The students dispersed – a sign of the start of lunch break. Most of the students left to eat their lunch elsewhere. Those who were remained in the classroom either didn't bother looking for a place to eat, catching some sleep, or studying. Usually the persona-users of 3-F – if no one did the good deed of making everyone lunch – would decide who buys from the school's store. But this day was different.
Ken left for the student council room just like he did almost every day. But before he did, he kept shooting uneasy looks at his friends. Aigis, who would usually stick to Minako by time the teacher left, kept her distance from the girl. The same for went for Ryoji – after fixing his stuff, he left the room without a word. Shinjiro was still the same, but it was obvious that his mind was somewhere else.
"Mina-chan," Teddie said as eagerly as he could. "Let's go buy lunch for everyone, okay?"
"Okay," Minako said. She followed silently Teddie and Labrys out.
"Where do you think Ryoji-kun went?" Labrys asked. Her voice was louder than usual because they were passing by the bustling corridors.
"I'm not sure…," she said almost too casually. She stared of at the distance, as if thinking of where the raven-haired boy could possibly be. "The rooftop maybe?"
"They're acting weird," Teddie said. "Ryoji and Gakky, I mean."
The albino android snorted. "Whatcha expect, that they'll be all happy and dandy after havin' a bomb thrown to them?"
"...Good point."
"I'm sure they'll be fine soon," Minako said. "I hope."
Labrys sighed. "Ya hope?"
"Yep...So are we buying Ryoji and Shinjiro lunch?"
"Yeah we should," Labrys said.
Their routine is they give the money to the ones who'll buy lunch. Ken usually buys his own whenever he has a meeting. But when he doesn't, he joins his friends and they would eat. There were times that eating lunch together would get really awkward because of what happens in their other life: like Minako's mood swings, being left out of the loop (also by the girl), etc. But no matter how awkward the situation was, they still ate together because being together somehow made them feel a strange sense of security and bliss. Although now, Minako could feel that feeling weakening. She could feel their bonds slowly drifting away.
Minako felt that it was because she kept something from them for such a long time. That she waited too long to tell them the truth. That she didn't trust them enough. That she was too scared of how they'll see her. That she didn't really think about how they would feel. She suddenly felt guilty for being so selfish again. Wasn't my selfishness that brought us all into this problem? Minako groaned, feeling the devils dragging her even closer to hell.
"Something wrong, Mina-chan?"
"Nah, I'm just starving."
~Approximately 20 hours ago, April 27, 2016~
"You guys..." Minako breathed in and bowed deeply. "I'm sorry. I've been lying to all of you."
"What do you mean?" Ryoji asked. Confusion was evident on his face.
Before Minako continued, she turned to Labrys. "Be sure to record what I'll say because I don't think I can repeat this."
"The entire dorm is bugged," the mechanical maiden answered, "so you don't need to worry 'bout that."
The Wild Card had the urge to mutter, "I almost forgot about that," but she didn't because it might set her off track. She inhaled deeply again through her nose, and exhaled through her mouth. She joined her hand behind her back to hide her nervous gestures of scratching her palms, or pulling of fingers. "Like I said, I've been lying to all of you. I'm a big fat liar. I've lied so much, that I'm starting to believe that they weren't lies. I've been lyi-"
"Calm down," Shinjiro interrupted. "You're talking too fast. Plus, you've been saying the same thing over and over again; you're just changing the way you said it."
Minako gulped and bit her lip. She stared at the floor, like it was the most interesting in the universe that ever existed. "That force...it's not real. I made it up. And there was no other universe where Makoto died in the accident and I lived. I never became the barrier between Nyx and Erebus. Everything from the past that you think are memories of me - if you ever have those memories - don't even exist...Those were just part of my dream."
"Dream?" Ryoji repeated, perplexed. "What are you talking about?"
"After I died, something happened. I don't remember what, but I remember waking up on a hospital bed. At the time, I didn't know that it wasn't my life, that it wasn't my own memories anymore. That that reality was feeding me with cheap replicas of his, altered slightly to make me believe it was real...that it was mine."
"You're not making any sense," Ryoji said, trying to sound as calm as he can. He clenched his fist on his lap. "What about Shinij? I-If you're saying that 'your world' isn't real, then why is he here? I thought he was just dragged here because he didn't die in 'your world'. Don't tell me that he's not real because he's very real to me."
"Senpai is..." Minako said, reverting back to calling the older teen "senpai." Shinjiro noticed this but didn't make any comment. "I don't really know...or maybe I don't remember."
"Is 'I don't know' or 'I don't remember' your way of avoiding the question?" Labrys accused. "Because I feel like you're still hiding something."
"I'm telling you the truth; I really don't know why Shinjiro is here."
The albino still didn't believe her, but she still said "okay" since she wasn't sure if what Minako said was the truth or not. It looked like Minako wasn't lying, but if the girl was able to lie to Mitsuru then that only means that she is a great liar, slash actor.
Labrys glanced at Shinjiro and Ryoji before turning to the girl. "So what's the cause of all this memory loss crap? Were you also lying about someone disappearing when everyone forgets 'bout him or her?"
"Honestly, I wasn't sure about that. All I know or remember is that anyone can disappear at any moment without us even knowing it.
"And about what's happening...It's all my fault. I wished for this. With my powers, I wished for everything to just disappear...It's a surprise that all of you are still here. That you haven't vanished into oblivion yet. I can only say that this was his doing."
"You mean Makoto-san?" Aigis asked. Minako nodded. "How do we stop it?"
"I don't know."
The room was quiet again, so quiet that a needle can be heard if it fell. The tension that hung around them was thick enough to cut with a knife. Minako thought that she was going to have a panic attack if she would have to wait for another second for anything to happen. But Shinjiro stood before that could even happen.
"I need to think about this," he said before going out of the dorm to who-knows-where.
"Shinji..." Minako reached for him, but he swatted her hand away.
"Do you mind leaving me alone for a while?" he pleaded coldly. He didn't wait for a reply and left.
Ryoji stood next and went up to his room. Labrys, with Aigis following close behind her, went to the Command Room, probably to call Mitsuru and get the recording of what just happened. Ken and Minako were the only one left in the room.
The girl sighed and looked up to her friend. "You wanna get some ice cream? I could use some."
Ken stared at her for a while before giving a small smile. "Sure."
~Present~
"Here," Minako handed Shinjiro his Cutlet Sandwich. "Are you alright?"
Shinjiro nodded and took the sandwich. He removed the wrapper and looked out the window. chewing his lunch slowly. Minako stood there for a while, before going out of the classroom to look for Ryoji.
"Minako-san?" a voice called.
"Yes Aigis?"
"You should eat your lunch. I will look for Ryoji-san for you." Minako hesitated before complying. She went back to the classroom and huddled with Teddie and Labrys. When Aigis saw that Minako was devouring her lunch, the blonde headed towards the rooftop - where she suspected Ryojo to be. And true enough, he was there, standing at the far end corner of the rooftop.
"Ryoji-san." The boy turned; surprised that Aigis came to him. "Catch." The blonde threw him his lunch.
"But I didn't give you guys money for this," he said, looking at the sandwich.
"Someone already paid for it."
Ryoji didn't bother asking who because he already had a feeling who. He slid down the floor and ate his food. "Why are you here, Aigis?"
"To give you that," she replied.
"Why are you still here?"
Aigis answered him with a question. "What is wrong Ryoji-san?"
Ryoji strained a smile. He leaned his head on the wall behind him and stared at the sky. "I just never expected that. Minako said memories of her weren't supposed to exist. Does that mean that my memories now, with all you guys isn't meant to be? That all of us shouldn't be having these memories? What if there's more in my memories that didn't really happened?"
Aigis didn't say anything. Ryoji continued. "Then there's Shinji. This must be harder on him because no one even knows if he's the real Shinjiro Aragaki or not. I don't even know if I can accept Minako's explanation…" He sighed and leaned further. "I'm just so confused now."
"So am I," the blonde android said. "But whether this reality is real or not, I will do whatever I can to save as many lives as I can."
"But what if that's pointless? What if nothing can stop this?"
"We were able to stop Nyx."
"At the cost of Makoto's life," Ryoji retorted. "What if this time, someone has to die too?"
Aigis frowned. "It is too early to jump into such conclusion."
"But what if it's too late?"
"Please stop being so pessimistic Ryoji-san."
The black-haired boy chuckled, knowing the girl was having a hard time thinking of a proper answer. "Alright."
He finished his sandwich and returned to the classroom with Aigis. Along the way, murmurs from the female students circulated about the two dating. It irked Aigis so much that she threw Teddie out the window the moment he asked why she was with Ryoji.
Ken silently rejoiced after he finally finished reviewing all the requests and proposals. I can finally go home! He grabbed his bag, locked the room, and left for home. On his walk to the dorm, his stomach growled viciously. "I'm hungry..." He veered to the direction of Iwatodai Strip Mall and sent a message to Teddie, saying he'll eat dinner out.
Sushi, Ramen, or Burgers...? He paced around the ground floor as he pondered on what he should eat. When he saw a familiar pony-tailed male enter a store, he was finally able to make a decision. "Sushi it is." He ran to Wakatsu and looked for his friend.
There he is, he thought. It seems that the older male was still thinking of what he should eat.
"Why not the sweet-and-sour pork," Ken suggested, walking up to him.
Shinjiro glanced at him before nodding. "Make sure you eat everything," he said. He was well aware how Ken would pick out bell peppers and other vegetables that taste weird to him, that had a texture to hard for him to chew or swallow, etc.
Ken groaned and unwillingly agreed. "So who's gonna order?"
"I'll do it, so you sit down."
"Okay, thanks." Ken sat down by his usual spot by the window and slumped on the table. He glanced over to his friend and watched him walk over to their table, tray in hand.
"Here."
"Thank you." The brunet took his chopsticks and poked the red vegetable. He grimaced at the sight of it. If he were alone, he wouldn't eat it. But Shinjiro was there watching him like a hawk. If Ken even dared to push it towards the end of his plate, he knew he'd never hear the end of it. To escape his early demise due to "food poisoning," Ken blurted out the first thing that popped into his head.
"About what Minako-san said..." Ken saw Shinjiro flinch. If we wasn't paying attention he would've missed it. "How are you taking it?"
"There's no use thinking about it," Shinjiro answered stoically. "So I'm not who I think I am? So what if I'm someone's imaginary friend? So what if I'm whatever crap I am? What I am doesn't define who I am."
So cool... Ken thought. "You're not mad that she lied to you?"
"Not really, I've always known she was lying, I just didn't expect this...If she doesn't know how to stop what she did, then we might just be wasting our time climbing the tower and fighting all those shadows. But then again we maybe we aren't."
"Don't you think that we're dancing with death doing this?" Ken asked, setting his bowl down.
"Maybe, but you've seen what happens after the full moon right?"
"Yeah..."
"And things like this have been happening before we even came."
"How did you know that?"
At this, Shinjiro rubbed the back of his neck. "Hard to explain. Wherever I came from, it's been happening there for a while."
"You mean the one we thought was Minako-san's world?"
"Yep." When Ken spoke no more, Shinjiro returned to his meal. "Now go and eat before your food gets cold. Make sure you eat everything."
The younger teen grimaced again. I guess there's no escaping it. He sighed and decided to eat all the bell pepper in one go so that the whole ordeal was over. But when he looked down at his bowl, they were gone. "Strange."
"What?"
"The bell peppers are gone."
Shinjiro suddenly scowled. "You threw it didn't you."
"No I didn't."
The older male grabbed his bowl. "You sly little..."
"I swear, Shinjiro-san!" Ken tried to prove that he didn't, but Shinjiro didn't seem to listen to him and was busy polishing his bowl.
"I think something happened to our dinner," Shinjiro said glaring at his now empty bowl. "There's less pork in my share..."
"Could this be another effect of Minako-san's wish?" Ken said jokingly.
"I ain't doubting that one bit."
"Welcome back!" Teddie greeted. He was on the sofa, watching TV with Ryoji and Aigis.
"We're home," Shinjiro patted Koromaru. "Hey."
"Where's Labrys and Minako-san?" Ken asked.
"Mitchan picked them up from school," Teddie answered, looking worried. "I hope Mina-chan will be okay."
"She'll be fine," Ryoji said nonchalantly.
Mitsuru's silence was terrifying, that was what Minako thought during their ride back to the dorm. Though she was already far form her, she could still feel the chill from the look in the redhead's piercing eyes. Minako was thankful that Mitsuru didn't ask much, but it was still a nerve-racking moment.
"Congratulations on surviving that," Labrys said.
"Thanks, but my hands are still sweaty and shivering."
"You'll get through it." Labrys patted the Wild Card's back comfortingly before turning to the window.
"Hey Labrys."
"Yeah?" She turned to the girl and saw her grinning at her. "What are you smiling about?"
"Even when Mitsuru-senpai told to go back to the car, you didn't and you helped me talk to her...So thanks. It really means a lot to me."
Labrys was speechless for a while. Then she beamed and said, "You're welcome pal."
Sorry this took a while. I had homework and then I got sick for a couple of days
Anyway, I hope you guys liked it. Please review.
Thank you to all of you and to omuretto.
Rittie: So I guess we talked about this. I'm sorry I wasn't able to reply anymore. I fell asleep and forgot the other day. I just remembered now.
Megami Tensei Emperatriz: It's actually "truth" but don't worry. I also get those moments most of the times. Since all Mitsuru did was watch the video and asked questions that have already been asked before, I skipped the entire conversation with her.
Emillia Kartika: Yup, always... Why cry? Is it bad?