Chapter 13 - Social Link, GO!
Now that didn't make any sense at all.
If there was one Persona that Minato would've chosen to summon in the heat of an extremely difficult battle, it would have been Messiah. Though Messiah had always been an extreme measure; Minato had always held him back 'til he saw fit to unleash him. His reasoning for that was that Messiah had needed a lot of concentration in order to be properly summoned; he wasn't like Minato's other Personas.
It didn't feel right for Messiah to be restricted, all the way until the end of the game.
Of course none of S.E.E.S. was very happy with that. But this was something they'd gotten somewhat used to at this point. They kind of had to get used to it, considering that whoever was on the other line was obviously going to keep on taking liberties with various parts of the playthrough, for some reason or another. So while it registered, it didn't really hit them as hard as previous revelations had.
They continued playing the game, and the caller hoped to raise their spirits by telling them they were kind of close to the end of today's session. The Priestess boss was coming up soon. All they needed was the will to keep at what they were doing.
At the moment, they were hanging out with one of Minato's very first Social Links; one of his closest friends.
[Kenji: ...Whew! Now that's what I'm talkin' about! ...Well, was I right, or was I right? This ramen tastes great, doesn't it? I bet they put a special ingredient in it-something no other ramen shop uses. It's probably some sort of secret spice... Oh, sorry. My bad. I get all geeked up when I eat here.]
{I agree with you.}
{Shut up and eat.}
2
Everyone remembered Kenji at Minato's funeral, how he had initially tried to come up with something genuinely good to say, but kept on flubbing up the words. When he sat down, he was ashamed and bitter and all the things that you'd be if you couldn't even come up with a good eulogy for someone you considered your best friend. He'd eventually found a job in marketing and eventually became the head of Junes' advertising branch in southern Japan; Junpei would still speak with him from time to time, and he seemed well enough alone. He'd even once remarked that he was to be married off to a childhood friend of his.
As such, Aigis was genuinely uncomfortable at the fact that the messages were telling her to make Minato act out of character. And she felt doubly uncomfortable because she recalled Minato hanging out with Kenji and others before the end of the year, saw how he'd smile so brightly around them without a care in the world.
Luckily for all of them, Kenji seemed to take Minato's rather harsh tone rather nicely.
[Kenji: Yeah, man, you're right. If we talk too much, the noodles will get soggy,] he replied voicelessly. [...It's just that by the way you're savoring your soup, it seems like you really appreciate its flavor.] At that point, everyone could feel Kenji's grin, even through the cutout on the screen, as he said, [...By the way, man, I hear you and Yukari are close.]
The rumors, Yukari remembered all too well.
She remembered being uncomfortable at first, but gradually becoming more and more accustomed to them before ultimately just wishing they were true already. And before she knew it, it had all been too late.
[Kenji: ...I can't blame you, though. A man's gotta be aggressive nowadays. Hey, let's hang out after school again sometime. We'll get some food and I'll tell you about my secret plan... Wait 'til you hear it, dude. You're gonna flip!]
Kenji seems to like you... You have become friends with Kenji.
"So this is how they became friends...," muttered Junpei then, with a grin. As time stopped, and a card floated on-screen, Minato obtaining his second Social Link.
A mysterious voice rings in your head...
"Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Magician Arcana..."
HELP: YOU MAY BE ABLE TO CREATE A SOCIAL LINK BY GETTING TO KNOW A PERSON BETTER. WHEN YOU FUSE PERSONAS, THE STRENGTH OF THE SOCIAL LINK WILL AFFECT THE RESULTING PERSONA. WHEN YOU CREATE A PERSONA THAT HAS THE SAME ARCANA AS A SOCIAL LINK... YOU WILL BE ABLE TO GAIN ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE FOR THAT PERSONA! TRY TO DISCOVER AS MANY SOCIAL LINKS AS YOU CAN AND FUSE AS MANY PERSONAS AS POSSIBLE!
"Guess that's how Minato was always so good with people...," Akihiko mused.
Too often, they'd catch Minato resorting to silence even if he were out with others. The occasional smile here and there, a soft reply, a snarky raising of his brow; but he'd just stay quiet most of the time. Seemingly for little reason whatsoever. Though Aigis does remember certain things about Minato she personally wouldn't like to.
One night, she spied on him as he slept. She'd done that a lot, and she had thought that that night would've been like any other. Yet Minato shivered in his sleep, shuddered for seemingly no reason at all, cried out names of people she didn't know. She remembered laying her hand over his shoulder as he curled on his side, his body turning into a ball and her touch unable to help him in any meaningful fashion.
Yet she had stayed. This had been before she'd gained a real understanding of humans and emotions. She had stayed, perhaps because something in her compelled her to.
The nights after that, she had never even seen him shiver in the slightest.
Then, in-game, Mitsuru spoke to Minato later that evening about rest and recuperation, and the game brought up the fact then that each character was capable of going tired in Tartarus; meaning that the players had yet one more thing to micromanage throughout all this. But the game wasn't done giving them menial high school tasks.
4/23/09
After the class day ended, a message popped on the screen, notifying the players of something rather interesting they could have Minato do.
Class has ended for the day. It seems that certain athletic groups are still recruiting. If you can find the appropriate room, you might be able to join.
"Which club did Minato join, again?" Junpei asked.
"Kendo, for sure," replied Akihiko. "I recall him telling me he picked that to better his swordsmanship."
"You wanna try putting him in a club?" Yukari asked then.
"Well, more Social Links means more powerful Personas, right?" Fuuka noted.
"Guess that was his thought pattern throughout the year, huh...?" Junpei darkly, yet humorously muttered.
Much to the annoyance of Yukari and Mitsuru.
"What?" he asked them both. "He would know I'm kidding!"
"I wonder if we all had any individual Social Links with him...," muttered Aigis. "Aside from the Fool, that is."
She didn't know she had just said what was on everyone's minds then. That nobody had wanted to say it, because they'd know that what the statement really meant was, I wonder what my Social Link with him was.
And it wasn't exactly a comfortable thought, thinking that perhaps they didn't have a Link beyond the Fool.
Before they knew it, Aigis had gotten Minato to the gymnasium of Gekkoukan, where they were to meet his Chariot Social Link for the second time in-game. Throughout the area were people all wearing gis, paying attention as Coach Takenozuka spoke. Minato, of course, with him.
[Coach: This is Minato Arisato. He'll be joining the team.] Coach then gestured to a girl at his side, [This is Yuko, our manager.]
The cutout now was of a dark-skinned girl with wide eyes and her hair tied in a bun. [Yuko: Hello, I'm Yuko Nishiwaki. Nice to meet you. You're a junior, right? Since we're the same year, you can just call me "Yuko."]
"First name basis already, huh...?" muttered Junpei, turning to Yukari.
"What?"
"Y'know, I found it kinda weird how you were already callin' Minato by his first name so soon after meeting him. I mean, it took you a while even with me."
Yukari put her hands on her hips and said confidently, "I don't know what was so strange with that. The guy saved my life, a few nights after I first met him. I'd say that warrants at least some degree of closeness."
"No underlying motives, really?" scoffed Junpei.
"Not at all," she smirked knowingly.
[Coach: ...Hey! Kazushi!]
[Kazushi: Yessir!]
[Coach: This is the future captain of this team. He's a great runner and scores well in competitions. You two are in the same class, right? Kazushi, keep an eye on the new guy here, okay?]
[Kazushi: You got it. You're the guy who went out with Yukari Takeba on the first day of school, right? You're practically famous. I'm Kazushi Miyamoto. You've seen me around, right?]
{Yeah.}
{No.}
2
Junpei smirked and shook his head, "Dang, Minato...you're cold."
[Kazushi: Dude, you're hurtin' my pride...] Kazushi said disappointedly. But then he perked up after the next statement. [Everyone knows who I am. Just because you joined mid-season, don't think I'll go easy on you!]
You have made friends with Kazushi...You joined the Track Team and befriended your new teammates.
Junpei and the gang remembered that Minato would hang with Kazushi rather often during the first few months of that school year. Minato had once related to Junpei how Kaz had been going through a particularly rough patch; he had exerted himself on the field all for his nephew. The poor boy had gotten into an accident and Kazushi had promised him he'd win nationals, all to get the kid to pursue rehab.
Yet when Kaz himself had gotten a bad knee, he had discovered he most likely wasn't even gonna make nationals; perhaps he wasn't even going to be able to pursue his own career as a Kendo practitioner. Minato had managed to persuade him eventually, and Kazushi had gone through with rehab himself. After high school, Kazushi took to Kendo as his full-time career. He then married Yuko, after the girl had managed to get herself over Minato's death, and the two ended up with three beautiful children. Junpei would see him often on television, during annual Kendo tourneys; when he wasn't in first place, he'd be in the top tens.
And every time he'd win, he'd dedicate his victory to an old friend of his from high school; his wife next to him, wrapping her arms around one of his own.
"He sadly isn't with us anymore," he'd say, "but I know he's watching."
...!? A mysterious voice rings in your head...
"Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Chariot Arcana..."
You have established a new Social Link!
The days passed, and the gang had Minato spend his time indoors. Wanting to get today's session over with as much as possible. Then the scene cut to the principal making a speech that very much resembled Mitsuru's own opening speech for the first day of classes (Mitsuru herself kept a cool expression, though Akihiko would catch an annoyed squint in her eyes as the speech droned on); they were paying attention, but they weren't exactly too enthused to really get into the game at the moment.
There were other scenes of more import. Such as this one.
Lunchtime. Minato was sitting at his desk, when Mitsuru's avatar walked over to him and made her request.
[Mitsuru: Arisato... I'm sorry, but I need to talk to you after school. I have a special request for you.]
Junpei's eyes widened and he couldn't help it. Mitsuru caught that look in his eye; as did Yukari, as did Fuuka. All Junpei could do was shrug. "Not my fault you guys choose your words poorly."
"Oh shut up," Yukari said, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, at least I'd embarrass myself on purpose, Miss Don't-Talk-To-Anyone-About-Last-Night."
"You asked if Tartarus was some kind of toothpaste, when you first heard about it!"
"It was a perfectly valid question!" he urged. "The only stupid questions are unasked ones! Don't they say that?"
"No," said Mitsuru.
"Nope, shrugged Fuuka.
"Uh-uh," said Akihiko.
"Not really," Ken shook his head.
Yukari just shook her head.
"At least gimme some credit every once in a while!" he cried. Then the phone buzzed.
1
{Why me?}
{A special request...?}
[Mitsuru: I apologize for being in a rush, but I don't feel comfortable asking anyone else. I'll tell you more about it after school, okay? Au revoir.]
Then the scene ended as quickly as it had come. And once the school day finally ended, Minato was approached once more by Mitsuru, and he hadn't even had the time to get out of his seat yet.
[Mitsuru: I apologize for making you wait. To make a long story short, I want you to join Student Council.]
{I'm too lazy...}
{Why all of a sudden...?}
1
"Lazy?" asked Ken. "I don't recall senpai being lazy..."
"He really wasn't!" cried Junpei. "He'd be in, like, seventeen different places at once!"
[Mitsuru: Well, it's not like you have to participate in every activity. Just come to the Student Council Room when you have the time.]
{That's it?}
{Why me?}
2
[Mitsuru: ...Because of your leadership ability,] Mitsuru replied simply to Minato's curtness. [Being President is very time consuming. I'd like to have additional help available in the event of an emergency. You understand my situation... I'm asking you since you know what it's like to be a leader.]
{Alright.}
{Fine...}
2
"I hope he wasn't too offended that I had him join Student Council so soon after his arrival into the school...," muttered Mitsuru.
"Why didn't you tell him beforehand, anyway?" asked Yukari.
Mitsuru shrugged, "I needed the help. I thought it would've been expedient to simply sign him up; if he rejected the offer, I felt it would've complicated matters."
Contented with this arrangement, Mitsuru's cutout smiled. [Mitsuru: I knew I could count on you. I've already made an appointment for you with the faculty advisor. But, you'll have to go to the Faculty Office on your own.]
"He seemed pretty okay with it," shrugged Akihiko. "Considering he joined a ton of other clubs after the fact."
"Come to think of it...," Junpei said then, "what did he do in his spare time? I mean, you'd always see him going out to the mall or at the shrine. Kinda schedule did he have?"
"Maybe he spent all that time with Social Links?" Aigis wondered aloud.
"I remember he'd be out almost every day of the week," said Fuuka. "It'd make sense, I suppose..."
Junpei and Yukari and everyone remembered the funeral, all those years ago. When they weren't thinking about Minato, they were thinking about just how many people showed up to mourn. An elderly couple. Kaz and Kenji, too. Some girl with glasses, one of their kohai. One of the Student Council members; an obese young man; Mamoru Hayase even showed up at some point. It was almost like there had been too many to count.
If Minato had spent all his time in Iwatodai just making friends, then he must have had either the greatest capacity for patience, or literally had absolutely nothing else to do with his time.
So Minato went to the Faculty Office, talked to Ms. Toriumi. After arrangements were made and things were over and done with, Aigis had him saunter on down to the Student Council Room to get some work done and make some more friends.
They were met with a packed room, Mitsuru addressing everyone and introducing their newest member. [Mitsuru: Everyone, this is Minato Arisato. He's the one I've been talking about the past few days. He'll be joining us in Student Council.]
A man with silver, slicked-back hair then stepped up, deciding to talk. His cutout depicted him with his arms folded, his beady eyes sneering yet ambivalent. Yet he didn't seem to be as haughty as his illustration seemed to indicate. [Disciplinary Committee Rep.: Minato-kun, huh...I'm Hidetoshi Odagiri. I supervise the Disciplinary Committee.]
[Treasurer: I'm Chihiro Fushimi, the Treasurer.] Cut in a young, bespectacled brunette with hair that stretched all the way down to her upper back. Her cutout depicted her smiling somewhat, though her dialogue indicated some level of anxiety. [Chihiro Fushimi: I'm a sophomore, and um... I'm still learning the ropes, so... please be patient with me, Minato-san.]
{Nice to meet you.}
{I'll be on my best behavior.}
"I think I remember those guys...," said Junpei.
"Fushimi eventually became Student Council President, after my graduation," Mitsuru said, smiling. "I remember being impressed with how far she'd come for herself."
Mitsuru remembered the girl, how Fushimi would stammer and stutter and freeze in the face of others, especially men. Yet by the time the year ended, she'd become a strong-willed woman; confident, boisterous, joyful and professional. Eager to negotiate and even tough-as-nails when she needed to be. It was at this point that Mitsuru remembered that Minato would often speak with her, and judging from this game's themes of social interaction, Mitsuru was more than certain that this wouldn't be the last time they'd see Fushimi.
Phone buzzed.
2
[Hidetoshi Odagiri: ...I would certainly hope so.] Hidetoshi said, sizing Minato up and grinning in some sort of approval. Or at least, acknowledgment. [Hidetoshi Odagiri: ...You must be talented if the President hand-picked you.]
It seems Hidetoshi wants to learn more about you. You're getting to know the members of Student Council.
"Any guesses to this Link?" asked Junpei.
"Hierophant?" wondered Yukari. "Looks like the militant type."
"I agree with Yukari-san," said Ken.
"Hanged Man, maybe," said Akihiko. "Just a guess."
Fuuka, Mitsuru, and Aigis all said, "Emperor."
Junpei nodded, impressed at their unified answer, "Alright. Gonna go with the majority."
...!?
A mysterious voice rings in your head...
A card formed on the screen as time stopped. On the card was an imposing figure, cloaked and crowned. The background a myriad of cool colors, a cross above the figure's head. A staff to his right hand and an orb to his left.
"Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Emperor Arcana..."
You have established a new Social Link!
Buzz.
If you're gonna guess S-Links you might as well do bets?
"No. Shut up," smirked Junpei.
Well. *I* thought it would be fun.
Junpei smiled a little then, despite his irritation. As much as he hated to admit it, the caller was very mildly growing on him. But not by much. "Guess who we have to thank for that..."
The school day is about to end.
[Mitsuru: ...Today, we'll just do introductions. It'll be your job to help us, Arisato. From now on, you have my permission to enter the Student Council Room whenever you need to. That includes after school, too. Thank you, Arisato, for joining us today.]
You decided to go back to the dorm.
"Nice. Another Link. What was that guy's deal, again?" asked Junpei then. "I remember he'd get on a lot of students' nerves, all over what...a cigarette, or something?"
"I don't quite recall exactly what he was trying to find, but I do remember that Odagiri could be...more than a little overzealous, at times," replied Mitsuru.
Hidetoshi Odagiri had been quite stern back in his days as a member of the Student Council, to the point where Mitsuru would often have to pull him over to the side and chastise him when he'd get too antagonistic. He'd only mellowed out after becoming fast friends with Minato; soon enough Mitsuru found him much less eager to get into a scrap.
She remembered that Odagiri had landed a desk job of some kind a year before Junpei had gotten this game, and somehow he'd gone from that to being a journalist. She and he would talk from time to time, as Odagiri's news outlet frequently gets in touch with the Kirijo Group's Electronics division. In a recent conversation, she had discovered that he had recently gotten married, and was now trying to figure out baby names of all things.
He rejected Minato, on the grounds that he thought it wouldn't be too good a name for a girl. When Mitsuru asked him why he took on such a career, despite him even admitting that his desk job had paid not a small amount of money on its own, he simply said that he wanted to get the truth out there. Admitting that it sounded childish, he asserted his position by simply stating, "A man without position, honor, or education... he can only cling to sincerity, as he struggles through life."
Looking back, Mitsuru figured that that sort of field fit him perfectly. Odagiri was never the kind of man to let things of importance simply slide under the rug.
4/28/09
The next morning, Minato encountered Mitsuru at the gate; the only purpose to that encounter being Mitsuru would relate how Tartarus ventures would work: most times, she'd be found in the lounge. But if she had something to attend to and would be absent from the aforementioned lounge, the gang wouldn't be able to request a venture into Tartarus that evening. Made sense, was short and simple and helped clear up some game requirements.
That evening though, was where things got interesting.
[Mitsuru: Welcome back. For your information... The internet line which was ripped apart by the Shadow will be fixed tomorrow. If you have a computer in your room, you should be able to connect. ...Well, that takes care of everything that was damaged... except, of course, Akihiko's rib cage.]
[Junpei: Speaking of the internet... You play any online games, dude?]
{Online games?}
{Definitely.}
1
[Junpei: You know, those games you play with a buncha people ya never met before. I was totally addicted to this one game, but then I got burned out... Here, you can have it... It's called "Innocent Sin Online."]
Obtained "Innocent Sin Online."
"Looking back, that game kinda sucked," Junpei murmured. "Graphics looked worse than this..."
"To be fair, this game doesn't look that bad...," Fuuka noted. "It was made for the PS2, after all."
"Yeah, but online games, even in 2009 tended to look better than ISO," said Junpei, getting his phone out and flitting through Google for some screenshots. "See?"
Fuuka wouldn't exactly call herself that much of a gamer; she'd mostly played PC titles and used emulators, since her computer was pretty much a beast. On particularly stressful days at work, she'd pull out some random indie game from her [SECRETS] folder and just grind endlessly during the wee hours of her breaktime.
So when she saw the graphics for Innocent Sin Online, she couldn't help but think that it looked like something the original 1996 release of Resident Evil would've been embarrassed to look at. The polygons...
Phone buzzed. Junpei opened it.
Play the game the next day, if you really want to.
"You're serious," Junpei said.
You'll obtain a Social Link and Master Arisato will obtain more power for Tartarus.
Junpei sighed then. "He wants us to play Innocent Sin Online."
"So...we're gonna play a game in a game?" asks Yukari.
"Well, apparently we'll get a Social Link out of it. So that's fun," shrugs Junpei.
"We don't have to, do we?" asks Fuuka.
"If Minato obtains another Social Link, he'll have a better chance of fighting Shadows," Aigis mused. "Perhaps we should just focus on obtaining more and more Links? It'd help us get through the game faster."
Mitsuru nodded, "Good point. Very well."
Then Junpei narrowed his eyes at the text. "Wait, Master?"
4/29/09
Early Morning
Today is Showa Day. There's no school. The Internet line should be fixed, the game helpfully pointed out.
[The Game Screen: Spring, the year 20XX...]
Minato started up Innocent Sin Online at his desk, and the rest of the team found themselves somewhat amused by this situation; playing Minato playing a video game. And the game made its philosophical opening statements, about Reality being a series of events and players acting out what they believe is real; Junpei was amused, because this campy sort of narration was exactly the sort of thing that made old games so funny sometimes. The rest of them just took the narrations in stride.
[The Game Screen: Reality is but a reflection of our thoughts and expectations. But, what if we were merely reflections in another's mirror? Are you prepared to look through that mirror to discover the truth?]
Inside Lunarvale Hospitale...There are 1 player(s) in the area. A -REPORTER- approaches...
[Girl in Gray: sup XD]
Aigis blinked, "I didn't think we'd find someone that quickly...these games tend to have extremely large player-bases," she said, gathering some of the data she'd gathered from the net.
"Well, this game was kinda dead by 2009," said Junpei. "Guess she was the only one playing at the time."
"What could the chances of that be?" Aigis asked, but then she decided that was a foolish question. After all, what were the chances of them stumbling across a game that depicted the most intense year of their lives all in seventy plus hours?
[Girl in Gray: asl...? oh wait, r u a nub? u r, huh?] she wrote, sending an emote as well in her message. [oh wow. u haven't even finished generating your char yet... o_O / welcome to teh game! good thing i'm using my low level alt / i think its jus u an me, this is kind of a dead MMO these days xD]
{What name should I use?}
{It's not popular anymore?}
1
"Guess Minato was into online games as well?" Junpei asked to no one in particular. "Never really saw him play..."
[Girl in Gray: sry. i got kinda ooc there =o] she said simply. [we r supposed to be our "alternate selves" rite? uhhhh... yeah =/ sooo... what r u gonna call ur char? we can meet up later,] was the continued reply. Then the conversation took a turn for the interesting. [hm... hey, i got a good name for u =3 ...how bout tatsuya? kyahahaha! that's good, imo / i'll change mine to maya, k? =D have a little deja vu? ;P]
{Heh, that's clever.}
{I don't get it...}
1
"I don't get it either," muttered Junpei.
"Minato must have some really old tastes," smiled Fuuka. "It's based off an old video game for the PS1. I played it before, but I stopped after the first few hours."
"What's the name?" Junpei asked then.
Fuuka hummed. "I don't remember, it's been so long."
[Maya: o rly? i'm impressed i didn't think many people played that! well, if u see any jokers, be sure to rescu me, k? ^^y/ne way, i'm usually idling here on my days off...so if ur bored, maybe we can level together. it sux to be lonely =P]
You met a person online who uses a character named Maya.
Unanimously, everyone thought Hermit. Because that's just what the character's aura just felt like to them. You didn't need to have a connection to the Sea of Souls to find the correlation between her and that Arcana. Sure enough...
...!? A mysterious voice rings in your head...
"Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Hermit Arcana..."
You have established a new Social Link!
[Maya: sry, gtg =\ remember, let's think positive! traesto! xD]
Junpei snickered, Aigis asking, "What's wrong?"
"That liar...," he held his face. "He told me this Maya girl was Ms. Toriumi."
"Our homeroom teacher?" exclaimed Yukari. Then she shook her head, "No, that can't be..."
"I knew he just said it to rile me up. Still...it'd be pretty hilarious, if that were the case."
Fuuka smiled softly, "Maybe we'll know for sure if he was telling the truth, now..."
Mitsuru just cupped her chin at the thought of one of Gekkoukan's instructors being a closet video game player, and just very briefly imagined how Isako Toriumi would have reacted to this game existing. That is, if she indeed had been this Maya character.
4/30/09
Minato slept in the afternoon, during Mr. Ono's class; his talk of the Sengoku Era tired even the players. But when evening came and Minato returned dutifully to the dorm, his cellphone rang.
[Voice on the Phone: Hello? This is Elizabeth,] said the voice on the other end of the line. [Elizabeth: Please come to the Velvet Room. There is a matter we need to discuss. You may use the alternate entrance located in Paulownia Mall. All you must do is find the door. ...I'll see you soon.]
The scene transitioned quickly then, a bit too quick for the players to really process the information. But Minato entered the Velvet Room once more, and everyone was met once again with the wonderful aria.
[Elizabeth: I am truly sorry to bother you, but... I have a big favor to ask.] Though Elizabeth seemed pensive, her cutout didn't so much as change its expression. [I have been looking for someone with exceptional strength. It's been quite some time since we've had a visitor worthy of our attention. If you don't mind, will you accept my requests? Of course, once each request is completed, I will have a reward for you. I anxiously await your cooperation.]
You are now able to accept Elizabeth's requests!
Yukari, of course, looked rather nonplussed. Aigis, even moreso. Fuuka just eyed the screen in scrutiny, while Mitsuru just tried replaying her past in her head. They all remembered this girl, remembered all that hectic nonsense all the way back in that Inaba incident; even far back in the Abyss of Time, after everything had ended they spotted her in that blue Velvet Room, next to the hunchback.
Junpei smirked, because the thought of Minato having yet another girl latching onto him still gave him a chuckle, even after all these years. Akihiko and Ken were simply impressed at the fact that even now, they were still learning things about this guy they had all believed they knew.
Still, the girls weren't exactly all too pleased with that notion, and filling their heads were various ways of asking the question, Was he interested in older girls? Because the more they'd remember the day they'd each confessed to him, the more they began to question just what his type was.
Phone buzzed.
The requests are game items, mostly.
Aigis looked relieved somewhat upon reading it. But then voiced out, "Wait, mostly?"
The caller blushed, then.
Others are get-togethers. What you would call "dates."
"D-dates!?" cried out Aigis; Yukari moved closer to the phone, Fuuka kept her eye over Aigis' shoulder, and Mitsuru simply leaned forward with a look in her eyes Akihiko had seldom seen from her.
It's all optional, but it's rather fun to do them.
Aigis furrowed her brows, and Junpei just took his phone back from the girls, "We'll deal with that when it comes..."
Akihiko just shook his head, because Minato was still straining female relations even from the afterlife.
5/1/09
Early Morning
Arriving at the school gate, Minato met up with Yukari, whose first concern was the weather, of all things. [Yukari: Mornin'. It's getting warmer, huh? Well, it IS May already... It's amazing how time flies...]
{True.}
{I guess.}
2
"Was Minato really that cold to you guys?" asked Akihiko.
"Don't think he was," shrugged Yukari. "I remembered him being pretty nice, all things considered."
[Yukari: So much has been happening... Ya know, it doesn't seem like the number of Apathy Syndrome cases has been decreasing lately... We're the only ones who can fight the Shadows, so... I guess we should train more, so that we're ready if anything like THAT comes up again. ...Me especially. I don't wanna be a burden on everyone else.]
And then they went into the school.
"Well, it was early in the morning," said Fuuka then. "Maybe he was just tired?"
Junpei smirked bitterly, "Or maybe someone's just getting things wrong..."
Phone buzzed.
Surely you don't mean myself?
After school, Minato and Junpei were discussing things one-sidedly in their homeroom. [Junpei: FYI, Akihiko-san's at the hospital getting a checkup. He called me earlier, and asked me to bring him something. Yup, he knows who to count on.]
It was at that point Yukari walked over and decided to be unnecessarily mean, as she was wont to do to Junpei. [Yukari: He only asked you cuz you don't have anything else to do after school.]
[Junpei: H-Hey, I resent that.]
She just giggled, [Yukari: I'm just kidding. So, what'd he want you to bring?]
[Junpei: The class roster for 2-E.]
[Yukari: What's he want that for?] she asked, before outright stating, [...Well, I don't have practice today, so I'll go with you.] She then turned to Minato, [You're coming too, right?]
{Sure.}
{I'll pass.}
2
"Okay, you're joking, right?" asked Junpei. "No way did Minato reject that offer."
"Seconded," said Yukari. "He agreed to come. I remember it. Even if I didn't, Minato wouldn't just shrug us off that way."
Indeed he did, until he did not.
She blinked then. "Wh-what do you mean by that?"
It isn't important right now.
[Yukari: Come on, now. I'm sure he wants us there too... It sounds important, doesn't it?]
[Junpei: He asked ME, ya know...]
[Yukari: If it's important, we should all go together. Right?]
First thought that came to Junpei's and Yukari's heads was that this was how they remembered getting news on Fuuka's potential; Akihiko had asked for the class roster so that he'd be able to offer her a chance to join SEES. Akihiko on the other hand, remembered exactly what happened that day Yukari and Junpei came into that hospital room, and as such let himself smile a little.
Scene changed then to Akihiko's hospital room. But once the trio entered, they found themselves not face-to-face with their boxing champion of a senpai; rather, they found themselves staring down the eyes of a man who looked far older than he really was. The man was tall, his hair shaggy and unkempt; a beanie clamping the top of his head down into a dome. The man wore a maroon peacoat and carried a grimace that could unnerve Shadows.
[Junpei: Umm... Is... Akihiko-senpai...?] The visitor just stared impassively at Junpei, his dialogue box containing a single set of ellipses. Junpei continued, [...in this room? By any chance?]
And Akihiko entered then, behind them. [Akihiko: What are all of you guys doing here?]
[Yukari: We came to see you! But... it doesn't look like anything's wrong with you.]
[Akihiko: I'm just here for a checkup.]
The visitor stood up from his seat then and from the tone of his voice it appeared that he felt he was just wasting his time. Good old Shinji. [Visitor: Is that it, Aki?]
And Akihiko just smiled, [Akihiko: Yeah, thanks.]
[Visitor: Tch. I don't have time for this shit...]
Akihiko began smiling; half-melancholically, half-nostalgically. Mitsuru grinned as well, despite herself, and leaned back in her seat. She knew that smile of his all too well, and remembered how a certain man visited Akihiko all the way back in the hospital when the boxing champion had suffered severe injuries from the first Full Moon Shadow.
Junpei found himself reminiscing as well, though he had more painful memories than most. Truth be told, he'd never been all that close to Shinjiro Aragaki; never spoken with him much, never really hung out with him, didn't know what he liked and had been sure he'd disliked everyone. But his sacrifice that October 4th still weighed deep in his heart.
Yukari and Fuuka remembered him, too; Fuuka recalled faintly how he'd teach her basic cooking principles from time to time. And while her dishes wouldn't really get better, she remembered how he'd had the patience of a saint. Whenever she'd screw up, he'd be there to tell her how to fix it and how she could do better next time.
Yukari's mind just returned to the alleyway; she had brought Junpei and Minato to one of Iwatodai's back alleys and had nearly gotten the three of them in something deep. She remembered Aragaki saving them, and how she felt that even then there was more to him despite his brusque demeanor.
Ken, on the other hand, was supremely deep in thought. The pain of Aragaki-senpai's death hadn't dulled, but he'd managed to deal with it as best as he could. He'd stopped blaming himself long ago, stopped wallowing in grief and self-hatred. But seeing him again. Hearing him again. Bearing witness to that gruff but concerned look in his eye. It was all so bittersweet.
They all recalled how even weeks after Aragaki's death, Koromaru had simply waited for hours at the kitchen of the dorm. Waited for a tall and grumpy man to fill his bowl with some of the most delicious food a dog could ask for. He'd eventually eat what'd eventually be put in his bowl, of course, but it would never compare. Not even by a long shot.
The visitor got up, brushed past Junpei, and left the room. Leaving the cast to themselves.
[Junpei: Wh-Who was that?]
[Akihiko: A friend from school... sort of. You know how the number of Apathy Syndrome cases have been increasing? Well, he knows a few people who are suffering from it, so I was asking him about it.] Then his tone turned less enthusiastic, more business-like, [Hey Junpei, did you bring what I asked?]
Junpei proudly proclaimed, [Junpei: Of course, Senpai.]
To which Akihiko nodded, before testing his arm out with a single swing.
Mitsuru glared at Akihiko, who just threw his arms up, "It was years ago, can't do anything to me now."
"There's no statue of limitations on stupid behavior," she grunted, "especially since you're still prone to taxing yourself and your body at inopportune times."
"Sorry to worry you so," Akihiko sighed, recalling how Mitsuru had ripped him a new one when she found out he'd gotten those scars across his chest fighting literal bears in the snow. He would never say the scars weren't worth it.
[Junpei: Uh, you shouldn't move your arm...]
[Akihiko: It's nothing. I've wasted enough time already. I need to get back to my training.]
Junpei's tone changed a little then, to one more enthusiastic and encouraging, [Junpei: Yeah! Gekkoukan's golden boy! He was born to be in the ring!]
To which Akihiko simply said, [Akihiko: Sometimes, I really don't get you.]
"And I still don't, to this day," sighed Akihiko in the real world.
"Hey! I resent that," Junpei grunted, before slapping himself upside the head, "Saying it again..."
He remembered a conversation with Yukari, who told him that he'd say he resented something way too often. He had proceeded to spend his entire week thinking about it, and begrudgingly agreeing.
Yukari then asked, [Yukari: By the way, Senpai, why boxing?]
[Akihiko: You mean, why did I choose that sport? Well... It's not the sport itself I like; I just wanted to learn how to fight,] he explained calmly. [I know what it's like to feel powerless... and I don't want to feel that way again. Besides, I'm curious to see how strong I can get. It's like a game, only I'm competing against myself.]
[Junpei: That's an interesting way of looking at it. Ya know, I'm into games too...]
[Yukari: Yeah, VIDEO games.]
[Junpei: Hey, they're good for hand-eye coordination!]
Junpei turned to Yukari, and she looked back at him; the irony was not lost on her, either.
Akihiko just rubbed the back of his head, because while he'd look back on his days in S.E.E.S. rather fondly most of the time, the nostalgia would often come hand-in-hand with mild regret. He'd still about Shinji, even to this very day; all the while recalling his recklessness, his excessive desire for strength, and his fear of losing what little he had left.
Akihiko still loved a good fight every now and again and still got on little adrenaline highs when he was lacking in protein shakes; while a big part of him figured he'd changed much from what he had been before, the question still niggled at his mind: Would things have been different if he hadn't been so focused on himself? He thought of Miki then, thought of the fires and while the pain didn't hurt him that much anymore it still gnawed. It still stabbed at his heart, and he wasn't sure he was ever going to get over that. Nor was he sure if he really wanted to.
I wondered then how he'd react if I'd ever send him the PSP remake and show him a certain outcome involving a pocketwatch and a girl with red hair.
5/2/09
Midterms. That was all anybody spoke about come May 2. As such the players didn't pay it much heed. But today was a special day. Truly, something that'd stick with them.
Dark Hour
At that, everyone stood up straight and saw. They saw a mysterious boy wearing striped pajamas, sitting on the edge of Minato's bed. As the blue-haired young man was trying to drift off to sleep.
[Mysterious Boy: Hi, how've you been?]
{You again?}
{How did you get in?}
2
Yukari never liked ghosts. And despite the fact everyone else didn't really have that sort of fear, considering they faced greater horrors in Tartarus, the boy in the pajamas speaking with Minato seemed to rouse something in them that made them more than a little unsettled. But they figured he was important, so they paid attention to every word he said, not even seeming to care about Minato's rudeness at this point.
[Mysterious Boy: What kind of welcome is that? Besides, I'm always with you.] The boy said, totally not causing discomfort to the rest of the team at all. [One week from now, there will be a full moon... Be careful. A new ordeal awaits you...]
{A full moon, huh...?}
{What kind of ordeal?}
2
Everyone knew. From the moment the kid had said full moon they knew. And when Aigis hit the button she recalled all the data she got from turn-based RPGs, recycling footage from countless Let's Plays in her memory banks just to prepare herself for the coming battles ahead. They were getting close to the boss.
Close to the Priestess.
[Mysterious Boy: You will encounter one of THEM. You must prepare for the ordeal, but time is of the essence... I'm sure you're aware of that, of course.] The boy then flashed to the end of the bed, startling Yukari most out of everyone, before creepily finishing off his spiel with,[I'll come see you again when it's over. Goodbye for now.]
And then he vanished as quickly as he'd come.
It was a question that burrowed itself in everyone's minds. They were about to fight a boss. They needed all the Social Links, all the experience points, and all the items they could possibly get in that pursuit. The question was obvious, because those who fought in that particular battle remembered exactly how it had gone. And even those who hadn't fought then knew just what Minato would've done. Who he'd have summoned.
"Why can't we use Messiah...?" Junpei asked aloud then.
I sent them the plain response of:
On a new game, you can't summon Messiah until the last dungeon.
On the other hand, he had personally never enjoyed summoning him.
Now fuse some Personas, I have the feeling you've been pushing it to the side for some reason.
A/N:
Happy New Year! Despite my unfulfilled promise of updating once a month, I felt it'd be good to get this chapter out of the way, especially since I'm gonna have tooth surgery tomorrow and most likely won't get to writing for the next week or so.
Sorry for the long wait, a combination of schoolwork and video games and slowly preparing for the rest of my enigmatic future kind of put me off of this fic. Also ff dot net did a stupid and 404s undid a significant amount of progress that led me to a kind of a burnout. But I hope to update the next chapter soon; got what happens next almost kinda sorta fully prepared.
Writing fight scenes for this fic is hard enough; now I gotta write a boss.