Chapter Text
Yukari was the first to awaken in the Inaba ward. The slow, steady rise and fall of her head had woken her up to notice the light of the rising sun peeking through the blinds of the window behind her. As for her pillow for the night, the young woman struggled with another surge of disbelief at what she saw before her.
Makoto Yuki, her lost love. Now alive and breathing within arms reach.
A strained yawn past the foot of the bed shook Yukari free to notice the rest of her companions beginning to stir.
“Guhh...” Junpei wheezed, stretching as much as he could without getting out of his chair. “What time is it?”
As if on cue, Aigis, curled up against the wall, twitched as she came out of standby.
“It is approximately 0740 hours, Japan Standard Time, rounded down,” she informed Junpei as she smoothly rose to her feet. “A rather early rise, considering the night's events.”
Koromaru barked in agreement, hidden from the hospital's staff under Mitsuru's discarded fur coat. The dog's muffled noises still managing to wake up Ken, who had apparently tried to huddle himself against the wall like Aigis and ended up tipping over in the night.
“Hey, uh... you doin' alright, Akihiko-senpai?” Junpei leaned around Ken and Aigis to see the scarred man hadn't moved an inch in his sleep. “You're not looking so good. Any trouble sleeping?”
Akihiko answered only with a stoic grunt, his eyes locked on the bed in front of him. “It's nothing,” he threw in as a concession. He didn't sound angry, dismissive, or even annoyed. The best anyone could tell was that his thoughts were elsewhere.
The only person who could have truly realized how uncharacteristic that behaviour was for him was laying in the bed across from him, still unconscious.
Mitsuru Kirijo, the iron-willed founder of the Shadow Operatives, laying in the same condition as a man who had been two years dead. She had almost been done in by her own Shadow and, with both Akihiko's attempts to save and heal her having failed miserably, the way the boxer had spent the past few years of his life wasn't looking too worthwhile.
As for Mitsuru herself, her own awakening was as stoic as she usually presented herself. Casually opening her eyes without a hint of effort or fatigue. Sometimes, even her closest friends were uncertain as to whether it was a constant façade or she was just that strong.
Mitsuru's vision came into focus to see Akihiko at the foot of her bed, whose normally calm demeanour was visibly darkened by fear and even a touch of guilt.
“Good morning...” Mitsuru said finally, if only in the hopes that something so casual would take the weight off her friend's mind.
Whether she was successful or not fell to the wayside with an affirmative “Mmm...” from the bed next to her.
Yukari bolted to her feet. The young woman hovered over Makoto as he began to stir, the situation bringing back memories of when she had first started to open up to him. More importantly, his slightest movement drove her memories of the sorrow and grief she felt when she had last seen him out of her mind. As Makoto looked over to her, however, Yukari couldn't shake the concern that something might have gone wrong.
“Makoto..?” She asked barely above a whisper, worried that if she said his name too loud, he would vanish like a waking dream.
The instant she saw a spark of recognition in his eyes, she lunged at him. Whatever drowsiness that was left was knocked out of Makoto once his girlfriend (two-year separation notwithstanding) buried herself into his chest, joyfully crying as she clenched the hospital gown he only just found himself wearing.
“Hey, come on, Yuka-tan!” Junpei broke the weepy silence as he approached the bed with the rest of his teammates. “You don't wanna welcome him back like that.”
Yukari let loose a sniff as she pulled her chair back under her, trying to gain some composure.
“Y-you're one to talk...” she managed to say as she tried to discretely wipe her eyes.
Rather than let the silence continue, Aigis stepped in, even if she was having her own troubles staying calm.
“It is...” she started “... good to have you back, Makoto-kun.”
“Yeah, man.” Junpei cut in. “Sorry about the wait.”
Before Ken could come up with something to say, Mitsuru intervened.
“Let's try to give him some space. You've undoubtably been through a lot, haven't you, Yuki?”
Makoto said nothing, looking around the sterile white room at each of the occupants before his vision finally settled on Yukari.
“... What happened?”
The Shadow Operatives looked at each other to try and figure out what he meant. Makoto tried again.
“How did I get here?”
There was little relief to be found in the clarification. SEES' former team leader sounded lost, maybe even a little betrayed.
“Well, it's a long story...” Yukari began awkwardly. “You see...”
“You were replaced as the Great Seal.” Aigis explained, realizing slightly too late that she should have tried to phrase it better. “My sister was kidnapped by a malevolent entity, Nyarlathotep, with the aid of someone with the same power as yours. We later discovered he was trying to use Erebus to break through...”
She paused.
“... you and begin The Fall. Elizabeth-san forced him to take your place, which stopped Nyarlathotep's plans.”
“Still...” Junpei cut in “You had us worried for a sec. You looked so still, we thought you weren't gonna wake up.”
“Again.” Akihiko grunted, feeling compelled to at least try and be part of the conversation.
“Thank you, Akihiko.” Mitsuru gave a small nod to her friend for his effort, if only to spare his feelings, before turning back to her roommate.
“Does that clarify things?”
The rest turned to Makoto in anticipation, watching him slowly process the story in his head. After about a minute of awkward silence, he spoke again.
“... Your sister?”
Aigis perked up with pride.
“Yes. She's out at the moment.” The blonde looked over her shoulder to the giant axe propped up against the wall. “It turns out I am not the last of the Anti-Shadow Weapons after all.”
Makoto indulged Aigis with a small smile before moving on to his next question.
“Where are we?”
“Inaba.” Ken spoke up, Makoto's eyes noticeably widening in surprise as he took in the kid's growth spurt. “It's a small town out in the country. Why Mitsuru-san and the others were drawn here of all places is anyone's guess...”
Mitsuru's teeth clenched as she sat up in her bed. “While we don't know for sure, it's almost certainly tied to Narukami and his friends.”
Yukari nodded in agreement before explaining things further, not noticing that the look on Makoto's face, for reasons unknown even to him, held more recognition than it probably should have. “There's another group of Persona-users here. It turns out they had problems like we did.”
Mitsuru pondered for only a moment if Persona users could have ever awakened in a peaceful setting.
Makoto, on the other hand, continued to stay silent, avoiding eye contact with his friends.
Yukari was starting to worry. Makoto had been asking questions, but it didn't feel to her like the man she fell in love with was in the same room. His questions had seemed less like curiosity and more like someone asking for directions.
“Makoto...” she timidly asked as she took his hand. “Are you okay?”
An awkward stillness permeated the room's atmosphere. For the past two years, 'Makoto Yuki' had been nothing more than an idea, a static concept, maybe even an ideal. But now that he was in front of them, in the flesh, a living, breathing human being, the fact that what he thought about the situation hadn't been considered by a single one of them was starting to sink in.
“I'm fine,” He said with a tone that failed to convince anyone. “It just feels... strange.”
He tightened his hand around Yukari's own.
“Ah, you guys're worrying too much!” Junpei shrugged as he made his way toward the exit. “He'll be back to his old self in no time. Now if ya don't mind, I gotta give Chidori a call before she gets too worried.”
Junpei's convenient exit only resulted in a bit more space and an awkward silence.
“Bark!”
Koromaru emerged from Mitsuru's coat, with Makoto recognizing that the dog was wearing Ken's old sweatshirt.
The blue-haired man felt just a bit older and more out-of-touch.
“Koromaru-san wishes to explore the town,” Aigis translated. “He is confident he can evade the staff on his way out.”
Whether intentional or not, Ken decided to take his partner's exit as a hint and followed suit with only a polite nod to Makoto as he left.
“Yamagishi.” Mitsuru rasped before adjusting her sitting position. “Please contact Kikuno and tell her to have a chopper ready.”
The navigator was taken aback by their leader's haste.
“Are you sure, Mitsuru-senpai? Your injury-”
“Can be better dealt with at a Kirijo facility...” Mitsuru tried to raise a dismissive hand before sighing in resignation. “Though, before you make the call... it would probably be best to find Labrys.”
Akihiko allowed himself a small smile at his friend's ever-surprising soft spot. Unfortunately for the protective boxer, Mitsuru seemed to have noticed.
“And please take Akihiko with you,” she added as Fuuka made her way to the door. “The country air may do you both some good while it isn't saturated with fog.”
Her attempt at humour appeared to be enough to convince Akihiko to leave his station at the foot of her bed. The white-haired man only exchanged a small nod with Makoto before taking his leave, with only Aigis and Yukari left out of bed.
The two spent a few moments at a loss for what to say or do before Yukari turned to Aigis.
“Hey, Aigis...” she paused. “Your power, is it still..? I mean...”
“It hasn't changed.” The pair worried about discussing Makoto like he wasn't there, but the man wasn't exactly meeting them halfway.
“Makoto,” Yukari asked. “Do you feel your Persona? Anything?”
His eyes shifted downward, either in sorrow or contemplation, before shaking his head.
“... No.” His voice now had the unwelcome spice of anxiety, accompanied by his breathing beginning to speed up. “Tell me what happened. All of it.”
The three women looked at each other before turning on Makoto, not ready for the recount of SEES' lowest moment.
“It was... March 31st...”