Sokila quietly panted on a canvas.
"I've been trying to paint more...even though I prefer crayons..."
With a tired huff, she looked over her shoulder with a small smile.
"Because trying to get better at the things we don't like...it's part of growing up, isn't it...?"
She glanced back at the canvas, which showed two girls: one with blue hair and one with red hair. The blunette had a sad face, while the redhead had a frowny face.
"...I wonder why they're fighting...?"
With sudden aplomb, she quickly began painting another feminine figure: this time with green hair, as if to complement the other colors. She was also sitting on a harp, for some reason.
"Anyhow, I have another request! I want this musical green-haired lady...but make sure she's unable to burn! Because fire hurts!"
Sokila looked nervously toward the kitchen, where Elizabeth was doing something involving a Mada and a Surt.
"I found out the hard way when I tried to help senpai..."
The faint haze of blue began to brighten-
xxxx
/Wednesday: September 16, 2015/
/Courtyards, Hakone Academy/
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Shinji Ikari tiredly sipped from his canned coffee, even as his feet moved onward of their own accord.
"Well, aren't you looking cheerful," said Asuka Langley-Sohryu, lips curled into a cross between a smirk and a sneer. (A snirk? A smeer? A smeerk?)
"...you're being sarcastic, aren't you," remarked Shinji, even as he took another sip from his coffee.
Asuka snorted. "Like I have to spell it out. First already left this morning on a mission."
"I have access to the same chat group, you know...?" he replied, as they neared the main fountain near the Junior High Branch. Off to the side, a cluster of third-year girls were arguing animatedly about something or another. "Also, is something going on between you and Ayanami-san...?"
"None of your business, Third," she retorted, immediately throwing up a proverbial wall.
I don't know, it feels like my business, he mused. In his peripheral vision, he noticed one of the third-year girls playfully push her friend, who wasn't expecting it. She fell backwards, towards the fountain-!
(Dynamic Vigor!)
Shinji seamlessly used his free hand to catch the girl by the shoulder, keeping her from falling into the fountain. His feet were rooted in place, and his core muscles absorbed the third-year's momentum without issue. "Careful senpai," he calmly said, ensuring she had her footing before moving on without another word.
Asuka looked backwards, watching as the four girls began talking with a strange intensity, gesturing — little did Shinji know — at him, specifically. "...you're a real piece of work, you know that?"
"What? Should I have just let her fall in? It was the polite thing to do." Almost as an aside, he added, "I mean, if you were about to fall into a fountain, wouldn't you want me to catch you?"
Asuka audibly harrumphed. "You'd like that, huh?" Without another word, she increased her pace, leaving Shinji behind.
The Third Child resisted the urge to sigh. I don't get her, he inwardly murmured. (Even so, there was a strange air of charisma about him...)
The bells soon rang, and classes ensued.
xxxx
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It was around lunch when Ayanami returned from her mission; Shinji volunteered to take the next one, since he had taken the previous night shift.
After he departed, Toji remarked, "Got a message from Sakamoto-sensei. He heard from Katsuragi that the Class Rep will finally be able to receive visitors."
Kensuke and Asuka both perked up with interest. "Really? They got everything squared with her old man?"
Toji shrugged. "How should I know? I don't pry into other people's family business unless it involves me."
"Not that, I'm talking about the 'P' thing," he whispered, trying not to let it slip to their classmates that Hikari Horaki had a Persona.
"Oh. Well...I'm not sure," he replied.
"She's gonna need training," murmured Asuka between bites of rice, even while she prodded rather warily at the mackerel filet on her tray. "Das braucht mehr Würze."
Kensuke arched an eyebrow. "You volunteering?"
"I need something to occupy my time between missions," Asuka replied, pointedly not looking in Ayanami's direction.
Rei simply ate the remainder of her rice and vegetables without complaint.
Kensuke and Toji both shared a look, each one mutually suspicious about the apparent hostility directed by the Second Child towards the First, yet unwilling to talk about it in a classroom.
xxxx
All the while, Shinji was quickly and efficiently dealing with an influx of Ghosts near the town of Taga in Shiga Prefecture in the Kansai Region. With Unit-01 sporting the fullness of Hell Biker — including a motorcycle with sidecar forged from a complex layer of A.T. Fields — he moved across the roads with intensity, which had been blocked off because of the Ghost manifestation.
His eyes briefly noted a familiar rest stop, and he recalled how he and his comrades had stopped there on August the 21st, before their fateful arrival at Tokyo-2.
Memories of the Fog of Desolation inspired him to work faster and harder, even as the Ghosts howled at his mere presence.
(Facing so many Ghosts in such a short amount of time...it filled him with determination...)
xxxx
In like manner, Goro Akechi faced a trial of his own. Although the courses available to him for lunch were more exquisite and fine than those at a school lunch, there was a distinct air of tension to the whole affair.
Doubtless it had everything to do with being face-to-face with Masayoshi Shido for the first time in years.
"You're rather quiet," Shido remarked as they ate their meal, sitting on opposite sides of the table; the distance between them was less than two meters: a distance that was too close by half, especially given the absence of anyone else from the dining room. "Most prodigal sons would be rejoicing at the prospect of returning to the home of their youth."
Akechi had often pondered such stories and parables, having looked them up in another life; their lack of applicability back then almost made their appropriateness...grotesque. "I seem to recall the prodigal having been one who returned home because he was unable to make it on his own. His own ineptitude forced him to throw himself into his father's mercies." Cutting into his steak with feigned politeness, he added, "I don't think that parable fits my situation at all."
"Our situation," Shido corrected, showing little in terms of how much the barb affected him, if at all. "And you were squandering your talents; even if Tokyo-3 is an important city, 'Chief Warden' is far too small a title for one with your name and pedigree. And you made as much clear with your performance against your...detractors."
Akechi managed to hold off on rolling his eyes. "I had to do much the same when becoming Chief Warden of the Hakone CPC; it comes with the territory." After chewing and swallowing a rather hefty chunk of meat, he added, "What doesn't come with the territory are delightful little fictions."
"Such as adopting a pseudonym and convincing the late Commissioner Morooka to cover for you?"
Akechi ignored the snide retort for what it was, and focused on the heart of the issue. "That the whole thing was actually your idea."
"And what else would you have had me do?" replied Shido with little aplomb. "When one's firstborn returns after having disappeared for several years, well-connected individuals are doubtless going to ask me questions. When such nosy know-nothings get curious, they want a story to amuse themselves; to be told that Shimaru Shido had in fact been put out into the world to attain strength on his own, without any financial backing or public support of any kind...even to the point of adopting a silly name like 'Goro Akechi'?" Shido wiped at the corner of his lips with all the precision of a gentleman: a motion belied by the sharpness of his glare. "It saves face for you, myself, and our family."
"You have an interesting conception of 'saving face'," Akechi replied. "I'm sure the fact it's false will do nothing to dissuade you."
Shido sneered, looking all too familiar for it. "And you would have me say that you had abandoned your home and family name for seemingly no reason? That you had run away without any warning whatsoever?" Cutting into his own steak with tight yet furious strokes of the knife, he added, "You've outright refused to even explain why you left...so in truth, you left me with very little in the way of viable options."
"You could have left me alone, and life would have been fine for both of us," he retorted, inwardly groaning at how tiresome this whole charade was.
Shido chewed methodically, almost boring holes into Akechi with how intense his glare was. (Alas, he had seen better in the last life.) When his mouth cleared, his voice had a severe undertone. "You seem to grossly underestimate the sort of reputational harm that comes with losing one's wife to illness, followed shortly thereafter by their only son vanishing from society altogether. Those are the sorts of events that can make a family name seem cursed." Taking a deep sip from a cup of sake, he added, "Memories among politicians and nobility can be so fickle; the name 'Shido' meant nothing in this new age of superstition unleashed by Second Impact. The fact I even ended up being the second to the late Toranosuke Yoshida was because the old fool pitied me."
"And I'm sure that must have galled you," retorted Akechi, trying not to show how satisfied that thought was.
Shido didn't rise to the bait. "Circumstances have allowed me to become Governor and then President in a short amount of time; to have such authority in these trying times necessitates support. Given the sheer importance of Persona-users when it comes to cognitive threats, why would I not want someone with your strength by my side?"
Akechi barely managed to keep his snort withheld. "And I'm sure if strength were all you cared about, hiring a more skilled cadre of A.T. Agents would have been well within your grasp."
"Those who have been hired can likewise be hired by one's competitors," said Shido with a tone that implied very poor things about Akechi's mental capacity. "But the bond of family, clan, blood: that is more durable. And if I cannot trust my own flesh and blood to watch over me, then what is the point?"
How strange, that having the blessing of legitimacy could vex him so; where once he would have been over the moon in another life, now it only made him rage inwardly at just how bloody arbitrary the world could be. "I'm sure you can figure out the point." Rising to his feet, Akechi forcefully bowed. "I will be attending to my duties now; forgive my departure, President Shido."
Shido, never losing that inscrutable expression, replied, "If that is how you want to play it...then you're free to return to those duties of yours, Superintendent Shido."
Akechi promptly turned away and left the dining room, hiding how clenched his teeth were. I really need to find an avenue for releasing stress, or this place will be the death of me.
xxxx
Hikari Horaki was in a rather unusual situation, if she did say so herself...and that wasn't even counting the fact she was currently in NERV's Medical Ward.
To her horror, she had awoken that morning to find out she had been absent...for two days in a row. The utter scandal of it all would have been humiliating...
Her Other quietly shook her head.
"It's not the end of the world. Your reputation is not so fragile a thing..."
...were it not for the strange sensation of a voice in the back of her mind: a voice that sounded like her own. According to the Misato Katsuragi lady, that was apparently her other self—her Persona—providing internal commentary that was both audible yet not at the same time. It shouldn't have made any sense, yet it somehow did.
I...have a Persona...
It didn't feel real. Everything that had happened since awakening within the Realm of her Shadow felt like a strange fever dream.
One thing that hadn't changed — amidst discussions with medical personnel, Anti-Terror Agents, and legal representatives from the Special Custodial Service — was her father's disposition: serious, dour, and dutiful. To the uninitiated, he was simply a stern but understanding parent. Yet, the way he had looked at her...
(As Yuko Nishiwaki and Misato Katsuragi discussed the legal ramifications that came with being a Persona-user, she would occasionally look towards her father. As he registered the information about the Cognitive Service Act, his eyes briefly met hers. The expression was familiar, yet unknown: filled with profound loss, yet simultaneously with gratitude as well...)
...she didn't know what to make of it.
It didn't take long before familiar faces appeared. "She's finally free!" exclaimed Kensuke Aida, barreling into the hospital room with Suzuhara, Yamagishi, Sohryu, and Kirishima right behind him. "I'd make a joke about 'hospital food', but NERV doesn't really skimp out on that..."
View: watch?v=-JaMJgz5JIo
"You all came to see me?" Hikari dumbly said, looking at her peers with some confusion.
"I mean, we did fight your Shadow," bluntly remarked Mana. "And given the way things have gone with us, I figure you'll end up fighting alongside us. Am I wrong?"
"...that is the gist of what I've been told," admitted Hikari, feeling a strange little flutter in her stomach at the thought of fighting alongside them. (A chance to make a difference outside of school...?) "I'm...not sure what to make of it, to be honest. Especially after your stories..."
"Circumstances have ensured we are brought up to speed rather quickly," said Mayumi, sounding somewhat subdued for a reason Hikari couldn't quite pinpoint. "After all, Sohryu-san has been with us for a very short time, yet she's fought alongside everyone else rather well."
("More like you've fought well alongside me," Asuka impulsively corrected under her breath.)
"...everyone..." Hikari looked around. "Ikari-san and Ayanami-san are absent?"
"Third's on a mission," explained Asuka, using that odd numbered title she seemed to have reserved for Shinji. "As for First..." Asuka glanced at the door, her face curling up into a displeased expression. "She's here at Headquarters doing something, but I imagine she'll drop by sooner or later."
Kensuke rolled his eyes. "She's probably staying away while you're visiting so you two don't make things awkward for the Class Rep. Whatever's going on between you isn't subtle."
Asuka snorted, looking away without saying another word.
Hikari didn't know what to make of the unusual interplay. "I see..." Clutching at the thin blanket over her medical cot, she said, "...I didn't miss much in the way of important lessons, have I?"
"Seriously, you're still on this?" griped Asuka.
"I may have had an epiphany about certain things in my life, but that's not an excuse for me to simply stop," retorted Hikari, speaking softly yet with a steely undertone. "I'm...I'm not just going to give up on it...because I still find my life as a student worthwhile."
Asuka shot her a glance, both irritated yet intrigued. "...well, as long as you've got your priorities down," the redhead murmured. Turning on her heel, she headed for the exit. "If I don't see you at school, I'll probably see you in a Training Room." Waving over her shoulder, Asuka departed without another word.
Toji huffed. "She's really annoying."
"Suzuhara-san," chided Hikari on impulse.
"What, she is!"
Mayumi dutifully provided some copies of her class notes from the past couple of days, which Hikari was very grateful for. The other teenagers discussed potential training arrangements once Hikari was finally cleared to leave the Medical Ward, and whether or not they would need any supervision from Katsuragi or Sakamoto. Alas, when a nurse on staff advised them that Hikari was due for another round of tests soon, they quickly began to scurry out.
Toji briefly lingered, looking back at her with an unusual expression. "...you okay?" he wondered.
Hikari resisted the urge to gulp, looking away from his uncharacteristically intense gaze. "...is it okay to say that I'm not sure?"
"Sure is. But you've always had your...stuff so well put together, I'd thought you would have figured that stuff out by now. But I guess the Class Rep is human too, huh..." He trailed off with those words, looking oddly perplexed; whether at her or himself, Hikari was unsure.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked with genuine confusion.
Toji jolted, as if bewildered by her observation. "Oh. Uh...just ignore me. I'm probably being stupid." He quickly made an about face and left.
As such, Hikari was left alone with nothing but herself, her thoughts, and various members of NERV's medical staff dropping in and out of her room...at least, for the time being.
A short time later, Rei Ayanami dropped in by herself. "Are you doing well?" she calmly asked.
Hikari, managing to suppress a yawn, replied, "...I suppose it depends on what you mean by 'well'," she admitted.
The bizarre yet stoic girl observed her for a few moments, her red eyes looking as if she could see right through her. Finally, she added, "You can rely on the others. They will be good for you, as I'm sure you will be good for them." Without another word, she departed.
Hikari blinked, unsure of what to make of that odd exchange.
But there was little time to think on such things, as more personnel reporting under Dr. Ritsuko Akagi arrived to prepare her for some spiriology scans and tests.
(And thus did Hikari Horaki become introduced to the wonder that was The Tube™.)
xxxx
Shinji Ikari returned to Tokyo-3 shortly after night had fallen; checking his messages, he had resolved to at least visit Hikari Horaki (seeing as how everyone else in his immediate friend group had seen her that day).
By a strange bit of serendipity, she had only been out of The Tube™ for about five minutes by the time he walked into her room in NERV's Medical Ward. "Oh...I'm sorry."
"Why?" asked Hikari, clearly confused as to why he seemed apologetic.
"Well..." He scratched at the back of his head, pulling up a chair to sit beside her cot. "It's not exactly the most exciting or enjoyable time, at least in my experience...and the others don't seem to have much fun either. I get why it's necessary, but...you know what I'm getting at?"
"...I think I do," admitted Hikari, looking down at her hands with a pensive expression. "But...I also didn't mind."
View: watch?v=qV1N8KGearc
"Really?"
"Because while I was undergoing the scans, there was nothing else to do. By design, at least according to Dr. Akagi, so my mind and spirit could be accurately analyzed. And so...there was nothing to do, but sit and wait. It was...relaxing."
He looked at her with genuine befuddlement.
"I mean, if I had been able to occupy myself with a book, or with homework, or with anything else...then it would have been worse. But there was nothing to do, so why would I worry about it?" With a quiet shrug, she added, "I...I haven't really had much of a chance to just sit back and simply be."
"...I think I understand what you're getting at." Leaning back in his chair, he wondered as to what exactly the Class Representative had gone through when encountering her Shadow. "Having a Persona...it changes things."
"It does provide some context to the things you all spoke of," she remarked. At his look of confusion, she added, "You know...from when you and your friends told me about your summer vacation."
Shinji blinked as memories from August the 25th came back. "Oh. Right." That had been a rather eye-opening revelation for Horaki. "To be fair, it's not like everything is a matter of life and death..."
"But even what little I went through with my Shadow was harrowing enough," admitted Hikari, looking towards the window with a solemn expression. The glittering lights of Tokyo-3 were strangely relaxing to look at. "And even then, I bet it was nothing compared to what you've all experienced..."
"...I wouldn't know," he forthrightly admitted. "I mean, I haven't been told all of the details about what the others went through when fighting your Shadow. It's a private matter; much like when I faced Aida-san's Shadow, or Suzuhara-san's Shadow. And...the things we don't want to admit about ourselves can be more difficult to deal with than even an Angel, in some ways..."
"Do you seriously mean that?" asked Hikari.
He nodded with earnestness.
"...it's strange." Hikari had a sad smile on her face. "Even though awakening to a Persona will change my life in many ways...it's still going to be an uphill battle to do the things I want to do. But...at least I'll have a chance, where before I had none." She paused before shaking her head. "No: I had a chance before. I just didn't want to see..."
"...I hope you find what you're looking for, Horaki-san."
"I hope so, too." With a weary yet sincere expression, she asked, "Since I'm going to be training with you and the others on using my Persona...would it be possible to join that team of yours? You called it...'Stat-heroes', right?"
(On August the 25th, Toji and Mana had made their feelings regarding Hikari's concerns quite clear. Despite her despondence, Shinji tried to make her understand. "...we went through a lot. Not just individually, but as a group. As a team. We even picked a name for ourselves: Statherós. It means 'steadfast' in another language. It was...a vow. A promise. We're still trying to live up to that.")
"Statherós," Shinji impulsively corrected. "...and...well, that's a bit different," he admitted. "I mean, Sohryu-san technically isn't part of that group either...or Ayanami-san, for that matter." (And even then, Ayanami seemed to be 'in the know' to a degree beyond even they; a far cry from Asuka, who was truly out of the loop, as far as he was aware...)
Hikari tilted her head, seemingly at a loss for words. "Eh?"
"It's...about something deeper, than just being Persona-users," he explained. "It's something I would have to discuss with the others...because it's very personal."
"Then don't mind me," said Hikari by way of apology. "I don't want to intrude on something I'm not privy to...I should focus on one thing at a time." With a sudden yawn and a brief nod, she added, "Thank you for visiting, Ikari-san...but I think I need to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow at school..." Almost as an aside, she asked, "Um, quick question: did everyone behave themselves while I was absent?"
"...I think the students have been too curious as to why you've been absent to misbehave," remarked Shinji.
Hikari seemed mollified by that answer.
xxxx
As Shinji departed NERV HQ, he felt an odd sense of foreboding in his bones. Can we actually risk letting Sohryu-san and Horaki-san join Statherós? To let them understand what the actual stakes of everything are...?
He wasn't sure.
However...a decision would have to be made, before long.
He spent some time walking around the city, lost in thought; even after returning to Hakone Academy and making his way back to the Izanagi Dorms, he wasn't any closer to a definitive answer...
xxxx
END OF 9/16/2015
xxxx
