Sorry for the long wait! I hope you all enjoy!
June 15, 2009, Monday, After School
Seth and Nobuo went to the comic book store to check out the latest manga and imported comics that came in stock.
"… Why do you always scrunch your face in here?" Nobuo asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"I saw your face twitch…" Nobuo leaned closer to Seth so his mouth was by his ear and whispered. "It's the smell, isn't it?"
Seth nodded. "By the way, what got you interested in comic books to begin with?"
"My family and I once went on vacation to New York City and we stopped at a comic book store. Seeing those costumed heroes standing up for justice and protecting the innocent… I wanted to be just like them. It must sound silly, right?"
"Actually, a lot of children in my home country feel the exact same way. But to be honest, I always superheroes were lame until I had that falling out with the bullies. I gave one of Luke's comics a read and became interested in the stories. If Luke was the catalyst for finally standing up for what's right, comic book heroes helped inspire me further."
"And they call superheroes kids' stuff! Anything that can change a person's way of thinking for the better must be a good thing."
"Speaking of doing good, we should head to Tartarus tonight. I think we've had a long enough break."
"Yeah-" Nobuo stopped speaking as he just stared past Seth.
"What's wrong?" Seth asked.
Nobuo ran outside and Seth turned around to notice there was a cat stuck in a tree outside the store. Seth followed Nobuo to the tree and the two looked up.
"Seth, would you mind giving me a boost?" Nobuo requested.
"Cats climb trees all the time." Seth said. "Plus, what if it bites you?"
"Please just do it."
Seth lowered his hands, put them together and Nobuo stepped on them as Seth lifted him up high enough to grab the cat out of the tree.
"Got it!"
Nobuo got back down on the ground and held the cat between his arms.
"Sorry, Seth, but I'll meet you back at the dorm." Nobuo said. "I should take this cat back to its owner."
"Maybe it was let out to get some fresh air and exercise." Seth said. "It's not uncommon."
"What if a truck hit it on its way back home? It doesn't befit a man of justice to leave an animal to fend for itself, no matter how independent it is."
"Just leave it in the yard. The owners might not think highly of you for obsessing over their cat's safety."
"I guess that'd be okay. Thanks."
Nobuo walked off with the cat and Seth headed back to the dorm.
June 16, 2009, Tuesday, After School
As soon as Seth left the classroom, Fuuka came up to him.
"Carter-san, could I ask a favor of you?" She asked.
"Depends what it is." Seth answered.
"Can you… can you take me back to your dorm, please?"
"My charms have already driven you wild, eh?" Seth pompously smirked.
"Not even close."
"Hurtful… I was only kidding."
"I just want to learn how to cook."
"That's all? No problem."
"Thank you so much."
The two of them went back to Seth's dorm and into the kitchen where they put on aprons.
"Ready to learn the intricacies of the culinary arts, Fuuka?" Seth asked.
"Mm-hm." Fuuka nodded.
"So what exactly are your problem areas?"
"Well… everything."
"Then we should start with the most basic of recipes. Perhaps an omelette."
One hour later, there was a frying pan with an ashen pile in the center and Seth was panting while carrying a fire extinguisher.
"… How the hell do you burn your food when the temperature was exactly what it said in the book?!" Seth exclaimed in shock.
"I'm sorry!" Fuuka sobbed.
"No!" Seth panicked and tried to calm her down. "I'm not mad! Just baffled."
"Whenever I try to cook, something always goes wrong…"
*She's a freakin' kitchen jinx!* Seth thought before speaking. "Hey, it's still too early to call it quits. I'll help you however I can until you get it right."
"T-thank you, Carter-san."
"Please, call me Seth."
"Alright, Seth-san."
He shrugged off the honorific and continued to help Fuuka with her cooking, even though they made little to no progress at the end of the day.
June 17, 2009, Wednesday, After School
Seth and Daichi were at Paulownia Mall's electronics store, the latter practically drooling at the sight of a new line of cameras on display.
"Is there a sticker of a hot girl on that camera or what?" Seth asked somewhat jokingly.
"There are only two things I love in this world: Technology and women." Daichi stated.
"Well, any women here will think you're brain-dead if your mouth remains a waterfall."
Daichi quickly wiped off the saliva around his mouth and chin with the sleeve of his shirt and resumed examining each of the new cameras.
"… You're not thinking of anything scanalous, are you?" Seth asked.
"Who? Me?" Daichi asked while pointing at himself.
Seth looked at him like he was spouting a load of bull crap from his windpipe.
"Seriously, Seth! Have more faith in me! I'd never sully my love of technology by using it for voyeurism… Except watching porn on the Internet."
"Knew there'd be exceptions." Seth said before thinking to himself. *If there're any others, I don't know.*
"I should be thanking you for some of this technology stuff, Seth." Daichi said as he picked up one of the new cameras. "It's your leadership through Tartarus and the treasures we find there that I can purchase any of this stuff. I've actually been saving up for these since our first excursion."
Seth saw a genuine smile on Daichi's face, a clear sign of the gratitude he had just expressed.
"Hey, it's your money." Seth said. "You do what you want with it… But we're not paying for your meals."
"Ha ha." Daichi laughed sarcastically.
Daichi went to the counter and paid the clerk before leaving the store with Seth. They made small talk until they came back to their dorm for the night.
June 18, 2009, Thursday, After School
After another meeting in the Student Council, Seth stayed behind to clean things up before heading back to the dorm.
"You're quite dedicated, Mr. Carter." Mitsuru said as she approached him. "I apologize for leaving you with more grunt work."
"No problem at all, Mitsuru." Seth said as he put up the last of the chairs. "I'm somewhat glad those girls picking on Fuuka learned their lesson. It's at least one group of bullies out of the way."
"Remember what you once told me?" Mitsuru asked. "About how you've always hated bullies? That's not entirely true, is it?"
"… Who told you? Or did you dig around my personal history?"
"The latter. My father granted me access to Heiwa's records, though my intentions were to understand your mindset."
"… It's true. I used to be in a group of bullies, but it wasn't until they started picking on my little brother, Luke, that I realized what I've been doing all that time. It's a past I'm not proud of, but it keeps me from doing it again."
"You really love your brother, don't you?"
Seth nodded. "He's the reason I fight. I want him to live in a world without worry. To keep him safe."
"Actually, I'm not so different from you."
"How so?"
"My father… I fight for him."
"Aw, you're a daddy's girl."
"Please don't call me that." Mitsuru was clearly irritated and a bit embarrassed hearing that.
"I'm only teasing. I didn't realize the two of us had this much in common. Perhaps next time, we can have a proper chat."
"Hmph, we'll see." Mitsuru lightly chuckled.
June 19, 2009, Friday, After School
As soon as classes were over, Junpei invited Seth to eat at Hagakure.
"So, it's been a while since you came here, Seth." Junpei said. "Gotten used to it yet?"
"Absolutely." Seth answered. "I'm pretty quick to adjust. Wish I could say the same for my brother."
"Glad to hear it. I think others have gotten used to you here, too."
"I HAVE made quite the number of friends."
"Actually, you might want to look at these."
Junpei rummaged through his pockets and handed Seth a series of photographs. The first one was of Seth in his dorm room without his shirt on and the second was of him doing pushups in the same place, once again shirtless.
"… I didn't think you swung both ways, Junpei." Seth said. "Though seriously, this is really fucking creepy. Whoever took these is going to get a pretty unpleasant visit from the cops!"
"Dunno." Junpei shrugged. "Some girl I bumped into dropped 'em. She panicked by saying she didn't take the photos and that she bought 'em off someone. I just thought you should know about this."
"Thanks, Junpei."
"Though I gotta admit, it's kinda your fault for leaving your blinds open when you're showing off like that... And I wish someone took some photos of me…" Junpei muttered the last part.
June 20, 2009, Saturday, After School
Seth and Minato were headed back to the latter's dorm after hanging out earlier. Once they arrived, they saw Fuuka kneeling down in front of a white dog.
"Koro-chan, give me your paw." Fuuka said to the dog.
Fuuka held out her hand and the dog its paw. She held it and petted the dog on the head.
"Oh, good dog." Yukari said before noticing the two young men who had just come by. "Oh, you're back, Minato-kun."
"Hi." Fuuka greeted them.
"I didn't know you guys had a dog." Seth said. "Hell, I didn't even know you could have pets in the dorms."
"We don't." Minato stated.
"His name's Koromaru." Fuuka stated. "I've seen him sitting by the shrine's steps."
Another dog approached and started barking at Koromaru. With the dog came a woman carrying a bag of groceries.
"Oh… This dog still goes on walks all by himself?" The woman asked.
"Whaddya mean?" Yukari inquired.
"He used to belong to the priest of Naganaki Shrine." The woman answered. "The two of them would walk by here every afternoon."
"Well, his owner must be worried sick." Seth said.
"Sadly, the priest passed away." The woman said.
"He passed away?" Fuuka questioned out of uncertainty.
"Haven't you heard the story?" The woman asked. "Six months ago, the priest was hit by a car while walking his dog."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Koromaru." Seth knelt down to Koromaru and petted his head.
"Ever since, that dog sits patiently by the site of the accident." The woman continued. "And he walks himself every day on the same route, just as his owner used to. Oh shoot! I need to get going! My son will be home soon."
The woman and dog walked off, leaving the four high school students with Koromaru.
"Aww, you're such a loyal dog!" Yukari said to Koromaru. "Good boy!"
"Thank you." Seth said.
"She wasn-" Minato was about to say.
"I know." Seth interrupted him.
Fuuka then slightly jolted as if she had a light spasm. "Huh?"
The other three looked at her as Koromaru walked off.
"Something wrong, Fuuka?" Minato asked.
"Oh, sorry. It's nothing." Fuuka replied. "Wait, the Chairman's coming today. We should go get ready."
"Then I'll take my leave here." Seth said. "See ya tomorrow!"
As Seth walked off, he was a little curious about Fuuka's strange reaction. However, it would have to wait for now since they had an important meeting to attend to.
June 20, 2009, Saturday, Evening
Seth was in his room, relaxing and reading a manga since it wasn't a school night, when there was a knock on his door.
"Seth, are you decent?" Homura asked from the hallway.
"Yes." Seth answered loudly.
Homura opened the door and entered. "Seth, I picked up a pattern on those large Shadows! You know those cards used in fortune telling? Tarot cards?"
"I'm somewhat familiar with them."
"Well, all Shadows, and even our Personae, are categorized by a type of Arcana. The order starts with the Magician, then the Priestess, and most recently the Empress and Emperor."
"You know what the next one is?"
"Definitely the Hierophant. Whether or not we'll be fighting more than one the next full moon, I don't know."
"Wait, you said that Personas are placed in similar classes, right? Is there… any sort of connection between Personas and Shadows?"
Homura sat down on Seth's bed. "Heiwa has been researching Personae and Shadows for years now. While much still eludes us, there have been some significant discoveries. Shadows are malevolent inner thoughts made manifest. A Persona is the exact same thing, only those thoughts have been tamed by the ego."
"That must be why whenever I defeat Shadows, I obtain new Personas."
Homura nodded. "Very likely. Anyway, do you want to hang out tomorrow? Just the two of us?"
"Sure."
"Great! See you in the morning!" Homura said before leaving Seth's room.
Just as Homura left, Seth realized to check his window and saw that his blinds were open. He looked around out his window, seeing no one around or at least not visible, and closed the window as well as the blinds.
June 22, 2009, Monday, After School
All day it was hard for Seth to keep himself awake during class. Due to Heiwa's Tartarus expedition the previous night, he was feeling rather exhausted. As soon as the last lecture was over, he dropped his head onto his desk and closed his eyes.
*… Maybe just for an hour…* He thought.
His consciousness practically drifted off in seconds despite his head lying on a cold, hard surface.
"Seth?"
"I'M READY, COACH!" Seth shouted at the top of his lungs as he shot awake.
Seth panicked and looked around, noticing that Homura was somewhat startled by his sudden outburst.
"Damn, how long was I out?" Seth asked.
"Only an hour." Homura answered.
"That's not so bad, though considering all the shit I do every day I wish I wouldn't get so exhausted. Perhaps someone could put my brain in a robot and I can just live my life doing stuff without getting tired."
"… Weird way of putting it. Anyway, would you mind if we went back to the dorm together today?"
"Something wrong? Or just a friendly stroll?"
"Um, how do I put this? Ever since earlier today, I feel like someone's been watching me."
"Maybe it's just Emi being jealous."
"Why would Emi be jealous?"
"… Let's just hope it's not one of the Hands of Anarchy."
"That's the worst case scenario I had in mind. Have you felt anything like that?"
"Other than Emi, nothing."
"If Daichi and the others are experiencing the same feeling, then we can presume it's the Hands of Anarchy." Homura then pulled out her phone and started texting.
*Could this be the same person that's been taking photos of me in my room?* He thought. *Although, the Hands of Anarchy prefer to remain in secrecy and hide in plain sight. Handing out those photos around the school would be a detriment to their reconnaissance, even with the slight chance I would notice. I doubt my voyeur and Homura's spy are the same person, but if her spy IS with the Hands… We'd have to snuff them out as soon as possible!*
Homura put her phone away. "I just got texts back from everyone. None of them felt like they were being spied on."
"Even if it's just you, we should still keep our guard up. I'll escort you back to the dorm."
"Thanks a lot, Seth. I already feel much safer with you around."
Homura had a huge smile on her face and Seth couldn't help but notice how adorable it she looked with it. When they got to the shoe lockers and Homura opened up her locker, there was a bag of candy sitting on top of her shoes.
"Hey, someone gave me some candy!" Homura said as she took a couple pieces out and munched on them.
"Who's it from?" Seth asked.
"Don't know. Whoever it was left no hints. There a bag in yours, Seth?"
"Nope. Maybe you have a secret admirer."
"D…" Homura blushed very suddenly. "Did you leave me these chocolates?"
"Sorry, wasn't me." *Though now I wish I did.*
"Why would I have a secret admirer?"
*… Really?* Seth thought before speaking. "Well, you're nice, smart and cute. Isn't that enough?"
"You… you really think I'm cute?!" Homura exclaimed as her blush became more prominent.
"D-don't take that the wrong way!" Seth stammered and blushed. "I mean, I call kittens, puppies and babies cute. How come whenever someone calls an adult cute, they assume they like them?"
"So I'm cute in the same way as a kitten?" Homura asked with a raised eyebrow and a serious look on her face.
"Exactly!"
…
SLAP!
"Jerk!" Homura shouted, turned around and walked away pouting.
"What'd I say?!" Seth questioned as he followed her. "It was a compliment!"
June 22, 2009, Monday, Evening
"Heheh, you really pissed off Hottie Homura, huh?" Daichi chuckled.
Seth and Daichi were sitting in the dorm's lobby, the former holding an ice bag over his reddened cheek.
"I didn't think she'd've hit me so hard. Hopefully in time, she'll let it go."
"I dunno, man. Women can hold grudges a looooong time. I know a lotta guys have a grudge on ya."
"Why?"
"'WHY'?! Because you're closer to Hottie Homura than anyone else on campus! They're all jealous of you! Any guys give you the stinkeye?"
(Flashback)
As Seth was walking down the hallways of Gekkoukan, he glanced at a couple of guys and saw they were leering at him.
(End Flashback)
"… In retrospect, there have been hints…" Seth said.
A/N: I have an announcement to make! I will be discontinuing my Remnants of Peace story in a few days, but this story will still be running. I just need to rethink several things. I got a lot of Social Links updated this chapter! Here are their statuses! Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! Stay tuned for next time!
Heiwa (Fool) – Rank 4
Junpei (Magician) – Rank 5
Fuuka (Priestess) – Rank 2
Mitsuru (Empress) - Rank 3
Akihiko (Emperor) – Rank 2
Homura (Lovers) – Rank 5
Theodore (Hermit) – Rank 2
Nobuo (Fortune) – Rank 3
Daichi (Strength) – Rank 3
Makoto (Death) - Rank 3
Hardcore Gamer (Temperance) - Rank 3
Emi (Devil) – Rank 2
Troubled Woman (Tower) – Rank 2
Leliana (Star) - Rank 2
Shy Stalker (Sun) – Rank 1