Chapter 7: The Voice Someone Calls

Author's Note: Hello everyone, this is Chapter 7! It was a fun chapter to write, not my favorite, but it's up there. A lot of you have been asking, so to clarify, everyone in the story is roughly the same age. That includes Makoto, Mitsuru, Yukari, Akihiko, Shinjiro, and Junpei. It's an AU, so what the hell? Plus I fell that the relationships will change, since everyone is on an, so-called, equal playing field. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Lunch

As soon as the bell rang, signaling lunch recess, Yukari immediately turned her desk to face mine.

"Yuki-kun! How'd you get a detention on the first day!?" she complained.

"Yes… it's very unusual of you to even get one," Mitsuru chimed in. "I don't recall you ever having one."

"That's because I never did get one," I replied.

"So how'd you get one now?" Yukari asked.

"Well I did yell in the middle of class…" I said, shamefully.

"He must've been talking to that delinquent," Mitsuru said as she shot a glare towards Junpei.

It was apparent Junpei had been eavesdropping on our conversation, but he failed to realize that Mitsuru was talking about him.

"I wish I could get punished by Kirijo-sama… Whoever that delinquent is, he sure is lucky!" he muttered under his breath.

"You! What is your name?" Mitsuru questioned Junpei.

He was still in his own world, probably fantasizing about Mitsuru…

SLAM. Mitsuru had slammed her hand into his desk, startling everyone else around her.

"Geez! Hey! What the hell was that for, Makoto?" Junpei said, obviously unaware that it wasn't me.

"Dude…" I said tilting my head towards Mitsuru, who looked absolutely livid.

Junpei looked over at Mitsuru with the blankest expression I've ever seen. Mitsuru was having none of it.

"Your name!" she raised her voice.

Junpei must've thought he was the slickest guy in the room. He took Mitsuru's hand, which had remained on his desk, and brought it up to his lips.

"The names Iori. Junpei Iori," he said.

Before her hand could reach his lips, Mitsuru turned her hand, palm up, balled it into a fist, and gave Junpei a devastating uppercut.

"Disgusting roach!" she exclaimed.

"Seriously, why are all the guys here so gross?" Yukari added.

"Did you see that, Shinji!?" yelled Akihiko from the back of the class.

"OWWWWWWWWWWWWWW, my chin!" Junpei yelled, as he held his chin in pain.

"That was a little too much, don't you think Mitsuru?" I said laughing uncomfortably.

She looked me straight in the eyes and gave me the most innocent smile I've ever seen.

"Not at all, Makoto," she said.

"The least you could do is introduce yourself," I told her.

"You're right. Where are my manners? You!" she yelled at Junpei.

"Wha-" he said, fear in his eyes.

"My name is Mitsuru Kirijo. Since you appear to be a friend of Makoto, I think it's in my best interest to, at least, get along with you. You will refer to me as Kirijo, and if you prefer to use honorifics I will only accept –sama. Understand?"

Junpei nodded his head with a stupid smile on his face and (probably) tears of joy in his eyes.

"And this is Yukari Takeba, she's just as aggressive as Mitsuru," I told Junpei, while gesturing towards Yukari.

"Yeah… I don't mind if you just call me Yukari," she said.

"First day and I'm already friends with the two hottest babes in the class!" Junpei cheered.

"We're not friends, we're friends of a friend," Mitsuru corrected.

"Yeah, I think I already hate you," Yukari said.

"I'll take it!" Junpei said, enthusiastic as ever.

Out of the corner of my eyes I could see Akihiko and Shinjiro approaching.

"Nice uppercut, Mitsuru! You should be my sparring partner!" Akihiko suggested.

Junpei looked up, only to be greeted by the dark presence of Shinjiro.

"What the hell!" Junpei yelled.

"What the-" Shinjiro yelled in response, his eyes actually showing a bit of shock.

"Are you here to kill me!?" Junpei yelled in fear.

"Why would I do such a thing?" Shinjiro answered.

"Haha, that's just Shinji. My name's Akihiko, you can call me just that." Akihiko said.

I'm sure everyone in the class knows who you guys are by now.

"Oh yeah! Aren't you the guys who also got detention?" Junpei asked.

"That's right!" Akihiko exclaimed, unusually enthusiastic about detention.

"That's not something to be proud of…" Yukari added.

"Quite shameful…" Mitsuru said under her breath.

"Well I'm Junpei Iori. Junpei is fine. I take it you know Makoto?"

"That's also right! All of us live in the same dorm," Akihiko clarified.

"You ALL live in the same dorm! Talk about awesome!" Junpei said excitedly.

"It's pretty awesome!" replied Akihiko.

"Why do you want Kirijo-sama as a sparring partner, anyway? All she did was uppercut me, I'm sure anyone could've done that…" Junpei said, embarrassed of being hit by a girl.

"Oh yeah! Well look at this!" Akihiko said as he grabbed my head and showed my left cheek to Junpei.

Junpei got closer and examined real closely.

"Hmm, that's a strange birthmark you got there Makoto…" Junpei said. "It almost looks like a… hand!"

He glanced over at Mitsuru.

"That's right! Makoto over here got into a little argument with Mitsuru last night. And as you can see, he lost," joked Akihiko.

"Alright, knock it off," I said as I eased Akihiko's hands off my head.

"That's why I want her to spar with me!" Akihiko said. "I'm sure with that much power, anyone would've been knocked out!"

Mitsuru was smiling to herself. She glanced up to see me staring at her, and she mouthed, "I'm sorry."

"So how about it, Mitsuru!?" Akihiko asked.

Shinjiro smiled slightly at the enthusiasm Akihiko was displaying. Just then the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

"Alright, we'll see you guys' after-school in detention!" Akihiko yelled.

I sighed visibly, which Yukari caught.

"What's wrong Yuki-kun?"

"Nothing, it's just…" I looked around the room. "It's just Fuuka hasn't shown up yet."

"Fuuka?" Mitsuru asked. "Is that a friend of yours?"

"That's right, you haven't met her yet. She's supposed to be in this class. I saw her this morning, but she ran off," I told her.

"I think you hang around too much delinquents nowadays. No wonder you got detention on the first day." Mitsuru joked.

I laughed," Fuuka's no delinquent, far from it."

"I see. Perhaps she'll turn up tomorrow."

"I hope so, she seemed really nice," Yukari said, almost out of the blue.

With that, Tachinomi-sensei walked in to begin class.

After-School

"Good luck!" Mitsuru and Yukari yelled to me as they both exited the classroom.

The class room was nearly empty, comprise of only me, Junpei, Akihiko, Shinjiro, and Tachinomi-sensei.

"Those two are acting awfully chummy, huh?" said Akihiko as he leaned onto my desk.

"Sanada-san! Who told you to leave your desk?" Tachinomi-sensei yelled.

"My bad, teach! It's just so boring here! What are we supposed to do?"

Tachinomi-sensei pondered for a moment. "Well it's the first day of school so there's nothing much that you can do… "

"Then why would you make us stay for detention!" complained Junpei.

"Because you four are the most disruptive students in class! Though I'm surprised. Yuki-san, you've yet to have one detention in your entire time as a student. I'm almost disappointed, considering what a model student you are."

I kept a blank expression on my face, but deep down I could literally feel the shame. I sensed Junpei lean in closer from behind me.

"Dude, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault you got your first detention," he whispered.

"It's okay, I don't really mind."

After that we mostly sat in silence, that is until Tachinomi-sensei spoke up.

"Bingo!" he exclaimed. "You guys can clean the Faculty Office!"

"But aren't there still teachers there?" Junpei asked.

"They won't mind, as long as you're quiet and cleaning," he explained.

"Alright, ACTION!" Akihiko yelled from the back of the room.

"Not really, but at least it's something," Shinjiro agreed.

"After-School Detention Squad, ASSEMBLE!" Akihiko exclaimed.

"Such a shameful name," I told Junpei.

"I don't care! It sounds super cool," he said as she rushed out of the classroom with Akihiko.

I walked next to Shinjiro and began speaking. "It seems we're the only normal ones, in this shamefully named group…"

"What are you talking about?" he gave me a stone-cold glare. "I came up with the name!"

"I-in that case, i-it's a-a wonderful name!" I said, as I quickened my pace to catch up with Junpei and Akihiko.

Faculty Office

Unexpectedly, the Faculty Office was nearly empty, save for the lone janitor working in there.

"What are you four doing here?" the janitor questioned.

"We were told to clean up here, as 'punishment' for our detention," Akihiko explained.

"Detention? On the first day! You really are a shameful group." the janitor said. "Just go home, I'll clean up here."

"Right! If anyone asks, tell them the After-School Detention Squad came here," Akihiko said.

The janitor stifled into a laugh, "Is that what you call yourselves? How ridiculous!"

"You got a problem with our name?" Shinjiro asked as he walked over to the janitor and towered over him.

"N-no! A-After-School Det-Detention S-Squad… Got it!" he said with fear in his voice.

"Good. Alright guys, let's leave," Shinjiro said.

We exited the Faculty Office before Junpei broke into excitement.

"What is it, Junpei?" I asked.

"Guess what I found?" he asked.

"Your dignity?" I answered.

Junpei gave me look.

"A new pair of boxing gloves!" Akihiko answered.

Though I'm not sure if he's joking or not…

"Wrong!"

"Just tell us," Shinjiro said in an ominous voice.

"R-Right. Anyways, I found the key to the school!" Junpei said excitedly.

"And you stole it!?" I yelled, bewildered.

"Found! Not stole," Junpei corrected.

"You should return it!" I told him.

"Why should I? They have thousands of these. Besides, it may be useful in the future," Junpei explained.

"Oh really? How?" I asked.

"Well for starters, what if I forget my stuff over the weekend? With this, I can get my stuff anytime. Plus, I'm pretty sure it can unlock the roof's door."

"The roof?" I say.

"Yeah, I heard that you need a key to get back in once you've accessed it."

I started to think about the places where Fuuka might've been, and the roof was the only logical place.

"Hey, you guys go on home. I got to do something before I leave," I said.

"Huh?" asked Junpei, surprised that I just dropped our conversation.

"Sure, we'll see you at the dorm," Akihiko said. "C'mon Shinji!"

I split from the other three as they exited the building. I climbed the stairs leading to the second story and proceeded to climb the stairs leading to the roof. I could see the sky from the windows. The sun was setting and the sky was painted a beautiful orange. Shades of blue and pink were also visible in the orange backdrop. As I walked up to the doors to the roof, I could see a familiar figure laying on one of the benches outside.

It was Fuuka.

I opened the door a walked out.

Fuuka shot up immediately and quickly examined what was going on.

"Y-Yuki?" she asked.

"W-wait Yuki, the—" she was cut off by a slam. "—Door…"

I turned around and saw that the door was closed. I tried opening it, with no luck.

"Ugh! You idiot! Don't you know these doors are locked from the outside?"

"Actually, I was just told that… It must've slipped my mind," I said with an innocent smile on my face.

"You're hopeless," she said as she sat back down on the bench. "I've been trapped here alllll day!"

I sat next to her on the bench.

"So this is why you weren't in class. You missed a pretty eventful class, especially for a first day," I told her.

"How's the teacher?" she asked.

"He has a pretty short fuse. I also think he has a thing for Mitsuru…"

"Mitsuru?" Fuuka asks.

"That's right you don't know her. She's the freshman Student Council Representative. Not only that, she's our class representative."

"She must be so cool," Fuuka said with a smile and a sense of wonderment in her eyes.

"Yeah, you two would like each other."

We sat in silence, hoping somebody would rescue us.

"Why didn't you use your phone?" I asked her.

"Well, because…" instead of explaining, she took out her phone and showed me her contacts.

Mom, Dad … NO ONE ELSE!

"I-I see. Well for future reference, maybe I could give you my number?"

Fuuka's face grew red as she said," W-why would I-I w-want your num-number?"

"In case you get trapped on the roof again," I said as I took her phone and entered my phone number.

"W-well in that case why don't you use your phone to call for help," Fuuka suggested.

That's right, I forgot all about it.

I reached into my bag and searched around for my phone. Once I was sure I had it I lifted it out. However, instead of a blue cellphone, was my Evoker.

"How the hell did I bring this!?" I exclaimed.

"A-a gun!" Fuuka screamed.

I looked over at a panicked Fuuka and tried to calm the situation.

"N-no it's not a gun! It's a toy, you see! It doesn't even have a magazine," I laugh nervously.

She squinted her eyes at it, "I see now. It's definitely not a gun. But certainly isn't a toy. And what is S.E.E.S, anyway?"

I sighed in relief, "I'll explain it to you later, and it's far too complicated. I can't believe I grabbed this instead of my cellphone."

"The Missing Lover?" Fuuka asked.

"She was actually the leading detective on the case." I replied.

"Absent Children?"

"They were all being held captive by the Principal."

"Silence in the Thorns?" she asked.

"The nobles destroy the peasant uprising, leading to a millennium of hardships."

"Ugh! I spent all this time reading through a ton of obscure books, and you've already read through them!?" she complained.

"Like I said, I've read a lot," I told her.

It seems Fuuka has remembered our bet, and spent a long time to prepare. If she can spoil one book I haven't read, I'll do anything she wants, no matter what. Yet she hasn't gotten me once yet.

Night has fallen and the stars were very visible.

It's nearly a Full Moon, I thought.

"What time is it?" I ask.

She checks her phone, the light blinding both of our eyes.

"Oh man, a minute before Midnight…" Fuuka says.

My heart stops. A minute until the Dark Hour… If the school transforms into Tartarus at night, what happens if somebody is still in it. Not only that, but Fuuka is still here.

Before I had a chance to respond, I'd blacked out.

Yuki…

Yuki…

A voice is calling for me.

YUKI, you jerk! WAKE UP!

I can fell multiple jabs in my back. I open my eyes and find Fuuka jabbing my back. I get up and look around.

We were in Tartarus.

"Finally," Fuuka says with a sniffle. "Where are we?"

"We're in Tartarus, a large tower that our school transforms into during the Dark Hour….Wait, why are you still conscious!?" I ask, surprised.

"Are you lookin' for a fight?" she answers.

"No, it's just… normal people can't really function here. Only those with the 'potential'…"

I look at Fuuka. Can she really possess the' potential'?

"Whatever, we'll figure it out when we get out of here," I say to myself.

"Luckily I brought my Evoker, so we should be safe if any shadows try to harm us." I tell her, as I whip out my Evoker.

"But it isn't even a real gun! I can't imagine how it'll be of any help!" she cries.

"I guess now's a good time to explain everything now. This," I say as I gesture towards the Evoker," is an Evoker. It's used to summon Persona's, something only those with the 'potential' can use during this time. The Dark Hour…"

"Dark Hour?" she asks.

"The Dark Hour is a hidden hour during the day. Normal people are unaware of it because they transmogrify into caskets, which protects them from the Shadows that lurk around. Shadows are highly dangerous, but they hardly ever leave Tartarus. In fact, I can't recall the last time they did. Anyways, I wonder if you have the 'potential'. It's apparent you've never been conscious during the Dark Hour, so I wonder what'll happen now." I tell her.

"How are we going to get out?" Fuuka

"We just have to wait until we get rescued…" I tell her.

"Rescued? By who? The Police?"

"Mitsuru… she'll save me. I know she will."

"Mitsuru… Does she have the potential?" Fuuka asks.

"Mmhmm, she's insanely strong, too. But not as good as me," I say with a smile.

"How long will it take to rescue us?" Fuuka asks.

"I don't know, Fuuka. But I will protect you; I won't allow you to get hurt."

Fuuka blushes from my words.

I'll be waiting, Mitsuru. I'll be waiting to see your smiling face again…

Author's Note: And that's Chapter 7. I hoped you enjoyed it. There wasn't a lot of Makoto x Mitsuru, but there may be more next chapter. See you next time!

P.S.: Cover art blah blah blah