Just when you think this is all over…

/= [DAY 104] =/

Who came up with the idea that people had to kiss each other on New Year's? Sure, Li Xiao wasn't worried about it the last time, but now that he got a girlfriend it was suddenly the most important thing in the world. Weird, but true. Since it was New Year's Eve, he had no idea what to expect now. Charice never seemed to bring it up, so he decided not to do so…until he talked to Elizabeta.

"ARE YOU CRAZY? NOT DISCUSISNG THE MOST IMPORTANT WAY TO START THE NEW YEAR'S? You must be nuts!"

"Geez, calm down! I'm not that worried about it." Li Xiao stated. "If she wants to kiss me, fine. I'll do it in a park or onstage with thousands of people watching. I'm not going to reject anything here."

"That's not the problem! You have to tell her that you're all right with everything! Women don't like it when their men aren't telling them everything that they want to know!" Elizabeta rubbed into his face. "There's a chance that this is going to drive a huge stake in your relationship and possibly kill it!"

"Eliza, really-"

"No. You go over to her and tell her exactly what you told me! I am not letting a relationship die on my watch!"

"All right, all right." Li Xiao turned around. "Really, you worry too much."

He turned back around and headed down the hallway. Elizabeta folded her arms and shook her head, leaning on the wall and staring at the lights that were beginning to get ready for the New Year bash. The sun was just about to set and everything was going to be the same as it is the year before…lonely and emotionless. Besides, she's seen a relationship crumble before. She didn't want the same thing to happen to people so much younger than her…

"He's right. You worry too much."

She turned her head and saw a rather confused Roderich walking toward her while holding what looked like a musical score. Elizabeta was about to say something when he walked into one of the rooms, leaving the door open a crack for the young woman to listen. She peeked through the area and saw the Austrian sit down at a piano and started to play something on the keys.

/= "From Tomorrow On…" by Eternal Sonata =/

Elizabeta just stood there, listening to this song, wondering where it came from. There was no way something this beautiful came from him (maybe she was right or something)…there was just no way that could be right…

"You don't have to be so shy, Eliza. We're friends, right?" His voice echoed out. "You can come in. No one is stopping you."

She did as she was told. He was right, of course. They were just friends and the like…well, more like exes on good terms with each other. Besides, when they were divorced Roderich didn't say anything about it. Then again, he didn't say anything when he divorced Antonio. Maybe he's not one to care about it.

"Sounds beautiful." She stated. "As always."

"Thank you." Roderich smiled. "It's pleasing to hear that when you're playing a song."

"I know. That's why I say it all the time. No one these days seem to like the old days."

"No one likes them…they're filled with conflict and destruction. Friendships and families are destroyed, twisted and thrown away as if nothing else mattered in the world…in that comparison, these years are the best years of our lives." Roderich turned his head up. "Where it is safe to become friends."

"Until the next conflict."

"…hopefully, that is all come to past."

She nodded as she sat down next to him, staring at the piano keys and reminiscing when they were married…back when she would do the exact same thing for the sake of just watching time past with this beautiful melody in her ears. She looked up and saw that Roderich was smiling back at her, playing purely from memory.

"You seem to like it."

"I do like it." Elizabeta chuckled. "I always have been, idiot."

"I figured as much." Roderich sighed. "Too bad, though…"

"Hm?"

"There isn't a song strong enough to symbolize just how much…"

His words drifted away as he started playing the song louder than before, making her notice that he was trying to hide something. She couldn't help but laugh as she saw Roderich playing slower and louder as if trying to pull this entire thing out.

"You do realize that if you want to kiss me, you're going to have to wait."

"…ulp." Roderich seemed to be blushing. "…um…how long?"

"Pfft." She laughed. "Until midnight, silly!"

"…oh."

The two of them shared a giggle, not knowing that Gilbert was watching just a few feet from the door. He sighed and headed down the hallway, shaking his head and looking down the entire time. He looked out the window and watched as the people started to create more fireworks for the midnight show.

"Well…it looks like I'm going to be alone again."

"What? What about me?"

"All by my lonesome self…without a single soul to support me."

"Gilbert, I'm right here!"

"It's sad…I've been lonely my entire life and here I thought that I would have someone to at least be with for one day of this pathetic life…"

He felt light arms reach over and squeeze his stomach like his life depended on it. Gilbert heard a light sob on his back before he started cackling of laughter and held his arms close to his own.

"Hey, I was just kidding! I knew you were there, Matthew~!"

"…but Gilbert…really…"

"It's fine, it's fine." Gilbert laughed. "Don't worry about it."

"But…aren't you lonely?" Matthew leaned on his back. "You always hang out with Roderich, but when he's doing something else you're always alone…"

Gilbert said nothing.

"Why can't you say anything, Gilbert? Please…you have to tell me…"

They stood there in silence for a few long minutes before he wiggled out of his grip and squeezing the life out of the rather terrified Canadian. The young man looked and saw the smile on his face…the familiar one he always had, instead that there was a twinge of sadness in them.

"The awesomeness is never sad…but whenever you start crying…heck, I can't help but do the same." He wiped his cheeks, and Matthew noticed that he was crying too. "All right? So stop crying. I can't help it!"

"…you can't just…tell me not to cry…"

Matthew lunged back into his arms and started crying again, and for the first time Gilbert understood what Ludwig is going through…but he had to admit that Matthew did look cute crying.

/=+=/

"How am I not surprised that you're on the roof?"

"Oh, Li Xiao!" Charice stood up. "What, I was waiting for the fireworks!"

"You got a whole…" Li Xiao turned to his watch. "Damn, time moves fast…it's already a half-hour till midnight…"

"Yeah, I know!"

"OK…hey, are you really going to stay here until midnight?"

"Yeah. Kuya is going to spend the day with his friends. He said he'll be fine."

"And you agreed to it?"

"I spent half the day trying to convince him otherwise." Charice sighed. "And you are…?"

"What?"

"What are you doing on the roof?"

"I was looking for you. And I guess I was right." He laughed. "You always want a view of a show."

"Hah…you know me well." She laughed. "So what are you really doing here?"

"…Elizabeta forced me here. She thought that I should openly discuss with you about kissing at midnight."

"You're worried about stuff about that?"

"No. She was, apparently. She was the one who made me want to look for you." Li Xiao laughed. "I figured you were fine with whatever."

"I am, really." Charice laughed. "God, are you stalking me? You know me way too much!"

"I guess it's a bad habit."

Li Xiao sighed as he looked over the rooftop and saw the people gathering in the park below them waiting for the fireworks. From the side he could see Yao talking with Elizabeta, and he immediately remembered what she had told him just a few long hours ago in a quiet school hallway.

"Li Xiao?"

"…women don't like it when their men reveal nothing in their minds…"

"You all right?"

"…sigh." He leaned on the railing. "Have I ever told you how I started off as a Shadow Hunter?"

"Hah? Uh…you mentioned that you started off with Carlos." She stated. "He saved you from your Shadow."

"Actually…no, he didn't save me from my Shadow. He saved me from myself."

"Eh? Aren't they the same thing?"

Li Xiao sighed as he stood up from the railing and walked toward the other side of the roof, away from the prying eyes of the others down below. After a few minutes he turned around and faced Charice, holding his arms up and revealing the strange glyphs that he had obtained from that weird day with the robots. It was then that he relieved that he was holding a golden dragon dagger in his sleeves the entire time. Li Xiao smiled as he lifted the blade to the mark on his arm and then slashed it clean open.

Charice was about to scream when a bright light shone and she had to shield her eyes from it. When the lights finally faded away, she opened her eyes and saw that Li Xiao was gone. In his place was a strange figure standing a few feet above her head. It was a Shadowy dark purple with a mask on its face, spouting horns that seemed rather terrifying to look at. The weapon in its hand ultimately got her. She grabbed her wrist, hoping that her Persona will come out.

"Told you that they're not the same."

"…huh?" She paused. "…Li Xiao?"

"Yeah. That's me."

"…whoa."

"I'm Yao's Shadow…the demon hiding in his mind." He stated. "Somehow, I was able to slip through the cracks between the world and went into this one. It didn't help that I was going to be under Arthur's control…it made me even worse. When Carlos found me, I had gained my own personality separate from what Yao enforced on me…and I lost control…"

"Lost…control…"

"I was about to be a demon loose on human soil. When he tamed me, he was supposed to kill me. Instead, he let me go. He said that I had become my own person with my own Shadow…to think, a Shadow with its own demons…" The figure looked up. "Once I was freed, I was returned to him completely normal. I was no longer a Shadow, but what I was to the world was my mask."

"What they know is…?"

"I'm a Shadow. Are you scared now?" He sighed. "I'm not surprised, and I will never be surprised. But I just don't want to lie to you."

Charice stared at him for a few minutes as they heard the countdown going on below them. Before his eyes, she walked forward and kissed what she assumed was his lips just as the final countdown was caught and the fireworks went off. They parted, and she saw that he had reverted to his human form, blushing all the while. He turned to the shadow on the wall, meeped a little, and hid behind Charice. She laughed.

"Are you afraid of the dark?"

"D-don't judge me, aru…"

"A Shadow…afraid of the dark…huh…very ironic. Sounds like blackmail material~!"

"Oh hush."

"But it makes you cute~"

"Huh?"

"What, are you saying that you being a Persona is going to change anything? We're around crazier people! Ivan, Gilbert, hell even Arthur! I'd still take you, the demon with the human mask, over whatever the hell Arthur with wings is called!" She laughed. "Besides, are you killing people at night?"

"No! Of course not!"

"…then what am I scared of? Some demon who can't stand a shadowy room? Please, that makes you another Feli-chan!"

"…crap, am I going to be strangled this time?"

"No…just hugged~!" She chirped. "Happy New Year's, dear~"

"…all right…" Li Xiao smiled, hugging her. "Happy New Year's, honey…"

/=+=/

Li Xiao's true form is that of Ongyo-Ki, an oni who is a leader of four powerful demons and can eliminate his aura so that he can make sneak attacks on people. Weird, huh?

Sooooooo…who did I dissuade from this story? Well, there will be plot the next chapter!

But for those of you who know of the Persona series…

[Li Xiao : Teddie]