Shin Persona Evangelion

by Ultra Sonic 007

Shinji Ikari stared, bewildered by the bizarre-looking man, who gave an intrigued smile. "An interesting guest has arrived. My name is Igor. Welcome to the Velvet Room, young fool...we have important matters to discuss, you and I." (A fusion of the realms of Evangelion and Persona, where not all is as it seems.) (Cover art by Renu of the Sufficient Velocity forums.)

88. Saturday - August 22, 2015

A/N: More fan art was commissioned by Renu, this time of Mayumi and her Persona, Armisael. You can find it at AO3, TVTropes, SpaceBattles, or Sufficient Velocity. Now, on with the story!

xxxx

Sokila was painting a city shrouded by yellow.

"A lot of pain...a lot of hurt..."

Her tone was...contemplative.

"Even if the world isn't what people think it is...the pain is still real, right...?"

She quietly let her paintbrush fall to her side.

"...how much pain can we take before it becomes too much...?"

With a somber gaze, she looked over her shoulder at him.

"How much pain...can you take...?"

The faint haze of blue began to brighten-

xxxx

/Saturday: August 22, 2015/

/Fujimi, Nagano Prefecture/

Shinji Ikari slowly opened his eyes. An unfamiliar ceiling, he mused, feeling at the similarly unfamiliar blankets and sheets. Where am I...? Rising up, he looked around with confusion; it looked like he was in a hotel room of sorts, with two twin-size beds, separated by a simple yet elegant coffee table from a couch. Toji Suzuhara was on the other bed, while Kensuke Aida was sleeping away on the couch. Where are we...? Wearily rising, he saw that he had been stripped down to an undershirt and boxers; using his phone as a light — barely noticing a time of 6:23 AM — he fumbled for his clothing bag on the floor, rummaging for a pair of jeans and a blue overshirt. Slipping them on along with a pair of socks, he quietly left the room to look around.

The hallway evoked the image of a small yet relatively clean-looking hotel; his feet brushed over maroon-colored carpet as he followed the signs towards the lobby. The whole atmosphere evoked by the decor — simple and cozy; modern yet traditional; warm and inviting — mixed with the dim hallway lighting to make him feel like he was visiting someone's home...albeit a home that the owner didn't live in that much. (Was it possible to be homey without being a home?)

Finally entering the lobby, his gaze darted towards a small collection of tables set into an open-air room connected to the lobby. Amenities were being set up by hotel staff — breakfast stations with cups for water, tea, and coffee — in preparation for the coming day. Although a few patrons were sitting quietly by themselves and reading newspapers, his eyes were drawn towards one particular table.

Ryuji Sakamoto and Misato Katsuragi were speaking with a rather elderly woman with long, silvery hair. However, despite her advanced age, he could see the intelligence and acuity in her eyes even from here. Clad in a kimono colored soft pinks and brilliant reds, she evoked the image of a classic matron. "Ah," she said, dark brown eyes turning towards him. "I believe one of your wards has awoken." Adjusting her red-framed glasses, the elderly woman bowed towards the two adults. "Please enjoy the rest of our accommodations during your stay."

Ryuji and Misato gave her their thanks; as the woman proverbially slid away on stocking-clad feet, Shinji nervously approached the two. "How'd you sleep?" asked Sakamoto.

"...I'm not sure," he admitted. "Fine, I guess...?" Looking over his shoulder towards the woman — she was now speaking genially with a receptionist at the front desk — he added, "who was that?"

"Yukiko Amagi, the proprietress of the Amagi Resort Hotel," answered Misato, nursing a cup of hot green tea. "We're in Fujimi, a town about thirty kilometers southeast of Tokyo-2...or what's left of Tokyo-2, anyway." Her tone darkened with those last words. "We're about a hundred klicks away from Tokyo-3."

"...oh." It had felt like it had been forever since he had thought about Tokyo-3 in all seriousness...but more importantly, Tokyo-2! "What happened? The last thing I remember..." Lots of pain. Exhaustion. Sunlight shining into a ruined chamber. "...the MAGI in Tokyo-2 exploded, just like Atlanta..."

"Ayanami-san gave us the rough gist of what happened with you and Yamagishi-san," explained Ryuji between nibbles of fluffy shokupan toast, covered with red bean jam. "Figured that we'd all do a debrief once the others woke up...'cause you, Yamagishi-san, and Mana-san were all out of it after yesterday."

"Mana-chan practically cried herself to sleep after I found her," muttered Misato with a frown. "I still don't know what happened."

"...oh." Their reticence filled him with foreboding. What happened yesterday...?

"...a lot of bad stuff went down, I'll just put it that way." Ryuji gestured towards the serving area. "Go ahead and grab yourself some breakfast. We'll talk once everyone's up."

As though it had been given permission, his stomach growled; with a mortified blush, he quickly made his way towards the breakfast stations.

(The fact that Hirofumi Kurosawa wasn't sitting with them...)

(You don't need to delude yourself. You know what happened.)

xxxx

Ren Amamiya was quietly nudged awake. "...five more minutes..." he muttered, gripping the bed covers tightly.

"Yeah, no."

Ren irritably opened his eyes, glaring at Ryuji. "Seriously old-timer, you couldn't let me sleep a bit more? I'm a growing boy."

Sakamoto rolled his eyes. "You were more withdrawn than usual after we finally got back to the van yesterday."

"What, am I not allowed to be in shock after what happened to the capital, much less the government?"

(Yesterday, when he had heard the news about Governor Shido becoming the new President of the Prefectural Confederation — at least, on a provisional basis until the election on the new constitution was held — he had felt a horrifying sense of deja vu.)

Ryuji snorted. "Don't insult me kid. Just the way you talked to Kurosawa-san during his interrogation shows that you have issues with authority in general...but that's not accounting for the fact that Katsuragi was contacted by Sae Niijima yesterday. You know, because it didn't take long for word to spread that it was the Evangelion-users who stopped Strega pulling an Atlanta and simultaneously putting an end to that damn fog. And if the Evangelion-users are around, high chances are that the kids she's a custodian for are around. And she had a very interesting story about a guy in black who saved her in the Metaverse...along with a talking blue bear, but I don't much care about that right now." With a severe stink eye (that fit Ryuji so, so well), he added, "oh, and she said that he used a handgun, and a dagger, and wore a black-and-white domino mask..."

"Could've be anyone," he tiredly murmured.

"Yeah. I'm sure." Lightly thumping Ren over the head with the tip of his cane, he said, "Look, I'm not here to give you the third degree or anything...and it's not like I'd out you to the others. Not without them asking me questions about why I'm hiding it, because I don't know why the eff I am." With grumpy emphasis, he added, "Besides, you rescued Niijima-san from the sounds of it, and that's nothing to get on your case about...but if you were in the city when the fog lifted, you must have seen some nasty shit."

"...I can neither confirm nor deny."

"Fine, keep playing the hardass. But you're allowed to be bothered, you know? Kids your age...shouldn't have to deal with any of this. But that's a luxury we can't afford, it seems." Hobbling away, he added, "Just keep that in mind, got it? You don't have to be Mr. Mystery Man about everything." With his piece said, Ryuji closed the door to the hotel room behind him.

"...if only you knew," Ren whispered, lying back down with a tired sigh. "If only..."

He wanted to reach back for the memories of nicer times, where the struggles and trials of a life long past — for however harrowing they had been in his 'youth', relatively speaking — seemed so much lighter and less consequential...

(You don't have that luxury, though...)

Eventually, he got up to face the day.

xxxx

Mayumi Yamagishi blinked. "...where am I...?"

"You're in a hotel in Fujimi." Mayumi slowly rose from the bed she was in, staring towards the voice's source; Misato Katsuragi was sitting on the couch, quietly combing her hair with distracted motions. "You've been out of it since yesterday."

"...oh." Trace memories began to return, of battle amidst the fog, and frenzied thoughts to help Ikari-san and Ayanami-san contain the MAGI...the MAGI! "Did...did we save Tokyo-2...?" Had it all been a vain...?

Misato's lips flattened into a grim expression; the sight made Mayumi's heart quiver. "You kids did stop Strega's plan from unfolding the way they wanted...you contained the explosion and dispelled that crazy fog." Before she could express surprise (and just a bit of joy), the woman immediately punctured her elation, a proverbial needle popping a balloon. "But the city...well, it was kind of a lost cause well before we arrived."

"...oh." Mayumi wasn't sure what to feel...or how to feel. "But...did we do good? Did we at least save anyone...?"

"The people who were still alive by the time the fog went away can certainly be counted. But...don't beat yourself up. It was a messed up situation."

"...and Kurosawa-san...?" Misato's face said it all. "...he didn't make it, did he...?"

"We'll talk about it more when we debrief. But after you kids get some breakfast." Misato glanced away slightly, looking at someone else. "...that includes you, Mana-chan."

Mayumi turned to her right; Mana was sitting quietly on the bed, looking defeated in a way that she could not recall if her life depended on it. "Mana-san...what happened...?"

"We're hoping you can tell us," asked Misato, looking rather solemn yet...almost motherly, in the sense of someone who wanted to but didn't quite know how. (At least, that's the impression she got...) "We'll get some breakfast and then we can talk about what happened after that punk Minazuki split us up. Sound good?"

"...fine," murmured Mana, almost mulishly. It was a regression of attitude to how standoffish she had been at the beginning of the summer vacation...except it originated from a different place, now. Not from suspicion...but from pain?

Mana-san...what happened...?

Suddenly, a silhouette of static faded into existence near the door to the room; it quickly solidified into a very familiar blunette. "Ah. You are awake," Rei Ayanami quietly said, sipping from a steaming cup that smelled of coffee.

Misato shot Rei a curious gaze. "You left last night before everyone turned in. What gives?"

"I have been completing Ghost subjugation and dispersal missions. There was a severe spike in the wake of yesterday's...events."

"...and you've been at it all night?!"

"I am used to working extended hours...besides, I made a brief stop in Nishiawakura to obtain a drink from Sojiro Sakura." Separating her words with a punctual sip, she casually added, "his mochas are exceptionally invigorating," as though it were a light observation of the weather.

The surrealty was apparently too much for the woman. "...yeah. Sure." Sighing, Misato finally rose up, looking at Mana and Mayumi with a commanding look. "You two should get dressed. After breakfast...we'll talk about yesterday."

Yesterday, thought Mayumi as she slowly extracted herself from the bed. What all happened yesterday...? She would soon find out, regardless.

xxxx

Breakfast was a relatively sedated affair.

(The hotel's owner marvelled at the elaborate axe and shield that Mana was hauling on her back. "Oh my, they look so realistic! Are you into cosplay?" Everyone looked rather flummoxed by Yukiko Amagi's innocently incorrect take. The hotel staff, realizing that Mana's weapons were all-too-real, managed to distract the owner with the arrival of new guests.)

Well, for the most part.

Once they finished, they walked out back; the Amagi Resort Hotel had an indoor pool and an outdoor onsen, as well as an elaborate walking trail through the forest behind the hotel. Situated as it was on the western slopes of the Akaishi Mountains, the trees were largely comprised of larches, cedars, and red pines, with an occasional cypress; however, amidst an open space was a small orchard of Fuji apple trees, bearing signs that they belonged to the hotel. The walking trail looped in and around the orchard, bearing decorative statues of Japanese mythological figures and young kimono-clad women wielding paper fans. It was pleasant to the senses...which was oddly fitting, given the subject matter being discussed.

Finally, they found a spot where two benches carved from cedar sat relatively close together; Shinji, Toji, and Kensuke sat on one, whilst Rei, Mana, and Mayumi sat on the other. Ryuji and Misato were facing them, standing, whilst Ren was casually leaning against a cobblestone retaining wall, its gray surface tinged with moss and age. "So...where do we start?" asked Aida.

"How about we start with when we split up?" offered Ryuji. "Amamiya; you were sent back outside of the fog before we went in." (Technically true, inwardly mused Ren.) "Anything you want to comment on?"

"Not really," he said. "Once the fog vanished, lots of people began streaming towards Tokyo-2 like lives depended on it. It was like a switch being thrown."

"Makes sense..." Misato took this opportunity to ask questions. "Shinji-kun; you and Yamagishi-chan accompanied Kurosawa-san. Ayanami-san gave us some details...but could you corroborate what happened before she arrived?"

Shinji and Mayumi nodded, and proceed to explain about their march towards Camp Matsumoto; the sight of all the military fatalities; and the assistance of a strange little fox when it came to entering the MAGI chamber.

(When Mayumi and Shinji mentioned the apron-clad fox, everyone missed how Ayanami went still from recognition.)

Upon entering the chamber; they had encountered Sahaquiel, an Angel that had manifested as a great eye.

("An eye, you say?" remarked Sakamoto with a frown. "And it mentioned a thrall?")

(Mayumi nodded. "Yes." Furrowing her lips with concentration, she cited its words from memory: "His designs aim to increase the devastation amongst you Lilim...once this matter is settled, I shall return to him, to witness his malice once more...that's what the Angel said.")

(No one missed the growing scowl on the older man's face. "Is that so? Well, that changes things...I'll explain when we get to my part.")

They had then been interrupted by Takaya Sakaki and Jin Shirato of Strega...only to be interrupted again by the Reaper.

("It focused on us instead of the Angel and Strega," murmured Shinji.)

("...feh. What bad luck," growled Misato.)

Describing the battle had been...interesting, recalling how Mayumi's thoughts had helped them stay ahead of the Reaper's attacks, with Shinji's Persona tanking most of the blows while Kurosawa took his shots. It had been going relatively well...until it hadn't.

("The Reaper drained Ikari-san of energy," explained Mayumi. "Were it not for Ayanami-san's arrival...it would have ended poorly.")

Of course, Kurosawa's sacrifice had been mentioned...because how could it not?

"So after all the crap he gave us, he pulled a hero move, huh?" Ren looked somewhat...conflicted. "...good for him, I guess."

"He was only trying to perform his duty," said Rei, solemnly glancing at Amamiya. "That his duty led him into conflict with us was...an accident of fate."

"...if he hadn't prevented the Reaper from following us, we might not have been able to muster the focus needed to contain the MAGI's explosion," observed Mayumi, lightly dabbing at her eye with a tissue; some parts of her eyes still bore that unnervingly red color from burst blood vessels. "Did...did they find his body?"

"Yeah," said Sakamoto with a nod. "He'll be posthumously honored by what's left of the Paranormal and Supernatural Countermeasure Office...though with all the bodies, I don't know if the Governor of Nagano's gonna offer him an official funeral or simply stick him into a mass grave with all of the other bodies that go unclaimed." Sighing loudly, the man remarked, "It sucks."

It does, bitterly thought Shinji, thinking back to who Hirofumi Kurosawa had been and what he had stood for. If nothing else, Shinji couldn't categorically claim that the man had ever hated them for the powers they possessed. (Was that enough?) "...I'm tired of funerals," he admitted.

"You and everyone else," grumbled Toji.

"The events after Kurosawa's sacrifice are largely as I described yesterday," interrupted Rei, hands folded into her lap. "With Yamagishi-san's guidance, Ikari-san and I used our Personas and our Evangelions to redirect the explosion of the Tokyo-2 MAGI. They collapsed unconscious afterwards."

"And that's when you established contact with us over the phone," finished Misato. "Guess that means it's my turn: as far as I'm concerned, I got jumped by Sho Minazuki and ended up fighting him until the fog disappeared."

"That asshole appeared?!" griped Toji.

"If he's with Strega, it only stands to reason," murmured Kensuke.

"But what I don't know is what happened with you," said Misato, turning her attention towards Kirishima. "...Mana-chan. I didn't find you again until the fog disappeared...and when I did, you were crying your eyes out. And you looked like the shit had been kicked out of you."

Shinji couldn't help but acknowledge Misato's point; the brusque girl still bore bruises from yesterday, even in spite of the enhanced healing that AIGIS and LABRYS afforded her. What happened...?

Leaning down, hands on her knees, the woman adopted a softer tone. "...you can tell us, you know? It's...it's okay to not to be strong all the time-"

"You're wrong," bitterly snapped Mana, showing a level of vitriol that Shinji hadn't seen since the first time he had ever fought her. "If I had been stronger, they wouldn't be where they are now...it's my fault..."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Sakamoto.

Mana briefly brushed fingers over the broad sides of her axe and shield, lips curled into a complicated grimace. Finally, after long moments of interminable silence, she said, "...I saw my brothers. Musashi-niisan and Keita-niisan. They had Personas...and they were each bonded with an Angel." Ignorant (or perhaps uncaring) of the growing looks of alarm on everyone's faces, she soberly added, "they're with Strega, now..."

Shinji's eyes widened at the revelation, but he was far from the one most shocked; Mayumi impulsively covered her mouth with her hands, while Misato went still, as if stricken by a spear. "What...?" the woman muttered, stepping closer towards Mana. "Your brothers...?!"

"Yeah."

"They attacked you?!"

"...only after I struck first," she growled, clenching at her own hair. "I saw that they were infested with the Angels, and I just got so angry..."

"...why would that be enough to make you angry?" wondered Sakamoto, glancing over at Mayumi with a measured eye.

"Whaddya mean, sensei?" asked Toji with confusion.

"Well, you've all been through a pretty big deal with Yamagishi-san here," he observed, gesturing in the bespectacled girl's direction with his cane. "What with the whole 'being infected by an Angel' and all with Armisael."

"...what are you getting at?" asked Misato with a frown, which was mirrored by Mana.

Shrugging, the man observed, "Despite everything that happened, you went through hell and back to save her...and I don't recall you ever expressing anger at her. And from my understanding...your brothers were your only family for years. I don't think you'd be the first to strike...not unless they did something, or said something, to get under your skin."

"...I don't know what you're talking about," growled Mana.

"Maybe you don't. But I know what the look of someone who's been betrayed looks like." Sakamoto's expression was sympathetic, compassionate. "What did they tell you before you attacked?"

Mana surged to her feet — eliciting a stern look from Rei and a frightened "eep!" from Mayumi — and snarled, "What does it matter?! They're my brothers, and I still have to save them, and I won't let anyone-!"

"Mana-chan." Misato's voice snuffed out her impulsive anger as fingers would the flame of a candle. "...what did they tell you?"

Mana looked at Misato as someone unsure of their standing in the world, having lost their purpose and trying desperately to keep hold of it. Finally, however, the young girl relented. "...Takaya Sakaki was the one who found them, after they escaped from Tokita's facility...and now they want revenge against all of humanity."

"...do you think they willingly joined Strega, then?" asked Ren.

Mana didn't answer immediately; she glanced briefly at LABRYS and AIGIS before gazing dejectedly at her knees. "...how would I know? I thought I was protecting them from the worst of what Tokita did...but it wasn't enough...I wasn't good enough..."

It was in the face of such dejection that Mayumi impulsively embraced Mayumi from behind, while even Ayanami(?!) placed an empathetic hand on her shoulder. (Why did Ayanami look so stoic, even when performing such a gesture...?) In the face of this, Shinji could only wonder at the self-recrimination Mana was feeling at the moment.

The Beast laughed in his face.

"And who would be more of an expert at self-criticism than you? You never cease to find a chance to tear yourself down..."

It leaned down, staring at him eye-to-eye.

"...when you'd prefer to destroy yourself than unleash your wrath, is it any surprise...?"

Ryuji, for his part, didn't look pleased in the least by this turn of events; Ren shot the older man a strange look before remarking, "Somehow...I get the feeling you're not just talking about Jin Shirato."

"...guess that serves as a segue to what me and the two half-pints got up to," Sakamoto admitted, turning towards Kensuke and Toji as he began explaining what they had gone through. "We made our way to the headquarters of the A.T. Task Force, and we slowly fought our way up the floors."

Kensuke, seemingly eager to turn the conversation away from the awkward emotions that Mana had been proverbially leaking, commented, "Yeah, it was pretty grueling!"

"We eventually made it to the Commissioner's office...and when we got there, the man himself had an old TV set busted over his head." Kicking at the ground with his good leg, Sakamoto added, "That's when we found Morooka's secretary hiding in a supply closet. And...he showed us a video tape."

"...a video tape?" Shinji said with a blink.

"A video tape that the perp made Mishima record. A perp who's known by the title of the Smiling Traitor...because he was a former A.T. Agent. Went by the name of Tohru Adachi. And apparently...thanks to a 'patron' with what looked a gigantic eye, he caused the fog to appear in the first place."

"Gigantic eye?" repeated Mayumi, looking away from Mana. "You mean...do you mean Sahaquiel?"

"It sure looked like the same Angel that you described from the MAGI Chamber underneath Camp Matsumoto."

At that moment, Shinji gained a spot of clarity, understanding why Sakamoto had been so upset earlier. "...that's why you were so interested in what the Angel said," murmured Shinji. "It was a connection to this 'Adachi'..."

"Yeah, as though we didn't have enough problems on our plate; now we have to add a serial murderer with Angelic powers on top of all the other nutjobs with Angelic powers," griped Sakamoto. "I honestly don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that Adachi's apparently gone AWOL from the rest of Strega, because he came off as a bit of a loose cannon."

(Meanwhile, over three hundred kilometers away, Adachi suddenly sneezed. "Aw, crap...people must be talkin' about me...guess I'd better make sure they have plenty to talk about..." Hands stuffed into his pockets, he continued on his way...)

The teenagers all looked among each other, wondering what to make of the idea that a former A.T. Agent — a serial murderer with a tie to the Angels, at that! — had been responsible for the deadly fog that had turned Japanese society upside down overnight. Amidst this quiet, Ren calmly asked "...so what now?"

"What 'now' indeed," muttered Sakamoto.

Misato, looking one last time at Mana's form (occasionally shuddering from an anguished cry that wanted to escape, yet nonetheless muffled by the girl's sheer stubbornness), interjected with, "What I can say is that too much has happened for us to be on the road any longer. We have no idea how the political situation is going to shake down...so right now, I think it's imperative we get you all back to Tokyo-3."

It was a strangely paradoxical idea to consider, especially in light everything that had happened over the past three weeks; yesterday's harrowing events had served as a foreboding yet simultaneously anticlimactic end to a road trip that had taken everyone to places and events they had never anticipated. "So...we're going back to Hakone?" asked Shinji.

Misato nodded sternly, with a sad yet half-hearted smile. "Sorry kid. Your summer vacation's over."

Shinji reacted to Misato's proclamation with a strange detachment; just like that, a trip that had taken them all over Japan was going to end. It had accounted for little over three weeks of his life, and yet so much had happened. "...it feels like it just started...and yet not."

Misato snorted. "Yeah, this has been a busy month for you, hasn't it?"

"Not exactly what I bargained for, that's for sure," remarked Ryuji, who somehow sported a grin on his face. Whether it was bitter or honest, Shinji couldn't tell. "But that's life, I guess..."

"Are we heading back immediately?" asked Kensuke.

"We'd like you kids to start heading back soon...but Sakamoto-san and I have to make a brief stop back in Nishiawakura."

Misato's comment elicited surprised blinks from all of them, even Mana. "Why?" asked Toji.

"My bike/My car," answered both adults simultaneously. Sakamoto elaborated on behalf of both of them. "Well, we're just gonna quickly step back through the Metaverse to Okayama Prefecture. Not like we can just leave our stuff sitting on Sakura-san's property."

"I guess that makes sense," said Shinji. "Are you going to leave now?"

"We might as well. Given the governmental reorganization that's going to be happening now with this whole 'Council of 47' thing that the governors cooked up, it might result in changes to how the Anti-Terror Task Force and Cognitive Freelancers are utilized," explained Misato, looking one last time towards Mana. "...will you all look out for each other?"

"We will," promised Kensuke, readily speaking on behalf of Team Statherós.

Misato turned towards Rei. "I know you've been out all night...but will you stick with them for a while? I don't trust Strega or Adachi to not make another move."

"I will," remarked Rei, who didn't let her tiredness show.

Ryuji, meanwhile, looked at Ren. "Amamiya-san, would you get them back to Tokyo-3 as soon as you can? You've definitely shown yourself to be pretty reliable."

(Ren, unbeknownst to everyone else, stifled his laugh at Ryuji's loaded meaning.) Amamiya calmly replied, "I can do that."

The two adults nodded, advising them all to be safe and to contact them if an emergency arose. "We should be arriving back in Tokyo-3 by tomorrow...I imagine there'll be a big debrief at NERV, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there." With those words said, both thumbed their distinctive badges and began the process of phasing into the Metaverse.

Once the two were gone, Ren sighed. "Well...I guess we should go ahead and get our things."

The older teenager took the lead, and the younger six quietly followed, all wondering to some degree or another as to what awaited them in the near future...

xxxx

Time passed; within the orderly chaos of the Metaverse, Seiten Taisei quietly soared through the sky. Upon his cloudy vessel, Misato sat at the forefront, arms crossed. Ryuji stood, hanging onto the big monkey's leg.

The hour or so that the Monkey King had spent sailing through the sky, the two adults had spent that time trying to mutually destress from the utter chaos of the past week: shooting the breeze, and stuff like that.

That, more than anything else, had been the motive for them to get away from the kids for even so short a time: to talk in a more unvarnished way than they were otherwise comfortable with.

xx

"...where do you think Adachi got an old CRT television from?" asked Misato.

"Metaverse trickery? How should I know?"

xx

"Do you think Mana's brothers are going to end up on anyone else's radars?" wondered Ryuji.

Misato thought long and hard about that one. "...if those two end up fighting other people and leave any survivors, they'll become wanted men like Takaya or Shirato or Minazuki. But until then...I'll do what I can to help Mana-chan."

Ryuji hummed noncommittally.

xx

"-but seriously, there was a Shiba Inu with wings who helped with the defense of the CPC?"

"Yeah. Was albino, wore an orange sweater-vest; it was kind of crazy." Ryuji looked curiously at Misato. "Why?"

"...because I met a winged Shiba Inu once, when I was busted out of Shiro Tokita's facility. It accompanied Mister P's Persona."

Ryuji blinked. "That a fact? Well...it's like he keeps popping up, helping out here and there..."

"...I really hope so." Misato sighed irritably, clutching at the 'solid' cloud underneath her. "With everything that's been going on, my investigation into him keeps being pushed back..."

xx

As they neared Nishiawakura, Misato finally asked a question she had been wondering for some time. "Sakamoto-san...do you regret signing up for this mission?"

Ryuji snorted. "Don't pull that shit, Katsuragi."

"I'm serious," she stressed, looking over her shoulder at the Freelancer. "Even if you took on Suzuhara as an apprentice, you didn't have to agree to be a chaperone for this road trip of theirs-"

"The 'what if' game doesn't help anyone," he insisted, tapping his gun-cane with emphasis. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't regret it just a little, because they weren't just my old teammates...they were my friends. But if we hadn't come along, what would have happened on the ferry? The kids might have been in Tokyo-2 when that whole mess went down...or maybe when Minako showed up, it might have been you or one of the other kids who died. 'If if if.' Too many things would have been different to know for sure...so why bother?" Tapping at his heart with his fist, he added, "they got their funeral; they got their badass sendoff...and I've got a ton of good memories. Can't ask for anything else."

Misato frowned, unsatisfied by that answer. (Only because you have too many regrets of your own.) "...I envy you, Sakamoto-san."

"Eh, ain't much of me to envy. I mean, you can beat me in a sprint, for one."

Misato snorted at the bit of dark humor. "That's not what I mean..." Alas, the conversation trailed off there, as Nishiawakura's cognitive double came into sight; setting down on a familiar hill (where the cognition of a statue in the shape of a Porsche 356 sat), they both shifted back into the real world; the sight of the DeLorean sitting alongside the Alpine Renault and Yamaha Royal Star initiated another wave of melancholy. "It's a shame; that's a sweet ride," remarked Misato.

"I still can't believe their wives were okay with it being left to me," Ryuji murmured with a grimace. "Still haven't figured out what to do with it..." His voice trailed off with uncertainty.

"Sakamoto-san?"

Ryuji suddenly looked back toward the ryokan, frowning. "...hey. Katsuragi. Any idea why there would be yellow fog around Sakura-san's house?"

"Yellow fog?" Misato looked over her shoulder, gazing at the traditional dwelling; sure enough, the front doors were open, from which hazy vapor colored mustard and goldenrod could be seen. "...that's odd," she wondered aloud.

(Inwardly, their minds were screaming.)

(You MUST remember!)

"...we should check it out," said Ryuji with a frown, hobbling up the hill with purpose.

"...yeah," agreed Misato, even as she subconsciously prepared for battle. The two quietly proceeded, looking around with concern; the felines that called this place home were absent, hiding within the bushes and trees bordering the property. "I don't like this."

"Me neither." Ryuji and Misato both stood in front of the doorway, gazing at the thick cloud of fog. With one last shared glance, they stepped through-

(The immediate sensations of what had happened in Tokyo-2 immediately came roaring back.)

(More cognitive manipulation; you know that this could only mean-!)

-and were ready for a fight when they crossed the threshold, nonetheless expecting to witness another tragedy.

Instead, they saw Tohru Adachi, sitting in an easy chair...and eating curry.

Sojiro Sakura — with arms bound, legs tied, and mouth gagged by cloth — sat in an easy chair across from him. Despite his obvious discomfort, the old man looked unharmed.

"...the eff?!" exclaimed Ryuji.

"Ah, was wondering when someone would show up." Adachi looked at them with a smarmy grin. "Can you believe this guy? Not only a great cup of coffee, but he makes some pretty sweet curry, too!"

Misato, having manifested her A.T. Agent attire the moment she entered the fog, whipped out her pistol and fired.

Instead of an A.T. Field flashing to block the bullet — as the two halfway expected — Adachi's head briefly splattered into strands of saffron mist; as his face slowly reformed, his right eye flashed with multiple colors. "Yeah...turns out when you're bonded with an Angel, you're a bit more difficult than usual to kill...and I should know: the government certainly tried their damnedest before handing me back to the Task Force to lock away in their little prison."

Even as Seiten Taisei and Tokoyo manifested in a flash of blue fire — much to Sojiro Sakura's wide-eyed astonishment — Tohru Adachi seem remarkably unconcerned. After that little display, I can't blame him, mentally griped Misato, still keeping her handgun aimed at him. "How long have you been bound to an Angel?"

"And why the hell did you cause such havoc in Tokyo-2?" demanded Ryuji, raising his gun-cane up to his shoulder. "A lot of people are dead because of you."

"Eh, potato, tomato," Adachi joked, eating another spoonful of curry. "You call it 'killing', I call it 'giving them an early ticket to the next life.'"

"Belief in reincarnation doesn't clear you of murder," growled Misato.

Adachi looked shrewdly at them, a strange little grin ghosting across his face. "I suppose you wouldn't get it...would be funny if you did. But to answer your question: I've had a connection to the Angels for...hmm, couldn't even tell ya how long. As for why...eh, not sure. Not really relevant anymore."

"Given what you talked to Morooka about, it seems highly relevant," retorted Ryuji.

Adachi's expression brightened. "Ah, you must have seen my little home video! Glad someone got to see it. What'd you think of the cinematography?"

"...is this all a joke to you?!" snarled Misato.

"...kind of. I mean, I considered just opening the door and braining the old geezer." Part of the fog in the back of the room twisted and shifted, forming a facsimile of Adachi and Sojiro, separated by a screen door; the 'door' shifted opened open, with 'Adachi' walking in and beating 'Sojiro' over the head with a police baton. Repeatedly. (Sojiro's eyebrows shot up at the reenactment.) "But then I remembered that his cheapest cup of coffee was pretty good, so I decided to just knock him out." The misty facsimiles resumed their starting positions; this time, 'Adachi' put 'Sojiro' into a sleeper hold; the foggy clone stopped struggling and slumped over within ten seconds. "Plus, you guys just had...like, two funerals, right?" He held up an edition of the local prefectural paper, which was opened to the obituaries. "I remember Amada and Iori; I think they were in the last trainee class taken on before I got caught in oh-five. But another funeral, so soon? That would've been pretty tacky."

"Cut the crap," snapped Ryuji. "If this Angel was a part of you way back when you got caught...then why didn't you use the power of the Angel to break out?"

"If you saw the video, you know why."

"No I don't; you only mentioned some shit about losing a game-"

"Bingo!" interrupted Adachi. "The game I played back then was 'Revenge', but I was caught before I could finish killing everyone involved...so I accepted my loss. The Angel was annoyed, but if I was going to be an unwilling tool, it didn't want to bother much with me anyhow...but once Strega broke me out, the penalty for my loss was revoked. A new 'game' could be started...and I've thought long and hard about what the object of my 'game' should be. And who better to involve than NERV's little wonderkid?"

Misato shared a glance with Ryuji, catching the subtext immediately. Like Shinji-kun didn't have enough problems. "Why the hell are you interested in Shinji-kun?"

"The hell if I know!" he admitted. "Kid seems kind of scrawny and a bit of a wimp from what little I know...which makes it all the more hilarious how so many things revolve around him. But all of the players aren't around just yet, so I was just making sure the board was clear of any unnecessary distractions. Hope you appreciated the favor I did for you, by the way."

Ryuji frowned. "...what favor?"

"See, that's the thing; I could've gone to Tokyo-3 — you know, 'cause it wasn't around before I was imprisoned, and was dying to see if it looked anything like I remembered — but I ended up going to Tokyo-2 instead. And rumors are the lifeblood of any capital city worth a damn...and boy, they were all abuzz about the fact that Ikari and bunch of his fellow brats were going to be interviewed and interrogated. Self-important jackasses, the lot of 'em...but for the Third Child to get tied up with government rigmarole? Boring. So...you're welcome."

"...you subjected the whole capital to a cognitive anomaly that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, including the national government and the Imperial Family...and you want us to thank you?!" yelled an incredulous Misato.

Adachi took a few seconds to think about his answer. "...pretty much. I mean, let's be honest: I removed a problem for you. The fact you don't have to deal with the Tokyo-2 bigwigs anymore is a load off your back...and compared to the people you actually do care about, those chumps might as well have not existed to you. They were already dead men walking in your mind: this just makes the metaphor a bit more literal."

"Ziodyne."

Seiten Taisei launched a thunderbolt at Adachi; this time, it arced over an A.T. Field. "Anyhow," said Adachi, uncaring for the increased antagonism, "I've got two more visits to make before I start my new game, so you've got a bit of time..." Looking towards Sojiro, the lunatic said, "Old-timer! Keep up with the good food. It's a literal lifesaver." With an amused laugh, Adachi grabbed his plate of curry and receded into the fog; moments later, the unnatural mist vanished, as did Seiten Taisei and Tokoyo. Adachi was nowhere to be seen.

"...well, that wasn't ominous," grumbled Ryuji, even as Misato hurryingly undid Sojiro's binds. "You okay, Sakura-san?"

"Yeah," murmured the older man, rubbing gingerly at his newly freed wrists. "I just came back to my house to get a couple of things I had run out of at the cafe...then that damned hooligan just storms into my house, ties me up, and heats up a plate of leftover curry..." Glaring at where the man had been sitting, Sojiro added, "and he took one of my plates!"

It was such an 'old man' thing to harp on that it lightened the tension ever so slightly...yet it did nothing to ease the fresh unease rising in the back of Misato's mind. What kind of sick 'game' does Adachi have in mind for Shinji-kun...?

xxxx

As Misato Katsuragi and Ryuji Sakamoto were having a close encounter with one Tohru Adachi, a certain Toyota HiAce was departing from Fujimi, heading southbound along the E20 route of the Chūō Expressway. The few differences from when they had originally left Hakone at the end of July were several parcels worth of apple-derived foodstuffs (such as jam, apple chips, apple jelly, candied apples, and miniature apple pie pastries)...

("Would you be interested in some of the products made from the fruits of our orchard?" exclaimed Yukiko Amagi with clasped hands. "I guarantee it'll tickle your sweet tooth! Kids these days still like sweets, right?" With a muffled snort-giggle, she added, "what am I saying, kids always like sweets! And have no fear: I had nothing to do whatsoever with their production! It's the Amagi Guarantee!" The fact the matronly proprietress felt the need to state that was...concerning.)

...the presence of Rei Ayanami...

(Rei quietly observed everyone as they piled into the van, as if taking their measure. Without another word, she quietly got inside, claiming the back row for herself.)

...and the metric ton of memories they had made over the past twenty-three days, both good and bad.

Such thoughts filled Shinji's mind as Amamiya-senpai slowly drove along. Glancing over his shoulder from the passenger's seat, he took in Yamagishi sitting beside Kirishima in the second row, with the latter looking down stoically at the prone forms of LABRYS and AIGIS; in the third row, Kensuke and Toji were quietly whispering at each other; in the fourth and final row, Rei Ayanami's face was hidden by a veil of blue hair (was she taking this opportunity for a quick nap?). All in all, the mood in the van was...wretched and morose.

Why did it feel so...wrong?

His Other quietly dug new holes into the ground: places to serve as graves for the future dead.

"It is one thing for you to feel melancholy...to be introspective...such is normal."

He glanced at blank epitaphs, wondering if anyone he knew would be carved onto them.

"But for all others to be as you are? It's almost like a violation of the natural order..."

Glancing back at his phone, as if driven by this strange impulse (a determined desire? A spot of empathy? Perhaps a mere burst of vigor? He wasn't sure), he looked over the numerous photos that had been shared by others throughout the trip: some of which had been posed for, others which had been taken discreetly (and not just by his peers, but by Amamiya-senpai, Sakamoto-san, and even Amada-san and Iori-san!). All told, they painted...quite an elaborate picture.

The not-yet-named Team Statherós, marvelling at the legion of crabs scuttling about the outskirts of the Nakatajima Sand Dunes; a picture from Sakamoto-san of beach volleyball at Cape Irago; another picture from Sakamoto-san of six teenagers looking over the side of the Ise-wan ferry; the picture of Team Statherós in ethnic garb at the Turkish museum in Kushimoto; numerous pictures (apparently taken by Yamagishi?) of the numerous cats around Sakura-sensei's home; an errant picture taken by Suzuhara-san of Shinji, Kensuke, Mayumi, and Akane Hasegawa working on the Farming Club's little vegetable garden near the school in Nishiawakura; several sporadic pictures of them playing cards in Sakura-sensei's home; many discreet pictures taken by Kensuke of the Featherman Z ladies interacting with everyone; a surprising picture of himself playing the guitar alongside the ukulele-strumming Sokila; it cemented the fact that there had been plenty of happy moments during their summer vacation.

Did the sad moments outweigh the others? Did the deaths render them meaningless? Did such questions even make sense, as though happiness and sadness could be categorically ranked? And it's not like his ratings would have been applicable universally; he doubted his friends would have felt the same way he did about certain things.

And all the while, it seemed that more and more pressure was being placed on them, by their opponents with Strega and the Angels...with the Usurper, and the truth of reality as they knew it...did anything even matter?

(You can't think like that.)

What would such thoughts do, but render null and void his prior vows? I keep going back and forth...why can't becoming better be simpler? Moving forward, only to be beaten down and pushed back, on repeat. (No wonder his original Persona had been Hamlet; they were practically two sides of the same wretched coin.) And in the end...what would any of it amount to, if he inadvertently dragged everyone else down with him? What can I do...?

The Beast opened its mouth-

"No," interrupted his Other.

For once, his mere presence willed the Beast into irritated silence.

"You can indulge in your darkness...but what would that avail you?"

Looking down at his right hand, he clenched it tightly. Take a stand...take a stand...take a stand...! He repeated, as though it were a mantra.

"Yen for your thoughts?" Shinji blinked, looking to his right; Amamiya glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "You're looking awfully conflicted there."

"...it just seems like such a shame...for our vacation to end like this."

"How do you mean?"

"...even with everything that went wrong...even with those we lost..." (Even with all of the mysteries that had been unveiled to them.) "...there were a lot of good things that happened for us. Things that we shouldn't lose sight of." He personally counted saving Mayumi Yamagishi from Armisael as one of the best things to have come out of it all; could a price be put on such a significant event? "I just wish there was a way we could end our road trip on a high note...for their sake..."

(He vowed to use his power to protect them all. As Kensuke jokingly said "go Team Statherós," the quintet — Aida, Suzuhara, Kirishima, Yamagishi, and himself — bumped their fists together. It was a vow in all but name.)

"...you seem to have come to a decision about something. Think you can keep it?" Ren cryptically said.

"What else is there to do but try?" Even if he was pushed back down, he would have to stand back up...because otherwise, he might as well die. (What use would he be otherwise?)

"...so, a high note, you say...?" They passed road signs indicating they were about to pass through the Kōfu Basin in the heart of Yamanashi Prefecture, containing Kōfu and numerous other towns and cities. The sight of Mount Fuji loomed over the mountains to the south of the basin, serving as an ever-present landmark. As they rumbled onward, Ren suddenly smiled. "...have you kids ever considered karaoke?"

Shinji blinked, feeling suddenly flummoxed. "Eh?"

xxxx

"I was under the impression we were heading back to Tokyo-3," stoically said Rei Ayanami.

Ren Amamiya, leaning against the wall, chuckled as he began looking through the song selection on one of the remote controls. "Blame Ikari-san."

But I didn't suggest karaoke, Shinji thought with a mental wince as Ayanami turned her crimson gaze towards them. Well...we're here now. No point in complaining. "Well...I just thought that with everything that happened, letting our road trip end on such a low point seemed...wrong."

The karaoke lounge they had stopped at in Kōfu was of the typical 'box' variety, replete with a couple of sofas, two coffee tables, and a projector to display the karaoke songs on the blank wall. The boys and girls had naturally divided themselves among the couches, which was why Toji's deadpan expression seemed so fierce. "Well...our whole government practically changed overnight. That's kind of a low point." When Kensuke snorted, Suzuhara immediately spun around. "What's with you?!"

"I mean, you're not exactly the most civic-minded individual, Toji."

"Am too!"

"Who represented our district in the House of Representatives?"

"...well, it's not like I could've voted-"

"My point exactly."

"But...a bunch of people died in the capital, damn it!"

"Now that's an understandable reason...but that doesn't mean Shinji doesn't have a point." Kensuke kept scrolling through the choices on the remote. "I mean...it sucks. It really does. But it happened. Will obsessing over it help us, especially when we've got so much else to worry about it?"

"...I suppose that's a fair point..." murmured Mayumi. Mana, for her part, was sullen and silent. Rei simply observed them all with a detached gaze, sipping from some water.

Ren stood up, moving as if to dust off a nonexistent jacket. "Well, your senpai will go first then, while you kids all hash things out...but feel free to chime in whenever you feel like it." Placing his selection — Life Will Change — into the queue, Amamiya smiled at the electric guitar which opened up his song choice.

As the high school student began singing — "It's not a game, I'm not a robot A.I. challenging you~!" — Rei managed to pierce through the singing. "What drove you to make this choice?"

"...what do you mean?" he asked, leaning in and speaking louder than normal.

"The consequences of our actions; the havoc of our battles against humanity's enemies; are you simply hiding from them? Running away from them?"

He shook his head. "No, it's not like that at all..." With both Evangelion-users sitting on the edge of their respective couches, it was easy for them to speak face-to-face. "...but...we're still alive. Despite everything, we're still alive..."

(August the 7th: amidst a crowded living room, Yukari Amada and the Featherman Z girls had explained their whole philosophy behind the annual tours, and why they bothered. "It was undeniable proof that even in spite of the horrors of Angel Syndrome, life could and would go on," sagely explained Hifumi Kitagawa.)

"...and even if this world isn't ideal, it's still the one we have to live in."

("So you know that we're out there! Swatting lies in the making!")

("...man, Amamiya-senpai's really getting into it," muttered Toji.)

("At least it's a cool tune!" whispered Kensuke, clapping along with the beat.)

Rei stared heavily, as though taking his measure. "...I remember warning you not to be rash, in your search for answers."

Shinji quietly remembered that solemn conversation in his room, the morning after the defeat of Armisael. "...we learned what we learned...and we can't take it back."

"Is that so? You will have to enlighten me."

"We will...but for now, I want to make one more good memory. For their sakes. They...they have enough unhappy ones as it is..."

This, at least, seemed to mollify Ayanami. "...I see."

As Ren's song wound down, he theatrically bowed to polite applause. Kensuke quickly hopped up, exclaiming, "Move aside, icebreaker! Time to show off something a bit more classic!"

xx

When Kensuke's song — Smile Bomb — had begun, Mayumi had perked up. "This opening sounds familiar..."

As he began singing — "Machi no, hitogomi kata ga, butsukatte hitoribocchi..." — she immediately remarked, "Ah, no wonder! This is a classic."

"Eh?" chorused Shinji and Toji.

"This was the opening theme from YōYō Hōkoku, a popular manga and anime in the early '90s...I think it got romanized overseas as Apparition Reports..."

"...I guess it was before my time," murmured Toji.

Ren snorted. "Cultural heathens."

"Aw, come on, senpai!" protested Toji.

xx

Toji decided to pick something that made Kensuke wince; the karaoke video for Mass Destruction immediately played a chorus of digitally altered voices chorusing "baby baby baby baby" on repeat.

"No Toji, don't-"

"Too bad Ken, you pestered me with enough Blossom Juice when we were younger that I still remember the lyrics."

"But you can't rap for crap!"

"Don't care. You asked for this."

"No I didn't!"

Toji was already going off. "Fear's awake, anger beats loud, face reality! Never beat charity! The enemy you're fighting covers all society, damn right-!"

Shinji and Ren couldn't help but grimace at the rather poor enunciation. "His English needs work," murmured the latter.

"...at least he's enjoying himself?" offered Shinji, not quite catching most of the lyrics.

xx

Mayumi had finally found a fitting song — Kimi Ga Kimi Ni Umareta Wake — by the time Toji finished. It was...considerably slower, more melancholy.

"Hitomi wo...tojireba...kitto...omoidaseru~" hesitantly crooned Mayumi, looking somewhat nervous...yet she sang the song as though it were an old memory.

Shinji was quietly listening to the lyrics as Mayumi sung, moving his head along with the melody. 'If you close your eyes, I'm sure you'll remember the moment your life awakened'...huh. As the song went on, the lyrics seemed to match up with so many parts of Yamagishi's recent life-changing event that it was kind of scary.

He wasn't the only one to notice. "This seems too on the nose," commented Ayanami.

"Bokura wa, tenshi ja, nai kedo...kibou to yuu, tsubasa wo hi-ro-ge~"

'We aren't angels, but we can spread the wings called courage...' It was almost uncanny.

By the time Mayumi sat back down (by which point the various snacks and drinks that Amamiya-senpai had ordered were delivered to their room), Shinji couldn't help but say, "That song seemed...very appropriate, Yamagishi-san."

"...I suppose it did, didn't it?" she remarked, placing a hand over her heart. "Whether it spoke to me...or whether it's from a long-lost memory...I can't say..."

xx

Mana had been idly browsing the song selection on her remote...until, at least, she had found something. "...huh."

Without much in the way of ceremony, she stood up to sing Kimi no Kioku, holding the microphone with both hands.

"Kaze no k-koe...hikari no...tsubu?" She sung as one who wasn't nervous, but rather as someone who was struggling to remember an old song. It showed in the way that as the chorus played, her voice became more confident.

("I'm not familiar with this one," murmured Kensuke.)

("It seems kind of...sad, somehow," commented Shinji.)

Even if she didn't have the beat or pronunciation perfect, Mana by the end was singing far more loudly than the song called for; it was as though she were exorcising an old demon than having a good time at karaoke bar. "Mabayuku, kagayaku, hitotoki, minna to issho datta! Kakegae no, nai toki to, shirazuni, watashi wa sugoshite ita, imawa tada taisetsu ni, shinobuyou, I will embrace the feeling! Kimi wa ne, tashika ni, ano toki, watashi no, soba ni ita! Itsudatte, itsudatte, itsudatte, sugu yoko de waratteita! Nakushitemo...torimodosu...kimi wo I will never leave you..."

'That brightly shining moment I was with everyone, I spent that time without knowing it was irreplaceable. Now, so that I'll just recall it fondly, I will embrace the feeling. You were definitely by my side back then, you know. You were always, always, always smiling right next to me. Even if I lose you, I'll get you back...I will never leave you.' Shinji couldn't help but marvel; what a hauntingly appropriate song, given Mana's circumstances.

Breathing harshly, the girl took a deep drink of water. Unprompted, she said, "Little Sis used to sing that song to herself."

"Huh?" remarked Toji.

"Little Sis. The one whose soul is in AIGIS." Looking solemnly at her hands, she added, "she never ever explained where she first heard it...but we all liked it when she sang. I...hadn't thought about it in a while. But now..." She clenched her fist. "...it almost sounds more like a vow than a song."

"Mana-san," murmured Mayumi.

"...I'm good. I'm good," Mana swore, casting off just a bit of that melancholic cloud that had been hanging around her since yesterday. "I'm...I'm glad I was able to find that song again. So...thanks."

xx

Shinji Ikari had been the next one to sing, selecting Hoshi to Bokura to.

"Owaranai hibi...ibasho o nakushite...bokura wa samyotteta..."

Rei Ayanami couldn't help but muse that his song choice was...an interesting one. It seems like the last few songs have been trying to evoke some sort of meaning, she mused. The quiet whispers between Aida and Suzuhara attested to that much.

("Man, now I feel like we should've gone more dramatic," murmured Kensuke.)

("But that's boring," hissed Toji.)

("Come on dude, read the room!")

'Wandering aimlessly...trying to connected the mingled pieces of the past...yet they always slip through our fingers like grains of sand.' What a fitting sentiment; had Ikari looked at the lyrics before selecting this song, or had he chosen it preternaturally? Such thoughts continued to swirl through her head as Ikari continued to sing.

"Kaerō...bokura ga! Mezashita...mirai e!"

'Let us return to the future we aimed for.' Yet it is a future you don't know how to reach...and sometimes, I'm much the same. Trusting in her heart to steer her true had failed before; who could know its depths? And yet...we still struggle, in the face of wretched odds. Because we can; because we must.

How odd, that karaoke would induce such catharsis. Perhaps that had been the point.

As such, when Shinji finished singing — and the others applauded — she stood up to sing as well. "Ayanami-san?" he blustered.

"We are in a karaoke lounge. It is a place for singing."

"...well, yes, but-"

Kensuke promptly hauled Shinji back to the couch. "The Ice Queen is singing; this is a momentous occasion!"

Rei tested the mic, murmuring, "It is a short one. But I have always been...fond of it."

She would leave it a mystery as to what such a song inspired within her heart...because memories of happier times, and the impossible hope for a happy future...were sometimes the only things that kept her going.

"Fly me to the moon, and let me play among the stars..."

And so the night continued on.

xx

Their time in the karaoke box had ended after two hours.

The song that had concluded their visit had been some number called Summer Memories, wherein Ren had goaded all of Team Statherós into singing it as a group.

It had been chaotic; Toji and Mana had inadvertently gotten into an elbow-shoving match as they tried keeping track of the lyrics on the screen. It had been messy; the voices of three boys and two girls with different talents and amateurish skills didn't mesh well. It had been childish; the natural instincts of Kensuke, Toji, and Mana were to try and sing louder, whilst Shinji and Mayumi faded into the background.

It had also been rather enjoyable, all things considered.

That's why Kensuke Aida's suggestion as they began driving through Fujikawaguchiko — little over thirty minutes after leaving the karaoke lounge — was relatively well-received. "You want us to sleep outdoors?" asked Shinji.

"I mean, why not? If we got back to Tokyo-3 tonight, Dr. Akagi would probably make us all stay overnight at NERV. Even Amamiya-senpai."

"Yeah, I'll pass on that," groused Ren.

"Plus, it just seems like the kind of thing to cap off a long road trip!"

Kensuke's logic seemed unassailable to Mana. "My siblings and I slept outdoors most of the time when I was younger. It was only when we found a ghost town that we ever slept indoors."

"I don't have any complaints," said Toji.

"...well, the sky does look nice," commented Mayumi, gazing out the window.

"I have no objections with whatever the decision is," said Rei from the very back.

Ren seemed pleased. "Welp, that settles it then! I'll find a spot to park." Flashing a grin at Shinji, he added, "you're in charge of letting our 'minders' know we're stopping for the night."

"Me?" boggled Shinji. In a moment of pure cosmic coincidence, his phone buzzed due to an incoming text:

M. Katsuragi: heyo
M. Katsuragi: ran into a *slight* delay when picking up our vehicles
M. Katsuragi: won't be back in Tokyo-3 'til tomorrow ^^;
M. Katsuragi: you made it back?

Shinji frowned, hesitantly typing in his response.

S. Ikari: stopped for karaoke after leaving the Amagi Inn
S. Ikari: gonna sleep outside in Fujikawaguchiko
S. Ikari: will make it to Tokyo-3 tomorrow morning

That shouldn't make her mad, right?

xxxx

Meanwhile, at a rest stop between Kyoto and Nagoya, Misato looked at her phone with a perplexed expression.

When she relayed the message to Sakamoto, he merely raised an eyebrow. "Honestly, there are worse things they could be doing...and with two Evangelion-users, it's not like they're in any real danger, barring something disastrous happening."

"Way to make me feel better, Sakamoto-san."

"Trust me, my leg would be bothering me more if something was going to happen."

xxxx

M. Katsuragi: just don't do anything stupid
M. Katsuragi: like venture into one of the local Dead Zones
M. Katsuragi: (人ФｴФ)
S. Ikari: we won't

It's not like we try to do stupid things, he couldn't help but think.

Amamiya eventually peeled off the road to the left, just before crossing the Kawaguchiko Bridge; he slowly pulled the HiAce over into a public parking area, near a walkway that led into a copse of trees on the one hand — barely hiding the silhouette of an old Shinto shrine, long abandoned by the looks of it — and down towards the waters of Lake Kawaguchi on the other. The grass gave way to coarse sand; Mount Fuji's imposing silhouette could still be seen in the twilight sky to the south, providing a rather picturesque scene.

"We ain't gonna have to deal with bugs, are we?" wondered Toji, running a hand through his hair. "Because I don't like bugs."

Kensuke snorted. "Unless it's a giant hornet or something, I think you'll be fine."

"You say that until you get torn up by mosquitoes during a track meet because you forgot to put on your bug spray-!"

Mana, wedging AIGIS and LABRYS into the sand several feet away, looked intently at her axe. Every few seconds, the silver gemstone embedded into its center would pulse. "I think we'll be fine."

"How so?" wondered Ren, carrying a sack filled with water bottles and some of the apple foodstuffs from the Amagi Inn.

"...not sure how to describe it," Mana admitted, patting down some of the grass around her. "Big Sis always put it upon herself to try and deal with any creepy-crawlies wherever we camped. That was her 'thing'."

Rei looked down at the axe, peering intently at the gemstone. "...there is a subtle shift in the air that I can sense. An act of metaphysical biology, mixed with a miniscule warp of cognition; interesting. A warding effect, of sorts?" Looking around with some strange sense, the blunette remarked, "I think we won't have to worry about being disturbed by insects."

"Hey, however it works, I don't care," remarked Toji with an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

Before long, the seven teenagers were lying on the grass, watching the stars blink into sight. The night breeze blew ripples across the water, bringing a slight chill that helped with the warm humidity of summer. Yet, Shinji couldn't help but wonder if the stars in the sky were reflective of how they truly were, in reality. Do they even look like this, outside of the Sea of Souls...?

"...this has been one eventful road trip," commented Kensuke Aida, out of the blue.

"Yeah. It has," he agreed.

"So much has changed," murmured Mayumi.

"Yeah."

"...I have been absent for much of it," remarked Ayanami, sounding as cool as ever. "Perhaps you could enlighten me as to how much has changed, since you left on the 31st?"

"...man, where would we even start?" wondered Kensuke. "We've gone through so much over the past few weeks that it feels like it's been literally months."

"...well, Ken probably got the only kiss he'll ever get," idly remarked Toji.

"TOJI!" roared Kensuke, even as everyone looked quizzically at them.

"I smell gossip," said Ren with a grin.

"A kiss?" dumbly repeated Mayumi.

Ignoring Kensuke's protests, Toji answered, "From Akane Hasegawa, after the whole thing with the Kuchisake-onna on the 13th. Must have been pretty harrowing, if she showed her gratitude like that."

Shinji blinked with surprise. "Hasegawa-san kissed him?"

"...a kiss?" Mayumi repeated again.

Flushing wildly, Kensuke waved his arms about like a fool. "L-Look, it was just a peck on the cheek when I wasn't looking! That's all!" Slugging Toji in the shoulder (much to Suzuhara's amusement), Kensuke nonetheless added, "but...that was a pretty eventful day, all things considered. Between the Ai ferry, nearly getting killed by Minazuki, and nearly getting killed even harder by that Minako lady...that was the closest I've ever felt like a hero."

This time, Toji bopped Kensuke in the shoulder. "Hey, you, me, and Sakamoto-sensei were helping to kick ass in the fog in Tokyo-2!"

"And you did pretty well against all those Archetypes when we fought Armisael," remarked Mana.

"That was still me being a support, though," protested Kensuke. "I mean, the Archetypes summoned by the Angel had practically zero resistances to Ozymandias's Ailment Skills. What are the odds of that ever happening again?" Huffing, Kensuke leaned back on his hands, staring up at the stars. "But with Hasegawa-san...even though we ended up needing to be saved by her dad and Shinji...me and my Persona are the reason that she lived long enough to even get to that point. Someone's alive today that wouldn't be otherwise...because of me." Smiling with a strange sheepishness, the bespectacled boy added, "Even in spite of everything else that happened...that makes it worthwhile. I'd like to think so, at any rate."

"Kensuke," murmured Shinji, thinking back to all of their conversations: about the hole left by their lost mothers, their issues with their respective fathers, and everything that had spawned from that.

Toji, in his typical brashness, retorted, "Yeah, I still think it's 'cause you got kissed by a girl."

Hidden though they were in the darkness of night — with only the nearby lights along the bridge, as well as the stars, providing ambience of any kind — Aida's huffy shifting of his glasses was impossible to ignore. "I'll remember that next time you start staring a little too long at a 'certain someone' in class."

"Come on dude, stop trying to make me and the Class Rep a thing!"

"Ah ha, I didn't even mention Horaki-san!" crowed Kensuke.

"...he kind of has a point, Suzuhara-san," admitted Shinji.

"So he does this a lot?" asked Mayumi, peering suspiciously at Toji. "Hmm...could it be...?"

Somehow, Toji's flushed face could be seen amidst the shadows. "Hey, get off my case!"

(Ren gleefully rubbed his hands together. This was free entertainment!)

Crossing his arms, Toji blustered on in an attempt to change the subject. "But yeah...this whole trip was pretty crazy. For all the crap that happened...it feels weird to me that Iori-san and Amada-san aren't with us, anymore." The mood immediately soured, given the topic. "They kind of had the same vibe that Sakamoto-sensei has; that you just knew they were going to make it through, somehow. And then...they were gone." Scratching at his hair, he soberly added, "still can't believe Sakamoto-sensei wanted me present during the last part of their funeral."

"Why's that?" asked Mana.

"...it is custom for only close family members to help remove bones from the ashes of the cremated," explained Mayumi.

"That's my point. I mean...I've only known sensei for about a month-and-a-half, now. What have I done to get that kind of treatment?"

"You're his apprentice, and he has no other family of his own, it seems," observed Ren. "Seems pretty obvious to me."

"...I don't know how to feel about that," Toji admitted.

"Well...at least you'll have plenty of stories to tell your sister," remarked Shinji, steering the conversation away from Toji's complicated feelings about death and its impacts in his life.

Toji chuckled. "Ain't that the truth. Bet she'll enjoy all the stuff involving the Emporium and the Feathermen."

"...that's right..." said Mana suddenly, reaching up for the circlet resting on her forehead: the gift that had been so graciously given by Emerald Eagle on the 7th. "That wasn't that long ago, was it..."

"...I assume the matter regarding your brothers has dominated your thoughts," stoically observed Rei.

"...yes...but also no." Mana slowly stood up, looking across the waters. "Quick question: what's with the town?" She gestured toward the eastern edge of the lake, where no lights could be seen; only further along the southern shores did the signs of life return, closer to the bridge. However, as her tracking hand continued westward, one could see how at a certain point, the lights all went dark again once they got sufficiently far away from the bridge, only to start back up again beyond the western shores of the lake.

"There was a severe Pattern Blue here some years back that rendered much of Fujikawaguchiko into a Dead Zone," answered Rei, speaking from memory. "However, the Kawaguchiko bridge was judged to be a strategically important thoroughfare that helped connect the Kōfu Basin to Tokyo-3, and so dedicated teams were implemented on shifts to nullify the Dead Zone around the bridge. The rest of the town was...not deemed to be as important, given the personnel required."

Mana hummed noncommittally, staring at the darkness and the streak of light that was the bridge: a solitary beam, cutting through the night. "...Dead Zones can be reversed, given enough time and effort...even bigger ones, if people really value what's underneath them. But some are just too big...and even for a city like Old Tokyo, people thought it was better to focus on the living than to try and rescue a relic of the past...least, that's how I remember Tokita talking about it." Clenching her fist impulsively, the child soldier continued on. "But who decides what's not worth fighting for...?"

"...Mana-san?" wondered Mayumi aloud.

Mana huffed, sounding as if a great burden was being shrugged off...then, with a forlorn sigh, picked it back up again. "A heart lacking courage...a mind without conviction...or a will bereft of iron...all the power in the world won't matter if I don't have those." Walking back towards the group, she sat down on the patch of grass she had claimed for herself. "Those are the words Rio-san told me. Emerald Eagle, I mean," she quickly added. "Then, days later, we fought Armisael, and freed Yamagishi." Looking towards the other girl, she said, "Most people probably would have written you off, the moment they realized you were bound to an Angel...but we didn't. And now...you're still here." Crossing her arms over her knees, Mana continued to spill forth words (coincidentally missing the quiet sniffling from Mayumi). "...it sucked, to find out that my brothers had fallen in with Strega...but would I have been any different, if they had been the ones to take me in after escaping Tokita, instead of Katsuragi?" Pressing a hand against her chest, she concluded, "I...I can't give up on them. I won't give up on them. We've...we've been through too damn much..."

"And we'll be there to back you up!" exclaimed Toji, pumping his fist. "Right?!"

"Of course," agreed Kensuke.

"...it should go without saying..." Shinji trailed off, finally noticing Mayumi's sniffles. "Yamagishi-san?"

"...it...still doesn't quite feel real...what happened during the last new moon...to find out about my connection with Armisael...to awaken to a Persona...and then, the very next day, to find out that the price of freedom included the deaths of my mother and father..." Her sigh was hitched, akin to an engine trying to turn over on a cold morning. "...and yet...even with everything that's happened...the upheaval, the chaos, and all those dying...these past few weeks have still been the best of my life..." In the dim of night, she could barely be seen, taking off her glasses to wipe at her face. "It feels wrong to say...but that's how I feel..."

"...I think I understand," said Shinji, feeling a slight burst of empathy. "Millions of people died during Second Impact...yet life went on. Many people around us have died...yet we still endure. Even now, with what happened to the government, everyone is...trying to find a way to move on." Clutching at his knees, he added, "maybe...maybe that's why Kurosawa-san was so willing to sacrifice himself in Tokyo-2...even though he knew he would die...he was willing to do what it took to ensure others lived on..."

"...he could have been less of a jackass about it though," grumbled Toji, followed swiftly by a loud smack. "OW! Damn it Ken!"

"Too soon, Toji."

"I ain't wrong though, am I?!" protested Suzuhara. "Sure, he may have gone out like a champ...but does dying make up for that? I mean, you heard all the stories at the wake and the funeral about Amada and Iori, right? People were sharing funny stories, embarrassing tales, even things about 'em that pissed others off...just 'cause you die like a hero doesn't mean everything ya did gets to be forgotten."

"...I agree, Suzuhara-san," Shinji found himself admitting, slowly looking towards Ayanami. "Death...it can't erase everything about a person's life...but I think the way they die provides context about who they were, and what they valued." He wondered if the same would apply to him, one day. "This road trip...was so much more than I ever thought it would be."

Ayanami interjected. "And what stands out to you, Ikari-san?"

...what a question. (What could he answer?) "...realizing just how much of an impact that Sakura-sensei had on me..." (The matter of his strangely spotty memory lingered; did it have anything to do with the nature of reality, trapped as humanity was within the Sea of Souls?) "That time when Sokila-chan visited us...that was also pretty enjoyable..." (Why did his attendant bring such joy to his life?) "And..." What else could he say? What else could be said? "...even as I learn more about my power...and about the nature of the world..."

(In the darkness, Kensuke, Toji, Mana, and Mayumi looked amongst each other with knowing expressions.)

(This did not escape Rei Ayanami's eyes.)

(Nor Ren's, for the matter.)

"...I don't want to run away," he loudly whispered. "Even though I want to, sometimes...I don't want to go back on what I promised to do...even if it's hard, even if it's painful...I want to keep trying..." Because what would the alternative be? To just sit back and die, to just accept a wretched fate?

His Other stared at the Moon.

"You've tried that path before; what did it avail you?"

The Beast stared into the pits of Hell.

"It was an honest fate, freely chosen...perhaps you'd care to give such bloodshed a second try?"

"...so please forgive me in advance, everyone..." he said, with a bowed head.

"What for?" wondered Mana.

"...because even if I take a stand, I feel like I'm going to fall down a lot...but I'll keep trying, I promise-!" His self-recriminations were interrupted by the wretched double noogie. "Ow ow ow-!"

"No time for sadsacks!" growled Suzuhara, grinding his knuckles into Shinji's scalp.

"You sound like an old man, sometimes," joked Kensuke, rubbing wildly at Shinji's hair. "How many times are we going to have to teach you this lesson?"

With great difficulty, Shinji extracted himself from their gasp, wincing from the slight ache on his head. It gave Mayumi the opportunity to say her piece. "Ikari-san...no one's perfect. We don't expect you to be perfect...because who are we to ask that of you?"

"Seriously Shinji, we're all supposed to look out for each other. That's the whole point of why we did the whole 'Team Statherós' thing, right?" said Kensuke with a hidden grin. "Better together than alone, right?"

"...right," murmured Shinji with an appreciative sniffle. (You've made a vow. What will you do to keep it? What are you willing to endure in order to become who you want to be?)

"...it seems that you've all endured much," quietly said Ayanami (who, unbeknownst to them all, was quietly contemplating the undertones of what they had said, and what their ramifications could be). "I'm sure I will learn more tomorrow at NERV."

(Unseen by all, Ren couldn't help but smirk. You've got some pretty good friends, kid.)

The chatter eventually wore down, until finally they fell into a quiet slumber, with only each other, the rippling lakeside waters, and the stars above for company.

xxxx

END OF 8/22/2015

xxxx

Author's Note: And at last, the summer vacation reaches its end, after 23 days in-story (notwithstanding two brief interludes)...and 265 days in IRL time (just about a week shy of nine months, starting on July 3, 2021 and ending on March 24, 2022). Hoo boy, that was a doozy.

YōYō Hōkoku is of course a reference to YuYu Hakusho; and Mayumi's song was actually from her sole extracanonical appearance in 2nd Impression, sung by her Japanese VA. Summer Memories is also a karaoke song from the Yakuza series.

And now, a bit of a confession of sorts, given how long this part of the story has taken (especially, as some readers have stated elsewhere, it feels like the trauma but has been hit for just a bit too long. (It probably didn't help that the return of Mana's brothers in the narrative came so shortly after we'd just had Junpei and Ken's funerals, but what's written has been written, alas.)

Low-key I did not expect the summer vacation to be taking as long as it has. But here were some general themes I want to bring to mind:

- The summer vacation was supposed to be a time of discovery for the main party (as currently constructed), as it's had a bunch of low points and high points for them.

- Shinji Ikari is admittedly a more melancholic and introverted character than the other Persona protagonists, which means he ruminates and pontificates on events, his own thoughts, and especially his own motivations more than others...which is especially noticeable during dark times. (I mean, his Persona is Hamlet.)

- Given that the party members are 13/14 years of age, I don't think it's unreasonable for events involving death and destruction (especially when they're witnesses to the same) to have lingering effects on them for a time.

- It's definitely a side effect of how chunky the story is (though I try not to have any 'filler' of sorts, I swear), but let's not forget that the following events have occurred within the past eight days for the main characters:

8/14: The Battle against Armisael, where Mayumi gains her Persona and becomes free of the Angel.

8/15: The big debrief with Kurosawa, where Mayumi finds out she's now an orphan, everyone has to wrestle with Kurosawa's comments regarding their actions on the Ai Ferry, and Keita/Musashi begin the process of binding with Leliel/Iruel.

8/16: The 'test of strength' against Mister P, followed by the main party entering the Velvet Room and learning about the nature of the world. (Midway through this 'day', we had a near three-week interval while I wrote Yu's Sidestory, which was 50K+ words by itself).

8/17: Brief break with the Emporium, where Yusuke, Kanji, Chidori, and the managers Keisuke and Kyoka give pep talks (of a sort) to various characters.

8/18: Minako appears, whales on everyone, kills Ken and Junpei, then yeets herself away to chase Phanuel. The kids don't take it well, for the most part.

8/19: The wake for Ken and Junpei (insert numerous details about how wakes and funerals occur in Japan, because communicating it over text is more cumbersome than doing so visually). We have a brief interlude involving Asuka and Mari in Nevada.

8/20: Brief interlude involving Rei and Gendo and then Rei and Hikari, before we conclude Ken and Junpei's funerals.

8/21: The main party heads to Tokyo-2, expecting to get interviewed/interrogated by the government regarding recent events. Instead, it's the Fog of Desolation, with fights against Strega and the Reaper (and Kurosawa pulls a Last Stand moment to give Shinji, Rei, and Mayumi time to stop the MAGI's explosion from killing more people).

It hasn't been that long for them. But for us (the writer/readers), all of this has occurred over the course of November 16, 2021 through March 15, 2022...and because of my writing style (and my attempts at trying to portray the events of SPE as though it were a Persona game in its own right), that's been 207,388 words of prose/dialogue over eight days and one Sidestory worth of plot per FFNet. Without Yu's Sidestory, it's down to 155,197 words. For just eight days.

When accounting for the entirety of the road trip, that jumps to over 343,000 words...WITHOUT the Story Thus Far and Yu's Sidestory interludes. That's over 40% of the current fic length as of the two-part 8/21/2015 chapter.

So I definitely understand and empathize with those who feel like we've been ruminating on particular subject(s) for way too long...because you've read the equivalent of two commercial young adult novels over the past four months. Or, counting Yu's Sidestory, two commercial fantasy/sci-fi novels.

But it hasn't been long for the characters at all.

Once Hakone Academy starts back up, everything should be getting back on a tighter pace.

That being said...what part(s) about this particular summer vacation did you like, or stuck out to you? Leave a comment, and I'll see you next time!