Monday, June 29, 2009, 8:12AM

Port Island Station

As they stepped off the train and onto Tatsumi Island, Makoto could only admire how different things looked from the last time they were here. Gray clouds spanned the length and the width of the sky. The normally loud throng of people moving and speaking were instead replaced with the constant pitter-patter of rain against his umbrella. The hot pavement was slick with water and the occasional puddle.

"Ha-choo!" Kotone sneezed. "My nose is runniiiiiiiing." She grumbled.

"Then go catch it." Makoto said as he adjusted their umbrella against the light drizzle.

Kotone puffed up her cheeks. "That's not funny."

Makoto grinned. "Nah, it's hilarious."

Kotone grabbed onto his sleeve. "I'm gonna blow my nose on you." She threatened.

"Try it and I'll run."

"You'd leave this poor little girl in a torrential monsoon? You monster..."

"Yep." She lightly rapped her knuckles against his arm in protest, but still stepped a bit closer to him. He quietly tilted the umbrella to cover her a bit more, and she hummed in appreciation.

Odd as it may sound, he preferred going to Gekkoukan in this weather. Move over bright and clear skies. He thought as they stepped inside.

"Yo, Makoto!" He turned and saw an utterly soaked Kenji waving at him from across the hall.

Kotone giggled. "I'll let you two have some space."

Makoto smiled. "Thanks." He turned to the other boy. "Please tell me you didn't run all the way to school in the rain."

Kenji shook his head no, and also shook off some of the remaining water from his hair. "Nah, the wind just blew away my umbrella is all." He frowned. "You didn't respond to my texts last night."

"Sorry." Makoto scratched his head. "I was feeling pretty out of it the whole day. You said that Rio-san and all the girls came back?"

Kenji nodded vigorously. "Yeah, it's the weirdest thing, the police found them all passed out right outside the school two nights ago. None of them have any memories of what happened. They're saying it was some kind of sudden Apathy Syndrome onset whatever, that just came and went."

"That's freaky." Makoto said as he put his things away in his shoebox.

"Yeah. I got a text from her this morning, and she said they're being discharged from the hospital later today. They should be back in school by the end of the week."

Makoto felt bad misleading Kenji, but explaining what actually happened would be too difficult and inconvenient. "Well, all's well that ends well."

Kenji chuckled, motioning him to follow. "Yeah, I guess. I should probably buy her something to make her feel better. Maybe some miso ice cream."

Makoto's eyebrows furrowed. "D-Does she like that?"

"Oh yeah, she loves the stuff."

"I see..." Makoto walked past Kenji on the stairs.

"Hey Makoto." He turned back and saw Kenji staring at him, looking oddly pensive. "Did you...?"

"Hm?"

Kenji shook his head. "Nothing, I don't know what I'm trying to say. Just uh, stay safe." He scratched his head. "Things are crazy in Iwatodai right now, you know. Apathy Syndrome, people getting shot, people disappearing for days at a time..." He snickered. "I feel like an old man shaking my cane at society."

Makoto chuckled. "Yeah, I will. Thanks."

Kenji smiled back at him. "You too."


Wednesday, July 1, 2009, 6:12PM

Naganaki Shrine

Underneath one of the torii of the Naganaki Shrine, Koromaru sat alone. The rain had stopped earlier, and while the water had yet to dry up, the number of worshipers had.

Koromaru whined and laid down. Between the approaching nighttime, and the aftermath of a storm, it reminded him of that horrible night so many months ago. His caretaker was cruelly taken from him, left laying on the ground, bleeding, cold, and alone. No amount of pitiful howling brought him back. It eventually brought a curious passerby, but it was too late. His master was gone.

People had come and gone, provided him with food and shelter, kindness and care, but he was irreplaceable. Without him, things were never the same.

He sniffed something, and instinctively jumped to all fours and began growling. An old man in a drab, wet coat, a color that was almost indistinguishable from the sky itself, approached him. A bag slung over his shoulder as he walked forward. "Whoa there, boy." He held up an aged and weathered hand as he leaned on a cane. "I'm not here to harm ya."

Koromaru growled but laid down again, eyes fixed and teeth bared.

The old man slowly approached the Shiba Inu, placing the bag of dog food next to him. "Heard from the dames around here you were usually haunt this place when it rains." With a swift pull, he tore open the bag and poured some into his hand. "Here, the food is good and nutritious, I promise."

Koromaru slowly approached him, sniffing his hand and then eating out of it.

"That's a good boy," he said with a sad smile, "standing by your home no matter what. You should be proud of yerself." The old man said somberly. "I'm sure your old owner woulda been."

Koromaru laid down. The man reminded him of his old master. While pudgier and much more unkempt, he had the same long white bushy beard and kindhearted generosity. It was even the same bag of food that his old master bought him. The Shiba Inu whined and turned his head away, painful nostalgia overtaking him.

"I know, I know. It's always hard to lose someone you care about." The old man said. With a grunt he got up and looked to the sky, seeing a pair of ravens circling overhead. "Hm, I do believe that is my cue to leave. Let me put this bag somewhere out of the way. Don't want to desecrate someone else's holy place after all. I'll make sure it's easily accessible to you."

Koromaru whined but acquiesced. He had lost his appetite. Maybe another day, with different, clearer skies.

"Koro-chan!" Koromaru turned to see Kotone and Junpei running over, the letter yelling at the former to slow down. "Are you okay, boy?" She leaned down and petted him." You're not cold or hungry, are you?" She asked, body and voice radiating warmth.

"Ruff!" Koromaru stood up on two legs and licked her on the face.

"Good boy!" She cheered.

A light chuckle came from behind Koromaru. "Don't spoil him too much." The old man leaned down and petted Koromaru once more. "The way I hear it, his kind were bred as hunting dogs, ain't cha boy?" Koromaru barked and wagged his tail. "That's what I thought." The old man tipped his hat towards the two. "I left him his food back behind the tree. I think the little fella should be well-stocked for a while."

"Awooo!" Koromaru howled and watched the old man as he walked away.

"Who the heck was that?" Junpei mumbled.

Kotone picked up Koromaru in her arms, coddling him like a baby. "No clue. Puppy~!"


Saturday, July 4, 2009, Dark Hour

Tartarus, Floor 72

"Alright you Featherman villain of the week rejects, let's finish this!" Junpei said as he summoned Hermes. He swung his sword and sliced apart one of the remaining serpentine Shadows, as Hermes burned another one into oblivion. Behind him, Makoto summoned Orpheus and took care of the other two with similar efficiency.

A Shadow compromised of three heads stacked on top of each other sent out a blast of lightning at Kirijo, only to be blocked by Polydeuces. "You know," Kirijo said as she summoned Penthesilea to slice the Shadow to ribbons, "this is probably the fourth time in two days I have heard Featherman referenced by you specifically, Iori. I almost wish I had seen anything of it so I could know what you mean."

"Really senpai?" Junpei asked, aghast. The last of the statue-like Shadows flew at him, intending to strike him from behind while distracted. "You've never seen anything of Featherman?" Before it could hit him, Hermes emerged, slicing it in half without Junpei even turning around.

Kirijo holstered her Evoker and walked towards the stairs. "I never watched much television when I was young. My parents preferred me to spent my time doing more constructive things, such as studying for school, or learning proper dinner etiquette."

Junpei shook his head. "Man, I never thought someone so rich could ever be so deprived. Is that what it's like growing up rich?"

"Even I watched some old tapes of Zephyrman when I was little." Sanada said.

"Huh?" Junpei turned around, confusion chiseled into his expression. "The heck is Zephyrman?"

Sanada just laughed. "I'll put it to you this way, I don't think it's ever been released on DVD. Just on VHS. Maybe Laserdisc too, I dunno. It's pretty obscure is what I'm getting at."

"Oh." He scratched his chin. "Maybe we can find some rips of it online and watch it together. Can you do that Makoto? You're good with computers, right?"

"I guess, yeah." He said. "It could be fun to watch together. What do you guys think?" Makoto walked in silence for a few seconds as he reached the top of the stairs. "Uh guys?" He turned around and- "What the hell!?"

Behind him stood an dead end. No trace of the stairs, nor of his teammates.

"Fuuka, can you hear me?"

"..." He could hear the static of Fuuka attempting to reach him, but otherwise nothing from the girl herself.

This was not the first time that traversing between floors had, somehow, ended up splitting them, but most of the time he had been able to quickly contact Fuuka and reach the others. Not tonight apparently.

Makoto stopped and sighed. He began to traverse the floor, careful to watch for any itinerant Shadows.

They were almost one hundred floors up in this tower. They had encountered enemy after enemy, and had learned one new piece of information for every thousand Shadows they had slain – and every thousand was probably a conservative estimation. They had made incremental gains in terms of knowledge over the past few months since he joined. There was much he could assume and infer based on observations, but in terms of things he could be absolutely certain of, there was precious little.

As he turned a corner and walked into a big room, he saw a platform with a large mirror on it.

No, it wasn't just large, as he walked up to it Makoto could tell it was the biggest mirror he'd ever seen. It stood twice as tall as him and it was almost as long as the dorm's common area.

He hated how scruffy he looked. While the Shadows they had fought tonight hadn't been anything too difficult, there were numerous small cuts on his clothes he'd have to stitch up. That and small nicks on his cheek and the back of his hand were just a pain to deal with. They didn't hurt, nor would it be difficult to heal, but it was just another thing he would have to take care of before going to bed and...and a...and another...

….

….

….?

….

….

…?

Makoto tilted his head to the left, and his reflection followed. Then to the right, and the reflection followed again. He slowly lifted his hand and carefully placed it on the mirror, and his reflection did the same. All he felt was the cold surface of the mirror, and not the warm skin of another person.

There was no mistaking it, it was his reflection in the mirror...except it wasn't. The Makoto in the mirror looked off, if ever so slightly. From the slightly more sunken in cheeks and eyes, the hair cut in a different style that was just barely shorter than his, and the possibly paler face (it was difficult to tell with the only light being the partially obstructed glow of the Dark Hour's moon). As Makoto's eyes trailed downward, he saw that his reflection had an Evoker holstered.

He hadn't worn his Evoker in weeks. He didn't need an Evoker anymore. Even Kirijo eventually gave up on requiring him to carry it on expeditions to Tartarus.

Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a flying Shadow coming directly at him. Makoto ducked out of the way, and it smashed straight into the mirror, breaking through it and sending sending out shards flying every direction

Makoto jumped back and summoned Orpheus, using him as a shield as the Shadow destroyed the mirror with a blast of wind, creating a tsunami of shrapnel aimed in his direction. "Shit!"

It shrieked as it fly high and began to bombard him with a blasts of air.

Fire won't work with all this wind, so, Makoto braced himself, how about we give this a proper field test. "Mudo!"

A ball of black energy wildly crackled in Orpheus' left hand. He grabbed his left arm with his right hand and aimed the chaotic, outpouring mass at the fluttering Shadow. As it swung around and began to attack, he fired his dark magical energy and tore through its right half, obliterating it.

Makoto knelt. He picked up a shard next to his knee and inspected it carefully. Completely see-through. It was no longer a shard of some strange mirror, if it had been a mirror, but merely that of glass.

"Yuki!" He turned and saw Kirijo and Sanada sprinting at full force and waving at him. "Thank goodness we found you."

Sanada stopped and held up his arm, stopping Kirijo from walking onto the field of glass shards. "We heard the commotion from way back. I'm gonna guess this was the cause?" He asked rhetorically.

Makoto looked at up where the mirror used to be.

"We can't contact Yamagishi, we should try to find Iori and retreat for the night."

"Yeah." Makoto said quietly.


Sunday, July 5, 2009, 11:21AM

Iwatodai Dormitory, 1 st Floor

Even as night ended, and day broke, all Makoto could think about the mirror, and really Tartarus as a whole.

Nearly 100 floors of this tower. Makoto ruminated silently as the others juniors conversed among themselves. 100 damn floors and I'm still left with more questions than answers. Every step we take, it's more Shadows, more questions, more bizarre occurrences. Yukari wanted to grill Kirijo about it, and since the next Full Moon is in a couple of days...it might be time. As he turned to address Yukari, he instead found Kotone's face. She was so close he could feel her breath on his face, and distinguish the individual hairs on her eyebrows.

He yelped and jumped back, hitting the edge of the couch.

"How about you, Makoto?" She asked, nonplussed.

"H-Huh?"

Kotone frowned. "Were you even paying attention?" She asked indignantly.

"N-Not in the slightest, no." He sat up and tried to regain some composure now that everyone was looking at him.

Kotone puffed out her cheeks as Junpei chuckled. "We're talking 'bout first kisses, muchacho. How about you? Don't tell me you've never had one?" He teased.

Yukari rolled her eyes. "Didn't you just say you didn't have yours?"

"H-Hey!" Junpei yelled as Fuuka giggled. "You don't gotta tell him if he doesn't know." He whispered loudly to her.

Kotone sidled up closer to him. "Yeah Makoto," she said as she leaned in a bit too close for Makoto's comfort, "did you or didn't you?"

"Y-Yeah, I did." Makoto edged back. "Back in junior high."

For a brief moment, Kotone's eyes flickered downward, before she leaned back, arms crossed and head held high. "Well that just means I win, since I had my first kiss in the fifth grade!"

"Was this a competition?" Makoto asked.

"It is now!" Yukari rolled her eyes at Kotone's pronouncement, while Junpei and Fuuka chuckled.

From across the room and halfway up the stairs, they heard Shinjiro bellow at them. "What the hell are you idiots crowing about this time?"

"First kisses!" Kotone yelled back. "How about you guys?"

Shinjiro shrugged. "I ain't saying nothing. Though..." he smirked and turned to Sanada, "how about you. You wanna enlighten them?"

Sanada narrowed his eyes. "Don't."

"I'm just saying man, you've got a better story than me."

"I'll throw you out the window Shinjiro, I swear." Sanada held up a fist, expression the most deadly and serious any of the juniors had ever seen.

Shinjiro held up his hands, smirk still plastered on his face. "Alright, alright, I won't embarrass you in front of the juniors." He said before they both left, Sanada muttering something under his breath while Shinjiro just laughed.

"What was that about?" Kotone asked.

Junpei scratched his chin. "Well, knowing what he's like, I'm guessing his first was with either Kirijo-senpai or Aragaki-senpai."

"But, it didn't seem like Aragaki-senpai was embarrassed, so..." Fuuka trailed off.

"I think it's time for us to do some investigating." Kotone rubbed her hands.

"I think it's time I go for a walk." Makoto got up. He beckoned Yukari to come with him.

Yukari stood up. "Same."

"Laaaaame!" Kotone protested as they both left.

"Fear not, Kotone." Junpei puffed up his chest. "After all, you have me at your service, Junpei Iori, Ace Detective."

"Mmmmm, nah. I'm good." She said as she got up and left, leaving a disappointed Junpei and an utterly confused Fuuka.


AN: Next chapter will be the 4th Moon Operation. I am still not sure if I will have to divide it into two chapters given how long it will be, so stay tuned for that.