A/N: Things have gotten pretty intense for poor Aria, but they have worked out in the end. Even the ending did wind up ominous. Aria, the "Test Subject" is discovered. What fate awaits for our little Faunus Friend, I wonder? Meanwhile, we move on to the next part of the Team PASM Chapter.

Aria belongs to my friend Koyukiy.

Chapter 69: A Date or...?


Weeks have passed since Team PASM and SHDW's first mission. Now that she once again had communication with her brother, Aria was able to keep calm for the rest of the mission. Marlene and Selena can't help but wonder how Aria suffers such separation anxiety.

But that doesn't matter anymore, now that they all have returned to Beacon.

The sun is rising, and Patrick is still in bed asleep. Once he awakens, he sits up, moaning tiresomely. He first stretches and then looks at the time. It's late in the morning. But there's more than that. The date reads: "October 9th."

Patrick groans distastefully. "Today again..."

Patrick wants to stay in bed and hide from today, but he can't argue the fact his own team would question his unusual behavior. He instead gets out of bed and starts walking down the hallway, mostly aimlessly. It's not long until Patrick bumps into someone and the person feel. "Ow..." Aria looks up to see Patrick. "O-oh. P-p-patrick. I'm so sorry." Aria quickly gets up. "I-I didn't see you there. I-I hope I didn't..." Aria pauses once she gets a good look at Patrick. She takes notice of the aggressive expression and low growling tone he's giving out. Aria feels frightened, but Patrick does nothing. Instead, he just walks past her and moves on.

Aira couldn't help but just watch him as he left. She's still frightened by his behavior, but she also senses something else. Something that's clearly bothering him.

Patrick then arrives at one of the training halls. When he does, he is astonished at what he finds. And, to him, it's nothing good.

Mashika, Marina, and the nurse are all here. Mashika sends on one end of the support poles while Marina is once again resuming her physical therapy. Slowly, step by step, Marina walks towards Mashika, biting down the pain she's feeling in her legs.

"Remember, Miss Rishima: Don't push yourself too hard." The Nurse warns her.

Marina is nearly halfway towards Mashika. Marina starts to collapse at her very next step but still braces herself on the poles. Mashika and the nurse look at her with concern. Marina then forces herself to get back on her feet but then hesitates. She remembers what she was told the last time this happened, then she decides to set herself down. The nurse and Mashika help Marina back to her wheelchair.

"How did I do?" Marina asks.

The nurse looks over her chart. "You made about one more step further than last time."

Mashika smiles at Marina. "Hey, that's some good process. Hopefully, one day, you'll be able to-"

Marina turns and is surprised to see someone. "Oh, Mr. Aki?" Mashika is surprised as she looks at him, but she is very concern seeing the expression of his face, as if he is seeing something horrible. "Mr. Aki, are you..." She then realizes something. "Oh no. What's today's date again?"

Patrick starts hyperventilating, his ears ringing like crazy. He then falls onto his knees. Even though his vision is blurry, he can still see Mashika rushing towards him but is deaf by her words, as well as Marina and the nurse. Soon enough, Patrick's vision turns into the event where Marina dived into the tornado of darkness. Heading towards an image of his Berserk Grimm. He mindlessly in guilt and fear watches Marina pushing herself through the storm, he hears voices that was screaming inside of his head.

"She sacrificed herself to stop you."
"You caused her this pain."

Soon enough, the voices starts to appear. Patrick stands before Akira, who is speaking those words. But what's more her body appears dead. Her eyes as burning red as the grimms and her chest and torso were covered with deep red cuts. More Akira's of the same image appears, until Patrick is sounded, her voice echoing as she speaks these words.

"She lost everything."
"It's your fault."
"You did this to her!"
"You're a monster!"

Patrick falls to his knees, covering his ears as the Akira's go on and on about his sins. Then a final voice, Salem's voice, speaks: "Do you really think they'll accept you? After all you've done? You have nothing left."

And that's when Patrick screams at the top of his lungs in painful guilt.

In that instead, Patrick awakes in shock. He's still breathing heavily, and his vision is starting to clear up. He sees someone before him, trying to say something but can't hear. As Patrick revives, he then sees it's Mashika, and begins to hear her. "Patrick. Patrick...Can you hear me?" Patrick then starts to sit up, but Mashika holds him down. "Take it easy, you need to rest." Patrick doesn't say anything. The whole time, Mashika tries to help Patrick calm down from his anxiety.

After a while, Mashika helps Patrick sit up, and the nurse brings in a hot cup of tea for him. "You feeling better, Love?"

"I...I...Must have blacked out." Patrick says.

"Yes. You did, and I think I know why." Mashika says with a pained expression on her face. "It's Marina, isn't it?" Patrick doesn't say anything. He just looks down in sorrow. Mashika knows the answer. "Patrick..." Patrick looks at Mashika, expression unchanged. "What happened isn't your fault. You just weren't yourself. Besides, Marina only did what she believed was right. She knew the risks and took it so she could save you." Patrick doesn't say anything. He just looks back down. "Listen, I know today is..." Mashika clears her throat before continuing to speak. "A bad day for you, but we are worried for you, and after everything that's happened, you being left all alone is the last thing you should have. I don't want to force anything on you, but how about we go into town, have a little fun, try to distract you from all this burden."

Patrick doesn't say anything. He instead looks further down. He does want to be alone but given how unstable his Grimm Nature is, he realizes she's right. "Okay...I'll do it." Is all he says in a cracking voice.

Mashika puts a hand on Patrick's shoulder. "You're gonna get through this." Then she pulls him into a hug. "I love you so much, Love."

Patrick doesn't say anything. He doesn't even fight back against Mashika's motherly embrace. Just gives in under the sorrow and guilt that weights heavily on him.

Meanwhile, Teams PASM and CPER are all in the training halls. Marlene is doing more of her physical training with Peter's weightlifting instructions. Only she's lifting dumbbells that are carrying about 30 pounds, and Earnest is serving as her spotter. Peter is standing beside watching her all while Clawdia is keeping on eye on him.

"15. 16. 17..." Peter is counting down the pushes Marlene's making. Soon enough, Marlene struggled with her next few pushes, and her spotter noticed her shaking arms. "18...19..." Marlene starts pushing her 20th pull, she's only halfway there, then finally her muscles give in and Earnest is able to catch the sudden weight before it crushes her again. Marlene drops her arms and groans loudly in exhaustion. "Well, you made it this far with 10 more weights. It's actually more impressive than doing 27 with 10 pounds."

"I know I asked for this, but I feel like I'm being punished." Marlene says.

"That's how working out works: No pain, no gain." Peter says.

Aria is a bit distracted with something, and everyone else takes notice. "Mew okay, Aria?" Clawdia asks.

Aria is a bit startled. "Wh-what? ...O-oh. Sorry. I-I was just...Uh...You see. I-I kind of ran into Patrick this morning and...H-he was pretty grumpy."

"'Patrick's always grumpy. Sometimes, I think he's just grumpy for no reason.'" Rayla translates for Earnest. "I agree. Master Patrick's temper can be a bit atrocious."

"I know, he's even mad at me for no reason all the time." Peter says.

Clawdia looks at Peter doubtfully. "Yep. No reason at all." She says sarcastically.

"Hmm...I-I don't know. H-he seemed more grumpier than usual. Plus...I-I think I..." Aria sees everyone staring at her as she speaks. "...Uh, I-it's nothing." Aira then makes her leave, meanwhile, everyone else just stands in confusion, then shrugs it off and moves on. Aria walks down the hallways, thinking about what everyone said. "Maybe they're right. Patrick is probably being grumpy as usual...But I did feel something off about his emotions. I'm usually never wrong with this sort of thing...Of course, there was that one time with mistaking Peter and Clawdia as a couple...then the one with-"

Aria suddenly pauses when she sees Patrick and Mashika walking toward the hallway. Patrick is look a bit depressed, while Mashika is having an arm around him as she looks down at him with a soft smile. "Hmm? ...Patrick and Instructor Kirei?" Aria especially noticed how Mashika has an arm around him. "...What's going on?" Then she decides to follow.

Mashika and Patrick meet up with Marina out on the courtyard. "Hey there, hon." Marina tells Patrick. He doesn't say anything. "You doing okay? Mashika informed me about what happened...And she also told me...about today." Hearing that alerts Patrick. Marina puts on a nervous smile. "I probably shouldn't say this but...Turning 18. It's a pretty big and special deal, hon."

Patrick turns to Mashika, upset. "You told her!?"

"I'm sorry, Love. I know you don't like it when someone knows, but since Marina knows about...you know, our 'forbidden' history." Patrick's expression hardens knowing what she's referring to with 'forbidden history'. "I just figured she should know. Just in case."

Patrick says nothing then lets out a deep exhale. "Well...I suppose it's best that she should know, just as long as she understands."

"I understand, hon. However, if I may ask, is there a reason you feel this way about...this specific day?" Marina asks.

"H-he doesn't want to talk about it, Marina." Mashika says normally, then speaks in self-disappointment. "Trust me, I've tried." Then back to normal. "So, shall we head into town?"

The three of them head into town, and Mashika pushes Marina. Unbeknownst to them, Aria starts following them at a close distance. The trio walks on the streets of Vale, Marina asks what plans Mashika has for today, then Mashika answers by saying she has a few spots in mind, but figured the rest of the way they can just go with the flow. While the two of them discuss ideas, Patrick keeps his distance from the two.

Then he suddenly stops. Patrick lifts his head on alert, darting his eyes to the side slightly turning his head, barely looking back. He senses something off. Mashika and Marina look back and take notice of Patrick's behavior.

"Everything alright, Mr. Aki?" Mashika asks.

Patrick doesn't say anything, he just keeps his wits on the unease presence. "Let's...just keep moving." Patrick then moves on along with his teachers.

Aria is hiding behind a building wall, looking panicked. "Boy, that was close." Aria ducks her head to watch the trio move. "His senses are sharper than I thought."

The trio arrives at a fancy clothing store. Marina is astonished Mashika suggested coming here, for she knows how expensive this place is. Patrick pretty much just doesn't care. But they go inside. THe three of them look over some clothes, and Marina is shocked. "Look at the prices on this stuff."

"I've seen jewelry stores cheaper than this." Patrick says, looking at the price tag on one of the suits. "You don't really expect us to buy anything here, do you Instructor?"

"Of course not, Love. I just thought we'd have a little fun and try on a few outfits." Mashika looks over men's suits and picks out a fancy black tuxedo. "Oh, I think this would look good on you, Mr. Aki." She hands Patrick the suit and pushes him into the dressing room, despite his protests. "Go on. Give it a try." Patrick doesn't fight it, knowing he can't beat Mashika's enjoyment. He has no other choice but to put on the suit and comes out. Mashika really admires his appearance. "Oh, you look so handsome, Love. Bet the ladies will be breaking down your doors when they get a good look at you."

"I feel like an idiot." Patrick says distastefully. Patrick changes back into his usual clothing.

Mashika then picks out a gorgeous red dress. "I'm gonna try this one. Be right back, Loves."

Mashika goes into the changing room, leaving Patrick and Marina alone. There's a bit of an awkward silence between them, and Marina tries to break it. "You know, you really did look handsome in that suit."

"Oh, shut up, Rishima." Patrick says, bitterly.

The two of them remain silent until Mashika comes out. "Well, what do you two think?" They both look, and Marina is astonished.

Mashika is glowing in Marina's eyes as she stands there looking radiantly beautiful in the gorgeous red dress. "Uh...Y-you mean all of you or just you wearing the dress, 'cause I-I think you both look great." Marina is blushing as she tries to get those words out.

"Aww, that's sweet of you to say, Marina. Maybe I'll buy it someday. It would be fun to wear something like this on a night out." Mashika goes back into the changing room.

Marina lets out a relieved sigh once Mashika's gone, then she turns to Patrick is lets out a surprised gasp as she notices he's staring at her with a serious, suspicious look. "All right, what was that all about?"

"What was what all about? I-it's nothing. Just complimented how she looked. I-I mean...you know how she is, being irresistibly beautiful...N-not that I would know, hon."

Patrick's expression hardens as he says, "Mm-Hmm." He's not buying it.

Once Mashika returns in her usual clothing, the three of them head out, this time with Patrick pushing Marina. Once they're out, Aria pops her head out of a trash can. "They're on the move." Aria climbs out of the trash, but she loses her balance and winds up falling out. "Ow!" In an instant, Aria gets back on her feet then wipes the thrash off her and dashes off.

The trio walks down the streets of town, looking for something to do. Then they come to a stop at Karaoke place. One that's painfully familiar to Patrick. "Ugh. Not this place again."

"Is anything wrong, Patrick?" Marina asks.

"This is the karaoke place where that Gaia Incident happened." Mashika answers and Marina responds with an "Oh." "But don't worry about it, Love. I heard this place has really improved since it's new management." Mashika grabs Patrick's hand and pulls him into the building. "Come on, Love. It'll be fun."

Mashika and Patrick go inside, while Marina is left outside. Marina sees the situation she's in. "Uh...Guys?"

Mashika then returns outside. "Sorry, Marina. Forgot about you." Mashika pushes Marina inside.

Once they're in, Aria pops out of the bushes with a pair of binoculars in her hands. "Patrick and Instructor Kirei...holding hands? ...Looked more like pulling." Then she dives back into the bush.

Mashika rents the room Selena usually takes, least back when she used to come here. Mashika goes over the list of songs while Marina and Patrick sit by and watch. She then picks a song, which surprises Patrick: It's one of Selena's songs: Shooting Star. Mashika then hands Patrick the microphone. She doesn't say anything, but he catches on what he wants her to do.

"You're kidding. You are kidding, right?" Patrick says.

"Come on, Love. It'll be fun." Mashika leans in and whispers. "I'm sure Selena would cheer you on."

Patrick softly growls as he takes the mic. He then stages on the small stage before Mashika and Marina. The music plays and Patrick looks at the lyrics playing on the screen. Patrick tries to get the words out but he can't. Mashika and Marina can see his hesitation and cheers for him to sing.

Finally, Patrick has had it and shuts in the microphone: "This is far more humiliating than it already is!"

He then drops the mic and bolts out of the room. Mashika and Marina are pretty shocked by his reaction. Patrick stays outside of the room while Mashika and Marina remain inside. He has no idea what's going on since the room's soundproof. Once he's cooled down enough, Patrick goes inside to find Marina on stage, even in her wheelchair, singing the ending of a song.

Patrick is surprised at how well of a singer Marina is. Once she's done, Mashika applauds. "Marina, that's amazing. You're a really good singer."

Marina blushes to hear that compliment. "Oh? I-I'm not really that good of a singer. But thank you."

Once they're done with karaoke, the trio then moves on to their next destination, with the stealthy Aria following them.

They all arrived at the town park, where Patrick and Mashika, pushing Marina, are walking down the path. "The Park sure is beautiful in this autumn season." Marina says.

"I agree. I took Mr. Aki here last year in hopes he'll find some enjoyment." Mashika says. Patrick only rolls his eyes hearing that. As they walk, Aria is tailing them from a distance. Quickly moving from bush to bush. Lampost to lampost. Bench to bench. The trio stops at a rest spot. Mashika sets Marina next to the bench that she and Patrick sits on. "You feeling better, Love?"

"Honestly, nothing will ever make me feel better on this very day. But I suppose I'm better compared to what happened this morning." Patrick says.

"I'll take what I can get." Mashika says. While they're sitting around, Mashika spots an Ice Cream cart. "Oh, look, it's the Ice Cream Cart. Just like last year." Patrick doesn't say anything. Mashika stands up and offers Patrick her hand. "Come on, Love."

Patrick only looks, then groans as he takes her hand and they both head towards the Ice Cream Cart. They both leave Marina behind alone, but this time she knows they'll be back. And when they do, Mashika offers Marina a strawberry Ice Cream Cone. Marina gladly accepts. The three of them continue walking while eating Ice Cream, through both Patrick and Mashika does the pushing using each of their free hands on Marina's Wheelchair.

Aria watches them from behind with an Ice Cream Cone in her hand. "They're holding hands again. Only there was no pulling this time..." Aria expression hardens. "Suspicious..." Followed by taking a lick of her ice cream with eyes still glued to them and her expression unchanged. But then five seconds later, she looks at her Ice Cream with excitement and stars in her eyes. "SOOOOO GOOD!"

The day goes on, the trio stops by a few places, such as looking at the pet shop, a Dust Store mostly to look at magazines, and even go to the movies. And for each stop they made, Aria followed them, keeping an eye on them. So far, nothing further has happened.

Until their final stop.

Wine and Grilled.

The three of them sit at the same table, Mashika and Patrick sitting together while Marina is across from them. Patrick isn't really too fond of being here, remembering the poor events that happened last year. Mashika and Marina go on talking about their classroom moments over the past year, some of them were funny. Though Patrick grew annoyed hearing some of Mashika's "Fan Club" stories, especially the Valentines one where he got beaten up. Unbeknownst to them, Aria is sitting two tables across from them, this time wearing a disguise of sunglasses, a hat, and a fake mustache. Aria lowers her menu to look at them. "They'll never recognize me in this disguise." She whispers to herself.

"So, how's the day going so far, Mr. Aki?" Marina asks.

Patrick groans before answering. "Well, aside from that whole Karakoe Incident, I suppose things are going okay. However, I feel very unpleasant being here today."

"Aww, come on, Love. That was last year. And it was an unfortunate accident." Mashika says.

"Accident? ...Oh! You mean when you-" Marina is cut off by Patrick's hostile glare.

"Not! One! Word!" He growls at Marina.

"Uh...O-Okay." Marina says.

Aria lowers the menu, mouthing 'Accident?'

Once their food arrives, Mashika and Marina dine in. Patrick eats his food a bit slow, especially since he has notices there are eyes on them. "This feels ridiculous. I have noticed that people are watching us."

"There a problem, hon?" Marina asks.

"Kind of. I feel like people are getting the idea that we're on a date or something." Mashika and Marina just looks at Patrick. "Can you blame me? Everytime I'm with some girl, people just go on assuming I'm on a date with them."

Mashika turns to Marina. "It's true. The Waitress did thought he was my boyfriend last year." Marina chuckles hearing that while Patrick grunts. Mashika then turns to Patrick. "Oh? A date you say?" Patrick can tell from Mashika's tone that she's gonna tease him. "Well, you are a young adult with two beautiful older women. Must be a dream date for you."

"You got a death wish, instructor?" Patrick growls at her.

"I'm just messing with you, Love. But since you brought it up, how about we play a little just for some fun?" Mashika take a spoonful of Patrick's meal and holds it in front of him. "Come on, Love. Say 'Ahhh'." Patrick just gives her the look that says: 'Really?' Mashika is still asking him to do the 'Ah' bid. In defeat, he opens his mouth and Mashika feeds him.

"Hmm...It's...not as bad as I thought." Patrick says. "But I still feel very stupid doing this."

Mashika wraps an arm around Patrick. "I'll take what I can, Love." Then she gives him a kiss on the cheek. Patrick is alert from that kiss, then glares daggers at her. Mashika then feels a sense of dread and retracts her arm. "Okay, too far."

While the three of them are dining, Aria is cowering behind a pillar with a shocked expression. Inside her head, she is screaming her loudest then thinks: 'NO WAY! NO WAY! NO WAY! It can't be! Going out in town! The holding hands! The Park Walks! Feeding him! And finally: The Kiss! There's no mistaking it: HE'S ON A DATE! And with his teacher no less!' Aria then pokes her head out to take a look. 'But wait. Why is Miss Marina with them? ...Unless...' Aria then turns behind the pillar. 'This is one of those harem dates! I never would have guessed Patrick was such a playboy! I mean, Peter I can see, but Patrick!? Oh, what are Sherry and Marlene gonna say about this!?'

Once Patrick and his teachers are done eating, they start heading back to Beacon. Once they arrived, Patrick didn't take long to start ditching Mashika and Marina. "Should we stay with him?" Marina asks.

"I think we've spent enough time. He seems plenty fine. Let's just leave him be." Mashika says.

Moments later, Aria returns to Beacon. Her expression is still speechless from the realization she had. As she arrives on the grounds, Mashika and Marina are aside, and they see her. "Good Evening, Miss Stars."

Aria is startled with a yell. "Oh...M-Miss Marina and Inst-st-stuctor Mashika. I-I wasn't expecting you two."

"Well, we're just as surprised to find you returning to Beacon in the evening night." Marina says. "What have you been doing, hon?"

Aria nervously rubs the back of her head. "O-oh. N-n-nothing important. Just going on a nightly scroll, is all."

"Is that so? Well then, I hope it was a fun time. Like visiting the clothing store, and taking a walk in the park and having some ice cream." Mashika says.

"Y-yep. It's all in good fun," Aria says with a smile. A few moments later, she starts to realize something, and it shows as her face suddenly turns red, her expression unchanged. Then her panic sets in. "W-wait! You knew!?"

"That you've been following us? Of course, Love." Mashika says.

Mashika tells Aria about how it went down, all the way to the start of the 'date' where Patrick sensed something, but dismisses it by saying: "Let's...just keep moving." But as he catches up with them, he then tells Mashika in single-handed sign language: 'We're being followed.' And the whole time they're at their stops, Patrick used his Vision to find Aria in all her hiding places.

Aria groans sheepishly. "I forgot his Semblance can do that." Aria then perks up in seriousness. "Still! I know what's going on." Mashika and Marina are surprised to hear this until Aria further explains. "I saw it all: The hand-holding and the feeding and then the kiss! You're both dating Patrick!"

There's nothing but silence between the three, until Mashika and Marina snickers and then burst out laughing, which confuses Aria. "Oh, sorry Hon. You're way off base." Marina says. "We're not dating Patrick."

Now Aria is surprised. "Y-you're not? Th-then why were you all going out on town all day?"

"Sorry, Love, that's a secret." Mashika says. "However, I would advise you to forget everything you thought that occurred. And especially never bring this up with Patrick. If he asks, just tell him you were only curious about what was going on and didn't learn anything."

"Uh, o-okay." Aria says.

With all that said and done, Aria returns to her dorm. It's past nighttime and she can't sleep. Aria is still laying in bed, staring at the ceiling. She can't help but think back on everything that's happened today: First there's Patrick being really grumpy, more then usual. Then going out with Mashika and Marina, all those strange behaviors that was going on between Patrick and Mashika. Then there's what Mashika told Aria when she asked what was going on.

'Sorry, Love, that's a secret.'

Aria takes a deep breath before rolling onto her side. "What is going on with Patrick?" She senses there's something going on, she knows it.