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: PotatoMasheesh: It's a struggle, that's for sure! But I'm glad the story's still pretty coherent despite that. I probably just jinxed myself, haha.

Fun Fact: When writing/considering Tamamo and Minato's relationship, I often listen to Sia's "Breathe Me".

Symbiosis

Chapter Seventeen

The next night Minato had scheduled for a Tartarus run was meant to be another run for Fuuka to continue getting accustomed to her power and explore it at the same time. As Mitsuru noted, Lucia's observational capabilities greatly eclipsed Penthesilea's own, as Penthesilea was more combat-oriented. Given that even after years of research the Kirijo Group still did not know everything about Personas, this meant that there could be powers Fuuka had that they knew little or nothing about.

Minato had prepared for the day with that knowledge, ready to go on another run through the floors available to them. Which, considering that another section of the tower had unlocked with the defeat of the Arcana Empress and Emperor, was a lot. On the day of, however, he was surprised when Tamamo requested to do a little experimentation of her own.

"I've been practicing with your Personas on your days off," she informed him. "Mostly Orpheus, but some of the others were willing to lend a hand, too. I think I might've developed something that can help you in the field, but I haven't exactly tested it out yet…"

He paused in surprise. You're developing combat abilities now?

"Sort of? I mean, I tried making some offensive spells based on what the Personas have told me of their powers, but those are still in development. I managed to make a shield, though, which was easier since I've worked with them before." She shrugged. "I can't command your Personas, but I could use them as a conduit while I was working. It gave me a feel for how things were supposed to go. But if you let me try some stuff out, I won't be using them. I want to see how much of that power is mine."

Though he didn't exactly understand the method she explained, he agreed, curious to see what she had come up with. Her barrier in his head worked nicely to keep his mind stable, so if she had managed to create something similarly useful that he could use in a fight, he welcomed the chance. And when he told Fuuka of the plan, to warn her in case something went wrong, the teal-haired girl agreed, eager to see what his Other had in mind as well.

So, that night in Tartarus, Minato put a team together (Mitsuru, to get her back into fighting practice, Akihiko, and Junpei) and set off to their current floor of exploration. With Fuuka's guidance, he quickly located a Shadow to exterminate and, with a well-timed slash, got to work.

So how will you test it out? Minato asked as the Shadow split into four Haughty Maya. He noted one using Zio on Akihiko, who was thankfully resistant, and switched his Persona to Oberon as he waited for Fuuka to give the details of its weaknesses.

"I honestly have no idea," Tamamo admitted. "Just focus on doing your part and I'll… do whatever."

That wasn't the most comforting thought, but Minato had trusted her with the safety of his mind since he was a child. Leaving his trust in her for this took barely any effort.

Thus, Minato threw himself into the fight, slipping around the blob of a Shadow that targeted him and slashing near its mask. The flesh tore and it warbled out its pain, flailing at him with clawed fingers. Dancing back, he looked up briefly to check on his teammates and, finding them to be doing well enough on their own, returned his attention to his opponent.

Considering his Personas, Minato switched again. The Oberon he fused had been a request of Elizabeth's, so he'd focused more on simply bringing forth the Persona than what he put into it, leading to the fairy king possessing only his basic Zio spells. Since these Shadows used Zio, Minato doubted they would be weak to the same element. With a flash of thought, he brought Fortuna to mind instead, lifting his Evoker and setting her free.

The goddess of luck flew after him as he attacked the Haughty Maya, the wheel of her torso spinning as she sent a block of ice crashing down on the Shadow's body. To his misfortune, the attack seemed to do no better than his earlier one—average, but inefficient. Mouth pressed into a grim line, Minato considered the other two spells in Fortuna's arsenal.

"Try Garu spells!" Fuuka announced, just in time for him to make a decision.

Smirking, Minato directed Fortuna into the next spell and with a sweep of their arms, the Garu hit true. The Shadow dispersed with a low, dying cry.

"Minato, look out!"

Junpei's warning rang loud and clear across the stretch of the hall that had become their battlefield. Minato's attention snapped to the Shadow his friend was facing only to find it turned his way. The familiar pulse of power behind a spell alerted him the split second before it was cast and Minato braced himself as the lightning bolt dropped down from above and struck.

Tamamo hissed.

The surprise of seeing the attack connect but not feel anything was lost as he realized what happened. What did you do? You've never been affected by spells before!

"I miscalculated that a bit," she said. He could feel her grimacing. "Don't worry. It stings, but I'll survive. Focus on the fight."

Gritting his teeth, Minato complied, letting loose a Magaru spell in retaliation. The others expressed their thanks for the help by pummeling the remaining Shadows into oblivion. When they were given the all-clear from Fuuka, Minato went through the motions of checking their health, though in his head he repeated his question, all but demanding an answer.

"I guess the best way of putting it is that I put a little too much of myself into the shield," Tamamo described. "Like I said, I don't know how to innately react to things on the field, so a lot of it is guess and check. I threw up a shield to protect you from an attack, but I put too much power into it. And since power here equals that of the mind and spirit… and I'm all mind and spirit… Suffice to say, it protected you because it transferred directly to me."

In other words, Minato translated, rather than it being the shield she created that absorbed the attack, it was more like Tamamo had thrown herself in the way instead.

"Exactly," she agreed.

…Are you sure you want to do this? he asked weakly.

"Yes!" his Other said firmly. "I finally have the opportunity to do something that can really help. There's no way I'm going to let it pass me by!" She nudged at him. "Now go find another Shadow!"

The next few fights, Minato had to deal with more painful hissing and cries from his Other that put him more and more on edge. But she remained insistent, telling him that she was close to finding the right level of energy to put into the shield. Even when Fuuka started pointedly asking "Are you guys all right?" Tamamo refused to let up, intent on seeing her efforts bear fruit.

Eventually, Tamamo admitted, "Physical skills tear through too easily still, but… Minato, the next Shadow you come up against, put up a Persona with a weakness to whatever spell it uses."

Are you sure?

"Trust me."

He did trust her, however much he regretted it in this particular instance, so when he ran up the next flight of stairs, he had Fuuka pinpoint the next Shadow's location and ran directly to it. It burst into three Killing Hands and, after a reminder from Fuuka telling him their strengths and weaknesses, obligingly made himself vulnerable by calling Pyro Jack to the front of his mind. He only hoped that the Shadows would use their Bufu skills quickly so he could retaliate as soon as Tamamo was finished experimenting.

The first strike was a plain attack, which Minato deftly avoided. He carefully circled the Shadow facing him, resisting the urge to just slash at its mask, which followed his movements with hollow eyes. In the background, he could hear his teammates taking care of their targets, trusting him to take care of his own.

It was a tense wait as both Minato and the Shadow stared one another down, silently goading the other to strike so they could counter. Just as Minato was going to give in and Agilao the damn thing, it moved, noticeably preparing an attack and letting it burst out, targeting the entire team with Mabufu. Junpei yelped when the ice block struck him and Akihiko dodged. Mitsuru clicked her tongue when she was hit, but Penthesilea's natural resistance protected her. Minato braced himself to hear Tamamo in pain, but when the spell passed over him, he was left unscathed, his mind quiet.

He called Pyro Jack to burn the Shadow down, which the Persona did with gusto. Tamamo?

Worry spiked when there was still no reaction from his Other. Had she taken too much damage and been knocked out?

Tamamo? Tamamo, say something. This isn't funny. I can't dive in right now, you know—

"It worked," she interrupted him, awed. "I blocked it. No damage. Full nullification. No Persona aide or anything. Just me…" An elated laugh escaped her. "Just me! I did that! I protected you!"

The battle finished without his knowledge, his teammates gathering around him once more. Minato gave them a cursory glance, then turned to continue on, hiding a tired smile. Good job. So that's it, right? You got the skill down?

"Not quite. I mean, yes, it worked, but I need to practice it. I also want to try to blanket your whole team with it and I think I have an idea as to how—Social Links, basically, kind of like how I can have Fuuka talk directly in your head, but with more work on my part—oh, but maybe I should try to adjust it so it blocks all skills and not just magic…"

And on she rambled, ignoring the dread that was clearly filling Minato's body at the thought. If practicing to protect him resulted in injury on her part, then what would protecting the team do to her?

Tamamo's voice quieted at his thoughts, which she clearly heard. Then, very gently, she said, "Minato… I know this is selfish, but… I want to do this. This is no different than you putting yourself in danger fighting like this. It's my decision, so let me do this. Please."

He hated how he couldn't argue against that. It was very much his decision to keep fighting Shadows, despite the pain and injuries it brought him. If it was her decision to make these shields and perfect them, no matter the pain it brought her in the process… who was he to deny her?

…This was going to be a long night, he thought mournfully.

Minato must have been punishing himself for some future sin, for within the next few days he decided to finally take up the eccentric Elizabeth's request to take her out to see the Iwatodai Station. It wasn't that he disliked her—he just felt that one outing with her drained him of more energy than a group of his schoolmates.

Still, it had been a… funny moment the first time she'd asked to be shown around the real world. Minato had not minded the requests that told him to slay this monster or bring back that odd drink for her. It was something to do and the rewards were often useful, filling up supplies that SEES could use in their fight against the Shadows without dipping into their funds.

(Although, Minato was steadily acquiring a good amount of money just through Tartarus—so much so that he'd actually requested his aunt Sayuri to help him open a bank account as his most recent guardian, citing that he had a part-time job and needed a place to store the extra cash.)

He never thought that the Velvet Room attendant would wish to see the outside world, or use her request list as an incentive to get him to agree to take her. Still, Tamamo urged him to comply, mentioning that the rewards would be useful for Persona creation, which Elizabeth readily agreed with. Thus pressured, he acquiesced, though he asked the cat-eyed blonde to at least limit her visits to one place at a time, with ample space in between each visit. This condition of his was mostly for his own sake so he didn't exhaust himself tagging along and making sure he didn't lose her or anything. But Elizabeth impishly misunderstood, claiming that he wished her to pace herself and to let the excitement build.

Doubting he would ever understand and already regretting his decision, he let her be.

At any rate, at this moment in time, Minato found himself being dragged around Iwatodai Station by the curious Velvet Room resident, ignoring the odd looks passersby were sending them for her unique clothes. Elizabeth herself was ignorant of such looks, intent only on visiting each eatery available. Minato joined her for takoyaki and a burger, but declined to order food at the subsequent restaurants, sticking to soda or water at the most.

It did make him wonder, though, if being a Velvet Room resident meant she had no limit to what she could pack away in her stomach. It also made him slightly nauseous to see someone eat so much food, pretty as she was. But the odd things she spouted in between meals were entertaining, at least.

By the time she was finished sampling the fare and they left the station, it was late afternoon and Minato trailed behind her, wary that she would go dashing off like a cat at the next thing that caught her eye. He'd almost lost track of her once when he was marveling at the speed she'd gone through a beef bowl, skipping out after paying with dizzying speed to the next food place she wanted to try. He had no desire to see Igor displeased for losing his assistant.

They were nearing the Paulownia Mall, close to returning her to the Velvet Room, when she paused. He was forced to stop in his own tracks in order to watch her. Elizabeth looked back at him, gold eyes gleaming. Her playful aura was muted as she took him in and, for the first time since they met, he became aware of how very inhuman she was.

"Your passenger…" she intoned, and his mind instantly sharpened in awareness, "or, how was it that my master addressed her as? Ah yes, your partner… Is she well?"

"…Yes," Minato replied slowly, uncertain. "Why do you ask?"

"She is quite an unusual being, is she not? Straddling the border of the living and the dead, one foot planted firmly on either side," Elizabeth spoke in her usual lyrical tone, though something deeper touched her voice. If Minato thought about it, she almost sounded melancholic. "A child of two worlds, in more ways than one. Behind your eyes, she watches the world go on without her, reminded that she is human and yet not—"

A spike of emotion—pure, unadulterated grief—not his own swept through him and Minato flinched. "Please stop talking."

The words left him in a snap, raised higher than he'd meant them to be. Enough to attract the shocked gazes of a couple of housewives gossiping on the sidewalk. Embarrassed, Minato avoided their eyes and muttered an apology to Elizabeth.

"No." Elizabeth shook her head. "It is I who must apologize, honored guest. I did not mean to upset you both, though it is admirable how quickly you jump to her defense… I merely wished to express how eagerly my master and I watch your growth, together and individually."

There was a quiet murmur from Tamamo. Minato sighed. "It's fine. She… apologizes for overreacting."

The Velvet Room attendant only smiled, continuing on once more and leading him through the entrance of the mall. She crossed the main floor without hesitation, passing the fountain, and went into the small alley where the door was located. Minato followed to make sure she went through. But just before she stepped over the threshold, she said to him, "It is quite curious, however, how you have come to depend on one another. Though she is sheltered by your soul and needs your existence in order to live in this reality, you are not bound in the same way she is. In truth, you are only bound by what attachments you set yourself. But for what reason do you hold on to her?"

Minato, who had turned on his heel to leave the alley the moment she opened the door, paused.

"Because she's my Other," he said, answering both everything and nothing at all.

"I see," said Elizabeth. And perhaps she did, for she entered the Velvet Room without further hesitation, a soft click echoing in her wake.

Minato strode away, but only made it as far as the fountain before he sat down, too distracted by the withered presence of his Other. He sighed again, wondering what he could do or say. He was getting better at interacting with people—just the other day, he managed to make Chihiro laugh and Hidetoshi crack a grin despite their tense situations in the student council. But sometimes he still felt very inept, floundering on what was the right thing to say.

"It's okay," Tamamo muttered, sounding vaguely angry. "I'm just overly sensitive. I should really be over it by now, you would think."

If it makes you feel better, this isn't exactly how I wanted my suspicions confirmed, Minato offered wryly.

"I would've told you sooner, but it's not exactly a casual conversation starter. Can you imagine? You're just sitting around eating lunch or something and then, 'So, yeah, I'm actually the soul of a dead girl holed up in your head because the reincarnation cycle disagreed with me'. I can see that going over so well," she mocked. There was the barest trace of amusement preceding the words, however, which was better than nothing in his opinion. "So? Not going to run screaming for the nearest exorcist?"

He snorted. I don't believe in ghosts.

She poked him. "Excuse me? What the heck would you call me, then? I'm not some defective Persona, y'know."

You really have to ask? I just said it earlier, he shot back, amused. You're my Other. That's all I need to know.

There was a short, embarrassed silence.

"…Aw, how sweet!" she eventually cooed, teasing, but underneath her saccharine tone he could sense her honest relief. "Hey, is there any way you can get some ice cream? Being sad usually calls for that, right? I can't eat it, but I could live it vicariously through you! Please?"

She was trying to distract him. Trying to pull him away from their earlier topic. He let her. No way! I'm still stuffed from showing Elizabeth around!

"Oh, please! You're too skinny to worry about your girlish figure. Come on, Minatoooo!"

They bickered the entire way back to the dorm. And if he got more than a few odd looks for bursting into laughter at random intervals, then, well, nobody had to know.

The days passed quickly after that unfortunate reveal, but Minato was content in his knowledge that despite what he knew now, things had barely changed for them. Which was a good thing, as he didn't think he could fight a battle on multiple fronts. There was a certain sense of unease stirring in the air of the dorm as the next full moon night grew ever closer. Yukari's numerous suspicions of their upperclassmen and the chairman hiding things from them wore on his mind the more she brought it up, which was often. If he had been part of a conflict with Tamamo on top of that, he might've gone insane from the pressure.

As it was, he was simply trying to make the best of the situation as he could. When Junpei invited him to go hang out rather than return immediately to the dorm, he accepted. Akihiko tagged along and the three went to the local ramen restaurant to eat.

"Man, Hagakure ramen is the best!" Junpei exclaimed, patting his stomach in satisfaction before letting out an incredible belch.

Akihiko shifted away from him, dragging his bowl along with. "That's disgusting, Junpei."

"I give it a seven," proclaimed Minato.

"Wha? Seven? That was at least an eight!" Junpei protested. Then, he shrugged, pushing his mostly empty bowl away to lean on the counter. "Oh, whatever. All I'm saying is that it's nice to just get out and hang like this. Just us guys. Wonder if the girls do the same thing?"

"I dunno," Akihiko said after slurping up some more of his noodles. "Mitsuru's not the 'hanging out' type."

"True, and Yuka-tan's got some serious rivalry with her or something," Junpei remarked, nodding sagely.

The boxer blinked. "What? Rivalry?" He took a moment to soak it in. "…Seriously?"

"Not a rivalry, per se," Minato said, glad that he wasn't the only one to notice Yukari's strange behavior. "But she doesn't trust Kirijo-senpai much, that's for sure."

"Yep," Junpei agreed before shaking his head. "Seriously, Akihiko-senpai. If even our leader's noticed, you've really gotta start paying more attention."

Said leader shot the other teen a flat look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Dude, you aren't exactly the most aware guy. It's like all the stuff you do just sorta washes over you."

A beat.

Minato inclined his head. "That's probably true."

Their upperclassman huffed. "I think you guys are just looking too closely into things. It's probably nothing."

"No way, Senpai! Yuka-tan's been acting all weird since we rescued Fuuka. There's definitely something going on there!"

"Just leave it, Junpei…"

Vaguely, Minato reviewed their words and wondered, with no little worry, just when all the tension and suppressed hostility would hit the proverbial fan.

June 30th. Dark Hour again. Meeting count tally: 4 (or 6, counting the first night and the appearance in Tartarus).

Minato sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he grumbled, "Must you always visit at this time, when I'm sleeping?"

Pharos, perched on his usual spot at the foot of Minato's bed, smiled delicately. "This is the easiest time for me to appear when not in your head with her, and I can only do that sparingly as well."

"Really? Why's that?"

"I'm not sure," Pharos answered easily. "I don't know why, though I might remember." He vanished, reappearing off the bed. "Anyway, I just visited to tell you the same thing as always. There's a full moon arriving in a week, so be careful, okay?"

And then he faded again before Minato could reply. He stared at the spot Pharos had occupied, wondering why he had simply visited for that when there was no need, as Minato was quite aware of the upcoming night of the full moon. He soon shrugged, about to nestle back in his bed to return to sleep when Tamamo poked him.

"Not yet," she said. He didn't have a chance to be annoyed with her when she continued, "Come in here."

Curious despite his tiredness for it wasn't often that she called him in directly, Minato fell into his mindscape to where Tamamo was. He was met by the sight of what looked like a storybook campsite, three log-like seats situated around a campfire. Combined with the star-like barrier above them and a patch of grass beneath their feet, it was quite picturesque.

Tamamo waved him over to the only unoccupied seat, as the others were occupied by herself and Pharos, who, despite his placid expression, still managed to look quite confused. "We're all friends so I figured we'd have a friendship moment and bond over stories around a campfire."

Rather bemused himself, Minato took a seat. "What kinds of stories? You know all the tales that I do and my life is no secret." He gestured to Pharos with his thumb. "And he doesn't seem to remember much at all to tell us any stories of his own either."

"Which means, by process of elimination, it falls to me to be entertainment," his Other noted. She rolled her heterochromatic eyes. "I figured. But I'm also tired of seeing you both spend not even five minutes together when you're now officially friends, so I'll just grin and bear it. In return, neither of you can complain if my stories are dull."

"What kinds of stories?" Pharos repeated Minato's question, looking intrigued.

"Oh… Just stories about an impossibly boring girl with an impossibly dynamic family," Tamamo said with a shrug. "Okay. Once upon a time, in a world much like this one, there lived a rather large family that, as a whole, embodied the very word their last name translated to in English: life. Now, that's a rather bold claim, but I'll have you know that if they had a family motto, it would've been something cheesy and vague like 'live your life because it's yours, so you ought to own it'. Every day was a celebration of life when they were together; gatherings turned into parties just to give thanks for their own continued livelihood. That was why it came as something of a shock that such a plain child belonged to them. But perhaps she wasn't always so plain, for her mind, if I may say so, was vivid enough on its own…"

It was as she continued on, telling this story of a girl and the people in her life, from her jokester of a father to her strict mother, a perfectionist older sister and an estranged older half-brother, that Minato understood. He listened for as long as he was allowed, never interrupting, as his Other weaved the tale of her first life, reminiscing about the people that had been precious to her before him. Through her words, she painted a picture of the life she had led before she was his Other, giving him a glimpse into her past that had turned her into who she was in the present.

"Well, maybe not entirely," she admitted as she concluded, the story unfinished. "That girl has had at least ten years more to grow mentally. So I suppose who she is at present is different from who she was when that part of her life finished. And she'll probably be even more different at the end. Humans never really stop growing in that sense, I don't think."

"But that would mean that the story never ends, wouldn't it?" Pharos pointed out.

Tamamo stopped, surprised. "…You think so?"

Pharos nodded. "The story you told us revolved around the growth of that girl and the people in her life. If humans really do never stop growing, from one life to the next, then it never ends."

Minato watched as a warm smile tugged on his Other's lips. "When you put it that way, maybe you're right." She laughed. "'From one life to the next'… and to all the people connected to them… Yeah, that sounds about right. It's a tale that keeps on spinning."