Disclaimer: Fate and Persona are owned by different companies, and I hold no ownership and all that jazz.
8/12
Hakuno thrummed her fingers against her leg, she caught herself and realized it was becoming a nervous habit.
Strange. Why did she feel nervous?
Hakuno wasn't sure but the train felt like it was going slower than usual… that mixed with how cramped the train car was made her worry about how busy the Sky Tree might be. Maybe there was another event in Asakusa that she forgot about.
They were lucky that Futaba had managed to get a seat, the Hacker might freak out if she was the one being bombarded with bodies as she used her body to shield their Navigator from the large crowd.
One look into the packed train car made the Twins quickly shut down joining them on the train, 'They will find their own way' they had claimed. She didn't doubt them, they were strong but strangely naïve… They should be fine, not like they would do something crazy just to skip a packed train right?
She felt someone shift behind her knocking her forward with the train's movement. She loomed over Futaba, having barely braced herself using the window, the smaller girl looked up and stammered as Hakuno took a moment to right herself.
"Sorry."
"No, it's fine, you guys take these things every day? Is it always so busy?" Hakuno gave a nod at that, she didn't care much for the train but it was the most reliable way of transport in Tokyo, it would take far too long to walk to most places.
"Huh… I don't think I could handle it every day…"
"Maybe you can think of it as… wading through the zombies we fought yesterday… like a stealth mission, you have to get from home base to an outpost?" Futaba's brow furrowed, as she scrunched her face, Hakuno probably messed up the reference.
Now Stopping: Asakusa Station
Now Stopping: Asakusa Station
Akira glanced at his phone, they should be here soon... They were lucky they still had some tickets, or else he would have had one of the twins be their weird invisible to other people thing they could do. Makoto was beside him and she kept glancing at her watch.
Cute.
He took a glance at his phone to hide his face.
MemeQueen: So…many…people.
He chose to ignore that, putting away his phone as he took a look at Makoto.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"I think so, I mean as long as the twins agree to help…"
"What if they say no? And… why are we doing this again?"
Akira shrugged, "I'll think of something would probably have to bribe them with snacks… and those two need a push I think. Probably." Although he wished someone other than Eiko would give them a push… His feelings for the bookworm were strong. He just had to hope Makoto felt the same way.
And if things work out, he will be alone with her in a somewhat romantic place, maybe even confess, and get his kind of sister on a date with the girl she was obviously pining on.
Win for everyone right?
"Hey, Inmate!" He stifled a sigh as Caroline blinked into existence near him, he had no idea how they could teleport he thought it was related to the Velvet Room, but there was no door here in Asakusa that he knew of. He hardly visited this place after all. Makoto stiffened as the Twins deemed it fine for her to see them.
"Hello Priestess, meeting one of our Inmate's closer bonds is a pleasure." Justine did a slight bow to the taller girl. He hoped to whatever God existed that they weren't stalking his every hangout and only they only knew cause he had a bond with her, and how his Priestess Arcana Personas are getting almost as strong as Chariot or Lovers.
"And it is a pleasure to meet you, Justine, Caroline, Akira has told me a lot about you." Pleasant and professional as always, he knew he could rely on her. He knew the team mom would work best to help.
"Hello Caroline, Justine." He nodded slightly at his Twin wardens who smirked up at him, how such little bodies held so much power always confused him, but with Hakuno mellowing them out the past month they were finally showing signs of their bond becoming stronger.
It's been a whole day since Caroline last kicked him.
That and they started to open up more, asking for activities to hang out, well demanding. But they didn't seem to understand time that well as they spent most of their time in the Velvet Room or Mementos he could put them off for a few days without them realizing it… only as long as Hakuno doesn't let it slip.
"I have a plan…" Seeing the confusion in their expression he began to explain, "But I will need your absolute confidence, what we discuss here can not make it to anyone else." He mentally switched his Persona to Zouchouten, he didn't think it would help but who knows how that whole thing works.
The Twins looked at each other, a slight frown on Justine's face as she spoke, "Does this pertain to your rehabilitation?"
He shrugged, "In a way…" Another look was shared between the pair. He could feel Makoto's nervousness. His plan mainly relied on them acting like their perceived age after all.
"Does it involve Hakuno? If what you are planning to do will lead to your bond possibly b̸̡͋̓͆͝ͅȓ̶̤̳͓̻́̆̒̐̈́͌̉͆̌́̽̓͑͝è̶̦͍̭̣̣͓͉͍̌̈́̔̈̂̇͜ả̷̢̤̮̤̘͚̤̝͐̀̇̒͐̈̌̒͜k̸̮͗͗̓̀̊̒̕i̵̠͙͍͓̲̞̽͑̎̎̓̔̏́̍̐n̶̩̺̲̥̩͓̩̞̱̝̜̻̈́̊g̵̐̒̍̌̈́͂͛̔̓̀̂͊̔͂͑͜ we are against it. We believe she is a great inclusion on your journey of rehabilitation." God his mind hurt when they spoke sometimes.
They had warned him of Reversing on… a few occasions with his Confidants when he wasn't truthful, he only heard it once with Mishima and Iwai but managed to talk out of it, misunderstandings are annoying. But they have never mentioned breaking unless it was with Hakuno. Their bond was so strange.
"No… at least I don't think so…" He knows Futaba has a crush on Hakuno and well, Hakuno probably had feelings for the gremlin that he sort of maybe saw as a little sister. Why else would she have run into her Palace by herself? Although the Gremlin or the Ai-turned-human seemed to have no clue about it.
"It's to help Hakuno and Futaba," Makoto sighed, "I'm still not one hundred percent on board with this Akira…" His plan was mostly foolproof! Probably.
"It'll be great, trust me." He could not have been the only one to see the looks their little Oracle had given Hakuno in her thief outfit.
Maybe, possibly, he wasn't too sure it would fully end the way he hoped, But… what's the worst that could happen?
"So, all I need for you two to do is this…"
Hakuno and Futaba strolled, taking in the sights of Asakusa, the amount of stalls easily surpassed any other place they had been in. The crowd was thick for some reason as well…
"Stay close Futaba…" She looked to her side… where was Futaba?
A slight twinge of fear, there were a lot of stalls and they were already slightly past the time they told Akira they would meet them. Her eyes quickly scanned each stall looking for her bright orange locks.
She was moving before she realized it, one part of her brain focused her Magical Energy on her eyes and ears, as much as she felt safe, to take in every detail of her surroundings.
She knew not to shout. Futaba wouldn't enjoy the attention it would cause. She listened for any signs of sniffling, any slight movement of orange and green, but couldn't find her. She stifled the panic, focusing on being calm.
"You good kid?" She turned around and saw a young man sitting inside a booth full of books, he had one earpiece out and she could hear the hard rock coming from it.
"Have you seen a girl with long orange hair?" She ignored the slight look of surprise on the silver-haired attendant's face. "She is about this tall…"
He sighed and held a hand, "Yeah, long dyed hair, really short, and wearing headphones around her neck?" She ignored the insult, and seeing her nod he continued, "She looked around for a minute or two then went towards Anderson's booth, swing a left at the next crossroad and you'll find it." She thought she heard him mention figures…
She shook her head, "Thank you." She took a calming breath as she went in the direction the man pointed her towards, she sighed as she found Futaba arguing with the stall owner.
"This!?" She held up a box, "Is not Pink Argus's bow! It's missing the gold trimming on the grip!"
The man scoffed, "Just cause you don't know what you're talking about doesn't give you the right to slander me, kid." He paused seeing Hakuno approach he turned his attention to her, "Oh? Hmm…, Thought er…" His stare instantly made her uncomfortable but noticing that he wasn't paying attention to her anymore caused Futaba to turn around.
"Oh hey, Hakuno! I heard this phony was selling a signed mint condition Pink Argus bow but it turns out it was fake, her signature looks wrong to…" Hakuno felt her shoulders slump slightly, she did a small bow to the man manning the booth.
"I'm sorry for her rudeness Mr. Anderson, we will just be going." Hakuno grabbed Futaba's hand ready to leave before either side could escalate it further.
"Hey, Kid!" Hakuno paused and turned around, she tilted her head as Anderson motioned for them to return, "Do I know you from somewhere? You come to this place often?"
Was… she being hit on? By… a man in his late forties?
Hakuno shook her head, she did not want to deal with that, "I'm sorry for my friend's words but we have a prior arrangement that we are late to." She ignored his comments, pushing them out of her mind as she half-dragged Futaba away, giving a slight nod of appreciation to the silver-haired stall owner as they passed him.
"Futaba…"
Futaba's face scrunched, she kicked the ground, "Sorry, I just thought he had one you know? Wouldn't her bow have been cool to have?" Hakuno sighed, before giving Futaba a slight nod.
"It… would be fun to have…If you wanted to check out a stall just give me a heads up ok?" She wasn't mad at Futaba. She was worried for her, Futaba's been hidden from the world, and now that she is free a screen couldn't protect her from people on the street. "It's really busy here for some reason, and we promised Akira we would be there five minutes ago."
Futaba grumbled but nodded, Hakuno realized she hadn't let go of her hand yet, and Hakuno's hand felt slightly clammy as she let go of Futaba's. The pair walked in silence as she pushed down that weird feeling. It wasn't long before she spotted Akira and the Twins who waved. She was surprised that Makoto was there, she didn't know Makoto was joining them.
"What took you so long!" Hakuno ruffled the aggressive twin's head who swatted her hand away.
Akira looked at her like she was crazy for a moment before doing the same to Futaba, Hakuno tilted her head as Futaba tried to punch him.
"Hey Makoto, Caroline, Justine. We got lost on our way here, sorry for the wait." The older girl gave a light chuckle.
"We still have time, the tickets are a day pass." Ah, She didn't know that, honestly, this was the first time she had ever been to the Sky Tree in all of her time in Tokyo.
…
She should explore the city she grew up in, something she could do later, Ann surely would have places she would recommend checking out. Their small group went up the large elevator, the elevator thankfully wasn't too busy. Seems that most of the people who came with them are walking around at the booths outside.
The view was amazing, the sun was still setting casting an amazing glow over everything. She had a small smile seeing Futaba enjoy the sunset as well.
"This is truly a present-day Babel…" Caroline was… scared? Hakuno wasn't too sure why, but the boisterous warden was leaning away from the sight.
Her Twin easily caught on.
"Oh? Caroline? Are you attempting to back out of this?" And with that, Hakuno refocused on the sight, these tickets had to be expensive. She took out her phone and snapped a picture of the sunset.
"All those people look like little grains of sand" Hakuno nodded to Futaba's utterance, "It's like we are deities peering down on all of our subjects!"
Makoto sighed before replying, "Hopefully you're a kind god." Hakuno didn't notice Justine pushing Caroline closer and closer to the barrier.
She did notice Caroline turn around and pounce on her twin. Hakuno blinked in surprise, Makoto and Akira moved in, each one grabbing one of the twins. Caroline was still throwing punches into the air but Makoto's grip on her underarms made it impossible for her to reach her twin.
"LET ME GO, PRIESTESS! I'LL SHOW THIS TWO-BIT WHO IS AFRAID OF HEIGHTS!" Caroline howled.
"I must say, Caroline, your scuffed appearance certainly does suit you, your crimson face reveals to everyo-" Futaba bonked the stoic girl on the head—a rolled-up brochure in her hands.
The twins fell silent. Caroline's eyes bugged while Justine had a stupefied expression.
"You dare Hermit? As one of the inmate's confi-" Another bonk.
"That's enough both of you." Makoto's stern voice silenced the twins, even Caroline hung limply in shock. "You're disturbing the other guests."
The twins glanced around, pictures were being taken.
"I think we should go," Futaba mumbled. As Akira shook his head.
"You two can stay… Me and Makoto will take them home." Hakuno tilted her head as she looked at Akira. She felt something was strange about this situation but didn't know what.
"Y-yeah… Akira and I can take the Twins back, no need to waste the tickets, they were from Boss for you Futaba." Makoto reassured her. Hakuno nodded slightly in confusion…
Huh, that was weird. Futaba could tell Makoto was lying, she was terrible at it, but she had no clue why she was lying.
She mentally shrugged, Eh, not a problem. The two older teens led the Twins into the nearest Elevator, the quiet one still giving her a death glare while the tsundere was laughing her ass off.
"Ya know, the city… looks small up here," She leaned over the railing slightly, "All those people just walking around, those large crowds look so small and inconsequential."
Everything feels… so different up here almost like she doesn't care about the crowds anymore…She could feel Hakuno move to stand beside her.
"They are important though…" She could hear something she didn't know in Hakuno's voice, "Our friends, our family they are all down there, each person has their own story… even that strange guy that was trying to sell that counterfeit. They are all… the future we are fighting for. The ability to choose."
She was still pissed about that guy, he was obnoxious about it. However, she admits that her wanting to find a present for Hakuno and her disappointment at seeing it was fake at least made her temporarily stop freaking out about getting lost.
She glanced at Hakuno, it must have been the perfect timing cause the red tint of the falling sun shone amazingly through her long brown hair giving it a tint of auburn that she never noticed before.
Her white top had a nice hint of pink now, her eyes looked like small pools of coffee oh shit was she checking out Hakuno?
Futaba gulped. She felt her cheeks warm up slightly.
Did… she have a crush on Hakuno?
Akira sighed, "Inmate that was not in the plan!"
"Akira…" Makoto looked nervous, the Twins had not stopped complaining "This is my stop…I think I'm going to head home. It was a pleasure meeting you two." Makoto bowed to the two annoying brats.
"It was a pleasure, Priestess, perhaps next time we should ask you to someplace without the Inmate."
Caroline huffed, "I thought it was funny…"
His plans to hang out with Makoto after separating from the Twins was a lost cause, he could only give her a weak smile as Makoto walked off. "Now… Inmate, I think we have been far too lax on your rehabilitation." Justine's seriousness made his shoulders fall.
Darn it.
Author's Note: Well well! Mostly on time with this one! I've been planning that Skytree event from the beginning, it's gone through a few rough drafts, and I'll admit it isn't the best way to go about it.
But some stuff is moving for the romance that I have had planned since the beginning… I wonder if this counts as slow-burn now?
Anyway, I might start working on a side project with our little Hakunon, I say might but I have a few chapters and a few rough ideas already drawn about won't say what crossover it will be but I think I might have mentioned an idea or two about it a long while ago. I will say it ain't another persona one lol.
See ya'll next time!