NOVEMBER 21. 2024. THU. MORNING
PREFACE
The event of this story will take place in 2019 and will contain spoilers for P4G and P5R endings. This is mainly a P3 story, and character crossover will only be done when needed, otherwise it would be very limited. The story is based on the completionist true ending of P3 FES (max compendium with all SL maxed), with new content from P3 Reload added when appropriate.
This story is written to feel like playing the game, as much as possible, including the format of the chat box, day time mechanics and later RPG elements, including interaction/discovery of other Arcana and Persona as well as stat growth (though not to the point of being a LitRPG). Some returning character's Arcana will be different due to either their growth as a person or due to the passage of time.
# Bold text in a normal line indicates the protagonist's thoughts/actions, which is usually a single dialog box in the game. Similarly, # before a line indicates dialog box content for the non-protagonist. *sound* indicate game audio cue like a Reaper's chains, while [system] indicates game system notification that is purely for your OOC enjoyment.
This story will contain violence and grievous injury, not including just death.
...
..
.
MARCH 05. 2019. SAT. MIDNIGHT
Thud. The sound of a crumpled body hitting the cold hard floor.
# Pain, then a dull ringing invaded my senses.
You open your eyes. Something hot runs down your brown. You see the night above you.
# That pale moonlight offered no answers.
# Only an emerald silence.
A butterfly flew overhead, into the cherry blossom carrying an ocean breeze.
# Blue. Like the sea.
# It's strangely peaceful. Wistful, almost.
And yet you must rise. Arm over the sharp corner of the stone bench, you shift. Bloody hand-prints held your shaky legs to their feet.
# I must have overslept on the school bench.
You exhale sharply.
# The cold breeze burns my lungs.
Somewhere, a bell rang once more. School bells at midnight.
You look around.
# There is no one else here.
...in what looks like the rooftop to a school. Rows of layered solar panels to your right, and a beautiful view to the city below. From far out here, the ocean waves that softly caressed the sand look blood-red in the dark, a rare night when the city is devoid of streetlight.
And then, you see it. Right under you, crushed by your fall.
# Flowers, trampled by my weight. White. White as snow.
So many of them.
# They smell... lovely.
You picked one of them up.
The bundle of flowers whose petals are as white as snow.
You pulled out a message from within them. It simply read:
"We hope you are well, man. Still keeping our promise. Everyone is.
I wished you could be here with me. with us. Some of us still hold out hope that you could, You know.
just one more year and it'll be our tenth year anniversary of graduation.
Be pouring this one out to you.
Hope you still aging up there, right?
cus it would be mighty weird sharing beer with a minor you know?
I mean, i gotta.
Had it not been for you, me and Ch-"
# ...the edge of this letter is slightly damp.
# The rest is intelligible.
A voice rings out within your mind. It echoes with a hollow, robotic static, like from a place so impossibly far away.
*Iwatodai Station. Iwatodai Station. We've arrived at Iwatodai Station.*
You shake your head, shoving the thought away like a bad dream.
Have I been here before?
The night breeze gives you no answer. But, the moon. That pale green moon...
That's right.
# Iwatodai...
You steadied yourself.
# Sorry, everyone.
# I am late.
Sound of your footsteps echoes through the empty stairway, to the dark hallway below. Stumbling, you walk into the abyss outside Gekkoukan High, into a street full of coffins.
...
..
.
APRIL 07. 2019. SUN. NOON
Somewhere outside the office windows, a TV station report is rolling...
And in other news, a proposition of child welfare program have been met with significant push back from homeowner over fear of increase in propert-
*click*
...and the failure of our politicians to recognize our wartime atrocities... is eroding oversea public sentiment in valued markets-
*click*
BORED POLICE OFFICER
# God, the news is depressing lately.
The TV abruptly cut, there was only the sound of cicadas left out in the sun.
SLACKING POLICE OFFICER
# Haven't they always? I thought the Diet party promised to finally wrangle this country back to shape, but that Shido guy just has to lose his balls and do an apology tour.
He turned to the other officer, who is currently flailing over on his deck, holding a phone that is scrolling on endlessly.
Only the sound of argument inside his boss room makes him sometimes perk up in attention.
BORED POLICE OFFICER
# ...How long have they been in there? You know, that red head looks really... what do they call it... female fair tail? Do you think the chief is... you know. With her? What a score.
SLACKING POLICE OFFICER
# Idiots and their Engrish... Besides, there is just no way he is her boy toy, man... ages and all. Heard they met during her high school days. But then again, young chicks dig his type. Stoic and all business like. Cool as a cucumber. Daddy issues and all that.
BORED POLICE OFFICER
# Huuuuh? Is that so... he must have scored her early back when she was still fresh, then. Say, did I tell you about that time when-
They both look into the officer, where that fiery ice queen is back again. Standing in front of the chief, she even makes the other policemen shrink away from her overbearing presence when she steps into the room, where they can only gossip about what is going inside from behind the closed door.
Chief Kurosawa remained composed, however, even as their back and forth kept on for the entire afternoon.
CHIEF KUROSAWA
# Yes. Thirteen more cases this week. Age, profession, location... all varied.
He cast a glance of concern over her.
CHIEF KUROSAWA
# A recurring problem, now. I would not call them Apathy Syndrome. It's... similar, though. I don't quiet remember the old cases, but there seem to be a bit of...
She shakes her head.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# My people are looking into it. It has been almost ten years, after all...
MITSURU KIRIJO
# -even though I might never be able to forget those two years, to leave it to flawed human memory to properly diagnose something like this is too careless. It is against my work ethos.
He nodded.
CHIEF KUROSAWA
# Understood. Ever the perfectionist, Ms. Kirijo... As for that man that you're looking for-
Her face sours.
CHIEF KUROSAWA
# No doomsday cult. Yet. I was not really privy to you and your friends' ...memories of the event, but I could vaguely remember that, at least.
She nodded, yet her face still grim as she listened to the officer explain the details.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Mhmm. It was a traumatic time. One that revealed too many to the existence of the Dark Hour that it seems the collective consciousness could not keep up with the lie - though that is only a theory that I would not like to test again. You even have knowledge of it before that, too. Maybe that is why you could recall it.
CHIEF KUROSAWA
# No need to worry about the details with me. I've accepted long ago that what you kids do, only you alone could understand, and not us boring adults.
She smiles.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Kurosawa-san, it has been almost ten years. When will you stop referring to us like that?
CHIEF KUROSAWA
# Heh. Last I checked, kid, you are still half my age. And, I guess, until you have a kid of your own. Then you will know what it means to be an adult.
They shared a quiet moment of levity, before, regrettably, returning to business again.
Ms. Kirijo is a seasoned player in the game of politics.
It makes sense then, that whatever expression she might have toward that light jab the chief made at her solitude... is well hidden indeed.
CHIEF KUROSAWA
# He has been wandering around the area of your old dorm, actually. People report him as a vagrant, so we didn't look much into it, until it was reported that the vagrant was armed with a revolver. The description matched - shirtless, gun strapped to his belt, tattooed male in his 30s or so. There are some mismatches, though.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# You did not get a first-hand look at him?
CHIEF KUROSAWA
# Negative. Always managed to slip away before my boys could be radioed. Like a ghost. Can't really pull force to capture one homeless man either. Especially if it is for a personal favor like yours. Not my ethos, as you said.
She bit her lips. Thinking.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Thank you, Kurosawa-san. Of course, SEEN will pay you back later.
He arches a brow.
CHIEF KUROSAWA
# It's SEEN, now?
She gives a quick, polite chuckle. A bit proud.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# It is short for Specialized Erebus Extermination Network now, Kurosawa-san. We are no longer just a bunch of high-schoolers who are too much over our heads. Hopefully... hopefully, this time, we could make a difference.
CHIEF KUROSAWA
# For him?
MITSURU KIRIJO
# For him.
...
..
.
APRIL 07. 2019. SUN. EVENING
The rumbling of your stomach makes you restless.
# I still remember nothing.
The building's hard concrete entry steps make for a bumpy pillow. Despite that, you tried to sleep. Until you heard it.
# In the midst of a busy street, only her footsteps are familiar to me.
You raised your head. Your throat is dry, your eyes - bloodshot. Meeting hers.
# ...
# Yukari...?
A name suddenly escaped your lips.
She looks back at you. No, right through you. As if you didn't exist.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# Oh!? So you do remember me, you son of a - Did the Tartarus not finish you off!?
...
# I guess?
Shrug. What is this woman saying?
YUKARI TAKEBA
# ...Seriously? That's all you have to say!?
Furious, she inches ever closer to you. You could almost hear her teeth grinding together with every word.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# I should gut you like a fish for calling my name like that, you creepy asshole! You and your... sickened cult! Have you not been satisfied with what you have taken away from us! And now you are back!?
At this, all you could offer her is a blank stare.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# He is not here. He is not here with me... and yet you get to be back. YOU! OF ALL PEOPLE!?
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Yukari!
At the call of her name, she merely wiped the growing stream of tears that ran down the corner of her eyes, before they could be formed.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# Don't raise your voice with me, Mitsuru! You know full well what he did!
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Yukari... I know how you feel, but-
YUKARI TAKEBA
# I know! I know. The Fall is unavoidable. I know that...
She hid her face away from your stare, trying to gain the little composure she had left.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# But this bastard took more than just that from us! And now... now Apathy Syndrome is back. He is back!
She seems like she could spat at your face any second now.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# Lying on our front porch like that. He has no right to be here. At our very dorm... mocking us in the face like this! Everything we did, for nothing!?
A finger pressed at your chest. Her.
A spear through your heart. Figuratively, of course.
It hurt.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# I should've killed you at that tower. Instead of letting fate do its thing. Our mercy is wasted on you.
...whatever.
# Try it, then.
Slap her hand away.
You rise to meet her. No, looming over her.
A thought passed your mind.
# I don't remember ever being this tall.
She does not shy away from your shadow, instead only raise her eyes to meet yours, once again.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Yukari! Stand down. That's an order!
None of us give an inch.
...whatever.
Go ahead. I insist.
# Stare her down.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# YUKAR-
Your vision snapped back, then abruptly, there's the night sky in front of you.
Your nose is stuffy. Heat radiating from your cheekbones.
Stars dancing at the edge of your eyes.
...
# Still breathing.
Smirk.
She already turned her back to you.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# He's all yours, Mitsuru. I'm done with him.
but then, almost a whisper:
YUKARI TAKEBA
# Keep him away from Chidori. But-
She shakes her head. Kirijo only nodded.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# I will trust your intuition... as always. Now go. Rest. We will deal with him in the morning.
Then, she turned back to you. The disgust in her eyes is palpable.
Something about that struck you... in a different way than Takeba's raw hatred.
# It hurt for them to even look at me.
# Deep, deep down.
# That is when I knew.
# Whoever I am.
# I must have been a terrible person.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Some nerves, to come to our dorm like that. You are lucky that I was here. And luckier that I needed answers.
I've got no answers for you.
# And what if you no longer needed me?
It only hardened Kirijo tone.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Regardless, I could tell you are in no shape for further questioning.
She dragged you up, before you heard a click on your wrist.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# As much as I dislike this, we can't risk you running off. I could contact some... acquaintances, but the police station is an ill-place to hold a Persona user like you. The Kirijo group will collect you later.
She unlocked the door to the dorm. As it creaks open, a cool breeze runs through your spine.
Like hearing the promise to all the answers you ever had.
# The same doors that I've been sleeping in front of for a week now.
Unconsciously, you wandered over the empty sofa, before sitting down on it.
# Strange...
# Why does it feel so... heart-breakingly empty?
She doesn't even attempt to hold you back, despite your wrist still dangling with a cuff.
You run hand along the edge of the table in the middle of the room, then turn to look at the dust that had collected there.
# Something is welling up in my chest...
You sure it is just your mind, but is there a smell of coffee across the room?
# I could hear it.
# The busy footsteps of dorm students on a busy weekday.
# The sound of the kitchen sizzling up with pancake towers.
# Long night... and longer study sessions.
Mitsuru just crosses her arm, looking at you. Perplexed.
# Before I break the silence.
# ...wassup' dude.
You still kept the key to this place?
By moving my hands to take off a non-existent headphone.
Your soft greeting snuffed away into the dark, empty halls.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# ...
Mitsuru wraps her arm together, tighter. Watching you go through the room. An inscrutable expression ran through her features.
Nails digging deeper into her elbows.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# ...we - uh. Well, it is no longer our dorm. No one lives here anymore. Luckily, I still keep the key on me as... for the memory, I suppose.
For some reason then, you, too, shared the same look at her, even if just for a moment.
An uncomfortable silence passed between you.
Until Mitsuru just shakes her head.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# I do not know why you are so... pacified. But do not think that means we will be any less cautious to you.
You sit down on the sofa.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# And if you are lying to us... trust me, it will matter not if you are afraid of Death or not. I will give you much, much worse.
...sure.
# I'd believe it.
Shrug.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Upstair.
Her voice breaks.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Tomorrow is a Monday. We can't have passing students see you - even if no one uses this dorm anymore.
The door closes, leaving behind the silence of the sleeping city.
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..
.
APRIL 08. 2019. MON. AFTERNOON
You heard it.
# Knockings.
# Someone's in the halls below the command room you are in.
Mitsuru, still in her pajamas, leans against the door frame, before lazily slides the hatched open to greet Yukari.
Her scruffy bedhead is not a sight that anyone gets to see.
It makes Yukari stunned - but only for a single heartbeat - before she passes Mitsuru the plastic bag.
Shoved inside is their breakfast: a lot of fast food - burgers, a few boxes of tea, cup noodles - and a few meds to help with tension headaches off the counter.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Something on my face?
Yukari just shakes the feeling off. Clearing away this heaviness in her breasts with just a short sigh.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# ...
As they get older, there is less time for these kinds of things. Too late, one might say.
So she swallows this strange old feeling that she has been avoiding for nearly a decade now...
Like all the time before it.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# No. Ah - well. You look tired.
Mitsuru stayed up all night. This is not a strange occurrence, but nowadays it's more frequent.
So, to this, she just nodded.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Make the two of us. I'm... worried about you too, you know.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# ...
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Did- Did you manage to visit her? Is your mother well?
Yukari only offers a sad smile.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# She... sleeping. She didn't remember me, with the new meds and all. I already got some assurances from the nurses... It will be fine.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Oh. T-That's good... then.
She casts a glance at Yukari, who is looking more exhausted than ever, and moves away to put the food on the table of the command room.
There her prisoner sat, slumped, in a corner of the sofa, his wrist chained to the steel bar of the window behind him.
The signature Smith & Wesson Model 500 has already been confiscated from his belt.
His mouth hangs ajar even as they wander into the room. Like he's gonna catch a fly doing it.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# He looked unresponsive. I did not punch him that hard... did I?
MITSURU KIRIJO
# No. He seemed to ignore me ever since he woke up.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# Did Apathy Syndrome get him?
She sneered as she spoke these cursed words. They leave a bitter aftertaste, after all she has gone through.
I wish.
# Yep. Sure did.
Wiggle my head in response.
Yukari just let out a deep sigh, before throwing a plastic bag into your lap.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# Eat. We will speak later.
You didn't bother to wait for the invitation.
# Big Bang. Don't remember the brand.
# Chicken. I'd prefer a normal hamburger.
Mitsuru gives you a curious glance as you feast yourself on some fries on the side.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Must you be this difficult?
...mustn't I?
I'm a masochist. Sue me.
# Eat my free burger in silence.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# ...
She trades glances with Yukari.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# ...
YUKARI TAKEBA
# You know? You are so similar to him, it's frightening.
She seems wistful.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# But unlike him, you are just so... stupid. Didn't realize you got your friends with you. Didn't realize what you got to live for.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# He only got one year. And yet he lived it so beautifully that it... it broke my heart still. While here you are. Getting to live... like a damn cockroach.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# Convince yourself that you are all alone... to run off to die in a ditch. While they chase after you. Die for you. Did you even mourn them?
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Yukari...
YUKARI TAKEBA
# Thought you are sacrificing yourself for some greater... cosmic truth bullshit. Did not even occur to you to look back at them, even once.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# So selfish, that you are not content to just off it on your own. And then make it everyone's problem.
# ...
# Were you that sort of person?
...
# Can't I change?
Avert my eyes, because I still am.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# ...and we are supposed to believe you?
...yes.
# Couldn't you?
I shrug. Because I wouldn't.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Yukari. We still have to confirm with him what we talked about... remember?
Yukari just rubs her temple, nursing the coming headache.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# I'm sorry... I thought the night patrol cleared my head, but-
MITSURU KIRIJO
# ...!
MITSURU KIRIJO
# What!? You're supposed to rest! I've already told you the work of investigating falls to me and the Shadow Operative!
Yukari just shakes her head again.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# I know... but the Dark Hour, and then him. I know... I know that out of everyone, my grievance with him is nothing compared to what you, Akihiko, Ken... or even Junpei. But...
YUKARI TAKEBA
# The. Dark. Hour. I heard that, and I just... just like - like... it all came rushing back to me. Nyx. HIM.
She is glaring at you.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# Tartarus. And... his back against the light. That seal. How he was chained against it. I can't sleep. If it actually just hid itself away, like in your reports of what happened to Inaba, or Tokyo even. In a TV. Some apps...
Her hands tremble. They started to pick on the lunch bag she was holding, shredding the corner of it away, bit by bit, in a compelled trance.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Yukari...
YUKARI TAKEBA
# No. No excuses. I was just... finding something, someone to lash out on.
Mitsuru held her breath, before finding it in her to continue.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# We can sort out our feelings later. We can't afford to be distracted before a mission. Takaya!
She seemed to be calling out to you.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# You recognize us. So you must also recognize that we are... older than you've expected?
...
# They do.
So you nod.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# The opposite to our situation. To me, you've barely aged a day from where we left you on the top of that tower.
They each give each other a knowing look.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# If our experience in the Dark Hour back then is anything to go by... time only passes when it is physically summoned to our realm. Which meant that you must have been stuck in Limbo ever since at least January 31, 2010.
Yukari nodded. She still remembers that rescue mission made under the moonlit night. Fuuka was only there for 10 hours in the Dark Hour, but it was 10 days for them.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# And since you are here with us, that means...
YUKARI TAKEBA
# It's back. IT. IS. GODDAMN BACK!
Yukari let out a frustrated, then muffled, scream into her hands as they cusp her face.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Yukari. Yukari! We haven't encountered the Dark Hour yet, so... maybe there's a chance. He might just be an anomaly!
Yukari, trying her best to sniffle back her emotion, turned the questioning back to you.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# Did you or didn't you lose your memory? Be straight with me. Or there will be hell to pay!
And a smaller, softer, almost pleading.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# Tell me you could remember. Tell me that this is some absurd revenge plan that is decade in the making and not...
...
# Should I lie, then?
Just shake my head.
Mitsuru just sigh, before-
YUKARI TAKEBA
# Ta. Hear me. Closely.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# TA. KA. YA.
She watched your expression like a hawk.
# But I could not recall anything.
# ...
# I felt like a stranger in my own skin.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# The Dark Hour has an amnesiac effect on people without the potential to stand up against it. Not even us are immune to it, when the Dark Hour was banished.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# We could only remember it when he... on that roof. Just enough to fulfill a promise. Meeting each other on Graduation day.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# And yet none of us forget our names. In fact, memories unrelated to the Dark Hour shouldn't be affected at all.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Worse still... do you know, Takaya, that forgetting their own name is the most common lie when faking amnesia?
# I shake my head.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# *Sigh*, of course you wouldn't. No liar would admit that. Yet the best liar can't fake reflexes, and somehow you...
She moves closer to you, holding your face by the chin for a closer examination.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Dilated pupils, for example. It is a common thing to happen when you hear your name said out loud. But you... no response, none at all.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# The whole morning. Your name, your... past with the Kirijo group, not even that ideology that you once sprouted. Nothing stirs you.
...so?
# Was I that good of a liar?
And remain unstirred I shall.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# You could certainly learn to.
Yukari walks around you in circles, biting her nails.
# She's like a shark.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# The second most common is selective memory gaps. You. You called my name.
So I did.
# It's a nice name.
Nod. That I did.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# And why is that? Why not your name, but mine?
YUKARI TAKEBA
# Well?
# ...
# There is just this feeling I have when I recall her name.
# No. Not just her, but Mitsuru, Ken, Fuuka... too much fondness in it.
# If you are the kind of person that they remembered... this can't both be true.
# ...!
You clutched your head.
"If I see her, I might get angry and say something cruel."
# WHAT. IS. THIS!?
"She couldn't handle it... losing someone so important to her."
Echoes. RINGING.
"It feels like someday, my heart is going to shrink... and I'm afraid I won't feel anything anymore."
# It hurt. Of course it would.
Fingernail clawing away from the pain.
Nursing this forlorn heartache.
"She wanted to see me..."
# I made a promise. To myself, anyway.
# A vow discarded... but I still want to know. I have to.
Are you... talking with your mother now, or?
Were you able to forgive your mother?
# Have you stopped running away from your family?
YUKARI TAKEBA
# What are you... huh?
She stumbles back away from you.
Her face is a contortment of - of a lot of things that neither you nor she could ever describe.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# ...
# Why did I say that?
MITSURU KIRIJO
# You.
Her glance alone could murder you.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# That's enough.
# ...I didn't mean to.
I just have to... know.
Twist my face in regret.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# SHUT UP! YOU WILL NOT... You will not-
A hand placed on Mitsuru's shoulder.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# Mitsuru. It's alright.
She wiped something from the corner of her eyes.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# Remember... or don't remember. Damn it, ####.
She said something. A name?
But the words... are just blurs to me.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# Yes. I didn't run away. I haven't for a very long time. We met. The 24th of June, an afternoon after the heavy summer rain...
YUKARI TAKEBA
# She was nervous, too. We just sat there, on a public bench, wet our asses out from the damp wood, barely able to say a word.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# Up until it is time to leave, I think - I think we are only talking about things like strangers. Schools, the weather...
YUKARI TAKEBA
# I thought that was it. That's what me and her have come to. Strangers...
She took a deep breath. She could remember that... fear? Disappointment? That jaded-ness.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# ...and then she hugged me. I just broke. I think - I think I was telling her how I am cooking for myself. Aigis don't really eat, but I just can't stop...
YUKARI TAKEBA
# I cried. I miss dad. She missed him too... but I also miss someone who she never got to know. Someone that I can't ever cook for again. Like hers.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# I miss him. I miss him. ####... I missed him to death.
She's holding back the trembling. She glares at you.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# So... yes. For your information. Yes. My mother did love me, as I did her. Not just because we are mother and daughter, but also because I - we, know the same grief.
Downcast eyes glued to the floor, you thought she was going to stay like that forever, and yet-
YUKARI TAKEBA
# But well, if this is just another elaborate ruse to break me... Congrat, Tayaka. Got me fooled again!
A sudden cheerful smile overtake her face, despite her voice contorted in... anger? Sadness?
She leaned against the wall behind her.
Sliding down.
Huddling up.
YUKARI TAKEBA
# J-Just go to show I must be stronger, right?
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Yukari. It is natural that you would - even I...
Mitsuru looks back at you.
# Like I am, suddenly, the cruelest creature in the world.
Yukari just shakes her head. In what felt like the tiniest whisper in the world, she-
YUKARI TAKEBA
# Mitsuru... I lied. She only has three months left.
Mitsuru bites her nail. She looked pained... but not surprised. Like she expected this.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# I... you must be tired after a sleepless night, Yukari. How about you turn in early for today, so we can wake up early for tomorrow's investigation with the Shadow Ops?
Yukari, dazed, followed Mitsuru out in the hall, leaving you alone with your thoughts.
...
You could hear them talking, muffled as they are behind the door, before it too is snuffed to silence.
...
You could hear the sounds of traffic and students walking home.
...
# I was drawn to this place. Thoughts it would give me a clue to what I am.
# All it does is confuse me.
# I thought they would be happy to see me.
...
..
.
APRIL 08. 2019. MON. EVENING
Mitsuru returned at last, wearing that icy mask on her again.
# She is more vulnerable than she looks... at least, that's what I remembered.
# But I know the woman before me is strong.
# No. Strength doesn't even begin to describe it.
# So then, what... is this feeling that is nagging me?
You both spend a moment of silence in front of each other.
You look at her, and she... at everything else in the room.
The command room has stayed roughly the same despite the building age.
The console banks and gizmo serving the purpose of S.E.E.S is, of course, gone now.
The sofa changed but their arrangement wasn't, and even the rows of bookshelves are still there.
It seemed they changed this place into a dorm library.
# Wonder if this brought back any memories for her...
She looks like she is deep in thoughts as she scans the room, before something flashes through her eyes.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Oh! I almost forgot...
MITSURU KIRIJO
# I should let you use the bathroom in the hall before we turn in for the night.
...
She is hiding her face away from you, slightly red in the ear.
It is a head tilting reaction, given she was fine with overwatch duty while you ask to do your private business this morning.
That is, until you look at the old dorm housework timetable on the bookshelves next to you, where you noticed she was looking at when she entered the room.
# Monday Evening. Trash: Akihiko. Kokomaru: Mitsuru. Planters: Aigis.
# Kokomaru...
# ...
# ...!
MITSURU KIRIJO
# H-hey! Why are you looking at me like that!?
Shaking your head, you just let her uncuff you and go do your thing in the restroom down the hall.
# Guess the dorms bring back old habits for her.
# From what I can remember, Kokomaru is a good boy. So...
# It is... probably flattering that she is reminded of me when she saw his name... I guess.
She sighs, letting the temporary embarrassment pass.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# I think... you've been on good behavior enough that I might as well let you wander around. But do not leave this dorm - I will be notified no matter where you are.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Is that clear!?
You nodded.
...
..
.
A MOMENT LATER
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Ah. Hello to you too. May I ask if Maruki is currently free?
As you exited the bathroom, you could hear Mitsuru's voice downstairs, in the lounge.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# I got a patient with... a special kind of amnesia that he might be able to - alright. I will be on hold.
When you wander down to the hall to check on her, out of curiosity...
# ...!
Your legs... are frozen on the first floor.
# That door is open. The door to my - no. Not mine. Him.
You find yourself confused on how to refer to this "him".
This entity that is definitely not you... and yet.
# It's...
The room is cleaned out, but it is nothing like you remembered.
The shelves are stocked with colorful trays for figurines, which must have been left behind when the owner moves.
# The bed is in the wrong spot.
You check the dart board on the door.
# The center of this board is almost intact. Whoever used this had a very bad aim.
In the bin, there was a lot of scrapped paper.
# Manga panels... the art style is a bit inconsistent. Hand drawn.
Faded stickers of mascots and anime characters abound the table.
# They used to read a lot of shonen, but shoujo later on... based on the age of these.
Someone lived here, grew up here.
# It seemed like whoever it was, has really made this room their own.
They have even put some Christmas lights on the far end of the room on their last day.
The banner over it says "Happy Graduation Day!"
# This feeling... I am glad? For a stranger I've never met.
You found yourself wandering the room a bit more.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# He graduated in 2017. Wanted to be a manga artist, I think, but he ended up going into biochem.
You suddenly snapped your head back to find Mitsuru there, also checking the shelves with a fond expression.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# I don't remember his name, we only talked a few times. He was the last student to use this room.
She looks at you.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# When I left this dorm, I was... I don't know what its fate would be. This is a highly valuable real estate spot. It could have been so many things.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# I was... glad that it ended up being home to another generation of students like us. Who gets to live in this painful, but beautiful, world that we fought for.
# ...that's so?
Wherever they are, I hope they are happy.
I am content to spend this moment in silence appreciation.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Heh. You sound unconvinced, but I saw your smile before I entered. You know...
She takes out a phone, considering it... before placing it in your hand.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# The person you were... the you that I remembered would never smile like that. Or would he?
The phone already showed a name.
# Takuto Maruki...
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Are you who he would be had it not been for my family's atrocities? The same atrocities... that I still benefit from.
# ...I remember it. That final talk.
# "My life was stolen from me... and in its place, I was given a power I never asked for."
# "And so, I learned that the future is only a delusion."
Mitsuru, hearing you recite those words, would hang her head.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Yes. For power. The same power that we used to save the world.
She is tense. Very tense.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# I honestly do not blame you if you wanted to kill me. After Shinjiro was killed by you, I had the same thought.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Even though it was my grandfather that sealed Shinjiro's fate with a terminal illness despite your action regardless.
# ...
# I was right.
# She is strong. Utterly.
* Cheerful music *
The phone... it started ringing.
It's him.
# Takuto Maruki...
MITSURU KIRIJO
# I have someone who could help you remember who you were... if you wished to. He is an expert in cognitive psience.
You look at the ringing phone.
# It's worth a try.
You accepted the call. A voice, shy with a hint of clumsiness, greets you.
TAKUTO MARUKI
# Hell-
The call suddenly ended.
You looked at Mitsuru, who didn't have much of a reaction.
* Cheerful music *
The phone rings again.
TAKUTO MARUKI
# Sorry about- ah!
You heard the sound of a crack from the other end after a second of suspense.
...
You heard the sound of someone clumsy-ing it about on the other side. A lot of things are colliding with each other at an alarming rate.
...
Someone is scolding him now. A nurse, seemed like.
...
You look at Mitsuru. She is not giving any reaction. At all.
TAKUTO MARUKI
# Oh, thank god it doesn't break the other corner of the screen too. H-Hello?
...goodbye.
You know what? I think I'm good.
# I look at Mitsuru with trepidation.
Mitsuru smiles.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# He is a better practitioner than his behavior indicates. You can do it. Burn your dread, alright?
# I don't even know how to respond to that.
TAKUTO MARUKI
# Ah, I could hear Kirijo-san behind you. So you must be Sakaki-san, right?
MITSURU KIRIJO
# ...
Mitsuru is looking at you intently.
# She must have noticed it.
# How my face instantly sour at the mention of that name.
# My name.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Maruki-san. If I may add, this is the very sensitive subject that we are hoping you could assist with.
TAKUTO MARUKI
# Huh? Ah! ...Sorry. I didn't mean to be so insensitive, of course! I uh... I should have introduced myself to you first... so here goes!
TAKUTO MARUKI
# Hello, I am Dr. Maruki. On behalf of Kirijo-san, I hope to help you recover from the... unique situation that you have found yourself in, the best way I can.
TAKUTO MARUKI
# Ah! And it doesn't need to be anything tenuous on your part! I am content to help you figure things out however you wish, even if it is just listening to your daily struggles, of course!
[ You may now call Dr. Maruki to save your game any time where he is available!]
TAKUTO MARUKI
# And, um, if you are uncomfortable with your name, how about we think of a code name for you? A... friend I know used one to great effect!
You think about it for a moment...
The abandoned manga notes on the table caught your eyes.
That student's pen name...
# Call me Raidou.
Retype your name.
TAKUTO MARUKI
# ...Alright. I've got you in my contact list. I will be available to listen to you whenever you wish - as long as I am not working on another patient, of course!
You turned to Mitsuru.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# You can have that phone. It is one of my burners for government work. Though if you don't like the model, we can certainly switch out for another.
...
# I spent a moment talking to Dr. Maruki about what I could recall.
TAKUTO MARUKI
# So the first thing you remembered is this dorm, right?
MITSURU KIRIJO
# ...
Mitsuru looks conflicted.
TAKUTO MARUKI
# Chihiro... Maiko... Ms. Toriumi... no way, you know Akinari Kamiki? That Akinari Kamiki!?
TAKUTO MARUKI
# I love his work! Many of my younger patients with... terminal illness found themselves in the story of the pink alligator and his friend, the flightless bird.
"Any day now, I am going to die. I have an incurable hereditary disease."
"Unless you are in this situation, you can't understand how I feel."
"...But I'd prefer it that way. I wouldn't wish this on anyone."
TAKUTO MARUKI
# The pain he must have felt, writing down those passages. This is selfish of me, but I wished that I could have been there to help him, as he has for my other patients.
"Nobody treats me like a normal person. Not even my friends or family."
"All they feel is pity and curiosity towards me..."
...he'd hate that.
He needs a listener, not another doctor.
# Help him by taking his story to heart.
TAKUTO MARUKI
# Ah! I don't want to pretend like I know him like you do, of course. You must have shared a great many-
# "No."
MITSURU KIRIJO
# ...
# "I don't know him."
# "Someone else does."
MITSURU KIRIJO
# So you have realized.
# I nodded.
TAKUTO MARUKI
# So it was like you say, Kirijo-san? Hmm... this matter requires a more careful examination from me. Or more precisely, my Persona.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Yes. I could definitely see it. The similarity between him and your past patients, if the description of your power is correct.
TAKUTO MARUKI
# ...my past victims, Kirijo-san. I appreciate your sensitivity with this subject, but I'd like to think I am a more honest man now.
# What is he talking about?
TAKUTO MARUKI
# And I will be honest with you, too. I hold a special power, called Persona. With it, I can change a person's cognitive world. Their selves, to be exact.
TAKUTO MARUKI
# To... mold their heart, so to speak. The one deluded me once tried to use it to change a lot of people to what I thought would be the best for them.
TAKUTO MARUKI
# Like... making them think they are a different person altogether. Someone they greatly admired, for example.
You heard an awkward, forced, chuckle from the otherside.
TAKUTO MARUKI
# Until I, too, have a change of heart myself from the words of a dear friend.
His voice stern, now.
TAKUTO MARUKI
# So... even knowing this, would you still want me to be the one to treat your mind?
# Hmm...
# I can't very well leave this alone.
You nod.
* DING *
You could see Mitsuru almost jump back from her spot as the clock in the room struck twelve.
But when it ticked another second, she deflated.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# *Ahem*...Sorry about that. I forgot that the old clock here has that sort of a... we told the students it was for curfew.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Regardless, you must all be tired now. And Dr. Maruki, you have your health and patients to worry about. We can continue this another day, perhaps?
# Despite her politeness, that was not a request.
TAKUTO MARUKI
# Excellent idea, Mitsuru-san! Let us retire for the night. Have no fear - my ears are always here for you to pick at, whenever you wish.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# I did make a very handsome donation to his clinic, after all. So yes, those ears better be.
TAKUTO MARUKI
# That you did, Mitsuru-san. For a shady, down on his luck doctor like me who doesn't charge his patients half of the time... you really are a god gift from heaven. Ta-ta!
# I suddenly feel very worried about this.
...but well, whatever.
Got him wrapped up in your fingers, don't you?
# Change his contact name to "Third Act Villain".
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Oh well, it is not in my authority to tell you what to name your contact. But that is a bit lame for a nickname, isn't it?
MITSURU KIRIJO
# But then again, Yukari does come up with the strangest nickname sometimes for Stu- I mean Junpei, that I can't judge you too much.
She gives me a curious look.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# ...hmph. It is strange to share that with you, given you must know that already. Your memory is almost one-to-one to him.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Does that make you my friend... by proxy, or are you just merely a voyeur on us that-
Her face suddenly reddened.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Voyeur...
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Merde...! Don't tell me you also remember when he - and I... with the pillows and...
...
Wait.
YOU DO.
...no. No no no no no.
STOP MENTIONING IT!
# MY BODY IS NOT BETRAYING MY DEGENERACY!
It currently does.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Stop that! Don't you DARE! O-or EXECUTION!
# The ceiling! Quick! Find something to distract myself!
# THERE IS NOTHING ON THE CEILING!
# Think of something else. Remember something else!
# ...
# I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING ELSE TO REMEMBER!
You could practically feel the steam coming out from your ears as you try to sort this out.
Until the light's out for you.
MITSURU KIRIJO
# Huh? What are you - hey, wake up. Wake-
...
..
.