It's early evening later that week when a SEES meeting is called in the command room and the juniors shuffle in with curiosity to take seats. Walking calmly, Ikutsuki enters and nods after appraising the whole of SEES with some pride.
"Good to see everyone's here."
He turns his head toward the doorway and speaks again, calling to someone.
"All right, come on in."
It's a small voice they all heard over the summer that chips in, very serious, when the invitee shuffles in.
"Excuse me, I hope I'm not interrupting."
You have got to be kidding me, why is he here?
Ken makes his way next to Ikutsuki to stand in front of everyone and Fuuka exhales shakily. She so rarely speaks up and the boy's appearance in what is essentially a room reserved for SEES business seems to make her edgy.
"Huh? Amada-kun?"
Akihiko gets to his feet in shock because deep down, he knows what this means, and this simply can't be happening.
Not him, not here…
"No way…"
Perhaps because he senses his unease, Ikutsuki turns to him, arms crossed.
"Based on our testing results, we've confirmed he has more than enough potential. So, I decided to call this meeting to introduce him to the rest of the squad."
Sitting together very close on the other side of the room, the twins exchange a loaded glance in silence and their eyes flicker to the chairman in shock. Mitsuru, usually all cool and collected, seems quite unsure of herself and that speaks volumes.
"W-wait, Mr. Chairman, he's only in elementary school."
Her glance darts to Akihiko's with doubt, she knows who this is after all, and she remembers what happened two years ago. Her voice quavers as she hesitates to explain.
"And, besides…"
Shinji. The incident.
The chairman just shrugs nonchalantly, seemingly confused with her unfinished statement but she doesn't elaborate further, looking away.
"Besides… what? We're already confirmed he has the potential. With training, he should be a valuable asset to the team."
Are we really that desperate?
Ikutsuki turns to the twins and looks at Minako specifically with a warm smile, speaking with some sort of polite reverence.
"You've been very dependable and shown how capable you are, surely you can handle that responsibility?"
Her eyes waver with uncertainty for a second when her stoic expression slips a bit, and she turns to Ken to ponder her thoughts. But it's Minato's glare that's more telling, he's clearly against all of this and stares at his sister with ice in his eyes, asserting himself very forcefully. Her voice sounds strained, perhaps because her twin rarely tries to lord it over her.
"I mean, I-"
No, that's unfair.
Before she can continue, Akihiko gets up to grab the chairman's attention.
"With all due respect sir, he's too young, he has no idea what this entails. Please reconsider."
Ikutsuki shakes his head in the negative, impassible.
"The decision stands and I have the final say. We need his power."
Mitsuru sighs quietly, and while he didn't exactly expect her to rebel in the face of authority despite the stakes, it's still disappointing.
"I'm sorry Akihiko."
Not relenting, he gestures to Ken with a jab of his chin in the air while keeping his eyes on Ikutsuki.
"Did he say he was okay with this? Does he even know was it is we do?"
But Ken answers him instead, with a tone so mature it's bewildering.
"Actually, it was my idea to join. I feel like I can help too."
The boy's eyes drop sideways, pensive, before he continues in a murmur.
"And, I think I finally understand why I have this power…"
The chairman sighs and keeps looking at Akihiko as if this explains everything.
"…As you can see, it was his own decision."
Ken smiles, clearly intimidated by the discussion but trying his best to stand tall and collected as he faces the group.
"Looking forward to working with you. I'll try not to get in anyone's way."
While Aigis made good progress in the last weeks, she doesn't yet have the human development required to grasp how wrong this is, because she instantly welcomes him like a comrade in arms.
"I look forward to working with you as well."
He's so quiet and composed, and yet… It's him, and because of that…
Akihiko bites his tongue and sits down, not wanting to cause a scene since he's outranked, but he keeps clenching his fists in frustration as he looks at the others. Yukari grumbles under her breath next to Fuuka, who looks nervous. Junpei simply hollers Ken with a grin; they spent a lot of time together in the lounge this summer and apparently, he has no problem with any of this.
"Hey, don't worry kid. We got your back. It might get tough, but you gotta work hard and stick with it. Minako will put you through the wringer in no time, you'll see. She's one hell of a leader!"
Ken nods enthusiastically, he's clearly more at ease with Iori than the others yet he eyes Minako with aplomb, fishing for her approval.
"Understood. I'll do my best!"
After everyone files out to let Ikutsuki work on his reports, Akihiko lags behind discreetly and exits last. Minako throws him an inquisitive glance over her shoulder before she gets to the stairs with her twin and he nods in confirmation before heading back to the command room, knocking on the door softly.
I didn't forget.
"Sorry to interrupt Mr. Chairman, but do you have time to answer a few questions? There are some things on my mind I'd like some clarification on."
"Come in."
Closing his current folder to place it back on the pile, the chairman extends a hand toward a nearby seat.
"Do sit down. How can I help you? Is this about Amada?"
Akihiko does just that and crosses his arms. He won't undermine Mitsuru, but it's still on his mind.
"No, it's something else. You mentioned before that the large shadows affect the spread of Apathy Syndrome but…"
His superior's eyes are unreadable, just patiently waiting for the rest of his thoughts.
"Every time we vanquish one, the inflicted get better, and it slowly ramps up as the next full moon approaches. I expected the patient numbers to stay constant or ramp down as we defeat them. Instead, after taking a look at the data, it seems the phenomenon is actually cranking up faster and stronger each time we vanquish one. Do you have any idea why? Because it looks like we're making it all worse."
Ikutsuki gets up from his seat and walks off to stand near a window, turning his back and removing his glasses to wipe them with a handkerchief.
"I never expected you to look at the reports that extensively, you've always been quite content to simply handle the tactical and deployment aspect of the operations, leaving the paperwork to others."
Usually, yes. When she brings her worries to me though...
"This is a bit of a surprise coming from you, and I must say I'm impressed. You are right actually, it is getting worse as we eliminate them, as if those shadows are getting desperate to feed and grow stronger to survive."
So she saw right through it...
The chairman crosses his hands behind his back and pinches his frames between thumb and index, admiring the moon outside serenely. At least it looks like it, Akihiko is not in the right angle to catch his reflection in the glass.
"I didn't want to say anything because I want you all to focus without interference, it would only hinder your good work. You are already juggling school and SEES, it wouldn't be fair. Morale is important, yes?"
He puts his glasses back on and pockets his wipe cloth.
"Rest assured, this phenomenon similar to a fever, it gets worse before things get better. There are only a few targets left, before the end of the year this should be finally over, and you can all finally rest. At this point, you could say we need to finish this beyond a 'shadow' of a doubt."
Ugh.
His long brown hair wavers as he chuckles, always impressed with his own bad sense of humor. Akihiko bites his cheek, he wasn't planning on asking this; his main concern was reassuring her about the Apathy Syndrome, but now that the chairman mentions it…
"Speaking of those twelve shadows… Do you have any idea why they stayed dormant until this spring?"
Ikutsuki turns around toward him with a bright smile, looking almost… excited.
"We lost track of them for so long… We don't know the exact cause, but it's rather fortuitous, wouldn't you say? Mitsuru should be elated; she's been trying to fix this for years, and we're so close now."
Of course she would, this whole disaster is a heavy cross of guilt she carries on her back when it's not even hers. And she'll bear the weight without complaint, until she breaks, or this ends.
Mulling it all over, Akihiko takes his leave with a curt nod. And it's when he closes the door that he ponders why, for once, the chairman's delight at their future prospect of victory reached his eyes. He's usually more reserved in his expressions.
The twins spend a long time in Minato's room after the meeting, and both their faces when they come down to the lobby have the frustrated strain of an argument. The staircasing plan turns on its head as a result because Ken is now coming to Tartarus tonight as an observer, leaving Junpei and Aigis to command room duty.
I don't recall them ever having a fight before.
Since said boy is currently in his room upstairs after his introduction to his evoker, Minako makes her case bluntly to Mitsuru, away from the juniors but still within earshot of Akihiko.
"He's just a kid, but he really wants to join... At best he changes his mind once he sees how this all works, at worst… well, we'll see."
Mitsuru arches an eyebrow, letting their leader continue.
"He looks more mature than I was at his age, but... he's staying far from the fray today, and you're guarding him."
Ouch.
At least Mitsuru takes the jab graciously and eyes Minako with a respectful nod.
"Very well."
Ken's expression looks a bit too composed as he holds his evoker, keeping at the rear in Tartarus with Mitsuru and Minato, who seems to hover nearby to add a second layer of safety.
There's a story there...
Minako definitely makes a vivid impression on the poor boy though, she's all business and fights like a fury that night at his side, probably to scare their latest charge into backing out of this venture. All she gets out of it is awe as Ken eyes her with sparkling wonder.
That should at least ensure he listens, if nothing else.
By the time they walk back toward the dorm, yawning behind his palm and and looking a bit wan because of fatigue, Ken latches on to Minako timidly.
Akihiko moves closer to her twin to give them some space; he's not very comfortable with all the admirative glances he got tonight and it's worse now that the kid saw him fight outside the confines of a regulated sport.
This is a battlefield, not a game.
"Minako-san, from all the personas you summoned, which one is yours? There were so many, I couldn't keep count."
For a second, she looks absent, probably from sheer mental exhaustion. He's seen her dip into her repertoire until her eyes glazed over and took extra care that nothing even looked the kid's way, despite his capable escort.
"Minato and I a bit different from you all. You could say we share a library card, we borrow books from a library where everyone donated stories. What about you, what's its name?"
Ken's voice sounds a bit hollow when he replies.
"Nemesis."