The amount of time I put into these chaps is outstanding! Anyway. I hope you guys enjoy this chap because, after this, I'll no longer make new chapters!
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Fine, I'm lying! (You guys are hard to trick!) But seriously, I do hope you guys enjoy this. Also, HAPPY NEW YEARS!
8/28 Mon, The lobby of Tartarus, Dark Hour
I was slashing at the blade M.G. kept hitting me. I was blocking against most of her attacks this far, but the only reason I was able to keep up with her was for one reason... "Shit!" "Your guard is down!" I swiped my left-hand across my face. And I felt a sudden surge of power flow through me.
*Thump* "Tch!" M.G. was in midair when she kicked at me. I blocked with my left arm.
"You lag up after you start it up! You need to react faster!" She was able to land a hit below my chin. *Thump* "UGH!" "Told you..."
I was lying on the floor, feeling a very large, throbbing pain coming from my chin.
"Damn, that hurts!" "You need to move faster." "I was!" "...Not fast enough in my perspective." I got up from the floor as I was rubbing my chin. "You seem to be getting used to 'it'." "Yeah, I'm getting used to this. And I gotta say- this is pretty cool!
I was getting used to this whole power-up thing. We called it "Shadow-transmogrification", or "shadow-mog", a shorter version for the name. It suppose to work as a passive skill to amp up a magical attack, except, I can activate it anytime, and it doesn't amp up my magic; but instead, three other states. ...While I'm in this state I can't use my Persona, because essentially, I'm wearing my Persona; so it basically merges me and the shadow together. But, that isn't the cool part. It makes my SP count a lot larger, and it also releases the limit on the amount of SP I can use to an extent. Which equals me being able to do more powerful Ocean's stream attacks And the states that increases are defense, speed, and strength... Now that I think about it, this is amazing!
"Even with all these power-ups, you still have your 'Drawback'..." Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. I have a drawback with this ability, though... I can't use it for more than five seconds. "I know and it sucks." I picked up the water bottle on the floor and I began to drink it.
"How do you feel?" "Great, why?" "...Just checking." I was waiting for M.G. to give out the next set of instructions.
"Alright, we're going home." "Really, I didn't do my normal exercises yet?" "...And would you need to do them now? We have been fighting in Tartarus lately after you fought your shadow." "Yeah, I guess your right."
I picked up my jacket, and we began to make for the exit.
"Hey, M.G., what do you think your organization is up to?" " Old." "Oh, sorry, I forgot." "Well, I don't know what they're planning, but if I were to say anything about them, it would be to step with caution..."
M.G.'s warning made a chill run down my spine. Actually, it made my body feel cold. "God, it's cold!" "...In the middle of summer?" M.G. brought up a good point. It was cold in the middle of summer. "Maybe it was just me." "Maybe so..."
I had this uneasy feeling in the pits of my stomach.
"Hey, M.G. can we head back to the dorm, now?" "Yes, let's head back." We began to walk back over to the dorm. I still had this creepy feeling around me...
8/29 Tues, Iwatodai dormitory, Kazuki/Fuuka's room
I still felt cold, even when I was in bed with Fuuka. I just felt this uneasy, cold feeling wrapped around my body. I thought it was just me but I don't think it's just me being me.
"Kazuki-kun...are you okay...?" Fuuka turned her head towards me. "Yeah, I'm fine," I replied while I still felt cold sensations going through my body. "You know when I can tell when you are lying to me." Damn, I guess she knows me too well at this point.
"*Sigh* This is gonna sound ridiculous, but I sort of...feel cold." "Huh, but it's-" "I know, I heard it from M.G. already." "Oh... But why do you feel cold then?" "...I don't know? (Maybe a bufu spell?) But I think it might be because of something else..."
I was still shivering cold. That's how I was feeling until I felt something wrap around me. "Are you warm now?" Fuuka wrapped herself around me, under the covers...
"It's a start." I was still cold, but Fuuka made things a bit warmer...
I was finally able to close my eyes peacefully... Fu-chan is a Godsend.
?, The sea of Kazuki's soul,?
I opened my eyes to find myself in my soul.
"Okay, who dragged me down here?" "...It would be me." I looked over to where the voice came from. "You seem to have grown a bit." It was Philemon!
"Yo, Philemon, long time no see!" "Hello, Kazuki, how are you?" "I'm doing great. But..." "What troubles you?"
I felt like it was cold out there, but in here, I feel okay."
"...I feel cold whenever I'm outside of this place." "Is that so..." "Yeah, but in the middle of summer, now that's weird, right?" "Bizarre indeed..."
Philemon stood there for a minute, he was pondering on what I just told him. "Well, in any case, it is good to see you again, Kazuki," Philemon said with a hand in front of himself. "You too." I shake his hand.
"You should get back to your world, now." "Aw, and here I was wanting to talk to you for a bit longer, but if you say so..." "Maybe another time." "Okay."
With the snap of his fingers, the place began to turn dark...
"Kazuki, know that I'll be here to help you on your journey from now, and until the end; till the very end..." When Philemon said that, it made me think there was more to his words than just encouraging me. But I wasn't gonna ask him right now... I just wanted to wake up without anything to bothering my conscious.
8/29 Tues, Port island station, Morning
I was standing in front of the movie theater in front of the station. I just got done watching a movie with Fuuka. We were watching a marathon of Sci-fi movies that were showing today. While we were watching, she was nerding out to the point where it was nearly impossible to do any of those cliches a guy would do on a date with a girl.
After we were finished watching all of them, she ran off to the bathroom after we got out of the theaters.
"Kei-kun, is that you?" "Huh?" I saw someone waving over towards me. It was Yukari and Minako.
"Kei-kun, what are you doing here?" "I came to see a movie with Fu-chan today." "Oh, where is she, I need to talk to her about something?" "Bathroom." Yukari went over to the station bathroom...
I looked over to Minako who looked away from me. "Minako, are you alright?" "..." "...Minako, I'm sorry about what happened to your fingers, and it won't happen again, so-" "Shut up! You're so damn annoying!" I wasn't surprised that Minako is angry; I deserve it.
"You want to know if I'm okay, then let me tell you if I'm okay! Hmm, no, I'm not okay; I have only one working eye, and my whole left hand isn't working properly due to my fingers being destroyed! But here's the kicker: the only person in this world that means a damn to me, isn't here! So as far as I am concerned; I'm not okay! So Kei Kazuki, do me one favor, just one- fuck off!"
Minako was walking towards the staircase until she turned around.
"I bet you don't even care about finding Makoto at all, do you; but if it were Fuuka, you be looking high-and-low!" "That's not-" "...Hell, maybe you won't be able to do anything about it; they would probably kill her, and you wouldn't be able to do a goddamn thing about it, and let me tell you why: you're weak! Any of those assholes can take you by themselves if they wanted to...!"
After she told me off, she went over to the exit out of the station. When she was near the exit, Yukari and Fuuka came out of the bathroom. Yukari and Minako left the station, and Fuuka came over to me.
"What happened?" "Nothing..." I felt all the words she said to me. (They hit-home...) "Hey, can we go back to the dorm, I don't feel too well." "Oh, okay... Let's head home."
While we walked back to the dorm, I didn't say anything about what Minako said to me. I didn't feel like bringing it up. I was the one who did destroy her eye and destroyed her left hand...
"(To himself) I don't care about finding Makoto, huh... That isn't true!" But what she said about me being weak... "(To himself) Nope, that isn't true! I wasn't ready the first time, but the next time, I'll kick their asses, no sweat!"
"Umm, Kazuki-kun..." "Yeah." "People are staring at us." "Huh?" I saw some people staring at me. (I think they heard me...)
?, ?,?
I was sitting in my seat with my feet on our grand table, waiting for the "boss's" stand-in to arrive. This bastard loves to keep people waiting!
"Gentlemen, I hope I didn't make you all wait too long?" Immediately after this guy opened his mouth, I jumped out of my chair. "Waiting! You had me waiting for an hour! ...I could kill you!" "Masaru, sit down," the stand-in said in a calm order, pissing me off. "Screw you! I got some beef to settle with you anyway, asshat!" "Masaru, I believe you would like what I have to say..."
I went over to him and I grabbed him by the collar of his robe. "It better be a good one." My fist had miniature explosions popping in the palm of my left hand. "It involves the Kei Kazuki child you are interested in." "...!" I let go of the son of a bitch's collar, and I went back to my seat.
"Now, the boss has informed me to give out your new directives." "What are they," the Sadao bastard asked. "You two will be transferring a prisoner to a certain location." "Where at?" "Gekkoukan high." "Why would we do that." "Quite simple: we'll be running an...interesting experiment there." The dude who said also pisses me off to a degree.
"What is this experiment?" "You'll see shortly enough..." I hate waiting, but I guess it can't be helped.
"Masaru, Sadao, I'll need your help." "What a pain in my ass!" "I must concur." "I need people that can help me move the prisoner." "Why can't you have someone else - besides me - do it for you!?" "Because I said so."
I didn't want to get into an argument with this nerd, so I just got up from my seat, and I started following Sadao, and the mad scientist - Tsuneo Toshio - to where the damn prisoner is at. This better gets me to see that "loser" again...!
9/1 Fri, Gekkuokan high, 2-E, Morning
I entered the classroom with Fu-chan and Natsu-chan. Before getting inside the class, I saw Aigis trying to hide from me (so she can spy on me) behind a few of the students... I also forgot to mention that Aigis started attending Gekkoukan as of today; all because Ikutsuki wanted to experiment with her being in a social space or whatever. Overall, she's acting like a real pain in my ass!
"Hey, doesn't it feel cold to anyone?" "Now that you mention it, I do feel cold..." Some girls in the class were mentioning how cold it was, and that alone grabbed my attention. I noticed how cold it was, too. (Again.)
"Hey, Fuuka, don't you think it's cold in here," Natsuki asked with something coming from her mouth; Her breath...!
"Natsuki did your breath just...?" "Huh, what about it?" When finished her sentence, she saw the cloud of air in front of her. "What the hell?" "*Gasp*" Fuuka gasp out of nowhere. I saw her legs shaking. "What's the matter?" "Huh!?" Before she could answer, I heard a voice echo inside of the classroom.
"Hello everyone, my name is Toshio, a man who enjoys his work... And as of now, you are trapped in this place." I was confused by what was going on. But M.G. on the other hand, she got out of her seat and ran out of the class. ...I went after her.
"Kazuki-kun, wait up...!"
Gekkoukan high, main hall, morning
I found M.G. standing in the center of the hall,
"Oi, M.G., what's wrong!? What's going on...!?" "Ah, an ex-Yatagarasu is coming to greet me? You really don't need to do that." Ex-Yatagarasu? "...Instead, you should be prepared for the change that this school is about to undergo soon." "What changes!?" "Oh, you'll see..."
A moment later, I felt a strong breeze go past us.
"Time for the experiment to begin!"
I saw crystal-like ice coming from the corners of the two other hallways. At the same time, I heard footsteps coming from the stairs behind us.
"Kazuki-kun, Shizuka-chan!" I saw Fuuka running over towards us. "Are you two alright!? "Fuuka, get out of here!" "But-" "But nothing! It's dangerous here right now; you'll be safer if you aren't anywhere near the fights..."
I saw the ice moving through the walls and the floor. And at the same time, something happened to the floor below us all...
M.G. grabbed on the store counter since it wasn't gonna fall down. But that didn't mean Fuuka and me were able to get out of the way, too.
"AHHHH!" "KAZUKI, YAMAGISHI!"
Fuuka and I were falling down a pit that could lead us to god knows where. I held Fuuka close to me so she wouldn't get hurt on impact. I use Skeith's endurance to make sure I survive the fall as well...
"Shit, this doesn't look good!" I didn't like where this was heading... "I guess I better use it!"
When I felt like we were gonna hit the ground soon, I activated my shadow-mog` so I can increase my endurance.
I don't think I will survive the fall, but I need to try anyway.
"Hang on close, Fuuka!" I held her close to me as we went down to the depths of this pitfall...