Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There were many reasons that Yuki Makoto could have chosen to transfer to Gekkoukan High School.

The quality of education she would have received: Students at Gekkoukan had some of the top scores in the country. Makoto was more than capable of keeping up with whatever rigorous standards her teachers would impose on her, with her consistently being at the top of the class no matter what school she was in.

The robust sports program: Gekkoukan had several sports teams, a large number of which regularly competed with other schools. Makoto played volleyball, and considered herself to be good enough at it to give playing competitively a shot, though she still had no idea how well she would do.

Being located in a familiar town: Makoto had lived in Iwatodai when she was younger, and still had vague memories of where everything was. They weren't all that clear- there was actually very little before the age of seven which she remembered clearly- but they existed, and would probably be enough to get by.

But none of those were the real reason. Actually, Makoto wasn't entirely sure why she'd decided to move back to Iwatodai, but Aunt Misaki's signature was on the transfer papers now at her request, and Makoto was on a train bound for the town she'd been born in.

Sighing, she decided to look out the window and listen to music for the duration of this long train ride.

For a moment, instead of her reddish-brown hair and crimson eyes, she saw dark blue hair and blue-gray eyes in the window, sort of like one of the people Aunt Misaki talked to now and again. Except this one was a boy her age.

Just as soon as she'd noticed it, however, the boy vanished, to be replaced by her own, familiar reflection as an oddly-shimmering blue butterfly flew off into the distance.

...She was probably just imagining things.

She was running late.

If anyone complained about this, it was entirely not her fault. Delays happened, it was fine.

What wasn't fine was that she was surrounded by people in a closed train car, far too late at night for her to be comfortable with it for much longer.

Thankfully, the train rolled into the station exactly half a minute before midnight, enough time for her to squeeze out the doors and stumble someplace marginally less crowded. Which really helped, as, right when the clock struck twelve, her music cut out and she was surrounded by coffins.

This was normal, to her. She'd never been able to sleep when it happened, but for as long as she could remember... there it was. A round moon giving off green light to the world below, where nothing really worked, not even the people.

Makoto pushed her way through a crowd of coffins between her and the exit to the station, and sighed once she broke free. Especially not the people.

Except for her. For some odd reason that she'd never even begun to figure out.

Still, despite the morbid aesthetics, the fact that everything was too quiet, and the fact that every little movement set her on edge for reasons she couldn't even begin to determine, there could be worse situations to end up in.

For a moment, she saw a light out of the corner of her eye, and turned to face it, seeing the same butterfly from earlier, followed by a boy with dark blue hair, wearing the boys' uniform for the school she'd be entering and carrying a rolled up piece of paper.

The butterfly flew off, but the boy approached her. "Hey. You're... transferring to Gekkoukan High, right?" At her nod, he handed the piece of paper to her, along with a pen that was an oddly-brilliant shade of blue. "Sign this. It's a contract."

Well, this easily made the top-ten list of weirdest things that had ever happened to Makoto at midnight, but she took the paper, unrolling it in her hands.

'I,  Yuki Makoto , choose this fate of my own free will, and will take full responsibility for my actions.'

She wasn't sure how her name had gotten on the line already. It certainly wasn't her handwriting. "Go on," The boy urged her, when she looked up at him in confusion. "Just put your signature above the name that's already there."

Somehow, she didn't think that was how a good contract worked, but whatever. It was probably some sort of joke, anyway. Makoto signed the contract and handed it back to the boy.

"I suppose this is the beginning, then," He said, as calmly as anything else. "Come on, I'll show you to where you'll be staying." He set off down the street with a purpose, and she immediately had to run to keep up.

"So, why aren't you a coffin, anyway?" She asked, figuring that was as good a place to start.

"Why aren't you?" Okay, fine, if he was going to be like that...

The rest of the walk occurred in near-total silence.

Eventually, the two of them arrived at a building which seemed to have working electric lights. Makoto fingered her headphones jealously, while the boy simply stopped in front of it.

"Well, here we are. Your new home. You'll like it here, I think. It's nice. Has everything you'll need." He glanced away. "...Stop looking at me like that."

"Sorry. It's just... Nobody but me's ever been out here, you know? I've always been by myself."

"...Yeah. I know. Oh, by the way, you should take this." He handed her an odd blue card, with a photo of a coffin-carrying monster on one side and the drawn image of some kind of theater mask on the other. "It could... be useful to you. Just... don't let others see it. That might cause a few problems."

Makoto was feeling less and less sure of this by the minute. But she still took the card, because she'd played her fair share of video games, and realized that maybe it wasn't a good idea to refuse something that a mysterious boy from nowhere claimed to be important. She tucked the card into her pocket for the moment, figuring that whatever it was would be revealed later or something.

"...You should go in, now," The boy said. "They're all waiting, you know."

"What about you? Don't you live here?" But in the time it took her to ensure that the card was secure, the boy had already vanished.

There wasn't much else to do but go inside.

"Hey! You're actually a human, right!?" This was not how Makoto had expected her arrival to go, but in hindsight, maybe she should have waited outside until midnight was over with.

"I was last time I checked!" She called back, as a brown-haired girl wearing a pink sweater appeared on the staircase carrying- "Why do you have a gun?"

"That-oh-um-I-"

"It's for self defense," A female voice cut in, and a girl with long red hair appeared on the stairs as the world returned to normal. "It's not a real gun, of course. You wouldn't happen to be the new transfer student, would you?"

Recognizing the change of subject for what it was, she went along with it. "Yep! I'm Yuki Makoto. It's nice to meet you!"

The brunette glanced at the redhead helplessly. The older girl sighed. "My name is Kirijo Mitsuru, and I'm a third year at Gekkoukan High School. And this is Takeba Yukari- she's a second year, just like you. I-I'm sure we'll all get along just fine."

"One would hope..." Yukari muttered. Makoto wasn't entirely sure what to make of this. "Um, sorry about the weird first impression. Did you have any problems getting here?"

She shook her head. "It was fine. Actually, I-" She paused, before deciding that maybe it wouldn't be the best idea to mention the vanishing boy and the blue butterfly. "...Never mind. There wasn't much that I wasn't used to."

Mitsuru nodded, as though that made sense to her. "We'll show you to your room, then. I think we could all do with proper sleep tonight, given that we have school in the morning."

Makoto nodded, and followed them, and fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.

Chapter Text

That night, Makoto found herself in an odd, wide blue elevator. It ascended ever upwards, and in the center of it, there was a desk.

A man with a long nose sat at that desk, looking at Makoto through bulging eyes. “Welcome to the Velvet Room,” He said. “My name is Igor, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” 

Okay, forget midnight, this was clearly the most surreal thing she had ever experienced. Or, well… it would have been, if it were real. “...I’m dreaming, aren’t I?” Given that the last thing she remembered was collapsing on her new bed, it had to be either that, or a very confusing kidnapping.

Igor seemed delighted that she had realized that. “Precisely! You are currently fast asleep in the real world. However… just because this is a dream, that does not mean you will not come here later, of your own accord.”

“...Why?” Sure, it was hardly the worst dream she’d ever had, but she didn’t see why she’d ever come back here.

“There could be a myriad of reasons. You might wish for a place of peace for yourself, or for some company, but most likely, it will be because you have a need for the Velvet Room’s services.” With that, Igor produced a familiar piece of paper with two signatures on it. “As long as you abide by the terms of the contract, you will be a welcome Guest in this Velvet Room.”

So. This was clearly the strangest night Makoto had ever had, and she wasn’t sure anything would ever be able to top it. “You know that boy?”

“...All I can say for the moment, is that the one who gave you this contract is inextricably tied to your own fate.” Of course. Because why would she ever get a straight answer for anything? “Here. Take this.”

A blue-silver key appeared in front of Makoto, and she caught it before it fell to the floor, slipping it into her pocket. “Thank you,” She said, because it was always good to be polite, even to her dreams.

“Until we meet again…” With that, Makoto woke up to Yukari knocking on her door.

It wouldn’t be until she’d almost gotten to school that she’d realize the key had actually made it into the real world with her.

“It’s nice to see you up in time for breakfast,” Mitsuru greeted them, when they got downstairs.

Yukari groaned. “I swear, you forget to set an alarm one time… Oh, good morning, Akihiko-senpai. Makoto-chan, this is Sanada Akihiko. He’s a third year, just like Mitsuru-senpai.”

“...Hey. So, you’re the transfer student, huh?” She was pretty sure he hadn’t meant to sound critical when he said that. Probably. “...Nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too.” She’d ignore the awkwardness, for now. It was probably just stuff about her being the new kid, anyway. “...Is it just us?” The room seemed pretty empty, for a high school dormitory on the first day.

Mitsuru nodded. “We do have a supervisor that drops by every now and again, but for the most part, it’s just the four of us. It is only the start of the year, however, so we may still have more people moving in.”

She hoped so. It would be nice to have more people around.

After her first day of classes, Makoto was approached by a boy wearing a baseball cap. “Hey, um, Makoto, right?”

“That’s right. Who are you?”

“I’m Iori Junpei. I, um… I wanted to make sure that you were settling in all right. I know moving to a new school can be really stressful, and all…”

“That better be it,” Yukari stated, coming up to the two of them. “If I find out you’ve been hitting on her or something…”

“Come on, Yuka-tan! You know I don’t do that kind of stuff anymore!”

“It’s that last part that worries me…”

“It’s fine,” Makoto stated. “He was just… worried about me, that’s all. Not that he needed to be. I… honestly haven’t really had time to stress out about much of anything.”

Junpei glanced at Yukari quizzically. She sighed. “She got in after midnight last night.” If there was a slight emphasis on the word after, Makoto didn’t hear it.

He winced. “Ouch.” She wasn’t sure if he was referring to how late it was, or if he knew, somehow, about everything that went on when the clock struck twelve. Most likely it was the former, but after Yukari, Mitsuru, and the odd boy that had given her her contract, the latter wouldn’t have surprised her all that much.

But she didn’t ask. Yukari had asked her not to talk about it, after all.

And it didn’t matter. By the end of the day, she could still easily count Iori Junpei among her list of sort-of friends. She still felt a bit like an outsider, but… well, she was the new kid. That probably accounted for something here.

Makoto got the impression that the people she lived with didn’t like Ikutsuki all that much.

This wasn’t exactly hard to figure out, given that Mitsuru and Yukari kept glaring daggers at him whenever they thought nobody was looking. Akihiko wasn’t even in the room.

Ikutsuki, for his part, seemed oblivious to the hostility.

...There was probably something odd going on at this dorm, and whatever it was, Makoto was sure she’d find herself in the middle of it eventually.

For now, she’d just fit the key Igor gave her into a necklace and hope that things would one day explain themselves.

“You know, Mitsuru-senpai and I didn’t always get along as well as we do now,” Yukari commented as she and Makoto walked through the busy streets. “She was never really all that good with people, I went in expecting the worst of her… Things worked out, though.”

There was no further elaboration offered. Makoto figured she didn’t need it.

“It seems like you know each other pretty well.”

“I’m… not sure we had a choice about that, honestly. And she helps keep Junpei in line, so…”

“...Is that often a problem?” He seemed nice enough. Helpful. She’d be amazed if they didn’t somehow end up becoming friends.

“Well, not so much anymore, but he used to be really bad about hitting on any girl in sight. You should be glad you didn’t get here last year.”

Just because of one person? “I don’t know. It’d be nice not to have everyone looking at me for being new.” Maybe she’d even be fitting in by now. Sure, everyone seemed to be making some amount of space for her, but… Well. She’d just have to give it time.

For a moment, Yukari looked at her like she’d said something odd. Then, she just shook her head, saying, “Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll all get used to you eventually.”

If there was any hidden meaning in those words, Makoto didn’t see it.

There probably wasn’t, anyway. After all, it just seemed like generally good advice.

She always woke up when midnight arrived. Never fell asleep until it had passed again. It wasn’t as bad as it had been- she could just turn on the lights and read something now, which she had made the executive decision to Not Question- but Makoto would have enjoyed just one night of uninterrupted sleep.

Right then, though, she didn’t feel motivated enough to get out of bed. Leaving her, once again, in the position of wanting to sleep but being physically unable to.

Of course, that was stopped by a frantic knock at her door. “It’s Yukari! Open up!”

She would have done so, but her friend(?) burst in before she could even leave her bed. “What is it?”

“No time to explain! Here!” A plastic naginata was shoved into her hand, along with something that highly resembled a silver pistol.

Makoto blinked. What was with this town and randomly giving her strange objects? She still hadn’t figured out what the card or the key were meant for.

Before she could ask, however, Yukari had grabbed her hand and was pulling her towards the door. “Come on, we’re going to the roof.”

“Why!?”

“I said there’s no time to explain!” Right. She had said that. It was just that Makoto was used to her midnights being a bit too quiet, never mind… whatever this was.

She followed Yukari to the roof.

The door locked behind them with a click, which probably wasn’t a good thing if they needed to get down quickly, but hopefully that wouldn’t be the case. Yukari sighed and leaned back against the door.

“All right. We… we should have some time now. Maybe.” She didn’t sound entirely sure about this. There was an odd buzzing sound, and she blinked. “Mitsuru-senpai? Is something wrong?”

“The bigger Shadow is headed your way. It’s going up the wall. Make sure it doesn’t get at Yuki.”

“Wasn’t that our plan to begin with?” Makoto’s classmate pointed out. “...So much as we had a plan?”

Makoto didn’t think this was the time for semantics. Mostly because of the mess of arms that had just emerged onto the roof, carrying a mask and swords and tracing small lines of fire into the air with every finger that wasn’t touching something.

It wasn’t something she was inclined to think a human could face, even if she’d seen people do some strange things at times. But Yukari didn’t seem all that bothered by it, turning back to her with her own gun-shaped object in hand.

“Would you like to try and fight it? All you have to do is point yours to your head, and pull the trigger. You got that?” Makoto wasn’t sure, but she didn’t think that was how people usually started their battles. “If you’d rather not, you don’t have to, but… it’d help.” The monster was still approaching them.

Something told Makoto she didn’t have much of a choice in the matter.

It wasn’t a real gun. That much was clear enough. But it still looked similar enough that, if this weren’t her best chance of getting out of this situation, she would never be considering this.

Probably. There was a voice whispering in the back of her head that might have urged her on regardless.

I am thou… and thou art I.

“Persona!” And, suddenly, it was as if the world had opened up in front of her.

Nothing had changed. She was still up on that roof, with Yukari, and they were under attack by what seemed to be a pile of discarded limbs.

But where Makoto was, there was also her other self. A figure wearing a face just like hers, with long red hair and a heart-shaped lyre on her back. A name came to her mind, unbidden, along with a word.

“Eurydice, Agi!”

In hindsight, she wasn’t entirely sure why she’d expected a fire spell to do anything against something that leaked fire from its fingertips, but she blamed the adrenaline.

Yukari didn’t seem fully surprised by this. “...Right. It’s fireproof.” So, she couldn’t help after all. Her classmate seemed prepared to join the fight, either way, but… she should have been able to do something.

But all she had was a fake weapon, a Persona with the wrong abilities, a key to a room she couldn’t find, and a card.

A card with something on it that looked like a Persona.

Makoto pulled the card out of her pocket and shot it with the ‘gun’ Yukari had given her. It shattered, and the monster that appeared on it burst into existence before her, not even bothering to maneuver around Eurydice on its way to demolish the walking pile of hands. Her Persona shattered, and a painful shock ran its way through her body.

The last thing she saw before blacking out was the monster she’d summoned stabbing the other one through the mask.

Chapter Text

There were many reasons for them not to summon their Personas indoors, starting with the relatively low ceiling and continuing on past the worry that Akihiko might cause a power surge and make them lose electricity.

So absolutely no excuses needed to be made for Mitsuru treating the Shadow that actually stayed at ground level as stress relief.

“Mitsuru, I think it’s dead,” Akihiko pointed out.

“It hasn’t dissolved yet,” She replied.

“That’s because the air around you is several degrees below freezing.”

“It’ll shatter eventually.” Well. He’d tried. “Also, give me your Evoker.”

“Why?”

“Because if you’re going to lead Shadows to our doorstep, you can heal from your injuries the normal way.” In literally any other circumstances, he’d say that sounded fair. As it was…

“But this was the closest thing we had to a plan!”

Her glare turned to him, granting the poor Shadow the relief it needed to melt away into nothingness. “Akihiko.”

“Fine…” He was sure that, one of these days, she’d manage to stop defaulting to intimidation to get what she wanted. Maybe. She certainly hadn’t fully succeeded yet. “...So, are we going to worry about the other two at all?”

They probably didn’t need to worry- Yukari could take care of herself, even if Makoto somehow didn’t rise to the occasion- but it was the change of subject that they needed, more than anything.

So the two of them climbed to the roof, followed by Ikutsuki because neither of them felt like bothering to tell him not to, and opened the door.

There were, of course, no living Shadows. Just two girls, one conscious, and the other not.

“She was knocked out after summoning her Persona,” Yukari explained. “I tried using some revival… beads, but they don’t seem to work on her.”

Mitsuru nodded. “All right, then. We can bring her to the hospital along with Akihiko.”

She seemed confused, so he elaborated. “The one with all the arms knocked me into a wall pretty hard. Mitsuru’s not happy right now.”

Not that any of them really were. “So, you say she summoned a Persona?” Ikutsuki asked. “Did you happen to overhear what it was called?”

“Yeah. It was… Eurydice, I think.” If Akihiko thought about it, it actually made some odd sort of sense. Most Personas did, if you knew where they came from. And while looking up random interesting tidbits of mythology had always been more Mitsuru’s thing, he knew enough to be able to make the connection.

Then again, after everything, he didn’t think there was a single member of their team that wouldn’t.

“Mako-tan’s not here today?”

Yukari shook her head. “No, she’s just a bit… unavailable right now. ...Also, ‘Mako-tan’?”

Junpei shrugged, leaning back in his seat. “Why not?”

...She supposed that was as good a reason as any. She didn’t think there was any real way to stop him, anyway. If seemingly-random gusts of wind hadn’t managed it, odds were, nothing would.

“...All right, but if you make her mad, I’m not helping you.”

Junpei did his best to try and look offended. Being Junpei, it was about halfway successful for as long as he could keep a straight face. After that, it just sort of fell apart.

It was nice to know that some things never changed.

In hindsight, Akihiko had been right about them not having a plan. Mitsuru honestly didn’t know what the others intended to do at the moment.

Though, in some cases, she had a pretty good idea. “Have you spoken to Shinjiro recently?”

Akihiko shook his head. “When would I have had the time?”

“...Akihiko. It has been almost two weeks.”

“School’s been keeping me busy.”

“I’d be more inclined to believe that if you had any chance of actually failing.” If he failed on purpose to spite her, well, she could think of a suitable punishment once it happened. “When was the last time you saw him, anyway?”

“You were there.” She winced.

“...You know that’s not what I meant.” Honestly, it wasn’t a topic that she liked bringing up either, but it had to be done. “You have to talk to him eventually.”

“But what would I even say?” Okay. She could sympathize with this. Sort of.

Sure, she could use a phone call to avoid letting on any issues she had, and he didn’t, but it was the same basic principle. Even then, she hadn’t been entirely able to say what she wanted to.

Mostly because she’d never actually thought about what she’d wanted to say, but it wasn’t like any part of the current situation had been born from good planning- or planning at all, come to that- and this was just a logical consequence.

Akihiko had never been much of one for complicated plans, either. Mostly, he just figured out what he wanted, and then did it.

“Well,” She said, pushing aside those thoughts for now, “It would probably help if you started with a greeting. Maybe an explanation for the bruised ribs, if he notices. After that, you can try and have a civil conversation. I hope that wouldn’t be too much of a novelty for the two of you?” It wouldn’t surprise her if it were. After all, neither of them were the type to turn down a challenge.

“I-” He paused, and shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe- maybe later.” It was a rare day when Akihiko sounded unsure. Mitsuru didn’t like it. It just wasn’t like him.

Still, this was not really her business, and she didn’t see a real reason to interfere.

For now.

Waiting for midnight was always the most difficult part of the day.

The rest of the city remained the same, of course. Most were unaware, and remained able to live their lives freely, with no idea as to what was to come. If she was being completely honest, she sort of envied them that, some of the time.

She was about half-certain she was going crazy. Well. More than she had been, she didn’t think anyone could deal with everything she did and end up still being completely sane.

But her drawings were now being filled with a figure from what had to be a dream, which she couldn’t even fully remember, unless it was a part that contained this particular person. And she couldn’t exactly talk to anyone about it, she knew better than to expect sympathy.

So she was just sitting around, waiting for midnight to come and plunge the world into a dreamlike state. Some people would describe it as being a nightmare. She’d ask them if they knew how to tell the difference.

Or, well, she would have. She thought the dream that had caused all this had been a relatively good one, all things considered. Somehow, just thinking about it was enough to… well, to give her some smidgen of faith in humanity.

Given where it had come from, she was not getting her hopes up that it wouldn’t end up misplaced.

Makoto regained consciousness in the Velvet Room.

Things were roughly the same as they’d been the first time she’d had that dream. The elevator was still ascending endlessly, everything was still that same otherworldly shade of blue… the only difference was in the inhabitants.

Aside from Igor, who still sat at his desk, there were two young adults in the room. Both of them had silver hair, and looked at her through golden eyes. They also wore similar uniforms in the same velvet blue that covered the rest of the room.

The main difference between the two was that the one on the left was a man who looked at her with a level gaze, and the one on the right, a woman who was… honestly rather unnerving, for some reason.

As before, Igor seemed to be the most important thing in the room. “Welcome back to the Velvet Room.”

“Um… hello.” She didn’t exactly have a guideline for speaking with odd, recurring lucid dreams. She’d never expected she needed one, but the world seemed surprisingly resistant to playing along with her expectations recently. “So, what happened? The last thing I remember is-” She cut herself off, because she honestly wasn’t entirely sure that the mass of hands and the like had been entirely real.

“It seems you have fallen unconscious after awakening to your power.”

“My power?” She hadn’t exactly done anything on her own. Yukari had pulled her up to the roof and told her how to call a Persona. It hadn’t even been her own Persona that defeated the monster, but a second one that had been given to her. “Do you mean my Persona?”

Igor nodded. “Exactly. It seems that Eurydice was the one who answered your call… how very intriguing.”

He was talking about her Persona, and not the monster. Makoto supposed she should have been glad for that. Still… “Is… something wrong?”

“‘Persona’ is a power that comes from the heart,” The silver-haired woman spoke up. “That the first Persona to come to you is Eurydice should say something about you.”

She’d almost forgotten that those two were there. Igor seemed to notice her confusion. “Ah, yes, these are my assistants. The one who just spoke is Elizabeth, and her brother’s name is Theodore. They could not be here last time because they were… preoccupied.”

“I-I see. It’s nice to meet you, then, Elizabeth. Theodore.”

Elizabeth gave a sharp nod. Theodore was quieter. “...Please, call me Theo.”

“All right, then. It’s good to meet you, Theo.” She turned back to Igor. “So… about Personas...” There was something that she wanted to ask, she just couldn’t think of it.

“Like Elizabeth said, Persona is the power of the heart, built from one of the faces you wear as you go about your life. For you in particular, a Persona is like a mask you wear to protect yourself from the world around you.”

“...And that’s what Eurydice is?” She decided not to focus on how she’d been singled out for the moment.

“Exactly. I could go into more details, but it seems that we are running out of time. My free time will soon become scarce- the next time we meet, it will be of your own accord.”

As he said this, the room began to blur, and fade away. “Until we meet again…”

Chapter Text

Given the general events that had occurred, Makoto wasn’t all  that surprised to be waking up on a hospital bed. Actually, she’d sort of expected it, since she’d passed out in the middle of a fight against a monster that still sort of scared her, even if she was pretty sure that the actions of the other monster meant it was dead.

Honestly, it was the fact that someone else was there that was more of a shock. And even then, not really.

“Oh, you’re awake.” Yukari sounded more relieved than she’d expected, which only begged the question of how long she’d been out. Well. She was sure it’d come up eventually. It seemed important enough for that.

“H-hey, Yukari-chan.” She pushed herself up, while at the same time trying to pretend that the sun’s rays weren’t blinding. She didn’t think she was being all that convincing. “I guess I worried you?”

The other girl sat back- deflated, almost- with a sigh. “Yeah, you could say that. The doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with you, you know. You just... wouldn’t wake up. And while you’re not the first person Recarm hasn’t worked on, normally the only time healing spells don’t work on someone is when they’re...” She trailed off there.

That didn’t matter. Makoto was pretty sure she knew what she was going to say.

“Recarm…?”

“It’s a spell that wakes people up when they’re knocked out,” Yukari explained. “It works on most people, but... some people just don’t respond to it for some reason.”

Including her. Apparently.

“...So, about what happened…” Now would be as good a time as any to ask about it, right?

“O-oh, right.” Yukari fidgeted a little, as if she were trying to get comfortable, never mind that she’d probably been sitting there for a while, now. “So… the creatures that attacked the dorm. Those were called Shadows.”

Well, if she knew what they were called, that probably explained the weapons. Sort of. Honestly, there were probably better options for fighting monsters than a plastic naginata. “You didn’t seem all that prepared to fight them,” She pointed out.

“Well, we never exactly had a real plan for this,” The other girl admitted. “And it’s always been our Personas that we used more than anything else.”

Right. Yukari had told Makoto how to summon a Persona, so it made sense that she had one of her own. “Anyway, we probably shouldn’t be having this conversation here. Mitsuru-senpai wants us to have it after school tomorrow, and… I guess that’s as good a time for it as any.”

So. Tomorrow would be a school day. That was the first sort of clue Makoto had as to what day it was. “Are you sure you should have told me this much?”

Yukari just shrugged, which probably wasn’t a good sign, but whatever. “You did ask. And I wasn’t about to not tell you when-” She cut herself off.

“...Yukari-chan?”

“I-I was going to say that… That I’m actually a lot like you. Ikutsuki ended up telling everyone about your past… it was the same night as the explosion back in ninety-nine, right?” Makoto nodded. She did vaguely remember people talking about an explosion, at least. “Well, my dad was working for the Kirijo Group, and ended up being right in the middle of it. For a long time, I didn’t really know anything about what happened, or why, but… then I came to Gekkoukan High and met Mitsuru-senpai. We got off on kind of the wrong foot, but after that… Things got better. I mean, apparently I’m still unloading this kind of stuff on virtual strangers, but…”

“It’s fine.” As long as Yukari was rambling, Makoto didn’t have to talk. Which was good, because as much as she enjoyed spending time with people, right now things were a bit too confusing for that. Maybe once she’d sorted a few things out.

Besides, Yukari had seemed a lot more focused during that than any of their previous conversations, and that couldn’t be anything but a good thing.

“Hey, Mako-tan! You’re back!” Junpei greeted her the next morning. She decided not to question the nickname for the moment and just focus on the other part of what he’d said.

“Yeah. I… don’t really want to think about how far I’ll be behind, really.” Everyone said she was a genius, but she still wasn’t looking forward to trying to make up everything she’d missed.

Junpei, of course, just shrugged off her worries. “Don’t worry about it. I mean, I might be lost for a few days, but you’re probably a lot smarter than me, so-” Yukari glared at him, and he quieted down.

“You know, if you’re trying to help, you should maybe try and quit while you’re ahead. Also, Mitsuru-senpai wants me to tell you at least try and pay attention in class, but I think she’s figured out it’s a lost cause by now.”

“She knows him that well?” Makoto asked, wondering not for the first time if it was even worth trying to insert to insert herself in their dynamic. But they’d never been anything but friendly to her…

It probably didn’t merit thinking about at the moment.

“It’s not exactly difficult,” Yukari deadpanned. “Though, so far, we haven’t had much chance to talk together this year… Oh, we should probably actually go inside, now.”

That seemed like a pretty good decision. No reason to miss any more school than necessary.

Makoto, Yukari, and Junpei hurried into the school building.

Honestly, Makoto hadn’t expected herself to get excited over the prospect of answers. Sure, it’d probably explain a lot about the past decade, but the exact mechanics had never been that important to her, aside from the fact that she was apparently an exception to some of them.

And, apparently, so were Yukari, and Mitsuru, and maybe even Akihiko and Junpei. And the boy that had given her the contract, but given how he’d appeared and disappeared out of nowhere, she was inclined to just call him an exception to everything and call it a day.

Despite her thoughts, however, she found it harder and harder to concentrate through the latter part of the day, planning out what questions she would ask- or maybe it would be best to save them for when she actually knew what information she need to ask for, but… it was strange, realizing that she’d finally get to know.

It probably didn’t help with her backlog of missed classes any, but as time went on, she started to find herself no longer caring, until she was in a room with just three other teenagers and Ikutsuki.

The main part of the conversation- the part she cared about- began with a single question. “Would you believe me if I said a day had more than twenty-four hours?”

“Aunt Misaki says I should say no,” She replied, without thinking. After all, that had been what her aunt told her to say.

“It does sound rather unbelievable, doesn’t it? But you’ve already seen the truth of it for yourself,” Mitsuru stated.

“We call it the Dark Hour,” Ikutsuki continued. “It’s a secret time hidden between one day and the next. It will happen tonight, and every night to come.”

Yeah. She’d kind of figured that part out for herself. “It’s not a very safe time, either,” Yukari said. “Shadows like the one from the other night come out sometimes, and it’s… usually not great.”

Ikutsuki gave Yukari an odd look, but Makoto didn’t really have time to speak on it, because Akihiko was talking now. “And that’s where we come in. Mitsuru, Yukari, and I are all Persona Users, which means we can fight the Shadows.”

“And so could you,” Mitsuru finished. Makoto wondered how long they’d all been rehearsing that. A briefcase was set on the table in front of her. Opening it, she saw the same pistol-like shape she’d used on the night of the attack. “Our group is called SEES, short for Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, and this dormitory is our base of operations. Honestly, given how you were clearly coherent enough the night you got here, we should probably have had this discussion earlier…”

“You… want me to join you?” Suddenly, all the questions she had vanished in the face of something much more important. “A-are you sure about that? I mean, Eurydice doesn’t seem very strong…”

“Given how you only just got her, that’s not too much of a surprise,” Yukari pointed out. “Don’t worry. You’ll catch up.”

Mitsuru blinked. “Yukari, do you remember when you accused me of pressuring people?”

“I meant in general! I mean, that’s just what happens, isn’t it?”

Makoto wasn’t entirely sure about that, but… if she was part of the group, that meant they’d actually end up being her friends, right? Wasn’t that how it worked?

“...Okay. I’ll do it.”

That night, if Makoto hadn’t been woken up by the Dark Hour, it would have been to the sensation of someone poking her.

“...Hey. Get up.”

She pushed herself up and glared at the blue-haired boy. “How did you get in here?”

“Does it matter?” Yes, it did. Quite a bit, actually. “I see that you’ve decided to join them. That’s good. They could use someone like you.” Apparently, he wasn’t going to answer that question.

She’d try another one. “...Someone like me?”

The boy nodded. “Yes. Someone with the power of the Wild Card. Has Igor mentioned that to you yet?” She shook her head. “Well, most people only have one Persona, sometimes two if they aren’t entirely… mentally stable, or if there are extenuating circumstances. Wild Cards can have many Personas.”

Many Personas? So she wasn’t just stuck with Eurydice and the Persona in the card? “So… I could get a stronger Persona.”

“You could, once you work your way up there. ...Oh, and there’s one more thing I wanted to say.”

“What is it…?” The boy was being a lot more helpful than he had been the first time they’d met, but that wasn’t exactly difficult.

“The world is ending.”

“...Run that by me again?” But the boy had already vanished into thin air between blinks. 

Makoto let herself collapse back onto the bed with a huff. “...Asshole.”

Chapter Text

Of course, it turned out that Makoto wasn’t the only new Persona User. “You know, you could help me carry this!” Junpei complained.

“Can’t. Bruised ribs,” Akihiko replied. “You have a problem with it, you can take it up with Mitsuru.”

Makoto paused and turned to Yukari. “...Should we help him?”

“Just a bit farther, Junpei!” She called, waving down the street and getting the attention of some people who were out for an evening walk. So. She clearly wasn’t going to be much help.

“...Mitsuru-senpai?”

“I believe that this will be good for Iori. Help him build character.”

“I can hear you, you know!” The baseball-capped teen yelled at the three of them. Which, given that they were just standing just outside the door and watching him struggle with a pair of suitcases, was probably a good point.

Sensing that nobody else had sympathy for Junpei, Makoto sighed and shook her head. “I’ll go help him…” Honestly, if he’d been carrying those the entire way from wherever he’d been living before, he could probably at least use help with the stairs.

Junpei seemed all too glad to hand her a part of the burden. “Whew! Thanks, Mako-tan. You saved me.”

“It’s not that heavy…” Odds were that was mostly because she hadn’t been carrying it for as long, but whatever. Just a bit more street, a flight of stairs, and she was done. “I’m sure you would have made it. Eventually.” Probably after dropping something on his foot, or maybe down the stairs, but he could have done it.

Junpei shrugged, as much as he could when he was still carrying one heavy object, and said, “Still, it’s nice to know you’ll have my back, since we’ll be fighting together and all.”

It probably went without saying, but… “I’ll be counting on you, too.”

Perhaps she could be a proper part of this team, after all.

That night, Ikutsuki had an announcement. “Tonight, I believe it would be best to commence our exploration of Tartarus.”

“Tartarus?” Makoto hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but it was probably better than just following the others around Iwatodai and wondering what was going on.

“It’s a place that only appears in the Dark Hour,” Mitsuru explained. “I think the best way to explain it would be as a ‘nest’ of Shadows.” If most Shadows were even vaguely like the one on the roof, that was a horrifying picture.

“I still think that sounds like a brand of toothpaste…” Junpei mused.

“I find it more reminiscent of a fish market, myself,” Ikutsuki commented.

It took Makoto a few moments to get the joke. She decided that ignoring it would be the best option.

Especially after Yukari noted that was actually one of his better ones.

Tartarus itself was… certainly something. More specifically, it was their school deciding to turn into a large tower, so tall that, if there were clouds, it would easily soar above them.

At least, Makoto thought it would. No matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t actually see the top of it. Maybe if she took a few steps back…

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Mitsuru asked. “So far, we’ve only done a few cursory investigations of the lower floors, but now that there’s more of us, we should be able to make a considerable amount of progress towards reaching the top. Well, once you’ve all gotten used to this, that is.”

“Sometimes, I still can’t believe how big it is,” Yukari commented. “Or that a group of kids like us could ever make it that high up.”

“And it’s all full of Shadows, huh?” Makoto didn’t think she liked the look in Junpei’s eyes.

“Yes, which means that, when exploring it, it is important to take caution,” Mitsuru replied. “Now, as I will be in charge of support until a suitable alternative appears, we will need someone to lead this group in the field. After discussing it with Akihiko, I have decided that Yuki will be the field leader… if only because giving Yukari or Iori authority over the other is bound to end in disaster.”

Yukari and Junpei, for their parts, seemed to be torn between agreeing and being offended.

Makoto wasn’t entirely sure how to feel, either. “I’m… glad you have faith in me?”

Mitsuru seemed to sense how awkward this had made things. “...Let’s just go inside.”

Tartarus was just as impressive on the inside as it was outside, with a large lobby that had three doors in it. One at the top of a grand staircase, one tucked under said staircase, and to the side, and a third that seemed to be floating suspended from thin air… in a very particular shade of blue.

Well. It seemed that Makoto had just found out what that key was for.

“Hey, um, Mako-tan, are you all right?” Junpei asked Makoto after she stepped out of the Velvet Room. Not much had happened there. Igor had been cryptic, Theo and Elizabeth had spent time trying to talk to her about something called Social Links, the usual. “You looked kinda like a zombie, for a moment there.”

“...A zombie?” Was the room just an extremely persistent hallucination?

...Given everything that was happening, did it even matter if it was?

“That’s the part you’re going to criticize!?” That hadn’t actually been what she was going for, but whatever.

“Look, it’s complicated, and I’m not sure you’d believe me, but there’s something that might make me hang around here sometimes, and we’ll leave it at that.” There. Now she’d never have to deal with this again.

“Well, now that that’s settled down…” Mitsuru wondered what it would be like to have normal friends. “Today, you will be exploring the first floor or so of Tartarus. Now, given past events, I’m going to lay out some ground rules. Akihiko, you are my backup in case of utter disaster. You may not leave the lobby from any door.”

“I know…”

“I just felt I should remind you. Anyway, the door under the stairs leads to Monad. It has ten floors, very wide spaces, and Shadows that could kill you in one hit. We do not go to Monad.” While she was sure Makoto was more sensible than that, it was always best to make sure.

At least she wouldn’t have to be the one to explain that selling weapons to the pharmacy was a terrible idea and bound to get them all arrested. That one was Akihiko’s job.

Still, the newly-named field leader was nodding along, so she was pretty sure that this one stuck. “You may divide up any items and money you find in this tower however you like, but if there are major arguments, there will be consequences. Tomorrow, Akihiko will show you where to get new armor and weapons, and keeping yourself equipped will be your own responsibility. If you are too badly hurt or tired to continue, turn back. And, finally, try not to stay on the same floor for more than five minutes at a time.”

Makoto blinked. “Okay, most of that made sense, but the last one?”

Yukari sighed. “It’s a long story…” And, hopefully, it would be left at that.

At the very least, Makoto didn’t seem to see the need to question at the moment, instead turning to look up the staircase. “So, we’re going up there, huh?” It was impossible to tell what she was thinking from her tone. “Do you think the Shadows here will be flammable?” ...Of course.

“They better be!” Junpei replied, the fire in his eyes thankfully less literal than usual. Some people just should not have been given the ability to do magic. “Come on, Mako-tan, let’s go!”

“Hey, I’m the leader, here!” It was nice to see she had taken to her new position so quickly. The three second years vanished into the opening in the tower.

For Mitsuru, that meant it was time to get to work. Thankfully, she could manage to do that and hold a conversation at the same time, so long as she was careful of when she was broadcasting.

“You know,” She commented to Akihiko as she started turning on her various pieces of equipment- honestly, she should have started sooner, but she trusted the underclassmen not to get themselves killed on the first floor, “You really should talk to Shinjiro one of these days.”

“You think I don’t know that?” She conceded the point. Akihiko was terrible at handling most people on a good day, but Shinjiro had generally been an exception to that. “It’s just… I’m not sure what I’d say to him.”

“At this point, I’d be glad if you just said something. I wouldn’t even mind if you told him the truth- we both know him, he’s relatively trustworthy.”

“...Yeah, but if I tell him I saw him die, that might make things weird.”

“That’s why you don’t mention that part.” Honestly, since when was she the one people turned to for advice with social situations? Since when was she relatively qualified for this?

At this point, Makoto, Yukari, and Junpei picked a fight with a group of Shadows.

Mitsuru welcomed the distraction.

Makoto had no idea how long Yukari had been a Persona User. It was sort of scary, being put in charge of someone who was likely much more experienced than her, but she’d made do well enough, she thought.

...That, or Yukari was hanging back so the other two could get used to using their powers. That was also a real possibility.

Still, Makoto and Eurydice were lighting Shadows on fire left and right, and she’d even gotten a couple of new Personas out of the deal in Pixie and Apsaras. They were both about as powerful as Eurydice, so none of them seemed like particularly good options over each other, aside from that Pixie came with a healing spell.

Eventually, though, she had to let Junpei get some shots in. “Watch me in action!” He declared, striding forward and firing his Evoker without hesitation. A dark, humanoid figure with wing-shaped golden blades attached to it appeared, lighting the Shadows just as on fire as if it had been Eurydice.

If Yukari or Junpei looked confused by this, or if Mitsuru was disconnected for a few seconds for some reason, Makoto didn’t notice. She was too focused on figuring out when it would be her turn to burn things again.

“Now, if your weapons are outdated, or if you pick up extras in Tartarus, you should sell them back to here. Not to Be Blue V, not to the pharmacy, and not to the school store. Here.”

“Is… is that a big problem?” Makoto asked. Akihiko didn’t answer her.

This was probably a bad sign.

The next day, after school, Junpei invited Makoto to get ramen while glaring at one of their classmates. Makoto was confused, but didn’t see any reason to refuse the invitation.

“So, how do you like Gekkoukan so far?” He asked after they placed their orders.

“I think I like it here. You know, when things aren’t…” She paused to think of a good way to say it. “...Kinda on fire.” Sometimes literally, but that probably wasn’t something to bring up in public. And more than half of it had been her fault, anyway.

“Yeah, things have been crazy, haven’t they? It must be even harder for you, since you’re… n-new, and all.” He seemed to almost choke on that word, for some reason. Makoto hoped he was okay.

“I mean, it’s sort of nice to actually know what’s happening, kind of.” She paused, and then, because her curiosity was overwhelming her, “So, why does Yukari-chan always seem so mad at you?”

“I dunno. Sometimes it’s about school, sometimes it’s girls. I’m not sure why she’s so worried, I mean, I-” He cut himself off, shaking his head. “...Never mind.”

There was probably a story there, and Makoto wasn’t sure she wanted to hear it. “So… you just don’t get along?”

“Something like that. But don’t worry, Mako-tan. All that stuff aside, I’m sure we’ll have a great year.”

And then she heard something similar to shattering glass. And saw something that looked like a tarot card in front of her.

...This was clearly going to be a long year.

When they were done eating, Junpei wandered off and told Makoto not to wait up for him.

It probably didn’t matter.

Chapter Text

When SEES got off the monorail the next morning, a girl with light blue hair ran up to them. “Oh, Yukari-chan, everyone! Good morning!”

“Good morning, Fuuka-chan,” Yukari greeted her. “We haven’t seen you in a while. The start of the year keeping you busy?”

The girl nodded. “Yes. I’ve been… very busy.” And then she noticed Makoto. “Um, who is-?”

“Oh, right.” Yukari’s response was immediate. “Fuuka-chan, this is Yuki Makoto, the new transfer student. We told you about her, remember? And, Makoto-chan, this is Yamagishi Fuuka. She’s a friend of ours.”

“Th-that’s right.” Fuuka nodded, suddenly seeming a lot more nervous than she had been previously. “It-it’s nice to meet you, Ma-Makoto-chan.”

Was she really worth getting nervous about? Maybe Fuuka was just shy. “It’s nice to meet you, too, Fuuka-chan.” She’d be friendly, and hope that the other girl would warm up to her eventually. “Have you known Yukari-chan and the others for a while?”

“Mm-hm! Mitsuru-senpai helped me deal with a problem I had last year, and… we all ended up becoming friends after that. We sort of lost contact over the break, though…”

“That’s right…” Junpei realized. “None of us have each other’s numbers or anything, do we? We all spent so much time together at- at school that it completely slipped my mind.”

Yukari rolled her eyes. “And of course you didn’t realize anything until you hadn’t heard from her in over a week…”

“I mean, I have Mitsuru’s number,” Akihiko pointed out. “Mostly so I can tell her when practice is running late, but…”

Junpei shrugged. “Yeah, but you’ve known her for how many years now? Almost five? I’m not quite sure that counts.”

Makoto watched the group slowly descend into a squabble over the merits of contact information. It seemed like they were all really close…

She didn’t realize she was distancing herself from the conversation until Fuuka tried getting her attention. “What is it?” She tried not to snap, but the poor girl ended up flinching away, anyway.

“Um… Yukari-chan wanted to know if you’d be joining any sports clubs, since they start accepting new members today.” They did? Okay, that was good to know, and maybe she shouldn’t have tuned them all out.

She nodded. “I’ve been thinking of joining the volleyball team, actually. Are you part of any clubs, Fuuka-chan?”

The teal-haired girl took longer to think about this than Makoto felt anyone should need to. It wasn’t exactly a difficult question. “Well… I was part of the music club last year… but I don’t think I’ll be doing that again.”

“Did you not fit in there?” That seemed like a reasonable enough question to ask, right?

“...Something like that.” She was too quiet, and that probably wasn’t a good thing, but then Fuuka turned back to the others. “Actually, I was wondering if any of you had ideas for something I could do instead.”

“Well, you could try the art or photo clubs,” Yukari suggested. “Or if you wanted to make your own, I’d help.”

“Or you could apply to be the manager for the boxing club,” Akihiko added. “The position’s always open, after all…”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Akihiko?” Mitsuru asked, turning to him. “I’m not saying Yamagishi isn’t capable, it’s just… Remind me again, how many lost their positions for harassing the team members versus the ones who left because of being harassed?”

“...Honestly, it all started blending together after a while…”

“Actually… that doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” Fuuka noted, seeming testing out the words in her mouth as she said them. “All I’d have to do to stay safe is to stay near Akihiko-senpai, right?”

Makoto got the feeling she was missing something here. Well, she felt like that all the time now. Whatever had happened last year, it was clearly something that had pulled all of these people together. Something that she’d missed out on.

Their arrival at the school gates could not come quickly enough.

In all honesty, if someone were to ask Aragaki Shinjiro what he thought about Yoshino Chidori, he’d need a few moments to figure out who they were talking about. Mainly because she was so quiet that, if it weren’t for the fact that she wore a pristine white dress in a shady back alley, he would probably have forgotten she even existed.

...Actually, he wasn’t entirely sure he’d heard her speak before. Or go anywhere near him without both Jin and Takaya.

So today was already pretty weird, and it wasn’t even past noon yet. That probably wasn’t a good sign.

“Aragaki, you... wouldn’t happen to have a brother, would you?” She sounded uncertain about this, like she didn’t even know why she was asking.

“Why do you care?” Aki technically counted, but he hadn’t even shown up in almost a month now. Hopefully, he’d finally realized Shinjiro wasn’t worth his time.

More likely, something bad had happened to keep him away, but Shinjiro was trying not to think about that.

He wasn’t quite succeeding anymore.

She didn’t even answer his question. “If something were to happen to you… he would be very sad. And angry with himself, for not stopping it.” Well, that was vaguely ominous. Especially from someone who only seemed to exist as a hanger-on for a psychopath.

“And?”

“...Did you know that Shadows attacked a certain dormitory soon after classes began?” Of course he didn’t. News from the dormitory stopped coming the day Aki did. A week before classes would have started. “I don’t know whether or not he was injured, but I’m sure he would be glad to see you either way.”

If he was hurt, that would at least explain why Shinjiro hadn’t seen him around. Not that he was fully inclined to trust Yoshino about this, even if it made sense.

“And you’re sure about this?” He tried telling himself he didn’t care. It wasn’t working as well as he’d hoped it would. Particularly given that he had no idea how Yoshino could have gotten this information.

There was no answer. She just stood there, with a gaze so flat Shinjiro had no idea what she might have been thinking. This was more familiar to him than any other part of the past few minutes, but it also really wasn’t the time for that. “Um… Yoshino?”

She blinked and shook her head. “It… doesn’t matter.” And then she turned and left, never mind all the unanswered questions this had brought up.

This was going to bother him for the entire day, he could just tell. Unless…

He guessed he could consider it. Maybe. If he felt like it.

If only to make sure there wasn’t anything to worry about.

Makoto fit into the volleyball team instantly.

She couldn’t say why. She hadn’t done anything all that special, just greeting them when she was told to and falling in with the others, but… whatever it was, it worked.

“You’re not going to get tired out here, right?” A girl with a black ponytail asked.

“Don’t worry,” She replied. “Even if I do, I’ve been looking for a reason to increase my stamina.” She was going to be climbing a giant tower at midnight from now on, she clearly already had one, it was just nice to have a reason she could actually tell people without sounding insane.

Not that she thought stamina would be a problem. As long as she had a goal to focus on, Makoto could keep going through anything.

It would just be nice to maybe not have a completely compromised immune system after running up however many floors of a tower that occasionally oozed blood from the walls.

Seriously, whatever that was, it couldn’t be healthy.

The other girl, of course, knew nothing of this, and just nodded. “You’ll do nicely, then.” Somehow, that felt like a more genuine acceptance than anything she’d gotten from SEES.

Given the sudden appearance of another tarot card, it appeared that the world agreed.

Makoto honestly wasn’t sure why Igor had set up in an out-of-the-way section of the mall, not that she was complaining. Doing whatever she needed to access this room for would be a lot easier when she didn’t have to wait for midnight.

“I suppose it is time I tell you of the main function of the room. My purpose is to aid you in the creation of new Personas through a process known as fusion.”

“Fusion?” It sounded relatively straightforward, but at the same time… Given where Personas came from, it couldn’t be all that simple.

“It’s something I’m sure you’ll understand more by doing,” Elizabeth spoke up. Theo sighed.

“Perhaps, but she could still benefit from being told the basics. You see, fusion is a process by which two or more Personas are combined in order to create a new one.”

“That is correct,” Igor nodded. “Personas created via fusion are capable of inheriting the abilities of their components, and will benefit from the Social Links you have formed. Though the process can be… somewhat unpredictable, at times, it is almost completely safe.”

“...Almost?”

“It is… not a good idea to create a Persona more powerful than you are,” Theo explained, glancing at his sister. Elizabeth looked away without saying anything. There was probably a story there. “If the power comes from your Social Links, or if you have sufficient mental discipline, it should be fine, but the latter is something it is… best not to risk.” Makoto decided she wouldn’t ask.

“A-all right, then.” Honestly, she still wasn’t sure about all this…

“Perhaps it would be best if you were to try it for yourself,” Elizabeth suggested. “After all, if you cannot fuse strong Personas, then it will take you a very long time to gather your power, and you still would not reach your full potential.”

There was an odd weight to those words, one that Makoto didn’t have any way to understand. “I guess… but how do I do it?”

“You have multiple valid combinations for fusion in your heart,” Igor remarked. “Simply choose the Personas you wish to fuse, and I will do the rest.”

Not Eurydice. She wasn’t sure where that thought came from, she just knew that she couldn’t fuse away Eurydice. And, well… that left two. Pixie and Apsaras.

As soon as that thought came to mind, there were a pair of cards floating over the table. Igor deftly plucked them out of the air, his gaze appraising.

“I see… the combination of these Personas will create a Magician. Due to your budding Social Link with young Iori, some small amount of power will be granted to this fusion. Is this what you want to do?”

Honestly, Makoto hadn’t been given much of a chance to get attached to those Personas to begin with. There wasn’t much doubt to be had. “Yes. It is.”

And then the cards were floating again, this time surrounded by a familiar blue light, the same shade as the butterfly from her first night in town. The glow intensified, until Makoto was forced to look away, and when it faded, a feminine figure stood there, transparent but with a gaze that reached into her very soul.

A gaze, and a name that resonated just as strongly.

Nekomata.

She reached out her hand, and the new Persona took it, giving her a single nod before disappearing and taking her place in Makoto’s soul.

Somehow, this was still one of the less-confusing things that had happened to her since she reached Iwatodai.

There was probably something wrong with that.

Finding Aki was simpler than Shinjiro had expected, given the length of time in which they somehow hadn’t run into each other. Honestly, if he didn’t know better, he’d say he was avoiding him.

But he knew better, and Aki didn’t, and that didn’t seem like it was going to change anytime soon.

“Shinji, it- it’s been a while, hasn’t it?” He sounded unsure, and maybe that was the strangest part of all this, coming from someone who always seemed to know exactly what he wanted. “Things have been… really crazy, right now.”

Shinjiro was pretty sure he wanted him to ask. Not that he actually needed clarification about any of this, other than to convince himself that Yoshino had no idea what she was talking about.

“Look, you’re the one who signed up for Kirijo’s midnight madness, you knew what you were getting yourself into.” Maybe. Hopefully.

Okay, so the chances of Aki fully thinking things through had never been all that great, especially back when they were in middle school, and he couldn’t say he’d been much better, but he could at least hope that it wasn’t a lost cause.

“And you didn’t?” In hindsight, Shinjiro really should have seen that one coming. He blamed the fact that they hadn’t spoken to each other in almost a month.

“We’re not talking about this.” It just figured. The one time he actually wanted to talk to someone, and he ended up ruining it within the first minute.

“Okay. Do you want to… go get some beef bowls or something?” ...All right, something was definitely wrong here. Aki never backed down without a fight before, why would that change now?

He probably shouldn’t have questioned it- if Aki was learning when to back off, that could only be a good thing- but that wasn’t the only strange thing. Shinjiro couldn’t point it out if asked, but something just seemed… different.

He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not, though the sudden headache didn’t exactly help.

Not my brother.

...Okay, that made even less sense than usual, and he was pretty sure by now that half of the impressions Castor gave him didn’t actually mean anything. Admittedly, the pills probably didn’t help with that, but better an incoherent Persona than one that kept killing people.

Either way, it was pretty clear that something was wrong. Not that he had any idea what to do with that. “...I still think it wouldn’t kill you to eat vegetables every once in a while, but… sure. Whatever.”

It’d be fine. He’d just play along for a bit, and then vanish into the crowd after, and he’d never have to think about this again. It was probably nothing.

Except something was off, and Shinjiro had no idea what it could be, until long after Aki left- again, without doing much more than poking the nonexistent possibility of Shinjiro going back with him.

Throughout the whole afternoon, Aki hadn’t looked him in the eye even once. Somehow, that was more concerning than anything that Yoshino could ever tell him.

Chapter Text

Half of the accessory shop’s stock was things that would conceivably help in battle. Makoto was almost surprised by this, but after everything that had happened, she just shrugged and paid more attention to the fact that they were now hiring.

Sure, it meant she might end up having to deal with her teammates at some point, but that wasn’t really a problem. She sort of liked them, and this way they’d probably have to meet her gaze eventually.

She also expected that, if that day ever came, she’d have to ask them if they were prioritizing function or appearance, though she’d probably be able to make a guess in most cases.

That this happened when Yukari showed up on her first day was probably the most unexpected part of this. “Oh? You work here, Makoto-chan?”

“I do now.” She didn’t think she had to say anything more. “Are you looking for anything in particular?”

“Well, I could use something to help deal with electricity…” That made two of them. Though, at least she was asking for something that was in stock.

Not that this helped much. “I’d recommend one of these charms, if you can afford it.”

Yukari blinked at the price tag. “That’s… expensive.”

“It’s a magical artifact. What did you expect?” Makoto wasn’t sure why the other girl was surprised by this, the things that had battle effects always seemed to be more expensive for some reason. Aside from that one watch, and that wasn’t too surprising, given that she recognized the brand.

“I guess… Um… Are we going to Tartarus anytime soon?” If that was the main way her classmate could think of to make money, there was clearly a problem.

Not that Makoto had anything better to do. “I was actually thinking of going there tonight.”

Yukari audibly sighed in relief. That meant she probably couldn’t back out of this now.

Still, it would give Makoto the chance to test out her new Persona. And that was probably the most important part.

All things considered, there were probably better reasons to climb the tower that their school became than one of their number needing some pocket money.

On the other hand, of the active battle party, Yukari was the most experienced, and if she thought it was safe to search through Tartarus until they had as much as they needed, Makoto was willing to believe her.

Still, whatever the reason, they were now rapidly ascending Tartarus. At least, as quickly as they could ascend when they were all looting whatever briefcases they came across.

“We’ll split everything up more equally once we get back to the entrance,” She decided. “Otherwise, if one of us finds a lot more than the others, or if someone doesn’t find much of anything, it could make things difficult.” If this was how they were going to keep themselves supplied, then they all needed to have basic access to supplies, it was that simple.

“That makes sense, I guess…” Yukari agreed. “Hey, there’s the stairs!”

“Great. Let’s keep moving, then.” If this place operated anything like a video game, there was bound to be better things to take higher up.

...Or deeper down, but Mitsuru had told them not to go to Monad, and given a very good reason for it, so Makoto wasn’t particularly inclined to argue for that. Higher up it was.

Once they reached the next floor, though… something was different. Makoto couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but it felt both safer and more terrifying at the same time.

“There are three fairly powerful Shadows on this floor,” Mitsuru’s voice broadcast, surrounded by static at the start before fading out into a more normal voice. Probably a result of turning on the audial parts of whatever let her speak into everyone’s heads, because Makoto refused to believe she was keeping that one going all the time. “Wind and fire won’t work on them, so be careful.”

The former probably wouldn’t be an issue. They hadn’t actually had reason to see Yukari’s Persona yet tonight- Makoto was handling most of the battles while the others looted the tower, and Junpei occasionally threw fireballs at anything that got too close.

The latter, though? That could make things tricky.

Or, it would if things went any other way than they did. That of a trio of eagles flying around the corner, right into Yukari’s sights, to be felled with a rain of arrows.

Makoto blinked. “Do… do you even need us here?”

“If they’re on the ground, then yes.” And then, with an odd sort of grin, “Should we go for broke?”

That was by far the best idea she’d heard all night.

Compared to the raiding party- because there wasn’t much point in pretending they were there to do anything but loot the entirety of Thebel- there was a lot less activity on the ground floor.

All things considered, this was probably a good thing, given that there was just as much chance of any attacking Shadows coming from Monad as anywhere else, and Akihiko would have been wary of anything from the tower’s basement even if there’d been enough of them there for a full team.

Still, if Mitsuru wasn’t assisting the younger members of the group in battle, the two of them were generally just sitting around in silence, which probably made the feeling of nothing happening a lot worse than it needed to be.

“I talked to Shinji,” He said, partially so she’d stop bothering him about it, but mostly to fill the airspace.

Mitsuru nodded, visibly paying more attention to the machinery in front of her. “And how did it go?”

“It was… weird. Like… it wasn’t quite real.” Like a dream, but it couldn’t have been, because it was only in the waking world where he and Caesar were even slightly separate entities. Like he was hallucinating, but he knew for a fact that people would have been staring at him if he was.

Like if he turned away from Shinji, he’d look back and see a brutalized mess where his best friend’s torso used to be.

He shook his head. No time to dwell on that right now. “Just… a bit too good to be true, you know? And I couldn’t even say anything about it, because it just… wouldn’t make sense.”

It was funny. He’d had months to think about what he’d say, if he ever got the chance, but the instant it actually happened, all of the words just vanished. Even the ones that most likely could be said without making things more awkward than they need to be.

“...I suppose they wouldn’t.” Akihiko wondered, for a moment, what she was thinking about, before realizing that he probably knew the answer already. “Here.”

He took back his Evoker, not sure just how surprised he should have been. “Really? That’s all it took?”

“I felt it was best not to let my expectations get too high.” And then Mitsuru returned to her machinery, leaving Akihiko to wonder just how much offense he should have taken. “And you’re still not going up there tonight.”

He tore his gaze away from the stairs. “Fine…” He’d been kept out of the fight for longer before. He could handle one more night.

Even if, from Mitsuru’s expression, their teammates were having just a bit too much fun.

The floors of Tartarus passed by faster than Makoto expected them to, the greens and reds and occasional wonderful silver blending into each other in a rush of adrenaline and greed.

Mostly the former, but given just how many floors they’d picked clean of items, and the main reason they were there, there was a fair bit of the latter, as well.

The only things breaking up their little adventure were the occasional floor with an actual structure to it, and even those went by faster than expected.

The eagles, of course, had gone down easily thanks to Yukari’s good aim. Compared to them, the hands had been intensely more difficult, able to use whatever element they wanted, but as Nekomata didn’t have a weakness, they were still able to be defeated without too much difficulty.

And then, on this floor, was a massive Shadow that towered above them. “Physical attacks won’t work!” Mitsuru warned them as the masked creature seemed to rev into high gear. “And it resists fire!”

Well, there went all of Makoto’s best options. “Um, Yukari-chan, what kind of magic do you use?” She hadn’t seen the other girl use her Persona once yet, which was sort of terrifying for all sorts of reasons.

“Oh, you want to see?” Was the reply, far too casually for someone staring down the largest Shadow Makoto had ever seen that wasn’t just a mass of hands.

“That would… probably be really helpful right now.” Thankfully, despite how big the Shadow was, its attacks were telegraphed pretty blatantly, so she could just run out of the way when it started heading for her.

“All right, then. Let’s go! Isis!” The resulting gust of wind blew the Shadow into the wall, where it exploded into gore.

Makoto made a mental note never to get on Yukari’s bad side.

“Seriously, do you even need me here?”

“You are the person I have judged least likely to abuse your authority or routinely make poor choices,” Mitsuru pointed out.

“Yeah, I guess…” That was one way to put it. Not really the thing she would have liked to be needed for, but she’d take it.

Still, she decided she’d try and actually lead them in battle the next time they reached one of those floors.

Which wouldn’t be for a while, due to the large barrier, but it was something to keep in mind for the future.

Right then, it was much more important to figure out how they’d divide up the loot.

As soon as the group stepped out of Tartarus, Makoto felt exhaustion pressing down on her. She was assured it was normal, and that it would pass so long as she got enough sleep, but given how they apparently hadn’t explored the tower all that much, she wasn’t willing to take their word for it just yet.

Not that she could argue with the suggestion of more sleep at the moment. Actually, that was the one thing she really wanted.

And it did, help, sort of. Sure, the next morning she was fully aware of the fact that she’d be basically dead weight for the entire day, but that was a small price to pay when she’d be able to get a new music player soon.

There were probably more important things to worry about, like whatever was going on with that blue-haired boy, but it could wait for when she could think properly.

“If you need something that’ll wake you up, you could go to the school store,” Yukari suggested. “They don’t have a lot of it, and it’s pricey, but it’s there.”

Price? Who cared about the price? They’d just climbed up several floors of a giant tower and come out with more money than she’d ever suspected could be found in a school, as well as several apparent research notes that Yukari had claimed as soon as she saw them.

“I’ll probably do that, then…” Maybe. If she ever got around to it. “...There’s no major side-effects, right?”

“Not that we’ve ever found,” The other girl replied, almost laughing. “I’m pretty sure there’s not, because last year, I- I knew someone who basically lived off of it.” And her tone suddenly became a lot less lively. “Honestly, we should probably have staged an intervention, or something…”

One of these days, Makoto needed to ask just what had happened the previous year, because there were clearly a lot of stories she was missing out on.

For now, she’d just take her classmate’s suggestion and hope it didn’t come back to haunt her later.

Chapter Text

Most people, on a Sunday morning, probably wouldn’t make their way to a bookstore as their only thing to do.

At least, Makoto assumed they didn’t, but she could have been wrong. At the very least, nobody else ventured over to the same store that she frequented, though in her case, she didn’t care as much for the books as for the people.

“It’s a very nice day, Makoto-chan,” Mitsuko stated, as though Makoto could tell what the weather was after she’d gone outside. “A girl your age should be spending it with friends.”

This wasn’t the first time she’d been told this sort of thing. But it always annoyed her to hear it, more than a little. “I don’t- everyone’s busy today.” She wasn’t about to admit that she wasn’t entirely sure she had friends. She had a dorm full of people to talk to, she had volleyball, and that should have been enough.

Besides, if Social Links counted as friends, then technically that was what she was doing with her day. It was just that, if she said it out loud, it would probably sound really weird.

“And they didn’t invite you along?”

She shrugged. “I’m new in town, so it’s not that surprising. I’m sure I’ll fit in better eventually.” If they didn’t like her the way she was, she could just change her Personas until she found one that fit. And then she’d use that.

It came to mind that that probably wasn’t what the power of the Wild Card was for, but it was the best way she could think of to use it, when everything she’d managed to fuse had roughly the same skill set anyway.

Not that she minded. There was something… right about having a fire burning bright under her skin, and she wouldn’t give that feeling up for anything.

“Oh, I see.” She didn’t need the woman’s pity. She was more than capable of getting other people to like her on her own. “In that case, why don’t I get you something to help with that?”

One of these days, Makoto needed to learn how to say no to kindly old ladies. At the same time, melon bread was tasty. Maybe she would share it with someone else.

At the very least, she certainly had far too much to eat all by herself.

”Yuki, I… have a favor to ask of you.”

This was probably something serious. Makoto hadn’t been around for very long, but she knew that Mitsuru sounding uncertain was a bad thing that was never supposed to happen. “What is it?” And was this at least something lesser than the apocalypse?

“I… would like to request your assistance on the Student Council.” That was… well, for some people, it would probably be lifeshaking, but Makoto was in the habit of fighting monsters.

As it was, she was just wondering something. “Why me?” Surely, there were people more qualified- or, failing that, with actual experience with this kind of thing.

Mitsuru looked distinctly uncomfortable under her gaze. Never mind that this whole thing was her idea.

Still, she ended up answering eventually. “I thought you would be the most useful. Because of your leadership capabilities.”

“O-oh.” What was she supposed to say to that? It was nice to see that someone actually had faith in her? She thought she’d been the last resort option? That she didn’t think the way she led a group of idiots through a tower was all that impressive?

The idea that the other might actually believe in her… that was more faith than she’d been putting in herself, recently.

Or ever, but Makoto didn’t like thinking about things that way. It was just a bit too sad. So she didn’t say any of that. “I-I’ll do it, then.”

After all, if Mitsuru thought she was doing a good job… then maybe she was, after all.

As to how much of that could transfer from monster fighting to a school setting… Well, she’d just have to see about that.

“Excellent. In that case, here is the paperwork you will need. Just sign it and turn it in to your homeroom teacher at your earliest convenience. Council meetings are on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, so be sure to attend when you can. Have I forgotten anything?”

She shrugged. “How am I supposed to know? I’ve never done this before.”

“R-right.” Mitsuru flinched, before turning and leaving the room a fair bit more quickly than she’d entered.

She wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t like she’d said anything all that shocking.

“Student Council, Mako-tan? Wow, you really are moving up in the world. Congrats!” Makoto was pretty sure Junpei was joking, but she appreciated the sentiment, either way. “If you're free tomorrow, why not go to a movie to celebrate? There’s a new one coming out, and it looks like it’ll be really good.”

Well, it wasn’t like she had any other plans for that day. “...Sure. That sounds nice.”

It was good to know that, when it came to her sort-of underlings, there was at least one that she could actually call a friend.

If one were to ask Makoto what she’d thought of the movie, she’d say it was tolerable. Overall, the plot seemed to stand up to basic scrutiny and there were no points when she’d been more interested in her snacks than what was onscreen.

Which was actually sort of impressive. Those had been some very good snacks.

“You know, that was pretty good until the end,” Junpei commented. “Why’d they have to stick the villain’s tragic backstory right there?”

“It was in a bit of an awkward place, wasn’t it? It… wasn’t in a place where anyone could really care about it outside the audience.” Like the movie was just trying to make the viewers feel bad more than making any point about the character. “I mean, you could clearly see the hero was past the point of caring, at least.”

“Yeah, that’s another bit I didn’t like. I mean, if someone doesn’t want to be a monster, I’d at least feel bad about having to beat them down.” Makoto wondered if Yukari would ever believe that she and Junpei were having a serious discussion about a film’s plot. “I mean, I get they don’t all start out that way, but… it’d be a lot easier if things were simple good guys and bad guys, wouldn’t it?”

“You mean, in movies, or…?” And then she noticed him looking in the direction of a dark alley. “...What are you looking at?” The last thing she wanted to deal with was them getting into trouble.

The Magician shook his head. “...It’s nothing.” And then, as if nothing really had happened, “Hey, you want to go get some burgers?”

More food? “Sounds great!”

Noisy restaurants were just another crowd for Makoto to lose herself in. She knew how to blend in, how to tune out whatever she didn’t want to hear, how to become a part of the masses surrounding her without exerting any effort.

Junpei seemed to be a fair bit less comfortable. “There’s… a lot of people here from our school, huh?” Right, she recognized the uniforms.

“Is that a problem?” She asked.

“Well, not exactly, but… if they recognize us, they could think we’re on a date or something.” The note of sheer horror in his voice was enough to make her wonder if she should be getting upset about it.

...He probably didn’t mean to offend her, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t make him squirm. “What, are you saying you wouldn’t want to date me?”

“What!? No! N-not that you’re not nice, or pretty or- or whatever! I have somebody else!” Wow, that was fast. And intriguing.

“You do? Details. Now.” Was this too fast? Maybe it was a bit too fast. She wouldn’t know. All of her previous friends had been forever dateless. Much like herself. But that was just depressing to think about.

“Well, I mean, it’s not like we’re official or anything…” So that was how you made someone blush when they apparently had no shame. Makoto resolved to remember this for later. “It’s just… there’s this girl. She- sometimes, I’ll see her in front of the train station, drawing stuff. She doesn’t really have good friends or anything, but sometimes I’ll sit next to her and we’ll talk about… stuff. ...Well, mostly, it’s just me talking at her, but… no matter how dumb I sounded, she’d always listen.”

He sounded really in love with this girl. “...Is that why you were looking around after the movie? You were looking for her?”

“Yeah, but… thinking about it, if she’d seen me with you…” Junpei picked up a french fry and used it to enact a dramatic airplane crash. “...I mean, probably not that bad, but you get the picture!”

Well, at least he admitted he was being overdramatic. Still, hearing about the person Junpei had apparently fallen in love with made Makoto feel like she understood him a little better.

...Oh, and now that tarot card was back.

...She was never going to get used to this.

There was just something about Yuki Makoto that made people want to spill their deepest, darkest secrets.

Junpei had noticed this before, from a safe distance. Hadn’t thought much of it at the time, other than being glad that gaze wasn’t being turned on him.

Of course, now it actually was, a pair of bright red eyes that seemed to compel him to share everything, and he never even thought twice about it. Yukari would say that was because he didn’t think- and everyone else would agree with her- but he’d insist it wasn’t that, because he still had his pride.

Once the two of them got back to the dorm, Makoto excused herself to go… do something. Junpei didn’t actually know what the field leader of SEES did on nights when they didn’t go to Tartarus, and he was perfectly okay with that.

“So… you’ve been spending time with our new leader, huh?” Yukari sounded less than impressed, but Yukari never seemed to be fully impressed with anything, these days. “What do you think of her?”

He shrugged. “I dunno. She’s pretty cool, I guess.” Most girls seemed to consider hanging out with him to be the end of the world or something. Compared to that, Makoto’s attitude was… actually pretty weird.

“...Really? That’s it?” What did she expect from him, a five-page essay?

“Well, we haven’t known her all that long,” he pointed out. “It’s… still pretty weird, having her around.” Honestly, after so long with the group they were used to, any new additions would be weird.

“Isn’t it?” Okay, so she was probably just looking for someone to complain to. Business as usual, then. “I mean, I get that she’s probably not a bad person, but…” But she wasn’t what they’d expected, and that was understandably concerning, especially given where said expectations came from.

“You’re… not gonna go off on her like with Mitsuru-senpai, right?” It was a legitimate worry. For all that Junpei had the fire abilities, it was his wind-using classmate that had the temper. Just about anyone who’d ever spoken to the both of them could agree on that… or, well, they would if they knew about the fire powers.

“Do you really think I’d-” Yukari cut herself off, apparently to think about it. “I… don’t think it’ll be a problem? She’s just so… different.”

It was hard to disagree. Not when they both knew exactly what she was talking about. At the same time, though… she wasn’t entirely against their expectations. Same type of headphones, similar tastes in music…

And the same compelling aura. Which would probably be something to worry about, if Makoto weren’t so good-intentioned.

But there was just as much of a chance that telling this to Yukari would get her to start ranting as it was to help- when it came to any sort of stress, she was predictable like that. So Junpei decided not to say anything and to go upstairs to finally finish unpacking.

...He’d honestly forgotten he had Innocent Sin Online. The servers would be shutting down at the end of the year, so he wouldn’t have much time to enjoy it anymore, but…

Well. It’d be nice to have some nostalgia that wasn’t either school or at least slightly traumatic. No reason not to enjoy it while it was still there.

It wasn’t like he had anything else to do tonight.

Chapter Text

There were few places that Makoto found more relaxing than a cafe. The lighting was warm, the colors soft and relaxing. The drinks were also generally good, otherwise she never bothered to go there more than once.

So when Junpei made the offer to go to Chagall, she hadn’t found a real reason to refuse.

“You know, being here’s sort of strange,” He commented, glancing around. “I mean, it’s not exactly the sort of place guys go to hang out, you know?”

“Really? What sort of places do you go, then?”

“Well, there’s…” He paused. “...There’s…”

This was… worrying. “Junpei-kun?”

“Thinking about it… I don’t really have that many guy friends anymore, either. I talk to Kenji and stuff, but really, it’s… just Akihiko-san. And he’s not really… He doesn’t get out much.” Given how he’d just about always been in the dorm already when Makoto got back… she’d believe it.

Still… when she thought about it, that was kind of sad. “...You know, you don’t have to treat me differently just because I’m a girl. We could go to the arcade and stuff sometimes, if you want.”

Junpei perked up immediately. “You- really?” He sounded far too happy about this.

She nodded. “Sure. It’s not like I’m bad at the games, or anything. Actually, I think it’d be pretty fun!” She already enjoyed playing the games there on her own. Playing them with a friend couldn’t be all that different.

Their drinks arrived. When he noticed what she’d ordered, Junpei seemed amused by it. “...Hot chocolate?”

“Say what you will, it’s a pretty hard drink to mess up.” And she had no idea what was in the coffee they served, but it couldn’t possibly be a normal drink. “It might be best in winter, but it hasn’t warmed up that much yet.” Admittedly, that could have just been Nekomata’s fire resistance talking, but it wasn’t like she needed a reason to enjoy herself.

“I guess I’ll have to take your word for it.” When Makoto glanced at him, he clarified. “I don’t really… feel the heat anymore. I mean, I can tell when it’s not there, I still get cold and stuff, but…” Right, so if she wanted to enjoy something hot in summer for some reason, she could just use Nekomata. Or any other fire-resistant Persona.

...Well, she assumed what he was talking about was caused by Hermes, anyway. There wasn’t much else it could be.

“That sounds like it could be useful, eventually,” She commented. “But back to the arcade. If we go there, even if your girlfriend sees us, she’ll be a lot less likely to get the wrong idea, won’t she?”

“Y-you don’t have to worry about that. Chidorita… doesn’t really go out much. And I haven’t even had the chance to ask her out, yet.” She noted that Junpei didn’t protest the use of the term ‘girlfriend’. She’d keep that fact in mind for later. More importantly, though…

“...Chidorita? That’s what you call her?” Then again, he did seem to be in the habit of nicknaming everyone he met… the girls, anyway.

“U-um, yeah… That’s not weird, is it?”

Makoto wasn’t sure why he was asking her that question. She couldn’t remember ever being close enough to someone for that. Aside from now, anyway, and she wasn’t entirely sure how she’d even managed that.

So she shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s your crush. Do what you want- it doesn’t matter to me.”

“...Yeah, I guess not.” What was with that pause? “...You know, Mako-tan, I don’t think I’ve ever hit it off with someone this quickly before.”

Oh, so it wasn’t just her this was strange to. “You too, huh? I’m just glad I was able to make friends at all, really. When I saw how well everyone else got along, I…”

“Don’t worry about it,” He told her, shrugging off her worries as if they weren’t there. “The rest of us weren’t always that close, either. Yuka-tan used to be at Senpai’s throat for every little thing. I’m sure they’ll realize you’re a great friend, eventually.”

It probably said a lot that she was looking for reassurance from the class clown. And it definitely said even more that it was working.

But she felt a bit better about the future, and the Magician Social Link ranked up to three, and maybe that was all that really mattered.

By this point, Makoto had more or less gotten used to Gekkoukan High, and the sort of things she could find there. But this was a new one to her. “Um… What are you two doing?”

“Trying to get out without being mobbed,” Akihiko replied. Next to him, Fuuka tensed, her face screwed up as if she were thinking hard about something.

“I think… we lost them,” She reported. “They’re… going down a different hallway now… most likely.”

He sighed. “Gonna have to take your word for it. We can’t sit here forever, especially since someone already found us. And, you know… I’ve got things to do today.”

“Senpai… Just because your ribs are better now doesn’t mean you should pick fights…” For a moment, Makoto wondered what Fuuka and everyone else had been told about Akihiko’s sudden recovery. She was pretty sure most people wouldn’t accept healing magic as an explanation.

She also wasn’t sure what the blue-haired girl meant by picking fights. Sure, it seemed like something Akihiko would do, but… He generally had more self-control than that. “Do I… want to know?”

“It’s not as bad as she makes it sound.” Somehow, that wasn’t exactly reassuring. “I just… have someone I want to talk to today. And I’m not going to try to pick a fight with him.” The fact that he had to explicitly declare that implied things.

“Is… that something you usually have to deal with?” If it was common enough for Fuuka to worry, then odds were Makoto should have been worrying, too.

He’d only just healed his ribs, he didn’t need anything else that could keep him from fighting the things that he actually should have been fighting.

She didn’t get a proper answer. Somehow, that was the most concerning part of all.

“Come on, let’s make a break for it before they come back.” Makoto was suddenly reminded of what Mitsuru had said about the boxing club’s myriad of former managers. So, of course, she followed Akihiko and Fuuka as they fled out the door.

Not that she thought Akihiko would have described it as fleeing, but… that was pretty much what it was.

“Sorry about dragging you into this,” He apologized afterwards. “Those girls are pretty…”

“Obsessed?” Fuuka suggested. “Natsuki-chan once said that they just don’t have anything better to do… And I guess she’d know.” Makoto had exactly zero idea what was going on anymore, but neither of them seemed to be upset by her presence, so she was just going to go along with it for as long as she could.

“Am I going to have anything to worry about?”

Akihiko shook his head. “You shouldn’t, so long as they didn’t get a good look at you.”

“Okay, good…” She was sure she’d worry more about it once she’d actually had time to process it. “...Didn’t you say you had somewhere to go?”

“O-oh, right.” He paused. “Actually… Shinji hasn’t met either of you yet, has he? Want to come along? There’s food involved.” Makoto had no idea who he was talking about, but she supposed that just proved his point.

Oh, well. It wasn’t like she’d had any plans to begin with.

Aki wasn’t good at talking to people. Shinjiro knew this, had had over a decade to get used to it. There was a reason that, until Mitsuru showed up, the two of them had been each other’s only friends. And half of it was that Aki just couldn’t handle social situations.

The other half of it was that people tended not to hang around someone who’d looked like a delinquent even when he’d still been attending school, but that bit wasn’t relevant at the moment.

The important thing was, Aki had never been good with people. And he’d certainly never talked about any other friends he might have made, though that might have just been his lack of communication skills. Or maybe he thought Shinjiro wouldn’t have been interested.

If it was the latter… well, that was just one more thing he’d never forgive himself for to throw on the pile. But it probably wasn’t the latter.

If only because, if he thought Shinjiro didn’t care about him having other friends, Aki wouldn’t decide to bring them to meet him. For some reason.

At first glance, neither girl seemed all that impressive. He silently labeled them as ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ until he could get their actual names. Assuming he cared to remember them.

“You didn’t tell me you’d be bringing friends.” Not that anything that happened at that school was really his business, anymore.

Aki shrugged. “It was… sort of last minute.”

“I was helping him hide from his fangirls,” Blue explained. “Or… I was trying to. I’m… not sure how well I did.”

“We didn’t get caught, right?” Red pointed out, fiddling with a shiny new red music player. “Honestly, it’s my own fault for getting dragged into this…”

Shinjiro would have told her to blame the fangirls, if she asked, but she didn’t ask, so he didn’t say it. She’d probably pick up on it in a week or two, anyway, if she was still friends with Aki by then.

Blue furiously shook her head. “Don’t say that! I should have figured out an escape route sooner…” As if she was used to it. For some reason.

There were exactly two reasons for that, and only one he’d ever actually try to confirm. “New team manager?” He didn’t even think people were applying for the position anymore, after the incident back in November. He hadn’t been there for it, but he’d heard all about it later.

Shinjiro had no idea what it was about Aki that inspired that kind of obsession. It was the sort of thing that was only supposed to happen in fiction.

“Mm-hm!” She nodded, surprisingly cheerful for a girl who had painted a giant glowing target onto her back. “I just started this week, but it’s already a lot more exciting than Music Club was.” So maybe she was just insane. Good to know.

“I’m not sure exciting is the best word for it…” Red muttered, before glancing at Aki. “So, um… introductions?” Because of course he had to be reminded.

“O-oh, right.” Aki still wasn’t quite looking at him. That probably wasn’t a good sign. “Fuuka, Makoto, this is Aragaki Shinjiro. He’s my brother. Sort of. It’s complicated.” That was one way to describe it. Particularly considering that neither of them had ever felt the need to say it out loud before.

Not my brother.

And especially since Castor had started being ornery about that for some reason. Shinjiro was still pretty sure it was just the pills, though. After all, as strange as he may have been acting, that was definitely Aki in front of him.

“...I see.” Red seemed satisfied by that, though she was still looking at him more attentively than either of the other two. “It’s nice to meet you, Aragaki-san. I’m Yuki Makoto.” Okay, that was one name down. If she was Aki’s friend, he’d have to actually try and remember it.

Not that he was discarding the possibility of some random girl getting caught up in fleeing from the horde. It certainly seemed like something that could happen.

“A-and I’m Yamagishi Fuuka,” Blue finished, still not making full eye contact with him. “Akihiko-senpai has… told me a lot about you.” And he’d definitely have to remember her name, because if Aki was willing to just tell her things, she was probably someone that he actually liked.

“Wish I could say the same.” Because really, if Aki was going to keep bugging him about things, he could at least mention things Shinjiro would like to hear, like him having other friends now.

“Sorry.” Aki actually looked apologetic, which was more than he could say for some of those other times. “There just… wasn’t any time.”

“...Didn’t you say you met Fuuka-chan last year?” Yuki asked. Aki and Yamagishi both winced.

“Yeah, but… It’s been really busy.” Shinjiro doubted that.

“If you have time to criticize my life choices, you have time to mention that you have friends now.” Still, this probably wasn’t worth fighting about. Yet. Maybe after Aki’s friends had gone home.

Even then, he didn’t think he’d bother. If Aki had somehow figured out enough social skills to be able to talk to other people, that could only be a good thing.

Under ordinary circumstances, Akihiko deciding to invite the girls along would have led to, at most, a very awkward meal that they’d all privately vow to never repeat. Of course, these weren’t ordinary circumstances, even if only half of the people at the table really knew about it.

Glancing around, it was pretty easy to see just how unbalanced everyone’s knowledge of each other was. Akihiko and Fuuka both knew they had Personas, and that Shinji and Makoto had Personas. Shinji and Makoto didn’t know about each other’s Personas, or Fuuka’s, but they both knew that Akihiko had one. And, of course, Shinji had no idea that Akihiko knew about the pills he was taking, or that he’d seen him die, or that he’d gained a new resolve as the consolation prize for losing the best friend he’d ever had.

And none of these things really mattered, in the context of all of them just wanting food. Except that, of course, it would have been nice for them to have a proper conversation at some point, and the only thing that all four of them had in common was Personas.

Eventually, however, something had to give. “So, how do the two of you know Aki, anyway?” Shinji asked. “He’s not exactly the social type.”

“We live in the same building,” Makoto explained, which she probably didn’t expect to clarify things as much as they actually did.

Fuuka, however, had no such excuse. “Well… Last year, some of the girls in my class locked me in the school gym overnight. Akihiko-senpai helped me get out.” Then again, maybe they wouldn’t make the connection.

If they did, neither of them let on. “I guess that makes sense,” Shinji said. “I can’t even remember the last time he just went up and talked to someone.”

“Maybe you’d notice it happening if you were actually around more often,” Akihiko grumbled, wondering why he had ever thought that any of this was a good idea.

“Not a chance.” Well. He’d figured it was a long shot. This just meant he needed a different approach.

If only he could figure out what that approach would be.

As irritatingly cryptic as Igor could be, as incredibly unintuitive the process of fusing Personas was, the Velvet Room was still one of Makoto’s favorite places to visit in Iwatodai.

Part of it was the music. Part of it was the small tidbits of information about Personas Elizabeth shared after she fused them. And part of it was the fact that the twins were excellent conversationalists… sort of.

“The world outside of the Velvet Room is such an incredible place…” Elizabeth mused. “Theo, you’ve never really been outside before, have you?”

“I have not,” The man replied, almost wilting underneath his sister’s gaze. “Aside from that one festival, and I’m… not sure that counts.” There was probably a story here, but Makoto wasn’t sure she wanted to hear it.

“I see…” She turned to Makoto then, and that was somehow enough to scare her despite the various horrors that lurked within Tartarus. “Miss Makoto, I have a request to ask of you. If you would please take my brother so that he can get some basic experience with the human world, I will give you an item to let you fuse a new, powerful Persona.”

Honestly, she got the feeling that it would be rather hazardous to her health if she refused. “Um… when would you like me to do this?”

“Oh, whenever you have free time.”

Theo seemed to be more than a little upset by this. “Sister, Miss Makoto doesn’t have to do this if she doesn’t want to.”

“It’s not really a problem,” She said, only partially because she could feel a golden glare without even having to look Elizabeth’s way. All things considered, Theo seemed like the safer one to take out in public. “I’m sure I can make time.”

“And this won’t get in the way of your Social Links?” What Social Links? Barely any of the people she was supposed to work with were willing to approach her, and she didn’t know what she could do to get their attention. She was sure she’d figure it out eventually, but… at the moment, she didn’t really have anything taking up a lot of her time.

Which meant that she was going to end up taking Theo around the mall. Well, there were probably worse ways to spend an afternoon.

This was a terrible idea. The second Theo had stepped out into the mall, he’d started staring around like she had the first time she saw Tartarus. Which, even if it was his first time seeing it, was bound to draw attention.

“So, this is the Paulownia Mall…” Makoto was glad there weren’t that many people around to notice them. “It’s exactly how I imagined it.”

His excitement was palpable, even though it had been his sister to suggest this little outing. 

“You’ve barely even seen anything,” Makoto pointed out. “Shouldn’t you walk around a bit before saying this sort of thing?” She regretted saying it immediately, but it was the truth, wasn’t it?

“I suppose so,” Theo agreed, slowly venturing into the main area of the mall. Immediately, his eyes alighted upon the centerpiece. “What is that over there?”

“...You mean the water fountain?” Well, she had been warned…

“An aqueous duct in a place like this? The dwellers of this world must get thirsty easily.”

“...Actually, I don’t know if it’s safe to drink from that…” Makoto wondered how long this would last. And why she was going along with this to begin with. “I mean, that’s not what it’s for! The drinking fountains are on the second floor.”

Theo seemed shocked to hear this, but he hid it well. “I-I know its true purpose, of course!” He insisted. She didn’t think he did. “Why… it’s meant to wash one’s hands!”

“We have sinks for that.” She felt sort of bad for him, but… best not to let him carry on with his misconceptions.

“O-oh…” Theo visibly deflated, but he perked up again quickly enough. “In that case, Miss Makoto, could you tell me what the purpose of this structure is?”

Honestly, she didn’t have an immediate answer for that. It had never been something that she’d had to think about before. “It’s… there to look nice, I guess.” She couldn’t really give a better answer than that.

“It’s just a decoration…? I see.” Theo seemed disappointed for some reason. Makoto had no idea what Elizabeth had been telling him, and maybe it was better that way.

However, despite whatever about the fountain had failed him, he regained his energy immediately when he saw the next thing to catch his interest. “And what, pray tell, is this facility over here?”

“You mean the police station?” She was glad she wouldn’t need to buy new weapons any time soon. She probably wouldn’t be able to set foot back into the mall for over a week.

“So that’s what it’s called. These photographs… Most Wanted… Reward?” And she could just see everything spiralling even further downhill. “I see... So the concept of subjugation requests as not unknown here…”

“We don’t kill them.” Makoto wasn’t sure she had to clarify that point, but it really was best to be safe. “Society tends to frown on that kind of thing.”

“I see...” Theo nodded, though Makoto wasn’t going to make any bets on him actually understanding. “If that’s the case, then these must require a greater amount of skill. If there are hunters of such talent in this world, perhaps I may put in a request of my own… But, on second thought, perhaps not. I already have you, our finest guest, for that.”

“Do you have any other guests?” She asked. She didn’t think anyone else could see the room.

A nod. “I believe you have already met him, actually. He does not often visit, though, and when he does he is rarely willing to entertain a conversation.” Was he talking about the blue-haired boy?

Before she could ask, however, Theo had already found his next point of interest. “This… could this be the ‘club’ of rumor?”

...Of course he’d managed to find his way to Escapade. Though that wasn’t the part that Makoto was concerned with. “Rumor?”

“Yes, my sister has told me about this. ‘Dancers, dictated by the sway of one’s inner passions… a subterranean garden of uninhibited spectacle.’” That certainly did sound like something Elizabeth would say. “...Though, this marks my first time seeing it in person. Shall we go inside?”

“...It doesn’t open for another three hours,” She pointed out. Honestly, this whole experience was making her feel like she was there just to ruin Theo’s day.

“I-it’s closed?” Case in point…

“Even if it were open, I don’t think I’d want to go in,” Makoto admitted. “It’s… I like music, but dancing’s not really my thing.” It wasn’t like she’d never tried, it just… wasn’t something she could get enthusiastic about. “Though… do you want to go see the arcade?” Surely he’d enjoy trying to figure out how the games worked.

“Arc… ade? A series of arches?” Okay, this was just sad.

“It’s… a bit different from that, but you’ll enjoy it, I’m sure of it!” Something good had to come out of today, right? “I think they have a quiz game out today, and I’m really good at that one. Come on, I’ll show you!”

This suggestion led Makoto to realize a lot of things, such as that Theo kept obscene amounts of spare coins in his pockets and that, despite his general lack of awareness of how the world worked, he did just as well on the trivia questions as she did.

She enjoyed herself so much that, by the time he left, she’d completely forgotten to ask about the blue-haired boy.

Not that she had to ask Theo about him, because the boy showed up in her room once again.

“What are you doing here?” She grumbled, wondering if she’d be justified in hitting him with her pillow. The boy shrugged, sitting down in her chair like he belonged there.

“What do you think of everyone?” He asked, as if he hadn’t randomly appeared in Makoto’s room in the middle of the night, never mind that she was always awake for the Dark Hour anyway.

“You… mean the people here, right?” She checked, and received another shrug in return. Honestly, it was as if he was trying to be as unhelpful as possible. “I… guess they’re nice enough. I mean, Junpei-kun’s pretty fun to be around.”

“So, you like them?” Makoto had no idea why the boy was so invested in this.

“Maybe? I don’t… really know them all that well.” Junpei was the only one so far who had really opened up to her.

He sighed. “I guess that’s fair.” And then, as though it were a perfectly normal way to change the subject, he asked, “So, do you remember what I told you last time?”

“You mean, about the end of the world?” She still wasn’t anywhere near over that.

The boy nodded, with a satisfied sort of look on his face. “Yes, that. It’s not exactly a new thing. Things have been building up to this for… a very long time, now.” Because of course he couldn’t be specific about anything.

“And you’re only saying this now.”

“I never had the chance before.” Makoto wanted to point out that he’d had plenty of opportunity the last time he’d been around, but fighting over semantics probably wouldn’t be a productive use of her time. So much as anything in the Dark Hour could be productive.

Still, if he was allowed to randomly change the subject, so was she. “You’ve been to the Velvet Room, haven’t you?”

He nodded, which was probably the only straight answer she’d ever gotten out of him. “It’s not a place where many people go. But I always liked it there, even if Elizabeth could be… unnerving.” Well, that was certainly one way to put it.

But if he liked it there… Theo said their other guest didn’t come by very often. And that still didn’t answer the question of who he was, exactly. “You know, I… never quite got your name.”

The boy stood up, and pushed her chair back under her desk. “Sorry, Red,” He began, though he didn’t sound very sorry at all. “But I don’t think it’s time for that, quite yet.”

And then he was gone, leaving Makoto to decide for a fact that she definitely didn’t like him. Not that she was only just realizing it, but…

If he showed up again, she was definitely throwing her pillow at him.

Chapter Text

On a nice, sunny afternoon in the middle of spring, a small boy with brown hair sat on a bench at a shrine, petting a white dog with bright red eyes.

“I tried finding Aragaki-san yesterday,” Amada Ken spoke, scratching his best friend behind the ears. “It… didn’t go very well.”

“Arf?”

“People don’t like kids randomly trying to go into dark alleys.” He could understand why they were concerned, even if he was technically the oldest kid at his school, but… that didn’t make it much better.

The dog hopped up onto the bench and lied down with his head in Ken’s lap.

“...Thanks, Koromaru.” He kept petting the dog. He was soft and fluffy. “I guess I could ask the others for help, but… I haven’t seen them in a while. And… it’d be kind of weird to just go up to them now. Have they come to see you at all yet?”

Koromaru just whined.

“...I guess they’re all busy, then.” Or trying to appear like nothing had changed, or… okay, there were a lot of reasons that they wouldn’t be around. Even if it was sort of lonely with just the two of them. “Have you seen Aragaki-san yet?”

“Arf!” Well, that made one of them. Maybe Ken could just hang around there for a month or so…

“...I wonder what he’s doing now…”

Yoshino kept showing up. Shinjiro wasn’t entirely sure why, Jin and Takaya were nowhere to be seen, but apparently she’d decided to hang around him for some reason.

She didn’t talk a lot. Most of the time, she sat to the side and just sketched things. He hadn’t known she liked to draw, but then again, until the past month he’d been able to go about more or less completely ignoring her existence.

Even now, he could ignore her presence most of the time. It wasn’t like she was asking any more vaguely worrying questions about his family or anything.

Of course, that didn’t make the times when she did speak up any less weird. “I had an odd dream last month.”

“Oh?” He was supposed to show interest, right?

Emboldened, Yoshino continued. “It wasn’t a nightmare. But I don’t remember it very well. There’s only a few parts of it that are really clear to me.” Yes, this was how dreams normally went. Shinjiro had no idea why she was telling him this.

Still, it was probably best to humor her, if only because he knew that she could light him on fire if she really wanted to. “And did you like those parts?”

She nodded. “Someone listened to me. He said that he liked the things I drew. His powers were sort of like mine, but he wasn’t very good at hiding. He didn’t have the right personality.”

“What was wrong with it?”

“He was too loud.” Her reply was immediate, and answered exactly none of his questions. She started flipping through the pages of her sketchbook, which was a bit more normal. As much as anything that involved Yoshino holding a conversation could be considered normal. “But I don’t think it was a bad thing. It was… inspiring.”

Shinjiro still had no clue what was going on. “The dream or the person?”

“Both.” Okay, at least that was something they were on the same page about. Not so much anything else, but that seemed to be the new normal. “I have a drawing of his Persona, if you’d like to see it.”

He shrugged. “Why not?” It wasn’t like he had anything else to do. “Does it have a name, or anything?”

She nodded, and showed him the picture. The name was written there, just underneath it.

Hermes .

Makoto blinked at her phone, before shrugging and answering the call. “Junpei-kun?”

“Hey, Mako-tan,” He replied, as if it were perfectly normal to use a phone to talk to someone who was just on the floor above him. “Do you want to go to the sweet shop later? My treat.”

“Sure, I guess…” It wasn’t like she’d had any prior plans for the day or anything. “Just… why did you call me? We’re in the same building. You can just… come upstairs and knock on the door.”

For a moment, silence. And then, “I’m sort of scared of what Mitsuru-senpai would do to me if she saw me up there.”

Makoto supposed that was fair. While she’d never seen the older girl’s powers in action, she’d been assured several times that they weren’t something she wanted to mess with.

“All right, I’ll be downstairs in a minute.” And then she hung up, because no matter how good the reason, it would always be sort of dumb to use a phone to talk to someone who was just a flight of stairs away.

“You know, I kinda expected you to have a lot more to do this week,” Junpei commented. “You just… seem like that kind of busy person.”

Makoto wasn’t sure why he didn’t think she was busy. She had a job, studying, Tartarus… “Just because I don’t talk to a lot of people doesn’t mean I’m not doing a lot of things,” she pointed out. “It’s just that the things I do don’t really involve people.” She had him, she had the nice old couple at the bookstore, and she had Rio. That was all she really had time for at the moment.

Junpei seemed almost confused by this. “I know, it’s just… you feel like you should be surrounded by friends. And now that I said that, it sounds stupid, but…”

But it made sense. Sort of. She’d been told that having more Social Links would be important for her, even if she’d barely found any to make. The only place she could think of to look for more would be the dorm, and even Yukari seemed to hold her at arm’s length most of the time.

Maybe she was supposed to be able to make connections with them, and was just really bad at it. “It’s fine. I… sort of see what you mean, just… You’re the only one who’s been willing to really open up.”

It wasn’t like she’d never gone out in hopes of making new connections. But out of the ones she actually lived with, the only one she had a bond with was the one that had gone out and approached her. That probably said something.

For a moment, Junpei looked oddly downcast. However, just as quickly as it appeared, it was gone, and he shrugged as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “That’s just because they aren’t used to you yet. I’m sure they’ll open up eventually.”

People kept telling her that. Every time they did, Makoto found it harder to believe them.

”Akihiko-senpai? Could you help me with something?” Fuuka had her laptop open in front of her, which was vaguely concerning when she’d voluntarily become the school’s number one target for bullying, and was looking at whatever was on the screen with furrowed eyebrows.

He sat down next to her. “What is it?” It looked like a playlist, which was… interesting, but not something he thought he could really help with.

“This is… a full list of the songs written by a certain artist.” As she scrolled down, Akihiko noticed there were a lot of songs he recognized. Mostly from the same place.

“It’s the one who did ‘Mass Destruction,’ right?” He checked, just to be sure.

Fuuka didn’t look up from her computer. “Yes... and no. I got this playlist on my computer last year, and it was there, then, but… it isn’t anymore, and there’s some other songs missing, too. It’s like they don’t even exist.”

Except they did. There wasn’t anyone in SEES who didn’t have the lyrics to ‘Burn My Dread’ and ‘Mass Destruction’ memorized, after being forced to listen to it so many times. But, for some reason, neither of them were on the list.

...Well. He supposed there was one or two members of SEES who hadn’t memorized the lyrics. “Really? They’re just… gone?”

She nodded. “There’s also some songs I don’t remember from before, but… some of them seem familiar enough that I might just be imagining things.” She offered Akihiko an earbud, and he paused to listen to it.

“...I think Makoto might have this on her music player.” Though… it seemed familiar even beyond that, for some reason. Like he’d heard it at some sort of dance party or something.

But that was ridiculous. He didn’t go to dance parties. He’d never even been invited.

“I’m… not surprised.” Fuuka stopped the music. It was a shame. He liked that song. “A lot of things have changed, but… nobody feels that different than they used to. Even-” She cut herself off, shaking her head.

“...Fuuka?”

“...I don’t think Keisuke-senpai has changed much,” She finally said, her gaze falling from the screen to her keyboard. “Even if he’s in the Photography Club now. But... he doesn’t know me anymore.”

Akihiko tried to imagine a world where one of his friends had no idea who he was. Some of them were easier to picture than the others- he couldn’t see a world where Shinji didn’t know him at all- but none of it sat well with him.

“And… that’s why you’re not in the Music Club anymore?”

Fuuka bit her lip, while pulling up a website that had various recipes listed. That was probably a bad sign. “I don’t think I ever was.”

The noodles didn’t taste as good as they usually did, today. Makoto was willing to blame that on a bad encounter earlier, but the fact remained that she just didn’t have her usual appetite.

Then again, she and Junpei hadn’t really tried to start a proper conversation, or at least a more light-hearted one, so maybe they were partially to blame, too.

“...Mako-tan?” The awkward silence was finally broken, and time started moving again. “What were your parents like? I mean, I get if you don’t want to talk about it, but-”

“It’s fine.” At least they were talking now. “I don’t… really remember them, to be honest. I know just about none of my relatives agreed with them marrying each other, and that I look more like Mom did, but… I don’t have a lot of clear memories from before the accident.” She remembered that people had been confused by that, particularly when she hadn’t suffered any physical harm, but after a few years, it stopped really mattering. “Why do you ask?”

“Well… it’s just…” This line of conversation wasn’t making the meal any more enjoyable. “What happened earlier… It sort of reminded me of my dad.” Okay, so now they were both uncomfortable. Now what?

Say something.

Nekomata was being unhelpful. Makoto already knew she had to keep talking to him, she just didn’t know where to start. “Do you… want to talk about it?” Friends were more important than ramen, right?

She didn’t think she could get an unbiased opinion on that. At least, not from Junpei at the moment.

“I dunno what there is to talk about. I mean, he’s back at home wasting away, and I’m here with all of you guys. And… that’s all there is to it, right?” Junpei grinned, but his smile didn’t seem entirely real. The Magician Social Link ranked up once again. “Come on, I bet I can finish my bowl first!”

Well, no use dwelling on it at the moment. “You’re on!”

”I sort of wonder if we should have told Makoto-chan about this,” Yukari mused, peering through the windows of the bakery. “I mean, we don’t know her all that well, but…”

Junpei shook his head. “Mako-tan told me she has a Health Committee meeting today.”

“...I didn’t know she was in the Health Committee.”

“I think she just joined.” He paused. “Also, maybe we should have done this earlier. What sort of cake does Mitsuru-senpai like again?”

Akihiko shrugged. “I... think it might have been some sort of chocolate? Maybe?”

Yukari sighed and rested her head against the glass. “We’re not getting anywhere…”

“We could try texting to see what she’d want,” Fuuka suggested. “But then she’d probably figure out what we were doing.” It didn’t exactly require supernatural powers of observation. “But that might make some parts easier…”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s just…” She fidgeted in place for a moment, before continuing. “Do any of you actually know how old Mitsuru-senpai is going to be this year?”

Silence. The four of them glanced around at each other, desperately searching for answers.

Eventually, Akihiko sighed. “Maybe we should just skip the cake.”

Chapter Text

Mitsuru wanted them to report to the dormitory as soon as possible.

This probably meant SEES business. Makoto wondered, for a moment, if it had anything to do with the end of the world the blue-haired boy kept mentioning, but shrugged it off. The boy was probably just trying to mess with her, or something.

After all, if it were real, he’d at least have the decency to provide details, right?

Still, Mitsuru wanted everyone to return at the first opportunity. Which probably meant right after class, actually… “What do you think Senpai wants?” She found herself asking. “It’s not like we can go any higher up Tartarus.” And she didn’t think they were anywhere near powerful enough to attempt exploring Monad.

“Well, I know things can get really complicated around the full moon…” Yukari replied as they both watched Junpei struggle to put his books away. “Maybe she wants us to do something about that?”

“Or Akihiko-san just can’t handle sitting around for much longer,” Junpei suggested, having managed to snatch victory in his fight with the math textbook. “Come on, we won’t find out if we don’t get there.”

As the three of them passed the school store, Makoto noticed that Fuuka was there. “Three bottles of Yawn-B-Gone, please.” She wondered why anyone would need that much of it. Maybe Fuuka was planning on pulling some all-nighters or something.

Of course, that still left the question of price… but that didn’t matter. It probably didn’t have anything to do with her, anyway.

At the point where the currently-readily-available team was assembled, there was still quite a lot of time before midnight. Mitsuru took that as a sign that they were getting more efficient. They’d used to need the entire day to prepare for this sort of thing.

Yuki still didn’t seem to fully understand what was going on, but she’d learn, in time. She’d learn.

“Yukari, did you get everything we needed from the pharmacy?” Medicine, antidotes for various ailments- probably not what they were originally meant for, but they were all well past the point of caring- bandages, just about everything that could help deal with injuries caused by Shadows without having to slow down and actually eat something.

Yukari nodded. “They gave me a few odd looks, but I told them I was restocking the first-aid kit. They still seemed pretty concerned, though, we should probably send somebody else next time.”

And this appeared to be what finally peaked Yuki’s curiosity. “Next time?”

“Shadows get really agitated during the full moon,” Akihiko explained, shifting in place with all the excitement of someone who hadn’t gotten a proper battle in a month. Or any battles against Shadows at all, come to that.

Mitsuru made a mental note to recommend that Yuki take him into the tower at some point. Having an outlet for his stress could only be good for him.

Or it could result in him trying to electrocute something that would only be healed from it, but that had only happened five times, anyway. She was sure he knew better now.

Still, it was probably best to make sure everyone had the most immediately-relevant information.

“It’s possible to determine where larger Shadows will appear by analyzing patterns in Apathy Syndrome cases.” That was the excuse they’d agreed on, right? It was sort of true, anyway…

...Wait, had they even bothered thinking up an excuse? Maybe Akihiko was right that they needed more of a plan.

Whatever. This was the story they were using now, and they all just had to stick with it.

Mitsuru took her motorcycle ahead of the rest of them. Makoto wasn’t sure why, she couldn’t exactly do anything until the Dark Hour began, and it wasn’t like just one of them would be able to do much. But given that Mitsuru was the one who paid her, it didn’t seem worth questioning, even if the older girl had been around.

They managed to catch up to her within a few minutes, apparently even being the only person physically capable of being on the road could not compare to her respect for the speed limit, but the point still stood that she’d taken the bike and left them.

Still, it was hard for Makoto to keep her thoughts on being mad. Mostly because she was too busy being confused. Because, when they arrived at the station Mitsuru had told them to go to, someone else appeared at the exact same time.

“I wouldn’t have thought you’d come here,” Mitsuru stated, looking Fuuka over. “Even if you knew we’d be here, you’d also know it would be safer to stay away.”

Nobody was questioning how their friend was out in the Dark Hour. Maybe they already knew. Maybe they just couldn’t be bothered.

Maybe Makoto needed to stop worrying about things that didn’t involve the Shadows she was meant to kill.

“Sorry if I’m just getting in the way…” The newcomer fidgeted in place for a moment, before turning to face the group as a whole. “But… I wanted to see if there was anything I could do to help.”

“Well, I guess there’s one way to find out.” Akihiko handed his Evoker to Fuuka. “Do you think you can use this?”

A decisive nod, faster than Makoto would ever expect from someone who’d been told to fire a gun at their own head. “I-I’ll do it.”

When she fired it, the name of her Persona was barely a whisper. “Juno.” And then a flash of blue light.

Makoto wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting to see. Everyone’s Personas looked different from each other, and just about the only thing her collection shared was an affinity for fire spells. But, somehow, Juno didn’t line up with any of it.

Juno was not intimidating. Not in the same way as Hermes, or the thing she’d summoned on the roof, or Artemisia, the one time she’d gotten a good look at her. She didn’t have the same elegance as Isis, or Eurydice, or even Nekomata.

She didn’t even float above the ground, the way that other Personas did. She just… stood there, Fuuka encased in a protective bubble that had all sorts of lights dancing across it.

The girl inside the Persona didn’t seem confused by this at all. It was a power driven mainly by instinct, so it made sense, but… Something was different about this one, and that was clear to see from the very start.

“How is it?” Makoto ventured, not sure what else she was supposed to say in this situation. It wasn’t like anyone had ever handed out a manual, or anything.

“I can see everything.” The other girl’s voice was everywhere, echoing out of the air around them just as much as it came from Juno. Sort of like what Mitsuru did, but… more. Louder, fuller, from more places at once. “You, the Shadows… I can help with this.”

Mitsuru nodded, looking more pleased than she ever had before, in the short time that Makoto had known her. “I see… In that case, as Akihiko is letting you borrow his Evoker, I trust the two of you would be all right staying here on your own?”

Akihiko blinked. “...You’re still mad, aren’t you?”

She declined to answer. Makoto was pretty sure the rest of them were supposed to take that as a confirmation.

But that wasn’t her problem at the moment. Right then, she had a mission to lead.

Things went well roughly until they all boarded the train. Honestly, the fact that the whole thing had exactly one open door should probably have been a warning sign, but Makoto had been a bit preoccupied making sure everyone knew what they could all do. And reminding them that, inside an enclosed space, attacks that would hit multiple targets were maybe not the best idea.

But mostly the first one. “Does anyone have spells that would actually make it easier to get through the train?” She checked, because she didn’t want to have to deal with that bottleneck any more than necessary.

“I can use a spell to temporarily turn Shadows to our side,” Mitsuru offered, which was good to know. “We could use that as a chance to get by them without having to fight.”

“All right. We can try that, then.” It felt a bit strange for Makoto to be giving orders to the one who was supposedly in charge, but apparently that was what she was meant to do now.

So they had a basic plan. Not much of one, but it was one that would let them focus on their objective- an unusually large Shadow at the front.

Then the door closed behind them and it all went downhill from there.

Not much moved, during this time. It was nothing but the moment between one day and the next, stretched out into an hour, but with no added activity to fill the gap.

Chidori was used to it. She’d lived in this time for as long as she could remember, a part of her life in her dreams just as much as the waking world. Jin and Takaya had managed to fall asleep for once, leaving her free to wander, except there wasn’t much to see.

There was no movement. There was no light. Nothing but the rare Shadow wandering the street and the full moon hanging overhead.

The moon was important. She couldn’t say why, she just knew that it was.

And then, something changed. Chidori looked up, saw the train tracks, saw the train barreling by, lights on and everything. During the Dark Hour.

What could be inside?

That was a good question. Even if it came from the one who would be giving her the answer. Her Evoker seemed almost to shine under the moonlight as she raised it, intent on finding out what could have caused the rules of this time to be broken so flagrantly.

“Persona.” Medea came to her so much more easily now, as though she’d been waiting patiently to emerge this whole time. Casting out her net, too, was simple- her Persona normally preferred to hide herself away, and to brush someone’s mind was the very opposite of that.

As for the situation on the train… the large, powerful Shadow came as no surprise. If something was different in the Dark Hour, it was usually caused by a Shadow. Or by Persona Users, and there were a number of them on board, as well. Most of them familiar to her.

One in particular. A mind that she had only sensed before in dreams, or what felt like them, but that was already more dear to her than anything else in the world.

“Junpei…”

”...Did you hear something?” Akihiko wasn’t sure if Fuuka was talking to him or the others. With the way she described her powers, it could have been either, really.

So he paused to listen. Nothing sounded out of the ordinary, so much as anything in the Dark Hour could be considered ordinary. Actually, aside from the two of them, there was no sound at all.

Which was supposed to be normal. Sound meant movement, and during the Dark Hour, nothing ever moved. It was just that Akihiko was still getting used to the Dark Hour being silent again.

“...I don’t hear anything,” He finally replied. “So there’s probably nothing on our end.” He knew his senses might not have been the most reliable, but he was more worried about hearing things that weren’t there than failing to hear what other people said.

Literally, at least. Metaphorically... he still wasn’t sure what it was his fangirls wanted.

“Really?” He couldn’t really see her, Juno was doing a pretty good job of blocking her out, but he was still pretty sure Fuuka was frowning. “But if no one there heard it… and no one here heard it… What did I hear?”

“Maybe the train hit a Shadow?” He suggested, because it seemed like something that would happen a lot, if trains ran through the Dark Hour.

Thinking about it, that was probably why trains didn’t normally run through the Dark Hour. Aside from the fact that there was no one to operate them.

“It… sounded like a voice.” Okay, he probably couldn’t help her there. Among other things, with her powers, it would be impossible to tell if she was hearing things that were far away, or just hearing things in general. “...Oh, you’ve reached the big Shadow!” And she was no longer talking to him. If she’d ever been in the first place. “Be careful, Mitsuru-senpai, ice won’t work… though I guess you don’t have that much to worry about, either.”

Suddenly, Akihiko no longer minded having to stay behind as much.

As it turned out, a crowded train car full of Shadows was not Makoto’s first choice for how to spend her Dark Hour. Or her second, her third, her fourth… it didn’t even manage to beat out the time she’d been cut off mid-sentence and had to write down what she’d been planning to say and hope the person she was talking to didn’t notice. At least then there was a comfortable chair to wait out the hour in, and survival didn’t seem near-impossible.

At the very least, she did have a target to work out her grievances on. A large one, one that needed to be defeated, one that was keeping them from putting on the breaks and fighting in a slightly less treacherous environment.

Slightly. There was only so much that could fix the issue of large amounts of fire being thrown around in close quarters, after all. And ice, but Akihiko wasn’t there, so it wasn’t so much of a problem.

“Junpei-kun, try to get closer to the big one,” Makoto ordered, calling Nekomata to her side. “We should try and warm things up, shouldn’t we?” Mitsuru wouldn’t have anything to worry about. She was mostly fending off those Shadows that thought they could sneak up behind them.

Besides, it wasn’t like her contributions to the temperature were helping matters any.

Maybe they were going about this the wrong way. Maybe they just needed to get the Shadow to move so they could stop the train. But Makoto didn’t know how she could do that.

...Maybe she could just slash at it and hope to hit a lever or something? Its body seemed flat enough… At the very least, trying probably wouldn’t make things worse.

“Congratulations on surviving, I guess.” Where was her pillow? She needed to hit the boy with it. This was not something she needed to deal with five minutes before the end of the Dark Hour.

“You know, if you’re going to keep showing up here, you could at least give me your name.” It couldn’t be that difficult. Unless he didn’t have one, in which case Makoto was sympathetic, but he could just make one up.

The boy just shook his head. “I… don’t think that would be a good idea at the moment.”

“I’m starting to get the feeling you don’t trust me.” Admittedly for good reason, since the second Makoto got to her bed, she was hitting him with her pillow.

“I don’t know how you can say that. I’ve already trusted you with something a lot more important.”

“Like what? The end of the world?” She still wasn’t sure if she should have believed him or not. And, look, there was her bed.

The boy ducked out of the way of the thrown pillow. She’d have to do better next time. “...I guess that could be part of it, if you want it to be. You’re the one who is choosing this fate, after all.” He didn’t say anything about the pillow.

“...I still need something to call you, you know.” Sure, she’d never talk about him to anyone else, she didn’t want them to think she was crazy, but…

“...I guess so. In that case, you can call me Blue.” With that, there was another crash, and another tarot card.

The Judgement Arcana… She wondered what that could possibly mean. And then, before she could ask Blue about it, the Dark Hour faded, and he wasn’t there anymore.

Typical. Makoto didn’t know why she’d expected anything else.

Chapter Text

One of the things that Makoto figured was unique to her experience with Personas was Skill Cards. They were odd things, gifted to her by her Personas after reaching a particular level of power, and she could use them to transfer that power between different sides of herself.

It was something Elizabeth had told her to make proper use of. She chose to interpret that as acquiring enough Agi cards so that all of her Personas could throw fireballs around.

Makoto didn’t have a lot of the cards available to her, and was constantly overworking the shrine spirit in order to make sure she had enough, but she was sure that this was how things always would be.

And then she turned on the television one morning to find that the shopping channel was selling Skill Cards that she did not yet have.

This raised a lot of questions. However, she was less likely to get answers to these than she was to actually learn things about her teammates.

At least this weirdness would probably only be a danger to her wallet.

In another world, maybe Makoto wouldn’t have been incredibly surprised by Yukari wanting to spend time with her after school. As it was, she kept telling herself that this wasn’t shocking, that it was only natural they’d end up talking in normal life eventually.

No matter how many times she told herself that, it was still weird.

Still, she pushed that thought to the side for now. It didn’t matter.

“You know, Makoto-chan, I was sort of worried about you,” Yukari admitted, staring down into her drink. “You’d only just gotten here, and Mitsuru-senpai was already expecting you to act as our leader.”

“It was a shock to me, too. If Junpei-kun weren’t here, I think she would have given the job to you. Or Akihiko-senpai, if he didn’t have his Evoker confiscated.”

“Those are some pretty big ifs…” She trailed off, before shaking her head. “...I’m not sure I would have been a good leader, either. After everything that happened the other night… I’m glad it’s you.”

Makoto decided not to ask her teammate what she’d thought of her before. “...It’s not just me, though. Things went well because everyone was there.” Yukari to heal, Mitsuru for ice, Fuuka on support. Junpei to hit things until they stopped moving. And had there been a spare Evoker around, Akihiko would probably have done something, as well.

Not that she knew what it would have been, when she hadn’t even seen his Persona yet, but it was safe to assume that one of the apparently most-experienced members of the team would have been able to contribute in some manner.

“...You’re right,” Yukari agreed. “We’re all supposed to be a team that works together. It’s… still hard to remember that, sometimes…”

There was probably a story there, but it was a story that Makoto would ask for another time.

Right then, she just wanted the random tarot cards to get out of her head.

”I’ll see you tomorrow, Maiko-chan.” Ken watched the small girl leave, having apparently played enough for today. He didn’t know her all that well, but the people he did know hadn’t been talking to him, so he’d had to gather the courage to meet someone new.

However, maybe he’d done so a bit too late, or perhaps he’d acted a bit too soon, because someone he knew had just appeared, and apparently decided that it would be a good idea to approach.

“Mitsuru-san!” Next to him, Koromaru’s ears pricked up, and he, too, greeted their friend with a happy bark, running up to greet her.

“Amada. Koromaru.” Mitsuru’s tone was all business, which would have been somewhat insulting after all this time if not for the fact that Mitsuru was always a consummate professional. “How have you been?”

Ken shrugged, because there really weren’t a lot of ways to put these sorts of things into words. “It’s been… pretty normal, I guess? Only, normal for other people, not…” Not their normal.

And the distinction was important, because Ken didn’t think he would have lasted the past month if things had been their version of normal. Being isolated without any method of self-defense could be a death sentence for a child in the Dark Hour, if Shadow activity was anything even vaguely resembling common.

...Okay, he needed to change the subject now, preferably before that bit of information occurred to Mitsuru. “How have you been?” He tried not to sound like he was accusing her of abandoning him, except that he sort of was. The least she could have done was send someone to check up on him.

“Busy.” Mitsuru’s voice carried exhaustion, even past the perfect mask she wore in public. “Yamagishi has been helping, somewhat. Akihiko has not. And Yuki…” She trailed off, as though she were desperately searching for whatever words would best fit the situation, except that didn’t make sense because Mitsuru always knew what to do. Or, at least, she was better than this at faking it.

“Is something wrong with Makoto-san?” It was a bad sign if something happened to the Wild Card at the start of the year, wasn’t it?

“...Why don’t we find someplace to sit down? It’s a bit of a long story.”

If she were asked, Mitsuru would have said that her reason for not speaking to Ken for over a month was due to a combination of Akihiko-induced stress, trying to figure out exactly what about this world was different from what she was used to, and being busy assisting Yamagishi in uploading songs that no longer existed onto the internet. With everything that was occurring, the fact that one of their number was both missing and available had simply slipped her mind.

Still, she had eventually gotten around to approaching him, had actually sought him out the second she realized she could do so, and she would argue that was the most important part. 

Still, Ken was an attentive listener, not even all that frustrated about the many questions he had that Mitsuru couldn’t answer because it was a mystery to her as well.

“...I see,” He finally said, once she was done explaining. “That sounds like a lot.”

“It’s been… very trying, yes. Particularly when it comes to figuring out what we can tell people. Which is actually another reason I’m here.” On to the topic that was both more risky, but potentially rewarding. “I… have a favor I’d like to ask.”

“What is it?” Ken asked, while Koromaru perked up, always eager to please.

One of the things Mitsuru would admit to as a weakness was that, while her ideas made perfect sense in her head, it took time to translate them into something that made sense to others her age, let alone however old Ken was.

That was, however, no reason not to try. “I was thinking that you could come to the dormitory every so often, if you need someplace safe or relatively quiet. If you were to spend more time around, then maybe…”

“...I get to come home?” She didn’t know why she’d been afraid of him saying no. Clearly she’d had nothing to worry about. Aside from, maybe, him being a bit too happy about it.

“Only during the day,” She quickly clarified, if only to keep him from wandering outside during the Dark Hour. “At least for now. We can discuss doing things officially later. But if anyone who wouldn’t know otherwise asks, you’ll have been visiting for the past year and a half, and it was simply never relevant to anyone else.” Mitsuru wasn’t fully sure Shinjiro would believe it, if only because Akihiko was terrible at keeping secrets from him, but the sooner they started, the more convincing it would be.

Besides, it would be nice to have almost everyone in one place again.

After volleyball practice ended, Makoto helped Rio clean up. “You must be really dedicated,” Her friend told her.

“You think so?” She didn’t think she’d been putting in that much more effort than anyone else, she couldn’t even find time to show up most days. Maybe she should have pointed out the schedule conflict to Mitsuru before accepting the Student Council position, but she still found time to go to both of them.

Rio nodded. “You’re improving a lot faster than everyone else,” She pointed out. “...Actually, you might even be outdoing me.”

As it should be.

Ara Mitama was more trouble than it was worth, sometimes.

“I just… get a lot of exercise.” Even if Mitsuru had suspended all expeditions to Tartarus until after midterms, Makoto was pretty sure running up large numbers of staircases in under an hour counted as more than enough exertion for the average person. “It’s… sort of a big deal, at the dorms, that we all get enough exercise.”

This gave Rio pause. “I guess that explains Kirijo-senpai’s figure,” She stated. “But you’d think that sort of information would be all around the school.”

“You would, but I don’t even know what happens in the dorms. I just live there.”

Makoto’s words were more true than Rio could have ever imagined. Sometimes, Makoto wasn’t sure she herself understood how true those words were.

But this was a point in the week where she could push everything aside and be normal for once.

It was a bright, sunny day.

Of course it was. Bright and sunny was the weather forecast for most of the year, providing plenty of time to enjoy outside, for someone who didn’t mind the heat all that much.

And Chidori didn’t mind the heat. On the contrary, she revelled in it. The warmer it was, the healthier she would be, and on the very hottest days, no injury would remain for more than a minute.

Today, however, it wasn’t all that hot. It was still only spring, after all. But it was still a nice day, so she decided she’d go find a bench to draw on.

It wasn’t like Jin and Takaya would notice she was missing. Not as long as she was back by nightfall.

Maybe not even then.

Chidori was pulled away from that depressing line of thought when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. A boy with a baseball cap, who had stopped walking to stare in her direction. It seemed like something was going right today.

“Is there a reason you’re looking at me like that?” She asked, meeting Junpei’s gaze as calmly as she possibly could. She’d known him in a dream, and was encountering him in reality, and had absolutely no idea what was supposed to come next. “You’re free to sit here, if you’d like.”

Junpei just blinked. Maybe she was doing this wrong? It wasn’t like she’d had much experience, before, dealing with people who she actually wanted to like her.

“I-Um- Okay, then!” He sat down next to her, and immediately Chidori was hit by the sensation of things being made right, as if a missing part of herself had been restored by this boy’s presence. “I was just… wondering what you were drawing.”

She didn’t think he’d believe her if she told him. “I am… drawing things from a dream I had once, so I don’t forget them. If I showed them to you, you wouldn’t understand.” Or maybe he would, and he’d think she was creepy, which would really not set a good tone for future interactions.

Junpei chewed on his lip, not quite looking at her. “...Can I see them anyway? I mean, I get if you don’t want to, we just met and all, but…” But he was rambling, now, his attention drifting.

“Junpei?” Chidori ventured, hoping his name would be enough to get his attention, and that he’d forget he’d never given it to her. Assuming, of course, that she wasn’t just assigning a name to her dream’s lookalike.

He froze. Maybe addressing him was a mistake. “...Chidorita?”

Or maybe it wasn’t. “...I thought I told you not to call me that.” She was pretty sure, at this point, that he wasn’t going to stop, and she didn’t entirely want him to, but it still had to be said.

Especially when it made the boy from her dreams look at her like she’d hung the stars.

Chapter Text

On a nice, bright, sunny day, two Persona Users with a fixation on fire sat next to each other on a bench. They stared at each other, neither fully believing that the last few sentences of their conversation had actually happened.

Finally, Junpei broke the silence. “I… didn’t think you’d remember me,” He admitted. “Especially given…”

“I thought it was just a dream, until recently.” She still wasn’t sure this was real, honestly. It just seemed far too good to be true. “But then I sensed you during the full moon. It… still doesn’t make much sense.”

“What do you mean?” Takaya would tell her not to elaborate further. It would be a sign of weakness, for when the Magician inevitably betrayed her. Two months and a dream ago, Chidori would have been in complete agreement.

On the other hand, Junpei had already given Chidori more attention in the past five minutes than Takaya had for over a week. “I don’t remember all that much. I know your face, and your voice, but very little beside that.” She glanced back down at her sketchbook, wondering how she could keep him from seeing just how many times she’d drawn his face to ensure that she wouldn’t forget it.

Some of the happiness vanished from Junpei’s face. Not all of it, but enough to make Chidori wonder if she’d done something wrong. Even if he seemed to be less disappointed and more incredibly confused.

She didn’t get the chance to ask about it, because that was about the moment that his phone rang.

“...Crap, I forgot about studying for midterms! Yuka-tan and Mitsuru-senpai are going to kill me!” Something told her it would be a good idea to just let him leave.

They could discuss oddly-realistic dreams when he wasn’t busy.

One of the things that was absolutely required for last-minute study sessions, particularly in large groups of people, was snacks. Sadly, there were no snacks in the building, so someone had to run to the nearest store and get some. Makoto had drawn the short straw.

When she got back, everyone was gathered with their study materials, including, for some reason, a little boy.

“I’m back!” She’d ignore the kid for now. “Is everything going all right so far?”

“It’s better than it was at this time last year,” Mitsuru replied. “At least in the sense that Iori isn’t crying loudly enough to be heard from two floors away.”

“Junpei-san really did that?” The kid asked, looking up in surprise.

Mitsuru nodded. “It was very distracting. Which is why I’m very glad that it’s not happening again.”

Makoto decided that it wasn’t worth asking about, instead setting down the bags of snacks. “So, does anyone want to explain why there’s a kid here?” She would have understood if their visitor was, say, Fuuka, but this was an actual child. There wasn’t much point in him being at a high school study session.

“That’s right, you haven’t been introduced yet,” Yukari realized. “This is Ken-kun. He stops by sometimes.”

“You’re Makoto-san, right?” The boy checked. She nodded. “It’s nice to meet you. The others told me a lot about you.”

“...Those were good things, right?” She asked. Makoto didn’t seriously think that the others would badmouth her to a kid, but she also wasn’t particularly close to any of them aside from Junpei, so it was impossible to be sure.

Ken shrugged. “They said you’re easy to get along with, but also that they think you like lighting fires a bit too much.” She supposed that was fair, even if a random kid had little business knowing about her affinity for fire.

“I don’t really burn anything.” This probably wasn’t necessary, but it was probably best to be safe. “...And Junpei-kun has a hotter temper than me, anyway.”

Junpei had his face buried in his notebook. “...Guess I can’t argue with that. Hey, Mako-tan, what language is this question written in?”

“Well, it’s our old English homework, so…” This should probably have been concerning, except she already knew that was his worst subject. “...Maybe don’t plan on visiting another country anytime soon.”

This probably wasn’t going to be the most productive study session Makoto had ever had, but it was definitely shaping up to be one of the most entertaining.

During exam week, there were no club meetings. Some people enjoyed the time off, while others just wished they could go back to whatever they were involved in.

For Fuuka, it was a little bit of both. She was glad for the lack of distraction, even if she already had a thorough mastery of the second year curriculum, but it also took away one of the places she had to retreat to, as well as her main point of contact with Akihiko.

At least the fangirls were too busy with their own exams to take much notice of her. This relief probably wouldn’t last, but it was nice to have a break every now and again.

Besides, it was a lot easier to focus on answering questions when Juno wasn’t constantly sending warnings of danger. ...Or, well, not so many of them.

“She thinks she’s so special,” One girl would whisper to another, too many times for her to count. “Why does she get to hang around Akihiko-senpai, anyway?” Those were the most common whispers, or they had been for the past month or so.

Fuuka was still a bit more used to facing jealousy over grades. Which would probably still be a thing now. At least it wouldn’t add all that much to the vitriol.

...Still, maybe it would be a good idea to go straight home. Just in case.

Mitsuru was not stressed by exams at all.

...Well, not for herself, at the very least. The others provided plenty of reasons to worry. Iori in particular seemed to be a lost cause, if a bit less of one than he’d used to be.

Even still, aside from Yuki, she knew the others well enough to realize that there wasn’t anything worth stressing about. Mostly.

“Are you feeling all right?” She asked Akihiko. “You seem exhausted.”

He shrugged. “Just haven’t been sleeping all that well.” She didn’t know if she should have been concerned or not. This sort of thing was probably unusual for Akihiko, but it was hard to tell how much given how rare it was for them to talk about their problems. Effective communication had never been SEES highest priority. “Shouldn’t be a problem, really.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Mitsuru, if I fail exams, it’s not going to be due to not sleeping.” That wasn’t actually what she’d been worried about, but she supposed that it was relieving to hear it.

Really, out of everyone, she worried about Akihiko’s grades the least. His issues tended to come from outside the school.

...Or to chase him away from it. She’d probably have to do something about that… but it could wait.

It probably wasn’t that important.

As soon as the final exam of midterms ended, Junpei basically collapsed at his desk. “Um… is he okay?” Makoto asked. Yukari sighed.

“You mean besides being Junpei? Yeah, he’ll be fine.”

“I’m right here…” The Magician grumbled, lifting the brim of his cap to stare mulishly at the two of them. “How did the two of you do, anyway?”

“I think it went well. What about you, Makoto-chan?”

Makoto shrugged. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t fail, at least. Actually, it all seemed pretty easy, but I guess I’ll know for sure once they announce our grades.” No reason to worry about it until then, right? “...Still, maybe we shouldn’t go out late for a few more days. Let Junpei-kun rest a bit.”

They both had to try and pretend they weren’t bothered by Junpei’s obvious sigh of relief.

Somehow, this was still less stressful than dealing with Shadows.

Chapter Text

A few days after midterms ended, the results were posted. Makoto found herself and Junpei being dragged by Yukari to check.

“Come on, do I have to look?” Junpei complained as they went down the stairs.

“What, are you scared? Come on, it can’t be as bad as you did last year.”

Makoto paused. “...How bad was it last year?” Junpei groaned and pulled the rim of his cap down over his eyes.

“I wasn’t at the bottom, if that’s what you’re asking. It just… wasn’t great, either.”

“...Is that why Mitsuru-senpai said you’d been screaming?” Really, every time she heard something about the year before, she wished she’d had a chance to be there just to see it.

“Th-this isn’t about me!” It sort of was, but Makoto decided it wasn’t worth pushing for it.

“All right, then.”

The results were all displayed on one bulletin board, which seemed to be much too small for the whole school to look at. Presumably, students weren’t meant to crush the hallways as soon as they were posted, and it just happened anyway. Makoto’s eyes searched to find the second year rankings.

1. Yamagishi Fuuka

2. Takeba Yukari

3. Yuki Makoto

It took a bit more searching to find Junpei’s name. He seemed unsurprised, but still disappointed. “Well… at least it’s better than last year.”

“I’d hope you did better than last year…” Yukari mumbled. “Still, we should go congratulate Fuuka-chan later. I’ll bet she studied really hard for this.”

“She’s not the only one,” Makoto commented, taking a glance at the third year listings while they were there. “Look at how well Akihiko-senpai and Mitsuru-senpai did!” Akihiko was in second place, while Mitsuru was in first.

“Isn’t Mitsuru-senpai always at the top of the class, though?” Junpei pointed out. “She was up there last year, too. But Akihiko-san did a lot better this year.”

“I think we all did,” Yukari added. “...At least, for those of us who could. What do you think, Makoto-chan?” And then they were turning to her, for some reason.

“...Actually, I was at the top of my class last year. But the curriculum at my old school also wasn’t as rigorous as this one, so I guess it makes sense.” It was nice that her classes were giving her a proper challenge for once. “Besides, it’s not like studying’s my only priority right now.” Given how dangerous the Dark Hour was, she couldn’t even say it was the most important.

“Ah… r-right.” Yukari glanced away. “Still, Mitsuru-senpai will be happy. She’ll probably come by once she has a moment free.”

The idea of Mitsuru with any kind of free time was hard to picture. But she probably would be pleased with them, or, at least, Makoto hoped she would.

Still, maybe it was time to move away for a bit. The hallways were getting congested.

In all honesty, Makoto wasn’t entirely sure how she ended up at Hagakure after school with Akihiko, but she also was not complaining.

...Well, not about the company, anyway. “The extra-large special? Really?” She was currently conflicted as to whether or not to glare at him. “I can’t eat that much! I should know, I’ve tried!”

“Hey, it’s better to have too much food than not enough, right?” He pointed out. “Getting enough to eat is important for any kind of physical activity.” She couldn’t even argue with that. Volleyball and Tartarus both took up a lot of energy.

“Even if I did bring leftovers home, you know Junpei-kun would just take them out of the fridge while I’m not looking.” She wouldn’t go so far as to call it an obsession yet, but she was starting to consider it. “He’s not exactly subtle.”

Akihiko laughed. “I don’t think any of us are, except for Mitsuru.” He paused. “...And maybe Ken. But I don’t know if he’s around often enough to count.”

Given that it took a few moments for Makoto to remember who he was talking about, she was inclined to say that he wasn’t. “That’s… the kid who was hanging around the dorm a week ago, right? Was there a reason for that?”

“Mostly just him not having anyone else, I think.” And, okay, that was depressing and Makoto sort of wished she hadn’t asked. “Not that different from everyone else, really.”

“I… wouldn’t say everyone…” She muttered, searching for a new track to throw the conversation on. “You have your brother, don’t you? Aragaki-san? The two of you seemed pretty close.” At least, as far as she could tell when she’d only met Shinjiro the once.

For a moment, she would have said that Akihiko seemed surprised by the change of subject, except it vanished too quickly to be sure.

Whatever his initial reaction, however, that didn’t change how sure he sounded of his reply. “...Yeah. He’s a month older than me, but people used to mistake us for twins.” With a slight smile, he added, “Not that we did anything to discourage it.”

It felt almost like he was trying to let her in on some sort of secret, or maybe making a joke that she didn’t have the context to get, but Makoto found she enjoyed learning about her teammate.

This discovery, of course, was accented by a tarot card. Star Arcana, oddly enough. She was positive that Caesar was an Emperor…

...Still, Persona-related mysteries could wait until after she’d finished her entirely too large bowl of ramen.

It had been a full month, but Aki was finally looking Shinjiro in the eye again. Well, sometimes. But he supposed he couldn’t expect everything to return to normal immediately. Among other things, Yoshino still seemed to think he was a good person to have a conversation with.

She was even asking him for relationship advice, for some reason. He wasn’t sure why she needed it, or why she thought he was the best one to ask, but it was happening.

Still, Yoshino had left at around noon, which was good, because Shinjiro didn’t want to have to explain her to Aki yet. Or ever, if he could get away with it.

Not that he had to worry about that at the moment. If only because Aki was actually bothering to talk about his life now. Right now, the topic was midterm grades.

“Second place? Really?” Not that he thought his brother was a bad student or anything, but he hadn’t expected him to do that well. “...Isn’t that basically first?” With Mitsuru around, it could probably be argued that second place was more of a competition, at least.

“Don’t remind me. I don’t need more girls following me around, it’s already bad enough. And Fuuka got first for her year, so she’s probably going to be singled out even more, too.”

“...She still doing the team manager thing?” If so, she would have lasted longer than anyone since their first year, and she could surpass even that just by lasting more than one semester.

Aki nodded. “Her classmates aren’t very happy with her, but she says they didn’t get along to begin with. I’m really not sure why…”

Shinjiro shrugged, because he didn’t know anywhere near enough to be able to offer his opinion. “You’re not worried?”

“Well, maybe a bit, just…” And he was looking away again. It was hard to tell whether or not that meant anything. “She’s… not the one I’m most concerned about.”

“What do you mean?” He realized it was a mistake as soon as he said it, even before Aki looked at him, clearly forcing himself to do so, and took a deep breath.

“Shinji. I know about the pills.”

Maybe he could play dumb. “What pills?”

Aki was unimpressed. “The ones you take to suppress your Persona.” Okay, so that clearly didn’t work. So much for ending this peacefully.

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business.” Or how he even knew about it. It was one of those things Shinjiro had always been very careful to not mention, because he knew exactly how Aki would react. “Who told you, anyway?”

And there was Aki looking away again. Or flinching, rather. It was all the same, anyway. “...Does it really matter?”

Given that Shinjiro had several reasons not to let his only family anywhere near Sakaki Takaya, he would say it very definitely did matter.

Not that he could outright say that, because if Takaya wasn’t involved, letting Aki know about his existence would be an easy way to set them on a collision course, and he very much did not want that.

Things only went downhill from there. Until, eventually, the only way Shinjiro could think of to avoid talking about it was to retreat, pretending he couldn’t feel his brother’s hurt gaze following him the entire way.

Of all the ways class could have gone, Makoto hadn’t expected to be flipping through a meditation pamphlet. In hindsight, she wasn’t sure why. Health Committee meetings certainly hadn’t done anything to dissuade that sort of impression.

“I wonder if this sort of thing actually works,” She commented to Junpei and Yukari. “I tried, but Eurydice and my other Personas kept on distracting me.”

“That might be how it’s supposed to work, actually…” Yukari mused. “I mean, this is all spiritualist stuff, right? So if it takes me to where Isis is, I’m probably doing something right.”

“...So, the next time Edogawa’s teaching, I should just look for Hermes?” Junpei asked. “I sort of… dozed off halfway through.” Him and most of the rest of the class. Except the rest of the class didn’t have any real way to tell if they were making progress. Assuming, of course, that getting in touch with their Personas counted as progress.

“...Maybe we should ask Akihiko-senpai and Mitsuru-senpai.” They’d know, right? “They’ve got more experience with that kind of thing, after all.” She hadn’t been told how much experience they had, but it was easy to see they’d been doing this for a very long time.

“...Maybe. They’ll be busy tonight, but they should both be at dinner tomorrow.”

Akihiko would not be at dinner tomorrow.

Honestly, it was his own fault for losing track of time, on more occasions than just this one. But at least he was trying to do something.

At eleven, he realized he had one missed call from Fuuka’s parents, saying that their daughter hadn’t come home from school yet, and that she’d told them to contact him if she ever went missing. He paused, counted back the date, and realized that there was a problem. Picked up his Evoker on his way out the door, just in case.

...Just his Evoker. Which, given how they already had one made for Fuuka, was probably something he shouldn’t have overlooked, but there it was.

He also didn’t tell anyone that he was leaving, because they’d all gone to sleep over an hour ago. He figured that, as long as he was quick, he’d be back before anyone even knew he left.

It took forty-five minutes to get from Iwatodai Dormitory to Gekkoukan High. A bit more to sneak in, since he technically wasn’t supposed to be there.

He took a bit longer to search through keys than he should have, but opening the door to the gym, at least, was done quickly.

“A-Akihiko-senpai?” Fuuka blinked at him with bleary eyes, visibly resisting the urge to yawn. “What are you doing here?”

“Your parents were worried you hadn’t come home yet.” And he was partially looking for something to distract himself from his latest fight with Shinji, but that part probably didn’t need mentioning. This was something he could handle by himself.

No, it’s not.

...No matter what Caesar had to say on the matter. “...You know, you don’t have to let this happen just to make Moriyama like you again.”

“I know.” She picked herself up, leaning against the door as she did so. “...I left my bag in the classroom. Do you think there’s still time to go back for it?”

Akihiko shrugged. “...It probably can’t take that long…”

There was, in fact, not enough time to get Fuuka’s bag and leave the building before midnight.

On the bright side, they did actually manage to get the bag.

Chapter Text

The good news was, although Fuuka and Akihiko could have ended up in any part of the tower that their school liked to become, they had found themselves in Arqa.

Sure, it wasn’t Thebel, which would have posed no threat to them whatsoever and would have definitely let them out in time to go home and pretend the whole thing had never happened, but at least it wasn’t, say, Adamah. Or worse- Monad.

...Well, okay, they were marginally more likely to find a way out from Monad than Adamah, even if they would have been running for their lives for most of it, but it didn’t matter, because they were in Arqa. Almost as far from Monad and Adamah, powerwise, as it was possible to get.

Still, this was a decently good place to be. Sure, it was more powerful than Thebel, but it was also less powerful than most other blocks, less eyesearing than Harabah, and there would probably be enough items there to help them survive until they could get out.

Akihiko refused to consider the possibility that they might not make it out.

“I don’t suppose you have any Traesto Gems?” Fuuka ventured, peering around from the top of the raised platform they’d climbed up on in the hope that the Shadows would stop following them. Ideally, they’d get bored and wander away before Death showed up.

He shook his head. “Makoto wants us to start carrying them in case of emergencies, but we only had two of them after the last trip. ...And I bet the spare in a video game against Junpei.”

In hindsight, that had not been his smartest decision. It was probably even worse that he’d admitted to ever having the extra gem in the first place, because if he hadn’t gambled it away, they wouldn’t even have been having this conversation. They would have just… left, and gone home, and ideally never told anyone that this had happened.

Fuuka bit her lip, walking around the edge of the platform. “I don’t think any of these resist lightning, but I’m not sure…” And in the time it took her to sort through all the Shadows that looked almost exactly the same, odds were they would have been hearing chains.

“Do you think I should check?” Akihiko had his Evoker out, because at least that was one thing they had going for them. They could still use their Personas. “Or… they can’t get up here, you may as well check instead.” It wasn’t that much extra time, and Arqa’s floors were small enough they could afford a few seconds.

She accepted his offer, summoning Juno for less than a minute before dismissing her again. “...They’re not weak to it, but they don’t particularly resist it, either,” She reported, handing the Evoker back.

Well. That was all the encouragement he needed to fry them all with Maziodyne, just to be thorough. “Okay, let’s get going.”

Fuuka didn’t seem entirely amused. “You shouldn’t be using so much magic on them. They couldn’t fight back from here, and we don’t know how long we’ll be here.”

Akihiko had a pretty good idea, actually. Admittedly, he didn’t think he had it in him to Maziodyne for ten hours straight, but maybe it’d take less time than that.

He shrugged. “Should be fine if we can find some attack items. Or an access point.”

He really, really hoped they could find some attack items or an access point.

They had yet to find any sort of way out, but the two of them had come across some attack items. They tried to divide them equally, just to be safe, though Akihiko handed all of the gems containing electric spells to Fuuka, with the very reasonable point that he didn’t exactly need them.

Fuuka couldn’t bring herself to argue against it. It was true, after all, and it was very hard to deny that she needed some way of defending herself that didn’t involve simply hiding within Juno and calling it a night, for multiple reasons.

Firstly, she wasn’t sure how much force Juno would be able to stand against, if a Shadow decided she looked like an easy target. Second, she wasn’t even the one carrying the Evoker.

So her pockets were now stuffed full of gems that were prepared to burst with magic at a moment’s notice, while her bag contained medicine, bandages, Yawn-B-Gone, and several sharp objects that really didn’t belong in a school of any form, as well as a large amount of money of unknown authenticity, but that the local restaurants would definitely take without question.

It was really less a question of whether or not they had the things they needed, and more one of whether or not they had enough of it.

When it came to the dice Shadows, Fuuka was willing to bet they had enough of it. They were weak to lightning, after all, and if there was anything she and Akihiko lacked, it was certainly not that. Having enough lightning was the least of their worries.

“You shouldn’t need anything more than Mazio,” She reminded her companion. While Maziodyne was very good for making sure his opponents stayed down, it wasn’t exactly efficient. “Not unless-”

Something changed. “...Fuuka?”

“...Actually, let’s try and get away from here!” To do so, she tossed one of her Mazio Gems. It wasn't backed up by anything close to Caesar’s magical power, but it did the job of knocking the dice to the floor. That done, she grabbed Akihiko’s wrist and started tugging him in the opposite direction. “Come on!”

“What are you-?” But he still listened to her, still let himself be dragged along, and a few moments later, Fuuka winced as she heard an explosion behind her. “...Did they just...?”

She nodded. “I… don’t think they ever did that before.” She’d remember if they did, right?

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure Shadows aren’t supposed to explode,” Akihiko agreed. “Good thing you noticed that.”

Of course she did. It was her job. “I’m pretty sure that direction was a dead end, anyway.”

It ended up being a good decision, because they found the stairs just a few turns later, and neither of them were sure how long they’d been on that floor to begin with, but there really was only a matter of time until they encountered something they couldn’t run away from.

Hopefully, they’d be able to escape before then.

Two floors, fifteen Mayas, six briefcases, and another dice explosion later, Akihiko was pretty sure he’d done enough fighting to last him until the next full moon, if the next full moon was still going to be more than a week away.

“Was it this bad the last time this happened?” He found himself asking. He knew Fuuka wasn’t exactly weak, but this… This was something else.

She shook her head. “I could always tell when the Shadows were coming, so I could avoid them. Mostly I just had to remind myself not to fall asleep…”

That could still be a problem this time. Particularly when, at their moment of arrival, Akihiko had already been awake for eighteen hours straight. Sleep would have sounded very appealing at the moment, had they not been in the unfortunate circumstance of being lost in Tartarus.

...Well. Not entirely lost. They knew what block they were in. Sadly, that wasn’t very helpful information when they couldn’t contact anyone outside the tower.

“Don’t think we’ll have to worry about that one here,” He said, trying to convince himself it was true. “Not sure we’d have time to fall asleep.”

If they did… well, they’d probably die. Best not to think about that.

Fuuka nodded pensively. “I hope you’re right… oh! Look!”

She pointed to the end of the hall. It was hard to see in the current light, but Akihiko could just make out a shape that looked like an access point.

Well… mostly. “Aren’t they supposed to glow?” He pointed out, though he approached it either way. “Maybe it’s just not turned on, but…” Or maybe broken. How did one fix a broken access point, and could it be done before they started hearing chains?

“Let’s find out.”

Getting closer, they could confirm that it was, in fact, an access point, though it didn’t appear to be currently functioning. “Maybe it just doesn’t have power,” Akihiko suggested. “Maybe if I…”

“No. You’ll break it.” Fuuka sounded so certain of this that it was impossible not to believe her. Besides, that did tend to be his experience with electronic devices. “I think it’s not working because of the barrier.”

...Right. The dice only ever appeared in the lower reaches of Upper Arqa. “It worked fine last time.” But then, last time he’d only entered the tower on the full moon itself. Maybe it was different on full moons.

She shrugged. “This isn’t the same world as last time. It could be different here.” Or that, but he’d been trying not to think about that. “...Maybe it worked because of our leader.” He’d believe it. If there was one person capable of bending Tartarus to their will… it’d be Yuki Makoto.

Either way, there was only one conclusion for him to take from this.

“We… really are stuck here, aren’t we?” Maybe if they could find Traesto Gems...

They did not, in fact, find any Traesto Gems.

Chapter Text

”Akihiko-senpai’s not up yet?” Makoto glanced at the breakfast table where Mitsuru, Yukari, and Junpei were already sitting with their food. “Or did he leave already?”

“I haven’t seen him at all this morning,” Mitsuru admitted. “It’s strange… He’s normally down here with the rest of us.”

Junpei raised his hand. “I can go check on him.” He was gone before anyone could tell him otherwise.

He came back just as quickly. “He’s not in his room,” He reported. “I guess we don’t need to make sure he has breakfast, then.”

Mitsuru sighed. “As intriguing as it is to see Yuki eating more than the human body should be able to process, I’m not sure we have the time for that this morning.”

Makoto groaned. “I’m not a circus attraction.” Really, it was simple- food was good, and she enjoyed eating it. Besides, she’d be burning it off just as quickly with her various extracurriculars, one of which included running up a giant death tower.

“No, but you do have the biggest appetite of all of us.” Yukari had her phone out, and was furiously texting. “...Um, is it a bad sign if I can’t reach Akihiko-senpai’s cell phone? His is supposed to be pretty reliable, isn’t it?”

“It had better be, considering how I’m the one who paid for it.” Despite her cold tone, Mitsuru seemed worried. “I’ll ask him about it if I see him at school.”

“Where else could he be?” Makoto asked. She couldn’t think of a lot of places he’d go to. It had always been just ramen and beef bowls, though they hadn’t spent that much time together to begin with. “He only leaves for school, Tartarus, and seeing Aragaki-san.” And given how they were technically the same being, she wasn’t sure Tartarus counted.

“That’s why I’m worried.” No further elaboration was offered for the moment.

This was probably a good thing. It could have put Makoto off her breakfast otherwise.

For a moment, Yukari stopped walking, listening to a group of girls chattering under the persimmon tree. Moriyama Natsuki was there, surrounded by a clique that seemed vaguely familiar.

“So then I pretended to take a picture with my phone…” Natsuki was grinning as she recounted her story. Yukari couldn’t stand it.

“What are you talking about?” She asked, striding forward to confront the girls from 2-E, several of whom she recognized, now that she had a closer look, as belonging to Akihiko’s swarm of fangirls.

Mitsuru had stopped by 2-F for a little while at lunch. They couldn’t discuss much of anything with how public the classroom was, but the look on her face had said it all. Akihiko wasn’t at school.

Or, at least, not the school as it presented itself during the day.

It would be a sad sort of funny if the girls who idolized Akihiko so much ended up being responsible for his death.

“What’s it matter to you?” Despite her tough act, a minute expression of guilt flitted across Natsuki’s face.

“Fuuka-chan wasn’t at school today.” Neither was Akihiko, but these girls wouldn’t know about that. “You wouldn’t happen to know where she went, would you?” They wouldn’t, of course, due to being unaware of the tower that their school became, but it was a rhetorical question.

“W-well- That-” Natsuki’s stammering was cut off by one of her friends recoiling with a groan. “...Maki?” The girl collapsed. “Maki!”

“We need to get her to the nurse’s office.” There didn’t seem to be any actual Apathy Syndrome involved yet, but Yukari could tell it was only a matter of a Dark Hour. “Edogawa-sensei should have something to make her feel better.”

While the girls went along with what she said, it was easy to see they weren’t really impressed.

Clearly, they’d been part of the group that fell asleep in his lectures.

After the Student Council meeting, Mitsuru called the rest of SEES to meet on the roof. “Aren’t you worried someone might hear us?” Yuki asked, sitting down on a bench next to Iori.

“Everyone else should be heading home by now,” Yukari pointed out. “And… I think they’ll all be talking about the same thing, anyway.”

Iori pulled the brim of his cap down over his eyes. “Akihiko-san wasn’t at school today… and neither was Fuuka-chan… you think maybe people will believe they ran off together?”

“Iori.” Mitsuru wasn’t sure her facial expression could properly convey how much she disapproved of that line of thinking, but she probably didn’t need to worry. “This is serious.”

“Yeah, I know, just… there are worse things that could spread around. What if it turns into a ghost story, and it gets to Shinjiro-san?” That… was actually a good point. Would Shinjiro be more upset by them pretending everything was fine, or by the realization of how much danger Akihiko was in?

“I think he’d worry a lot, if he heard that sort of thing,” Yuki commented. “I’m not sure there’s many people who wouldn’t.”

Still, as good of a point as that was… “Let’s not go looking for him. If Shinjiro hears anything he wants confirmed, he knows where to find me. Maybe we shouldn’t mention it to the chairman, either...” If Akihiko didn’t come back within the next day or so, it’d probably be because there wasn’t a way out to begin with. He could get absorbed into his training sometimes, but even at his worst, it was never that bad.

Yuki blinked. “Wouldn’t he notice one of us going missing?”

“He still hasn’t noticed Ken-kun,” Yukari pointed out. “Still, just to make sure we’re all on the same page… we think Akihiko-senpai and Fuuka-chan are in Tartarus, right?”

Mitsuru nodded. “Neither Yamagishi or Akihiko’s phones are currently reachable, nobody has seen them at all today, and the last time I saw Akihiko was well before midnight. It’s certainly possible.” It was terrifying to think about, but it was still the most likely possibility. “If that’s the case, I could try scanning for them, but the size of the tower vastly exceeds my range.”

“So, even if they are there, we might not know for sure.” Yukari didn’t look away from the ground. “What are we supposed to do, then?”

Nobody was able to come up with a good answer to that.

At school, rumors were flying. Nothing specifically about Fuuka or Akihiko, at least not mentioning them by name, but the rumors were still flying.

“I hate this…” Yukari grumbled as another discussion of a girl from 2-E collapsing by the school’s front gate reached their ears. “People could be dying, and they still just…”

“People outside Iwatodai don’t really believe Apathy Syndrome is a real thing,” Makoto commented, remembering how Aunt Misaki’s friends would spend time trying to figure it out, including whether it actually existed or not. They never let her listen in for very long, but she’d spent enough time doing so to figure out that’s what they were doing. “I’d thought people here would be more likely to recognize it, but…”

“The girl who collapsed was one of the one’s who’d bully Fuuka-chan,” Yukari remarked. “...Not that this narrows it down a lot.”

“People are starting to notice that Akihiko-san’s gone, too,” Junpei commented. “But they aren’t paying much attention to it, yet. Might not until they remember Fuuka-chan’s the team manager.”

Makoto thought it was sort of sad that they’d pick on a girl for being associated with someone, and yet never really think about the results of said association. Or that they’d claim to be someone’s fans, and yet fail to notice when he disappeared.

“We can’t even make it quiet down by telling them the truth,” She said. “Even if we did, they’d never believe us. No one ever listened to me about the Dark Hour, let alone…” She gestured at the rest of the classroom, hoping that the others would catch on that she meant the form it would take at night.

“It’d cause panic if they did. At least, Mitsuru-senpai says they would, and… I believe her. But it could still make them shut up for a minute.”

Makoto wondered if she should have been concerned.

In the depths of Tartarus, Akihiko and Fuuka had paused for a moment to look out a window. The moon shone brightly overhead, much more so than it did in normal reality.

“Does it look any rounder, to you?” Akihiko found himself asking as he leaned on the windowsill. “It has to have been at least a few hours by now.”

“I… think so?” Fuuka, too, approached the window, peering up to get a better look. “But I can’t be sure. The moon looks different in the Dark Hour.”

She wasn’t wrong. It was always bigger, rounder, brighter, with the exception of new moons when it was just a gaping hole in the sky. He wasn’t entirely sure how full the moon had been when they first arrived in the tower, but it would always seem closer to being full than it actually was.

But it had to have been more than an hour. Akihiko wasn’t sure they’d be able to make it through this otherwise.

“You’d think we’d have found one of the floor guardians by now,” He sighed, thinking about how quickly Lower Arqa had been dealt with. Instead of changing Personas, Makoto had spent most of her time sifting through a deck of cards and pulling out skills she really shouldn’t have been able to on a given Persona.

He’d seen Eurydice use all four major elements. He was pretty sure Makoto didn’t even have a Garu specialist Persona. If she did, she certainly hadn’t been in the habit of using it.

Fuuka nodded. “It’s hard to tell, but I think we might not actually be progressing. This might be how Tartarus handles people going into parts of it that aren’t regularly accessible.”

“...This isn’t exactly a video game.” Besides, what did that say about Monad?

...Well, aside from the obvious fact that Monad defied any sort of explanation. That wasn’t the point.

“I know, it’s just the closest thing I could think of.” She pushed herself away from the window. “Anyway, we should get going. If Death comes along, we wouldn’t be in any shape to fight back.”

Akihiko had to admit, she had a point. Even if she’d been a combat Persona User, he still wouldn’t have fancied their chances against the strongest Shadow in the tower at their best, let alone their current condition.

“Not sure how long I’ll be able to fight back against the other Shadows, either,” He admitted. “I guess we could trade off for a bit and try to avoid them, but…” That would only serve to exhaust Fuuka. Besides, going straight to the higher floors only really mattered when they could make any type of progress.

“...Hold on a moment.” Fuuka unzipped her bag and started rifling through it. Eventually, she came out with two small bottles.

“Yawn-B-Gone?” How long had she been carrying that around?

She nodded. “I’m not sure how often it’s safe to take it, but I should have enough to last us until the full moon.”

“...Is that why you’ve been buying out the school store for the past month?” This probably wasn’t the time for that, but he wasn’t sure anyone would ever need that much of it.

“Well, that and exams…” She held out a bottle. Akihiko took it.

She was right. It did help, a little.

It’d have to be enough.

”Here you go, Hidetoshi-kun.” A Bufula Gem wasn’t quite the same as an ice pack, but it’d have to do for now.

“...What is this?” Hidetoshi asked, turning the object over in his hands.

Makoto sighed. She supposed she should have expected him to question a strange object like this one. “It’s a special kind of stone that doesn’t absorb heat. You can use it until we get an ice pack for you, just don’t squeeze it too hard.” She didn’t want to have to explain to Mitsuru how an entire hallway got iced over. “...Even if I’m not sure you deserve it.”

“What do you mean by that?” Okay, maybe it would have been better to stay quiet, particularly when Hidetoshi had just been punched in the face, but it was too late, now.

“It turns out that threatening people doesn’t always get you the best results.” Makoto didn’t think she should have had to explain it, but apparently that was a thing that was happening now. “Threats only work if you can follow up on them, and if you do that, people tend not to like you very much. Even if Akihiko-senpai’s fangirls seem intent on proving otherwise…” She was sure that, separated from their obsessions, some of them might turn out to be genuinely nice girls.

The problem was, they still went to the same school as Akihiko. And may or may not have accidentally trapped him in Tartarus due to being jealous of Fuuka. It was their best hypothesis, anyway.

“It’s strange, that they’d still idolize someone who hasn’t been to school lately.”

“It’s not his fault… or, at least, we don’t think it is. Someone we were friends with went missing a bit before he did. For all we know, she was bait and now he’s locked in a fangirl’s basement.” Makoto had no idea whether that would be better or worse than what had probably actually happened, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. It was currently irrelevant, anyway.

...Still, it would probably have been easier, if all they had to do was disappear a fangirl.

Ken was visiting again.

WIth how familiar the others seemed to be with him, this should not have been a big deal. Even if this was only the second time Makoto encountered him, it didn’t seem like this was anything new. The only thing they needed to worry about was him asking where Akihiko went.

But then he had to stop talking. “There’s a new ghost story going around my school about Gekkoukan High.”

“...Is it the one Kenji’s spreading around?” Junpei asked. “People coming to the school at night and being found by the gates the next day?” Most of it was actually true. Makoto had been told that Tartarus had a tendency to spit out bodies when there were no minds inside them, which was their main evidence that Fuuka and Akihiko had yet to be killed by Shadows.

Even if it didn’t do that, it could be presumed that spending time around Gekkoukan at midnight wasn’t a particularly safe thing to do, given that anyone walking in front of the gate would be easy Shadow bait.

Ken nodded. “Or, well, it’s something like that. Just…”

Yukari buried her face in her hands. “Please tell me there’s not any names attached.”

“Um…” Well, that was a bad sign. “...You’d tell me if something bad happened to Akihiko-san, right?”

“We don’t know where he is,” Mitsuru admitted. “We have reason to believe that he’s still alive, but other than that…” Her words sounded oddly rehearsed, as though she’d been practicing saying them in front of a mirror, and still found the words lacking.

Ken nodded, taking in those words with all the seriousness an eleven-year-old could muster. “...Has Aragaki-san heard about this yet?”

“I’m not sure. We haven’t spoken recently. If he has any questions or concerns, he knows where to find me.” These words, too, sounded rehearsed and personally unpleasing.

There were no more questions.

The dorm’s general worry over Fuuka and Akihiko was enough that, for a bit, Makoto had more-or-less forgotten about the blue-haired boy.

Which might have been why he showed up in the Dark Hour. She wouldn’t put it past him.

“Mitsuru-senpai’s going to let you go try and save those two on the full moon,” Was how Blue announced himself. “That’s a week from now, just so you know.”

“How do you know this?” She decided to stop asking how he was even getting in there. Clearly, she wasn’t going to get any sort of answer. “Do you know her?” It would sort of explain some things, but not really.

A shrug. “You could say that.” Well, that was unhelpful. “Tartarus won’t be safe that night.”

“Um… yes?” It was Tartarus. It was never safe. “I mean, it’s a tower filled with Shadows.”

“...Whatever you say.” And then he was gone.

Makoto didn’t know why she was surprised. It wasn’t like he’d ever been helpful.

Chapter Text

Still, no matter how much danger their friends might have been in, even as the next full moon crept ever closer Makoto saw no reason for it to keep her from living her life. “Come on, let’s eat!” She urged Junpei.

“You really don’t let anything get you down, do you, Mako-tan?” He grinned back, though, telling her that they were united in the desire to simply have a good time. “You’re always just bouncing from one thing to another, now.”

She shrugged because, well, it was true. “I don’t even know how it happened. People just… started gathering around me.” She just kept trying to mind her own business, and then she’d turn a corner and suddenly there’d be another person to talk to.

She still hadn’t fully managed to integrate into her group of Persona Users, but… she didn’t feel so lonely anymore.

“That… actually does tend to happen here.” Junpei sounded surprised, as if he hadn’t fully realized it himself. “The same thing happened to Akihiko-san, and now…” Honestly, Makoto thought that particular set of girls had reached the point of obsession long ago.

“Now he’s not there.” It sort of hurt to say it, but… “And there’s a good chance he’s not coming back.” They were all hoping for the best, but there weren’t a lot of ways that someone spending ten hours fighting Shadows alone could go. “...I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried blaming Fuuka-chan.”

“I’m not sure they haven’t. I mean, people have started saying it’s a pair of ghosts, instead of just one… if this keeps up, Yuka-tan might actually kill someone. She hates ghost stories.” Well. That was a bad sign.

Makoto blinked. “Even though she knows what it really is? ...Besides, I think she’d be more upset about the fact that no one seems to care that Fuuka-chan’s been gone.”

“Yeah, that too.” For a moment, they were focused on nothing but their food. Eventually, however, Junpei looked up again, meeting Makoto’s eyes. “You know, I… hate to be the bearer of more bad news, but…”

“...What is it?” Two of their friends were missing, and could turn up dead at the school gates any morning, the school rumor mill had gone out of control, and in just a week, they’d be jumping into Tartarus with no idea if they could even get out again. She didn’t see how things could get any worse.

“Well… I’m pretty sure you have a stalker. There’s pictures going around the school of girls in their gym clothes, and this didn’t- you seem to be the center of attention.” She had no idea what Junpei had been going for before he cut himself off, but it appeared that, yes, things could actually get worse. She did appreciate the warning, though.

And with that, the Magician Social Link ranked up to five.

In Tartarus, time barely seemed to be of any importance. In reality, however, keeping track of it was everything.

Five minutes on a floor, and rattling chains would sound. Another five, and the Reaper would show up. For those truly desperate to rest without returning to the lobby, sheltering at the top of the stairs would provide fifteen minutes of safety before the strongest Shadow in the tower decided it no longer cared about collateral damage.

When SEES had first learned that one, Mitsuru had asked why they’d ever need to know such a thing. Akihiko hadn’t been able to provide an answer, then.

He could now. He wasn’t sure if resting on the stairs was the best idea, when he was running mostly off of adrenaline, Yawn-B-Gone, and packages of Chewing Souls, but Fuuka couldn’t just endlessly climb the tower forever, so they needed to take a break every now and then.

They’d found the stairs the moment they reached the floor, this time, so they’d take advantage of every second they could get.

“Do you think you could reach the others now?” Akihiko found himself asking, his Evoker heavy in his hands. Even if it didn’t get them a way out… it would be nice to know that time was actually passing. That they would, eventually be able to escape. Assuming they survived that long.

Fuuka shook her head. “Not unless they’re already in Tartarus. And we don’t even know what day it is, let alone if they had plans to come here.” And even if Makoto had been considering it, would being down a member be enough to make her reconsider?

“...Well, there goes that idea.” They at least knew where they’d ended up, right? Hadn’t forgotten about them, lost up a tower with over two hundred floors to search through? “It’d be nice if there were some way we could get help, but...”

“It might be worth a try, actually. It probably won’t do anything, but… I wasn’t expecting help the first time, either. And… then you came to get me.” But that had been… well. Back when it was just Fuuka who was stuck, SEES had taken action immediately. Akihiko wasn’t sure if this meant that the others had faith in him, or that they just didn’t want to jump into the tower before they had to.

He sighed. “You really, really didn’t have to do this just to make Moriyama like you again. I know I don’t always think things through, but I still wouldn’t come here just to-” He forced himself to stop.

“...Is something wrong?” Of course there was. There were a lot of things wrong, it simply came with their situation.

He did understand what she was getting at, though.

“I was going to say that… I wouldn’t do this just to get Shinji to talk to me again, but… You know everyone at school probably thinks we’re dead by now?” He didn’t even blame them. By all logical reasoning, the two of them really should not have still been alive.

She nodded. “It was… a very strange first day back, last time.” And now, assuming they survived, they’d both have to go through that. “But it was okay, because I had you and Natsuki-chan and everyone else.”

Akihiko was pretty sure he merited a direct mention only because he was actually there in the tower with her, but… it was still nice to hear. “...Wonder what those girls will think of all this this time. Showing up and following me around... I’m not sure why they bother.”

He’d long accepted that he’d never get an answer to that, but Fuuka gave him one anyway. “It's because they like you. Or… at least, they think they do. But… they don’t know you at all, do they?”

“I don’t even know any of their names.” Well, okay, there were a few. But even they tended to blend together after a while. There’d just been too many of them. “Wonder if this’ll be enough time for them to stop.”

He wasn’t going to count on it.

Makoto wasn’t sure why Yukari had asked her and Junpei to gather on the second floor, but there they were, pretending that Mitsuru wasn’t downstairs trying to explain to Ikutsuki why Akihiko was nowhere to be found.

“Two more girls from our school have ended up in the hospital,” Yukari began, stating it so simply that Makoto wondered if the reason she’d been busy was that she’d literally plugged herself in to the school rumor mill. It’d make as much sense as anything else that had happened since she moved to this town. “They were also bullying Fuuka-chan, but… it’s hard to find girls in our year who weren’t. Especially since she started helping out Akihiko-senpai.”

“Did they have anything else in common?” Makoto asked. “I mean, I get that most of the other girls in our year have a lot of problems, but they can’t all have hung out with each other, right? At least, not regularly.”

She nodded. “Yeah. They liked to spend time at the alley behind Port Island Station… Which brings up another problem. You’ve all heard the stories by now, right?”

“I try not to pay attention to them,” Junpei admitted, before turning to Makoto. “What about you, Mako-tan?”

“I was busy helping Mitsuru-senpai keep everything from falling apart.” And trying to keep Hidetoshi from becoming a dictator, but that was starting to look like a losing battle. “I don’t have time for ghost stories.”

Yukari sighed. Clearly, those weren’t the answers she’d been hoping to hear. “Okay, so the two of you might be living under rocks-”

“You live here, too!”

“-But some of us actually listen to these things. And Mitsuru-senpai’s still too upset over the last time she saw Shinjiro-senpai to go look for him, so…”

“Why? What happened last time?” Makoto knew her friend had a point, but this seemed like something it may be important to hear about.

Junpei and Yukari exchanged a long glance. “It… wasn’t pretty.”

“...At least, that’s what we’ve heard about it! We’ve… never actually met Shinjiro-senpai, just heard what the others had to say about him. ...Mostly Akihiko-senpai.” That did make sense. Shinjiro had been surprised by the whole idea of Akihiko having friends. And given how close the rest of SEES was, how could that ever be a surprise?

Still, as easy as it was to believe it… “Really? You never asked to be introduced to him, or anything?” All she got in return were a pair of twin winces.

“We… never really got the chance.” There was an odd sort of sadness to Yukari’s voice, more than simply never getting to meet the friend of a friend could have ever deserved. “But we do know what he looks like, so we can at least track him down. Since, you know, we should probably make sure he knows that Akihiko-senpai isn’t dead yet.”

“The yet’s a pretty major qualifier, Yuka-tan...” Junpei sighed. “...Besides, he hangs out behind the station. Remember what happened the last time you dragged me there!?” There was definitely a story there.

“It’ll be fine! We just have to go in, talk to him, and get out.”

“...Yeah, you said that last time, too. Mako-tan, help!” Makoto thought about it.

“...Can we at least go during daylight hours?” Worst case, an Evoker made a good enough deterrent, right?

Junpei just groaned and buried his face in his hands. “Fine. But when we get cornered, just remember that I told you so.”

Chapter Text

To say that Shinjiro had not been having a good week would be an understatement. It had been a bit more than that, actually, something closer to two, but if he rounded it down, it seemed more bearable to him.

But not by that much. Over a week since his last argument with Aki, walking away from him and trying to pretend that his last few sentences hadn’t been designed specifically to hurt. He’d figured it wouldn’t do anything, since Aki was one of the most stubborn people Shinjiro had ever met, but it had still stung, even at the time.

And then Aki disappeared without a trace. He hadn’t thought much about him not being there, at first, he didn’t even come by every day when they weren’t fighting. And then the rumors started.

...Well. Maybe that wasn’t specific enough. After all, no matter what happened, the Gekkoukan rumor mill would always be in full swing, spreading stories of questionable plausibility and taste.

This particular rumor, the one that left Shinjiro with chills for matters not entirely related to the subject matter, was a ghost story. A pair of spirits who had taken to haunting Gekkoukan’s halls in order to seek revenge for their deaths.

The captain of the boxing club, as well as the most recent in a line of ill-fated team managers.

He tried telling himself it was ridiculous. Ghosts didn’t exist. And besides, Mitsuru would have told him if anything happened, right?

This almost worked, if not for the fact that, as far as he’d heard, Aki had actually gone missing. Maybe Mitsuru had just forgotten about him. Or she was still upset with him for leaving, though he wasn’t sure she could actually be that spiteful.

Whatever the reason was, it didn’t change anything. No matter why Shinjiro wasn’t told about it, Aki was still gone.

And if certain parts of the rumors were true, then he was never coming back.

Shinjiro tried not to let himself think about that too much. He was currently failing.

“Hey… Those rags… ain’t those from Gekkou High?” Shinjiro started at the sound, glancing for what the source of the commotion could be.

...It wasn’t Aki. Of course it wasn’t. It was two kids he didn’t recognize, as well as Aki’s friend with the red hair… Yuki, that was her name. None of them were being at all subtle.

...He was going to have to help them get out of trouble, wasn’t he?

In all honesty, Makoto hadn’t expected things to go well. After all, Aunt Misaki’s words of wisdom when it came to dark alleyways all basically amounted to ‘avoid like the plague.’

There were also a few warnings about demons and stuff, but she was still pretty sure that was just a metaphor.

Still, she carried an Evoker, and had some Agilao Gems in her pocket, just in case that wasn’t enough. In terms of being able to defend herself, that was the best she could do without bringing along a naginata, or unleashing the monster within the card. If that wasn’t enough… well, she still had the card on hand. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.

It didn’t even come to making threats with her Evoker, because the person they wanted to talk to showed up within the first minute. Makoto probably shouldn’t have been as disappointed about this as she was.

“What are you doing here?” Shinjiro asked, looking at her more so than the other two, presumably due to the fact that they had actually met before.

“We were here looking for you, actually.” She still wasn’t entirely sure how much it was safe to tell him, but apparently they were doing this now. “I’m not sure if you remember me, but…”

“...Is this about Aki?” There was an air of desperation to his tone- fearful or hopeful, Makoto couldn’t tell. She just knew he was desperate.

“...Sort of.” Yukari sounded a lot less confident than she had been five minutes ago. “Oh, I’m Takeba Yukari, and this is Iori Junpei. We’re friends of Akihiko-senpai.”

“More friends he never bothered to tell me about, huh?”

“...Really? That’s strange. He’s told us both a lot about you.” Junpei glanced at Yukari quizzically for a moment, but glanced away as soon as she glared at him. Makoto got the feeling that she was missing something. “But… I guess that doesn’t really matter right now.”

“Do you want the good news, or the bad news first?” Junpei asked.

Shinjiro blinked. “...There’s good news?”

“That’s news to me, too,” Makoto admitted, wondering why the other two were even there. This didn’t seem like something that needed three people, no matter how overdue it was. “...Unless he means the fact that Akihiko-senpai’s probably still alive, but we’re not even entirely sure about that.” It was just a theory, after all, if a compelling and plausible one.

“...He really is gone, then?”

Yukari nodded. “As far as we can tell, a week ago one of our friends was locked in the school overnight, and he went to look for her. It’s not the first time this sort of thing has happened…” Right, Makoto remembered hearing about that. “But this time they ended up somewhere out of Mitsuru-senpai’s range. Time flows differently in Tartarus, and it tends to spit out any dead bodies, so we’re pretty sure they’re still alive, but…”

“But they’re still in Tartarus. After more than a week.”

“We’re going to jump directly into the tower to look for them in a couple of days,” Makoto added, feeling that it would probably go over better if she were to mention it than, say, Junpei. “We… aren’t really sure how it’ll go, but it’ll be worth a try, right?” Mitsuru wouldn’t have suggested it if it weren’t, right? That was a really big tower…

Shinjiro looked the three of them over, that same undefinable desperation reflected in his eyes. “Never in my life have I heard something that sounded more like a suicide mission. You want any help?”

Keeping things from going out of control was a full-time job.

Mitsuru knew this, had known it since before she was old enough to understand what the things she was trying to control were. It was in keeping track of people, and having supplies sorted out in a way everyone could agree upon, and being able to tell a believable lie.

The first one, to the surprise of nobody, was by far the most difficult. People were complicated, and while she trusted her friends, for the most part, she was fully aware that taking her eyes off them for as much as a minute could easily lead to disaster.

Mitsuru couldn’t keep her eyes on everyone at once. This fact contributed to a large number of disasters, though it was never the sole cause.

Certainly, she’d made plenty of her own bad decisions.

Sighing, she sent her next report to the school, thinking that things would be a lot easier if Akihiko were there. At the very least, there’d be less lying for her to do. Even if the other three gave her more than enough work already.

As if Mitsuru’s thoughts had summoned them, the front door clattered open. “We’re back!” Yuki called, her voice more cheerful than it had sounded since… probably the last trip to Tartarus. The second-years said they liked visiting the tower in order to gather spending money, and that might have been true, but it was easy to see that their leader also enjoyed just setting things on fire. “And we brought a visitor!”

Mitsuru looked up. “...Shinjiro?” She tried to keep herself from looking shocked. She didn’t think she succeeded. Still, she’d probably at least managed to look like the last time she’d seen him hadn’t involved most of his blood being outside his body, so there was that, at least.

“Hey. Heard Aki got himself into a bit of trouble.” Almost as if he’d never been gone. Except if he hadn’t, they probably wouldn’t have been in this situation to begin with.

“A bit.” She repeated the understatement, unsure what else to do in this situation. All of her ideas had involved either Ken or Akihiko being there at the time, preferably both of them so she’d have time to adjust herself. Not… this.

Still, at least he hadn’t told Mitsuru that she looked like she’d seen a ghost. She wasn’t sure what she would have done in that situation, but it probably wouldn’t have ended well.

“Thought you might want some help.” Those were honestly the last words she’d expected to come out of Shinjiro’s mouth voluntarily. “Don’t think I’ll stick around after, but…” But this was Akihiko’s life that was at stake. She understood the sentiment entirely.

“We’ll be glad to have you.” Among other things, they’d actually have enough people to work with without pulling in anyone whose presence would draw more questions than she felt like dealing with. Still, it left her just a bit uneasy. “...That is, if you’re sure you can handle this.” Yes, she recognized that presenting someone who grew up with Akihiko with something that could be construed as a challenge was probably not the best idea.

He shrugged. “It’s just for one night. And we’ll be in Tartarus the whole time. It- it should be fine.”

This was not leaving her with added confidence. It didn’t seem to be doing anything for him, either.

Still… they didn’t have enough people for her to turn his offer down, no matter how much she wished they did. “In that case, your room is still available.”

Hopefully, she didn’t go on to regret this.

This had been a bad idea.

Shinjiro knew that this could only lead to trouble. He’d left SEES for a reason, and even if it was for Aki’s sake, that couldn’t make working with a group of people he barely knew any easier.

Besides, things had already gone horribly wrong under normal circumstances. How did he expect things to work out when the biggest thing on his mind was fear for his brother’s life?

“You know, I’m starting to get the feeling nobody actually tells me anything.” He hadn’t noticed Yuki’s approach, though she now sat perched on the edge of the sofa, while the other three residents of the dormitory had vanished upstairs, for some reason.

“Really?” He wasn’t sure why people kept talking to him. First Yoshino, and now Yuki. Had someone placed a sign on his back telling Persona Users to go talk to him?

She nodded. “I know they probably don’t mean to keep secrets or anything… but there’s a lot that they just haven’t bothered mentioning to me. Like… how Junpei-kun and Fuuka-chan apparently knew about the Dark Hour even before I could summon my Persona, but Junpei-kun didn’t join SEES until after I did, and Fuuka-chan… I don’t even know.”

He glanced at her, and apparently she took that as encouragement to continue. “Well, she just... showed up last month and asked to help us for the night. I’m not sure if the others knew she had a Persona or not, but they definitely weren’t surprised that she was out during the Dark Hour.”

“Apparently, that’s because something like this happened before. Probably something to do with whatever happened last year that nobody ever told me about.”

“Probably.” Yuki looked down at the floor. “I’ve tried asking, but none of what they told me made any sense. But then, if Akihiko-senpai didn’t even tell you…” She fiddled with her headphone cord, twirling it around her fingers. “I guess I shouldn’t have expected anything, either.”

That assumed Aki had bothered having proper conversations with him, instead of just begging him to come back. He wasn’t sure why things had changed in the past couple of months, but it was easy to see that they had.

“Well, you should keep asking them about it. Not just sit around talking to someone who’s only here for a couple of days.”

Yuki just shrugged, and leaned back in her seat. “Yeah, but… you’re the only person here who’s close to being as confused as I am. They all know what’s going on already, they’re just not telling us. So… at least we have that in common.” That made an odd sort of sense, even if discovering what had happened during the apparently mysterious previous year wasn’t anywhere on Shinjiro’s to-do list.

“...I guess.” Really, why did people keep talking to him? Since when did he look like someone who could carry a conversation? “Want me to tell you if I hear anything?” It wouldn’t matter, he’d only be there for a few days at most.

Less, if something happened to Aki before they could even get into the tower.

“...That’d be nice.” She paused, before adding, “You know, I think this is the least conversations I’ve needed to have with another Persona User to really connect with them.”

He had no idea what she was saying, but maybe she considered him a friend now? For some reason?

...Maybe he’d just go to bed and hope that the world made sense again in the morning.

Chapter Text

”...Did we lose them?” Akihiko gasped, stumbling through a part of the corridor that was illuminated with moonlight.

Fuuka, who was right beside him, glanced backwards. “...I think so.” The two of them didn’t quite collapse, both fully aware of the likely consequences if they did so, but they did stop running for a bit. She approached the window. “And I don’t think we’ll have to be running for much longer. It’s nearly the full moon.” Admittedly, it had been nearly the full moon for the past three hours, but she was currently choosing not to think about that.

She considered looking down, but… she already knew where they were in the tower, roughly, even if they didn’t have exact floor numbers when everything kept repeating.

Akihiko joined her. “You’ve been saying that for hours, now… but I guess it has to be true, eventually. You can barely tell it’s not full.”

Fuuka wondered if, if they stayed there long enough and Death failed to approach, they’d be able to see the moment that their world moved from one Dark Hour to the next. The nights all blended together, when there was nothing to inform them of the passage of time other than the occasional rattling of chains.

“Once the moon is full, either the others will come to get us, or we can wait another hour for the barrier to fall, at which point we can leave on our own.” She was sure he knew this already, but it helped to have a reminder that this wouldn’t last forever. “We’ll be able to go home.”

“Yeah… You think the others are gonna be mad at me for disappearing like this?” The way he said it, it was as if this was the first time the thought had occurred to him.

She shook her head. “It wouldn’t be right if they were. You were just trying to help me, and…” A thought that kept coming around popped up in her mind yet again. “...and it’s my fault we’re here, anyway.”

“What do you mean? You didn’t exactly lock yourself in the school.”

“No, but…” But if she hadn’t decided to get her bag back instead of going back for it the next morning, they wouldn’t be in this mess. They’d be back at the dorm, having by then figured out a decent enough excuse to tell her parents about why she’d decided to move away. “But you didn’t have to do this.”

“Fuuka, I wasn’t going to leave you here on your own for another ten days. That’s sort of the opposite of…” Akihiko trailed off, as though unable to find a proper description of what he wanted to say.

Still, Fuuka thought she got the idea pretty well. It had only been visible every time there was a prolonged fight, after all.

“I guess…” She glanced away from the window, now, to the darkness from which new enemies could emerge at any time. Not that she sensed any that were in the area. “Still… Thank you. For coming to save me.” She’d have to do something, later, to make up for all this trouble, but for now the priority was surviving.

She hoped the others got there quickly… Preferably, before the Yawn-B-Gone wore off. Things were troublesome enough when both of them were lucid, they didn’t need delirium making things worse.

She still recognized, of course, that things could always get worse. Like the large dice explosion at the very end of the last hour they spent on their own.

That definitely wouldn’t make things any better.

“Can’t believe you actually managed to drag me back here…” Shinjiro grumbled, slumping in one of the seats in the Student Council room. “You’re seriously letting Moriyama just… stay at the dorm?”

“I know it’s not ideal,” Mitsuru sighed, not even trying to pretend she was bothered by the fact that his feet were on the table. Really, she was glad that he was there at all. “But it will be harder for the Shadows to call to her if she feels like she’s being supported.”

“...And leaving her in an empty dormitory will do that.” So the plan had flaws.

“I’m more worried about how we’re going to get back into the building later,” Yukari spoke up. “I mean… The chairman’s not going to be available tonight, is he? So he can’t help us get back into the school.” It turned out that there were, in fact, downsides to not telling Ikutsuki about anything.

Iori raised his hand. “I could go around and unlock one of the doors on my way out. No one ever watches that one.”

“Or we could just not leave,” Yuki suggested. “Since Fuuka-chan’s bag is gone, that means she and Akihiko-senpei got as far as Ekoda-sensei’s room. And we’re pretty close to that.”

“Ooh, that sounds even cooler than my idea!” Those two… they got along far too well.

The sad thing was… the idea had merit. “Really? If that’s the case, I’m sure the two of you wouldn’t be averse to trying it yourselves. Shinjiro, would you mind staying with them?”

“What about you?”

“There’s a chance that, due to the nature of the tower, you’ll land somewhere within my range as a Navigator. Unless you want to be going into this whole thing blind?” If he said yes, it wouldn’t surprise her as much as it really should have.

“And I guess you’d want me to stay behind and help you?” Yukari asked, getting a nod in return. “I guess that makes sense, but… wouldn’t it be safer for us all to stick together?”

Yuki sighed. “You say that like Tartarus doesn’t like randomly separating people.” Apparently, despite it only happening twice, those events had left a sizable impact on her. “I know I can handle myself on my own, but we’ve still only got two Traesto Gems.” Admittedly, this was one more than they’d have had if Akihiko hadn’t lost the spare to Junpei in a fighting game, but if he hadn’t lost the spare Traesto Gem, they wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with. They’d be preparing to camp outside the school waiting for their enemies to show up.

...Actually, maybe it wouldn’t change that much, after all. They’d just be down Shinjiro, and plus Akihiko and Yamagishi. And most of the team wouldn't have to be directed through Tartarus on a rescue mission, but that, at least, was something she’d almost expected.

“...That reminds me. Iori, give the spare Traesto Gem to Shinjiro. All things considered, I believe he’d be less likely to drop it.”

”I can’t believe they actually left us.” She’d been joking! ...Mostly. Why did Junpei have to jump on board with it?

Shinjiro shrugged. “So, what are we supposed to do for the next eight hours?”

Suddenly, loud music started playing. The two of them glanced at Junpei, who sheepishly turned off the sound on his PSP. “...Sorry.”

Makoto blinked. “Why did you bring that to school? You haven’t been playing it during class, have you?” Except, no, they would have noticed the complete lack of volume control.

“Of course not! It’s only here in case of emergencies. And being stuck in the Student Council room all day is definitely an emergency. Sorry, Mako-tan, but it’s only really you and Mitsuru-senpai who belong here.”

“I guess I can’t argue with that…” She sighed. “But… we probably wouldn’t have to stay in this exact room, as long as we can get back to this general area by midnight. Anyone want to hide out in the library for a bit? I have some studying I’d like to catch up on.” She probably didn’t need it, but it was always best to be safe.

“...Guess I got nothing better to do.”

“...I think I’ll stay here for now. I’ve got my game, I can just hide under the tables for a bit… talk to you later?” Junpei glanced up, hat slipping down in front of his face. “...Oh, but watch out for the security guards! Remember, Agilao Gems aren’t good distractions!”

“They seem pretty distracting to me.” But she conceded the point. Mitsuru wouldn’t be happy with them if they did something that resulted in the school being closed the next day.

Shinjiro groaned. “Please don’t set the school on fire. If you do that, Kirijo will kill us.” Junpei shuddered in agreement.

“See? Shinjiro-san gets me!”

Makoto rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t going to set the school on fire. I know better than that.”

“That’s not what the Tartarus walls said two weeks ago.”

“...Shut up. That doesn’t count.” Despite sharing a physical location, she considered Tartarus and Gekkoukan High to be distinct places. “Come on, Aragaki-san, I want to look up something Edogawa-sensei mentioned last week…”

“Does it really bother you that much?”

Mitsuru glanced at Yukari in confusion. “What do you mean?” Like she couldn't see it. As if Yukari hadn’t recognized it from the very beginning.

“I’m talking about Shinjiro-senpai. With how much you were telling Akihiko-senpai to talk to him, I thought you’d be glad to see him again.” She knew the two of them had tried to keep those conversations quiet, but it had certainly come up often enough for her to catch on.

“What makes you think I’m not?”

“You left him with Junpei and Makoto-chan.” Admittedly, that didn’t have to mean anything, but they’d still abandoned their teammates in the school before going to get ice cream. “And… you know… you were sort of avoiding him this month.”

Mitsuru looked like she wanted to argue with that. If she did, Yukari had months worth of evidence backing her up. And they both knew it.

“I was just… wondering how things would have gone differently, if I hadn’t met him and Akihiko.”

“You would have died years ago against something you couldn’t Charm or kill with ice.” She only really had those two strategies, it wasn’t all that difficult to put it together.

“Well…” There was still no real denial. “...Perhaps. If I was unfortunate.”

They both silently agreed to change the topic.

By the time the power cut out, Shinjiro had spent two hours with his brain being unable to do anything but circle between ‘this is a terrible idea’ and ‘this might actually be working.’

Yuki, meanwhile, had gathered up a large number of books that she wanted to read and now had them piled around her underneath the window, where she said she planned to stay until it was too dark to read by. He hadn’t read any of those books, but from the titles, they didn’t seem like something that could be found in a normal school curriculum.

“So… what sort of books are those, anyway?” He found himself asking, desperate to not spend six hours reminding himself of the absolute worst-case scenario.

Yuki paused to mark her page, before glancing up at him. “They’re… things about meditation, and stuff. Edogawa-sensei was teaching last week, for some reason, and I… got kind of inspired by it.”

“Really?” He hadn't taken her to be that sort of person. Mostly because he was still worried she’d eventually set the school on fire. “I didn’t think anyone paid attention to that kind of stuff.”

“Most people don’t,” She agreed. “But… most people don’t have what we have.”

“You mean Personas?” It almost made some kind of sense, if he thought about it. “Doesn’t that seem a little…?” He trailed off, because of course this girl wouldn’t have had the time to realize just how much trouble these powers could cause even without poking at them. And Shinjiro didn’t want to dampen her enthusiasm. Not when they’d clearly need it later.

She nodded. “If a Persona is meant to be a part of yourself, then when you look into yourself… isn’t it a good sign, if what your Persona is what you see? And- and maybe I could use that somehow to- to make myself stronger.” She quieted down, which was vaguely worrying, in the sense that when Aki got like this, things tended to go out of control just as often as not.

Shinjiro sighed. At least this was something he was sort of used to. “Is it really that important?”

“It is, when I’m supposed to be the leader,” Yuki replied, quietly. “In the field, I’m meant to be in charge. But I’m still the weakest member of SEES. Junpei-kun and I started out at the same time, and he’s still a lot stronger than I am. Mitsuru-senpai didn’t trust anyone else to lead, though, so… here I am.”

“It can be like that,” He found himself saying. “Aki and I started at the same time, but I always had more power than him. He may have caught up by now, though. It’s been a while.” It’d be a relief if he had, honestly. It’d mean Shinjiro didn’t have to worry about him anymore.

Wouldn’t stop. Still your brother.

He hated it when Castor actually had a point.

“...I see. Thank you, Aragaki-san.” With that, Yuki returned to her current book.

It was going to be a long night.

Hours later, when they arrived at Ekoda’s classroom, Junpei was sitting there waiting for them, game system presumably either out of power or having lost its appeal.

Or, given how he was sitting at a desk with his bag on top of it, maybe he’d just fallen asleep. It made as much sense as anything, though Makoto decided she wasn’t going to ask.

“Shinjiro-san, Mako-tan. Did the security guards give you any trouble?”

“Not really,” She replied. Shinjiro nodded.

“Yeah, back when Aki and I would break into haunted houses to prove how tough we were, it was harder than this.” There was a story there. Makoto reminded herself to get it out of one of them eventually.

“...Huh. You think maybe they keep getting lost in Tartarus, too?”

“Don’t even joke about that.”

“...Actually, I wouldn’t be too surprised if that had happened at least once.” They stared at her. “What? I’m just saying, if people who can experience the Dark Hour are pulled into the tower if they’re here when it happens… And this is the first place I’ve lived where I wasn’t alone at night.” It might not have been likely, but it was still possible. “There could be a lot more than just us.”

Shinjiro took one of the nearby seats, no longer meeting anyone’s eye. “Probably not school security guards, though.”

Junpei nodded, maybe a bit too quickly. “Yeah… probably not. So… do either of you have something to eat?”

“I have melon bread!” It wasn’t exactly an ordinary meal, but then, this had been pretty far from an ordinary day.

All things considered, though, she thought it had gone pretty well.

Chapter Text

When Makoto regained consciousness in Tartarus, she couldn’t see Junpei or Shinjiro anywhere. “Junpei-kun!? Aragaki-san, are you there!?” She called.

“They’re not on this floor.” A boy with blue hair stepped out of the shadows, and Makoto couldn’t even bring herself to be surprised.

“I’m not even going to ask how you know that…” She muttered, using the wall to steady herself. “You got any more cryptic advice to give me tonight?”

Blue smiled. “You could say that,” He said. “But that’s not important. Finding the others is.” Now he was speaking her language. “I can lead you to the stairs, but no further.”

“That’s fine.” It was more than she’d expected, anyway. “Lead the way.” Cryptic asshole that this boy was, she could at least trust that he wouldn’t be leading her into a trap. If he’d meant her any harm, he wouldn’t have given her access to the Velvet Room.

“I was surprised, last month,” He stated, directing her through the hallways. “I hadn’t expected us to form a bond like that. It hasn’t happened to me in… a long time.”

Honestly, him saying that really shouldn’t have surprised her. “If you’re the Velvet Room’s other guest, I guess you would notice a new Social Link.”

“I wouldn’t really call myself a guest anymore… I don’t even have my own key. I’m just holding on to one for somebody else. This new bond is going to give you a lot more than it gives me.” Blue adjusted his headphones. They looked exactly like Makoto’s, except that they were blue instead of red. “Though I guess it does let me answer a question I had.”

“What would that be?”

“I was wondering if, if two Wild Cards would form a bond… it would represent itself the same way for both of them. I didn’t think I’d ever get the chance to find out. How does our bond appear for you?”

She supposed it couldn’t hurt to answer him. “It’s Judgement.”

He stopped walking for a moment. “...Huh. I wasn’t expecting that.”

“...What were you expecting, then?”

“Either it’d be the same as mine, or it’d be… I don’t know, Death or something.” He directed her to another turn. “But… Judgement. All right, then.” Makoto wasn’t sure if he meant it in a bad way or not.

“But it shows differently for you? What Arcana do you see, then?”

“...You probably wouldn’t know it. Until we met, I didn’t even realize it existed.” They arrived at the stairs. Immediately, he changed the subject. “You should get going. The others will need you. You shouldn’t stand around talking to me, when you could be helping them.”

Did they really need her help? They were all so much stronger than her. She could tell that even Shinjiro was more powerful.

But by the time she had returned her gaze to the boy, he had already disappeared, the bond between them ranking up to two.

Makoto was quick to decide that she didn’t like being in Tartarus on her own. No nearby friends, no constant support… until she managed to find someone else, it would be just her and the Dark Hour.

The fact that Akihiko and Fuuka had apparently survived ten hours of this was honestly impressive. Even if they’d had each other, it couldn’t have been anything near pleasant.

In her hands, she fiddled with her Evoker, fully prepared to immolate any Shadow that ventured too near to her. If fire didn’t work, she had plenty of other options, but it did tend to be her default. She wasn’t even trying to hide it anymore.

A Shadow with a heart-shaped head stepped around a nearby corner, and Makoto inwardly sighed and shuffled her Personas. She knew this kind of Shadow, after all, and as for what worked best on it…

“Jack Frost! Bufu!” She’d initially fused this one because Elizabeth wanted to see it, but it was certainly proving to be more than worth the costs of the Compendium fees to get the involved Personas back. The Dancers Shadow slipped on the ice, fell to the ground, and burst into black goop.

It was nice to see that, weakest member of SEES or not, the Shadows here still posed little threat to her.

“I think I heard something!” She heard a familiar voice call out. “Hey, Mako-tan! We’re over here!”

Junpei and Shinjiro, she realized, had apparently taken to hiding behind pillars. “Have you found any sign of Akihiko-senpai or Fuuka-chan yet?” She asked, walking up to them.

They shook their heads. “Also, you probably shouldn’t come in this way again,” Shinjiro added. “Least there’s not a lot of Shadows around.”

“That’s probably because Akihiko-san stole all the good fights…” Junpei mumbled.

“...Sad thing is, I have no idea if you’re joking or not.”

Makoto shrugged. “It almost makes sense. Aside from the fact that even Akihiko-senpai would get tired of this after ten hours straight…” At least, she hoped he would. The less fights her friends were jumping into, the better.

A Maya bubbled around the corner. Junpei summoned Hermes and immolated it. If he hadn’t done it, she would. “Well, he’s survived this long, so if he’s tired, it doesn’t seem to be stopping him,” He stated, Hermes fading away as if nothing had happened.

For a moment, Shinjiro stared at the spot where Junpei’s Persona had been, before shaking his head and looking away. “I guess…”

Before the conversation could move anywhere else, they were distracted by their actual mission objective. “Hello? Can anyone hear me?” Fuuka’s voice asked from nowhere.

Makoto blinked. “Fuuka-chan? Are you all right? I mean… you’re not hurt, are you?”

“...I’m not,” She replied, with more hesitancy than could be expected. “Akihiko-senpai and I are one floor above you, so we’ll be waiting for you. You… wouldn’t happen to have any Traesto Gems, would you?”

“We’ve got some.” For a moment, Shinjiro pulled the one he was carrying out of his pocket, before slipping it back in.

“...Oh, Shinjiro-senpai’s with you?” Makoto couldn’t tell if the surprise in Fuuka’s voice was due to Shinjiro having a Persona, or just the fact that he was present in the tower. This probably wasn’t the time to ask about that, however. “...That’s good. If one of those large Shadows shows up, it’ll be safer with more people.”

“...Large Shadows?”

“They’ve been showing up the past couple of months,” Junpei explained. “They’re pretty strong, but it’s nothing we can’t handle.”

“You weren’t even here for the first one,” Makoto reminded him. “And it doesn’t matter, because they’re not going to show up in the second block of Tartarus. Come on, let’s go find those stairs.”

Still, she was getting a bad feeling about this...

They didn’t run into a lot of Shadows after that.

Shinjiro was mostly waiting for that to change. There had to be more Shadows than this, this was the place where they lived. He’d seen larger numbers of them during his time on the streets.

And yet, even the next floor seemed to have nothing. No enemies for them to face. No creatures emerging from the depths of human nightmares in search of living minds to feed upon. Just more endless hallways.

Endless hallways, and one head of pale blue hair peeking around a nearby corner. “Oh! You made it here!” Yamagishi ducked back out of sight. “Akihiko-senpai, they found us! It’s- it’s going to be all right, now.”

“Really?”

“Yes. They came to get us- Junpei-kun, Makoto-chan, and Shinjiro-senpai.”

“...Shinji’s here?” Of course that was the thing Aki picked up on. Not finally being able to leave the tower he’d been lost in for the better part of ten hours.

Yamagishi returned to where Shinjiro could see her. She smiled at the group apologetically. “Sorry. The last fight he was in didn’t go that well… also, I think the exhaustion’s finally getting to him. He’s been up for about thirty hours…” And he was still conscious? “Come on, they’re over here.”

With that, Aki stumbled into view. He was, generally, less put-together than Yamagishi was, and would probably have to throw out the clothes he was wearing. Dia, while great for healing, wasn’t as useful when it came to removing tears and bloodstains from fabric.

Little brother. You’re safe.

“Hey,” He greeted them, stumbling a little over his own feet. His gaze landed on Shinjiro, who was struggling to push back a crushing sense of relief. No. It wasn’t safe yet. They were still in a giant death tower. “Shinji. You’re alive.”

“Pretty sure that’s supposed to be my line.” What with his brother having vanished into Tartarus and been missing for over a week. He glanced at a visible injury on his shoulder. “What happened here?”

“...Did you know the dice explode?” He was just going to assume there were Shadows that looked like dice around. “‘Cause the dice explode. A lot.”

“I could have easily gone my entire life without learning that.” For some reason, Aki recoiled at hearing this.

“...Yeah. But, well, now you know.” He gave a helpless shrug. “I’d heal it, but Fuuka says I’ll be better off not using- not using my Persona right now.”

“I’d give it a few days,” Yamagishi confirmed. “...Also, I don’t think anyone should be using a Persona if they aren’t entirely lucid.” That was a very good point.

“Yeah, that’s… probably a good idea,” Iori agreed. Not for the first time, Shinjiro was tempted to ask if he knew Yoshino, but decided against it. So maybe his Persona was the same as the one the guy from Yoshino’s dream had, that didn’t mean anything. Maybe Navigators just got weird when new Persona Users happened, he hadn’t exactly asked Mitsuru about it.

Besides, even if Iori did know Yoshino, there were probably better times to ask about it than in the middle of a hallway that should have been filled with Shadows. Preferably when there were less people to be pulled into that conversation.

Yuki shrugged. “It probably won’t matter, anyway.” She said. “After all, we’re going back now-”

“Shinjiro, Yu-... magishi. Can... hear me?” Mitsuru’s voice crackled into existence.

Yamagishi moved immediately, the Evoker she’d presumably confiscated from Aki firing in a flash of blue light, the form of a Persona appearing around here.

“We can hear you. Is something wrong?”

When Mitsuru’s voice came back, it was stronger, and no longer threatening to cut off at any moment. Presumably, Yamagishi’s powers had something to do with it. “There are two powerful Shadows on the ground floor. Yukari and I can’t handle them by ourselves. Can you all return to the entrance?”

“I guess I spoke too soon...” Yuki sighed. Shinjiro, meanwhile, fished the Traesto Gem he’d been given out of his pocket, preparing to use it with a grimace.

“We’ll be down right away.”

The first thing Fuuka registered as she materialized in the lobby of Tartarus was the presence of two large Shadows. Which, fair enough, she’d expected that even before Mitsuru told her about it, even if she’d let it slip her mind for a while in favor of survival.

Mitsuru and Yukari were facing them, or at least trying to, though they appeared to have given up on aiming for specific weaknesses and were just throwing their basic group-hitting spells. This was clearly not being as effective as they’d hoped it would be.

“They’re capable of swapping their weaknesses around!” Mitsuru warned, likely more for the benefit of Shinjiro and Makoto than anything else. “Yamagishi, can you handle the support?”

Fuuka nodded, the Evoker Akihiko had lent to her clutched tightly in her hand. It wasn’t like it’d be a good idea for its owner to join the fight, in his position.

“Fuuka?” And then, as if things hadn’t been hectic enough already, Natsuki showed up. “Fuuka!”

“Natsuki-chan!” Honestly, this was probably the most crowded the Tartarus lobby had been, at least that she could remember. “You need to stay away!”

Natsuki, of course, kept moving forward. “But I need to tell you-”

“I know.” She’d been using her powers so much, ever since she’d found herself back in Arqa, that Juno answered to her call before the trigger on her borrowed Evoker was pressed all the way in. She found herself smiling as she reconnected with her full range of senses. “It’s going to be okay.”

The first thing she did, like always, was to assess everyone’s status. Makoto, Junpei, and Shinjiro were all doing just fine, and would probably be handling the bulk of the fight. Mitsuru and Yukari easily had the power to join in, but would of course draw less questions if they stuck to support. Akihiko could technically fire off a few more spells if he had an Evoker available to him, but he’d probably be home sick for the next couple of days as it was- he didn’t need to make things worse for himself.

Fighting the Emperor and Empress would not require use of the powers exclusive to their friends who were currently not present. Excellent.

“Shinjiro-senpai, you focus on the Empress for now!” She instructed. It wasn’t normal for her to be in any position of command on the field, but for opponents like this, it was the only option. “Makoto-chan, the Emperor is currently weak to all kinds of magic. When it changes around, I’ll tell you what to do.”

Makoto nodded, her face conveying her relief at not having to keep track herself. “Got it. Thanks, Fuuka-chan.” With a completely unnecessary flourish of her Evoker, she summoned Jack Frost and set the Emperor on fire. Fuuka wasn’t sure how that was possible, but apparently it was happening.

Besides, she knew better than to question the powers of a Wild Card. They’d always find a way to make her regret asking later.

Of course, even in this fight where attack variety was so important, Makoto’s relative inexperience compared to everyone else showed. Even Shinjiro was avoiding attacks and striking back with the finesse of someone who’d been fighting for a long time, though it certainly didn’t hurt when the Emperor, in an attempt to get at him, stabbed itself with its own sword. That sort of thing didn’t happen all that often, but the results tended to be interesting to see.

Similarly, Junpei was casting fire magic with the sort of precision one would never have expected of him if their main interactions with him were during the day. Mostly because he had yet to implement any sort of precision into his day-to-day life, but he was trying.

And then there was Makoto, who had gotten about as far as ‘hit it with its weakness.’ That was… probably to be expected, at this point? How long did this sort of thing usually take? Fuuka didn’t have any idea, she wasn’t a fighter.

Fuuka decided to trust that Akihiko realized that, without an Evoker and not entirely lucid, the first thing he should have been doing was distancing himself from the fight, and turned her attention to Mitsuru and Yukari. “Are the two of you all right? I could try healing you…” She wasn’t anywhere near as good as a dedicated healer, but if all they needed was a bit of patching up…

Mitsuru shook her head. “It’s fine. We can heal ourselves, if we have to.”

There was a shift in the battlefield. This required her attention. “The Empress can now be hurt by everything but striking, and the Emperor is the opposite!” She reported. “Somebody punch it! ...Just, um, maybe not Akihiko-senpai.”

“I’ll handle it!” Makoto immediately diverted from her prior activities in order to have a little snowman punch a Shadow. Fuuka supposed somebody had to do it.

Junpei was hit by a Garudyne. In hindsight, that was only to be expected. The next spell threw him clear across the room. This, also, should not have been unexpected.

“...Yukari-chan, can you go do something about Junpei-kun?” Fuuka wasn’t sure if it was her or Makoto who made the request, but it was adhered to either way.

Mitsuru was now sorting through attack items that had probably been requisitioned from the main group for exactly this type of emergency. She’d leave her to it.

In all of the commotion, she’d lost track of where Akihiko was. A quick diversion of her attention told her that he was standing on the edge of the battle, next to Shinjiro. 

She was about to ask what he thought he was doing when, without an Evoker- admittedly, if anything would make this into a proper reflex, it would be the night they’d had- Caesar appeared next to Castor, and the two Personas used a combination attack like one of Makoto’s Fusion Raids, knocking both large Shadows to the ground.

Mitsuru stared across the battlefield. “I… wasn’t aware that the two of you could still do that.”

“Neither were we!” Akihiko replied, and without even looking at him, Fuuka could see his grin. Shinjiro sighed.

“You still shouldn’t be fighting right now.”

“You should listen to him. It’s been ten hours.” She didn’t think he needed reminding of how long they’d been stuck in the tower, but it was best to be safe. “You need to rest.”

Akihiko didn’t try to fight that assertion, withdrawing from the battlefield and collapsing next to Natsuki, who looked up at him.

“Senpai? Are you all right?”

“I mean, it could be better, but… it’s fine. Fuuka managed to keep things from getting too bad.”

“Really? Fuuka did?”

“Yeah. She’s… actually pretty amazing.”

Fuuka fought back the urge to blush, detached her senses from that part of the room, and focused her entire attention on the fight at hand.

As nice as compliments were, her other friends needed her more right now.

Eventually, of course, their opponents fell. No matter what the size, no matter their gimmicks, the Emperor and Empress had been outmatched and outnumbered, and that would of course reflect on the results.

Now, they were all at the station, waiting for the Dark Hour to end so they could catch the last monorail home and finally go to sleep.

Honestly, Shinjiro wasn’t entirely sure what he was still doing there. Aki was safe, he could have just left and been sure that things were going to turn out all right. Even if there were things that confused him, it wasn’t like they mattered when he wasn’t particularly interested in going near them again.

Except, well… he guessed that one of them would always matter to him. “So, since when was Aki’s Persona…?”

SEES fell silent.

“...I suppose you weren’t there to see it,” Mitsuru finally replied, after a few moments of exchanging unreadable glances between herself, Takeba, and, for some reason, Iori. “We call it resolution. It’s… what happens when a Persona User has to reevaluate their place in the world. Through this process, Penthesilea became Artemisia, and Polydeuces became Caesar. It’s something that made us stronger.”

It was impossible to deny that. Just from proximity, it was easy to tell that Aki had far surpassed him. And when they combined their powers, it just became even more obvious.

Between the two of them, Aki was the stronger one. And Shinjiro didn’t actually know what to think about it.

He doesn’t need us anymore.

If he’d ever been needed to begin with. Shinjiro wasn’t entirely sure about that.

“...Wonder why he never mentioned it. We’ve only been best friends since forever.” Maybe it was piled up with all the other things he’d never thought to tell him about. Things like having other friends, and having his Evoker taken away for a couple of weeks because he’d led Shadows back to the dorm. “I mean, sounds sort of important, doesn’t it?”

“...Not really,” Aki mumbled. “It’s just…”

“Just what?” Shinjiro asked.

Aki’s gaze fell to the ground, and when he replied, it was in the quiet, defeated voice he’d used in the time immediately following Miki’s death. “...You were gone. It hurt.”

He’s not telling us something.

He found himself agreeing with Castor. He hated when he did that. But the fact remained that Aki couldn’t have managed to not mention this sort of thing for a whole year and a half. In fact, he’d only seemed changed enough to justify having a new Persona from the start of this school year.

But at the same time… Aki had never been able to really lie to him before.

“You missed me that much?” There were times when one of them wouldn’t tell the other something out of spite, but… this didn’t feel like that, either. All he got was a nod in return. Mostly due to the fact that he was dozing off.

Watching this, Mitsuru sighed. “Akihiko is probably going to need at least a day in order to recover from his ordeal. Possibly longer. As for Yamagishi…”

“I fell asleep in the gym. I’ll still need to rest, but I should still be able to go to school tomorrow. ...Actually, speaking of rest…”

“...Yes, you may spend the night in the dormitory.” Yamagishi smiled and visibly relaxed.

With that, Mitsuru turned to face him. “Shinjiro, I know we’ve already asked a lot of you, but I don’t know if Akihiko should be left on his own for the time being. The last time he was home sick on his own-” He didn’t want to know.

“...Yeah, fine, whatever. It’s just a couple days, right?” That wouldn’t be too long.

Nothing too big could happen in that length of time… right?

Chapter Text

After spending ten hours straight in Tartarus, it was only natural that a person would end up getting sick. Shinjiro understood this, even if he didn’t particularly like it. After all, the only thing more annoying than a sleep-deprived Aki was one who was sick, wanted attention, and on enough cold medicine to leave him thoroughly out of it.

Then again, he supposed he did sign up for this. “So, what do you want for lunch?” If he left it up to him, he’d just heat up some instant noodles or something, which was probably not the best choice to help him get better. “...And you can’t say ramen, pancakes, or a beef bowl.”

“Um…” Okay, thinking about that would keep him busy for a bit. Good. Shinjiro regretted ever agreeing to this. He should have known it would just be trouble.

“...If you don’t say anything in the next ten minutes, I’m just going to make whatever.” It was still early in the week, there had to be something edible in the fridge. If that failed, he could just get something delivered. If there was one thing good about visiting Tartarus, it was that it was very hard to come away from there with an empty wallet.

“...That’s fine,” Aki finally decided, telling Shinjiro that he may have just made a horrible mistake. “You never make anything for me. But you’re a good cook- everyone agrees.” Who was this everyone he was talking about? “So, whatever it is, it’ll be good as long as you’re making it.”

“You sure? I could give you nothing but vegetables.” He wouldn’t do that. It’d at least be some kind of soup. But Aki didn’t have to know that.

“You wouldn’t.” ...Except for the little thing where they knew each other far too well.

Shinjiro rolled his eyes. “I don’t know. It’s tempting.” But then, the longer Aki was eating, the longer it would take for him to start talking again. Honestly, when had he gotten so clingy?

Aki just grinned. “Whatever you say, big brother.”

“Why are you like this...?” Right. Illness, medicine, and probably the remnants of sleep deprivation. Not great for coherency.

“Dunno. Just… Really glad you’re here.” That made one of them. “You’re… really here.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“And… you were there last night. In Tartarus.”

“Don’t get used to it.” Honestly, this conversation could probably have waited until Shinjiro was sure that Aki would remember it, but honestly, possibly not being remembered meant that this was the absolute best time for everything that he had to say. He could say everything he needed to and not have to worry about it being brought up ever again. “The only reason I was there is because you had everyone at Gekkoukan thinking you were dead. That’s it.”

“...Still more than I thought I’d get.” Those words should not have made him feel as bad as he did, but it wasn’t like he was any stranger to guilt trips. “And then. The fight. Fusion spell.” That would probably take some thinking over if not for the fact that Shinjiro was sort of used to translating Drugged Idiot.

I am thou, thou art I.

Case in point. “Not like it’s the first time we’ve done that,” He pointed out, wondering why he was even bothering. “Though… not sure why we can still do it. What with...” They probably needed to talk about that, once Aki was fully lucid. Or just ignore it forever. That was also a possibility.

“...It’s not about the Personas, though. …’Less you’re Makoto. Makoto’s special.” Yes, he was aware that she had a selection of Personas, rather than just one. It still seemed like it’d be more trouble than it was worth, one day. “It’s about people. Didn’t change that much. Even with Caesar. Still me. Still care about you.” Okay, it would probably be good for Aki if he managed to get some sleep soon. “Never gonna stop.”

...Okay, that was far too much emotional honesty for one day. For the rest of the month, even. “...Just go to sleep. I’ll wake you up when lunch is ready.” And maybe, if Shinjiro was very lucky, they could both forget this conversation had ever happened.

The others couldn’t come home soon enough.

Makoto and Yukari were taking their time coming home.

“Do you think we should pick up some flowers?” Yukari asked. “It might look nice to have some around.” Makoto took a few moments to think about it.

“...That sounds nice,” She finally decided. “...I mean, if we have the money. I’m… sort of broke right now.”

Her friend groaned. “I told you it was a scam.”

“I know, I know!” She insisted, though she was sure that Yukari didn’t fully believe her. “But trust me, I’m getting something out of it, too!” Sure, it wasn’t anything that another person would be able to see, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t benefiting.

“...Is it more substantial than an autograph? Look, I’m just saying, Mitsuru-senpai could probably help you out if you asked her.”

“...No matter how much money I lost, that doesn’t mean I want Tanaka-san to die, Yukari-chan!” And Makoto was pretty sure that was how it would end up going, if Mitsuru got involved.

“I’m sure she wouldn’t kill him… I mean, she can cover up deaths, but that doesn’t mean it’d be easy…” This was very, very concerning and probably something that merited asking about later. “...So, about those flowers… what kinds do you like?”

She didn’t need much time to think about that at all. “Sunflowers. Or any yellow flower, really… but that was the first kind I could think of.”

“...You know, I almost expected you to go for something red.”

“Red and yellow go well together.” Didn’t her favorite sweater prove that? “It… makes everything feel warmer.  Though, I’m… not sure it works quite the same way with flowers.”

The Lovers Social Link ranked up, as a bit more of the barrier between them slowly crumbled away. Yukari grinned at her.

“Come on, then, Makoto-chan, let’s go ask.”

And so they did. After all, they could always put off returning home for just a bit longer.

By mid-afternoon, Aki claimed that he was feeling a lot better. Shinjiro, meanwhile, had privately resolved never to mention the events of that morning again. Maybe, if he just pretended it never happened, all of the things Aki said would just go away.

And then the door swung open. Oddly enough, the first person to walk through it that afternoon was someone who didn’t even live there.

“I’m back!” Amada Ken entered the building, kicking off his shoes as easily as if he belonged there.

What is he doing here?

Aki pushed himself up from his spot on the couch, which he refused to give up no matter how much better the rest he could get from his actual bed was. “Ken? You’re out of school already?”

“...I got out half an hour ago,” The kid replied, blinking and taking in the scene. Shinjiro wished he could just shrink away into nothing, so that he wouldn’t have to look this boy in the eye. “I thought I’d come make sure you were okay. Since… you haven’t been here for a while. Is no one else back yet?”

Aki shook his head, quickly jumping onto the change of subject. “No, it’s just us right now. Still… Make yourself at home.” As if it wasn’t surprising at all for a preteen to just wander into the dormitory and immediately claim control of the television remote.

Maybe it wasn’t. Shinjiro had only been there for a few days, and at this point he wouldn’t be shocked if Aki had just decided to never tell him anything. It would certainly explain all of these things which had apparently happened at some point, but that he still didn’t know about.

“Thanks.” Ken smiled and plopped himself down on a nearby armchair. He then turned his gaze more fully to Shinjiro, which was probably the most disconcerting thing to happen to him all day. “I haven’t seen you here before. Were you worried about Akihiko-san, too?” Implying that he was there often enough to know who lived there or not.

“...You could say that.” No matter who this kid was, he probably didn’t know enough to be told that Shinjiro had decided to dive into a giant helltower to make sure Aki was all right.

If he did know that much, well… then there were bigger problems. “Surprised a kid like you knows Aki, though.”

Ken kept smiling, which was not reassuring at all. “Akihiko-san gave me a lot of help, last year, when I needed it. Mitsuru-san, too. She said I could come visit whenever I wanted, as long as I left before it was dark out.”

...This really seemed like the sort of thing that should have been mentioned when it happened, and not all this time later. “They never said anything about you.” Admittedly, he hadn’t talked to Mitsuru all that much, but if Aki had mentioned to Shinjiro that the two of them had decided to start looking out for the kid, then he would have helped.

“They never tell anyone about me.” Ken rolled his eyes, as if this was something that had come up before. If it had, Shinjiro thought he had a pretty good idea of who was involved. “They’re… not great at telling people things they need to know.”

“I’d like to see you do better,” Aki mumbled. Hopefully, he was still slightly out of it and not actually trying to pick a fight with a child.

Ken glanced from Aki to Shinjiro and back again. Really, really not reassuring. “That… I don’t know. No one ever listened before. Since… since I’m just a kid.”

...We did this to him.

“You’re not that young,” Aki pointed out. Shinjiro wondered if he could leave without attracting any sort of attention. Probably not. “I mean you’re… how old, again?”

“I’ll be twelve in a couple of weeks.” That didn’t sound quite right, but Shinjiro wasn’t going to say anything about that, because that would mean drawing attention to himself. “That’s… still not very much, but I guess maybe I’ve learned something in the past year?”

“I guess you had to grow somehow.” ...Aki was picking a fight with a child. Why was he doing this?

“Aki, stop bothering the kid. Or do you want me to get out the photos from middle school?” They weren’t the worst pictures in the world, but it was enough to remind him that, at one point, they had also been twelve.

“...No, I’m good.”

“You have pictures?” Ken perked up, looking more like a kid in that moment than he had since coming in the door. “Of Akihiko-san? Can I see?”

Given who was asking, how could he possibly refuse?

Whatever Ken might have thought of Shinjiro, the kid was very good at hiding it. For the entire duration of the afternoon, he seemed to be nothing more than a child who happened to really look up to Aki and Mitsuru.

Was there something else? Probably, but Shinjiro just couldn’t see it.

When the time came for the kid to leave, he took his time getting ready and saying goodbye to everyone. Eventually, he turned to Shinjiro.

“It was nice to meet you, Aragaki-san. I… hope I get to see you here again.” Before turning and running out the door.

Everything currently made exactly no sense, and at this point Shinjiro wasn’t sure he trusted the others to give him any answers. Not even that of if the kid would want to see him again if he knew why they hadn’t previously encountered each other like this.

But he’d been expecting things to go a lot worse than they actually did, so maybe a repeat of it wouldn’t be that bad.

...He’d need some time to think about it.

”Welcome to the Iwatodai Strip Mall.” Makoto gestured out at the various shops, watching as Theo took in the scenery. Elizabeth had asked her to bring him out for a while, and offered a very nice reward for doing so, though she still wasn’t sure it had been worth the hassle of taking her assistant on the monorail.

And it really was Theo who assisted her, at least when it came to matters of fusion and the Compendium. Elizabeth just sat around and offered her rewards for fulfilling specific tasks. Still, it worked, so it would probably be fine.

“I see… It’s very different from the place where we were last time.”

“Isn’t it? So, we have restaurants, bookstores… where would you like to go?”

“I’m… not sure,” Theo admitted. “There’s just so many options…”

That made sense. He did spend all of his time in that elevator… “All right, how about I show you where everything is, first? Maybe you’ll see something you like.”

Theo nodded, still apprehensive. “That… I guess it can’t be too different from a festival…”

“...Festival?”

“I visited one once with Elizabeth and one of our other sisters. It was my first experience with the human world. Our other guest was… very obliging to us.” Makoto wondered if this was something she could ask Blue about later, but decided it wouldn’t be worth it with how rarely he showed up. “There was iced cream!”

Makoto tried to imagine what would happen if she gave Theo ice cream. It didn’t seem like the worst idea ever, but she wasn’t sure where she’d find any. “What about takoyaki? There’s a takoyaki stall over there…”

“Yes, there was takoyaki. I would not be averse to trying it again… although…” He sniffed the air as she led him over to Octopia. “...This stall seems to use different ingredients than I am used to.”

...It would probably be best not to ask. For the sake of still being able to eat there, if nothing else.

Fuuka arrived at the dormitory later in the week, with bags that she’d apparently been packing since her return from Tartarus. “You’re going to be staying here?” Makoto asked, surprised. It wasn’t that she wasn’t aware that Fuuka might join them, she’d known about Juno for over a month, it was just that she hadn’t ever really considered it.

“My powers are a lot stronger than Mitsuru-senpai’s, at least when it comes to being able to sense things,” Was the reply. “And… I’d like to be able to help everyone all the time, not just when I already know you’ll be out.”

“We’ve had an Evoker prepared for her for a while now,” Mitsuru stated. “But we never found a good time to properly bring her in until now.”

This didn’t sound quite right. Among other things, Makoto had been dragged into this from the moment she first set foot in the dorm, Junpei came in shortly after, and Shinjiro had just shown up a bit under a week ago and still had yet to leave.

And then there was Ken, who had been popping up every few days now with no explanation for how he seemed to know everyone, and who probably didn’t know anything what was going on, if only due to being eleven. But Ken was clearly an outlier, so Makoto wasn’t counting him.

...But then, from what she could tell, Fuuka seemed to have parents who were at least somewhat present in her life, so there was that to consider. Even if it didn’t seem like something that would take an entire year to work out.

“Well, it’ll be nice to have you around!” Makoto smiled, hoping that her misgivings didn’t show on her face. “We’ll be counting on you.”

She got a happy smile in return. “Thank you. I’ll do my best.”

Shinjiro glanced at Akihiko. “...What were you planning to do if you didn’t find someone like her, anyway?”

“Keep going and hope for the best, probably.”

Shinjiro sighed. This clearly hadn’t been the answer he was hoping for. “Hey, Yamagishi. Thanks for looking after this idiot while you were in the tower.”

“It wasn’t a problem. Akihiko-senpai’s always done a lot to help me. Even us being in Tartarus was… more my fault than anything. Really, all I did was try and avoid Shadows.”

“Worked out well enough,” Akihiko pointed out. “We’re still alive.”

Shinjiro definitely didn’t seem pleased by that. “...Kirijo, if someone, hypothetically, was okay with, say, fighting in the tower, but not anywhere else....”

Mitsuru didn’t visibly react, but she still seemed to be pleased somehow. “I believe that is a question you should be posing to our field leader.” And then everyone turned to Makoto. It took effort for her not to flinch away.

“That… I could work with that,” She finally said. “There’s enough of us already for if anything happens in town, but more backup in Tartarus would always be nice. If you have anyone in particular you’d rather team up with, I could probably work that in, too.” After all, if there was enough of them for a rotation, there was enough of them to work out who went best together, even if, in Shinjiro’s case, she already had an obvious answer.

“...Are you really sure about this, though?” Yukari asked. She seemed oddly worried about Shinjiro, for someone who’d only really known him for about a week. “I mean, if you left, it must have been for a reason, right?”

“I’m not saying this is a permanent thing. I’m saying I want to make sure you all won’t go and get yourselves killed.” Makoto wasn’t sure she fully believed him.

At the same time… she wasn’t about to question it. Not when it gave her a new way to spend time with someone she’d bonded with.

Makoto wasn’t even surprised to wake up in the Dark Hour to a familiar presence in her room. “What do you want now, Blue?” She mumbled, wondering if now was finally the time to invest in sedatives.

Blue sat down at the desk, reclining in a way that was far more relaxed than he had any right to be. “I just wanted to say… I’m glad you managed to save the others.”

“Why wouldn’t I? They’re my friends. Or… I’d like for them to be, at least. I’m… still not entirely sure about that.” There was just so much that she didn’t know.

“Well, Akihiko-senpai clearly likes you. He’s already paid you a lot more attention than he gives most people, though it probably helps that you’ve been so friendly with him.” Blue sounded almost confused by that last part, though Makoto couldn’t think of why. “I wasn’t sure it’d be possible, but… I guess I’m not one to talk about things like that.”

“What do you mean?”

“They said that the end of the world couldn’t be stopped. Some people still say that, even now. But you shouldn’t listen to those people, Red. All it takes is one person with the right power.”

Okay, that was vaguely less concerning than some of the things he’d said in the past, but not by that much. “...Why do you call me that?” She found herself asking.

He shrugged. “That’s just… how things are. You’re Red, and I’m Blue. It’s always been this way.” As if he hadn’t just made that up on the spot a month ago. “And… even if I could, I don’t know if I want it to change. So much has already.”

“Like what?” She paused. “Actually, wait, you know Akihiko-senpai?”

“...We’ve met. Never really talked to each other or anything, but… If I’d made the attempt, maybe we could have been friends. Not that there’s much point in talking about how things could have been. It’s more important to talk about how things actually are, and… you’re his friend.” He said it with such a finality that Makoto couldn’t bring herself to argue further. “...You should look out for him. Shinjiro-senpai, too. They… I think they could both do with a friend like you.”

And then he was gone, and the link between them grew even stronger.

By the time Makoto woke up the next morning, she’d forgotten all about asking Akihiko if he knew a boy with blue hair.

Chapter Text

”I see. So that’s what’s been happening.”

Telling Chidori about the circumstances that led to this was surprisingly easy. In fact, simply discussing it seemed to bring back memories for her, though they were vague and tended to lack detail beyond that they had happened.

“You… don’t seem very surprised by this,” Junpei ventured, watching as the sun passed by above them. She shrugged.

“Before we met, we already knew each other. Thinking about that, everything else is a lot easier to believe. Though-” She cut herself off, shaking her head.

Junpei wasn’t sure if he should have been concerned by that or not. “Chidorita? Is something wrong?” If there was, he didn’t know how he could fix it, but it was still important to ask, right? Relationships were complicated.

“It… shouldn’t matter.” Of course, whether things should have been a certain way or not was arguably less important than how they actually were, but he was going to trust her on this. If only because she had yet to attempt to take anyone hostage. “Or, if it does, it won’t be for a while. Don’t worry about it.”

This wasn’t particularly reassuring, but Junpei also didn’t feel like stressing out about anything today, so he let it be.

“I guess it’s not a problem, long as it doesn’t mess with us going to Tartarus. We’re gonna try to reach the top of Arqa tonight.” He was pretty sure that was mostly because it wasn’t a school night, but whatever the reason, it would be nice to see the tower with more than one Shadow wandering it at a time. “Shinjiro-san’s even gonna come with us.”

“...That does explain why he hasn’t been around recently.” Chidori turned to another page in her sketchbook. “...Good luck.”

This was a lot more supportive than he’d expected her to be. He wasn’t sure which one of them that said more about.

With everyone gathered in the lobby of the tower, Makoto’s first priority was figuring out who would be going in first, as there were now enough of them to make running with everyone through the hallways a bit impractical.

“It’s too bad you can’t scan all the way up the tower at once, Fuuka-chan,” She sighed. While it wasn’t outright proven that a floor didn’t fully exist until someone first set foot on it, there was little reason to believe otherwise, particularly after the recent incident.

“I know,” she agreed, her voice as quiet as always. “But I'm not sure I can reach that far. If I can, it will take a lot of concentration.”

“You can count me out, for now,” Akihiko spoke up. “At least until you’ve passed where the Dice are. I've had more than enough of those for… Well, forever, basically.”

It figured that the only thing that would get Akihiko to back down from a fight was spending town hours regularly in combat against something that would explode. Makoto wasn't sure why she was surprised.

Still, this made things easier. “Yeah,You probably wouldn't want to come with us for this part. Someone wants me to fight a lot of those dice Shadows. Apparently, they drop something that she'd like to have.” She wasn't sure what Elizabeth planned on using all those figurines, for but she wasn't about to ask either. Somehow, she got the feeling that she didn’t want to know. “Anyone else want to sit this one out?”

Nobody else volunteered. Mitsuru in particular looked like she wanted nothing more than to just rent it through the tower and start turning Shadows into varyingly-sized blocks of ice.

“All right, then. I guess we’ll be settling this through coin flip.”

Nobody appeared to be particularly enthused by that either.

It took less than a minute for Makoto to realize what Akihiko was talking about. “...Huh. Senpai was right. They do explode.”

Yukari was less than thrilled by this. “Since when do they explode!?”

“Apparently, at least since this past week.” Somehow, this didn't reassure anyone. “I guess that the exploded ones aren’t going to drop the stuff my friend wants, though.”

“I mean, they could, they’d just be exploded… and why does your friend want stuff from Shadows, anyway? Which friend is this?” Okay, those were actually valid questions. Especially as she’d never tried explaining Elizabeth and Theo to anyone before.

“She’s… I’m not really sure what she is, really.” Whatever she was, she definitely wasn’t human. “But she knows a lot about Shadows and Personas, and says that she wants to test my abilities as a Wild Card, so I suppose she’s just trying to help… even if I’m not sure why she thinks some of the stuff she asks about is important.”

Yukari nodded. “All right… and is there anything else she wanted?”

“Scales from the snakes around here. They’re supposed to be some of the strongest Shadows in the area…”

“You mean the ones that are weak to ice? Because I think Mitsuru-senpai went chasing after some of them earlier…”

Mitsuru was enjoying herself a bit more than she maybe should have been. It had been a while, after all, since she’d been able to really cut loose in the tower.

Artemisia’s magic made quick work of the snakes that approached, leaving glimmering, frosty scales to fall to the ground. If it weren’t for the fact that exploring Tartarus was an inherently dangerous occupation, she might have been interested in collecting drops like that.

As it was, this was something best left to the resident Wild Card, who had started following her around the floor. “Do you think you could do this sort of thing to the dice, too?” Yuki asked.

“Their elemental weakness is electricity, so you’d be better off asking Akihiko, if he were willing to return to this part of the tower.” Left unsaid was that it was extremely unlikely Akihiko would choose to return.

“Right… I guess that means I’ll be using Omoikane for now. That’s the only Persona I have with Mazio.” Eurydice could handle the regular stuff, but if she wanted to take out as many dice as possible without them exploding, wide-ranging magic was her only real option.

Mitsuru turned to her. “Why are you so interested in the dice, anyway?”

“I found someone who’ll be willing to give good rewards for the figurines they drop. We’re running out of money, anyway…” She had mentioned something like that, when she said they’d be spending a night in the tower. “The stuff we have set aside for medicine barely has anything in it.”

This honestly wasn’t as bad as Yuki made it sound. There wasn’t a lot they could purchase for their physical health that they hadn’t long made redundant.

But there were things they could buy, and would probably need, and those things were generally prohibitively expensive. So she was forced to admit that she had a point.

“In that case, I don’t suppose you have any Mazio Gems?”

A large part of Makoto’s desperation for money was that she had to deal with a particular drain on her resources that the others did not. While they all had to pay for equipment and chip in so that they had enough money for various medicines, none of the others had to fork up money in order to make sure they had the right Personas on hand at all times.

Seeing the costs of summoning the Persona she wanted, it was clear that they’d have to be extra careful scouring the tower for money that night, as it might have been a while until they had time to go back.

“Is this really necessary?” She found herself asking.

“Nobody ever said that controlling the power of your heart would be easy,” Igor pointed out. “Your hurdles are just… different, from those of most people.”

She supposed that was because most people’s paths to enlightenment didn’t involve complicated budget sheets.

Back up the tower it was...

A trio of golden beetles hung in the air, prepared to strike at the members of SEES if any of them made a wrong move.

“They’re weak to electricity, but physical attacks won’t do much to them,” Fuuka’s voice echoed around them. Akihiko had still refused to enter the tower until they were sure he wouldn’t have to deal with any more dice.

At least it gave Makoto a good idea of what Persona to use. “Right. Omoikane.” Even if it wasn’t the strongest Persona, being able to knock down all of their opponents at once was very useful. “Mazio.”

It was harder to hit multiple opponents at once than just one, but not so much that a web of lightning could be anything but incredibly useful.

These Shadows were strong, strong enough to withstand several of her attacks, though she didn’t doubt that, had he been willing to return to this part of Arqa, Akihiko would have made quick work of them. It was the kind of encounter that Caesar was made for.

However, due to Akihiko’s fervent hatred of explosions, Makoto would have to handle the lightning side of things herself.

At the very least, it did work. It would just take a lot of time. Less time, with the presence of others, but still, time.

At least, after this, they’d probably be able to convince Akihiko to do things again.

At first, Makoto had been confused why Mitsuru would ask that they limit their time spent on a floor whenever possible. It just didn’t feel like something that needed to be worried about, aside from maybe making sure that they made as much progress up the tower as possible.

These days, she had a bit more context. “We’re not throwing magic at it from here,” She told Akihiko, as a powerful Shadow circled below them to the sound of rattling chains.

“Yeah, I think it might still be able to blow us up from there,” Shinjiro agreed. “Unless you’re telling me that you managed to beat it last time.”

“Well, no, but…”

“Senpai, please don’t fight the Reaper…” Fuuka sighed. “If something goes wrong, I’m not sure I’d be able to get you an escape.”

“Let’s listen to Fuuka-chan and go to the next floor. It’s not like we’ll be able to do much on this one anymore…” Also, she needed to get the sound of chains out of her head. Hearing that all the time would be enough to drive anyone insane…

Hopefully, getting past Arqa would be enough for Akihiko. Caesar’s debuffs were far too useful to waste.

Chapter Text

It was almost never fear that woke Ken up from a bad dream. Not really.

Oh, fear certainly played a part in it, at times- and there was, admittedly, one time when he’d ended up metaphorically fleeing his dream world, when things had been at their worst- but, more often, the thing that ended up jarring him awake was pain.

This pain wasn’t always physical. It was hard to give a sense of serious risk to someone who’d spent close to a year being able to erase things from the world with light, or tear things apart with the power of his mind. The fact that his fear response tended to default to ‘Hamaon, Psiodyne, run’ probably said something about him, really, but he wasn’t sure what it was just yet.

No, the most common outcome to a bad dream involved Ken waking up with a hollow feeling in his chest, and then curling under his blankets until things started to look better.

These days, that was a lot harder than it used to be. “It’s not real…” He reminded himself, staring out the window to a view that, once, he’d expected never to have to see again. “It never happened.”

It did. We remember.

Kala-Nemi’s voice was as steady as ever, even with an undercurrent of sorrow that was more familiar than Ken had ever wanted to know. He could have done without the pointing out of unpleasant truths for a bit.

“But… if it did, then… why can’t I live at home?” He was aware that talking to himself probably wouldn’t solve anything, but it was still better than sitting around and being miserable.

There was no answer. Of course there wasn’t. Ken didn’t know why he’d expect anything else.

The world was plunged into the Dark Hour, and Ken sighed and turned his pillow over so that, if he managed to get back to sleep within the hour, he didn’t have to lay his head on top of bloodstains. He shouldn’t have been doing this. Big kids didn’t cry.

...But then, most kids hadn’t done the sort of things he did, either.

He’d have to talk to one of the others later. Maybe they’d know what to do.

Being friends with Akihiko was exhausting. There was a variety of reasons for this- his general exuberance, the fangirls that followed him everywhere- but today Makoto found it to be a bit more literal than usual.

“I… didn’t expect us… to make it this far…” She gasped out, almost collapsing as soon as their run reached the shrine.

Akihiko seemed a bit winded as well, but he was handling it a lot better than she was. “It’s not that bad, really… You just need to remember to pace yourself.”

Makoto prided herself in her ability to get the team up Tartarus as quickly as possible. Pacing was one of those things she’d worry about when she had something to do that wasn't limited to an hour at a time.

“R-right…” She said anyway, glad that at least the most strenuous part of this had apparently been completed. “You seem to… know a lot about this stuff.”

“I’ve been doing this kind of thing for a while,” He commented, reaching behind himself to grab on to a metal bar. “Enough time goes by, and you forget what it was like any other way.”

She knew the feeling. She didn’t really have any memories from before the Dark Hour was a thing, but… she thought it wouldn’t have been that different. She’d just spend less time awake in the middle of the night, hoping that this wouldn’t be the next time the dorm was assaulted by giant black puddles of death. “How long has it been for you?”

“Well, I first met Mitsuru back in middle school, but I was already doing some pretty serious fitness stuff by then, so…” Akihiko tried counting on the fingers of his free hand, before visibly giving up. “A while. Shinji might remember better than me, but… probably not.”

Makoto nodded along, watching as the boxing captain hauled himself up onto the metal structure. “So… Why’d you start, then?”

“I…” He paused, as though searching for the right words. “I thought it’d help me protect people. It’s… not going that well, so far.”

She figured this was probably about the Tartarus thing, never mind that there was no way anyone would be able to predict that something like that would happen. “Well… I’m sure you’re doing your best.” If only because she didn’t think he’d forgive himself, otherwise. “I mean, with the stuff we get up to… the only way you could prepare for that would be if you were a time traveller, or something.”

“Y-yeah... right… Time travel… Of course I wouldn’t know anything about that…” For some reason, he wasn’t looking Makoto in the eye anymore.

This also, somehow, made the Social Link between them grow stronger. Makoto wasn’t really sure how she was supposed to interpret that.

“Are… are you all right?”

“Hey, Akihiko-san!” Before Akihiko could answer her, they were interrupted by the sudden appearance of Amada Ken, along with a white-and-silver dog with bright red eyes.

“Oh, hey, Ken. You’re out with Koromaru?”

Ken nodded, a grin on his face. “He really likes the treats I’ve been giving him… but he probably needs better food. Do you think Aragaki-san would help me with it if I asked?”

“If it’s for the both of you, I’m not sure he’d even think to say no…” He paused, before glancing back to Makoto. “Sorry, but I think I’ll stay and talk to Ken for a bit. You should… go home without me.”

Well, if he didn’t want to spend time with her... “All… all right, then.” She wasn’t disappointed. Why would she be? It wasn’t like he had much reason to spend time with her, over the kid he’d been hanging around with for over a year.

It just… It might have been better, if Ken hadn’t shown up that day.

As soon as Makoto was gone, Akihiko sighed in relief. That had been too close.

Ken, being just about the smartest kid he knew, caught on immediately. “Did- did you actually want to talk to me, or were you just…?”

“A… bit of both, really. We… don’t really get to talk openly, anymore.” Admittedly, this was probably his own fault for glossing over Ken’s existence for a month, but, well… he’d try to make up for that now. “You’ve probably got stuff you want to say.”

Ken took this as an invitation to climb up next to him. Akihiko supposed that, if anything happened, at least they were both equipped to fix it.

...Or, well, he had an Evoker on him, and really, those were the same basic thing.

“I… I’ve been thinking, lately. About how… none of us really talk about what happened.”

“What do you mean?”

“None of us really talk to each other. Mitsuru-san’s the only one of us who seems like she’s been planning ahead, and it still took her more than a month to come find me. And I know we can’t just go tell everyone things, and we don’t know how to fix the thing with the cameras, but… It’s like none of it ever happened.”

“Technically, it never did happen.”

“It did to us,” Ken pointed out, and Akihiko had to admit that he wasn’t exactly wrong. “So… maybe we should start acting like it. Instead of just ignoring it and hoping it all goes away.”

The thing was, Akihiko knew exactly what Ken was trying to get at. “I’m not sure how I’d even start with that,” He admitted. “Talking to Shinji’s hard enough already.” Even now it took him a few seconds to confirm that no, he wasn’t actually hallucinating, and it had been months since then.

“Yeah… I could probably do it, but… I think I’d just mess it up somewhere…” It seemed that they still weren’t making any progress.

”You think people would be dumb enough… to use the school darkroom… to print illicit photos.” Makoto wasn’t sure why she was surprised, and it genuinely wouldn’t surprise her if someone out in the world actually was that stupid, but it just seemed too convenient.

“I mean, it makes sense, doesn’t it? People carrying cameras around… Photo Club… Course, if they are, I dunno if Hiraga-senpai would know about it… He doesn’t seem like he’d put up with that.”

“Hiraga-? Oh, you mean the club president.” Makoto hadn’t cared to join any particular clubs, but she’d at least heard that much. “I mean, I guess we could ask him either way, just… don’t go overboard with it.”

“Me? Go overboard? Come on, Mako-tan, what makes you think I’d do that?”

“When you do things, it does tend to end with something catching on fire.” Yes, she was aware of the hypocrisy in that statement. She, too, enjoyed lighting fires. “Please don’t set the darkroom on fire. You’ll ruin everyone’s prints.”

“I mean, depending on what they’re printing, that might not be a bad thing…” Junpei shook his head. “But, yeah, I wouldn’t know how to explain it, if that happened. I mean, most people don’t know about that stuff.”

“I’m sure we could think of something. Or… Mitsuru-senpai could, but if we needed her help for that sort of thing, I think she’d actually kill us. If she didn’t do it anyway for setting the school on fire.”

“We’re not gonna set the school on fire!”

Makoto grinned at him. “I’m glad we agree.”

If her Social Links could be trusted about this sort of thing… it seemed that he was glad, too.”

Chapter Text

Makoto and Yukari returned to the dorm together to see Ken, Fuuka, and Shinjiro playing with a familiar dog.

“Ken-kun? You brought Koro-chan with you today?” Yukari asked. Everyone looked up at her, Koromaru giving a happy bark and running over to her for pets.

Ken nodded. “He was going for a walk on his own, and we ran into each other. It… seemed better than coming here on my own.”

Fuuka paused. “You and Koro-chan have been spending a lot of time together, haven’t you?”

“I think we’re a lot alike. We… neither of us had anyone, and then we met all of you. ...Besides, he’s really fun to play with.”

Well. That was a sudden shift in tone. “It’s nice to see you have friends other than us,” Makoto remarked, deciding that she’d try and pretend said shift didn’t exist. “Even if it’s just a dog.”

“Arf!”

“Koromaru’s a very smart dog,” Fuuka pointed out. “He’s smarter than some humans. Or… it feels that way, sometimes. He’s definitely the smartest dog I’ve ever met.”

“Not that there’s a lot of dogs around,” Shinjiro remarked. “Cats are a lot more common… even if they’re not as cute as Koro-chan.” Koromaru paraded around the group, clearly enjoying the attention.

Yukari glanced at Makoto. “Do you like dogs, Makoto-chan?”

“I… haven’t spent enough time around them to know for sure,” She admitted. “And I’ve never really had the time to take care of a pet. But… I guess they are pretty cute.”

Apparently, that was the right answer.

It was easy to see, from the start of the meeting, that none of them actually wanted to be there. Ikutsuki didn’t seem to notice, or maybe he was pretending not to, going over the results of his ‘research,’ most of which Mitsuru had told Makoto about already, like it was the most important thing in the world to him.

...Well. She supposed she couldn’t fault him for being enthusiastic about his job.

“Eight more Shadows…” Fuuka repeated, as if she were hearing it for the first time. “If that’s the case, barring more than one of them showing up in a night, we should be done with them by February.”

That sounded pretty nice, actually. One school year of extra excitement, and then maybe things could start calming down a bit.

Ikutsuki nodded along. “That’s right. I’m sure that if all of you work together, these operations will continue being successful.” Because apparently success meant getting trapped on a runaway train, or bringing someone who’d been stuck in Tartarus for over a week to the middle of a large fight.

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Makoto said, trying to convince herself of that. “I’m keeping everyone’s preferences in mind when putting teams together, so I don’t think there should be any major quarrels.” If there were… well, she’d cross that bridge when she came to it.

“You believe you can handle that?”

Wasn’t that what she’d just said? “It’s simple. Aragaki-san works best with Akihiko-senpai, the people he trusts most are Akihiko-senpai and Mitsuru-senpai, and he only wants to fight in Tartarus. Junpei-kun and Akihiko-senpai will both fight whenever and wherever they get the chance, but Junpei-kun and Yukari-chan don’t always get along all that well, so those two together need someone to even them out. There’s not enough of us for it to really be complicated.” She hoped she sounded a lot more certain about that than she actually was.

No one questioned how she knew this, or if her knowledge was accurate. She hoped that meant she was doing something right.

The day after the meeting that Shinjiro wasn’t sure why he’d been forced to attend, he decided to visit the shrine in order to get some fresh air.

As if the world had decided that he wasn't allowed to avoid Amada Ken in any fashion, the kid had been there too, still playing with the dog. It was Koromaru who noticed him first, running over to greet him with a happy bark and a tail wagging fast enough to act as a propeller.

“Hey, Koro-chan.” He wasn’t about to take his misgivings about this situation out on the dog. Koromaru didn’t deserve it- he was far too good a dog for that. “Sorry, I don’t have any treats on me right now.” And, sure, he’d somehow ended up back on the Kirijo Group’s payroll, but that didn’t mean he could just run down to the store for dog treats whenever he wanted.

The lack of tasty things to eat didn’t seem to bother Koromaru at all, so long as he got plenty of love and physical affection. Honestly, this dog was way too happy to see him.

“Sorry about him,” Ken said, while not looking sorry in the slightest. “I tried getting him to calm down, but… it’s not easy to do that, when he’s so happy. It just makes me feel bad.”

It probably said something that, even when they were talking about a dog, the conversation was still weighed down with more awkwardness than Shinjiro had thought could exist, and he’d seen Aki trying to interact with others. “I mean, I wouldn’t want to try and keep him from being happy, either.” Even if he wasn’t sure it was healthy for Koromaru’s tail to move at those speeds… “Good boy, Koro-chan.”

“Arf!”

“He’s really great, isn’t he? I-” Ken stopped himself, and glanced around the area before continuing. “I… sort of wonder if he’d be able to look out for me, during summer vacation. If nothing changes, I’ll… be in my dorm building all alone.”

There really, really wasn’t any good way for Shinjiro to respond to that. “They’d just… leave you by yourself?” Even ignoring the issues that came from leaving someone sensitive to the Dark Hour completely on their own in the same town as Tartarus, this was still an eleven-year-old child.

“Well, I mean, there’ll probably be at least one adult, but that… that wouldn’t help. Not with…” The kid trailed off. Shinjiro had a pretty good idea of what he’d been about to say, even if exactly how much he was aware of was still a mystery to him.

“Is… is there anything I can do to help?” The words came out without thinking, but… he had to make up for what he’d done somehow, didn’t he?

Ken shook his head. “It’s all right. I can handle it.”

It was hard to tell whether he should have believed him or not.

After school, Makoto found herself being pulled to the side. “Um, Makoto-chan?” Fuuka began, shifting nervously, “Could… could I get your help with something?”

“What is it?”

“I’m… not sure I want to say it here…” She glanced around at the crowd. “But… I think I know a place where we can talk about it. This way.”

As the two of them moved through the crowd of students, sometimes someone would pause to glare at Fuuka, only to stop when they saw Makoto following her. It was… unsettling to see, for a wide number of reasons.

The two of them eventually reached an empty classroom. “So, what did you want from me?” Makoto asked, deciding to get right to business.

“Well…” Fuuka retrieved a box from one of the tables. Inside was some blackened rice balls. “For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been trying to cook, but it… isn’t going well.”

Makoto poked one of the rice balls. It felt like charcoal. “Yeah, I don’t think I’d want to eat this.” She really wasn’t sure how it could have gotten this bad. “What part do you need help with?”

“The… whole thing, really. I need to do this as soon as I can, but it… might already be too late.”

“Why? Are you preparing for an event or something?”

“N-no, it’s just… I wanted to do something nice for Akihiko-senpai, to thank him for helping me in Tartarus. But… no matter what I try, it just turns out… not being food. It’s been weeks, now, and I…” Okay, this definitely was a problem.

“Okay, so, what recipe were you using? If we take a look at that, we can probably figure out where you went wrong.” In this case, it was probably either temperature or cooking time, and that seemed simple enough to adjust.

“I…” Fuuka started rifling through her bag. “I’m sure I had it somewhere in here…” On second thought, maybe she had more problems than Makoto had thought.

Behind her eyes, the card of the Priestess Arcana flickered into life.

No matter where they were staying for shelter, no matter what sorts of food they could afford after clearing out their victims’ wallets, mealtimes were almost always silent.

Chidori appreciated this. If Jin and Takaya weren’t talking, then it meant they weren’t talking over her, and when it came to those two, she’d take what she could get.

Tonight was different, for a number of reasons. Tonight, they were looking to her.

“Have you located Aragaki yet?” Takaya sounded concerned, sort of, in the sense that the world wasn't exactly the same when one of the few people like them was no longer in his usual places.

But he wasn’t really concerned, or else he would have asked their informant, and not her. Or maybe he was, and he just didn’t want to stretch their benefactor’s generosity any more than they had already, just by existing.

In a moment, Chidori compared the people in front of her with the two others she talked to, and tallied up the times when each one of them had treated her like a person.

After that, it really wasn’t a hard decision.

“I haven’t. It’s as though he’s vanished completely.”

They didn’t even try to detect the lie. She wished she could say she was surprised by that.

Is it was, she barely had it in herself to feel disappointed.

Chapter Text

The weather had been clear for a much longer time than was strictly normal. It was one of those things that was sort of concerning, but Shinjiro figured that it was best left to the meteorologists. All he cared about was that it was a nice day outside.

Well, that, and that Yoshino had been waiting for him to arrive. “You shouldn’t be here,” She told him, without bothering with a greeting.

But then, Yoshino had never bothered with such simple things as greetings. As much as he could say she’d always been that way when they’d only started talking to each other relatively recently.

“What, decided I’m not worth talking to, anymore?” It’d be nice to see that someone had sense.

She shook her head. “Takaya has… taken notice of your absence. He’s asked me to track you down- I can’t imagine it’s for anything you’d like.”

He couldn’t, either. Takaya put in some amount of effort to appear a pleasant person, but it really was only a surface-level effect. Encountering him in the Dark Hour was more than enough to dispel that illusion for good. And with how impossible it was to sleep during the Dark Hour, they’d come across each other multiple times.

“It sort of feels like you shouldn’t be telling me about this.” Not that he was complaining, necessarily, but…

“I probably shouldn’t,” She agreed. “Just like you shouldn’t come here if you have anyone that values your safety. Particularly if they would put themselves in danger trying to help you.”

Even without names, it was still painfully obvious who she was talking about. “Leave Aki out of this.”

“I will. There’s no guarantee that Takaya won’t.” Suddenly, Shinjiro was wondering why he’d ever humored these people to begin with. Sanity clearly wasn’t one of their strong points. “Here. This should be enough for you to make other arrangements, or to wean yourself off, if you think you can handle it.”

The bottle of pills he was given was already half-empty, but it was still more than he would have expected, given the circumstances. “And I’m definitely sure you shouldn’t be giving me this.”

“What the others don’t know won’t hurt them.” Had they done something to upset her, recently. “Besides, it’s not like I’m doing it again. I’m just… returning a favor, right now.”

It figured. Even someone he’d only started really talking to since the start of the year had gone weird. “I don’t remember doing anything like this for you, though.”

Yoshino’s face, as always, was unreadable, as she turned and left. “Of course you wouldn’t.”

No one would ever accuse Ken of lying about his age. They couldn’t, because none of them paid close enough attention to notice, and the ones who did agreed with him.

...Well. Most of them. Shinjiro and Makoto were still unaware, and for the time being, that was how the rest of SEES liked things to be. It was just that Ken could see this sort of approach backfiring on them, at some point in the relatively near future.

Still. No point worrying about that until it happened, right?

There was a package waiting for him when he got back from school. There wasn’t a listed sender, but the attached card congratulated him on his twelfth birthday, rather than his eleventh, so there really was only a few people that it could be from.

He wondered if anyone would think twice if he left it in the SEES dorm that weekend. There probably wouldn’t be any problem if he visited then, and it wasn’t like he hadn’t started leaving his things around there. He was well aware it probably wouldn’t get everyone to not think about it if he tried just sleeping on the couch, but it was still worth a try.

The package didn’t contain much. Just a small book that Yukari had probably picked out, a Featherman figurine- Junpei’s contribution, definitely- and a plain red armband that didn’t have any sort of letters on it, but still conveyed a certain general sentiment. Whether that last one had been Akihiko or Mitsuru’s idea, he couldn’t really tell. He appreciated it, all the same.

This was more acknowledgement than he’d gotten on his eleventh birthday. More than he’d expected to get, with everyone so busy at the moment, and things between him and Shinjiro remaining awkward enough to justify keeping his distance for now.

He hurried up to his room before anyone could ask what he had, or where he’d gotten it from. Somehow, he got the feeling that would draw more awkward questions than just some random person deciding to ask him about his age would have.

It was still nice to have these things. It was like having a little piece of home.

It just wasn’t a good enough substitute for actually being able to live there.

Since Fuuka had moved into the dormitory, on days when there was boxing practice, she and Akihiko would walk home together. Fuuka presumed that Akihiko had made the initial suggestion in order to keep anything like the Tartarus incident from ever happening again.

In which case… well, she certainly didn’t want to spend any more time in that tower than she absolutely had to. Besides, it was convenient for when she wanted to be able to talk to him.

“I’ve been asking Makoto-chan to help me with something,” She started, not really sure if there was any other way to bring this up, or if it was too late for her to be doing this, after all.

“Really?” He sounded interested. That was a good sign, right? “What are you working on?”

“I… well…” Why were words so hard right now? “At first, I thought that I’d… do something to thank you, for helping me back when I was locked in the gym. It… took a while to put together, but… I think it turned out well. Um…” Where had she put it? Ah, there it was.

“Does this have anything to do with why Shinji says you’re not allowed in the kitchen without someone watching you?”

“N-not directly.” Not that she could deny that some of her failed attempts had almost definitely had a hand in that particular disaster. “But… that is sort of why I had to get Makoto-chan’s help. I-I hope it’s… actually turned out good, this time…” Why had she ever thought this was a good idea? She’d only managed to make the simplest of foods, and even that had needed outside help. It… couldn’t really be good enough, could it?

Despite her worries, Akihiko took it either way. “Well… thanks, I guess…” He wasn’t exactly praising her cooking abilities, but he wasn’t complaining about them either, and honestly, she’d take what she could get.

...But she still wanted more. “D-do you like it?” She asked.

“It’s… not bad…” The sad thing was, this was the highest praise that Fuuka’s cooking had ever gotten her before. “You said you’ve been practicing, right? You should keep at it.”

“You… really think so?” She… really wasn’t used to being encouraged.

“Of course. How else are you supposed to get better? It’s the same as training for battle, isn’t it? If you don’t keep working at it, you’re never going to improve.”

When he put it like that, it made Fuuka’s past failures seem a lot less… Okay, so they were still terrible, but they didn’t bother her quite so much. She’d stopped messing up quitte so badly, and she could still improve from there.

...Besides, under a certain point of view, said mistakes had never happened at all. That certainly didn’t do anything to curb her enthusiasm.

“If you say so… All right. I’ll keep trying.” Maybe she’d even get good enough to do this sort of thing again… but she probably wouldn’t have reason to. “Once I do get better, would you… like to try the things I make?” That wasn’t being too pushy, was it? Akihiko already had enough girls clamoring for his attention, he didn’t need another.

“Sure, why not? Better than I’ve ever got from Shinji, at least…” She wasn’t sure if being drawn into family arguments like that counted as a good thing or a bad thing.

Still… this was a thing, it had happened, and it was actually going pretty well, which was honestly a lot more than she’d expected. She’d just have to hope this streak of good luck kept up past the week.

If it didn’t… Well, at least she’d managed to make some progress.

”So, you’re saying Akihiko-senpai and Mitsuru-senpai haven’t always been like this?” Makoto supposed those words shouldn’t have come as a shock, really, but she’d never known those two to be any other way.

Shinjiro shook his head. “Not until… a bit after the school year started, at least. Could have been sooner, Aki was avoiding me for a while before that, but… that’s when I noticed it. Not that it was all that hard- they ain’t the only ones who’ve been acting weird.”

“What do you mean?” Sure, there was the way some people would sometimes do a double take when they saw her, but it was the same people every time, and they’d always been that way, to her.

“Well… there’s this person I’d hang around, sometimes. We never used to talk, but a while back she apparently decided she’d try being friendly, for some reason. And it’s probably a coincidence, but I’m not convinced she doesn’t know Iori somehow.”

“He did mention having a girlfriend,” She commented. “Or… not girlfriend, exactly, but he’s clearly really in love with her. I’ve never met her, though.”

Honestly, thinking back on it, that felt like the sort of thing that should have happened by now, but Makoto supposed that Junpei could handle any relationship hurdles at his own pace. He seemed more determined not to mess that up than he was about… just about anything else, even Tartarus.

“If it’s who I’m thinking of, that might not be a bad thing,” Shinjiro sighed. Honestly, this just made the whole matter seem even more intriguing. “Also, it’s kind of weird that Aki apparently told everyone about me, but never mentioned any of you.” Right. He’d said something like that before.

This time, however, she had a ready response. “Yeah, but it’s been established that he can’t talk to people. It’s probably just easier for him to talk about his big brother than about a bunch of random people who happen to live in the same building.” Honestly, it was sort of concerning how Akihiko had managed to get so far through life without somehow acquiring social skills.

“Yeah, but that just leads to…” He trailed off, and she glanced at him to continue. “Before he showed up with you, we’d never… actually said it, before. Didn’t need to. Back before Aki got Caesar, our Personas were twins, and that was just… confirming what we knew already.”

Makoto supposed it must have been nice, having a family like that. She’d always sort of wondered what it’d be like to have siblings. “I guess that would be a bit strange… even if I’m not sure it’s worth complaining about.”

Shinjiro shrugged. “I’m a bit more worried about the kid, really.”

“Kid? You mean Ken-kun?” It was a bit strange how he didn’t seem to have anyone outside of the group… “He seems fine to me… even if he sort of… looks at me like he doesn’t expect me to be there.” But that was normal. She was used to it. It was just what she’d come to expect from these people. “You don’t think he’s in on… whatever’s up with the others, do you?”

“Well, he’s got something to do with it. Aki might be shit with people, but he’d at least know better than to just not tell me he’d picked up a kid.” He looked sort of like he wanted to say more, but didn’t end up saying anything.

Still… the whole thing was just a bit strange to think about. Among other things, Ken was just a child. “I guess that’s just another thing we don’t know…” Out of far too many to count, almost all having to do with the people who they happened to live with.

Sure, some of them probably could get answers, but Makoto really, really didn’t want to ask anyone why they kept looking at her so oddly when they thought she wasn’t looking. If only because the only ones who didn’t ever do it anymore were Akihiko and Junpei. And in Akihiko’s case, there was a good chance it was just because all of his odd gazes were directed at Shinjiro.

It just didn’t seem like there was a good time for that sort of conversation. It was honestly the sort of conversation she would rather never have.

Still… at least she wasn’t facing this weirdness alone, whatever it was. “I think we should work together.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Aren’t we already?”

“I don’t mean Tartarus. It’s just… Aragaki-san, if one of us figures out why the others are acting like this, we should share it. That way, neither of us has to go without knowing it. Does that make sense to you?” She hoped it did. It would be nice to have someone she could rely on.

“...I guess. Also, you really don’t have to be so formal with me. It’s weirding me out.”

“...Okay. Shinjiro-san, then.” That was simple enough.

With that agreement between them, the Moon Social Link grew to Rank Three.

Makoto sort of wondered what the rest of it would look like.

Chapter Text

Sometimes, Makoto wondered just what the problem was with Akihiko’s fangirls. Before coming to Gekkoukan, she hadn’t thought it was possible for anyone to be that obsessed with a person, only to quickly be proven wrong. None of them dared give her more than smoldering glares, thankfully, but even those were going a lot farther than it should have been.

“Let’s just ignore them…” Akihiko muttered, and it was very difficult to argue against that, because interacting with them would probably mean getting into a fight, which could lead to one of them accidentally mentioning the time a group that may or may not have involved these particular girls had inadvertently locked some people in a helltower.

If anything, as they walked past them, the girls’ glares just intensified.

“I don’t know why they’re like this…” Akihiko sighed as the doors shut behind them. “Fuuka says it’s because they like me, but…”

“They do seem a bit obsessed,” Makoto agreed. “And, you know… most people only get one obsessive stalker, at most.” Not… whatever this was. She wasn’t sure there was any good way to describe it.

He forced out a laugh. “Just my luck, right?”

“I’m not sure I’d call that luck…” Mostly because luck didn’t involve someone inadvertently being locked in Tartarus.

Speaking of which… She reminded herself to go and track down Ayako-chan at some point in the near future. That seemed like a sort of important thing to do.

“Well, it’s close enough.” Not really! “Follows the pattern, anyway… Mostly, I don’t care what they do, but then they went and dragged Fuuka into this…” At this point, Makoto barely had any idea what Akihiko was talking about.

“Hasn’t this sort of thing happened before, with previous team managers? I remember Mitsuru-senpai talking about that…” She’d also been concerned for Fuuka’s well-being.

“Yeah, but I never got to know any of them.” She supposed that was a good point. “But Fuuka…” He sounded really worried about her. Makoto figured it would be a lot easier to be worried about what happened to someone when it was their friend.

“It doesn’t seem like she’s going to let them drive her away,” She pointed out. “Especially now that she lives with us. I don't think you have to worry about that.”

Akihiko seemed visibly relieved by this, and the Star Arcana grew more powerful yet again.

This probably meant something, but Makoto wasn’t sure she was meant to find out what.

”It’s no use,” Fuuka sighed, looking at the small selection of random recordings. “I can’t figure out what’s causing it. We may just have to ask her for help again.”

“I guess we can just have our private conversations somewhere else…” Yukari glanced at Mitsuru. “How did this start happening, anyway?”

“I don’t know. All I’m sure of is that it began at the same time as our expeditions into Tartarus. Still, if everything goes according to plan, we should be definitively free of surveillance by this time next month.”

Yukari certainly hoped so. It would be a lot easier, if they didn’t have to worry about someone uninformed overhearing their conversations. Not that there were many uninformed people in a position to do so, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t worth worrying about.

“Great. Then all we’ll have to worry about is Shinjiro-senpai and Makoto-chan.” She knew it couldn’t actually be that simple- they definitely weren’t that lucky- but she could dream, couldn’t she? It would have been nice, if all they had to worry about was the opinions of two particular people. “And… Ken-kun and Akihiko-senpai can handle Shinjiro-senpai, right?”

This just earned her two flat gazes. “You have met Akihiko, haven’t you?” Mitsuru asked.

“...Okay, Ken-kun can handle Shinjiro-senpai.” Sure, Ken wasn’t the best at effective communication, either, but he at least had more social skills than Akihiko. Admittedly, even Junpei’s old socks had more social skills than Akihiko, but it was still something.

“A-aren’t you two being just a bit mean?” Fuuka asked. “I know Akihiko-senpai isn’t really… good with people… but he and Shinjiro-senpai are really close, aren’t they? If there’s anyone he can talk to…”

“He spent the first few weeks of the year ignoring him because he wasn’t prepared to talk to him again.” Like they didn’t all know that Mitsuru had exactly zero room to talk here.

“He wasn’t actively avoiding him, though,” Yukari pointed out. “Though, I’m… not sure he even knows how to avoid people.”

Fuuka shrugged. “It’s not that different from avoiding Shadows in Tartarus.”

“Akihiko-senpai runs right at the Shadows in Tartarus… or, he used to, anyway.” Whether this newfound self-control would last past Arqa, none of them could be sure, but it was nice that there would be less sudden lightning storms inside the tower.

“He got pretty good at avoiding them earlier this month,” She reported. “At least, when it wasn’t something we were sure he could fight… mostly, we just stunned them and ran away.”

“...We?” Sure, the gems would work for anyone, but Yukari had never imagined Fuuka taking to the battlefield herself.

Fuuka glanced to the side. “Well… I couldn’t let him do it all on his own, could I? He was always really helpful… I don’t know if I’ve managed to thank him enough.”

“I don’t think you have to worry about that,” Mitsuru said. “I’m… reasonably sure he understands.”

Yukari wasn’t sure why anyone would find those words reassuring, but it seemed to work. Fuuka seemed a bit happier now.

“Anyway, we still need to figure out what to do about Makoto-chan…”

Sometimes, Makoto wondered just what was going on inside her friends’ heads. Her fellow Persona Users especially could be cagey at times, even Junpei, who was easily the most open and honest of them.

“Hey, Mako-tan…” Of course, that didn’t mean she could dread what was sure to be some kind of heavy conversation, especially when she’d just been looking forward to a nice meal.

She glanced at him. “Is something wrong?”

He shook his head. “I’ve just… had a whole bunch to think about lately. It’s… almost enough to make me start wondering again if there isn’t… something only I can do.”

“Something only you can do?” She repeated. “You mean, like we do at night?” They’d been lucky to find Ayako-chan when they did, even if she didn’t remember a thing the next morning.

“No, not like that. It’s… I don’t know. Something that other people can actually know about? If that makes sense? Like… I want something that’ll make people see me.”

Makoto knew the feeling. Sometimes, it still didn’t quite feel like the other members of SEES were seeing her, but that they were looking for someone else instead. And right when then that had started to not happen, Ken had shown up, and… he did basically the same thing. If only there was a good way to put that into words “I think I get it. You want people to pay attention to you, and not just...”

Even if it wasn’t quite the way she was thinking, he still seemed relieved to hear her words. “Yeah, like that. Sort of. I think.” Well. At least he was happy with things. “I mean, it’s not as big a deal as it used to be, but… it still bugs me sometimes.”

“That’s fine.” When he looked at her, he seemed sort of surprised. “If it’s not as big of a problem for you anymore, that’s still progress, even if it hasn’t gone away completely.”

“...Thanks, Mako-tan. If I told Yuka-tan about this, she’d just say she’d thought I’d gotten past this already.”

“That sounds like it’s Yukari-chan’s problem.” Junpei seemed happy with her words, and the bond between them grew stronger.

Even if the other members of SEES did act strange sometimes, at least Junpei was easy to get along with.

”So. One more week until the full moon.”

“One of these days, I’m going to figure out how you keep getting in here…” Makoto mumbled, wondering if anyone would hear her trying to beat Blue to death with her pillow. If the Dark Hour worked for them like it did for her, they wouldn’t be asleep, either.

He shook his head. “I wouldn’t be sure of that. And even if you did, you wouldn’t be able to keep me out.”

“I can try.” She pushed herself up. “Look, I know how to operate a lunar calendar. You don’t have to come give me a cryptic warning every month.”

“Well, what else am I supposed to do?” He asked. “We have a bond, you know. I would have thought you’d at least be putting in the effort to strengthen it.”

“Igor says I’m not strong enough to fuse Personas of that Arcana yet.” It had been hard enough to create a Star so she’d get more out of spending time with Akihiko. “I’ve got time.”

“Igor… well, I suppose he’d know best.” Blue leaned back. “Just remember, you might not always have as much time to form a bond as you think. I-”

She glanced at him. “Is something wrong?”

“...There were some people I knew, once. I didn’t have bonds with them like I did with most of my other friends, or like you do with all of yours, and I don’t know if I would have been able to form them, but… you don’t need a Social Link to be someone’s friend. But before I could even get there… They were gone. Don’t let that happen to your own bonds, Red. You’ll just spend the rest of existence wondering what could have been.”

And then he vanished. No Social Link rank, but… Makoto was more than aware that this was the most open with her that Blue had ever been.

Makoto didn’t study in the library very often. Her grades were more than good enough as it was, she had lots of people to spend time with, and she’d honestly just never seen the need.

Junpei, however, genuinely did need to be there, and so she’d spend time there, too.

“Thanks, Mako-tan…” He breathed out, setting down his pencil to take a break. “This is a lot easier when you explain it than when Miyahara-sensei does.”

“She does spend a lot of time admiring the equations,” She agreed. “And not so much… actually explaining them. I tend to just read through the books myself and try to understand it. It’s hard to deny she likes what she does, though.”

“No kidding,” He sighed. “You know, before last year, I didn’t really care about this kind of stuff at all.”

“Really?” She wouldn’t say she was surprised, but…

“I just kept wondering what the point was, when I’d never need to know any of it, at all. I still don’t get what I’m supposed to use most of this for. But… then things changed, and I realized I needed to take things seriously, from then on.”

He didn’t explain what the change was. Makoto supposed it wasn’t really any of her business, when she thought about it. “I bet the others were surprised.”

“Probably. I… wasn’t paying much attention to them at the time, though.” Junpei sounded sort of sheepish. “I was a bit more focused on… getting my life in order. Sort of. Not sure I did that well.”

“You seem pretty well put-together to me. If you keep going at this rate, you might even catch up to the rest of us by the time we graduate.”

“Hey, let’s not go too crazy…” But he was smiling all the same, and Makoto could tell they’d gotten closer, so she supposed she’d said the right thing.

Not even the revelation of a person spying on them was enough to ruin her good mood.

”You know, people are going to wonder why you stare at the wall like that,” Yukari pointed out.

Makoto shrugged. “They’ll thank me once we figure out how to get rid of the Dark Hour. Or not, since they won’t know it was ever there, but… It’s this or I do it in Tartarus.” They didn’t have time to do things like that in Tartarus.

“Yeah, I guess…” She sighed. “I haven’t really thought a lot about what I’ll do when all of this is over.” That was all right. They still had time. And besides…

“I haven’t thought about it either,” Makoto admitted. “I can’t even remember a time when all of this wasn’t happening. It just took a while to get an explanation for it.”

Yukari glanced at her, and looked a bit surprised. “Really? I… wouldn’t have thought that.”

“No one really does. I just woke up one day, and the world was like this when it happened. It… probably didn’t make my relatives think I was any less creepy.” That had been their reasoning, for tossing her around until she found her way to Aunt Misaki. Given how they’d thrown her from place to place for a whole five years, she wasn’t inclined to think it was the only reason.

“...Why would they think that?” Yukari blinked at her. “You’re… sort of the opposite of that.”

“A lot of that’s because of my aunt. It’s… amazing, what having a place where you feel at home can do.” And then she’d left for Iwatodai, and she still wasn’t sure what she’d been thinking when she decided to do that.

At least things had been turning out pretty well, so far.

“I guess…” Makoto looked at her. “I… didn’t really have a place like that before last year. After Dad died, Mom… didn’t handle it well. She still isn’t, really. And I wasn’t really friends with Mitsuru-senpai yet, or… I didn’t really think I had anyone. But… I did, and then things started to get better.”

Makoto knew the feeling. It was the same one she’d dealt with for her whole first month in town.

She understood this, and their bond grew stronger because of it, but there was still a distance there that she wasn’t sure how to clear.

She guessed she’d just have to figure something out.

While a number of things in Makoto’s life were going well, Fuuka’s cooking wasn’t exactly one of those things. “I think there’s something we can learn here.”

“What’s that?” Fuuka still sounded really disappointed.

“Always read the labels.” It seemed like something simple enough for everyone to know, but apparently this wasn’t the case. “...Would you like to share some of mine?”

Fuuka shook her head. “It’s fine. I… guess this was a bit much for a first try. But thanks for offering.”

Something about this felt off. “...Fuuka-chan?”

“Huh? Is something wrong?”

“It feels like I should be asking you that. I’ve never seen you give up on something so easily.” Sure, she barely knew her, but this was besides the point. “Even when it was something that got you locked in Tartarus.”

“It’s just… the last time I tried learning cooking, it… didn’t go well at all. The person I asked for help just kept making jokes about how bad it was…”

“That just means you need more practice. So we’ll meet up again, and I can help you get better, all right?”

Fuuka nodded along, and Makoto’s Social Link with her ranked up. “I- All right. I’ll keep trying.”

In all of her time spent making new bonds, Makoto had never stopped to wonder what would happen when they were as strong as they could get.

But, well… she supposed she knew, now.

“You said you’ve been spending a lot of time with friends, lately, Makoto-chan,” Mitsuko said, as a persimmon was placed in her hand. “Do you have a lot of friends?”

Makoto thought about Fuuka and Shinjiro, who she’d just gotten to know, and was interested in learning more about. About Yukari, who was distant, but probably still cared, somewhat. About Junpei, who she knew she could always rely on.

She even thought about Blue, who was irritating beyond belief, but who seemed to still be looking out for her, in his own way.

‘Y-yeah,” She replied, her fingers curling around the fruit, which she placed in her pocket. “I- I think I do.”

In that moment, a surge of power rushed through her, a new presence suddenly there with her, before vanishing again, leaving her with nothing more than a name.

Kohryu.

She wondered what it could possibly mean.

Chapter Text

”All right. So.” Yukari sat down in the middle of the command room. “I know a lot of us aren’t here, including Makoto-chan, but it’s almost the full moon, and I think it’d be nice if we had a plan.” They so rarely did, after all.

Akihiko, Fuuka, and Junpei all seemed less than enthused by the whole thing. “This is… Shirakawa, right?” Junpei checked, sounding more than a little hesitant.

“Unfortunately… And Makoto-chan’s probably going to think something’s off if we all volunteer to sit out at once…” Never mind that none of them wanted a repeat of what happened the last time around.

Akihiko nodded. “...Also, if we tried to force her into going just to spare ourselves the mortification, Mitsuru would kill us.” That was another issue.

Fuuka blinked. “Actually, none of you ever told the rest of us what happened when you went there last year.”

“That’s because nobody needed to know,” Junpei muttered. “Just when I’d managed to repress the memories, too…”

“Anyway, we know for a start that Shinjiro-senpai’s not going.” She probably didn’t need to say this part out loud, but organization was apparently important for a group? Somehow? She wouldn’t really call SEES organized, but that was what the books said. “And even if Ken-kun was in a position to come along… it wouldn’t be the best idea.”

Everyone nodded along with that. None of them wanted to be the ones to suggest taking the twelve-year-old to the red light district, particularly if they weren’t going, themselves. Mitsuru would kill them, assuming Makoto and Shinjiro didn’t get there first.

“Normally, you all do things in groups of four,” Fuuka added, “So odds are at least two of you are going to be on the team for this, and we won’t know who until Makoto-chan decides.”

“So, we can’t actually make any plans?” Junpei asked. “That… Like, I know there’s only so much we can plan for without Mako-tan, but this feels sort of important, doesn’t it?”

“I mean, the other option is that we have some sort of contest where the winner gets to sit things out…” It came to mind, as soon as Yukari said it, that maybe suggesting it hadn’t been her wisest decision. “But that’d be easier if we had an even number of people…”

“...We could also just ask Makoto-chan who she wants to take with her at the moment?” Fuuka suggested. And, sure, that made some amount of sense, but…

It couldn’t be that easy.

“I think I will go out for a walk after dinner,” Chidori began, wondering what the response from Jin and Takaya would be.

“All right, Chidori.” It figured. Every time they got some sort of job, even if it was just to take a look at what this other group of Persona Users was doing, they completely ignored her until it was time.

Even when she was the only reason they could find their way to said jobs.

“Maybe I’ll find something I could draw by the waterfront, so it may take a while.”

“All right, Chidori.”

“If Aragaki hasn’t been hit by withdrawal symptoms yet, I may come across him.”

“All right, Chidori.” There was still not a single gaze cast in her direction. One way to find out if they were even paying attention.

“...I’ve been considering defecting to the Kirijo Group.”

“All right, Chidori.”

...Well. They couldn’t say she didn’t warn them.

Everyone who was willing to go out and fight Shadows in town- as in, every member of SEES except for Shinjiro- gathered in the command room a few hours before midnight, and proceeded to start napping on every visible surface.

Makoto supposed that was one way to conserve energy, and honestly, she did like naps, but she couldn’t help but feel like there were more productive options, particularly when it was impossible to sleep through the Dark Hour anyway.

Either way, once the world had shifted over, everyone was up and awake, and Fuuka was quick to summon Juno in the search for whatever they were meant to be fighting.

“I’ve found it,” She declared. “And it’s… well… where we’d expected it’d be…”

Shirakawa Boulevard. Also known as: the red light district. Also known as: their battlefield for the night. Nobody had been very enthusiastic about the whole thing- even Junpei and Akihiko looked like they’d rather sit this fight out, and it was hard to blame them.

Being the leader of the group, though, Makoto couldn’t exactly just sit it out and send her friends in her place. Among other things, she was pretty sure they’d want to kill her if she did that.

“All right,” She breathed in, taking as good a look at everyone as she possibly could. “I suppose none of you would be willing to volunteer?”

There were, of course, no volunteers forthcoming. She wasn’t even surprised.

“I… suppose it’s only fair if I go,” Mitsuru finally stated, “Given how inactive I was at this point last month.” Makoto wasn’t entirely sure what part of it she was talking about, there were a lot of things she could have meant, but at least that was one decision made without too much fuss.

“Okay, so we have Mitsuru-senpai… anyone else?” The other three sat completely still in their seats, as if terrified that any sort of movement would draw her attention. Still, at least some of it was a relatively easy decision. “...Yukari-chan, you’re the best healer we have, so it’s probably better to have you around.”

Yukari groaned in defeat. Junpei glanced at Akihiko. “So, I guess one of us gets to stay behind. I’ll flip you for it.”

Most people would probably be upset at their team composition being decided by coin toss. On the other hand, Makoto would have tried to sit this one out if she could, as well, so it was very, very hard to blame them.

The one who won the coin toss, in the end, was Akihiko, who for once seemed actually happy to be sitting out a fight. “Try not to get in too over your heads, all right?” He asked them.

Makoto wasn’t sure what he meant by that. They were already going to Shirakawa because a Shadow had shown up there. She wasn’t sure how things could get much worse.

On their way out the door, a small head peered up from the couch. “...Where are you guys going?” Amada Ken asked, as completely casually as if he was meant to be in their dorm during the Dark Hour. He wasn’t even surprised by the Dark Hour, though that might have just been because he was inside and therefore unmolested by coffins, puddles of blood, and a moon that was far larger in the sky than it had any right to be.

“We- we’ll tell you when you’re older,” Yukari said, clearly fighting off a blush even in the low lighting. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

“I… sort of fell asleep,” He admitted. “And when I woke up again, it was already…” He waved out a hand as if to indicate the entire Dark Hour, which honestly raised just as many questions as it answered. “I… don’t think I should be going outside right now.”

“Probably not,” Mitsuru agreed. “...You also shouldn’t be sleeping on our couch, either. There’s rooms on the second floor that nobody is using at the moment, so you should stay there for the night. If we’re lucky, no one will realize that you’re here.” Given how nobody had noticed him so far, Makoto was inclined to believe her.

“...Thanks, Mitsuru-san.” Ken vanished up the stairs as quickly as he appeared.

Makoto watched him leave. “...Why aren’t we questioning…?”

“We first encountered him during the Dark Hour,” Mitsuru explained. “He had just lost his mother in an… unfortunate accident, and was already well on his way to being able to use a Persona. So far, we haven’t told the chairman much about him, but… it’s only so long before he finds out and tries to pressure him into SEES.”

“...He’s twelve.”

“Yes. That’s why I have neglected to bring up his existence with the chairman.”

She supposed it was impossible to argue with that.

None of the battle party were particularly thrilled about the location they were visiting. “This is… about what I expected it to be…” Makoto sighed, trying her absolute hardest not to look at the building in front of her, and failing miserably.

A new, unfamiliar voice spoke up. “On this street, I would be surprised if it was anything else.”

The speaker, as it turned out, was a girl wearing a white dress and carrying a sketchbook. “Chidorita?” Junpei blinked. “What are you doing here?”

“Defecting.” Her tone was completely matter-of-fact. “I have discovered that the members of your group are… less likely to make me want to set them on fire.” There was no further explanation given.

Mitsuru turned to Junpei. “Iori…”

“Senpai, Yuka-tan, you remember Chidorita, right?” He asked, almost pleading. “You’ve met her before.”

“We have,” Mitsuru agreed, her eyes as cold as the ice she wielded. “But that still leaves a lot unexplained.”

“After some thinking, my now former associates are not actually people I would like to spend time with. I believe that is the most relevant thing right now?”

Makoto blinked. “Um… So, you’re the girl Junpei-kun told me about?”

“Y-yeah, that’s right,” Junpei spoke up, his face steadily turning pink. “This is Yoshino Chidori, she sets things on fire just as good as me, her old friends are a couple of assholes, though… that about do it? Oh, and Chidorita, this is Yuki Makoto, I think you might have heard of her?” It was sort of amazing to hear him so desperate.

“You’ve told me about her,” Chidori agreed. “...She’s more red than I expected.”

...Apparently, this was her life now. “So… at some point, could you guys just give me a list of everyone you know who has a Persona?” Really, this was getting excessive.

Yukari shrugged. “I mean, you’ve already met most of them…”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean I know which of them have Personas.” Why was this her life now? “...You know what, fine. Let’s just… go do things. And stuff.” Maybe if she asked Shinjiro in the morning he’d have half of a clue about what was going on...

Despite the general size of the Shadow they’d faced, it was not a difficult fight. This was presumably due to the fact that, for most of the fight, the Shadow was on fire.

Sadly, the door was also locked behind them. “I’m sure there’s a way out,” Yukari said, looking around. “And it’s somewhere in this room, but…”

If she said anything else, Makoto didn’t hear her. Her own gaze was drawn to the fact that, in this room, there was a large mirror.

A mirror that didn’t show her teammates’ reflections.

...It didn’t even show her reflection, actually. In her place stood a familiar boy with blue hair.

As one, she and Blue stepped forward, stood in front of the mirror, and raised their hands to the glass.

The-

-world-

-shattered.

Chapter Text

”Hey. Red. You back to your senses, yet?”

Makoto blinked, taking in the view of a small room, a boy with blue hair standing in front of her. “Blue? What are you- Why were you in the mirror?” That seemed like a sort of important thing to ask.

He shrugged, which was, of course, completely unhelpful. “Why is anyone in the mirror?”

He probably wasn’t looking for an actual answer, but… “I think it’s something to do with light.”

“...Yeah, probably.” He sat down next to her on the bed. “You know, I… hadn’t expected Yoshino to be here.”

“I don’t think anyone did.” Even Junpei had seemed surprised by it, and he’d definitely known about her powers, given how he’d been talking about them. “...Actually, where are the others?” It was still the Dark Hour, so she couldn’t have been out of it for all that long… this wasn’t exactly Tartarus.

“Probably recovering from a bit of mortal embarrassment.” Blue sounded way too pleased by that. “It’s… the most likely thing to happen, when caught by a Shadow like that.”

One of these days, Makoto was sure that she’d figure out just how it was that Blue knew so much. “You sound like you’re talking from experience.”

“If I am, I’m not telling you about it.” That seemed fair. “Shadows have started coming out in the halls, but they shouldn’t bother the others unless they leave the rooms they ended up in, so we should be fine to talk for a bit.”

“Do we really have that long, though?”

“Red, this isn’t exactly Tartarus. Worst case, everything just gets pushed back a month.” Personally, Makoto would have preferred to never set foot in this building again, but she supposed that he very technically had a point. “And we’re not going to take that long. I don’t… think it’s possible, for me to have that much time.”

It usually didn’t seem possible for him to get much more cryptic, either, and yet he somehow managed it every time. “Is that why you never bother to explain things?”

“I know you can figure these things out on your own.”

“...Not everything…” She muttered quietly. “You won’t even tell me your real name.”

“I’ve told you, you’ve got something a lot more important than that.” Blue sounded almost annoyed, at least as much as he ever displayed any sort of emotion. “...Remember the night we first met? I gave you something then. Do you still have it?”

Makoto nodded, and removed the card from her pocket. She wasn’t sure why, after that disastrous first night, she still carried it around with her, but it felt like the right thing to do. “What is it, anyway?”

“It’s…” Blue paused, as though he’d ever considered having to answer that question. “Well… what’s your Persona’s name? Your true Persona, not...” Not Neko Shogun, or Omoikane, or even Jack Frost, but the first one she’d ever called. He hadn’t really had to specify.

“It’s Eurydice.”

“Well, what Eurydice is to you… Thanatos is to me. Sort of. It’s complicated, and I’m not sure this was really the right way to put it… Thanatos is like half a Eurydice.”

“Half a Eurydice?” That didn’t make any sense. “How do you get half of a Persona?”

“I said it’s complicated.” He crossed his arms. “And we don’t have that long before your friends snap out of their shock enough to go searching for you. ...Actually, you should probably go look for them.” As if he were just realizing this now. Maybe he was. Makoto would never claim to have any idea what Blue was doing.

After all, if ‘Thanatos’ were to him what Eurydice was to her… then why would he give it to her? What possible reason could he have to give away his Persona?

And why, if Thanatos was a Persona, had her one time summoning him gone so badly?

Aside from a realization that their bond had grown stronger, the only thing that pondering on this situation got Makoto was a headache. She decided that maybe it would be better to ignore this mystery, for now, and take Blue’s advice.

After all, he was right. By now, her friends were probably starting to worry about her.

Technically, this was a new situation. As far as most people would know, Iori Junpei and Yoshino Chidori had never really fought side-by-side. And, in a sense, they would be entirely correct.

At the same time, though… it felt so incredibly right, to see Hermes and Medea torch unfortunate wandering Shadows to a crisp.

“This feels kinda unfair…” Junpei mused, stepping on the remnants of the inferno to put it out. It would probably be a bad idea to let the place go up in flames during the Dark Hour while there were people inside.

“It wasn’t fair of them to cast a spell on us and lock us in a room, either.” Well. She wasn’t exactly wrong about that.

“Yeah, but… at least that didn’t risk setting everything on fire.” He wasn’t actually sure that she was aware that SEES had a general position against committing arson against occupied buildings, actually. Given how many of them used fire, it might have been sort of difficult to get that impression.

“...I could use Mudoon instead.” Okay. That was significantly less risky. At least when it came to accidentally burning down buildings.

Junpei heard a door swinging open nearby. “...So, do you think that’s Mako-tan, Yuka-tan, or Senpai?”

“It could be a Shadow.”

“I don’t think a lotta Shadows know how to use doors.” Not unless someone had already left them open, at least, and they all knew better than to do that. “Or that they could open them if they tried. Most of them don’t have wrists.”

“...You may have a point.”

It ended up being Makoto, who seemed to have been lucky enough to end up on her own and not in a potentially compromising situation with one of their friends, meaning that she didn’t have to know the hell that most of them had been suspecting.

“So, we just have to find Yukari-chan and Mitsuru-senpai, right?” Junpei tried not to envy just how not mortified she seemed to be, particularly when it mean she wouldn’t be asking them any questions. “Do you think they’re upstairs? There’s not actually that many rooms per floor…”

Yukari and Mitsuru were waiting for the three of them on the next floor. “Took you long enough,” Yukari said, glancing more at the wall than at Makoto, Junpei, or Chidori.

“We were a bit sidetracked,” Chidori admitted. “At some point, even more Shadows seem to have infested the building.”

Makoto blinked. “...We left the door open, didn’t we?”

“We may have left the door open.”

“I think you left the door open,” Fuuka agreed, her voice speaking up for the first time since Makoto had broken the mirror. “But it should be fine. They’re not preying on the people here, or anything.”

Of course not. Shadows didn’t have wrists, and none of the other doors were open. Makoto ignored the fact that somehow they’d managed to stick her in a room with Blue. “Still… has anyone figured out what Shadow it was that kept us from leaving that room earlier?”

“You mean the one that’s still in that room?” Fuuka’s powers were incredibly useful, and Makoto didn’t want to know what these missions would be like without them. Probably something like that disastrous first night that apparently nobody had been prepared for. “...Oh, but you won’t be able to get inside right away. There’s another lock there.”

“...That means we have to break more mirrors, right?” Makoto checked, already dreading the eventuality of getting glass shards embedded in her hand.

“Most likely. On the bright side, once you get there, I don’t think that Shadow will stand a chance!”

The Shadow did not, in fact, stand a chance.

Chapter Text

By this point, Shinjiro would have liked to say that nothing the people he lived with did could surprise him anymore. As strange as things could be, as unbelievably weird as they sometimes got, there had to be a limit, and the logical point for said limit had been passed a month ago. Clearly, it had to stop at some point.

Whatever that point was, however, it was not today. He could tell, because today he went down to breakfast and saw two people there who shouldn’t have been.

“What are you two doing here?” Ken almost made sense, he’d been hanging around often enough, even if there wasn’t much reason for him to spend the night. But Yoshino Chidori was also right there with a plate of toast and a mug of coffee.

“I have defected from Strega,” Yoshino stated, apparently ignoring the presence of the literal child in the room. “While I have… issues with the company sponsoring this group, the people here at least treat me as more than a tool for murder.”

This would sort of explain why he hadn’t seen Jin and Takaya with her during the past few months. Not that he was sure why they would treat her like that when their group only had three people, but… it wasn’t like he had room to talk, when it came to a group of three being… not necessarily the best fit.

“I just… fell asleep here yesterday,” Ken said, as if Yoshino’s words had somehow flown right past him. “And when I woke up… it was at an hour when nobody wanted me going outside.” By which he probably meant the Dark Hour. It was the most likely time when anyone would have found him, and it would have woken him up by default unless he was completely exhausted.

Still… if he didn’t feel like being explicit about it, Shinjiro wouldn’t ask. There were half a dozen ways that conversation could go, and he didn’t think he liked any of them.

Makoto was the next person to stumble down the stairs. “Good morning!” She greeted them, so cheerfully it was hard to believe she’d gone out hunting for Shadows just the night previous. “Is no one else up yet?”

“Akihiko-san is,” Ken said. “He was the one who told us Ikutsuki-san had left, so it was safe to come downstairs. Probably because Mitsuru-san told him to.” That did sound about right. “He went running earlier, but he said he’d be back before breakfast’s over.”

“He wouldn’t want to miss it,” Makoto agreed. “Ken-kun, do you think you’ll be all right getting to your school from here?”

“I’ll be fine.” The kid sounded completely confident, as though nothing about the current situation confused him at all.

Maybe he was just a good actor. That was the most logical explanation, no matter how little room logic seemed to have in the current situation. Maybe he’d just ask a lot of questions later, and Aki or Mitsuru could answer them without breathing a word to Shinjiro.

Maybe he’d talk things over with Makoto later. Something told him she wouldn’t be getting a lot of answers, either.

When Makoto got home from volleyball practice, Shinjiro was waiting for her and clearly wanting to talk about something.

“Is this about Ken-kun?” She checked, giving a cursory glance around to make sure that nobody was listening in. She wasn’t entirely sure where everyone was, but apparently the answer wasn’t anywhere near to them. Hopefully, it wasn’t in earshot. “He said he just fell asleep here yesterday, and I don’t think he was lying…”

“...Sort of. Just… he was here in the Dark Hour, wasn’t he?”

“That’s when we found him. Right as we were going out the door.” If he’d lived on the way to where they were going, maybe they could have escorted him back, but either he hadn’t or Mitsuru had decided against it. “I don’t think anyone else was entirely surprised by his… being there.” His presence, his alertness, what did it matter what she was talking about? “Apparently, they’ve known he experiences the Dark Hour since they first met him.”

Shinjiro nodded along, his face unreadable. “That… sorta makes sense.”

“I don’t know why they never mentioned it before, though,” She continued. “I asked if I could have a list of their friends who had Personas, and they said it didn’t matter because I’d met almost all of them.”

“...Almost?” It was nice to know she wasn’t the only one who was made apprehensive by that word. Just how many people with Personas could there be in Iwatodai, anyway?

“That was the word they used.” Makoto hoped there couldn’t be many more of them. From that word, it was just one or two at most, right? “They… still haven’t given any sort of list. Also, I’m not sure I haven’t met people who have Personas that just haven’t told me about them.” She hadn’t even fully realized Shinjiro had a Persona until Yukari dragged her and Junpei to go talk to him.

“I hope not. There’s too many of us as it is.”

“What, don’t you like us?” Was this maybe pushing a bit too hard? It wasn’t always easy to tell.

“More like I can’t keep up with all these people.” Okay, that was entirely fair. Sometimes, Makoto had problems keeping track of how many people she was friends with, and she could use a tarot deck as a reminder. And Shinjiro had never seemed like much of a people person to start with.

“...Maybe I’ll try asking for a list again.”

She never got around to it.

Today, Makoto and Fuuka were making sweet potato fries. It was a simple enough recipe, the results usually tasted good… it didn’t seem like something that could go wrong.

Something, it seemed, had gone wrong. “Fuuka-chan… what happened to your fries?”

“Well, the recipe asked me to use melted butter… but I sort of forgot to melt the butter… and I thought vinegar would make a good substitute.” Okay, the first two bits were forgivable, but the last part was definitely something that Makoto couldn’t let slip by.

“Fuuka-chan… I had some extra butter you could have used. You just needed to ask.” Sure, she’d made more than enough for the both of them either way, but it would have been nice to see her friend actually succeed in the thing that she had first set out to do.

Fuuka glanced at the floor. “I… wouldn’t want to cause you any trouble.”

“It wouldn’t cause trouble. It’d be giving us more snacks.” She paused. “Well. Edible ones, anyway.” She supposed that Fuuka’s attempt technically qualified as snacks, she just wouldn’t want to eat any of it. “There’s nothing wrong with asking for help.”

“I guess not…” The cards told Makoto that her advice was appreciated. It probably said something that she was using them for the sake of having any sort of idea what the others were thinking. “...Maybe I could ask Shinjiro-senpai for help?”

“What, am I not good enough?”

“S-sorry, I was just thinking. Akihiko-senpai says that Shinjiro-senpai’s a good cook, but that he never makes anything for him, so…” Makoto wondered if Shinjiro was aware of Fuuka’s continued failures in the kitchen, or if this was just another thing Akihiko never saw the need to mention. “Maybe we could get him to join in sometime.”

That didn’t actually sound like the worst idea in the world. It… actually seemed like something that might have been worth considering for later. A way that Makoto could spend time with several friends at once without being dragged to the helltower that was their school at midnight.

It would also, possibly, be a way for Fuuka to make progress. “That’d be nice.”

It was a good thought, that all of them might have one day understood each other.

”You wanted to speak with me, Iori?”

Mitsuru was aware that she came across to people as intimidating. It was something that she herself had honed over time, to the point where, if she were very lucky, Shadows would be struck with panic by her very presence. Humans, too, could be affected by this, to the point where people wouldn’t often approach her, even if she wasn’t necessarily in the habit of turning all who displeased her into blocks of ice.

Not when there were people who would miss them, at least.

“Yeah, well…” Iori shifted from side to side. Either he hadn’t taken the time to think about what he was going to say, or Mitsuru’s intimidating presence was more powerful than she’d thought it was. “There’s a… few things I’ve been thinking about.”

“Is it about Yoshino?” Keeping her and Ikutsuki apart would not be the most difficult thing in the world. They all knew what nights the man was most likely to be there, all they had to do was find alternative lodging for her during those times, if only because the alternative, messing with the security cameras, would involve having any knowledge of how the dorm’s security system worked.

Suffice to say, they had no idea of how their own home’s security system worked.

“Well, I mean, I kinda do worry about her, but… this is more about Mako-tan and Shinjiro-san.”

“What about them?” She didn’t mean to sound dismissive, she just didn’t have any idea where this conversation was heading.

“Well… doesn’t it feel wrong, keeping so much stuff from them?” He glanced to the side. “I mean, I sort of get it for Shinjiro-san, that stuff’s personal, but Mako-tan…”

“Are you saying that we should tell her about our circumstances?” Mitsuru had to admit that it wasn’t something that she had ever considered, but it… almost made sense, even if the words themselves would likely come off as… unbearably cruel. “Can you think of any way we could possibly do so tactfully?”

“N-not really…” Iori admitted. “But… just because something’s not easy doesn’t mean it isn’t worth doing, right?”

Did… did he just turn the words she’d once tried using to get him to study right back on her? “That doesn’t mean it is, either.”

How far would it go, if they told Yuki the truth about the year before? Would it stay with her? Would Shinjiro learn about it? Her father?

Mitsuru didn’t know.

“Senpai, do you really want to have a repeat of last year?” Iori asked. “We… didn’t really talk about things then, either.”

And maybe that had been part of why things turned out the way they did. If they had all started communicating with each other sooner… they probably wouldn’t have allowed themselves to end up in their current situation. “I- I’ll think about it.”

In a situation like this one, maybe there really was no right answer.

Chapter Text

There was a conversation that Ken needed to have.

It wasn’t one that he wanted to have- he would have been entirely happy if the subject had never, ever come up again in his entire life- but it was something that had to happen. If he didn’t take the chances he had to do so, he just knew he would have regretted it for his entire life.

And wasn’t that the point of them being there? So they’d have fewer regrets? He thought that might have been the reason. Maybe. They hadn’t exactly made a lot of plans.

Either way, he’d gotten home, and Shinjiro was there, and… there really wasn’t such thing as a good time for this, was there? “Shinjiro-san?”

His voice came out quiet. He didn’t think he could have stood to speak any louder.

“Huh? Something wrong, kid?” With how nervous he sounded, some would have suspected that he knew what was coming next, but Ken wasn’t entirely sure. For one thing, Shinjiro was always nervous around him. It was just a thing with them.

For another, he hadn’t been entirely sure that he was going to do this until right then. So he couldn’t really have left that many clues to suspect.

“I just…” What were the right words for this? Were there right words? Or just words that were ever so slightly less wrong? “I wanted to talk to you.”

He sat down next to him, wondering what the response could possibly be.

“...Can’t imagine there’s a lot of things you’d want to talk to someone like me about.” Well, at least that meant they were on the… well, not necessarily the same page, but the same chapter, at least. Which was something.

“I dunno, I think we’ve got plenty in common. We both like Akihiko-san, you help me take care of Koromaru… We really aren’t that different.” And that wasn’t even getting into the things that were actually relevant to the current situation. “We’re the same in… a lot of ways, ways that most people can’t be.” Was this specific enough? He wasn’t sure.

...Well, okay, it was probably specific enough, if only because there was no such thing as a conversation with Shinjiro where he wasn’t even slightly on edge.

Shinjiro wasn’t looking him in the eye, but then, he never really did that. “Makoto said you’d been around here in the Dark Hour.” As if he didn’t know where this was leading. It must have been nice, being able to pretend like that.

Ken forced himself to nod. “I’ve… been doing things with it for… for a while now.” Using exact measures of time was out of the question for a large variety of reasons, least of which being that he wasn’t entirely sure how to count it himself. “Akihiko-san and Mitsuru-san have been helping me, but they don’t want me in Tartarus yet.”

“That’s probably because you’re twelve.”

“Probably,” He agreed. Honestly, he sort of didn’t mind the break, except for how he was still living away from all of his friends. That bit was still terrible. “But even if they don’t let me fight, they still tell me a lot of things. Anything I want to know.”

Mostly, this was to keep up with the fact that he couldn’t actually be on-site for major battles or anything, but it worked well enough for his purposes.

“Really? Anything?”

“Well, they won’t tell me where everyone went when I stayed over, but…” Given how nobody talked about that night at all, he presumed there were personal reasons for it. “If it’s important for me to know, they won’t keep it from me. Things like…” And he lost his voice there, because he wasn’t sure just what he was meant to say next. If this had even been the time to bring it up, or if he should have waited until later, or… there were so many possibilities. So many ways he was sure he could have done it better.

“Kid, I-”

“It’s fine.” Ken forced the words out, wasn’t sure if they were the truth, but maybe they could be, someday. “It’s just- I wanted to say- It was an accident.” And maybe it shouldn’t have been him who had to say those words, but someone had to say them. Otherwise, what was the point of talking about this at all? “I know that now. And- and I didn’t… before, but now I do, and I… I forgive you.”

Oh. Maybe those were the right words.

“...We barely know each other.” As if Shinjiro was trying to reach for any possible reason not to be forgiven.

With what he knew about him, Ken wouldn’t have been surprised if that were the case.

“Then… then let’s get to know each other. We can be friends. I just… I don’t want to hate you. Not for something you couldn’t control. Please?” Maybe it’d make things better this way. Maybe things could even be all right.

Maybe, if he spent enough time getting to know Shinjiro here, it’d stop feeling so much like he was reaching out to a corpse.

Maybe then, Ken would be able to forgive himself.

”You wanted to talk to me?” Akihiko sounded mostly unconcerned, but Mitsuru could pick out subtle details on his face that said he was ever-so-slightly worried.

“Yes, it’s… There’s something very important we need to discuss.” Something they probably should have talked about seriously earlier, but it wasn’t like any of them really knew what they were doing.

He was all business immediately, turning off the music he’d been listening to. It sounded vaguely familiar to Mitsuru- it might have been something one of the second years recommended, at one point- but she hadn’t caught much of it. “What is it?”

Mitsuru forced herself to take a deep breath, to collect herself. “We need to tell Shinjiro and Yuki that we’re time travelers.”

Time travelers. It sounded so strange to her, even now. But that was the term for what they’d done, wasn’t it? They just never used it. Never really talked about what they’d done.

It said something, that Ken was probably the most mature member of their group. But even he’d shied away from using those two words together.

Maybe it was time they stopped doing that. It felt more real this way.

Akihiko flinched. “Why would we need to do that?”

“Because, while Aigis is an excellent teammate, she has the overall subtlety of a brick.” That was how Yukari had put it, at least. Mitsuru found that she liked the comparison. “We won’t be able to just pretend we don’t know her.” Also, it would be cruel to Aigis. She deserved better than friends who spent half of the time not acknowledging their friendship.

Not that it was the only reason, but… it was the one she was most comfortable thinking about.

“That…” Akihiko took a moment to think about it. “...I mean, you’re not wrong, but… I just… how would we even do this.”

“I was hoping you would have some ideas,” She admitted. “But I’m sure I can manage without. If you want to tell Shinjiro yourself, you have a couple of weeks with which you could do it. Maybe he’ll take it better if it comes from you.” Maybe she wouldn’t have to look him in the eyes and tell him what, exactly, had become of his other self.

“...I’ll think about it.” She was sure he would. She just wasn’t sure what his answer would be.

A year ago… two months from now… she thought she would have known his answer, then. He would have done anything to make his brother more comfortable, because he liked it when all his favorite people were together.

But then October happened, and March and April, and now Mitsuru didn’t know so well how those two related to each other anymore, because now Shinjiro was one of the people she couldn’t easily talk to without hearing the faint ring of gunshots in her ears. Even if she knew they weren’t real… it brought back bad memories.

“I trust you will.” To make the consideration, not to have the talk, but she was sure he knew her well enough, by now, to figure that out. “I just wanted you to be informed.”

After all, what better place to stop hiding information, than with her oldest friend?

Chapter Text

Chidori found that, as unfamiliar as the place she had found herself suddenly volunteering to live was, it was surprisingly easy for her to get used to. There were plenty of secluded spots where she could sit down to draw, people mostly left her alone, but would still pay attention when she wanted to talk to them, and the building just seemed to have more warmth and life to it than anywhere she had stayed before.

It was… not something she’d been able to see herself doing, a year back, but she could get used to this.

That Junpei was constantly available was a large part of the reason for this. “So… do the people you were with know where you’ve gone, or…?”

“I warned them,” She said. “They didn’t seem to be listening. I left long before the Dark Hour. If they do know, it’s not because I told them.”

Besides. Just saying that she was defecting didn’t say anything about her exact location. She was sure Jin and Takaya would show up eventually- it didn’t seem like anything else could possibly happen- but odds were it wouldn’t be because of her.

Maybe for Medea, maybe for her powers, but never, ever for her.

Junpei’s sigh of relief was extremely audible. It was almost funny, if not for how the people they were talking about tended to be inclined towards violence more often than not. “That’s good. I- I really don’t want- don’t want anyone to get shot again, but…”

If Takaya wanted to hurt Junpei, he’d have to go through Chidori first. She got the feeling, however, that maybe it wouldn’t be the best idea to say that out loud.

“Without Medea, they won’t know how to find anyone unless somebody tells them,” She stated. Not that there wasn’t anyone who would be willing to tell them things, but it certainly did a lot for being able to buy time. “We’re as safe as we’ll ever be.”

Exactly how safe that was was still left to be determined. Apparently, this was nothing new to them, and they barely ever knew what they were doing to begin with. This was not reassuring.

But then, these days, surprisingly little ever was.

With all of the strange occurrences her life had become, Fuuka had started to almost look forward to exams. Sure, if she did too well, she’d get eyes turned on her, and it was hard not to do too well when she’d covered most of the material already, but it was a sort of battle that everyone could be prepared for ahead of time without…

...Okay, so maybe she had to worry about looking like she knew too much, but that was because of conditions in her own social life, not a problem with the school itself, unless she counted how they still didn’t do that much to stop the bullying. If it was dying down, it was because she now had lots of friends that were willing to defend her.

But if she didn’t do as well on exams as she possibly could… well. Mostly, she’d be disappointing herself. Her parents might have noticed something, but it wasn’t like she talked to them a lot anymore, and SEES were supposed to be keeping a low profile.

‘Supposed to be’ was probably a key phrase here. For the most part, they didn’t really do subtle.

But exams? When it came to those, subtlety was out the window.

“You know, I still don’t get some of these questions,” Yukari sighed. “That’s… a bad sign, right?”

“Not really. This time last year, you were sort of preoccupied.” And it wasn’t like regularly staying up late to fight monsters could have a beneficial effect on someone’s grade. Teachers didn’t exactly offer extra credit for Shadow slaying.

If they did, Junpei’s future would have been a lot more secure.

“I guess…” Yukari didn’t sound entirely pleased with her answer, flipping through her notes one more time. “It’s just… I’ve done this before. I should know this stuff, shouldn’t I?”

There really wasn’t any sort of good answer to that. “Junpei doesn’t.”

“Yes, but he’s Junpei.” That was, admittedly, a good point. “He didn’t exactly have his life in order.” And they did? All Fuuka had really done so far was lose most of her previous social circle, start spending more time with Akihiko, and upload an alternate timeline’s music to the internet. Not that the last two were things she was complaining about, but it wasn’t exactly a set of crowning achievements, either.

And last time around? Back then, she’d been struggling to adjust to the idea of having friends at all, and also the fact that her friends regularly fought Shadows, and that when they did, their lives were all in her hands. Having her life in order sounded like something out of a dream.

Maybe Junpei had just done something to annoy Yukari again. He was good at that.

“...I wonder how Makoto-chan’s doing.”

When Makoto woke up in the Dark Hour, Blue was already there and poking at her stuff. “Do you have to keep doing this?”

“I’m not sure what you mean.” She could see the faintest hint of a grin on his face. This was probably the most expression she’d seen on him in… well, ever.

“Showing up. I don’t even know how you get in here.”

“I’m here because you need me to be.” Well. That was fairly disturbing. “Because there’s things that I need to say, and I guess I could leave you a note or something, but you’d be awake either way, so… we might as well talk.”

That sounded surprisingly reasonable. Makoto was sure there had to be a catch somewhere. “All right, then? What do you want to talk about?”

“The reason that the world was ending.” Oh, and now they were back on this. “It all started ten years ago. Back when… well, you probably know when. Even if you don’t remember it.”

Ten years ago… that was when her parents had died. She didn’t remember a lot from before then, but she was reasonably assured that her whole life had changed because of it. “What happened back then… it’s connected?” It seemed like a massive coincidence, but…

Well. Makoto had gone from being the only person she knew of who could withstand the Dark Hour to there being more than ten. Which still wasn’t a lot, considering just how many people were out there in the world, but it was like everything had come together as soon as she set foot in Iwatodai.

“The Kirijo Group poked something it shouldn’t have,” Blue agreed. “And lots of people paid the price for it. People just like you and me.”

Somehow, she doubted there could be anyone out there that was just like him. The thought was kind of scary. “...You lost something in that explosion, didn’t you?”

“Because it happened, I lost everything. And the world… well, it probably has to end eventually, but I think we’d both rather it not happen during their lifetimes.” He gestured to the building around them. “And it can be stopped, still. All it needs is someone who knows exactly what to do.”

Yes. Because that was definitely something that could be easily found when it came to the apocalypse. Makoto didn’t know what she was doing half the time as it was, let alone how to stop the apocalypse from happening.

“...Why are you telling me this? Why not one of the others?”

“I can’t.” Those words were just as confusing as the rest of him. “And… even if I could, I wouldn’t need to. They already know enough.”

And now it was back to the fact that most of Makoto’s fellow Persona Users just kept knowing things and people that she didn’t, and giving exactly zero warning of that fact.

“I’d believe that more if they’d actually tell me things.”

Blue’s smile was a bit more genuine this time, she thought. “They will. You just need to give them a bit of time, and then you’ll… probably learn more than you ever wanted to know. What you do afterwards… that’s up to you.”

Implying that everything she’d done before wasn’t. “Is being cryptic official policy or something?”

He blinked. “I… don’t actually know. I’m just doing what the last guy did.”

“...I don’t want to know.” She could tell that the bond between the two of them had grown stronger, somehow. And yet, despite being halfway through their Social Link… she still didn’t know his name.

“That’s probably for the best.” And then he was gone. By this point, Makoto knew better than to expect anything else.

”You know, we should do something after exams.”

The group studying session paused. Makoto glanced at her friend. “What do you mean, Yukari-chan?”

“I mean like… a vacation. Something to celebrate surviving the year before. To the beach, or something.” The beach did sound nice. Sun, sand, and the chance to dunk Junpei? That was definitely something she wanted.

“We could always go to Yakushima,” Mitsuru suggested. “My family does have property there.”

“She says about the giant mansion,” Akihiko added. Which. Makoto had known that the Kirijo family was rich, but that was… something else.

“I never asked for your comments, Akihiko.” She didn’t seem to mean it, though. The air would probably have been colder if she did. “...But, yes, it is a bit extravagant.”

With how everyone at the table was fighting to hold back a grin, Makoto got the feeling that it was more than just ‘a bit.’

“It’s funny that you mention that, actually.” And there was Ikutsuki feeling the need to speak up. It was always awkward when he was around these days, particularly when everyone was, for some reason, taking pains to conceal Chidori’s existence from him, as well as Ken’s visits. “Mitsuru’s father is actually going to be vacationing on Yakushima after your exams.”

Mitsuru blinked and glanced back at her notes. “...On second thought, maybe we don’t need a vacation.”

And there was another thing to be confusing. “Do… the two of you not get along, or something?”

“N-no, it’s not that… We just… the last time we spoke in person was… a while ago.” Her discomfort was almost tangible. “He’s… probably not prepared for our group’s… brand of insanity.” It sounded almost like she was trying to make up excuses.

Yukari sighed. “You know, the longer you don’t talk to him, the worse it’s going to get, right?”

“...Yukari, when was the last time that you spoke to your mother?” Makoto hoped that this wasn’t going to turn into a giant argument. It seemed like something that could happen.

“...Okay, you might have a point. But at least she knows why I’m avoiding her. I think. Probably.”

“I’m sure your father would be pleased to see you,” Ikutsuki said. “And all of you have been working very hard… well, mostly.” Shinjiro wasn’t anywhere she could see him, but Makoto was pretty sure that was who he was talking about. Never mind that he wasn’t even there to defend himself. She’d have to tell him about it later- it wasn’t quite part of the things they’d agreed to tell each other about, but it seemed like the sort of thing that deserved mentioning either way.

“We might meet new people on Yakushima,” Fuuka pointed out. “It would be nice to make more friends, even if they don’t live nearby. And if it’s a big mansion, you probably won’t have to talk to anyone if you don’t want to.”

“...I suppose not. Perhaps we should put this to a vote. Anyone who wishes to visit Yakushima-” There were no hands at the table that were left unraised. “...I suppose we’re going to be visiting Yakushima.”

A boy with blue hair walked into the Velvet Room.

“Master Makoto.” It was Theodore who gave the first greeting, though not for lack of trying on Elizabeth’s part. “I didn’t expect to be seeing you here today.”

The boy shifted from side to side. “I… thought I’d come and say goodbye. Since I… won’t be coming back here again.”

“I see…” Igor stated. “So you have made your decision?”

He nodded. “It… I think it’ll be better, this way. It feels right, anyway.”

Elizabeth hugged a book close to herself. “You are certain about this? It isn’t a choice to be made lightly.”

“Liz… I haven’t had much to do but think about it. If I regret it… That’s my problem. Not yours.”

“Those are the terms of his contract,” Igor agreed. “Although… it’s sad to hear that you won’t be returning to us. I have said it before, but… you truly were a remarkable guest.”

“...Thanks.” For a moment, the faintest hint of a smile played out on his face. “But, before I go, there’s… something that I want to ask you.”

“Ask away.”

“What can you tell me about the Faith Arcana?”

Chapter Text

Makoto needed a break from exams. Everyone was studying, or panicking over what their results were going to be, or grumbling about the fact that tests existed. At this point, she just couldn’t take it anymore.

Her solution was to find the first person she could who wouldn’t probably keep talking about them and plop down next to him. “Hey.”

“Thought your year was having a massive study session upstairs,” Shinjiro stated, which was exactly the opposite of what she wanted.

“Please don’t talk about exams…” It wasn’t like she was stressed about her own results, necessarily, so much as how everyone else was stressing out about the results. It was only Wednesday, was it really worth worrying so much so soon? No one could be doing that terribly.

...Okay, so maybe there were some people who could be doing that terribly, but she decided that she’d rather not think about that.

“That bad?”

“I think I’m doing well, it’s just that everyone else won’t stop talking about it. How’s your week going?” It had to be more interesting than hers. She hadn’t seen the outside of a textbook in actual days.

“I…” He paused, as if he was thinking about something. “...You’re sort of good with people, right?”

In this group, being good with people was an incredibly relative thing. “I mean, I can actually talk to them?” The fact that this was an improvement over some of her friends said something. She wasn’t sure what it was, but it probably wasn’t good.

“If- if a person does something really bad. How do people usually…?” Okay, this was concerning on a large number of levels.

“That… I think it depends on the person. And what that thing was.” Really, there wasn’t a lot of information to go on. Makoto wasn’t even really sure how this whole thing had come up. “But you could probably expect them to be upset for a while. Why do you ask?”

“...No reason.” She got the feeling that there was, in fact, a reason. Just another thing that people weren’t telling her. The list just seemed to get longer and longer.

Still. She supposed it wasn’t any of her business, at least for the moment. “That doesn’t exactly tell me how your week’s been so far, though.”

“Confusing.” And if that didn’t sum up the past few months perfectly, she didn’t know what did.

The weirdest part of exam week was how there were no extracurriculars.

Even over such a short span of time, Fuuka had become accustomed to her duties as team manager, and to keeping an eye on the members of the team. It gave her something to do after classes, and a new circle of people to talk to, at least once most of them had adjusted to the fact that she wasn’t going to be as easily run off as the last twenty-three.

Being without that, even for just a week or so… it was sort of lonely.

At least some things didn’t have to change for exams. Even if it was just walking home with someone else so she didn’t end up locked in Tartarus again.

That would be bad normally. During exam week… that was probably the worst time possible.

“This probably isn’t going to make people stop talking,” She noted, flinching under a particularly sharp glare. She didn’t recognize the person behind it, but knowing the names of everyone who glared at her would require knowing the names of a third of the school. Probably more.

“They never stop talking,” Akihiko pointed out, with the weary sigh of someone who’d had to deal with it for longer than he ever should have had to.

Not that he should have had to deal with it in the first place. Fuuka wasn’t sure how it had started. It would have made sense if it was Mitsuru- she never did lose her fondness for Marin Karin- but there just wasn’t anything to explain why Akihiko was standing out so much. “I-I know that. It’s just…” She would have expected that they’d at least care enough about their exam grades to take a week off, or something.

But then, maybe that was assuming a bit too much sanity from them.

“Are they giving you trouble again?” Technically, they were always giving her trouble. It was easier to count the times when trouble wasn’t a thing because of those girls. But she understood what he was trying to ask.

He was just worried about her. “That- not right now. I think they’re too busy studying.” Normally, she would have been studying more than usual, as well, but between her general satisfaction with where she was, academically, the unfair advantage of having lived the year once before, and the fact that the library might not have been the safest place in the world at the moment, she was fine with just going over her notes at home.

She wondered if they gave him problems studying, too. The amounts of high-pitched squealing that they did just had to qualify as a major distraction. “Have they been causing you any trouble, Senpai?”

“No more than usual…” ‘Usual’ involved Akihiko being randomly ambushed outside the gates, but Fuuka supposed that it’d be harder for that to happen when someone else was with him. Really, thinking about it, they should have thought to start walking home together a lot sooner. It was really convenient. “I’m… more worried about you, really…”

As if anyone would be able to hurt her when he was right there. They couldn’t be that stupid… right? “They won’t lock me in the gym again. They’re too scared of Mitsuru-senpai. ...Also, I don’t think they want you to see their bad sides, but…”

“Kind of late for that… Anyway, how’s that thing you’re doing with the music coming along?”

She welcomed the change of subject. “It’s all saved to my computer now, and the songs are being uploaded to various file sharing sites. I could probably get you a CD, if you wanted one…” Having listened to those songs so often before, it would be weird to just… not have them in their lives anymore.

Besides. Copyright laws probably didn’t apply across alternate timelines, anyway.

The instant the last exam of the week was over, Junpei was standing up to celebrate. “Yuka-tan, Mako-tan, we’re free! Yakushima awaits!”

Right. That was a thing that was going to happen.

“Don’t get too excited,” Yukari said, rolling her eyes. “We don’t leave until the day after tomorrow.” As if she somehow wasn’t aware that this was probably a lost cause. Makoto completely understood Junpei’s excitement, but it was still… a lot.

“Well, I’m looking forward to it,” She said. “I think it’ll be a lot of fun.”

Junpei glanced at Yukari. “See? Mako-tan gets me.”

“I guess somebody had to… Well, I’d better go return those notes I borrowed before I forget again. Meet you all later?”

“That sounds fine,” Makoto replied. As if she were just waiting for the opportunity, Yukari was out the door in less than a second. “...And she’s gone. Do you think she just… doesn’t want to talk to us?”

Junpei shrugged, which really wasn’t the most reassuring thing in the world. “I mean, it’s Yuka-tan. Could be anything.”

Really, really not much reassurance. “I don’t even know why she doesn’t talk to me that much normally…” Let alone now. They did get along most of the time, it was just that there was a certain distance that never seemed to shrink.

“That… well…” Makoto looked more closely at him. He didn’t entirely meet her gaze.

“Is something wrong?”

“Well, I was talking about it with Mitsuru-senpai… I think we’re all going to try and clear some stuff up? So… you know. You might figure it out.”

He didn’t sound entirely sure about that. “Really? Just like that?”

“Well, I had to talk her into it… And. You know. We might not get around to it. The beach, the sun… there’s a whole lot of distractions, Mako-tan!” If she hadn’t known how head-over-heels he was for Chidori, she would have been almost surprised that he didn’t mention girls.

Still. There was a promise of answers that she could probably hold the others to, and that just turned their vacation from just a nice thing to look forward to to something that it would be actually difficult to wait for. At least there wasn’t that much time to go…

Maybe, just maybe, she’d finally be able to understand these people.

Akihiko was already waiting for Makoto and Junpei when they left the school. “No Fuuka-chan today?” Makoto asked, glancing around but spotting no signs of teal hair.

“She’s helping Moriyama with something today,” Akihiko explained. It took a few moments for her to remember who he was talking about. “She said she’ll head home once they’re done.”

Well. Makoto supposed that if there was anyone they could trust with Fuuka’s wellbeing, it would be the one whose life she had saved. “I guess you can’t be together all the time.” It was just… something she’d gotten used to seeing. Even if she did sometimes spend time after school with just one or the other of them.

“That’d be weird,” Junpei noted. “I mean, sure, we were all friends and stuff last year, but… I didn’t think the two of you would ever end up this close.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He sounded genuinely confused. “It just makes sense that we work together, with everything we do for the boxing team.”

“...Nothing.” Junpei’s grin, however, told another story.

Before the conversation could get to where Makoto thought it was going, however, Ikutsuki showed up. “Well, fancy running into you here.”

“...Hey.” She hadn’t known it was possible for Akihiko to sound so disinterested in something. “What are you doing?”

“I’m very glad you asked. You see, there’s someone that I’d like for you to meet.”

Amada Ken shuffled into view, not quite meeting anyone’s gaze. “Um… hi.” He sounded nervous, which was strange, because Makoto wasn’t sure she’d ever seen him nervous. Even when he’d been caught at the dorm during the Dark Hour, he’d appeared entirely comfortable.

She exchanged glances with Junpei and Akihiko, neither of which said a word about the situation. “This is Amada Ken. Due to his… circumstances, he doesn’t have anywhere to go during the break. It would be… improper, for a child his age to be on his own, so  he’ll be spending the summer break in your dorm.”

“Really?” Akihiko asked. “Just like that?”

“I’m sure it will be all right. He has a similar Potential to all of you.”

“I-I wouldn’t be so sure about that…” Ken mumbled, looking at the ground. It looked for all the world like an awkward first meeting. Or like he really, really didn’t want to let Ikutsuki know that he’d already met all of them, and that they got along fairly well.

Depending on what he’d been told beforehand, he might have even been pretending not to know about the Dark Hour. It was hard to tell.

Junpei and Akihiko were still silent. Makoto decided to step in before it got any worse. “Well, I’m… sure we’re all going to get along. Do the others know about him yet?” Ikutsuki clearly wasn’t aware that they all knew Ken already, which sort of made sense with how Mitsuru had clearly not wanted him involved with Persona stuff, but how far did it go?

“I was going to tell them later today.” He didn’t seem to think anything was amiss. “Well, I’d better be off, now. I’ll see you tonight. Come along, Amada-kun.”

“It was great seeing you guys.” This was probably the most genuine that Ken had been all day, but he still trailed after the chairman.

Makoto watched as they left. “I wonder when he noticed. It couldn’t have been when I did, or he’d know that we knew each other.”

Akihiko shrugged. “It… really could have been any time. At least in the… past two years.” Why was that the thing he sounded uncertain about? “I mean, the thing where we first found him was sort of… it was kind of a big thing. We just didn’t say that we were talking to him after.”

“...I guess it would be,” Junpei agreed. “I mean, it’d be weird if it wasn’t a big deal, what with…” He glanced at Makoto, and then fell silent.

She sighed. “Does this have something to do with what you’re all not telling me?”

Akihiko shook his head. “Not really. It’s just… I don’t think we should be the ones telling you about it. It’s… it’s complicated.”

Around SEES, a better question would be what wasn’t complicated. But Junpei still agreed with him. “Yeah, it’s… not really something for us to talk about… I mean, I wasn’t even there!” But he still clearly knew about it.

“Well… who should I ask about it?” Not that she was entirely certain she wanted to know- there was probably a reason they were so hesitant- but it would probably be nice to have the option.

“I’d say Ken, but… It might be a better idea for you to talk to Shinji.” What did he have to do with it? “I mean, he might not want to talk to you about it, he never even talks to me about it, but…”

“It’s fine.” She didn't really see the need to ask, at the moment. Maybe some other time. Once she actually knew the people involved well enough to be comfortable with asking them about it. It was clearly a delicate topic.

Besides. How they met was probably less important than the fact that Ken would apparently be coming to the dormitory at some point in the near future.

She couldn’t help but wonder what everyone else would think about it.

Chapter Text

Amada Ken was going to be spending the summer in the dormitory. Amada Ken was going to be spending the summer in the dormitory.

No matter how many times Shinjiro turned the words over in his mind, some part of him still wanted to believe that this wasn’t happening. That the kid was going to live as close to a normal life as possible for an orphaned twelve-year-old who happened to have a Persona. That he wasn’t going to spend at least an entire month living with someone that he just didn’t understand.

“I guess we should have expected this to happen at some point,” Makoto sighed, as if Shinjiro hadn’t been trying to convince himself that this entire day was just some sort of nightmare. “Mitsuru-senpai even said that we shouldn’t talk about him in front of Ikutsuki, especially about him having a Persona, because then he could be pushed to join SEES.”

Well. At least they hadn’t yet been explicitly told to take a twelve-year-old into Tartarus, even if that was apparently only a matter of time. “Doesn’t make it right.”

“Of course not,” She agreed. “Technically, none of us should have to do this. It’s just that, with the Dark Hour, you can’t really do anything else.”

Technically, it was entirely possible to just wander the Dark Hour and never come across a single Shadow, or to just spend the night in a locked room somewhere. But when the time between days felt too wrong to sleep through, it would be weird to not eventually meet one.

But admitting that would mean admitting that they were all destined never to have a normal life. And Shinjiro didn’t think he wanted that to be the case. “I mean, the kid managed just fine until now, didn’t he?” To an extent. And the stuff that went wrong was his fault, anyway.

“Yes, but I’m not sure how much of that is him, and how much of it is the others telling him not to poke the Shadows.” That was a very good point. Even if Mitsuru had never showed up, Aki would probably have eventually gotten curious and poked the Shadows. It wouldn’t have ended well, but it wasn’t like something being a bad idea had ever stopped Aki from doing it before.

“That’s still more than they ever tell us.” And it hurt to say it. Aki used to share everything with Shinjiro, and now it was as if there was some sort of barrier between them. Something that kept his brother from saying everything that he really wanted- or even needed- to.

Everyone else seemed to be subject to it, even Yoshino, to some extent, though with her it actually expressed itself as extra talkativeness. But with Aki, it was the most clear that something was wrong.

Makoto immediately brightened up. “Oh, about that! I talked to Junpei-kun recently, and he said that Mitsuru-senpai actually wants to tell us things now.”

“Really?” Mitsuru, giving away information if she didn’t really have to? What alternate timeline had he wandered into?

“I mean, that’s what he says, but I don’t know if they’re ever actually going to get around to it. But, if things go well, they should tell us while we’re on vacation.” She sounded even more excited about this than she had been about going to the beach in the first place.

“...All this time, and they go ahead and decide to tell us things on their own?” He couldn’t decide if he was relieved or disappointed.

On one hand, they were finally going to be given information that apparently everyone else already had. Which was good, because when the Strega defectee knew these things, it was probably important that the rest of them knew it as well.

On the other hand… he’d liked talking to Makoto like this. And once everyone stopped hiding things from them… there wasn’t much reason to continue, was there?

“Took them long enough, didn’t it?” At least she still found their earlier silence as annoying as he did. “I’m hoping it’ll make it easier to talk to them. But I don’t even know if they’re definitely going through with it. I get the feeling that some of them don’t really want to.”

That wasn’t a particularly hard feeling to get. “All else fails, I’ll get the answer out of Aki somehow,” Shinjiro said, ignoring the fact that, no matter how much his brother seemed to know, he never shared a word of it with him. If anything, he was probably the least likely to tell him things.

And wasn’t that messed up? The one person he’d always thought he could trust more than anyone else, hiding things from him so well he couldn’t even see how deep it went. Even if he’d been trying to push him away… it hurt.

Maybe that was just what he got for leaving in the first place.

“I’ll help,” Makoto promised, a gleam in her eyes that was honestly sort of terrifying. “Or- or we could just ask Junpei-kun. He might not give the best explanation, but I’m sure he’d try to give one.”

He’d have to trust her on that. It wasn’t like he knew Iori all that well. He hadn’t exactly been trying all that hard to get close to the rest of the group, after all. And they weren’t trying, either.

“Could work out, I guess.” That it was probably more likely to work than him talking to Aki was something he really, really didn’t want to think about. “And then we won’t have to… try and work things out like this anymore.” He wasn’t sure he’d managed to not sound disappointed at that.

Maybe he didn’t have to. “...But… we can still talk like this, right?” Makoto asked, so quietly he wondered if she’d even meant to say it.

“You want to?” It had been a long time since Shinjiro let himself believe that someone might genuinely enjoy his company.

“Of course I do! We’re friends, aren’t we?” She made it sound so simple, as if they hadn’t mainly bonded over the fact that nobody told either of them anything. “You’re not getting rid of me that easy.” He hadn’t realized how relieving those words would be to hear until she actually said them. “We’ll just have to find something else to talk about.”

Like it could be that simple. Like all they needed was a topic of conversation, and she’d be perfectly happy to spend her time with him. When was the last time something like this had happened to him, that he could actually understand?

He wasn’t entirely sure he understood it now, really, but… Makoto said they were friends. And maybe, for now, that would be enough.

Unfortunately, for many reasons, leaving for Yakushima couldn’t be as simple as packing their things and going out the door. Not least of which being that it wouldn’t be the best idea to take someone to Yakushima that technically shouldn’t have been in the dorm to begin with.

“There’s food in the refrigerator,” Mitsuru explained, “Probably enough for if Amada decides to come over for a bit. If I’m wrong about that, he knows where we keep the grocery money.”

If she was being entirely honest, there wasn’t much reason not to just tell Yoshino where the grocery money was. She did stay there, most of the time, and the only reason it wasn’t all of the time was because they did, in fact, have adult supervision, and Mitsuru wasn’t quite prepared to explain her presence yet.

Or ever. She would have been perfectly happy with never telling anyone about Yoshino being there at all. It was just that, once the weather started getting colder again, that probably wouldn’t be feasible any longer. It was barely feasible now.

“Do you think he’ll be here?”

“...He’s been moving his belongings into his room for the past few days.” Or, at least, that was when she’d started noticing it. She wasn’t sure how long he’d been doing so beforehand, but she was pretty sure he’d begun doing so while most of them were preoccupied with exams. “I would be surprised if he didn’t turn up. Just remind him that he doesn’t officially live here yet.”

Admittedly, she wasn’t sure the people who Ken did officially live with cared enough to put up a fuss about it, but a lot of figuring out whether or not the fridge was full enough hinged on him not being there for breakfast. Not that money was that much of an issue, but it was the principle of the thing.

“...Is there anything else?”

“...Our mobile phone numbers are on the counter, you can contact us if you need anything. Perhaps, if you talk to him, Iori may actually retain some miniscule amount of dignity?”

Yoshino blinked at Mitsuru. “Junpei? He has no dignity.”

Iori’s grumbling could be heard from all the way across the room.

When she came to, everything was dark. Not like nighttime, or the oppressive stillness of the Dark Hour, but simply the darkness that came from everyone else being gone, and also being responsible enough to turn everything off on their way out.

Date: July twentieth, 2009. Time: Nine o’clock AM. Much later than she would have hoped, but very slightly earlier from what she’d dared expect. No signs of anything that could have roused her.

The first new visual data was a faint blue light that didn’t appear to come from any nearby machines. She blinked, though she didn’t need to, and checked for corruption in her visual files.

The scan returned clean, and she was forced to admit that this was apparently happening, as a shimmering blue butterfly fluttered into the room, followed by someone whose very presence forced her to run another scan.

...Still no signs of corruption. She didn’t know if she found that information relieving or not.

“Hey, Ai,” He said, as the butterfly fluttered over to her and landed on her hand. She allowed it to rest there. It must have come a long way to get into this facility. “Miss me?”

Honesty, she had been told, was often the best policy. “I have missed the person that we all thought you were. To an extent, yourself as well.”

His face fell. “That- I didn’t think you’d ever find out about that,” He admitted. “And I didn’t think you had already, given…”

“While you were a factor in our decision, you were far from the only one,” She stated. “If that is what you have been told, I need to have a word with Mitsuru-san and Yukari-san.”

“...They haven’t told me anything.” His gaze was now fixed solely on the floor. “They couldn’t. I’m not- this isn’t our world, Ai.”

“Do not call me that.” It was easy enough to adjust her tone to sound harsher. At least, she assumed that was how she sounded. Mostly, she was copying Yukari-san. “And what do you mean, ‘this isn’t our world?’” Playing back audio, while not the easiest thing in the world, was far simpler than a lot of people would have expected. It was just a matter of imitation.

If there was one thing she’d learned about herself in the time leading up to this, it was that she was good at imitation.

“...I won’t be there, when you leave.” She indicated a lack of comprehension by blinking at him. “There’ll be someone else. I think you’ll like her- she’s a lot like us.”

It didn’t take a lot of searching to figure out what he meant. “Because she is in your place, she has your power.”

“It’s her own power. And- and I wouldn’t exactly say it’s just mine, anymore.” The butterfly resting on her hand lifted off, as he handed her a key. “Try not to lose this one. Igor’s probably not going to give you another. And- and you should take this, too.”

The card appeared, and vanished into her heart. She ran a quick check on the Personas in her possession. Pallas Athena, Alice, Siegfried, Uriel, Melchizedek. And Orpheus. She hadn’t encountered Orpheus since a certain round of Persona Fusion she’d undertaken, after realizing that his first bearer wasn’t everything that she thought he was. In hindsight, it had been a rash decision, but she had been satisfied with the results either way.

She fixed her gaze on him. “Why are you doing this?”

“Why are you?” He retorted, and she found that she couldn’t answer. “...Also, you should probably keep more Personas on you. Not much point in having this power if you don’t use it.”

He made it sound so simple. To him, maybe it was. But it had been difficult enough for her to gather together the Personas that she already had, and even Pallas Athena had been lost to her for a time. “I use this power as well as I can,” She said, “When creating powerful Personas requires so many components.”

He blinked at her, as if he didn’t understand. “...Aigis… do you know what a Compendium is?”

“A collection of concise but detailed information about a particular subject, especially in a book or other publication. Or: A collection of things, especially one systematically gathered.”

“...Okay, so in the context of Personas, it’s closer to definition two. You should ask Liz about it sometime, she’s good with that stuff. I mean, it won’t be that much help unless you have a lot of pocket money, but that was never much of a problem for me, so… it should be fine.”

She wasn’t convinced it would be fine. She didn’t even know what his definition of fine was. She was about to go out into a world without him, ravaged by the cruelties inherent to the Dark Hour.

“I am not sure that I believe you,” She stated. “If you are not there… what am I supposed to do?” She hadn’t been lying when she said that they all had their own reasons for choosing to go back in time.

It was just that her reason had, in fact, mostly been tied to him.

He shrugged. “I can’t answer that for you. It’s your life.” He turned to leave. “See you around.”

And then he was gone, along with the butterfly. Aigis stared at the spot where he had stood, searching her memories for any signs of where he had gone. There were none.

Even if he wasn’t what she’d originally thought him to be… She still couldn’t help but find it disappointing.

Chapter Text

It was a beautiful day. The skies were the clearest blue, without a cloud in sight, and the sun was sparkling off of the water. A world of blue, shimmering all around Makoto, with the sole exception being a sight of distant land that got ever closer.

“Mako-tan, look!” Junpei leaned on the railing, sparkles in his eyes. “It’s right over there! Yakushima!”

“I see it.” Barely, at the far reaches of her vision, but she did see it. “I guess that means we’re almost there.” A new thought occurred to her. “Have any of you been here before?” They’d never mentioned it, but then, it wasn’t like they were required to mention anything to her.

Yukari nodded. “Last year. I don’t think too many people will recognize us, though. Mitsuru-senpai’s the only one who’s really… recognizable.” She had that look to her that all of them did, when they were clearly resisting the urge to say something.

Which wouldn’t have been surprising at all. Makoto thought that her friends were all very memorable in their own way, mostly due to how insane their ideas tended to be.

But they lived in an insane world, really, where clocks stopped and water occasionally became blood, so maybe there wasn’t much point to considering it.

“That was great…” Junpei stared off into the distance. “The sun, the waves, Oper- wait, not that… that didn’t go well at all.”

Makoto turned to Yukari. “Do I want to know?”

“Probably not. We’re not getting a repeat of that this year, right?”

“Are you kidding!? Chidorita would kill me!” And that really told her more than she’d ever wanted to know.

The mansion was, in fact, as large as everyone else had been implying it was. Even if, in terms of scale, it was nowhere near as large as Tartarus… it was somehow a lot more impressive. Maybe because it actually existed under the normal conditions of reality.

It might also have had to do with how much more lively it was. Makoto wasn’t sure why anyone would need a place big enough to warrant multiple maids, but there it was.

Yukari looked around pensively. “You know, somehow I forgot how big this place was.”

“How did you forget?” Junpei asked. “There’s actual maids here, Yuka-tan!”

“You’re both making a ruckus,” Mitsuru sighed. “If you keep arguing like this, you aren’t getting invited here again.”

That shut them up pretty immediately. Makoto was sort of impressed.

“It’s sort of strange, having so many unfamiliar people around,” Fuuka noted. She seemed more interested in the number of people than the size of the place, for some reason. “...Ah, Mitsuru-senpai, is that-?”

A man with an eyepatch approached the group, and the air itself seemed to freeze. Makoto didn’t need to look at Mitsuru to know how stiffly she was holding herself.

And then he passed by them, and some small amount of that tension drained out of the air. But not all of it. “You know,” Akihiko started, an odd grin on his face, “You’re going to have to talk to him eventually.”

The resulting silence spoke volumes. The air didn’t get any warmer.

This was going to be a long vacation.

Akihiko thought he might have been more able to enjoy the beach if it weren’t for everything else that came along with it. A chance for a different kind of exercise than usual was all well and good, but it probably wouldn’t be any better for throwing out the constant feeling of anticipation than all the stuff he did regularly.

He’d tried. A lot. As it turned out, throwing himself into exercise to try and ignore something was a lot easier to do with things that didn’t include the greatest workout of his life, and everything that came after it, and a good few things before it, and… Suffice to say, he probably needed a new coping method.

Shinji would say he’d needed one long ago, but Shinji’s coping methods- or lack thereof- were sort of why Akihiko was in this situation in the first place. His opinion didn’t count.

The girls weren’t down on the beach yet. Whether this was because they needed more time to get ready, or because Mitsuru’s own hesitancy had caused the mansion to literally freeze over, had yet to be determined. And odds were it wouldn’t ever be. Once they did show up, Akihiko was determined to never talk to them about it.

It probably said something that the one time SEES had managed to effectively communicate with each other about anything was their decision to go back in time.

“You know, it’s too bad Chidorita can’t be here.” If Junpei was really going to spend the whole trip pining for his girlfriend, they were going to have a problem. Another problem. Whatever.

Shinji glanced at him. “Because you miss her, or cause you want to see her in a swimsuit?”

“It can be both!” He froze. “...Don’t tell her I said that, she’ll kill me.”

“Would be nice to have her and Ken around,” Akihiko found himself admitting. “Sort of… feels like something’s missing, right now.” But then, it had always felt that way, ever since the year began. He’d gotten used to it.

“Could just be that the girls aren’t here yet,” Shinji pointed out, and in his case, that was probably true. He didn’t know that things had ever been any other way.

He would, soon. Mitsuru had made it clear that this part was non-negotiable. And she’d be the one to tell him, because Akihiko wasn’t brave enough to do it himself.

That last part had been implied, but that didn’t make it any less true.

“You know, speaking of the girls…” And now Junpei had that grin on his face that only ever promised one certain kind of trouble. “Shinjiro-san, which one’s your type?”

“Oh, not this again…” Sometimes, he wondered if the best way to go places with Junpei was to pretend he didn’t know him.

Shinji, meanwhile, seemed mostly bemused. “Why are you asking?”

“Well, I just thought, we’re all on the same team, why not get to know each other better?”

“So you asked that?”

“It’s Junpei. He’s not great at talking to people.” And, honestly, the same could be applied to the rest of them. It was a wonder that they all ever got anything done. “And I’m not… sure we really have that much in common, besides…” Well. Besides things that might not have been the best idea to talk about in semi-public, even if they hardly ever let that stop them.

“And I’m not gonna ask about that,” Junpei finished. “I mean, if you wanted to talk about that stuff, you would, right? I’m sure you’ve got your reasons for...” He trailed off awkwardly, which was probably the absolute best way that sentence could have ended. Akihiko couldn’t see any of the potential actual endings going over well.

“...Are we really down to talking about either Personas or girls?” There was no good answer to Shinji’s question, because Akihiko wasn’t a big fan of either topic at the moment, either, but also he didn’t really have that much of a life outside of his training, so there really wasn’t anything else he could talk about.

The last time he’d tried talking to Junpei about physical conditioning, it just went in one ear and out the other. Shinji had at least pretended to be listening, but he was pretty sure he hadn’t been paying that much attention, either. So that wasn’t really an option.

He supposed that, in a way, he had signed up for this.

Makoto wasn’t sure what the guys had been talking about before they got there, but from how they were acting, she could conclude that it had been very awkward. Akihiko, in particular, looked like he wanted to be literally anywhere else.

Still, at least the air temperature was actually in line with what she expected for summer, so she supposed it could have been a lot worse.

“Sorry it took us so long,” She said. “Did we keep you waiting?”

“Not too long,” Shinjiro replied. She wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not. He didn’t seem like he would lie to her about anything important, but she’d hardly call this a matter of importance.

“We found stuff to talk about,” Akihiko agreed. “Sort of…” The awkwardness, it seemed, was still very much there. “Don’t ask. It mostly just went downhill.”

Yukari sighed. “Feels like that’s every conversation with us…” Makoto wasn’t sure about that. She’d been able to hold plenty of conversations with her teammates without things going horribly wrong or awkwardly. But it wasn’t like they were shining examples of proper communication, either.

“We’re not that bad!” Fuuka insisted before she could. “Plenty of us can have normal conversations with each other. Even Akihiko-senpai.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He didn’t really sound offended, though.

“It’s just… you don’t talk to a lot of people normally. Just SEES and the boxing team. Everyone else is...” Either a rabid fan, or someone who would get run off by them. Actual members of both of those groups could still fit into the latter category. When Makoto thought about it, it sounded like the formula for a rather lonely existence.

“That’s plenty of people. Too many of them, and…” He shook his head. “...Hey, Shinji, I bet I can beat you to that marker over there!” And then he took off.

“H-Hey! That’s not fair, Aki! Get back here!” And there went Shinjiro.

Well. That was certainly one way to start a beach day.

Over there.

Aigis wasn’t sure which of her Personas was providing the direction, but it seemed right, and if there was anything she’d learned, it was that listening to them was usually the right call.

It might not have been the most logical course of action- disembodied voices were bad signs for humans, and they didn’t normally have to worry about having things installed into themselves that didn’t belong- but having a Persona meant that logic as most knew it didn't always apply, even if some insisted that, in this case, it did.

Those people had no Personas. Therefore, they could not know what they were talking about. And those who did have Personas that thought that way tended to change their minds after a while.

Besides. Chances were, she would have had this idea even without their help.

While she wasn’t certain what the odds were of anyone noticing her disappearance, she’d decided that going about undisguised would just be tempting fate. And Aigis was many things- A robot, a Persona User, a Wild Card- but she wasn't a fool. Not that kind, anyway. She found a sundress that properly covered most of her body, slipped the key to the Velvet Room around her neck, and was now certain that nobody would recognize her as anything other than human unless they were specifically looking for it.

She didn’t plan on staying out for very long today. Just long enough to see how everyone was doing. So she didn’t step out onto the beach, instead stopping just behind the tree line.

It looked… not that much different than it would have been. SEES was made up of the same people as there had been last time, with the exception of a girl with red-brown hair tied up in a ponytail, who Aigis’ eyes were drawn to.

That must have been the person she was told about. There was nobody else there who was unfamiliar.

Unexpected, yes. Shinjiro was on the beach with the rest of them, despite all odds to the contrary. But unfamiliar? There was only that girl.

Aigis stood there, for a moment, and watched everyone go about their day, before turning to return to the lab. There was no reason that she couldn’t rejoin them later, at the time that they would actually be expecting her.

She fully intended to make good use of her time until then. If only so she could figure out what she could be reasonably expected to know at this time. After she did that… That was when she would make her grand entrance.

As little as Mitsuru wanted to admit it, Akihiko’s words earlier had struck a chord with her. It was the problem with having friends who knew her well- they were perfectly willing and able to call her out for being a hypocrite.

“The people you came with… They’re your friends, correct?” She’d heard those words, or something very like them, exactly a year ago. She couldn’t remember what her answer had been, then.

But if she was going to be honest, then it didn’t matter what her answer had been before. Only what it was now. “They are. I… have grown to trust them a great deal.” It had taken time, longer than it probably should have, but there was no group she would rely on more.

No other group she would rely on. But she didn’t like thinking about that part.

“...They know, then?” She got the feeling that it wasn’t truly a question.

“Most of them.” And the story behind how they’d come to know was something that she’d never wanted to tell. Except that she wasn’t sure she really had a choice. “Yuki and Shinjiro…” There really, really wasn’t a good way for her to say it. “...I was actually planning on talking about it tonight, or maybe tomorrow.” And other things, things that would be impossible for anyone to believe, but for the fact that they had actually happened. Or unhappened, as the case may have been. “Soon.”

She wondered if it was her father she was trying to justify her actions to, or herself.

“I’m surprised that, if you’re telling people, you managed to keep it from them for this long. Particularly-”

“Shinjiro and I don’t speak to each other.” Neither of them were particularly talkative, she might or might not have been making an effort to avoid him… “And Akihiko doesn’t want to tell him about it, because-” Because it meant talking to him about things that, to this world, didn’t happen. Because of the same reason that she couldn't quite bring herself to meet her father’s eye.

Going back in time to see lost loved ones was all well and good in theory. In practice, it was turning out to be a lot more painful than any of them had thought.

It was a lot harder to spend time with someone when, every time she looked at them, her mind brought back images of exactly how they’d died.

“...Is something wrong?” No more than there had been for the past half year. But that was still a longer list than Mitsuru would have liked.

You know, you’re going to have to talk to him eventually.

And now Artemisia was stealing words from Akihiko, which had originally been stolen from her. They really had come full circle.

Kind of. It wasn’t like any of them had really taken those words to heart. At least, Akihiko hadn’t.

If Artemisia was parroting them, they clearly had reached deeper than Mitsuru had allowed herself to realize.

“...When I talk to Yuki and Shinjiro… I am going to be telling them about more than what happened ten years ago.” Really, Aigis could probably explain that better than her. She was only more qualified than the robot to talk about time travel because she’d actually been in a position to affect the timeline, no matter how little she’d actually gotten around to doing, because they’d never really bothered to come up with a plan. “There is… something else. Something very important, that you haven’t heard about, either. I-” No. She couldn’t break here. Not when she’d already come this far. “I would like for you to hear about it, as well.”

There. She’d done it. Now all she had to do was go through with what she’d promised, and hope that she didn’t grow to regret it later.

Take that, Akihiko.

Chapter Text

For the past week, Akihiko had been unusually tense. Fuuka was worried about him, if only because he hadn’t been as on-edge even when they were stuck in Tartarus together, though that could probably be blamed on the sleep deprivation. “Senpai? Are you all right?”

“Huh? I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

This was probably the most unconvincing lie she had ever heard. And she’d seen Junpei trying desperately to justify some extremely frivolous use of shared team funding.

“You’ve… been acting strange for a while now. At first, I thought it was because of exams, but…” But the last tests were long over, and if anything, he was just getting worse. “Do you… want to talk about it?”

She was fully prepared for him to say no. Before the start of the school year, they’d hardly ever talked about anything important. It just wasn’t a thing that happened.

But, instead, Akihiko fixed his gaze on the ground, and said, in a tone she couldn’t remember ever hearing before. “I… don’t even know where to start.”

And she wasn’t quite able to think of a good response to that, because to be able to respond would require her to know what he was thinking about, and in that case, she wouldn’t have been asking him these questions in the first place. “Well… wherever you feel like?”

If that meant he never started… well, that would at least have fallen into line with her expectations. Hardly anything really did, these days.

“Mitsuru’s going to tell Shinji and Makoto about the time travel.” Okay, good to know, she hadn’t realized that was happening. But it made sense, when she thought about it. After all, they were the only members of SEES who hadn’t already known about that, admittedly because everyone else had been a participant, but that was besides the point. “She- she told me about it a bit before exams.”

At about the same time that everyone else was stressing out about their grades, most likely. Of course no one would notice a bit of added tension when they were all dealing with the same thing. “Really? That long ago? She didn’t tell me about it.”

But then, that didn’t surprise her as much as it should have, either. Mitsuru had never been all that great at telling people things they needed to know.

“Well… She told me because- she wanted me to be the one to tell Shinji. Or- I think she did, anyway.” He didn’t sound entirely sure about that. “Said she’d be telling them here either way, unless- unless I did it first.”

“But you didn’t tell him, though.” Was it a good idea to bring this up? It probably wasn’t. But Fuuka wasn’t sure what else she could possibly say.

“Y-Yeah. I know. But I- I don’t even know what I would have said to him. I mean, it’s not that I don’t think he’d have believed me, but I- It’s hard. And now I’m out of time.”

“...Did you want to be the one to tell him?”

“Not really,” Akihiko admitted. “It just… feels like I should have.”

And now it was probably too late, because they’d arrived at the island, and Fuuka was sure that, if Mitsuru had actually made the decision to communicate for once in her life, she’d do what she could to get it out of the way as soon as possible.

It was a strange situation to think about. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen Akihiko upset about missed opportunities. But maybe that was just because they were in a situation where they knew exactly what opportunities were coming, for the most part, and could pick and choose whichever of them they wanted. Except that, apparently, he wasn’t doing that.

“...I think it’ll be all right.” She wasn’t actually sure about that, but she wanted him to feel better, and this was the best way she could think of to do that.

“Really?” He didn’t sound convinced. Fuuka forced herself to put on a smile and continued.

“Well, he’s your brother, right? He loves you.” Enough to jump randomly into Tartarus just to be sure he’d be okay, even. “Once he knows about it, I’m sure you’ll be able to talk it out.”

“...I hope you’re right.”

So did she.

“You said you wanted to talk to us?”

Mitsuru took a deep breath, and looked around the room. There weren’t many people there. Just herself, her father, Shinjiro, and Yuki. She’d considered inviting one or two of the others to help with the explanations, but decided against it.

“That is correct. There is… some information it would be very important for you to know.” Maybe if she retreated, and shielded herself behind an icy mask, it would be easier. If she spent as much time as possible picking over her words, surely she would eventually figure out the right ones.

If only she could figure out what the right words were.

“The Dark Hour was created ten years ago, after an experiment run under my grandfather went wrong. Or… maybe it went right, given…” Was that bit relevant? She wasn’t sure. “The initial goal of the experiment was to create a method of time travel.”

“And instead it just fucked up time itself.” Shinjiro crossed his arms. “Figures.”

Mitsuru wasn’t sure he was taking this with all the seriousness it deserved. But it was sort of what she’d come to expect from him. Something she was more than willing to put up with, to have him present and actually participating in the discussion.

If only she’d realized that last time before it was no longer an option. “It definitely did not go according to plan. But some of the principles they used were sound. The Shadows are not bound to normal time, and a group of sufficiently-determined Persona Users would be more than capable of using their power to create the proper environment to manipulate it.” That it hadn’t been fully intentional didn’t seem relevant at the moment.

“Mitsuru…” She didn’t look at her father. She didn’t know what look she’d find on her face, and honestly, she was scared to find out. “What did you do?”

“It was a group decision,” She said, and then realized that that might not have been helping her case. “It happened at the end of March.” She’d have listed a year, except that she wasn’t even sure which one was correct. “Yukari was the first to make the suggestion. I backed her decision. Akihiko and Amada were uncertain, but agreed to join with us once we more thoroughly discussed our options. Iori had one request, which we agreed to, and he and Koromaru joined with us as well.”

It hadn’t been a large request. Just that they would all do whatever they could for Yoshino. It was, thinking about it, the most solid planning that had actually happened. It was amazing, how easily they could come to a consensus without properly discussing anything.

“And Fuuka-chan?” Yuki asked.

“She… wasn’t particularly invested in either side of the discussion. She said she would go along with what the majority decided. And the majority of us voted to repeat 2009. There was another who came back with us, but… I don’t believe you’ve met her yet.” She was pretty sure they hadn’t, if only because Aigis was not a subtle person.

Honestly, though, it was kind of worrying that she hadn’t showed up, if only because that way Mitsuru would have been able to keep an eye on her. Letting her be on her own had been a concern long before Alice became her Persona of choice.

“Why, though?” Shinjiro’s question was one she’d hoped wouldn’t be presented, no matter how futile she knew it was. “Can’t imagine you’d be the type to hop back in time just for the hell of it.”

“We… each had our own reasons,” She ventured, not sure it would be a good idea to explain what everyone else’s reasoning had been. “In my case… I wanted to support Yukari. And- and there were things, about this year, that I wouldn’t mind changing.” If only she could figure out how. If only she could find the courage to ask. “Though… it was clear from the moment we came back that not everyone would get what they wanted from this.”

She could feel Yuki’s burning gaze even before she asked her question. “What do you mean? Did something happen?”

And this was the part she’d least wanted to talk about. “This world… isn’t the same as the one we left. Most of the changes are subtle, but… In this world, Yuki Makoto is a girl with red eyes. In the last…”

“...He was a boy with blue hair.” She didn’t sound surprised, and now Mitsuru couldn’t help but meet her gaze. “Wasn’t he?”

She nodded, unsure what else she was supposed to say. How did she know?

Before she could say anything else, Shinjiro stood up, turned around, and left the room without saying a word.

This was probably a bad sign.

It started as abruptly as anything between the two of them did, with Shinji knocking on the door to Akihiko’s room and speaking as soon as he opened it. “So, time travel?”

This was not how Akihiko had wanted to spend his evening. He wasn’t sure how he’d wanted to spend his evening, since the thing that happened last time clearly wasn’t getting a repeat, but this was very definitely not it.

“...Yeah,” He breathed out, not sure what he was supposed to be feeling at the moment. Regret for a missed opportunity? Relief that he wouldn’t have to be the one to say it? He wasn’t sure. “That- that was a thing.”

“Why?” And there it was. The one question that he never wanted to be asked.

“...Why what?”

“Why’d you come back? Why a year? Why-?”

He shrugged. “We didn’t want to go back too far- it got weird enough as it was. And- and this was as long as we needed, to- to get what we wanted.” And maybe that was too much, because as it was, it invited a very obvious question that he didn’t want to answer.

“And what did you want?” He really wasn’t going to be able to avoid this, was he?

“I-” Why was it, that he could charge into battle without a second thought, but answering this one question was impossible? “Do I really have to say it?”

“Well, given how I didn’t know a thing about this until a couple minutes ago…” Akihiko could feel his hands curling into fists. “Dunno what could possibly be important enough for this.”

“You-” Either Shinji hadn’t figured it out, or he didn’t think he was important. He was honestly hoping it was the first one. The second was just too painful. “I missed you.” Maybe, if he skipped over the whole in-between, it’d be all right.

“So you decided to jump back in time and get a replacement?”

“Wh-where’d you get that from!? I wasn’t-”

“Well, that’s how it turned out, isn’t it? Just cause Makoto’s the only one who looks different doesn’t mean I’m just like you remember.”

Yes, but it didn’t matter if he was missing a few memories, or that he now preferred axes to hammers, or anything else. He was still Shinji. “...I like Makoto.” This was probably not the best response he could have come up with.

It definitely didn’t seem to be what Shinji was looking for. “She knew you were keeping secrets from her before I even set foot back in the dorm.” Had they really been that obvious? “What were you even thinking, coming back like this? Did you even have a plan?”

No. No, they had not had a plan, and Akihiko was absolutely not going to admit that to his face. He’d just get laughed at. Saying that he just wanted to see his brother again would also get him laughed at for being sentimental. So that sort of honesty was clearly not the best policy here.

“It was Ken’s idea.” It was half-true, at least, in the sense that the two of them had come to the realization at roughly the same time. “I- I don’t think he got very far past not wanting you to die, though.” He was sure he would believe it. The two of them hadn’t exactly made the best plans when they were eleven, either. “Or that he ever really forgave himself for what happened.”

“...You know, I can deal with my problems without time travel.”

“Can you really?” The words came out without him fully meaning for them to. “Because last time I checked, all you were doing was sitting around a shady back alley and slowly killing yourself! That’s not dealing with your problems.”

“Like you’ve ever known how to do that. Why can’t you just mind your own business?”

Because he didn’t want to watch him die again. Because he couldn’t lose another sibling. But he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

He wasn’t sure he even had the right words.

Shinji walked away, and the faint connection between Caesar and Castor twisted uncomfortably.

Akihiko watched him go, and wondered what he could possibly have done differently.

The sand crunched beneath Shinjiro’s feet as he walked across the beach, staring out at the moon’s reflection on the water.

Why didn’t Aki know how to leave well enough alone?

“Oh! There you are!” He paused, letting Makoto catch up to him. “You left really quickly, I- Are you okay?”

Shinjiro hadn’t been okay in over a year and a half. Possibly longer. “Well. You know. Nothing like finding out that most of your friends are time travelers, and that you exist just to replace someone’s dead brother.” And, okay, maybe that was a bit too honest. But between him and Aki, someone had to be.

It’s clearly not going to be our brother.

“Th-that’s why…?” He didn’t think he’d ever heard Makoto scared before. Not like this. Even when Aki and Fuuka were stuck in Tartarus, it hadn’t sounded quite like this.

“Well, he never outright said it, but I think it was pretty heavily implied.” It explained so much, no matter how little he wanted it to. “Not even that much of a surprise, really.” It wasn’t like he had a history of making the best life choices.

“...I don’t even want to think about what that means for me,” Makoto admitted. “I mean, you might not be the exact same as- as that-” She cut herself off, shaking her head. “But at least they want you around, you know? It took a month for me to really have any friends in SEES who weren’t Junpei-kun.”

And wasn’t that a strange thing to think about? Makoto was easily the friendliest person in SEES- or, at least, the one who was most willing to approach Shinjiro for a conversation. She even beat out Aki, some days.

Given how Aki was the one who’d decided to go back in time for the sake of seeing him again, that was really pathetic. But that’s just how it was.

“Got a funny way of showing it. You know it took him a month to show his face to me?” At least, he was pretty sure it had been that. It wasn’t like they’d gotten any sort of specifics to when the time travel happened, unless that had occurred after he left the room.

It might have. He wouldn’t put it past Mitsuru to continue talking as if nothing was wrong. “I mean, about then. Unless you have specifics?”

She shook her head. “It all… kind of fell apart after you left the room. I know Kirijo-san wanted to talk to Mitsuru-senpai, and I just… sort of… didn’t feel right staying there.”

And so she’d ended up with him, on an empty beach in the middle of the night. “You know, I bet if we just made a run for it, they’d never even notice.”

“I feel like they would, if only because I’d want to go back inside for my stuff.” Okay, fair. “...Also, we’d need a way back to Iwatodai, but it’d be a month before I’d be worried about missing too much school, so…” She was putting a surprising amount of thought into this. “...Also, my aunt would kill me.”

Well. He supposed that was as good a reason as any to stick around. “Guess we’re stuck here, then. Suppose there’s worse places to be.” Sure, in a sense, it was the two of them against the world, but at least there were two of them. There shouldn’t have been, but there was, and now they just had to deal with it.

“...Yeah. It could be just one of us.” Why were they thinking alike all of a sudden? “I- I mean, I’m not glad you have to deal with this, but… I’m glad I’m not on my own. Just- what you said, about why- that’s not going to- to be a problem, right?”

“I dunno.” It wasn’t really a lie, even. He had no idea where he was supposed to go from here, and while continuing with his path of self-destruction still didn’t seem like that bad an idea… well. That’d just leave it as Makoto against the world, wouldn’t it? “Should be fine, though. I mean, if it’s something to really worry about, Aki’d handle it, right?”

Liar.

He couldn’t even bring himself to disagree. But Makoto seemed to believe him.

“I… all right.” She looked up at the moon. “...You know, we should probably go back inside before the Dark Hour hits. It’s the same anywhere you go. Nothing works, especially not the people.”

“I mean, we’d be out just fine.”

“Yeah, but I’d still hesitate to call us functional.” And that was another thing he couldn’t bring himself to disagree with.

Chapter Text

Mitsuru wanted to say that the conversation falling apart had been a surprise to her. Mitsuru would have been lying.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t wanted things to go well. It was just that she hadn’t had any idea how to explain things, and maybe hadn’t put quite as much thought into it as she should have. As well as she knew Shinjiro, she wasn’t sure there was any way for him to respond well to this.

As for Yuki… Yuki was still a mystery.

But no one ever took well to the knowledge that they were there because someone else wasn’t.

“...I never intended for them to find out this way,” She admitted, quietly, wondering if her father would suspect the truth- that, initially, they’d never been intended to find out at all. “But Akihiko clearly wasn’t going to do it.”

Maybe he would have, if she’d left him with a bit more time. If he’d been just a bit more comfortable talking to Shinjiro. But then, if he were, they wouldn’t have been in this situation in the first place.

After all, the reason Akihiko was hesitant to talk to his brother was exactly the same as his reason for the time travel.

“You have left it off for a fairly long time,” Her father agreed. She still couldn’t figure out if he sounded disapproving or not. “If your return was as far back as you say.”

The end of March. The start of April. A return to high school, when she’d been bored out of her mind back before she’d already graduated once.

“The first of April.” And it sort of made sense that it had been that day. The world had spent a full week trying to get there, after all, even if it had to jump back a year to do it. “There was… a lot, that we had to deal with.”

“Such as?”

Settling into a new timeline. Going back to school. Regaining everyone’s contact information. Remembering that Ken was actually available to talk to.

Dealing with how someone was there that wasn’t supposed to be. Trying to remember how to look at someone without seeing them covered in blood, because that was a lot easier to forget than most people would think. Mitsuru hated to admit it, but she was still having problems with that.

“We are… still adjusting our long-term strategy,” She stated, because it was true, so much as she could say they had a strategy to go on. “It’s… a lot more complicated than we initially believed. But… I think, by now, we all have at least a few ideas.”

“I see.” Again, she couldn’t get a read on his voice. “...Is there anything in particular I should know?”

“Don’t come to Iwatodai in November.” The words were out before she could think about them. “A lot of things are going to happen, then, and… it’s best not to involve anyone unnecessary.”

That they didn’t actually have plans for November- couldn’t even say they had plans for September- was something that probably didn’t have to be mentioned at all.

”Welcome to the Velvet Room.”

Those words were still new, to Aigis. She’d visited before, now and again, over the course of the week that was March thirty-first. Seen the blue of the room around her. But a week, when she thought about it, wasn’t that long of a time, especially if she was only there for a couple of times a day.

Still… no matter how new this place was to her, coming to awareness within its walls felt strangely like coming home.

“It seems that you have recently come to a crossroads,” Igor continued, looking directly at her. “What do you think of the path you have chosen so far?”

“...I do not know,” She admitted. “I have not had much opportunity to see the results.” She might not have even registered that anything had changed, if not for the greeting she’d received upon her entrance to the new timeline. “But it has been… different, than I was led to believe.”

“Things often are. The world does not, after all, have to conform to human expectations.” Aigis supposed that pointing out how she wasn’t human, at this point, would be nothing more than semantics. “I was wondering if you believe you will regret this decision.”

She didn’t know that yet. She’d have to see what had changed, in order to have a proper idea of how she felt about it. But there was one thing she had to keep in mind.

“I know that… what I originally desired is still out of my reach. So it appears I have not accomplished anything for myself.” The others could have gotten what they wanted- if Shinjiro was here with the rest of them, it even seemed likely- but she could not.

With how unsure she’d originally been, it almost felt like vindication.

“Do you regret it?” A new voice asked, and Aigis dimly registered that she and Igor were not, in fact, the only beings in the room. There was Elizabeth, standing in her usual place, and to Igor’s other side, a young man dressed in the same uniform.

“I am still unsure,” She repeated. “You would be…?”

The man flinched slightly, but it was gone so quickly it made Aigis wonder if it wasn’t just a visual processing error of some kind. “...Ah. My apologies. You wouldn’t know me. My name is Theodore.”

“Theo’s my adorable little brother,” Elizabeth said. “He helps Miss Makoto organize her Personas, like I would for Master Makoto before her.” Her grip tightened on the book in her hands. “And… as I should for you, as you have chosen to undertake an extended ordeal.”

An extended ordeal. As far as descriptors went, she supposed it could have been far worse. But at the same time… “Would ‘a repeated ordeal’ not be more accurate?”

“Perhaps, but if you are repeating things, that implies you have not learned from your past experiences.” And she supposed that she couldn’t exactly argue with that.

Even if the idea of of having learned from experience was something she felt would most likely better apply to her friends.

Time travel.

The whole thing sounded sort of unbelievable, when Makoto thought about it. It was the sort of thing that seemed just too surreal to even exist, outside of the pages of some kind of fairy tale.

But it made so much sense, even before she’d posed her question about Blue.

There was a knock on her door. “Hey, Mako-tan, you heading down to the beach today?” She wasn’t sure if Junpei knew what she’d learned or not. Maybe he thought she was just going about like usual.

“I-I don’t know,” She admitted. “I… well…” Was there any good way to explain it? “I’ve… learned a few things, and it’s…”

“...You know, when I told Senpai you should know this stuff, I was… sort of hoping to actually be there to talk about it.” The first acknowledgement she’d heard of it from someone who hadn’t been in the room when Mitsuru shared the most devastating information Makoto had ever heard, except for maybe Shinjiro’s theory about why Akihiko had agreed to time travel in the first place.

It sort of felt more real like that.

Real enough that talking through a door no longer quite fit what was going on. She pushed it open, so that she could speak with Junpei face to face.

She never would have been able to stay mad at him, anyway.

“Why did you do it?” She asked. “Not- not all of you in general, just…” There were so many things she wanted to ask, but none of it mattered if she didn’t know what their reasoning had been in the first place.

“I- I wanted to help Chidorita. Her old friends are assholes, and she-” He cut himself off again. Makoto wondered what he could possibly have had to say. “She deserved better, you know? And now that I’ve found her again, I- I don’t really know what comes next.”

This was a lot more honesty than she thought she was likely to get from Mitsuru, ever. “...Does it matter to you? That I’m not him?”

She wasn’t sure what answer she actually wanted to hear from him.

“Well… I mean… He didn’t really hang out with me like we do.” This was not one of the answers she’d expected. She’d thought he either wouldn’t care at all, or would want his original friend back. “So… I dunno, I’d say this is an upgrade.”

Makoto couldn’t help but wonder what Blue would have thought of this.

Still… if those were Junpei’s real thoughts… She supposed she could stand to make the trip to the beach.

”I wonder what everyone else is doing right now.” Ken sat on the couch with a TV remote in hand, idly flipping through the channels. While it could be fun to see how excited everyone was for episodes of shows he’d already watched… the fact remained that he’d already watched all of the shows that interested him.

...Well. That wasn’t entirely true. He’d discovered one new show that he enjoyed. Exactly one. And it wasn’t on at the moment. He wasn’t entirely certain the SEES dorm even got that channel.

It probably did, Mitsuru wouldn’t settle for anything less than the best, but worrying about semantics was a thing better done when he wasn’t idly channel surfing.

“They’re probably enjoying the beach,” Chidori replied. Ken still wasn’t sure what to think about Chidori. He’d never gotten the chance to spend much time with her before, and they both kept to themselves enough to not have to interact even when they were the only two people in the building.

Still… in this case, he sort of hoped she was right. If they were having a good time, then… at least that meant some of them would.

The dorm just wasn’t the same when it was just two people who weren’t technically supposed to be there who’d also smuggled in a dog. It felt too much like they were hiding from something.

Maybe they were. The rest of the world didn’t see the people they were now, so they had to stay here, away from everyone’s expectations.

It wasn’t a thought that Ken enjoyed in the slightest.

Shinji still wasn’t talking to him. Instead, he was across the beach, watching Junpei and Makoto have a splash fight.

Akihiko tried telling himself it was fine. They’d had longer spats before, and it almost always turned out all right in the end. What made this any different?

...Well. Okay. He knew what was different.

He was different, from who he’d been back when he was going through everything for the first time. His having Caesar was proof of that. He wasn’t quite the same person as he was back then.

And Shinji knew this. Of course he did. It wasn’t like it was possible for him to hide his change in Persona.

“I take it things with Shinjiro didn’t go well?” He hadn’t fully registered Mitsuru’s presence. Fuuka was there, too, trailing awkwardly behind.

He shook his head. “...He got mad at me. Kept asking me stuff, except I couldn’t… I don’t know what answers he was looking for.” Assuming he’d been looking for answers, and not an excuse to get upset. It could be hard to tell sometimes.

“You… made sure to tell him everything, right?” Fuuka asked. Which… he didn’t particularly want to answer.

Really, though, at this point the list of questions he didn’t want to answer, of subjects that he didn’t want to talk about, was longer than the list of Personas he’d seen in use by the local Wild Cards. And they’d used a lot of Personas, all of them having different preferences.

If things kept going like this, he wouldn’t have anything left that he could talk about, without tripping over one of those things. “I… tried to?” Even as he said them, the words sounded distinctly underwhelming. He didn’t have to look at their faces to see that they were disappointed. “I just… don’t know how much of it really…”

Mitsuru sighed. “...I suppose I should have expected that. He was already upset even before I’d finished my side of the explanations.”

So it wasn’t just his fault. Akihiko wasn’t sure if that made things better or worse.

“Maybe he’ll feel better in a few days, then,” Fuuka suggested. “That’s… you’ve never fought longer than that, have you?”

“Not…” Not explicitly. They always settled into some sort of equilibrium in that time, even if there was still an ever-growing collection of elephants in the room. But when they made peace with their arguments by just never talking about them ever, something eventually had to break.

It terrified Akihiko to think that it might just have been their friendship.

“That’s the longest they’ve ever complained about it,” Mitsuru offered. Which was very much not the same thing, even if it might have looked like it from the outside. “Now, whether or not they actually deal with their problems…”

“You’re not much better,” He pointed out.

“...I was going to say that I didn’t know, but thank you for confirming that you don’t.” He supposed he’d walked right into that one.

“Well… if that’s how it is, then… maybe try again in a few days?” Fuuka suggested, a probably-forced smile on her face. “If he’ll at least talk to you… maybe you can figure something out.”

And that made sense. It meant waiting around, and hoping Shinji didn’t do anything drastic in that time, and pretending that he couldn’t feel the new distance between them every time he was given the cold shoulder.

“...Dunno where to start with that, really. You any good with people?” He knew she’d had friends outside of SEES the first time around, and he thought she might have been friends with Moriyama again, so she at least couldn’t be any worse than him.

Fuuka glanced at the ground. “I-I mean… I don’t think I’m terrible at it?” She fidgeted in place. “D-do you want my help?”

“Please.” He was pretty sure he could trust her with this. Probably. At the very least, unlike most of SEES, she’d given him no reason to believe otherwise.

Besides, they got along. Sure, it wouldn’t be quite the same as talking about music, or the more subtle changes in the timeline that they hadn’t caused, or things related to the boxing team, but Akihiko had to admit that she was one of the few people he could actually hold a conversation with about more than one topic.

He wasn’t even sure if Shinji counted as that anymore, though admittedly that was because basically every topic they’d had had become a minefield. That wasn’t the same as being too awkward to talk to him at all. If anything, it was even worse, but he couldn’t say why.

“I-I’ll do my best, then.” It was nice to see that neither of them entirely knew what to do in this situation. Except not really because it didn’t do a lot for his hopes of fixing it. “But- but let’s enjoy the beach for now. We can start figuring things out once we get home.”

That seemed like as good an idea as anything else. They’d gone to the effort of coming outside, why not enjoy it?

Maybe, if he spent enough time doing so, he could pretend that everything was still okay.

Chapter Text

The moment that it happened, everything froze.

Makoto wasn’t sure why. She wasn’t sure of a lot of things, really, but when the rest of SEES ceased their activity to stare at the tree line, she followed their gazes.

Out of the trees stepped a girl their age in a blue dress and headphones. There was something around her neck as well, something that made Makoto strain to try and see it, but she couldn’t make it out quite yet.

“Is that you, Aigis?” Yukari broke the silence, and the strange girl’s gaze moved across the beach.

“Yukari-san.” Something about her intonation was strange, and almost stilted. “Everyone. I… hope you wouldn’t mind me being here?”

“Of course not! Come join the fun!” She paused, before glancing at Makoto and Shinjiro. Honestly, that said more about the new girl than anything that could have been spoken out loud. “Oh, this is-”

“She’s one of you, right?” Makoto wasn’t entirely sure what had driven her to speak, but it sort of made sense for her to say it. Even if she wasn’t sure how much Mitsuru had told everyone about her telling them. “Mitsuru-senpai said there was someone we hadn’t met yet.”

Out of everyone on the beach, Yukari was the one who appeared the most surprised. Not that Makoto knew how to read the new girl just yet- even Mitsuru seemed more expressive.

But she probably wasn’t any more shocked than Yukari, since rather than being speechless, she stepped forward. “That is correct. My name is Aigis. I wield the power of Persona.” At those words, one of her hands reached to the object on her chest. “You are… Yuki Makoto, correct?”

Given everything that Makoto had learned about the time travelers, the fact that one of them was capable of recognizing her on sight was… something. She was sure there was good reason for it, except that everyone else in SEES had also been taken off guard by Aigis’ presence. “That’s right. I… guess you already know Shinjiro-san.” Or his counterpart, at least. It was hard to tell how interconnected they were, when she and Blue both existed.

“Not very well, unfortunately.” She at least made an effort to appear genuinely regretful, though it wasn’t the most convincing appearance in the world. “But our paths did cross for a time. I am… looking forward to having the chance to actually interact.”

“Ai-chan’s not very good with people,” Junpei whispered loudly.

“I heard that, Junpei-san.”

“But am I wrong, though!?” She didn’t respond to that. Honestly, that probably was something close to an actual answer. “You get used to her.”

Makoto wasn’t sure she wanted to get used to her. Sure, the power of friendship was definitely a thing that she could attest to, but she was already surrounded by so many people with expectations of someone else… why would she ever need more of them?

And then Aigis stepped forward to join them, and the metal object hanging from a thread around her neck caught the sunlight.

It glittered in a very pretty, highly familiar, shade of blue.

She couldn’t stop herself. “Is that a key to the Velvet Room?” She’d thought there’d only been two Guests, not three… unless they were counting both her and Blue? Except that didn’t seem right… She was sure that, when she’d asked Theo about the other Guest, he’d been talking about Blue. So where had Aigis’ key come from?

“...That’s right. You would have one as well, wouldn’t you?” Those were the most natural-sounding words Aigis had said so far. “We seem to share the same power.”

The same power… this really was another Wild Card, just like her and Blue.

Even if Theo hadn’t only mentioned two Guests, Makoto didn’t think she would have ever been able to guess at there being others like them.

...Maybe, this was all a dream, and if she ignored it, it would go away.

...Well, probably not. But a girl could hope, couldn’t she?

Aside from the initial introduction, Yuki and Shinjiro hadn’t made any real attempts to interact with Aigis.

Mitsuru supposed that this was only to be expected. Shinjiro had never been the most social person in existence, and even Yuki’s natural friendliness had to have limits. The original Makoto had also been fairly hesitant about the robot at first, though that may have been more due to Aigis’ unrelenting clinginess.

“Do you think we should mention that she’s a robot?” Akihiko asked.

“I think they’re both more than capable of figuring it out on their own.” It wasn’t like she was very good at hiding it. It was hard not to wonder how nobody at Gekkoukan had put the pieces together. They hadn’t even bothered to put proper lies into her student file! “Even if they weren’t, it’s going to come up eventually.” She had her phone on silent so that she wouldn’t be interrupted by said subject coming up. It seemed like something worth doing.

“By eventually, you mean the second someone decides to come looking for her.”

“More or less.” Some things just didn’t need explanation. Given any amount of time, they were bound to simply explain themselves. “Assuming that she doesn’t choose to tell them herself.”

It would have made things easier, if she did. Would have left the flow of information in their control, rather than anyone else’s.

But then, given prior happenstance, maybe the flow of information was one of the many things that they simply couldn’t be trusted with, along with the fate of the world and the knowledge of how to take time and twist it into something vaguely resembling a pretzel.

Currently, all of those things were resting on their shoulders regardless of whether or not they should have been. Just another burden in the life of a Persona User.

“Do you really think she will?” Yamagishi rejoined the conversation with about as much confidence as she did for anything that wasn’t computers or scanning these days, which wasn’t actually all that much. Not that she lacked enthusiasm- she simply wasn’t that sure of herself. But she had been gravitating to Akihiko, these days, more often than not. Clearly, despite Mitsuru’s misgivings, and an extremely large precedent of harassment and misfortune, she’d gotten something out of her dealings with the boxing team after all.

“She probably won’t try to deny it if it comes up,” Akihiko pointed out, though he no longer sounded particularly invested in the conversation. “And she’s not great at hiding.”

Another true fact. Not that any of them could claim to be particularly subtle people, except for maybe in how nobody ever suspected that they were time travelers.

And that didn’t count. Nobody would have reason to believe time travel was possible in the first place, let alone that the eight of them who still lived would be capable of it. Admittedly, not a lot of people had reason to believe in combat gynoids with the power of the Wild Card, either, but if anything that just went to show how particularly not subtle Aigis was.

It really was a good thing they’d gotten the time travel question out of the way. It meant they didn’t need to make another attempt to coach her in the art of lying. She wasn’t very good at it.

Aigis continued to exist on the other end of the beach.

Makoto couldn’t help but glance over there on occasion, even if she wasn’t sure if making an approach would really be a good idea. Between her interest in meeting another Wild Card, and her hesitancy to interact with even more time travelers… She just didn’t know what to do.

“Wonder if anyone else knows Ai-chan’s here yet,” Junpei said. “No one ever goes to me for stuff.”

“That might be because you’re the kind of person who gambles with Traesto Gems.” It just wasn’t a responsible thing to do. “Not that you aren’t pretty reliable, but…” Then again, from what she could see, that seemed to be a thing with SEES. Normally, things went just fine, but when it didn’t, it was really bad. “I guess I just don’t get that feeling from looking at you?”

“...Yeah, fair enough…” He deflated, just a little. “Gonna have to keep working on that…”

“I believe that would be best.” ...When had she gotten here? When Makoto last looked away from her, Aigis had been talking with everyone else! “Although, I suppose it would be harder for anyone to suspect something is different, this way.”

“That hurts, Ai-chan…”

“Yukari-san says that the truth can do that sometimes.” She didn’t even wait for a reaction before turning to Makoto. “I was hoping that I would get the chance to speak with you. I haven’t had that much chance to speak to another Wild Card about our powers.”

“You haven’t?” Just another thing about these people that didn’t really make any sense. “But wouldn’t Bl- the other Makoto have said something about it?”

“He wasn’t very good at talking to people. Or, rather, he was, but he would never say anything about that particular topic. He would just say he was doing something and spend the next five minutes inside of the Velvet Room.” It was definitely easy to see Blue doing that. He certainly wasn’t telling Makoto many of the things she most needed to know. He wouldn’t even tell her his name- she’d had to find that out from Mitsuru!

“Well, it’s not like it’s an easy thing to talk about.” She wasn’t really sure how to explain Igor and Theo and Elizabeth to anyone, aside from that they were helpful. Even the dreams were difficult to talk about. “I’m still not sure how much of it is real. Or if it even matters if it isn’t.”

“But do you know what a Compendium is? I have not been told what it might be, just that it is probably important.”

This felt like it was just a bit more than one person not telling her things. Igor might have been cryptic as all hell on matters relating to Tartarus, but he still took the time to make sure Makoto was perfectly clear on which services were being offered to her. He was even open to questions about the fusion process, and made sure to answer those as clearly as possible.

“It’s… where extra Personas go, and that they can be summoned from later.” Why did she have to explain this? Was this a pop quiz, or something? “It’s kind of expensive, but also really useful?”

Everything felt so surreal at the moment that, when Ikutsuki came by half an hour later to ask why SEES had a robot, it wasn’t even the slightest bit surprising.

Even if she hadn’t known his true intentions, Fuuka would have been hesitant to listen to Ikutsuki singing, on the grounds that he sounded like somebody was strangling a cat. How she knew what that sounded like was something she preferred not to think about, and would never tell anyone if they were to ask.

For the sake of three sets of auditory processors, she was hiding out with Yukari and Aigis on the other end of the building from the Karaoke machine. Just to be safe.

“Should we have warned Makoto-chan and Shinjiro-senpai?” She found herself asking.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” Yukari replied. “We survived it, didn’t we?”

Thinking about it, this was probably part of the reason that Shinjiro no longer seemed to be on speaking terms with anyone but Makoto and maybe Junpei. And Junpei had just been talking to Makoto for most of it.

“I had temporarily disabled my auditory processing system after the first minute of it,” Aigis pointed out. “...But, for the most part, I suppose you are correct. And Makoto-san’s headphones should give her somewhat of an advantage.”

Fuuka wondered how she had allowed her life to get to this point. “Oh, Aigis, did you know this world has different music than the one we come from?”

“It does?”

She nodded. “Akihiko-senpai and I have been looking into it together.” Well, okay, it was more grabbing a playlist and seeing how many songs they recognized from the year before, or looking up songs they knew to see whether or not they were missing, and then asking Mitsuru for help turning the missing music into a form that could be posted on the internet, and it was all done more for the sake of having fun than for studying the effects of time travel, but it still counted.

“That’s right, you and Akihiko-senpai have been spending a lot of time together, haven’t you?” Just those words were enough to make Fuuka look away, and try to focus her attention more on a nearby piece of lint than on the conversation at hand. “I… kind of thought you would have stopped by now.”

“It’s really not that bad. I think they’ve started to realize that I’m not leaving.” And Natsuki was now willing to speak up for her again, at least to an extent, and it wasn’t like anyone would be able to bully her if they couldn’t get her on her own.

It went without saying that she would never, ever allow them to get her on her own again.

“The fangirls locked you in Tartarus!”

“They would have done that anyway. And… I think it’s good for Akihiko-senpai to have someone to talk to who knows about…” There really wasn’t any way to describe it. And yet, she felt it would be easier to get her point across with this than the fact that she simply found that she enjoyed spending time with him. It had been a thing she’d been afraid of trying to explain since before it was given as a reason to lock her in the school gym overnight.

Aigis nodded. “Yes. It would be a good idea for you to be able to discuss your plans.” Fuuka and Yukari winced as one.

“Yeah… Plans…”

“...We don’t have a plan, do we?”

“No, we do not.”

Chapter Text

Coming to Tartarus in a group of three, with one Evoker between them and a Navigator who couldn’t see anything past Thebel even when she was concentrating on it, was probably not the smartest decision that Ken had ever made.

To be fair, the whole thing had been kind of last minute. There had been signs of Jin and Takaya poking around near the dorm, mostly in hushed rumors by people who had noticed the latter’s general distaste for shirts, and the smart thing to do, in Chidori’s case, would have been to avoid the dorm until well after the Dark Hour had ended.

But in hindsight, hiding out in Tartarus for nearly an hour had probably not been the best idea. Even if it meant they could pull off a really quick raid of Thebel, if only so they didn’t have to think about the noises that occasionally came from beyond the door to Monad.

There was, after all, a reason that, when they had other options, SEES’ usual strategy for dealing with that particular block was to never go there.

Still… this was a good haul, so far. Sure, there was still the occasional overly-confident Shadow that thought it could take them, but between Hama and Mudo, they didn’t have to be anything more than minor roadblocks. There was enough money in the briefcases that they could probably go grocery shopping before the others came home.

Best of all, they moved quickly enough that they never had to hear the sounds of rattling chains.

Chidori was having far too much fun opening the briefcases, though. “Do you… have to do that?” Sure, it was impossible to argue that smashing them open wasn’t effective, but it just seemed like a waste of energy. And as someone who had, multiple times, been placed in charge of keeping everyone alive, Ken knew exactly how important it was to conserve energy.

“It’s the closest thing to a real fight we’re likely to have,” She replied. “Unless you want to wait here for another five minutes or so?”

Ken rapidly shook his head, and Koromaru whined. “That… seems like a bad idea.”

Not that the Reaper couldn’t be defeated. It had happened, in the subjective past. But it had also wiped out their entire stock of Revival Beads and Homunculi, so it just didn’t sound wise to attempt it again. Let alone when a single Mudo probably spelled eventual doom for the whole party.

“Then I’ll have to be satisfied with this.” And saying that, she gave the silver briefcase another kick, money spilling out of the opening like blood from a wound.

...He couldn’t wait until everyone else got back.

When SEES returned to the dorm, weighed down by their luggage and the complicated emotions involving everything that had been discussed there, Ken was sitting on the couch and watching television.

Or. He had been. He was fast to turn to greet them. “Oh, you’re home!”

“Ken?” Akihiko sounded just as shocked as Makoto was, so this probably hadn’t been planned. Or, at least, he hadn’t been told about it. “What are you doing here?”

“I live here.” He crossed his arms, as if daring anyone to disagree.

Nobody did, but then, Makoto could think of at least three better things to do with her time than argue semantics with a twelve-year-old who probably had some kind of powerful Persona, if everyone else who had traveled through time was any sort of indication.

Like interrogating Blue, the next time he showed up. Or figuring out how she was supposed to interrogate Blue, when it sometimes felt like he spent all of his free time on the computer searching for how to be as cryptic and irritating as possible.

Except probably not, since she didn’t even know if he had internet access. He certainly wasn’t being allowed anywhere near her computer.

“Does… anyone actually know you’re here?” Mitsuru ventured.

Ken shrugged, which was probably something that should have been concerning on its own. “I mean, I’ve been around my school, and stuff, and nobody asked where I’ve been, or anything, so…” There was definitely a lot to be worried about when it came to this child. “How was your trip?”

There was literally no good way to respond to this. For many reasons, not least of which being that Makoto hadn’t really spoken with Ken all that often before.

“We made it to the beach,” Junpei ventured, which was probably the most positive thing that had happened out of the whole experience. “And we brought back Ai-chan! See?”

“I am glad to see you again, Ken-san.” Aigis’ smile was brittle, as if it would break off of her face at the slightest touch. Maybe that was why she didn’t do so very often.

“It’s good to see you, too. Did anything… else…” He started to falter. “It… didn’t go that well, did it?” And that, again, was something that it was hard to respond to. Even though Makoto thought she already had a pretty good idea of what he was talking about.

Junpei started shifting. “It… could have gone better,” He admitted. “...Say, where’s Chidorita?”

“She went upstairs. She’s checking to make sure nothing’s been recorded… at least, I’m pretty sure that’s what she’s doing…” Ken didn’t actually sound overly confident about that.

“I can fix that to ensure that nothing of the sort happens again,” Aigis volunteered. “It would not be a good thing if someone were to have records of our movements.”

...Makoto got the feeling she was missing something. “Is it… really that big a deal?”

“It is if we want to discuss our circumstances inside the dormitory,” Mitsuru responded. “The chairman… does not exactly have our best interests at heart.”

There was almost certainly a story there.

Given everything else that had been revealed, Makoto was pretty sure that she didn’t want to hear it.

Except that she probably would have to, if she was going to keep leading them.

And none of them had said or done anything to make her think they wanted her to stop.

Still, that was a problem that could most likely wait for another day. One where she wasn’t exhausted from prior revelations, or considering how best to get her alternate timeline counterpart to actually tell her what she needed to know.

Such as the end of the world, apparently. That was probably something she’d have to ask the others about, eventually. But later. When she was less tired.

For now, she simply tucked Ikutsuki’s apparent untrustworthiness in with all the rest of the information she probably wasn’t meant to know. She’d deal with it later.

The next time Makoto saw Chidori was at dinner, where she was quietly picking at her rice. Once everyone had sat down, however, she looked up at them and started to speak.

“You should all be careful, if you want to leave at night. I think Takaya’s been in the area.”

This clarified exactly nothing. “Who’s that?”

“Guy she used to work with,” Shinjiro stated. “Kind of an asshole.”

“That’s… definitely a way to put it…” Akihiko agreed, so quietly that Makoto wasn’t certain Shinjiro had heard it. “His Persona’s called Hypnos, and he can use most of the elements, so fighting him would be a problem even if he didn’t…”

“He’s tried to kill all of us at some point,” Yukari said, and this was not actually clarifying matters all that much. “And he can hit most of our weaknesses, and it’s just really not fun dealing with him. And he’s like a cockroach- he just won’t die.”

Junpei shrugged. “I mean, he did, it just unhappened.” This was not a conversation that Makoto had ever thought she would end up a part of, but her expectations had been being casually ignored since April, so really this was just another thing that was happening.

“And given how much it took for it to happen the first time, I don’t think we’ll be lucky enough for it to happen again. We just… have to figure out how to not deal with him.”

“Cut off Ikutsuki and move?” Akihiko suggested. “I mean, we know where everything’s going to be, and he doesn’t, so…”

Mitsuru sighed. “If you can find suitable living arrangements that don’t require me to come up with some sort of justification for them, then be my guest.” It sounded like that was something she’d given serious consideration to.

Makoto sort of wished that, if this was the direction that conversations would now take, she hadn't been told about the time travel in the first place. Then maybe dinner conversations would still be something that she could follow. “So… be really careful when we leave?”

“Or avoid leaving at night altogether. Except that… probably isn’t really an option.”

Of course not. They had to go to Tartarus, they had to fight Shadows on full moons… And while Makoto wouldn’t have entirely minded never speaking to Tanaka again, finishing the Social Link would at least have made all those extended interactions mean something. Even if it was just a Persona that, according to Igor, she simply wasn’t ready to summon.

“We’ll have to be careful, then.” Because she just didn’t know what else to do.

No one said anything else through the rest of dinner. It was hard to tell if no one else could think of a way to continue the conversation, or if they simply wanted the topic to drop as soon as possible. It all amounted to the same thing, either way.

She was missing the time before the vacation already.

It was funny to think about it, but all things considered, exam week hadn’t actually been all that long ago. And yet it almost felt as if a lifetime had passed, between the start of exams and today.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Makoto had known nothing of robots or time travel. And now a time travelling robot lived in the dorm, and the first part didn’t even matter all that much when that was the general state of the vast majority of SEES.

Most of her friends hailed from another timeline altogether, and her counterpart in that world was the boy who occasionally bothered her at night with cryptic hints, offering so little information that he might as well have not been there at all.

Blue hadn’t shown his face around her room since she’d learned the truth. It was almost like he hadn’t existed, but it wasn’t like it was the first time he’d gone weeks in-between appearances. She wasn’t exactly worried about him, at the moment.

The Velvet Room had a Guest besides them. Aigis, an actual robot girl, carried the key around her neck, though she hadn’t yet had the chance to use her Personas in battle. Makoto had been led to believe it was just the two of them, and yet there was the proof to the contrary doing something to the security footage that she wasn’t quite sure of.

And then there were all of the future bits that she hadn’t yet been told of. Ikutsuki was apparently dangerous to them, in some way, but this had yet to be really elaborated on. One of Chidori’s shady connections- who she actually had known existed, if in a very abstract way- was apparently poking around and probably didn’t have good intentions. The Shinjiro of the previous world had- had apparently died, and the one she knew felt like he was just a replacement.

Things had been so much easier two weeks ago.

And maybe that was why the announcement of the exam results had come as a sort of shock. Despite how recent it had been, exam week, felt like it had been a lifetime away. So long ago that it felt like the results had to have been posted before now.

And yet, it was only happening today. So Makoto followed Yukari and Junpei to the listings, meeting with Fuuka on the way, and sticking close to them in a crowd so full of people, she had to hang back on the stairs to have any hope of spotting someone that she recognized.

She’d beaten Yukari, this time. Hadn’t quite managed to reach Fuuka’s score, but… “I guess having your advantage can only count for so much.” She hadn’t fully meant for the words to come out where they could be heard.

“I guess so.” Yukari didn’t sound any different than usual. “...And I guess Akihiko-senpai’s fans are going to be even more mad at you, Fuuka-chan.”

“That’s fine,” Fuuka replied. “They don’t matter… Senpai, look!” She slipped away into the crowd, and Makoto could just make out a glimpse of red and silver in the direction she left in. “We did it again!”

Akihiko had, in fact, once more managed to secure second place. It took a few moments for Makoto to confirm it, though, even looking for it. Had Fuuka been searching right from the start?

She glanced at Junpei. “Are those two…?” She didn’t even know how to finish the sentence.

“I dunno. But they weren’t doing anything like this last year. Think I should ask?”

“Don’t you dare.” She was fine with it being a mystery. She was still sorting through the last bunch of information she’d gotten.

Still… she got the feeling that, now that he’d gotten the idea, he was going to ask eventually.

She’d just have to hope it wasn’t at a point where he could blame it on her.

Chapter Text

Sometimes, it felt as though an invisible line had been drawn in the middle of the SEES dorm.

Not all the time. Everyone came together to eat, and Chidori and Junpei both acted as though there was nothing at all out of the ordinary even when everyone else was incredibly aware of the tensions in the building.

But the fact remained that there was something separating Shinjiro and Makoto from everyone else, and at times, it seemed almost tangible. And so the two of them ended up spending time with just each other.

Makoto was… not quite thrilled with that. “It’s… kind of quiet, isn’t it? There’s so many people here, but…” She’d always imagined that the dorm gaining new people meant that it would be filled with life. Not… whatever this was.

Shinjiro shrugged. “Not too different from when we were first starting out, really.”

“Oh? What do you mean?”

“It was just me, Aki, and Mitsuru back then. And none of us were great at the whole talking to each other thing. We all just… did our own thing, really. And then shit happened, so I left, Aki and Mitsuru got new friends… and then I ended up right back here.”

And that was something Makoto had always wondered about. Why Shinjiro had left SEES in the first place- and, by extension, why he had come back. Except that it just didn’t seem like a thing to ask about, even if there was a pretty good chance that everyone else in SEES already knew. There was nothing wrong with allowing someone to have their secrets. “So nothing’s really changed for you.”

“Well. Almost nothing.” As if on cue, Akihiko started talking with Fuuka about something. Makoto didn’t try particularly hard to make it out. “...He’s gonna get himself killed one day. I mean, sooner or later, everyone does, but...”

But he clearly still worried about him, even if they weren’t talking at the moment. “You care about him. You’ve… known each other for a long time, haven’t you?”

“Long as I can remember, really. Back then, we were… just a couple of dumb kids. Never really grew out of it, either. Especially not Aki. He- He’s gonna get himself in a lot of trouble, if he doesn’t learn when to let go.”

Makoto thought that he might have ended up in a lot of trouble already, if the person he’d gone back in time to save was no longer talking to him. But there were a lot of reasons why saying that wouldn’t have been the best idea, so she decided not to. “He hasn’t really tried talking to you since-”

“Yeah. Maybe he’s learning.” There was something about that tone which she didn’t like. It was too… bitter, or something. “Had to eventually.”

“...Do you really mean that?” She wasn’t sure why she was asking. She didn’t think she actually wanted to step into the middle of their argument.

“You can’t tell me that it’s healthy to be willing to do the stuff he did. I’m not that great, he’s just a lot more attached than he should be. I don’t- He’s got people that are better for him, he doesn’t have to bother with me.”

The glitter of the Moon Arcana just confirmed something Makoto already suspected- Shinjiro’s self-esteem probably needed a bit of a boost. Particularly if he was pushing away one of the few people he was clearly connected to. “He still will, though.”

“I know that. I just don’t get why.” As if the answer wasn’t extremely obvious.

“It’s because you're his brother.”

But he just shook his head. “I can’t be. Not if you’re here.”

And she couldn’t even begin to think of a way to argue with that. But she wanted to. She didn’t want to be the thing that destroyed their little family. Because that would mean her existing was hurting them, and she wanted her friends to be happy.

Even if she wasn’t really sure about a lot of them at the moment. Except for Junpei, and he seemed to be getting what he wanted just fine on his own.

Shinjiro deserved to be happy, at least.

Another thing she hated was the feeling that he just might disagree with her on that.

At least it was hard to keep up a dismal attitude while cooking. “I think this is going really well!” She declared, looking at the results of hers and Fuuka’s combined efforts.

Fuuka nodded long, but more slowly. “It’s all thanks to you. I-I’m not sure I did all that much...”

“You did fine.” A few mistakes, but those had been easy enough for Makoto to catch before they had a chance to really affect anything, so she was willing to call it a job well done. “And it’s something you’ve worked on that’s going the way you’re supposed to. I thought you’d be more excited about that.” It was kind of the whole reason they’d started meeting up like this.

“I-I guess it’s okay, but…” Fuuka paused, and then quickly added, “Do you think Akihiko-senpai will like them?”

“You know him better than I do,” She pointed out. “Are you… trying to impress him, or something?”

That her friend flinched away meant that the answer was probably yes. “It’s just… He’s always trying so hard all the time. It makes me want to try really hard, too.” That made an odd sort of sense. Still, it seemed like there was something missing…

“Try hard for what? From what Mitsuru-senpai told me, you didn’t seem to have any real reason for…” There really was no good way to indicate the entire reality that they lived in. “...Why did you go along with it, anyway?”

“...I just didn’t want them all to fight. For a moment, it really seemed like they would, but then Ken-kun and Akihiko-senpai brought up a question with Yukari-chan and Mitsuru-senpai, and we all realized that it didn’t have to happen. They… I didn’t want them to leave without me.”

And that clearly mattered to her, even if, from what they’d probably thought at the time, she wouldn’t have known a thing about it. At least, Makoto thought that might have been the reasoning.

It wasn’t like she’d ever know for sure. She hadn’t been there.

“I don’t think they’d have done that,” She said, ignoring the faint flickering of the Priestess Arcana. “We kind of need you to help us in Tartarus.”

Hopefully, that came across as reassuring.

“...No Yoshino this time?”

“Chidori wandered off a while ago. Not sure when she’s coming back.”

“She didn’t tell you?”

“Not a word. She could still be out there, though- she took most of our pills with her. Feel free to try finding her- no clue where she went off to.”

And that was the last time for a while her name came up with anyone in that group of people.

Somehow, the hardest part of returning to Tartarus was in convincing Ken that it would be a bad idea to take a twelve-year-old somewhere dangerous when he was technically not supposed to be there.

“We’re not saying you aren’t helpful, Ken-kun,” Fuuka had explained. “It’s just that you’re barely supposed to be in the building, let alone…”

“I wouldn’t get hurt. We’d be going in lower than when I first joined.” As if that didn’t raise a lot of questions, but Makoto was pretty much used to that part. “And not to Monad.”

“Why do you feel the need to specify that?” Mitsuru asked, mystified. “We don’t go to Monad.”

“I don’t know, I just…”

“You may come to Tartarus with us once you are officially a part of SEES, and no sooner.”

“Chidori-san’s not officially a part of SEES!”

“Yoshino isn’t someone we would face major consequences for letting get hurt.”

“...I have Diarahan?”

He had not, in fact, been able to come up with a better reason to come along, and so he had been left at home, with instructions not to open the door to anyone and to do whatever necessary to stay safe if Chidori’s shady connections came around.

Honestly, that whole thing probably could have been handled a lot better, but Makoto was fairly optimistic that everything was going to turn out all right. If only because, if they thought it wouldn’t, they probably wouldn’t have been all right with leaving him in the first place.

They arrived at Gekkoukan High just a few moments before it became Tartarus, which probably amounted to being right on schedule. Everything looked the same as it had just a few weeks ago, though Makoto knew that they could now reach farther into the tower.

The others all probably knew that, too, even if none of them ever said a word about it. She didn’t really feel the need to ask. Even if most of them hadn’t had prior experience, they’d still have had the past few months to draw upon.

As they walked into the lobby, Aigis paused. “Is that…?” Makoto didn’t need to follow her gaze very far to know that she was looking at the door to the Velvet Room.

It made sense that she’d be able to see it, too. After all, she was, apparently, also a Wild Card.

“Have… you not seen the door here before?”

She shook her head. “By the time I would have been able to, this location had become… unavailable.” If anything, this just raised more questions than it answered. “I suppose there had to a door somewhere in the city.”

“There’s one in the mall, too,” Makoto pointed out, fully aware of all the gazes being drawn their way. “Beneath the karaoke place? It looks sort of shady, but it really isn’t.”

There had to be a better way to describe it. Either way, Aigis nodded. “I see. I have some business to discuss with the residents of the Velvet Room, I believe. Would you terribly mind if I took the time to pay them a visit?”

“...Actually, I’ve sort of got some stuff I want to do, too. Do you think Igor can handle the both of us at once?” Now that she’d considered it, she found that she didn’t want anything more than to find out.

“I do not know. We will not find out unless we try.”

It seemed that they’d both come to an agreement.

The Velvet Room was just as blue and comforting as it always had been. Makoto hadn’t really been expecting it to change, but it was reassuring to see it, all the same.

“Welcome to the Velvet Room.” Those words, also, never seemed to change, and that was reassuring. “It has… been quite some time since we had two guests present at once.”

“That’s debatable…” Theo mumbled. Elizabeth kicked him under the table. “Ow! Elizabeth!”

“Quiet, Theo. That’s unimportant.”

Aigis stood next to Makoto, and her face let on nothing of what she was feeling. It was easy to envy that, sometimes.

Igor didn’t seem to hear his attendants’ bickering. “The two of you… perhaps it was fate that your paths would cross in this way. But it is your own choices that brings the both of you to this place tonight.”

“Our… own choices?” Had he meant Aigis’ involvement in the decision SEES had made that spring? Or was it something else, deeper than she would ever be able to fully understand?

“You will, perhaps, understand in full time,” Elizabeth stated. “For now, all you must know is that nothing meaningless happens here. Though there may never have been a version of events where your paths did not intertwine.”

That sounded vaguely ominous. Makoto wondered if it was meant that way.

“You… believe there is a reason behind our meeting.” Aigis said the words slowly, as if she didn’t fully understand them. “Yuki-san, do you think their words have merit?”

“I… don’t see why they wouldn’t.” Even if she didn’t really understand it… they had to know what they were talking about, didn’t they? “And even if it wasn’t meant to happen… it did, so we sort of have to deal with it.” Whether they wanted to or not.

Aigis nodded. “In that case, I look forward to working with you.” In that moment, there was a flash, and a new tarot card ran itself through Makoto’s mind. The Aeon, it whispered to her, in a voice too quiet to be any Persona in her possession.

Aigis blinked. This was a new expression. She didn’t blink a lot.

“Miss Makoto, if you have business with us, could you follow me to the side?” Theodore asked. “There are a number of things about the power of the Wild Card that your friend has not yet learned about, and I wouldn’t want you to spend too much time listening to it again.”

Makoto wondered how much of that explanation would involve the newly-formed Social Link.

Not for the first time, she wondered what her own Arcana was.

...Maybe she’d ask later. It wasn’t like it was going to become important immediately, or anything.

Chapter Text

Tartarus was a place that both constantly changed, and always stayed the same.

The layout was different, from night to night. More than that, it changed between multiple visits to the floor, which made looting the place a lot more rewarding, but carried with it the fact that the lurking dangers were constantly renewing themselves.

There were also the blocks, between which different types of Shadows lurked, locked away from each other by barriers that would eventually fade, marked out by how they were all colored differently to each other. Makoto wasn’t sure just yet, but she thought that she liked the color scheme of Yabbashah Block the best. Each new block just got more visually appealing, even if she’d never have that much to remember it by, once they were done with them.

But even then, the different blocks were all laid out similarly to each other. The Maya Shadows were constantly lurking, the Guardian floors were static, and the most important thing to think about was always party composition, which tended to follow specific patterns.

One such pattern had always been that Akihiko and Shinjiro worked best together. The Fusion Spell they’d used against the Emperor and Empress had not made a return since that first battle, but they’d always seemed to be incredibly in sync with each other. As such, Makoto had always felt comfortable assigning them to the same team.

Of course, that had been before their vacation. This was their first Tartarus trip since the argument that had taken place on Yakushima, and that had brought about… complications.

“Will you just give it a rest!?” Shinjiro complained after the fourth time Akihiko healed him that night. “I can heal up by myself!”

He could. He healed surprisingly quickly, despite his lack of any sort of Dia spells. But Makoto actually found herself sort of agreeing with Akihiko. Not letting people stay injured was kind of important. Especially if it was someone who only had physical attacks.

Akihiko huffed. “Well, stop letting yourself get hurt so badly, and maybe you wouldn’t need to heal. You just keep hurting yourself with every attack, and you’re not exactly careful against the Shadows, either!”

He wasn’t holding an Evoker, but sometimes Makoto thought that she could sort of see Caesar behind him. Which probably wasn’t a good sign, but she thought she might have just been seeing things, so it wasn’t worth asking about.

“You’ve never complained about that before.” ...Oh, this was not going well.

“You never complained about me healing you before!” This wasn’t going well at all.

Shinjiro turned away with a huff. “You’re just wasting your time. I’ll be fine. It’s not like attacking Shadows is going to kill me, or anything.”

Makoto didn’t need to have a bond with either of them to know that was just a step too far. “Shinjiro-san, I don’t think you should…”

“We don’t know that!” Akihiko snapped back, Caesar solidly sparking into existence for just a brief moment, but long enough to fill the hallways of Tartarus with static. “And you really can’t be too careful!”

He didn’t even seem to notice the casual summoning of his Persona. Hearing him talk about care would have been more effective if he had. Or if he wasn’t participating in a shouting match while they were supposed to be exploring Tartarus.

“Oh, that’s a lot of talk, coming from someone who got locked up in here for a week! Do you ever actually think about the stuff you do, or do you just like putting yourself in danger? Because all you ever do is make rash decisions that the rest of us still have to deal with!”

“Like that hasn’t just been you for the whole past two years!”

...That was it. She couldn’t stand by and watch this happen any longer. “Both of you, stop this right now!” She snapped, summoning Oberon to provide a lash of lightning for emphasis. They both fell silent, looking at her with varying levels of apprehension. “We’re going back to the entrance.”

“But we-”

“We’re going back to the entrance!”

”...And that’s what happened.” Makoto found herself quailing, just a little, beneath Mitsuru’s gaze. When she looked at her like that, it sort of felt like she’d failed. “I… don’t think the two of them should be on the same team at the moment.”

“I wouldn’t be sure. They aren’t going to solve their problems if they don’t confront them… Though I suppose there are safer places for them to do so. Such as anywhere outside Tartarus.”

It was nice to see that they were on the same page. Sort of. It felt, sometimes, like leaving things unsaid was a requisite talent to be a member of SEES. “There’s so many of us, it should be easier than this to make a team together. And I don’t want to leave anyone out, but...”

It was hard. Even if there hadn’t been that rift in the team, it would have been difficult to find multiple team compositions that everyone was okay with, especially when people sometimes needed to be switched out for a rest so they didn’t get tired enough to become sick.

“...We could send multiple teams into the tower at a time,” Aigis suggested. “There are definitely enough of us for that, if Fuuka-san is able to handle it?”

“I-I think I can do that.” She sounded somewhat confident. This was a good sign, most likely. “But… who would lead the second team?”

“We’ve gotten consistently good results from putting Wild Cards in charge,” Mitsuru stated. “And Aigis has led before. I believe that she can handle it.”

“I won’t let you down.” The way she said it was so determined that Makoto wondered that, if the robot had been around from the start of the year, she would have been put in charge instead of her. It wasn’t something she liked thinking about.

But she also hadn’t volunteered to be leader in the first place. From what she could tell, she’d just been the best of a number of bad options. And riding on Blue’s coattails.

...She needed to talk to Blue at some point.

It felt different, leading a team when there was another one just a few floors lower. Makoto hadn’t been opposed to the idea of Aigis having her on team- she wasn’t about to try arguing with another Wild Card about what Personas each of them should have been using- but it was oddly relaxing, knowing that someone else would be able to stand in if she were to fail.

And sort of worrying, in that there was someone else who could lead, and if she were put under anyone else’s command, it would feel strange, because her ability to change Personas was something meant to be under her control, and no one else’s. If someone else tried telling her who to be, she’d probably summon Eurydice to hit their weak point.

Assuming they had one. Apparently, not everyone had an elemental weakness.

Other weaknesses still existed, but she felt a lot less comfortable going after those. Physical harm, at least, was something that she could fix.

The dark cloud that had hung over Shinjiro intermittently since Yakushima, however, she couldn’t.

She just didn’t know how.

“I think we’ll try and get to the next floor guardian first,” She suggested. “...But we could also wait until Aigis’ team scouts it out. Or… maybe Fuuka-chan could tell us what it is?”

“I-I don’t remember it that well!” Fuuka protested. “And… I can only really see far up the tower once you’ve gotten that far, Makoto-chan. I’m not… really sure how that works…”

“I’ve got some ideas…” Junpei mumbled. Makoto considered asking him what those ideas were, but he was actually kind of okay at telling them things that they needed to know, so he’d probably say something if it was important.

“...Can you at least tell us what floor it’s on?”

“Mm-hm! You only have five more floors to go!”

Five. Five floors.

That wasn’t too much, when she thought about it. It had been the length they’d gone to, more or less, to the first big fight of Thebel, though back then she’d been slightly more interested in looting the tower for fun and profit. Not that she was completely disinterested, now, there just wasn’t enough time in the hour. They picked up enough on their way up, anyway.

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” She said out loud. “We can figure out a strategy once we get there. ...Shinjiro-san, you are paying attention, right?” He’d been slightly distracted since the start of the night, but it had gotten worse since the team split.

“...It’s fine. Deal with it when we get there, right?” Well. She couldn’t say he was wrong. That was, in fact, her plan, so much as she could be said to have one.

But she was still worried about him.

All she could do was trust that he could pay enough attention to stay safe.

”Akihiko-san!” Aigis scolded him for the third time that night. “You need to pay more attention!”

Akihiko blinked the dark spots away from his vision. Lightning couldn’t hurt him, not anymore, but having it thrown at him could still wreak havoc on his eyesight temporarily. “I’m fine!”

“You were hit in the head by a Mind-charged Zionga,” Mitsuru pointed out. “Under normal circumstances, if it had been anyone else…” It was nice to know she still cared.

But it was him, and these weren’t normal circumstances. Electricity literally posed no threat to him. He also couldn’t do that much to Shadows without it, if they had prickly bits that he didn’t want to risk accidentally punching, so he wasn’t sure if there was any reason for him to participate in this fight other than to relax and be immune to electricity. “It couldn’t hurt me.”

“Don’t get overconfident.” And now Fuuka was in on this as well. Which actually did make him feel bad. How could anyone not be upset, after disappointing Fuuka? “And it’s not just this fight, where you’ve been distracted.”

“She is not incorrect,” Aigis stated. “You have not been on form at all tonight. Just distracted.”

And he couldn’t even say she was wrong. It was just that the dark halls of Tartarus, in the time between battles, were an easy place to get lost in thought. And right then, he had a lot to think about.

Mostly about how he’d somehow managed to push Shinji away, despite his years spent trying to do anything but that. How, whenever they fought, the connection between them, which he’d been able to feel ever since they first summoned their Personas, twisted painfully.

He was pretty sure that they couldn’t use their Fusion Spell anymore. Not as they were at the moment. “D-do you want me to go back?”

He thought he might have been okay with that. Sure, the lobby would be basically deserted except for Fuuka, and she’d be busy directing two teams, but… There was a time to think, and there was a time to fight. And fighting hadn’t been going so well for him at the moment, so maybe it was time to just sit and think.

A new Shadow rounded the corner. Without pause, Aigis summoned Pallas Athena and blasted it with a Freidyne. “...Only if you truly cannot focus on the fight at hand. If you wish, you may have another chance.”

Right. It wouldn’t be that hard, he’d just have to blast everything with electricity that was vulnerable to it, and it would be fine. And try not to think about Shinji, because that would just make things worse again.

...Maybe he would be better off just looking for a way back now.

In all honesty, there had probably been better days for that Tartarus trip. Makoto was exhausted, and the summer volleyball practice hadn’t even begun yet. This wouldn’t be the first sports fellowship she’d ever participated in- though her last school’s team hadn’t been all that great, all things considered- but it would be the first one that would involve going out of town.

“So, the guys’ sports are being hosted at Gekkoukan, and the girls are going off to…”

“Yasoinaba.” She hadn’t officially been told the destination, Kanou-sensei had left that out of the briefing and Rio hadn’t seen fit to mention it, either, but fortunately she was good at looking up information.

Shinjiro blinked. “...Never heard of it.”

“Neither have I. I guess it’ll be a learning experience.” It came to mind that, since she knew the town’s name, she could have looked it up, but she just hadn’t thought of it at the time.

“...I might have heard of it.” She hadn’t even realized that Fuuka was there. Maybe she’d been taking stealth lessons from Chidori. “I don’t remember where, though…”

“Probably the last time this happened for you.” It was just what made sense.

Fuuka looked a bit unsure about this, but didn’t say anything. Makoto figured that was settled, then. Strange feelings of familiarity probably didn’t matter, anyway. It was just a sports event. Admittedly, one that would take her out of Iwatodai for a bit, but that really wasn’t too bad.

Besides, it wasn’t for all that long. What were the odds of the others doing anything interesting while she was gone?

Chapter Text

A sudden shout was the only warning that Makoto had before she had to dodge a flying volleyball. “Makoto-chan, you need to pay more attention!” Rio scolded her.

“R-right, sorry.” In hindsight, maybe going to Tartarus the night before had not been the best idea. “I knew I should have gone to bed sooner…”

“What? Are you not sleeping, or something?”

“Dorm drama’s been keeping me up.” Or. Well. That was certainly one way to put it, no matter how much of an understatement it seemed. “I had to break up an argument recently, and they… haven’t really made up yet…”

“Do they not get along well?” Rio picked up the fallen volleyball.

Makoto wasn’t really sure how to answer that. “Well… Actually, they do. But that’s part of the problem- they’re hurting each other because they care.”

Or. That was what she’d gotten out of it, at least. It was hard to tell, when neither of them had actually talked to her about it. But it was just what made sense, with what she’d seen.

“...How does that work?”

“Not very well.” She didn’t think she’d seen them so upset before. It was like whatever they’d said to each other on Yakushima had turned all their good things sour.

Or maybe it was something older than that. Something to do with why, despite having a fairly strong Persona, Shinjiro hadn’t been a part of SEES when Makoto moved in. He’d been off doing other things, only going into the tower when he’d been worried that Akihiko would die.

Things had been alright between the two of them, though, after that. But maybe that had just been relief, shining a light through and overpowering all of the bad.

She wondered if they’d tell her if she asked. Or if they even knew the answer.

She wondered if it would be better or worse if they didn’t.

If there was one thing the music club had lacked, during Fuuka’s relatively short time there, it was events where they got to meet new people. She hadn’t thought much about it at the time- she’d actually been kind of relieved that she wouldn’t have anything new to worry about, on top of everything else she was doing- but it was a stunning contrast, now that she was more involved with a sports team.

Even now, while they were still in the training stages… Just about every team that could was training at the same time, so despite school being out for the summer break, this part of it was filled with sounds and activity.

It was something that took some getting used to. But she thought that she sort of liked it.

Well. Aside from when they had disputes with another team over equipment.

“Whose idea was it to have all this happen at the same time?” One of the boxers complained. “Least not every event’s going to be here…”

“The break isn’t that long. I guess they have to schedule these things wherever they have time.”

“Yeah, can you imagine Ekoda-sensei giving time off for sports?”

Fuuka couldn’t. Ekoda had, after all, covered up her disappearances, deciding that people’s reputations were more important than their lives. Mitsuru had been quick, both times, to enlighten him as to why this was wrong, but…

Sometimes, she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d actually learned anything from it.

Still, the gossip, for the most part, was unimportant. So long as everyone was giving it their best effort, Fuuka was satisfied.

“Was it this busy last year?” She asked Akihiko. “I wasn’t paying that much attention to sports…”

“You think this is busy, you should see the kendo team. One of the people who’ll be coming is supposed to be a pretty big deal… Or, he was to him, at least.” And in the context of the kendo club from their previous year, there was only one person that ‘him’ could be.

But Fuuka didn’t want to think about that. She preferred to associate sports with happy times like these, instead of what had come before.

“So, if the kendo team’s excited about the people who are coming here, does that mean the people coming here will be excited about you?” She kind of liked the thought of that, aside from how it would probably just make their fangirl problems worse.

“I don’t know. I… never really talked to them, or anything. Maybe I’ll do that, this year.” Fuuka wondered if Akihiko would have thought about that if she hadn’t been the one to bring it up. It was such a small thing that, in the grand scheme of things, it probably didn’t even matter.

But that was one good thing about this year. They had the chance to enjoy those small things. Like casual gossip amidst sports training with someone who she’d grown to care about more than she would have if he’d graduated and left her alone at the high school.

But that wasn’t something she felt she could talk about. So she hid it away under lock and key. It didn’t matter, either.

Everyone who was involved in a sport, in some way or another, was busy at the moment with training for a sports fellowship. Ken hadn’t paid much attention to it, last time, but now he couldn’t help but notice how Akihiko and Makoto both came back exhausted, Fuuka walking alongside them and probably doing the most of any of them to participate in conversation.

Not that Akihiko and Makoto never spoke to each other. But their conversations seemed to die the instant they stepped over the threshold, and it wasn’t that hard to understand why.

Ken had his fair share of conversations that he didn’t necessarily want to have. But he knew that he needed to have them, and he’d decided a long time ago- or maybe a long time into the future- that he wasn’t going to let himself keep having regrets like this. Not this year.

Finding Shinjiro was easy. There weren’t exactly a lot of places that he liked to go, particularly as his and Chidori’s individual choices had both done a lot to limit his options. Ken wasn’t about to claim to understand how that worked, but it meant he only had to look as far as the second floor lobby, so he also wasn’t complaining.

“Hey, Shinjiro-san.” Was this a good way to begin? He wasn’t sure such a thing as a good way existed, really, but it was nice to think that they did.

“...What do you want?” This was not the reaction he’d been hoping to get. He didn’t even know what reaction he’d been hoping for, just that it was not this.

“I just… I want to talk to you.” He didn’t think he’d stop wanting it any time soon- not until the two of them both understood each other, and that neither of them had anything to fear from the other. “Make sure you’re doing okay, and… stuff.”

Okay, so he wasn’t actually good at this. Nobody in SEES was actually any good at this.

But he had to keep trying, or else there wasn’t even any purpose to this. The whole thing that had kicked off their collective impulsive decision… they had to at least manage that, didn’t they?

For a moment, there was silence. Ken was used to awkward silences around Shinjiro, though, so at least it wasn’t anything worse than usual.

“...Aki said this whole thing was your idea.” He couldn’t claim it to be wrong, really, but they’d had the idea at about the same time. “Why?”

“I-” And there was exactly no good way to describe this. Even if he were the same age as everyone else, and not twelve, he didn’t think he would have had a good way of doing this. “It’s… mostly to do with what happened before. Akihiko-san and I… we both wanted to see you again.”

For different reasons, of course. Ken had wanted a more constructive way of dealing with the guilt that still haunted him, from time to time. Akhiko just wanted his brother back. He was pretty sure they’d both gotten what they’d wanted, at least as much as they could get it with their own capabilities. That they weren’t entirely happy probably said more about their capabilities than it did about anything else.

Shinjiro’s response to this was completely expected. “...Why?”

At least this meant Ken had had plenty of time to think about what he was going to say. “Akihiko-san’s your brother.” And this probably shouldn’t have been a reminder that he had to give, but he couldn’t remember the last time his life had gone as it should have. “And I- I wanted to get to know you better. To do better.”

“...Must be nice, to be able to erase your mistakes like that.” And he just sounded bitter, now, more bitter than the coffee Ken had tried to choke down, once, to prove he was grown up, at which point Mitsuru had banned him from the coffee machine. He assumed the ban was still ongoing.

He didn’t like the bitterness. Shinjiro had never seemed like a happy person, but this… this was something else. “I… don’t think they’ve been erased, really. I still remember them, and that’s-” He’d be living with what happened that year forever, and it didn’t matter if not that many people remembered, because he was one of them, and that meant the mark was still there.

The mark would always be there, because he had Kala-Nemi to show for it. “...I think we all still have nightmares. About watching you die. It’s- it wasn’t what I wanted it to be.” He’d even known it then, as just a little nagging feeling that nothing was actually going to get fixed.

“Then what did you want?”

“I- I don’t know.” Whatever it was, it had been lost amongst everything that actually had happened. “But right now, I- I want to know you. Instead of just a picture in my head. And- and I want you to stay alive.” Because apparently this was something that he had to say. “Can’t we do that?”

He didn’t get an immediate answer. That was fine.

He hadn’t really expected one, anyway.

In all honesty, things would have gone a lot easier if any of them had a head for dates. Aigis had an internal clock, but as she kept informing everyone else, that was not the same, and pouring over her memory banks, while not the most boring task in the world… tended to bring up unpleasant memories along with the ones she actually wanted to witness.

She could, technically, have gotten those memories removed. It was a benefit of being entirely mechanical. But something about that didn’t sit right with her, as much as she might have been willing to take it just a few subjective weeks ago.

And measurements of time were subjective now. About five months since 2010, currently the middle of 2009. About a month since she’d first opened the Velvet Room doors, five months ago, over half a year from now.

A year since most of them had first realized Koromaru’s abilities, which meant that it was happening tonight except that most of them already knew about it.

Fortunately, this time they had less need for a vet, and more knowledge of how to properly apply healing magic to dogs.

“Koro-chan’s a really good boy,” Yukari cooed, ruffling behind his ears. “Aren’t you, Koro-chan?”

“Arf!” Koromaru conveyed his desire to be as helpful as he possibly could.

“Koromaru-san is offering his help to us,” Aigis found herself translating, because she was still the only one with the patience and observational skills necessary to understand his full meaning. She wondered if, one day, someone else would be able to figure it out. “Although, you may have realized this already. ...If that is all right with you, Yuki-san?”

Yuki Makoto’s eyes did not leave Koromaru once. “...We get to have a dog.”

At least that was settled before it got to be too complicated.

Chapter Text

As much as Makoto hated to say it, she was starting to feel more at home on the volleyball court than she was in the dormitory. This had a lot to do with the massive amounts of practice, but it had even more to do with how, in the dormitory, she was pretty much walking on eggshells.

Everything was tense, as if they were all waiting for something to happen, and nobody wanted to be the one to cause it. Like a game of jenga where nobody wanted to be the first to make a move. Whereas, when playing volleyball, the most important event was the one that was currently happening.

“I’m glad the whole team came back before this all started,” She admitted to Rio. It had been kind of nice, when practice was just the two of them, but at the same time… “Imagine if we’d shown up to the fellowship with just two people.”

“I don’t think it would even happen, then,” Rio stated. “It’d kind of ruin the whole point of it. We couldn’t even have a really good game, that way.”

“We could try!” She couldn’t imagine it would have gone well, but it wasn’t like something being a bad idea necessarily meant that nobody would do it.

“...I think I’d rather have everyone else there.” And Makoto couldn’t say she didn’t agree. Whatever she was doing, if there was a group that she was part of involved, it was nice if it involved the whole group. Precious little did, and what there was was currently… uncomfortable.

“...Yeah. Me too.” And if Rio saw anything odd about that, she didn’t say anything.

Good. Makoto didn’t feel like justifying herself to anyone, at the moment.

A ballistic volleyball came flying at her head, and she darted out of the way. “Hey! Be more careful with that!”

“We were! You should pay more attention!”

So maybe the volleyball court was technically less peaceful than the dormitory. Technically. At least here she knew where all the tension was being directed.

More than that, here she knew she was the one they really wanted.

That night, Makoto was met in her room by a certain irritating visitor, who she now understood more about than she’d ever really wanted to. “You’re going out of town?” Blue asked, with a tone of voice that told her he already knew the answer.

Even knowing what she now did, she sort of wanted to know how he got his information. Not all of it could be described with just future knowledge. “Just for a night. It’ll be nice to get away from… all this for a bit.” There was no real way to gesture to the entire atmosphere of Iwatodai Dorm, but she did her very best at it. “I don’t think they’ll all kill each other if I’m gone for just a day or two.”

Well. She hoped they wouldn’t.

It would, admittedly, be tragically hilarious if they did.

“They are a lot better at not doing that than they used to be,” Blue agreed, which was one of the last things she wanted to hear from him.

...Honestly, she wasn’t sure that there was anything she wanted to hear from him at the moment. “...I guess you know, wouldn’t you, Yuki Makoto?” It didn’t actually make her feel any better, voicing her suspicions. Just more like there was an empty slot she was supposed to fill.

The other Makoto didn’t even flinch. She was starting to wonder if his show of emotions was reserved for when it was the most annoying.

“I do know,” He said, his gray eyes reflecting the greens of the Dark Hour more perfectly than they ever had before. “And you should be glad you don’t.”

“It’d be really helpful if I did. I don’t even know what’s going on half of the time.” This was, admittedly, better than before Yakushima, when she only knew what was going on a quarter of the time, but it was still a lot less than she necessarily would have liked.

“...So you’d rather have seen people die?” Blue asked. “Because a lot of people died last year, Red. That’s why everyone decided that going back couldn’t make it any worse, unless they actually managed to end the world or something.”

And now they were back to that. A mysterious apocalypse that nobody seemed to want to tell her about, despite how whether or not it happened was obviously sort of relevant. “Is that really something we have to worry about?”

“I told you, didn’t I? The Kirijo Group messed up, and now we have the Dark Hour and all the fun things that came with it. ...Well. Most of those things.” This was not reassuring. This was the opposite of reassuring.

“You haven't exactly said anything else. Or anything useful, really, you’re just… Why are you even here!?” She thought she might have been all right, if she didn’t have the constant shadow of her predecessor hanging over her head. Or if he at least felt like being more useful.

This actually did make Blue flinch. “...Where else would I be?” She didn’t have an answer for that. “All my friends are here. Even if I can’t talk to them-”

“Why not!?” She challenged. “They’re right here in this same building. They’re awake during the Dark Hour, they’re probably awake right now, since you can never sleep while it’s happening. I could just go get Senpai’s attention right now and there’s nothing you could do to stop me.”

“I could leave.” Yes. He could. It was the most annoying thing about him.

Makoto narrowed her eyes. “Leave, then. I don’t want to deal with you tonight.”

To his credit, Blue actually did as he was told, for once.

This didn’t actually make her feel any better.

It was the middle of the Dark Hour, the moon was far enough from full that a walk on the streets would not be much more foolhardy than usual, and Yuki Makoto- known to some, after a particular bit of accidental time travel, as Blue- hit the pavement with all the strength that a dead man could muster, when he’d left a good portion of his soul to others and all of his power had gone into practicing kendo to begin with.

Still, he wasn’t entirely defenseless. He had an Evoker in hand, and power enough to bring to bear against any of the Shadows that would normally be wandering the streets at this time, even if they somehow believed that he would be an easy target.

Which he wasn’t. Even without his full power, he had access to Personas beyond most people’s wildest imaginings, his current choice buzzing with indignation after Red kicked him out of her room.

We come bearing knowledge of the future, and this is how she repays us? Are you sure you can call her friend?

“Social Links don’t lie,” Makoto reminded his Persona. “We have a bond, and… that makes it important for us to get along. So that we learn whatever we were supposed to.”

You’re finally doing that now?

He rolled his eyes. This wasn’t what he wanted to deal with tonight. He didn’t really want to deal with it ever, but strong-willed Personas could be like that, sometimes. “Okay. So maybe I could have done more for everyone else…”

Enabling their worst tendencies is something that any good friend should try and avoid.

“...Where’d you get that from? I know I didn’t teach that to you.” And the only other Wild Card this Persona had been directly exposed to was… “Wait, I think I know. It was him, right?”

Who else?

“I don’t know, maybe one of the others got to you when I wasn’t looking. Or it was something I forgot about. Time travel’s complicated, remember?”

I believe I understand more of that than you do. My world could also be- something’s different.

Makoto paused, because listening to his Personas was the one thing he’d always been sure about, even when everything was going wrong and he didn’t know how it had gotten that way- in hindsight, it might have partially been the Personas he was listening to at the time. Or maybe he just didn’t have good ideas in general. He’d blame the Personas.

But there was definitely a different feeling in the air- another presence, and not one that he recognized.

“Is anything there?” He called out, because either whatever Shadow was causing this feeling would sense his power and get as far away as possible, or it would do something incredibly suicidal and try to attack him.

He was sort of hoping for the latter. It’d be more fun that way.

What he wasn’t expecting, though, was what actually happened. “Are you… a person?” Behind a corner peeked a familiar face, one he’d fully expected to never see in the Dark Hour.

“...Mamoru?”

“...How do you know my name?” Makoto reminded himself that telling an alternate version of one of his Social Links that he was a ghost from the future was probably a bad idea, no matter how good of friends he and his counterpart had been.

“You’re a pretty big deal for sports, aren’t you?” He wasn’t sure if he was still into kendo, or if it was something else, but it felt like something that needed asking. “Everyone’s been talking about you- they said you’d be part of the fellowship tomorrow.” He remembered the one from the year previous. It had been fun, enough for him to start looking forward to the next year’s one.

Except that this was the next year, and there were obvious reasons that he couldn’t participate.

“I guess…” This… didn’t sound quite right. Mamoru was… not the most cheerful person Makoto knew, that was Junpei, but… He shouldn’t have been down like this.

...Maybe it was just the Dark Hour. It could have… really bad effects on people who weren’t used to it. Sometimes on people who were. “...Are you feeling okay?”

“...I don’t know if it’s worth participating tomorrow.” Okay, there was definitely something wrong. “Everyone says I’ll win, and they’re probably right, and- and why’s the sky like that, anyway?”

“It gets like that sometimes.” Makoto sat down on the sidewalk, and Mamoru collapsed next to him. “You see that tower over there, in the skyline? That’s where it comes from.” He pointed over to Tartarus, visible in the distance.

“That tower… Can you walk there, from here?”

He didn’t even think before answering. “Yeah, but it’ll take a while. It might be gone by then- it’ll disappear once it becomes tomorrow.” He wouldn’t be able to explain more than that if he was asked, but… it wasn’t like people made much business of asking, except for Red. She asked enough questions for everyone else combined.

“...Okay.” And without even pausing to push himself up, Mamoru rose to his feet. He set off down the street, more quickly than Makoto would have expected, even knowing just how seriously he took… whatever sport he was doing.

...Kazushi and Yuko were still involved with kendo, right…?

Is that relevant right now? He’s acting like those people do.

That was not particularly specific, as much as he didn’t actually need it at the moment. “Hey, just because you can go to the tower doesn’t make it a good idea.” Just because he was aware of the hypocrisy wasn’t going to make him stop. “There’s things in there- they’ll eat you alive. I’ve seen it.” Mostly in nightmares that he no longer got enough sleep to have, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that Tartarus was a very dangerous place and no one should have particularly wanted to go there, and some possible kendo training just wasn’t enough to fend off all of the Shadows that lived inside it.

Mamoru didn’t slow down. If anything, he moved faster, which was really impressive for someone acting like a zombie, even if this was the worst possible time for that. “Hey, wait up! Mamoru! Mamoru!”

Perhaps I should try to get his attention?

Makoto shook his head. “That won’t help. He’s all caught up in his own head right now. Also, I think you’d fry him.”

...Very well. You might want to hurry, though. He seems to have less and less of his mind by the second.

He’d noticed. And now he was running faster. And it still wasn’t fast enough, because even at his best he’d never been able to hold up against someone who was training to be a professional athlete.

Mamoru had always been faster than him.

In the end, that was what sealed his doom, vanishing into the gates of Tartarus just as the Dark Hour ended, and there was nothing that Makoto could do, his last scraps of energy vanishing with the tower.

“...Mamoru…”

Chapter Text

The morning that Makoto left for Inaba was as busy as any other morning. Breakfast was made, of course, and served around a table that was so much busier than she’d ever expected it to be, back at the beginning of the year. The activity wasn’t a bad thing, even if so many of them weren’t really talking to each other anymore.

“Remind me again where you’re going,” Shinjiro said. Makoto wasn’t sure what he’d been doing the past few days, aside from ‘less than usual.’ Which, if she thought about it, might have been a bad sign.

“It’s… Yasogami High, in a town called Inaba. It’s… pretty out of the way.” To the point where it took actual efforts to find maps with Inaba on it.

“...Does that name sound familiar to anyone?” Fuuka asked. “I know no one went there last year, but…” And now they were talking about that again.

“...I might have heard of it before,” Yukari finally decided. “But I’ve never been there.” And a quick look around the table was enough to see that everyone agreed with that. “You’ll tell us what it’s like, won’t you, Makoto-chan?”

“...I’m not sure I’ll really have the time to look around…” The sole purpose of the visit was to play volleyball, and it was also pretty far away. Sightseeing was probably not going to make it all that high up on her list of priorities. “But if anything interesting happens, I’ll try to tell you about it.”

No one asked her to define interesting. Makoto wasn’t even sure how she’d define interesting. But she’d suppose she knew it when she saw it, and that was the important thing.

Nobody said anything else. She finished eating, hurried upstairs for her overnight bag, and ran out the door.

After Makoto left, Aki and Fuuka did the same for their own part of the event. Unlike Makoto, their bit was in Iwatodai, so they’d at least be there that night.

Shinjiro couldn’t help but wish it had been the other way around. That he could hear all about whatever the volleyball team had done, and pretend that he wasn’t fighting with his brother over something that shouldn’t have happened to begin with.

But also letting Aki out of Iwatodai just didn’t seem like the best idea. Like he’d just vanish out of the city, never to be seen or heard from again. And as much as they hadn’t been getting along recently… that was something Shinjiro knew he never wanted. So he’d just have to live with being reminded of their argument every day that their meals remained an awkward silence.

“I hope everyone has fun,” Ken stated, scraping at what was left of his breakfast. The kid had taken to life at the dorm with ease, which sort of made sense given that this wasn’t his first time moving in.

“If they don’t, we’ll know.” Aki would be pouting about it for days, probably, and Shinjiro had to remind himself that he didn’t actually care about it. While he hadn’t asked how anyone but Ken considered their age, whichever way you counted it his brother was more than old enough to keep himself entertained. “...Be nice if they do.”

He could just imagine it. Aki, doing what he did best, which was punching things and avoiding his problems, one of them usually an excuse for the other. Makoto, surrounded by people who’d never doubted that she was meant to be there, playing a game with lower stakes than whether or not she’d ever get an unbroken night’s sleep.

...And then there was him. No activities, one or two friends, no real future to speak of, and problems that couldn’t be solved by fighting Shadows. Fighting Shadows was how he’d gotten some of his problems, and yet he’d still ended up coming back to it.

...Honestly, he probably should have taken that as a sign to rethink his life even before time travel became a thing he knew about. In what way did he expect things to actually get better?

The kid finally finished his meal, five minutes after everyone else. “...Shinjiro-san? Are you feeling alright?”

Even if he wasn’t, he wasn’t sure it was any of Ken’s business. “I’m fine.”

“...You don’t look fine.” Well, no. He just about never did, because that would require a moment to exist when he was actually okay, and those had been in short supply even before this year started and he had everything else to deal with.

But the kid really had no reason to know that. “Since when’s that your problem?”

He didn’t think he’d ever seen a twelve-year-old so closed-off before. Aki might have tried, but he was sort of terrible at it, telling Shinjiro the first thing that came to his mind no matter if he was trying to hide it or not. But Ken did manage, his face too passive to be anything but him forcing it to be that way, or a sudden onset of paralysis. “...Since I saw you die.”

As much as he’d figured that was what happened, it was still kind of weird hearing it said out loud. Maybe it always would be. It was the kind of thing that just didn’t seem easy to get used to.

“...You saved me, you know?” The kid continued, like this was the sort of conversation that normally happened first thing in the morning. “It’s- I was being dumb, and made Takaya want to kill me- well, more than usual- and- and you-”

“...Wasn’t really me.” ...Okay, this was probably not the best thing to say to a distressed child, but it wasn’t like he’d ever claimed to be any good at this. Or anything, really, but especially not this.

“...It would be. If it came to it.” And he couldn’t even deny it, really. Even if it would have been so much easier if he could. “It won’t, though. I won’t let it.”

Him and everyone else who had looked at Shinjiro and decided, for whatever reason, that they wanted him around. He really didn’t get it. “Good luck with that.”

So maybe his staying alive would make the kid happy, somehow. He really, really wasn’t sure what to do with that information, but that just put it with everything else he’d learned this month.

But it probably meant that he could put a bit more effort into staying alive than he had been.

If only he could figure out where he was supposed to go from there.

Inaba was a fairly long train ride from Iwatodai, and as soon as they were off the train, the Gekkoukan High tennis and volleyball teams were bundled onto a bus heading towards the local high school.

Miyamoto Kazushi and Nishiwaki Yuko were also there, because Kazushi had managed to injure his knee badly and they were planning on staying somewhere with hot springs. Makoto wasn’t going to pretend she understood what had happened there, but there had definitely been a Thing that Happened. Apparently, there was such a thing as taking a sport too seriously.

...But then, it wasn’t like she was lacking in examples of that.

“This looks like a nice place,” She remarked, staring out the window. There were none of the large buildings she was used to from living in cities, but everything seemed nice and peaceful in a way that she’d never had in Iwatodai.

Rio nodded along. “Kind of small, though, isn’t it?”

“I think that’s part of the charm.” In a place like this, maybe the quiet of the Dark Hour wouldn’t be so oppressive, if it was quiet all the time. “It all looks… simple.” Like there wasn’t anything to worry about.

Surely, no one here would ever have to worry about the same sort of things as her.

Makoto leaned back in her seat and blinked Blue back out of her reflection. For the short moment she’d seen him… it felt almost like he was laughing at her.

...But really, that was just business as usual.

...No. She wasn’t going to think about this. She was going to ride the bus up to Yasogami High, play volleyball, and maybe enjoy some hot springs if she had the time.

Yeah. That sounded like fun.

In all honesty, Akihiko probably shouldn’t have been paying as much attention to what was going on with the kendo team as he was. It wasn’t like he knew anyone who was participating, and he had his own things to focus on.

But at the same time… it seemed like there were fewer people around, and not just because they were missing a certain head of dark blue hair. And there just wasn’t any way to explain it, other than time being weird.

He really wanted to be able to explain it in a way other than time being weird. It’d make things easier that way.

It’d mean he wouldn’t have to think about Shinji that much.

“Senpai, you should sit out for a bit,” Fuuka said. “If you don’t take a break, I think you might hurt yourself. ...Or someone else.”

Akihiko blinked, and realized that there was static building. Weird, Caesar wasn’t usually as close to the surface as this. ...But it would be bad if he managed to accidentally Zio one of the visitors… or his teammates… or anyone really. Everyone had been excited for this, he wasn’t about to ruin it by letting out magic that he didn’t mean to. “R-right. I’ll just…”

He probably shouldn’t have gone out into the hallway. It wouldn’t set as good of an example. But being close to anyone wasn’t the best idea right now, with how worked up he was. “...What am I doing?” He asked himself.

(“Moping? You do that a lot.”)

...Oh. And now this was back.

“...I don’t want to deal with you right now,” Akihiko sighed, as if his delusions had ever paid attention to what he wanted or not. “I thought I was done with this.”

(“...Did you think that before or after the time travel?”)

“Does it even matter? It’s been months.” He caught a transparent flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye, and forced himself to look away. This was not the time to be humoring a hallucination. He was supposed to be getting his mind back in order, not… whatever this was.

(“Yeah, well… didn’t feel like you needed me. Then it turned out that you still can’t talk to people. I don’t know what I expected.”)

“...Well, what was I supposed to say?” Okay, this definitely counted as humoring a hallucination. He really needed to stop doing that.

(“Aki. I know you know me better than that. You’re being an idiot. So’s he, but he hasn’t had a whole year to learn better. You’re eighteen years old. Start acting like it.”)

“...Seventeen,” Akihiko breathed out, to remind himself more than anything else. “I’m seventeen years old.” Because so was Shinji, and Shinji was the big brother. Even if they were close enough for their Personas to be twins.

(“Still old enough to know better.”) They hadn’t known any better, though. That was the whole reason it was like this. Shinji, dead and gone but also alive and not talking to him and also a whisper in his ear that wasn’t really there, and Akihiko, who had only just gotten used to having the second part without either of the other two before the last one came back with a vengeance.

“I wouldn’t say that. I’m still talking to you.” And then he looked up, and just like he knew he’d be, he was alone.

On the bright side, the static had dissipated enough that he could probably punch things again.

If he did that enough, maybe he could forget that this had even happened.

After everything was over, the bus took them to the inn where they would be staying the night. There, they were greeted by the owners’ daughter, a girl with short black hair.

“Hello. My name is Amagi Yukiko. If you need anything, please let one of the staff know, and they’ll do their best to provide it for you.” Room keys were handed out. Makoto knew just enough about the other volleyball team members that she could tell at least three would be lost by the time they left the next day.

“Thank you, Amagi-san.” She took the key for the room she’d be staying in with Rio. She’d never slept over with anyone before, but she supposed that there was a first time for anything.

It’d be like when Blue showed up, only with less cryptic advice and vague worries about an apocalypse that no one was telling her anything about. “Come on, Rio-chan!”

“...Already?”

“I want to get comfortable so I can fall asleep sooner.” It was an important thing to worry about, when the Dark Hour would rouse her whether she wanted it to or not.

“...I’m not sure that’s happening.” With this group? Probably not.

But Makoto wasn’t going to let that stop her from trying.

Despite Makoto’s best efforts, her attempts at getting a good night’s sleep were foiled by Yuko deciding that her and Rio’s room was a good place to go to. This was probably karma for accidentally knocking her over in the hot spring, if she thought about it.

“Isn’t this place kind of creepy at night?” Rio asked. “It’s… so quiet.”

“I think I’ve got some white noise on my music player.” Makoto started looking through her playlists. How had she acquired so many playlists? She didn’t even remember the names of half these songs, why did she even still have them? “...Somewhere.”

“...I think I’m good.”

“Some of the girls down the hall are telling ghost stories,” Yuko said. “I didn’t stay to listen to them, but… this place has the atmosphere for it, doesn’t it?”

“...Let’s find something else to talk about,” Rio decided. “Like… Yuko-chan, you came here with Kaz, right?”

“Well, someone had to make sure he didn’t drown himself… or hurt his knee worse. I don’t know how he let it get that bad.”

“People can ignore some really important things,” Makoto said. “That’s… pretty much how Akihiko-senpai and his brother stopped talking to each other.” And maybe this was sharing a bit too much about what was going on in Iwatodai, but it felt relevant to the conversation.

Really, so long as it didn’t directly involve Personas or the Dark Hour, she was going to assume it was fair game.

Yuko paused. “...Senpai has a brother?”

“Well, unofficially adopted, but they clearly love each other.” And saying anything more would involve Tartarus, so Makoto decided not to elaborate too much. “Or… they did. I’m not sure what’s going on with them, now, but… it’s sort of painful to watch.”

“Why do you care about that?” Rio asked. “Their family stuff’s their business, right?”

“...I live in the same building as them. It makes meals awkward.” And both of them were clearly unhappy with how things were, and neither of them were willing to try and fix it. “...Besides, they’re my friends. I want them to be happy.” Shinjiro had never seemed entirely happy as it was, and now he had this extra thing weighing him down. “That’s sort of like why you’re here with Miyamoto-san, right, Yuko-chan? You want to make things better for him.”

“I-I mean, I wouldn’t put it like that… Kaz is just… he’s just…”

...Well. At least this time it wasn’t Kenji. And before Makoto could think of a reply, the Dark Hour hit, leaving her alone with a pair of coffins.

...She wondered how badly they’d freak out if she moved to the other side of the room.

Chapter Text

Being back in Iwatodai was… Makoto wanted to say that it felt nice. Despite everything that was going on, it had somehow managed to become home to her, in the way that she wanted to go back to it.

Not that she always understood why she wanted it. But as they all stumbled off the train back into the city where they lived, yawning and blinking away their attempts to catch up on their sleep, the very air itself felt like it was welcoming her back.

Hopefully, the dormitory would give her a similar reception.

“They must have come through to mop this place recently,” Yuko remarked, staring at the floor. “Look, you can see your reflection in it.”

Makoto looked at the ground, and sure enough, there was a faint figure at her feet. She couldn’t tell if it was actually her, though, and that was apparently something she actually had to worry about, these days.

Still, so long as nobody else saw Blue beneath her, she supposed it wasn’t as big a deal as it could have been. “It’s still pretty early. There might just not have been enough people coming by to scuff it up yet.” This was at least partially because they’d been dragged out of the Amagi Inn come sunrise, and some of them were still half-asleep from staying awake late the night before, but that wasn’t exactly the point.

“You might have a point…” For a moment, they both just stared at the floor.

This was interrupted by Rio coming up to them. “Hey, there’s been a change of plans. We’re not stopping off by the school anymore.”

“...Huh? Why not?” Sure, going back there was mostly so anyone could pick up stuff they’d left behind during training, so it wasn’t particularly important, but this seemed kind of sudden.

“I’m… not sure. I think one of the people doing sports there went missing, and then showed up there this morning, but… I don’t know if it matters.”

For a moment, Makoto’s reflection rippled and changed. She pretended not to notice.

It was easier, if she pretended that she was living a normal life.

Makoto pushed her way through the front door, looking like she was still half-asleep despite how it was almost noon, and Shinjiro chose to interpret that as her trip having gone well. She stumbled her way over to the couch where he was reading, draping herself over the back. “I’m home,” She announced, yawning as she did so.

“...Didn’t get much sleep?” He wondered why that was the first thing he noticed. He wondered if it mattered.

“I got some on the train back.” This was… not reassuring. “It’s just been a long day.”

He wondered if the length felt as agonizing for her as it did for him, surrounded as he was by people who said they cared, even if he wasn’t sure he believed them. “Maybe you should get some actual sleep.” Sure, there was still a few days before she had the full moon to worry about, but she wouldn’t be doing any good for anyone if she managed to get herself sick.

For a moment, Makoto looked like she wanted to argue. But she didn’t. “...All right,” She said instead. “I just… wanted to check in with you first.”

“What, did you miss me?” He meant it as a joke. He really did.

And yet, Shinjiro still found himself hoping to get an answer.

“Kind of.” And that was… he hadn’t been expecting that answer. He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, really, just that it wasn’t that. If he’d been expecting anything at all. “It’s good to see you again.” And with that, she gave him a single, stunning smile that he couldn’t help but return.

...Oh. Oh, no.

“...Missed you, too,” He admitted, while simultaneously trying to shove any and all thoughts of Yuki Makoto being pretty down to where they would never resurface. As he was speaking with her at the moment, this was understandably very difficult. “But we can talk anytime. Go get some sleep before you fall over.” He was pretty sure the only thing stopping that was the couch, and at this point he wouldn’t even be surprised if she toppled over the top of it.

He decided not to think about what he’d do if that happened.

“All right. I’ll talk to you later.” She beamed at him, again, and Shinjiro tried to push the entire picture out of his mind as she made her way to the stairs.

It wasn’t working. Of course it wasn’t. When had his life ever been easy?

Why would you even want to forget her? She’s like sunlight.

“We’re not talking about this…” He grumbled out loud, well aware that he was talking to his possibly still murderous, and apparently lovestruck, Persona, and that this had never ended well for him before. “...She’s too good for us, anyway.” There wasn’t any point to liking her, when he knew that she could do so much better.

Castor didn’t even try to deny it. This might have been the most helpful he’d been in the history of ever.

It didn’t feel helpful.

It just figured that, even in the moments when he was almost getting along with his other self, he still found a way of making himself miserable.