A/N: We return! This one's a short one; I'm still working on what comes next. Before going into the chapter, prerequisite warning: this part of the story will be covering events related to Fuuka's arc in Persona 3, which deals very directly with themes of bullying. I plan on getting more explicit about what happened there than P3 itself does while being careful not to go too far with it. Still, if this is something you're sensitive about, please be mindful while going through this arc.
As an aside, since I know there's a lot of FeMC enjoyers here: in between last chapter and now, the Kotone Cutscenes Project finished their work! I'm not involved in it at all, but I really admire the effort they've put in. Highly recommend checking it out for your next P3P playthrough!
"Hi, how are you?"
Hamuko pushed herself up with a groan. Her body ached from top to bottom, the bruises from the monorail fight still an uncomfortable companion after she'd taken the day to rest. The dim light of the Dark Hour illuminated her room enough that she could see her visitor standing at the end of the bed, swaying in that way that young kids did when they were excited.
"It seems that you've overcome your ordeal," the boy from the hospital said. "But I sense that fate has somehow shifted. A path that seemed so certain is now murkier… If only by a little bit."
Hamuko rubbed her eye with her palm, trying to ward off her drowsiness. "What, are you trying to say that you know my future?"
"All paths lead to the same end, even if the way there is different," the boy said, smiling. "But don't worry. Whatever happens, I will be there by your side."
Hamuko sighed. At least he was trying to be encouraging, but it all just sounded like a lot of waffle. If he knew something, he should just say it outright… She slipped out of her sheets, looking at the boy more fully. Now that she thought about it, this was the first time they'd talked since the hospital. The last time she'd seen him, he'd disappeared right after she'd noticed him…
"...Hey, I just remembered," Hamuko said, looking up at him. "Why were you watching me and Minato at Iwatodai Station?"
The boy blinked, as if the question surprised him. "That night? I was… curious. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something… familiar about that man."
Hamuko sat up straighter. "Familiar how?"
"I don't know," the boy said, putting a hand to his chest. Something faltered in his expression. "Like… an echo. A ripple of something I once knew…"
He fell silent, clenching his shirt in his fist.
"...There's still so much that I don't remember," he said, looking up at Hamuko with a wry smile. "Perhaps at the end of this road, I will understand my true self. For now… I'll see you again later."
Without another word, he stepped back into the shadows of Hamuko's room, the stripes of his pajamas seeming to meld with the darkness. Before Hamuko could say a word, he was gone, and she was alone.
~ X ~
The attack on the monorail had gone largely unnoticed by people around the neighborhood. The usual train had been taken off the rails for repairs, but since it wasn't the only one on the line, service had continued. As a result, the most substantial reaction Hamuko had seen was from some boys on the way to school complaining about the new train schedule. They hadn't noticed what Hamuko immediately had: the Lost that had been hanging around the station were all gone.
With midterms rapidly approaching, club activities had been canceled all over school. As much as Hamuko appreciated the break from volleyball practice considering she was still recovering from being in a train crash, the feeling of impending doom meant that she couldn't really appreciate the reprieve. No matter how she turned it, she just didn't feel prepared – she'd spent too many nights in Tartarus and training with Minato, and not enough with her nose in a book.
As the bell rang for lunch, Yukari came over and took a seat on the desk next to Hamuko and Junpei. "How are you two feeling?"
"Exhausted," Hamuko said.
"Dude, you're telling me. I couldn't get out of bed at all yesterday," Junpei groaned. "Plus, I have the biggest bruise right on my–"
"Ooookay, I do not want to hear about that," Yukari interrupted, putting up a hand. "Anyways, I was thinking about setting up a study group with everyone back at the dorm. You know, since exams are coming up? Mitsuru-san always makes a big deal about making sure we're keeping up with our homework, so I can't imagine she'd say no."
Junpei scratched his goatee. "Getting to take a peek at the school valedictorian's notes, huh… I see what you're getting at, Yuka-tan…"
Yukari scoffed. "You should be more worried about yourself. If Mitsuru-san finds out you've been slacking as much as you've been, you're going to be in serious trouble."
"Hey! I pay attention in class!" Junpei said. "Besides, I've always got my best buddy Hamu-tan here to help me out when I forget stuff! Ain't that right?" He elbowed Hamuko, grinning wildly.
"'Hamu-tan'?" Hamuko repeated disbelievingly. She rolled her eyes and looked over her shoulder towards Minato's desk. Unsurprisingly, it was empty. "Did you ask Minato too?"
"I wanted to, but he left the moment the bell rang, like usual," Yukari said. "I wonder what he does after class… I feel like I never see him around."
Junpei quirked an eyebrow. "Whaddya mean? He's on the track team, right?"
"Yeah, I know that, but it's not like they meet every day," Yukari said, kicking her feet a little. "And it's not just after school, either. He's never around the dorm on our days off. It kind of feels like he's up to something…"
"Hey, a man's gotta have his secrets," Junpei retorted. "Besides, what would you do even if you knew?"
"I dunno. I was just kind of curious," Yukari said. "Oh yeah, speaking of Minato, did you hear? The doctor said that him and Akihiko-senpai both should be good to come back after next week."
"No kidding?" Junpei said, sitting up. "I dunno about Minato, but like… Akihiko-senpai's the captain of the boxing team, yeah? I heard he's undefeated… Or, uh, close enough, anyways. 'Course, with how hard our leader over here's been working us, I bet I could take him."
"As if!" Yukari said, laughing.
Hamuko glanced at the time on her phone, then hopped up from her seat. "I'm going to go grab something to drink."
She headed out of the classroom into the hallway, and then downstairs towards the school store. There weren't that many students who hung around the club rooms at this time of day – in fact, the only ones Hamuko saw were a group of girls in heavy makeup chatting it up by the door to the science lab. Just from the snippets of their conversation that she could gear, Hamuko already knew she wanted to give them a wide berth. Bitchy girls tended to run in packs, and the loudest one was currently gossiping about how Ms. Kanou totally stuffed her bra.
Suddenly, a girl with short-cropped green hair came barreling down the hall from the lobby, a stack of papers held close to her chest. As she passed the group, Hamuko thought she saw one of them, a spray-tanned girl with bleached hair, subtly turn her foot outward.
The green-haired girl tumbled to the ground, the stack flying everywhere. The pack cackled wildly as she scrambled to gather them.
"Wow, Fuuka, if you wanted boys to look up your skirt, you could have just asked them," said the spray-tanned girl.
"Ew, like any of them would want to look at her granny panties anyways!" said the girl next to her.
"Awww, and I went through all of the trouble of getting a photo for them too!" said a third. Fuuka's eyes widened.
"P-Please don't–" Fuuka leapt to her feet, the papers she'd managed to gather slipping out of her grasp. She froze, paralyzed by her need to both clean up her mess and fight back. The third girl let out a loud cackle.
"Oh my gawd, you actually thought I did it?!" she guffawed. "Lighten up! We're just having fun!"
"Come on, Maki, I'm starving. Let's get out of here," the tanned girl said. The pack of girls started down the hallway away from Fuuka as she crouched down again.
Hamuko waited for them to leave earshot before picking up a page that had landed by her foot. She walked over, crouched next to Fuuka, and held it out to her.
"Here, I think this is yours," she said.
Fuuka looked up, then bowed her head again as she took the sheet. "...Thank you."
"Don't listen to them. They just get their kicks from being mean," Hamuko said as she helped gather the fallen pages. As she handed them over to Fuuka, she gave her a smile. "I'm Hamuko Arisato. It's nice to meet you!"
"I'm… Fuuka Yamagishi." Fuuka said quietly. Suddenly, she looked up, eyes wide. "W-wait, you said 'Arisato'...?"
Before Hamuko could stop her, Fuuka suddenly slapped her hands to the tops of her thighs and bowed her head deeply.
"I-If you don't mind, please tell your brother that I appreciate him reaching out, and I really do wish I could help, but I'm just not comfortable doing that kind of thing, and–"
"Woah! Slow down!" Hamuko said, putting up her hands. "First off, are you talking about Minato? We're not related."
Fuuka looked up, blinking. "You're not? I'm sorry, I just assumed…"
Hamuko waved her off. "Don't worry about it, everyone always does. But did something happen between you two? You can tell me if it did." She pretended to look around for any passersby (of which there were none) and leaned in, whispering. "I'll beat him up if you want me to."
Fuuka blanched, shaking her head vigorously. "Th-That won't be necessary! I just wanted to apologize for running off the way I did…"
Her gaze drifted to the stack of papers, and then back up to Hamuko.
"Oh! You're in 2-F, right?" She held the stack to Hamuko. "Mr. Ekoda wanted me to give these to Ms. Toriumi. Do you mind making sure these make it to her desk? I still need to go pick up lunch, and…"
"Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it," Hamuko said, taking the stack. She got to her feet and gave Fuuka a smile. "It was nice to meet you!"
"Mm!" Fuuka gave a nod and a quick bow before, without another word, retreating down the hallway. Hamuko gave her a little wave as she left. As she turned the corner, Hamuko let out a sigh and hefted the stack against her chest.
~ X ~
"And he just left after that?"
A baseball sailed at Hamuko's head. She axed the heel of her hockey stick into the ball, bouncing it into the netting separating the batting areas. It hit the ground with a dull thump and rolled down toward the pitching machine, dragging a lazy trail through a puddle of blood. Minato reached into the machine's stock to grab another ball. He tossed it casually in his hand as Hamuko answered.
"Yeah. He helped with the Shadow, said his piece, and left," Hamuko said. "Apparently he's an old friend of Mitsuru and Akihiko's… Do you know him?"
Minato wound his arm back. Hamuko lifted her hockey stick defensively as he pitched a curveball. She ducked to the side, swinging the stick toward it in the same motion. The ball flew back towards Minato, bouncing once, before he grabbed it out of the air.
"Kind of. He doesn't know me," Minato said. "I wouldn't worry about it too much. It's just how he shows he cares.
He pitched the ball back at Hamuko, and she swiped the stick up to deflect it again. As Minato grabbed another ball, she said, "I picked up on that, it's just… You remember when I ran into Akihiko at the station? He was talking to that Aragaki guy back then. They started arguing with each other right after that, too…"
She lowered the stick slightly. Honestly, they'd been really lucky that Aragaki had been there that night. The more that she thought about it, the more Hamuko wasn't sure that she and Junpei could have finished that Shadow off on their own. It'd moved with an intelligence and ferocity that other Shadows didn't have… save for the one they'd fought on the roof.
Before Hamuko could follow that train of thought to its end, a baseball smacked right into her forehead, derailing it.
"Oh crap!" Minato ran over to Hamuko as she grabbed at her forehead, biting back a scream. "Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Hamuko lied, blinking back tears through the pain.
"I'm so sor– Let me go get some ice," Minato stammered before running for the door to the batting cage. By the time Hamuko opened her mouth to interject, he'd already made it out of the building. She let out a sigh.
Why does he have to be so fast? Hamuko thought irritably as she stumbled out of the cage. With nothing to do but wait, she parked herself on a bench next to the front desk. The owner's coffin sat behind the counter, a small wad of bills sitting in front of him. They'd decided to pay him for their use of the facilities after a small amount of debate, for as much good as that had done them. If Mitsuru hadn't figured out that the two of them were sneaking out after curfew yet, she sure would after she saw the welt on Hamuko's forehead the next morning.
After Hamuko had been sitting there for a few minutes, Minato came running back through the door with a bundle of cloth in hand, the condensation bleeding red through it. "Here."
"Seriously, I'm fine," Hamuko said, though she still put it to her forehead. "It doesn't hurt anymore, anyways."
"Still, better to be careful," Minato said. "Let me get a look at it…"
He crouched in front of her, and she lifted the bag so he could get a better look at her forehead. For just a second, as their eyes met, Hamuko was struck again by an awful sense of deja vu. What was it that the boy from her room had said? An echo. A ripple of something I once knew.
"...Yeah, it's bruising. It shouldn't swell up too bad if you keep ice on it for the rest of the night, though," Minato said, straightening up.
"Whatever you say, Leader," Hamuko said, rolling her eyes. At Minato's look of confusion, she shrugged. "What? Yukari told me. You're good to come back after next week, right?"
Minato let out a sigh. "That's what the doctor said." He slipped his hands into his pockets, looking away as he bit his lip. "We can figure that out later. It's midterms anyways. You should be studying instead of going to Tartarus."
Hamuko groaned. Minato clearly could sense how dissatisfied she was with his answer, because he sighed again and scratched the back of his head.
"The tower's not going anywhere. You should still live your life outside it," Minato pointed out.
"I know, I know, but…"
Hamuko bit her lip, deciding it was better not to finish that thought. She really wasn't in the mood to get lectured by Minato considering he was the one who'd pitched a fastball at her head in the first place, but she got where he was coming from. Even if she was being fully pragmatic, she'd noticed that her Personas seemed to resonate with the people she hung out with, and that had translated into them getting stronger. At the same time, after exams were over, they'd only have two weeks to prepare for the next full moon…
"Fine, fine," Hamuko said, relenting. "But in return, I'd better see you at that study group Yukari's setting up tomorrow."
Minato blinked, looking back at her with a puppy-like confusion. "Huh? No, that's okay. I'll be fine without it."
"Will you? Because I'm pretty sure that every time I look back at you in class, you're sleeping," Hamuko retorted.
Minato crossed his arms irritably. "Like I haven't caught you doing the same a few times."
"Hey, at least I'm awake most of the time!" Hamuko said. "Look, it'll make Yukari and Junpei happy, okay? I think they're worried about you. It sounds like you never hang out with them."
Minato's eyes widened. He lowered his arms to his sides, looking away.
"Me and Junpei have, but…" he murmured pitifully. "It's just…"
He fell silent. Seeing that kicked puppy look on his face made a pang of guilt run through Hamuko's chest. She really didn't want to guilt him, but she'd been starting to worry about him too, even if that worry had been tinged with suspicion lately. He wasn't doing a very good job of hiding that there was something going on with him… especially after that conversation Hamuko had with Fuuka earlier.
The sudden reminder sparked the memory to the front of Hamuko's mind. She got to her feet, putting her hand on her hip.
"And by the way!" Hamuko said. "What happened with you and that poor girl from 2-E?!"
Minato whirled toward her. "What? Who?"
"Fuuka Yamagishi!" Hamuko said. "Don't pretend you don't know who I'm talking about! She mentioned you by name."
Minato's face flushed. "Nothing happened!" he exclaimed. "We just got lunch together, we talked about some tech stuff, and…" He coughed into his fist. "...I might have asked her to hack into something for me."
Hamuko gasped. "Minato!"
"She didn't do it!" Minato retorted. "She's good with computers, so I just… thought she could help me with something…"
"With what?! What could you possibly–" Hamuko gasped. "Oh my god, were you having her pirate music for you?!"
"No! It was–" He cut himself off. "I don't need to answer that."
"I can't believe you. I'm reporting you to Officer Kurosawa."
"Please don't," Minato said, seeming to deflate. "It didn't work out, so it doesn't matter. Just forget about it."
He slipped his hands into his pockets, a shadow falling over his face. Hamuko looked away, anxiously wiping away a bit of the condensation dripping down her forehead. Now she felt bad for bringing it up. Whatever had happened between those two, she could see that Minato still felt raw about it, and now wasn't the time to press him on it. She looked up toward the ceiling of the facility, frowning, and finally let out a sigh. She stepped over to Minato and gave him a pat on the shoulder.
"I think the Dark Hour's almost over," Hamuko said. "Come on, let's clean up and get out of here."
Minato looked up at her and, with a wry smile, gave her a nod.
~ X ~
Shockingly, Minato didn't leave class immediately after the bell rang that day. For maybe the first time that Hamuko could think of, he waited up for her after they finished with after-school clean-up. Maybe he still felt guilty for beaning her in the head the night before.
"So, where exactly is this study group?" Minato asked as they walked down the hallway.
"Oh, it was going to be tonight at the dorm. To be honest, I dunno if we'll get much done, but it sounded fun," Hamuko said. "I was going to run by Bookworms to see if they had any study guides I could look through beforehand, actually. You know, the bookstore at the strip mall across from the station?"
Minato nodded. "I'm familiar. How's Bunkichi and Mitsuko?"
"They're sweet! Though… I think Bunkichi's memory's going a little bit," Hamuko admitted, scratching the side of her cheek. "He tried to give me his prescription the other day…"
"Sounds like him," Minato said, smiling faintly.
They walked down the stairs into the main lobby. Hamuko stopped a couple of steps from the bottom as she saw a familiar head of teal-green hair talking to the shopkeep at the school store.
Hamuko elbowed Minato. "Don't you have something you wanna say to her?"
"Hold on," Minato said, narrowing his eyes.
The shopkeep reached behind the stall and handed Fuuka three packages of bread. Fuuka gave her a bow before turning on her heel and running down the club hall, clutching the bread close to her chest. Minato watched her retreat with a scowl.
"...Sorry, I need to go do something," he said. Without waiting for Hamuko, he ran after Fuuka.
"Wha–Minato!" Hamuko hopped down the stairs and ran after him. She had a bad feeling…
The two of them turned the corner and went through the double doors into the pathway to the annex. They pushed through the double doors just as several packages of melon bread splattered to the ground in front of them.
"Are you stupid?! Were you not listening when I told you what I wanted?!" yelled a girl with a lot of makeup and her hair up in pigtails.
"B-But, you said–" Fuuka stammered.
"Why would I want to eat that shit?" The girl berating her was one Hamuko had seen yesterday – the one who'd pretended to snap a photo of Fuuka as she'd tripped. Three other girls were looking on, including the tanned one from yesterday. "Does anything get through that thick skull of yours?"
"Oh, let up, Maki," the tanned girl said, not even looking up from her phone. "That's probably all she could swipe off the lunch lady anyways."
"I-I didn't steal it!" Fuuka cried. "I paid for it with… my own money…"
"Suuuure you did. Just like you didn't steal those books!" the tanned one said, holding up her phone. Fuuka's face went white.
"God, she's so easy," Maki said. She kicked a fallen pack of bread. The packaging split, causing chunks of melon bread to go flying. "Well, come on! Clean it up! You know how to do that, right?"
"That's enough," Minato growled, stepping forward.
The group jolted all at once, as if they'd only just realized that Minato and Hamuko were there. Fuuka whirled around, eyes widening as she spotted Minato. Two of the girls – the ones who'd been giggling in the back the whole time – stepped up as Maki turned toward the new arrivals.
"Um, who the hell are you?" Maki snapped.
"Aren't they those transfer students from 2-F?" one of the other girls said. "What do they want?"
"Knock it off," Minato said. He put himself between Fuuka and the pack of girls. Maki stepped up to him, sneering.
"Or what? You gonna make us cry?" she said.
"Aw, look, Fuuka's got a boyfriend," the tanned girl said, leaning toward one of the other girls and giggling. Fuuka's face went beet red, and she shrunk behind Minato's back, hiding her face.
"We're just having fun here!" Maki said. "So why don't you and your… girlfriend?–" She looked around Minato over at Hamuko, who glared back at her. "–get lost, okay?"
Hamuko took point next to Minato, scowling. "If you guys don't quit it, I'm going to go tell Kirijo-senpai."
The tanned girl looked at her, exasperated. "Seriously? 'Ooh, I'm gonna go tell the student council president'... What are you, twelve?"
"Wait, Natsuki, I think she's actually on the council… She might actually…" A third girl whispered. Maki looked over her shoulder, some of the confidence leeching out of her stance. The tanned girl let out a loud sigh and slipped her phone into her skirt pocket.
"Whatever, this isn't fun anymore. Come on, Maki, let's go," Natsuki said.
"Wha– Natsuki!" Maki said, looking between Minato's face and Natsuki's, before scrambling after her. As Natsuki passed Fuuka, she turned toward her and gave her a dark, half-lidded stare.
"See ya later, Fuuka," she said, and stepped through the double doors.
The other girls followed, all giving Fuuka dirty glances, before heading through the doors themselves. Once they were alone, Fuuka let out a sigh and nervously stepped out from behind Minato's back.
"I'm sorry," she said. "You shouldn't have had to stand up for me like that, Arisato-san."
Minato shook his head. "It's okay. Are you alright?"
She put a hand to her chest, swallowing, and gave a nod.
"That's good. I'll take care of the mess," Minato said. "You should head home, okay?"
"Head out through the track field, just in case they're waiting for you back there," Hamuko offered.
Fuuka nodded again. It was obvious that she was holding back tears. As she turned to leave, she looked back at Hamuko before retreating through the doors into the annex building. Hamuko waited for them to swing shut before she turned her attention to Minato. He sat crouched on the pavement, scooping the remains of Fuuka's melon bread into their crumpled wrappers.
"You know they're not going to stop bullying her, right?" Hamuko said. "They're just going to wait until we're not around."
"I know," Minato said.
"We really could tell Mitsuru," Hamuko offered. "She's the student council president, she can probably get them suspended for a little bit. Or… their homeroom teacher's Mr. Ekoda, right? If we snitched to him, that might be worth something." The words felt dirty in her mouth. She knew that neither of these ideas would make things any better.
Minato paused briefly. After a second, however, he shook his head and resumed cleaning.
Hamuko let out a sigh. Without a word, she crouched beside him and started to help, the setting sun drawing long shadows across the walkway as she scooped crumbs into her palm.