A/N: Thank you bass30655, ChaosSerpent13, Cstan, and elo lexia for your support.
Act I: The World Ended… And Then it Burned
Chapter 4: Bridges Once Burned
(Track 2)
"Gah… AHH!"
Hamuko bit her lip hard enough to draw blood as she fell to her knees. The steel naginata clattered uselessly to the floor beside her, hands grasping her battered ribs.
"Hamuko-san!" Yukari rushed ahead of the others, stopping next to the wounded teen and immediately placed a hand against the brunette's stomach.
Wincing from the pain brought on by a second source of pressure, Hamuko smiled despite the small line of blood traveling down her face, "H-hey, I hope you're not mad at me for 'taking off' earlier".
Yukari shot her a dark look and adjusted her hand in a way that was just slightly more forceful than necessary. Hamuko fought between laughing and gasping from the sudden action.
"Well Yukari" Mitsuru walked over as Akihiko helped Shinjiro get the crowd back into their shelters, "How does she look?"
Moving her hand again to the opposite side of Hamuko's torso, Yukari sighed before getting back to her feet, "She'll live. She's got two ribs that have been pretty thoroughly cracked, one completely broken, several fractures and a lot of bruises. I'm more surprised that this is all the injuries she's sustained, Mitsuru. We'll need to get her back to base for me to work on her, though".
Mitsuru simply nodded before turning to inform Akihiko and Shinjiro about the situation as Yukari threw one of Hamuko's arms over her shoulder and got her to her feet.
After a thankfully uneventful walk back to the underground bunker, Hamuko was more than thankful when Yukari helped her lie down on their futon after she'd helped her with her jacket. She was surprised when Yukari rolled the bottom of her tank top up to reveal her mostly black and blue torso.
"W-What are you doing?" If she hadn't noticed that Yukari's hands were lightly glowing as they roved over her ribs Hamuko would have made a comment about how forward the brunette was being.
Yukari frowned slightly before responding, "I'm checking to see if I missed any injuries when I first checked. I'm not sure if I should be thankfully that I didn't miss anything, though".
Before Hamuko could respond, the white curtain was pulled aside and the regal-looking redhead stepped inside. Pulling the curtain closed again, Mitsuru spoke up, "Quite interesting, isn't it? Yukari here is our team's primary field medic. Akihiko and I can also heal, but we lack the precision that she has as well as the ability to diagnose internal injuries".
Yukari reddened slightly after the compliment but an outside voice cut in, "Mitsuru, we were planning on talking to her tonight about the situation here. Is she presentable?"
Mitsuru looked back at the two brunettes, Hamuko simply shrugging in response while Yukari grabbed a spare blanket and covered her up. Moving her hands under the blanket, Hamuko sighed slightly when Yukari started to repair her ribcage.
(end music)
"Yes, father, you three can come in".
The curtain was pulled open one last time and left off to the side as the three males of the team entered, the combat gear of the younger two already removed.
The man with an eyepatch spoke first, "It's good to see you still alive. I got a brief summary of what transpired today from Mitsuru here and while I'm sure you'd just love to be badgered about you're reckless behavior, I think we can all agree that we'd rather try to figure out what happened and move on from there".
"Tch, I can tell you what happened," Shinjiro spoke up with a deep scowl, "Some dumb little shit decided he wanted to act out his teenage rebel side and jumped one of the barricades".
Akihiko sighed slightly before smacking his friend upside the head, "Watch your mouth, Shinji".
"I'm afraid it's a bit more complicated than that," Hamuko cut in, wincing as Yukari snapped a rib back into place, "When I caught up to the guy, he was being effected by something. It didn't look like he could see me even though I was directly in front of him; hell, I'm going to take a wild guess and say he probably has no memory of what happened, does he?"
Shinjiro shook his head, "Not even the damn beans and rice he ate this morning".
Hamuko pursed her lips before responding, "He did mention a 'Morpheus' once; along with hearing 'him call to him'".
"'Morpheus' ring any bells with anyone?" Akihiko asked the group, continuing when no one responded, "Well, it's probably a kind of Shadow, right?"
"We'd be lucky if that's just the case" Hamuko paused to think, "Considering the name, if it is just a Shadow it'll be an extraordinary one. What's more likely is that it's a Persona or sorts, if not something far more unsavory".
"So you're saying that there's a chance that there could be something other than a Shadow or Persona behind this" Mitsuru asked, her eyebrow rose skeptically.
(Track 3)
"Don't make me laugh," Hamuko grit her teeth while responding, "We live in an apocalyptic wasteland and you think Shadows are the only things that go bump in the night anymore? There are monsters out there; some look the part and some look like humans. I would know, since I've killed some and I've got one within me".
"That's-"Akihiko cut himself off, speechless along with the rest of the group.
"Why are you all so surprised? You really think someone with hair the color of dead leaves and eyes the color of spilled blood is normal? Ms. Team Healer here said it herself: the fight today should have left me with far more injuries than I actually sustained. But I didn't, 'cause I've got a bit of help keeping my body held together" Hamuko nearly spat out.
Yukari frowned slightly, "Is that why I'm having such a hard time healing you? It's like your bones aren't a flexible as they should be".
(end music)
"Uh…" Caught off-guard by the bluntness of the statement, Hamuko sputtered.
"I think a better question, Ms. Wild Card, is why you're not healing yourself if you've got multiple Personae in the first place" Shinjiro snapped back at the brunette.
Hamuko let out a sigh as the last broken rib snapped back into place, "I wish I could, but I can't". She motioned over to her torn rut sack, "I'll show you, I need my catalyst from my bag first though".
Shinjiro walked over and opened the bag, eyes widening upon seeing its contents.
"Shinji" Akihiko walked over as well, "What's in the bag?"
The brunet reached down and pulled a large, black tome from the bag. "What the hell is this?"
"That is a Compendium" Hamuko motioned with her hand, "Mind letting me have it?"
Shinjiro walked over and placed the oversized book into her outstretched hand. Hamuko made no motion for the tome to open but it quickly flipped open, stopping at a page and allowing a single blue card to float up from the page. Slamming it shut with little fanfare, a blue pentagram appeared with a small blue pixie flying out of it. It looked around the room before ending its eyes on Hamuko.
"Hey Pixie, do you mind showing these guys why I can't heal myself?"
Pixie gave her Summoner what seemed to be a sad smile before raising her arms upwards. A green and blue light poured out of the air and flowed over Hamuko's body like water passing by a rock.
As if to prove a point, Pixie repeated the attempted healing on Akihiko to the same effect.
"It's difficult to explain, but I don't seem to be capable of healing even if I can have it cast. I've just chalked it up to another side effect of my curse. Power comes at a very steep cost".
"I think we know that lesson all too well ourselves," The man with the eye patch started, "Ten years ago, the Kirijo Gro-".
"Father" Mitsuru interrupted, a stern look in her eyes, "Kouetsu Kirijo, the head of the Group at the time, led an experiment involving the collection of a massive amount of Shadows. We still don't know the motives behind the collection, but according to the last report we managed to get from the lab they were in the preparation stage for a 'test'. Father and I rushed here when we received the report, but we were too late. The lab exploded, and hell came to earth".
"Heh" Hamuko couldn't help her laugh, "I think your containment plan failed just a bit".
Mitsuru smiled wistfully back, "Then it's a good thing that we're no longer trying for containment".
"We're here to protect our fellow survivors and fight off Shadows," Akihiko said with a grin, "We tried to investigate the ruins of the lab about two years ago, but what little of it wasn't sealed off had been picked apart by scavengers".
The red-head nodded back at the silveret, thankful for his input, "I remember that. It certainly made that stunt you pulled all those years ago worth it, Father".
The older man sighed loudly.
Hamuko simply raised an eyebrow in question.
"It was only a month after the accident, but one day a certain Takeharu Kirijio decided to vanish without telling anyone where he was going. About a week later, he came back with an empty pistol, two briefcases full of equipment, and a backpack full of Evokers" Mitsuru explained, a thin smile on her face.
Takeharu rubbed his face, "Well, I'd say I would need to make another run for equipment, but I doubt the lab would have magically restocked itself in the last two years".
"The hell would we need more equipment for?" Shinjiro questioned.
The man motioned towards the desk with the complex radio situated on top of it, "The communication system is completely shot. I took a look at the antenna today and its practically falling apart. Not to mention all the innards were nearly fried when we were communicating with Kuzunoha-san last week".
Curiously enough, Hamuko noted, Mitsuru looked distinctly embarrassed by that last comment.
(Track 9)
"Regardless, we should all introduce ourselves," Takeharu turned back to face Hamuko, "My name is Takeharu Kirijo as you heard from my daughter, Mitsuru".
The red-head gave a small bow out of acknowledgement.
Akihiko stepped forward, "I'm Akihiko Sanada. Shinji here and I were living over in the Port Island slums before we ran into the Kirijos. We've been living here ever since".
"Tch," Shinjiro looked absolutely annoyed at what he was about to say, "Shinjiro Aragaki".
The brunette gave him a smug grin in return.
"And I'm Yukari Takeba" The room's other brunette spoke up, finally removing her hands from Hamuko's body as she finished healing, "… My dad was a scientist working for the Kirijo Group. He never said what project he was working on, but he disappeared a day before the accident happened. I'm hoping to figure out what happened to him, regardless of what that is".
Blood-red eyes bore back into the brown eyes of the speaker, no words exchanged between the two.
"Uh…"
Hamuko coughed and turned back to the group as Yukari awkwardly did the same, "We've already been introduced, but I'm Hamuko Shirogane. I'll be in your care. So…"
"You don't need to worry about formalities among us" Mitsuru responded quickly, "There's not much left of society anymore that they'd be of much use. Besides, it would be rather idiotic if being polite got in the way of vital information".
Akihiko and Shinjiro shuffled uncomfortably after the red-head finished speaking.
"That's not what I meant…" Hamuko tried to speak up again.
"You talkin' about that 'I'm a monster crap'?" Shinjiro roughly cut in.
Yukari's eyes hardened, "There's not many of them, but a good portion of the people living here have that sentiment against us. If I'm remembering correctly, you met three of them today at the mess hall".
"The three girls?" The brunette questioned, continuing when she received a nod, "I was about ready to draw my weapon from the looks they were giving me".
Shinjiro snickered at the comment, "I almost wish you did".
"I guess we should be glad he's been keeping to himself lately" Akihiko stated, "But you're going to need to tell him about what happened today, Takeharu".
"Don't remind me"
21 Days until the Next Full Moon
(Track 2)
Hamuko entered the mess hall by herself, Yukari leaving her to go take care of something in the meantime. The brunette passed two of the girls on her way to pick a tray of the day's meager breakfast, listening in on their conversation out of pure habit.
"Heya Natsuki-chan, don't you think Miki is taking a bit long to meet up today?"
"Isn't she, like, the first of us usually here?"
"Yeah, but I haven't seen her at all today"
"Maybe she forgot to get up this morning? I know I would like to just sleep in, certain beats what we're going to have to do today"
"Ugh, don't remind me about garden duty today. I always hate doing that".
Hamuko gratefully received her tray from Shinjiro, thankful to have something else to focus on than two rather ungrateful girls complaining about things that were relatively trivial.
Sitting down at an empty table, she stirred her meal, beans and rice again, around her plate while deep in thought.
Morpheus, Morpheus, Morpheus.
(end music)
Omakes:
What happens when you get +10 to improvised weapons.
She took a deep breath before throwing open the toolbox, uncaring of the horrible shriek it let out from the rusted hinges and grabbed the first thing she could.
The Venus Eagle leaped on top of the island and let out a shriek, only to get knocked off of it by Hamuko suddenly jumping up and smashing it in the face with a wrench. Her ribs ached as she vaulted over the island to land a kick on the Shadow, knocking it back onto the ground from where it was struggling to get up.
"It would be just an absolute shame…"
Hamuko blitzed forwards, wrench hitting home once again.
"…if someone…"
A spin to avoid a jab by its wing smoothly transitioned into another clean hit against its mask.
"…were to…"
Backing up a step gave her enough distance to grip the two in both hands and nearly crush the Venus Eagle in a mock Helm breaker.
"…hit you…"
Duck. Smash.
"…with a…"
Spin. Swipe. Crack.
"…mother…"
Parry. Elbow.
"…FUCKING…"
Backstep. Kick in the mask.
"…WRENCH..."
One last overhead.
"…BITCH!"
Wrong kind of catalyst
"I think a better question, Ms. Wild Card, is why you're not healing yourself if you've got multiple Personae in the first place" Shinjiro snapped back at the brunette.
Hamuko let out a sigh as the last broken rib snapped back into place, "I wish I could, but I can't". She motioned over to her torn rut sack, "I'll show you, I need my catalyst from my bag first though".
Shinjiro walked over and opened the bag, a blush spreading across his cheeks upon seeing its contents.
"Shinji" Akihiko walked over as well, "What's in the bag?"
"… Panties?"
…
…
"…What?! That's my change of clothed!" Hamuko was practically livid, "The tome, you moron, THE TOME!"
A/N: Those Omakes were possible scenes that I took out as they broke the mood of their respective scenes. I'll be including more of them, unless someone is really against them, if I think of any other kind of 'outtake' ideas.
Anyways, this chapter had a fair bit of world building and explanation for the circumstances our mock-SEES is working under in this AU. Sadly, no fight scene :(
Moving on, this should offer an reason for why Akihiko and Mitsuru have their ultimate Personae already. For Mitsuru, this AU is a bit of a blessing in disguise. The world that heavily discriminated against her purely for being a woman is gone and replaced with one that is in desperate need of her skills. Coupled with the fact that she is in constant contact with her father and that she doesn't need to hide her true strengths, Mitsuru is more focused on being team's leader rather than supervisor; something that I believe she finally realizes when she achieves resolution in P3's canon.
For Akihiko (and I suppose this applies to Shinjiro as well), Miki still has died as the accident involving her death takes place before the creation of the Dark Hour. However, Akihiko is forced to see that he can't focus on the past in a world that constantly demands he defend those that are still alive.
And for the record, Shinjiro has not killed Ken's mother in this timeline.