Shin Persona Evangelion

by Ultra Sonic 007

Shinji Ikari stared, bewildered by the bizarre-looking man, who gave an intrigued smile. "An interesting guest has arrived. My name is Igor. Welcome to the Velvet Room, young fool...we have important matters to discuss, you and I." (A fusion of the realms of Evangelion and Persona, where not all is as it seems.) (Cover art by Renu of the Sufficient Velocity forums.)

66. Thursday - August 6, 2015

This time...Sokila wasn't there.

Instead, it was Rei Ayanami (looking older, yet somehow feeling...younger?), once more.

She was...walking through an unfamiliar city. Wearing a white sundress and large straw hat, she walked alongside the Boy with the Earring (Naoya Toudou, his name had been...?). "I understand if you're hesitant..."

"That's putting it mildly," said Toudou. "Seven Sisters and St. Hermelin have been rival schools for a long time. Gotta say, some of the team might be...antsy about that."

"Is a simple school rivalry truly worthy of such emotional turmoil...?"

"...according to some, yes," admitted Toudou with a wince. "You should see some of Masao-kun's graffiti that he's left near their school..."

Ayanami smiled serenely. "I suppose that sense of liveliness is what draws me to people like you...but working together is for the best, if we are to find and defeat the cause of the Rumors plaguing this city."

"Fair enough. We haven't gotten any closer to finding a way back inside our school since that Rumor about the Snow Angel started running wild, so we might as well get this over with..."

"I'm glad," the blunette said with a smile.

(The things the two were talking about seemed...foreign. What was this place? He didn't recognize any of it; Ayanami was the only thing that was familiar.)

Before long, the two arrived at a large school, which seemed rather austere from the outside, evoking the image of an old church; its most defining feature was the central tower, which bore an ornate analog clock with the school's symbol for its face. Amidst the orderly trees bordering its boundary, there was another teenager sitting on a bench: in contrast to Toudou's gray uniform, his was black, with white lines running along the limbs and the jacket lapels; with a white dress shirt and an overly large blue tie, the uniform for Seven Sisters seemed far more showy than St. Hermelin's. His eyes were closed, as if in contemplation; in his right hand was a Zippo lighter, held loosely. His brown hair, parted straight the middle of his forehead, hung loosely around his chin.

Toudou seemed unimpressed. "So this is the leader of this other team, then?"

Ayanami nodded. "Yes; Naoya Toudou, meet Tatsuya Suou. Tatsuya, meet Naoya."

There was silence, as Toudou stared intently at Suou, who didn't even open his eyes. "...well, you're certainly a rude one."

"...zzz..."

Ayanami sighed, whilst Toudou simply blinked; the other boy wasn't ignoring them at all, but was simply...napping, apparently. "...never mind, he's just apparently a narcoleptic. I'm going to call him Sleepy Suou."

"He may disagree with that."

"Don't care."

With a sudden snort, Suou opened his brown eyes, staring back at them. "Oh. So it's time already?"

At that precise moment, time stopped. Ayanami, Toudou, and Suou were frozen in place.

(What was going on now?)

"Your integration is proceeding more quickly."

A new voice (an old voice). Familiar (yet not?).

"Even the truth of what occurred before the War in Heaven's conclusion is beginning to manifest...but it's not your place to peer so closely. Not without an invitation, at least..."

Blinking (because a new presence emerged, from behind...!), he turned around to see...another Rei Ayanami. This one bore the uniform of Hakone Academy, and was in the body of a young teenager...and yet the look on her face was of someone so much older (something more ancient) than the Ayanami that had been frozen in place.

"I do not know why your eyes were drawn here...but it's nothing to concern yourself with," she murmured, even as everything began to dissolve away into an orange pinpoint. "The pain of that time is mine alone to bear; you have more important matters to attend to."

The faint haze of blue began to brighten-

xxxx

/Thursday: August 6, 2015/

/Sojiro Sakura's Residence, Nishiawakura, Okayama Prefecture/

Shinji Ikari sputtered, rising upright with a start. "...wha...?"

With the emotional turmoil of yesterday evening, his dreams had seemed...stranger, than usual. For once, he had a conscious inkling of what he had witnessed. Who...who were those people with Ayanami-san...?

Yawning, Shinji slowly pulled himself out of bed, donning a simple yukata and slippers. Still in a rather introspective mood after yesterday, he simply wandered the halls of the old ryokan instead of heading to the main hall. As he gazed at the wooden ceiling, he couldn't help but wonder how many people had come through over the years before Sakura-sensei had bought it. It was even stranger to think that he had essentially been the sole guest of this place for nearly ten years.

He paused near a certain door, vaguely recalling that it was a storage room of sorts. I wonder if any of my old things are here...? (Which was funny enough to consider, because with the way his memory was, he might very well have old things that had been left behind, and he wouldn't have even known!) Curious, he discreetly opened it...and blinked at the sight.

There were certainly plenty of boxes, most of which were caked with layers of dust. However, what drew his attention were...musical instruments, that looked like they had been dusted recently. "Huh...?" he couldn't help but mumble aloud. He slowly walked towards the instruments, sitting in the corner of the room. He couldn't help but marvel at the sight: there was a trombone...a trumpet...a saxophone...a violin...a ukulele...an acoustic guitar (somehow, that one struck a chord with him)...and a cello...

xxxx

Another place. Another time. He had been...so young, then, yet no less troubled.

The sound of a cello — of Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 — echoed through an apartment.

Part of him wondered what his face looked like when playing.

Without warning, there was the sound of polite clapping from...his flatmate...?

He turned around, staring at her (her?)...

xxxx

...that one felt the most familiar. But I've never played before...have I...?

Grabbing the adjacent bow (checking the tension of the string out of an old habit that he didn't have...right...?), he held the instrument aloft by the neck, dragging the bow across the strings with an experimental hesitance.

The stark sound elicited a pained wince; he impulsively adjusted the quarter of knobs (tuning pegs was the technical term, and why did he know that?), eventually getting them into a particular position. Another drag of the bow, and this time the sound was...beautiful. Just a simple test of the strings, but somehow-

"Was wondering what the racket was."

Shinji nearly yelped, stopped only by his unwillingness to drop the cello. Turning around towards the door, he blanched at the sight of Sojiro Sakura. "Er, s-sorry sensei, I didn't mean to snoop-"

"No need to apologize, it's not a big deal." Idly sipping from a cup of coffee, he eyed the instruments with a measured — almost calculating — expression. "Didn't know you picked up playing after you left."

"...um..." How exactly could he say that he had never played before (but that would be a lie, you showed experience with just THAT display)? Deciding to change the subject instead of answering the question (a favored tactic of skilled introverts!), he asked, "what are all of these...?"

"...guess you don't remember. It was a while ago, I suppose." Sweeping dust off of a nearby box of old clothes, he sat down to rest his legs. "...a few years back, I got a little worried at how you weren't being a rebellious teenager like most of the other kids your age were being. Even I was something of a brat to my folks when puberty hit, so the fact you kept being the same was...well, not unwelcome, because teenagers are stressful...but it was still a little concerning. So I did some digging around...and managed to get in touch with some old professor at the university your mother once went to; I think it was Osaka. Can't remember the guy's name, but apparently he said your mother was something of a music nut."

Shinji blinked, because he had heard this before.

(As Für Elise played from the old record player, Principal Lorenz reacted with surprise when he admitted that he wasn't an 'aficionado.' "I'm surprised; given the stories I've heard about your mother from Fuyutsuki-sensei, she was a bit of a music nut during her university days. Then again, it was apparently in keeping with her personality at the time: to pick up a hobby only to drop it in a matter of a weeks, or even days.")

And the professor in question; was Sakura-sensei referring to Kōzō Fuyutsuki? "...so...all of these were my mother's...?"

Sakura nodded. "That professor had been hanging out to them, and was polite enough to deliver them here. I showed them to you, and you fiddled with them a bit...but you just kept on with the Farming Club. After that one time, you never touched them again." Scratching the back of his head nervously, he added, "I don't know if you just wanted to avoid anything having to do with your mother, or if you just didn't have an ear for music...but I didn't really press it. You were still polite and diligent enough, so I decided not to press."

Inwardly reeling at how his past self had apparently left a link to his mother just languish (what was WRONG with you?!), Shinji simply asked, "but...why did you keep them...?"

Sojiro Sakura shrugged. "Not like I needed to sell them or get rid of them. Besides...they're fairly nice, all things considered."

"No kidding."

Another new voice made Shinji jump; staring towards the door, he saw none other than Ren Amamiya. "Amamiya-senpai, what are you-?"

"I heard music." In his hand was the acoustic guitar that he had brought along with him on the trip. "Didn't know you played."

"...well, I'm not sure-"

"Oh don't be shy, my little kouhai." With a proverbial blitz of charming charisma, Amamiya wheeled Shinji out of the room and towards the outside porch with minimal fuss, where the morning air was still cool and crisp. Having grabbed the other acoustic guitar (the one that once belong to your MOTHER), Amamiya handed it to him. "Let's see what you've got."

"...I don't think I've ever played..." he murmured, letting his legs hang over the side of the engawa.

Ren grinned. "Call it a hunch, but I think you don't really believe that."

"Why?"

"Look at your hands."

Shinji did so; sure enough, one was on the neck, while the other was resting over the body, ready to play. "Huh...?"

Ren grinned, handing him a pick. "Here. Play whatever comes to mind."

"...um...okay...?" Nervously plucking the strings (impulsively adjusting the pegs to get the sound just right, how did he know this?), he strummed experimentally...

xxxx

Another place. Another time.

"I know I'm more of a cello person, but everyone has to start somewhere, right?" said a young man with a confident smile.

The woman rolled her eyes at his bravado.

"Here, let me see if I can change your mind," he offered, resting the acoustic in his lap. "There's a song I've been working on..."

And so he began to play.

xxxx

...and then began to play.

He wasn't sure where the song came from. There was a nervous and almost amateurish spirit to it, being as slow and mellow as it was...and yet there was an underlying passion that was simultaneously somber yet heartful.

Ren Amamiya idly plucked at his own guitar as Shinji played, adding just a subtle bit of background accompaniment, but not intruding or taking the spotlight.

Finally, after two-and-a-half minutes of strumming and picking, the song came to an end. "...not bad. Did you make that yourself?"

"...I...I don't know..." Where had that come from?

"I have a strange feeling that you'll remember it, one day." Glancing over his shoulder, Amamiya cheekily said, "so, did you all enjoy this morning's entertainment?"

Blanching, Shinji looked back; staring at them was not only Sakura-sensei, but also the entirety of the Hakone Caravan, who had apparently been woken up by their playing.

Mayumi politely clapped. "I think it was wonderful!"

"Huh. Didn't know you played," said Toji, gruffly rubbing at his eyes.

"Truly, the wellspring of talent runs deep with this one," dramatically said Kensuke, theatrically adjusting his glasses.

"...it sounded nice, I guess," said Mana with a shrug.

Shinji flushed with embarrassment (which only caused the adults around them to grin at the whole youthful display).

(He couldn't remember ever playing the guitar.)

(When did you learn how to play?)

xxxx

It was a relatively free day for the most part, as there had been an agreement made ahead of time between Zenkichi, Ryuji, Junpei, and Ken to treat them all to a trip at the village's local hot spring resort.

The overall activities, as such, were rather...varied.

xxxx

Kensuke Aida shadowed Junpei Iori and Ken Amada, were both running patrols in the Metaverse...mostly so he could get practice with Ozymandias against Trismegistus and Kala-Nemi.

At least, that had been the plan.

"Come on, my Persona's entirely support based! I have to get better with chaining debuffs together!" protested Kensuke, seeing as how Trismegistus was unceremoniously sitting on Ozymandias's back. "Can't you give a guy a break?!"

Junpei looked unimpressed. "You should probably focus on improving yourself, you know?" He jostled the metal bat resting on his shoulders for emphasis. "I mean, I don't even see a weapon manifesting with your own self-image like Ikari and Suzuhara do. What's up with that?"

"...would you hold it against me if I said it was complicated?"

"But why make it complicated?" retorted Iori.

Ken Amada sighed, tapping the blade of his spear against the cognitive ground (causing agitated Mandrakes to scurry away from the pointy end). "What my partner means to imply is that even if a weapon doesn't manifest with your own self-image, that wouldn't stop you from bringing one into the Metaverse to supplement your own shortcomings. This is basic stuff."

"...b-but I'm just a support-"

"So?"

"...I mean-"

"What, did your personal issue involve being a bit character or something?" joked Junpei.

Kensuke tried not to shrink in on himself and failed. "...yes, actually."

"...I'm just going to shut up and walk over there for a bit," sheepishly said the cap-wearing A.T. Agent, leaving the two Kens alone.

Amada huffed, glancing irritably at Iori's back before turning back to the younger Ken. "Even bit characters in something like Featherman could wield a weapon. Your issues are your issues, and I'm not one to pry...but you shouldn't be subconsciously limiting yourself like that."

"...that's a good point," he was forced to admit. "...you'd think I would have thought about it sooner...I mean, I'm the Anti-Terror Task Force nerd among my group of friends-"

"We tend to be blind to our own shortcomings, even after we've had our personal epiphanies. It's part of growing up, I'm afraid."

"...I guess so," Kensuke admitted, sitting down and crossing his arms. Despite his personal irritation with himself for not realizing how he had been handicapping himself (just because you're a support character doesn't mean you can't get your hands dirty...!), it still gave him a bit to think about. "...but what would complement Ozymandias's abilities...maybe a hand cannon...?"

"Something that won't get you arrested in the real world, please."

(The smiling figure huffed. These boys weren't pretty at all! With an angry hiss, it departed from afar.)

xxxx

Toji Suzuhara and Mana Kirishima were...doing something a bit simpler,

"And why exactly do you want to help out?" asked Sojiro Sakura with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, you make pretty good coffee and curry, and I wanted to learn," admitted Toji, gesturing at the small cafe around them. "Gives me something to work on, I guess. Not in the mood to have my as-er, butt handed to me by my sensei. Sir."

"Uh-huh." Sakura didn't sound impressed. "And do you have any experience with cooking?"

"I'd say I'm...decent," he admitted. "Haven't done it as much since I moved into the dorm at the Academy, but...well, when the folks are gone and your sister lives in the hospital, I had to learn something. Cause take-out get's a bit boring, you know."

The man's expression softened. "I see." Turning towards Mana, he asked, "and you?"

"...well, my Big Sis was usually the one who made all the meals," she admitted.

"Not that; why do you want to help out? There's not exactly much fighting to be done here, and we're not allowed to assault our customers if they get upset."

Mana glanced to the corner of the cafe, where her weapons LABRYS and AIGIS were resting. "...I'm not sure. I guess...I wanted to try something else. Something that didn't involve becoming stronger. Not like getting more power would change everything for the better..."

"You sound bothered by that," remarked Sojiro.

"Look, is me helping out gonna be a problem?"

He stared at the two children with a measured expression...until finally, he sighed explosively. "Attitudes around a village based largely on agriculture and lumber are a bit more lax when it comes to stuff like 'child labor', especially when some families have been here for generations...but I'm still running a restaurant. I won't have you doing anything that could be construed as such. But feel free to observe and ask questions...and maybe I'll let you try to make a few blends."

"Couldn't you just call us unpaid interns or something?" asked Toji.

"Ah, so those are still a thing, huh?"

"..."

"That would be a 'no.'"

"Eh, figured I'd ask."

xxxx

Mayumi Yamagishi had made it her mission to get acquainted with every single feline that occupied the territory around Sojiro Sakura's residence. It was something...peaceful, and relatively quiet.

(She hadn't revealed that she had felt a strange and foreboding sensation, one that loomed ever larger in the back of her mind: almost on the verge of spilling forth into nausea, without actually being sick. It was bizarre...)

(Little did she know of the coiling beast which slowly wormed through the foundation of all that Mayumi Yamagishi was.)

xxxx

As for Shinji...well, he had found himself accompanying Akane Hasegawa to the small vegetable garden on the outskirts of his old school.

For some reason, Ren Amamiya had also accompanied them.

(Amamiya-senpai smiled sadly. "There was once a girl I knew who had her own vegetable garden. It was...certainly something..." He didn't elaborate any further than that.)

It had to be said, alas, that Shinji had quite a bit on his mind...eventually getting to the point that he needed to step away.

"Where are you going?" inquired Akane, her hands fiddling with a diseased vegetable root.

"I just...need to call someone, real quick." That was all he said, as he stepped towards the dusty athletic field. Looking up Hakone Academy's directory, he searched for a particular number, and proceeded to dial it.

Fortunately, the man on the other end picked up. "Hello, this is Fuyutsuki. May I ask who's calling?"

"Um...I hope I'm not interrupting, Fuyutsuki-sensei."

"Ah. Ikari-kun. What an unexpected surprise." There was the shuffling of papers in the background. "You caught me amidst preparing my lessons for the upcoming term. What's the occasion?"

"Ah. Well..." He briefly explained that he had gone back to Nishiawakura for a brief summer vacation, and had come across a bunch of instruments in a storage room. "And Sakura-sensei said that he had gotten it from...my mother's old university professor."

"...ah. That stirs the memory. I remember now; Sakura-san reached out to me with an odd request. Since your father hadn't elected to claim your mother's old possessions upon her disappearance...well, I had held on to them. I was happy to hand them over if it was for your sake."

"...I see."

"You sound confused."

"...it's complicated. I...I don't think I appreciated the fact that all of those instruments had been my mother's, back then..."

"...odd. That's not the impression I got from you."

"...it's hard to explain. I...I must have been in an odd place, back then." Odder than even he could fathom, because seriously, what? "...but it was very generous of you, to give all of that to Sakura-sensei. Thank you."

"You're very welcome, Ikari-kun."

"...I remember Principal Lorenz saying something about how my mother was a 'music nut' at Osaka University?"

Shinji could hear an audible wince through his cell phone. "Ah. Yes. Remember how I told you that she was a bit of a workaholic during her early days in my class? Well, even after creating a schedule, she began to backslide near final exams for the first semester...so I recommended that she take up a hobby. She went through several, in quick succession. Playing musical instruments was only one of them."

"Really?"

"What's most vexing is that she somehow found a way to get those expensed from my research budget."

"...I'm sorry?" he said, somewhat bewildered.

"Your apology is unnecessary. I'm sure Ikari-sensei somehow knew and indulged her."

"...why did she go through so many?"

Fuyutsuki sighed. "It all goes back to how driven she was; even in her free time, it's like she was afraid of being idle. I never got a satisfactory answer...at any rate, after she left Osaka and got married, most of her effects from the university were left in my care...which included the musical instruments. I assume you've gotten a chance to fiddle with them?"

"...not as much as I'd like," he admitted with some degree of shame.

"Just because your mother tried her hand at music doesn't mean you have to. I assumed as much when you joined the Literature Club and the Track Club and not the Music Club at the Academy."

He had the strangest sensation that Fuyutsuki-sensei wouldn't quite buy it if he said 'actually, I just played the cello and acoustic guitar for the first time today, and it turns out I'm actually decent.' So instead, he asked a more pertinent question. "...but wasn't it sad, giving them away?"

"...somewhat," admitted his homeroom teacher. "It wasn't quite pleasant to walk into class and hear Yui-kun playing the trombone over the course of two straight weeks...but they were mementos of her spontaneity."

"But you still gave them to me."

"I believed you would have better use for them."

"...but is it just with my mother, though?"

"How do you mean?"

"Well..." It had really hit home since he had returned to Nishiawakura just how much people had helped him...and he had never really expressed his gratitude for that. (He wasn't even sure if he deserved such kindness.) "...I guess I'm just wondering if you're that generous with anyone else. Or if it's just because of whose son I am."

"...a very interesting question, Ikari-kun. Do you think it's because of pity?"

"...I'm not sure. I don't think that's the case..."

"Then why do you ask?"

"Well...I just think that there may be others who may be more deserving." So many people had helped him as it was; surely there were others within his sphere of influence who deserved to be helped as well, right?

"There's no need for such self-deprecation, Ikari-kun."

"...I'm not sure that's the case..." Their last conversation of note came to mind. "I mean...did you do the same for Futaba-san, or for Dr. Akagi?"

"How do you mean?"

"My mother may have been your student...but weren't Naoko Akagi and Wakaba Isshiki your peers? Don't you have effects of their own as well?"

"...yes, as a matter of fact."

"And have you ever offered to give them to their daughters?" he asked honestly, somehow managing not to sound accusatory. Being earnest and just sufficiently charismatic helped.

"They never asked, I'm afraid. Had your guardian not reached out to me, I imagine the evidence of Yui-kun's brief musical career would still be in my possession."

"Well...don't you think they would appreciate it?"

"...possibly for Futaba-kun. For Ritsuko-kun...it's not my place to say. The concerns of children are different from those of adults; the generosity I showed with your mother's effects might not go over so well if I tried the same."

Shinji acknowledged the point; honestly, he did. However, he couldn't help but think of Misato's own difficulties with her parents; of how Sakura-sensei had secretly worried about his mental welfare for years without saying a word; of Principal Lorenz's own perceived inability to connect with the students of Hakone Academy; of his father, and whatever tangled web of emotions he felt with regards to Yui Ikari that had left him so bitter. "...but adults still need help too, sometimes...is it just because they're not supposed to ask for help like kids are?"

At this, Fuyutsuki went silent. Finally, he chuckled. "A very insightful observation, Ikari-kun...perhaps...perhaps..."

"...sensei?"

"...nothing. Just thinking." Sighing, the old man decided to bring things to a close. "I should get back to work, Ikari-kun. Enjoy the rest of your summer break."

"Oh. Um, yes sir. Thank you for your time, Fuyutsuki-sensei." Shinji couldn't help but wonder if he had stepped too far over the line; he had merely called to show his (very belated) gratitude for Fuyutsuki-sensei's gift, and to inquire as to the motive. That conversation had...gone places.

(Little did he know, but back in Tokyo-3, Fuyutsuki was staring at his desk phone with a somewhat amused expression. For all the wisdom that adults gained, the vision of children could possess a keen and piercing clarity that was unshadowed by the clouds of experience...)

...well, I guess I should get back to helping with the vegetables.

xxxx

Akane Hasegawa tried not to narrow her eyes as Ikari returned to help her and Amamiya-san with the Farming Club's plot of ground. Even if she hadn't heard everything that he had said, the sheer seriousness of the phone conversation had said plenty...not to mention the boy's body language.

A seemingly lifeless boy had departed Nishiawakura, only to return less than two months later as an actual human being coming into his own. Such a stark and drastic transformation just didn't make sense.

Who are you, Shinji Ikari...?

xxxx

Atop Mount Fuji, Rei Ayanami found herself taking a bit of a breather.

All told, her summer break had been...not much of one. Ghosts, Ghosts, and more Ghosts, with an Acolyte here and there; mercifully, she hadn't needed to leave Japan. Until the new moon (which would be...in eight days, now), she had the feeling that her days would be filled with drudgery.

It did give her a little bit of time to think about...certain aspects of her 'situation'. Namely, the fact that Shinji Ikari's subconscious was beginning to branch out as his metaphysical bonds increased in strength. To think that he would even be getting a glimpse of...those days...

xxxx

Another time. Another place. All during that fateful timeline that served as the climax for the War in Heaven.

"...your paintings are very beautiful, Maki-chan," admitted Rei, staring sadly at the image of an ossified titan, arms spread wide as if crucified.

"...thank you," murmured Maki Sonomura, a rather frail and sickly girl with dark brown hair going down to her neck. The only reason it looked as decent as it did was because Ayanami had taken the time to comb it.

"But that brings me to why I'm here...someone has been spreading a Rumor about you at St. Hermelin."

"...what about...?"

"That you have strange powers. That you've been experimented on. That, in your dreams, you can see a place known only as 'the Other Side.' Given what's been happening in Sumaru City, it may very well be the case that it's true...but could you confirm it for me?"

"...yes," she admitted, almost out of shame. "Is it wrong, to say I like it there better...?"

"...that is something you will have to determine for yourself," said Rei. "But what I need to know is who's been responsible for your medical decisions. Our usual avenues of information have been exhausted, and it took a great deal of effort for Toudou-kun and the others to buy me this window of opportunity to see you."

Maki blinked tiredly. "What...what do you mean-?"

"You don't have to worry about it. Please: focus on the gaps in your memory. Remember the events before and after those gaps: who was it that experimented on you?"

"...I think-"

And then there was no time to think, as Masao Inaba was thrown through the door leading into Maki's room. "Ow...that thing packs a wallop..."

A human-sized Sachiel gripped the doorframe, staring owlishly into the room. Its blank eyes fell upon Maki. "The pawn must die." Raising one arm, a lance of crystal lashed out-!

It bounced off of Rei Ayanami's A.T. Field. "...it looks like we'll need to continue our discussion elsewhere. Masao-kun!"

"Yeah...?"

Ayanami winced as Sachiel pounded furiously on the wall of concentric orange octagons that had manifested in front of her. "Grab Maki-chan and head for the window. We're getting out of here."

xxxx

Rei shook her head, bringing herself back to the present; she had not had cause to think about those days for a long time.

The Beast knelt in front of a gravestone.

"And why would you...?"

There were many names carved onto it.

"...it would be focusing on pain without a purpose..."

Sighing, she gazed about the great expanse of Japan, focusing east-southeast towards the Hakone Caldera, towards Tokyo-3. Events are beginning to escalate...how can we stay ahead of our adversaries...? Especially with Asuka Langley-Sohryu scheduled to arrive in Japan by the end of the month. I wonder how she's doing...

xxxx

/Meanwhile, as the morning rolled across Europe/

Within the Metaverse, on the outskirts of Orléans, Asuka Langley-Sohryu was dragging herself to her feet. Her Persona, Matilda, was staring rather irritably at the target of their mutual ire. "Not...freakin'...fair...opening up with a Megidolaon, of all things...!"

"To be fair, Miss Sohryu, you did ask for a spar with the Pope!" cheerfully pointed out Sister Mary Makinami from the sidelines.

"Not helping, Mari!" roared Asuka, glaring at the serene old man standing across the cognitive plain from her...and, more importantly, his Persona. It was a black humanoid with thin red lines encircling his body horizontally, almost like they were tattoos; a billowy white robe adorned his form, bearing red symbols — a heart, an ampersand, and a peace symbol — that said 'love and peace'. Mirroring the pacifistic iconography was the thin red sprocket embedded in the Persona's head, with three gears connecting it to a rotating ring of the same color; the sprocket and gears in question were all shaped like the peace sign. How ironic, that such a powerhouse came off as so...hippy-dippy. "...not exactly what I had in mind when I wanted a duel..."

Taro Namatame, still bearing his garb as Pope Thomas within the Metaverse (and didn't it say a lot, that his mental self-image mirrored his real life occupation so closely!), shrugged. "Given your circumstances, I believed it would be unnecessarily condescending to take it easy on you."

"...much appreciated, but come on, why a Megidolaon?!"

"You can never practice dodging enough," casually remarked the Pope. "Let's continue, Kunino-sagiri."

"Divine Judgment," droned his Persona; Kunino-sagiri summoned a column of light from the sky, which loomed like an impending meteorite.

"Oh come on-!" Asuka's words were cut off as Matilda all but dragged her away from the point of impact.

It was the start of a long and painful morning for the Second Child.

xxxx

...I'm sure she's fine. Rising to her feet (because duty called once more, as it ever did), Ayanami briefly glanced to the west; somewhere beyond the horizon, Shinji Ikari and his friends were relaxing. Ikari-kun...I hope your vacation is going well...

xxxx

A few hours later, as the evening encroached upon Nishiawakura...the Hasegawas and the Hakone Caravan (sans Ren Amamiya) were staring at the sign for the Awakura Onsen. "Well, here we are: the one and only 'spa' resort in the village," remarked Zenkichi with a grin.

"This place has its own restaurant?" marvelled Kensuke. "Dinner followed by hot springs; what a combo!"

"Hurry on inside, we're blocking the way," cheerfully grumbled Ryuji as Junpei and Ken ushered the teenagers towards the doors. Glancing towards Shinji, he asked, "hey Ikari, any idea why Amamiya didn't want to come?"

Shinji blinked. "I'm..."

(Ren immediately paled at the word 'onsen.' "...you know, I think I'm just going to stay at Sojiro's and keep the cats occupied. You all have fun!" And with that, he promptly vacated the scene.)

"...not quite sure, to be honest."

"Eh, his loss," said Toji.

xxxx

The dinner had been enjoyed by all for its relative simplicity; although the udon, soba, and curry rice dishes were expected, the fried chicken of all things had been the big draw.

"Man, the Kernel can eat his heart out," murmured Kensuke, mouth full of crunchy goodness.

"Mmph!" exclaimed Toji, mouth full of chicken.

"I'm insulted that you'd think a chain restaurant would have better chicken," casually griped Zenkichi.

With bellies full, the four adults told the six teenagers to go ahead and enjoy the hot springs, because they were going to enjoy some beers and talk 'shop', as it were. With boys and girls splitting apart, that left the three A.T. Agents and sole Cognitive Freelancer — relocating to a smaller wooden table — to shoot the breeze.

"Huh, Yebisu, huh?" remarked Zenkichi as Ryuji popped open the golden-labelled bottle. "Pretty pricey, don't you think?"

"Eh, the lady who dropped off Kirishima at the beginning of the road trip is apparently pretty exclusive about that sort of thing, so I guess I got used to it."

This could not go unnoticed. "Oh ho? Is our old Captain finally moving on?" asked Junpei with a wide grin.

"Nothing like that, you nosy gossip," grumbled Ryuji. "She's an A.T. Agent who's responsible for Mana Kirishima and is the Task Force's liaison with NERV HQ, so she has a lot of interaction with our little cluster of teenage Persona-users."

"I wouldn't call that an absolute denial."

"Just shut up and drink your beer!"

"Drinking." As Junpei took a swig of Kirin lager, Ryuji glanced over towards Ken. "Is the missus still going to be traveling through tomorrow?"

Ken nodded. "I've already discussed the matter with Sakura-san; he's agreed to let us use his home to host Yukari and the girls for lunch before they make their way to Tottori."

"That's awfully nice of the old codger," remarked Zenkichi. "He's always been somewhat of a recluse; if he's not grocery shopping or at his cafe, he's usually in his home."

"I'm surprised that someone like that managed to have enough scratch to buy a whole ryokan for himself," said Junpei. "I mean, is he that loaded?"

"From my understanding, he was actually a hotshot financial adviser back in the 80s...but he saw the signs before most other people and cashed out before the markets crashed in the early 90s. But instead of living like a king, he decided to retire early and live a quiet life out in the countryside," explained Zenkichi. As he sipped from a bottle of Asahi beer, he added, "maybe the fast life in the financial markets of Tokyo soured him on the whole enterprise."

"Huh. Makes you wonder how he got involved with being a custodian," asked Ryuji.

"I wouldn't be able to tell you. As a community officer and then as an A.T. Agent, I've never had any complaints about him or about Ikari..." Zenkichi sighed, leaning against the wooden table with a somber expression. "It makes the kid's behavior now seem kind of odd."

"Is he really that different compared to when he lived here?" asked Ken.

"Akane's certainly noticed. I'm only glad it's staying at intellectual curiosity, because I'd have to give Ikari the Talk if it turns out my daughter's developing a thing for him."

xxxx

/Meanwhile, in the women's outdoor onsen/

Akane Hasegawa stared blankly at Mayumi Yamagishi. "I'm sorry, repeat that?"

Mayumi, her hair done up in a tight bun to keep it out of the water, repeated her question. "What do you think about Ikari-san?"

Akane glanced worryingly towards Mana, who simply shrugged. "I think she's just nosy about other people."

xxxx

/Meanwhile, in the men's outdoor onsen/

"...I wonder what they're talking about," wondered Kensuke, staring at the bamboo divider separating the outdoor baths.

"Whatever you're thinking about, don't. Even I know that's a recipe for disaster," grumbled Toji.

"...intellectually, I know it's a bad idea, but it's so tempting."

"Dude, seriously, I'll throw you out myself!"

Shinji didn't comment, since he was too busy enjoying the sensation of hot mineral water soaking his body. Ah...

xxxx

Zenkichi huffed, taking another sip of his beer. "But that's not exactly the most stimulating stuff. I'd like to hear some stories from my senpai. Especially from someone who was a peer of Commissioner Morooka."

Ryuji shrugged at the younger man's excitement. "You'd probably be able to get plenty from the Task Force database about our exploits."

"Yeah, but it's nothing like actually bragging about it in person," cracked Junpei.

"I mean, besides you three, there were a lot of other notable individuals that were on your team at one point or another: Noriko 'Cougar' Kashiwagi, Daisuke 'One-Shot' Ushimaru, Tomoko 'Workaholic' Chouno, Akari 'Coach' Hiraguchi...alongside Junpei 'Slugger' Iori and Ken 'Ranger' Amada, the team of Ryuji Sakamoto is still spoken of in high terms."

Ryuji smiled grimly. "Yeah...and we're the only ones who remain, from those old days. But they were good days, even when the missions got tough..."

"Indeed," interrupted a new voice. "I can't help but feel a little...nostalgic."

Ken glanced at the stranger who had pulled a chair up to their table, ready to tell him off...only to immediately glare. "...you've got a lot of nerve to show your face in public."

Junpei and Zenkichi both stiffened, while Ryuji simply stared with an expression that combined anger and sadness and disappointment. "So. Been awhile, Shirato-kun."

Jin Shirato coldly nodded, dropping five small glasses and a large bottle of Sapporo Premium onto the table. "It has...Sakamoto-sensei."

Everyone glared daggers at Jin Shirato as he made a showing of opening up the large bottle of Sapporo Premium, pouring into four of the glasses. "Going an awful long way to make a show, aren't ya?" griped Junpei.

"It seems your manners are as reprehensible as ever, Iori," sharply retorted Jin.

"Why you-"

"Easy now," cautioned Ryuji, gesturing with his hand. "He wouldn't make a show of this if he didn't have a trump card."

"Or maybe he's gambling on us thinking that," murmured Ken with narrow eyes.

"Yeah, can we not gamble with the lives of the locals?" warned Zenkichi, idly glancing around their table. The indoor restaurant was relatively empty for a Thursday evening, mercifully; grumbling audibly, he rubbed at the back of his head. "Seriously."

Ryuji, deliberating his options, opted to simply pour the offered beer into the fifth glass. "Out of respect for who you used to be."

"You'd be surprised at how little I've changed," remarked Jin, who looked remarkably normal in plain clothing, so separate from his rather garish green coat that was part of his normal Metaverse outfit. Even his normally slicked blue hair was an unassuming shade of black, hidden under a baseball cap. "Black your natural hair color? It suits you; the yellow dye made you look like an idiot."

Junpei snorted. "Man, you've gotten awfully blunt since you've gone rogue."

"As Sakamoto-sensei's apprentice, I had to watch my mouth around him and his peers. That's a burden I no longer have to bear." He sipped from his glass, the first to do so, indicating its safety. Relatively speaking.

"...you vanished," growled Ryuji, his irritation finally beginning to bubble to the surface.

(It had been the total solar eclipse of August the 1st, 2008: with the path of totality terminating across central Russia and China, a lot of A.T. Agents had been diverted from various countries to help deal with the areas affected within the Metaverse. Sakamoto's team had been one of those left behind in Japan to provide overwatch. Naturally...this meant that they were understaffed to deal with the surge of Acolytes all throughout Honshu.)

"You vanished without a trace. Not even your Agent medallion could be traced."

(By the time the day had come to a close, over half of his team had been confirmed KIA: Kashiwagi, Ushimaru, Chouno, and Hiraguchi. As if to rub salt in the wound, nothing could be found of his erstwhile apprentice. The landscape of where Shirato-kun had last been seen...well, it was an utter mess, looking as though an earthquake had split it in twain.)

"...and yet you were alive, and never said a thing for years."

(July 11th, 2015: Kinshiro Morooka had all but dragged him away from Toji Suzuhara, to provide a warning in private. "Listen...Ryuji. It ain't public knowledge, but that won't last for long, knowing our recent luck. If you haven't heard yet...that mess with the MAGI in Atlanta, back on the 8th? The one responsible was Shirato." Well, at least the man had been polite to wait for him and Suzuhara to finish lunch, because this revelation would have been enough to ruin his appetite.)

"And how do you announce your return? By proclaiming your allegiance with mankind's enemy...so what the hell happened to you?" Ryuji demanded.

Jin simply adjusted his glasses, taking an intentionally slow sip of his beer.

Snorting, Junpei down his glass in one gulp. "Stop wasting time, asshole."

"...crude and unrefined. Then again, not like humanity's ever been interested in making something of itself." Jin Shirato looked bitterly at them all, even as he refilled Iori's glass. "Even in the face of our extinction, the same problems keep popping up over and over...a species as hardheaded as ours doesn't deserve to continue."

Zenkichi huffed. "Gee, a real ball of sunshine you are."

"You wouldn't pull this sort of move if you didn't have something planned," said Ken. "Why not skip the theatrics and just get to the point?"

"You always were so serious, Amada." Jin chuckled knowingly, in a fashion that did not fill Ryuji with comfort. "Too serious for your own good. I'm just here to...deliver a message, is all."

"And what message would that be?" growled Ryuji.

His former apprentice simply took another sip of his beer, with the same condescending expression on his face.

xxxx

/Meanwhile, in the men's outdoor onsen/

Shinji Ikari sighed, feeling somewhat...well, invigorated by the hot springs. But he was also honestly flummoxed by the banter between Kensuke and Toji.

He couldn't imagine what his life could have been like without them; they were valued friends (and the fact he could even think that was a minor miracle!)...

"Seriously Ken, why are we still debating this?"

"Come on Toji, now that we're actually here, there's just something different about the prospect."

"And I have no interest."

"Dude, don't lie. I can see how red your face is. I mean, we all saw how Yamagishi and Kirishima looked in their bathing suits at the beach."

"...well...I mean, no. Not gonna fall for it. Not gonna fall for it."

"Come on, it would just be one peek. Nobody else has to know."

"Ken, if you're that desperate, just look up naughty pics on your phone or something!"

"It's not about that, Toji! It's about the challenge, and the risk!"

"Now you're sounding desperate. And a little weird."

"Pfft, I bet you'd be all for looking if the Class Rep had accompanied us."

"The hell is that supposed to mean?!"

...but honestly, sometimes they could be so childish.

The Beast snarled.

"Childish, you say?"

It laughed with glee.

"The words of someone who has seen too much..."

Standing up, he let water drip off of his body back into the hot spring, as he reached for where he had left his small towel, he heard Kensuke call out, "you already done, Ikari?"

"I think...I'm going to try the sauna," he answered, wiping himself off.

"Well, knock yourself out," said Toji.

Shinji sighed, wiping himself off before returning to the locker room to get a quick wash.

(Why was...there a strange feeling in the air...?)

xxxx

"The message...that's really the big thing, isn't it?" Jin Shirato chuckled, even though it didn't translate to a smile or a grin. His whole expression was...dark. "The messenger doesn't really matter, in the grand scheme of things."

"When the messenger blows up a bunch of MAGI, among other things, they actually do matter," groused Junpei.

Zenkichi grimaced, rubbing at the back of his head again. "Also, this whole shtick of yours just 'screams' distraction. What are you planning?"

"I've not planned anything. I'm just enacting the will of those greater than I."

Ryuji frowned. "...the fact you called your group Strega...why call it a group, if it was just you? Who else is part of your little club?"

Jin sneered. "...you'd know quite well, Sakamoto-sensei. You more than any of these other jokers."

xxxx

Shinji opened the sauna, only to blink at the sight of someone else in there, because wow the steam was pretty thick. He could barely make out the patterns of the cedar wood that the room was formed from, it was so thick.

With a resolute inhale, he quickly stepped inside, initially grimacing at the heat. Shinji went for the open bench, taking a seat across from the stranger. "I hope you don't mind..." he said, impulsively tightening the knot of the small towel around his waist.

"Not at all." His vision had been able to adjust; he could make out a rather pale-looking man, bearing long and scraggly gray hair. "My appearance is a bit unsettling to most, so attending the onsen is...out of the question."

Shinji couldn't help but notice the sprawling tattoo on the man's chest, looking like blue veins. "...well...your tattoo looks...interesting, at least?" he said, trying to be polite.

The man chuckled. "You don't have to put on any pretensions for my sake. I'm sure you're no stranger to having assumptions made about who you are."

"...I'm sorry?"

The man looked straight at him...with yellow eyes. "Is that not so? After all, you are Shinji Ikari...the Third Child."

xxxx

"January 31st, 2005..." started Shirato. "That was a pretty important day for not only you, but for the Anti-Terror Task Force's reputation..."

Ryuji paled, feeling a sense of unease crawling up his back. "What...what are you getting at...?"

"You, Kinshiro Morooka, Munehisa Iwai, and several other A.T. Agents coordinated to bring down the notorious murderer known as Takaya Sakaki, killing him in combat..." Jin chuckled, finishing off the last of his own glass of beer. "...if only that were true, sensei."

xxxx

Shinji couldn't help but flinch at how the stranger had positively identified him. (The sudden flashbacks to Saori Hasegawa and the 'Ferry Incident' were swiftly approaching.) "...um..."

"Your reputation precedes you," assuaged the pale man. "And the presence you carry is...unmistakable, to those who know how to see it. Does it bother you, just how much your life has been decided by forces beyond your control?"

Shinji gulped, feeling uncomfortable at the conversational swerve. "...who are you?"

"...I am just a mere wanderer, seeking to live every moment as it comes...I am one who acknowledges the wretchedness of the human condition, and merely wishes to see it attain the consummation it desires...but I suppose you asked for my name."

"...yes."

"I am Takaya Sakaki."

"...that...I've heard that name..."

(June 21, 2015: within Ritsuko Akagi's office, they had spoken of a great many things. As he bemoaned the unfairness of dealing with so much as just a mere child, the woman had snorted. "You think you're special in that regard? Ayanami and Sohryu have been at this for years...and there are many incidences of people awakening to a Persona as a preteen. Worst case, you could have been like Takaya Sakaki." Seeing that he didn't recognize the name, she added, "look him up sometime. Long story short, during the chaos of Second Impact, he managed to slip into the cognitive world, and awoke to his Persona...at the age of five." Such a statement was mind-boggling. "The experience must have been traumatic, because he took to killing Shadows, causing mental breakdowns and psychotic incidents among people in the real world. His case, alongside others, was one of the reasons that organizations like the Anti-Terror Task Force were founded...because we had enough on our plate with Angel Syndrome without having to find new ways to kill each other.")

"...you...you've done very bad things," he couldn't help but choke out (oh gods he was sitting in a sauna with a murderer).

"And why should I care for the lives of others?"

...that was a more blunt and callous rebuttal than he had been expecting. "I...was told that you had died, in 2005."

Takaya smiled grimly. "In a certain sense, I did."

xxxx

Ryuji Sakamoto went utterly still at the name that Shirato had thrown out. "...impossible. Sakaki died."

Shirato smirked. "Is that a fact?"

"I was there," he snarled.

(The last day of January had been the scene for a climactic battle against Takaya Sakaki, whose Persona Hypnos showed power beyond what they had expected. Yet they fought, and fought, and fought...until, with a combination attack in a cognitive forest rendered desolate, he and his Agents coordinated their attacks in one simultaneous blow. There was a flash of orange, and blue...and when the dust faded, there was only a crater. Not a trace of Takaya Sakaki could be seen.)

Ryuji resisted the urge to let residual terror show on his face. He refused. "...I was there."

"And yet it never sat right with you, how there wasn't a body...or even any leftover remnants of his cognition. After all, if he had actually died, there would have been at least something. You know this, and don't even try to deny it," snarled Jin.

Irritatingly, Ryuji couldn't find it in himself to debate the point, because it was true. And yet, as the months had passed — then years — the worry about a job left unfinished had faded away.

Fortunately, Ken was quick on the uptake. "Supposing for the sake of argument that that is true, why would he stay underground for so long? After all of the havoc he caused after Second Impact, what would make him hold back for over ten years?"

"Waiting."

"For what?" growled Junpei, who was visibly reaching the end of his patience.

"For when the stage was set for all the players."

xxxx

"...why are you here?" asked Shinji.

"I can't help but confess a desire to witness the one around whom so many destinies revolve..." Takaya smirked; in the steam of the sauna, his long hair and yellow eyes made him look like a wraith...or perhaps a Shadow. "...it is a strange thing, to see someone like you. Compared to everyone else, you are not merely shackled...but also free. Such an envious position to be in...and yet you are blind to it, aren't you?"

"...um...is that a metaphor for something...?"

Takaya chuckled. "How precious. I must confess, that my patron feels...agitated, by your presence..."

His Other stood protectively in front of him.

"A cruel and malicious spirit, this one is..."

Hovering above was a cancerous blob of blue and gray slime, burbling with cruel hatred.

"yOU are nOT yet rIPE...the tEMPTATION to cONSUME is sTRONG..."

The Beast stood behind him, arms wide in anticipation of conflict.

"Try it, you wretched and base creature."

Bardiel — for that was what the essence of the blob was screaming at him — simply snarled.

"...but zERUEL would nOT approve...yOUR power hAS yet tO manifest iN its fULLNESS..."

The blob turned away.

"taking yOU now wOULD be A waste oF our tIME."

"...but I suppose it is only natural...after all, you are the sworn enemy of the Angels."

Shinji couldn't help but feel that something ominous and momentous had just occurred, and he had no idea why. Also, what was that about Angels? "...the Angels?"

"You may have heard of a little organization called Strega." Suddenly, the tattoo on Takaya's chest pulsed with light, the radiance travelling along the path like blood through veins...and that's when Shinji realized they weren't tattoos. "I'm a member."

"...oh..." Shinji grimaced, feeling even more uncomfortable. (In the back of his mind, the Beast snarled, ready to rip and tear.) "...are we about to fight?"

"Not today, I'm afraid. As much as I'd like to place the full weight of my life on the very precipice...I am only here to deliver a message today."

xxxx

/Meanwhile, in the women's outdoor onsen/

(Such was the variety of life, that as tense conversations with a cognitive terrorist and a cognitive serial killer went about inside, far more casual conversations occurred within the hot springs...)

"Seriously Yamagishi-san, what's this about?" Akane angrily crossed her arms, glaring at Mayumi. "Why so pushy?"

"...ah. I guess I am." She wilted, backing away sheepishly. "My apologies...I guess I just wanted to know more, is all. Going by what you've said, Ikari-san seems to have changed a lot since he's been here...is it so wrong to wonder?"

"...I...suppose not," she relented. With a sigh, Akane asked, "but why here, of all places? Is it just to live up to the stereotype of gossiping in the onsen?"

"...maybe?" admitted Mayumi with a shy smile.

"Why?"

"...I...I don't recall ever going to a hot springs like this. We've done it before for certain educational school trips when in prior years...but like this? With...an acquaintance? With a friend?" As she said the last word, she gestured towards Mana, who was staring quietly up at the sky. "It's...a new experience, for me."

"...that's honestly surprising. You don't strike me as someone who's a loner. You've been pretty sociable so far."

"...I suppose I come off that way. Back home...I tend to keep to myself...which is why I'm trying to get as much as I can, because I don't know how long this will continue, and I want to cherish each and every single moment...because..." Mayumi gulped, nervously folding her hands in front of her chest. "...because I'm halfway convinced this is just a ludicrously pleasant dream, and I don't want to wake up..."

Akane blinked. "You must be exaggerating."

"...I don't want to say. I'm afraid it might come true..."

The beast quietly wriggled and writhed; at the boundary of its domain, a blue mold spread like a fungus.

As the cat watched warily from atop the branches of a dead tree, it spoke. "Malice-and-cruelty...a-regrettable-concoction...but-our-sorrow-takes-priority...over-your-hate..."

The blue mold formed a mouth filled with rotting teeth. "we aRE merely hERE to wITNESS"

"We-will-accept-this..."

Mayumi shivered, feeling suddenly cold in the core of her being. (Unbeknownst to her, Akane subconsciously backed away by a few inches, caused by a primal urge. Likewise, Mana briefly flinched.) Looking towards Kirishima, she asked, "you've...you've been awfully quiet, Mana-san..."

Mana looked oddly at her for a few moments (was that a glare?) before answering, "just...thinking, is all. I think...my family...we visited a hot spring like this, once." She briefly flexed her hands, staring at them. "Maybe that's why I felt the urge to bring AIGIS and LABRYS in here," she said, referring to the weapons now sitting within the HiAce van that was parked outside the onsen. "...so they could also share in the memory..."

Akane blinked, briefly whispering towards Mayumi. "I was under the impression from my father that she was an orphan...?"

"It's complicated," Mayumi whispered back, before speaking aloud. "Your Big Sis, your Little Sis, and your brothers...you were still all together, then?"

"Yeah..." Mana huffed, looking somewhat agitated. "It was a ghost town. Can't remember exactly where, but I think it had been depopulated due to Angel Syndrome. No way to know for sure...but when you're orphans living on your own, you can't be picky about the places you pick to hole up in. It wasn't as nice as this...and it was mixed too. But except for Big Sis, we were all kids, so I don't think it was a big deal." The gruff girl suddenly looked rather nostalgic. "We were pretty rowdy. There was a big splash fight too, boys versus girls...we took a bunch of food that had been left behind by the departed villagers, and stuffed ourselves silly...it was...nice..." The girl scratched at her left shoulder, her face curdling with anger. "...we were barely on our way out of the town when we were found by Tokita's men...and...well, I don't have to say anything else, do I?"

Akane and Mayumi both stared at each other, the former looked far more perturbed than the latter.

"...I want to believe that the more power I gain, I'll be able to do what I want...what I need...but even Ikari, for all his power, is still shackled by others...so how can I even compare...?" Mana leaned back against the rocky edge of the hot spring, staring listlessly at the steam. "Maybe that's why I feel so irritated...because I'm still trying to come to grips with that. I'm...probably never gonna get left alone, am I?"

Akane slowly answered, "well...you are pretty powerful, just based on what I've seen from our training sessions these past couple of days. Any person with a measure of cognitive or metaphysical power will draw interest...and if you're associated with an Evangelion-user, that would only be more true."

"...I figured as much..." Mana smiled bitterly. "Maybe...maybe I'd be better off just leaving my brothers alone...why drag them into my mess? Why draw the eyes of other people to them? Maybe they're enjoying their freedom...and who am I to take that away from them?"

(Little did they know, that a tiny little line of blue mold was peeking over the outer fence of the hot springs, its tip morphed into the shape of a tiny parabolic dish.)

(Little did they know, that this little line stretched under the adjacent river, running through the hilly forest south of the onsen for over half a kilometer.)

(Little did they know, that this line connected with an audio transmitter, which two young teenagers — boys, with haunted eyes — listened to with increasingly angry expressions.)

"Mana-san..." murmured Mayumi with somber empathy.

"...maybe I was just deluding myself. NERV and Katsuragi have been a damn sight better than Tokita...but if I didn't have the power I wield, would they have honestly cared? Would anyone?"

Mayumi impulsively shuffled closer, slowly placing her hand on Mana's bare shoulder. "I care, Mana-san! And I...I know that Ikari-san and Aida-san and Suzuhara-san do as well..."

"And how would you know? Aida and Suzuhara are both Persona-users, and Ikari literally rescued me from a lab in the Metaverse."

(Both of them missed Akane murmuring to herself, "should I be hearing this...?")

"They all have a stake in fighting," Mana continued. "Of course they would care about my ability to fight...but without it, why would they even care?"

"...well...I'd like to think that Ikari-san cares about me," she shyly admitted. "Aida-san and Suzuhara-san...they've both been nice to me as well...even though I have nothing to contribute at all...so I'd like to think that even if you had just been a normal girl, without any powers, they still would have been willing to be your friend. I...I want to believe that."

"...if you say so," murmured an uncertain Mana.

(Akane couldn't help but feel that she was a little out of her depth in this conversation, so she wisely kept silent.)

xxxx

"...and what message would that be?" warily asked Shinji, managing to power through the heat of the sauna.

Takaya suddenly chuckled. "A message of hope, young one; humanity has trudged on long after its fated demise, lurching on like a corpse that has yet to realize it died...ever yearning for that sweet release."

"...and you think the Angels are the key to that?"

The pale man chuckled knowingly. "The power of the Angels...the tool of both salvation and damnation, used in complementary yet contradictory ways...I suppose for one who is free, it is difficult to understand just how constrained our current condition is."

"What do you mean by 'free'? How am I free?"

"Spoilers, Third Child...after all, thoughts can be a tricky thing, in the face of one who deigns to see everything...even if their vaunted vision will prove to be useless in the days to come." At this, Takaya could not help but laugh. "Yes...in preparation for this time, every single player is acting to their utmost...that charlatan occupying the Throne of God has played at omniscience and omnipotence for so long that they have become blind to their own shortcomings. Such is their myopic focus on your perfection that they will hesitate to use all the tools at their disposal...and in that lies the key to our freedom, the key to humanity's unmaking at long last."

Shinji was taken aback at these words. He...knows of the Usurper? (Of course he would; the Angels opposed the Usurper as well, for enslaving ADAM.) "...if you know that much...then why fight us? Why destroy and kill so many?!"

"You act as if that truly means anything."

"Of course it does!"

"...I suppose I cannot blame your ignorance, in this particular instance. The shackles you willingly placed upon yourself to even come here...it is no surprise, that your memory has been affected so. Otherwise, you would be as cavalier with the lives of humanity as I."

Memory. Memory. It kept coming back to memory, it seemed. "What...what do you know? What happened to me?"

"Ah ah ah; such knowledge comes with a cost, Third Child." The veins on chest suddenly seemed to writhe. "Submit yourself to the Angels, and you will have all the knowledge you desire."

"...no." This man, and Jin Shirato, had already spoken of their desire to destroy humanity. The people he had come to care for...well, they were a part of humanity. "I...I wish it didn't have to be this way. But I won't join you."

"A pity...but an expected response," said Takaya, who seemed honestly disappointed. "LILITH wishes to return all things to the wretched status quo...ADAM desires to bring about the end of a species that has long since surrendered itself to death...and the Usurper, opposed to both, wishes to fully claim the Throne of God for their own selfish desires. As such, we are still at cross purposes."

xxxx

Zenkichi pounded his fist on the table, startling his compatriots. "Enough theatrics. Tell us whatever Sakaki's message is."

Jin Shirato seemed unaffected by Hasegawa's anger. "Takaya's message is the message of the Angels. And with the ending ceremonies coming up...the entire world will be watching."

"...wait..." murmured Ryuji, eyes widening with shock. "The Olympics...?"

At that precise moment, there was a distant rumble, drawing everyone's attention for just a split second.

When Ryuji looked back, Shirato had already vanished.

xxxx

"For the time being, I'll say this," said Takaya, rising to his feet. As Shinji impulsively rose as well out of primal wariness. "I hope you'll tune in to watch the Olympics this Sunday. The ending ceremony will be quite...flashy."

The veins on Takaya's chest flickered; in tandem, a Ghost suddenly rose from the floor-!

On impulse, Shinji summoned Unit-01, pulling it from the confines of his skull; as the spectral thoughtbeast easily crushed the Ghost, Shinji looked back to where Takaya had stood.

The man was gone, as though he had never existed at all.

xxxx

/Meanwhile, in the outdoors hot springs/

There was the sound of a distant explosion to the north, drawing the attention of the boys and girls.

Simultaneously, a Ghost suddenly arose from the waters, in the women's outdoor hot springs.

Mayumi and Akane impulsively shrieked out of sheer terror.

Mana rose on instinct, summoning AIGIS and LABRYS into her hands; warping from the van in the parking lot to her hands, she swung decisively. "HAH!"

The spirit was split in half; so too was the bamboo divider wall behind it. With a clack of hollow wood, the wall blocking the men from the women fell.

Mana, holding her shield at her side and her axe over her shoulders, stared imperiously down at a gobsmacked Toji and Kensuke. "Ghost's been taken care of."

Both boys stared, faces redder than a tomato.

Akane yelped, impulsively retreating away towards the women's shower room without a second thought.

"MANA-SAN!" yelled Mayumi, grabbing at the girl's shoulders and dragging her away.

"Hey hey, watch it-!" protested the axe wielder.

"Sorry for breaking the wall!" Mayumi called out across the steamy air.

And just like that, Toji and Kensuke were left alone.

xxxx

"...well Ken, you got your 'look'. You happy now?"

"...honestly Toji, I feel kind of conflicted."

"It's the axe, ain't it?"

"An axe that can split me in half with terrifying ease? Yes. It's probably the axe."

"...we talk about this to no one."

Kensuke thought about it. "...I have a feeling Hasegawa-san would kill us if he even got an inkling that we saw his daughter. I concur heartily."

"Only Ikari can know."

Kensuke paled. "Nuh uh, not a chance."

"Why? He's a guy like us, ain't he?"

"Toji, he's terrible at keeping secrets! Knowing our luck, he'd probably snitch on us to Hasegawa-san, Sakamoto-san, and the Class Rep for good measure!"

"...good point," admitted the jock. "Lucky for us he decided to go for the sauna..."

"...I think it's time to get out, because I think I heard an explosion."

"Oh good, so it wasn't just me."

And just like that, the boys' hot springs trip came to an end.

xxxx

The Hasegawas and the Hakone Caravan had gathered outside of the onsen; Zenkichi was speaking rather seriously with the local police from the Nishiawakura substation, whilst bystanders gazed nervously to the column of smoke rising a few hundred meters to the north, coming from some point beyond the ridge. As this was going on, Junpei and Ken were gathering stories from all of the teenagers regarding what had happened in the onsen.

(That Shinji had not disclosed the reason he left for the sauna in the first place — namely, the perverted topic of conversation between Toji and Kensuke — made him a minor hero to the teenage lads.)

However, even more striking than the sudden Ghost attack, even more surprising than Jin Shirato's appearance...was the fact that Shinji had had a one-on-one conversation with the infamous Takaya Sakaki himself.

"...man, your luck is awful," blurted out Toji.

Kensuke elbowed his friend in the side. "Not the time!"

After regaling as much of what he could remember of Takaya's words (while consciously glossing over anything and everything related to the Usurper), Shinji finally concluded with the man's cryptic warning about the Olympics.

"...same as Shirato, then." Ken Amada grimaced, looking over towards Ryuji. "We have to warn people."

"...you're still an Agent, so you can do things all 'official' like. I'll call the Commissioner, and make sure that security does get increased," said Ryuji.

"Wait, we're not gonna cancel the rest?" blurted out Junpei. "That's stupid!"

"They're not going to cancel the Summer Olympics over a mere threat," admitted Ken. "Political violence and terrorism have never resulted in the cancellation of Olympic events from what I recall...suspended, yes, but outright cancelled? There'd have to be an all-out war for that to happen."

"And what, a terrorist organization aligned with an enemy dedicated to wiping out humanity isn't a war?" growled Junpei, irritated by the prospects of Takaya and Jin causing havoc. "Do I have to remind you about what happened during the last new moon?"

"And the Olympics Committee will simply respond that the ceremonies will conclude before the new moon," rejoindered Ken.

"And, going by what Ikari and the girls said, they can apparently summon friggin' Ghosts now!"

Ryuji huffed loudly, drawing both of their attention. "You both raise good points...but right now, Okayama is probably home to more individuals with cognitive and metaphysical fighting capability per capita than anywhere else on the planet right now. And that'll hold until the Olympics are over and done with. And if there's something that requires the firepower of an Evangelion...well, we're a hop, skip, and a jump away, eh?"

(Mana frowned, looking curiously at Shinji. "...how far can he hop, skip, and jump...?" she murmured to herself.)

Finally, Zenkichi walked towards them, a stern frown on his face. "The police found the cause of the explosion: a car loaded with a bunch of fertilizer that had been left on the side of a mountain road. Judging by the plates they were able to dig up from the wreckage, the car had been reported as stolen just this morning from the city of Maniwa, about fifty kilos west of here. No word yet on if they were able to get any surveillance footage of the car theft itself...but beyond some singed trees and shattered asphalt, there wasn't any collateral damage from the car bomb."

"In other words...it was a distraction!" exclaimed Kensuke with a dramatic gesture.

Toji elbowed his friend in the side. "Not the time!"

Sakamoto, tellingly, agreed. "Probably. Judging by their disappearing act, they must have slipped into the Metaverse during that instant we were distracted...cheeky bastards." With a gruff sigh, he added, "pardon the language."

"And my patrol on Trismegistus didn't turn up jack," grumbled Junpei, kicking at the ground with his feet. "They gave us the slip...damn it."

"...so...what does that mean now?" asked Shinji.

"As far as you kids are concerned?" said Ryuji. "Not much. There's still nothing stopping you from enjoying the rest of your summer vacation...and if we need your help, you'll be the first to know."

"Okay..." he murmured, looking quietly at the sky.

"...is everything okay, Ikari-san?" quietly asked Mayumi. "Takaya Sakaki didn't do anything, did he...?"

"...physically? No..." Honestly, the heat of the sauna had been more demanding (and it had been an exercise in determination...). But mentally was another story altogether. "I'm just...wondering what's going to happen next, is all..."

(Akane stared quietly at Shinji Ikari, trying to square her memories of Ikari with that of a boy who talked one-on-one with a serial killer and came out unscathed. As with so many other things over the past few days, it was yet another oddity that grabbed her attention.)

"...I suppose that's fair enough," murmured Mayumi, an uncertain shadow coming across her face, one that Shinji couldn't help but feel as well.

His Other felt...a sense of foreboding.

The Beast, meanwhile, simply grinned at the thought of the carnage which would soon unfold.

Jin Shirato...Takaya Sakaki...Strega...the Angels...the Usurper. Shinji sighed. There's just so much...

Alas, there was little to do except to retire for the day; thus did the Hasegawas depart, whilst the Hakone Caravan returned to Sojiro Sakura's place.

xxxx

Meanwhile, several hundred meters to the south, within a mountainous forest, Takaya Sakaki quietly observed Keita Asari and Musashi Strasberg. The blue mold connected to the audio transmitter — the means by which the two boys had listened to the conversations within the hot springs — slithered its way back into his body. "So...what did you hear from your dear sister?" he asked, sitting upon a fallen log.

"...she feels trapped," growled Musashi. "She still has to fight..."

"Even if her circumstances seem better...and more pleasant...Mana-neesan, Big Sis, and Little Sis are stuck doing what Tokita would be having them to do anyway..." The boy, whose timidity was fading day by day, couldn't help but scowl. "...to the point where she thinks it might be better to leave us alone..."

"Misguided altruism, driven by fear," explained Takaya, as he handed the audio transmitter over towards Jin Shirato. The mold from the hot springs was still making its long trek back. "Fear over her lack of control, fear that her own power won't be enough to make a difference where it counts..."

Musashi snarled, rising to his feet. "Then what's the point of showing us all of this?!" The past weeks had been spent observing various aspects of human society from afar, in all of its wretchedness; swept from the idyllic memories spent wandering the countryside as proverbial nomads, the two boys had been shown a world driven by cold calculus and hot irrationality. "You trying to make us feel hopeless? That we can't change anything?!"

Jin snorted. "Power means nothing if you're not willing to use it."

"Indeed," concurred Takaya with a knowing smile. "Power is the ultimate arbiter...if you have more power than another, you can determine the fates of those with less power. However, that means nothing if you lack conviction." The last of the mold slipped back in through his fingers, even as the veins in his chest throbbed. "People are capable of justifying so much of their own actions, cloaked in self-righteousness...but I prefer to cast away those foul falsehoods, and cling to simplicity: to live every single moment according to my own will, without thought for what others will think. Your sister, trapped by the concerns of society, feels unable to cast aside everything to come and save you..."

"...but I don't blame her for feeling that way," whispered Keita.

"Indeed; she is but a child, much like you. But the circumstances by which she attained her power, the humans who gave it to her, and the institutions which force her down a path not of her own choosing...are they not blameworthy?"

"...of course they are," hissed Musashi. "But what are we supposed to do about it?"

Jin snorted. "To make a choice, obviously." Rising to his feet, the man adjusted his glasses, tucking the transmitter under his arm. "I'll be making preparations for Sunday." Without another word, he vanished into thin air.

"...and what's our choice?" asked Keita, looking back towards Takaya.

The young man chuckled. "That is something that I cannot decide for you; I can certainly provide you the keys to power...and you've demonstrated a willingness to stare the reality of death in the face." Standing up, he said, "you've seen the power that the Angels have granted me...a power that has allowed me to protect you, and to do many things. Humanity and the Angels are both caught in an existential war...so my choice would have me branded as a traitor to my species. And yet, you've seen quite well just how much our species is worth...isn't that right?"

Musashi and Keita looked uncertainly at each other.

"I will give you until the next new moon to decide: eight days from now. If you wish to try and return to humanity...then I will let you go, for there's nothing you can do to me. But if you wish to lay waste to humanity, and join the Angels...if you wish to enact vengeance on a diseased society that would command mere children to fight for its survival, while so many adults bask in safety...then I will finally bring your Shadows to you, and provide the means of obtaining greater power." Placing his hands on their shoulders, he added, "you do not have to decide right now. It is a momentous decision, worthy of much thought."

The young boys grimaced, instincts warring with their passions...but they nonetheless nodded.

Without another word, Takaya and the two children disappeared into the Metaverse.

xxxx

"...I thought hot springs were supposed to be rejuvenating," remarked Sojiro Sakura upon their return to his residence. The smell of curry wafted from the kitchen. "There were more leftovers than expected today, so it's curry again for dinner."

"No complaints here," remarked Ryuji. "Junpei, Ken, and I are probably going to be making calls for most of the evening, so you can just put our share in the fridge. We're still kind of full from eating at the onsen anyhow."

"Calls, huh?" Sojiro's expression was set into a grim expression. "I suppose it wouldn't have anything to do with that explosion that everyone heard, would it?"

"Probably best not to wonder," said the freelancer, leaning on his cane for emphasis.

"...fair enough. Just don't drag any trouble into my home."

With those words said, the three adults of the Hakone Caravan headed outside so they could speak without disturbing anyone else; the teens (save Shinji, who had meandered off towards his room), now all dressed in plain yukatas, were all gathered around the television while Sojiro went about cleaning up in the kitchen. Some game show starring professional wrestlers was playing at the moment. "...so what exactly is the game?" asked Mana, who was absentmindedly combing Mayumi's hair by her request. Yamagishi, for her part, had Enkai-chan resting in her lap as she stroked the Scottish Fold's fur.

"...I think they're being rated by how fabulous their poses are," analytically said Kensuke.

"...huh. Weird."

Toji shook his head. "I can kinda see it. The cooler the pose, the better, right? I mean, that Featherman show you always watch is all about that, right?"

"...fair enough," remarked Mana, a thoughtful expression coming to her face.

"SO," suddenly said Ren Amamiya, almost booming. The four young teenagers looked over their shoulders at their senpai, whose arms were crossed. "You all went to an onsen, I hear."

"Yes. It was almost a shame that you didn't come along...but since there were Ghosts and terrorists involved, maybe it was a good thing you didn't," sheepishly admitted Mayumi.

"Indeed...but I'm curious if there were any...shenanigans." The way he said that word, it was almost like a curse.

The way he just stared with intent at Toji and Kensuke actually made the two boys start sweating. "Uh...and by shenanigans you mean...?" cautiously asked Kensuke.

"I think you 'teenage boys rife with hormones' know exactly what I mean." They way the duo's eyes flickered almost bashfully towards Mana and Mayumi was confirmation enough to Amamiya. "Flushed faces, guilty expressions; so there were shenanigans!"

"Dude, are you really gonna make us talk about it in front of em'?!" exclaimed Toji out of primal terror.

"It's a tradition, or so I've been told." Amamiya pushed his glasses against his nose. "Call me curious, but I'd like to know about the collateral damage."

True to form, Mana answered completely factually. "Well, as far as the hot springs go, I broke down the dividing wall with my axe while killing a Ghost. But that's about it." With a lackadaisical gesture in Kensuke and Toji's direction, she added, "I wanted to ask those two if they were okay, but Yamagishi dragged me away before I could even say anything."

Mayumi, for her part, impulsively lowered her head. "Mana-san...you don't have to talk about it..."

Ren Amamiya, being the older and wiser senpai, read between the lines immediately. "...so you mean to tell me that you two actually witnessed..."

"Not intentionally!" interrupted Toji.

"And there was still a lot of steam!" interjected Kensuke, a look of panic growing across his face.

"...and you didn't get any kind of physical retribution...whatsoever?"

The sheer disbelief in Amamiya's voice must have sparked something in Mayumi, since she sheepishly added, "um...well, Mana-san's the one who broke down the wall, so...it wouldn't be fair to attack them for something that wasn't their fault...I mean, life's not supposed to be like a romantic comedy manga, you know? Even if some parts would be easier if it were..."

Ren stared. And stared. And stared.

At last, he sank to his knees, a look of pure despair coming to his face. "...the Fist of Justice...was so cruel...and without mercy...!"

As the high school student began grumbling into the floor with a vacant expression, Toji looked with confusion towards Kensuke. "...any idea what that's all about?"

"Not a clue. But that's not a scab I would pick at for all the money in the world." Almost as an afterthought, he glanced back towards the two girls. With great hesitance, he said, stumbling over his words, "u-um...w-well...no hard f-feelings, I hope...?"

Mayumi's face was red. "It's...n-not like you'd make a habit of that...so...no...not this time, Aida-san..."

Kensuke's sigh of relief was palpable. Crisis averted!

Toji, for his part, decided to try and be 'helpful.' "Well, your abs still looked pretty good, Mana-san."

"TOJI," hoarsely choked Kensuke, his face going pale with absolute terror.

"What? The girls know we looked at them now, so I might as well compliment them! What if they thought that we thought they looked ugly or somethin'? Cause they ain't!"

Kensuke sputtered, "well yeah, obviously, but you can't just say it out loud like that!"

Mana, missing all of the subtext, simply nodded. "Thanks." Looking down at Mayumi, she asked, "hey, Yamagishi; do I compliment them back or something? I don't know if this is part of onsen 'etiquette' or not, cause' Big Sis never told me."

Mayumi's face was buried in her hands, which stifled the noises of sheer embarrassment slipping past her lips.

Toji, sensing a change in mood, puffed himself up. "Well, if you're gonna compliment me in return, I'd like to think my pecs are pretty muscular for a young man~"

Kensuke nearly sank into his chair, utterly mortified. "Oh gods why is this happening...make it stop..."

Mana shook her head. "I've seen better. Musashi-neesan, definitely. Keita-neesan...maybe? He was always better at endurance drills..."

Toji's ego promptly deflated. "Ah...I see..."

Kensuke and Mayumi simply wallowed in their mutual embarrassment and refused to say anything else. Mana, seeing that no one else was talking, and utterly ignorant of the hormonal awkwardness that had been set off amongst her three peers, went back to watching the game show. "...how is that guy stretching so far without tearing his hamstrings?" she idly asked aloud.

("They have no idea how good they've got it," murmured Ren to himself, utterly in disbelief by the conversation that had just transpired. "They have no idea...")

xxxx

Shinji Ikari, having unknowingly sidestepped the discussion of hot spring shenanigans entirely, found himself sitting on the edge of the engawa, staring at a sky that was pregnant with dark clouds and distant rain. The various cats were already beginning to make for hiding places, including a few who simply approached his presence underneath the covered outdoor porch. It seemed that at least one of the tabbies remembered him, judging by how it was nonchalantly rubbing against his back.

How funny, that a cat of all things would have a better memory than he did. Gazing at the cello (his mother's old cello) by his side, the mystery of his past here (or, to be precise, his utter lack of meaningful recollection), and the fact that Takaya Sakaki — of all people! — somehow knew about it...or, at the very least, the cause.

Somehow, he had a feeling it had something to do with Shogoki...with Evangelion. What...what IS Eva...?

The Beast loomed large.

"Why seek to know that which you already understand?"

Its colors were his own.

"We are BOUND, you and I...forever, and ever..."

Sighing, he glanced at his phone, which was displaying the most recent text log from HEROD.

HEROD: SUPPOSE SOMEONE YOU KNEW WAS KIDNAPPED; THEIR LOCATION IS UNKNOWN, AND YOU DO NOT KNOW IF THEIR KIDNAPPER INTENDS TO RANSOM THEM OR CAUSE BODILY HARM.
HEROD: HOW WOULD YOU ACT?
HEROD: WOULD YOU CHARGE AHEAD TO RESCUE THEM WITHOUT HESITATION; WAIT FOR REINFORCEMENTS *OR* ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BEFORE ACTING; OR LET SOMEONE MORE QUALIFIED AND CAPABLE ATTEMPT TO SAVE THEM?

Perhaps it was his uncertainty with regards to his own situation, but he felt somewhat petulant with his response...because if there was one thing he was certain of, it was that if he was capable of acting with regards to someone else, then he would act. Thus, with a burst of determination, he confidently typed.

S. Ikari: I would rescue them.
HEROD: ELABORATE.
S. Ikari: because I have the power to do so
HEROD: AND IF THE KIDNAPPER WERE TO RESIST WITH DEADLY FORCE?
S. Ikari: wy yould that change anyting

Urgh. Typos. He vowed to master texting eventually!

HEROD: THIS RUNS CONTRARY TO A PRIOR ANSWER.
HEROD: WHERE YOU ESTABLISHED THAT IN RESPONSE TO A HOSTILE SHADOW WHERE REINFORCEMENTS WERE IMPOSSIBLE, YOUR FIRST INSTINCT WAS TO RUN INSTEAD OF NEGOTIATE OR FIGHT.
S. Ikari: not the same situation though?
S. Ikari: the Shadow fight just involved me
HEROD: AND THE KIDNAPPED PERSON THAT YOU KNOW IS SUFFICIENT TO CHANGE THE CALCULUS, THEN?
S. Ikari: why wouldn't it?

Because in the grand scheme of things...he found himself comfortable admitting that he placed the people within his life (well, most of them) over his own welfare...because they helped give him value, and purpose, and meaning. Without them, what worth did his power even have?

HEROD: WHEN THE WELFARE OF OTHERS IS INVOLVED, THE RISK PROFILE CHANGES.
HEROD: AND YOUR ANSWER IS CONSISTENT WITH A PRIOR QUERY REGARDING YOUR CHOICE OF THE UNBREAKABLE SWORD.
HEROD: NAMELY, THAT YOU WOULD TRUST IN YOUR OWN POWER.

With a pensive frown, he quickly added,

S. Ikari: i'm not so sure my power is strictly my own

Because if it were just him...if it was just for his own sake, then the thought of wielding Evangelion echoed with an instinctive dread. Yes, he mentally resolved; were it not for the people in his life, he doubted he would have wanted to wield Evangelion at all.

HEROD: CLARIFICATION ATTAINED.
HEROD: POWER AND THE WILLINGNESS TO USE IT ARE DISTINCT, IN YOUR MIND.
HEROD: THIS IS USEFUL DATA.
HEROD: WE WILL PROVIDE FURTHER INQUIRY SOON.

And thus it was over.

PILATE's question...well, he still wanted to think about that one.

Sighing, he put the phone away, picking up the cello. Without thinking of any particular piece, he simply began to play: improvising the motions of the bow as he ran it across the strings. The sound was somber, almost sad...and yet there was an underlying core of rigidity beneath it all: a tone that evoked a quiet river that nonetheless carried great force.

He continued to play until the rain finally arrived, at which point he finally retired for the night. He fell asleep to the sound of rushing water and the crashing of droplets against old wood...

xxxx

Sitting atop the roof of Sakura's house, Minako Arisato sat quietly underneath the rain. She was barely present: enough to hear, but not enough for the rain to actually touch.

The One Who Sat Upon the Throne was...vexed.

"There are familiar individuals moving about...but their fates seem variable."

They scowled out of irritation.

"Who is acting with such impunity?"

This whole turn of events was intolerable.

"Hmm...would resetting the timeline be worth it? Would Ikari's power be left untouched...?"

There was no way of knowing, alas. How infuriating.

"...patience. You have waited this long...all of the players will show themselves, if you wait long enough..."

Minako remained silent, holding position.

(A hidden part of her heart of hearts was darkly satisfied at her gaoler's frustration.)

xxxx

Meanwhile, in the outskirts of the city of Okayama, a certain bus rolled up to a hotel.

Akihiko Sanada stepped out, looking with excitement at his fellows from Hakone Academy Junior High's Boxing Club. "Okay everyone, I gotta say I'm proud of all we've accomplished so far! Quite a few of us had made it past the preliminaries; tomorrow, the Okayama Summer Smash will finally get to the fun part!"

As the club captain continued his rousing speech, Kaworu Nagisa stared up at the sky with an enigmatic smile. The tournament had been proceeding swimmingly since Monday, but it had thus far been focused on weigh-ins, spars, preliminary matches, and inspections by visiting managers and scouts from professional boxing gyms throughout the nation (with not a few foreigners participating as well). Tomorrow would focus on quarter-final and semi-final matches, while Saturday would have the finals; all told, the tournament would wrap up just in time to free the amateur athletes to observe the closing ceremonies of the Olympics on Sunday.

Hmm...I believe my roommates are within the prefecture, currently. He wondered if they would be amenable to visiting?

In fact, it sounded like the key to a wondrous time!

xxxx

Meanwhile, on an entirely separate bus carrying students from a school in Yamanashi Prefecture, one student — a second year in high school — sat with hands stuffed in his pockets, all the way in the back.

For reasons related to logistics, all schools participating in the Okayama Summer Smash had reserved a single hotel months in advance. Seeing as how there were easily hundreds and hundreds of participants, it was only reasonable, to help simplify the organization.

The young man, whose brown hair bore streaks of red dye (a supposed dress code violation, though it's not like he'd ever given a damn), had already taken his pound of flesh during the spars and preliminaries. The next two days were doubtless going to be even bloodier.

Just the way he liked it.

Deep within his mind, his patron spoke with Might.

"ENJOY YOUR RECREATION WHILE YOU CAN."

Zeruel's eyes flashed.

"IT WILL SOON BE TIME TO MAKE YOUR PUBLIC DEBUT."

Finally, thought Sho Minazuki with a toothy grin, one that caused his fellow Boxing Club mates to instinctively back away out of primal dread. Was getting irritated by Strega keeping me in the wings...was starting to get the urge to go a-stray-ga. Chuckling at his own pun, the young man contented himself with waiting for just a bit longer.

xxxx

END OF 8/6/2015

xxxx

Author's Note: The second Hot Springs scene in P5 Strikers left such a bad taste in my mouth that I HAD to do a different take on the 'Persona Hot Springs Scene'. (Of course, this means I'm contractually obligated to have a second one for whenever Asuka finally joins the 'party.' :V )

So, let's summarize what happened:

- Shinji's dream at the beginning stumbled upon Rei's own memories of P1/P2 stuff...which, as advertised, is different from what happened 'canonically.' In like manner, Rei pondered another memory of her past involving that story. Interesting~
- Shinji's concern about his memories kicked into high gear with regards to his musical talents.
- Asuka got her butt kicked by the Pope. (And boy, isn't THAT a sentence.)
- Slice of Life stuff featuring Kensuke with the A.T. Agents, Toji and Mana with Sojiro, and Mayumi wth cats!
- Shinji's Hierophant Social Link with Fuyutsuki reached Rank 5.
- We have a Hot Springs Scene where the boys didn't get beat up!
- We have a Hot Springs Scene featuring girls with sad times. :(
- We have a Hot Springs Scene that got crashed by Strega! (And we also got certain names thrown out about the rest of Ryuji's old team from his days as an A.T. Agent: Kashiwagi, Ushimaru, Chouno, and Hiraguchi)
- Takaya pulls his 'charismatic death cult leader' shtick with some level of success on Mana's brothers. This can only end well.
- We have Ren bewailing the unfairness of ATLUS's writers...er, I mean, life. Yes. Life.
- Shinji's Determination Social Stat ranked up from 2 (Stubborn) to 3 (Dogged)
- Kaworu Nagisa and Sho Minazuki (the latter of whom hasn't been seen 'on-screen' since the Atlanta mission involving Shinji, Rei, and Asuka from July) are wanting to be plot-relevant again!

/this summer vacation keeps getting longer
/HELP