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The sound of birds chirping flowed into the dorm room through the open window. Despite it being the Summer holidays, the temperature was honestly bearable; still hot but not the type of heat that made you feel angry just by experiencing it.
It had gone 11:00AM by the time Minato had woken up. He did feel a little bit guilty for waking up so late, but at the same time, they were on school break. The way he saw it: if they had to stay up late because of all the Dark Hour bullshit, he should be allowed to sleep in whenever he didn't have anything important to do in the morning.
Either way, he was up and dressed now. He was stood in front of his sink, staring at his bed head in the reflection while he brushed his teeth. Why did that one bit of hair always stick upright in the morning? Such a pain…
As he finished rinsing out his mouth, Minato's phone rang back on his bedside cabinet. He quickly placed his toothbrush back into its cup and walked over.
"Hello?" He answered without even checking the caller ID; a bad habit of his.
"Good morning. This is Elizabeth."
Just based on who was calling, Minato knew it had something to do with Tartarus. The question was what exactly was going on with that weird tower.
"I am calling to inform you that a lost soul has wandered into Tartarus." The attendant informed her guest.
"Another one?" Minato huffed as he grabbed his hairbrush and began tidying up his bed head.
"It would prudent to rescue them as soon as possible. In particular, the one who has wandered in this time appears to be an acquaintance of yours."
"Wh-? An acquaintance?"
"Well then, if you'll excuse me."
"Wha-?! Wait!"
Too late. Elizabeth has relayed her message and then immediately hung up.
"Hello…? Hello?!" Minato called out in a fruitless attempt to get more information. He placed his hairbrush down and stared at his desk with an anxious frown.
"An acquaintance… Someone I know…?" His chest pounded as he tried to think of any possible clues. He hadn't heard about anyone disappearing… But then again, it was Summer break; everyone had their own plans and hadn't really kept in contact since they were busy with their families.
His thoughts were cut short by the loud rumbling of his stomach. He sighed.
"I'll have some breakfast… then head to Paulownia Mall to check the police's bulletin board." He muttered to himself, slipping on a pair of comfortable shoes and grabbing his MP3 player before heading downstairs to the kitchen.
As he got closer to the mall, Minato couldn't help but speed up to a jog. His brain had been running wild ever since that phone call and his stomach had been slowly but surely twisting itself into knots.
"Alright, let's see… Missing People…" Minato muttered once he was face to face with the bulletin board. He lifted his index finger and dragged it along the written notices, trying his best to focus in this situation.
A lot of the notices were about petty crimes in the area, asking people to keep an eye out for the criminals… Someone's dog had ran away… A warning about a scam artist selling bootleg jewelry… None of these were what he needed! Ah! Wait, Missing Persons! Here it was!
Minato froze.
A cold sweat ran down his chin.
No way… Ain't no way…
He re-read that first line over and over again just to make 100% sure that he wasn't mistaken.
[Name: Andre Laurent Jean Geraux]
So… The acquaintance of his that had gotten lost in Tartarus… was Bebe? … His boyfriend was the one who had gone missing…?
He carried on reading the report to know for certain; reading it aloud to himself to make sure it properly sank in.
"Andre Laurent Jean Geraux, 16 years old, exchange student at Gekkoukan Private Highschool… Missing Persons Report filed by Subaru Isara, Gekkoukan dormitory administrator… 'Went out in the evening for some groceries and didn't come back'…"
Minato had to bite his tongue to stop himself from shouting in the middle of the mall as he bolted over to the Velvet Room's door. He wanted answers, and even if he didn't get them, he needed to prepare himself for going into Tartarus tonight.
"Welcome to the Vel-"
"Is Bebe really in Tartarus?!" Minato snapped, in no mood to deal with any potential antics from Elizabeth today no matter how entertaining they might be.
The Velvet Room attendant's golden eyes widened for a second, caught off guard by the out-of-character panic from her guest. She flipped open her book once she composed herself. "So I was correct that you are acquainted with him."
"So he is?!"
"Yes, he is indeed."
"Do you have any idea which floor?!"
"It's difficult to get a precise reading, however… I can tell that he somewhere between floor 100 and floor 105."
100-105… Okay… That wasn't so bad… They'd been there… They'd activated a transporter within that general area… They could find him. They could save him. No, no, they would save him, no doubt about it! He just had to make sure they were well prepared.
Minato stared directly into Elizabeth's eyes with a determined glare.
"I need to fuse some personas."
Elizabeth giggled, impressed by her guest's powerful motivation for this rescue mission.
"At your service~"
"Fuuka, are you sure you sense him on this floor?" Minato urgently enquired.
"Yes, Leader! I can't quite pinpoint his location, but I am definitely picking up a reading of Bebe-san!" Fuuka answered positively.
The exploration group for tonight - which consisted of Minato, Yukari, Koromaru and Junpei - were currently scouring floor 102 after thoroughly investigating the previous two floors. Minato powered through the long, ominous hallways of the tower with Koromaru close behind while Yukari and Junpei struggled to keep up. The two classmates were honestly baffled by Minato's behaviour; they'd never seen him this worked up, even in life-or-death situations like the monorail incident earlier in the year.
"Koromaru, do you smell anything yet?" Minato asked the dog running alongside him. He'd brought a handkerchief Andre had made for him and gave it to Koromaru to sniff before their investigation so he could help track Andre in the tower.
Koromaru whined quietly, letting Minato know that he hadn't caught a whiff yet.
Minato gritted his teeth and sped up a bit. "Dammit…!"
"Wha-?! Dude, Leader, calm down! The hell's gotten into you?!" Junpei finally snapped, getting worried about the frenzy Minato was working himself into.
"Bebe's in here! I'm not about to let him get attacked by shadows! If he got inflicted with Apathy Syndrome, I'd- I'd-!"
"Hey, enough, cool it! Sheesh, with the way you're acting, people would think the two of you were dating or something…!" Yukari scoffed, hoping a small joke would help ease Minato's stress a little bit. It seemed to have the opposite effect.
"So what if we are?!"
"…Oh."
Yukari stopped in her tracks as it hit her. All of a sudden, a lot of things made a lot more sense. Minato hanging out at the fashion club a lot more often, going out for sweets more often when he was much more of a savoury guy, quietly singing French songs to himself while cleaning… So, that's why.
Junpei took a moment to take that in himself. Huh… He never thought their leader was that kinda guy. Although… That did explain his complete lack of reaction whenever girls would flirt with him. Junpei felt kinda stupid for thinking of him as some cocky ladies man now… And a little guilty for forcing him to join in their doomed Operation Babe Hunt… But still… The way he was acting now…
Junpei let out a determined huff and sprinted after Minato.
"Wha-?! Junpei?!" Yukari called after him, baffled by his change in behaviour.
"C'mon, we need to find this guy!"
"But weren't you just complaining about Minato's attitude a floor ago?!" Yukari pointed out with an unimpressed expression as she managed to catch up with Junpei.
"Well, yeah, but…"
"But what?"
"Knowing why Minato's acting like this changes things."
"How so?!"
"Because! It made me think about what if Chidorita got stuck in, y'know?"
Yukari fell silent. Junpei took that as permission to continue.
"I'd be losing my damn mind if she was stuck here all alone, and she has a persona! … The thought of someone that important to me who doesn't have a persona being stuck here… It's enough to drive a guy insane!"
Yukari took a moment, watching Junpei with a serious expression. It was rare for him to be… introspective? It was odd to see but… it was nice. It was really nice to see him fully support Minato when he needed someone; especially considering how he acted towards him earlier in the year.
A soft smile spread across her face as chased after the boys.
"Alright, let's do this! Just don't go too far! I can't heal you if I'm not close enough!"
"Leader! His reading is a lot clearer now! He's in this quadrant, at a dead end!" Fuuka urgently informed Minato of this new discovery.
"Really?! Koromaru, do you smell anything yet?!" Minato turned his attention to the dog, slowly regaining hope in this situation.
Koromaru placed his nose against the cold floor and began sniffing away, his claws tapping with each step as he surveyed the area. He jerked his head back up and barked firmly as he focused his attention on the corridor leading to the left.
Minato leapt on this new lead, quickly patting Koromaru's fluffy head as he bolted down the hallway. "Thanks, Koromaru! Good boy!"
Koromaru barked happily after hearing one of his favourite word combinations while Junpei and Yukari tiredly tried their best to keep up with Minato.
"How the hell is he this fast?!" Gasped Junpei.
"Isn't he on the track team?"
"Yeah, but I ain't ever seen him run like this!"
"Adrenaline, maybe?"
"I guess so…"
Minato was so focused on finding Bebe that he didn't even register the fact that he couldn't hear his teammates anymore. He was somewhere here! He just had to find him! He had to!
"S-Someone…! Help me!" A terrified voice entered his ears.
Minato's head whipped round in that direction, his eyes wide and deadly seriously. He sprinted after that voice.
"Bebe…!"
Rounding the corner into a dead end, the sight that greeted Minato was a blond boy cowering in the corner surrounding by a group of five floating shadows wearing purple crown shaped masks.
Minato snarled, glaring at the shadow with an intensity he never displayed before charging in with his sword gripped firmly in his hand.
"Get the hell away from him…!" He screamed as he ran straight for the the shadow in the middle, ramming his sword directly through the back of it's head and shattering it's mask. A disgusting squelch echoes through the room as he extracted the sword and swished the shadowy goop off of the blade.
"M-Minato-dono?!" Gasped Andre upon opening his eyes. The sight that greeted him was Minato planting himself firmly between Andre and these monsters, a protective arm held up in front of Andre. One of these monsters was currently dissolving on the floor while the others looked incredibly aggressive. And Minato was wearing a bizarre version of the school uniform… and he was holding a sword?! He had so many questions! But this clearly wasn't the time for that as Minato glanced back at him with serious eyes.
"Are you alright?!"
"I-I- Yes. But wh-?"
One of those horrifying creatures growled with a disgusting guttural noise, completely halting any and all thoughts Andre had as fear coursed through his body.
Minato clicked his tongue. "I shouldn't have run off by myself…"
'Myself'? Did that mean there were other people here?
Placing a hand against his ear, Minato spoke again. "Fuuka, send my location to the others, tell them to get over here now."
Andre watched in confusion as Minato lowered his hand. Who was he talking to? He wasn't wearing an earpiece!
Noticing his anxious shivering, Minato turned to look back at Andre again and spoke in a soothing yet stern voice. "You're gonna be okay. Help's coming now and I'll fend these guys off until they arrive, okay? You just stay there."
Andre had so many questions he wanted to ask that in the end, nothing came out of his mouth. Minato turned his attention back onto the creatures, tightening his grip on his sword as he slid his other hand into a holster.
Was that a gun?!
Andre's face went from shock to horror as Minato lifted the gun and placed it against his temple. In a panic, he dove forward and grabbed onto the back of Minato's jacket.
"What are you-?!"
Bang!
The sound made Andre squeeze his eyes shut in terror. Although… It sounded a little odd… And he couldn't smell blood… And Minato was still standing somehow…
Andre cautiously opened one eye to check the situation. Instead of staring at a gruesome, bloody mess, what was found was Minato standing in front of him protectively. Smoke was billowing from the gun's muzzle as Minato lowered it and returned it to its holster. But most importantly: There was another being floating behind him. It had pale blue skin and white hair that looked a lot like Minato's… and it was had a harp on its back for some reason? It was kinda scary but it's presence felt rather… soothing?
Minato pointed at the creature on the far left. "Orpheus!"
The floating thing behind him leapt into action, dashing towards the creature and ripping the harp off it's back before slamming it straight into the creature's face. It seemed stunned.
Minato didn't let up.
"Agilao!"
The being - Orpheus was the name Andre heard - twisted it's harp round and dramatically strummed the strings, somehow making flames burst out from between it's fingertips and engulfing the creature until it was ash.
Andre could only stare as Minato darted in front of him and blocked an attack from another creature with his sword. His arms trembled under the amount of pressure being pushed down onto him but he gritted his teeth and clenched his muscles, managing to keep it at bay.
The blond gripped onto Minato's jacket even tighter, terrified of what would happen to him if his strength gave out. Luckily, he wouldn't have to find out what would happen.
An arrow zoomed into the room and pierced the creature's chest. Minato took this opportunity to redirect the energy of their confrontation and pushed it away, right into the line of fire of a baseball bat that came swinging down and crushed the creature's head.
"I told you not to run off by yourself!" The archer scolded Minato, readying another arrow as the remaining two creatures grew even more aggressive.
"Sorry… and thanks for the save!"
"Don't sweat it, dude! Hehe! Have no fear, Junpei is here!"
"Stop messing around!"
"Yes, Ma'am…"
"Shadow at ten o'clock!"
Minato braced himself in front of Andre as the shadow made another lunge towards it's attempted prey, however there was no need as a flash of white sped in front of him and twisted it's body, slicing the shadow's head clean off.
"Great job, Koromaru!" The blue haired boy cheered. Andre looked down in surprise to find the shiba inu that lived in the same dorm as all of these classmates of his… Wait, did the dog have a knife in his mouth?!
"Yukari! That last shadow's weak to wind!" Fuuka hurriedly shared the information she'd gleamed from the enemy.
"Leave it to me!" Yukari replied, placing her evoker against her forehead and pulling the trigger. Io materialised right behind her and immediately enveloped the final shadow in a ferocious whirlwind, tearing it to shreds.
Silence fell over the once hectic room as everyone slowly caught their breath.
Junpei let out a relieved sigh before speaking up. "Hey, Fuuka? There anything else coming or are we in the clear?"
"There aren't any other shadows nearby, so you can relax for now."
"Awesome."
A loud clatter filled the room as Minato dropped his weapon and wrapped his arms around Andre.
"Bebe! Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?" He frantically checked the blond for any injuries.
"I-I, um… What is- I mean, why a- Where- How did- Ow!" Andre struggled to think of what to say, his swarming thoughts being put to a stop as pain shot through him when Minato touched his ankle.
Minato immediately took notice, cradling his leg gently and rolling up his trouser leg. Sure enough, there was a pretty big bruise there. "Did you trip?"
"I-I think I twisted it when I was running away from that… thing." Andre replied, his memories of what happened to him and how he got here being a little fuzzy.
"Let me take a look." Yukari requested, her… floaty thing still behind her. Andre watched it carefully as it reached out it's hands. A green glow burst forth from them and then surrounded his injured ankle. The glow felt… warm… And gentle… It was nice. And then the pain was gone. Just like that.
Andre stared in disbelief as he moved his foot around in circles without the slightest hint of pain.
"H-How did you…? I mean, what on earth is-?"
Minato placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. "It's a long story… To keep it short: we came to save you. And the long version… We'll explain on the way down, okay? Can you stand?"
Okay… Good to know that he'd actually be getting answers. Andre went to stand up but promptly fell back down again, not hitting the floor thanks to Minato catching him.
"You okay?!"
"Ahaha… My legs gave out…" Andre nervously laughed.
"Yeah, that ain't surprising. You've been through a lot." Junpei spoke with a smile to reassure him.
"Mm-hm, a lot of people we rescue are the same way." Yukari added.
Koromaru quietly barked and rubbed his head against Andre's leg, seemingly in an attempt to comfort him as well.
"A lot of people…? So… Wait, all of those missing people who are found are-?!"
"Yep, we rescue them from Tartarus."
"Tartarus…? Hold on, what is-?"
Andre was cut off by Minato carefully hoisting him up onto his back, firmly gripping his thighs and shifting his weight so Andre wouldn't fall off.
"Like I said, it's a long story, we'll explain on the way down." He smiled softly, hoping to put Andre at ease before turning away and speaking to someone else. "Hey, Fuuka, how do the other floors look? Any shadows on our route to the transporter?"
"Hmm… There's only a few shadows; you took out most of them on your way up. But they're all just wandering around aimlessly so I think you could avoid them if you're careful." Fuuka suggested after running a few scans. "And if not, the few left over are pretty weak so you should be fine to take them on."
"Alright, then… Koromaru, you keep sniffing around for any shadows and lead us down the safe paths. Junpei, you're in front, if anything comes charging at us, knock 'em flying. Yukari, you're the rear, if anything tries to sneak up on us, blow 'em away. Sound good?"
"Sounds good, Leader!"
"Leave it to us!"
Minato turned and flashed Andre another soothing smile, speaking in a soft voice. "You're alright now, we got you."
For the first time in a fair while, Andre felt safe. The warmth from Minato's body, the feeling of his heartbeat, his protective grip on him… It was all just so comforting, Andre felt as if he could cry.
He buried his face into Minato's shoulder, taking in his calming lavender scent as he wrapped his arms tightly around him.
"Thank you… Thank you so much…"
"Ah, there they are!" Fuuka cried as the group finally came back to the entrance hall via the teleporter. The members of SEES who had been left on standby turned their attention to the tired group.
"Good work, is Bebe-san alright?" Mitsuru enquired, walking over to the group with a commanding strut.
"I-Im fine, just a little… flustered?" Andre responded himself, still clinging tightly to Minato's shoulders.
"He had a small injury to one of his ankles but I healed it up for him." Yukari added, happily taking a bottled drink that Fuuka handed to her.
"Bark!"
"Koromaru-san said that he was very impressed by Bebe-san's bravery. He stayed strong even though he was scared, he has a warrior's soul." Aigis stated, translating for Koromaru while the dog himself happily wagged his tail.
Andre just laughed quietly, too exhausted from the insanity of what he'd experienced to even register Aigis' robotic appearance or that she was translating what a dog had said about him.
"You hungry?" Minato asked with a soothing whisper, gazing at Andre softly.
"O-Oh, um…" That thought honestly hadn't even occurred to Andre at all but now that he knew he was safe… Yeah, he was pretty hungry. "Yeah, a bit."
Minato just smiled and nodded before walking over to the giant staircase and carefully setting Andre down on the steps. The blue haired boy sat himself down next to him and began digging around in his bag.
After rummaging around for a minute or so, he pulled out a red bean jam taiyaki. "You could probably use something sweet after all that, right?"
A grateful sigh left Andre's mouth as he happily took the treat and ripped open the packaging. "That would be perfect, thank you."
"So, how'd it go? How strong were the shadows?" Asked Akihiko with his arms folded across his chest.
"Fairly tough… Nothing too bad but some were kinda challenging." Yukari reported before taking another swig of her drink.
"That lines up with our theory about the them getting stronger when it's nearing a full moon…" The silver haired boy muttered.
"That's true… Good decision to launch the rescue mission tonight, Leader. We may have had a rough time with it if we postponed." Mitsuru added.
"Right…"
"Oh! By the way, we kinda explained the basics of what we're doing to Bebe here while we were bringing him back down. He was pretty freaked out and we wanted to calm him down soooo… Is that alright?" Junpei announced, suddenly very anxious whether Mitsuru would be okay with that.
"Did you now?" Mitsuru asked with a tense expression. She twirled some hair around her finger as she stared at the ground with a troubled frown. Eventually she sighed. "Well, it shouldn't be too much of an issue. All we ask is that you don't talk about this to anyone."
Andre nodded furiously. "I understand! I promise I won't tell anyone! I will do whatever I can to repay my debt to you all!"
"N-No, that's fine."
"That's a bit much, dude. Chill out."
"There's really no need for that."
Andre really couldn't believe how selfless these people were. They went around saving people who got stuck in this hellish tower, and yet didn't ask for anything in return?! They were truly like the honourable heroes he saw in those samurai films he adored so much.
Minato especially was just like a samurai! He wielded a sword, he was the typical strong but silent type, he had a heart of gold, and he had an incredibly strong sense of justice. He truly was a modern day samurai! Andre was a little ashamed that it took Minato saving his life for him to realise that.
A sudden weight pushing down on his shoulder pulled Andre out of those thoughts. He looked down to find an unconscious Minato leaning on him.
"M-Minato-dono?!" He gasped, quickly catching Minato in his arms as he slid off of his shoulder. Panic coursed through as he stared down at the boy who had saved his life. What happened?! What was wrong?! Did he get hit?! As he looked around in a frenzy, Mitsuru walked over and placed a calming hand on his shoulder.
"He's alright, don't worry."
"B-But he's passed out! Surely we-!"
"He's just sleeping, see?"
After being promoted by Mitsuru, Andre took a closer look at Minato to see that he was indeed sleeping… In fact, he appeared to be sleeping rather peacefully.
"He's been on edge ever since he discovered that you were the one trapped in Tartarus. My guess is that once he knew you were safe, the adrenaline finally wore off and his exhaustion caught up to him." Mitsuru explained with a gentle smile, clearly finding Minato's devotion to saving Andre quite endearing. "Let's just let him rest, yes? I'd say he deserves it."
"Never thought I'd see Minato run himself ragged though, I gotta say." Junpei remarked, looking back at Yukari and Fuuka to back him up. Both girls quietly agreed. It was quite an experience to see their leader who typically didn't really seem to care about much… suddenly care a whole lot.
"Aigis, once everyone has rested up, could you carry Minato back to the dorm? And Akihiko, would you be able to help Bebe-san back to the dorm?" Mitsuru requested of her fellow stand-by teammates, wanting to give the active team a chance to properly rest after all their hard work.
"Understood."
"Sure thing."
Mitsuru turned back to Andre. "I hope you don't mind spending the night at our dormitory… We'll escort you to the police station first thing tomorrow morning."
"Oh, that's fine by me. I really cannot thank you enough for saving me." Andre bowed his head with all the respect he could muster.
Mitsuru gave him a satisfied nod. "Alright. We'll rest up for another five minutes and then head out, is everyone okay with that?"
A chorus of positive responses was the reply she received.
Andre took this opportunity to take a deep breath and clear his head. A lot had happened. And he had a lot of information dumped on him. But he was safe now. Everything was okay now.
He looked down at the boy currently sound asleep in his arms. He couldn't help but hold him closer, softly running his fingers through his deep blue hair. To think that he had someone who would go to these lengths to keep him safe… It was an honour, to put it lightly. If only he could think of a way to let Minato know he'd do the same for him. Giving him a tight hug, Bebe leaned down and placed a discreet kiss on Minato's forehead.
"Thank you, my hero."