CHAPTER 19 / Call

February 20th, 2010

Dear Yukari,

I once promised you that I would tell you about the scars on my back. And I did, but to be honest I was never sure if I told you everything. To be honest, all those scars did not originate from just one place or incident. It's because of who I was when I was young. After my parents died, for a while I just stopped talking. Maybe it was shock that caused it, but I do know that the thought of talking to people just didn't seem like a good idea. Although I probably did more harm than good to myself.

My first foster parents were abusive. I was sped through the system, and apparently they had been important people that wanted to pass me off as their son. So they tried to train me to act a certain way. Despite the high expectations and the constant abuse I endured I was given top notch education as well as some private tutors for kendo and even was taught to play the piano. Weird, right? Can you imagine me sitting in front of a piano and playing it? Well as you can imagine I didn't live up to their unreasonable expectations and in just a year I was kicked back into the system.

I lived in an orphanage for a few weeks not that far from Iwatodai and Tatsumi Port Island in a small town called Inoto. There was where I received my biggest of the scars on my back. It wasn't inflicted by any person, but a result of my carelessness. I went to the nearby elementary school and befriended a girl with blood red eyes. That's really the only thing I remember about her. She was helping a small girl from some bullies and so I stepped in, trying to stupidly be the hero. I challenged them to a game, and if I won they would have to leave the girls alone from then on. If I lost then I would have to leave, and I could no longer help. They foolishly agreed which gave the girls more than enough time to get away. But the game had been to climb up as high as you could at the nearby construction site. You can imagine what happened. I fell and somehow managed to live, but not without falling against something that pierced my back open.

To be honest, I'm not sure how I lived from that. I think I should have died there. Soon after that I was back in the system again, so I never saw those girls again anyway. Then I was juggled around between foster parents…never seeming to be good enough or be what it was that they wanted for a son. It didn't matter to me, I wasn't really there long and I had no desire to pretend to be one like the orphanage matron had wanted me to do. There were often yelled words of hatred thrown at me. Sometimes it got violent and others it would just end in tears, but I, I rarely ever reacted in any of those situations. I had grown numb to it…and after time I just stopped caring at all.

There was nothing special about me or my existence, and the fact that I could never stay in one place for too long seemed to me to be all the proof I needed. I had given up on living, so when I had a chance to bypass the system altogether and move into a dorm for High School, you bet I took it. Even if it was at the city where my parents' had died and was the place that I had really last felt like someone who gave a damn to anyone.

Funny, considering when I came back to the place that should have been the place that held the most pain for me would be the place where I actually found myself. Not just that, but regained my confidence in myself and my life. I met you that very first night and that had triggered everything that followed. There is no point in going in to the details about my past before Iwatodai, there isn't much to tell. I hated my life before I came here. But all of what I went through led me to you. I could never tell you how happy that makes me.

Love Always,

Arisato Minato

March 14th, 2011 / Late Evening

The lights flickered down the long empty hallway. This place certainly seemed like it wouldn't lead to anywhere in particular, then again that was mostly the point. The facility was a secret to everyone but the team from Kirijo Group that had worked there. Only documents had given a vague reference to it until Fuuka had found something significantly more. It had given them a location and a code.

It was less of a hallway, and more like a concrete bunker that housed the main means to access, pipes, electrical and the back up generators. So every sound seemed to echo...but at the end of this particular path they were on only appeared to be maintenance access to the hospital's main water line. However, the document Fuuka had found indicated that it supposedly led to the underground facility that Hamuko had been experimented on. Where she had been thrown in, as a child, to the Shadows. They still weren't clear as to what the intention had been. One goal they had considered was that they had been attempting to force a natural awakening to Persona within the children. The other goal could possibly be to see specifically how Shadow reactions to the presence of children. Regardless of their goals, some of those children had died as a result. And more than likely it was a miracle that Hamuko had not been one of the victims as well. But just because she lived didn't make this any easier. Plus...she had no idea why she had even been here and had no recollection of ever being here. If she was really here till she was six...then shouldn't she remember something?

Approaching the end of the path they noticed a lone keypad to the right of the supposed maintenance access. She wondered how Kirijo had managed to get power back to the Hospital. But they wouldn't be able to get in otherwise but also there was a possibility that power had never actually been cut to the facility.

"What was the code again?" Hamuko turned back to Yukari and Aigis.

"The code is 4371," Aigis quickly said.

"Eesh, I really should remember these things," Hamuko sighed dramatically trying to hide how this whole situation was really affecting her.

"You're just nervous," Yukari soothed. "Coming here can't be easy."

"No, coming here is the easy part," Hamuko turned back to the keypad and punched in the numbers. The access hatch in front of them slid to the side easily enough. She glanced back over to Yukari. "I just realized that I could remember things from in here. And I'm not sure I want to. There could be a good reason I don't remember anything from here."

"You aren't alone, Hamuko. No matter what we find down here. We'll be here to support you," Yukari was quick to add.

Hamuko took a deep breath, "You're right."

A staircase was revealed behind the maintenance access that led further down. It was bright, and everything was encased in white...making it annoyingly white. Hamuko gripped her Naginata with a more solid grip and began to make her way down the stairs. At the base of the stairs was a dark room but, as Hamuko moved forward, lights suddenly began to turn on all around them. The place they were in was a large room. More like a waiting room, with various places to sit and a desk.

"This must have been a reception area for any guests that might have come," Aigis was alert and moved along Hamuko's right side, while Yukari was on her left.

"It's awfully…white," Yukari commented.

Well, that was one way to put it. The floor was a white tile and the walls some sort of glossy surface . Even the top of the ceiling was similar. It was incredibly disturbing. Hamuko felt almost sick from the sight, and she couldn't really explain why. One of her forgotten memories perhaps. Still she moved forward cautiously. But all that was left was a few doors that obviously led to the actual inside of the facility.

"Yamagishi, do you hear me?" Hamuko asked tentatively, unsure how that was supposed to work. She had seen the others put hands up to their ears, but maybe it was just a habit.

"I hear you, Hamuko-san," came an immediate reply from Fuuka.

"Do you sense anything in this area?" Hamuko asked after easing her nerves a bit.

"The room you're in seems clear, and I don't sense anything in the adjacent rooms either," Fuuka reported.

"Alright, have the others meet us here. We can probably set up here as our main base," Hamuko said.

"I'll let them know. We'll see you soon then," Fuuka said and then there was nothing.

Hamuko saw that on the other side of the room there were three separate paths to take. She sighed heavily and turned her naginata in her hand so the blade faced downward to the ground and the staff part of it rested on her underarm. She eased herself a bit and allowed herself a smile as Yukari approached her.

"Looks like something about this place is making you uneasy," Yukari reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder. It was probably really easy to notice, and it wasn't like she had been trying to hide it either.

"Yeah, but I expected it to," Hamuko shook her head. "Will this place really give me answers?"

"At the very least we should be able to determine the truth behind the experiments that happened here," Aigis said as she stopped moving about the room. "I have not detected any recent activity in this place. I believe that the one named Yoshimitsu has not been able to return here before us." Hamuko noted that Aigis didn't sound that confident, plus...who was to say there wasn't another entrance or exit out of this place? So he simply just hadn't come from this direction.

"No surprise there. That door wasn't going to open without power and he didn't exactly have a reliable way to get it back on that we know of," Yukari said but paused for a moment. "Although we should consider that it's possible this is a trap." Although Hamuko believe there was probably a way to bypass needing power from say...the power lines by using the Hospital's backup generators. All hospitals had them...and considering how stocked the rest of the hospital had been when she had been trapped here with Akira and Sayane...it was unlikely they had been removed. But there was hardly a reason to bring up that point.

"If it is then it was set up a long time ago," Aigis replied.

"You mean like something they set up when they closed this place down?" Hamuko saw Yukari nod a confirmation. "Well we have to be cautious either way."

"The cavalry has arrived," Junpei announced as he entered the room along with the other members of SEES. "Whoa, this place is really…white."

"That's an understatement," Akihiko commented as he was the last one to enter. "Three doors, huh? Do we have any idea where they lead, Mitsuru?"

"No, any schematics that might have existed for this place was never in the Kirijo Group Database to begin with. My Grandfather kept this place outside of the normal operations," Mitsuru shook her head. "It's not a good thought."

Everything here was something kept secret from the rest of the company..but why? Was the research here a threat or...well it might have been more simple than that. If word somehow got out to rest of the company, then it might be found out that not only were children being experimented on...but children that had belonged to people within the Kirijo Group. So no wonder all of it existed strictly off the record. Hamuko could feel herself tense up more with every thought that crossed her mind.

"Considering what we know, he kept all of this off the books. Don't want people you work under to know you stole their children," Akihiko added with a bit of a snarl. "You three be careful in there. If you need anything, Junpei and I will be your backup."

Hamuko nodded and walked over to the door on the left. There was no need for her to stay this nervous but something about it all kept her on edge. More than that, she felt a sense of dread creeping in the back of her mind. Something about this place scared her. She reached out to the door and realized she was shaking. She strengthened her resolved and pushed the door open. Regardless of what laid ahead, she would face it.

October 29th, 2009 / After School

Minato felt incredibly good about the fact that class had ended. He wasn't sure if he could take being called on again. He was pretty sure he got picked a lot simply because he got the top score in the class during the last exams. He wasn't sure if it was that impressive that he knew things like how magnesium chloride was in tofu. Apparently he seemed to get a lot of looks whenever he got something right. It wasn't like he was showing off he was just dedicated in his studies. It was a nice distraction from all the other crap he had to deal with as of late.

Yukari turned around in her seat to face him and smiled. "Ounishi-sensei sure likes to call on you," she giggled.

"Yeah I was just thinking about that," Minato frowned. "Maybe I should start getting answers wrong."

"If you did that, you might make some of the teachers depressed," Yukari teased.

"Please don't insinuate that I make a teachers day by answering a simple question correctly," Minato groaned. "Plus I'll just feel more obligated to make sure I get it correct."

"You get them all right anyway so it isn't like it would change at all," Yukari got to her feet and moved next to his desk. "How did you even know that magnesium chloride is in tofu anyway? Seems kinda odd for you to know."

"I watched some show called the science of cooking or something. It broke down a lot of traditional Japanese foods and showed what made the flavor," Minato shrugged and looked up at her.

"Sounds boring, but I bet you loved it," Yukari giggled.

"You know, you'd learn a lot more if you watched stuff like that too. Wouldn't hurt to bring your grade up even further," Minato gathered up his bag and got to his feet.

"If I get to watch it with you, sure," Yukari took his left hand. "Say, I'm starving, want to go get some ramen?"

"I could go for a beef bowl, personally," Minato commented as he let Yukari lead him out of the classroom. He was used to the looks he got now. Although he could almost hear the guys cry out in jealousy. It was a good thing that no one knew how close their relationship had been to breaking completely. And that it was Yukari that had broken down. The once highly sought after junior girl was now completely devoted to one guy. She had even told him that she loved him. He wasn't sure if he could quite believe that yet, there was still a lot of progress they needed to make in their relationship. And most of all he wanted Yukari to stop running from her problems. Still at the same time because of their huge fight and the way things had played out...he didn't get jealous of any guys talking to her now. At least at the moment he felt he could trust her words enough that she was going to prove to him she meant what she had said.

It had only been a few days since they had reconciled their relationship, and he knew that Yukari was still worried that Minato might leave her. He could feel it in the way that she spoke and acted around him. Minato wanted to see her make a step forward, and he hadn't seen that yet. Occasionally he could see that panic in her eyes whenever he turned away from her. Minato had never seen anyone do that in response to what he did before. Then again Minato had never been in love until he met Yukari.

"So I've been talking with my Mom, lately," Yukari said suddenly as they were walking off of the school campus and heading down towards the train to head back to Iwatodai. Minato glanced over at her.

"Oh yeah? How has that been going?" Minato asked squeezing her hand knowing it wasn't an easy subject. And also wanting her to say her piece before saying anything more about it.

"I didn't realize how much I had missed her. And it sounds like she's been trying really hard lately to start doing better for herself," Yukari spoke softly with a small smile on her face.

"That's good. She still have plans to get married?" Minato glanced over at her.

"She put that on hold. Which is um…part of what I wanted to talk to you about," Yukari suddenly looked significantly more nervous than she had been just bringing up the conversation.

"So she isn't? How come?" Minato asked, pressing her to keep speaking.

"She said she won't get married until after I forgive her and…she wants to meet up and talk about things," Yukari kept her eyes on the ground. Minato stopped her as they approached the stairs that led up to the train.

"When?" Minato squeezed her hand, he wanted her to know he was just trying to help her, not push her into anything or force her to keep talking.

"Well she's been really busy with work but she'll be available in a couple weeks, November 9th. I was kinda hoping that you would come with me," Yukari was incredibly tense obviously wondering if he would go. Honestly, it should be obvious what his answer would be.

"Of course, I'd love to meet your Mom," Minato smiled and Yukari looked up into his eyes actually surprised by his answer. "What? You thought I wouldn't go?"

"I just…" Yukari didn't seem to know what to say. "Let's get on the monorail."

Minato let it drop for the time and the two went up the stairs and got onto the train. It left shortly after that. Minato silently held Yukari's hands as they sat next to each other on the monorail.

"You're worried about something," Minato stated looking at her, knowing exactly what her eyes were saying without her talking at all.

"I'm scared, Minato," Yukari was looking at their hands, not too long ago this kind of contact was out of the question. And she also would have never made the effort of talking with her Mother. "I never thought I would fall for anyone. I had never considered trying to patch things up with my Mother. But…"

"Since when does anything ever go the way we think it will?" Minato nudged her by leaning into her.

"I know that, but…" Yukari sighed. "You don't make it easy you know."

"Liar, besides, you're doing just fine," Minato leaned over and kissed her cheek which caused Yukari to turn a bright red.

"Minato! I mean…" Yukari was flustered and it just made Minato laugh. "Cut it out."

"No can do. As your boyfriend I reserve the right to the occasional public display of affection," Minato just smiled at her. "You're nervous about seeing your Mother again. You said it had been a long time since you've seen her."

"Yeah almost ten years," she sighed. "I can't believe it's been that long."

"But that's okay," Minato said turning to look out the window. "I'll be with you. Everything will be fine. Beside that is over a week away. We have a full moon to worry about."

"Yeah, the last one. To think when we see my Mother, The Dark Hour won't exist anymore," Yukari smiled a bit. "Then our life can really begin, right?"

"We have to get there first," Minato said brushing off the topic. He didn't believe for a second that the Dark Hour would disappear. If anything he was worried that defeating this last one would be like driving the final nail into a coffin. And he couldn't stand not being able to explain it to the others because he had no good reason to feel that way, other than just a gut feeling. But he didn't want to think about it right now.

"One thing at a time, right?" Yukari took a deep breath. "Alright, I feel a lot better now. So were you going to get an extra-large beef bowl?"

"Oh geesh, I'm not sure if I am that hungry, but…maybe I could share one with someone," Minato grinned looking over at her.

"You mean, us, share a bowl?" Yukari blinked.

"Yeah, no way I can finish it by myself, and it's an excuse to sit closer to you," Minato got up from his seat as the monorail was coming in to a stop at the Iwatodai Station. "And I'll even feed you, as a reward for making some big steps forward."

Yukari turned a bright red.

"Would you like that?" he asked.

She merely nodded and was accompanied by a confirmation that the social link had strengthened again. He ignored it and focused all his attention on Yukari. She was making a lot of effort. So for tonight he would spoil her. The full moon was coming up soon. He could only imagine what would lie in store for them after that. But still...one thing at a time.

March 14th, 2011 / Late Evening

It was dark, harder to see than it had been up till this point. And it felt somewhat damp and an undeniable smell of stagnant air. Hamuko was sure she had chosen the right way after all. Mostly because the sinking feeling in her stomach only got worse as she moved forward. This hallway had scattered trash and fallen over seats and other furniture as the three of them moved forward. But staying along the hall wasn't going to let them find anything. They came to a door with hundreds...maybe thousands of scratches on it. It looked like at one point there had been a clear label of a name...but...something about it made her feel incredibly more uncomfortable than she already was. Hamuko hesitantly put her hand on the door handle, expecting it to be locked. This obviously had been one of the rooms that had held the children prisoner...experimented against their will. Taking a deep breath she slowly turned the door handle and opened the door.

This room was dimly lit, a few lights still worked but it was hardly enough to illuminate the entire space. But there wasn't much to light up...a small room with only the most bare of essentials. A bed, with a blanket but no pillow. A toilet up against a wall and then a sink. No mirror, nothing else. She walked in with Aigis and Yukari behind her. Hamuko felt she had failed to notice something else and started to look around the room closer.

"This place is…"

"A place where they held the children. No, where they held one of them," Hamuko suddenly said. Her head was starting to ache. Something somewhere in her mind remembered this place. "This is where…they left…me."

"Hamuko? Hamuko are you okay?" Yukari reached out and grabbed Hamuko's shoulder. But Hamuko stumbled away towards the bed and lost her balance. Someone was there to catch her...but it was not Yukari or Aigis.

"Who's there? Get away from Hamuko-san!" Yukari quickly brought up her bow.

"Don't worry, she's just fine," the individual said with an oddly similar tone to Hamuko. "She's just remembering the truth. One that I hoped she would never remember. Hamuko-chan...why are you here?"

The dim light made it impossible to get a clear view on her for Aigis and Yukari. Hamuko took a moment as pain went through her head. Then after a moment she managed to regain herself enough to stand up and found herself looking into the eyes of the individual that had caught her and quickly took in the rest of her features as Hamuko's eyes somewhat adjusted to the dark. "You're…you're me?" Hamuko's eyes widened as if she was looking at a reflection, but there was one very big difference. Her double's eyes were golden. She took a few steps back away from her double. "But...how...how is that?"

"Why did you come back here? I did what I could to keep them away from you. If your here then..." the fake Hamuko seemed unsure of what to say. She seemed...sad to see Hamuko. If this Shadow knew here then...why...why couldn't she remember her? But it was obvious that this shadow had been here a long time. The clothes she wore were too small and incredibly dirty. Her hair hanging down and unkempt. Just how many years had this Shadow been down here?

"Be careful, she is the same as a Shadow," Aigis warned taking a moment to get between Hamuko and the fake one.

"Yes, I am a Shadow. But I am not like the others here." the Shadow Hamuko turned away from them motioning to the room before them. "This was Hamuko's room, and sometimes mine. After all, they liked the reaction I had to Hamuko-chan. So they subjugated Hamuko to me again and again. It was surprising how stupid these researchers were. They understood so very little, not just about Shadows but Hamuko-chan as well."

"Do you know what they were doing here?" Hamuko asked. "Why did they do what they did?"

"They were trying to develop forced potential in a different way. A way that would force a child to develop the potential for Persona," Shadow Hamuko looked back seemingly bored with the subject. "The idiots didn't even know that our little Hamuko already held potential. More than there small little brains could comprehend." There was anger in her words. This Shadow Hamuko didn't seem to have hostility towards them, but only towards the researchers.

"Why are you here?" Yukari had now eased her bow down from aiming at the Shadow. Even Yukari seemed to feel the Shadow wasn't really a threat.

"To help, Hamuko," The Shadow looked at Yukari. The look she held was as if her motivation should have been easy to tell. But she turned away from them once more to speak, "I am a collection Shadows that were kept here, and abandoned. A portion of the Shadows. Over time my constant interactions with Hamuko had brought the collective Shadows into one being...that was me."

"Why would you look like me?" Hamuko asked and didn't realize she had relaxed her guard.

"Because Hamuko was my friend," the Shadow Hamuko looked confused for a moment, as if she didn't quite understand the question. "You were never scared of me. You always said hi to me and asked how I was doing even though I wasn't capable of answering. It was very important. We had to take this form."

"So you took form of the person that had become important to you," Hamuko took a few steps forward, but Aigis and Yukari were hesitant to let her get too close. "Why, why can't I remember?"

"Because I wanted you to leave and never come back. I was afraid that if you remembered you might have tried to come back for me...because you had been hesitant to leave me here," Shadow Hamuko frowned. "If I hadn't, I'm sure things would have continued as they had, the ones who put you in here would have killed you. So I decided to change that."

"You saved me?" Hamuko blinked, unsure of what to say. The Shadow seemed...sincere. She wasn't violent or wanting to attack...no she definitely seemed sad...or uneasy with her being there. Because she didn't want Hamuko to come back here...she had saved her from this place...so it was the last place she would want to see her.

"The truth behind this place is up ahead. I can take you there," Shadow Hamuko turned back towards them and took a step towards the open a door behind them. The Shadow stopped and looked to the real Hamuko, "Are you sure you want to remember, Hamuko-chan?"

"I have to. I need to stop Yoshimitsu," Hamuko said resolute.

"That man?" Shadow Hamuko growled. Then the shadow took Hamuko's hand and pulled her out of the room. There was suddenly a sense of urgency now in her demeanor, "This way, Hamuko. We may not have much time."

"What do you mean?" Yukari asked as Aigis and Yukari were quick to follow. They seemed to have come to a conclusion to trust this Shadow of Hamuko...maybe it was because they could all feel it. That this Shadow had also been a victim of the Kirijo Group.

"He has another way into this facility. If he is after Hamuko, then it's possible he's already here," the Shadow Hamuko said as her eyes scanned all of them. "Recently, he's been here quite often. And he's been gathering the other Shadows.

"Why should we trust you? You're a Shadow," Aigis apparently had not taken the same stance as Yukari and had moved in front of them and was not allowing Hamuko or the Shadow to move forward.

Shadow Hamuko laughed, "Yes, I am but a mere collection of suppressed human emotions. There is no reason to trust someone that is not a real person, correct? I certainly cannot fault you for that reasoning. But Hamuko is my friend, even if I'm the reason she doesn't remember it."

"Let's follow her," Hamuko said suddenly.

"Are you sure?" Yukari asked her. Aigis was definitely going to be against this, but Yukari more than likely just wanted her to question what was going on. It definitely wasn't normal to have a Shadow take your form...right? Still Aigis seemed rather hesitant...and why shouldn't she be? After all she was a mechanical maiden who was created to hunt Shadows. Hamuko knew she should take pause and be more cautious, but she couldn't shake the feeling that this was the right thing for her to do. And if the Shadow wanted to kill them it would have attacked already. And Hamuko felt like the Shadow was telling the truth...no more than that...she felt completely comfortable with the Shadow.

"Yeah, positive. But what should I call you?" Hamuko asked turning to the Shadow.

"I…umm…" The Shadow actually looked perplexed. Actually perplexed didn't seem like the right word. It looked to Hamuko as if the Shadow already knew the answer to that question but hesitated. Then Hamuko noticed the same sad look in her eyes. Hamuko felt a tinge of pain in her mind. The Shadow turned away from her, "We don't have time for that."

A thought suddenly struck Hamuko and she took the Shadows hand and forced her to turn back to her. More like a memory that had suddenly came back to her, "How about Kana-chan?" Hamuko smiled and grabbed the shadows hand. The Shadow actually blushed. But the Shadow was conflicted...somewhere between being happy and sad.

"Kana-chan?" the Shadow Hamuko shook her head and avoided looking at her. "You're starting to remember, aren't you?" The Shadow asked softly.

Hamuko nodded, "It's what I called you before, right?"

"We should go Hamuko-chan. If that Yoshimitsu is here he may plan to try and trap you in here," the Shadow named Kana and pointed to the end of the hallway they were all standing in. "Stay close, the others will try and stop us."

"The others?" Aigis asked from behind Hamuko.

"The other Shadows," Kana growled.

Author's Note:

Short chapter today, more of a transition chapter as we set up the 12th Full Moon fight and more in the present day as well. Writing with Minato and Yukari in the aftermath of their fight was a lot of fun, mostly because it finally felt like they were a couple. When faced with adversity is when relationships really begin to grow and turn into something more. So it feels like the two of them are really beginning to move forward. But its also obvious that Minato does not share the same viewpoint as the whole of SEES about the 12th Full Moon and that defeating that Shadow will end the Dark Hour. I mean, we all know it won't but anyway, I hope I'll be able to shake it up a bit to keep it interesting for you guys.

More will be coming on Hamuko's side too. Now you've met Kana, which much like her brother, is a Shadow that is connected to her. I felt it was important to give some parallels between the twins backstory. But you'll be learning more about all of that very soon.

Hope you've enjoyed it so far. So Read, review, comment, question or whatever. And maybe just spread the love out to others if you like what you've been reading.