Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 3—or any version of the Persona series, really. I just own this rather shameless piece of work.

Other Notes: To those that have taken the time to review, thank you very much for doing so as it helps my growth as a writer to know what I'm doing right and gives me a chance to start correcting what I get wrong. This is a NANOWRIMO-ish work, which means it contains many flaws that normally wouldn't be overlooked (or at least hammered out) in a regular writing cycle, as half of the fun of the challenge is writing for writing's sake and leaving the editing for later… So, I must thank you again if you stick through with it in this starting month despite its flaws.

Also, chapter spoilers, you have no idea how much I wanted to pull an early rescue, but then Ikutsuki butted his way in and steered us right back on course. Frustrating, because on some level it actually makes sense for them to go with his word as Mitsuru and Akihiko trust him, but that's okay. I've been going over the later bits of the plot and it seems like certain events to come will change… though whether for good or for ill depends on perspective.

Symbiosis

Chapter Thirteen

Convincing Junpei to go was easy once Minato returned to class, informing him of Mitsuru's orders and that it was SEES business. His classmate was a bit leery when he got the full details ("Wait, behind the station—you don't mean that place, do you!?"), but calmed down when Minato mentioned Akihiko would supposedly be coming.

Yukari had been outraged after hearing of their little mission, as she had archery practice to attend that she couldn't miss. But, as Junpei pointed out, the area they were going to be visiting was really no place for them and that it was better she stay behind anyway. She scowled, but reluctantly backed down when both boys convinced her that Akihiko would likely be doing most of the work this time and it wasn't left in their "lazy hands".

"I don't know where he is, though," Minato admitted as they departed from class after school, Yukari's threats to not mess things up chasing them out.

"Seriously?" Junpei asked. "Just follow the squealing girls."

…Finding Akihiko was a cinch after that.

"I can't believe Mitsuru's asking us to go there of all places," Akihiko murmured as he led them down the streets. "Then again, if it's really related to everything that's going on, I guess I don't blame her for covering all her bases."

"Why're we even going anyway?" Junpei asked, already wary despite them being a long way off from the station. "Is there really something we can find there that'll help?"

"More like someone," Akihiko replied with an odd smile. "We have a… contact that spends his time there. If those girls really were hanging around before the incidents occurred, he would know why. You guys have met him before, actually."

"Huh?" Junpei appeared dumbfounded. "We have?"

Minato felt similarly clueless. He couldn't recall meeting anyone of particular note recently. Unless it was a while ago that they met him.

Tamamo sent him an image of the person in question. A beanie, dark hair, narrow eyes…

…Oh! Yeah, Minato could remember meeting that guy. In the hospital visiting Akihiko no less. So he was the contact?

"Shinjiro Aragaki. He's a dear friend of Akihiko's and technically your senpai at school, though he doesn't seem to attend much," Tamamo elucidated as Akihiko recounted the hospital visit to Junpei. Minato blinked. He was a teenager? He looked older than that… "He's also a previous member of SEES. He worked with Mitsuru and Akihiko under the chairman before an accident caused him to resign."

Accident?

"Mm…" His Other sounded solemn. "About two years ago, he lost control of his Persona while eliminating a Shadow during a SEES operation… It killed a mother who was with her son in the area. Needless to say, it traumatized him as much as it had the child. Maybe even more so."

Minato stumbled, and he muttered excuses to cover it up to the others as he soaked in what Tamamo told him. A Persona that had gone berserk? It had killed someone?

"And he has been repenting for it ever since," Tamamo confirmed. "To the point of self-destruction."

He had no idea what to say in response to that. She didn't say anything more, either, letting him talk himself around in his own thoughts. To find that someone had killed another with a Persona, however accidentally… To realize that one's control over a Persona could be lost… It was frightening.

Something similar had happened to him, he knew, though the one Tamamo called "Thanatos" was not a Persona per se. She referred to it simply as a "being" locked behind that door in his head and he had yet to come in contact with it since… Judging by this story, perhaps it was for the best.

If either Akihiko or Junpei noticed his disquiet along the way, they politely said nothing. Minato was grateful.

When the three boys finally arrived at Port Island Station, Akihiko motioned for Junpei and Minato to follow him down an alleyway along its side. He led them through, steps as calm and assertive as when he strode through Tartarus. The sight and sound was almost comforting in its familiarity.

"We're lucky this isn't a Saturday night," Akihiko told them as they passed by a dumpster. "There'd be a lot more people then."

A lot more trouble, was what was left unsaid.

Junpei gulped and Minato took a deep breath of the stale air to try to calm his nerves. They'd been through numerous trials already, traversing up the steps of Tartarus and fighting Shadows capable of reducing them to vegetables, but somehow the thought of facing other humans was still worse.

Akihiko paid them no mind even as the alleyway opened up to a larger area, heading straight to the steps that led to an underground club. A familiar figure in a distinctive maroon coat was seated there, and he looked up as Akihiko neared him.

"The hell're you doing here, Aki?" Shinjiro Aragaki grunted, looking severely unimpressed by his fellow senior's boldness. His gray eyes slid to Minato and Junpei as they followed, narrowing further. "Are you guys stupid or something? Coming here in your uniforms… tch."

"Nice to see you, too, Shinji," Akihiko greeted dryly. "Actually, there's something we need to ask you… Mitsuru thinks you'll have some answers."

That seemed to catch Shinjiro's attention, as he straightened slightly. Then, he glared at Akihiko, who bore it patiently. "Why me?" When Akihiko didn't answer, he relaxed his posture again, leaning against the stairs. "Hmph. Fine. What do you wanna know?"

Akihiko stepped back at this, looking to Minato and gesturing for him to step up with a tilt of his head.

Minato twitched, but dutifully moved forward. He quailed a little under Shinjiro's full attention—he was intimidating, okay?—and took a moment to gather his wits by clearing his throat. "It's about… the rumors at school." He paused, uncertain. "Have you, uh, heard of them?"

Shinjiro snorted, but he didn't seem offended. If anything, he sounded a bit like a grumpy horse. "Loads of rumors on a high school campus, but if you're talking about those ghost stories, yeah. I might've heard a bit. What about 'em?"

Minato kept his face carefully blank as he explained the stories because "grumpy horse"? Really?

"You seemed like you could use the help in calming down," Tamamo said innocently. She chuckled. "Don't worry. He's intimidating, no lie, but there's much more to him than that."

Right.

"…Huh," said Shinjiro once Minato finished.

Junpei looked amazed. "Dude, you actually found all that out? Just from asking?"

"There's a lot of guess work," Minato admitted. Not that he would tell them how he had pursued the trail that Fuuka Yamagishi was involved like a bloodhound even before Tamamo had officially confirmed it. What could he say? He didn't like bullies and the bits and pieces he'd picked up had pinged to him like a radar. "But Kirijo-senpai evidently thinks it's a lead worth following."

"Damn lucky guess," Shinjiro said. "You're right. Those girls in the hospital hung out here, talking shit every night about the stuff they'd done to that Fuuka girl. S'why the ghost rumors started up. People are saying that it's Fuuka's spirit that got 'em."

"H—Her spirit?" Junpei echoed, eyes wide. "You mean to say that she's—!?"

"What'd they do?" Minato asked, though he felt his stomach turn uneasily. He felt Tamamo try to soothe him and knew that the conversation was starting to trigger his more unpleasant memories again. He took a deep breath through his nose and tried to calm down, but it was hard to tell if it was working.

"She's missing," Shinjiro stressed, "and hell if I know. But some people're starting to think she's dead, so it must've been bad." His lips curled down in a scowl as he shot a glare in Akihiko's direction. "She hasn't been home in a week—Aki, how do you guys not know this? The hell have you been doing!?"

To his credit, Akihiko did not take a step back like Minato and Junpei had at the older student's outburst. He did, however, look abashed. "That's why we're going around for information now! Whatever happened, we're going to help save her—all of them!"

Shinjiro's fury seemed to melt from his face, leaving behind a strange look that Minato wasn't sure how to interpret. "Oh, I get it. Trying to make up for the past, huh…? So, you still can't let go…"

Akihiko didn't reply, but Minato noticed quite keenly how his hand curled into a fist. He straightened, however, when Shinjiro looked his way.

"That's all I know," he said gruffly. "That it?"

"Ah." His thoughts lagged, but Shinjiro had confirmed their main concerns. Mitsuru would have to be informed in order for them to plan what they did next. "Yes. Thank you." And because politeness was an ongoing struggle, he bowed, hearing Junpei shuffle into one as well by the rustling of his clothes.

Akihiko didn't bother, and when Minato straightened he saw a distant look in the upperclassman's eyes. "Thanks, Shinji."

Shinjiro shrugged their gratitude off, standing. "Whatever. Don't come here again."

As he walked off, Minato tilted his head as he watched him go. Years of living with a voice in his head, relying more on the sound and tone behind the words than body language, had taught him to listen closely to how others spoke. He wasn't always right at guessing the meanings behind each phrase, or the intent, but that certainly had not sounded like a punk trying to ensure his territory was clear or keeping annoyances out of his hair. Not entirely, anyway.

"Told you," Tamamo sang as they started heading back to the dorm. "He's a nice guy. Just… prickly."

Minato thought of a porcupine wearing a beanie and she laughed, the sound washing away the remnants of the feeling of danger from the alley now behind them.

"Yeah, like that," she agreed. Her mirth soon faded and Minato could feel her become pensive, though he dared not dive in while walking on the busy streets to see her clearly. "But… I think he could use another friend outside of Akihiko."

That's incredibly unsubtle for you, Minato thought. What makes you think he'd let me even try?

It seemed more likely that Shinjiro would try to beat him up, in all honesty.

"He won't," Tamamo said bluntly. "To both of those things. But still, Akihiko's pretty much his only link to the world, and his guilt is the only thing that's kept him living, though it's killing him at the same time. I just think… if he knew he had more in his life… would he hold on more tightly?"

He didn't say anything, not knowing how to respond. The rest of the way back to the dorm, things were silent, broken only by the occasional chatter by Junpei and, once he returned from whatever distant memory that had plagued him, Akihiko.

Strangely, the atmosphere at the dorm seemed even tenser than the air in the alley when the trio of boys got back. Once through the doors, they found Mitsuru and Yukari sitting at the dorm lounge. Mitsuru, at one of the single seats, had her arms crossed over her chest with a stormy aura looming around her. Yukari, on one of the longer couches, was sitting ramrod straight and looking like she was caged with a hungry tiger.

"Uh…" Junpei made the mistake of vocalizing. He gave a "meep!" when Mitsuru's attention snapped to them.

"Report," she ordered tersely. The three exchanged looks before quickly shuffling over to claim a seat.

When neither of his fellows spoke up, Minato gave an internal sigh, steeled himself, and recited what they'd confirmed with Shinjiro as concisely as possible. "Aragaki-senpai said that the three victims in the hospital did hang out behind the station. They talked about what they did to Fuuka Yamagishi there often… though he didn't know exactly what they did."

"That's fine," Mitsuru said. She still looked rather angry and it did nothing to help with the mood. "My talk with Ekoda was quite enlightening. To put it succinctly, he covered up Yamagishi's status as an extended illness in order to prevent further investigation, thereby protecting his career." She tossed a curl of red hair over her shoulder, disgust plain on her face. "As for what happened to Yamagishi… she was locked in the gym."

At that, everyone looked up, shocked.

"What?" Yukari breathed.

"How did you…" Junpei began.

Minato had a sinking feeling in his stomach. A heavy weight seemed to lodge in his chest.

Locked in the gym. She had been… as he would have… It was the same. A nearly forgotten terror curled in his gut as he remembered, mind flashing back to days he'd rather keep buried. Days when he found out how ugly human emotions could be. How they could be swayed to prey on others who were different and couldn't help it. Others who had no one to look, to see, to care if they disappeared—

And then the memories broke apart, shattered, and Minato took in a quiet breath—when had he stopped?—almost against his volition. "Breathe, Minato. Just breathe."

"When I went to interrogate Ekoda, a student by the name of Natsuki Moriyama was there, seeking counsel from him," Mitsuru explained, sending Minato a meaningful look. "Moriyama admitted to being part of the group that tormented Yamagishi. On May 29th, she and the others locked Yamagishi in the gym… One went back that night to release her, but ended up as the first victim. Each night after, another was taken… Moriyama is the only one left who has not succumbed to the voice and become Lost."

Minato's fingers dug into the material of his pants, trying to ground himself. Locked in the gym at night… and since she had the potential as a Persona-user… "No wonder she went missing," he muttered. "She's in whatever space-time pocket that exists to help the school become Tartarus each night."

"That's insane…" Junpei uttered. "If she's been in there since then… is she even still alive?"

"A—And what do you mean by 'voice'?" Yukari stammered.

"There's no way of knowing Yamagishi's status unless we find her," Mitsuru said, looking guilty that she could not provide much more than that. "And it seems that Shadows do indeed have a way of dragging individuals without the potential into the Dark Hour. They prey on normal human beings, drawing them in by actively calling out to them—that's the voice."

They each fell silent after that, taking in the heavy revelations.

Mitsuru stood. "Speaking of, Natsuki Moriyama will be staying at our dorm for now, in the interest of her safety. I've called the chairman; he should be here soon to help set up an operation to rescue Yamagishi."

She walked off, leaving them to their thoughts.

When Ikutsuki arrived barely an hour later, he heard them out once they settled in the usual meeting room on the fourth floor. But rather than supporting them in an immediate rescue operation, he advised them to instead calm down and think more clearly about it all.

"What?" Yukari gaped. "If Fuuka's still alive, she could be in serious danger right now! We have to do something!"

"Yeah!" Junpei agreed, disbelieving that the man was not as on board as they were. "The Dark Hour's brutal and we're the only ones who can save her, right? There's no way we can just leave her there even longer!"

"I understand your concern," Ikutsuki said, hands held up in a placating manner, "and I'm not saying we should abandon her. However, rushing into the situation with your emotions running high will do no good for any of you."

It was hard not to listen when he sounded so reasonable. Especially if they would end up looking like children throwing tantrums if they protested further. Minato did his best to loosen the line of his own shoulders as everyone took a figurative step back to reassess themselves.

Ikutsuki smiled. "Good. Now, although I would like nothing more than to help you find Yamagishi-kun as soon as possible, we'll need more time to properly set up a search and rescue. I will need to clear my own schedule in order to help you into the school at the proper time, so as not to potentially get you in trouble with the guards on shift at night."

"Can't we just break in?" Junpei asked. "I think I know a way to get us in easy."

"You could, but as you are formally listed as a club, it would be much more convenient to go through the official channels to be allowed in at night, such as with the astronomy club or the paranormal investigation club that existed some years ago," Ikutsuki said almost cheerfully. "Don't worry. Mitsuru told me a little about the operation you would like to pull off so I looked at my schedule ahead of time. I believe we should be able to start it on the eighth."

"That's four days from now…" Akihiko murmured, eyebrows furrowed and clearly worried.

"It's the soonest time I can give you," the chairman said apologetically.

In the end, Mitsuru agreed for them all, assigning the date for their next operation. "Until then, we'll do what we can to prepare as much as possible. Arisato, we'll be counting on you."

Minato nodded absently at that, watching as Ikutsuki excused himself to return to work. Something was niggling away at his mind since the chairman stopped speaking, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was.

"Tartarus," he said to the room when Ikutsuki was gone, giving up on the thought for now. "Will everyone be available for some extra training before then? We'll rest the night before, but to be safe…"

"I'm definitely there!" Junpei declared.

"Count me in," Akihiko said. Not that he wasn't usually in the mood to train, but Minato supposed he had even more of a reason to now.

"Me, too," was Yukari's input.

Mitsuru only nodded when Minato looked to her.

All agreed, he dismissed himself, standing from his seat at the table and leaving, mind full of what they would have to do to pull off the operation successfully. Tamamo gave no indication that Fuuka was dead, so it would be a race against time to find her in the hour allotted to them. If only it weren't so last minute when they found out, and Ikutsuki had a better time to give them. They could certainly try to break in on their own, but with him sounding so reasonable it was unlikely that they would move ahead of the scheduled time unless something dire came up.

Such as that Natsuki girl hearing the Shadow's voice and getting called in…

Minato paused as he stepped onto the third floor, peering down the hallway of doors. Mitsuru had mentioned the girl would be staying at their dorm, under their surveillance to prevent her from being attacked by Shadows. Was she already getting accosted by them, or was it just a waiting game?

He shook his head, forcing himself to continue heading down the stairs and into his room. Confronting the girl wouldn't do any good, for either of them. Not so soon after he'd heard of Fuuka's fate.

"I knew it," Tamamo murmured when his eyes passed fleetingly over his calendar. "That son of a bitch."

Disturbed at the frighteningly casual way she cursed, Minato was almost too afraid to ask. What?

"The date," she said. "The operation four days from now is on the full moon."

Minato looked at his calendar again, gaze zooming in on the eighth. The niggling feeling from before left as the pieces fell into place, mystery solved. You think he did it on purpose?

"'Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times, it's enemy action'," she recited. "I'm not entirely sure if he's as aware of the ordeals occurring on the full moon night as you are right now, but I wouldn't be surprised if he at least had some inkling. For all his frivolity, he is a scientist of some form. If he's not sure now, he's probably using this time to determine it. And placing you all in the direct line of fire to deal with it, at the same time."

If that were true, it would lend credence to Tamamo's warning about Ikutsuki so many weeks ago. While there was some merit to the idea of waiting, allowing them to prepare themselves accordingly for the day in question, Minato could not bring himself to condone it. If he himself had not known of the ordeals ahead of time, he would only be preparing SEES to rescue Fuuka and not deal with any strong Shadows entirely on top of that. And to endanger Fuuka's life by making her wait several more days on top of her rescue playing second to the defeat of said Shadows?

It wasn't right.

Minato eyed his calendar and the full moon symbol sitting innocently on the page, frowning.

Four days.