Author's Note: Welcome back everyone! So I've been playing P3R alongside writing these chapters and I got to January the other day and just gor so absorbed in the game, I didn't feel like doing anything else lol, so sorry for the ten day gap. I finished the game yesterday and just...wow that ending gets me every single time. It's just so beautiful and bittersweet. I adore that game and story so much.

Anyway, here's some more fun Fuuka fanfiction! Hope you enjoy the latest chapter and thanks so much for reading!


Chapter 4 – First Mission

Fuuka took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down.

She was currently in the middle of the first full moon mission since joining SEES and things had already gone off the rails. Arriving at the Champs de Fleurs hotel, Minato had decided the field team would be himself, Yukari, Junpei, and Kirijo-senpai, leaving Sanada-senpai to defend Fuuka outside while she provided support. They found the large Shadow relatively easily, this one of the Hierophant arcana. But after the team had taken it down, she had completely lost contact with all four of them.

"Yukari-chan? Minato-kun? Anyone? Can you hear me?"

Chewing her lip, Fuuka glanced over her shoulder. The protective bubble that Lucia shielded her with when summoned obscured her vision, but she could still make out the sight of Sanada-senpai, Evoker at the ready, scanning the streets with sharp eyes. So far, they hadn't been threatened by anything but she was glad to have his protection.

It should have made it easier to solve this problem since she could devote her entire focus to it, and yet…

"Yamagishi, any luck?" came the grounding voice of her senpai.

"No…nothing yet. I can feel a second large Shadow in the hotel and it's obstructing my ability to establish a mental link with the others. I'm sorry, you all trusted me with this role and I…"

"Don't beat yourself up," he cautioned her, meeting her nervous gaze. "These damn things are clever, but you're capable of a lot more than you think you are. Just take a breath and stay calm; you'll figure out a way through the Shadow's power. There's no way it can withstand your powers for long."

Fuuka took a deep breath and closed her eyes, exhaling slowly and centering herself. There was a reason Kirijo-senpai and Sanada-senpai were so confident in her guidance despite the fact that they had far more experience with Tartarus and the Shadows than she did. There was a reason Minato trusted her to have their backs more than anyone else.

"I won't let them down," she murmured to herself. "I'll help them through this."

She focused on the hotel and felt around for anyone's presence. It took her a few moments but she finally locked on to one of them. It felt like they were buried under cotton and she did her best to tunnel through the interference with Lucia's abilities. Her Persona sizzled with power as she forced her way through blanket after blanket of obfuscation until finally she found the person she was looking for beneath it all.

Immediately, she recognized the signature as Minato's. Unsurprisingly, his was the first signal she had been able to lock onto, most likely due to his unique powers and presence. But as she spoke to him, she was a bit surprised to find that he didn't respond. He was probably struggling to free himself from whatever power the Shadow had used on him, clouding his mind and trapping him beneath all that interference in the first place.

Fuuka continued to call out to him, intent on waking him from his daze. It didn't work for a solid minute but, at long last, she felt a familiar pulsing sensation and Lucia established a link with their leader.

"Minato-kun! Can you hear me? Are you there?"

Silence for a long, anxiety-riddled moment, but before she could speak again, the field leader's soft voice answered her.

"I'm here, Fuuka-san. What…happened?"

"A second large Shadow ambushed you all and separated you after you fought the Hierophant. It used some kind of mind control power to break my link to you all. I'm so sorry I didn't realize what was going on in time."

She felt a warmth emanate across their connection, a new sensation compared to the usual neutrality of the links she made between her own Persona and those of her teammates.

"It wasn't your fault at all; that thing got the jump on all of us, including me. Besides, it was your voice that helped me break out of…whatever that was. I think the Shadow was trying to brainwash me or something. Looking back at it now, it felt a lot like I was being charmed."

"I'm just glad you're okay," she admitted, sighing in relief. "What about the others? Do you see them anywhere?"

"Not yet, no. I'm in one of the rooms but nobody seems to be here with me. Wait, actually," he paused for a long moment. "That may not be entirely true; I'm not sure just yet. You haven't had any luck with the others either?"

"No, but I'll try searching for them again. Now that you've broken the mind control, the Shadow is probably reeling. I'll take this opportunity to search again and let you know if I find anyone."

"Thanks, Fuuka-san, I'll leave you to it."


Over the next several minutes, Fuuka managed to contact Junpei and Kirijo-senpai. They were both okay, if a bit shaken by the way things had played out. But she was struggling to break the hold the Shadow had on Yukari. She seemed to be close to Minato but her presence felt much more difficult to connect to, leaving Fuuka struggling to pinpoint her exact physical location. Perhaps because she was the last person the Shadow had under its spell, it was focusing its full attention on her.

That meant Fuuka could try to break through by herself…or she could use the fact that she had allies and the Shadow didn't.

"Minato-kun, are you still there?" Fuuka began, testing their connection.

This time, everything responded as it usually did during the Dark Hour, their leader's voice echoing into her mind at once.

"I'm here. Any luck with Junpei or Kirijo-senpai?"

"Yes, I found them both. They're on the second floor gathering their bearings. I told them to wait for you so you're not all moving around separately."

"Good call."

Fuuka sighed and continued.

"Unfortunately, I'm having a little trouble breaking the Shadow's hold on Yukari-chan. I need your help."

"You have it. What do you need?"

That strange sensation of warmth emanating from the link they currently shared washed over Fuuka's mind again. It was the second time that had happened tonight and it was a strange sensation…though not an unwelcome one.

"If you can find Yukari-chan and try to break through to her physically, I'll keep trying mentally. Hopefully between the two of us, we can get through the Shadow's mind control."

"Got it. I'll see what I can-"

Sudden silence interrupted Minato's words and his sentence died completely. She quickly tested to make sure their link was still established, that the Shadow hadn't captured him again. But to the best of her understanding, everything was fine. He should still be able to hear her. Had he needed to fall silent for some reason? Was he hiding to avoid an ambush?

"Minato-kun?" she tested, her voice hesitant. "Don't respond if you're being quiet for a reason, but is everything okay?"

A moment later, his voice returned. She felt a new sensation emanating through their mental link – it was almost as if their connection were trembling or vibrating.

'Like he's…shaken by something, maybe?'

"Everything's fine," came Minato's voice at last. It lacked the usual confidence he displayed out in the field, though. "You, uh…you can probably reach Yukari now."

Testing his words, Fuuka reached out for Yukari and found her presence quite easily this time. Had she broken through the Shadow's mental assault at last?

"You're right, her signal is crystal clear now! Did you find her?"

"Um…yeah, sort of."

"Oh, you must have, huh? I'm sensing her in the room right beside you. Did…something happen?"

"You could say that…"

Fuuka found herself a bit confused but decided not to press for now. There were more important things to worry about.

"Well, whatever happened, Yukari-chan is fine now. I'll relay the plan to her and guide the two of you up to Kirijo-senpai and Junpei-kun."

A sense of steely determination emanated from their mental link and Fuuka found it filled her with certainty, more so than did anything else.

"We'll be ready."


The operation was over at last. Everything had turned out okay in the end. Fuuka had guided Minato and Yukari to Junpei and Kirijo-senpai, they had soundly defeated the large Shadow of the Lovers arcana, and had finally reunited just outside the hotel. Yukari had seemed to be in a particularly foul mood towards the Shadow, but now she was settling down again.

Junpei, however, was not.

After their senpai praised Minato's leadership and steadfast abilities once more, Junpei seemed ready to snap. Perhaps the Lovers Shadow had unearthed some unpleasant feelings or memories he'd been struggling with?

'Is he…jealous of Minato-kun, maybe?'

"Shall we head back to the dorms?" Kirijo-senpai began suddenly. "The Dark Hour will be over soon and we should make sure we're not standing aimlessly in front of this hotel when things change back to normal again."

They all agreed and the two older students began to wander off, leading the way as they discussed the operation. Before anyone else could move, though, Yukari spoke, her usual nature back on display.

"I gotta say though, Fuuka really came through for us tonight too! Looks like us second years are getting things done, huh?"

Despite the embarrassment Fuuka felt at hearing such open praise, it was Junpei who responded, his tone bitter and defeated.

"You're really something, huh Minato?"

The leader offered a friendly smile and shook his head.

"It wasn't just me; we all did our parts tonight. We couldn't have done it if even one of us wasn't here."

"You really think so? All of us? …well, not like it really matters anyway."

Junpei turned his back but Yukari jumped at the chance to rib Junpei a little, a grin on her face.

"Oh come on, you're not actually jealous of Minato-kun, are you?"

A scowl crossed the young man's face and spun around towards Yukari in an instant.

"Just shut up and leave me alone," was all he said before storming off down the small street.

"What's his problem…?" Yukari murmured.

Minato stepped forward next, glancing over his shoulder towards the two girls.

"Whatever it is, we can talk it out later. We should get going too."

Fuuka was a little surprised to see that he quickly left the two of them behind following those words. Usually, he was the last one to leave Tartarus, only exiting after his teammates were safely out ahead of him. But tonight, it almost seemed like he was eager to get home. Or to get away from the hotel.

'Or…to get away from Yukari-chan?'

As the girls set off, trailing behind their leader a bit, Fuuka decided to bring up the potential elephant in the room while she and Yukari could talk privately.

"Um, Yukari-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"Did…did something happen in the hotel earlier when the Lovers Shadows was charming you?"

Yukari's eyes were suddenly wide as saucers and her cheeks turned very red.

"W-what!? No! Nothing! W-why would you ask something like that anyway?"

Fuuka waved her hands quickly.

"S-sorry! I just…got the sense that something might've gone on earlier and with things as tense between Minato-kun and Junpei-kun as they are right now, I didn't want anything else to affect our team dynamic."

Yukari took a few steadying breaths as she considered those words, sighing at last and stepping even closer. When she spoke next, her voice was almost a whisper.

"You're right…but you have to promise you'll never tell a soul, okay?"

Fuuka smiled up at the taller girl.

"Promise."

"When the Lovers Shadow charmed me, I started showering in the room we were stuck in. And when I came to, I was…wearing a…a towel and standing across…from Minato-kun…"

Her voice got quieter and quieter as she continued her thought and Fuuka had to strain to even hear her now. But it was quite clear that this was what had happened when Minato had suddenly gone silent earlier. Yukari had emerged from the shower and Minato had been taken completely by surprise.

Fuuka tried to suppress the hot wave of jealousy that welled up in her stomach. It didn't work, quickly spreading up to her cheeks and making her vision tunnel momentarily. She played it off as simply being embarrassed by the story.

"I-I'm sure that must've been startling," she managed at last, desperate to move the conversation along.

"Y…yeah," Yukari sighed. "I…I overreacted after that."

"Hm? What happened next?"

"I…sort of slapped Minato-kun…"

This time an unfamiliar pang of annoyance welled up inside Fuuka.

"W-why?"

Yukari buried her face in her hands.

"I don't know, I wasn't thinking clearly yet and I freaked out and moved before I even realized what was going on. It wasn't like anything more happened and after I thought about it, I knew he was just as shocked as I was but…"

So that had been the moment their link had felt shaken. She had been able to sense his shock at the events unfolding before his eyes. It also explained the light mark on Minato's cheek. She had thought the Lovers Shadow had just landed a stray hit on him but as it turned out it was Yukari that had managed it.

Fuuka swallowed the frustration she felt and made sure her voice was calm and steady as she spoke again.

"…Yukari-chan, you know Minato-kun would never do something bad to you,"

"I know, I know. I was pretty mean back there…"

Fuuka was struggling between her desire to support one friend and defend the other…but when she took a deeper look at herself, she really just wanted to take Minato's side completely and scold Yukari for reacting the way she had.

But at the same time, she also didn't want to cause any more issues within their group; there were enough of those already.

"You should apologize to him." Fuuka surprised herself by how little hesitation there was in her voice.

The taller girl sighed and hung her head.

"I know. I will. Promise."

The feeling of annoyance slowly faded away and Fuuka gave her friend a genuine smile.

"I'm sure everything will be just fine from here."

"Yeah. I think you're right. Thanks, Fuuka."

"Thank you for telling me. Oh! Speaking of telling each other things, remember that story you asked me to look into before?"

Yukari lit up suddenly, turning her eager eyes towards Fuuka.

"Yeah, did you find something?"

"Mhm, I think so. Want me to show you later?"

"Yeah, let's talk about it once we get home tomorrow."

There was a strange pulsing of energy and the Dark Hour suddenly faded from existence, almost as if it had never been there. The acrid stench of decay, the heavy air that weighed down their shoulders, the sickly green glow of the world around them, all of it vanished in a heartbeat. The silver moon hung in the sky above as the girls continued to walk back to the dorm in a comfortable silence. All was right with the world again.

Except for the strange feelings that had plagued Fuuka's mind and body that night. None of them were familiar and she was struggling to understand them at all.

'Why was I mad at Yukari-chan before? I can understand why she responded the way she did in the heat of the moment. And not only that, I felt…really jealous there for a minute. It's not that I wish I was the one who had been charmed by the Shadow, so…what was it?'

Fuuka shook her head, trying to dispel the thoughts. She wasn't sure how to go about understanding them right now anyway. They were puzzles she wasn't yet capable of piecing together, even with Lucia's help.

Speaking of Lucia, what had that strange sensation of warmth been when she had established her usual mind link with Minato after the Lovers's mental assault? That had never happened before either. Whenever she linked with someone in Tartarus, it was neutral, almost like calling someone on the phone. But tonight, her connection with Minato had felt…deeper. Like she was sensing his emotions through their link, not just using their Personas as proxies through which to communicate.

'Is it because of his special powers? Maybe that's why tonight felt different. But…why now? Why not even once during all our trips into Tartarus has this happened before? I…don't understand.'

Fuuka gave a thoughtful frown as she stewed on the events of the evening. There was something about Arisato Minato that was throwing her off in a way nobody else had ever managed before. He wasn't doing it on purpose and it wasn't a particularly bad thing. But it was different.

And Fuuka was determined to figure out why.

7/30/24