Here's the next chapter! I know it's a bit of a drag, but I'm trying to put in as much character and development as I can. But once we get to December and January, we'll be able to go through them more quickly since those are the most boring months in the game. Just bear with it. I hope you all enjoy!

June 1, 2009, Monday, After School

Seth was walking past the cemetery when he saw Makoto standing in front of his father's grave again. He went over to him, keeping quiet so he wouldn't disturb him. Once Makoto was done, he turned around to Seth.

"Sorry if I kept you waiting." Makoto said.

"There's nothing to be sorry about." Seth said. "You were just paying respects to your father."

"Heh, you know, you're the only other person I've talked to so casually since his passing." Makoto stated.

"What about your mom?"

Makoto looked down. "I never knew my mother… She died giving birth to me…"

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Now who's making unnecessary apologies?" Makoto chuckled. "But perhaps it's best I didn't know her. When someone you know of passes on, there is a gaping hole left in your heart. However, if you lack knowledge of their existence, there's no pain or suffering. I'm distraught by my father's death because I knew him. Perhaps then I wouldn't be feeling this combination of anguish and hatred."

"I'm not going to lie. It WOULD be easier if we didn't know about them. Unfortunately, that's not how real life works. I've never personally knew anyone who died, but from I've heard it's a painful thing to go through. But if no one is even aware of their existence, how are they supposed to live on? It's because of those painful memories that they continue to be talked about and live on with us even if their bodies can't. In fact, why am I even telling you this? You're my age. This should be obvious to you."

"Heh… Seth, you still don't understand how the cycle of death works. But yes, I should know that."

"Oh, before I go, you said you go to Gekkoukan, right?"

"Yes."

"Do you know anything about a 'ghost' that's supposedly attacking the school?"

"Hmm…" Makoto had to think about it for a minute. "I believe the rumor went that if you wander around the school late at night, an angry ghost that haunts the halls will eat your soul. Ghost or not, since nobody is dead that rumor is false. However, I do believe it's tied to those recent reports of bullying. Supposedly, some girls from 2-E were picking on their classmate. No one's heard from said classmate since then, though the school claims she's sick."

*2-E?* Seth thought. *Isn't that the class that SEES mentioned would be getting a new member from? And 'sick'? It's got to be her they're talking about.* "So you think this girl somehow died and her spirit is trying to get revenge on her bullies?"

"I don't believe in any of that horse plop."

"You can say 'bullshit', you know… There aren't any kids around…"

"Whatever the reason, it doesn't concern me."

"So that's all you know?"

"That's all I care about."

As Makoto walked away, Seth sat on a bench and contemplated the information that was just given to him about the 'Gekkoukan ghost'.

*There are a lot of things that don't add up here. If she did die, wouldn't those girls get expelled for causing the death of a student? And wouldn't anyone have found a body on campus, aside from those of the bullies? There are still plenty of holes in this story, but it's worth telling Homura, Daichi and the others.*

June 2, 2009, Tuesday, After School

After classes, Seth went to boxing practice to train with Akihiko. The two would trade places between attacker and defender, with the attacker delivering fast and powerful punches and the defender blocking with guards so there were at least no major injuries. Once both of them were finished, they grabbed towels to wipe off the buckets of sweat dripping down their bodies. Seth took his water bottle and started chugging it down. Even after a few seconds, he didn't try to catch his breath. It was only when he completely drank every last drop he had that he finally breathed.

"What a workout!" Seth exclaimed.

"Don't work out much?" Akihiko asked.

"Not until recently have I been really building bulk, but I did exercise and train after Heiwa recruited my brother and I." Seth answered. "Our parents are enlisted in the United States Army, at least before the first ten years of their marriage. It was only until about seven years ago they had to go back and that's when Heiwa showed up. They've been researching us and offered to look after us while our parents went to fight."

"Seven years… Do you mean…"

"Yeah… That awful day… Honestly, we tried to hide it from Luke because we didn't think he could take it. A year later, he found out and cried his eyes out. I'm not even trying to be funny; he was really, really sad. Anyway, enough about how I joined Heiwa. What was your motivation for joining SEES?"

"It's… not something I really like to talk about. Let's just say I wanted to become stronger and Mitsuru gave me a chance. I'd rather leave it at that."

Seth figured that whatever the reason, it was painful for Akihiko to bring up, so he decided to leave that topic alone.

"By the way, what was up with your punches earlier?" Akihiko chuckled. "I mean, you weren't weak, but I didn't even feel a thing!"

"Heh, eventually you WILL feel something."

June 3, 2009, Wednesday, After School

As Seth was packing up his things when class was done, Ms. Toriumi came up to him.

"Mr. Carter, may I have a word with you for a moment?" She asked.

"Did I do something wrong?" Seth asked.

"No, nothing like that." She answered. "However, I don't think you'll like what I'm about to ask of you. You see, a student from class 1-F tested very poorly on her midterms and is failing most of her classes. Part of the reason why is that she doesn't understand Japanese very well."

"What kind of student of a Japanese school wouldn't know Japan-She's not from Japan, is she?"

"No, she is American."

"And you want me to tutor her because I'm the only one here that isn't a teacher and can afford to spend my time helping someone with their grades?"

"Excellent, you catch on quickly. Now we don't have to sound selfish for asking you. Your first session starts tomorrow." Ms. Toriumi walked away once she was finished.

"… 'Have a nice day, Mr. Carter.'" Seth quietly imitated her before speaking in his normal voice. "Tax dollars at their finest… Or… yen… whatever…"

June 4, 2009, Thursday, After School

Seth was walking down the hall with his bag slung over his shoulders until he reached the library. He slid open the door and looked around for the American girl he was supposed to tutor. After examining the library over, he stopped upon seeing a young woman with long blonde hair, crystal blue eyes and wearing the Gekkoukan uniform. Her facial features were also different than that of anyone else he's seen around Tatsumi Port Island, so he figured she was probably the girl he was tutoring. He walked over to the table she was sitting at.

"I presume you are the American I am supposed to be tutoring?" Seth asked in English.

She looked up at him. "Finally! Someone who can speak English!"

"Shhhhhhh!" A collective shush echoed through the library.

"You've probably heard I'm not doing so well in my classes." She quietly said to Seth. "You see, my parents are here on business for the year and they didn't think things through when they had me transferred here."

"… Why didn't they just leave you home?" He inquired. "Wouldn't you be able to understand your teachers better back in America?"

"They didn't want to leave me alone at home and they're very distant with their relatives. They handed me one of those idiots' guides to Japanese, but it was a bit confusing and didn't account for writing. And people talk so fast it drives me insane."

"… Wait, Ms. Toriumi told me that you're failing MOST of your classes. Which one are you passing?"

"Math."

"I see. It's not that you don't understand the material; it's just that you don't understand what the material is saying… That came out wrong. What I mean is that you can't read the texts they give you. Let me help you understand Japanese better so you can better read the materials and tests. I'll give you tips that helped me better grasp the language when I first came here."

"Thank you very much!"

"Shhhhhhhh!"

"By the way, what's your name?" She asked.

"Seth Carter."

"I'm Liliana Pierce (Age 14). It's a pleasure to meet you."

For the rest of the afternoon, Seth helped Liliana understand the phrases used on her homework and gave her tips on how to best memorize Japanese phrases.

June 5, 2009, Friday, After School

Seth and Homura went to the park where they got some shaved ice.

"What flavor did you get?" Homura asked.

"I don't know." Seth answered. "I just said 'surprise me'. Whatever it is… It just tastes like plain ice. Luke would probably get the lemon flavor. He's very picky and can be finicky when asked to try new things."

Suddenly an obnoxious, muffled ringing could be heard and Homura pulled out her phone, which made the sound clearer and more obnoxious as a result.

"Hello?" Homura answered the phone. "… Oh! Hi, Mom! How are you? … I'm just hanging out with Seth… We're just in the park, don't worry… What?! You want to talk to him?!"

"I don't mind talking to your mother." Seth said. "… Unless she's going to yell at me."

"I-it's not that…" Homura said to Seth, covering her hand over the phone so her mother wouldn't hear and uncovered it when she was done. "… He… He DOES want to talk to you… Could you please at least not embarrass me? … Here."

Homura handed Seth the phone and he placed it by his ear.

"Hello, Mrs. Ryukawa." Seth said.

"So YOU'RE the infamous Seth we've heard so much about." Homura's mother said.

"Uh, 'infamous'?" Seth asked.

"It's only a joke. Our daughter has certainly told us a lot about you. You don't have any funny ideas about her, do you?"

"No, ma'am."

"Aoi, who are you talking to?" An unfamiliar man's voice spoke in the background.

"Honey, I'm talking to that Seth boy Homura said she likes."

"Uh, Mrs. Ryukawa, I can still hear you and I don't think Homura would appreciate you saying that." Seth said.

"What did she say?!" Homura asked with a furious blush on her face.

"You seem like a nice boy, so we wouldn't mind if you dated our daughter." Ms. Ryukawa said.

"Just don't sleep with her!"

"Anyway, it was nice to finally speak with you. I have to schedule my husband's day for tomorrow. Goodbye."

The call ended and Seth just blankly looked at the phone for a minute.

"What did they say?" Homura asked.

"… I'm sorry, but the only thing on my mind is how I'd be talking in the exact same way when I talk to the girl who will be Luke's girlfriend."

June 6, 2009, Saturday, Evening

As soon as the sun was below the horizon and the city was blanketed in the dark of night, at his dorm Seth was finishing up his studying for the night as there was a knock on his door.

"How many times have you knocked on my door, Homura?" Seth asked.

"It's Daichi." His voice came from the other side of the door. "Come downstairs to the lounge immediately. There's some important business we need to talk about. Like the 'ghost'."

Those words instantly drew Seth's attention as he got off his bed and came to the door. He and Daichi went downstairs to the dorm's lounge where Homura, Nobuo and Emi were waiting on the couch.

"Good, now we can start." Homura said. "You know those strange incidents of the girls being left unconscious in front of the school gates?"

"Yeah." Seth nodded.

"Well, it turns out those girls all hung out together." Nobuo continued. "They've also been getting involved with some shady characters in the bad part of the city."

"Long story short, you and I are going to there to get some more information." Emi said.

"Way to ruin the scene, Emi…" Nobuo mumbled.

"Why not all five of us?" Seth questioned.

"Well… You see…" Daichi hesitated to answer. "You two are the only semi-intimidating ones in our group, so… heheh…"

With the city devoid of sunlight, the only sources of light were the street lamps and signs of whatever places were open at this time. Seth made sure to stay close to the lights so he wouldn't get jumped by unsavory characters and Emi walked right next to him. As they entered a dark alley, they saw a rather large, scary-looking man with a black cap on his head, black pants and a fuchsia trench coat.

"Hey, we have a couple of questions we want to ask you." Seth said to the man.

The man examined Seth and Emi. "You two are from Gekkoukan. What are you doing in this part of the city?"

"Like I said, we have questions." Seth answered. "We've heard that some girls from our school hung out around here. Know anything about them?"

"Does it have something to do with that ghost story?" He asked.

"Actually, yeah." Seth said.

"Aw, man, I was really hoping we'd torture someone tonight…" Emi mumbled.

"GAH!"

They could hear a loud groan coming from further in the alley. Seth knew that someone was getting hurt there and his instincts made him rush in the direction of the noise. Emi just sighed and chased after Seth. The man then sighed and followed them. Seth kept running until he saw Minato, Yukari hiding behind him and Junpei kneeling to the ground and cradling his stomach. All three of them were surrounded by four angry young men.

"Minato… Junpei… Yukari, what are you doing here?!" Seth asked.

"Oh, this a friend of yours?" One of the punks asked.

The punk pulled out a knife and charged at Seth, but he punched him in the face before he could even thrust it, knocking the punk to the ground.

"People like you do what they want and don't care about how your actions affect those you hurt." Seth started trembling with rage. "Scum like you make my blood boil…"

"That's enough."

The man Seth just spoke with a moment ago, along with Emi, walked up to him. While Emi stopped walking when she was next to Seth, the man kept walking toward the three that were still surrounding Minato, Yukari and Junpei.

"They didn't know what they were getting into." The man said to the punks. "I'll make sure they leave. Alright?"

"Who do you think you are, dumbass?" One of the punks asked.

The punk Seth had punched to the ground finally got back up on his feet, rubbing his bruised jaw.

"You want some, too?!"

The punk charged at the man this time, only for the man to head-butt him back to the ground. It sounded like it seriously hurt both of their skulls, but the man was still standing as if it didn't bother him at all.

*Yeesh, this guy's tough…* Seth thought.

"Damn you, Shinjiro…" One of the other punks growled at the man. "Wait… That's right. You're from Gekko High, too, aren't ya? I thought you were one of us."

"What gave you that idea?" The man named Shinjiro questioned. "I don't remember swearing a blood oath."

"You sons of bitches!" The punk that got beaten down twice shouted as he got up again. "You just crossed the line! You think you're going home alive?!"

Seth's eyes became much angrier and he cracked his knuckles. "I'd be more than willing to put all of you in the hospital."

*I didn't think Seth had this dark side to him.* Emi thought. *… It's actually pretty hot…*

His attitude made the punks suddenly afraid of him and run off.

"Sorry, I'm not usually like that." Seth said to his friends. "Let's just say I used to know a lot of people like that."

"Wow, Seth-kun, Senpai, that was awesome!" Junpei said as he finally recovered from his injury.

"You idiots!" Shinjiro shouted at them. "Get outta here. This place isn't for you."

"Wait!" Yukari resolutely got out from behind Minato to stop Shinjiro from leaving. "We came here for a reason!"

Shinjiro looked at them again. "I remember you now… You were at the hospital. Did Aki tell you to come here?"

"No, he didn't." Minato answered.

*Is he connected with SEES somehow?* Seth wondered.

"What do you want to know? About that ghost story?" Shinjiro inquired.

Yukari seemed surprised. "Um, yeah… How'd you know?"

"It's a rumor, and these two here just asked me about it." Shinjiro answered as he sat down on a small set of stairs. "Those girls who wound up in the hospital were here talkin' shit every night about all the things they did to this girl named Fuuka."

"Fuuka Yamagishi from 2-E?" Junpei asked. "They were picking on her?"

"That's why people are saying it's Fuuka's spirit that did it." Shinjiro continued. "It's all over the net, too."

"Wait, what do you mean by 'Fuuka's spirit'?" Yukari asked.

"Don't you guys know?" Shinjiro questioned. "This Fuuka girl might be dead. She hasn't been home in over a week. You go to the same school! How do you not know this?!"

A look of shock was on everyone's faces, except for Emi who just yawned.

*So what Makoto said was right.* Seth thought.

"Are you serious?" Junpei asked. "I thought she was out sick… But, she's missing?!"

"That rules out the ghost story." Yukari said. "Mr. Ekoda is the homeroom teacher for 2-E. Does he know something about this?"

Shinjiro then stood up and mumbled to himself. "I get it, Aki… Still trying to make up for the past… It's you who can't let go…"

Everyone looked at Shinjiro in confusion.

"Nothing…" Shinjiro brushed them off. "That's all I know. Satisfied?"

"Yeah, thanks, Senpai!" Junpei removed his cap and bowed to Shinjiro.

"This information will be very helpful." Seth said. "Thanks for your time."

Junpei then looked to Minato, who was still blankly staring at Shinjiro.

"C'mon, show some appreciation." Junpei nudged Minato.

Minato politely bowed to Shinjiro, followed by one from Yukari.

"You totally helped us out." Yukari said. "You're very kind."

"Huh?" Shinjiro reacted.

"I, uh, never mind." Yukari slightly panicked.

Shinjiro turned around and walked away. "Tch, don't come here again."

With the information claimed, both groups headed back to their respective dorms for the rest of the night.

June 7, 2009, Sunday, Daytime

On his day off from school, Seth was hanging out with Junpei at the strip mall, eating some takoyaki.

"Man, that was pretty crazy last night." Junpei said before taking a bite of his takoyaki, but quickly taking it out of his mouth. "Owch! Hot!"

"Be patient and let it cool for a couple minutes." Seth told him.

"You were pretty scary last night." Junpei stated. "I always thought of you as the heroic type, but… that was dark, man."

"Well, when I was a stupid kid, like 8, I hung out with other kids like that. We'd pick on a lot of people, but the more we did it, the more I saw how it was affecting the lives of those they picked on. Some of them were traumatized, becoming so scared of other people that they never came to school again. When I saw that the next kid they were going to bully was Luke, I snapped and beat all every single one of them. I got in a shitload of trouble that day. Grounded for three weeks. Now you know why I can't stand bullies. Just the thought of them makes me so angry I just want to break down the nearest wall I see."

"I didn't think you could be so intense, but at least I know it's because your heart is in the right place. Anyway, let's get to less serious topic. How about girls?"

"Yeah, you live with two attractive young women. Which one's your type?"

"Mitsuru-senpai may have that killer bod, but Yuka-tan seems easier to get along with… Despite the fact that last night was her idea."

"I myself would choose Mitsuru. She has this commanding, authoritative presence, but there's no fear being instilled. And it's clear that she cares greatly for our safety."

"Well, how about the girls in your dorm? Actually, that's a pretty easy one."

"Yeah, Emi is kinda creepy." Seth didn't even want to bring up what happened between him and Emi a week ago. "I'd pick Homura, too. Though it's her personality. Her body has nothing to do with it… But I won't complain either…"

"Ha, you try to hide it, but you're no different than any other guy."

"In that sense, we're all perverts. It's just how well we hide that perversion that counts. Actually, there's something about Mitsuru."

"Huh?"

"I'm being a hundred percent serious; no dirty talk. I feel as if she's not fully opening up to any of us."

"Well, no use worrying about it now. Our takoyaki's getting' cold."

A/N: I made this chapter a little longer so I can focus on the Reverse Empress and Emperor in the next one. This also took a little longer because I was addicted to Persona 4: Dancing All Night, which is a super-fun game! Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! Stay tuned for next time! Here are the current Social Link Ranks:

Heiwa (Fool) – Rank 3

Junpei (Magician) – Rank 4

Mitsuru (Empress) - Rank 2

Akihiko (Emperor) – Rank 2

Homura (Lovers) – Rank 4

Theodore (Hermit) – Rank 2

Nobuo (Fortune) – Rank 2

Daichi (Strength) – Rank 2

Makoto (Death) - Rank 2

Hardcore Gamer (Temperance) - Rank 2

Emi (Devil) – Rank 1

Troubled Woman (Tower) – Rank 1

Leliana (Star) - Rank 1