A/N: Deepest apologies for not updating in a long while. I kinda lost interest in the pairing of this fic and once school started again, my motivation to write just went downhill. They've both slowly started to return though so don't worry, this won't be an unfinished fic. In regards to my updates, I'll try my best to keep the ball rolling. They'll probably be more erratic than before but not as long as this.
Anyway, this chapter will finish off the Spring arc and my next update will bring the heat of Summer in. Hope you guys enjoy it!
Minato stood in the train's front cabin, eyes fixated on the windshield and in complete disbelief at the way the world sped past him in a nauseating flash of green and black. Seeing how much track was left made his heart sink. Not enough rail and not enough time. He had considered jumping ship but that idea was dismissed once he remembered that all the doors were locked. And that jumping out at this speed would have killed them all the same anyway. He grimaced. There was only one solution.
Shaking off the web of fear that glued his feet to the floor, he rushed over to the conductor's console and began wiping away as much muck, that was left behind by their enemy, as possible. In doing so, he could see the fast approaching outline of the stationary train up ahead and his heart raced even faster.
Brakes? Where are the god damn brakes?
Minato scanned through the console, his eyes flying over the random assortment of buttons, dials, switches and levers, before finally resting on a lever that looked a trifle suspicious. There. That had to be it. He grasped the lever but before he pulled, he hesitated. But is it though? What if I'm wrong? The doubts swirled in his mind and for a moment, he was paralyzed.
"Oh shit. We're gonna crash!" Junpei yelled beside him.
"Minato! Do something!" Yukari cried.
Their voices in combination with a glance at the windshield told him all he needed to know and Minato pulled the lever down. The train shuddered violently as he did so and the sound of metal on metal screeched all around them. A surge of triumph raced through his veins but it faded just as fast as it came when he realized that it was not enough. They were still too close. He frantically searched the console one last time for anything that looked different–
Found it!
Gripping hold of another lever that stood out among the rest, Minato yanked it. Hard. Although the lever did not budge at all, he pulled again and again. He would not let tonight's effort be in vain. They had come too far. He took another deep breath and as he pulled for what seemed like the seventh time, he felt two pairs of hands clasp his. The added strength of Yukari and Junpei was just enough to make the lever budge a little.
Then a little bit more.
Almost there... Almost...
They hit the floor as the lever gave way, sliding into place with a thud. The screech of grinding metal rose to a piercing scream that rivaled a banshee's wail as the secondary brakes were enabled, and the force of the sudden drop in speed flung everyone forward. Minato saw Junpei stumble into the base of the console on his right, saw Yukari crash into his chest, and saw everything go sideways as he himself slammed into the windshield. He grunted at the pain erupting from his shoulder and shot one glance at the train that they were about to smash into. Then he shut his eyes and braced himself for the collision that would send them into oblivion.
Speeding, slowing, screeching, shuddering.
And then it all stopped.
The screech of the brakes faded and the train jerked one last time before coming to a reluctant halt. A deafening silence followed. With his eyes closed, the only semblance of life Minato knew was the ringing of his ears and the pain that pulsed throughout his body. He inhaled, and let out a small sigh. They had survived.
He waited another minute, trying to gather what strength he had left, and was about to answer the call of duty when he heard Mitsuru's voice.
"Is everybody alright?" she asked. Even though her tone was nothing Minato hadn't heard before, it sounded so wonderful and soothing. Especially after the nail-on-blackboard noise that seemed to never end.
"We're okay Mitsuru-senpai," Minato said quietly, placing a hand on the console to steady himself as he made his way to Junpei and Yukari.
"I'm so glad you're all safe. Akihiko and I will be waiting at Moonlight Bridge so when you're ready, please make your way there."
"Roger that."
As Junpei helped Yukari to her feet, Minato shifted his gaze at the window directly opposite him to see that the full moon was still there, its milky yellow glow ever so sickly bright. He then turned and looking out through the windshield, stiffened at just how close they were to greeting the hands of death. He was not sure if the Dark Hour could mess with measurement as well but the other train's rear was inches away from the windshield.
Upon noticing this, Yukari placed a hand over her mouth and Junpei swore. Minato was about to comment when he felt it. A tactile shift in the air that felt like walking through a waterfall. The familiar tingling feeling returned to rattle his bones as the world rippled around him. He shook it off, hearing the sounds of faraway traffic replace the oppressive silence, seeing the moon revert to a pure shade of silver, and feeling the temperature climb high enough to make him sweat, as he did so. The sense of wrongness vanished and the stagnant odor transformed into an acrid mixture of pollution and smoking steel.
The Dark Hour was over and for once, Minato was glad.
The moments of relief were not to last.
It seemed strange to think that there was still something that worried him after being inches away from death but as they trekked their way across the monorail tracks, into the station and out onto Moonlight Bridge, a part of Minato wished that they had crashed instead. The reason? Why only to be free from the one souvenir of tonight. He felt ashamed that something as trivial as this could affect him the way it did but without a task to focus on, he knew there was nothing else that would keep his mind occupied.
He could not think of any worthwhile thoughts to contribute to Yukari and Junpei's discussion at how they almost died. He could not summon the curiosity to wonder how a monorail that had magically left its stationary position would be covered in the news. He could only concentrate on how he would handle himself around Mitsuru in her ravishing outfit.
It was unsettling that he was fascinated to this extent but he supposed this was what Junpei had mentioned not too long ago about the difference between 'magazines' and reality; the former holding your attention for a far shorter time than the latter. An intuitive concept but one Minato never really understood until now. And as they approached Mitsuru and Akihiko, who were standing by a familiar black limousine looking as amused as they were relieved, he could not stop himself from stealing another glance.
"Well doesn't this look familiar," Akihiko said with a grin.
"What do ya mean senpai?" Junpei asked, raising an eyebrow.
It took a few seconds for Minato to register what he meant but seeing Akihiko look at Yukari, who then proceeded to sigh, was enough to remind him that they were drenched in Shadow blood.
Just wonderful. Now I feel even worse for looking.
"Indeed it does," Mitsuru said, taking a few steps forward. "But that aside, you all did a great job. I know it won't mean much now but I apologize for not being able to do more on our end. We weren't expecting the Shadow to be smart enough to have planned a last resort." She then cast her eyes to the side.
"Don't worry about it," Minato managed to say. She turned her eyes on him and seeing she still looked guilty for placing them in such danger, he added, "If anything, stopping the train made us work better as a team." At this, her lips curled into a small smile and not wanting to be lost in it, he turned around. "Isn't that right Junpei?"
Junpei chuckled sheepishly. "Yeah yeah. I won't run off like that again. Although, I still wanna know how you stopped the train. Like, how did you know which one was the brake?"
Minato looked from Junpei, to Yukari, to his senpai and back to Junpei. And shrugged, already knowing what was to follow. "To be completely honest, it was a lucky guess."
"Are you shittin' me?! Dude, we could've died!" Junpei blurted, his eyes wide with shock. When he noticed he was the only one making a deal out of it, he collected himself and shouldered his katana. "Ah whatever. I guess it doesn't matter as long as we're alive. You guys wanna grab a bite to eat? I'm freakin' hungry."
"At this hour?" Yukari said. "You just had something to eat before the operation."
No sooner than she had finished speaking, there was a sound that perfectly summed up the situation.
Junpei's stomach.
"Obviously not enough," Junpei said, grinning as he walked to the limousine.
Yukari sighed and followed him. When she was halfway to the limousine, she turned to see Minato still standing with Akihiko and Mitsuru. "You're all not coming?"
"We will be, I just need to make a call to the Chairman first," Mitsuru replied, flipping her cell phone open.
Watching Yukari nod and walk off, Minato felt someone tap his shoulder.
"You should probably keep her company," Akihiko said, folding his arms. "I'm not sure how much more of Junpei's antics she can handle."
"Yeah I should," Minato said. "But there's something I need to tell both of you. It's a matter relating to my Personas."
Upon hearing this, Mitsuru halted her dialing and approached him, while Akihiko's brow creased.
"Are they holding up okay?" Mitsuru asked.
"They're fine," Minato started, trying to arrange his thoughts. "It's more of what happened during our fight with the Shadow." Looking both of them in the eye, he took a deep breath and explained how two of his Personas had fused to create another. When he was done, Mitsuru and Akihiko exchanged glances.
"Looks like we'll need to let the Chairman know about this," Akihiko said after some time.
"I agree," Mitsuru said. "Wielding multiple Personas is one thing but fusing them?" She trailed off and looked up at the silver moon, thinking about his words. Then she returned her gaze onto Minato. "Thanks for letting us know. I'm afraid any explanation is currently beyond us but if fusing Personas together creates stronger ones, then it can only be beneficial to our cause. The main thing Akihiko and I are worried about is if you lose control."
And she shot Akihiko a look that, in Minato's eyes, resembled something similar to when they were in the limousine together. Why were they so afraid? Minato knew that a berserk Persona had the potential to be very dangerous but the way his senpai cringed every time they brought up the subject meant that something had to have happened. He considered asking but decided he would not try to pry. At least, not tonight.
"In any case, you seem to be coping with your Personas well so I don't think fusing poses any significant threat," Mitsuru continued. She turned to Akihiko. "I'll go and personally inform the Chairman about this."
"Do you need me to tag along?" Akihiko asked.
Mitsuru shook her head. "That won't be necessary. You make sure they all get some rest. Besides, with another Shadow of this reading now making an appearance, I'll probably need to re-calibrate our scanning equipment as well to account for the fact that they are anomalies."
"I don't think they're anomalies Mitsuru-senpai," Minato said suddenly and found himself to be center of attention once again. Great, now I'm going to confuse them even more.
"What do you mean by that?" Mitsuru asked, her eyes narrowing.
"I mean, I know they're different to the normal Shadows in Tartarus but there's something else about them. It's hard to explain but, when I faced the one on the rooftop and now this one, I got this feeling that I've seen them before. Or, I know them somehow."
Seeing Mitsuru and Akihiko's dubious looks made him wish he had not spoken. He knew something based on a 'feeling' was not persuasive at all and almost decided to waive his argument when he recalled the words his Personas chanted.
Moon. Shadow. Twelve. Fall. Death.
And then it came together like a jigsaw puzzle.
"Do you remember that afternoon when you handed me my new Evoker?" he asked. They nodded, slowly, and he explained the words his Personas repeated. "If I've got this right, I think that each full moon will bring another Shadow like this. And since there's twelve in total, we'll have to prepare for ten more."
A few moments of silence passed as Mitsuru and Akihiko turned over the information, their expressions darkening. Then Akihiko spoke.
"I'm not sure about this," he said, folding his arms. "I'd like to believe you but it just seems too..."
"Easy?" Mitsuru finished for him and Akihiko nodded. "I must say I would have never thought that these Shadows would be related but now that you bring it up, it might be possible. However, I think it's too early to call anything. We should wait for the next full moon before we jump to any conclusions."
Minato could not blame them for being skeptical. Having an answer this early would make anyone doubtful. But his Personas couldn't be wrong. Not when they made sense like this. Or could they? He shook the thought aside. There was no need to fret over it now; it could be dealt with later. When the information was more concrete. He was about to respond in agreement when it flashed in his mind.
Fragmented images.
Of Moonlight Bridge and the vast starless sky. Of the blood stains on the flaming wreckage that looked to be some sort of car before its deformation. And finally of the humanoid silhouettes approaching him, all passing by in the same sequence as the many times he tried recalling how his parents died. It would have been something he could ignore but this time, there was something else about these images.
Especially the silhouettes. The level of detail had risen above simple outlines of humans and although it was not much, Minato could make out the differences between the two silhouettes that were approaching him. The one on the left was taller, much taller, than the one on the...
...right. Strange. Who are they? They look familiar.
"Anyway, I better get going," Mitsuru said as she turned to head off to her bike, causing the fragments to shatter. "We'll delve into this another day once the Chairman has been informed. Unless, there's anything else?"
Minato pursed his lips as he held her pensive stare, but decided his senpai had had enough of his speculations for one day. "No, there's nothing else. "
"Alright then," she replied, tying her hair up and mounting her steed. "Make sure you get some rest." She looked to Akihiko, inclined her head, and initiating the ignition, she took off and disappeared down the bridge.
Once the growl of her bike faded into the night, Minato and Akihiko made their way to the limousine.
"Ten more Shadows huh?" Akihiko said as they walked. From the corner of his eye, Minato could see a hint of a grin. "If that's really the case then I had better help you guys train. Just to make sure tonight's close call doesn't happen again."
"When do you think you'll be able to join us?" Minato asked.
"Another few weeks or so. Judging from the way you led Iori and Takeba tonight though, whether I'm with you guys or not won't matter too much. At least, that's what Mitsuru thinks anyways."
Minato stopped walking. "Wait. Is that the reason I'm field leader? Because of her?"
"More or less," Akihiko replied with a nod. "She knows you're capable in combat and trusts your judgement. That and you get along with the others much better than we would." He paused, wondering if he had said too much but shrugged. "I think that's solid reasoning as to why she chose you."
"I suppose," Minato said, though deep down he questioned it. Me, getting along well with Yukari and Junpei? Really? He knew that statement would eventually ring true but as of now, it was as false as it could be. Being their leader was of no help either; instead of granting him control, it only served to create more tension between them. Why else would Junpei have pulled off that rash stunt? Why else would Yukari have questioned him so?
He looked out into the darkness which connected the sea and sky, conflicted by Mitsuru's decision. He did not know her true intentions. Her true reasoning. And the amount of frustration it had caused him so far – the contagious jealousy, the suspicious looks and the annoying questions – made him want to throw his anger at her, regardless of how smitten he was. As tempting as it was however, he knew he could never do it. She had done too much for him, and more importantly, she trusted him. That alone was enough to ensure he would honor her wishes, and be ready when she needed him.