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 pizzasdf (and reviewers who have said/had similar thoughts): Thank you for your kind words! I'm always glad and relieved when people say they find Symbiosis's version of Minato likable as well as Tamamo. Y'see, even if the setting and characters come mostly pre-made in fanfiction, taking them and being able to write them in a way that still feels faithful to the original work while still fitting with the specific fanfiction's 'verse is generally something I strive for… As a result, I had a big struggle figuring out how to characterize Minato in the beginning, trying to find a balance between his canon personality (if you could call it that) and a type of "real Minato" that I was hoping to convey based on that canon, if that makes sense. I still wanted him to be the Minato from the game, but in the way that he was more like a real person than a caricature.
On the flip side, Tamamo was a bit of an easier character to, I guess, format because, as expected with many OC self-inserts, a large part of her is/was based on myself. Soundboard-kun had a real great time more or less roasting me for the sake of writing for accuracy, let me tell you that much (but, okay, he was nice about some stuff, too; a good amount of the nicer recurring elements you see in reference to Tamamo were his ideas, actually). By this point she is very much her own character/person, though, so when I see you guys relating and/or worrying about her, I'm honestly just relieved she's been accepted even though OCs usually get that sort of stink-eyed look between fandoms (which I understand completely because—hypocritical as it is—I find myself doing the same from time to time).
Really, truly, honestly, I'm so glad that you guys are enjoying the ride, and hope you'll hang on until we reach that Promised Day. And that's enough from me for now. On with the chapter!
Symbiosis
Chapter Forty
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Minato closed his eyes as the last minutes of the day ticked by.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Ken had left a while earlier, retreating back to his own room after their talk. He was… not quite at ease, but at least a bit more settled than before. It was the least that Minato could hope for after everything he'd put the boy through. Hopefully, it would herald the beginning of healing.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
But now, what he had to do was focus on the operation. On the Arcana Shadows that awaited him and his team.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Arcana Strength and Arcana Fortune.
Basic information about them, according to Tamamo's recollections, were that Arcana Strength lived up to its arcana and focused primarily on physical attacks. Arcana Fortune, by contrast, utilized luck in the form of a roulette system—at least at first. She wasn't entirely certain of how the mechanics of the Wheel of Fortune would work live, and so SEES would likely do best focusing on Strength first—
The lights in his room flickered off.
"Breathe, Minato."
He took in a deep breath, opened his eyes, and cast his gaze out the window to the sickly realm of the Dark Hour.
"Hey," Akihiko greeted as Minato made his way up the stairs to the meeting room. Minato nodded back, only to stop when Akihiko remained in the hall, making no move to go in. The upperclassman wasn't fidgeting per se, but there was an air of restlessness about him that didn't feel like the usual anticipation for the fight that came part in parcel with the Full Moon Operations.
"…Is something wrong?" Minato asked carefully.
"Not 'wrong'," said Akihiko, lifting a hand to rub the back of his neck. "But there is something I'd like to ask you."
Eyeing the older boy, Minato nodded again and stepped back when, after a moment of hesitation, Akihiko opened the meeting room door to call Mitsuru. The Kirijo heiress joined them shortly and Akihiko closed the door again behind her.
"I know I probably should have asked this before and not so last minute, but if it's all right, I'd like to stay behind tonight," Akihiko explained quickly.
Though Minato was left blinking in surprise, Mitsuru only shifted her stance. And when she asked, "What for?" it was in the tone that said she knew exactly why Akihiko was asking, but wanted him to confirm it for the record.
"I want to keep an eye on Shinji," was the immediate reply, the boxer not missing a single beat. "He's supposed to be resting, and I know you have people stationed at the hospital to keep guard, but…"
Mitsuru made a noncommittal noise, but it was a strangely understanding one. Minato watched as Akihiko's expression lifted into one of resigned amusement at the sound. Like an entire conversation packed neatly in the space of tiny gestures—a glimpse of a comradery built up over years.
"I don't mind," Mitsuru said eventually. "Though I'm not the leader on the field." Her gaze slanted towards Minato, who straightened almost reflexively. "Arisato?"
He nodded. "It's fine with me."
As if he could've said anything else.
("You probably could have," whispered his Other. "They'd be disappointed, but they'd understand if you needed them."
No, Minato thought almost casually, careful not to smile. I really couldn't have.
Tamamo didn't say anything more, but the gentle warmth blooming from the back of his mind said enough for her.)
Akihiko smiled and dipped his head. "Thanks. I'll start heading over to the hospital now, then. But if you could keep me updated on the operation…?"
"Take your communicator," was all Mitsuru said on that matter. It went without saying that the boxer would be taking his gloves and Evoker as well. "I'll contact the guards to let them know you're on your way."
And to send word when Akihiko arrived or if he didn't, was left unsaid.
With one last bow of the head, Akihiko turned and descended the stairs, leaving the two leaders of SEES to go on to the meeting room without him.
The Arcana Shadows were located at Iwatodai Station, and so that was where the rest of SEES headed.
"It seems like they've been waiting for us," Fuuka murmured as the two Shadows came into sight.
And they were. A Shadow in the form of a beautiful woman in a white dress standing atop a bouquet of roses, and one that looked like a golden clockwork sphinx. They stood together in the wide space before the station building, looking expectant in their places.
Well. That was fine, Minato considered. Straightforward approaches from Shadows were always easier to work with, in his opinion.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Good to go," Yukari confirmed.
"Just let me at 'em!" Junpei grinned.
A faint smile pulled at Minato's lips and he nodded to both before letting his eyes trail to the last member of his chosen party. He kept his expression open and, hopefully, encouraging. "…Ken?"
The younger boy's hands tightened their grip on his spear, the weapon comically large compared to his short stature. His dark eyes were closed, face tilted towards the ground as he breathed deeply, in and out. Then, eyes blinking open, he looked up, resolve etching itself across his young face. "Ready."
Facing forward, Minato pulled out his Evoker and rested the muzzle by his temple. "All right then… Let's go."
Though she did her best to hold onto them, Tamamo's memories had deteriorated steadily over the past ten years since her awakening in Minato's mind. But even then, what things she did remember about this operation had not worried her. It hadn't been a hard fight in-game—any impact the night left had all been from what happened after, with the revelation of Ken's past and Shinjiro's death.
Applying that knowledge to what she witnessed now in real-time was difficult, however. The unpredictability of nature put her on guard, especially considering how things could and had gone wrong in previous operations. Every little change that occurred rippled outward and often backlashed in some way against Minato, who was generally the instigator of such changes under her influence…
Suffice to say, it made her very wary now, when the change was much larger.
"Breathe," said Orpheus.
"I don't need to breathe," Tamamo muttered. But she took a deep breath anyway when Orpheus tilted his face down at her, releasing it slowly when he nodded in satisfaction. She squinted up at him, but he merely returned his attention to Minato's view of the outside world. She sighed. "Sorry."
His hand fell on her shoulder, squeezing gently.
A wry smile tugged at her lips, but she lifted a hand to rest on his. Closing her eyes, she took another deep breath, concentrating.
Even without looking directly through Minato's eyes, she could feel the flow of battle through him. The spikes of spiritual energy as his teammates summoned their Personas and utilized their skills. The movements of the enemy Shadows as they gathered power to make their own moves. His thoughts flowed around her, haphazard and in the moment as he made his moves, directed his Personas, and monitored his team's status.
Using Orpheus as an anchor, she immersed herself in that flow. Because while she might not be able to fight traditionally alongside SEES, she was learning more and more ways to support them.
In a way, she had the same trait as Minato in this regard. She'd started out with little power to speak of, but had many possibilities for growth.
("Your souls are quite deeply intertwined," Igor had once said.
It'd sounded like a cliché, something vague and trite, but sometimes she wondered, now, exactly how tangled up they were.)
"Shields up," she announced, opening her eyes even as she wound her power around Minato's mind and beyond, through his bonds with his team. "Special class: Grand Shelter… Do your best, Minato."
Minato felt more than heard his Other's pronouncement, her voice resonating with the, well, otherness that he'd heard Shadows and Personas (or at least Orpheus) speak with. The type of voice that was both conventional sound but also reached deeper, echoed deeper, like you weren't just hearing it but breathing it in—and it stayed in your chest like a flower, taking root and spreading there until you could feel it coursing through your veins.
"Grand Shelter."
Power and warmth washed over him, and he was startled when he found he could see it as well. It wasn't very dramatic, just a wave of glittering particles of light as they spread outwards from himself and over the rest of the battlefield towards his team. They faded within seconds of their passing, like a bioluminescent surf, but the warmth lingered.
And so did the rest of its effects, which they found out soon enough when Junpei endured a double-sided attack from both Arcana Shadows. The Arcana Fortune apparently had a knack for wind, catching him off-guard as it hit his Persona's weakness, and the Arcana Strength seamlessly followed up with its own attack. It struck with unrestricted brutality, knocking him back and down with a strangled shout. But even as Hermes went blurry with black static, threatening to unsummon himself, the lights glimmered back into existence, settling over Junpei's shoulders like a cloak and then seemingly soaking into his clothes, his skin.
And when he stood up with Hermes hovering protectively nearby, looking bewildered, he seemed okay. A little stiff and sore, judging by the more ginger way he held himself until Yukari could fully heal him, but at least still conscious.
"Of course it would be Junpei that tests it first," Tamamo murmured, sounding both fond and exasperated all at once.
Nifty, Minato thought. He waited until Junpei waved to signal his status as okay to continue rather than retreat before throwing himself into the fray again. Ken joined him, Nemesis cutting through the air beside him with lethal grace.
"Thank video games for that one," his Other replied. "I imagine it feels rather disorienting to be more or less revived in such a way, so at least that'll make you guys reluctant to depend on it too often… It's a bit complex to do, though, so it's not like you really could anyway, but at least…"
Minato tuned her out as she devolved into analytical muttering, dodging out of the way of another strike from the Arcana Strength while Yukari tended to Junpei with Io. In the corner of his eye, he could see the Arcana Fortune's clockwork wings flutter, mechanical body whirring just before it leapt into the air. Its literal wheel of fortune slapped down in the distance, blue and red wedges spaced equally along its surface, and the Shadow landed almost daintily in the middle as it spun and spun and spun.
It was annoying, being unable to interrupt it with the Arcana Strength's shield still active. It was even more annoying that the effects of the roulette wheel were essentially unavoidable. It left them vulnerable in a way that set his teeth on edge.
He didn't see where the wheel landed, too preoccupied with keeping a distance from the Arcana Strength as he preemptively switched Personas. But he felt it when a sweeping cold seemed to leach the strength from his body. It happened so suddenly that he nearly stumbled when his legs threatened to give out from underneath him, and he cursed as he heard his friends cry out in shock.
Nothing ever could be straightforward, could it?
Despite luck working against them at times with the wheel, SEES was actually doing rather well, Tamamo observed. It made her nervous because Minato really, really didn't have the best track record when it came to the Full Moon Operations. And, god, her thoughts were just circling around, weren't they? Revolving around and around like that stupid wheel and she was just caught in a downward spiral like—
"Breathe," Orpheus cautioned again. It was remarkable how, even in that single, simple word, she could hear Minato's voice in the undercurrents of his. "It is difficult to simply watch, but if you allow yourself to be consumed by your worries and become panicked, you will only hurt yourself. And if that occurs, you will hurt him by extension."
His words made Tamamo flinch, if only because she knew them to be true. Ever since the last operation, with Chidori and Medea and that fucking Agidyne (ever since the Chariot and Justice and Minato's fear; ever since the Lovers' mirrors; ever since the Priestess and falling off the tracks), she'd dreaded the approach of the next full moon even as she tried to ignore it for the sake of focusing on the Ken and Shinjiro situation. In all fairness, it really was just a culmination of worries from all the previous ways the operations had gone wrong. But the encounter with Chidori had pushed her nerves past her tolerance point.
With great reluctance, she made herself turn away from Minato's view, taking a deep breath. She forced herself to hold it in before releasing it slowly, then repeating the process over again. When the anxiety bubbling in her chest failed to subside, she reached out to place her hand on Orpheus's arm.
Just something, anything, to ground herself.
Don't make it worse for him, she begged herself.
Just stay. Calm.
For him.
Do it.
Breathe.
Breathe.
Breathe!
Cool, small hands touch her face, feather-light, and she opened her eyes to find that she was kneeling, one hand planted on the ground to hold herself up and the other still on Orpheus's arm. The Persona had covered it with his other hand at some point, which was likely the only reason it was still there.
When she gathered herself enough to look up, she found Pharos staring at her. His expression was mostly neutral, save for the subtle furrow in his brows and the slant of his eyes. On anyone else, it would barely pass for a micro expression, but for the boy Death, the concern was as blatant as a brick to the face.
As soon as Pharos saw he had her attention, though, the look smoothed away into a smile, soft and fond.
"He'll be all right," he said, gaze trailing away from hers and to where she knew Minato's viewpoint was displayed behind her. "He's strong."
And without looking, she knew when Minato and the others defeated the Arcana Strength by the flow of power that suddenly coursed through her. Similar to that day that felt so long ago now, when she'd burned after her direct interference against the Arcana Lovers, it was scalding as it ran its course through her body. It was never as bad as that day, not after whatever Pharos had done to stabilize her, but the warmth usually never failed to steal her breath away.
Today, though, watching Pharos now, seeing the lingering minute emotions in his expression, Tamamo found herself breathless for an entirely different reason.
"You know."
It was not a question.
Pharos looked at her then, and perhaps it was because they were in such close proximity, but she could see it. Buried beneath the admiration, beneath the confusion and sorrow and worry, was regret.
"I remember," he said.
After the defeat of the Arcana Strength, the Arcana Fortune fell not too long after without its protection. Its roulette wheel grew more erratic and unfair, but with the continuous bombardment of attacks from Minato and his friends, it succumbed easily to the onslaught.
Minato watched as the red-black mist consumed it, leaving no trace of it behind, before speaking up, "Fuuka. Could you do a scan? Make sure everything's settled for tonight?"
"Of course, Minato-kun."
The rest of SEES waited patiently as the navigator did her thing, Junpei settling on the ground near her and Mitsuru for a quick breather, rubbing at Koromaru's neck and sides when the dog padded over to him. After a moment's hesitation, Ken joined him, and a short gesture and quick grin from the elder had the two sitting back to back before long, leaning against one another to keep themselves upright. Yukari meandered over to Aigis and began chatting about something Minato couldn't hear, but from the archer's hand gestures and a demonstration by Aigis he could make a guess at it being related to their respective ranged fighting abilities.
Fuuka hummed. "Our immediate area is clear of any Shadow presence, but let me do a quick scan of our larger surroundings to be sure…"
"If you could, please check in on the hospital as well, Yamagishi," Mitsuru added quietly.
"Yes, Mitsuru-senpai."
As she did that, Minato briefly turned his focus inward—not enough to fully dive into his mind, but just to check in on his Other. He'd felt flashes of agitation from her throughout the battle, and though she never quite settled, she seemed preoccupied now. Which wasn't unusual; even before she started up her scheming in earnest, she'd always been focused on some mental project or another. Like her growing skillset, for one thing.
A sudden gasp from Fuuka tore him out of his head and back to reality. In the corner of his eye, Minato saw the rest of SEES on their feet, stances ready for anything.
"There are two unknowns by the hospital! I—I don't recognize them exactly, but I'm pretty sure they're—!"
"Strega," Mitsuru bit out. "Everyone…!"
She didn't even have to give the order. Aigis took off in her signature bird-like run, followed shortly by Yukari. A cursing Junpei trailed after, Minato running alongside him. If Mitsuru were surprised by the immediate response, Minato hadn't lingered long enough to catch it, but he heard her taking off after them while speaking into her communicator, likely giving rapid-fire orders to Akihiko and the hospital guards.
"Ken and Koromaru are trailing a little behind for Fuuka," Tamamo reported soon after, just as he began to wonder if anyone had stayed behind with their teal-haired teammate. Though she'd grown with them since she joined, she still wasn't anywhere near the physical level of the rest of the team. "Just focus on getting to the hospital and intercepting Jin and Takaya. Navigator's orders."
With no way to really argue with the threat to their teammates and, to a lesser extent, their hostage, Minato pressed on.
By the time they arrived at the hospital, they had something of a plan. On the way, Mitsuru called out to them that Akihiko and the guards would be securing the inside and what entrances they could cover, allowing SEES the freedom to scour the surrounding streets. They split up, Aigis accompanying Minato while Yukari teamed up with Junpei. Mitsuru fell behind a ways before, acting as cover with Ken and Koromaru for Fuuka as she and Lucia did a more thorough search of the area.
"I don't remember if I've told you this before, but just in case, they're both long-range attackers," Tamamo informed him as they went. "Well, medium to long range, I suppose. Takaya uses an actual gun, but Jin—"
"Minato-san," Aigis said, unknowingly interrupting his Other as they ran. Minato couldn't waste breath talking, but he turned his head as best he could to indicate he was listening. Aigis's pale blue eyes steadily met his. "If we should encounter Strega and you find yourself conflicted, please allow me to take the lead."
Conflicted…? Minato thought. Why would I be…?
"It might be you guys that get to them…!" Yukari's voice reported over their communicators, sounding out of breath. "There's nothing here so far!"
"Just a bunch of empty alleys!" Junpei chimed in just as Minato caught a glimpse of movement down one such alley up ahead.
Not wasting a moment, he raised his Evoker to his head and pulled the trigger. Cu Chulainn manifested, flying forward with clear intent. Another flash of light later and Palladion appeared alongside Aigis.
It was barely audible, but Minato swore he could hear someone click their tongue just before something fell onto the floor, clinking as it rolled towards them.
"DON'T GET CLOSE!" The shock of the sheer force behind his Other's voice made him skid to a stop.
A split second later, he understood why.
The fallen object was a freaking hand grenade.
Minato barely saw as Cu Chulainn dissipated, barely saw Aigis's aborted movement towards him through the flash of light of a Persona summoning, instead throwing up his arms uselessly as if it would help protect him. A tall, familiar figure manifested just in front of him right as the explosive detonated.
While he didn't know how grenades (or any explosive) really worked, he knew enough that being so close could only be a Very Bad Thing.
He thought he heard Tamamo say something, but it was lost under the thunderous sound of his own heartbeat when he heard the shrapnel whiz by and embed itself in the walls of the buildings around him.
After several long moments of listening to his heart and the sound of his own breathing, Minato cautiously looked up.
The first and most prominent thing he caught sight of was Orpheus floating before him, back towards him, slowly relaxing from a defensive stance. He spotted Aigis just a bit ahead of them, Palladion between her and the other end of the alley. Her head was turned towards him and, when their eyes met, hers briefly looked down before flicking up again. After a slow blink and a nod, she turned and took off, more or less unfazed by the explosion.
Feeling lost, Minato looked down, wondering what the android had so deliberately glanced at. For a moment, he didn't understand what he was looking at, gaze trailing along the small fragments scattered around him like dark petals.
But only for a moment.
He looked up to find Orpheus turned towards him, pristine body unharmed, and back down, where he noticed that the handful of fragments of the hand grenade that had shot their way had fallen in a halo just around where the Persona had manifested. A quick glance told Minato that the same had occurred right around where Aigis's own Persona had been protecting her.
Still feeling a bit off-kilter from the close call, Minato shakily stood up (but when he had fallen, he didn't know). When he wobbled, Orpheus held out his hand and Minato caught it, gripping it tightly until he felt he could stand on his own again.
"Thank you," he said. Thank you.
Orpheus inclined his head, but his Other stayed silent.
In the end, Strega got away.
Aigis had trailed after Jin for a while, hoping that he would lead her to the last member, Takaya, but he had eventually summoned his own Persona and gotten away in the ensuing skirmish. She'd made her way back to where Minato, Yukari, and Junpei had met up and they returned to the others together. It was a grim disappointment that they hadn't managed to catch the rogue Persona-users, but at least they'd gotten some information about one of them without having to completely rely on Tamamo's existing knowledge—meager as it was.
That didn't stop the Kirijo heiress from storming through the hospital and bursting into Chidori's room, however. For all that she didn't raise her voice, her ensuing onslaught of questions would sound threatening to anyone.
"How did you get in contact with them?" Mitsuru demanded.
"What…?" Even from his spot in the hallway, Minato twitched at the sound of Chidori's voice. While it was softer than what he remembered from the previous full moon, hearing it again sent a chill down his spine.
"Your partners in Strega. How did they contact you?"
"I… I haven't heard from them—"
"They were just here, so forgive me if I don't believe that it was just merely coincidence. How did they know where to find you?"
"I don't know—"
"Do their Personas have similar abilities as yours? Can they sense you? Track you?"
"No, they—Medea was the only one—"
"So it was your Persona, then?"
"I haven't seen Medea since…" Chidori's breath hitched. "You haven't given her back to me…!"
Minato saw Junpei's fist clench just a second before the other boy strode into the room. "Hey, hey, Mitsuru-senpai…"
"What, Iori."
The upperclassman's flat tone at being interrupted was dangerous enough to make even Junpei's back straighten subconsciously, but he seemed to shake himself out of it quickly. "You've had Chidori on watch here ever since she left the dorm. Literally. I don't… I don't think she called them here or told them where to go."
"It's possible that they just made a guess and went with it," Akihiko murmured. It said something how, even when Mitsuru's gaze slanted his way, he barely blinked at it. In lighter situations, Minato had seen him cringe with the rest of them whenever Mitsuru so much as looked at him funny. But when things were grim, her fellow senior kept his cool even when there had been a possible threat to his own friend. Because Mitsuru was not.
Mitsuru let out a breath. Then, turning sharply on her heel, she strode out of the hospital room, gesturing for one of the guards (that had hastily gotten out of her way earlier) to follow her.
When she left, the rest of SEES as a whole relaxed, filing away from Chidori's room. Junpei took a bit longer to leave, murmuring something to the girl that she seemed determined to ignore, but trailed after them eventually.
As they settled into a private waiting room, waiting for Mitsuru to conclude her business and return, Minato heard Ken speak from where he'd folded himself up in a chair. "Is… Is Shinjiro-san… all right…?"
"Ah…" Akihiko uttered, sounding surprised. "He's… okay. A little anxious and a lot angry since we wouldn't let him out of his room, but… okay."
"I see…"
"Did you… want to see him?"
"Oh, no, I… No. Not… not yet."
It was a while before SEES finally packed up and headed home for the dorms. It was longer still before Minato dragged himself to bed. But the moment he was settled, Tamamo helped ease him into sleep. While she was doing better about letting him handle things than before, there were still some things that she couldn't help but try to help him with. Maybe she should have him consider sleeping aids for rough nights. She'd used melatonin before when her messed up sleep schedule during finals threatened to turn into full blown insomnia, so—
Breathe, she reminded herself.
Wearily, Tamamo wandered through Minato's forest, trailing her fingers along the trunks of the trees, feeling their branches tug at her hair and snag at her clothing in return. It didn't take much thought to get to her lake, and she waded until she was halfway across to the central island before sitting down in the shallow water. She curled up there, resting her forehead on her knees, and breathed.
Between one breath and another, Pharos appeared. His feet, peeking out from the hem of his striped pants, settled on the surface of the water.
"There is one more ordeal remaining," he said. Though his voice hadn't changed much, sounding eternally young, it lacked the airy, dreamy quality it once had in previous encounters. Now, he sounded…
"Yes," Tamamo confirmed.
"I remember. Not everything, but enough. And you… you know."
…sad.
"Yes."
"And so he knows, too."
"Yes."
A gentle, hesitant touch on her shoulder made her unfurl, and when she looked up she saw it again. That terrible, aching sadness and all-too human regret displayed across a too-young face.
"I'm sorry," said Pharos.
Tamamo uncurled and pushed herself onto her knees. Rising up a little further, she slowly, carefully, eased the boy Death into a hug. He was stiff in her arms, but eventually seemed to relax even if he didn't return the hug.
"You don't have to apologize," she said gently. "There are some things—a lot of things—that we can't control. The means of our births is one of them."
Pharos made a contemplative sound. "All of the strife that you both have gone through was because of me."
She tilted her head, considering. "In a way, it was. But in a lot of ways, it also wasn't. The actions and mistakes of others played a large part in your birth and the fallout, and the nature and history of this world didn't help." She pulled away and settled back on her heels. "I'm not saying it's fair by any means. But whether it's fate or not, I'm kind of glad we got dragged into this mess."
"What do you mean…?"
"Even if I'm here, stuck in his mind, I'd rather be part of this fight in some way than not at all. Even if the Fall is to be initiated, no matter how terrified I am to face that possible end, I'd rather go into it with my eyes wide open, helping in the ways that I can rather than be part of the masses, completely oblivious as the world falls apart around me."
Pharos regarded her for a long moment, his blue, blue eyes still so sad and guilty. The look didn't go away, didn't fade, but something new sparked alongside it then, a glowing ember steadily being fanned into a flame.
"I would like to help, too," he said, his voice—determined, Tamamo realized faintly. It was determination she saw in his eyes, heard in his voice. "I don't know if I can fight the inevitable alongside you all, but… I don't want to let you both, my dear friends, suffer more when I could be doing something…" He blinked and suddenly appeared less certain, though the light in his eyes had yet to fade. "…Do you think there's something I can do?"
She was a bit too deep in shock to really come up with a coherent answer, but her mind raced with the possibilities.
"Y—Yes," she said eventually, unable to help staring wide-eyed at him. "I think there is."