Kurow scoffed at Yashiro and Kanashi as they came by him all buddy-buddy like. He thought that it was a good thing that they weren't angry at each other. He was also a bit more content with the thought that they weren't angry at him for any reason. Considering that the pyromaniac had managed to leave quite a dent in his stomach when they snapped at each other the last time. But god, could they get anymore chummy?

"Yo Kurow," Yashiro said with an amicable expression, walking to him slowly. "You okay from Kanashi?" he asked.

Kurow was about to deadpan at Yashiro, but he stopped himself. He just sighed. "Yeah, I'm cool. He doesn't hit that hard," he shrugged.

"That's good," Yashiro nodded. "So, what's been up lately? Hopefully you've been doing better than getting beat up by that same guy and snapped at multiple times in the one day," he chuckled.

"Pssh. Well, nothing's really been going on," Kurow replied. "I mean, nothing's really happened with the assassins lately, so yeah. Quiet." If he knew any better, it wasn't going to be that way for much longer. At which point everyone was probably going to be fucked over.

"Same here, but we kinda think that the assassins were up to something when they somehow played it well enough that Kanashi and I tried to kill each other," Yashiro said. "They're always the ones that clear the place before something happens."

"True that," he nodded back.

"Say, you ain't snarking like you usually do," Yashiro noted, scrutinising Kurow's hard gaze.

"Ya want me to, dumbfuck?" Kurow raised an eyebrow.

"…well, there's that. I'm just a bit used to it," the capped boxer shrugged. "It's a bit funny hearing ya calm and not cussing every few sentences."

"Well hey, we can't all be like that all the time," Kurow said gruffly.

Yashiro's eyes glinted and he pulled out a Tarot card, nodding at it. "I suppose so," he replied. "Welp, see ya Kurow." Kurow looked briefly that Yashiro's back before going back to his lack of spray paint. He thought some would be nice, but… meh. His hand absent-mindedly went up to his ear, and he played with the stud.

"What're you thinking about, Kurow-senpai?" Kurow looked up in surprise then to the direction of Hibiki's voice. Damn. Quick, think of something you dolt. Crap. His thoughts.

"None of your business," Kurow deadpanned at him.

"Aw. Oh well," Hibiki sighed. "Just curious. Anyways, you seemed to have something on your mind. What's up?"

Kurow gaze a steady, lidded gaze to Hibiki. "You really think I'm gonna tell you about something like that," he laughed.

"You want to tell someone about it," Hibiki shrugged.

Tch. Good point.

…

"Ugh, he's seriously sending us out in the rain," Ayumi complained.

"How do you think I feel? Makes me feel like Colonel Mustang from Full Metal Alchemist," Red rolled his eyes.

"Can you shut up about your anime and manga for one minute Tsubasa!?" Lightning groaned.

"Can you stop messing with your hair then, Sekirei?" Tsubasa replied, earning him an indignant look from Lightning. He always found Lightning's real name to be way too amusing for his tastes. Seriously, whoever named her Sekirei must've been on drugs or something. But then again, that series didn't exist at the time, but… It was just a really bad coincidence.

"Hell no!" Sekirei pouted. "It's raining!"

"Exactly," Tsubasa smirked.

"Geez, you guys are like a married couple," Raz dropped onto the rooftop, placing his hands on both Sekirei and Tsubasa's shoulders.

"Don't even suggest that Jiro," Tsubasa knocked the back of his fist into Raz' nose, sending him reeling.

"You're so mean Tsu-chan," Jiro sighed.

"I thought I told you not to call me that," Tsubasa growled, glaring venomously at Jiro.

"Can't you guys just shut up!?" Ayumi shouted.

"Don't want to," Tsubasa said stubbornly.

"I dun wanna chase after Lies…" Jiro sat down on the shiny concrete.

"I don't want to either," Sekirei shook her head. "He is a good guy."

"You aren't just saying that because you had a crush on him, right?" Ayumi rolled her eyes.

"No!" Sekirei puffed up her cheeks.

"Does it matter? I don't want to kill him either,"Tsubasa grit his teeth. "Also fair warning that he is tied for strongest with Mage?"

"This'll be a pain, I can tell," Ayumi said before jumping down onto another rooftop.

…

Lies walked briskly away from his home, for fear of being followed. The others were really good at hiding their SP signatures, and he wasn't looking to get attacked by anyone. Night rain filled dents in the concrete and pavement, forming shallow puddles that splashed water when his boots stomped into them. He was quickly getting wet.

"I found you Lies!"

Lies' eyes widened as he heard the voice and he quickly turned to where he thought it came from. Damn, it was an assassin like he was thinking. He pulled out a sharpened knife and held it up to the attacker's throat, but stopped just as it reached the person's throat. Shit. Lies' eyes widened and he dropped his blade, his breath stuck in his throat as he caught her eyes. "W-What are you doing here?" he stammered, not even able to cuss.

"I just wanted to talk to you," she replied.

"Mage goddammit… sneaky," Lies mused aloud, picking his knife up from the ground and pocketing it. "What about? Make it quick, I ain't looking to be caught here."

"Exactly. Why're you running?" she asked, approaching Lies slowly. Not with apprehension.

"I suppose you're here because you're supposed to silence me or some shit like that," Lies growled.

"I was, but you know that I can't hurt you," Mage replied, gripping the edge of Lies' drenched hood and pulling it to show his face to her.

"T-Tch… well you know what you said about me being soft?" Lies sighed. He did not want to say that.

"Yes, you're still a soft as a teddy bear," Mage laughed, caressing his cheek. Lies froze up from her cold touch, letting out a small sigh. "But yeah, what about it?"

"I can't hurt those dumbfucks anymore," Lies admitted as Mage smiled up at him.

"You really like them don't you?" Mage asked, although it was worded more as a statement rather than a question.

"Y-Yeah…" Lies bit his lip.

"I suppose I can't really stop you then," Mage laughed, running her hands through Lies' damp hair.

"No," Lies shook his head, and her hand off. "I'm sorry," he whimpered.

"You don't need to be sorry," Mage smiled. "But that means we'll have to be enemies."

"I know," Lies growled, punching the wall next to him.

"Then… I want to stay with you for a bit before you go," Mage pulled her own hood down, letting her long hair loose. She stepped towards Lies, and hugged him despite the way that his clothes clung to his skin, glued by rain.

Lies gulped, and pulled Mage's face up so that he could see her eyes. But he saw that she was that set. His eyes stung but he held back tears and pressed his lips to Mage's. "Hikari, you're crazy…" he breathed out, air thin in his throat as he pulled her cloak off and it splashed water everywhere.

"But you were born to fly. Not me," Hikari shrugged, pulling Lies' cloak off as well.

"S-Shut up. That's not true," he growled lowly, closing his eyes as it continued pouring down.

"Yes it is," Hikari said stubbornly, their rain kissed noses touching.

…

Lies shuffled his wet jacket back on and Hikari did the same. "Everyone's out looking for you. I'll try to kill you another time, but…" Hikari shook her head before jumping back from Lies and raising her hand to the cloudy night. "I'm not looking to get into trouble here and now."

"I thought so," Lies sighed, charging black and white orbs of energy into his hands and sweeping to Mage's back to attack.

Mage nodded to herself and spun around to intercept his Mudoon punch. She sidestepped the attack and gripped his arm tightly, using his force to swing him into the wall. Lies saw that happening and kicked off the bricks with a foot to Mage's head. She barely blocked the attack with an arm block, although her feet were sent skidding into the dirty water around, raising droplets into the air.

"You know what would happen if I used Ziodyne here, right?" Mage tried to be funny, but Lies knew that she had a hard time going up against him.

"I'd get fried if I was hit," Lies played along. "Go on."

"Tch," Mage clicked her tongue and shot lightning to the walls and towards Lies.

Lies jumped and released a Tempest Slash to disperse the electricity, cutting the bolt laden tendrils to shreds. "You knew I would do that."

"Well of course," Mage nodded. "I'm just buying time."

"Pshh," Lies landed with a thud. "It's all of you."

"Of course," Tsubasa dropped down. "And I'd be attacking, except I can't."

Lies jumped from the whizzing sound of razors and closed his eyes. Illusion would most certainly be doing something about that. If he didn't see the illusion, it wouldn't really matter. It only worked if he saw. Raz's razors made a sound, as their speeds were amplified with Garudyne. Lightning would be dangerous, with her Ziodynes.

"This'll be difficult," he mused aloud. "You sorry fucks are late to the party!" Lies shouted as he charged Almighty energy.

"Oh damn," Jiro mumbled as he raised his guard.

"Megidolaon."

…

"Kurow-senpai, are you alright?" Hibiki pressed as he saw him space out.

"…Tch," Kurow grabbed Hibiki's wrist and pulled him along to the roof.

"Whoa!" Hibiki was certainly surprised as he was dragged along. He didn't know for what purpose. "Why're we up here?"

"Pipsqueak, imma tell ya what. You have a powerful as hell Persona and it's bothering me," Kurow glared at him.

"Huh?" Hibiki blinked.

Kurow brought his hand to his face and groaned. "You heard me dumbfuck!"

…

Lies got off with many slashes and injuries. He limped away and crushed a Traesto gem in his hand, teleporting to the dorm that the dumbfucks gathered in. Blood seeped into his clothes and down his legs, and he ground up a Bead in his teeth, feeling some of the pain go away.

He knew he couldn't beat all of them. Together they were way strong. "Gah… whatcha gonna do?" Lies chuckled mirthfully. The sky was starting to lighten, however little. In the morning they weren't going to attack him.

He slumped against the wall, and closed his eyes.

A few hours later, the rain and everything else had cleared up. It was sunny, and murderous on his unconditioned eyes. "But I ain't done yet…" he groaned.

He stood up and shrugged his cloak off. He didn't need it from then on. "Hikari…"

Lies stood up and stumbled, still hurt from what happened the night before, in the direction of Hikari's home. Last time.

Somehow, he climbed up the apartment steps and reached her flat. He went around to the back, and opened up the window that she always kept open. Sometimes, Lies liked to crash in her room since his home situation was pretty shit. She never complained.

As slowly as he could, he hopped from the window onto the floor, trying to avoid making any sounds on the wood. He was that cautious. The slight squeak of wood and his breathing was all that could be heard.

He stood in front of her bedside table, and he quietly took off the lone earring that he wore and placed it gingerly atop it. Hikari gave it to him when they admitted that they liked each other before. It meant that they would be together forever, however cheesy it sounded. And it was. But he didn't mind.

He turned heel and climbed out of the open window, cursing under his breath as there was a slight breeze coming through. Leave and go goddammit!

…

"Uh okay, but what about it!?" Hibiki said frantically.

"Everything. Wanna help SEES, then I'll help you awaken. I'm a shit teacher so don't you dare call me 'sensei' or whatever," Kurow tapped his foot. He had the suspicion that Hibiki would agree.

"Alright… but what do I have to do?" he asked.

"Usually you gotta be plenty stressed and have a good reason to awakening, otherwise your Persona won't do shit and'll probably disintegrate or something," Kurow rolled his eyes.

"That doesn't sound good…" Hibiki mumbled.

"It ain't. Your Persona's supposed to be your resolve and inner self put down under your control, and you use that as your power," Kurow explained succinctly. "Fast tracking shit, you need to be able to accept yourself. That's one way of doing it. Either that or put an Evoker to your head and try to shoot yourself."

Hibiki laughed awkwardly. "Okay…"

"Yeah, it's difficult," Kurow shrugged. "Tell ya something. I can't summon my Persona properly."

"Really?" Hibiki asked.

"Haven't accepted it properly. But. I can use my Persona's powers even though I can't summon it," Kurow said. "If you can do that first, then it'll be easier to summon."

"Cool! How do ya do that?" Hibiki said excitedly.

"Hard to explain, but you kinda charge your inner power and focus it into your body," Kurow shrugged, as he charged Rakukaja into his fist and punched towards Hibiki, stopping short of his forehead.

"Whoa…" Hibiki stared in marvel, despite the fist that was just a few centimetres away from hitting him.

"You're a fearless kid," Kurow raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Try it on me."

"Uh okay, here I go…" Hibiki closed his eyes and concentrated, but he couldn't feel anything but a huge block. This weird, block thing. "I can't do it," he raised an eyebrow.

"Why?" Kurow asked. It was easy for him to draw out when he first tried. Hard to control though.

"Feels like there's this huge block of something, something hard in my way…" Hibiki said.

"Weird," Kurow nodded before sending a kick sailing towards Hibiki.

Hibiki's eyes widened and only barely brought his arm up to block the attack. "What'd you do that for!?" he asked.

"Get rid of the block," Kurow shrugged as he lowered his leg and threw a punch at Hibiki.

AN: Hm. I'm wondering whether I'm putting too much focus on the OCs. They've had the spotlight for quite a while. I feel like the romance aspect this had was kinda pushed to the side. Tell ya what. If you guys are okay with the OCs getting some spotlight (mostly for CD and plot purposes), then I'll continue with this for a while, but if you wanna see some MiNyx, I'll make the chapter after the next a bit more Minato and Nyx based.

Plz box me yo thoughts and imma see ya guys later!

Yoshikunitsu: Yup yup! I had been working it out for a while, so I was excited to get it started. It will be, indeed. The next time that they encounter the assassins, most likely. I still haven't introduced one after all!
Haha, thanks. And I will. :3

Raidou: Indeed. And yes, I did. Hahahahaha… only a few people notice the cracks though. Look at them, running across the screen…

Nights: So many people hashtagging that. lol.
And yes! I don't believe it'll be the end of their insulting and fighting each other though. I can see them having little minor spats, since they just like messing with each other anyways.
Like?
Yup sir!

Q/A SECTION

(Nyx and Erebus) Question 1: Yoshikunitsu

Nyx: Not many that I know of. Minato is one I definitely know of.
Erebus: From what I've seen. I know of four, including Minato. I don't know them very well, so don't expect names.

(Minato) Question 2: Yoshikunitsu

Minato: Don't you know it. I've been thinking about it though. It isn't as if I could help them attacking, and one of them hasn't even shown up yet. But I at least have a good feeling that the next time that they attack, we'll be a lot more ready for them.

(Maiko) Question 3: Yoshikunitsu

Maiko: I've been going okay! It's been a bit difficult, but me and my mum are getting along much better! Oh, I heard about that… but I didn't believe them! I knew that he would be alive some way or another! And since he is alive and all better, I'm going to get to play with him lots and lots from now on!

(Nyx) Conversation 4: Technodude458

Nyx: *snickers* Achievement unlocked. You made Nyx snicker. *claps sarcastically*