*whimpers* ... argh... pain
Don't hurt my husbando.
Wow... And I thought losing an eye was painful.
I think Makoto could learn a lot by watching her.
Nightlyy : Measurement of progress... measurement of progress
*ahem* Chapter-
Curb it, Albino.
blahblahblech : By "high feelings" Do you mean you don't have a lot of faith in him being a decent character or him nearly killing Makoto gave you a bad impression of him?
I'll tear him to pieces... Heh, then I'll use his intestines to hang whatever's left of him.
... Okay, that's still scary
RAX : I say what I want.
Wild Card possession has been known to change the behaviors of the Wild Cards themselves. Also, I think everyone's behavior changes in the AN/s anyway.
Pf, think I'm scared? I'M ALREADY DEAD!
T. E. K. 1996 : Indeed. Wish I knew what blood type I was, though.
Eh, you have two relatives with O ; One positive and one negative. You'll be fine.
Wait, that means I can hurt him all I want without any risk of him bleeding out...
Raze Olympus : It's not my fault!
To be fair, Sakuya has : A Plume in his brain (a literal piece of Nyx), has been training almost daily about as long as Makoto's had Death, all of his weapons he summons from his persona like Makoto, and his essentially a mutant persona user who also shares the Death Arcana.
Guest : There better be fluff dammit!
I don't take orders from you!
Excuse you!
Is this going to be the new norm?
Curb it, Albino!
Curb it, Albino!
Oh, for fucks sake!
?
"Nrgh..." Makoto groaned, awake but still unable to open his eyes.
Every single muscle in his body felt like it'd been used by the boxing team non-stop for at least a week while they were on steroids. He hadn't felt anything like this ever since he gained Pharos almost a decade ago.
Of course, the act of gaining Pharos was far from voluntary. Not only that, he could remember the agonizing pain he felt that forced his younger self to pass out.
Still, since then he hadn't been alone. Since then, he was unable to be harmed in any meaningful way... even if he wanted to.
He couldn't remember when it was that he started to harm himself, he just did. He remembered that Pharos always seemed shocked when he first started, but eventually came to accept it without ever raising any objections.
Makoto never thought about the risk of something like this much. There was always the risk of encountering something nearly as strong or stronger as Pharos, but he always dismissed it.
Besides, it wasn't like anyone would miss him.
Suddenly, Makoto heard what sounded like soft snoring that wasn't his coming from next to him. At this moment, he also began to notice some sort of weight pressing on his body.
The hell..? Makoto thought as he mustered up enough will to force his eyes open.
As expected, he was currently in a hospital bed with the majority of his body cover in the sheets. As expected, he had an IV in his wrist that was no-doubt used for a blood transfusion considering the amount he lost.
Particular areas of sharp pain was his back, belly, and his right leg ; The same exact spots where Sakuya had attacked him last night. If his weapons were summoned from his persona like Makoto's were, then it was very likely that Scotus would've been able to harm him, too.
However, there was one more thing in the room that caught the boy's attention...
There on the edge of the bed was an auburn haired girl with her head down sleeping while holding his other hand likely as a means of support.
The boy tilted his head slightly as he looked at his hand. No one had ever done something like that for him before, not even as far back as when his family was alive.
When he was about to say something, the boy's head dropped and his breathing slowed... But something was off when he raised his head.
The boy expression didn't quite fit the usual for Makoto nor Minato, the look in his eyes was sharper than Minato's but not quite as much as Makoto's either, and whereas Makoto felt aggressive and/or cold and Minato felt comforting and welcoming, he just seemed... Lost, as if whatever reason he had to simply live had been crushed a long time ago.
"What're you doing here..?" Minato/Makoto questioned with a quiet whisper, his tone was gentler than Makoto's but not quite as much as Minato's. What reason did she have for being here, especially over night?
Minato/Makoto looked around and saw that no one else was here but the two of them. Not even Mitsuru who would no-doubt want to know just what happened and who that second persona user was.
Hell, not even Aigis was anywhere is sight... Actually, given that fact that she hated him and everyone knew it, it was very likely that SEES ordered her to stay at the dorm.
Minato/Makoto sighed as he took another look at the girl who stayed by his bedside.
Oddly, he felt more hurt than anything.
Make no mistake, her staying with him and even doing something as small as holding his hand while he was asleep and likely nearly died was something that actually made even Makoto a little happy in a way.
But it also hurt... Beyond hurt, it was as if he was suffering the worst type of agony ; An agony that was shared by both Minato and Makoto. He knew what his personal feelings towards her were, something that even as demented as Makoto felt.
However, Minato also knew what Makoto wanted and how obsessed he was with achieving it. And with her being a part of SEES... What he wanted was only going to hurt far more than anything else in the long run.
Now, if only if he could get his heart to understand that...
With a sigh, Minato/Makoto lowered his head and retreated once again.
After a few moments of deep breaths followed by rapid blinking, Minato raised his head again.
Seeing that he couldn't stay like this forever, Minato took his free hand (discounting the IV) and gently poked the the girl.
"Wakey, wakey, sleepyhead." He teased as the girl began to grunt softly.
After a few minutes, Kotone slowly opened her vibrant red eyes and yawned as she slowly got up. The redhead blinked as she slowly scanned the room and tightened the grip of her fingers which had stiffened over night... only to find they were still holding onto something.
"Huh..?" The girl looked down and saw what her hands were holding onto before looking up to see the person that hand was attached to
Minato smiled gently in light amusement "How ya doin'?" he said in a teasing tone
Kotone gasped as her sleepy face was replaced by an ecstatic one followed immediately by her wrapping her arms around his neck and putting herself very close to him which made the boy slightly flushed
"Y-You're awake!" She sounded both surprised and elated almost to the point of tears "Do you know how worried I was?!"
"Um... No?" He answered as his cheeks almost glowed a bright pink
The girl pulled back and looked him in the eye "You were out for two days! I.. I almost thought that..." she looked down, what had happened must've scared the hell out of her.
Minato sighed, seeing someone normally upbeat like her being down like that did wonders to kill his own mood "I'm sorry..."
"Tch, don't be an idiot." She said as she looked back up, her sad eyes were replaced with a hatred likely directed towards the one that sent him here "What in the hell happened?"
"Mitsuru's not going to like it..." Minato mumbled, poor girl was already blaming herself for her family's actions, this was just going to add more to an already massive burden "Person who I fought yesterday was called Sakuya Sakugetsu."
"And why did she do this?" She followed up, but made one little error
"Er... It was guy." He corrected
"Huh..?" Kotone blinked "But... Sakuya's a girl's name."
"Apparently his parents named him that for whatever reason." Minato said dryly before returning to the main subject "Anyhow, he claimed he was another one of Kirijo's secret project. With him, they implanted a Plume of Dusk into his brain along with some guy named Sho except he turned into a vegetable."
"That... Geez..." Kotone whispered as she imagined what sort of horror that must've been "But... Why'd he want to kill you?"
Minato shrugged "He didn't answer, only said that I'll see him again." he answered as he tried to sit up only to be met with large amounts of pain concentrated on his belly
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Kotone said as she gently pushed him back down "Are you crazy? You need to lie down and get some rest."
"Didn't you listen?" Minato said as he bit his lip "He's still out there, and I don't think he'll have any qualms about killing me in the hospital."
Kotone took what he said into consideration.
He was right, if he stayed here then he'd risk being this Sakuya guy finding him and killing him here.
On the other, she couldn't just let him leave as if nothing had ever happened. The wound on his stomach alone would render him next to unable to protect himself in a fight, never mind when combined with the rest. Even then, there's the unpredictability he has due to his literal 'dual persona'
Kotone sighed before standing up "I'm going to have a call Mitsuru-senpai and talk to some of the staff. Don't go anywhere and all of your doctors should work with us, so don't worry about secrecy." she said before going out the door
The moment she left, for the third time today the boy lowered his head.
Makoto sighed, this was going to be annoying.
"M-Minato... I..." Makoto turned to his right and saw that right next to him was his old friend whose eyes were red. Had he been crying the entire time? "I... I tried to... But... But I...
"There, there..." Makoto said as he quickly hugged the boy tightly with one arm "You tried your best, and that's all that matters."
"He..." Pharos looked up with an uncharacteristically furious look in his eyes "He'll pay for... I promise he'll pay..."
"I know, I know..." Makoto smiled at his friend as he ruffled the boy's hair "But, we need to play by her rules for now. Can't let 'em find out about you, can we?"
Pharos rubbed his eyes before looking at the door that was still slightly ajar from Kotone's exit "What do you think is going to happen?"
"We're probably going to have to stay at her dorm for a few days, take a few iron supplements to compensate for the blood loss for a bit, hell, might even be forced to let him drive around for a bit because of... it." Makoto explained as he gripped his sheets tightly as he thought about the android with blonde hair
Pharos looked at the spots where the injuries from Sakuya remained "I can't heal you instantly, but I might be able to accelerate it. Have you fine within two weeks instead of five."
"Perfect." Makoto said with a slight smirk on his face. If he was relatively fine in two weeks, then it would align almost perfectly with the next full moon.
?
Sakuya sighed as he was tempted to cover his ears so that he'd be spared the old man's lecture.
"You bloody fool!" Ikutsuki chastised the boy who was looking out the window of his private 'home' courtesy of the old man himself "Not only did he survive, but you even told him your name and that you were a part of secret project?!"
"Hey, I almost killed him." Sakuya said with a chuckle, he would've finished the job but SEES had been playing guard duty ever since "Besides, didn't you put a hit on him? What? Did you hire idiots for assassins?"
"Strega was merely supposed to either scare him into joining or serve as an example for those who try to refuse in the future..." Ikutsuki said as he continued to glare "But you... Your sole purpose is to be nothing more than a weapon! Why I-"
"You, what?" Sakuya asked as approached Ikutsuki while still having his sneer on his face "Gonna throw me away like you threw away Sho? Is that it?"
The scarred boy laughed at the thought, whether Ikutsuki liked it or not, he needed him "Must be strange, huh? To go from the puppet master to being nothing more than a puppet that likes to spout shitty puns..."
Ikutsuki, however, smirked as he pulled out a remote that'd been in his pocket the whole time. One of the issues with Sho was that there was no way to control him when Minazuki took over, but with Sakuya...
Sakuya's eyes widened as he placed a hand on a small scar at the back of his neck that had been there as long as the one of his face.
Suddenly, the boy fell to the floor screaming in agony as his entire body convulsed in pain.
All of Sakuya's senses seemed to go completely null except his ability to feel pain.
"You'd do well to remember your place." Ikutsuki said cheekily as he pressed the button on the remote and Sakuya's involuntary moments stopped immediately
"You... Bastard..." Sakuya said while panting "I'll... kill you..."
As soon as he said that, Sakuya got up as quickly as he could and dashed towards the old man.
But Ikutsuki had known him for many years now and was more than ready to press the button again.
With another scream in agony, Sakuya fell to the floor again as he felt like he was having a full blown seizure.
Ikutsuki chuckled at the sight of the boy's pain "Don't worry, I've adjusted the settings as to avoid any permanent damage." he said while walking to the door "I'll be back in time for the Dark Hour." he said before leaving.
With that, Sakuya was left all alone on the floor convulsing in pain. Ever since the day he had that Plume put into his brain, he'd been nothing but the old man's slave.
And now, he was the puppet of a puppet which only added insult to injury.
That bastard was more than willing to throw him away just like he had thrown the closest thing he had to family away. Thrown away like common trash as if they meant nothing to him.
But he was going to pay one day... One day, Ikutsuki was going to die whether or not it was by Sakuya's hand or Makoto's.
He only had to endure this suffer for just a little longer. He was not going to spend the rest of his day's as Ikutsuki's slave, he only had to be patient and endure these punishments a little bit more.
Dorm
After a bit of reluctance, the doctors were forced to release Minato/Makoto from the hospital and now into the care of SEES.
Currently, they were all in the lounge and Minato had seen everyone he expected to see...
... Except one person.
"Uh... What's with pixie?" He asked as he looked at a young boy who must've been in elementary school at most, but still lived here.
"This is Ken Amada." Mitsuru introduced the boy "He's been staying with us ever since break."
Kotone who was sitting next to the boy whispered "He's not a member, though. Can you not talk about shadows and everything else?"
The boy nodded in agreement as he looked at the young boy again "Nice to meet you."
Ken nodded in acknowledgement "Likewise."
Minato grunted softly as he slowly stood up, his injured right leg bad it so that he had to put a little more weight on it "I'm heading bed, 'kay?"
"Your room for the next few days will be on the second floor at the end of the hall to your right." Mitsuru informed before giving a look of expectation to Kotone
"C'mon, tough guy." She teased as she helped him walk up the stairs
"If you ask to help me go to the bathroom, I'm drawing the line..." he complained loudly which made the girl snicker as the two ascended up the stairs
Meanwhile, Yukari looked at her friends feeling a little uncomfortable "Is it just me, or does he seem like he has A bipolar disorder?"
"Dude acts like a dick one moment and then that." Junpei noted, even he noticed the boy's seemingly random change in attitudes
"Do you think..." Fuuka paused as if taking a moment to consider her words before saying "Do you think he has a crush on Kotone-chan?"
"Huh, he does act a bit differently when she's around..." Akihiko noted before he and the rest of SEES looked at Aigis who'd been watching silently "What do you think, Aigis."
Aigis seemed to stare off into nothing as she thought to herself. Once again, there was nothing in her systems as a threat either now or during the period when he was unconscious at the hospital, despite earlier classifications as a top tier threat.
"I do not know." Aigis answered before silently walking up the stairs to the room prepared for her, she must've needed to run some diagnostics on herself.
One moment he was the highest possible threat, and the next he was an ordinary boy. Test after test, they all said she was fine despite the inconsistency.
But that should've been impossible. Her threat identification and classification systems worked fine in battle, yet they never seemed to work on just this one specific blue haired boy.
No matter what she did, there never seemed to be any answer. She'd completely analyzed him from the bottom up when he was unconscious and he was a one-hundred percent normal human.
Ten toes, ten fingers, two arms and legs, one heart, two lungs, two eyes, one head, one brain, one stomach, everything was the sign that he was no more abnormal than any other boy pardon his behavior.
Speaking of which, his behavior towards her was erratic as well. When he was normal, he was as friendly to her as he was to everyone else. When he was a threat, he was exceptionally hostile towards her.
What was he? What was he and why was his behavior so erratic? What was going on?
A confused android and an injured bluenette with multiple persona-lities... Well, you can't find this in many other places, gotta give me that.
Grgh... Robo-bitch.
Let it go.
Not until she's perma-dead...
after responses
clevernameeh : No, Makoto got his ass kicked. Ain't multiple personalities a bitch?
I'll tear him apart... eat his bones and spit them out before forcing him to swallow them...
Yes! Avenge him!
... What the actual fuck? Wait... Why am *I* the sanest one here?!
I... Holy shit, that's a good point.
