"But I don't know how!" Hibiki cried as he dodged Kurow's punch and he tried to draw on the power hidden below the block that he was feeling.

"Find out how or I'm gonna pummel you pipsqueak," Kurow scoffed as he turned on his foot and threw a vicious heel to Hibiki's side. "What's wrong!? Tell me!" he demanded as Hibiki again blocked his attack, although he was wincing from the force behind it. He didn't expect the heel kick so he couldn't dodge.

"I don't know," Hibiki breathed out as he took Kurow's leg. "There's nothing to tell," he growled, and swung Kurow to the side and onto the ground. Kurow grinned and landed safely, but hard on his foot.

Kurow laughed. "You fighting back huh?" he said, standing up straight and looking Hibiki's eyes as if he knew everything about him. There was a glint in Kurow's dark gaze, like a raven's silent but all-knowing stare. "You're hiding something. That's why you can't awaken yet!" Kurow declared and closed the distance between him and Hibiki, throwing a one-two combination in quick succession.

Hibiki dodged the first of the punches, but was sent reeling as he couldn't get away from the second bullet shot. "I-I'm not hiding anything," he mumbled and threw two kicks at Kurow, too swift for him to dodge. Kurow was hit by the second of his kicks, but Hibiki didn't stop there. "What about you?" Hibiki glared and swung his body around to score an elbow to Kurow's stomach.

Kurow winced audibly from that strike, and he took a few moments to recover, panting. "Tch," he clicked his tongue. "I'm a bastard, so of course it wouldn't work for me," he shook his head, musing quietly.

"A bastard, huh? Hibiki stopped to catch his breath.

"Yeah. You ain't one, I can tell," Kurow spat. "I know shit when I see it."

"Obviously you ain't a hawk like Kanashi," Hibiki laughed.

"Naw. I'm a raven," Kurow shrugged as he charged forward, purple glows surrounding his fists.

Hibiki's eyes widened as Kurow blitzed over to him, smashing him squarely in the stomach with one fist. "Gah!" He coughed out lost breath and fluid as the Almighty-infused fist hit him hard, and he barely blocked the second attack. But the burning magic gave him a large surge of pain in his arm, leaving it almost limp.

"Kid, you're something else!" Kurow exclaimed. "I know it!"

"Pfft." Hibiki shook his head. "What?"

"Most people would start screaming by now. You ain't ordinary," Kurow said. "That's a Megidolaon to your stomach there."

"Tch, you gotta be kidding me," Hibiki groaned.

"Naw, I don't kid. I insult," Kurow said. "You're better than any shit bird or cowboy or predator."

"Hmph." Hibiki shrugged off his affliction, rubbing his arm. "Fine. I used to have a best friend and a girl who was also a good friend of ours."

"A girl huh," Kurow chuckled mirthfully.

"Yeah," Hibiki shook his head as his eyes narrowed, and scored two punches on Kurow as he was distracted. Hooks. Kurow's head snapped around as a sharp hook slashed into his cheek, and another. They were just like being clawed at, and they hurt like hell. Kurow laughed a little at that, wiping off the blood that was beginning to trickle down his chin. "She liked both of us and eventually it came down to switching between the two of us like we were old toys that didn't satisfy her. It wasn't really like that, but you get it."

"Heh, I see," Kurow nodded at that, lingering on the searing and tender wounds opened up on his face. He was getting angrier, he could tell.

"One time I encountered my friend fucking the hell out of her at the place we were supposed to meet. We were gonna talk about what was happening with the girl." Hibiki's eyes narrowed at the thought.

Kurow mumbled 'netorare' under his breath but continued listening.

"Shut up," Hibiki snarled. Kurow chuckled nervously. Good hearing, that kid. But touchy. "I took the girl's knife that she had since she got depressed from time to time. I stabbed my best friend. I almost killed him. After that I almost didn't feel sorry for him. I'm a jealous motherfucker and it makes me so much more a dick than I should be. As if I wasn't already."

Kurow looked him up and down with a slight smirk, reaching into his pocket. He grabbed a hold of the hilt of his knife and walked slowly over to Hibiki. "Where'd you stab him?" Kurow asked.

"Chest, why?" Hibiki raised an eyebrow.

Kurow's hand was a blur and the glint of silver his knife had disappeared as he dug it into Hibiki's shoulder. "That," he laughed.

Hibiki's eyes widened and he immediately tried to pull the blade out of his flesh. "Shiiiiit that hurt…" he groaned as he threw the blood-stained knife to the ground. "I should pay you back for that… But that is some good payback… Jealousy does that… Owww…" he laughed a little.

"Watcha gonna do now?" Kurow taunted, getting right up into Hibiki's face.

Hibiki's fists glinted gold and silver and they shredded right into Kurow's chest in a criss-cross formation, leaving tears and bloodstains across his shirt and fairly deep grooves in his skin. "Shiiiit that hurt," Kurow muttered. "Makarakarn and Tetrakarn are bitches…"

Hibiki looked down at his fists, finding that they were covered in gold and silver glass-like material. It was solid, but broken shards of it stuck out, just like hooked claws. "Is this it?" he said in wonder.

"Yup," Kurow nodded. "Ain't there more though?" he asked.

"Mmhm," Hibiki nodded as an icicle shot up just in front of Kurow.

"Agh!" Kurow backed away in surprise from the deadly Bufudyne. He almost pissed himself with that. Ice was his weakness. Somehow this told him volumes about why he never felt so cocky around Hibiki. Of course he had the Ice element up his sleeve. "That's fucking scary!"

"It's just ice though," Hibiki said.

"J-Just ice…" Kurow laughed before passing out, falling onto the ground.

"I should get someone to help him," Hibiki mused aloud. The he turned his attention to the blood that was staining his shirt. "I should also do something about stopping the bleeding here."

…

"So wait, you basically stabbed him and you first awakened him to his Persona's powers?" Minato blinked at Kurow.

"Yeah, that's basically what I did. Need I repeat it again dumbfuck?" Kurow raised an eyebrow.

"…Uh no, I'm just wondering why the hell you did that. I mean, that isn't something that you'd normally do and stuff," Minato shrugged.

"True," Kurow nodded. "But don't you like it when I'm actually being helpful?"

"It is nice, but still, I'd like to know why," Minato shrugged.

"That… well, I'm not always a complete and utter dick to everyone that I meet. I might as well do something," Kurow answered.

Minato eyed Kurow suspiciously before sighing in defeat. "I see. Thanks then… I guess."

…

"Wait."

Hikari stirred, easily hearing the shuffling of wind against furniture and the rustle of Lies' clothes. She was a light sleeper, and he expected it. He would've preferred not to have been caught, but she was an assassin and all, just like him. "Lies, are you really leaving?" she asked.

Lies sat on the edge of the window when he stopped and nodded silently. She asked before, but he knew that she still didn't want the two of them to become enemies. Neither did he, but he had already made up his mind. "Yeah," he replied.

He heard the squeaking of bed springs and Hikari's arms gently took his chest and pulled him back into her room. Lies was surprised, but he told himself that it was natural. And he couldn't complain about spending time with Hikari. He expected her to say something after she took him into her arms, but she didn't. He turned around with a small sigh and returned her embrace, hugging her tightly.

Hikari laid her head on his chest, listening carefully to his steadily beating heart and feeling the gentle rise and fall of his expanding breaths. She took in his familiar scent. His clothes were filled with rain and him, and a metallic tang to the end. That of blood. But that was still all him.

Lies bent to Hikari's neck and listened to her pulse. Hearing it calmed him down. Hearing life made him feel like enduring everything was worth it. Her life made his worth all the shit that he had been going through, nothing. Subtle notes of sweetness under her hair told him how much she cared about getting through everything that was thrown at her. Why wear something of little value when you were sure that you were going to die? You didn't. Not all the time. Actually, she was making his head go hazy…

"Don't you forget about me…" Lies broke the smothering silence with a soft tune to his words.

"I won't," Hikari replied, running her hands down Lies' body, trying to memorise it as best she could. "I don't think I could anyways," she laughed a little, and Lies laughed too, even though he knew that by all the things that were going through her head, she shouldn't have been smiling at all.

Goddammit… "Yeah…" Lies nodded as he let go of Hikari and began his way out her room's window, sun's rays starting to grace the morning with warm light. He breathed that in. "I love you Hikari," he said, lingering on the window sill for a few moments before dropping out of the opening and escaping as quickly as possible.

…

"So, you think that you nearly killed your best friend out of jealousy huh?" Kurow asked as he stared up at the sky. He hadn't bothered to get up even after his wounds had stopped bleeding and the icicle that had nearly impaled him before had disappeared.

"Yeah, I guess that was what happened," Hibiki nodded. "I get jealous of people really easy."

"Eh, I don't think it's that bad. It just means you can see what is hella good about other people. But it depends on what you do after that," Kurow said. "Jealousy's fine until it actually starts hurting someone."

"I guess," Hibiki nodded. Sense was made. "So… Care to tell me why you can't properly summon your Persona?"

Kurow's breath seemed to be caught, but he swallowed the error. "I don't really know anymore. I summoned my Persona normally just once. But that was when I first awakened to it. After that I couldn't summon at all."

"That's weird," Hibiki commented.

"It's also really annoying," Kurow sighed. "It ain't like I got a really good reason to use my Personae anymore, anyways. It's just a really bad burden."

"I don't think so," Hibiki disagreed.

"Why's that?" Kurow asked.

"Well I guess… you can still use your Persona powers to help people and stuff, you know?" Hibiki suggested. "It isn't as if a Persona is just end of the world or something. Just power that could be used in almost any way that you might want, right?"

"I guess…" Kurow said, but inwardly he scoffed. "Tch."

"What do you think I am?"

"Huh?" Kurow blinked.

"You said that you were a raven, Yashiro's the cowboy and Kanashi's the hawk. What am I?" Hibiki asked curiously.

Kurow closed his eyes and turned onto his side. "You're a dragon…"

…

Hikari fell back onto her bed and buried her head into her pillow. She looked longingly at the place where Lies had been just a few minutes ago, but she knew that he wasn't coming back. The next time they would meet, from then on they would be enemies. But still. She loved him.

"I love you Kurow…" she mumbled.

…

Kurow opened an eye to the paint sloshed about the sky. He clicked his tongue and whispered, "Hikari…"

AN: Whoooa. I hit 400 reviews. I'm not exactly sure whether to feel happy about that or be kinda sad that there haven't been as many people reviewing, but I guess I'll stick to being content?

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

Yoshikunitsu: Yeah, I had been planning that for a while. But his Persona actually ain't the normal type. Mwahaha.
Well, I think I'll talk for some CD in the next chapter anyways. I need to up the ante on something between Minato and Nyx. Hehe.
What do you think of Kurow now? :P

Raidou: We'll have to see, ne?

Q/A SECTION

(Kurow) Question 1: Yoshikunitsu

Kurow: SEES is gonna win when shit goes down.

(Minato, Nyx, Erebus) Question 2: Yoshikunitsu

Minato: Dunno. I'm too used to weird to care at this point, really.
Nyx: Well. There are even greater forces at work. *flicks Star*
Erebus: Star tells us a lot of things. But we don't really remember what happens here because plot convenience!