your Father died your Mother was completely devastated. What really happened is that your Mother was most likely taken advantage of by some guy but for that time your Mother found a way to forget the pain she was going through. So before long she was sleeping around and dating guy after guy. It was easier for her to forget that her Husband was dead. You don't know what happened in her head because you didn't take the fucking time to ask her."

Minato got to his feet, Yukari said nothing. But he was hardly done talking just yet. "And worst of all, her own daughter abandoned her adding to her pain. But you know what has happened lately? While you stand there and bitch about how your Mom suddenly wants you back in her life, you're making an assumption that she wanted you out of her life to begin with. But wasn't that just you? Instead of facing that, you instead got lost in our relationship. Avoiding calls from your Mother and instead started throwing yourself at me, trying to force me to be your savior. To take away all this pain that you think will happen by seeing your Mother."

He kept his back to her as he continued to speak the rest of what had never been said to her. "Then you realized how dependent you were becoming of me, so you forcefully tried to take on something on your own, that you knew you shouldn't have. And then you wanted to push me away like all of this shit was my fault, avoiding your own damn guilt in all of this. It's you. You're the one that has been running away! You're Mother has been trying so hard to reconcile with you and you're the one that refuses to face it. Did you ever think that maybe this guy she wants to marry is the reason she has turned around? This could be a chance for your Mother to be happy again. But no, this is all about you! If your Mother gets married then the truth of reality may be too much for you to handle. Let me spell it out for you. Your Father is dead, Yukari! Just like my parents. And there is no way we can ever get them back!" Minato walked around the table but Yukari grabbed his shirt as he walked by. "Your Mother is still alive for God's sake. You have this chance to mend your relationship with a parent that you still have, and you're turning your back on her. Thinking that living off by yourself is the way you're going to be happy. That's a bunch of bullshit, Yukari. And I won't let you use me as a means to perpetuate that childish way of thinking. We aren't alike, Yukari. Unlike you, I was alone since my parents died and I didn't have a choice. You on the other hand forced that situation onto yourself. You choose to be alone when you abandoned your Mother."

Minato pulled her hand off his shirt and started heading to the exit from the command room. That was it; he had just thrown it all out into the air. Everything that no one ever had the capacity to say to Yukari's face, and here he had just dumped it all on her at once. Maybe not everyone knew the whole picture and even now Minato had taken some liberties on what he knew...but still...he refused to let it pass. He could have easily mended their relationship and let things go as it had before. But he couldn't, it didn't matter what was best for him...Yukari would never truly move forward without facing these things. So Minato took the hard road and wouldn't let her run from this. That's what made what happened next more surprising to him. He got to the door and put his hand on the doorknob but felt arms wrap around his midsection and accompanied by the feeling of the lovers social link strengthening. What the hell?

"I know…you're right," Yukari was in tears, her voice coming out hushed as it was hard for her to speak through her tears. She pushed the door shut and locked the door to the command room. She was determined not to let Minato leave. He didn't move and waited for her to continue. Finally she did, "I never thought about how Mom felt. I thought she should have grieved more…only I only saw her with new boyfriends almost every day. I never stopped to ask why she did it. I never talked to her…I just started to hate her. I was so consumed in my own suffering that I never noticed how much she had been. And then I…ended up doing the same thing as her."

Minato felt her trembling at his back. Her tears continuing to fall but she had more to say. Although she began to talk faster and her breath more ragged as she was on the edge of hyperventilating.

"It felt good being close to you, kissing you, holding you, being held by you. I could get so lost in you, and then I didn't have to think about anything at all. But I didn't consider your feelings, or even my own. I became more addicted to the physical aspect of our relationship that I didn't even care if we ended up sleeping together. No, I wanted it to happen so I…" Yukari cried even harder. "Then I blamed it all on you. So I tried to push you away…when it was me that was at fault. I…I wanted to…"

"You wanted to be hurt. To be punished," Minato said as he turned around and pulled Yukari into his arms.

"Don't leave me…God, don't leave me, please Minato. I'll do anything. I know I don't deserve you. But I can't do anything without you. You're the only one that sees me, the real me. I don't want to lose you. I know I messed up...but I'll make it up to you, I swear it," Yukari was begging against his chest. Her tears were beginning to dampen his shirt. Her voice dropped to a whisper against him, "I love you, Minato. I can't lose you."

Her words stopped Minato's thoughts for a moment. He wanted to trust her words. He had longed to hear her say that she loved him. But now that she had…she needed to know what it meant to say those words. They were not words you said casually. "Do you mean that? Do you know what kind of weight those words carry?"

"Please, believe me. Minato I love you, I really do. These last few days have been so painful. Seeing you but not being able to be next to you," Yukari looked up at him, finally looking into his eyes. "It hurt so much. Then seeing you with Yuko and the other girls make my chest tighten up and I can't breathe. All I could think about was what if I lost you? What if I had pushed you into the arms of another girl? I couldn't deal with that. I want to be with you. What can I do to make you believe me?"

He sighed, he had never seen her this emotional, he was sure that she was definitely telling the truth, but he couldn't dismiss that she was only saying this because of how emotional she was at the moment. To be accurate, he knew that she was telling the truth because some of the interactions he had enacted on purpose to see her reaction. Not exactly the greatest reason to do something...but he couldn't give in to her...she needed to know just how much what she had done had affected him, "Honestly, I'm not sure I can believe you right away."

She visibly trembled at his words, "No, no, no. Please you can't leave me. I'll do anything, Minato. Don't break up with me. You can't. I can't...I can't keep fighting without you...I..." Yukari had jumped to a natural conclusion. That he was going to push her away. He could see it in her motions as she desperately clung to him now, as if being disconnected from him would kill her.

"I never said I would," Minato leaned in and gently kissed her forehead which had an obvious and immediate soothing effect on Yukari.

"Good, that's good. Even if it's a little bit at a time, let me prove it to you," Yukari whispered against his chest. Her body slowly calming and her shaking stopped. The threat of him leaving her had now passed, so she was starting to relax.

"Alright," Minato said feeling her starting to ease her breathing. "No more running away, Yukari."

"I won't, I promise. I'll show you," Yukari's voice carried a determination that hadn't been there minutes ago.

Minato used his hand under her chin and directed her to look him in the eyes once more. Her eyes were red from the tears that were still falling, and cheeks wet from those same tears. He could definitely feel that his shirt was quite wet from the tears as well. Despite that he bent down and placed his lips on hers. He could taste her tears on her lips but kissed her regardless. The remaining tension in Yukari quickly evaporated. He did believe her, but he couldn't say that to her, not yet. He needed Yukari to prove it to him; it was the only real way she would finally be able to deal with the pain in her life.

This would be a significant step forward for Yukari. Minato had no family, but that didn't mean that his girlfriend couldn't get back in good terms with her own. He was sure that everything he said had been right. And maybe he knew too much about the situation but if he hadn't done what he did then Yukari would still be running away from the problem. And probably always would have.

Pulling away from the kiss he smiled at Yukari, she melted in his arms and a smile crossed her own face. "Now, you think you'll be ready to fight in Tartarus tonight?" Minato brought them back to the present. He needed to know as the evening time was slowly going by.

Yukari nodded, "I just need to collect myself and…" She looked at his shirt, realizing the state it was in. "I'm sorry that I…"

He waved it off with a chuckle, "It's just a shirt."

"Thanks, Minato. For not giving up on me," Yukari breathed.

"I'll never give up on you, I do love you, you know. But just know that it means you aren't allowed to give up either. And I'm not going to let you run from the truth anymore. I am not going to give you an easy way out," Minato said and saw the smile on Yukari that he had missed so much over the last eight days.

"I'll be doing my best from now on. It will be hard but…"

Minato interrupted her, "I never said you had to do it alone. I'll be with you every step of the way, Yukari. I'm your boyfriend after all."

March 14th, 2011 / Late Evening

Hamuko couldn't imagine how hard it had been for the two of them. Her brother had been afraid that Yukari would unknowingly continue to run from her problems. Despite the risk that he could lose Yukari he took a stand against the many walls that Yukari had built up around her heart over the years. And at the time Yukari had been overcome with a terrifying fear. She had decided to open her heart to Minato, but didn't realize that she was hurting both of them. The knowledge of what she had been doing frightened her by just how much she had become like her Mother. Minato made her question everything, for once in her life someone had stood up to her. He didn't pamper her or feed her lines that she wanted to hear. For a time, Yukari was convinced that Minato hated her. She had been lying to him, even if she didn't consciously realize it, it was the cold, hard, simple truth.

Watching Yukari as she cried had been sobering to Hamuko in a lot of ways. The thought of betraying Minato still had a significant effect on Yukari even though he was no longer alive. Hamuko couldn't imagine how much that the woman in front of her had loved her brother. She wasn't sure she ever could. She had never allowed herself to fall in love or get that close to anyone. Only Sayane and Akira were her only real friends. Could she ever fall for someone like that?

Yukari has said that she had probably fallen in love with her brother long before they ever started dating, but it was those very same lies that she had told herself for so long that tried to keep him at arm's length. Hamuko found it hard to look at Yukari when her face was filled with such regret. Yukari regretted not being honest with him from the beginning.

Her twin had such powerful impacts on all the members of SEES, and Yukari indicated that there were many other lives that he had touched in that year. It felt like her brother was on this ever rising pedestal that she could never hope to see the real him. But as much as he wrote about the events that had happened in the journal…there was still barely anything about her Brother himself. He dropped small tidbits about himself, but nothing ever any significant about his past, or who he was. So the higher the pedestal became, and the more intricate of an enigma seemed to shroud him.

It was the reason behind her drive to track down the scientist known as Yoshimitsu. He had knowledge that she was missing. Valuable information that could lead her to more of the Arisato family line and maybe more about her brother. That was why she was here now. Why she needed to learn more about her own past. And the childhood she had but didn't seem to remember.

They were all standing in front of the abandoned hospital, but this time Hamuko would be much better equipped to venture in. And she had back up. First she had returned to the Velvet Room and fused more Personas. The door seemed to be stationary, sitting in a back alley that led towards the dormitory. Igor had given her a key so that she could freely visit the Velvet Room when she needed the services. She had gotten significantly stronger in the battles that had happened at the dormitory, fighting all the way up to the roof by herself. Hamuko had also been able to increase the capacity of Persona she could hold. It had certainly been helpful. The most useful had been Tam Lin, the Persona given to her by her Brother. He had neglected to mention of a skill that he had fused Tam Lin with. A skill that allowed her to recover both her health and spirit, if it hadn't been for that she would have never made it all the way there on her own.

Hamuko had wanted to become strong in her own right but, she couldn't help but feel a sense of comfort and warmth that resonated in her when Tam Lin was equipped. She was sure it was because it came from her Brother. And it eased her nerves which was why she had Tam Lin selected in her mind at the moment. Hung from her waist was the belt and holster with the evoker she was given. It was the very same holster that had belonged to her Brother. Along with his armband on her left arm.

"How many times did Onii-chan wear these to fight against Shadows?" Hamuko asked nobody as she looked towards the abandoned hospital. "I hope you're watching me." She whispered as she double checked the evoker before placing it back in its holster.

"Hey, Hamuko-san! Got something for you," the one called Junpei came running up to her and presented her with a long weapon. It was a Naginata.

She took it and examined the blade, her eyes grew big, "This is the real thing. Did you get this Junpei-san?"

"No big deal," he shrugged.

"Yeah, since it was Mitsuru who actually sent you to go get it," Yukari said dryly as she appeared next to Hamuko.

"Hey, hey, you don't have to tell her that," Junpei clearly meant to impress her.

"But you did go and get this yourself. Thank you," Hamuko smiled and adding a small bow.

"You're welcome. Besides can't have our squad leader go in without a good weapon," Junpei grinned.

"You do realize she hasn't made a decision as to who she is taking yet, right?" Yukari crossed her arms. Hamuko laughed which caused the two of them to stare blankly at her.

"You two are such good friends," Hamuko giggled.

"Well Stupei isn't bad when he isn't trying to hit on the new girl," Yukari muttered.

"Hey, I thought you said you wouldn't call me that anymore. And I'm not hitting on her. I already have..." Junpei frowned.

"Takahashi, are you ready?" the redheaded leader of SEES approached Hamuko, and unknowingly interrupting Junpei.

"Yeah, I think I'm about as ready as I can be," she looked around to the others. "Although I'm not sure who I should take with me."

"Leave it to me," Fuuka's voice came to her telepathically. "I can show you all of their abilities the others currently have."

Hamuko closed her eyes and saw, "Isis, Trismegistus, Artemisia, Caesar, Athena, Kala-Nemi…Wow, you're all so powerful, but then again, after reading the journal I shouldn't be that surprised. I just didn't expect to be so behind you guys."

"Yes but what you lack in power and experience you make up with versatility. Just pick who would best compliment your current Personas. A group capable of handling any Shadow is important. The halls will be particularly tight to fight in, so just pick two of us to accompany you. The rest of us will follow but give you room to fight if need be," Mitsuru added.

"Alright…well…Yukari-san and…" Hamuko felt that Yukari was a good addition because of her healing abilities, and her wind magic packed a good punch from what she had seen. Plus Hamuko's healing skills were nowhere near as good as Yukari's. Still Hamuko had a wide variety of magic at her disposal now but lacked in physical attacks. She smiled and made her final decision, "Aigis-san."

"Alright, the rest of us will act as support. Let's get moving," Mitsuru ordered the rest of the team.

Hamuko stepped forward towards the hospital. This was a past in her life she didn't really remember. But it had been mentioned that all of them had forgotten all things related to the Dark Hour when her brother had saved the world. When the Dark Hour ended so did all memories associated with it. So it was highly possible that coming here may spark memories she had. That was the first step she had to take. Even if she was scared that what she found out here might change her forever. Either way...she would move forward.

Author's Note:

Going to rehash what I posted on deviantart on this chapter here.

If it is one thing that always bothered me about Yukari and her problem with her Mother...it was that she never asked why her Mother became that way. And some of the events in Yukari's social link always made it feel like not enough was said. Sure in the end Yukari finally did understand and she was on the road to patching things up with her Mother. But it seemed obvious that talking about the past was essentially...taboo among them. In other words...they might be on speaking terms again but there would always be unspoken words between the two that would always be holding them back from ever truly bonding again. Preventing them from being Mother and Daughter like they should be.

When Yukari blew up at the protagonist in her social link, it is one of those times in the game that doing what you think is right will actually land you a reversed link. So to avoid it, you have to do something else that maybe isn't what you would do. So I had Minato reverse it and get mad at her instead. To the point that the one in danger of losing something wasn't Minat but actually Yukari.

In the game, Yukari is the default love interest (As far as I know this is generally accepted but I'm sure people will disagree regardless). All events will default to Yukari if you don't have any social links with any of the other girls in the game (even Yukari herself). So out of all of them, the only girl that is affected by you actively avoiding her is Yukari. Granted my fan fiction shows that Yukari had built an unhealthy attachment to Minato by the time this happens. That is why this scene is pivotal and the turning point in their relationship. And boy does Minato give her an unrelenting onslaught of words she has to own up to. A lot of these things are what I always wanted to say to Yukari. She's my favorite character in Persona 3...but I've always wanted to force her to confront her real problems with her Mother. And also what she had been doing all this time was she was the one running away. I feel like at the end of her social link she has only begun to face those problems. And well...I am not letting her off the hook on this one.

On the other side, we have developments for Hamuko coming in the next chapter...and we'll be going in to the hospital to see exactly what happened to her as a child. And maybe have a surprise along the way.

Anyway thanks for reading as always. And I hope to see you in the next Chapter.