RAX : We'll get to that. Not like I'd just leave something like that unaddressed.
DarkRai99 : Fate/Zero... Never seen that before, nor have I ever read the visual novel of it before. Heard it's pretty good.
You know, despite everything, he's not actually a psychopath. Psychopaths and Sociopaths are pretty similar with the key difference being sociopaths have a very weak conscience, but psychopaths completely lack one all together. Yuki's fucked up, but he still knows it's wrong...
Is... Is this how far his obsession can/will go?
Hey, no kill like overkill. Besides, you spell slaughter without laughter.
There, there little guy *pats*
Raze Olympus : Er... Well, that's one way to put it...
Hmm... Oh! Those are the names for-
Yes, yes, big bro. No need to repeat that. It... It doesn't sound right when you look like you're seven or eight-ish. I mean, at least I aged with Minato so I'm into clear.
Nightlyy : Funny? Good to know there's someone out there who shares my dark sense of humor.
... Standing right here, dick.
I found the torture rather entertaining as well.
... You don't count cuz... Not human.
?
"AWESOME"! Junpei screamed loudly as he stood on the edge of the boat as soon as the beach came into sight. Over and over he began to chant the name "Yakushima" like a mantra making it pretty clear that he was the most excited person to be there.
"Can it already..." Makoto muttered, Junpei's voice was so loud that the bluenette could even hear him while listening to his earphones on full blast. If he was screaming that loud, how did he even still have a voice?
"It's not that bad..." Pharos said as he sat on the rail guard, the threat of falling off and drowning not applying to him "... Aren't you excited at all? You haven't been to a beach in years, correct?"
"Doesn't really matter to me." Makoto replied with a sigh as he leaned against one of the walls of the cabin he was in. His current foster family liked to go one vacations every now and then, but Makoto always refused seeing how he personally cared little about them... His family died a long time ago.
His foster parents weren't even bad people by any means, they were actually one of the few that he could say cared about him in their own unique way. Just after years of trying and him constantly refusing, they just gave up trying to include them. They did still care enough to provide him with an apartment and such for the year, so they clearly still had some care left for him.
Whatever the case, it was unlikely they were going to notice that he was gone. Even if they did, they weren't going to say much since he was basically allowed to do what he wants at this point (provided he avoids trouble, of course).
Makoto sighed as he looked down into the ocean blue. He hadn't been to a beach since he was six...
"H-Hey! Don't drag me down!"
"I-I'm sorry! I can't... Minato, help me!"
...
...
"Greetings." Two women bowed at the sight of Mitsuru as soon as she and the others walked in.
"Dude~" Junpei was clearly awestruck by what he was seeing before his virgin eyes "Real life maids."
"Creepy as fuck..." Makoto muttered, genuinely creeped out by Junpei's apparent maid fetish. Not even Pharos was obsessed with maids (well, any more than normal girls) and that was saying quite a lot given the ghostly boy's history.
"And you are her guests, correct?" One of them asked the rest before bowing "Welcome."
"Wow..." The junior members of SEES seemed to be in awe of... EVERYTHING here.
"This is... This is the right place?" Yukari asked almost sounding like she was in denial
"I knew she came from an important family, but..." Fuuka rubbed her eyes as she took everything in
"This... Is... Amazing..." Naturally, Kotone had almost the complete opposite reaction of whatever Makoto had.
From the door in front of them approach an older looking man who also seemed to be wearing an eye patch for whatever reason. He was dressed like a business man and had a serious look on his face despite being in a vacation home.
The man stopped briefly to look at all of them and Makoto stared back as he dug his nails into his palms.
No one had to say anything. He already knew who he was and now he had to fight to control himself.
Makoto felt the rage boiling inside him more and more. He could just summon Thanatos and have them all killed in seconds...
In front of him was the head of the Kirijo group. He HAD to have been involved somehow with what happened to him and Pharos years ago.
He could tear everyone here to pieces and decorate their walls with their entrails. He could massacre them and paint their walls scarlet. He could kill Mitsuru first and make Takeharu experience the same feeling of loss and hopelessness he experienced as everything was taken away from him.
It wouldn't be hard or long. He just had to...
"Please, clam down, Minato..." Pharos pleaded as he grabbed the boy's hand which caused Makoto's burning hot ire to suddenly cool "Now's not the time."
Makoto inhaled sharply as Mitsuru faced the man "It's good to see you."
Without saying a word a word, the man grunted and left to his own devices.
"Takeharu Kirijo, i take it?" Makoto asked as he eyes his senior
Not seeing any reason to lie, Mitsuru nodded "Yes."
Mitsuru stood in front of everyone "We won't be here long, but please enjoy yourselves."
"Sweet!" Junpei jumped in the air with an excited looking grin on his face "I'm not going to waste a single minute!"
Knowing what he meant, Makoto tilted his head "We just arrived and you want to go to the beach?"
"I mean, sure but let me put my swimsuit on." Yukari seemed to be in agreement with Junpei for the first time ever
This was followed up by just about everyone else agreeing, effectively making Makoto the odd one out as usual.
"Suit yourselves." Makoto said as he rolled his eyes while crossing his arms
"Oh, no, no, no!" Kotone shouted as she grabbed the boy by the collar and brought him down so that they were eye-level with each other "I got you in here so that you could enjoy the vacation with us! You are going to get your ass in your swimsuit and go to the beach with us."
Makoto pretended to mull over that before saying "How about... No?"
"How about... You don't have a choice?" Kotone said as her eyes seem to light like a fire as she glared into the boy's eyes
Pharos made an innocent face before taking the opportunity to look up Kotone's skirt.
"Even during the summer she wears shorts?" Pharos complained loudly, though only Makoto could hear his voice "Hmm... Maybe the beach could be my chance..?"
Goddammit, you little perv... Makoto thought mentally before groaning "Let the record show that I'm doing this for me. Understood?"
Kotone smiled as she let the boy go "Whatever you say, Makoto-kun."
...
...
Makoto sighed as he stood by the beach with the male SEES members, never in his life would he have thought that he'd be forced into this situation. Right now, he was forced to wait for the girls all in order to see them in their swimsuits. As for them, Junpei was wearing standard trunks, Akihiko was wearing... Well, it was a good thing he also wore a shirt, and Makoto dressed in standard blue trunks with a white T-shirt.
"Bloody hell." He cursed while Junpei went on about how great the beach is and how hot 'beach babes' are. Did it never end with him?
Maybe it was just one of those many things that he lost his ability to understand ages ago?
Usually, anyone else his age would be jumping for joy, right? But Makoto just never felt... anything. Actually, this wasn't correct either, he felt something in the sense that he felt attracted to those of the opposite gender, he just lacked the will to indulge his hormones.
Then again, it'd make sense that he was missing something, for he was nothing more than an incomplete whole.
"Minato!"
"Hey!" Kotone greeted as she and Yukari walked to the boy, thus snapping Makoto out of his daze
"And here~ come the contestants!" Junpei said with his typical Junpei grin on his face "Ooh, look at our leader. Showing off all those curves she normally keeps hidden."
"Huh?" Kotone blinked as she looked down and her brain finally processed what he meant. Her choice of attire for the beach was a pink ribbon bikini while Yukari had decided to wear a two-piece swim suit with a blue bottom and pink top.
Kotone sighed "I'll just take the compliment." She dismissed the perversion. She knew this would happen the day she approved on going on the trip with everyone in the first place, so she couldn't exactly say this was unexpected.
"Is that umbrella taken?" Fuuka asked as she approached the rest of them. Surprisingly enough, Fuuka decided to wear a two-piece as well this was green in color.
Junpei blushed as he looked at Fuuka "Wow, Fuuka, I had no idea you were-" He was silence when Makoto hit the back of his head
"That's enough." Makoto said as he shook his head. Perversion were annoying enough to begin with, but it was topped off with the fact he didn't have his earphones to block it out and it was one of the two members of SEES he could tolerate.
"Ow! Dude, you hit hard" Junpei complained as he rubbed the part of his head that was quickly forming a bruise
"In case you've forgotten, we're still not even..." Makoto said as he gave Junpei what could only be described as a one-eyed death glare "... Or did you just happen to forget exploding on me back at the hotel after i went through two mental assaults?"
Junpei's smile instantly died down into a contrite expression "Yeah... Been meaning to talk about-"
"Save it. Your words mean jack shit to me." Makoto said as he turned his back to the capped boy "I'll let you know when we're even."
"W-Wow..." Makoto turned to his little plus one and found him staring at Mitsuru who came in an elegant white swimsuit and had an equally svelte figure.
Pharos looked like he was in a complete daze before falling on his back and into the sand, it seemed like it was too much for the poor boy. Makoto didn't even have to say anything, he could tell just by looking at him that the boy was seeing stars... At least, he hoped it was just stars.
After a few moments, most of SEES decided to do the natural thing and play in the water. The juniors were playing together and splashing each other, Akihiko was determined to find a way to use this as training somehow, and Mitsuru merely sat by an umbrella and relaxed.
Makoto wordlessly approached the female senior who took notice of his presence "Something you need, Yuki?"
"Why'd you bring me here?" Makoto decided to get straight to the point "Last I checked, we're not friends or teammates."
"Shiomi was insistent that you'd come." Mitsuru answered as she sat up straight "In truth : My father was one of the few that survived the incident at the lab ten years ago, and though you're not a member, she was adamant that you deserved to know the truth behind what happened."
Mitsuru sighed as she looked down "Also... This is something I was considering myself. Both as a thank you and an apology."
"Huh?" Makoto tilted his head to the side as an unconscious habit of his "For what and what?"
"I am not ungrateful for helping us during our last operation, even going so far as to save me from taking what would've most certainly been a critical injury." Mitsuru explained before suddenly looking melancholy "And you were right, my hiding of my family's sins was shameful of me and it was even more so to ask you to join without revealing it."
Mitsuru regained her normal pensive demeanor as she looked back at the bluenette "I won't ask you to reconsider your decision. Merely, I hope you can forgive me for my mendacious actions."
"Hmm." Makoto looked her up and down (as did Pharos for a completely different reason) and her words seemed genuine this time. She probably wanted to atone for everything her family had done... But none of it matter, not truly.
She had her father, she had her wealth, she had her reputation, she had everything... And he had nothing. Everything had been stolen from him because of her and her family's actions. Whether she herself was innocent or not was irrelevant, so were they.
But, retribution could wait.
"We'll see." Makoto said before walking off, now being completely alone. The whole time Mitsuru relaxed and occasionally talked with Akihiko, the juniors played in the water like the minors they were. Almost as if they were one big family...
...
...
Another reminder of everything he lost so long ago. Quite fitting that all of this took place on a beach, the perfect place to both figuratively and literally rub salt in the wounds that may never heal.
As Makoto wandered the beach alone, he felt something. It was a similar sensation to what he felt whenever he was around an Evoker or Mitsuru's bike. More specifically, he was feeling the sensation he felt whenever he was around a Plume of Dusk.
However, just as quickly as it came, the feeling was suddenly gone.
The boy narrowed his eyes as he looked at the woods that the sensation came from "Strange, huh?" He asked his friend, only to find silence was his only reply "Pharos?"
Makoto turned his head and saw Pharos absolutely distracted by pretty much every girl on the beach. It was as if all of his systems were completely fried and then rewired to focus merely on those with two X's in their chromosomes.
Goddammit, you little perv... Makoto mentally repeated his earlier statement for walking off again.
...
...
Makoto sat alone at the dock with his head hung low. Pure sadism is what this trip was, nothing more than pure sadistic torture disguised as a nice getaway.
He looked down at the reflection in the water and he saw a monster. He knew what he was, he knew that he'd committed atrocities in the past, he knew that what he does and what he wants his wrong... He just can't help it.
But worst of all, he was a failure. Not for not achieving his goal, or because he does terrible in school, or any of that... It's because, he knew that everyone he still grieved for only desired for him to be happy ; To make something of their loss rather than let it destroy him.
And in that regards, he was the greatest failure in a child that any parent could ask for.
"Hey." A familiar voice came from behind him
"I was wondering when you'd show up." Makoto(?) said as he continued look down. His tone was different, but not quite the same as Minato's either. Maybe these were the thoughts/actions of both of them at the same time
The redheaded girl walked up and sat next to the bluenette "Can't help but notice you've been completely dry this entire trip. What did I-" Suddenly, a thought came to mind "Wait, can you swim?! I can teach you if you-"
"I know how to swim." Minato/Makoto cut her of as he sighed "Must be nice."
"Yeah~, it's real nice..." She said as she gently nudged him "Maybe you should-"
"That's not what I meant." He cut her off again, his tone still remaining consistent. It was just like that one time when they went out to eat, he didn't sound like Makoto nor Minato, he just sounded... lost
"Then, what do you mean?" Kotone asked, this time feeling concerned. Last time he sounded like this, it was after she'd accidentally put him through what must've been excruciating emotional torture and he was forced to leave because of it.
"Having somewhere you belong." He answered his voice having a much more somber tone than usual, but why?
"C'mon, don't talk like that..." She asked as she nudged him again "Besides, there's still a place here for you if you want it."
Minato/Makoto shook his head "It wouldn't be right, trust me." he warned as he slightly tilted his head so that his left eye could see her "... You're a good person ; One of the few that I can say are actually good and not just pretending to be."
Her face changed to a faint scarlet as she giggled "Aw, shucks. Aren't you a charmer?"
"I mean it." He said, never dropping his serious tone "... You shouldn't be wasting your time with someone like me. Go focus on having fun with your friends."
She scooted a little closer "Why do you think I'm here?" She asked "You are one of my friends, dummy."
"..." He simply kept silent as he continued to look down at his reflection. It wasn't every day that someone said something like that to him, but she didn't know what she was saying, at least not in regards to him.
Kotone leaned a bit closer to study his face (which wasn't easy given half his face was cover) and saw that the normally blank face of his seemed to be going through various emotions at once. He seemed lost, confused, scared, frustrated, grateful, and much more all at once.
Then, a cold breezed decided to occur which made the girl shiver. Normally, the breeze wouldn't be a problem since she'd be off with the others or have the sun on her back, but now she was sitting here in the shade with a guy that...
... Come to think of it, there was one way to solve this.
Kotone scooted close enough that their thighs touched and forced the boy's left arm around her.
Minato/Makoto titled his head "Uh... What the hell?"
"I'm cold." She answered as she held onto him "If you're not going to go into the water which is the main reason I even brought you here, then I'm allowed this."
"And the others?" He asked doubting that any of her friends would bother to ask for context
"Pf, please, look around ; We blend right in." She retorted easily. Being a beach, there were of course a lot of couples scattered around that made the two of them easy to gloss over
The boy chuckled softly "If there are any rumors, I'm going to make the most of them."
"That's fair."
...
...
...
Everyone was now gathered around in what seemed to be a sort of lounge in the Kirijo vacation home. Makoto and the members of SEES sat on the sofas to the sides while Takeharu sat in the one int the middle all by himself. Supposedly, he was about to reveal what really happened ten years ago on the day that Makoto will never forget.
"From what I understand, you've already been given the condensed version." Takeharu began, his voice sounding very business-like but also holding some sort of shame
"You mean how the Kirijo's caused this?" Makoto asked as he leaned back "Yeah, you're welcome for that."
Takeharu raised an eyebrow "I'm very curious by what means you learned about that..."
"And I'm curious about what you have to tell us." The bluenette shot back, not wanting to waste anymore time tormenting him or Mitsuru. If his list was going to get larger, then he should take this as seriously as he could
"What you heard is true, we adults are to blame. If I could've atone with my life, I would've." Takeharu said which made Makoto fight his eyes that were seeking to glow as a response to his emotional state
Oh, you'll atone with your life all right... Makoto thought as he dug his nails into his palms again. He just had to keep himself under control for just a bit longer
"What my father sought to created with the shadows was a time manipulation device." Takeharu explained, no doubt referring to a shadow's ability to somehow manipulate time and space.
"Your father was a moron." Makoto said, not being able to restrain himself
"Can you imagine it?" Takeharu asked, trying to pique the boy's interest "The ability to stop disasters before they occur?"
And rely on some of the very things that killed my... Makoto bit his lip "And the ethics? Should we have prevented the Holocaust? Nine-eleven? Various plagues and genocides that'd cause and prevent certain people from being born and permanently altering history and quite possibly even trapping us in a paradox?"
"Regardless of the ethical questions, that is what happened." Takeharu replied, it didn't go unnoticed by him that they boy seemed to be taking this rather personally for some reason. However, such things were understandable ; Everyone here was a victim of what his family had done, it was only right that he was angry.
"I came here today, to show you the only existing footage of the accident." Takeharu announced as the room darkened and a projector started playing
"I can only pray that this recording reaches safe hands..." The scientist recording the footage said. The footage itself was of terrible quality, with plentiful amounts of static and certain sounds being out of sync with what was occurring in the video itself
"My employers have become obsessed with a terrible idea, and I'm afraid what I've done will result in an unprecedented disaster." The scientist condemned his actions "But if I hadn't the entire world would be at risk."
"The entire world?" Fuuka repeated as Makoto nearly jumped out of his skin
He didn't even need to ask or wonder, he knew just what this man was talking about. Something that only he and Pharos knew about, albeit to a limited extent due to the latter's amnesia.
There was only one thing that they could think of that related to Pharos and that incident that could involve the entire world.
"The explosion here will cause the shadows that have been amassed here to scatter." The scientist warned "To end this nightmare, you must eliminate all of them!"
The scientist's voice suddenly seemed downcast despite his expression being the same "I am the one to blame for this. I was blinded by the promise of success... It's all my fault."
Yukari stood from her seat with a shocked face "Dad..?" She called out
Hmm? The easily caught Makoto's attention as the video ended
"Strange." Makoto's attention snapped to Pharos who was tilting his head in confusion "I remember him... But I don't remember him saying any of this."
"Yes, Eiichiro Takeba was the head researcher. But we are the ones that pushed him, and to blame for his death." Takeharu said as he lowered his head, ashamed of the actions his family had taken.
"So... Tartarus, The Dark Hour, everything..." Yukari sounded like she was on the verge of tears "... My dad caused it all?"
Yukari had her back turned, but the bulk of her anger was no-doubt directed at Mitsuru "That why you kept this hidden?! Because you felt sorry for me?"
Mitsuru looked at surprised as anyone, but Yukari's emotional state made it so she couldn't see that "No, Takeba, I-"
"I don't need you pity!" She screamed before bolting out the door
"Go get her." Makoto said as he turned to Kotone
"Huh? Me?" She asked surprised. While she was definitely friends with Yukari, she couldn't exactly say she knew what it was like to be emotionally devastated nor even what to say despite her abilities being fueled by the literal power of friendship.
"You're her friend." Makoto said as he stood up "Go be there for her." he answered before walking off.
No one tried to stop him, they were all recovering from the shock. Actually, all except one person...
Where the hell was Ikutsuki?
...
...
"He he he..." Ikutsuki laughed to himself as he stood alone in his private room "Fools, they're no doubt taking the bait hook line and sinker."
The old man sat in his chair with a smile on his face "No doubt even Makoto is buying it. That boy may be smart, but he's still merely a child." He bragged to himself "At once all the twelve shadows are eliminated, I can finally rid the world of that fool Takeharu."
Ikutsuki chuckled again "Just a few more months, and it will all begin. And all it took was one edited video and some false hopes."
"And saved~" A voice sang which made Ikutsuki's blood turn cold.
The old man looked towards the entrance to his room and saw a familiar bluenette with a cellphone in his hands
"Man, I wonder what everyone would think if they saw this..." Makoto teased with a smile on his face "My, how scandalous."
Ikutsuki was about to act, but was stopped by a few words by Makoto
"Uh-uh, I wouldn't do that if I were you..." He warned as he put his phone in his pocket "Shoot me, everyone will be here in a heartbeat so you won't even have time to delete that off my phone. Not to mention, what're you even going to say? I attacked you? They know I'm not an idiot like you... Not to mention, I heal."
Ikutsuki stood up straight with beads of sweat forming on his brow "Then... What do you intend to do?"
"He he.." Makoto chuckled "To put it in terms even a brain-dead retarded neanderthal brain like you can understand : You're. My. Little. Bitch." he taunted as he casually leaned against the doorway "If you want your... Whatever to be accomplished, then there are things I need you to do."
"A-And those are?" Ikutsuki asked nervously, never would he have thought that he'd be blackmailed by a boy who hadn't even graduated yet
Makoto stood up straight and his expression went stern "There's another group of persona users named Strega and they want me dead. They had Evokers too, meaning they have some sort of connection to Kirijo. Your job as my lackey is to find out what you can about them. Understand, vermin?"
Ikutsuki gulped, clearly showing extreme amounts of nervousness "U-Understood."
Makoto smiled in satisfaction as he took a step back "Good. See you later, my little bitch." he said his derogatory farewell before leaving.
As he walked to his room, he just so happened to bump into the same person who had completely broken down not too long ago.
"You're back." Makoto said as he looked at the shorter girl
"Yeah.." Yukari said, her voice was weak and devoid of most emotion
"And you've put your mask on." He said as he narrowed his eyes, he was either angry, frustrated, or disappointed
"My... What?" Yukari asked, not understanding what he meant. She had just suffered a breakdown, and now this?
"You know what I mean. You're putting on a face that says you're okay in order to get everyone to leave you alone, pretty effective I must say." He continued, he didn't just know what the mask was like ; He was the one who perfected it "Tell me, how's it feel to be the biggest disappointment of a daughter I've ever laid eyes on? It honestly hurts."
"Y-You... You son of a-" Yukari lunged at the boy, but he easily side stepped which caused her to almost trip from her momentum "What the hell do you think gives you the right to say that?!"
"The fact you believe a video ; An object, over the person who helped raised your scrawny ass." Makoto replied which quelled the girl's anger almost instantly "Tell me, what did he do? Did he make the monsters go away? Did he always make tuck you in at night? Did he read you a story every night when you go to bed." He honestly didn't care for the girl much, but this was something more... This was something personal to him as well
"What..?" Yukari asked confused, she couldn't tell if he was insulting her or trying to help her
"If you loved him, then you'd keep believing him. On top of that, I bet all he wanted was for you to be happy right? It's what every parent wants. But by all means, go ahead and let yourself fall into a pit of despair." He said before turning his back on the girl "I already failed my family... You decide if you want to fail yours."
And with that, Makoto marched off to his room without saying a word to anyone.
The moment he reached the guest room he'd be spending this vacation in, he collapsed onto the bed. The bed itself was very comfortable, definitely an upgrade from what he had to deal with at that apartment he was living in.
"So, what do we do about her?" Pharos asked as he sat next to the boy "Do we add her to the list?"
"Question mark." Makoto replied "Put a question mark next to her name. Until we know what really happened, she can live."
Pharos looked around awkwardly for a moment "You do remember we don't have an actual-"
"Of course I do!"
*Yawns* I had to type the bulk of this on my phone... My fucking phone with a tiny-ass keyboard. God, I love you guys too much for my own good.
So, next up is Aigis-san?
Robo-bitch...
Oh, yeah. AT Makoto/Shadow Makoto does NOT like Aigis.
Of course I don't! I don't like bullets in general, never mind those who specialize in bullets!
If I recall, didn't you work with Takaya?
... Necessary sacrifice.
Right~
After Response
clevernameeh : I try updating as much as I can. Balancing this and school life is a bitch! I'm literally living persona right now... minus all the cool parts.
Yeah, all he gets is the school portion. His school doesn't even have nice events.
Thanks for the reminder, jackass
