Alright, doing fine so far. Guys, if any chapters suddenly disappear again, PLEASE let me know. I don't know why last chapter suddenly decided to take a vacation to a nice sunny beach w/out permission, but it did.
*yawn* That time of the week again.
Dreading it now?
No, just... I'm starting to miss sleep.
Nightlyy: Don't... Fuck with me.
Good to see you've expanded your vocabulary.
Piss off
blahblahblech: Nope... He lost his friend to a goddess!
Bullshit!
*squeals* Do it again, husbando!
Grr...
Justsomeguy: Yes... Yes I have. All of it... It was awesome.
Raze Olympus: Hi to you and your friends—Oh wait!
Ouch, low blow... I like it.
SolidShinji104: I'm saving him... That's all.
Yeah, yeah, let's move on now before I pass out or something.
Dorm
Kotone couldn't prevent the small that formed from her lips the moment Makoto had sent his final message. While she much would've preferred it in person, it was nice to have him say 'I love you' to her.
It was almost impossible for her to get her head around it. She and him were actually... Well, she and him.
Not only that, but the start of their relationship was immediately followed by consummation. As if that wasn't embarrassing enough, he actually went ahead and told everyone with a smirk on his face all just to make it clear that she was taken.
I... Guess that was kinda sweet in its own way? Kotone thought for a moment before her cheeks instantly flushed as she also remembered the stares everyone gave her which made her run to her room for solace—which was also the exact same place she was currently, because even after several hours she couldn't muster the strength to leave. Going to school was going to suck.
Suddenly, Kotone's embarrassment turned to worry as she remembered that... thing that was bound to Makoto. He looked like he was about to tell her what this 'Pharos' was, but it looked like he stopped out of concern for her safety.
Kotone sighed, every moment she thought about it the worse she felt for the poor boy. As if having mental disorders that were (possibly) worsened by his persona abilities—an assumption based on the two personalities seemed aware of the other's actions/memories since they always carried where the other left off flawlessly—he also had what could only be described as a demon bound to him too.
In a way, it made sense that his Makoto self was so cold and quiet when he first arrived here. He went through what must have been hell after watching his family die, only to then be left with a demon as his only friend.
Still, he wasn't all gone yet. Despite his reluctance, Makoto still allowed himself to let his guard down in the end. But what happened to him to him though... That was the same mix of traits she saw when she cuddled with him during their first day at the beach. That wasn't Minato nor Makoto, but...
Maybe she was wrong before. Maybe Makoto wasn't just the result of some split, what if both of them were? If that's the case, then the person she made love with was...
Kotone pressed a few buttons on her phone and was now giggling at a small little picture of the two she had managed to take just a few moments before he woke up. He would always have his head down during school and she had seen him literally claw himself in his sleep—heck, he even admitted that he had nightmares every night— but here he was in the photo sleeping peacefully beside her. Maybe there really is comfort in sleeping with someone you love?
Don't worry, Minato... Kotone thought as she flipped her phone closed I'm here for you now. I can't make all the hurt go away, but I can at least be there when you need me most.
Home
"I'm going to make this easy, Minato..." Pharos said as he closed the phone and continued to focus his gaze on the bluenette who had fallen to the floor just a few moments earlier and was clutching his head. "Get rid of her... and this'll all stop."
Makoto grunted as he tried desperately to push all the images that were forcing their way into his head to the back of his mind and glared at his old friend "... What the hell, Pharos?!" What was with Pharos' sudden aggressiveness? Sure, he might have been angry that he disobeyed him, but to go this far because of it...
Pharos let out a soft grunt as his gaze became even colder, and it felt like the room had become so cold to the point that Makoto could see his breath every time he exhaled "Not what I asked..."
Makoto was then lifted off the ground by an invisible force which threw him straight into the wall as if he weighed nothing more than feather in comparison.
"I'll say it again: Get ride of here." Pharos walked closer to the bluenette, keeping his gaze honed solely on him the entire time. Normally, Makoto would sooner die than disobey him, but now he was forced to do this... That girl would pay dearly for this some day.
Still, Makoto wasn't going to give up someone that had because so precious to his heart so quickly, especially now that he had Inheritor backing him up. The boy raised his head and said "... Fuck you."
Pharos took a deep breath and slowly exhaled which caused the temperature to lower to an extent that even Makoto was beginning to shiver despite normally being resistant to the cold.
"Sorry I have to do this..." Before Makoto could question what he meant, he was cut off and blood splattered when the young boy struck him in the face.
Hagakure
"Uh..." Junpei continued to watch in amazement as Kotone went through five bowls of ramen like they were nothing. He had just wanted to take her out to eat an hang out, but something told him that he was going to walk out with wallet being several sizes smaller and lighter.
Kotone was continuing to slurp the noodle;wolfing them down as if this was the last night she would ever taste food again. It was a mystery how she managed to eat so much, yet she was still so small and thin.
But even something like food with her friend couldn't distract her from what was really on her mind today.
So, today was the day that Makoto was trying to repair his relationship with his foster family if that text from the day before meant what it implied. That in of itself was a big step forward considering he had told her before that they simply had a live and let live policy before.
Still, she was a little upset that he had not decided to invite her, too. It did make sense in a way since this could probably be viewed as something that he needed to do on his own, but she still would have loved to meet them.
Eh, that's not too~ important. Kotone thought as she order three more bowls and continued to wolf them down, and completely ignoring Junpei's whimpers as he forfeited even more yen to the chef. Even if she was not directly involved, at least he was doing something to make his life better.
Every time she thought about it, Kotone couldn't help but smile and feel warm inside. Even though he'd be getting better, her feelings for him didn't waver in the slightest. So what if her loving broken things was probably what got her foot in the door, it wasn't the reason why she was staying.
Home
Makoto slowly open his eyes as he felt a ray of sunlight begin to shine in the room he was in. He must have passed out at some point in the midst of Pharos beating him to a bloodied pulp.
Makoto let out weak grunts and whimpers as he took rapid breaths just to perform the simple action of him slowly raising his right arm to his face and flexing his fingers in an ever slower motion before the limb feel hopelessly to the ground again.
Pharos re-materialized in front of him, and as soon as he did all the pain Makoto felt suddenly washed away as all of his injuries were gone in the blink of an eye. Even if he was going down the wrong path, Makoto was still his friend in the end.
Even though his injuries were gone, the intense pressure Makoto felt in his stomach remained. Try as he might, Makoto could raise himself from where he was due to both the pressure and the incredibly strong invisible force keeping him down.
"I'm sorry I had to do that..." Pharos mumbled to himself as he took step forward again "... But I had to make sure you didn't lose your way."
Makoto said nothing, he simply stared blankly at the boy in front of him. He's been hurt all of his life, but this was the first time he had ever experienced betrayal by someone he trusted.
"So, I'll ask you again..." Pharos said as he stood up straight, his confidence in his friend having returned now that he had given him a reminder of the only one who truly cared about him even if it meant hurting him to show it "... Will you get rid of her?"
Makoto coughed for a moment before looking into the boy's blue eyes and saying "Pf, why don't you go fuck yourself? I don't listen to turn-coats, you fucking traitor."
Pharos blinked immediately after hearing that. Did he... Did Makoto just..?
Pharos immediately frowned and an invisible force pulled Makoto forward only to slam him back into the wall as Pharos approached with the bluenette's knife in his hand.
Pharos pressed the tip of the blade against some of his exposed skin, giving him a feel of the cold blade before he pushed it in a little bit, eyes studying Makoto as he squirmed, fighting back to hold the yell of pain in his throat as Pharos kept opening up the wound, bloodying his hand and arm until he asked one last time.
Makoto continued to say no and Pharos leaned his head close, frosting the area some more before he plunged half of the blade into his arm and started twisting and turning it inside.
Even more blood splattered all over walls and floor as Pharos continued to inflict laceration after laceration and stab after stab. Makoto reached to grab the knife, but was immediately stopped by a blow to the face so hard that he could feel his own teeth slice through the skin in his mouth.
Dorm
It had been two days since she had last seen him, and now Kotone was feeling a little worried. She didn't expect to see him, but a small little message saying how everything went would have been nice. Or maybe she was being a little needy?
Whatever the case, she still couldn't help but wonder how he was doing. He hadn't really said anything about his foster family so he had no idea what to expect, so all she could do was sit and pray.
Maybe a single message wouldn't be all that bad, right? It wasn't wrong to ask how everything was going so far and it was her responsibility as his girlfriend to be sure he did not do anything stupid. Not to mention, he still had that demon thing to deal with.
With this in mind, Kotone pulled out her phone and she lied in bed with her earphones on and pressed a few buttons.
Kotone: hy. m getting srt of worried abt u.
Makoto: I am fine, darling.
Kotone: dat demon boy...
Makoto: He's not pissed anymore. Don't worry about him.
Kotone: oh yay \o/
Makoto: \o/?
Kotone: It menz I'm cheering u on, dummy!
Makoto: Oh, well, thanks for that.
Kotone: U need 2 gt better at tlking in txt!
Makoto: Whatever you say. Anything else?
Kotone: Nah, jst wanted 2 see hw u were! Bond w/ ur family!
Makoto: Why? So I'll do a good job with ours?
Kotone: n/n
Makoto: Hehe. Is that an invitation for more practice on that?
Kotone: lol, shut up! Oh no, hve I made a monster?!
Makoto: Oh, you love it and you know you're happy I said it.
Kotone: ... gtg! Luv you!
Makoto: I love you too, sweetheart
Kotone: ^-^
Home
Makoto felt the bones in his jaw shatter as he took another blow to the face followed by a knife going downwards and stabbing just above his left collar bone. For the past few days, he had been forced to endure the cycle of sleeping/healing at night which was followed by more and more torture as he continued to refuse Pharos' orders.
At this point, the room was so cold that Makoto had lost all other feeling in his body except the pain that was continuing to ravage him. If he had to give Pharos credit for one thing, it was that he knew how to torture people. Not even Minato could take the pain, for he was left just as helpless as the two selves could only sit and endure.
He heard his phone vibrate occasionally which were the only breaks he really had from the constant pain. Whenever this happened, Pharos would stop to type on his phone often stopping to ponder his words for a brief moment.
Makoto zoned out as all the pain began to blend in together and he felt almost completely numb, or maybe that was just from the massive amounts of blood he had lost.
When he looked up, everything began to blur around him and his vision became incredibly unfocused. If he was standing, he probably would've just fallen down to the ground out of dizziness anyway.
Before he could even understand what was happening, the room around him began to spiral which caused Makoto's chest to tighten in fear at what was about to be revealed to him.
"Fuck, no, no, no, no..." Makoto whimpered as he shut his eyes tightly, refusing to look at what was in front of him for even a second.
However, Pharos had different plans.
Makoto screamed in pain and helplessness as the boy held his head and cut both of his eyelids off to forced him to watch what was in front of him.
Standing alone in the darkness was a short, young girl with long blue hair, pale skin, and blue-grey eyes.
Minako stood in front of him...
The girl began to walk forward with her arms stretched out to greet her brother with a smile on her face.
"Minako..." Makoto called out weakly as he instantly forgot any pain he was in and fought through the pain to reach out his arm towards his late sister.
Minako continued to walk towards her beaten brother, but then her smile quickly faded as flames began to spread through her entire body. Even then, the girl continued to walk towards him.
Despite the sight of his burning sister, Makoto couldn't bring himself to lower his arm. If she was going to burn, he could at least go with her this time.
Minako continued to walk forward as her flesh continued to chard and turn to ash.
Her eyes became nothing more than white blobs of flesh, her hair was gone;incinerated in the fire, and her skin was now red in some spots and burned black in others.
After just a few more few, Minako was close enough to finally reach out to Makoto and their hands were just a few centimeters from touching...
But then, what was left of Minako fell into nothing more than a pile of ash as she left with just a single whisper.
"Minato..."
Dorm
Beep.
Beep.
Kotone woke up the sound of her phone going off. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she reached out and answered her phone.
"Hello~?" She greeted whoever was on the other end.
"Greetings, Master Kotone." A man's voice greeted. This wasn't just any man, but it was the assistant of the master of the Velvet Room, Theodore!
"Hey, Theo!" Kotone greeted cheerfully as she instantly felt awake "What's up?"
"Yes, I've come to inform you that I'm afraid one of your associates are in a rather dire situation." Theo warned from the other end. While the rules of the Velvet Room made it so he couldn't give details, he could at least give vague warnings to Kotone, especially if one of her Social Links were in danger.
"Huh, what now?!" Kotone asked with instant urgency as she got out of bed in a millisecond "Is someone trapped in Tartarus?!" It was not unheard of for someone to be called by shadows and be trapped in Tartarus as prey.
"No, it is nothing of the sorts." Theo answered which relieved her somewhat "Still, you should do your best to find them. Good day."
"Bye, Theo!" Kotone bid farewell and hung up. That was vague, but it was what she had some to expect from the Velvet Room by now. Still, what did that warning mean?
Whatever it was, it could wait. There was something urgent to take care of now.
School
After days off from an unexpectedly long break due to the storm, Kotone was now forced back into what was (in her mind) a legal prison.
She was half-hoping to see Makoto here after about a week of little other but text messages, but true to his word, Makoto was nowhere in sight. Despite none of the text even hinting at anything wrong, Kotone couldn't help but shake the feeling that something was off.
Sighing, the girl merely continued her scholarly duties and walked to school, and even came across two girls who always loved to gossip in the morning.
"Hey, have you heard about that haunted apartment?" The girl with buns that Kotone had nicknamed 'Bunny' whispered to her friend
"Haunted apartment? What's that about?" Bunny's friend asked naturally.
"Alright, so here's how it goes..." Kotone stopped and listened to Bunny's tale, mostly out of morbid curiosity since she had a certain fondness for scary stories unlike Yukari. "There's an apartment out there where during the entire day there's nothing but screaming!"
"Whoa, creepy. Anyone go to check it out?" The friend asked another natural question
"Some of the neighbors went to investigate, but every time they got close to the door it suddenly felt freezing cold! The door handle looked like it was frosted too!" Bunny continued to share the story "Everyone's afraid to go in and see what's inside. Especially since one guy who did ended up with a broken leg even though nothing touched him!"
"Creepy..." Bunny's friend shuddered at another ghost story as she and her friend made their way to class.
Kotone stood there frozen in place as what the two had just talked about.
Haunted apartment...
Suddenly cold...
Screaming...
Come to think of it, every time she actually called him she only got a text saying he was with his family, she hadn't actually heard his voice on the phone.
But that was impossible right? After all, how would all those messages be sent any way? After all, he was a physical being and...
"Well, uh... You see... My friend took my phone and—"
Kotone dropped her bags as the realization hit her. Pharos could touch things! He's the one that took the provocative pictures! No, more than that, he was the one who had...
"Oh my god..." This whole time... It was never even Makoto...
Kotone was in such a daze in realization that she hadn't realized the world was continuing around her until she heard unified screams as all the light bulbs in the city suddenly began to flicker rapidly as if someone was constantly flicking someone unified light switch.
That sounded like the works of something supernatural. Almost like the work of...
Kotone immediately took off running in a full sprint as the lights' flickering continued to increase in frequency more and more.
Home
"G-Grgh..." Makoto grunted in pain clutching his head and his eyes continued to flicker between their normal state and a dim blue in the exact same frequency as the lights in the room along with the entire city.
All those images going into his head...
All the nightmares worming their way back...
all the pain...
Too much...
Too much...
TOO MUCH!
"G-GAAAHHH!" Makoto screamed as his eyes shined a bright blue and the lights in his room and in the rest of the city suddenly bursting into sparks at the intense concentration of power dwelling from the bluenette.
Makoto was then left panting as he bundled into a ball in the corner;Afraid of whatever next hell he might be exposed to next.
"Minato!" He heard his name being screamed from the other side of the door along with the sound of someone sprinting towards it.
"Kotone..?" Makoto recognized that voice easily as he looked up from his little ball and at the door at the end of the dark, cold room.
There's something you've forgotten, Minato... Pharos whispered into the boy's ear as the sound of foot steps reached the door. Let me show you...
Kotone burst in through the door as fast as she could, discarding any mannerisms or concerns of how this would look.
Upon seeing everything, she had enough sense to kick the door shut to avoid any unwanted eyes from seeing the holy grail of blood baths that this room had become.
"Oh my—Minato!" Kotone took off running towards the bluenette again. She was so caught up in Makoto's current state, she didn't even notice Thanatos forming behind her until it was too late and she was pinned to the floor.
Allow me to remind you... Pharos whispered as Thanatos let Kotone go, but only after she was set ablaze by a black flame.
Makoto could do nothing but watch as the girl he had fallen for continued to writhe and scream in agony as she tried desperately to smother the flames out.
The whole time, his kept flashing back the blue haired girl he had seen burn so many years ago.
Screaming...
So much screaming...
He didn't even know how much time had passed before all that was in front of him was a charred body, just like the one he had seen before.
Makoto couldn't say anything, but he let out one last deafening shriek "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Holy shit!
WHAT?!
YES!
*Ducks for cover*
After responses
clevernameeh: Uh... Was this what you were hoping for... he... he... God help me.
