Port Island, Port island station, afternoon

"Yo, Shizuka, wanna go to the movies," I asked her. It was a couple of days after the whole frozen school incident, Shizuka and I went out to hang out for the whole day. We had gotten done with going to the manga cafe, the arcade and Chagall cafe. They were showing a new action movie that I wanted to see for a while now. Junpei wanted to go with me but the dude went without me; said he couldn't get ahold of me when it came out but the guy never called me. I would go with Fu-chan but I think she doesn't have much interest in these types of movies. But since I'm here with Shizuka I thought why not take her with me to see it.

"So we're watching a film? Can't say I'm too familiar with cinema or media entertainment in general," Shizuka stated. "You don't watch tv? Don't you have one in your room?" "I do, I just don't use it often. But in any case, if we're going to watch a movie, can we watch that one?" She pointed to a movie cover poster on the wall.

"I read reviews of it online and heard it was pretty great." "Um... I." I wanted to say no, but I didn't want to be an ass. Besides, this probably the first time she had been to the movies, I should just roll with whatever she chooses.

"Sure, let's watch that then," I said while a sigh escaped from my mouth. We had gone and bought our tickets for the movie. During the movie, she had taken quite an interesting look. As it got further down its plot, her interest turned to excitement for the conclusion to it. When the movie had ended, she had a look of satisfaction on her face.

"So, how was it for you," I asked her. "It was incredible, I knew that movies were just as great for storytelling, but that was simply incredible. The main character was portrayed as a mature person despite his age, but it wasn't in the guise of thinking he was, it was just natural for him." "Yeah, I thought he was going to be one of those dark brooding characters, but it turned out that he was cooler than I expected. Kind of reminds me of you Shizuka." "I-is that so?" I noticed she was caught a little off guard by that one. "Hey, you're blushing!" "No, I'm not." "I know what blushing is, I see a blushing beauty every morning, so you're not tricking me."

She turned away from me and went to the train station. "Wait, Shizu, I'm sorry!" We boarded the train to go back to the strip to get something to eat.

"Kazuki." "What's up?" Could we go again? I would also like to bring Yamagishi too, as well. I would love to watch something you both individually like." "Really... In that case, when we get back to the dorm, we should watch movies together, all three of us." "But how?" "You just leave that to me..."

I was calling Fuuka to set up our little movie get-together, I remember turning around and seeing Shizuka smile. It was small but it was something that had captivated me, only out of shock, but because she seemed like a different person when she was. At the time, I had wished she would smile like that more often...

The tower, FL: 3,?

"Easy, this is not how you treat a lady," Ichirou had yelled out. Our guest was squirming around in her binds. Ryota was having to deal with her swinging herself around. "Would you calm down, I can't hold onto you properly if you keep moving," Ryota complained. "Stop complaining, bulk up and be a man!" Her complaining about Ryota complaining was rather jarring considering her position. For the most part, she was talking up a storm even when she was tied up. Seeing how she worked with Shizuka, I thought she would be a bit more like her, but that was surely not the case. Although, speaking of Shizuka since we have someone that used to work with her why don't I try to find out what I can?

"Yo, Ryota, can I carry her, you should take a break," I asked him "No problem, I was getting a bit tired anyway." "Hmph, what a baby, can't even carry a lady properly," Ichirou insulted. He handed her off to me. She was lighter than I expected, lighter than Fu-chan.

"What's the matter, impressed with my weight, this is the advantages of a rice-filled diet and not being too-heavy!" "So they are flat." Her face turned from proud to sudden shock. "J-just kidding, of course. I don't want any of the other girls to feel terrible about not being nearly as weightless as me!" I looked over at Yukari and Hana, both of them knew that she was lying. Hold on, I'm getting sidetracked, I need to ask him questions about Shizuka.

"Hey, Ichirou, I need to ask you a question about Shizuka." "Oh, and what would that be?" She was still smiling but there was something about it that felt off. As if she was barely keeping calm.

"First of all, what was Shizuka like when she was here?" "Do I need to tell you? You knew her for a few months." So basically the Shizuka I've gotten to know. "Okay then, I have another question: what did Shizuka do as a Yatagarasu?" "Oh my, you know about that? Well, not a big shock, we knew she would tell you?" Were they watching her somehow?

"A Yatagarasu is a job that only goes down to three people. These people get to go outside of this tower, and outside of this world. The reason they do is to mostly do business with people that could supply us with food, weapons, and other things."

This might b the best time to ask who infiltrated the Kirijo RD lab a few months back.

"Would this include stealing Evokers from-" "Kirijo group, yep. We do business with some of them. And we only started forming a relationship with them this year, and, Shizuka was doing this while she was there playing school... But, up to a certain extent."

She wasn't being specific on who they were doing business with, better yet, it sounded like they were speaking to multiple different people. Well, at the very least I got some info I can give to Mitsu-chan.

"However, since Yatagarasu's work very close to the boss they can't just send anyone out, so they need to be put under surveillance while they carry out their missions." "What type of surveillance?" "Sorry, can't say." She easily avoided answering my question "Alright then, what about the type of mission?" "Oh, something fairly simple; killing a target." "..." "What's the matter, bro," Ko asked, seeing that I was a bit discouraged. "Hey, you, don't discourage big bro!" "Well, maybe your big bro should learn to take hard truths."

The both of them began to go off on each other. Thinking about it logically, yeah, it could be potentially possible for her to have killed someone before... No, don't let her psych you out Kazuki, get a grip! I smacked one of my cheeks with my only available hand as hard as I can.

"Alright guys, let's go! Let's go find Shizuka and then save Fu-chan! Yeah!" The group had been surprised by my sudden outburst. I felt a tinge of embarrassment since they were all looking at me. Junpei grabbed me by the shoulder. "Yeah dude, let's do it, let's save all the pretty ladies!" Ryota soon grabbed onto Junpei's shoulder. "Yes, let's march on forward fellow soldiers, let's fight with all our will power!"

We began to do a weird march as we were all linked together. We were chanting whatever was on our mind. Ichirou wasn't having the most fun with us swinging her around.

The tower, FL:?, Hifumi's lab

Hifumi had been scouring his lab for a while. He was looking for a particular item.

"Yo, Hifumi-chan, ya here!?" M was at the entranceway, acting obnoxious to catch his attention.

"What do you want M, I'm busy." "I can see that. You know, you should spruce this room, make it a tad bit homely." "How do you suppose I do that?" "Get a plant for starters." "Hmph, maybe I can make one out of you?" "Scary, wouldn't want to be too eco-friendly, would make me look like a self-entitled prick. But more on that later, what are you up to?" Hifumi went off and continued his search.

"Okay, okay, I get it, I'm not the best talking buddy, but come on, if you keep me in the dark then I can't help you, buddy." M continued to pester him, much to Hifumi's annoyance...

"Oh, while I got you Hifumi, I have a question for you." "Make it worth-" "What happened to the kids you had under your wing?" Hifumi stopped moving. This wasn't out of any sort of shock or fear, rather from surprise.

"How do you know about the children, " Hifumi asked, preparing to dodge the question "I might've read some documents on them. And don't get me wrong, I'm not here to shame you, rather I just want to satiate my curiosity." Hifumi didn't have the faintest idea of what he was able to conjure up curiosity.

"So, you just wish to understand what I did with them? Fine, I'll tell you, soon after we find what I need." "Fine, let's find whatever you're looking for." The two of them began to look for what Hifumi was looking for.

The tower: FL: 3,?

We trekked onward, fighting demons from left to right. So far, I was feeling pretty good despite the number of demons fighting us. I've been asking Ichirou about Shizuka and her time here. It was just about her job. Some of the details weren't pretty but I wanted to know everything...

"Geez, I've been talking about Shizuka for a for hours on end, I'm tired now, " Ichirou exaggerated. "Do you not like her," I asked her. "Yep, I hate her guts," She cheerfully said. "Okay, that's awkward. But why?" "Why should I tell you? Some girls need their secrets. Ask another question." My greatest question was to know how you're more girlish than Shizuka?

"All right, then tell me about you," I asked Ichirou. "Huh?" "Yeah, it's rude to not ask someone about themselves when you speak to them." "But you made fun of my... Well, I guess I'll tell you a bit. I like things that all normal girls like, fashion, worrying about my hygiene, doing makeup, watch romances (with some gore-filled shows on the side), oh, I especially love pulling pranks on people. Except for master, he would kill me if I ever did." "You have a master?" "Yeah, he's a very brilliant man. A genius researcher would be an understatement to how great he is."

Shizuka never brought up a master before. "What is his name?" "His name would be Sadao Hifumi, and don't you forget it." That was pretty easy to get out of her. She must admire him greatly. Speaking of which, I wonder what else I could learn from her?

"Hey, is there a blond-haired guy in your organization," I asked Ichirou. "Blonde hair guy? Can't say that I do... Although, I don't talk to many of the inner members. Except for Katsu, he's fun to piss off, especially when I call purple dye Masaru." "Purple? That's not his real hair color?" "Oh yeah, it's such a weird color that it stands out. Didn't you notice," she asked me as was edging close to laughing. "Now that you mention it, it does look weird," I chuckled as I thought back to his hair. I never noticed it before when fighting but it was weirdly colored. "Now you see it, " Ichirou said as she laughed along with me.

It was beginning to seem like we both came to a sort of friendly bases now, at least from the vibes I'm getting. We kept on talking about our interests and other stuff. I was able to get some more information out of her about this organization, but not much of interest.

"Is there anything else about you, " I asked Ichirou. "There are other things but there are too many, so I can't. And before you ask, Shizuka lacked interest in things. She was a pretty dull person."

To most people, it would seem that she was dull or lacked interest, but I see things differently. She; our outing together showed me that.

"She's coming!" Ichirou's expression turned serious, and after a second I had sensed something coming at Mach speed. I couldn't move out of the way, but I was able to throw Ko and Ichirou off and away from me. I've been pushed forward away from the group. I stopped my momentum with the front of my feet. I rolled to my left based on instinct. I could see who was attacking me. "Shizuka!" I turned on Shadow-mog as soon as I saw her. She didn't leave me any time to steel myself, she just came at me. I was able to see her attacks more clearly when I focused on her. I maneuvered around and away from her.

"Okay, now it's just you and-" I caught her hand that went zooming for my chest. Judging by the looks of things, she was going to pierce me through me. "Hey, that's not funny, you could've killed me like that if I didn't catch that, Shizu." I cracked a joke on the situation but it didn't seem to get a reaction out of her.

"Alright then, I guess just oughta fight then!" I kicked her back with all my strength. "I'll save you Shizuka. However, don't think I'll be going easy on you, because you sure as hell don't when we train!"

From there, we began to exchange attacks. Her hands were ripping through the air, trying to slice at my body. With speed, it made it easier for her nails to be a knife, and since that was the case, I didn't have many opportunities for a counter attack; she was giving me no chance to do so. I needed to make my own. I was watching her carefully, trying to find the moment where I can insert a few hits. When she thrust her fingers straight, I hit her in the stomach as hard as I could. When I thought I could start up my own chain of attacks she kneed me in the face. She then grabbed me by the face and threw me down to the ground. She tried to slice my neck but I had kicked her in the chin. I rolled from under her only to go back up to her. I threw a fist but she took it on and didn't wince. She then moved swiftly in front of me to deliver a gut punch. I caught her fist but she just kicked me on the side of the head instead. It had stunned me for a brief second but I was able to get back on track. At this point, both of us were just trading blows, she would take them head-on and move right past my attacks. It was turning into a stalemate for a while up until I saw Hermes get behind her. It had slammed its fist from above her. She blocked it with her arms.

"Hisoka, bind her arms!" Ryota yelled out as Hisoka threw his binds at her. They wrapped around her hands. He had pulled downward to make Shizuka from lifting Hermes' attack, it slammed down upon her. The Persona had disappeared soon after, and while I thought she was going to start attacking, the ground below her morphed into a sort of prison for her. No need to guess, that was Hana's doing.

"We got her," Ryota said. I went up to her, I was able to get a better look at her. Her eyes still held the same color, but her pupils were blank, it was as if she was asleep.

"Shizuka, it's me, Kazuki, can you hear me?" She didn't respond to me calling to her. "Ko, come here, can you see what's wrong with her?" I lifted him to her face. "Hmm, I can't find anything wrong with her, there was no tampering with her brain." "That can't be right, maybe," I said to him. "...No maybe, she's just in a self-induced trance," Ichirou responded to my confusion. "What does that mean," Junpei asked her. "*Sigh* Like I said, she's in a trance that she inflicted on herself, is there any other way to dumb it down for you," she asked Junpei. "Um, you don't have to be harsh," he replied. "Is there any way to fix it?"

It must be something similar to shadow-mog, that's the only logical reason I come up with.

"Fixing it...? I don't care to fix her, she can stay like that for all I care!" I wanted to wrangle the information out of her, but Ryota stopped me. "Calm down, she's just trying to rile you up." "But." "I know, but even if what she's saying is true, we can't say for certain that it's all true." "So, we could still help her?" "Maybe, that depends on her."

Ryota went over to her to pick Ichirou up. "Oh my, we're leaving already," she asked. "No, we're not leaving yet, we need to help Kazuki's friend. I'll only ask once, and then twice: how do we help that girl come to her senses," Ryota demanded an answer. "Nope, not helping." "All right then..." He began to shake her around like a ragdoll. He stopped to allow her to catch herself. "Now, do you want to talk?" "That was to make me talk, the hell is wrong with you!?" "Last time, is there a way to make her snap out of this trance?" Ryota slightly moved his hand, and that was enough for Ichirou. "Okay, I'll talk, just chill, please!

...

"Alright, thanks for taking off the bandages," Ichirou thanked. "Try anything all I'll end your life," Hisoka threatened. "So scary, I might cry. Now, I'll need to borrow some blood." I took Kazu-chan's arm "This is your plan, want to donate some blood?" "Yeah," he replied. "Alright, but before I do, I have to ask: why do you want to save her so badly? It won't be long before the execution, shouldn't you just abandon her and just..." He put his hand up to stop me.

"I'm going to save the woman I love from being executed, but, I'm not going to abandon my friend. Even if I saved Fuuka I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I left someone that risked their ass for me. Simple as that." "Simple, huh? Not everyone would save someone they don't know all that well, that just goes against basic survival instincts." "Listen, I don't know anything about that, all I want to do is save the people I care about is all."

That is simple, it was just far too simple. "You must be an idiot if your willing to go this far for someone?" "Maybe, but let me ask you this: why do you hate Shizuka?"

...

"I just got my reasons, that's all. Let's just get on with this already." I gave him a second to ready himself before I cut his arm open. I used the blood leaking out of his arm to Painted the ritual symbols on his left arm.

" Now...take off your shirt and jacket," I ordered him. "Huh, what for?" "Come on, it's important, and besides, who cares if you got no muscle whatsoever." He must've felt a little bit insulted because he took off his jacket and shirt immediately after. "How's this for no muscle," he asked with a proud look on his face. Ryota was nodding his head in respect, that pink cardigan girl was keeping her eyes closed. Meh, mine are better.

"Huh, so you do have some? I thought you were just bones there for a second; you seem like that type of character after all." I got done marking his chest. Now, all that's left is his head...

"Lot blood you're using for my head." "Don't worry, I'm almost done. Just a little bit more... There, done." My masterpiece was finished. "Dude," blue cap chuckled out under his breath. "What, what is it?" Pink cardigan went over to him with a pocket mirror to show him what I did.

"Ah, what the hell is this!" "Whoops, looks like I made a mistake," I "apologized" "Seriously, why the hell would she doodle on my face with my blood!?" "Sorry, sorry, it was just perfect." I saw the edgy kid laughing to himself in the back. I don't know wheater it was due to the use of the blood, or the illustrations themselves, but at least it got laughs.

"Alright, I'm seriously done. Now, focus on only yourself and Shizuka, if you stray from that you'll probably lose your consciousness somewhere in between." "Inbetween where?" "That's a minor detail, just don't think too much on it. Just relax saw and focus.

He shut his eyes once more and the blood on his body began to glow. He was doing it, he was putting his thoughts and self towards Shizuka. When he goes inside her mind it's probably going to be an uphill battle, but who knows? Maybe he'll make it work, or perhaps not...

Shizuka's soul,?

Opening my eyes there was nothing to be seen, there literally nothing in view. Was this really Shizuka's soul or did I mess up somehow?

"Hello, anyone home?" My voice echoed throughout this void. Nobody responded. I just stood around where I was until something appeared. A door, it had a grandiose design. I opened it to find myself in a hallway, it's walls made of wood as well as its floor. Stepping on it didn't seem to make an effect, rather, there was no sound from my foot at all. I walked around the corner of the hallway, it was then I saw children running around. The inhabitants of this place were all kids, laughing, playing with each other.

"What is this place?" I saw a kid coming at me at full speed with no intention of stopping. "Whoa!" I moved out of the way but a tad bit too late. The kid didn't bump into me, rather, he fazed through me. "Well, that figures." I wasn't all that surprised by what just happened, I had an idea that something like that would happen. Nonetheless, I ignored it and went over to the children to see what was going on. Nothing of note was happening here except children just playing around. I was about to leave the room before I noticed a child. She was sitting in the left-hand corner of the room. She was hugging her legs with her head facing down on her legs. Her long hair obscured her face. I went close to get a better look at her...

"Why does she sit like that?" "I don't know, but it's really weird." Some of the kids were criticizing the little girl. Shesh, some harsh ass kids.

"She' s rather anti-social with the other children and towards me as well." "She didn't speak a word when I talked to her." I suddenly found myself outside of a room with the little girl sitting on a chair, sitting in the exact position I found her in.

"I am sorry she is like that, she just doesn't do well with others." That time it was a man's voice. He sounded "I see what you mean, with an attitude like that it would be hard for her to be able to bond with anyone, let alone integrate into a family setting," This was a woman's voice. There was no warmth whatsoever in it. But what they were discussing in there sounded like an adoption. Then this kid is an orphan and this place is an orphanage? If that's the case, then why am I here? Well, there's only one conclusion. This little girl must be Shizuka...

"Shizuka," I called. "Yes, this is the girl Shizuka when she was a child." I immediately turned around to find a person covered in all black and their faces blank. The little girl behind me was gone.

"Who are you?" "You already know." "Shizuka?" "Yes." "No, you aren't, you're just some dark figure in her mind." "Is that so? You are technically right and wrong as well. However, that does not matter right now. You are trying to get the Shizuka you know of yes? If so, then you might as well leave, we are perfect as is." "Bullshit, the way she is right now is messed up, so I need to snap her out of it!" "Is that so...?"

The figure walked off to the darkened end of the hall. "If you will not leave, and if you will continue on this pointless endeavor, then I'll allow you. But I'd like to pose - to you - a challenge." "A challenge?" "On your way to reaching the main Shizuka, you'll be shown glimpses of her past. Through these, I'd like you to think of this question: is what she has become right or wrong? I want you to give me the right answer to this question by the end. Anything less than that will be worth failure, and you'll be eliminated." "What happens if I do get it right?" "How about you find out at the end. And with this, I shall allow you to your own devices."

She walked off into the darkness. I gave chase but when I followed through I was in a different area. I was in the void again but there were multiple different doors. They were the same as the door from before. These probably lead to more memories as the other did. There was no way to tell which one I had to go through first.

"I guess I'll just need to wing it then. I went to the door on the left-hand side. I twisted the knob and opened the door to the next memory...

A quick recap of events entering the new year: Schoolwork, sickness, death. Yeah, that's right, I'm not alive I'm a ghost from another plain making this chapter... Oh, wait, Halloween is over. Eh, all well. Hello people of the electric sea, I BB-chan is here (I swear it's not gonna be my permanent name or a warning of an onslaught of Fate jokes). I don't have much to say except that I'm officially becoming slower when it comes to chapter releases but don't worry I'm always working to get these out. I just do it slower than an old lady on the freeway; I joke about that, but she would be going faster than me on that freeway. Jokes aside, I hope to do better with chapter releases this year and to finer things as well. So until the next time, I can do one of these with something to say; see ya.