BRIAN

The journey back to Hanamura was a lot smoother and comfortable the second time around, courtesy of our bus tickets that we bought.

"I still think my bike would have been better…"

Kiriko grumbled beside me, arms and legs crossed like an angry child. I think she was even pouting a little bit…

"Absolutely fucking not. I'm not getting back on that deathtrap anytime soon".

She turned sharply towards me.

"Really? And what is that supposed to mean?!"

Aaaand she was pissed again. At that point, I was seriously considering having someone tape my mouth shut, just so I could stop saying things that made her angry. And to think not even a week before I could barely string two sentences together in front of her…

Touching her for more than a couple of seconds was still a big no-no. I still have no idea how the hell I managed to not have a panic attack during those days.

"Uhmm… you're an amazing driver…?"

Her gaze sharpened. I felt sweat dripping behind my head.

"Hm. Better!"

She grinned and it was my turn to glare. She was just making fun of me, the little shit.

I sighed when it became clear that I wasn't going to win. Back to business.

"When we reach Hanamura, doctor Miyamoto's clinic will be our first stop. We need more reliable ways to heal ourselves while inside, you alone are not going to cut it. After that, we're gonna poke around the Temple Bell and the Shimada Castle, get familiar with the territory for any situation that might arise. After that, we'll need to find a place to hide and lay low during the day, I'm gonna leave that to you. Then we find a good hotel, check in and spend the rest of the day getting some more training in. The appointment is in three days from now, so we have some time. Got all of that?"

She nodded.

"Yup. I might even have the perfect place in mind. But first, everything else. Do you think the doctor will let us buy what we need?"

I hummed. Good question.

"I hope so. Otherwise… we'll have to leverage our favor again".

She made a face.

"Again? I'd rather not ask more from that poor man…"

"We're still paying for it. We'd only be requesting for him to not ask questions, basically".

That… probably didn't sound any better. But we weren't exactly swimming in options, so we had to do what we had to do. Even if she didn't like it.

"You're corrupting me at this point…"

I couldn't tell whether she was teasing me or not. But I figured I might as well light up the atmosphere.

"Just you wait. In just a mere couple of weeks, I'll have you drink the milk from the carton, leave the toilet sit up and the light and tap water on. We can make a villain out of you yet!"

She snorted.

"I will never fall for your machinations, damn you!"

"Do not resist the call of the dark side young one!"

A small round of chuckles followed, then silence once again. That felt…

Comfortable in a way. Not relaxing, at all, she was still a bit too close, but it was manageable. I was laughing and joking with another person beside my little brother, even if only a bit. If he was there, he would have called us "friends".

Which… I suppose we were, at that point. The very first, tiny buds of friendship, but friends nonetheless. I reclined my head back, staring at the ceiling of the bus, jumping in my seat because of a hole in the road.

Kiriko was my friend. I had realized back when we were fighting Joichiro, but I was silently admitting it to myself at that point. She was my friend… and I was glad that she was there with me. To be perfectly honest, she wasn't the only one spooked by the Palace. It was massive.

Not the biggest one I ever saw, but big enough to feel intimidating. So, knowing that I wasn't going in alone, and that I was with someone I could trust, allowed me to breathe a bit easier.

Making friends was the last thing on my mind when I came in Japan. I still have to regret it to this very day.

"Hey…"

I turned my head back towards her, ready to listen.

"Yeah?"

"We're going to save these people. No matter how big or scary, we're going to go inside that Palace and free everyone from the Hashimoto's clutches, whatever it takes. And we're going to do it together, all right? They won't stand a chance if we work like a team!"

I grinned at her. She was brave. So, so brave. Much braver than I was when I first started working. I just had to make sure that bravery didn't lead her to an early grave.

"Together then. One step at a time".

We fist bumped and leaned back on our seats. We still had at least an hour of traveling before we reached Hanamura, so might as well get some shut eye. Besides, I knew that Kiriko was going to wake me up when we arrived.

I closed my eyes gently and allowed sleep to take over.

KIRIKO

I sighed to myself, somewhat happy that Brian managed to relax enough to fall asleep. The stress of our imminent infiltration had him on pins and needles, desperately trying to be absolutely 100% sure that we were ready. A shit ton of planning and banging his head against the wall, doing his absolute best at not letting any detail slip past.

He needed to rest. And a one hour long nap was better than nothing, I suppose. I turned my head towards him and I couldn't hold the small smile that slipped on my face. He looked peaceful, for once. Not a single blemish of anger or hatred, or even that passive expression he usually wears outside of the Metaverse. Just the gentle breathing of someone who finally got a break from the real world.

A world that took away his little brother, my mind helpfully supplied. Can you really blame him for being angry at it?

Maybe… maybe that's why he was so protective of Akari. Did she remind him of what he had lost?

I groaned quietly to myself. He was so complicated… I was right in my first assessment of him. Brian was an enigma, one that just refused to be solved. It would take a long time for me to unravel what made him tick, even if he trusted me, by that point.

My thoughts rumbled in my head, eventually settling on the objective. Which I still didn't really know the nature of. I was starting to think that not even he knew exactly what they were or how they were formed… probably one of the things that he wasn't allowed to understand.

That particular train of thoughts brought me to this… "organization" he worked for. The only things that I understood were that they were a bunch of people capable of using the Metaverse directed by this "mysterious boss" of theirs, who apparently had a near limitless wealth of knowledge and information, taking contracts to eradicate Palaces for unknown reasons. I had no idea what their end goal was or if they were associated with other organizations. There couldn't be many members, since no one could be spared for that mission, even when we obviously needed some reinforcements.

My head started spinning a little bit after that. I was just confusing myself at that point, but once you enter the rabbit hole, you can never get out. Not on your own, at least.

Fortunately, Bus-kun had my back when the clacson resonated, snapping me out of my self imposed headache. Gotta wake sleeping beauty before getting off though… even if he looked like an adorable little baby.

"Hey, Brian! Wake up, we're here!"

He grumbled a little bit, but woke up fairly easily. Like he was used to it, in a way, which was fairly likely, all things considered.

"I'm up Tim, I'm…"

Tim…? Wasn't that…?

He realized his mistake pretty quickly.

"Ah, damn… sorry. Force of habit…"

"It's fine. Were you dreaming about him?"

He didn't answer, merely getting up and motioning for me to get out of the bus. Touchy subject then, gotcha…

"So, doctor first, right?"

He nodded.

"Same clinic as last time. Let's just hope that he'll collaborate…"

He would. Doctor Miyamoto generally didn't ask many questions, as long as you had money and he had what you requested, that was enough for him. Not exactly professional, but it went to our advantage that time.

The transaction went quick and without hassle, the good doctor didn't even try and inquire on why we needed so many goods. Maybe it was even that old debt of his. I didn't like how we kept abusing his good will like that, but it was for a good cause.

Next on our list was… the hideout, yeah. It still felt childish to call it like that, but it effectly was that. And as I said, I knew just the perfect place.

"Ta-daaaaa! What do you think?"

The old arcade where Genji and I used to waste all of our free time… and also when we were supposed to be training, but nobody needs to know that.

Brian crossed his arms, examining the place with his usual critical eye.

"Nobody comes here anymore?"

"Nope. The Hashimoto shut it down some time after they took control of the neighborhood. They probably saw no use to it…"

A note of melancholy slipped in my voice. That arcade held so many fond memories of me, my best friend and even my parents to an extent. It… hurt a little bit to see how it ended up.

"This will do then. If we manage to get some electricity, we could even play some games while we strategize. Looks perfect to me".

That cheered me up considerably. Sure, he was just saying that last part for my own benefit, we both knew that rerouting power here would just attract unneeded attention, but it was a nice thought.

"It's decided then! Our base of operation is officially online! … Sorta!"

He chuckled and I followed along with him.

"Honestly, we could even forgo the hotel and spend the night here. If it really is abandoned, no one is gonna come bother us".

He cocked his head to the side, thinking about it.

"Maybe… we would need mattresses though. And covers. And probably many more small things…"

Yeah… guess it's not that easy huh?

"We can think about it later. For now, come. Let's see how much used you got to the Metaverse".

More training then.

Great…

BRIAN

I said it once, I'll say it again: Miko's adaptability and general growth rate were off the fucking charts. Just one week. One week since awakening her Persona and she could come and go as she pleased without exhausting herself, getting stronger after each and every fight. Our spars became more and more difficult for me to win. She still couldn't beat me, not yet, but she was genuinely already starting to become stronger than me.

Not really surprising, given her backlog of training as a kunoichi, but it still left me a bit amazed. In the world there were prodigies like her around, huh?

My sword fell upon her, taking her wakizashi away and forcing her to surrender. As I said, powerful, but not enough to beat me just yet.

"Let's take a break. You actually managed to make me tired and sore…"

She grinned.

"That's what she said!"

I blinked at her. I think that was supposed to be a joke, but I didn't really get it.

"Who said it?"

"Ahhhh… you see, it's just a joke! It refers to the act of… why the hell am I even trying to explain it to you?!"

She was strong as fuck, but not the brightest bulb in the shed, all things considered.

"So, have we got any plans on how to handle the meeting?"

I sat down next to her, while pondering my answer.

"We blend in. Try to get as little attention as we can, stick for as long as possible and dip at the first sign of trouble. If we manage to get some insight on what Hashimoto Katsuki is planning, all the better. But in theory, just the act of getting inside should open up our path in the Metaverse. Let's just hope that there's so many people that we won't be noticed… or that SOMEONE doesn't cause a ruckus. Again!"

She at least has the decency to look sheepish at that.

"Yeah… I'll behave. Pinky promise!"

Who is the childish one now…?

A bit of silence stretched.

"Say… can I ask you something?"

I hummed, giving the go ahead.

"Can you tell me a little more about your brother?"

I quirked my eyebrow.

"Why do you want to know?"

"We're friends, aren't we? I want to generally know more about you, so I figured that I might as well ask. You don't have to tell me but…"

"It's fine. Tim… Tim was special, as I believe I already told you. He was a true genius, in every sense of the world. Finished university when he was… thirteen I believe. He was good with everything related to building things. Math, Physics and all of that complicated stuff that I never managed to understand. On the flip side, while his mind was one of the strongest in history, his body was extremely weak. His bones were brittle, easily shattered, his immunity system could barely repel the weakest of colds, so he was often stuck in bed. But he never lost his smile or energy, no matter what. He was always busy with something, drawing charts, reading some indecipherable book or even up on his feet and actively working, when his health allowed it. I was proud of him… and so was our father, while he was still around".

She shuffled a bit on my left.

"What about your mother?"

"Our mother wasn't happy about it. To her, physical strength was all that mattered. If you couldn't move a boulder, you were inconsequential to her. She hated Tim for that very reason… while not giving herself the slightest bit of blame for birthing him sickly".

"I… I'm sorry. I hit another sore topic, didn't I?"

"Maybe… but I don't mind remembering my brother. I wish he was still alive, but there's nothing that we can do about that".

Miko stopped talking after that.

Eventually, we finished up our training and decided that the arcade was the better place to spend the night, since we could be tracked down in a hotel. Some good old paranoia never hurt anyone, as they said.

The next two days passed slowly, finally reaching the fated day.

The two of us donned the uniforms that my boss (our boss…?) gently donated us and we headed towards the Shimada Castle.

Towards one of the biggest hurdle that we had to overcome.

Hello?! Is this thing on?! It is?! Noice.

Welcome back, dudes and gentleladies, to another episode of UTFW, the show where subtlety is everyone's second name!

As previously announced, this will be the last scheduled chapter of this story. August will be a month that will allow me to rest and recharge my batteries. Updates could still come in the meantime, but no promises until September.

If any one of you follows Auraborne, I'll see you there. Otherwise, have a nice summer everyone!

That's all folks! Ta-ta for now!