Kotone was tired.
As she rolled out of bed, everything hurt. It wasn't just her eyes, or her stomach, but her whole being. She dragged herself out of her bed and felt like every piece of her was out of place.
She stumbled her way over to the sink, washing her face clean. As she looked in the mirror, her eyes slipped away from her sunken-in eyes and pale face and to her alarm. The same alarm that she realized with dawning horror should have gone off thirty minutes ago.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009, 7:59 AM
Gekkoukan High School
In the last minute, Kotone slid into class.
"Kotone!" Yukari's eyebrows shot up to the ceiling. "You're here. Hey, a-are you OK?"
She gave a thumbs up, heavily breathing, sweating from every pore. "I-I'm good. I made it."
Kotone knew she looked sweaty and pale and exhausted, but at least could take satisfaction in knowing her perfect attendance record was safe. As she languidly walked over to her chair she saw Makoto. His face rested against his fist, and a rap song blaring over his headphones, as he stared out the window, not even acknowledging her existence.
As the bell rang and Ms. Toriumi began to speak, Kotone could feel all the energy she had summoned for the run there to dissipate.
"Geez." Yukari stretched. "I thought Ekoda was never gonna stop talking. You'd think he'd find a minute to talk about our readings instead how lazy and bad and terrible we are."
Kotone smiled and nodded, pretending like she was listening to him during the lecture.
"You wanna grab some a bite to eat?"
"Sure. One sec." Kotone turned around and spotted Makoto near the back of the room. Just as she was about to reach him and call his name, a boy in a tracksuit walked up to him.
"Dude, where were you yesterday? I thought you were coming to practice?"
Makoto rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about that, I was in the library for hours."
His face scrunched up. "Huh? But midterms just finished. Why'd you do that?" He turned to leave and Makoto followed, the two continuing their conversation where Kotone couldn't hear.
She balled her fists and quietly walked back to Yukari.
The bell rang, shocking Kotone out of her stupor.
OK. She took a deep breath and stood up as everyone else began to pack up and leave for the day. I can do this. Third time is the try. I just have to turn to Makoto and tell him I'm sor-
As she turned, she saw his desk was vacated.
"W-What?" Makoto was always the last person to leave class of his own accord. Kenji was still there. The track guy he was talking with early was still there. Even Junpei was still there.
Her shoulders sloped down in defeat.
"Zu you know what I meen?" Bebe asked over the sound of the sewing machine. "Once iz done eet will be very chic."
Kotone twitched upon hearing that word. "Yeah. Chic, definitely..."
Bebe stopped work on his scarf and turned to her. "Iz everything okay Kotone-sama? You zeem a little...despondent?"
"...I'm fine." Kotone said with a forced smile. "Don't worry about it."
She was not fine. Absolutely nothing had gone right today. Not a single thing. She bit her lip. I can't believe I fucked it up again. She tried to hold back tears, not wanting Bebe to see her like this. First mom, now Makoto. I'm trash. I can't do anything right. All I do is ruin everything.
They heard a knock on the door. "Come een!" Bebe said.
The door slid opened, and a familiar voice called out to them. "Yo."
Kotone jumped in her seat when she recognized the voice. "Makoto?" She hurriedly turned and saw him flashing a peace-sign one hand, and holding a trio of sandwiches in the other.
"Oh!? Bonjour Makoto-dono!" Bebe got up and walked over to Makoto.
"Yo." Makoto repeated. "It's Je-roo-san correct?"
"Oh you zu not need be zo formal," he said, "everyone calls me Bebe."
Makoto nodded. "Bebe it is." He handed him a wrapped cutlet sandwich. "Hungry?"
"Oh yes! Zank you very much. Are zu here to join ze fashion club?" He asked, blue eyes shining with hope as he took Makoto's gift.
"If you'll have me."
"Huzzah! I am a thrilled to have anozer member!" His eyes went dim. "I had hoped upon joining Gekkoukan I would be able to make many friends, but it hazbeen very diffeecult."
"I can imagine." Makoto walked over to Kotone and sat next to her. "Hungry?" He handed her one.
"Huh?" She looked down at the offer and then back up to Makoto. "Y-Yeah, sure, thanks."
Makoto unwrapped his and immediately sunk his teeth into it. "Kaz was all over me during lunch today, I didn't even get a chance to eat." He said in between bites. "I even ate one right after class ended and I was still hungry."
"Oh." She wiped her eyes and unwrapped her sandwich, careful not to get any crumbs on the equipment.
The three of them quietly ate their sandwiches before Bebe explained the purpose of the club to Makoto. What he said exactly was lost on Kotone as was still in shock, and would remain so until they left.
"Man," Makoto wiped his brow as they walked, "fashion club is a lot more in-depth than I expected."
Kotone trailed behind him, barely able to mumble out a "yeah".
"Bebe seems nice though. A little energetic and forward, but nice."
"Yeah."
Makoto turned to her, eyes narrowed. "Is everything alright? You seem out of it today."
"I just wanted to say I'm sorry!" She abruptly yelled, powering through the tears in her eyes. "I," she bit her lip, "I'm sorry. What I said last night was so rude, I-I didn't mean to accuse you of anything. It just came to me and I said it before I realized how mean it sounded, and I'm sorry, and I don't want you to be mad at me."
"...oh." Makoto whispered out.
"I'm sorry." She repeated, even quieter than him, her eyes fixed directly on the sidewalk.
"It's OK." She looked up, seeing his smiling face. "We all say stuff we didn't mean, or it comes out wrong, or worse than you expect. I knew you didn't mean it like that."
"Really?" She asked, internally cursing her cracking voice.
"Yeah." He said. "Honestly, It's a fair question. Why were the Full Moon Shadows showing up right after I did? I guess Junpei's guess is as good as any other."
She furiously nodded. "Yeah, definitely...I'm just glad you're not mad at me." She mumbled out. "I thought you were avoiding me all day because of it." He tilted his head. "Cuz like, you wouldn't look at me this morning, and you disappeared during lunch and right after class."
Makoto shrugged. "Nah, things just happen you know. Besides, I couldn't stay stay mad at you." He said with a smile.
Kotone blushed. "...thank you."
"Alright," Junpei pulled his cap back around as the crowd of crawling Shadows spotted them, "like we discussed. Ready?"
Yukari and Makoto signaled their agreement as the mass of slithering blobs rushed at them.
"Hell yeah, on your mark Yuka-tan."
She pulled out her Evoker. "Io! Use Magaru!"
As her Persona summoned an intense blast of wind, both boys summoned their Personas at the same time. "Agi!"
The blasts of fire from Orpheus and Hermes combined with Io's wind to create a titanic maelstrom of fire, incinerating the mass of crawling Shadows.
"C'est magnifique!" Kirijo said. "An incredibly showing, Iori. Combining Takeba's wind attack with your and Yuki's fire ones, truly impressive. I never would have considered such a tactic."
Junpei punched up. "Ah yeah! Strike three! You're out!" He yelled to the destroyed Shadows.
"Um, Junpei-kun, wouldn't it be more appropriate to say 'you're out' when someone misses an attack?" Fuuka asked.
"Oh crap, you're right." Junpei scratched his chin. "OK, next time we do it, I'll say, 'Home Run!'"
Kotone patted him on the back. "Much better."
Junpei giggled. "Dude, I'm feeling much better. I broke into the top half of midterms, and I can kick ass again in good ol' Tartarus."
Yukari rolled her eyes. "Come on," she said as she and Kotone began to ascend the stairs, the two boys trailing behind them, "you can celebrate once we finish up for the night."
Junpei skipped up the stairs, giddy as can be.
"By the way, what floor are we on now?" Makoto asked.
Kotone placed her naginata against the wall and stretched. "Floor 44 I think." She yawned. "Geez, we've barely made any progress."
Kirijo spoke up. "Be careful, all of you, I just sensed a large amount of Shadows around the corner. There's even more than the ones downstairs."
In an instant Kotone's eyes changed from soft and tired to sharp and ready. "Yukari, Junpei, behind me." They rushed behind her. "Makoto, scout them out."
Makoto nodded. "Got you." Makoto sidled along the wall. He crouched down and peaked his head around the corner. "...huh." Makoto stood back up and turned back to them. "It's clear, kind of."
Kotone raised an eyebrow.
"Come on," he said as he started walking over there, "it's easier to see than to explain."
She walked over and looked. "Huh, yeah." She walked forward. "Senpai, I'm reporting in. Um, the Shadows aren't hostile. They're...kneeling." Kotone said.
"Repeat that again." Kirijo said.
"The Shadows are not hostile." Kotone explained calmly as all four cautiously walked over. "They're making a path for us, all of them are kneeling and not moving."
Despite the motley collection of Shadows, from the ones that resembled birds, to ones that were lamps surrounded by a cape, to the wheels with large tiger faces, all laid prostrate on either side of the path in front of them.
Looking closer, Makoto realized that one of the tiger wheels was...trembling?
"That's...unusual." Kirijo said slowly. "I'm not sure why they would be acting this way."
"I think they're scared." Makoto mumbled out, as his stomach began to turn. Shadows...were not supposed to act like this.
"Scared?" Yukari asked warily. "Of what? Us?"
Junpei strode up, grinning cockily. "I guess we're just too badass for these guys. They must've felt out attack downstairs and are groveling before the might of-"
"Ahhhh!" Fuuka screamed, shocking all of them. "Run, now!"
"Huh?" Kotone immediately got into a battle stance. "What's going on!? Fuuka!"
Instead, it was Kirijo that answered. "I don't know what it is, but I sense something truly wretched coming your way! Evacuate immediately!"
The Shadows around them began to shake, and then violently convulse. Cracks and tears appeared on their bodies, black microbes spilling out as they began to disintegrate into puddles and lumps of ash.
"W-What the hell!?" Junpei backed away.
Makoto could feel the taste of metal on the back of his throat. His body felt heavy, and his knees wouldn't stop shaking.
In the distance, they heard a long, low roar.
"R-Run." He pulled out his Evoker and stumbled forward. They ran as fast as their bodies could allow it, which amounted to little more than a brisk pace at first.
"The teleporter is two left turns and three right turns." Fuuka announced as calmly as she could. "Please hurry."
They followed her instructions, running faster through three turns in complete silence.
Until they saw it.
At the end of a long hall, opposite where they were running, a tall figure stood under dim purple light. Rusted chain hung around a red-stained black coat. Two long revolvers held by aged, blackened hands. The immediate smell of rust and fetid cloth assaulted their nostrils from even that great of a distance. Just one look into its lone, piercing yellow eye, filled with unyielding contempt and malice, made the hairs on Makoto's neck stand as he realized what it was.
This was Death.
"RUN!" Makoto screamed as he summoned Orpheus.
"What the hell's going on up there, Mitsuru!?" Akihiko screamed.
"I don't know." She said calmly, her one hand resting on her rapier trembling. "This Shadow, it's unlike anything we've ever fought before."
Shinjiro hoisted his axe over his shoulder. "Should we go up there?"
She shook her head. "No, there's no way we'd be able to catch up with them in time, and even if we did...I doubt even all of us combined could beat it."
Fuuka clapped her hands together in prayer.
As soon as Orpheus threw a fireball at the Shadow, Makoto turned tail and ran full speed to catch up with the rest of them.
A low bellowing roar preceded a single bullet, one that narrowly clipped Makoto's shoulder and blasted a hole in a wall. A hole larger than his torso.
"Shit!" Makoto summoned Orpheus once more. "CadenzaAHHHHH!" Just as Orpheus was about to strum his lyre, the Shadow fired another bullet straight through his head. Orpheus disintegrated and Makoto was knocked unconscious mid-run.
"Makoto!" Kotone screamed. She turned back just as Yukari and Junpei realized what had happened. She whipped out her Evoker. "Elea!" Her Persona appeared above her. "Hamaon!" From both hands a blast of bright light shot out from her Persona and hit the approaching enemy, to no avail.
Junpei grabbed Makoto and threw him over his shoulder as Kotone fired repeatedly at the Shadow. "Yukari! One more time!" He said as he readied his Evoker.
"Right!" She summoned Io and screamed. "Magaru!"
"Agi!" The two's attacks combined once more blanketed the hallway with searing hot flames, completely obstructing the view and making it impossible for them to return. And as they all turned a corner, without even looking, they could feel it effortlessly walk through the fire.
"Shit, shit, shit!" Kotone bite her tongue and ran faster than she ever had in her life. All the exhaustion she felt, all the worry that had consumed her thoughts earlier in the day, everything except the single-minded concept of 'run' had been excised from her mind.
"I see it!" Junpei screamed out as they saw the teleporter. Kotone was the first in and immediately punched it in order activated it. Yukari arrived a split-second later.
"Get in! Hurry!" Yukari yelled.
Just as the machine began glowing, Junpei and the unconscious Makoto got in. The last thing they heard was a third gunshot fired at them.
"-thing wasn't a Shadow, man" Makoto heard as he regained consciousness, "I dunno what the hell it was, but it was worse."
Sanada raised an eyebrow. "It was that bad?"
"It was." Makoto mumbled out. He lifted his head and saw Yukari and Io kneeling before him, the soft waves of healing energy blanketing him.
"You're awake." Kirijo said softly. "Are you alright? Can you stand?"
Makoto slowly forced himself up. "Yeah. Is everyone alright." He felt a splitting headache and a sore shoulder.
"Thankfully." Kotone said as she offered him a hand up.
He got up and immediately fell forward. "What was that thing?"
"I don't know." Kirijo said. "All I know is the moment it appeared Yamagishi and I could feel it's overwhelming power and malice. It's gone now but..."
He placed his hand on his head, as the memory of Orpheus getting shot through his own resurfaced.
"Hrng."
Jin turned. "Everything alright Takaya?"
"It's fine." He said as he clutched his head and leaned on a brick wall. Even in the light of the Dark Hour, Jin could see his partner's eyes drop from a bright yellow to a dull rusted brown. "Sometimes things just don't work out as planned." He huffed out.
