Note: I want to say that I have cut some corners during this chapter, but I did it in places where it would be okay. Are we good now? (Who am I asking that?) Enjoy the chapter.
9/2 wed, Iwatodai dormitory, lounge, Morning
"Man. I'm bored," I yelled out loud after a yawn. "Shush!" "Sorry!" I was sitting on the couch with Yukari and Shizuka on our day off and with nothing to do... The school was closed for today due to what happened yesterday, and also for the number of students that were injured. Minako went to the hospital to visit Makoto; that guy had a lot more injuries than what we were able to see. It made me think, "What happened to him"? So overall, things went bad...
"*Sigh* What should I do?" "How about you go somewhere with your girlfriend," Shizuka suggested. "Great idea, but the stick on that road is Fuuka went to Natsuki's, so that's an out...?" My mind was trying to find out what the hell to do...
Pip-pip* *Pip-pip* I suddenly heard my phone going off. I flip it open. "Hello?" "This is Akihiko." "Hey, what can I do for you today?" "I need you to meet me at the Iwatodai strip mall." "Why for?" "...Were gonna be getting an old member back." "Really? I'll be down there in a moments notice!"
I hung up on the call and I jumped off the couch... "Welp, looks like I have something to do for today." "Where are you going," Yuka-chan asked while painting her nails. "To the strip mall. You want anything?" "No, I'm good."
I left the dorm without any delay to meet up with Kio...
Iwatodai strip mall, Morning
Kio and I were waiting for the old member -Shinjiro Aragaki- to come out of the beef bowl place...
"Huh, this shit again...? You're getting on my nerves!" The person that came out of the restaurant had this tough look to him; an aloof look to him as well. "The situation has changed. Sorry, but this time I'm not asking." "What?" Kio shows him the briefcase in his hand. "This belongs to you. We have a new enemy. They are Persona-users like us." "Yeah, so what?" "What do you mean so what," I stated after thinking that it would be best. "Aki, who is this?" "He's Kei Kazuki. He's the Persona-user I told you about." "Oh, the one that can summon without an Evoker." "I am, and these enemy Persona-users are a big problem!" "Like I said: so what?" "People could get hurt because of these guys. Can you really turn a blind eye to that?" "Why shouldn't I?" This guy... "Tch, sounds like a chicken to me, Kio. Even a KID decided to fight with us."
Out of nowhere, Shinjiro grabbed me. "Hey, Shinji, calm down!" "Let me get something straight: I ain't no coward! And also, what kid?" "I won't tell." His grip got tighter. "...Not until you join!" When I thought he was gonna punch me, he instead lets me go. "What a pain in the ass! Fine, I'll join." "Yes!" I pumped my fist into the air.
"*Sigh* Is my room vacant?" "Yeah." "Good..." Shinji looked at me again. "Let me ask you something." "What?" "Why are you fighting for?" Obviously for Fuuka and everyone else, but the real reason is that I have no choice. "For someone I love." "Hmm. That's a sappy reason." "Hey, I'll have you know I am also doing this because of how badass I am!" "Huh... Well, you do your thing and I'll do mine..."
He began to walk away from us...
"Man, you could have gotten hurt if you had pushed him any further." "Sorry, but he kind of pissed me off," I said nonchalantly "Heh, I didn't know you can get angry." "Of course I can."
I smelled something good coming from the wild duck. "Hey, you wanna get something to eat?" "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to get something to eat." "...To wild duck!"
Iwatodai strip mall, Wild duck, morning
I was chowing down on some of the wild duck burgers. "Meh, his uood!" "Um, can you swole first?" "Sorry!" I swallowed all the food in my mouth...
"Ah, that was good!" "Hey, about what happened earlier." "You mean with Shinji?" "Yeah. He's not a bad guy, it's just... He holding down his own potential." "No kidding... By the way, why did he quit?" "..." He didn't say anything when I asked... "I see, sorry for asking." "No, it's okay..." Shinjiro Aragaki... That guy seems like he seen some stuff, but I guess I shouldn't ask though...
"Kei, I have a question to ask you." "Shoot." "Why did you go berserk during the fifth full-moon?" "I don't know what your-" "...Don't play dumb! You lost control of yourself and nearly killed Minako and Aigis." Shit, I don't have an excuse for this. I could tell the truth. "Well, I don't know how it happened, but I felt a violent urge pave over my brain. The next thing I know, I was in bed with a big headache." "Hmm..." Did he buy it...? "Huh, I guess that checks out." Whew, that was close. "Well now, Kio, let me ask you a question: why did you get into boxing?" "The answer to that question is not for the sport, but so I can learn how to fight." "Why?" "...I just didn't want to feel powerless ever again."
Akihiko had a pained look on his face. In a way, I feel what he means. "..." "Hey, I have another question." "What is," I asked with an eyebrow raised. "Um, how do you talk to a girl normally?" "Whoa, the boxing champion wants to make some moves." "No, i-it's not like that!" "Then why do you want to know how?" "Well..."
A minute later...
"AHAHAHAH! NO FRICKIN WAY!" "This is humiliating!" "Don't worry, it's not that bad! *Snicker*"
Kio kept trying to tell me to brush it off but it was just too funny to ignore...
Pip-pip* *Pip-pip* "Huh... It's Mitsuru, she needs us to get back to the dorm." "Why for." "Urgent meeting." "Alright, just let me finish this and..." "No time, come on." Kio grabbed me by the hoodie and started dragging me. "No, wait, the food!" "You're good!" "No, I'm not!" I felt tears rolling down my cheeks at that moment.
Iwatodai dormitory, command room, evening
We were sitting, waiting for Ikutsuki to come in now.
Door opening* "Sorry for the wait, I was getting something straightened." "What is this meeting for," Shizuka asked with a hint of annoyance. "Well, as some of you know, the traitor in the Kirijo group has been running free for quite a while now." "A traitor," Ken asked. "Yes Amada, there was a traitor." "Was? Did you catch him," Ken pointed out. "Why yes, we did..." Really! That makes me worried about Shizuka... "But, unfortunately, when we found him, he was dead." This came as a shock to the rest of us except Shizuka. "How did he die," I questioned. "He was shot in the heart." "This, however, was a shame. I needed him to tell us about the other Persona-users." "Freat not Mitsuru. I like to add something else to the this." "What is it Mr. Chairman?" "Well...this concerns Kazuki." "What about me?" "When you were trapped in Tartarus with Yamagishi, you said you were attacked by a Persona-user, yes?" "Yeah, why?" "Did you ever question how they knew you were in there?" "...I have." "And I was told by Mitsuru that you were displaying a strange energy." Shit, I forgot she can sense energy levels too! "Oh, I guess it was due to adrenalin, huh?" "But that doesn't make sense," Mitsuru included herself in this. "I can't explain it either, but when whenever I fight, I just feel more powerful than usual." Mitsuru didn't ask anything else about my "sudden power boost". I really wasn't lying, but at the same time, I was...
"Then let me ask this: why do they attack you the most," Ikusuki asked a question I had no answer to. "I don't know?" "Surely there must be a reason why." "Well, I don't know, all right!" "I see. Also, Shizuka, may I ask you something?" "And that is...?" "Where did you come from Shizuka? Why are you here?"
This is bad. Shizuka was put on the spot by Ikutsuki...!
"I'm here because was invited. I am fighting for my own reasons. Does that satisfy you?" "Yes...for now."
Ikutsuki clapped his hands together. "Meeting adjourned, people. However, Aigis, I need to stay for a moment." "Understood."
We all left Aigis and Ikutuski in the command room by themselves... If I didn't know any better, I'd say that he was suspicious of Shizuka... And if so, she needs to be careful.
"Kei, right?" I heard Shinjiro talking to me. "Yeah." "You looked very suspicious during the meeting." "Oh, I did?" "Yeah, and that Shizuka girl looked rather calm for what was being said in there." "Well, I've always been that calm." "Really... Whatever, it's none of my business. But if you two are playing with a fire you can't control, then you should stop."
And with that, Shinjiro left. Did he see right through us!? "Kazuki, we need to be careful for now on. You need to keep your shadow-mog a secret." "What about you?" "You don't need to worry about that, just worry about yourself." "That's kind of hard to do." "*Sigh* Just don't let anything slip, okay?" "Gotcha!" I gave her a thumbs up. She put her hand to her face and sighed.
9/5 Sat, Paulownia mall, Dark Hour
All of SEES was in the mall, looking for the next shadow; well almost all of us, Jun wasn't here. I know he wouldn't miss this for the world... Finding this shadow was giving me a headache trying to figure out where this shadow was. Even Fuuka was having a hard time finding it. After a couple of minutes of searching, we found it. "Finally, let's go!" "Kazuki, the team?" "Ken, Akihiko, and Shinjiro." "I really get to fight," Ken asked with some excitement. "Of course, since we're going to be fighting something that can manipulate the electricity, it would only make sense if I bring people who aren't affected by it much." "Why not take Shizuka then," Mitsuru pointed out. "Because, I want Shinji to stretch his legs, and I want to see if Ken can handle himself." That sounded like something Shizuka would say. (Am I becoming more like her?) "Hey, what if the kid gets hurt," Shinjiro asked with a more concerned voice than he usually has...
"No, it's okay senpai, I want to help." "You sure?" "Absolutely." Shinjiro didn't say anything else and just moved to the door. "What you waiting for, let's do this!" We all followed along behind Shinji. "Um, Kazuki-senpai." "Yeah, Ken?" "Thank you for choosing me for this fight," He announced his gratitude as he bowed. "Aw, geez, kid; you're making me blush... But, you're welcome." "I won't let you down!" "You can do that by not dying." "...Of course, I won't die... Not until I-" "Come on, Ken." "Huh, of sorry, senpai! Let's go!
...
We went inside of the nightclub and found the shadow. It had taken the form of a bunch of wires and cables jumbled up together. "So, this is it, huh?" Ken lapped his spear on top of his shoulder. "Yeah, this what they typically look like." "Well, this should be fun!" Shinjiro put his ax to his shoulder. "Oh, it will be," Kio said, excitedly putting on his gloves. "Ken: healing! Shinjiro: go all-out! Akihiko: Debuff its defense and speed, and heal if needed!" "What about you," Shinjiro asked with curiosity. "What do you think? Kick its ass!" "Heh, fine by me, just don't get us killed!"
Akihiko and Shinjiro put their Evokers. "Skeith!" "Castor!" *Bang* "Polydeuces!" *Bang* Castor looked like Polydeuces except it has a horse...
"Fatal end!" The hooves of Castor's horse slammed down on the shadow. The shadow gave out a screech and hit Castor with a piercing attack, destroying the Persona. "Tough son of a bitch!" Skeith was gonna use Gigantic fist against it, but not before Akihiko used a debuff on it. "Rakunda!" The shadow had a lower defense now. Skeith now had hit the shadow in the head and I can tell that it did massive damage. "Kazuki-kun, that was amazing!" "I know!" The shadow shot a lightning bolt at me. I used Kuroumi to deflect the attack. "We're gonna have to pull out all the stops to kill this thing," Shinjiro said while summoning his Persona. "I know and we will!"
For what seemed like more than minutes, we punched, slashed, and destroyed wires. But the shadow seemed like it was getting started. It let out another horrific screech and shot cables at us. "DODGE!" Everyone seemed to have dodged, but Ken, on the other hand, didn't have enough time to do so... "AHH!" "KEN!" It wrapped him with wires, and now, it was doing something else. The light bulbs on its back were lighting up. "Kazuki-kun, I have a bad feeling about those light bulbs! Save Ken-kun before they all light up!" "On it!"
We all tried to make the thing let him go, but when we tried to go near it, the wires would push us back. And this was bad, the bulbs were almost full. I don't know what will happen, but I can't let it happen!
"Then use me." "Huh?" Everything went still for a moment. "Use my power, it's your only hope." "What are you, who are you?" "Does it matter? All that matters is that you use my power to destroy this thing in front of you!" This voice was getting louder and louder. "Or maybe...you're still rejecting this power still?" "What are you talking about!?" "...Why do you need an answer? Just do as I ask! Use this power to the fullest; enjoy it!" "I don't need to, I can just-" "Just what? ...You don't use me, that kid will die, and you aren't strong enough to beat it on your own. Hehehe, so just use me already!" The voice in my head got louder and louder, and I couldn't take it anymore. I used Shadow-mog. The wires tried to stop me but I was too fast for them to hit. "HA!" I cut the wires that had Ken and he dropped to the floor. "You're next," I said menacingly. "ARGGHHH!" It shot out a giant lightning bolt at me. *Bam* "Kazuki-kun!" The dust cleared and I was left unscratched. "How did hell did he survive that!?" "I don't know?" I looked at my sword. It had a white almighty energy. "Shiro stream." I slashed horizontally. The shadow lets out a sharp cry as its head was coming off...
"Damn, what was that move?" "It was called Ocean's stream, but it was never white..."
I walked over to the guys but not before deactivating Shadow-mog. "Is Ken alright?" "Yeah, he's just fine." "Good." I hoisted him up to my back. "I don't sense the enemy anymore. Well done everyone..." "All of us...?" "Is there a problem," I asked Shinjiro. "N-no, nothing..." "Oh, everyone, I sense Junpei-kun back at the dorm." We all nodded to each other and walked out of the nightclub...
Later that night, we found that Junpei was taken captive by an unknown Persona-user -Chidori. She was apprehended in the end and was later taken to the hospital to be treated there and to be interrogated. However... Later that night, however, when I thought I can finally get some shut eye for the night, Fuuka came up to me looking very timid for some reason.
"Kazuki-kun" "What's up?" "Well, um... There was something weird about tonight." "What do you mean?" "...What I mean is that there was a weird presence coming from the nightclub; it felt...evil." Evil!? I-is it really? I mean, I guess it would be... "And the point I'm getting to is that it was coming from you. Kazuki-kun, is there something you're not telling me?" "Of course not." "Are you sure? Because your mental state skyrocketed." "Huh, I guess I was just concerned for Ken." "I guess, but when we were walking back to the dorm, you had a look in your eye; it was fear." "I don't know what you are talking about" I was lying outright to her, and to be honest, I don't expect to get away with it... "It wasn't only once but many times before." "Oh...really." "Yes. There's something you're not telling me; what is...?"
I might as well tell her the truth. It was inevitable... "The thing is-" "Why tell her the truth? Would she really understand?" This thing in my head came back again and everything froze. "What good would that do~" "No, she deserves to know!" "Great idea, but let me tell you this: will she look at you the same? Are you confident in that? Because I bet she'll look at you like you are some sort of freak. Can you stomach the thought? Because anyone can lie; you've been doing it ever since you arrived here." "I didn't want to admit, but, this thing had a point. What if I do tell her, what will she think... I-I just can't take that chance. "So, just keep lying, and lying, and lying..."
"Kazuki-kun?" I snapped out of my trance and faced Fuuka. I took her hand... "I swear to you that nothing is wrong." "Are you sure?" "Yep," I said with a positive voice, but it's not real... "You must be tired, Fuuka. You should get some rest..." "What about you?" "I'm tired as hell!"
I laid myself on myself on one side of the bed. That night I couldn't sleep, this new thing that was speaking in my head was something new... It didn't feel as violent as the shadow, but it felt more malicious than anything. ...It honestly made me scared than anything else, and I think that thing has something to do with my Shadow-mog... This stuff was starting to get more complicated...
9/6 Sun, Iwatodai Dormitory, Kazuki/Fuuka's room, Evening
It was a Sunday morning and Fuuka and I were doing jack-all but watching TV and reading manga... Well, she was just studying. "Kazuki-kun, do you want to go somewhere?" "I do, but I don't know where we should go." "But it would be better than sitting around here all day, right?" "Yeah, I guess you're right..."
I heard the door opening while I was flipping channels. "Kei." "Sup, M.G." "You need to come downstairs." "Why for," I asked while I was putting on my sneakers. "You'll see..." M.G. left after saying that. "Well, looks like we have something to do." Fuuka put on a pair of shoes and we made our way to the lounge.
Iwatodai Dormitory, lounge
When we reached the lounge, I thought my jaw hit the floor, because I saw a very familiar blue haired guy standing inside of the dorm for the first time in a long time. "Well, look who returned to use in one piece." "Kei, Fuuka, how are you two doing?" "Heh, I should be asking you that. How are you, man?" I went up to him to give to pat him on the shoulder. "I think I'm fine for the most part, but that doesn't matter right now. I want to know what happened while I was away." "Well, we wanted to ask you some questions too." "I see, well, I'll tell you as much as I know..."
...
"So, this is all I know. I was inside of a tower apparently, and in that tower, I was fighting so many horrors; demons seem to be the best way to put it. They were strong and well coordinated. So, as you can imagine I made a few too many mistakes, and in the end, I got hurt for it." "That sounds horrible," Mitsuru stated with her hand over her mouth. "Wait, was this during the Dark Hour," Fuuka asked. "I don't know. There was no way for me to tell..." "Hmm, another tower... Was it like Tartarus?" "No. From what I saw, it was floor-based like Tartarus and it would change aesthetically like it, but the big difference was they weren't just corridors." "Huh?" "The first one was like an old ruin, then the second part of the tower was a desert... I was able to make it through the first one I mentioned, but the desert area is where I finally fell. After that, I was in a prison. They fed me, and for some reason, I felt a strange presence roaming around the, but it didn't disturb me too much." "This is surreal," I said while I was stretching my legs... This energy he was talking about, it must've been Nyarlathotep, no doubt...
*Knock* *Knock* "What the?" "Is there someone coming over," Makoto questioned. "No, there isn't," Mitsuru told Makoto as if she was confused herself. (She also said that with a hint of caution.) "I'll answer it." I got up from the couch and made my way over to the door. I opened the door with a cautious demeanor. *Door creaks open* "Hello, I-" "Huh!?" The person standing in front of me...! "Oh, Kei, long time no see." "Naoya!" "Sup."
I felt a jolt running through my legs. Then all together, I leaped at Naoya. "Whoa, Kei!" *Crash* "Kazuki-kun!" I was on the floor with one leg hanging on the railing separating the street and the sidewalk. "Ah, that hurts Kei!" "Hehe, sorry about that..."
Iwatodai Dormitory, Minako's room
"..." "So, is this understood? There is no other choice for you and you know that now." "..." "Hmph, without the bite in your voice you're kind of boring..."
The dark god left my room, leaving me all alone... "There is no escape from this... There is no hope..."
I'm really don't have much to say. Please follow the story or leave a review cuz that helps a lot; like how Snapple helps me to sustain my addiction for it. (That actually doesn't sound good...) Other than that, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and until the next chapter; see ya...