Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You know, when Igor had asked Akira to go back in time to save a previous guest after his final and epic battle with the false god, Yaldaboth, and had fallen unconscious (and maybe died, because head meet Shibuya pavement), he had some kind of expectations. Maybe something similar to what he experienced when he first arrived in Tokyo. He would hear about some kind of suspicious and unexplainable phenomenon. Then follow the vaguely supernatural trail and just so happen to stumble upon the Persona happenings in the city.

All while being a good transfer student at Gekkoukan High.

He did it once, he could probably do it again.

What Akira had not expected was to find himself in a very concerning situation when he had just so happened to take a midnight scroll that went against his pretty strict sleep schedule. Black coffins stood where people used to be and blood pooled on the ground. And over the entire scene, a full green moon shined down on the entire scene.

Akira ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He pulled out one of his smaller daggers that he always had on his person. He might have had one of his bigger and stronger ones, but those were harder to hide.

Since he didn’t have a frame of reference for what the fuck was going on. Akira decided to treat it like a solo Palace run for the moment. He skirted around the weird new additions to the idyllic Tatsumi Port Island.

He spotted a large, ominous, and very obvious tower in the distance. The greenness of the building matched the vibe of the tower, and it was the other difference between the real world and … wherever he was right now. It was also in the direction of the school, so Akira knew the general way there. So if he was going to get answers about All of This, it was probably going to be at the prominent building.

“There is one of the unusual shadows approaching from the right.” Came Arsene’s voice over the bond they shared.

Akira pushed himself against a wall and peeked around the corner. One of the goopy beings that appeared at midnight shambled around.

His mindscape felt empty without the usual chatter of numerous Personas. It was one of the conditions of Igor’s deal. That any of the masks he had acquired outside of an awakening couldn’t make the journey with him. Akira was still adjusting to the silence left behind, and even the four weeks he’s spent in this new time had not been enough. Six, then eight, then ten, twelve, and now only two remain. Or three. But Akira’s not really sure of the third one counts considering that it’s-

“Is it necessary for you to trawl around like some kind of rat? To lower yourself so far, you are an embarrassment to the title of Godslayer.”

Yaldabaoth.

Akira shared his mindscape with Yaldabaoth now.

The literal God of Control who majorly screwed up his life for the sake of a game. The one he personally shot in the face. The same cognitive being that set up both him and Akechi with the purpose of having them fight and then die at the end.

Yep, that Yaldabaoth.

Why do they get a second chance?

Akira doesn’t know.

He does remember one of Igor’s other assistants, Elizabeth if he remembered correctly, looked very excited at the prospect. She had said something along the lines of ‘What better way to deal with a god like being born of the distorted desires of humanity than another god like being born of the distorted desires of humanity?’ in a sing-song voice.

Her counterpart Theodore had looked less positive about the situation they inflicted on him. Akira liked Theodore.

“Because” Akira said back, “I don’t have enough information about what is going on, and I don’t want to make a careless mistake.”

“So refuse to use any of the power bestowed upon you? You invite death by only relying on the frail strength of a human?” Yaldabaoth said back, sounding almost petulant.

“Are you really trying to start another argument about the ‘inherent weakness of humanity’ again?” Akira mentally bit out as he took a few light steps towards the shadow.

He tuned out the rest of the conversation. He needed to focus on remaining hidden in order to set up an ambush. In his current situation, Akira needed all the advantages he could get.

“I still do not understand how you can defend a species that created me through their own wish for subjugation. And you once again act like you have never thrown yourself into a situation without survival being guaranteed.” Yaldabaoth argued.

The sludge-like shadow was much shorter than Akira was used to. He would have to focus more on horizontal movement instead of vertical movement.

“You say that now O Great Metal Cup, but I know you are aware of the fact that if the Trickster dies, you do as well. You are as mortal as the humans you mock.” Arsene spoke up.

Akira rolled his eyes. Arsene truly enjoyed riling up the false god.

Thankfully, even with that momentary lapse of attention, the shadow still hadn’t noticed him.

He hoped there wouldn't be an elemental disadvantage in the fight.

“You-! That was a revered form that the humans worshiped! The Holy Grail is a divine artifact that your pathetic avian form could not hope to match” Yaldabaoth said, affronted.

“Pathetic!? At least I didn’t voluntarily take the form of a metal sippy cup! I’m not the one whose visage is a scrap metal hazard.” Arsene argued back.

Just a few more steps before the shadow was in range.

“Quiet both of you!” Satanael ordered, his voice carrying over the other two. “This agreement is meaningless. There is no use goading each other when the Trickster has just encountered a scenario that will lead him closer to the goal given. So do not goad each other on, am I clear?”

Now!

Akira sprang forward with his body low to the ground. He gripped the blue mask and tore it off with a flourish.

He jumped back, ready to face down the enemy.

When Akira suddenly felt one of his legs give out.

He slipped on a patch of wet concrete and landed hard right on his hip!

Akira bit out a very eloquent, “Fuck!”

Through the haze of throbbing pain radiating from his hip, Akira knew he had to get up now . Every second counted when in a fight, and he couldn’t allow the advantage of an ambush to be lost just because he slipped.

“Hmmm?” Akira could hear Arsene’s voice, but it didn’t sound worried. His Persona sounded curious instead.

Akira looked up from his half crouch, half fetal position to where the shadow was… dissolving?

All that was left from the shadow was a slowly spreading pile of black goop. The blue mask that Akira had ripped off seemed to be melting into the edge of the goo. It created grey blue streaks throughout the confusing mess in front of him.

It looked like the result of a cooking nightmare.

Akira slowly got up and just kind of stared at the pile. His side hurt, and it was definitely going to be bruised later. He winced as he moved away from the scene.

He tried to make sense of what just happened. Akira had torn off the shadow’s mask, but it hadn’t felt like the insta-kills he was used to. The shadow hadn’t manifested either.

“Perhaps, since this is not the metaverse, your previous techniques have different outcomes? That’s the only thing that comes to mind” Arsene said.

His Persona’s thoughts reflected his own.

“The shadows in my domain were much more resilient. What purpose could weakings like these serve?” Yaldabaoth said derisively.

“Let us continue on, Trickster. There may be answers at the tower.” Satanael calmly pushed.

Akira got moving at that last statement.

Moving carefully, Akira tore through five more shadows on his way to the neon tower. Now that he was closer he could see some details on it. It looked like someone had smashed together at least fifteen different museums and government buildings to create it, along with a couple of clocks here and there.

He was also able to watch what happened to the shadows he defeated (thank you shadow number two, you will be missed). When their mask was ripped off the shadow would just...lose its viscosity? It was like it couldn’t retain its form and spread out like jam from a broken jar. Akira had been a little too close to shadow number two, and had almost lost his shoes to the goop.

The shadows also had never dropped anything. No money or items. Akira had felt the rush of exp, and what might have been a level up, but nothing else.

.

Akira stood in front of the Gekkoukan High school gates and subsequently, the mishmash tower. The tower looked like it grew from the school grounds like a bamboo shoot. It stood tall towards the full moon like a very loud middle finger.

He walked towards the gates. There weren’t any shadows in sight, so he put away his dagger. He reached out to see if the gates were unlocked and could serve as a way in.

“You can’t go in there!”

Suddenly Akira’s hand was wrenched away and held in a crushing grip. He looked up to see-

“Sanada-senpai?”

Sanada Akihiko, the frankly very attractive captain of the boxing team stood there and held Akira’s wrist. The 3rd year who had his own literal fanclub, just appeared in the weird green nightmare that Akira was currently experiencing. Akira thought that the green moonlight somehow didn’t make him look sickly or anything. It instead enhanced his cheekbones and jawline.

Akira’s little bi heart was quite happy to see his senpai. And could you really blame him?

“It’s not safe for anyone to go in there. There’s dangerous things inside that tower.” Akihiko said and stared deeply into Akira’s eyes.

“Okay?” Akira said, and he could feel his face heat up a bit under the upperclassman’s intense stare.

“It’ll be safer in the dorms. Come with me.”

If it wasn’t for the current seriousness of the situation, Akira might’ve taken it as an invitation for something else.

Akihiko turned away from the school gates and began walking towards a building nearby. He still hadn’t let go of Akira’s wrist, so he kind of had to half jog to keep up.

“Sanada senpai, what's going on? There were these sh-” Oh wait, Akira shouldn't know what they’re called, ”ambling things everywhere. And all the people turned into coffins. And the blood, don’t forget all the blood.”

“I would explain, but there's uh-no guarantee that you would remember after the Dark Hour ends.” Akihiko said, and then under his breath, “Why did this have to happen while Mitsuru is out, she would be much better at this.”

“The Dark Hour? Is that the name of this phenomenon? Wonder why it would be named that.” Arsene murmured, sounding just as curious as Akira felt.

“He also mentioned Mitsuru. Do you think it could be Mitsuru Kirijo, the student council president?” Akira replied.

“What do you mean I might not remember? How could I just up and forget this ?” Akira said out loud, using his free hand to gesture to just about everything around them, even though Akihiko probably couldn’t see it.

“Just- It's complicated, I'm not the best person to explain this. Just trust me, okay?”

“O-okay.” Akira let himself be dragged along to the approaching dorm building.

Though he had more questions than answers right now, at least Akira knew more than he did this morning.

Chapter Text

Sitting in a Gekkoukan dorm during a supernatural blackout alone with one of the most popular guys at school was not how Akira expected his late night stroll to go, but well, here he is. He knows a little more than before, and he has a lead for more information, but in the last few minutes that he’s been sitting here, it’s fully hit him. Not only did he find some people involved, but he also entered into the metaverse-or rather, the Dark Hour.

Akihiko laid on the couch across from the one Akira was one. He wasn’t looking that good. The streams of moonlight from outside cast harsh shadows on his face. He hadn’t noticed when they were outside, but Akihiko looked exhausted. One of his hands was also bracing his side, like he was injured. The thought of that made Akira’s own hip throb. On top of that, he was tired too. Akira wanted to melt into the couch and peel himself off several hours later. But he should stay awake at least a little longer. 

“Sanada-senpai, are you okay? You don’t look so good”, he asked, breaking the silence.

Akihiko didn’t even open his eyes as he replied, “I’m fine. I’m just tired. It’s been a long night.”

“It is pretty late…” Akira trailed off.

There was no movement from the other couch to continue the short lived conversation.

“It’s almost as if his HP or SP are low. But I haven’t seen any residue from the defeated shadows, so did he fight one?” , Akira said.

“Neither Satanael nor myself have the ability to scan enemies or allies. Asking him about those values would only increase suspicion.” Arsene replied.

Akira turned towards the door leading outside, “Even if that were the case, all of my healing items are back at my apartment.”

“Would he even accept what a stranger offers? You have some very... interesting healing items.” Akira could feel the beginning of their worry.

“Neither his health or spirit are down. Now be quiet.” Yaldabaoth said, suddenly.

“Yaldabaoth? Did you just help us?” Akira asked.

“Awww, do you like us now~?” Arsene teased.

“I did that to attain silence. Nothing more, nothing less.” Yaldabaoth’s presence disappeared as soon as it had come.

“Sure, sure. We’ll leave you to your ‘silence’.” Arsene

“Maybe he really is just tired?” Akira

After that, they sit in silence for a while. Akira would check his phone for the time, but it had stopped working when everything went to shit. He also mourned the loss of his smartphone. With his flip phone it's no wonder that people ask to call him later instead of asking to text him. Weird how going 7 years into the past could change his stance on technology. 

Traveling through time has actually changed his outlook on many things. There’s so many differences that Akira has noticed, not only in the area, but in the atmosphere. It was so different to come to a new place without a bad reputation that overshadowed everything. To not have anyone distrust him immediately. To have an actual room and bed to sleep on. Akira has been left without any of the Phantom Thieves. Without any of his confidants. All alone in a place and time that isn’t his. He’s found himself alone again-

No! Bad Akira! He needed to stop thinking about this. Quick! Focus on something else. Someone just came down the stairs. Yeah, that’ll work!

Wait, someone came down the stairs? Someone else is here now?

Akira turned to see that yes, someone else was now in the room.

The man who stood there -not a teenager, even though this is a school dorm- at the bottom of the stairs didn’t bother to move quietly as he walked over to the two teens on the sofas. The man moved like he never had to hide from the shadows outside. Akihiko doesn’t make a move to sit up, even though the other presence in the room is quite obvious. Akira hoped this stranger is an ally.

The man came into the little light that was streaming into the lobby of the dorm, and Akira could get a better look at him. He was middle-aged with brown hair and just a little bit of facial hair. All of that and the smile on the man’s face reminded Akira just a little too much of a certain Detective Prince.

Akira was immediately on edge.

“Be on guard, Trickster.” Arsene warned.

“Ah, Akihiko. You're back. You rushed out of the room quite quickly. The others are on their way back now.” The man said walking even closer.

If Akira had hackles, they would be rising right now.

The man seemed to realize that there was someone else in the room. He turned to Akira, who wasn’t sure how to feel about this.

“Hello. Nice to meet you. I’m Shuji Ikutsuki, and I’m the chairman of the board at this school. I know, my name can be a bit hard to pronounce” The man-Ikutsuki said, the smile on his face still at full force.

“What?” Akira helpfully supplied. “Uh-nice to meet you?”

Ikutsuki turned back to Akihiko, who was now in a sitting position. “Akihiko. Is this the person you ran out to help?”

“Yes. I thought he was lured out of a coffin”-like the ones outside?-”by a shadow at first. But when I came up to him, his eyes were clear and he was able to hold a conversation. He might be able to join” Oh, so that’s why Akihiko was staring at him. It wasn’t because of his face.

“Ah! So it is possible that he might have the potential?” Ikutsuki said back, apparently knowing what all of that meant.

“Uh…” The potential for a Persona?

“Now, I’m sure you have a lot of questions, but thorough explanations would be best with the rest of the group here.” Ikutsuki said. He looked like he was gearing up for something.

“Will they be alright on the way back without someone in the command room? Even though they’ve already taken down the Priestess, it’s still the full moon.” Akihiko said.

“What is anything right now?” Akira mumbled. There were too many things they’re talking about that he doesn’t know.

“I guess I could cover some basics right now. There are other people on their way right now,” Ikutsuki said, a glimmer of something in his eyes. Akira braced, ”-and you probably have more in ‘com-moon’ with them than you think. Hehe” 

What? What? Is that it? Was that all this guy was hiding? The fact that he was just looking for an opportunity to drop a fucking pun! Akira is so much more lost. Everything is so surreal at this point. He wants to have a nice and small breakdown. (And Akira’s good at having breakdowns with a straight face so they wouldn’t know a thing.)

Akihiko groaned, “Chairman, please.”

Ikutsuki looked far too pleased at the damage he had wrought.

“Ahem, I guess I could cover some basic things now. So would you believe me if I said-” He began

There was a sudden rush of noise as everything within the building turned back on all at once. Akira squinted at the bright lights after having adjusted to using only moonlight.

Akira looked around, now being able to properly see the lobby he was in. It was...really nice. What else could you expect from Iwatodai and Gekkoukan? It was much better than the Kosei dorms, which Akira had the absolute pleasure of seeing once or twice. Those didn’t have Kirijo funding though.

The couches were nice, with no sign of trash in the corners or grime on the edges. The floor is almost spotless, and there’s nothing in the corners. There’s a full dining room table in the next area from what Akira could see around the partition. There was also a Fully Stocked Kitchen. Akira would kill for that level of tech at his current apartment, or even back at LeBlanc.

There was no sign that teenagers lived here. Teenagers could be gross.

Before Ikutsuki could continue, the front doors opened. Four people in Gekkoukan uniforms made their way in. One strode and three trudged in.

Akira recognized Mitsuru Kirijo, because she was, y’know, the student council president. He recognized the other girl too, Yukari Something. Rumors about her were everywhere, even if Akira wasn’t in her class (he knew how far rumors could go). He also saw the other transfer student, who he had seen in passing in the faculty office. The other guy didn’t ring any bells, though.

The next thing Akira noticed was that all four of them were holding weapons and a gun holstered somewhere on their body. A bow and three swords.

Bingo!

Akira has found his Persona users. Now he needed to find out who the wildcard was and stick by their side. 

“We're baaaaack!” The guy in the cap said, with more energy than Akira had expected this late at night.

“Ugh, could you keep it down.” Yukari said.

“Come on, we just got back from our first successful mission. We need to celebrate at least a little.” 

“What we need is a shower. Ugh, I feel so gross.” Yukari said back.

Akira knew how exhausting a run in a metaverse could be. Maybe he could use a shower too, after running after shadows all night.

None of the new arrivals seemed to notice that there was someone new here yet.

So Akira put on his best smile and said “Welcome back~”

Four pairs of eyes turned to him. Yukari and the other transfer student tensed up. Akira really hoped that she wouldn’t use the bow currently raised (but not drawn, thank Igor).

“And who is this?” Mitsuru said as she walked closer.

Akira must have hesitated just a moment too long because Akihiko jumped in and said, “I found him outside, in front of the school gate. He might be able to join us.”

Ikutsuki also jumped in, “No signs of confusion or memory loss either.”

“Healthy as can be. Though I am pretty tired, I'm not used to being up this late.” 

Akira spent almost a year with Morgana, and even now, he couldn’t help but follow that strict sleep schedule. If this always happens late at night, he might be a little fucked. He might have to look into doing little power naps like Yusuke could. (It hurt to think about any of the Phantom Thieves…)

“So, have you just been waiting for us to get back? Cause we just came back from… something, and I'm not sure any of us except for Mitsuru-senpai have any energy. I just want to go to bed.” Yukari said.

Most of the people in this room did look like they could lay down on the couch and pass out. In fact the loud guy in the baseball cap had braced his arms on the back of the couch and leaned over. Akira wouldn’t be surprised if he was falling asleep standing up. Poor guy. Akira knew from experience that adrenaline only gets you so far.

“That is true. What are your thoughts on this Arisato?” Mitsuru turned to the other transfer student. At least now Akira had a name.

“There’s no school today. We can wait until later.” Arisato said. (He was also … pretty cute.)

“That is true, most of you are out of stamina.” Mitsuru’s eyes flicked to Yukari for a moment. Must have used a lot of skills.

“If that’s it, I’m going to bed.” Arisato said, and immediately walked to the stairs. 

“Even after all that he’s still the same.” Yukari muttered after a moment.

Things had wound down a bit. Akira stood up from the couch.

“Should I start heading back then?” He said, and caught everyone’s attention, except for the guy who had probably passed out.

“Ah yes of course. The chairman,“ Mitsuru gestured to Ikutsuki, “and I will be at the dorm in the morning and at night. Feel free to stop by during either of those times.”

“I guess I’ll just head out then. See you guys later...today. Uh, goodnight.” Akira smiled and sent a small wave towards his classmates. Ikutsuki’s on thin ice though.

There was a small chorus of ‘goodnight’s and a from the lobby of the dorm as Akira headed to the door. He walked out into the night. There was noise from every direction. It was so different from before. The Dark Hour, if he remembered correctly.

As he walked away, he realized that he never actually introduced himself. They don’t even know his name, do they? Whelp, not like he can do anything about it now.

As he walked away, Akira hoped that the monorails were still running. It would suck to walk all the way back.

Chapter Text

Akira woke up later than he had planned to. The late morning sun streamed through the blinds in his small apartment and almost directly onto his face. His (unintentionally strict, thank you Morgana) sleep schedule had been disrupted by...everything that had happened last night. He could have made it through the day with some difficulty if it was just the fact that he stayed up late. But a run into the...metaverse? Dark Hour? Had left him drained. Thankfully the monorail that headed to Akira’s apartment had still been running. There was something about the other one, but he had been too tired to focus on that.

As Akira sat up, there was a twinge of pain that ran up his side. It sucked that he hadn’t been able to get his hip healed. His window of opportunity had passed. If he hadn’t entered and exited without a conscious decision, Akira would have eaten something. He should start carrying some metaverse items on him again. (Well, more than a knife he guessed.)

Moving around and getting ready was a bit of a pain. Akira’s hip had turned a nice purple, and the bruise was big enough that it peeked over his pant-line. Nothing he could do about it now. The weather was also getting warmer, but not warm enough that Akira had to worry about anything showing up under a t-shirt yet.

There wasn’t anything really noteworthy that happened on Akira’s way to the Iwatodai dorm. He had taken the monorail again. Thankfully it was still running, and the operator from last night was not the same as this morning. Nobody really paid attention to a random high school student going somewhere. (And Akira didn’t even need to slouch or wear glasses to seem unassuming!)

The dorm in front of Akira looked pretty different when illuminated by daylight, and not pale green moonlight. It almost felt more daunting though. Considering the fact that he was a stranger to the group of Persona users, they had to let him into their secret. Akira almost didn’t want to go in.

But he had to.

So Akira walked up the stairs and opened the front doors. The same upscale lounge greeted him. He looked around, it was still as nice looking as it was at night.

The only person Akira could see was Yukari who sat on one of the sofas. The rest of the-honestly pretty large-lobby was empty in an almost uncanny way. It rubbed Akira the wrong way in a sense. So much room, 3 floors for room, and he only saw one person. (Though maybe living in such small spaces for over a year would do that to a person.)

“Um, Good morning?” Akira called out weakly into the room.

Akira could see Yukari startle just a little bit. Though she seemed to have the kind of reaction control that someone with experience with the metaverse had. (Noise means more shadows, and more shadows can mean defeat. He would know...)

Yukari’s tense shoulders quickly relaxed when she looked up.

"Oh... Good morning?" She said as she stood up from the couch, "If you want… I can go tell Mitsuru-senpai and the chairman that you're here now."

This was kind of awkward. 

They’re essentially strangers. Before last night, the only thing they had in common was that they both went to the same school. 

"That would be good. I'll just, um, wait here then." Akira said, and gestured to the now empty couches.

Wow. Smooth. Doesn’t sound forced at aaaaaall.

"Yeah," Yukari said.

An awkward silence descended. Neither made a move to do what they said.

Fuck! Akira, quickly! Think of something to say! 

A beat passed. Yukari moved to head up the stairs.

A thought suddenly popped into Akira’s head. "Oh! I don't think I ever introduced myself last night. I'm Akira Kurusu, and I'm in 2-E."

She stopped. "I'm Yukari Takeba, from class 2-F. And just so you know…" Yukari looked down, like she was searching for the right words. 

She seemed to have come to a decision. Yukari looked up at Akira with an intense stare, "We have more members here than we did at the beginning of the semester, enough to manage things. So, don't let them force you into anything you don't want, okay?"

Those words struck a chord in Akira. It had been a while since he had heard such genuine concern from someone. It also gave him a little insight about what they were going to say.

It was...really nice. He didn’t get much of that back in 2016. (Back in 2016, that was so weird to say).

Akira couldn’t help but smile. It probably looked kind of dopey.

"Thank you" He said, and he meant it.

"Ugh. Save your flirting for other girls." Yukari rolled her eyes and turned away, but her words had little bite to them.

He chuckled a little at that. He hadn’t meant for it to come across as flirting, but if it helped to get her out of that weird mood. Then it was fine with him. (He may have gathered a sliiiiight reputation as a flirt. He wasn’t used to people being so nice instead of being afraid.)

Akira put his hands up in mock surrender, "Okay, okay. I'll stop."

“That was quite painful to watch. Were all of the meetings with your confidants like that.” Yaldabaoth cut in.

Akira scowled and turned away, “Shut up! I just didn’t sleep well, okay?”

“It’s okay Trickster, I understand.'' Arsene said. It didn’t help.

And Satanael didn’t even bother to comment.

Akira threw up his hands and sat down with a huff. He was being bullied in his own mindscape!

He crossed his arms, “Though it’s kind of sad that I can’t forge confidants anymore. Wonder what arcana she would be?”

“Just because you cannot do that anymore, does not make the bonds you forge now any less meaningful.” Satanael said.

“You got me there.”

After a few minutes, in which Akira wishes he still had his smartphone and all the apps that came with it, there was some movement from the direction of the stairs. He heard the sounds of footsteps, and a moment later Mitsuru Kirijo and the Chairman came into view. Akira made a move to stand up and greet them, but the chairman waved for him to sit back down. The two sat down as well, Ikutsuki in the chair next to him, and Mitsuru in the couch across from where he sat. There was a sound as Mitsuru set something down beside her.

“I’m glad that you got home safe.” Ikutsuki said, his hands together, and his legs crossed.

“Yeah, me too. One of the monorails apparently malfunctioned last night. I’m just happy I wasn’t on it.” Akira said.

Mitsuru almost looked embarrassed at that, but the expression on Ikutsuki’s face didn't change.

“Is that so?” Akira still doesn’t like that smile. “I also know that I introduced myself last time, but I’ll do it again. I’m Shuji Ikutsuki, and I’m the chairman here at Gekkoukan.”

“And I am Mitsuru Kirijo. And I don’t believe we ever got your name.”

“Oh yeah, last night was kind of hectic. I’m Akira Kurusu, I just transferred in this year.”

“Oh how interesting, for both transfer students to have the potential. What are the odds that that would occur?” Ikutsuki said.

“You kept mentioning that last night too. What is this ‘potential’?” Akira asked. Did it have something to do with Personas?

“We’ll answer that in a moment, but there’s some information you need first before you can understand what we mean.” Mitsuru said.

“That makes sense.” Akira could understand. He knew it was confusing when he and the others explained what happened to someone who was about to join the Phantom Thieves. 

“First, I have a question. Would you believe me if I said that a day consists of more than 24 hours?” Ikutsuki asked.

Akira didn’t know why he suddenly asked that, was this another joke? “Well, I wouldn’t believe you and then I’d say something about getting an extra hour of sleep.”

“Hehe that's true, that’s true. But I am being genuine right now.” Ikutsuki said.

“So this isn’t like your joke from last night? You’re being serious?” Akira said. An extra hour or something? Were they messing with him?

Mitsuru began to explain, like his reaction was expected. “You’ve already experienced it last night. What we call the Dark Hour. A time period hidden between one day and the next. Do you remember how it seemed? The coffins, nothing working, no movement or sounds around you, and how it almost felt, like you were in a separate time?” 

“Really? But then why did I never see it before last night?” Akira asked, and he couldn’t help the little bit of panic that laced his words.

He knew time could be fucky in the metaverse. Akira could remember times when it felt like they had been down in Mementos for days, but it had only been a couple hours in reality. Time was weird in the collective unconscious.

But Akira could never imagine something like this . A whole time period. Separate from everything else. A whole other hour where everything just stopped . 

“Do you remember the coffins?” Mitsuru asked.

Akira snapped out of his thoughts and responded.“Yeah, what about them?”

Mitsuru took a breath before she continued, “Those are people, and they’re asleep inside. They don’t experience the Dark Hour like we do. Only those with the potential, or those who have trained to overcome it,“ She gestured to the chairman, ”can perceive it. It is likely that you did not manifest the potential fully until last night. Or a few nights before, and you do not remember.” 

She looked down, and almost seemed regretful, “The first nights are the hardest.”

Akira wanted to put his head in his hands. A small breakdown felt justified at this point. This was just getting more and more fucked. Could he really have forgotten something like last night? Were there other gaps in his memory?

“It’s not that you forgot, but that you simply stuck with that insanely strict sleep schedule. And even if you tried to forget, I would not allow it.” Yaldabaoth said, as if he could hear Akira’s thoughts.

“Why would you do that?” He felt relieved. 

(And not that he would admit to Yaldabaoth of all things, but he also felt grateful.)

“Any limitation on you, is a limitation on me, and I will not stand for it.” Yaldabaoth said, like that made sense.

“Oh, okay.” Akira said back, and then forced himself to focus back on the conversation.

“You also saw those creatures right? Those we call ‘shadows’. They feed on the minds of their prey- people who sleep in their coffins. What is left behind is a living corpse. They’re the cause of Apathy Syndrome, and the ‘Lost’.” Mitsuru almost looked pissed at the end of that. 

Her hands were clenched in her lap, and there was a fierce look in her eyes. And this wasn’t anger, he could tell. This was something deeper, more concrete. It was determination. (She would have made a wonderful Phantom Thief.)

“So all those incidents I’ve heard about? It’s all been these ‘shadows’?” Akira said, like he didn’t know what that was.

“Yes, and unfortunately there’s nothing most people can do during the Dark Hour, and that includes the police.” Mitsuru said.

Ikutsuki answered the unasked question left by that statement. “That’s where we come in. Everyone you saw last night is part of S.E.E.S.- The Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad. On paper we’re just a school club, but in reality we’re a group that fights shadows.”

That was quite the name. Akira wanted to laugh at it, if not for everything else that had been explained, and the emotions that swirled in him.

“And now we can answer your question, about what we mean when we say ‘potential’. The members of S.E.E.S. have the potential to fight shadows. It is the power of ‘Persona’. Shadows can only be defeated by Persona users.”

Akira’s head snapped over to Ikutsuki. They had finally mentioned it. The one thing he had confidence in knowing.

He took a deep breath to ground himself. They had gotten to familiar territory. He needed to think.

“Okay, I think I get it. So the Dark Hour isn’t something you can’t choose to enter or not, and it happens every night, without exception. And S.E.E.S. is the group that fights against shadows during the Dark Hour.” Akira talked himself through the major points. He could think on the smaller (awful) points later.

“Correct.” Mitsuru nodded.

“It’s a lot to take in.” Akira admitted.

“But we also have something to ask of you, if you would be willing to listen.” Ikutsuki said.

“Sure.”

Ikutsuki then gestured to Mitsuru. She nodded back and reached to her side. She pulled up what looked like an aluminum briefcase, the kind that usually has something really important or really suspicious. She placed it on the table, and turned it so that the opening faced away from her, and towards Akira.

“We want you to join us. Would you be willing to lend us your strength, Kurusu?” Mitsuru said, and she opened the case.

“Is that a gun?!” Akira said the first thing that came to mind. He kind of wanted to slap himself.

The first thing Akira had noticed when she opened the case was the gun(?). It was a beautiful silver handgun, and the side engraved with S.E.E.S. It was a gun, a real gun. Nothing like the airsoft guns that could be bought from Iwai. There was also a white holster and belt strap that he vaguely remembered seeing on the group last night. A red piece of cloth was also rolled and placed inside. 

“This is an Evoker,”Mitsuru gestured to the gun, or rather, Evoker, “which allows us to use our Persona. And the armband is to show that you are a member of S.E.E.S.”

They summon their Personas using something that looks like a gun?? Can this group get any more grim? When Akira summoned his Personas, he used a mask. It was quick and painless, well, except for the first time. But that was it! You just took off your mask, and boom! Persona!

The way she said it though, it sounded like you have to use it every time… He hoped it wouldn’t hurt.

(Akira wondered for a moment what the other Thieves would think of this, but he quickly pushed those thoughts out of his head.)

“I don’t think I can say yes right away.” Akira lied, like a liar. “A lot has happened in a day, and I need some time to process. Would it be okay if I gave you my answer in a few days. I should have my mind sorted out by then.”

Akira knew he was going to say yes. Even if he hadn’t taken Igor’s deal, even if he wasn’t doing this to save someone, he would still say yes. Even without his knowledge, or his personas, he wouldn’t refuse. He’s not the type of person to just stand by while this kind of thing happens. He would say yes, wholeheartedly, if only to help people. To fight against Apathy Syndrome, and to prevent more people from becoming victims.

But Akira needed time. He had knowledge, and experience with all of this. And he needed some time to think about everything he learned. He needed space. No matter how much he wanted to, Akira can’t say yes.

At least not yet.

“That’s perfectly understandable.” Ikutsuki nodded. His smile still hadn’t changed! “You’ll be able to find me or Mitsuru here at the dorm most of the time. Though don’t wait too long, midterms are next week.“

“We’ll be awaiting your answer, then. I believe that you know where to find me.” Mitsuru closed the case, and stood.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at school, Kirijo-senpai.” Akira stood as well, and held out his hand.

She reached for his hand and shook it. “Please call me Mitsuru.”

Akira could feel his smile slip back into place. Even if he still felt like a confused mess on the inside.

“Okay Mitsuru, you can call me Akira.”

Mitsuru pulled her hand back, and smiled. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow, Kurusu.”

“Oof. You wound me.” Akira put his hand over his chest. Dramatics always came easy to him. “But I’ll see you tomorrow. Stay safe!”

“You too.” She said, and turned to walk further into the lobby.

Akira walked out of the lounge, just like he had before. It was different but also the same.

He ran his hand through his hair. Guess the rest of the day was going to be used to process everything that he learned in the last 24 (25??) hours.

.

A day was barely enough to think through everything. Akira still had to go to school the next day, even with all of that hanging over his head. His sleep the night before had been fitful, and on top of that, it was a Monday morning. At least he wasn’t awake for the Dark Hour, then he wouldn’t have gotten any sleep at all. It’s just, everything was a bit too much right now.

The monorail ride to Gekkoukan was thankfully uneventful. After Akira waved to a couple people from the school, he was able to find a seat and just rest a bit. Closing his eyes didn’t really help the tension in his shoulders.

As the school gates came into view, Akira could make out some familiar figures. He could see Yukari and that one guy in a baseball cap from before. He can’t remember if he even got the guy's name. It was late at night, and he probably doesn’t know Akira’s name either. 

It might have to do with them being fellow Persona users, but Akira could feel himself relax just a bit.

He walked up to them and lightly waved.

“Hi.”

“Oh, hey.”

“Sup dude. Oh wait, I know you! You’re that other transfer student, aren’t you?” The guy said, and… Wait. Hold on.

Does this guy not remember meeting after their super secret Persona mission. Even Yukari gave him a surprised look with a hint of ‘are you stupid??’ mixed in.

What a great segway to learn his name! Akira has to learn sooner or later, because they’ll have to work together in the future. This is so much less awkward than what he had imagined.

“I’m Akira Kurusu, and yeah, this is my first year here at Gekkoukan High. I’ve already met Yukari, but I don’t think I got your name.” Akira said, and held out his hand.

The guy grabbed his hand with extra energy, and wow! That was some grip strength my dude.

“I’m Junpei Iori, nice to meetcha! I’m in class 2-F. Also I transferred here a couple years ago, so if you ever need help or advice or anything, just lemme know.”

The guy-Junpei- released his hand, which kind of stung now. He shook his hand a few times and looked back up at him and Yukari.

“I was just on my way in, and, if you guys aren’t waiting for someone, do you want to walk together?” Akira said, and gestured to the entrance.

“That sounds okay. I wasn’t really doing anything anyway.” Yukari stepped away from the gate, and seemed to brush imaginary dust off of her skirt.

“You guys can go on ahead, I’m actually waiting here for our Leader.” Junpei

“Leader?” Akira said and tilted his head in confusion. Wouldn’t Mitsuru be at school early because of the student council?

Junpei looked embarrassed, as if he had just let an important secret slip, “Oh, nothing! I’m just waiting for a friend, I don’t know if you know them.”

“Um okay.” Akira could kind of understand the reaction, because you know, Persona stuff.

“Then we’ll just go on ahead. Don’t be late.” Yukari moved over to stand by Akira.

“Yeah, go get some Yuka-tan!” Junpei held up a thumbs up.

Akira tried really hard to choke back a laugh. Both at that statement and the indignant look on Yukari’s face. He definitely tried.

“I’m not getting anything! We’re just friends. Geez.” Yukari said angrily at Junpei, and then turned and hit Akira on the arm, “And you. Stop laughing.”

Yukari spun on her heel and walked away. Akira had to jog a little to catch up, but not before he waved to Junpei. He caught up, and matched Yukari’s pace. 

A comfortable silence settled. But Akira was a little curious about what Junpei was doing. Or maybe he just wanted to indulge in some good natured conversation with someone.

“That seems like an inefficient way to meet with Mitsuru.” Akira said, and broke the silence.

“What do you mean? He’s not waiting for Mitsuru.” Yukari turned to him, confused.

Akira mirrored the expression right back at her, “Isn’t Mitsuru the leader of your group? She seemed to be in charge from what I’ve seen.” 

“Oh, that.” Yukari rolled her eyes, “Mitsuru might be the ‘club leader’, but she’s not the field leader, Minato is. He was the other person from before, but if you don’t remember, he’s also the transfer student who ended up in my class. 2-F.”

“I remember, he was the” pretty cute “guy with the one handed sword and his right eye was covered, right? Do you, like, take orders from him instead?” He said.

Akira hadn’t considered that. During his time with the Phantom Thieves, he had been the leader on and off the field. They had never really taken orders from someone else in the group. That might have actually helped. Huh. It’s just, there’s not much he can do about that now.

“That’s him, and yeah we kinda do.” She suddenly stopped a few meters from the front doors,  “Speaking of the...club, this may be rude of me, but can I ask you something?” Yukari said, looking serious.

“Go ahead.” Akira had walked a few steps ahead, and moved to look back at her.

Yukari almost looked embarrassed as she began, “After your meeting with the chairman and Mitsuru, I didn’t hear anything about you. And while those two usually keep secrets, they’ve never hidden anything about another member joining or someone moving into the dorms, at least not yet. So I’ve got to ask, did you say no?”

Akira played with his bangs. This was a little heavier than he had anticipated. He took a moment to formulate his words.

“It’s...complicated. I just couldn’t give an answer right away. They had the case in front of me and everything, but it felt like everything was happening way too fast. 24 hours just wasn’t enough time to process all that.”

Akira looked away, that somehow felt a lot more honest than he had planned.

“That’s okay, I guess?” Yukari said, and there was something in her voice that made him turn back to her.

“What is it? Something wrong?” Akira asked.

“No it’s nothing. I, it’s. Just know that this isn’t something you can change your mind on later if you say yes. And don’t let other people pressure you about it, okay?” Yukari took a step forward, and seemed to want an answer.

“Okay?” Akira answered, confused.

Yukari nodded, and stepped back, “Now that that’s settled, I’m going to go to class. See you after school, Akira.”

She turned around and walked in, and left a thoroughly perplexed Akira. Some of the passing students let their eyes linger on him.

“See you after school?” He said weakly, to no one in general.

.

Class that day, and the next few days passed without any fanfare. Only a few significant things happened. Akira interacted more with the trio of Persona users from 2-F more, but it was mostly kept to hellos in the hallways and waves from a distance.

There was the one time where Mitsuru confronted him on Tuesday. She had met with him in the hallway, in full view of everyone. She asked for his answer, and Akira had managed to set a deadline for Friday. She had left, and Akira just knew that the rumor mill was going to be well fed for a while. (But it still wasn’t nearly as bad as it was at Shujin! Small victories at least.)

So it was shortly after school on the specified Friday that Akira made his way to the student council room. He had spent days working out a battle plan. He planned out what equipment and accessories to use. What skills Arsene should use. How much he should hold himself back. Even how much of his pretty sizable metaverse funds to use in front of them. Akira was as ready as he could be.

The door to the room was imposing. This was the point of no return. There was no going back after he said ‘yes’.

Akira took a breath, reached out, and opened the door.

Many pairs of eyes moved to the newcomer, but Akira only recognized a few of the people here. He wasn’t here for them, though.

Mitsuru gestured to one of the chairs that was a good distance from her, “Ah Kurusu, it’s good to see you. There are few things I need to take care of before we talk. Feel free to take a seat while I finish up, I’ll only be 10 minutes at most.”

Akira nodded and moved to the offered chair. Some stares followed him as he moved, but the one he could feel the most was from Minato. He tried to ignore them by taking out his schoolwork and working on it.

True to her work, Mitsuru finished within ten minutes. She was efficient at both working and at delegating tasks. Shujin wouldn’t have stood a chance.

She bid goodbye to the student council and left. Akira did the same before following after her.

Mitsuru led him to an area close to the dorms. There were much fewer people around than before. There was a silence and privacy here that almost felt excessive.

“So it’s Friday.” Akira started lamely.

“That it is.” Mitsuru said back, expectant.

“About before, and my answer to that.” He took a breath. This is it.

“My answer is yes. I’d like to join S.E.E.S., if you guys will still have me.”

Mitsuru smiled at him, and nodded. 

And Akira smiled back.

Chapter Text

Minato wasn’t sure what to make of Akira Kurusu; the latest person to join S.E.E.S.

Minato hasn’t had the chance to sit down and talk with him, so all he could do was guess based on what he already knew. They’re both second years who transferred in at the beginning of the semester. But they were put in different classes. Minato has seen Akira from a distance, and it’s always the same. Some light chatter with someone different every time, and a smile that was given out as easy as breathing. 

There was always some rumor about who Akira was dating or which girl had sent him a love note. He was well liked over all and could start a conversation with anyone without being awkward. A true social butterfly that seemed to have had nothing hard happen in his life so far.

In other words, Akira was exactly the type of person Minato avoided at his previous schools.

But now he was in S.E.E.S. and would have to take orders from Minato. Not only that, but shortly after Mitsuru left with him on Friday, he had been asked to help Akira get equipment and show him useful locations on Sunday. 

After the defeat of the Priestess Shadow, a new block of Tartarus had opened up. The shadows there were stronger so now it was up to Minato to make sure that their new member had good enough equipment that he wouldn’t just up and die on them.

Minato had already made plans for Saturday after school and Sunday morning, so the earliest he could help Akira would be Sunday afternoon. He would rather be spending time at karaoke or with one of his better Social Links.

But no, he couldn’t. So he sat on a bench in front of the fountain in Paulownia Mall with his headphones on and waiting for a guy who may not even show up because he was ‘busy’ or something. Wouldn’t be the first time Minato had heard that excuse from someone like him.

But there wasn’t much he had to do anyway. All Minato needed to do was point out the important places and then introduce Akira to Officer Kurosawa and then he’ll be done. And maybe, just maybe, depending on how he felt, he’ll tell Akira about what days you can get discounts at each store. Again, maybe .

And if he was lucky, Minato might even have enough time after this to do something else. There were a couple of places around Paulownia Mall to spend time with, or he could try to find another Social Link. And though he would never admit it out loud, he liked doing karaoke. Alone. He might even be able to get a room there tonight if he was early enough. Especially because midterms started tomorrow, and everyone would be too tired to really do anything.

Minato noticed a noise that sounded similar to his name over his music. He turned to see the exact person who had put him in this situation. Akira sat there on the bench, and there was about a foot that separated them. At least he had the decency to not plaster himself to Minato’s side. Minato took off his headphones, because he wasn’t that rude and looked at Akira and his soft, unchanging smile. It felt a little weird.

“Hey, Minato, if it’s okay to call you that. I hope you weren’t waiting too long, my apartment is a bit far from school, but I’ll be moving into the dorms soon, so that shouldn’t be a problem. And thank you for taking some time to do this.” Akira said, and Minato could almost believe that last part with how he played with his bangs nervously.

“It’s fine.” Minato responded vaguely to everything the other teen had said.

He stood up and walked around the fountain and motioned for Akira to follow him. This way Minato had an uninterrupted view of the stores here. It would make the next part easier.

“So what I’m going to do is point to places here in the mall, and what you can find there. I’m only going to say it once so listen close. Then I'll introduce you to someone important who personally helps S.E.E.S. He’s the whole reason we’re here in person.” Minato said, and stretched his neck to try to pop it.

“M’kay, sounds good so far.” Akira said, but Minato wasn’t looking at him.

“Okay so,'' Minato said and pointed to each place as he mentioned it. “That's Aohige Pharmacy, they sell items that can help heal you during the Dark Hour. Over there is Be blue V and they sell accessories, that when worn, can affect you, also during the Dark Hour. And that is Game Panic. If you play certain games there, it can affect your Persona.”

“What?” Akira said surprised.

“Don’t ask me why, I don’t know either.” Minato waved him off. He didn’t know about it and he didn’t care about it.

The pair continued to walk around the area. As they walked past the stairs to the karaoke place, Mandragora, Minato gave a quick thought to the door under there. He wasn’t here for the Velvet Room, so he continued walking to their final destination.

“And this is the last place.” Minato said, and gave a small hand wave.

“Um, the police station?” Akira said.

Minato could have sworn he heard something waver in Akira’s voice. He turned to see that the other teen had stopped smiling and was staring at the station with partially hidden apprehension.

He ignored his confusion as he said, “Yeah the police station. One of the officers here provides us with gear on the downlow. After we do introductions you can come back anytime to buy things. Oh there’s also this.”

Minato reached into his pocket and pulled out the bills the chairman had given him. He handed them over, and watched as Akira relaxed a bit with the small distraction.

“For now, I would just recommend finding a weapon you think you can fight with.” Minato said.

“Um, okay.” Akira said, dully.

He didn’t meet Minato’s eyes.

So Minato walked over to the station doors and held one open, “Come on, let’s get this over with quickly.” He said flatly.

That seemed to snap Akira out of whatever it was, and he plastered that same smile on his face, but Minato had an inkling it was forced.He walked forward with a pep in his step and nodded to Minato as he walked by.

Being able to change so fast made Minato queasy.

“Let’s do this.” Akira said, with too much cheer for the situation.

They walked into the silence of the station. Minato spotted Kurosawa across the counter and headed in his direction. Akira followed without breaking the silence, thankfully.

Minato looked at Akira, “This is Officer Kurosawa. He provides the group with...equipment.” He said, and left it at that. He hadn’t prepared an entire talk about it like Akihiko had.

“I’ve been updated on the current situation.” Kurosawa said.

He must have then seen something on Akira’s face because he then continued, “It’s my job to help maintain peace in the city. And it’s obvious that there’s something strange going on that disrupts that peace, but a police officer can’t do much. I want to help, no matter the circumstances.”

“Wow,” Akira said, looking almost dazed, “That’s pretty impressive. It makes me wish that more people in this line of work took their jobs as seriously as you do.”

“I’m only doing what I think is right.” Kurosawa sternly said.

A silence settled over the trio. Minato felt comfortable in silence, though he preferred music over it. Kurosawa also didn’t seem to mind. Akira though, he seemed to mind it. He began to fidget after a moment and looked uncomfortable.

“So uh, I hear that you have some stuff to show me?” Akira said, and then cringed.

Officer Kurosawa nodded and began to take things out from behind the counter. Soon there was a sizable range of weapons in the area in front of them. Bludgeoning, slashing, and piercing. Now what was Akira going to choose?

Akira leaned over the table and there was a glint in his eye, “You have some really nice things here. I would know what to pick. But-”

But? But what? 

He just needed to pick something. And if it didn’t work Akira could just come back and try something else.

“I think I might just stick to what I already have.” He leaned back, and almost looked smug.

“And what do you already have?” Minato said pointedly.

Like a street magician, Akira moved, and suddenly held a dagger that he got from somewhere on his person. Minato didn’t once think that he had a weapon on him. Even Kurosawa raised an eyebrow, at the fact that a teenager just walked into a station armed, or at the knife itself. 

It wasn’t a bad dagger. The silver sheen was quite nice, and the quality could rival anything that was on the counter. 

“Can I see it?” Minato asked, surprising himself with the request.

“Oh sure, just be careful. I make sure to keep my knives in pretty good condition, so it’s pretty sharp.”

More than one knife. Noted.

Akira carefully handed the silver dagger over to Minato. He looked it over. It was pretty strong, and would be acceptable for a trip into the second block of Tartarus. He begrudgingly approved of it.

“Where did you get this?” He asked. Connections are always useful.

Akira didn’t meet Minato’s eyes as he said, “I don’t really remember. I actually collect daggers as a hobby. I’m just glad it might be able to help in the future.”

But using a knife might be tricky. It would require someone to get up close to shadows to strike, and they would need enough speed to get away before being hit. And if Akira was going to fight like that, he might need to be paired up with someone who can heal. 

Minato began to figure out what team compositions he would use once midterms were over. 

“Thanks, and it’ll do.” He said quickly as he handed the dagger back to Akira and turned back to the weapons, “I’ll actually go ahead and buy something. I’ll get a Siren’s Song.” He pointed to the bow in question.

Minato pulled out the yen needed. Kurosawa took it and counted to make sure the amount was right. He nodded.

“I’ll make sure to send it to the address by tonight.” Kurosawa said. He made a move to put the weapons back, but stopped before he asked, “Is that going to be all for today?”

Minato looked to Akira for confirmation before he nodded to Kurosawa. The equipment on the counter was moved back. Akira’s knife also disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. Minato still couldn’t see where it was hidden on his body.

The pair bid goodbye to Officer Kurosawa and left the police station. Minato was actually happy with how fast all this had been taken care of. It had been less than an hour, and there was still time to do other things.

This was usually the part where they would separate, but neither made a move to leave.

“Um…” Akira said, instead of a goodbye.

“Do you have a question about something?”

“No, it’s just. You’re probably curious as to why I reacted the way I did.” Akira began to play with his bangs again.

“Not really.” Minato said. And it was a half truth. He was curious, but not enough to bring it up so bluntly.

“Oh” Akira said, and then laughed lightly. “That’s good I guess. I wasn’t sure if I was going to tell you. But if you do answer in the future, I might even tell you the truth.”

Akira smiled straight at him, and though it was smaller than normal and more shaky. It looked a lot more real than what Minato had seen on him before.

There was the sound of shattering glass and suddenly Minato heard a voice ring in his head.

“Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Adjustment Arcana…”

Minato felt the creation of a new Social Link. New energy bubbled up inside of him. He hadn’t expected that at all . That changes things.

“Well then” Akira said, unknowing of what just happened, “I should probably start heading back right now. Gotta finalize the move and all that jazz.”

Minato pulled out his phone and held it out in front of the other teen. “Here, put in your phone number, in case we need to contact each other in the future.” It was a pretty solid excuse in his opinion.

“Sure” Akira grabbed the phone and quickly put in his number. “And...there. That should be good, unless you want me to pose for a contact picture.”

“No need.” Minato said as he closed his phone with a click. The next part was going to be a little embarrassing, “But if we do end up hanging out, maybe I’ll tell you on what days the stores give discounts.”

“Aw, thank you,” Akira said brightly.

Minato just rolled his eyes before turning in the direction of the dorms. He heard Akira say goodbye, but he ignored him. There would be time for that in the future. He was a Social Link after all, and that meant that they would need to spend time together in the future.

At least Akira was a more tolerable Social Link than Kenji.

Chapter Text

Midterms suck.

No matter where, or when, Akira took them, they sucked. Not because he thought he would fail or anything. It was just the fact it was five straight days of test taking. The amount of brain power and energy needed to make it through the week was immense. He couldn’t even really interact with other people at the dorms now his move was finalized. Everyone was just as tired as he was!

Through a little bit of asking and math, Akira figured out that his first trip to the funky architecture tower would happen at the same time that Akihiko would be cleared to fight again. And more people meant that there was less of a chance to die in these new circumstances. 

There was something else Akira had discovered. Through late night experiments during the Dark Hour when he actually had energy after a test, he discovered two very important things. 

One, that he no longer had the physical abilities that he did in the metaverse. His body still knew the movements, so sneaking was still viable. But he could no longer do the jumps and tricks that he had loved to do in the metaverse. (Rip to Akira’s ability to do a beautiful triple standing backflip.)

And two, Akira got much more exhausted, much faster than normal. He couldn’t even reach a third of his normal chin-ups! He initially thought that maybe it was just because it was late at night, but that idea was quickly scrapped. It instead felt more like Akira had to physically fight against the dark hour to stay awake. He passed out immediately after that.

So now that Akira has been nerfed twice over, more people to keep him from dying sounded amazing. He just hoped that Arsene and Satanael kept their strength, or things would be even worse. (He also vaguely wondered if he could summon Yaldabaoth with the Evoker…)

So by the time Saturday afternoon rolled around everybody was ready to get moving again. Except for Mitsuru, she looked unfazed. She was just built differently, he guessed.

There was going to be a meeting in the evening that all members would attend on the 4th floor. Though Akira preferred the first floor because it had more space (and it meant less stairs ), apparently there was a control room on that floor of the dorms that the chairman stayed in. He hadn’t thought that this group of Person users would be so well equipped that they had an entire building as their base. But he guessed that’s what happened when you were backed by the Kirijo group. (At least they didn’t need to use an overpass, that was y’know, in public. )

But for the time being, Akira just chilled in the lobby on one of the couches. Akihiko was also there, but he was in one of the chairs and seemed to be doing maintenance on his boxing gloves. Akira could understand his desire to be ready after being put on the sidelines for at least a couple weeks.

The others were either in the building or out and about. From what he heard, Minato always seemed to go out a lot, and nobody really knew where. If he was the wildcard, like Akira suspected, then it made perfect sense if he was out forming and strengthening bonds with Confidants. 

Akira had already planned out what he was going to do tonight, but they’ll have to change with the new information. He won’t be able to hold back as much. Physically, he’s about the same level as everyone else considering there’s no cognitive buffs on his body. Akira’ll need to try his hardest with his dagger tonight. He almost wished he had picked one that was slightly stronger.

It also brought up the question of whether or not Arsene and Satanael had retained their strength. Actually now would be a perfect time to ask, since Akira wouldn’t look too out of place if he started staring out into space.

“Hey you guys, I’ve got a random question. How would you compare your strength right now to before I took Igor’s deal?” Akira asked into the shared mindscape.

Yaldabaoth surprisingly was the first to answer, “Why must you ask that? You were there when that fool Igor sealed by powers and bound my consciousness to yours.”

“Fear not Trickster, for my power has not waned.” Arsene joined in. “Your will of rebellion is still as strong as it was when you stood against your enemies! I, Arsene, Pillager of Twilight, shall continue to fight by your side. Though now I am curious; do I have the ability to vanquish the false god now that they no longer rule over anything.” Though it seemed like Arsene couldn’t help but get a jab in.

“Are you implying something, ‘thief’?” Akira could feel the beginning of Yaldabaoth’s irritation.

Akira always stayed out of the spats between these two. He never wanted to see what would happen to him if he ended up in the middle. Though he did get to watch from the sidelines. It could get pretty entertaining.

“I was just thinking of the possibilities. The Trickster was the one who dealt the final blow.” Arsene replied smugly.

“However, if I remember correctly.” Here we go… “It was done with the assistance of the Fallen Angel at the end. Not you.”

As if summoned, Satanael answered, ”My power is as it was before. However, you no longer have the strength the cognitive world blessed you with-”

Arsene interrupted, “We are one in the same! Both born from the Trickster! I am thou, thou art I, if you’ve forgotten.”

Satanael didn’t even stop talking, he just kept going, “Summoning me would put strain upon your body that you cannot yet handle. As you fight within this time, you will grow stronger. I will let you know when it is safer to call upon my power.”

“If I still had my physical form, I would be able to rip your wings off like an insect.” Yaldabaoth spat out.

“But you don’t, do you?” Arsene asked back.

“Thank you guys for answering. I’ll leave you two to it.” Akira said, and then tuned out the continued bickering. They almost sounded like a married couple on the verge of divorce… No wait, cancel that thought. Akira did not want to think that about beings that only lived in his mind.

But there was more planning to do, especially now with this new information.

So Akira leaned back, closed his eyes and did just that.

.

Akira woke to the feeling of someone lightly shaking his shoulder. He woke up slowly. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep. How long had he been out? 

“How long was I asleep for?” Akira asked sleepily, to no one in particular.

“Long enough that we’re all waiting for you upstairs. Can’t start the meeting without cha.” A voice suddenly said from his left.

Akira jolted to full awareness. He turned to see Junpei with his arms on the back of the couch. The afternoon sunlight that had streamed through the windows was replaced by weak evening streetlight. The room was dark.

Oh yeah! The meeting!

Akira put his head in his hands. He couldn’t believe he almost slept through it. The last week must have left him more exhausted than he thought. At least on the bright side he would be a little more rested for tonight. If he survived the embarrassment, that is.

“You good?” Junpei asked.

Akira pulled his hands away, “Just can’t believe I fell asleep. I didn’t miss anything right?”

“You just missed out on some talk about midterms, and Minato asking everyone about their gear, but since you went shopping with him you’re already okay on that. So don’t worry, we didn’t leave you out of anything important.” Junpei reassured him.

Akira rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stood up. Junpei’s reassurances didn’t do much to help him fight against the light blush.

“Why don’t we just head up before I do anything else to embarrass myself.” Akira said, resigned.

He ran a hand through his hair and moved after Junpei. The stairs weren’t great for his half awake body. Akira had to focus on his legs to keep from tripping.

On the walk up 3 full flights of stairs, he had time to think. Akira couldn’t help but think that his current circumstances were absolutely wild. If he didn’t have previous experience with Persona stuff, he wouldn’t have believed anything about this.

Geez, what would the others even have thought about all this? Morgana would probably have had an aneurysm if he knew about Akira’s future sleep schedule. Considering that they could only do missions at midnight and all that. And Sojiro probably wouldn’t have let him outside at midnight, so he’d probably have needed a little bit of help from the others. Heh.

Oh.

There was a pang in his chest.

That hurt.

It hurt a lot to think about them.

As he walked up the stairs, Akira finally realized what he had been feeling for a while. 

It was grief.

He was grieving. It felt as if everyone had died, and only Akira was left behind.

But he didn’t have to grieve right now, Akira had to get briefed on their objective for tonight. So he did what he did best with these kinds of feelings, he bottled it up and plastered a smile on his face before Junpei, or anyone else could see the pain. Maybe later, if he still had energy after this, Akira could break down in the comfort of his room.

Junpei and Akira had both noticed that he had stopped at the same time.

Junpei turned a little, “Everything okay, dude?”

“Oh it’s nothing,” Akira lied around the lump in his throat. “I just remembered something I forgot to do. I’m fine.” He would be fine, just maybe not right now.

Junpei looked a little unsure but seemed to accept his answer. She turned around and continued walking up the stairs. Akira let out a breath, and followed him up.

“Trickster…” Arsene said, worried. Probably because of the sudden influx of emotion

Akira could feel the concern of his Personas through their bonds.

“Not now. Please...” Akira said, and fought to keep a smile on his face.

The few moments of silence as they finished the climb gave Akira enough time to firmly box up his feelings, duck tape it, and shove it into some dark corner of his mind where it hopefully wouldn’t come back to bite him in the ass some time in the future. What fun.

Akira observed the open space of the 4th floor. He could see everyone already seated around what looked more like the lobby set up than a ‘meeting room’. Ikutsuki sat in one of the end chairs with his hands together like usual. Mitsuru had some papers in front of her and seemed to be going through them. Akihiko and Yukari sat across from each other, but seemed to be more interested in what Mitsuru was doing. And Minato looked like he was sleeping, the only giveaway to him being awake was that he tapped his finger in a rhythm as he lounged. All in all, everyone was accounted for.

Akira waved to everyone with a smile and sat down in one of the empty chairs. Junpei sat down as well and looked much more relaxed than Akira felt.

“Glad you could join us, Kurusu.” Mitsuru said as she gathered her papers and straightened them a few times against the table.

Akira rubbed the side of his neck, “Yeah, sorry about that. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“I didn’t mean to sound accusing. It was perfectly reasonable for someone who is not used to this.” Mitsuru said, “But it seems there’s been an oversight. We haven’t told you much about the place you’ll be entering. So before Arisato tells us about the plans for tonight, I’d like to tell you about Tartarus.”

“Tartarus?” Akira asked. The name definitely had the same vibe as Mementos. But just to make sure, “That’s the tower that looks like a bunch of buildings were glued together.”

He heard someone huff out a laugh.

Mitsuru sighed, “That is one way to describe it, I guess. But yes, that is Tartarus. It is a labyrinth that only appears during the Dark Hour.”

“That place is the nest of the shadows.” Akihiko cut in. “So we go in there and fight back against them. It’s the perfect place to train.”

Tartarus sounded more and more like Mementos, only above ground instead of below. Akira wondered if the layout of Tartarus changed as often as the hellscape subway did.

Mitsuru sighed again, “Akihiko please. But he is right. That is the place where shadows seem to spawn. That’s the place where we will be going tonight. We’ll move out before the Dark Hour begins in order to maximize our exploration time. Now Arisato, if you will.”

“Okay so,” Minato said, as he sat up straighter. “We were able to make it up to floor 25 before, but we’ll start at a lower floor. The team makeup will be a bit different. We’ll actually have two teams tonight that’ll both be led by me.”

That last statement seemed to earn Minato some worried looks. Akira kind of understood, if only because the Dar Hour makes you tired faster.

Minato continued anyway, “The first team will be me, Akira and Akihiko. You two will focus mainly on attacks, and I’ll focus on support. The second will be me, Yukari, and Junpei. We’ll use the same tactics and formations that we’ve used before. Everyone got that?”

“Um, Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Yukari asked.

Minato nodded. “I feel well rested enough that I think I can pull it off.”

That was five of them accounted for, but wait- “What about Mitsuru?” Akira asked.

“She’s our navigator.” Minato said, and quickly shot him down.

“While I’m able to fight, someone needs to provide outside support.” Mitsuru said. There was some emotion in her eyes that Akira couldn’t identify. “I’m the only one who can do it at the moment. So that’s my role.”

So she was a navigator who could also fight, just like-

Haha nope. Not now. Akira tried to stealthily pinch himself as a distraction.

“And I’ll be here, and in contact with everyone else.” Ikutsuki spoke up for the first time.

“So any question from anyone?” Minato said. He gave a short staredown to everyone in the room. At least Akira wasn’t singled out.

“I think it’s about time we get a move on.” Akihiko stood up. He looked excited.

Akira had quite the jumble of emotions sitting in his gut. There was worry and fear towards the unknown. There was curiosity towards exploring. And Akira couldn’t help it, but he was also excited.

He almost couldn’t wait.

.

S.E.E.S. stood in front of the school gates of Gekkoukan High. Akira still couldn’t figure out why Tartarus grew out of their school campus. The group was waiting for the Dark Hour, a few of the others had their phones out and were counting down. 

Akira stood next to Yukari and could look over her shoulder at her phone. He didn’t touch her though, because she had seemed uncomfortable with his earlier familiarity.

“It’s almost midnight.” Akihiko said, quietly.

Akira looked up from Yukari’s phone to the silent school. He was so used to seeing it with people. Maybe that’s what freaked him out the most about the Dark Hour. The silence, and the stillness of it all.

There was a change in the air that made goosebumps appear on Akira’s skin. Tartarus finally began to appear. The green building grew, twisted, and almost seemed to bloom like a horrifying lotus. It loomed over the group of teens. Tartarus seemed to reach towards the large green crescent that hung in the sky above it.

Akira almost didn't want to get used to the sight. At least he never had to watch Mementos grow like that.

Akihiko and Mitsuru walked forward and worked on the front gates. After a moment or two, they swung open, and everyone walked towards the elegant entrance. Nobody talked, but the silence wasn’t tense.

Man, there were a lot of clocks around here, weren’t there.

The inside of the tower was just as fancy as the entrance. There were blues and golds that brought the Velvet room to mind. Pillars surrounded the space and gave it an air of sophistication. There was a path that led to the main area that looked nice, but seemed to lead to an abyss if you fell. The stairs heading up led to, you guessed, an even fancier clock face than outside.

All in all, it felt like a place that couldn’t, or shouldn’t, exist in the real world.

Ah, the familiarity of the unfamiliar.

Akira almost missed it.

“This place… It has the same feeling as my temple. If I were free of your mortal form, this would be the perfect place to reestablish my former form.” Yaldabaoth said, as the group crossed over into the main area. There was almost a sense of excitement (?) in the false god’s voice.

“So are you saying there's a god here?” Akira asked.

Because if there was another god here, then things just got a whole lot worse. Akira barely survived (or didn’t, he doesn’t really know) the fight with Yaldabaoth. And if he had to do it again, then his role in saving the wildcard just took on a whole new meaning.

Akira looked over to Minato. He was the most likely candidate for being the wildcard, but Akira still lacked the confirmation. But if he had a choice, he wouldn’t let anyone in S.E.E.S. die while he was here.

“Not at the moment. I can sense no presence similar to me. It is the perfect place to breed one though. A labyrinth that towers over the souls of the humans. Just like the silver haired Star said earlier, this truly is a wonderful nest.” Yaldabaoth

“That's not reassuring at all.” Akira said. Hey, it was true! Just because a god wasn’t here now, doesn’t mean there won’t be one in the future.

“Be careful Trickster, our situation may have just gotten more complicated.” Satanael warned.

Akira knew exactly what Satanael meant.

“Kurusu, a moment of your time, please?” Mitsuru said and broke Akira from his thoughts.

“Yeah, what is it?” Akira turned from the vast space around that he was observing.

“As far as we know, this place is the safest in Tartarus. If you don’t mind, could you summon your Persona?” Mitsuru asked.

Minato suddenly seemed interested. It made sense because he was the one who had to worry about team composition.

Akira pulled out his Evoker from the holster on his thigh. Why did it have to look like a gun?

“I just have to… um, shoot myself with this?” Akira asked as he tested the weight. It had much more heft than any of the airsoft guns he used, inside or outside of the metaverse.

“Yes. If it helps, would you like me to demonstrate?” Mitsuru asked.

“Yeah I think it would help.” Akira said, if only to delay the inevitable.

Mitsuru nodded and pulled out her Evoker. She pointed the muzzle to her head with practiced ease. Her eyes were clear when she pulled the trigger. Akira noticed that the filament in the handle seemed to for a moment. 

Shards of something seemed to burst out of Mitsuru’s head and then form into a tall figure behind her. Her Persona appeared, wielding a dagger and a rapier. They had a femminine humanoid figure and had an outfit that wouldn’t be out of place on a noble.

Then without saying anything, Mitsuru’s Persona faded away.

Mitsuru put her Evoker back into its holster, “That was my Persona, Pentheselia.”

The only thing Akira could say was “Huh.” There were some questions he wanted to ask, but then he could reveal how much he actually knew.

Mitsuru and some of the others looked at him expectantly. Akira pushed past his hesitancy and steadied the Evoker against his head. They had said earlier that the act of using an Evoker was meant to represent the constant presence of death and the will to fight against it. And Akira couldn’t help but be afraid of death, or rather the consequences of him dying. But he could do this, he had the will of rebellion inside him, even if it meant rebelling against death.

(It didn’t help that it brought back memories of a plan gone right, but also so so wrong. Of someone he wanted to trust who was willing to put a bullet in his head. Of four concrete walls and a single table. Of needles. Of pain, so, so much pain… )

Akira pulled the trigger.

Inside his head there was a sound not unlike the breaking of glass and he couldn’t help but flinch. Something burst forward from within him. Akira could feel that whatever was summoned- or rather forced out, was neither Arsene or Satanael. It wasn’t even one of the remnants of Yaldabaoth’s power. It was something new born through the use of the Evoker.

“Thou art I, and I am thou”

Warmth flooded Akira’s gut, but at the same time it felt like someone had run a scoop along his insides to get at the deepest, most instinctual part of him. It felt as if the will of rebellion came from the heart, and the will to live came from the gut.

Akira opened his eyes, though he didn’t know when he closed them. He looked up. There were no flames or rattling chains. In front of him was a Persona-no, Mephistopheles. A being born anew, and Akira could feel the new bond take shape within him.

Mephistopheles stood tall with night black skin and fur. His legs ended in hooves, and silky wings draped down his back like imitation coattails. His head was either a goat skull, or used one as a mask, and the white bone stood out against the dark colors on his body. Only Mephistopheles’s red eyes could be seen through the skull. In one of his hands was a large sword, that form hilt to blade was easily the size of Akira.

He was beautiful. He felt like Akira. And he felt like a missing piece that had finally been found.

Mephistopheles gave a bow, and then disappeared just as Pentheselia had moments ago. However, Akira could feel him within the mindscape, though he still didn’t speak. Though Satanael and Arsene welcomed the new addition with ease.

Mitsuru brought her hands together, “C’est magnifique. A successful summoning is always a good sign.”

“Your Persona’s pretty cool lookin’, though not as cool as Hermes, you know.” Junpei said.

Akihiko gave him an excited smile. “He looked pretty strong. I’m glad you’ll be able to fight alongside us.”

Akira felt something solidify within him and tried to give the others a smile.

Minato walked up with a calculating look in his eyes. “Do you know what your affinities are yet? And if you’re confused then you just need to think about it for a bit.”

Akira reached out to his bond with Mephistopheles for the answers. What came to him was, “Strong against Dark, and weak against Light?”

Wait, Dark and Light? Not curse and bless?

Akira prodded again, and Mephistopheles gladly provided info. There was Strike, Slash, Pierce, Fire, Ice, Electric, Wind, Light, and Darkness. No sign of Gun, Nuclear, Psychokinesis, Bless, or Curse. And Physical was divided into 3 different categories. He would have to relearn this system. Aw geez. So Akira’s previous knowledge may not be as useful as he thought it would be.

Minato nodded, satisfied. Then asked, “What about your abilities?”

Akira thought for a moment, “Mainly Dark and Physical skills, I think.” He didn’t know what other abilities would be gained later.

Minato nodded again. He turned around and seemed to either study the others, or think about something. Without a word he walked towards the left side of the room, and then just stood there. Akira immediately thought of the times where he would dissociate when he went to the Velvet Room. This was probably the best proof of being a wildcard Akira could get outside of battle. It was a bit of a shame that he couldn’t see it anymore, after giving up his wildcard abilities and all that.

There was the feeling of a hand on his elbow. Akira turned to see Yukari with a sympathetic expression.

“You didn’t look too great after summoning, so I just wanted to let you know that the first one is always the hardest.” Yukari said, and then removed her hand.

“Thank you.” Akira said. The summoning of Mephistopheles instead of Arsene had shaken him earlier, but he felt calmer now.

After a moment or two Minato seemed to finish up and walked towards the weird greep pad on the other side. Akihiko motioned for Akira to follow. He did and stood next to the other two. Minato did something to the contraption, and then they fucking teleported .

Gods above and below, Akira felt much less prepared for all of this than he had six weeks ago.

Chapter Text

Fighting in Tartarus was a bit different from what Akira was used to, but at this point he had thrown all expectations out the window. (Why was it that the teleporter was the straw that broke the camel's back...) Even though there were underlying similarities, there was a lot Akira had to learn in a short amount of time. After all, they only had an hour to explore.

The place that Akira, Akihiko, and Minato explored was named the Arqa Block according to the others. The feeling the place gave off was comparable to a haunted Victorian mansion that you might find in a vampire movie. The area before, the Thebel Block apparently looked a little more like their school. At least this block had some good music. The percussion in it helped to keep him focused in a place where almost everything looked the same.

One of the biggest differences was that all the shadows in Tartarus were completely different. None, and he meant none , of Akira’s previous shadow/Persona knowledge was applicable. There were no hold-ups done or negotiations to try to get a shadow on Minato’s side. (And yes, Akira finally got confirmation that he was the wildcard. The multiple Personas kind of gave it away.) Instead, at the end of battles, Minato would seem to disassociate for a moment, and then things just kind of happened. Sometimes there was an extra surge of experience, they would be healed slightly, there was money that suddenly appeared, Minato might have a new weapon in his hands, or he would suddenly start using a new Persona after that.

Like excuse me. Sir. 

Were these the kind of things that would have happened to Akira if he had made a contract with actual Igor instead of Yaldabaoth?

Now the whole shadow and Persona thing was the biggest difference, it was easy to adjust after a while, especially with the help of Mitsuru and the others. The thing that Akira had the hardest time adapting to was the way S.E.E.S. fought.

Minato didn’t lead like Akira had when he could still be Joker. He never gave orders, and instead gave a general strategy to everyone. Sometimes he would yell out a change in the middle of battle, but it left Akira a lot of free choice when it came to using Mephistopheles’s skills. Sometimes Minato would even send Akira and Akihiko off to explore the floor on their own, and that included fighting shadows on their own. Not only that, but Mitsuru could scan enemies they hadn’t encountered before for strengths and weaknesses. They didn’t have to test for each one, especially since they couldn’t rely on Minato fusing a Persona to get all the affinities.

But that was about it. The only time they really worked as a group was during an all out attack.

Everyone in S.E.E.S. was so much more independent.

Akira’s chest felt a little hollow at that.

But all in all, being in Tartarus was exhausting. Much more than he thought it would be. He couldn’t hold back a yawn.

There was something that Akira had noticed earlier. Even though every shadow had a mask of some sort located somewhere on their bodies, they were never really targeted. Surprise attacks were done from the front and back, and only with a weapon. 

There were quite a few questions on the tip of his tongue, but Akira ignored them in favor of focusing on staying alive. Keeping up with the other two did sometimes feel difficult, but at least he didn’t feel like dead weight. Between his ability with a dagger and Mephistopheles, he was able to contribute a decent amount in battle.

Akira yawned again.

“Are you getting tired?” Akira almost went into a fighting stance, before he realized it was just Minato.

It took him a moment to process the question. Akira’s HP and SP were both fine, not full but fine. Now beforehand that would have been enough to keep going.

But now Akira didn’t have to put on a strong front. He wasn’t the leader anymore, and could actually show weakness. He felt a little relieved at being able to do that.

So Akira gave a small smile and admitted, “Yes, I think I am. I might have to tap out at the next teleporter.”

“Me too. I’m starting to get a little sore” Akihiko said, as he rolled one of his shoulders.

“Okay then. Do you guys think you can continue up, or should we head down to find it.” Minato looked between the both of them.

Akira looked at Akihiko, who nodded. He then turned back to Minato, “I think we’ll be fine to keep heading up. But what about you? I mean, you still plan to come back up with Yukari and Junpei, right?”

“I’m fine. Let’s keep moving.” Minato said as he began to walk away.

Akira couldn’t help but be a little worried. He was familiar with the pressure he might be feeling as the leader.

“Just don’t push yourself too hard, okay? Though if you get too tired after this, I wouldn’t mind carrying you back to the dorms~.”

Minato didn’t respond, but surprisingly, Akihiko did.

“Are you sure you’ll be able to do that? Or have you trained your strength before?” He asked.

“Yes?” Akira said like it was a question. This conversation was going in a very different direction.

Akihiko looked kind of pleased.

But wait, if Akihiko was the captain of the boxing team, then it probably knew a good place to train. Protein Lovers wasn’t really an option anymore.

“Oh that reminds me, Akihiko-senpai, can I ask you for a small favor? Do you know a good gym or place to work out? There was a place back in Tokyo that I was a regular at, but I haven’t been able to find a new place.” Akira asked. He at least wanted to try being friends with everyone in S.E.E.S.

Akihiko looked excited at his question.

“I know a few good places, and I’ll even introduce you.” Akihiko snapped his finger. “But if you’re really serious, I can let you use the boxing club facilities. We could work out and train there together.”

“Oh, you don’t have to go that far. Just telling me about some places would be enough. And I wouldn’t want to impose on the club.” Akira brought up his hands to refuse.

Akihiko took a step closer, and Akira could almost see sparkles in his eyes. “Don’t worry about it. It’ll be fine. You’re the only one in this group who’s shown an interest in working out.”

“Well, if you insist. I guess.” Akira said, trying not to look too deeply into the other’s eyes.

“Get ready to battle, there’s a shadow up ahead.” Minato interrupted.

“We can keep talking about this later.” Akihiko said, and then ran ahead with much more energy than before.

Akira took a moment to appreciate the feeling before he also rushed into the battle.

.

The floor of Tartarus was not comfortable. After they cleared a few more floors of the lime colored tower, Akira, Minato, and Akihiko went back down the first floor. There were more battles than Akira had anticipated, so he may have pushed himself just a little too far. So the first thing he had done when they got back was not go to the dorms. It was to flop onto the floor and try to catch his breath without falling asleep.

Mitsuru was over by the stairs with her moped communication machine. She called out orders and gave out information to the team upstairs. Akihiko was near where Akira was sprawled out on the floor. He looked to be running through some stretches that focused mostly on his upper body.

So in order to ignore the sweet siren call of passing out on the floor, Akira thought back onto his previous questions. Now that he didn’t have to worry about being jumped by a shadow, maybe he could actually ask now.

“Hey…” Akira said from the floor.

There didn’t seem to be a response from either of the two people in the room. With more effort than usual, Akira sat up.

“Hey, um…” after Akihiko turned to him, Akira continued. “Can I ask you a question? It’s been on my mind for a bit.”

“Sure, go ahead.” Akihiko said tiredly.

“So, all of the shadows have masks, right?” Akira saw Akihiko nod. “Now what would happen if…” How could he phrase this so it didn’t sound weird or suspicious. “We hypothetically… took them off?”

Akira could almost hear Yaldabaoth’s laughter in his head. But he kind of needed to know. He remembered turning some shadows into goop a few weeks ago. So it was possible, but no one had done it. What if it was just that Minato hadn’t gotten that Confidant perk yet.

Akihiko thought about it for a moment, then said, “We can’t do that for a couple of reasons. The reason time gets distorted here is because of the large amount of shadows gathered. Making them unstable in any way could have horrible consequences. There’s also the fact that…” Akihiko looked over to Mitsuru, who was still busy with navigation. 

Akihiko shook his head, “Nevermind… Just try not to mess with the shadows. Except for fighting them.”

Akira just felt confused. He got one answer but more questions on top of that. Some things just didn’t line up with what he had experienced. He didn’t recall anything happening when he had ambushed some shadows.

Akira might have to investigate that on his own.

“Oh, okay. Thank you for answering. I just hope I didn’t step on a landmine or something. I was just curious.” Akira played with his bangs to try to hide the confusion on his face.

Akihiko turned to the entrance of Tartarus. “I’m going to make my way back to the dorms. I’m done for the night. What about you?”

Akira made his way to his feet. He could proudly say that he didn’t sway or wobble. He smiled at Akihiko, “I’ll head back with you. That way, we can catch each other if we fall.”

“You don’t have to worry about me. This isn’t enough to keep me down. But if you need to be carried back, I can do that too.” Akihiko said, and then began to walk to the entrance.

As tempting as that offer was, it was just too much for his heart in his current bone tired state. Akira huffed out a laugh and followed after, “You don’t have to go that far. I’ll just need someone to lean on if I swoon.”

Akira mimed it with a hand to his forehead. Akihiko looked a bit confused though. Akira just waved it off.

The muggy night air greeted the two of them as they stepped outside. They didn’t talk as they walked, and Akira didn’t really want to at the moment. 

He would have to look into some things without S.E.E.S. knowing. He couldn’t afford to earn their suspicion at this point. But he couldn’t just ignore it either. There were too many differences in how the two groups of Persona users worked. There were too many things, so it couldn’t just be hand waved away as Yaldabaoth’s influence.

Maybe Akira shouldn’t have moved into the dorms. Because now he was going to have to sneak out of them.

Chapter Text

(Before the chapter begins, here's some more wonderful art from my friend @The_DerpyHunter)

It had finally dawned on Akira that not only was the Kirijo group rich, they were way too rich. Really? A security camera in every room in the dorm? Isn’t that just a bit excessive. So here he was, having a staring contest with the camera that stared directly at his bed. He felt ashamed that he hadn’t seen them earlier. At least it probably hadn’t caught his dagger and mementos miscellaneous collection.

But this could complicate things, especially if he was going to start sneaking out to investigate the dark hour and how similar it was to the metaverse. How could Akira approach this? He could obscure it, or gods forbid, damage it. But he should probably ask Mitsuru about it first and foremost. Her family owned the building and she would have a lot of say.

But she was out until the evening. So Akira had to think of ways to pass the time. He could do some school work or perform maintenance on his weapons. There was also the fact that the police station apparently had a discount on Sundays. Which would be perfect if not for the fact that it was still a police station. Even if the officer there was nice, Akira would still avoid it if he could.

So that possibility was thrown out the window along with all his feelings on the matter. Haha. Kurosawa? He didn’t know a Kurosawa. No ma’am.

In the end he decided just to do some homework. Not at the dorms though. Akira had spent a little too much time cooped up there because of midterms over the course of the week. He remembered seeing a cafe when he had gone weapon shopping with Minato. It would be a good place. (He also wondered how the coffee would compare with LeBlanc’s…)

.

Akira couldn’t really say if the ‘pheromone coffee’ and it was named was better or worse than Sojiro’s. The coffee wasn’t bad, it was a well made cup. It’s just hard to compare two brews that are as varied as those two. (Though he’s glad it doesn’t taste like LeBlanc’s, he might have started bawling in public.) There were also a few people who swung by to say hello. They were people he recognized from school, but he couldn’t recall their names.

Akira had managed to get some work done and headed back to the dorms. The sun was low in the sky, but wasn’t yet touching the horizon. The way back was just as peaceful as the way there.

He stepped into the large lobby. He spotted Mitsuru over at the dining room table. She was doing something on a laptop that was about as thick as the computer he had used to shop on Tanaka’s weird website. (It was still kind of weird to see him on the tv screen without those shady glasses.)

Akira also spotted Akihiko behind Mitsuru on one of the barstools. Minato had come in from wherever he went today. He was doing something over at the front desk with the sign in sheet.

Aw fuck. This was going to be a bit of an awkward conversation even without other people around. It would be even worse now.

Akira walked over to Mitsuru and set his stuff down. Might as well get it over with now. He took a seat near her.

“Oh hello Kurusu.” She said, and looked away from the screen in front of her.

“Hey Mitsuru,” Akira said and then after a moment continued, “Can I ask you a favor?”

“Of course. Is it about your studies?” She said, curious.

“No, it’s not that. I think I’m good on that front.” He said. “It’s just…” Akira rubbed the back of his neck. There really was no delicate way to put this. “It’s about the camera in my room. I only noticed earlier today, and was wondering if I was allowed to cover it in some way.”

He looked away. He didn’t want to see the look on her face.

“Kurusu, is there a problem with it?” She sounded worried.

“Well, I don’t really like the idea of being watched. Someone could watch me go about my day, or sleep. And it just…makes me uncomfortable. Also, I think anyone could just go up to the fourth floor to watch the footage so there’s that. I don’t know if I’m really okay with it.” Akira rambled in an attempt to justify himself.

He looked up to see Mitsuru. She seemed concerned for a moment before looking lost in thought. Akira hoped she was at least considering it.

Mitsuru spoke slower than before, “It should be fine, as long as you don’t cause any damage. I wish I had known earlier that this distressed you.”

Akira felt relief rush through him. His shoulders probably visibly slumped. “Thank you. I would have told you earlier if I had known earlier. I promise to not break anything.”

“Of course.” Mitsuru said and glanced back at her computer. “Just make sure to let me know if you have any issues. School related, or not. Okay?”

Her eyes were soft.

They hurt to look at.

“I will. Don’t worry. And maybe sometime, we could study together.” Akira said and hoped to end the conversation on a lighthearted note.

“That sounds wonderful.” Mitsuru said and turned back to her work.

Akira grabbed his stuff and stood up. “Have a good night.”

He walked quickly towards the stairs. He made an effort to not look at the other people who were in the room. He didn’t want to see their expressions and what they thought.

Akira didn’t want people to worry about him.

Bad habits are still habits. And habits are hard to break.

.

The next few days were as typical as could be. Other than one more trip to Tartarus, everybody just went to school like normal. 

But Akira had nervous energy. And it wasn’t just because exam scores were posted. He knew he was going to do well, and he had made the top 5. It’s bound to happen when you have to repeat your second year of high school. (Time really got kind of fucked when you got involved with Persona stuff, huh.)

He had the nervous-excited energy because he was going to do his first non-S.E.E.S. sanctioned Dark Hour excursion. He had planned out most of it. But there was still the chance that things could go wrong. But overthinking it would only make his nerves worse. So Akira decided to focus on class.

He sat down for Mr. Ekoda’s homeroom when he noticed one familiar head of teal hair was missing. Akira scanned the room and couldn’t find her. She had stood out to him because she reminded him of someone. And she was never the type to come into class late. But Akira didn’t even know her name. He had tried talking to her once, but she had seemed pretty uncomfortable, so he stopped.

Akira slightly leaned over to a girl at a desk next to him. “Hey, you know the girl with the blue-ish green hair.” The girl nodded. “Do you know where she is?”

“Oh, Yamagishi?” The girl covered her mouth with her hand and turned away, but Akira could still see her smile. “Sorry, but I have no idea where she could be.”

Akira wanted to push it because he didn’t trust that smirk. He couldn’t though, not without seeming rude. He leaned back.

“That’s okay. Thank you for answering anyway.” Akira said and turned back to the front of the classroom.

It was probably bullying that caused Yamagishi to miss school, but he couldn’t help but worry that she had been caught by a shadow. Apathy Syndrome cases seemed to be on the rise recently.

.

Dark clothes with a hoodie that make sure no skin shows? Check.

Covered camera? Check.

Two face masks on just in case? Check.

A decent amount of healing items? Check.

Misericorde on one side and his Tyrant Pistol on the other? Check.

And finally, the clock on his flip phone counting down the seconds to the Dark Hour? Also check.

Akira was as ready as he could be. It was more risky than a solo Palace run because of how the Dark Hour worked. But a few trips and experiments gave him some expectations.

He wasn’t going to bring his Evoker. Since the first thing he was going to test was whether or not he could still summon Arsene. Then he was going to see if he could summon Mephistopheles without it. And then he was going to test out his (maybe?) model gun. He wanted to know if cognition bullshit would still work on it. (Hopefully he wouldn’t need ammo, that would be an awkward conversation at the station…)

“Trickster, it is time.” Came Satanael’s sonorous voice.

Akira looked at the time and saw that there was less than 15 seconds left. He moved closer to the window he was going to leave through.

5... 4... 3... 2... 1… 0

As soon as the shift between times occurred, Akira began to quietly open the window. Thankfully he was only on the second floor so the drop wasn’t that bad.

Akira moved through the window and rolled when he reached the ground. He made sure to check on the ladder he had hidden beforehand. It was still there. Good.

With everything in order, Akira began to move. He had to find a place a good distance from the dorms so no one could hear him, just in case there were any large noises. The sound of his footsteps and his own careful breathing were the only sounds he heard.

There was the same amount of pseudo blood, but a lot less shadows. They were out and about the last time Akira was out here. There was only one that he had to ambush. The others were all spread out enough that he could just sneak by.

Arsene broke the silence, “The Trickster is truly worthy of the name of Phantom Thief.”  He said, sounding proud.

Akira could feel Mephistopheles’s agreement.

“Yet there is almost nothing to spot him. Is such a proclamation fitting for the situation?” Yaldabaoth replied.

“While that might be true, you cannot deny his skill. Correct?” Arsene said.

Akira had paused to focus on the mental conversation. But it appeared to end there. It was unusual. But he shrugged and continued moving.

After a while, Akira found a pretty good place. It was near the station and had enough room to do some summoning, but not too big that he felt exposed.

“Are you ready, Arsene?” Akira asked, excited.

“I’m always ready for when you need me.” Arsene shot back, just as excited.

Akira focused and thought back to all the times he summoned Personas as Joker. He closed his eyes. He remembered the feelings of freedom and elation when he first ripped off his domino mask. The rush of power. The knowledge that followed soon after, that he had finally gained the ability to fight back against those who had power. To fight back against those who abused their power.

There was a feeling that soon rose in his chest. In his heart. Akira quickly grasped at it and pulled .

The familiar rush of power flowed through his veins. It knocked the breath from his lungs.

But in front of him stood Arsene wreathed in familiar blue flames. Akira laughed out loud from the shared joy through their bond.

Arsene spread his arms and pronounced, “I am Arsene, the Pillager of Twilight! As the one who summoned me, what shall you have me do?”

Akira held out a hand while he smiled, “Arsene, as the rebel soul that resides within me. I have one request. Please cast a single Eigaon.”

“As you wish.” Arsene said and held out one clawed hand.

And casted the skill perfectly . He could feel the crackle of cursed energy as the spell impacted the ground. The black and red danced eerily under the green light.

Akira felt relieved. He wasn’t as bound by the rules of this cognitive world as he feared. Curse still existed. He wouldn’t be limited to only physical and insta-kill skills. And that probably meant that his magatama were still viable.

Arsene gave a low bow with a flourish, and disappeared in a rush of blue fire. Akira took some deep breaths. The action of summoning had left him winded.

“Must this group be so dramatic? Is there any use for theatrics?” Yaldabaoth complained.

“You must be jealous that you cannot leave,” Arsene smuggly said.

“That is true, I do not want to be bound to the Trickster for any longer.” Yaldabaoth said back.

Akira ignored them and instead focused on Mephistopheles. It was time for the second test. He could feel his Persona’s excitement with a hint  of jealousy.

“Your turn Mephistopheles. Ready to try?” Akira said in response to the feelings that permeated their bond.

He got pure excitement in response that time.

Akira began to focus again. This time he ignored the feeling that still floated around in his chest. He thought back to the tightness in his gut. And the feeling of fear, but still choosing to defy death. Thinking about some more… distressing memories made it easier to bring those feelings to the surface.

However, he didn’t have a lot of time to ruminate on past events as the form of Mephistopheles appeared in front of him. He flickered for a moment before solidifying. The edge of his sword came to rest on the concrete with a soft scrape.

Mephistopheles put a hand over where his heart would be and bowed his head. Akira did the same back. He could almost see Yaldabaoth’s grimacing face.

However, before Akira could ask anything of his persona, there was a rush of lightheadedness. Mephistopheles disappeared from in front of him. He braced his hands on his knees, and struggled to catch his breath. All he could hear were his own harsh pants and thundering heartbeat. His vision swam.

Akira could feel worry from all three of his Personas. Thankfully he was better within a minute. Apparently two summonings without any assistance so close to each other had been a bad idea. And that probably meant that he was going to get a lot stronger before he could even think of summoning Satanael without passing out immediately after.

He stood up straight and wiped the sweat from his brow. “That could have gone a lot better, huh.” Akira said out loud.

There was a small chorus of responses, most of them worried. Akira promised that he would wait a few moments before moving on to the next experiment.

Akira only reached for his pistol once his vision was completely steady. When he pulled it out of its holster, he could almost swear that it was heavier than normal. But that could also just be his imagination.

He held the familiar weight and aimed the Tyrant’s Pistol at something off in the distance with one hand. He had two successes this night, could Akira go three for three? He readied himself and pulled the trigger.

He heard a click.

And then nothing else happened.

Akira pulled the trigger a few more times, but all he got in response was just some more clicks.

He sighed and brought his hand down. Two out of three wasn’t bad, and at least he had some cool looking model guns now. It was hard to feel bad while Arsene and Mephistopheles were still so excited from before as well.

Overall the night was a success.

Akira still had a little time before he had to start heading back to the dorms. So he started to go through some familiar motions. Moves that utilized both the dagger and the gun, even if it didn’t fire. It still worked as a good training device.

The combination of the slashes, stabs, and ‘shots’ helped Akira to fall into a rhythm. It was a sort of calm similar to an intense but refreshing workout. He could almost imagine himself being able to be Joker again. Fighting in Mementos with the Thieves at his back.

It almost felt real.

Until it was.

On one move where Akira was close to the ground, he pulled the trigger at nothing in particular. But he didn’t get a click.

He got a bang.

The pistol jumped from his hand from the force of the recoil. The bang, so unlike the muffled sounds that he was more used to, made Akira fall to his knees and his ears ring. The only thing he could hear were the worried voices within his head.

Akira struggled to keep his breathing steady. But it was hard with the images that surfaced in his mind. The realistic gunshot brought the memory of armed men hunting him down straight to the surface.

“Capture him!”

“There’s nowhere to run!”

He knew he wasn’t there anymore. He knew he wasn’t in danger. But it was hard to remember that when the fear he felt in that moment came rushing back. He could almost feel the kick to his stomach again.

“You have your teammate to thank for this. You were sold out.”

Akira had to bite down on his gloved fist in order to muffle a whimper. The taste of leather coated his tongue. He tried hard to focus on the voices of his Personas or even on their bond, but it was difficult over the ringing in his ears.

The gunshot flashed through his mind again. Akira’s body felt hot except for the cool metal against his forehead.

Cool metal?

Unless someone had taken his dagger out and pressed it against his flushed skin, that shouldn’t be possible.

Akira opened his eyes to see a metal bell. He kind of had to cross his eyes in order to see it. He couldn’t decide if it looked silver or gold, but the chill felt good. He sat up from where he had fallen on the ground in order to get a better look at it. It was something else to focus on.

However, when he sat back, Akira saw something that almost made him laugh out loud simply from the absurdity. It looked like someone had cut off Yaldabaoth’s bell arm and made it teeny tiny. And then suspended it right in front of Akira. It jingled lightly when it moved, and was charming in a way that didn’t match with the image of the God of Control.

“Are you quite finished? I could not even hear my own thoughts over the sounds of your torments.” Yaldabaoth said as the bell gave a sharper ring. After a moment with no responses he continued, “Now with your episode out of the way, I’m going to rest. As you know, a physical manifestation demands energy.”

Before Akira could say anything about what the fuck just happened, the bell gave one more harsh ring. Then it froze, and began to break down into what looked like small pieces of red glass. The shards floated away for a moment before dissipating themselves.

“Yaldabaoth?” Akira called out to him.

There was no response from the sealed god.

“Yalda...baoth?” Akira said from where he was still on the ground.

“Their presence is weak. I can barely sense it.” Satanael said.

“Trickster, about what happened… The images we saw. If it still haunts you, we are here for you.” Arsene reassured. He could feel the same from Mephistopheles.

Akira was pretty sure he was dissociating by this point. He felt ready to clip into the floor and felt close to all emotions but also none at the same time. 

What a fucking night. 

Akira let out the longest sigh he had probably ever produced. He was ready to go back to bed and pass the fuck out. At least the next day was Sunday, so nobody would get on his case if he slept for an entire day.

He stood up and picked up the dropped weapons, almost in a daze. The walk back was half hearted in the way that Akira would only hide from a nearby shadow, is if one of his Personas reminded him to.

The Iwatodai dorms came into view faster than he thought they would. Akira must have been too out of it to pay attention to anything . 

Though a moment after realizing that, there was a sound that caught his notice. Well, it was more than one sound. And they almost sounded like voices.

Akira was now wide awake. The exhaustion and fog-like feeling from his ‘episode’ earlier vanished almost instantly. His instincts from over a year of training kicked in and he moved silently towards the source. AS he approached a corner that could be a good viewpoint, Akir poked his head out.

He found four people (not coffins, but people) conversing calmly.

His first thought was What the fuck? There could be other Persona users?

His second thought was Holy shit! There could be other Persona users!

Akira was too exhausted to deal with that at this point. The fact that there was another group that could be allies, could be enemies, and hopefully wouldn’t be another Black Mask situation wasn’t enough to faze him. He really didn’t know which aspect was more worrying. But he was past his emotional event horizon.

He cataloged their appearances just in case he saw them during the day. One guy looked like he was dressed like a cyberpunk thief outfit. Another looked like a tattooed Jesus rip-off. The third guy was hunched over, but was still taller than the rest of the group. He was bundled up, even as the summer days were approaching. The only woman of the group wore all white that contrasted with her red hair. Also, there might have been a knife in her hair/head.

After cataloging as much detail as his tiring mind would allow, Akira silently headed back to the dorms. He only barely remembered to grab the ladder he prepared to get back into the second floor. (Because you know, his parkour skills weren’t as reliable as before. The climb was a little harder than it should be, but at least he almost fell once. 

Akira pulled the ladder through the window after him and then slid it mostly under the bed with heavy arms. He took off his hoodie and other outerwear, but didn’t have the energy to do much else.

He fell asleep so fast that in the morning, he didn’t even remember laying down in his bed.

Chapter Text

Minato almost regretted asking Akira to study together with him today. As he sat across from Minato, he looked half dead. The glasses that he didn’t know Akira had did nothing to hide the prominent dark circles under his eyes. And every time Akira yawned, Minato wanted to as well. The frequency was almost to the point that it was annoying, but not enough that he wanted to stop and send Akira back to bed. Because where else would someone who looked that bad go?

Because, even though he loathed to admit it, Akira was good at this. Not only at the material itself, but he could explain it well too. He acted like he had experience explaining it to other people. Minato was learning better than he had when he studied alone in his room.

Akira yawned again. Minato was stuck on an English question.

“Why are English plurals so complicated?” Minato asked, and didn’t really didn’t expect a response.

“I don’t really know. I don’t have any advice for that beyond trying to memorize them.” Akira answered like he had every other time Minato had asked a rhetorical question.

Minato leaned his head back and sighed. He closed his eyes. Maybe they should just stop there for now. They had already covered more than Minato would have alone during his own study session. And Akira’s Social Link wasn’t guaranteed to rank up. Well, if Minato was almost done, why not ask the question that had been bugging him.

“Why are you so tired?” He asked Akira while he looked at the ceiling.

“Hmm?” Akira said and then continued, “Oh uh. I had a nightmare.”

Minato looked back at his current study partner. His doubt probably showed slightly on his face.

“You look like that? From just a nightmare?” He raised his visible eyebrow.

Akira almost looked offended. “Even if it was ‘just a nightmare’” He did air quotes around the words. “It was a pretty bad one. And then on top of that, I woke up during the Dark Hour. Couldn’t get back to bed. Finally fell asleep and then woke up like this.”

Minato could sympathize. He still had memories from years ago of the same thing happening to him. It wasn’t a great experience. He also guessed that maybe his first impression hadn’t been as accurate as he thought.

“But I like to think that I still look good, even like this.” And then Akira had to ruin the moment.

Minato couldn’t hold from rolling his eyes and swore the other teen huffed out a laugh at it. Every time Akira did something that was easy to misinterpret, it felt so weird. And the fact that no one was exempt from it, he did it to everyone. Was he not worried about any of the rumors?

So Minato asked, “Aren’t you bothered by the rumors at school?”

Akira looked a bit surprised by the sudden change in conversation, but he just shrugged it off. “No, not really. Besides, I've had worse.”

“Worse.” Minato said flatly.

Akira seemed to consider whether or not he should expand on it before he said, “Yeah. Worse. People hated me at my last school. There were horrible rumors everywhere about how bad of a person I was. It ranged from ‘Don’t look him in the eye or he might stab you!’ to ‘I heard he killed a man.’ and even that I was part of the Yakuza! And even after a year of keeping my head down and trying not to get in trouble, my reputation never really got better.”

Akira let out a sigh like he had just got rid of a weight off his shoulders.

He was kind of shocked. Minato couldn’t reconcile either of those images with the person in front of him. The idea of Akira of being so openly dangerous and off putting didn’t make sense. Neither was the idea of him being low key and reserved. Nothing really matched up.

Fuck. Akira didn’t need to make it so easy to relate to him. Minato had experiences with a bad reputation at previous schools. Though nothing as horrible as Akira had listed. Were they really more similar than he thought?

After a moment of Akira looking at him like he wanted a response Minato said, “Really? Instead, I think that you look like the type who would be caught in a relationship with one of your teachers.”

Because, well, he did.

Akira’s eyes went wide as he made a noise that sounded halfway between a wheeze and a laugh. Then he started cackling in a way that definitely carried through the dorms.

No. He hadn’t. Had he?

“You didn’t actually do that, did you?” Minato asked, worried that he was right.

“No!” Akira exclaimed and then had to pause to catch his breath. “No. You just. It caught me off guard because you got kind of close.”

At Minato’s expression he continued to talk, and to laugh in between words. “So it’s a bit of a weird story. Don’t worry, I never actually did anything, but I did have this homeroom teacher who had started to come on to me. I don’t know why and I rejected her immediately. I just didn’t expect you to bring it up.”

Minato shuddered a little at the implications of that, “We are in high school .”

Akira cringed and ran a hand through his hair, “Yeah I know. That story is both kind of funny, but also kind of fucked up.”

“That is an almost perfect way to describe you.” Minato said as he acted like he was going back to work.

Akira let out a scandalized gasp. “Minato! How could you wound me like this!” He leaned back in his chair and put the back of his hand to his forehead, “I’ve been betrayed! Forsaken!”

A mysterious voice rang in Minato’s head for a moment. It seemed like Akira’s Social Link had ended up ranking up after all. He was also kind of glad that he trusted him more. Especially now that he knew for a fact that Akira wasn’t as simple a person as he had thought.

“If you have enough energy to act like that, then you have enough energy to help me with English.” Minato said.

Akira went back to a normal sitting position and looked over the scattered papers, “Oh yeah, where were we?”

“Plurals”, Minato said with distaste.

“I see.”

At least Akira looked more like his normal self instead of someone who was barely hanging on to awareness. Minato hadn’t been worried per say, he was just used to this version of him more.

“Also you got number five wrong.”, Akira said.

Now Minato just wanted to throw something at that smirk. But instead he just turned to the problem in question.

Dammit, Akira was right. Number five was wrong.

Chapter Text

Akira knew that Minato, Yukari, and Junpei had something planned for Saturday evening and that it had something to do with the weird ghost story that was going around school. They hadn’t really been subtle when talking in the lobby yesterday. He was a little sad that they hadn’t included him, but he had been a bit preoccupied recently with something else.

He had turned down Yukari when she asked him to join in the ‘investigation’ of the ghost story. Akira spent the week looking into Fuuka Yamagishi. It’s just that she still hadn’t shown up to class during that time and he was starting to get really worried. He had asked around but no one, and he meant no one had seen her.

There were rumors about her being sick and unable to go to school, but Akira didn’t really believe it. Fuuka seemed to be missing and no one else was worried.

But there wasn’t much else Akira could do for his struggling search for his classmate on a Saturday after school.

And there was also the fact that Akira was also dealing with the apparent hibernation of Yaldabaoth inside the mindscape. Ever since the god had physically summoned that arm and mini bell of something (Yaldabaoth would probably correct him and tell them the correct name), they had been completely silent. Not a single complaint or sass from their resident sealed god. Zip, zilch, nada.

Satanael had reassured Akira that yes, Yaldabaoth was still there and wasn’t dead. His presence was just very, very weak at the moment. Weak enough that mental nudges from Arsene and Mephistopheles did nothing. Akira hated to admit that he was worried about the very being who was mostly responsible for ruining the last year of his life. But he was also kind of worried about Yaldabaoth after the bell helped him out of a panic attack. Funny what being forced to be in forced proximity could do for someone’s feelings. Mostly Akira’s though.

So now his head was mostly silent, considering that Satanael, Arsene, and Mephistopheles were all born directly from Akira’s psyche. ‘I am thou and thou art I’ and all that. Because they could all feel what the others were feeling at any given moment, there wasn’t really any need for them to talk. It was like the world’s worst four man talk show, but all four people were all the same guy.

Akira checked his phone again. The number of new messages remained at zero.

But there was something he could do that involved the trio from 2-F. And to be fair, Akira wasn’t the only one worried about what they were going to do this evening. The shared glances between him, Akihiko, and Mitsuru yesterday testified to that.

And it's not that the three of them can't take care of themselves, Akira knows that. He's seen them in action inside and out of the Dark Hour. It's just… there's a lot of things that can go wrong. Even the best laid plans could go awry. (Akira would know) And…

And…

Eh fuck it. That was just a bunch of excuses.

The truth was that Akira considered those three his friends and he was worried.

Sue him.

Yukari and Junpei stood near the partitions between the lobby and dining area. They looked like they were waiting for Minato. Mitsuru and Akihiko were situated by the couches and were closer to them than Akira was. He sat at one of the chairs at the dining room table. No one was really out of eavesdropping range of someone else.

Minato showed up a few minutes later, once Akira had finished running through a mental schedule of next week’s plans. Yukari and Junpei walked up to him once he entered. Though Yukari definitely had more energy of the two. Now that they were farther away, Akira stood up and sat down next to Mitsuru in order to hear better. She only seemed amused at his pretty obvious attempts to over hear. He winked back at her.

The three of them talk loud enough for Akira and the upperclassmen to hear everything. Yukari talked about it like it was simple. Just head into one of the more dangerous parts of the port city like it was nothing. It was confidence that bordered on arrogance. Junpei was more worried about what could happen. And Minato just stood there passively, like he was waiting for the other two to come to a decision for him.

The trio head out the doors with Yukari leading the charge. They didn’t even bother to change out of their school uniforms. Akira looked at Mitsuru and Akihiko and could see some similar thoughts behind their eyes. He stood up.

“I’m going to follow them. I’m worried.” Akira said.

Mitsuru sighed but didn’t challenge his statement.

Akihiko looked up from his gloves, “Don’t get into any trouble, okay?”

Akira nodded as he moved to get his stuff.

Mitsuru sighed again and put a hand to her forehead, “It is a reckless idea. Be safe. Okay Kurusu?”

“I will be. I know how to get out of sticky situations. Also don’t worry, I’ll call you guys if something happens or I need help.” Akira said, mostly to reassure them and himself.

She nodded, but still looked a bit worried. Akira nodded back, then turned and speed walked to the doors. He didn’t want to lose his marks. Wait, that made this sound worse than it actually is. He gave one quick wave to the others before he headed out the doors himself.

Akira walked out into the evening light and immensely did his best to blend in. He walked silently and did his best to remain innocuous. It was a little harder than it was in Shibuya simply because of the higher population there, but it still wasn’t hard to become another face in the crowd.

He would have spotted the group ahead of him even if they kept their voices down. Akira knew their silhouettes and clothes. But he heard them before he saw them. He heard Junpei’s worried voice still trying to persuade the group to go back. He could also hear Yukari’s stern voice shut Junpei down every time. Minato still didn’t say anything. It was a little hard for Akira to hear every word because of the distance between them.

He kept a good few meters away, just in case. Akira’s footsteps were as silent and as even as possible. He did his best to fade into the backgrounds of everybody’s lives.

Give him a grey hoodie and it was almost like he was back in late November of 2016!

Hah!

…

That wasn’t very funny.

Akira looked up to realize that he had stopped walking. He had to focus on staying close to Yukari, Junpei, and Minato. And not on stupid things that had already happened. He refocused quickly on his objective for the evening.

(It did not escape Akira’s notice that he kept pushing back his scheduled appointment for a mental breakdown.)

He followed the three of them as they walked further from the dorms. They still hadn’t noticed him even as they got close to the monorail station that was next to the movie theater. Akira was a bit confused as to what Yukari planned to do in this area until she took a sharp left into what might have been one of the most seedy places on the island city. It hit him once again that they were still in their Gekkoukan uniforms. Oh this could go wrong in so many ways.

Akira turned a corner earlier than they had and did his best to keep a low profile. (And must have done a good job because no one seemed to notice when he jumped a fence.) He found a fairly clean spot on a wall near where the trio looked to be heading. Akira leaned lightly against it, flipped his phone open, and did his best to feign relaxation. He really hoped that this wouldn’t be a shitshow.

Yukari walked in with her head held higher than before. Junpei held his head lower than before. Minato just looked unfazed even when two guys stepped right into their path.

Well fuck.

Some words were said. The guys laughed and stepped forward. Yukari stepped behind Minato. That didn’t stop her from calling the people here ‘scum’ though.

Well fuck.

Everybody around looked to be gearing up for something. Akira moved his phone back to his pocket without looking away.

Then the guy in the beanie punched Junpei in the gut and he had had enough.

Akira moved to grab the two guys that had stepped up behind the three of them. He would have tried to grab them or something. He didn’t really have a plan or anything, but this was looking worse by the second.

And he would have made his presence known if someone else hadn’t shown up. Someone who spoke up to defend his friends. Someone who looked exactly the same as he did on the first night Akira snuck out of the dorm during the Dark Hour.

“That’s enough. They didn’t know what they were getting into. I’ll make sure they’ll leave. Alright?” The guy said.

Akira’s steps stuttered for the second time that evening. He almost wanted his memories to be wrong. But that was the same exact guy.

What were the Yaldabaoth damned odds?

He knew he shouldn't be staring. He knew that he should move to support his friends. But he had some trouble processing it. Things had just gotten more complicated.

Akira just hoped that this wouldn't be another Black Mask situation.

He was startled back into moving by a headbutt that he would have called attractive in almost any other situation. Beanie guy was on the floor in pain, but looked even more pissed.

“Damn you Shinjiro…” The guy next to beanie boy said. Akira mentaly repeated the name so he wouldn’t forget it. “That’s right… you’re from Gekko High too aren’t ya!? I thought you were one of us.”

“What gave you that idea?” Shinjiro-that was apparently his name- said with a voice that Akira kind of wanted to focus on listening to. “I don’t remember swearing a blood oath.”

Akira walked up and grabbed the two guys at the back like he would have earlier. He dug his fingers into their shoulders and gave them the same smile he used on shadows during a hold up. It was less of an Akira smile, and more of a Joker one. They turned to him and he felt a little satisfaction at their flinches.

“You son of a bitch! You just crossed the line! You think you're going home alive?” Beanie guy said as he got up.

“Yep!” Akira said cheerily. All eyes turned to him and almost all of them looked surprised. Well, except for Shinjiro who had seen him approach. “And I’m pretty sure about it too! Unless you want to try?~”

Akira looked directly at the beanie wearing instigator of all of this. He almost visibly withered under Akira’s sharp eyes and sharper smile. The two guys next to him moved out from under his hands and took a few steps away from him.

Beanie asshole looked between Akira and Shinjiro, who was now giving a sharp glare of his own, before he said, “Tch! S-screw this.”

The girls laughed and the boys made a few pathetic threats as they left. Now it was just the five of them. Akira put his hands in his pockets awkwardly, because now they knew he was essentially following them there. Yukari turned to him looking quite annoyed.

“You idiots.” Shinjiro said before anyone else could. “Get outta here. This place isn’t for you.”

He began to walk away, but Yukari stepped forward and called out to him, “Wait! We came here for a reason.”

Shinjiro looked over the four of them, but seemed to dismiss Akira. He walked towards the other three and said, “You three… You were at the hospital. Did Aki tell you to come here?”

“Aki? Hospital?” Akira muttered to himself. He wondered what context he was missing from all of this.

Junpei leaned over to fill him in and whispered, “When Akihiko got hurt two months ago, we saw this guy at the hospital. They call each other nicknames and everything. ‘Aki’ and ‘Shinji’ and all that.”

Akira made a little ‘oooooh’ of understanding and looked back at Shinjiro. That new information changed things. By his mental calculations, this meant that the chances that Akira had to fight him in the future were much lower. Though it did bring up a question.

What was the relationship between Akihiko and Shinjiro?

Were they really good friends?

(Boyfriends, perhaps?

Maybe even… exes?

Come on Akira, this isn't the time for jokes.)

“Maybe.” Minato said and pulled Akira from considering unlikely but still possible scenarios.

“Seriously? Fine.” Shinjiro said, resigned. “What do you want to know about that ghost story?”

Akira still didn’t understand how they came to the conclusion to search for information about a rumor from school here. And how did Shinjiro know that’s what they were here for?

“Yeah actually. How’d you know?” Yukari said exactly what he was thinking.

Shinjiro moved over to sit on a nearby set of stairs, “It’s a rumor. The girls who wound up in the hospital were here talkin’ shit every night about all the things they’d done to some girl named Fuuka.”

Suddenly Akira was very interested in the conversation. Because by the time he had pinpointed the likely culprits behind Fuuka’s disappearance, he couldn’t talk to them. They were either too scared and stayed at home, left school as soon as possible, or were in the hospital. This info apparently was not only useful to Yukari, Junpei, and Minato, but also Akira.

“Those girls, were they friends with Moriyama? Natsuki Moriyama?” Akira said and hoped he was right.

“Yeah they were. Why? You know them?” Shinjiro asked.

He looked to Akira and assessed him more in depth. Beyond the initial ‘oh this boy just came up and threatened two dudes’ impression.

“Some of them are my classmates, but mostly I’m looking into Fuuka Yamagishi. I think she was being bullied at school. This just about confirms it...” Akira said. He could feel the grimace on his face.

Shinjiro looked back to Yukari, “Yeah. And now people are saying that Fuuka’s spirit is the one doing all of it. You can find it all over the net right now too.”

Yukari looked both angry and a little scared, “Wait. Why are they saying that it’s Fuuka’s spirit?”

“Because that girl might be dead.” Shinjiro said plainly like it wasn’t the worst option. (Like Akira hadn’t been avoiding that specific possibility all week.)

Yukari and Junpei gasped in surprise. Minato looked down at his feet.

“She hasn’t been home in over a week.” Shinjiro continued.

“Or at school either.” Akira supplied. “I asked around and everybody says that she’s just been really ill and staying at home. I didn’t know that last part though.”

“I just thought she was out sick, but she’s really missing.” Junpei said, looking worried.

“So much for the ghost story,” And wow Yukari, that’s your take away from this?

“Mr. Ekoda is the homeroom teacher for 2-E, right?” Akira nodded at her. “Does he know about this then?”

Shinjiro stood up and muttered something under his breath. All Akira could catch was ‘get it, Aki’ and ‘can’t let go’. Which by itself added some more layers to the whole ‘What is the nature of the relationship between Shinji and Aki??’.

At everybody’s looks he just said, “Nothing. That’s all I know. Are you all satisfied?”

“Y-yeah! Thanks Senpai!” Junpei said and took off his cap to do an awkwardly formal bow.

Mephistopheles likened it to something Akira would do. He did his best to keep his response to that off his face while the other two just laughed.

Junpei looked to the others and pushed them to do the same. Minato and Akira just gave a small nod of the head.

Yukari put her hands together and bowed lightly, “Thanks! You really helped us out.” And after a moment softly said, “You’re very kind.”

Shinjiro just looked confused at that last part.

“Nevermind.”

“Tch. Just don’t come here again.” And with that vaguely threatening goodbye Shinjiro just walked off.

Yukari let out a relieved sigh before she turned around and slapped Akira’s arm. Hard.

“Hey!” Akira yelped and rubbed the stinging part of his arm. Junpei gave a sympathetic wince.

“Why are you here anyway? You said that you were too busy to help us this week. And you were at the dorms when we left.” Yukari said.

“Okay. First of all, ow! And second of all I was busy. I was looking into Fuuka. I didn’t know it would be connected to the ghost story you were investigating.” Akira explained.

Yukari put her hands on her hips, “That still does explain why you’re here.”

Akira looked away. He almost wanted to lie about it, but that might end up worse. Even if the truth was embarrassing.

Akira didn’t meet anyone’s eyes when he said, “I was worried. When I heard that you guys were coming here… I just wanted to be there in case something happened.”

Akira looked back to see Yukari rolling her eyes, Junpei was smiling at him, and Minato just looked resigned.

“Just say something next time. You don’t have to follow us, just ask. Anyways, I’m heading back. We did what we came here to do anyway.” Yukari said and began to walk away without looking back.

Junpei took off his cap and scratched his head. When he put it back on he said, “Yeah man. I’m beat. Meetcha at the dorms?”

They nodded and suddenly it was just Akira and Minato alone. The silence between them wasn’t as tense as it could have been. Akira looked up to see if there might have been stars.

Minato broke the silence to say, “At least you didn’t have to take out your knife.”

Akira laughed at that. The sound bounced off the nearby concrete walls, “Yeah, at least I didn’t have to take out my knife.”

.

They all planned to confront Akira’s homeroom teacher early Monday morning. The four of them had confirmed that Mr. Ekoda was in fact in the office and not in the classroom yet. But when they walked into the teacher’s office, someone had beaten them to it.

“Mitsuru-senpai? Why are you here?” Yukari said as she stepped into the room.

Akira, Minato, and Junpei walked in after her to see that Yes, Mitsuru was here. She stood close to two people who were seated at one of the desks. Mr. Ekoda sat in a rolling office chair, but he didn’t even look up when the door slid open. Akira just saw the back of his head move between looking at Mitsuru and at the seated figure who Akira recognized as Natsuki Moriyama. She was curled in on herself with her hands on her head and shaking. He walked in further, if only to understand the situation.

“For the same reason you are.” Mitsuru said and then turned back to the teacher, “Mr. Ekoda, I’m here to ask you about a student in your class named Fuuka Yamagishi.”

“No!” Natsuki suddenly yelled and surprised everyone. “I-I never thought that it would turn out like this… oh Fuuka…”

“Hey Akira, is she that girl?” Yukari asked softly.

“Yeah, yeah she is.” Akira said just as softly back. This isn’t what he had expected to find. He was also kind of glad that she hadn’t ended up like her friends. (At least before he could talk to her.)

“What did you do to Yamagishi?” Mitsuru asked sternly.

Both Mr. Ekoda and Natsuki recoiled at the question.

“Now hold on Mitsuru, this isn’t an interrogation.” Mr. Ekoda said and then turned back to the still shaking girl. “Natsuki, you don’t have to say anything you don’t want to. I know how hard this has been for you, and you wouldn’t want to give her the wrong idea.”

Seriously? Akira’s opinion of the man had just dropped quite a bit. Don’t give her the ‘wrong idea’? What bullshit. This was the kind of thing that reminded him of his first few weeks at Shujin, and how Kamoshida had his abuse covered up by other people. This may not be as bad, but it was the principle of the thing.

“Fuuka... She…” Natsuki started shakily, “She always looked so frazzled when I gave her a hard time. Then I realized that even if she was an honor student, she’s still the same as us deep inside. So I knew exactly what buttons to push. We were all just messin’ with that day, too!”

She put her head back in her hands, “It was May 29th. We took Fuuka to the gym… and locked the door from the outside.”

“You locked her in?!” Junpei exclaimed as he stepped forward.

Akira felt something uneasy settle in his stomach. This was so much worse than he thought.

He hoped Fuuka was somehow okay.

Natsuki continued like he hadn’t even spoken, “That night, Maki returned to school alone. She was afraid we’d get in trouble if Fuuka committed suicide. But she never came back. And the next morning…”

“She was found lying on the ground by the front gate.” Yukari finished, her arms crossed.

“I-I went to the gym to let Fuuka out, but it was still locked. So I opened it and went inside, but she wasn’t there. We all freaked out and starting that night, we all went out to look for her. But every night, someone else went missing. And they all ended up like Maki!”

Akira kind of hated the fact that he didn’t really feel sorry for her. He knew what it felt like to be on the other end of it all. He didn’t hate her, just her actions and the fact that she only seemed to feel sorry after her friend went missing. He could feel his nails digging into his arms to keep from joining in the conversation. Fuuka may have been his classmate, but it felt more like this was something he shouldn’t be involved with. At least Mitsuru would have it covered.

He looked over and met eyes with Minato. Seemed like they were both going to let Mitsuru take care of it.

“I see,” MItsuru said. Her tone made Akira’ metaphorical hackles rise, and it wasn’t even directed at him. “By the way Mr. Ekoda… All this time, you’ve attributed Yamagishi’s absences to ‘illness’. But in reality she was missing. You must have been aware of this fact. What was your intention?”

“I was thinking of the students of course.” And now Akira has zero respect for the guy. He thought that he would have been a fairly normal teacher. But nope! He was a scumbag. This was exactly the kind of thing that made Akira mistrust most adults.

Mr Ekoda just kept going. Seemingly happy to keep digging his own grave, “You children may not understand this, but we as teachers here must consider the futures of everyone affected.”

He even had the absolute gall to look satisfied after that.

Mitsuru’s glare turned icier, if that was somehow even possible.

“Do you mean that you chose not to report this incident for the ‘good of the class’?” She asked.

The teacher’s smug expression faltered, “That- It- It was in her best interests. Her records could be stained by something like this. And I’m sure her parents would agree with me.”

“So to protect your career, you ignored your responsibilities as a teacher? How shameful.” Mitsuru said.

Akira silently cheered from the sidelines. Get his ass!

Mr. Ekoda stammered, but was unable to come up with a reply.

Mitsuru walked over to Natuski and began asking her some questions about the situation. The idea that a voice called out to them before they disappeared didn’t match up with any of Akira’s current ideas.

Yukari seemed to have an idea though, and Mitsuru walked over to confirm it. The way she moved away from the other two people in the room, the ones who were not Persona users meant that they knew it was shadows.

It was mentioned that Apathy Syndrome increased in frequency before a full moon. And that a large shadow appeared the day of.

“The voice she mentioned, it draws people in. It’s not just a random phenomenon that decides how people’s consciousness gets lured in.” Mitsuru said. This must have been new information to everyone. “This has made me realize that shadows are deliberately targeting humans.”

And if Akira’s understanding of the collective consciousness still holds any water, that was pretty damn accurate.

She turned back to Natsuki, “Stay at our dorm tonight. It’ll be the safest place for you.” When she nodded Mitsuru said, “And tell us immediately if you hear the voice calling for you.”

And with the promise of a meeting in the student council room after school, Mitsuru walked out.

Everyone else followed soon after. Akira was definitely going to have trouble focusing today.

And not for the first time he wondered, why do the lives of Persona users have to be so complicated.

Chapter Text

The current members of S.E.E.S. were all gathered in the otherwise empty student council room. Yukari locked the door so that no one could stumble upon the possibly incriminating meeting. Akira wasn’t sure what Mitsuru had planned for the night, but he had an idea. If it was what he was thinking, then it would be a good chance to implement some Phantom Thief skills.

He hopped up and sat on one of the tables. Everybody just stood around. They didn’t even take a seat.

“With everyone here, let’s discuss what will happen tonight.” Mitsuru began, “We will infiltrate the campus in order to rescue Fuuka Yamagishi.”

And with that, Akira knew he and Mitsuru were on the same page. 

“If we come here at night, won’t the Dark Hour happen? This place turns into Tartarus. Right?” Junpei said worriedly. 

“That is exactly why we will go at night. Because Yamagishi is likely stuck within Tartarus right now.” Mitsuru said.

And that made sense. It probably answered the passing question of what if you were inside when the abstract tower grew instead of outside.

“Because the school directly transforms into Tartarus.” Akihiko said in understanding. Akira found himself nodding in agreement.

“But wait!” Junpei said when he realized, “That would mean she’s been stuck inside there for ten whole days?!”

Yukari looked down at her feet, “Ten days is a lot of time to be in Tartarus. Do you think she’s even alive?”

And if that wasn’t the horrible possibility that he had to come to terms with since that meeting with Shinjiro. And then there was the possibility of starvation and dehydration. It was just a bad situation all around that Akira had plenty of time to think of the many ways it could somehow be worse.

“There’s still a chance she’s alive.” Akihiko said, almost in defiance. “Time works differently during the Dark Hour. Because of that, only ten hours may have passed for her. Think about it. Tartarus only appears during the Dark Hour, so where does it go for the rest of the time?”

That also made a bunch of sense and eased the weight of the stone that had settled in Akira’s gut. (And wow! So this was what it was like to have more experienced people to help you instead of one not a cat. Sorry Morgana.)

Though Yukari and Mitsuru looked more relieved at those odds, Junpei still looked worried.

He awkwardly scratched his head, “Ten hours is still a long time to spend there. The Dark Hour sucks and we barely last an hour in there.”

“Yeah that’s true but, we’ve been actively exploring it and fighting shadows on our way up.” Akira said as he leaned back. “If only we focused on surviving and avoiding fights, we could probably go even longer than that.”

“This just brings up another problem. If she’s alive, how will we even get to her? If she was in the gym when the Dark Hour began, she could be anywhere.” Yukari said.

Even though Akira kind of disagreed with her he understood where she was coming from. It was possible that she would be in a place that was outside of Mitsuru’s range, and being without a navigator would be half a death sentence by itself.

“So you’re just going to let her die?!” Akihiko shouted as he slammed one hand on the table. (It was a weird feeling for Akira who was sitting on it.)

“I won't stand by and just leave her there if there's even a small chance we can save her.” Akihiko clenched his fist, “If that were to happen, I’d  never forgive myself…”

He looked up to the rest of them and said, “If you guys are worried enough to not go, then I’ll do it myself.

Akira knew it was quite the heavy moment, but he couldn’t help but admire the dramatics and dedication Akihiko had to his cause. He admired his senpai. To announce something so brave about a dangerous situation struck a chord in him.

But Akira was very protective of anyone he considered a friend, and even if the others let Akihiko go through with that declaration. Akira would not. Not at all. If the odds of Akihiko not dying increased by Akira going along with him, then he would take that chance.

So Akira gently nudged Akihiko’s leg with his foot and said, “I’m with Akihiko. I can’t just give up on her. I’ve been looking into finding her for a week, and now… I just don’t want this to end with us having done nothing.”

Akihiko nodded at Akira resolutely.

“Guys…” Yukari said, almost sadly.

Mitsuru put a hand to her head like she was trying to relieve a headache before she looked up and said, “Alright. The odds are against us and we know the risks, but we can not just leave Yamagishi there. We’ll enter the school at night.”

Akira immediately felt relieved. Even though he would have gone alone with Akihiko to try to save Fuuka. He preferred their odds with Mitsuru and her ability to navigate on their side. And items could be used in place of Dia spells even if the others didn’t agree. Akira had plenty of weird foods that could save a life.

“Mitsuru-snepai’s right, we have to give it a try.” Yukari said.

That just left Minato and Junpei.

“Alright, I’m in!” and there was Junpei. “And in that case, I have an idea of how to get into the school. Just leave it to me.”

Akira wondered if that meant he could lockpick too, but he didn’t say anything in case he wasn’t talking about that. Didn’t want to steal his thunder and everything. And with the way he talked about his idea meant that he was pretty confident in it.

Akira noted that Minato had not said anything during the meeting, even though he was the one who led them on the field. He had the same amount of say as Mitsuru did, and maybe even more if the way everyone trusted him said anything. But Minato had not expressed a single opinion on the matters presented. Where was the Minato who properly sassed him when they studied together.

(And so because he knew exactly how it felt to be in that position, to the leader only for battle and never for decisions) He asked, “How do you feel about all this Minato?”

Minato looked surprised that he was even asked about it. Even if he was only the field leader, he was still a member of S.E.E.S. He mattered.

But Minato only shrugged and said, “I don’t care. It’s already been decided anyways.”

Yukari let out a fond sigh and Junpei made a comment about him never changing. Akira though, Akira he just felt concern for his friend. (Did he act like that when he was still a leader? Was it anything to be worried about? )

Mitsuru dismissed everyone so that they could meet up at the dorms later today. Minato was quick to leave and walked with a purpose. The others drifted out and Akira was one of the last two to leave. He watched Mitsuru lock and said a quick goodbye before parting.

And not for the first time, it really sunk in how separated each member of S.E.E.S. was.

.

Turned out that Junpei’s plan to get them inside the school was just to leave a door unlocked. Which was pretty efficient and more legal than what Akira would have done. It was also not a bomb like Mitsuru seemed to think it was and seemed to allow.

The school at night was very atmospheric. It looked and felt like the beginning of a high school based horror game. Though after everything Akira had been through, it wasn’t enough to make him nervous. Gekkoukan after sunset had nothing on a high security palace. Maybe it was just that his sense of what was stressful and what was not couldn’t be considered normal after a high intensity supernatural year.

The reactions of the others were a bit mixed, but they were able to find their way to a classroom without incident. Yukari flicked the lights a few times with no results.

“The lights aren’t working.” Yukair said, disappointed.

“They cut the power at night. And even if they worked, it might alert the security guard.” Akihiko said.

Though the room wasn’t pitch black, the light from the full moon filtered through the windows. The light was enough that Akira could clearly see the faces of his friends.

They were his friends, he couldn’t deny it anymore. He cared about everyone currently committing a misdemeanor by his side. And if they didn’t think the same about him? Well too bad! Akira cared about them now and there was nothing they could do about it.

“Even if we could not contact the chairman tonight, everything has gone smoothly so far.” Mitsuru said before she looked over the group. “Now all we have to do is find the key to the gym. Akihiko and Kurusu you’re-”

“Um, we might not have to do that.” Akira hated to interrupt, but he had an idea. “I don’t think we’ll need the key to the gym because I could just pick the lock?”

He ended with a bit of a questioning tone because it was quite the topic to suddenly bring up. And because of the moonlight Akira could see what everyone thought about the sudden reveal of his skill. Akihiko, Mitsuru, and Junpei all looked kind of impressed, but probably for different reasons. Yukari looked done with him, but at least she was less distressed than she was before. Minato just stared at him like he was a particularly confusing puzzle. Though he was closest to Minato, it made sense that he knew more of the confusing details of Akira’s life.

“Really?” Yukari said and crossed her arms. “Well then where did you even learn how to lockpick?”

“I uh-” Akira didn‘t really know how to explain it. Just say ‘oh, I was taught how to by a cat because it was the only way to open treasure chests in the collective unconscious’? Not really. Even with the insanity that came with the Dark Hour, this felt like a line that shouldn’t be crossed.

(Yet? Hopefully he could tell them everything at some point.)

“I taught myself because I thought it would be cool to know how to…” Akira said as he played with his bangs.

It was more embarrassing, but it also made a lot more sense. He didn’t want to meet anyone’s eyes right now. Yukari muttered something under her breath about boys.

Mitsuru let out a pleased hum before she said, “Well, no matter how you learned to do it, it will surely help us now. Let’s head to the gym and rescue Yamagishi.”

And with that, the group headed back out into the empty school halls. They didn’t split up or head towards the faculty office or the janitors closet like Mitsuru later explained that she had planned. A security guard was spotted at one point and everyone had to hide and Junpei had to mention how cool it felt, and how he was a spy now. After that, Yukari’s phone went off. And Akira had the absolute pleasure to know that both Yukari and Mitsuru could be startled easily. Though no one teased either one of them for fear of retribution.

The six of them made their way to the gym outside as the grass crunched under their feet. When they got to the doors that separated them from their target, Akira got down on one knee and pulled out the small case that contained his lockpicking tools. They weren’t ones he had made himself, but were a set he bought from Kurosawa after he had scrounged up enough courage to step inside the police station alone.

Now the reason for that was because Akira did not in fact want to completely destroy this lock. Or any others he encountered during his late night walks or other events. Nobody cared if he brute forced his way through metaverse locks, but people would care if he did the same to the gym lock.

Akira took his time pushing the pins up in order to minimize the damage. There would be some scratches, but nothing more than that.

After about 30 more seconds in front of the doors, they unlocked with a satisfying snick. Akira zipped up his tools, put them away, and stood up. He brushed off grass that stuck to his pants while Akihiko moved to open the door.

“Tres bien! And well done Kurusu. It’s nice to know that we have such capable people on our team.” Mitsuru said as she walked into the empty gymnasium.

“Man, so I’m not the only one who got a Tray ben?” Akira heard Junpei mutter behind him. “But seriously, do you think you could teach me how to do that?”

Akira turned to Junpei and said, “I don’t know if I could even teach anyone. I’m mostly self taught.”

“Don’t worry Junpei, you still let us into the school.” Akihiko said.

If that was meant to cheer Junpei up, Akira didn’t think that would work. And judging by Junpei’s reaction he agreed.

“Yeah, but now I realize that I didn’t even need to do that, cause we have someone who can pick locks now.” Junpei said as he crossed his arms. 

Yukari just rolled her eyes at him. She said something to him, but Akira ignored it in favor of walking into the gym himself. He didn’t think there was anything he could say to Junpei right now that wouldn’t make him feel worse. He walked up to Minato but made sure that his footsteps made noise. He didn’t want to startle anyone tonight.

“So Minato, what’s the plan for tonight? It is a full moon and all.” Akira said as nonchalantly as possible. He was also curious to know if he would go tonight, or stay back with Mitsuru.

Minato looked a bit surprised, like he hadn’t expected anyone to ask. At least not yet. He looked contemplative a moment as he took in their group. Akira noticed that he seemed to fiddle with a mp3 for a moment.

“ The group will be me, Akihiko, Yukari, and Akira-” Minato started.

“Wait, wait, wait! Can I go, I want to make up for how I accidentally messed up on the monorail last time.” Junpei said as he rushed over, his shoes echoing on the linoleum.

“Monorail?” Akira muttered. It was probably about something that happened before he joined.

“Accidently messed up? You mean when you ran ahead to fight shadows?” Yukari said, looking fed up.

There was definitely some history there. And Akira wasn’t the best at diffusing situations like the one this was shaping up to be.

“Arisato, your thoughts on it?” Mitsuru asked, and Akira could almost see the moment Minato’s expression shut down

“It’s fine. I don’t care.” Minato said flatly.

Yukari sighed and said, “Guess I’ll stay behind then. Mitsuru-senpai and I should head back out. See you in a bit.”

“See you soon, and stay safe.” Mitsuru said as she lingered by the door.

There were agreements, goodbyes, and waves as the two of them left. No one seemed keen to break the silence.

Akira sat down on the gym floor and pulled out his phone. All that was left to do at the moment was wait until midnight. The flip phone’s screen showed that they had more than thirty minutes left.

He sighed and flipped the phone closed. The others all looked to be doing something to pass the time. Akihiko was doing maintenance on his new gloves, which good for him. Minato just sat on the floor listening to music from the mp3 that Akira had spotted earlier. And Junpei- well, Akira wasn’t sure what Junpei was doing. He was either doing warm ups or just posing with his long sword.

So Akira just started with some stretches. He had already done some earlier before they left, but it wouldn’t hurt.

Honestly, this whole thing felt like a mostly empty safe room. He could almost imagine what it would be like to have everyone back. And now that ‘everyone’ included the people from S.E.E.S. too. He’s spent a month living and fighting with them.

(Akira ignored the part of himself that said this was a betrayal to the friends and family he left behind.)

The time seemed to pass both slowly and quickly before it was almost time. Still, nobody spoke. But there was almost a silent agreement as the clock counted down.

When midnight hit, the light that streamed into the otherwise dark gym during that familiar green. 

Akira was suddenly pushed to his knees by sudden pressure. The ground beneath his feed shook and began to warp. The wooden floor distorted and melded with the pattern from inside Tartarus. 

He looked up, but Akira couldn’t see anyone over the inflated spots in the floor. He tried to stand up to get a better view, but another rumble made him lose his balance. Akira’s side took the brunt of the fall.

Akira panicked when he noticed the edges of his visions tunneling to grey. He pushed himself up to his elbows and focused on his breathing. The greenish purplish pattern beneath him helped to ground him.

But it didn’t stop the pressure from increasing. It continued to increase in strength. It was relentless on it’s assault on his body.

The edges of Akira’s vision turned from grey to black and a ringing echoed in his ears.

He pressed his forehead to the cool stone floor in a last ditch effort to ground himself.

But it didn’t help.

Akira passed out.

Chapter Text

Akira woke up with a pounding headache and static buzzing in his ears. He pushed himself up from the cold floor. His vision swam as he stood with his hands on his knees. The cold nausea in his gut almost made Akira want to throw up. Though thankfully, the overwhelming pressure in his head began to recede.

With his head a little clearer, he could focus on the noise in his ears. If he focused on the static, he could almost hear words.

“Ca- ... -ear me? … ... … -eperat- … … kihiko.” Came Mitsuru’s distorted voice.

If only his mind was a little clearer Akira could've worked out what she was trying to say. But at the moment, it held no meaning.

“Are you finally awake, human? Communication is impossible when you’ve allowed yourself to fall unconscious.”

At least he could hear the voices of his Personas and Yaldabaoth clearly.

Wait…

“Yaldabaoth?!” Akira internally yelled.

“You’re finally back? Now?!” Arsene asked, a mirror of Akira’s surprise.

“Yes I’m back.” Yaldabaoth said, sounding annoyed, “Now stop with the flood of useless emotions, they’re impairing my ability to think.”

Akira did his best to calm down and ran a hand through his hair. Everything was just happening way too fast. The sealed god inside of him decided that the best time to wake up was when he regained consciousness inside of Tartarus and found himself alone.

What joy.

“So now can you say what happened to you? You manifested like one of us, and then pulled a vanishing act worthy of my name!” Arsene said, immediately getting into the questioning.

“Do you know why you’ve reawakened at this moment specifically? If you don’t know, then it would be quite the coincidence.” Satanael commented with no judgement in his tone.

Akira could feel Mephistopheles pressure the god along with the other two.

“Quiet, quiet. I'll explain the situation.” Yaldabaoth said without any of their usual bite.

Akira tuned out of the conversation. As curious as he was about what just happened, he was also currently in Tartarus. He needed to focus on finding his friends and Fuuka. The shadows crawling around didn't help matters either. Akira knew that whatever he missed, his Personas would be glad to fill him in later.

“I learned of these occurrences last time the moon was full. I kept it hidden because of its use to me. But I have realized, and loathe I am to admit it, I underestimated how weak ” Yaldabaoth spat out the word, “the sealing made me. I no longer have any choice but to rely on this quartet of Fools.”

As he looked around, Akira noticed that he was in the Arqa Block. At least he knew that he could take on the shadows that roamed the floor in a fight, even if he was alone. He walked out of the room and began to travel quietly through the halls.

“You planned to escape then?” Arsene said.

Most of the shadows were easy to avoid or sneak up on. The ones he couldn’t tear through when he took off their mask didn’t last long against Mephistopheles’s skills and his dagger.

“Of course I planned to escape. Why would I want to be bound to the human who nearly killed me!” Yaldabaoth said angrily.

It was enough to get Akira’s attention and distract him from finding the stairs. He didn’t know how to feel about being forced into proximity with the being who nearly ruined his life and then subsequently shot in the face other than it’s complicated. Especially when said god brought it up.

“You still have not explained your reappearance.” Satanael urged.

There was still static in Akira’s ears from Mitsuru’s continued attempts to establish a connection.

“It is quite simple. The phases of the moon create fluctuations in the strength of cognitive beings. Though I dislike comparing myself to the half-formed beings you call shadows, I am influenced by the same things that affect them.” Yaldabaoth said.

That made a lot of sense actually. With how the distorted tower always seemed to have been reaching towards the green moon, it wasn’t surprising that it had a role in all of this.

“Is this a new phenomenon?” Arsene asked and didn’t tease like Akira had half expected his Persona to. “Because the only time we and the Trickster saw you in all of your metal glory was on Christmas Eve. And if you’re secretly a werewolf, now would be a good time to let us know.”

There it was.

(A metal wolf with lots of arms and a gun. What a fucking mental image.)

Yaldabaoth’s angry silence and a soft, very strained, ”No.” was enough to answer that last question.

“And being susceptible to such changes is new. Beyond that, I have nothing else for you Fools. Now leave me” Yaldabaoth said. It always seemed like the god wanted the final word. 

Akira wondered how this new information fit into the reality that was the Dark Hour.

After he finished scouting the floor he was currently on, he moved to the stairs. It was more daunting to ascend the steps alone. It made him hope that this separation and subsequent stranding was just a one time thing.

His steps were the only sound as he walked out into the new floor until-

“Are you human?”

A voice echoed in Akira’s head. Just like Mitsuru’s would. Just like  a navigator would.

(Just like Futaba’s would.)

But just as quickly as it came, the connection cut.

And if Akira’s steps got a little faster because of the hope that Fuuka was okay, well. That was between him and the things in his mind.

.

It was a few floors later when Akira spotted a figure-a human figure. Akihiko stood in the middle of an open space, and the thought that might have been his shadow instead crossed his mind for a moment. But it was quickly dismissed. The shadows that roamed the glued together tower were only vaguely human shaped.

Akira put a little more force in his steps, in order not to startle the upperclassman.  As attractive as Akihiko is, he would not like to get a punch to the face, thank you very much. 

Just as he hoped, Akihiko noticed his presence and turned around. Akira could see some relief in his eyes and the way his shoulders got a little less tense. 

“Akira, it’s good to see that you’re okay. I’ve been trying to contact Mitsuru, but no luck so far.” Akihiko said as he held a finger to his forehead.

“That’s… not great. But at least we met up.” Akira said, though he knew it wasn’t really that reassuring.

But at least their chances of finding Fuuka and getting out alive increased. 

“Yeah…” Akihiko said as he looked down one of the many hallways.

Akira was about to say something, maybe to break the tension or maybe to offer a plan of action. But before he could, he heard another set of footsteps approaching their location.

Looking up, he saw Junpei as he walked up a set of stairs Akira somehow hadn’t noticed earlier. Junpei waved and he waved back. He could see some goop on the other teen’s longsword, evidence of at least one battle.

“Maaaan, am I happy to see you guys. Being alone in this place gives me the creeps.” Junpei said.

“It’s good to see you too.” Akira said.

He put his dagger back in its sheath because it didn’t seem like there would be a fight for a moment. A chance to rest is always welcome.

Akihiko nodded in agreement. Though he didn’t remove the finger from his forehead. “Now we just need to find Minato and then rescue Yamagishi.”

And as he said that, Akira once again heard someone approaching.

They turned to the new arrival and Junpei said, “Speak of the devil! Here he is.”

Minato only sighed and rolled his eyes in response. His weapons were put away and his hands were in his pockets. Either he had avoided a fight or spotted them before they spotted him. Which Akira could respect the skill that went into that.

“How are you doing?” Akira asked.

“I’m fine.”

And any other time that would have sounded like one of Minato’s usual dismissals. But the fact that Minato actually looked at him when he answered and didn’t just shrug him off made Akira believe him this time.

He nodded in response or in support, he wasn’t sure. Akira sent Minato a smile before he looked at the upperclassmen. Akihiko put his hand down in a way that suggested that he had given up on contacting Mitsuru for the time being.

“I don’t think we should try to enter Tartarus like this again.” Akihiko said as he walked towards the three upperclassmen. “It’s too dangerous. We can’t afford to get separated without support in the future.”

Which was pretty fair. Akira also didn’t want to pass out on any school floor again.

Junpei looked around a moment before he said, “Oh yeah. By the way, did any of you hear a weird voice on your way here? It sounded kind of like-”

“Who are you? Are you human?”

“Exactly like that!” He finished loudly.

Akira couldn’t help but notice something about the voice this time. “And it didn’t sound like it was in our heads, but right behind you Junpei…”

The four of them turned to look at the hallway right behind Junpei.

From one of the corners, a head of teal hair shyly popped out. After spending ten hours alone in Tartarus, Fuuka Yamagishi stood there.

She was okay! She was alive!

Relief flooded through Akira so forcefully that he physically felt himself relax. Tension that he had carried in his shoulders for over a week suddenly left him. 

Akira waved awkwardly to his still wary classmate and said, “Fuuka Yamagishi right? I'm Akira Kurusu, we're both in Mr. Ekoda's class.”

She stepped out from behind the wall and moved closer to the group. She still kept a little bit of distance though. Which was completely understandable considering the whole Tartarus thing. But from here, Akira could see the beginnings of hope enter her expression.

“Thank goodness you're alive! We came here to find you.” Junpei

“So you're actually…” Fuuka said softly as she took a shaky step forward.

After a moment, let out a large sigh and collapsed to her knees. Minato rushed forward and took a knee by her side. He had a hand out just in case Fuuka was going to fall again.

“Thank you. Thank you so much. I was at school, but then suddenly… I was here. I didn't know what was happening or how to get out. So thank you.” She said, relief evident in her voice. 

“You don't have to worry anymore. Never fear, cause Junpei is here.” Junpei said, very positive despite the situation.

Akira was kind of grateful for him. The pressure that had been draped over everyone immediately eased. He even huffed out a laugh at his schoolmate’s antics. He pulled out an unopened water bottle that he had on hand in case anyone had trouble swallowing any healing items that were on the more peculiar side. (Blended placenta and mayo locusts. Really?)

Akira walked over to the still kneeling Fuuka and held out the water bottle, “Here. You’ve been in here for a while and you might be dehydrated.”

She accepted the offered bottle with a soft ‘thank you’. Fuuka opened the bottle, held it in both hands, and drowned half of it in one go. 10 hours without food or water would be hard on anyone. Minato also gave her a packaged bun that Akira recognized from the school store. He felt some warmth bloom in his chest at the cute scene in front of him.

“Though it’s pretty impressive that you managed to avoid meeting any of the shadows in here. You must be pretty good at sneaking around.” Junpei said, and brought up a great point.

“So there are creatures in here.” Fuuka said with her eyes wide like she had only just realized something. “It’s difficult to describe but I kind of  sensed some things in here, but I always avoided them. But you guys...ummm...felt? You felt different so I came to where you were.”

“Wow. Really?” Junpei asked.

Akihiko nodded and said, “That means she probably has the same powers as Mitsuru. Maybe even stronger. Since Mitsuru is able to fight as well.”

“Oh! In that case, is it alright if we ask you a favor?” Akira said.

“Of course!” She said, her eyes expectant.

“Do you think you could help us get out of here? We came in the same way you did and not through the entrance like we normally do. So we’re a bit… lost.” Akira said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Fuuka stood up quickly even though she stumbled a little, she stepped forward confidently. “I-I’ll do my best! I’m not sure how accurate I can be, but I’ll definitely try.”

Minato turned to him and gave an approving nod. Akira felt like he had won in some way.

“I guess we did do what we came here for. Everyone's here and Yamagishi is safe.” Akihiko said as he looked over at everyone.

“Let's go.”

.

Akira never really noticed how much bigger the moon got during the Dark Hour until he looked out one of the unnecessarily large windows in Tartarus and saw tonight's full moon. It bathed all five of them in sickly neon green that would make any streetlight jealous. It was hard to ignore and everyone just kind of stopped and started for a moment. Looking directly at the giant moon for too long somehow  gave Akira the beginnings of a headache. 

“Would you look at that? The moon’s so bright from here.” Junpei said as he stood near the window. His longsword reflected the green moonlight across the floor.

“Research shows that shadows are affected by the changes in the phases of the moon. Though the same could be said for people too.” Akihiko said.

That matched pretty well with what Yaldabaoth explained earlier. It gave the god more credit. And though Yaldaboth had more experience with cognition and the changes within. Akira doesn’t completely trust what they say.

And as if said god was summoned simply by Akira thinking their name, Yaldabaoth announced their presence in the maindscape and simply said...

“It's here.”

Akira was rendered speechless at the wholly unexpected warning.

He took a moment to school his face and make sure that none of his inner shock was showing before he mentally yelled back, “It's here? It's here?! What do you mean by 'it's here'?”  

There was no response. There was conversation between the others about the moon or something. But Akira was busy trying to focus on Yaldabaoth’s dwindling presence. (He also didn’t notice Minato send a narrowed gaze his way.)

“Wait. No. You can't just say something cryptic and then disappear. What the fuck does that even mean?!” Akira continued. 

But before Akira could get any of the details out of the sealed god, Fuuka suddenly brought her hands to her mouth and gasped out in shock. He snapped back into focus, and so did Junpei and Minato.

“There are two large signals near the entrance! And they’re attacking someone.” Fuuka exclaimed.

“Dammit! It’s one of them!” Akihiko then quickly switched his focus on contacting Mitsuru.

The crackling static of Mitsuru’s ability filled Akira’s head.

“Akihi- …… hadows! At the entran… ...attacking… …”

The connection cut out quickly at the end. From what they could hear, the picture painted was not good. If it was only Mitsuru and Yukari against two ( two! ) Full Moon shadows, then the odds were bad. Really bad.

“We have to get down there now.” Minato said in the voice he used for battle.

Nobody moved for a moment. Akira could feel the mounting pressure of the current situation on his shoulders.

Minato’s eyes hardened, “Move. Now. ”

The steel in his voice got everyone moving immediately. The group ran by any shadows that Fuuka detected. As soon as the stairs were found, they descended. 

Akira knew that when they found a teleporter that they would get back to the entrance quickly. It didn’t change the fact that he was worried about Mitsuru and Yukari. He cared about his friends, dammit!

(Images of his other friends dissolving into black came unbidden into his mind. Akira did his best to ignore them though.)

Akira noticed that after a few floors, Fuuka was beginning to slow down. It was completely understandable. Not only was this her first time in Tartarus, and she had spent ten hours before they found her. She was probably exhausted before they started rushing down stairs. And if that wasn’t hard enough, she also had to focus on locating shadows so that the rest of them could avoid time consuming battles. It took a lot of resilience to be able to keep up.

They managed to make their way to one of the one way teleporters faster than any other night in Tartarus. The five of them barely fit on the small green circle that sent them back down to the first floor.

The scene that greeted the group made Akira’s stomach drop.

Two towering shadows with distorted humanoid shapes stood in the circular entrance to Tartarus. One was bloated and adorned with a white three pronged mask. The other was tall in a way that looked stretched and a pink mask that stood out along the dark colors. The remains of Mitsuru’s moped lay smoking near the base of the stairs. Yukari was on the floor propped up by her elbows and her bow was next to her in pieces. And Mitsuru…

Mitsuru was in the grip on the shadow on the right that had a sword the length of a car.

“Mitsuru? Mitsuru?!” Akihiko sounded panicked.

She groaned in response.

Akira wanted to run over and tear into the shadows right now. He wanted to try to summon Satanael even if it hurt to try to save one of the people he just started caring about. 

He didn’t want to lose anyone else.

But he didn’t want to lose their trust either. 

They only know him as someone with less experience with the Dark Hour than Junpei. S.E.E.S. had only seen Mephistopheles and not Arsene or Satanael. 

He didn’t know what to do.

He didn’t want them to hate him.

So instead of doing anything, Akira stood there frozen.

“Holy shit! What are these things?” Junpei exclaimed from Akira’s left.

Minato pulled out a bow from his right.

And to make everything much fucking worse, Natsuki Moriyama decided that it was a perfectly good time to walk in to the tower. She walked jerkily across the tile and then collapsed to her knees.

Right in the path of the round, blue shadow!

Said shadow took a few bounding steps towards the prone second year.

Fuuka moved forward when Akira couldn’t and kneeled next to her tormentor. Worry was etched in her every movement.

“Fuu… ka?” Natsuki said as if she was fighting to stay awake.

“Moriyama-san?” Fuuka asked and put her hands on Natsuki’s shoulders.

“Fuuka… I want… ed to say… that I’m… I’m sorry.” She said.

And Akira was pulled out of his dilemma from the sheer gall of this girl. After all this time, she only wanted to apologize after there could be consequences to her actions. She was only here because of the shadows on top of that. And she wanted to apologize no of all times.

“Moriyama-san…”

The shadow closed in and raised it’s staff in preparation to strike.

Akira took a step forward as Akihiko yelled out, “Wait! That’s not a weapon.”

Akira could see Fuuka pull out an Evoker that Akihiko had given her earlier. She looked like she was about to summon her Persona for the first time. But she was a navigator, right? And they aren’t capable of combat. The shadow was about to attack. And Akira was too far to do anything.

He was about to run forward when-

“I know”

The sound of shattering glass echoed through the impossible room. The shadow’s staff bounced right off of something and the recoil sent it stumbling right into the other shadow. Mitsuru was flung out of it’s grasp and Akira made a split second decision to run and try to catch her.

Mitsuru’s full body weight slammed into him, and Akira wasn’t able to keep his balance. They crashed and sprawled to the floor with Mitsuru on top of him. The lower back took the brunt of the blow and from the pain Akira knew that it would definitely bruise. But it was likely better than how Mitsuru would’ve been hurt from the drop.

Akira looked up and saw Fuuka’s Persona.

A serene globe of water trimmed with gold protected both Fuuka and Natsuki. A pink train behind the Persona gave the idea of a long ballroom gown. He could see the back of a woman with her arms spread wide. Fuuka’s Persona looked like a peaceful protector.

Akihiko rushed to Akira and Mitsuru. He helped them up and Akira’s back complained. He reached into his pocket and stealthily crushed a life stone. The stone turned to powder and the pain that ran up and down his back turned into a dull, ignorable ache.

Akira saw Mitsuru give him a complex look when he stood up and got into a fighting stance behind Minato.

“Wait!” Yuakri yelled when she saw them get ready to fight. “Normal attacks don’t work on them.”

“It’s because their strengths and weaknesses keep changing.” Fukka said. Her voice was a cool stream in Akira’s mind.

(He was more used to radio static.)

“I can somehow see their information. I can keep you updated when they change their elements.”

Minato nodded to her and motioned for the rest of them to move forward. Akira readied himself for a hard battle against two full moon shadows.

Fuuka immediately notified them that the round shadow was named the Empress and that it was weak to all physical attacks. The other one was named the Emperor and was weak to all magical attacks. Though Fuuka quickly followed that report up that the shadows had the ability to change their weaknesses at any moment. So they would eventually be flying blind anytime a shadow changed until Fuuka updated them.

Akira had a passing thought that maybe his instant kill attacks wouldn’t work on either shadow so he turned to the Empress. His dagger met little resistance against one of its short legs. 

The shadow made an uncoordinated swing of its staff at him, but Akira rolled out of the way. 

As the shadow tried to regain its balance, one of Minato’s arrows hits the relatively small head. The shadow lost balance and partially fell to the ground.

Akira sent a wink in Minato’s direction before he moved out of the shadow’s attack range. He saw Akihiko and Junpei sending Zios and Agis to the Emperor shadow. 

As the Empress shadow got back up, Minato moved to Akira’s side. He nocked another arrow and let it fly into the shadow's round stomach.

“If either of the shadows are weak to slashing, focus on them.” Minato ordered.

They jumped away from a Magaru aimed where they were just standing. Both of them took some wind damage and Akira took a short moment to mourn his school jacket. 

Minato stepped back to his side and continued, “But if neither are weak to slashing, heal with items when you can. Got it?”

“Got it.” Akira said and then jumped away from another spell.

He aimed another strike towards the Empress but stopped when he heard Fuuka’s voice.

“They just used a skill and their weaknesses have changed! I’ll scan them now and tell you the new ones when I can.”

Akira pulled back after he heard that. He didn’t know if any of his attacks would even be useful.

He sent a medicine to Junpei who looked like he took a few hits from the Emperor. Akihiko looked better, probably because he had Dia. If he needed it, Akira would send a snuff soul his way.

When he gave the medicine to Junpei, he didn’t notice the Emperor shadow approaching. The edge of the sword dug into Akira’s side. His armor and defense stat prevented the blade from going too deep, but it didn’t stop the pain.

The force of the attack pushed him away. Akira ended up in a half crouch with one hand on the ground. The other hand came up to press against his side. He could feel a slow flow of blood soak into the fabric of his white shirt and against his palm.

“Trickster! Are you alright?” Arsene asked, panicked.

Akira’s hand moved towards another life stone in his pocket as he mentaly whispered a quick, “I’ll be fine.”

He felt the rush of a Dia and the pain in his side disappeared soon after. He looked up and nodded to Akihiko in thanks and his hand pulled away from his pocket.

“Now the Empress is strong against everything but piercing attacks. I’m not sure about the Emperor yet. It’ll only take a little more time.” Fuuka said through her Persona’s abilities.

That meant that Akira could at least hurt the Empress with one of Mephistopheles’s abilities. So he sent a Double Fang in the shadows direction and watched her crumple once again.

And with just a few more of Minato’s arrows, the Empress dissolved into black smoke and was gone.

Akira took only a moment to catch his breath before he turned to the Emperor who was still standing. 

“The Emperor is weak to strike attacks right now.”

He didn’t have any skills or weapons that did that kind of damage. So he looked over his teammates to see what he could do for them like Minato had asked.

Akihiko looked exhausted in a way that spoke of low sp. Akira quickly walked over and handed him a snuff soul. Akihiko nodded in thanks and then quickly downed it.

A well timed Bash from Orpheus created the perfect opportunity for an all-out-attack.

The four of them together managed to bring the Emperor shadow down to its knees. But it was still standing after that.

The rest of the battle repeated in a cycle like that. Fuuka would call out it’s weakness. One of them would hit that weakness, usually Minato and his larger amount of Personas. And then they would do an all-out-attack. It was predictable and there was enough leeway to heal someone when the Emperor hurt them.

After the last all-out-attack ended with the shadow disappearing like the one before it, Akira wanted to fall down to the floor. It was like fighting a Palace Ruler all over again, but he didn’t have to run like hell afterwards.

He saw everybody relax too. Akira took that as permission to take a seat and just breathe for a moment. Junpei did the same, but he was more vocal about it.

“Is that-” “Is that it?” Fuuka asked as her Persona disappeared into ribbons of blue light around her.

“That’s the last of them.” Akihiko said when he walked over to her.

“Is everyone alright?” Fuuka asked and looked around at all of them.

Akira sent her a tired smile.

She turned to Natsuki and asked the same thing. When she got a partially muttered “yeah…” in response, Fuuka put her hands to her chest and muttered a soft, “Thank goodness.”

And then passed out on the floor.

Which honestly, same.

At Natuski’s cries of Fuuka’s name, Mitsuru stepped forward. Akira noted that she barely had a limp.

“It’s fine, she’s just exhausted.” Mitsuru said, and put a hand on the crying girl’s shoulder.

Akira zoned out the rest of the conversation, though he was able to get some of the information anyway. He was just exhausted.

They said something about the two shadows coming from outside Tartarus, and how Natsuki wouldn’t remember anything about tonight. It was kind of disappointing that she wouldn’t remember Fuuka saving her life. The way she was still crying over Fuuka’s unconscious body showed that she wouldn’t forget the feeling of regret.

With Fuuka passed out, a weepy Natsuki, and everyone else terribly exhausted, Akira was worried about how the walk back to the dorms would go.

At least everyone was alive and whole. The rescue mission was a success.

Chapter Text

A pounding headache was what woke Akira up the morning after the fight with the Empress and Emperor Arcana shadows. Or maybe it was a migraine at this point. He slung his arm over his eyes in an attempt to prevent the morning light from making things worse.

He forcibly pulled himself to full awareness, even when the only thing he wanted to do was bury his head in the pillow and go back to sleep. He groaned as he sat up. His body very much did not want to move yet. His side and back were still a bit sore, even after healing magic.

Yawning, Akira walked over to the mirror. His tired face stared back. The eyebags under his eyes were bad enough that he would have to cover them somehow. Glasses were out of the question. He didn’t want to have to explain to everyone at school as to why he suddenly started wearing them.

He yawned again and pulled out a tube of concealer from a bag. You couldn't become friends with Ann and Lala-chan and not learn about makeup. A small dot for each eye was able to cover the worst of the Dark circles. 

Akira stepped back and appraised how he looked. He looked decent enough that from a distance nobody would think he spent the night fighting for his life. And the people who could get close enough to notice would be the ones who knew what happened. All in all, a passing grade. 

He put on one of his many spare uniforms, thank you Mitsuru, and stepped out into the hall. In just a few minutes, he was in the kitchen making a pot of coffee for himself and anyone who would want some. The soft morning light streaming through the windows and the smell of coffee in the air made for a peaceful morning. Akira felt himself relax despite how tired he was. 

Surprisingly, Junpei was the first one to come down the stairs. His steps could be heard as he made his way to the first floor. The guy looked like he had just been through an all nighter of painful studying.

Since Junpei looked as tired as Akira felt, he offered him a coffee.

Junpei took the mug and gave a sleepy, “Thanks man.”

After he took a sip, Junpei seemed to perk up a bit. “Hey this is actually pretty good. I didn’t know you could make coffee like this with what’s here.”

Akira smiled and said, “Thank you.”

He drank slowly from his own cup. He may not have had everything he was used to back at Leblanc. But the kitchen at the dorms had enough to make a pretty good brew.

Neither of them spoke after that. They just spent a few moments drinking coffee and trying their best to fully wake up. Akira pulled out his phone and checked the time. He still had about 15 minutes before he had to leave and catch a monorail.

There were two more sets of footsteps coming down the stairs. Minato and Yukari appeared around the corner. Yukari looked like she was toeing the line between sleepy (in a cute way) and tired (in a pissed off way).

Minato, well Minato somehow didn't look any different from normal. There wasn’t any change to how he looked or his body language. The only thing Akira noticed was that his glare was a little less soul piercing than normal. But that could also be his imagination.

“Do you guys want some coffee too? I made a pot.” He asked, and they nodded.

Yukari took her cup and took a sip. She didn’t take another though. She just stared into the dark liquid like it held the secrets of the universe.

Minato placed his cup on the counter without drinking from it. He walked over to the fridge. He pulled out the carton of half-n-half and walked back over to where they were.

Akira stared.

Minato stared back. 

And poured enough cream into the coffee that the color changed into the lightest brown he had ever seen in a mug.

“Do you hate me? Is that why you’re doing this? Have I done something to offend you? Why are you doing this to me?” Akira asked in a stage whisper.

Minato raised his visible eyebrow and took a long sip.

Akira felt like he had lost somehow.

After finishing up their drinks (and Akira immediately repressed the incident) they made their way to school. The trip was filled with light chatter. Apparently no one wanted to talk about last night just yet. Maybe they were too exhausted to do so. Or maybe they all wanted to pretend that their lives were normal for it.

Akira split from them when they got to the classrooms. He waved to the three others when they headed to their class. As he walked into the room, he could almost feel his smile turn a little more forced.

He noticed the lack of Fuuka and Natsuki as he sat down. Akira knew Fuuka was in the hospital with Mitsuru and Akihiko checking in with her. Natsuki missing was also understandable, after last night, even if she didn't remember it, it would take a toll on the body. She probably called in sick.

When Mr. Ekoda looked over and saw the two girls missing, Akira enjoyed watching the man panic a little. The teacher seemed to flinch slightly whenever he looked over the empty chairs when he called on someone to answer a question. 

The rest of the school day passed without any deviation from the mundane. It felt anticlimactic for everything to be normal after last night's hectic fight. 

The bell rang to announce the end of today's classes. Everyone else moved to head home or to a club. But Akira sat there for a moment thinking about what to do that afternoon. If a new section of Tartarus was going to open soon, then he might need to use a different weapon for the stronger shadows. He could brave the police station and see what was in stock over there. Or he could go back to the dorms and take a long nap. 

Akira was leaning towards the second option. 

Then he remembered something from last night. 

Yukari's bow had been broken before they had gotten back to the entrance. Maybe she would be willing to go look at weapons together. And then maybe go get food and drown in their exhaustion together. 

With that in mind, Akira made his way to the 2-F classroom. He walked in and saw Junpei and Yukari who both looked just about ready to leave.

“Hey guys.” Akira said as he walked up.

“Hey dude.” Junpei said, smiling. “Thanks again for the coffee this morning. Don't know if I could have made it through class today without it.”

“Yeah. It’s rare that Junpei is actually right about something.”

“Hey!”

“But the coffee was really good.” Yukari said as she ignored Junpei’s offended noises.

“Thank you. I’ve had quite a bit of practice with brewing.” Akira said and then brought up something he was curious about. “By the way, where’s Minato? I didn’t see him out in the hall.”

“Oh, he ditched us to spend time with someone else.” Junpei said lightheartedly. “He told us he was going to meet up with that French transfer student. What was his name again?”

Akira knew who he was talking about. The only thing that came to mind was ‘Bebe’. But that was probably a nickname and not his actual name. He also had a passing thought that maybe the other student was one of Minato’s Confidants. Though that wasn’t really his business.

Akira turned to Yukari, “I actually wanted to know if you were free after school. I wanted to meet up with Kurosawa and see if there was anything I needed for the new floors.”

He tried to be as vague as possible, but still would still get the point across.

“And then I remembered that your bow got destroyed and wanted to see if you wanted to stop by after school.” Akira said.

He hoped she wouldn’t take it as a pickup line. He knew his reputation, but she had already told him to stop when they first met. Akira hoped she saw him as a friend too.

Yukari’s eyes narrowed. Then she sighed.

“Fine, I guess I do need to go eventually. Might as well get it over with now.” 

Junpei looked affronted, “You guys are going to leave me too. Just going to leave poor Junpei all alone?”

Akira rolled his eyes, “Yeah right. But if you need new-” What would be a good , unsuspicious word?- “equipment you can come too.”

Junpei looked a little surprised but then moved as if he was about to leave. “Nah, but thanks for the offer. But I’m gonna head over to the dorms and take a nap. Catch up on sleep and all that.”

“See you later then.” Yukari said and slung her own bag over her shoulder.

“Stay safe.” Akira called out.

After Junpei left he turned back to her.

“Let’s go.” Yukari said and led the way.

They stayed mostly silent on the walk there until Yukari broke the tension.

“I hope you know this isn’t a date.” She said, not looking at him.

“I know, I know. You shot me down about a month ago.” He said lightly.

She stopped.

“What?”

“What?”

“I don't even remember that. But you’re not going to keep trying?” Yukari said, confused.

“No? Why would I? You already told me no once. Isn’t that enough?” Akira said back, just as confused.

“So you just invited me out here, just as friends?” She asked. Not in an accusing way, but instead she sounded curious.

“Yeah, I mean why not? We fight at night together with our lives on the line. What downsides would there be to us being ‘just friends’?” Akira said.

“Huh. I guess you’re right about that.” Yukari said and she looked like she had just come to a conclusion.

“Then let’s go do something every friend group does.” Akira nodded wisely, “Shopping for deadly weapons together.”

Yukari’s smile looked a lot lighter.

“And as friends, maybe next time you can come to me for help with your makeup. Your concealer is sloppy and has rubbed off.” Yukair said with no heat behind her words.

Akira gasped dramatically, “How could you?! And besides, I was about to say the same thing to you.”

Yukari’s smile sharpened at the verbal challenge, “Really. If you think that’s what a good application looks like then I want to see where you got your info from. Though it almost looks like you’re self taught.”

Akira raised an eyebrow, “I learned from the best I’ll have you know. Couldn’t keep denying the people this pretty face.” He gestured to himself.

“Uh-huh. Sure” Yukari said, unimpressed.

He rolled his eyes at her reaction and began walking again. The rest of the way there continued in much the same way. One of them would bring up a topic, and they would participate in meaningless banter with each other. There wasn’t any bad feeling between them, just a light back and forth. It was relaxing, engaging, and kept the both of them distracted from the other things they could have been talking about.

Akira was glad they were truly friends now.

.

Akira hadn’t actually bought anything on that trip. The only thing that had caught his eye was a kunai, but he wasn’t sure if he was comfortable using a knife that didn’t have a hilt. Yukari did buy a new bow, one that looked stronger than her last one. After that they went to the Beef Bowl shop.

When they got back to the dorms and went their separate ways, Akira crashed. He passed out as soon as he laid down.

He had no dreams that night. 

Akira was better rested the next day, and he planned to go to Tartarus tonight. Alone.

It was the perfect time to do so. Fuuka was still in the hospital and Mitsuru and Akihiko visited her every evening. Minato didn’t want to go to the architecture nightmare without any navigator.

His Personas worried about him going in by himself. But he reassured them that he would only go as far as the entrance. He knew that Arsene’s skills worked outside of the tower, but he wanted to know if they did the same inside. 

And if Yaldabaoth had any more information they were hiding, well, that was a secondary objective.

The day passed without any incident. It was normal, mundane, and most of all, surreal. All of his classmates’ biggest worry was whether or not the teacher would call on them, or if they had time to finish the homework. And to Akira, it felt as if he just had to go along with it all. Like he was playing the part of the normal highschool.

Being a Persona user could be so exhausting sometimes.

He didn’t hang out with Minato, Junpei, or Yukari. Akira made his way to the dorms in order to take a nap. This way, his suspicious midnight stroll wouldn’t leave him too exhausted.

He changed into something more comfortable and dropped unceremoniously onto his bed. With the days getting warmer, he didn’t bother to get under the covers. It might be too hot that way.

Akira closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

Though after a few minutes, he found that he couldn’t.

He just couldn’t stop thinking.

Akira kept going over his current situation. It was so different compared to only 2 months ago when he first arrived in Tatsumi Port Island. He was alone, but confident. The first days of school were a success and Akira had reveled in the feeling of no one hating him on sight. He had kept all of his metaverse equipment. 

It had felt so easy only two months ago to complete the task given to him by Igor and the Velvet Room attendants. 

Now, he was a part of S.E.E.S. and fought with them, so he was an active Persona user. But at the same time, the goal behind the battles was so different. There were no grand Palaces and greedy men to take down. They only fought an uphill battle to slow down the cases of Apathy Syndrome. The only short term goal ahead of him was to help fight against the full moon shadows when they appeared each month. 

Things felt so much more hopeless now. 

Akira didn't remember any cases of Apathy Syndrome or the Dark Hour in 2016. Hopefully it was all gone by then. But that was what? At most, seven more years of fighting like this. 

Akira sat up, ran a hand through his hair, and gave a full body sigh. He wasn't going to be able to fall asleep like this. 

“I do not understand why you entertain such useless emotions. They will surely cloud your judgement.” Yaldabaoth said, pulling Akira out of his thoughts. 

He rolled his eyes. He wasn't really in the mood to deal with Yaldy right now. 

“You say that, but I clearly remember your passionate displays of emotions during our battles.” Arsene jumped in, quick on the draw. 

Though it seemed like Arsene was.

Akira wasn't in the mood to listen to their bickering. 

“As I said, useless emotions.” Yaldabaoth said, surprisingly agreeing.

If Akira wasn't going to be going out to do a sneaky sneaky on school grounds, then he might be able to just ask Yaldabaoth right now. 

“Actually, now that you're here, there's something I want to ask you.” Akira said and cut off any retort from Arsene. 

“And what would that be?” Akira could feel the god's condescension. 

“On the night of the full moon, you mentioned that you purposefully kept information from us. Is there anything else you want to tell me before you pull another vanishing act?” Akira said, straightforward. He didn't have the energy to dance around the topic. 

There was a suspicious pause before Yaldabaoth replied, “No, there isn't.”  

He rolled his eyes at that. 

“Yaldabaoth.” Akira deadpanned.

“…”

The god was silent.

Mephistopheles growled into the mindscape. 

“…”

Akira was silent right back.

Yaldabaoth spoke reluctantly, “I did notice something change during your latest battle in Tartarus, but I cannot confirm it at this time.”  

“Oh really? Then why didn’t you say anything when it happened?” Akira said and crossed his arms.

“As if you would process anything I said in that exhausted state of yours.” Yaldabaoth said.

Understandable. 

“What about yesterday?” Akira asked.

“You were focused on strengthening the bond between you and the Lovers.” Yaldabaoth said right back.

Less understandable. 

“And what about today then?”

Yaldabaoth didn’t say anything this time.

Akira clicked his tongue. Of course. Why would the being who tried to ruin his life be helpful in any way?

He sighed. Akira ignored the opportunity to start an argument and instead said, “ Nevermind, just say it.”  

“Don’t take that tone with me, human.” Yaldabaoth snapped back.

“Excuse me?” Akira was irritated. The god was not in a position to act superior.

Satanael spoke for the first time that day. There was a weighty anger in the Persona’s level voice. “Yaldabaoth, do not think that I am not capable of harming you within this space. Though I am loath to deny you the second chance you have been given, I will do so if you continue refusing to cooperate.”

Seemed like Akira wasn’t the only one who was at the end of their rope.

The tension of the last eight weeks together was finally boiling over.

“You call this a second chance? I never asked that sentimental fool Igor to reduce me to this state!” Yaldabaoth argued back.

“It’s better than you deserve for what you’ve done!” Arsene almost screamed. The sounds of crackling flames crackled throughout Akira’s mind.

He flinched from the sheer anger coming through the bonds. Akira’s heart ached like an old wound.

“For what I’ve done? You’ll have to be more specific, you petty thief.” Yaldabaoth sneered, venom dripping from their words.

“Be wary of the line you’re about to cross, false god.” Satanael said. The threat was clear.

Akira’s shoulders hunched under the pressure. The opposing forces in his head made his head throb. He wished they would all just stop. 

He didn’t want them to fight.

(He didn’t want them to bring his problems to light.)

“Is it my role in the Trickster’s fate? The fact that I controlled the public’s cognition? The creation of Palaces? Or are you upset that I’ve been given a ‘second chance’ as you’ve so gracefully put it when you wish someone else would have gotten it in my place?” Yaldabaoth said, each sentence more hateful than the last.

A pit formed in Akira’s stomach. The god's words brought back memories that he didn’t want to think of yet. He needed more time to think about it on his own terms. Because sure even Yaldabaoth wouldn’t-

“Would you prefer it if you had your dear Justice by your side instead?”

“Don’t you fucking mention him!” Akira jumped up as if to strike an invisible enemy.

He began pacing around the room just to give his mind something to focus on. He couldn’t hear anything that was said, only the roar of blood rushing in his ears. But he could still feel the fury of his Personas.

Akira didn’t want to think of all of his regrets. All the people he failed. The ones he left behind. The fact that he might not have a past or future any more.

And he didn’t want to think about Akechi yet-

He crouched on the floor with a whine, his hands over his face. The memories forced their way back to the surface. In the face of them, Akira’s vision blurred and his throat burned. His hands dropped from his face to his knees. Akira dug his fingers into his legs in an effort to keep the unshed tears from falling.

He doesn’t know how long he stayed like that, teetering on the edge of something.

He really was a mess and a failure wasn’t he?

Mephistopheles gently pushed on his mind as if to reassure him.

Akira took a large, shuddering breath.

He noticed that his mind had quieted down in the time he was fighting against his own feelings on the floor. He could hear himself think again.

Akira stood up shakily. His legs were half numb.

He felt mentally exhausted, but knew that he still wouldn’t be able to sleep. His awareness was drifting, and he felt disconnected from reality at that moment. But his body was still filled with anxious energy. It buzzed under his skin.

He didn’t want to think right now.

“Whatever it was, just tell me later, I'm heading out.” Akira said, and mindlessly began gathering things.

“Where are you going?” Arsene asked, confused and worried.

“I'm going to go work out until I'm too exhausted to think about any of this.” Akira said.

With a haphazardly packed gym bag slung over his shoulder, Akira exited his room. Maybe now would be a good time to check out that one place Akihiko mentioned.

It didn’t really matter how far away it was at the moment, Akira felt like he could zone out thoughtlessly for hours.

Yaldabaoth said something, but Akira easily ignored the quietly spoken words.

“Emotions are quite useless, aren't they?”  

Chapter Text

FANART!!!! by angstfueledmadness

The next day, Akira woke up from a dreamless sleep. The voices in his head had been mostly silent since his little… episode yesterday. He hadn’t gotten whatever information Yaldabaoth was hiding yesterday, but he kind of had other things to think about.

Fuuka was going to be coming back to the dorms this evening. It also meant that Akihiko and Mitsuru would be back. Everyone could go to Tartarus again, with a more specialized navigator this time. It was hard not to feel excited about possibilities about future exploration during the Dark Hour. Though, that was only if she decided to join them. In the end, she might not even join. 

And Akira could respect that decision.

But first he had to make it through school. 

So he went through the repetitive, but almost reassuring motions of the day. 

Go to school. 

Get through class. 

Smile, wave, lightly mingle with his schoolmates. 

Make his way back to the dorms to spend his free time.

Easy.

Well, mostly easy.

There was one thing that happened. A girl who Akira did not recognize at all asked him out right after school. He tried to let her down gently, but it sounded painfully nice to his own ears. He hoped whoever she was, she wouldn’t hold a grudge against him.

After that horribly awkward experience that Akira couldn’t really wrap his head around, the way back to the dorms was quite calm.

Homework was wrestled and dealt with quickly in the safety of the first floor. Just having other people around worked to keep him focused on work. And before he knew it, the evening light was stretching over the length of the carpeted floor.

Sometimes time just got away from him, you know?

The door to the lounge opened, and without any fanfare Mitsuru and Akihiko walked in followed by a wide eyed Fuuka. She gave the impression of a small animal who looked ready to freeze at any moment, so Akira sent her a wave from his seat. 

He smiled when she sent a small one back. 

The trio walked past towards the stairs. Fuuka looked like she was trying to absorb as many details as she could before going upstairs. Akira knew they were probably going to the conference room on the fourth floor and that he should probably start heading up. He gathered up his things and walked to his room. He dropped off his work because they probably wouldn’t appreciate him coming to a very important meeting for Fuuka with his arms full of the labors of his afternoon. 

He wondered when everybody was going to get there. The upperclassmen were already there with Fuuka. Yukari was usually punctual about these things. Minato and Junpei were usually late, but for different reasons. And-

Ah fuck. The chairman was probably going to be there. If only because of Fuuka’s unique abilities. 

Now it wasn't that Akira hated the chairman. He played a pretty important role for the 'club'. And the only thing he's done in the few instances they've met after that first time was tell some horrible jokes that made it feel like a part of Akira shriveled up and died. 

Akira just didn't like his vibes. 

He could be the nicest person in Tatsumi Port Island and Akira still wouldn't be able to stand him. There was just something about the chairman that rubbed him the wrong way. It was an irrational dislike and he knew it.

At least it wasn't so bad that Akira couldn't put up with him for about an hour or however long the meeting went on for. 

He sighed as he put his stuff away. Better to mentally steel himself against any psychic damage now rather than later. 

Akira walked up alone to the fourth floor. Mitsuru, Akihiko, Yukari, and Fuuka were already up there together. The upperclassmen were already giving Fuuka the breakdown of What The Fuck Happened That Night. Though she seemed to be taking the revelations of shadows and the Dark Hour pretty well. Yukari would sometimes jump in with a comment or question, but she just seemed to be giving some side eye to Mitsuru.

Akira just greeted them and sat down. He didn’t really have anything meaningful to contribute to the current conversation. Maybe when they got to planning out the future he could join in.

He didn’t really have a way to waste time until then, so Akira decided to look over Mephistopheles’s growth in depth now that he was about to be part of a meeting that would involve battle planning. It would be good to brush up on information in case Minato or Mitsuru needed it.

Mephi was level 19, on the cusp of 20. His only magical attacks were still just the instakill “Dark” attribute ones. Everything else was either a physical attack of one of three types or a buffing spell. Akira’s loadout was like if Ryuji couldn’t use any Zio spells.

(And he cha cha slid around the pain with practiced avoidance.)

He and Mephistopheles were physical fighters through and through as far as anyone in S.E.E.S. knew. Though, for some reason, Mephistopheles’s magic was growing at about the same rate as his strength. Which would be great if he actually had magic attacks. Man, Akira missed skill cards.

Wait.

Did he have any in his supplies?

Akira never fucking checked.

He resisted the urge to just stand up and bolt out of the room to check that very moment.

Mephistopheles was very excited at the prospect. (Akira would describe the experience as being soul bonded to an ecstatic puppy.)

Though as soon as the thought came, another one swooped in that quickly dampened their excitement.

Akira didn’t know if any of the cards would fit Mephistopheles in any way that wasn’t suspicious. Let alone whether the cards would even work or not.

At least now he could sit through the meeting without the indecent need to go check on his stuff blaring in his head.

Akira focused back on the present. It seemed that while he was having a dead end epiphany, Minato had come in and sat right across from him with his usual unbothered appearance. Fuuka’s debrief also looked to be over. Everyone else was quiet, but no one was really willing to break the silence. Though it wasn’t an awkward one, it was the kind of comfortable silence that you shared with people you trusted. And if you couldn’t trust the people who keep you from dying, then who could you trust?

“I’m glad to see that everyone is already here.” Ikutsuki said as he reached the top of the stairs. His signature smarmy smile was present as well.

Akira had to make sure that such comments stayed inside his mind. The man had done nothing in the month that Akira had been in the dorms to warrant this kind of gut feeling. Overall, he seemed helpful if nothing else.

So Akira would just stick to complaining about him in his mind, usually with Arsene. (And sometimes Yaldabaoth for some reason. The god probably just liked complaining about things.)

And after he got through the wave of displeasure that came and went everytime the man walked into a room, Akira noticed that Junpei had just arrived too. He gave a quick wave in greeting and sat down on the only available chair stool fusion. And with that, everyone was here.

Ikutsuki did his weird eye smile thing and turned to Fuuka, “So, you’re Fuuka Yamagishi, correct?”

Fuuka stood up like she had just been called on in class, “Yes, that’s me.”

Ikutsuki just chuckled and said, “There’s no need to be so nervous. Why don’t you take a seat?”

“Oh! Um, yes.” Fuuka awkwardly sat down. He noticed that the tips of her ears were pink.

“And I think everyone will be happy to hear that the three girls affected have all regained consciousness.”  Ikutsuki said, his smile was unchanged.

Akira was glad to hear that they had recovered. He didn’t know if it was because they wouldn’t be the victims of shadows anymore, or if it was because they could now face the consequences of their actions. Out of the corner of his eye, Akira noticed that Fuuka lowered her head further.

“I'm glad to hear everyone did an excellent job in uncovering the truth of the situation. From what I understand, each of the girls went to the evil around midnight and waited for the security guard to leave. Then, when the Dark Hour began, they were attacked by shadows near the gate. However the facts became twisted with the rumor of a ghost story.” Ikutsuki said in a short and sweet summary of the past week.

“I knew there wasn't actually a ghost.” Yukari huffed.

There was a glint in Junpei’s eyes as he said, “Aw, Yuka-tan, are you sure it wasn't just because you were scared of the ghost story?”

Yukari lightly slapped him on the arm.

“Ow!” Junpei yelped in a clearly dramatized way.

Akira huffed out a laugh at their antics.

“I'm sorry for making everyone worry. It was all my fault.” Fuuka said as she hung her head lower.

Wait no-

“What are you saying? You were the victim here.” Yukari said, echoing Akira’s thoughts.

“But I made trouble for everyone here.” Fuuka looked up.

“Don't worry about that. It's kind of our job to fight those things. We would have done it anyway, if that makes you feel better.” Akira said, and he hoped it would.

Fuuka did seem like the person to give in on a lot of things, but was more stubborn than anyone else when they put their heart into it. If she really believed it, then it would be hard to change her mind about it. But Akira hoped she could let go of the belief that she was at fault for any of this.

“But-” Fuuka protested.

“Speaking of the last battle.” Mitsuru said as she stood up and effectively got everyone's attention. “You were a great help to us Yamagishi. I don't know if we would have won that fight without you. You saved our lives, feel good about yourself.  You possess a special power that can help others. You would be a tremendous help to us. Will you lend us your strength?”

Akira saw a determined light enter Fuuka’s eyes and knew that she had already made her decision. While Mitsuru’s words were pretty heavy handed, it was up to Fuuka in the end. And even though everything was moving pretty fast, he wasn’t sure he could change her mind.

And he kind of wasn’t sure that he wanted to change her mind. Having a navigator like Fuuka on the team would be wonderful for future exploration, no matter how icky the thought of using her made him feel.

“You want me to join you? Mitsuru-senpai…” Fuuka trailed off.

She looked at Akihiko who nodded.

“And you don't have to say anything right now. We don't want to pressure you into this, so if you need some time to think about it…” Yukari said to give Fuuka the option of saying no.

Akira would have joined in if Fuuka didn’t look set in her decision.

“I'll do it! I'll help you!” Fuuka said in the loudest voice he had heard out of her. 

Yukari still didn’t look convinced, “Are- are you sure? If you join, you'll have to live in the dorms with everyone else.”

“That's okay. I'd rather live here than at home anyway.” Fuuka muttered.

(And they didn’t have time to unpack all of that so Akira ignored it like he did his own problems.) 

“We really appreciate this. I'll get the school to contact your parents to resolve any issues that come up.” Mitsuru said.

(The power of Kirijo was still scary no matter how many times Akira saw it.)

“Thank you.” Fuuka said.

“Wait a minute. Isn't this all happening a bit too fast?” Yukari put her hands up.

She made eye contact with Akira, but he just lightly shook his head. This wasn’t really a battle they could win, even if it was going too fast. Yukari’s eyes widened slightly in disbelief before she turned away annoyed.

“Um, it's all okay. Really.” Fuuka said placatingly.

Ikutsuki coughed lightly and changed the subject, “Now about those special shadows. We don't know where they come from. All that we know is that they appear on the full moon.” 

“Oh I get it, so they're like werewolves then. Right?” Junpei said.

“Heh, the Magician has the right idea. Right Yaldabaoth?” Arsene jumped in at the opportunity.

“Silence you Fool.” Yaldabaoth bit out.

“If we prepare for the shadows before they appear, we can have the advantage. So when it's time for the fight we can get in the ring.” Akihiko said.

Ah. Akihiko and his never ending battle spirit.

“I think that's about everything. Then as the advisor to the club, let me say welcome.” Ikutsuki said and promptly got up.

He looked over everyone with a glint in his eye and said, “And while I would like to stay longer, it’s starting to get late.” Ikutsuki made a show of checking his watch. “Night time seems to come so early these days. It’s almost at the speed of light. Or rather…”

Oh no.

“The speed of night!”

Minato got up and left the conference room without a word along with all of the emotional tension that was in the room.

There were sighs and grimaces all around with Ikutsuki looking pleased in the middle of it all. Akira just leaned back and ran a hand through his hair. He would just wait for everyone to leave first. He didn’t feel like moving yet. There were muttered and slightly awkward goodnights that Akira returned with equal energy.

“Why did you try to get me to stop?” Yukari asked suddenly when it was only the two of them left.

“What?”

“Things were going too fast and you shook your head at me. Why?” SHe asked, not looking at him.

“Well. I mean, I don’t think anything we would have said would have changed Fuuka’s mind. Mitsuru may have used some pretty biased wording, but I think Fuuka made her decision when she heard that could help in some way.” Akira said, trying to put his earlier thoughts into words.

Yukari still looked despondent, “It just doesn’t feel right to just drag her into this so suddenly.”

She looked like she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders. There was a tired air to her that wasn’t there when they first met a month ago.

“I just wish we didn’t have to bring more people into this. And I wish we didn’t have to fight at all. But I can’t just stand by knowing the things that are happening, and maybe Fuuka feels the same way. But I just wanted to give her a chance. A chance to stay out of this whole fucked up situation, you know?”

Akira knew. He knew perfectly. There were so many things he wished were different. He wished he could have had a normal 2nd year. He wished Kamoshida wasn’t such a scumbag. He wished that the Palace Rulers had actually been decent people. He wished that Shido wasn’t there that night. He wished that Yaldabaoth had never even fucking looked at him.

He wished that there wasn’t a constant and looming threat over Minato’s life.

But he couldn’t change any of that.

And with the hand he’d been dealt, all Akira could do was fight.

So, with his whole heart he said, “I know.”

She nodded, silent.

“I think I’m done for today.” Yukari got up and made her way to the stairs.

“Hey.” Akira called, and she turned back, “Have you eaten anything yet. I could make something if you wanted.”

If there was something that could try to combat the heavy mood that had settled over the both of them, then it was food.

“Thank you, but I’m not hungry. Sorry.” Yukari said.

She sounded exhausted.

“That’s okay, maybe next time.” Akira said.

“Maybe next time.” She said and paused by the stairs. “Good night Akira.”

“Goodnight Yukari.”

Akira sat there for just a moment by himself in the lonely conference room. The only sounds were from his breathing and the hum of the machines near the wall. Some kind of exhaustion kept him in his seat.

“You should turn in as well, Trickster.” Satanael said. Though his Persona’s voice was concerned, there was still an edge of steel that left no room for argument.

Satanael was right. He didn’t feel up for doing anything else today. The skill cards and everything else could wait for tomorrow or whenever he had the energy to deal with it.

Chapter Text

Akira found himself alone on his dorm room floor on a Friday night surrounded by skill cards and random metaverse junk all around. Everything was sorted in a haphazard way that probably only made sense to him. Skill cards to the right, weapons and equipment to the left, and consumables straight in front of him. All of it was taken and spread out for the purpose of preparing for the next trip into Tartarus tomorrow.

There were a few things he had to consider when choosing what to take or use. A new section of Tartarus was almost certain to open. That would mean higher levels and stronger enemies. Fuuka would be joining them as their navigator with more specialized scanning abilities than Mitsuru ever had while using her sensors. Akira didn’t know if those abilities applied only to shadows, or if she could scan people too. Mitsuru was going to be on the front lines for the first time since Akira had joined S.E.E.S.

Akira had taken a look at the equipment Mitsuru wanted to use for tomorrow night so that he could stay in the same strength range.

For a weapon, he’s chosen to go with the Athame. It’s a nice, simple, and short knife that can hopefully go toe to toe with any shadows on the new floors. Minato shouldn’t have any complaints either.

For his armor, well… Akira decided to have a little more fun with that. When he looked through his horde of items for something fitting, he came across something that worked perfectly. It was a cute grey and pink cat sweater that he had picked up on one of his shopping trips with Ann. Not only would he be carrying a piece of his time in Tokyo as a good luck charm in battle, but he would look cute doing it.

(He would wear that and whatever shoes Minato gave him because shoes counted as armor for some reason. The Dark Hour cared more about their appearances than most people did.)

His healing items were replenished both from items from his stash, and some bought using Tartarus money. There were standard healing items, sp items, and revival items. Though there were also some of those horrible, horrible drinks he had collected through some sort of morbid curiosity. Maybe he could get someone else to drink one of them.

The only thing left, and the elephant in the room, was the skill cards that sat to his right. Akira had superficially sorted it when he pulled everything out. He had taken out everything that could be eliminated immediately.

Akira hadn’t even looked at anything that was Curse, Bless, Nuclear, or Psychokinesis. Those elements didn’t even seem to exist for the previous generation of Persona users. He didn’t want to use anything that 1) doesn't naturally appear here, and 2) might affect Mephistopheles in a way they don’t know about. As far as he knew, no one in S.E.E.S. had even mentioned a skill card.

Everything about it was a shot in the dark. 

So Akira did what he did best. Put it off for later. 

But it was the last thing on his Friday checklist before he could go to sleep.

So Akira sighed and turned to the cards.

He didn't really feel up to making a decision yet. Akira was continuing to weigh the pros and cons of using any of them.

So he put it off a little further and started sorting through the cards further. 

One by one Akira picked up the cards and grouped them by element/effect and then by strength. And everytime he did, he paid attention to Mephistopheles's reaction through their bond.

But before he knew it, Akira sat in front of a floor of perfectly sorted cards. It was both as satisfying and as useless as organizing a deck of cards.

But it was time to stop stalling and try to make a decision.

A knot formed inside his stomach at the thought of it.

Ah jeez, why was he making such a big deal out of this.

He didn’t even have to sort them out. It’s not like he could use any of the elemental spells anyway. His window of opportunity for those had passed, and since Mephi didn’t start with any of the basic spells, he could just use them now.

Akira weighed a Megido card in his hand.

Almighty was an option, as were skill cards. But everything that could really pack a punch would only show up at higher levels.

He felt drained.

Yaldabaoth suddenly spoke up, “I cannot seem to understand why you would submit yourself to such a futile task. You gain almost nothing by performing trivial undertakings.”

“Because I need to get stronger. It's as simple as that.” Akira said.

There was a moment of silence where the god didn’t respond as quickly as Akira expected them to. 

“Though you are useless in many aspects-” Yaldabaoth began.

“Hey!” Akira mentally explained, offended.

Another pause, but this one far more judgemental, “I did not finish. Though you are useless in many aspects, battle is not one of them. If you were not kept from doing so by the unnecessary vulnerability shared with the humans here and the barricades within the tower. You could have climbed up by your lonesome.”

The statements brought up conflicting feelings. Objectively what Yaldabaoth said was true, but Akira could argue back with other things that the god hadn’t mentioned. And he would have appreciated the words from anyone else, but this was Yaldabaoth so...

“Is that supposed to be reassuring?” Akira asked.

“No.” Yaldabaoth deadpanned.

“Then why would you even say that? ” Akira said.

“Because you made a false statement that needed to be corrected.” Yaldabaoth said, like that made complete sense for what he was doing.

“I know that! It's called anxiety, you asshole.” Akira bit back.

He knew that Arsene and Satanael were both stronger than any other Persona in S.E.E.S. currently. But it didn’t make him feel any better about the fact that Mephi essentially had no elemental spells. He at least wanted to come up with something that could make up for that.

The false god just sounded exasperated as they said, “I am quite familiar with anxiety. It is what created me after all. But at least the population of Tokyo was more honest with themselves.”

“And what do you mean by that, Yaldabaoth?” Akira asked.

That last line implied something he didn’t like.

“I believe that we both know that your anxiety stems not from your fighting abilities, but from the secrets that you choose to keep.” Yaldabaoth said plainly.

“Yeah, well. I can’t just go up to them and say that I’ve traveled back in time from 7 years in the future and that I’ve actually got 3 Personas inside my head.” Akira said rhetorically.

But at the same time it got him thinking. Stat wise, Mephistopheles was on par with Io and Hermes stat wise, so it wasn’t like he was lagging behind them. And Minato honestly didn’t seem like the type to leave him out of battle just because he was a little weaker than anyone else. Physical type attacks do work on most shadows after all.

Even when Akira thought back to his time as Joker, he never left anyone behind. Everyone else got their chance on the frontlines.

He just wasn’t used to having to be in the reserves.

The thought of not having to perform excellently all the time made him relax and not feel so stressed about using or not using a skill card.

“But I guess you’re right. I might’ve just gotten used to having to be the strongest in the party. I think we’ll be fine after all, won’t we Mephi?” Akira said as leaned back and put his weight on his hands.

Mephistopheles agreed, though they were a little disappointed at their curiosity not being sated. 

He let that sink in for a moment before he also said, “And thanks Yaldabaoth, for not being a complete bitch for once.”

Though Yaldabaoth didn’t immediately snap back like Akira expected them to.

Instead they just calmly said, “I believe the correct thing to say in this instance is, fuck you too?”

And Akira snorted .

Arsene started cackling madly in the background.

Akira had to put the back of hand over his mouth to prevent himself from laughing wildly. He didn’t want anyone in the dorms to think he was crazy.

“You Fools need not laugh. If I used the term wrong, just have the decency to say so.” Yaldabaoth said in a way that was reminiscent of a pout.

Arsene immediately said, “No no! You used it perfectly! ”

“It’s just that it was unexpected coming from you.” Akira said, still trying to keep the laughter bubbling up under control.

“Is that so? Then I shall endeavor to use such human terms accurately in the future as well. You… motherfuck?”  

Akira lost the fight and started laughing out loud.

It was somehow a productive day all in all.

.

Watching Tartarus bloom from the ground like a horrible flower made out of buildings never stopped being weird. But at least Akira had seen it before. When he looked over at Fuuka though, it seemed like she couldn’t look away. Seeing it grow felt like watching a car crash and all of that.

“That’s the place… where I was trapped?” She said to no one in particular.

“Yeah” Akira answered anyway, “But at least we can just enter and exit through the front door. And you won’t have to climb the tower, you can leave that to the fighters.”

Fuuka looked over at him, and as awkward as his words might have been, she did look a little relieved.

She nodded and started walking with her head held high towards the front gates. AKira followed in along with the rest of the group.

The usual entrance greeted them. It looked like nothing had changed. There wasn’t a single sign that only a few days ago that a large battle had taken place. Well, it did essentially regrow itself every night.

Akira didn’t really know what to do with himself so he stood off to the side and waited. Minato’s words usually had the most precedence at times like these. So he had to waste time until the wildcard’s preparations were complete.

Minato walked over to the grandfather clock in the corner. Then he stood in front of the dissociation corner for a while.

Yukari walked up to him while he looked at Minato and said, “I love the colors of your sweater, where did you get it?”

“Um, I-” Akira hadn’t really expected that question, but could just tell the truth, “I found it while shopping with a friend back in Shibuya. It’s really comfy and it’s one of my favorites. I’m just glad it works as armor too.”

Yukari nodded, almost sagely, “It’s definitely better than some of the other armors we have to wear. Wish I could get one too, though”

Akira thought for a moment on how Yukari could get her own wonderful cat sweater before he said, “What about the fashion club at school. You could see if you could commission someone there to make the sweater for you.”

“Hmmmm, that’s a good idea. The only thing is that I heard that the fashion club only has one member. But I could definitely commission a cute sweater like this one.”

They stopped talking when they noticed movement nearby.

Minato walked away from where he was standing before and moved towards his stuff. Out of his duffle bag, Minato pulled out a bow that Akira hadn’t seen him use before.

“For the first trip up, it’ll be me, Mitsuru, and Akihiko. Next one will be everyone else.” He said and then looked around.

Nobody objected. The upperclassmen moved with him to the neon green teleporter. Akira just sat down on the cold tile floor.

He caught Fuuka’s eye and gave her a thumbs up from his new position on the ground. She nodded resolutely and then clasped her hands. Lucia formed gracefully around her and bathed the nearby area in a soft blue glow.

And now all that was left was to wait. 

“Ah, I should have tasked you with asking the Priestess if there were any changes within the nest.”   Yaldabaoth said.

“Why would I ask Fuuka about changes in Tartarus?” Akira asked.

Wait… Was this the information that Yaldabaoth refused to talk about last time?

 “Because I sensed a shift after the two Arcana shadows were slain. However, due to the restrictions still placed upon my spirit, I could not ascertain any details. The Priestess, however, is not tied down by such limitations.” Yaldabaoth said, explaining freely for some reason.

“Then why are you just saying it outright? If you say it so easily, I find it a little hard to believe.” Akira said.

“The reason I say it now is because…” Yaldabaoth trailed off in a very out of character moment.

Suddenly, Akira felt the pressure of Satanael’s weighted attention. It felt like the Persona was like a strict teacher looking over his shoulder as he worked on an assignment. He felt a shiver go down his spine even though it wasn’t directed at him.

“Ah. I see.” Akira said.

The pressure immediately eased.

“I’ll ask her when the others get back. Don’t want to distract her and everything. Might as well warm up while I wait.” Akira said, and then got up from his floor chair.

He started doing very light stretches and exercises. He noticed Junpei and Yukari doing the same, but they also looked a bit bored.

So he walked over and said, “Hey guys, want to see something I can do?”

They both looked intrigued.

“Sure dude.”

“I guess”

“Cool.”

Akira looked behind himself to make sure that he wouldn’t crash into anything. 

And then he did a standing backflip.

As his head came up, he saw Junpei looking excited, but Yukari looked mostly neutral. She just raised a single eyebrow.

“You know I can do that too, right?” Yukari said, teasing.

Junpei looked at her, “Really? Then why didn’t you say anything?”

“You never asked.” She said back.

“Can I see it?” Akira asked, now curious.

Maybe they could be parkour buddies.

She looked behind her like Akira had done earlier, and then also performed a perfect standing backflip.

Akira golf clapped and Junpei looked a little betrayed.

“Awww. Now you guys have to teach me how to do that too.” He said and looked between them.

“I guess I could teach you that. You probably have enough lower body strength for it from lugging that huge sword around. It’s just uh…” Akira pointedly looked around them.

Junpei looked a little deflated, but still excited.

“Yeah, at least it’ll hurt less when you hit your head on the carpet instead.” Yukari said.

“How do you know that I won’t get it right on my first try? I’ll have you two as teachers.” Junpei crossed his arms, mock offended.

“Junpei, as wholesome as that is, there is a good chance to fall down when learning.” Akira said, smiling.

He turned away and muttered, “I guess.”

Suddenly Mitsuru’s voice came from behind the trio, “Are you three about ready?”

Junpei startled, and they turned around, and yes, the first group had already made their way back down to the first floor. They all looked okay for the most part, though Minato looked less tired than the other two.

“Uh yeah, I guess we’re all ready, right guys?” Junpei said.

They nodded and Yukari walked off to meet up with Minato.

Akira walked over to Fuuka.

“Hey so, this may be a bit out of the blue, but can I ask you a quick question?” He asked.

She looked at him, “Of course!”

“Do you… feel anything different about Tartarus compared to last night? Just curious considering the fight from last time.” Akira asked, and jeez he sounded awkward.

“Um… Everything tonight felt the same as before. I don’t really feel anything different. Sorry for not being able to help you.” Fuuka said.

At her downcast look, Akira quickly said, “No, it’s fine, don't worry. Thank you for answering my question anyway.”

Fuuka still didn’t really look convinced, but Akira didn’t really have a lot of time at the moment.

“I’ve got to go, but I’ll see you later” He said.

Fuuka nodded, “See you later.”

He walked over to the teleporter where Minato, Yukari, and Junpei were already waiting. Before he could speak though, Minato moved to give something to him.

Akira took it without thinking and looked down at what he was holding now. There was a… bone in his hand.

Like a human bone.

Just in his hand now.

“This is a bone.” Akira said dumbly.

“Yes…” Minato said back, not giving anything away, “And?”

“Why did you hand me a bone?” He said back.

“It’s a knife.” Minato said back, like  that explained everything.

Akira looked down at the bone. It looked like a human femur that had been cut diagonally at the end. It could technically be a knife.

He had to take a moment to process the fact that when he looked at the strength, that it was somehow stronger than the actual knife he brought tonight.

Akira just shook off his common sense screaming at him and just said, “Yeah sure I guess.”

Minato nodded.

Then he activated the teleporter without any warning.

.

Ok, so the new section of the tower didn’t look any different from the other floors Akira had seen. There was still ‘blood’ and white and  purple tiles everywhere. The shadows were stronger and a little more varied.

Akira himself was a little winded. He had to sprint after Minato when he spotted one of those speedly little fucking hands. The little bastards are fast and stronger than they had any right of being. And on top of that, the bigger ones somehow knew Megido!

So he simultaneously cursed the rare shadows in this shitty tower and missed the days when all he had to do was smack a big ol’ gem. Minato stood over to the side doing his post battle thing while Yukari healed Junpei up. He had taken some bad hits in the hand fight.

Akira stretched his back when he noticed Minato’s face fall. He looked more stricken than he had ever seen the other teen look before. It wasn’t much compared to other people, but Akira still noticed the change after living together for over a month at this point.

He was about to walk over and ask what’s wrong when Fuuka’s voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

“Be careful! I sense Death!”

What?

(Better not be another fucking hand .)

Minato suddenly looked up and ordered, “We have to get to the stairs now.”

“But we don’t know where they are.” Yukari said, finished with healing Junpei.

“Should we split up then, to find it faster.” Junpei said.

“No, we need to stay together and move.” The tension in Minato’s voice made him anxious.

Akira then suddenly heard the echoing rattle of chains.

Oh shit.

They hadn’t been on this floor that long. Why was it here?!

The others looked just as nervous as him. They all looked at each other.

Then they ran.

The walls around them started to blur and all Akira focused on was getting one foot in front of the other.

There was panic building in his chest. He felt so slow without the Monabus to escape with.

Junpei suddenly tripped and Akira reached to help him up. He also made the mistake of looking back and caught a glimpse of it coming around the corner.

The Reaper looked exactly like he remembered.

Chapter Text

Akira stared frozen at the Reaper for only a moment before he remembered that he had moved to help Junpei up. So fueled by desperation he pulled Junpei up with what was definitely more force than necessary.

Junpei grunted and missed a step, but Akira didn’t stop. They were able to find a pace and start spriting again.

He didn’t dare slow down.

The sounds of chains got louder behind him.

Akira’s breath burned in his lungs as he ran after Yukari and Minato. He hoped that every corner they turned would reveal the stairs, but no such luck so far.

He suddenly heard the whistling sound of something heavy moving fast. So Akira pulled from all of his fighting experience and dodged.

He wasn’t faster than the Reaper.

The end of the Reaper’s gun swung through and caught Akira’s ankle. Pain raced up his leg and the force of the blow sent him sprawling. He braced as he hit the floor. Akira felt the shock in his arms on impact.

The world spun in a nauseating way for a moment.

But even a moment could cost him everything in a fight like this.

So Akira pushed against dizziness and forced himself into a crouching position.

He looked up just in time to see the Reaper take aim at Yukari.

And fired.

She collapsed to the floor without a sound.

“Oh no… Yukari-chan! Someone help her!”

The Reaper moved to her prone body when a blast of an Agi blasted into one of its arms. Akira saw Junpei stand defiantly to the side.

“Hey asshole! Don’t look at her. Look at me!” Junpei yelled, his sword held in front of him.

The Reaper roared in response.

Akira used the chance to move to where Yukari fell. He staggered to his feet and almost stumbled when he put weight on the ankle that was hit. But he limped as fast as he could even though his ankle was definitely sprained, hopefully not broken. When he got to her he pulled out a bead and crushed it.

Yukari took a deep, audible breath. Her eyes flew open, and Akira helped her to a sitting position.

The first thing she said was, “How long was I out?”

Akira helped her get to her feet and said, “Only seconds.”

She nodded sharply and looked back to the battle.

“Yukari’s back up. Please get away now!”

Minato looked over at that and caught their eye, then he looked away and said, “Junpei, get ready to run!”

“Got it!” Junpei yelled back and lowered his sword and looked ready to move.

As the Reaper geared up for another attack, Minato put his Evoker to his head and cried, “Ares!”

Akira watched as in a shatter of blue, the Greek god sprang forth and aimed their hammer right at the Reaper’s head. The strike connected but the Reaper’s head didn’t budge an inch. Ares disappeared immediately after, but it was enough.

As soon as he had heard that blow connect, Akira ran. He kept upright on his bad leg only through adrenaline and sheer determination. He bit his lip to keep his focus away from the pain down there. The need to stop and heal his ankle was outweighed by the need to get the fuck away.

He knew that they wouldn't be able to outrun the Reaper forever. It was faster than them, and never tired. 

But they just needed to find the stairs. 

“I think it’s this way! We’re almost there!” Yukari exclaimed.

The hope of escape pushed Akira to run even faster.

They turned a corner, and at the end of the hall, were the wide set of stairs unique to Tartarus. All they needed to do was make it there. All that stood between them and safety was a straight run.

Akira swore that if he focused he could actually feel the Reaper gaining on them.

Minato reached the steps first. He climbed only a few before he turned back to look at everyone. Akira might’ve stopped to admire the leadership and care for his teammates if he didn’t have to run for his life at the moment.

Yukari started climbing the stairs next, and Junpei soon after. Akira was about to reach the first step when his ankle suddenly decided that it had had enough.

His leg gave out beneath him and his knee hit the floor. Akira hissed in pain through clenched teeth.

(How many times was he going to fucking fall today?!)

“Akira!” Junpei yelled.

But he couldn’t stay like this.

He needed to move.

Akira tried to stand up even as his ankle protested.

Minato ran down the stairs and grabbed his arm with more force than he had ever expected from someone of his height. Akira stumbled as he was pulled and took one look behind him.

Akira stared down the barrel of the Reaper’s gun.

His blood froze and a cold feeling settled in the pit of his stomach.

Akira let himself be pulled back by Minato as he racked his brain for something-anything that he could to protect himself and the people around him. None of his Persona’s were immune to piercing, Satanael was only resistant. There wasn’t any time to apply a physical ointment.

There wasn’t enough time to do anything.

Akira didn’t want to die.

(Not again.)

Something spread through his body, and Akira desperately took hold of whatever it was. And then he pulled.

“Mephistopheles! Please!”

Mephistopheles came forth wrapped in gold light as Akira felt something being ripped from him. His entire body felt like it was on fire but he pushed through it. The pain meant he was still alive. Mephistopheles didn’t even spare a moment to announce their arrival before they moved with more speed than Akira had even seen from them before.

Both hands were on their sword as Mephistopheles swung down with all of the strength given by their bond.

As it connected, the Reaper flinched.

Mephistopheles disappeared in a shower of blue and gold and Akira’s vision blurred. His ears began ringing and he couldn’t tell which direction was up or down anymore. 

Everything was foggy and he put his trust in Minato and his teammates to lead him. It was hard to register anything really. He couldn’t feel anything either, or maybe he could and just couldn’t register anything.

It felt like he was floating.

It felt like he was drowning.

(Was this just a weird out of body experience, or something concerning he should look into later?

Later. Later sounds good.)

Akira realized something was suddenly plugging his nose and that he needed to breathe through his mouth now. He blinked his eyes in an attempt to clear his vision. After a moment, he was able to make out the shape of a person in front of him. 

Someone said, “Hey Akira, how are you?”

He rubbed his eyes and blinked a few more times. Thankfully, everything was coming into focus again.

Akira was able to put some thoughts together and say, “Yukari?”

She heaved a sigh of relief. 

“Dude, you’re back!” Junpei said from his side.

Akira moved to turn his head to look at him, but whatever Yukari held to his nose made it uncomfortable. He looked down, and probably crossed his eyes in the process, and saw a white cloth spotted with a bit of red..

“Is this yours? Why is it on my nose?” Akira said, as he looked at the slightly blurry Yukari.

“Yeah, it's mine. Um, your nose was bleeding, Akira.” Yukari said, worried.

Why was she worried? Oh. Probably because of the bleeding.

“Wait. Bleeding? I didn’t get any on my sweater, right?” Akira asked.

“Hold on!” Junpei exclaimed, “We almost died to whatever that was and you’re worried about your cat sweater!”

“Well of course I’m worried about it! It’s one of the last things I have to remember one of my friends by.” Akira said, annoyed.

How rude.

Yukari shared a stricken glance with Junpei, but Akira was preoccupied with trying to not think too hard about missing Ann. Though he suddenly remembered that he was going to ask something. Junpei’s comment was completely forgotten.

“So, um. What happened?” Akira asked no one in particular.

Minato was the one who answered, “You summoned your Persona without using an Evoker.”

“Huh. Never done that before.”

Yukari huffed and said, “Of course you haven’t. No one has. Here hold this.” She directed his hand to hold the handkerchief (?) so he was free to turn his head now.

“Um, yeah.” Junpei said awkwardly. “It was pretty cool though. Your Persona jumped out all gold and stuff. Do you know anything?”

“Wonder why that happened?” Akira asked himself.

“I simply supplemented the missing power with my own. There was nothing complicated about the actions I took.” Yaldabaoth said. The metallic voice in his head made Akira wince a bit.

“Supplemented missing power?” Akira said. He didn’t quite understand what was just said, but he probably could once his head stopped being so foggy.

“I do not think the human has regained full cognitive function. He is quite useless at the moment.” Yaldabaoth said.

“Normally I would be angry at you for insulting the Trickster, but I think this one time, you are right.” Arsene said back.

Akira felt like he should be insulted about what they said. Though he also noticed that his bonds were a little murky too.

“Please don’t tell me you did what I think you did.” Yukari said, hand on her face.

Akira tilted his head in confusion, “What did I do?”

Yukari just stared at him for a moment. Akira stared back.

Minato sighed and said, “Fuuka, we’re going to use the next teleporter we find. Akira’s not going to be fighting so I’ll need you to scan everything.”

“Go-got it! I’ll do my best! But, um, Is he okay now?”

Minato looked to Akira, “Can you walk?”

He looked down at his leg for a moment before he remembered why it was hurting. “Yeah I can, as long as you don’t mind me limping. Think I hurt my ankle.”

Yukari and Junpei looked somehow more frustrated and confused at the same time.

Minato just pinched the bridge of his nose before his face before he returned back to his normal neutral expression, “He can walk. But he might have to be carried out.”

“Okay. Akihiko-senpai says he could do that.”

“Good let’s move.” Minato said, and only turned away once he saw Akira stand up.

It definitely hurt to put weight on his ankle, but he definitely had enough balance to only put a little on. He did limp behind the others and had to watch as they fought off shadows. The three of them worked together pretty well.

After a while Akira’s mind was clear enough for him to think about what happened and the Reaper’s appearance. The Reaper in Tartarus didn’t play by the same rules as the one in Mementos. They hadn’t spent that much time on the floor, and had spent much more time on previous floors. So Akira would have to look into that later. 

Then there was the thing with Mephistopheles. It kind of made sense that when he drew on his will to live, that he could summon his Persona without an Evoker. That didn’t explain the details of how it happened or everything else. How was Yaldabaoth able to transfer power over? Why did it hurt so much and why did it leave him in such a state? Could everyone potentially summon without an Evoker, or was that unique to him because of his situation?

Akira didn’t have to worry about the ‘why’ though. He could come up with a reason why Yaldabaoth decided to lend power to Mephistopheles. The god had said before that they only cared about Akira’s well being because their life was tied to his.

He pulled the handkerchief away from his nose when he was sure that the bleeding had stopped. The white cloth was now heavily stained red. The edges of where the blood reached was starting to dry as well. AKira hoped Yukari wouldn’t be upset about the ruined cloth.

When everyone else was preoccupied with a battle, Akira took a moment to put his thumb to the side of his nose and blew any excess blood out. Thankfully it blended in perfectly with the already floors of the Arqa block.

Ah, the aesthetics of the human unconscious. Perfect for leaving no evidence behind.

When they got to the teleporter, Akira leaned against Junpei who only shifted his weight slightly. When they got down to the first floor. Akira noticed Akihiko making his way over. Fuuka and Mitsuru were by the stairs, though Mitsuru looked exasperated by something.

Without saying anything, Akihiko stood next to Akira and picked him up in a bridal carry.

Akira was very confused but he heard Akihiko say, “See Mitsuru, I told you I could do it. You don’t have to worry.”

Mitsuru just sighed. She looked defeated. Next to her, Fuuka giggled at the scene.

“Um, dude?” Akira heard Junpei say, but this was an opportunity.

And Akira took it. He put the back of his hand to his forehead and swooned, “Oh my hero. I couldn’t have possibly made it back to the dorms without you. How could I ever re-AH!”

Akira leaned too far back and experienced that horrifying moment of weightlessness when you’ve leaned back just a little too far and you know that you’ve passed the point of no return. Thankfully though, Akihiko had enough arm strength to put Akira back into a sitting position.

Oh gods, his face was so red right now.

“Are you okay?” Akihiko asked, which in no way helped his embarrassment.

“Yeah. I’m, I’m fine now, I just won’t do that again.” Akira said, trying to get his face to cool down.

He looked over and saw Yukari give him a calculating look. He didn’t know what she was thinking of, but Akira smirked at her to give Yukari the impression that he knew what he was doing. Her eyes narrowed, and Akira stuck his tongue out at her. She rolled her eyes.

His chest somehow felt lighter than it had in weeks, even though they had just barely survived an encounter with the Reaper. Somehow, Akira felt optimistic about the immediate future.

Chapter Text

“So for your ankle, make sure to use the RICE method for the next couple days. Rest, ice, compression, and elevation. Try to keep your weight off of it as best you can, and it should heal nicely. As long as you give your body enough time to recover, your ankle will be perfectly fine.” The nurse said as she handed Akira a bag of ice for his sprained, and thankfully not broken ankle.

It was just the three of them in one of the smaller hospital rooms. The nurse, Akira, and Mitsuru.

(The power of Kirijo strikes again.)

“And that should be everything.” The nurse continued, “Um, could you give me your parent’s so that I can contact them?”

“No, that won’t be necessary. I’m emancipated.” Akira said, slightly tense. He didn’t really want to talk about that adapted part of his time travel. At least it was better and less unpleasant for everyone than them just going no contact after his arrest.

The nurse looked like she had just bit into a lemon, but was trying hard to keep a straight face. “Is that so? Well. Then I think that is everything. Make sure to come back or contact the hospital if it gets worse.”

The nurse then left the two of them alone. Akira with his leg up and ankle wrapped. And Mitsuru off to the side with her arms crossed.

There was a moment of silence in the hospital room before Mitsuru said, “Kurusu.”

“Hm?” Akira turned to her.

“Are you not getting enough sleep?” Mitsuru said with a pointed look.

Where did that question come from? Akira didn’t think he looked exhausted today.

“I think I am, why?” He said.

Mitsuru turned to him, “Because I've noticed that since you've joined, you've started using glasses more often. Which I presume you to use to hide dark circles under your eyes. Among other things I've noticed. So I will ask again, are you not getting enough sleep?”

Akira felt perceived. She had really noticed all of that? But even if he wasn’t getting enough sleep lately, it was probably because of his own excursions or training.

Akira shrugged it off, “I might not? But I'm probably still getting used to experiencing and fighting in the Dark Hour.”

“It has been a month, Kurusu.” Mitsuru said flatly.

Oof.

“I mean…” Akira started.

“Habits take three weeks to form. And if you are unable to take care of yourself while fighting with S.E.E.S., then I will have you removed from the team.” Mitsuru said. There was a hard look in her eyes that told Akira that she would go through with it.

Akira fully turned as much as he could with his ankle propped up and said, “Wait. Hold on. You can't just do that.”

If she takes him off the team how would he be able to do anything? There was still the silent but present threat to Minato’s life. If Akira couldn’t go to Tartarus, then Mephistopheles’s level might start to flag behind the others. He couldn’t afford to sit out.

Mitsuru’s voice was determined and stern, “As the student council president and your senpai, I have a certain responsibility to you. I can't stand idly by if you are hurting yourself or depriving yourself of sleep in order to fight shadows. Even Akihiko knows his limits.”

Akira felt scolded and ashamed. No one had ever gotten on his case about this kind of stuff before, let alone noticed. 

He didn’t think what he had been doing had been that bad. Akira had just put in that extra bit of work that would only benefit the team. But when Mitsuru put it all like that, it sounded desperate and unsafe.

Mitsuru sighed, and then continued in a softer tone, “With the new members we have gotten this school year, you do not need to force yourself and can take time to rest. I do not want to see you or anyone destroy themselves for this. We need everyone to be at full strength for the battles that matter. So, I will ask one more time. Kurusu, are you okay?”

Akira couldn’t look at her anymore without his throat closing up and his eyes burning.

So he turned away.

“What can I do to help?”

Akira forced himself to talk around the lump in his throat, “I don’t… I don’t know. No one’s… ever asked me that question before.”

He didn’t turn to her. Akira didn’t want to see the look in her eyes.

He hated feeling so exposed. So vulnerable.

“Well then, how about this? I am quite confident in my scheduling ability. How about I create a schedule for you that will allow you to balance school, freetime, and any activities related to S.E.E.S.” Mitsuru said with the confidence of someone who somehow had the most responsibilities in the dorm. (Maybe even more than that absolute walnut Ikutsuki.)

But Akira felt uncomfortable having her do this much for him, even though she offered. 

“You really don’t have to do that for me. I think this was a wake up call I needed. I’ll make sure to pace myself better from now on.”

“And I would be glad to assist you in that endeavor.” Satanael said.

Akira knew the Persona could feel his gratitude through their bond.

“Please, I insist. This is something I choose to do for you. And it is much more worthwhile than some of the work that some of the faculty at school ask of me.” Mitsuru said.

And well, how could he say no to that.

“I’ll be in your care, then.” Akira looked back up at her.

And if she noticed that his eyes were a little watery, well, that was between them and their Personas.

(He wasn’t actually crying though, no matter what Yaldabaoth claimed afterwards.)

.

Being injured sucked. Akira was confined to one of the chairs on the first floor for most of the day. And if there was somewhere he needed to go to, then he had to hobble there. Akihiko had offered to carry him everywhere, but Akira wasn’t sure that his poor little heart could have handled that. 

The only upside he had seen so far to this was getting a front row seat to watch Yukari attempting to teach Junpei how to do a backflip. She was currently trying to get him to do a back tuck/ backwards somersault on the carpeted floor. But because of Junpei’s stocky build and limited flexibility, he kept twisting sideways.

“Come on Junpei, you can do it.” Akira said teasingly as one of Junpei’s legs rose up in the air.

“I’m trying!” Came the muffled reply from the floor.

“Junpei, you need to keep straight! Stop turning when you roll back!” Yukari said with her hands out like she really didn’t know what to do with them.

Junpei had mostly rolled back now, but his neck looked like it was at an uncomfortable angle. Akira just took a sip of his drink as he watched.

“It’s not on purpose! I’m trying not to!”

Junpei finally completed a single backwards somersault and looked up at Yukari, excited. His face was flushed from the effort of it, but he had a big grin.

“Hey look, I did it!” Junpei said.

Yukari put on a sweet smile and said, “That’s great! Now do it again.”

Akira laughed as the smile slid off Junpei's face and was replaced with a betrayed look.

“But Yuka-tan… I already did one. Didn’t you see?”

“I did see. But if you try to jump like that, you might break your neck. So do it again and again until it’s better.” Yukari said

Junpei just groaned from his spot on the floor.

Akira pumped out his fist, “Go, Junpei, Go!”

Junpei groaned even louder and flopped over.

Yukari rolled her eyes and said, “Fine, fine. Guess we’ll take a quick break. I’ll go get a snack and you can do whatever it is you're doing on the floor before I get back. Want anything Akira?”

“Nah, I’m good. Thank you though.” Akira replied.

Yukari walked off to either the stairs or the kitchen, he couldn’t really tell from his position.

Junpei watched her leave for a moment before he turned back to Akira. He no longer looked excited, and almost looked uncomfortable about something. Akira didn’t know what he might have done to cause that change.

“Hey, so. There’s something I’ve been curious about. You know, from last night.” Junpei said, not really looking at Akira.

Oh, so it was just that. Akira wasn’t against talking about that.

“Yeah, I don’t really know what happened either.” Akira had figured out some parts of what had happened with the reluctant help of Yaldabaoth, but he didn’t really know how to talk about that part. “Summoning Mephistopheles without an Evoker was something I didn’t expect either. And that super strong shadow that appeared out of nowhere. A lot happened, didn’t it?”

Junpei didn’t look happy at what Akira said, in fact, he looked more constipated.

“I mean there’s that, but um, that’s not really what I wanted to ask?” Junpei said, still not really really looking at him.

Junpei looked to be debating with himself, before he came to a decision and said, “Ah, what the hell! Why am I making such a big deal about this?”

“Akira, about that thing with Akihiko last night,” Junpei said, “Do you like guys?”

Oh. It was this.

Akira had not been looking forward to this particular conversation. He knew that it was likely that 2009 people might think of him differently than 2016 people about him being bi. Akira didn’t think that in his life, that next to the life threatening battles and the god in his head, that he had any room for homophobia. Might as well rip off the band-aid.

Akira smiled, and made sure it was a sharper one than normal, “Yeah. I like guys and girls.”

“Oh okay. Was just curious about that.” Junpei said.

Just like that, huh?

Akira felt his shoulders relax and release the tension he didn’t even notice. Junpei probably didn’t know what his easy acceptance meant to him.

“So, like, how did you know?” Junpei said.

“Huh?” Akira said. He hadn’t expected a follow up question.

Junpei didn’t look at all uneasy as he asked again, “How did you know that you liked guys too?”

Akira hadn’t really thought about that one. It was something that he had only really looked at once he left his hometown, but it was something that was probably always there. Though he had never really put the feeling into words before. 

Akira took a sip of his drink, and then said, “I guess I realized when, you know how you feel when you look at girls and there’s all of these descriptions about how crushes feel, right?”

“Yea.”

“At some point, I just- I realized that I felt the same when I looked at guys too. It wasn’t some grand epiphany or anything. More like a small ‘oh!’ moment when everything made sense. If that makes any sense.” He finished.

Junpei didn’t say anything and looked at Akira.

Akira wasn’t sure what to do with that reaction, “Uh, Junpei? Something wrong?”

“Nah, nothings wrong. I was just checking. Think I’ll stick to girls.” Junpei said, and then flopped back so that he laid on the floor.

Checking? Did Junpei really just?

Akira burst out laughing. Junpei sat back up at the sound of Akira just absolutely fucking losing it.

“Hey!”

“Pfffft- I’m sorry, but did you just- snnrk! Did you just check to see if you like guys by looking at me and seeing how you felt!?” Akira said, trying to get words out in between his laughs.

“So what if I did! I was just trying to understand what you were saying.” Junpei huffed and crossed his arms.

Akira bit back his laughter to say, “I know that, and I appreciate your acceptance and understanding. You’re a wonderful friend Junpei, and I’m glad to know you.”

“But you also have to understand -hah!- how funny what you just did is!”

Junpei pointed for a moment before he smiled and said, “I’m glad you’re my friend too, Akira, but you also have to understand this!”

Junpei grabbed one of the pillows off the couch next to him and chucked it straight at Akira’s face. And with his ankle the way it was, he couldn’t even dodge. All he could do was put his arms up to defend against the assault. When the pillow fell, Akira saw Yukari standing behind Junpei with one of the flattest looks he had ever seen.

Akira immediatly stopped laughing and just held the pillow that was thrown. He put on his best innocent expression.

Junpei went quiet at Akira’s silence and turned around. 

“Oh, Yuka-tan. I didn’t hear you get back.” Junpei said when he saw her.

“I know.” She said as she set the box of the snack she retrieved on the table.

“But before we get back to whatever you guys were doing, have you guys noticed anything weird about Minato?” Yukari asked after she sat down.

“No?” Akira said.

Junpei shook his head.

“He just apologized to me out of nowhere about what happened last night. First time I’ve ever heard him say sorry, and it’s about something that’s not even his fault.”

“Maybe I can go ask him about it once Mitsuru allows me to walk again.” Akira said. He put the newly acquired pillow under his ankle and the ice back perched under it.

“Speaking of moving, have you given up for the day?” Yukari asked Junpei.

“No! Not yet! I’m ready to keep going.” He said and laid back on the floor.

Akira watched as Junpei went through the process of trying to get his legs to do what he wanted again. He really didn’t need Confidants to form and ‘rank up’ bonds with people.

Chapter Text

Minato stood outside of Akira’s room without knocking. He knew that he would have to go in eventually and apologize and every moment waiting outside was only delaying the inevitable. But there was something that kept him rooted to the spot that he couldn't put a name to.

Something about apologizing to Akira was harder than apologizing to Junpei or Yukari. Was it how Akira had gotten hurt in a way that persisted outside of the Dark Hour? Or was it the possibility of explaining himself? Of not being believed?

Minato sighed. When did he care so much about what someone else thought? He reached up and knocked on the door. 

“It's unlocked.” Minato heard Akira say from inside.

Minato opened the door and walked inside. The room was just about the same as his, but was more… decorated. There were an almost random assortment of things placed with care along with photos of Akira with people he didn’t recognize. Akira himself was seated at the desk with his ankle propped up on a separate chair even as he faced his laptop. The almost 90 degree angle required flexibility that Minato knew he didn’t have.

Akira turned his head away from what he was doing and said, “Oh, hey Minato. Did you need anything?”

Minato stood there for a moment silently. Anything he had planned to say died on his tongue. An introduction would only make things weird or somehow insincere. 

Akira turned fully to him as he stayed silent, “Everything okay?”

Orpheus urged him to just do it. 

Minato sighed, “I'm sorry.” 

“Okay?” Akira drew out the word as if Minato had just said something that didn’t make sense. “So unless you have wronged me without my knowledge or have committed any more coffee sins, I don't think you have anything to be sorry for.”

So, Akira wasn’t just going to accept his apology. He was going to fight him on this when Minato was clearly in the wrong.

“I do. I apologize about what happened to you on Saturday night.” Minato said, hoping that more specifics would get Akira to understand. 

Akira waved him off and said, “Unless you somehow did a crazy ritual or something that summoned that overpowered asshole of a shadow, you have nothing to apologize for. Me and everyone else in S.E.E.S. have agreed to put our lives on the line to fight shadows during the Dark Hour. So if you're trying to apologize about me getting injured, don't worry about it.”

Minato clenched his fist in frustration. While that was part of it, and what Akira said made sense, it wasn’t everything. There was something else, and Minato was going to have to explain, wasn’t he?

Akira must have seen the frustration on his face because he said, “Hm? What is it?”

“I don't know if you'd believe me if I explained.” Minato said.

He put his hands in his pockets and turned away. Why bother putting in the energy to explain if it was meaningless.

“Minato.” He turned back at Akira’s mention of his name, “Every night we go out during the secret 25th hour and go fight inhuman entities in a tower that grows from our school. We fight using beings we summon by shooting ourselves in the head with a device that looks like a gun. I think I'm inclined to believe you.” Akira finished.

He made it sound like it was all just common sense in some insane way.

“I was the reason the Reaper appeared.” Minato said without any preamble.

Akira stared blankly at him, confused.

“You don't believe me.” Minato said flatly.

Akira waved his hands frantically at that, “That's not it! That's not it at all. I just think I need a little more context.”

That was already more than he had planned to share on the topic, but at least Akira hadn’t rejected Minato’s explanation outright. This was going to take a while.

“Can I sit down?” Minato asked. He would rather not do this while standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.

Akira gestured to his bed, “Sure, go ahead. Take all the time you need. I’m all ears.”

Minato sat down on Akira’s bed. Akira had turned his chair so that he faced Minato with unneeded focus.

“It sounds stupid, but after every battle we win, I play something called… Shuffle Time.” Minato looked for Akira’s reaction, but he didn’t show any reaction to the name. “Cards appear in front of me and there are effects based on what I pick. And-”

Minato stopped talking when he noticed that Akira raised his hand like he was in a classroom.

“What is it?”

Akira put down his hand and said, “So, quick question. I’ve been wondering this for a while, but is that where you get your new Personas? During… Shuffle Time?”

Oh, so Akira actually understood what he was saying. Minato didn’t just sound insane to him. There was the chance of dismissal. Akira wasn’t a Wildcard, after all.

“Yeah, that’s where I get my Personas.” Minato said and Akira nodded.

“I get things based on the card I choose. The cards are based on the Minor Arcana. Swords for weapons, cups for healing, coins for money, and wands for exp. The cards are flipped over when I choose, so I can’t see what I choose.” Minato said.

Akira leaned forward, “Okay, so I think I understand what happens. But, um, what does Shuffle Time have to do with what happened on Saturday?”

Minato looked down at his hand and said, “I chose a card that night that made the Reaper appear.”

“Okay. Okay. Okay. So you picked a card that made this ‘Reaper’ appear and it chased us down. But didn’t you say that you don’t see the cards when you choose them?” Akira said.

“I don’t see them, but I do see what they are before they get shuffled. I should have done better to avoid the skull and crossbones.” Minato said, hoping that Akira got it now.

If he just accepted his apology then they could move on. Minato would just make sure to do better next time.

“But you didn’t do it on purpose, right?” Akira said.

Minato looked up sharply at that and said, “What?”

Akira looked way too relaxed considering that Minato essentially just confessed to the fact that he was the one who put everyone in danger. 

“It wasn’t on purpose, right? You didn’t mean to summon the Reaper that night and it was just really bad luck. I don’t blame you for anything that happened.” Akira said like it was no big deal.

“Intentions don’t matter when people get hurt.” Minato said flatly.

Akira looked thoughtful for a moment. Then he said, “Maybe so, but I still don’t think you’re the one to blame. The Reaper was the one who sprained my ankle, not you. And nothing was permanently done to anyone. So, I won’t be able to accept your apology.”

Akira looked set on that decision. Just apologizing and explaining Shuffle time was already draining enough. He didn’t have the energy to try to fight him on this.

“Whatever, I don’t care.” Minato said.

He stood up and began to walk to the door. He had already done what he had come to do.

“Wait!” Minato turned back to Akira.

“One last thing. I just want to say thank you for trusting me enough to tell me about Shuffle Time. I do believe you, you know? And I hope that you know that you can come to me about anything else too. I swear that I’ll believe what you say, no matter how insane it sounds. Okay?” Akira said. And with the way he said it, it sounded like he meant every word.

Minato didn’t know what to say to that so he just said, “I’ll remember that. And make sure to let your ankle heal.”

Akira gave a lazy salute at that and said, “Yes sir, leader sir. I’ll make sure to do that.”

Minato turned and left without another word, but he heard Akira call out behind him, “See you at school tomorrow!”

He could sense that Orpheus was pleased with the way things had gone.

Chapter Text

A week had passed and Akira and his leg were finally free from Persona related probation. Mitsuru had taken her self imposed responsibility of him very seriously. She made sure that Akira had done nothing during the week except to go to school and rest. He had complied because of a mix of not wanting to disappoint her and the fact that it felt kind of good for someone to care about him so much.

And now, next Saturday, exactly one week since the Reaper’s appearance, Akira stood in the summer sun after a half day at school. He was free to explore again. He was completely unchained! And of course, his first order of business as a newly freed man was to head back to the school.

Okay now hear him out. He had a reason to do it. Akira was going to try to join the cooking club here at Gekkoukan.

Yukari had caught him cooking dinner one time and he had shared his meal with her. She had tried to persuade him into joining the cooking club, but Akira had pointed out that culture clubs had already stopped accepting members. The flat stare Yukari had given will haunt him till the end of his days.

So here he was, standing in front of the cooking club room in an attempt to prove Yukari wrong. (Ah, the joys of friendship.)

Akira opened the sliding door to the room and saw groups of people spread throughout and preparing for something. The home-ed room looked well stocked from the bowls and ingredients on the tables. As people were milling about, and some had noticed him come in, Akira focused in on the two upperclassmen in the front of the classroom.

“Um, hello?” Akira said, “I know we’re already a couple months into the school year, but I was wondering if I could join the club?”

One of the girls turned to him and said, “Oh hi. I don’t really know if we have any more room right now.”

She looked at the other girl who shrugged and then looked back at Akira, “We could try to fit you in. Do you have any experience?”

Okay, so this was going better than he had expected. Akira hadn’t actually considered the possibility of joining, but he wasn’t against it. He could make up for the fact that he wasn’t able to join any club during his other second year back at Shujin.

“I do have experience, though it’s mostly savory stuff. But I wanted to try learning how to bake too.” Akira said.

The two girls looked at each other again, and seemed to have a silent conversation.

But before they could say anything else, behind him someone said, “Akira-kun?”

Akira turned around at the familiar voice and said, “Fuuka? You’re a member of the club?”

Fuuka shifted in place, “Ye-yeah. I am. Are you planning on joining?”

“I was just asking if I could right now. I didn’t expect to see you here either.”

“I’m just here, because I um- I want to get better at cooking.” Fuuka said while she fiddled with a plastic bag in her hands.

“Actually, Akira-kun. Could you do me a favor?” Fuuka unwrapped the plastic around whatever she was carrying, “Could you... try these cookies that I made and tell me how I did.”

“Oh no.” One of the girls behind Akira said under their breath.

She held a plate of cookie shaped objects in front of her. They were brown and round, but other than that, the things didn’t really resemble cookies. Akira couldn’t even tell what flavor they were, or even what ingredients went into them. But Fuuka looked so earnest, and the cookies could be that bad, right?

Akira reached out and picked up one of the ‘cookies’ and put it in his mouth.

Huh.

It sure was...something.

There was some kind of taste, though Akira couldn’t put a name to it even if his life depended on it. The texture was somewhere between chewy and gritty. This was something not even Yusuke would eat. Then Akira noticed that there was something solid within the baked thing. Akira reached into his mouth and pulled it out.

“Fuuka…is this a bay leaf?” Akira held the offending object in front of him.

There was a wounded noise from behind him.

“Oh, yes! I heard that they’re very good for adding flavor, so I wanted to try adding them this time. What do you think?” Fuuka asked.

Akira doesn’t know how to describe anything that he has experienced at the hands of Fuuka’s baking.

He put a hand over his mouth, “How closely did you follow the recipe?”

“Well, I tried to follow it closely, but I couldn’t stop thinking of all the different things I could be adding.” Fuuka said, looking far too pleased with herself despite the terror she had unleashed on Akira’s mouth.

He just didn’t have the heart to be the one to crush that light in her eyes.

So Akira just said, “Maybe follow the recipe a little more next time. Savory flavors don’t always work in sweeter things.”

A calculating look entered her eye and Fuuka said, “Is that so. I guess I’ll just try something else next time.”

She turned and walked away to one of the tables set with ingredients. Akira noticed that there was no one else there, while other tables had 2 or 3 people, and one particularly rambunctious table had 4. Akira turned back to the two girls, hand still over his mouth. One of them held out a napkin. He gratefully took it and spit out the remains of the cookie shaped object.

“I'm so sorry.” She said as he threw it out.

“Thank you for the napkin.” Akira said. He wished he could get the taste out of his mouth.

“I was going to say that it would be fine if you joined, but I don’t know if we had any extra room for today. But if you know Yamagishi, would you be willing to work with her today?”

Akira thought about it for a moment before he said, “I guess that’s fine. But um, is that how everything he cooks turns out?”

The upperclassman couldn’t meet his eyes, “Yea… But you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. We can get you signed up at the Monday meeting instead.”

Akira shook his head and readjusted his bag, “No, it’s fine. I’ll try. I’ve got my work cut out for me after all.”

The two of them wished him luck as he walked towards where Fuuka was getting ready.

.

On the way back to the dorms after the club meeting had concluded, Akira held what was probably the heaviest banana bread he had ever seen. He had been able to keep Fuuka from adding anything not included in the recipe. But the enthusiasm she had displayed while mixing everything had resulted in banana bread denser than a black hole. While delicious (Akira had taste tested throughout the entire process), it was heavy enough to be used as a fucking weapon.

“I can’t wait to have everyone at the dorms try it! I’m so happy with how it turned out.” Fuuka said from beside him. She carried her own bread brick.

“Me too. I don’t think I could eat all of this by myself.” Akira said.

“Oh! Maybe I could share it at the meeting. Then I could get even the chairman’s opinion too.” Fuuka said, bright eyed.

Oh yeah. The meeting. Mitsuru had texted them during the cooking club meeting about it. Akira had quickly forgotten about it as he drowned all thoughts about the chairman in worrying about the state of the banana bread in Fuuka’s hands. He wasn’t looking forward to seeing the chairman’s obnoxious face.

(Though maybe he should have let Fuuka run wild, if only to see the chairman try to eat the food.)

As they approached the dorms, the two of them caught up to a white dog that didn’t have a collar. It paused by the bottom of the stairs leading in and subsequently, so did Fuuka and Akira. Yukari sat there, but got up when the newly formed trio approached.

“Oh, Koro-chan! Hello!” Fuuka said and kneeled down to see the dog.

“He’s so cute isn’t he?” Yukari said and walked up to the dog’s side.

“He is.” Akira said and looked at Koro-chan. He seemed to be a white shiba who looked well cared for even if he didn’t have a collar.

Fuuka held out her hand, “Koro-chan, give me your paw!”

Koro-chan obediently held out his paw, and received pets in return.

“Awwww, good boy.” Yukari said as she patted his head.

Akira gently scratched behind his ears, “He’s adorable.”

Yukari suddenly saw something behind them and stood up.

Fuuka turned to the newcomer and said, “Oh, hi.”

Akira didn’t stop petting Koro-chan, but he did turn his head to see a newly arrived Minato standing at the stairs.

“Oh hey, you’re back!” Yukari said.

“Hey Minato! How was your day?” Akira smiled at him.

Minato just shrugged and then said, “Who’s the dog?”

“He was just walking down the street by himself.” Yukari said.

Fuuka stood up and pointed to Minato, “Koro-chan, go say hi! His name is Koromaru and he walks by the dorms everyday.”

So his name wasn't actually Koro-chan, that’s just what Fuuka called him. Akira mentally corrected the name in his head as he stood up for himself.

Then he suddenly heard the barking of another dog from right beside him. The brown canine butted in in what might have been an attempt to say hello to Koromaru. Though if Akira was still crouched on the sidewalk, he might have fallen on his ass from the interruption.

A woman walked up to the four of them, presumably the brown dog’s owner, “Oh… This dog still goes on walks all by himself?”

“What do you mean?” Yukari asked.

“His owner used to be the priest at the Naganaki Shrine. Every afternoon, the two of them would go this way for a walk.” The woman continued.

“That explains it.” Fuuka said.

Her words definitely implied that the priest wasn’t able to walk with his dog anymore. Akira could sympathize with Koromaru on not being able to do things with the people you love anymore.

“Well, until the priest passed away.” The woman said.

Fuuka gasped in shock, “The priest passed away?!”

“Oh… So that’s why he’s all alone now.” Akira said.

He reached down and began scritching the scruff around Koromaru’s neck. The heaviness in his heart wasn’t something Akira had expected to feel after the happiness from the club meeting. But it was something he understood as well, the need to keep going, after you lost so much.

Or maybe Akira was just projecting onto this random dog he heard a sad story about.

(Didn’t change how he felt.)

He still felt reassured by the comforting presence of his Personas anyway.

“Oh, you haven't heard the story?” The woman continued, seemingly unaffected by the sudden mood she created, “It was about six months ago. The priest was hit by a car while on a walk with his dog and he didn’t survive. Ever since then, that dog sits patiently by the site of the accident. And he goes for a walk every day, just like when his owner was alive.”

And wasn’t that just the cherry on top of the depression sundae.

The lady must have remembered something because she said, “Oh, shoot! I have to get going. My son will be back soon!”

“Aw, you’re such a loyal dog, good boy!” Yukari pet Koromaru’s head.

Koromaru barked and sat up from his position in front of the teens. He walked between the gap formed by their legs and continued on his walk.

The heaviness in Akira’s heart didn’t disappear and he promised to himself to go visit the shrine sometime. If only to visit Koromaru.

“Huh?” Fuuka said, confused.

Akira looked at her, “What is it?”

“Oh…” Fuuka shook her head, “It’s nothing. The chairman is coming today, so we should get ready.”

Akira wasn’t in a mood to deal with the chairman at all. He doubted he would say anything in the meeting at all.

He ran a hand through his hair. Guess he should just focus on not snapping at anyone.

.

“I wanted to let you know how my research has been going.” Ikutsuki said as he stood over the members of S.E.E.S.

Akira slouched where he sat on the sofa. He still hadn’t been able to get himself out of the weird mood the story about Koromaru put him in. And though he didn’t like the chairman at all, he would still take any new information he got.

“This concerns those shadows that have been appearing during the full moon. I want you to listen closely. It might be hard to follow.”

Akira had to fight the urge to click his tongue at that last part. He probably had to understand much wilder things during his career as a Phantom Thief than whatever pattern Ikutsuki had come up with.

Akira focused on listening when the chairman continued, “As we know, shadows can be divided into 12 different categories based on their characteristics. We’ve known this for a while. It’s like their class or order.”

Yaldabaoth spoke for the first time that day, “Fascinating. To think that even the shadows that appear during a full moon have also lost aspects of their individuality. To follow such a set pattern… It makes one wonder what being created such predictable things.”

Akira agreed. The classification into 12 of the 22 major arcana seemed a bit too convenient. It didn’t include the Fool, but stopped right before Death. He couldn’t think of the reason for 12 types of shadows since it was more than half of the major arcana. Something to do with a clock?

Ikutsuki pushed up his glasses and gave a toothy smile that Akira didn’t like at all, “Now… I’ve classified the special shadows we;ve seen so far. The results have been simply fascinating!”

After a beat of silence Yukari said, “And?”

Ikutsuki snapped back to himself and sat in the chair at the head of the table, “Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Ahem! Those four shadows belonged to categories one through four, in order of their appearance! They may have looked different from the more common shadows, but the classification still applies.”

“Is that something we should be excited about?” Junpei asked from his seat.

And Akira could kind of agree with him. There was merit to knowing what kind of enemy was going to show up each full moon. But the sheer variety in the shadows in Tartarus despite their categories didn’t provide much information. Strengths and weaknesses would still be a mystery.

“Oh, I get it.” Akira looked to his side where Fuuka had spoken.

“There’s twelve in all… Eight we haven’t seen yet.”

That wasn’t something Akira had put together. Only eight more full moon foes. Way to go Fuuka!

“That’s exactly right, Fuuka! You’re quite sharp.” Ikutsuki said, and it felt so much less sincere coming from him.

“Oh, uh, okay? But what are they even after?” Junpei out here asking the real questions.

Akira recalled the way Yaldabaoth had described Tartarus as an ‘empty nest’. It felt important, but it seemed as though he was missing vital pieces to the puzzle that was the dark hour.

“That’s a good question, and that’s what we haven’t figured out yet: their motive.” Ikutsuki seemed too excited as he talked, “They don’t kill their prey, they feed on their minds. It can be considered predation, but is it really? Is there underlying intent behind their actions? The purpose of the shadows as a whole… That’s what we really need to consider.”

Akihiko stood up and threw his jacket over his shoulder, “...This is interesting.”

Akira did his best not to stare as he stretched and said, “But, no matter what, we still have to beat the rest of ‘em.”

“I agree.” Mitsuru nodded from the other end of the sofa, “That’s about all we can do at this point.”

“Eight more, huh? Lucky us…” Yukari sounded as exasperated as Akira felt.

He tuned out the rest of it as the impromptu meeting wound down. It didn’t seem like any other important information was going to be shared tonight. Though he didn’t leave just yet, he did notice that Mitsuru was the first to leave after Yukari mentioned something about Tartarus. Akira didn’t have the emotional energy to think about it or go after her. Maybe tomorrow he would ask her about it.

Akira sat forward and put his hands together. He also needed to think about when he would go out during the Dark Hour. But what day would be good?

Chapter Text

Turns out that Akira’s next opportunity to prowl around during the Dark Hour came Monday evening. There wasn’t anything special about Monday in of itself. But everyone else was going to be at Tartarus and he could tell that some of the others (*cough* Mitsuru *cough*) weren’t exactly happy with the fact that he was going to fight. Even though his ankle felt fine and there were no problems with summoning Mephistopheles.

So as the others headed out, Akira stayed put in the dorms. He was laying down on the bed already set up to go out. Akira had closed his eyes to get even a little more rest before the Hour arrived, but he made sure not to fall asleep.

Akira heard the soft sounds of Minato and Junpei walking down the hall near midnight. Though Junpei was louder, if Akira focused, he swore he could hear Minato’s muted response to whatever the other teen said.

Once Akira could no longer hear any movement from outside his room he sat up on his bed.

He walked over to the window and stood ready to open it once the Dark Hour hit. He didn’t want the covered camera to pick up any sound that was suspicious in any way. (Akira heard that Minato sometimes checked the recordings, and oh boy he did not want to have that conversation.)

“Are you sure about doing this, Trickster?” Arsene said as Akira’s gloved hands rated on the windowsill. “It is riskier to go out while the others are awake as well.”

“It’s something I need to do sooner or later. There could be changes since the battle on the full moon. And besides, all I have to do is avoid anyone who comes back to the dorms early, right?” Akira said.

There was a shift in the air. As the Dark Hour arrived the only sound was the opening of the window.

Arsene didn’t respond for a moment, so Akira hopped out of the window. He landed softly and quickly checked on the ladder he had hidden earlier.

“It is as you say. However, please do be careful tonight.” Arsene said, and the sounds of his wings shifting carried through their bond.

He could feel Mephistopheles’s agreement.

Akira set an easy pace as he walked away. If he closed his eyes and ignored the unnatural silence, he could almost imagine that he was just taking a peaceful and completely safe stroll.

“I will, Arsene. I promise.”

There didn’t seem to be many differences that could be immediately seen. Pools of blood filled the sidewalks. Coffins replaced the people. The green sliver of a moon seemed to smile down on Tatsumi Port Island.

All in all, completely normal for the Dark Hour.

Akira let out a quiet, “Huh.”

“What is it?” Arsene said, immediately on alert for anything unusual. Mephistopheles perked up as well.

“It’s nothing, I just expected Yaldabaoth to butt in and say something about humans and maybe hubris or something.” Akira said.

He kept his pace nonchalant as he walked around a puddle of watery Dark Hour blood.

And speaking of the devil, Yaldabaoth said, “The only thing of note was your unexpected answer. I expected you to be much more dismissive of the danger you put yourself in. Though I must say that I did not think it worthy of comment.”  

“You've lost a lot of your bite recently, haven't you? Awwww, do you like us now?” Arsene teased.

“Do not delude yourself. I just find myself exhausted by the cyclical arguments that you Fools use to entertain yourself. There's no need to engage when our answers never change.” Yaldabaoth said neutrally.

Oh? What was that Akira just heard? Had they finally worn down the god enough so that they would actually be willing to work with him?

If that was the case, then…

“If you guys are getting along now, does this mean no more… incidents in the future?” Akira lightly said as he made a show of peering around a corner.

Yaldabaoth responded, “If you are referring to what I think you're referring to, I was neither the cause nor the catalyst.”

“Is that what you think!?” Arsene exclaimed.

If there was a table between them, then it surely would have just been slammed right then.

“Hey, I'm not placing blame on anybody in this mindscape. I'm just asking if we'll have more…” Akira gestured with his hand, “cooperation in the future.”

“I have no objections to working with those that mean you no harm.” Arsene said pointedly.

There was no response from the god. 

“Yaldabaoth? Are you still there?” Akira said.

He stopped walking right in front of an alley. The green waning crescent could be seen clearly through the gap between the buildings.

“... I understand that as of right now, what benefits you benefits me as well. I… will…” It almost sounded like Yaldabaoth was trying to get words out through metaphorical gritted teeth,  “submit myself to working with a human.”

Well, if you put it like that it sounds bad.

“And you won’t, um, hide any information in the future, right?” Akira said, just to make sure.

“... When there is new information, you will know. However, because of our inability to enter the nest right now, there is nothing new I can tell you. Agreement or not.” Yaldabaoth said.

The annoyance there was palpable. Akira wouldn’t poke the wasp nest anymore then.

“Well, if that’s the case. I think I’ll just head back-”

A scream echoed between the buildings.

A very human scream.

Akira stared down the alleyway. There was no movement in the darkness, not even the shambling of shadows. No one was even supposed to be out in this area anyways. He was far away enough that no one returning from the dorms would even come this way.

He needed to know what was going on.

Akira kept to one side of the alley as he walked forward, ready to hide if need be. He had no idea what he could face.

“Be careful. There is a possibility that we could have another Black Mask situation.” Arsene said.

Akira almost flinched at the mention, but he was more professional than that.

“There’s also the chance that someone is being attacked by a shadow.” He said back.

“That is true. But like I said before, please be careful tonight. A near dark night does not bode well for a thief.”

Akira knew very well what dangers existed during the Dark Hour. The past week had taught him perfectly that wounds and injuries weren’t buffered at all like they were in the Metaverse. If not healed immediately, an injury could only be left to heal naturally. There was no dampening performed by the collective unconscious. No one just perked up after falling in a battle.

If, during one of these ‘nightly walks’, Akira were to faint…

Come morning…

He could be dead.

“I know. I won’t let my guard down.” He said and walked on.

(Though he did hope that if he ever died, they wouldn’t find his body in an embarrassing position.)

And if anything, he could draw on the unruffled bond of Mephistopheles. The ‘youngest’ Persona had seen Akira at some of his lows, but at least he hadn’t seen him at his lowest. It was something to hold on to as he steeled himself.

The sounds of hurried footsteps grew closer to where Akira walked. He pushed himself against the wall to first see what was going on.

When the sound got close enough, Akira watched as someone close to his age ran by the alley. The guy’s orange shirt loudly stood out among the darker colors of the Dark Hour.

Just as Akira was about to call out to him, to offer help or something or other-

“You squeal most magnificently.”

Then there was a loud bang from just outside his line of sight.

Red erupted from the guy’s arm.

Someone had just fucking shot him .

“He’s not dead…” A flat female voice said.

Akira plastered himself to the side of the wall and kept as flat as he could. His hands reflexively covered his mouth as if to keep any sounds from escaping.

The guy picked himself up, clutching his arm. He ran in a direction that Akira knew he had already walked and cleared any wandering shadows there.

“Doesn’t matter… We’re already held up our end of the bargain. And besides, tomorrow this’ll just seem like a random crime.” A third voice said.

Akira looked around the corner as slowly and as stealthily as he could. He pulled back as soon as he could a glimpse of the perpetrators.

It was those same three people that Akira had seen his first night out! The ability to be active right now, pointed to one very likely conclusion.

That they were Persona users too.

And they attacked people at night.

Holy shit.

“You seem to be in a dangerous situation. As per my agreement to help you I will lend you my aid.” Yaldabaoth said.

And after a moment, a solid metal weight manifested in his hands.

Arsene’s enraged voice echoed through the mindscape, “YALDABAOTH! WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS?!”

Akira looked down to see a golden gun similar to what Yaldabaoth had wielded during their battle.

“Yaldabaoth?! Did you just give me a fucking gun !?” Akira exclaimed, careful to not let his voice out.

He was torn between the urge to keep the gun close and hide any light that could possibly reflect off the gold surface, and the urge to keep it as far away from him as possible.

“I am assisting you. As you asked me too.”

Akira had left his pistol back at the dorms, and had done so ever since that first time. He didn’t want to have the ability to shoot real bullets that could possibly hurt him if he ever handled it wrong.

And now Yaldabaoth had just gone and put that exact weapon back in his hands.

“You can’t just… You can’t just give this to me!” Akira 

If he made himself known in any way shape or form, then he could find himself in the middle of a life or death battle.

He was left all alone with people who might not even bat an eye at his murder.

He didn’t want to be here.

(He didn’t want to do any of this.)

Igor, what exactly had you asked of him?

“If there’s nothing else… I’m feeling rather tired.”

Their footsteps traveled further away. Their unworried voices grew softer until the only thing Akira could hear were his own quickened breaths.

His jacket rode up as his knees gave out and he slid down the wall. His hands shook around the cold metal of the gun.

“I do not understand why you are displeased with my weapon. It was meant to be used as a weapon against those Persona users. However, if you dislike it so much, I will simply take it back.” Yaldabaoth said. Their flat voice was somehow grounding despite the circumstances.

The gun disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. With his hands now free, Akira dug his hands into his thighs in an effort to get himself under control.

“We’ll talk about this later! But not right now.” Arsene snapped, but then said more calmly, “Are you okay my Trickster?”

Akira buried his head between his knees.

“I…”

“I’m scared.”

He had never seen someone get shot before. While he had seen mental shutdowns happen in real time. And he had objectively known that Akechi had assassinated people as the Black Mask. 

Akira had never seen someone get hurt like that before. He hadn’t realized how much the Metaverse had censored everything.

(Was this how Futaba had felt when she had watched him in the interrogation room?)

He didn’t know what to do.

The threat to Minato’s life suddenly felt a lot more real.

Mephistopheles did his best to curl around his heart. A warm blanket compared to the cold of the night.

“Trickster.” Came Satanael’s calm voice, “I understand how you feel. However, you must get moving. The Dark Hour will soon come to an end.”

“Okay.”

Akira stood up and used the brick wall to keep himself steady. He focused on the chill coming through his gloves to stay focused as he began to walk forward.

He did his best to stay silent on his way back to his room. 

He prayed that no one would spot him. Akira cursed himself for not thinking to bring a Stealthanol with him. He had been too confident in his ability to hide and ambush his foes.

Akira couldn’t afford to be arrogant about his abilities in the future. Relying too much on the Metaverse to supplement his abilities had made him sloppy.

He couldn’t afford to fail.

The outline of the Iwatodai dorms soon came into view and Akira allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief. Thoughts of his dormmates helped him to push the memories of what just happened away.

Hopefully no one had gotten too hurt during their trip to Tartarus.

Wait…

Speaking of the others…

Hadn’t he seen Shinjiro Aragaki with those same three people before?

Did Shinjiro know what they did to other people?

Was he a part of it too?

Everyone was in more danger than Akira had realized.

He didn’t know if even a year would be long enough to deal with all of this. And to top it all off, he still had to go back to Tartarus.

Chapter Text

Thankfully, since he didn’t actually do much during Monday’s Dark Hour, Akira wasn’t that tired the next morning. He made some coffee for the ones who wanted it. Though he did look away when he gave Minato his cup.

Everyone had that post Tartarus/anything Persona related exhaustion. It was evident in the way everyone got ready for the day. Except for Mitsuru. She left for school bright and early in a way that had Akira wondering if she ever really slept.

It was enough for no one to notice that Akira hadn’t exactly had a peaceful night either. The panic of last night had pushed to a place that Akira could process it later. Preferably at a time when no one could see his expressions when he though about the fact that there were Persona users going around murdering people.

But enough about that. He still had to go to school like everything was normal.

Minato had left early after taking his drink in a disposable travel mug with him. And Junpei laid down on the carpet while saying things like “just five more minutes” and “I’ll catch up with you guys… promise…”. And Akihiko had gone out on a jog earlier and had not been seen since.

So it left Akira and Yukari to go to school together. They didn’t really talk much on the monorail ride there, each for different reasons. Yukari was still exhausted from last night. Healing and keeping people alive took a lot of SP. And Akira was thinking of all the possibilities and limitations that came with the ability to use Yaldabaoth’s weapons without the god being rendered unconscious for a week or so.

Akira remembered during the final fight (that he didn’t die after, he’s still very much alive, thank you) that different objects had different abilities and affinities. He wondered how much of that carried over when he used it, if at all. And then there was the whole disparity thing with elements when he came back to 2009.

Yukari yawned next to him as they approached the school gates.

Akira looked over to her and said, “Rough night? You seem more exhausted than usual.”

Yukari sighed, “Yeah… Minato did that whole ‘two team’ thing again and he and I were both healers for both teams.”

He grimaced in sympathy, “Aaaahhh. I see now, I see. If you had asked for another cup of coffee, I would have given you one. Think you’ll make it through the day?”

She shrugged, “Don’t know. Though I do know that Minato can help cover for me if I do fall asleep in class.”

“Man, I wish we were all in the same class. It would make it so much easier to chat and make plans. And Fuuka is too nice to help me cheat.” Akira said.

Yukari huffed out a small laugh.

As they passed through one of the hallways, they heard a bit of a passing conversation.

“Hey, have you heard about that revenge website?” One girl said in such a way that made the words sound controversial.

“Revenge website?” Akira muttered in response. The way she had said it had immediately caught his attention.

“Yeah, I have!” Her friend said, and then her voice dropped to a whisper. “Do you think it's real?”

Yukari waved her hand flippantly,“Just ignore it, it's just another one of those 'deep web' rumors.”

“Well, this is my first time hearing about it.” Akira said.

He raised his eyebrow in a very obvious way. Yukari only rolled her eyes at him.

Though Yukari did take pity on him and explained, “Yeah, there's this whole thing going around about it. Apparently, if you give the website enough information on someone and are willing to pay, they end up injured or dead.”

Fuck.

That sure sounded like something Akira would have to deal with in the future. 

And maybe it was just the timing, but he couldn’t help but think about the three people from last night. It definitely fits with everything. Persona users that anonymously take money and then attack people during the Dark Hour.

Or it could just be Akira overreacting about something again.

“It's probably fake, though.” Yukari shrugged and said, “So don't pay any attention to it. We have other things to worry about anyway.”

That was very, very true.

Akira remembered that tonight was a new moon before he said, “We are halfway to the full moon. And if we do go off of what the chairman said, then the next one is the Hierophant.”

Yukari sighed, “I’m too tired to remember if they have the same weaknesses if they’re the same arcana.”

“I’m not tired and I can’t remember either. I’ll just ask Fuuka later if she remembers.” Akira said.

Sometime while they were talking, they arrived at their classrooms. 

Akira readjusted his bag and said, “Well, we’re here. I guess I’ll see you after class.”

“I’ll see you -yawn- after class.” Yukari said.

As she headed towards her class, Akira called after her, “Try not to pass out during class, okay?”

“Akira! Why would you say that?!”

He ducked into his classroom so that he could avoid responding. He just waved at the students staring at him like nothing had happened.

Yukari-chan, the darling of the second years, did not yell at him. You all just heard wrong. Nothing to worry about here.

Akira said a quick good morning to Fuuka. And his mood didn’t even go when he saw her chatting lightly with her former bully.

It was turning out to be a good week.

.

It had been a rough week.

Akira rested his head on his desk in his room.

He had gone out every night to see if those three people showed up again. But there hadn’t been any trace of them. Though Akira had limited what he had done during the Dark Hour to just walking around, it was still enough to wear him down to the point that he barely made it through classes.

Mitsuru hadn’t been happy with how tired he had been the past couple of days. Though he had promised that it was only temporary and that he had just stayed up studying the past few days. But even that wouldn’t keep her off his back for too long.

Seemed like he wasn’t going to be able to search for the mysterious Persona users tonight.

A small beam of the setting sun came right through his window and landed right in Akira’s eyes.

He sat up quickly and blinked the spots out of his eyes. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“You are what humans would call a ‘mess’ right now.” Yaldabaoth said, unprompted.

“You don’t have to call me out like this.” Akira said.

When he stretched his back, there were a few pops.

“But at least he is not going out tonight, right?” Arsene said, very pointedly.

“No, I’m not. Don’t worry. I’m not breaking curfew tonight. I’m going to be a good, rule-abiding student tonight.” Akira said, though he couldn’t resist a little bit of snark.

Arsene laughed and said, “Of course, of course. A thief must also be a master of disguises!”

“You both are truly just Fools.”

Akira just shrugged off the god’s words, “That insult is a lot less impactful than you think it is.”

“Does not change the fact that it is true.” Yaldabaoth said.

The god had definitely toned down a lot since the bell incident and what happened with the Reaper. It definitely made Akira’s life easier.

“Hey, you got me there.” Akira said and stood up.

His stomach growled as he moved.

He should probably make some dinner.

The dorm was mostly quiet with only a few people on the first floor. Junpei was chilling over at the table near the entrance and doing something that Akira couldn’t quite see. Yukari was working on something at the dining room table, though she looked up when Akira came downstairs.

“Hey Yukari.” Akira said as he walked towards the kitchen.

She waved, “Hey. Oh, are you going to make dinner?”

Akira began to grab things from the pantry and fridge. Some simple chicken teriyaki would probably be good.

“That’s the plan, why? Do you want some?”

Yukari looked surprised at the suggestion, “You don’t have to. But if it’s not too much trouble to you, I wouldn’t mind.”

She seemed a little down about something so Akira put on his best smirk and teased, “Well, since you asked so nicely. I guess I wouldn’t mind making dinner for the Yukari-chan~. The sweetest girl at school~. Oh how lucky am I~?”

Akira saw a challenging glint enter her eyes and she smirked right back. Guess he made the right call.

She moved to a stool closer to the kitchen and said “But it’s such an honor to be able to eat food prepared by the Prince of Gekkoukan High. What could I do but ask nicely.”

Akira's hands froze above the counter and he turned to look at Yukari. 

Completely and utterly confused, he said, “The what?”

“What?" She looked just as confused as him. 

Akira turned to face her fully, “What did you call me?”

Yukari sighed and rested her chin on her hand, “You haven’t heard anyone call you that yet? You must be better at ignoring rumors than me.”

Akira could not for life of him figure out what the fuck 'prince of Gekkoukan' meant. 

Like, why?

Him?

“But why would anyone call me that?” He said, still confused. 

Yukari rolled her eyes at him and laughed off his question. But she stopped when he didn't join in. Her hand dropped and she stared at him.

“Akira, are you joking? You’re about as popular as Akihiko.”

He only stared in disbelief.

“Wait, seriously?" Yukari stood up and walked around to where he stood, "Do you not realize how much people like you?"

He didn’t respond, and his mind was going a mile a minute. The thought of it had ever crossed his mind. Akira had thought that it was all just courtesy they gave to anyone, not that it was any kind of special treatment.

For over a year now, he had done his best to ignore any rumors about him, bad or good. For both the sake of the Phantom Thieves and for his own mental health. But if it was as Yukari said…

Has just one year at Shujin really done that much to him?

“Akira?” Yukari called.

Akira stumbled for the words, he didn’t know how to get his thoughts into words, “I didn’t- I didn’t really think that much of it…? 

Yukari sighed.

He hurried to defend himself, “Okay listen. I wasn't exactly… I didn’t think it was that much. Akihiko has his own fanclub and he’s the captain of the boxing club and I’m just me!”

What was so great about him?

Yukari took a deep breath before she said, point blank, “I think your crush on Akihiko has made you blind to other people.” 

Heat rushed to his face.

“I don't have a crush on Akihiko!” Akira said, too loud.

Junpei looked over at the noise and Akira’s cheeks only flushed further. He was only digging his own grave like this.

And it wasn’t like Akihiko was a bad guy. He was good looking and nice, but just because someone was attractive doesn’t mean that he had a crush on them.

Yukari pointed behind him, “Um, The sauce is boiling.”

“Fuck!”

Yukari laughed behind her hand as he scrambled to save the sauce.

As he stirred to prevent burning, he almost hissed at Yukari, “I do not have a crush on Akihiko.”

“Okay okay. Sure. Whatever you said.” She said, but her eyes were still smiling in a way that meant she didn’t believe him.

Once he was sure that the sauce was saved, he added the chicken back in.

“Do I still get some of that? Because it smells delicious.” Yukari said from behind him.

“Yeah… Let me just get some bowls.” He said, turning to the cupboards.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get them.”

His mind still wasn’t settled, even as he dished out the food. The things Yukari said still ran around in his head. 

It just wasn’t something that he found easy to believe. The fact that people just liked him didn’t seem right to him.

“Thank you for the food.” They both said, and dug in.

“Even after the conversation with the Lovers, your soul is still destitute. Why not pay a visit to the Strength at the shrine? It was your strongest bond, was it not?” Yaldabaoth chimed in.

And the suggestion wasn’t bad. The only problem was that he didn’t know who it was.

“Strength? Who’s Strength?” Akira asked.

He couldn’t help but think of a certain Velvet Room attendant.

(And he once again pushed back against the pain that appeared in his chest whenever he thought of the Thieves or any of his Confidants.)

“The white canine creature you've encountered before.” Yaldabaoth easily responded.

Akira choked on the bite he was taking. He waved off Yukari’s concerns and took a drink of water.

“Wait, are you saying that Koromaru -the dog!- is Strength0! He has an Arcana?!

“Is that its name? Though the Fool of this age had not formed any bond with the canine.” Yaldabaoth said, like it made any sense.

Like yeah, Morgana was a cat, but he was also not really a cat. But Koromaru was just a dog!

But… It’s not like it would hurt.

Yukari broke the silence and said, “Okay so this is really good. Would you be willing to make me food again in the future?”

“Uh, sure? I mean, if you get me the ingredients I’ll make food for you. Just no guarantee that it’ll be perfect.” Akira said, still reeling from all of the revelations of the night.

“I’m going to hold you to that.” Yukari said.

At least there was still some uncooked chicken left over. He wondered if he could quickly cook that up and give it to Koromaru.

Akira sighed with his whole chest. He just wanted to take a nap.

.

The nights near the end of June had a kind of comfortable warmth. Akira didn’t have a jacket as he walked towards the shrine that Koromaru lived in. He had a small bento with chicken and a few vegetables that were safe for dogs. It was still warm.

He stood in front of the stairs leading up to the shrine. Akira almost felt like he was imposing. He walked forward, and it almost felt like he entered a place separate from the rest of the city. Even the sounds from outside sounded muted.

Suddenly a blur of white raced towards him, growling.

Akira did his best not to flinch.

Though he did not bark, Koromaru’s growls were still loud in the emptiness of the shrine. He calmed down once he saw that it was just Akira. 

“I’m sorry to bother you, Koromaru. Um…” Akira said awkwardly on a bench.

Koromaru jumped up and sat next to him, his red eyes shining intelligently in the low light.

“I had some extra food and I decided to bring it to you.”

He took the lid off the bento and placed it in front of Koromaru.

The shiba inu sniffed for just a moment before he started to dig in with gusto. He especially seemed to like the chicken.

Akira tentatively reached his hand out and placed it on Koromaru’s back. He only paused from eating his meal for only a moment, before Koromaru went back to scarfing it down.

Akira gently ran his hand down the dog's back. His fur wasn’t as soft as a cat’s, but it was still fluffy. And soothing in a different way.

He did feel a little bit better by being here. 

But it didn’t change the fact that he still had a mountain of stuff to do and look into.

This was supposed to be relaxing, but Akira somehow feels even more stressed because he’s not doing something. It’s a special kind of horrible.

Akira sighed, “This is stupid. Why am I even here?”

None of the voices in his head responded to the question.

Koromaru looked up from his food, and cocked his head.

Fuck it, why not go for it?

“Koromaru, do you think it's easy for people to like me?” Akira asked.

He gently scratched around the fur at Koromaru’s neck.

“Dumb question, I know. But I just can't stop thinking about the things Yukari said about school. I just can't really believe her.”

Koromaru only listened patiently as he spoke into the night air.

“And I've only been in town for less than three months and yet everybody in S.E.E.S. has been so nice to me. They just accepted me so easily. And I don't know what to think.” He said, suddenly having to speak around a lump in his throat.

He was saying more than he meant to, but it felt easier to just say it to Koromaru than to anyone back at the dorms.

“I haven't had to fight like hell to have anyone like me, like I had to at Shujin. People hated me there.” He gave a pathetic laugh at that.

Koromaru nosed at his side, ignoring the small amount of food still left. Akira kept petting him. Running his hand down his back in repetitive motions.

His voice was small as he said, “But at least I had my friends by my side.” 

“They're not…” Akira took a shaky breath to try to steady himself, “they’re not here anymore.”

Koromaru whined at that, and fully seated himself on Akira’s lap. He licked at his face, and somehow, that’s what broke him.

There were suddenly tears coming down Akira’s face.

“I miss them.”

It was the first time he said it out loud.

His chest was so tight, he almost couldn’t breathe. And his vision blurred from the tears. He felt like he was choking on something.

Akira said in a small voice, “I really miss them, Koromaru.”

“I don't know what I'm going to do. Things just keep getting worse.”

He buried his face into the shiba’s fur. Koromaru patiently sat there as he cried into the dog’s neck.

“I - I don’t know what I’m going to do.” 

Koromaru licked a few tears from his cheeks.

And Akira cried. He cried for the things that he’ll never get back. He cried for the scars that carried over.

He cried for the people he’ll never see again.

And he cried for Minato’s fate.

And Akira cried over his own.

Chapter Text

Minato stood just beyond the entrance of Naganaki Shrine. He had just come back from spending time with the couple who ran the bookstore at the mall when he had heard something from the shrine. But once he had gotten close enough to hear that it was a voice and to make out the words, he stopped.

“I really miss them, Koromaru.”

It was a familiar voice in a tone he hadn’t heard before. Minato had never heard Akira sound like that. There had always been a cheerful tone to the other teen’s voice with only a few moments that were the exception.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do. Things just keep getting worse.” Came just from beyond his line of sight.

Minato didn’t know whether to step out and say something or to walk back onto the street and hope he hadn’t been heard yet.

“I - I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

This wasn’t something he should be here for. The sounds of sobbing made him want to escape and forget he ever witnessed it. So he turned to leave.

“Who’s there?” Akira said, steel in his voice beyond the hoarseness.

Minato let out a long drawn out sigh and put his hand in his pockets. Even though sensitive hearing was useful in Tartarus, it wasn’t at all helpful now.

He stepped out into the light coming from the street lamps and watched as Akira’s face fell when he recognized him.

Akira’s voice was small, “…Minato?” 

Minato didn’t say anything, unsure of what would even be the right thing to say.

“I… You… You heard that, didn’t you?”

Akira looked away, but Minato caught a glimpse of his expression. He was ashamed. There wasn’t much he could do in this situation. And the dog staring at him from within Akira’s arms wasn’t helping either.

Minato wasn’t good with useless platitudes. They never really helped the person suffering. So that wasn’t an option. He could share some of his story. He didn’t care much about who heard about his past. And if Akira had some misplaced shame about being heard, then it would take care of that.

Minato kept his voice steady, “My parents died ten years ago in a car crash when I was six.”

“What? No, you don’t have to-” Akira said, his expression baffled.

But Minato continued as he sat down on the bench next to the both of them, “I’ve been moving between orphanages ever since. Just before I moved here, I became emancipated. I’m used to being alone, and now I’m my own guardian.”

“Why - why are you telling me this?” Akira said.

His eyes were red and puffy from crying, and his expression was vulnerable. It was the kind of expression that most people tried to keep only to themselves. Minato looked away and up at the slightly visible stars.

“I’ve never had anyone since then who I mourned when I moved away. And I heard part of what you said to Koromaru, so it’s only fair that you know.”

He reached over and scratched at Koromaru’s ears. There was no response from the boy next to him. Minato would’ve been content to just stay in silence for the rest of the night, but a thought nagged at the back of his mind.

He sighed again. “Like I said, I’m used to being alone. I’m almost jealous of you. Having people who were close enough to you that you cried like that.”

Akira still didn’t respond. He hoped he hadn’t crossed the line with that last part. He was never the best at this.

Akira’s voice was barely above a whisper, “I had friends who felt more like family back in Shibuya. We went through so much together. It was hard to imagine life without them, but… Everyone's gone now. And even though everyone in S.E.E.S. is so welcoming, it’s just not the same. Sometimes… I feel like I have nothing.”

The mood was sensitive, but it felt right for revealing things.

“When you transferred here at the same time as me, I thought you had everything.” Minato scratched at Koromaru’s ears, slow and steady.

The shiba inu squinted in contentment.

Akira’s laugh was empty, “I've never had everything. I thought I did once, felt like I was on top of the world. But… then something happened, and I was all alone again.”

“We're the same.” Minato said.

It wasn’t something he would have thought when they first met.

“Yeah, I guess we are the same. We're not alone anymore. We have Mitsuru and Junpei, Yukari, and Akihiko, and now even Fuuka is staying with us at the dorms. But it's just not the same.” An edge creeped into his voice as Akira continued to talk, “Ever since that day, it feels like there's been this hole in my chest that's been growing bigger and bigger and eating away at me. Sometimes, it feels like I can't even breathe from the weight of it all. “

Akira’s deep breaths were the loudest thing in the shrine. Minato didn’t say anything, it was probably better to just have him let it all out.

He suddenly slumped over Koromaru, surprising the dog and Minato. He looked drained from all of their talk. Minato was probably the first person he had told about this.

“Our friend group had a name, y'know. 'The Phantom Thieves of Hearts'” Akira said and waved his hand as he said it, but dropped his hand near the end.

“It’s uh… It sure is a name, isn’t it?” He scratched at the back of his neck, “But that’s who we were… I wish. I wish I could’ve at least said goodbye. Maybe I’ll tell more about them when it, uh, doesn’t hurt so much.”

Minto nodded, “Okay.”

“Thank you for listening to me. I just have a lot on my plate right now.”

He didn’t look better, he looked like he needed to pass out in his bed.

And Minato’s thoughts must have shown on his face because he quickly said, “I’ll feel better tomorrow. Promise.”

That fake popular guy smile was back on his face. It pissed Minato off.

He scoffed, “You don’t have to be happy all the time.”

“Maybe so, but I’m not sad anymore. See! Look at this smiling face.” Akira put his fingers to the corners of his mouth and did an exaggerated smile.

Minato gave him his flattest stare. He was sobbing moments ago, and now he wanted to pretend that he was okay?

“Oh, don’t give me that look. I’ll be okay eventually. And besides, we should head back to the dorms soon. Wouldn’t want to stay out too late. And heaven forbid we get caught up in the Dark Hour.” Akira said.

He gently moved the dog off of his lap and onto the bench. Akira reached for and closed a bento that MInato hadn’t noticed before.

“See you again sometime, Koromaru! I’ll make sure to bring you delicious food again next time.” He said, scratching around where a collar would be.

Koromaru woofed in response.

Akira turned back to Minato, backlit by the street lamps, “And thank you again for putting up with me.”

Minato stood up and brushed off his pants. Something rubbed him the wrong way about what he just said.

“I’m not putting up with you. We’re friends.” Minato said, staring directly at Akira.

Akira turned away from him and began walking towards the entrance of the shrine. Minato sighed. He gave one last pat to Koromaru before he also began walking towards the entrance. Though Akira had paused near the stairs, he had stayed turned away from him.

He could hear Akira say in a small voice, “Yeah. Yeah we’re friends.”

Chapter Text

Another week had passed after Akira had gone to see Koromaru and had subsequently been found out by Minato. He had stopped searching for the trio of mysterious Persona users after that because Akira had realized just how limited he was by being only one person. Every night was a risk, and the people here noticed. So he stopped. And promised himself to go out only once a week, unless he had an extra opportunity.

Three Tartarus runs in seven days hadn’t been great either. Especially when you consider how exhausted it leaves everyone. Minato seemed more serious about getting stronger than he had before. The two team strategy was great for leveling up everyone equally and all of Minato’s extra Persona’s. 

If anything, Akira learned that Minato is a lot better than him at not going past his limits. (It still left a bad taste in his mouth that everyone really only governed themselves.)

During those three trips to Tartarus, Akira had gotten some answers about what ‘change’ Yaldabaoth had mentioned before when he wasn't part of the active team. The god claimed that instead of being an empty nest like they had assumed before, that there was now a presence that was detectable. Possibly a god born from human consciousness like Yaldabaoth was. Which sucks. The only unclear thing about it was that the sealed god couldn’t decide if the signal was coming from above them or below them.

To say that the confirmation of another god existing within Tartarus put a damper on Akira’s mood was a little bit of an understatement. Satanael did comfort him with the fact that they could fight a god. It didn’t mean that Akira wanted to go through another Christmas Eve.

But now they were only three days from the next Full Moon so he couldn’t devote too much brain power to battle plans of the far future. He had to focus more on battle plans of the very near future. And just because hearing about the Hierophant arcana made him think of Sojiro and LeBlanc and not being able to go back and all of that depressing stuff he tried hard not to think about. It couldn’t distract him from the fact that there was a shadow he needed to beat the shit out of. 

There was a buzzing from his phone. Akira put down what he was fiddling with and reached over. He flipped it open (still weird) and saw that it was a text from Yukari.

From: Yukari

> on way back from club, can grab food, r u free 2 make dinner 2nite?

Akira… actually doesn’t have anything going on. He had had a club meeting earlier today, so he was pretty sure that he had met his social quota for the day. But he was also curious about what she had in mind for dinner.

He, with some fumbling (still not used to texting like this) sent a text back.

To: Yukari

> what did u have in mind

From: Yukari

> was thinking curry, sound ok?

Now Akira could very much do curry. He smiled and texted back.

To: Yukari

> can def do curry, will take a while tho

From: Yukari

> if its good, i can wait

To: Yukari

> it will be good, i swear

From: Yukari

> any specific things?

That gave Akira a bit of a pause. There were a host of ingredients that he could ask for, but he had to consider Yukari’s budget and what might be available at a general store. He ran through what was in the community fridge on the first floor.

To: Yukari

> carrots, onions, meat, broth, & other veggies u want

>we have spices here

From: Yukari

> on it, see u soon

To: Yukari

>see u soon

Akira shook out his hand. It cramped a little from all of the button presses. Now that he had plans for the evening, he should head down to the kitchen and start prepping.

“This will be quite the opportunity to show off your expertise!” Arsene said.

Akira smirked, “Oh, it definitely will.”

.

“You know, I wasn’t sure about this when you walked up and asked Mitsuru if you could borrow some wine. But this smells even better than the chicken and the homemade sauce.” Yukari said. 

She stood near the edge of the counter and looked into the pot. The curry had simmered for the past hour and a half. The mouthwatering smell permeated the first floor. Yukari had helped with some of the prep work in the beginning, but everything else was all him. 

“Don’t worry about the wine, all the alcohol is cooked out. And curry is what I do best.” Akira said as he lightly stirred the curry with a ladle.

Yukari grabbed some plates, “You know, I’m tempted to believe you.”

She handed the plates to him after she dished up the rice.

“Oh I’m honored~” Akira drew out the word sarcastically, “To have my talent recognized.”

Yukari rolled her eyes at his antics.

Two scoops of curry per plate later and they were ready to eat.

“Thank you for the food.”

Akira took a spoonful of curry but he waited until Yukari took her bite first to see her reaction. She closed her eyes and groaned as she ate.

“Is it good?” Akira asked, though he already knew the answer.

“Oh, sho good.” Yukari said as she took another bite.

Akira huffed a laugh at that, “I’ll send your compliments to the chef.”

Yukari rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything back. She only focused on her plate. He took that as his cue to take a bite too.

It tasted like home. Even though some flavors were missing, it brought memories of comfy nights at Leblanc. Memories of eating together with his friends in Mementos when they stopped for a break. Akira had some trouble swallowing the bite around the lump in his throat.

“I miss them dearly as well my Trickster…” Arsene said, no dramatics in the Persona’s voice.

It felt like his heart was being wrapped in a warm, but not corporeal, hug. Their bond thrummed under the weight of their shared experiences.

Ah, fuck. He was going to cry again wasn’t he.

Akira shoved the feelings with another bite. He is not going to cry over curry.

Yukari had already finished half of her plate, “I’m so glad I found this beef on sale.”

“Me too. And thank you again for getting the ingredients, ” Akira said, staring at his plate.

“Thank you for cooking this.” She said right back.

They eat in silence for a minute. Yukari looked like she savored every bite she took, but Akira was focused on his own plate. He made sure to keep eating. Otherwise he would get lost in the memories and let the curry get cold. And he couldn’t insult curry like that. 

It still tasted good.

“Man, something smells gooood. Did you guys order takeout from someplace or something?” Junpei’s voice came from the stairs.

Akira couldn’t respond right away because of the food in his mouth.

But Yukari could and she said, “We didn’t order out, Akira cooked tonight.”

“Wow, really?” Junpei said and walked into the dining area. Akira noticed that he wasn’t wearing his signature hat tonight. “I mean, I guess you are in the cooking club. 

He pointed into the kitchen, “Can I have some? I haven’t eaten yet.”

Akira and Yukari looked at each other. He hadn’t been the one to buy all of the ingredients even though he had cooked it. So he wasn’t sure if he could say yes in this situation.

Yukari shrugged.

Welp. There you go.

Akira turned back to Junpei, smiling, “Sure, go ahead. Tell me what you think.”

They heard the sounds of things moving in the kitchen. Moments later, Junpei came out with his own plate of steaming curry. He sat down next to Yukari and began digging in.

“Hell yeah, this is good!” Junpei said around the curry in his mouth.

“Ah ha!” Arsene exclaimed, “Another one to our side!”

Yukari grimaced, “Ew, don’t talk with your mouth full.”

“Oh, sorry.” Junpei quickly covered his mouth with his free hand.

Akira huffed out a laugh at that, “Well, I’m glad you like it. Feel free to have seconds. Just don’t take too much, I’m planning on taking leftovers for lunch tomorrow.”

“That sounds like a good idea.” Yukari said as she worked on getting the last bits of food.

Junpei swallowed his food before he spoke again (thank you Junpei), “Hey have you guys heard about the rumors about the new Apathy Syndrome cases?”

Akira hasn’t actually. Between the trips to Tartarus, school, and dealing with the looming realization that he might not be as okay as he thought he was. He hadn’t looked into any new cases that related to the next full moon operation. 

But while Akira was curious about it, Yukari had a very different reaction.

“Really Junpei? You want to talk about this again. Just hearing the details once was enough for me.”

“What is it?” Akira couldn’t keep the curiosity out of his voice.

Yukari rolled her eyes, “The new victims have been found in pairs.”

In pairs?

“Hey, Yuka-tan! I was going to say that! And I didn’t even get to do any dramatic build up.” Junpei whined.

Why in pairs? Why would a shadow target two people at a time?

Yukari huffed and crossed her arms, “Because it’s gross. And it doesn’t need any build up.”

“Are the shadows going after… couples?” Akira asked.

“Yep!” Junpei exclaimed, looking proud for some reason. “But not only couples, but they were found …”

Yukari put her head in her hands, empty plate forgotten, “Oh god…”

Junpei waved his hands dramatically, like he was trying to do another Junpei’s Believe it or Don’t, “ in love hotels.”

“Ugh, Junpei… Why would you say that when we’re eating” Akira groaned. Why did he have to say that part at all? He could have just said couples and left it at that.

Junpei only laughed at his expression. Akira sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He had been set up and fell for it.

Yaldabaoth chimed in, “How barbaric. Human degeneracy truly knows no bounds.”

“I’ve got four words for you Yaldabaoth.” Akira said back, “You made Kamoshida’s Palace.”

The god was silent for a moment before they said, “Your point has been made.”

Akira looked back up at the other side of the table, “Junpei, if the shadow actually shows up at a love hotel, I’m never making food for you again.” He said flatly.

“Hey!”

Yukari didn’t come to Junpei’s defense, “Then for next time, you can use something called ‘discretion’. Maybe you’ve heard of it.”

“Well then, if this is my last meal, then I’m going to enjoy it with all I’ve got!” Junpei said, and began to dig in like he was a ravenous wolverine.

Akira rolled his eyes. Though he was a bit flattered at the speed at which Junpei ate. It’s not like the Hierophant would actually take up residence in a love hotel. It sounded more like something the Lovers would do, and that was the next full moon.

Yukari stood up and took her empty plate out to the kitchen. Akira and Junpei didn’t say anything as they ate, but he could hear her rinsing her dish and putting it in the dishwasher. There was a kind of relaxing atmosphere to it all that eased the ache in his chest.

.

“Junpei.” Akira said, not looking away from the building where Fuuka had detected the shadow to be.

“Yeah, man.” Junpei stood next to him, staring at the same thing.

Akira’s voice was flat, “I’m going to kill you.”

Junpei turned to him, “What?! Why?!”

“Because you’re the one who spoke this into existence! I mean, look at this! We have to fight here!” He gestured at the building.

Somehow, the full moon shadow decided to set up shop on Shirakawa Boulevard. You know, the street filled with host clubs and love hotels! He didn’t want to be here for this! Who knows what would be inside the place.

Junpei put his hands up in defense, “It’s not my fault that the shadow decided to stay here, y’know! Maybe it just wanted some action or something...” He mumbled at the end.

Akira hoped his flat stare got across how he was feeling to Junpei. And by the way that Junpei looked away first, it worked.

Mitsuru’s voice cut in from behind them, “Both of you, focus!”

Akira let out a huge sigh and turned away from the other teen. He wasn’t sure why Minato had him in the party for this. If he needed a heavy hitter, Akihiko could do it. Not only that, Akihiko had skills that could do elemental damage instead of just trying for an instakill. But Minato was the field leader, and Akira would listen to him.

He turned back to the hotel. He wasn’t looking forward to this at all. If it was going to be anything like Kamoshida’s Palace, then Akira was going to stab someone (in an unsexy way). He was already so ready for this night to be done with and they haven’t even entered the hotel.

Chapter Text

ALSO FANART!!! ❤️❤️❤️

The hallways of the hotel were thankfully empty of coffins and shadows alike. Akira walked after Minato with his dagger drawn and at the ready. There was a stifling pressure even within the sourceless music that was common during the Dark Hour. He recognized the feeling of suspense before a battle that was only heightened by the feeling of being in a liminal space.

It was just him, Minato, Yukari, and Mitsuru in the shadow’s lair. Why he was selected for this, Akira didn’t know. He was mostly a physical fighter and if the shadow was immune to Dark or any of the physical damage types then he would be severely handicapped. And Dark might not even work anyway, with most boss shadow’s he’s encountered being immune to any insta-kills. But Minato was the Leader, and Akira put his trust in him. 

Minato stopped when they reached the third floor and signed for the three of them to do the same.

“Fuuka,” Minato said, his voice audible through the heady atmosphere of the hotel, “The shadow is on this floor, right?”

Fuuka’s voice cut in like a cool rush of water, “Yes! The shadow is somewhere on this floor. I also don’t sense any people near it, so it uh- should be safe to battle.”  

Minato nodded, then walked forward, “Okay, let’s go.”

Akira flexed his hands in anticipation. He almost missed the feeling of a second weapon in his left hand. Just for something else to fall back on if he needed it. But a gun was too suspicious and too dangerous to himself and others. Not to mention, illegal.

None of them spoke when they explored the hallways of the third floor. Something felt even more off about this floor. (Why did this place specifically have to feel so much like a certain teacher’s Palace?)

Akira spotted a room around a corner that was much more opulent than the rest. And by the way Minato turned to it, he had seen it too. Minato walked towards it, and the others filled in step behind him.

When they reached the fancy door, Fuuka’s voice came again, “I’m sensing a strong shadow right behind that door, are all of you ready?”

Minato turned to look at them. Akira nodded. He had grabbed extra items and Arsene’s Cane just in case he needed some extra oomph.

(That, and there was something special in using Arsene’s weapon while fighting with Mephistopheles.)

Yukari and Mitsuru nodded as well.

“We’re ready Fuuka, and I’m counting on you.” Minato said.

“I’ll do my best!”

And with that Minato forced the gilded door open and rushed in.

What greeted them was the towering form of the Hierophant shadow. A large humanoid figure sat upon a throne while dressed in priest’s robes. The thing wore the blue Hierophant's mask. A thin, beige figure of a woman seemed to grow out of the back of the shadow’s back and kept caressing the shadow’s mask. As Akira moved to his position, he saw the shadow readjust itself. The legs of the throne, which were dressed in fishnets for some reason, actually moved. 

The thing looked like it gathered together a bunch of wet dreams and then locked it in the honeymoon suite where it sat and fermented for a couple of months.

0/10. Disgusting. 

Minato didn’t waste any time before he pulled out his Evoker. Within a single breath, Narcissus stood behind him and sent a Garula hurtling towards the shadow. The magic collided with a satisfying barrage of wind. The Hierophant looked hurt, but it didn’t fall.

Which meant that it wasn’t weak to Wind, but it didn’t resist it or nullify it either.

It also meant that Yukari could do some serious damage. 

And as if she was thinking the same thing as Akira, Yukari followed up with her own Garu.

When the shadow flinched this time, Akira took it as his chance to strike. He darted in close to get at the legs of the chair. Arsene's Cane sunk in a few good inches right at the back of the knee. Akira followed through on the strike and he watched the leg begin to buckle. 

Akira raced back to try to get out of the shadow’s range. There was the hope that he had lucked out and found the thing’s weakness. But, the shadow just didn’t fall as he had hoped. Instead, it looked ready to attack. And Akira was the closest to it. (Fuck.)

A bolt of ice crashed into the shadow’s side before it could strike. Mitsuru was on the other side with her Evoker in hand. The shadow cried out in a horrible, distorted voice.

Instead of swinging at him like Akira had feared, the Hierophant reared back and screamed. Then it leaned forward and lunged at all of them. Akira had braced himself to dodge a focused attack, and not such a wide swing. 

He knew that he wouldn't be able to dodge this. So Akira did the next best thing. He braced. 

Pain raced up his left arm. At least it wasn’t his dominant arm. (Thank Igor.) He could already feel warm blood soaking the nearby fabric of his shirt. (And another shirt ruined. Great .) Akira lifted his arm and flinched at the rush of pain. It felt bad, but not bad enough to warrant the use of his healing items yet.

“Trickster!” Arsene said, worry laced in their bond.

Akira grit his teeth, “I’m fine. I’m fine. It’s not the worst I’ve had.”

He was keenly aware of Arsene’s displeasure.

Akira quickly bandaged his arm as the others continued their attacks on the shadow. He wasn’t exactly excited to get back into close range and he could feel that his Personas agreed.

He reached down and pulled out his Evoker.

“Mephistopheles, Double Fang.” He said as he pulled the trigger.

He ignored the small bit of nausea that curled in his gut when Mehpistopheles appeared behind him. His Persona gave him a quick glance of worry, which was more than Akira had expected before Mephistopheles lunged at the shadow. 

The hook of Mephistopheles’s sword dug into the side of the Hierophant. The shadow screamed as the attack pierced its side. Whether it screamed at the pain, at the other attacks that soon followed, or just at Mephistopheles’s audacity, Akira didn’t know.

His Persona disappeared into blue shards, and Arsene took it as his turn to speak up, “With that attack, your state is worse than before. Now would be a good opportunity to use an item.”

Akira grit his teeth. He had been trying to keep his mind off the pain by watching the others and planning his next move. He was good at that. But Arsene’s reminder only brought it back up to the surface.

“I’m fine.” Akira mentally grit out as he creeped closer to the shadow.

“Trickster.” Satanael's voice came. One word that left no room for arguments.

But who would Akira be if he didn’t try to rebel at least a little. “I’ll heal up on the next hit.” And at the judgemental silence, he added on a quick “Promise.”

He could feel the worry from his Persona’s. He knew he wasn’t in the best situation, never has been really. It’s just… supplies are just a little harder to come across now. Akira just wants to conserve when he can. Sue him!

Arsene was the one to speak up, “You are on thin ice, do you hear me?”

“I hear you, I hear you.”

Akira rolled out of the way of an incoming attack in a way that put the least stress on his injured arm. The four of them were doing well. Even with Akira doing the least amount of damage. The Hierophant was becoming sluggish and it’s magic sloppy. Everything was going well.

Until he saw the shadow gearing up to unleash an electric spell. One that looked stronger than the ones it was using previously. And until Akira realized that it was aiming right at Yukari. The person with a weakness to electricity.

Akira was running before his mind caught up with what was happening. It was so easy to place himself between Yukari and the shadow. He didn’t need any Confidant Rank 9 to take the hit for a friend.

The Zionga hit Akira dead on. The electricity spread through his body and he became hyper aware of his entire body locking up. The edges of the wound on his arm and every scratch on his body burned. Everything down to his bones shook from the spell.

Huh. Being electrocuted here sure hurt a lot more than it ever did Mementos.

Good to know.

.

Akira woke up on the floor. It was kind of worrying that he was getting used to this kind of thing.

Everything hurt. Like every single thing in his body hurt. There was a soreness that went down to his bones. His head hurt the most. The throbbing pain wasn’t helped by the voices Akira could hear arguing.

“-is my vessel now as well! How dare you doubt me, you pathetic bird!”

“How dare I? How dare I?! Oh how dare I doubt the concern of the one who wished for his death and destruction!”

Wow. Huh. They sounded angry. Really angry.

“Things have changed! My priorities have changed!”

“Well excuse me if your past actions as the Holy Grail cause me to distrust you!”

“So is that it? Are second chances only granted to the humans you deem worthy?!”

“That is not the point!”

Ow. That last was loud enough to send a vicious stab of pain through his head. It was enough to make Akira groan and futilely try to move away from the noise. 

Thankfully, it was enough for Yaldabaoth and Arsene to immediately quiet down. Akira could recognize the voices now. It just didn't tell him why they were arguing over his unconscious body. 

Shit!

He fell unconscious in the middle of a battle!

Akira pushed himself up from where he had fallen. His body screamed in protest, but he grit his teeth and pushed through it.

“You’re such an idiot.”

He had to blink a few times to clear the spots from his eyes. Yukari was crouched next to him with her Evoker in hand and Io summoned next to her. Her face pinched as Akira moved into a matching crouch. 

“How long was I out?”

Yukari frowned and Io disappeared with the sound of shattering glass.

“Just a few moments.” She looked back at where Minato and Mitsuru were keeping the Hierophant at bay. She sighed and turned back to him. “We’re going to talk about this later.”

“Talk about what?”

She narrowed her eyes and stared at him for a moment before adding, “Why do you boys have to be so dumb sometimes?”

What? What did he do?

A sudden bolt of electricity had the two of them darting away from each other before Akira could get an answer. Yukari caught his eye and mouthed the word “Later” before turning back to the shadow.

He only gave himself a moment to sit there, confused. It wasn’t the most pressing thing at the moment. The asshole in the chair took that title. So Akira shook it off and turned his full attention back to the fight. He readied Arsene’s Cane.

He darted forward and ignored the worried look Mitsuru shot at him. The soreness in his body had settled down to a manageable level, even as each step made the pain flare. The pain wasn’t anything new to him.

A blast of fire courtesy of Minato slammed into the side of the Hierophant. It lunged towards where Ares disappeared and Akira saw his chance.

He thrust Arsene’s cane in between the gaps of the chair into the meat of the shadow. He pulled the sword out to fall back out of range.

The thing in the shape of a woman on the back of the chair twisted around to face him at an angle that would have any normal person screaming. It’s too-long arm reached out with inhuman speed and clamped down on Akira’s half-healed arm. 

He bit back a scream.

Mephistopheles howled.

The revival bead had closed the wound, but it wasn’t enough to finish healing all the way. The painful grip thoroughly crushed any scabbing that had formed. Blood sluggishly seeped between the gaps of the shadow’s fingers. He couldn’t get away like this.

“My Trickster” Arsene cried at their pain. “Call on me. I will tear through the enemy.”

He grit his teeth, “I can’t!”

With his good arm, Akira pulled back and slammed the blunt end of his weapon into what he hoped was the shadow’s wrist.

There was a sick crunch.

He darted back as fast as he could. Just in time for Mitsuru to take his place, rapier at the ready.

“Keeping the truth hidden is not worth your life!” Arsene pushed against their bond.

“That’s not the point and you know it.”

Arsene radiated something that felt like anger. If anger was a bit softer and more frustrated. “Then what is the point of my being here if I have to standby and watch you die right before me?”

“That’s not- that’s not what I meant.” He said, using a Soma drop on Yukari.

She gave him a nod and a Dia in response.

“I just can’t tell them yet.” Akira said after a moment to find his words. “They’re not the thieves, I don’t know how they’ll react to someone having three different Personas without being a wildcard.”

It hurts to think like that while he fights side by side with them.

“I understand that. But everytime you are hurt in a way I could have prevented, my resistance grows thinner. And this group may yet accept this part of you that aims to be hurt in their place.” Arsene’s voice carried the seriousness of his words.

Akira barely dodged another Zionga aimed at him. It was hard to keep his mind on keeping out of the shadow’s reach and arguing about the consequences of keeping a secret.

“Maybe you two Fools shouldn’t be having this type of discussion in the middle of a fight !” Yaldabaoth snapped.

Yeah. That. Exactly that. Maybe the time and place to reveal a secret he’s already kept for months isn’t when they’re fighting for their lives in a love hotel.

“Later.” Satanael said, his deep voice cutting through the noise in his head.

"But-" Arsene started.

"No."

And that was that. 

Akira’s mind was silent for the rest of the fight.

Even as the shadow dissolved into black nothingness in front of the four of them, the voices in his head said nothing.

His hand clenched around Arsene’s Cane. He wasn’t looking forward to sitting down and having a talk with them. Or Yukari for that matter.

But it seemed like he didn’t have a choice.

The four of them headed back to the door.

He didn’t really pay attention to anything until Fuuka spoke up.

“Huh? I still sense a shadow in that room!” She said, and everyone tensed. “It’s not the same one you defeated! But where is it hiding?”

Well, that’s great. Another shadow fight, just like last time.

Akira couldn’t help but sigh. He crushed another life stone as the others spread out to search the room to try to keep the pain in his arm to more manageable levels.

“That’s weird. This mirror… it doesn’t show my reflection. Do you think this is where…?” Yukari said, she stood in front of the giant mirror that took up most of the wall.

She reached a hand out slowly towards the surface of the mirror.

There was the sound of shattering glass.

.

It was comfortable and warm. Akira was halfway awake from a dreamless sleep. He could just roll over and go right back into blessed unconsciousness, if he wanted to.

(There was a buzzing in the back of his head that wouldn’t go away.)

Safe.

It was safe.

There were no threats. No pressures weighing on his mind.

(No. There’s always something.)

Just him and her. Curled up and sheltered from the outside world.

(Her?)

He could stay here forever.

The heaviness of sleep started to pull at him again. Back down into nothingness.

Or rather, he wished he could go back to sleep. But the buzzing noise just wouldn’t go away.

He buried his back in the pillow. The fog of sleep was starting to leave him, and wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

He opened his eyes to see if he could find the source. Then he could turn it off and go back to sleep.

All he could see was red. Not the red of blood, but a deeper maroon. Whatever was in front of him was smooth and silky and he felt the sudden urge to run his hands through it.

The color was familiar.

It was the same color as Mitsuru’s-

Akira flung himself backwards and off the bed. The stiffness of the carpeted floor pressed against his back and the tiled ceiling gave him something to focus on. Because otherwise his mind would keep going back to what the fuck he was doing in a bed with the student council president!

His heart thundered in his chest. Akira very much did not want to get up from the floor to try to face whatever the situation might be on the bed.

(He half hoped it was a shadow. Then he could just defeat it and never speak of it to anyone.)

“Finally, you are awake.” Akira could now make out Yaldabaoth’s metallic voice, “When the Fallen Angel told us to discuss your sacrificial tendencies later, I do not believe that this is what his words meant.”

“Shut up Yaldabaoth! You think I wanted this!” He grit past the embarrassment.

“I do agree.” He could feel Arsene’s amusement. “I do not believe that the floor is the best place for such a discussion.”

“I’m being bullied…”

Mephistopheles just laughed at him.

He froze when he heard movement from the other person?-thing?-on the bed.

“What?” Oh Fuck. That was Mitsuru’s voice, “Where…am I? Was someone…”

Time to bite the bullet, “I didn’t see anything!”

“Kurusu? Why are you…?” She sounded like she was still waking up.

“I-I don’t know. I woke up here and I don’t know what happened.”

Her head appeared over the side of the bed and Akira quickly turned his head to the side. The wall was suddenly so interesting.

(Igor, Yaldabaoth, whatever’s in Tartarus, anyone who’s listening. Please strike him down now.)

He’s never going to recover from this.

“C'est quoi ça!” There it is.

He could hear her move back just as quickly as he had. Akira didn’t move from where he laid next to the bed, he only shifted a bit to be a little more comfortable. Thankfully, he’s not in any state of undress.

“Ahem.” Mitsuru said, “I’m… decent now.”

Akira sat up. It sent a twinge of pain up his arm and back as he moved. “Do you know what happened?”

Her back was to him, with her red hair down her back. It looked slightly unkempt. “I don’t know. I believe it was the other shadow in the previous room. It must have ambushed us when Takeba touched the mirror.”

“That makes sense.” He pushed himself up with the help of the bed until he was standing as well. Akira noticed something was missing, “Do you still have your weapon?”

“No. I do not” Mitsuru turned back to him. There was still a pink tinge to her face, and he probably looked the same.

Akira did his best to straighten his clothes as Mitsuru walked around the bedroom.

“Our weapons were by the door. Apparently the shadow didn’t think we would be capable of breaking out of that…trance and didn’t care to hide our equipment.” She said as she walked to him.

In one hand, she held her rapier. In the other was Arsene’s cane. Something unwound inside him at the relief of seeing it. Akira didn't know what he would do if he lost Arsene’s signature weapon.

Her hand clenched around the hilts, “It thought we were taken care of.”

“Yes. But now we need to go find the others and take care of this other shadow.” He said.

She nodded and handed his blade back to him.

Mitsuru took a steady breath, and seemed to center herself. She turned to him, with no trace that anything happened on her face,“Are you ready, Kurusu?”

“I’ll follow your lead.” He said after he finished tightening the straps of his holster.

The two of them head out into the hall, weapons drawn.

“Hello? Can you two hear me?” Fuuka’s voice came as they moved.

Mitsuru answered for them, “We can hear you Yamagishi. What’s the situation?”

Akira heard Fuuka’s sigh of relief over the connection. “That’s a relief. I couldn’t contact anyone because it seemed like the shadow was interfering with your thoughts.”

“We suspected as much.” She said, “Has the shadow moved from its position?”

“No. It hasn’t. The enemy is still in the same room. So please regroup and hurry there. But I think it somehow sealed the door, so I’ll look for a way to break the seal.”

They headed in the direction of the stairs. Akira crushed a Life Stone as he followed Mitsuru, making sure not to lose sight of her crimson hair. Hopefully that would get rid of the pain in his arm.

“Hey Fuuka?” He asked once he could move his arm freely.

“Yes?”

“Do you know where Minato and Yukari are?”

“Yes. I was able to contact them right before you guys. They’re on the floor below you. You should be able to meet them by the stairs.”

Akira nodded, even though he knew that Fuuka couldn’t see him. “That’s good.”

Mitsuru held out a hand to stop him. In front of them, Akira could see a shadow. It wasn’t the boss one the team was after, but it was still in their way. 

He followed her lead in battle. It was just one enemy. After she landed a Marin Karin, he was able to take it out with a successful Mudo. It felt viciously satisfying to have a Dark spell work for the first time that night.

After the shadow dissipated into black dust, Mitsuru led them further on through the hotel. When they turned a corner into a hallway, they suddenly came face to face with Yukari and Minato. Everyone’s weapons were at the ready. One of Minato’s cheeks was reddened when it hadn’t been before.

“Are you guys alright?” Yukari asked, relaxing.

“Yeah-” Akira started.

Mitsuru’s voice cut him off. “We-we’re fine! Nothing happened!”

There was a frantic undertone that had him giving a flat look. Sounding flustered like that would only make other people more suspicious.

Yukari raised her eyebrow, “Really?”

“Yep!” Akira said easily. He pushed down any embarrassment with the practiced ease of someone who used to regularly hire a maid service, “Although… I could ask the same of you two.”

Her face turned the same shade as her sweater, “It’s the same for us. We didn't do anything. Right Minato?”

“Right.” Minato deadpanned when she turned to him.

Akira made a show of leaning forward, “Oh really? Because that blush on your face tells a different story.”

She spun around to him, “Akira!”

“What? What? I’m just asking.” He innocently said and put his one free hand up in mock defense.

“Both of you, this is no time for games. Keep your voices down, you could attract the attention of nearby shadows.” Mitsuru said, composed once again.

“You’re right. Let’s just forget that any of this ever happened.” Yukari shook her head.

Akira couldn’t help himself, “Of course. It’s not like there’s nothing really important to remember.”

She glared at him and Mitsuru rolled her eyes. 

Fuuka’s voice cut in before anyone could say something else. “I got it! It’s the mirrors! They’re giving off the same energy as the shadow! Maybe the seal will vanish if you break the mirrors…”

And with that, any lighthearted feelings were gone. It was time to get back to business. Any tension that had left when they found each other was right back in their shoulders. 

Yukari looked pensive, “I do remember something about that mirror on the third floor before that shadow got to us…”

“You said something about your reflection back in that room.” Akira added.

“Let’s check the mirrors.” Minato headed back towards the rooms, “Stay together.”

The four of them check through every room on the 2nd floor. He ignored the implications of what had been happening before the Dark Hour every time they came across two coffins together. The first three mirrors they found all showed their reflections.

In the fourth room, it was different. It was a bit disorienting to look into a mirror and not see yourself. Though he now understood Yukari’s urge to touch the glass. He was curious as to what would happen, but resisted. He didn’t want to end up back in that room with his thoughts being suppressed.

Minato turned to Yukari with his hand outstretched, “Can I borrow an arrow?”

“Uh, sure. Here you go.” She said and placed one in his hand.

Akira held back a flinch as he drove the arrow into the center of the mirror. Cracks spread out from edge to edge. It was well and truly shattered. Rippling darkness seeped out from between the pieces of glass and moved beyond the borders of the mirror.

Minato pulled the arrow out with the same amount of force. “Fuuka, did that release the seal?”

“No. There’s another mirror on the floor above you. But you did weaken the seal!”  

(Shadow’s never make things easy, do they?)

He nodded and turned to them, “Let's go.”

Akira followed him out of the room and back into the shadow infested hallway. The four of them quickly dealt with any enemies that approached. 

He passed a snuff soul to Yukari to make sure she would be able to heal during the fight against what is most likely the Lovers. She took it with a quiet “thanks” and headed up the stairs.

Akira wasn’t looking forward to the fight. If the Lovers was anything like its predecessors, then it would be some sort of twisted interpretation of the meaning behind the Arcana. The Hierophant was already disgusting to look at. So who knows what the shadow that decided to hide out in a love hotel and is named the Lovers will look like? It’ll probably make his skin crawl.

They found the second mirror in one of the smaller rooms. There were two coffins by the couch behind a glass table. Alcoholic drinks rested in front of what used to be people. Blood oozed from the tv. It was a morbid scene that wouldn’t be out of place in one of Haru’s horror movies.

He couldn’t help the uneasy feeling that settled in his stomach. Akira didn’t have a name to put to it either.

They weren’t cognitions. They were real people who were in real danger if they failed or ran out of time.

The sound of shattering glass filled the room. He turned just in time to see Minato pull an arrow out of the broken mirror.

Fuuka’s voice cut in, “The seal on the door is gone! You should be able to fight that shadow now.”

There weren’t any words of triumph. Just them moving out of the room in silence towards the luxury room.

Everyone was just tired and ready to get it over at that point.

Akira understood where everyone was coming from. It didn’t make the trip towards the Lovers any less miserable.

And to top it all off, the music was starting to give him a headache.

Minato flung open the fancy door to the suite, uncaring of the way it slammed against the wall. Considering what they've already been through, the door probably deserved it. 

The Lovers was a giant blob of flying pink jello in the shape of a heart in the middle of the room. 

Yukari pushed her way forward and raised her head definitely at the shadow, “Because of you… I had to come to this disgusting place! Now you’re gonna pay!”

(What a fucking mood.)

The thing squelched as it moved its jelly wings. He shook his head to get rid of any lingering fuzziness in his head.

Akira was gonna stab this thing so many times .

.

They were finally free of the hotel from hell. Akira had never been so relieved to see a green full moon. He could see that the others felt the same, even if Minato was better at hiding it.

He stretched and felt the pull of all the wonderful injuries he had gotten in the past hour. Accelerated healing can only do so much for the cuts, burns, and that one nasty bruise he got from when Minato fucking punched him the stomach.

Oh yeah, Minato got Marin Karin’ed and went straight for Akira because the spell worked differently in the Dark Hour than in the Metaverse. The resulting ailment isn’t called Brainwashed. No. It’s called Charmed for a reason. Their field leader had literal hearts in his eyes when he came out swinging.

Even if he did get punched to kingdom come, Akira’s glad that he wasn’t one of the unlucky ones that the shadow (rest in pieces) managed to Charm. He’d had his fill of that when the… thing with MItsuru happened.

“I’m so glad you’re all safe.” Fuuka said as she walked up to them.

Behind her, he could see Junpei and Akihiko. The remnants of shadows were visible all over Akihiko’s gloves. Looked like they were just as busy.

Mitsuru walked towards her, posture perfect as usual. But Akira could see the relief in her posture, “Thanks for your help, the enemy was sly, but you did well.”

“I did what I could.” Fuuka shyly said.

“She kept her cool even in the middle of battle.” Akihiko almost put his hand on her shoulder, but stopped before he stained her uniform. Even in the green moonlight, Akira could see Fuuka lightly flush at the praise. 

Mitsuru turned back to them,  “And you three as well, for withstanding the enemy’s mental assault. And with the enemy defeated, it's time to retire for the night.”

“Good night.” Akihiko said.

They turned and headed in the direction of the dorms.

“Oh, Yukari. About that thing you asked me about?” Fuuka said after the third-years were out of sight. 

“You found something?” Yukari said and left Akira's side to walk to her.

Fuuka nodded.

“Cool, tell me later. Are you guys ready to head back to the dorms?” Yukari asked.

Akira yawned and moved away from the cursed hotel, “Absolutely. I'm so ready to lay down and pass out.” He sounded tired, even to himself.

She rolled her eyes at him, “Yeah, until we have to go to school in a few hours.”

“Ugh, please don't remind me. But just let me know if you want coffee again in the morning.”

“Oh, definitely.” Yukari enthusiastically said.

The girls started to move away, but Akira noticed that Minato hadn’t moved. Instead, he was staring right at Junpei, who hadn’t said a word since they came outside, His broadsword shone in the moonlight.

“Junpei?” Minato asked.

Junpei didn’t look at any of them, his eyes hidden by his cap, “So, at the end of the day, you’re the hero again, huh?”

Minato flinched at his tone, “It wasn’t just me.”

Junpei looked up and Akira could finally see his eyes. They were sad and bitter. Any questions he was going to ask died on his tongue.

Junpei looked away, “Yeah, whatever. Who cares anyway…”

“Hey, what’s with that attitude? Don’t tell me you're jealous.” Yukari asked, clearly taken aback.

“Shut up!” He shouted and rushed past them without another word.

Akira couldn’t help but wince at the tone. He hadn’t expected that kind of reaction from someone so positive like Junpei. But guess that goes to show just how much he knows about everyone at S.E.E.S.

He didn’t really feel any type of jealousy towards Minato. He knew from experience how stressful it could be to take charge of things every time they entered battle. How every time an ally fell in battle, it would weigh on you and that it felt like a personal failure.

But he also understood where Junpei was coming from.

“Human.” Yaldabaoth started,the first words the god had said in a while. “Not all problems are yours to solve. It would be foolish to not deal with your own issues first.”

Akira fisted his hand in the ruined sleeve of his shirt, but didn’t respond. The thought didn’t sit right with him, but he knew Yaldabaoth was right.

(The irony was not lost on him.)

Yukari scoffed, “What’s up his butt?”

Akira waited until the girls walked away before he turned to Minato. He was staring straight ahead, where Junpei had stormed off. There was a furrow between his brows.

“Are you okay?”

Minato turned to him, his eyes were flat. Though he didn’t know if it was from Junpei’s words of just exhaustion. “I’m fine.”

He didn’t say anything before he left too. Akira was just left in front of the hotel with the vague feeling of being watched. Though, when do shadows not give you that feeling.

He made sure to avoid any blood puddles as he hurried to catch up to the rest of the group.

Chapter Text

It had been a few days, and Akira hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Junpei after the full moon. It had suddenly become a habit for Junpei to be the last one of their group to come to class and the first one to head back to the dorms. It was so unlike him, that Akira couldn’t attribute it all to stress about final exams this week. 

They were going to have a meeting this evening anyway about what happened on the 7th. So maybe he’ll be able to check in on Junpei and make sure that he’s okay.

In the past few days, he might as well have been just as busy as the others. The process for becoming an officer for the cooking club took up quite a bit of time. The president and vice president wanted to make sure that all the paperwork went through before summer vacation.

On the monorail back to the dorms, Arsene and Yaldabaoth kept silent. It made sense. It's not like Akira was very chatty either. None of them were excited to start another conversation that might leave him a numb mess on the floor for hours afterwards.

They wouldn’t have a chance to do that today or tonight.

Akira stretched his arms and back when he got off at his stop. The dorms were only a short walk away, so he took his time. The day had cooled off enough that his uniform shirt didn’t stick to his skin like it did earlier.

The cool air of the dorms felt nice when he walked in. The only person Akira could see was Mitsuru. Things between them were still… awkward after what happened with the shadow that shall not be named. She seemed busy with something on the table she was sitting at.

He didn’t want to disturb her, so he waved.

She gave a nod of acknowledgement and went back to reading the papers in front of her.

Thank goodness. She didn’t hold anything against him.

There was still a bit of time before the meeting. Akira had few things he could do, but none of them jumped out at him. Studying by himself sounded exhausting, especially when he was confident enough with the material to get in the top 10 again. If he started cooking dinner, might take too long to finish. 

Being late wasn’t an option when Akira needed all the information he could get. Ikutsuki was the one who called them together. As much as the chairman rubbed him the wrong way, he was useful when it came to things like this.

At least weapon maintenance was productive and almost meditative. The metal knives he has, not the prop ones from Untouchable, needed to be cleaned and oiled any time he used them.

Akira got to his room and pulled out the rags and oil. The floor near the bed looked very inviting. He wasn’t sure if he was going to be using Arsene’s Cane again in the future. The blade still needed to be cared for. He would need to use stronger equipment to make sure that he wouldn’t come as close as he did to drawing on Arsene’s power.

He doesn’t want to get that close again, and doesn’t want to know what would come after.

Mephistopheles nudged against his mind at the drop in his mood. Akira did the mental equivalent of a quick hug before he turned back to the blade in his lap.

He would need to choose a new blade soon with a new area of Tartarus open. Either that, or Minato might hand him another weird weapon out of the blue. The Great Thief Stick was a possibility, and so was the Machete if he really wanted to beef up his physical attacks.

(He still wasn’t sure how to care for that bone knife Minato gave him once.)

(It just sat in the corner. Menacingly.)

It didn’t take much time to finish with Arsene’s Cane. There was still a significant amount of time before the meeting, so he moved onto the next one. And when he noticed that the oil was running low, he pulled out one of the model guns to keep his hands busy.

There wasn’t much he could do without a kit. Akira did have one, he just didn’t want to get from where he was on the floor. So he just checked to see if the ones close enough to reach had any visible damage. And that the ones that made sound or moved could still make sound or move.

He didn’t notice someone approaching his room until someone said, “Akira, is that a gun?”

His head shot up to see Yukari standing in front of his open door. From his wonderful floor angle, Akira could take a really good look at her. There were visible bags under her eyes. Any makeup that hid them had probably worn away over the day. Her shoulders were tense too. Though he didn’t know if it was from the fake gun he had in his hands or whatever she and Fuuka had been talking about recently.

“Ah… no, it’s not. It’s just a model.” Akira held it up and pulled the trigger a few times. It didn’t do anything but click, “See?”

She relaxed a bit, “Oh, okay. I guess I didn’t expect that.”

He shrugged. It wasn’t the most common hobby and Iwai always prided himself on the quality of his products.

“That makes sense. I haven’t really said anything about it, but I collect model guns. I brought my collection with me when I moved here.” Akira said as he turned back to one he was working on.

Yukari didn’t say anything. But she didn’t leave either. 

“Maintenance is important, even if they aren’t exactly real.”

It was a simple process to put everything back together until it clicked into place.

She was still in his doorway, but she wasn’t looking at him. Akira wasn’t sure if she was looking at anything.

He set aside the model gun and turned to face her.“Everything okay?”

“I’m fine.” She bit out. 

She didn’t sound fine. 

“Are you sure? You seem kinda tense-”

“I’m fine!”

The dorms almost seemed to echo with the way she yelled. Akira was frozen in place. No one moved. He didn’t say anything else, so that he wouldn’t make it worse.

Did he say something wrong?

The tense silence stretched on.

Her face pinched and she looked away from him. “Sorry. I just…”

“I’ll see you upstairs.” Yukari finished and turned away quickly. Her footsteps faded as she walked down the hallway.

Akira stared for a moment at the empty doorway. He didn’t know how to react to what just happened. Something must have been wrong for her to snap like that. She had been on edge ever since she and Fuuka had spoken in private.

He wasn’t really mad at her.

Just kind of… hurt.

Mephistopheles made a mournful sound and increased his presence as much as he could. If he closed his eyes, he could almost believe it was a hug.

Akira gave his thanks and turned back to his collection. Now there was even more he wanted to get his mind off of. He picked up the next model.

.

Akira sat in the corner of the couch so that he could leave as much room as possible. If any more people joined S.E.E.S., people would have to start standing up in meetings.

Mitsuru hadn’t sat down yet. She was over by the communications machine, speaking to the chairman in low voices. The only other people in the meeting room so far were Akihiko and Junpei. Akihiko was checking over his gloves, and Junpei seemed more interested in the school workbook he brought up with him than in talking with anyone.

Sitting in silence has never been one of Akira’s favorite pastimes. The lack of noise grated at his nerves and prolonged exposure made him jumpy. The only noise in the room was the muffled sounds of Ikutsuki and Mitsuru’s conversation.

He missed his smartphone.

A mindless mobile game would be better than biting his tongue in an effort to avoid saying anything. Akihiko was busy and Junpei… well Junpei was more high-strung than Yukari was. Something had happened on that last mission, and whatever it is, it’s still bothering him.

There was some noise from the stairs. Akira could vaguely make out Yukari and Fuuka’s voices.

When they reached the top, they stopped. The strained silence in the room grew more tense.

Everyone was just kind of caught in a sudden five-way staredown until Junpei sighed and looked away.

Akira wasn’t in a position where he could help fix things yet. He almost wished he could call them all friends, but he wasn’t close enough with any of them to help.

The only person they were waiting for now was Minato.

He walked in just as Mitsuru and the chairman headed back over to where everyone else was sitting.

“-So that’s what happened the night of the 7th. It was a difficult operation.” She finished as she sat down at the other end of the couch.

Ikutsuki took the plush chair at the end, like he always did. “I see. So they’re getting tougher, but it’s not all bad news. I called today’s meeting because-”

“I’m sorry,” Yukari interrupted. 

There was a determined glint that made Akira want to groan. He hated watching arguments. And he hated watching arguments that he couldn’t do anything about.

He didn’t have the energy for this right now.

“Before we go on,” She continued, with more bite in her voice. “I’d like to ask Mitsuru-senpai something.”

Mitsuru looked surprised, “Me…?” Guess she didn’t expect to be the target of Yukari’s recent frustrations.

“Since I’ve joined so many things have happened.” Yukari took a steadying breath. “I went along with it, we all did, without really understanding what was going on. I’m going to ask you straight out…”

Everyone else was looking away, though all for different reasons. All but Akira and the chairman. Akira watched in case he needed to do something. The chance of that was small, but he wanted to avoid… what happened with Morgana. But the chairman just watched with rapt attention, almost as if this was entertaining.

Though that could also be Akira’s impression of the man that clouded what he saw.

“You’ve been hiding something from us, haven’t you, Senpai ? You act like you don’t know anything about the Dark Hour and Tartarus, but they’re related to that accident from ten years ago, aren’t they?” Yukari continued.

“Accident?” Junpei muttered to himself.

Akira didn’t know what accident she was referring to either. He wasn’t even born ten years ago.

“We may receive some answers tonight” , Yaldabaoth said, far more curious than he was.

“There was an explosion near our school, and a lot of people died. It must have been big news back then. You know about it, don’t you?”

Mitsuru looked down at her hands, “Yes. I lived here at that time.”

Her answer only made Yukari look more determined, “Luckily no students were injured. But around the same time, a large number of students were recorded as absent. Seems like more than just a coincidence.”

Mitsuru looked up to meet her eyes, “What do you mean?”

“I dug up some school records,” Fuuka seemed to shrink when Yukari said that. “And found something interesting. All of the students who were absent, they all collapsed suddenly and had to be hospitalized. Doesn’t that sound familiar? You know, like the girls who bullied Fuuka.”

Mitsuru didn’t respond. 

Yukari’s voice rose, “There has to be an explanation! What really happened on the day of that accident? The Kirijo Group built our school, so you must know something! Tell me the truth!”

“I wasn’t trying to hide anything from you, from any of you. It just… never seemed relevant.” Mitsuru said, her voice still lacking that steel in her voice that the student council president always had.

And it sunk in further. The fact that they’re all still in highschool. Except Ikutsuki, but he didn’t fight so he didn’t count. Mitsuru seemed larger than life, ready to take the world head on. To take down anything that stood in the way of her goals. The steadfast heir to the Kirijo Group. Now she just looked as small as Akira felt.

Fuck. He didn’t want to be here. He wanted to sleep for a week.

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault.” The chairman said placatingly. Akira didn’t know it was the exhaustion that made his smile more annoying than usual.

“Alright. I'll tell you the whole story.” Mitsuru took a deep breath. “The Shadows have many mysterious abilities. Some research indicates that they can even affect time and space. We think of them as our enemies, but what if we could somehow use them to our advantage? They would be a source of unimaginable power, wouldn't they?”

Yukari let out a soft “What…?”, but Akira was far more focused on what Mitsuru was saying.

“Fourteen years ago, one man pursued that line of thinking,” Mitsuru began, “He was the former leader of the Kirijo Group, Kouetsu Kirijo... My grandfather. He was obsessed with Shadows and the power they held. He wanted to harness it and create something extraordinary.”

A pit opened in his stomach. Because didn’t this all sound familiar. Someone with power and money, who got a hint about something supernatural that normal people didn’t know about. And he guessed that the research into it led to the creation of a separate layer of reality or something and teenagers getting Personas. And kids having to clean up after rotten adults.

(At least the Metaverse wasn’t created through an explosion.)

His head hurt. He was way too tired for this.

Fuuka spoke up for the first time that night, “He wanted to use their power?”

“How’d he manage to do that?!” Junpei asked, shocked.

“He assembled a team of highly skilled scientists and over several years collected a number of shadows.” Mitsuru said.

Okay so maybe his guess was a little off. Akira didn’t know how shadows existing before the Dark Hour fit in with his current knowledge of things. 

“However,” She took a breath like she was bracing herself. “Ten years ago, they lost control of the shadows' power during the last stages of the experiment. Consequently, the very nature of the world was altered.”

Yukari’s eyes never left Mitsuru. Her brows were pinched with some kind of emotion Akira couldn’t identify immediately. She barely twitched when Fuuka gasped from her spot next to her.

“Does that mean…?”

Mitsuru nodded, “Yes. The creation of Tartarus and the Dark Hour can be traced back to that day ten years ago. By the account of the people involved, the mass of shadows they had collected split into several large ones that then dispersed. These are the shadows we’ve been encountering on nights when the moon is full.”

“Interesting.” Yaldabaoth said. “Quite interesting…”

Arsene scoffed, echoing Akira’s reaction. “Do you care to share? Or will you hide for later until you have deemed it relevant.”

“I do not care to share what is only a vague theory without further evidence.”  

“Well maybe you should be more forthcoming, False God.” Arsene bit out the last words.

“Maybe you should show some restraint, bird.” Yaldabaoth shot back.

Akira tuned out the rest of their conversation when it devolved into another argument. He knew all of them were stressed out after what happened. But that wasn’t a reason for him to give himself a bigger headache listening to them.

“-as you guessed.” Mitsuru said, Akira wanted to curse at himself for missing a part of the conversation. “The experiment from ten years ago was conducted at Gekkoukan High School.”

So that’s why Tartarus grew out of a highschool and why Yaldy had called it a nest. Isn’t that lovely .

Yukari stood up, hands shaking at her side. “Does that mean that all we've been doing is cleaning up their mess?! You lied to us?”

Mitsuru did not answer.

Akira wanted to say something to diffuse the situation. They needed as much information as they could and yelling about it wouldn’t help.

But his mouth was faster than his brain, and what came out instead was, “Does that really change anything though?”

Yukari turned to him slowly, eyes akin to that of a predator. In fact, everyone’s eyes were on him, except for Minato. He was looking down at his hands and had an expression that screamed that he wanted to be anywhere else. You could hear a pin drop.

“What?” Yukari said, her voice barely restrained. 

“I mean…” And now he had to explain what he meant, and quickly. “People are still in danger of getting Apathy Syndrome. And those powerful shadows are probably going to keep showing up during the full moon.”

“Oh, you’re siding with her? You’re going to ignore the fact that she hid everything from us?” She gestured to where Mitsuru sat.

Mephistopheles growled in response, hackles rising. But Akira tuned it out just as quickly.

“No. What?” That wasn’t at all what he meant. He needed to get his thoughts together, or he might just make this worse. “There are no ‘sides’ here. The accident from ten years ago was horrible and I get that. I’m just asking if that really changes anything about what we have to do.”

“Of course it does! We’ve been risking our lives during the Dark Hour just to fix her family’s mistakes.” She said, her voice on the verge of cracking.

Mitsuru flinched at the words, but didn’t dispute them. Yukari turned to Akihiko and must have seen something in his face because she continued, “You knew too, didn't you, Senpai!? That they’ve just been using us? Or do you not care about that as long as you get to fight?”

Akihiko spoke up for the first time that night, “That’s not true. I have my reasons…”

“But people are still being attacked by shadows!” Akira stood up from his position on the couch. “And we can’t change the past! The accident already happened! Just because we know what caused it doesn’t change the fact that we can stop people from getting hurt.”

“So you’re okay with being manipulated into fighting for someone else?” Yukari’s voice cracked and her eyes shined with unshed tears as she stared straight at him. “Because if not for her family, I could have had a normal life!”

“Both of you, that’s enough!” Mitsuru shouted.

From where Akira stood, he could see the way her fingers dug into the armrest. She looked just as Yukari did. A hot flood of shame filled him as he dropped back down onto the couch. He hadn’t meant to cause the argument to get so heated. 

It’s not like it helped in any way. All he wanted to do was go back to his room and hide under the bed with just the ladder to keep him company. He didn’t want to know if anyone was staring at him.

The chairman cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “With what you guys have learned tonight, I guess it’s no surprise that tension would run high. But I did have some good news to share with everyone today. With everything we’ve learned today, why not take a moment to think about it? Do you realize what it means?”

No one said anything. Akira quickly put down a rise of indignation at Ikutsuki’s tone. He should be thankful that the adult in the room was willing to break the rising tension. Especially before he or Yukari said anything they might regret.

Ikutsuki continued, “What if I told you all that those twelve shadows that escaped were the cause of everything?”

That kind of made sense. If Tartarus appeared at the school because that’s where the experiments were taking place. Then it wasn’t too much of a stretch to say that the time distortion abilities (that shadows apparently have! It’s gonna take a while before Akira can completely wrap his head around the sheer impact of that.) of twelve big shadows scattered around the island would create the Dark Hour.

Though it doesn’t explain why the Dark Hour wasn’t created before the accident. Unless the Kirijo group had some kind of technology to suppress their power. Considering the evokers, Mitsuru’s bike, and a bunch of other tech they have working despite the shadow’s power. It all made sense. It also made his head hurt.

Akihiko was the first to speak, though Akira didn’t look up from his lap, “Does that mean that if we defeat them all, then the Dark Hour and Tartarus will disappear?”

“Exactly! That’s what I was going to say earlier. There’s evidence to support it.”

The chairman said a few more things about finding out the truth behind tartarus and how it’s up to them to protect people from the strengthening shadows. But Akira tunes it out once he realized that there wasn’t going to be any new information for the night. 

He still needed to visit Tartarus by himself. Needed to hear what Yaldabaoth thought about the tower now that the Hierophant and Lovers had been defeated. 6 out of 12 shadows taken care of has to have changed something.

Fuuka’s the first one out of the room. The others follow suit. Nobody really talked as they meandered down to their rooms. There was still this lingering tension that could easily spark into another argument.

So it’s just better to not say anything.

Yukari doesn’t even look at him as she leaves.

.

In the morning, Akira found himself alone in the kitchen, nursing a cup of coffee. He didn’t really have the energy to cook right now. There wasn’t any reason for him to be up right now, but habits are hard to break for a reason. Maybe he’ll catch a nap later or something.

He’d have to try for Tartarus tonight. Minato wasn’t planning on going so the tower would be empty. And he couldn’t do it tomorrow or risk being exhausted for finals the next day. 

But as much as Akira wanted to sleep in, his body had decided that he needed to be awake for a few hours at least. And coffee could definitely help with that.

He looked up when he heard someone coming down the stairs. Junpei turned the corner, looking just as well rested as Akira felt. Which wasn’t saying much. He had only fallen asleep after the Dark Hour had passed.

Nothing came to mind on how to start a conversation after… everything that’s happened recently. He sipped at his coffee as Junpei meandered in the kitchen.

“Good morning. You got any more of that stuff?”

Akira took a moment before he responded, “Yeah. There’s more in the pot.”

Junpei muttered a quiet “Thanks” as he walked behind. Neither of them said anything. Akira focused on his own mug instead of Junpei behind him. 

Junpei all but collapsed in a chair opposite him. He stared at the steam rising from his cup then started, “So about last night…”

Something must show on his face because Junpei immediately followed up with, “No, it’s not about what happened. I just don’t really know how to ask this but… Do you think I’m a good fighter?”

That wasn’t at all what Akira expected. “Yes? I didn’t realize that was ever a question. Where’d that even come from?”

Junpei was a beast with his swords. Akira knew just how much upper body strength was needed to swing a claymore around. Hermes wasn’t a slouch either. A combination of fire and physical spells made his Persona a danger that shadows couldn’t afford to ignore.

“Cause that feels like all I’m good for.” 

“Junpei-”

“And it sucks cause you and Akihiko-senpai are better than me at the one thing I’m good at. And Minato’s better than all of us, what with his Personas and all.” Junpei continued, staring into his mug.

“You’re an important part of the team.” Akira said. But he immediately knew that wasn’t the right thing to say when Junpei’s face dropped even further.

Junpei scoffed, “Yeah, right. You’re probably the only one who thinks that. Cause I mean, he still took you into that last full moon fight and you were pretty useless there. So what does that say about me?” 

Useless?

…It wasn’t like he was wrong. But that wasn’t what Akira needed to focus on.

“You don’t have to answer that. I’ve got some things I need to think about… and work though. Thanks for letting me rant a bit. Guess I’ll see you tomorrow or something.” Junpei stood up, his chair scraping across the floor. “See ya later.”

“Have a good day, Junpei.”

Akira watched him finish his cup of coffee and head out the door. Then dropped his head on the table. This was too much for him to deal with so early in the morning.

Why couldn’t things ever be easy for him?

Chapter Text

Akira dropped down from his window onto the ground as softly as he could. He’d had to ditch the hoodie for a plain snapback due to the muggy summer air. The mask he wore wasn’t as comfortable as before, but he refused to take that off. Even the Dark Hour wasn’t safe from being some variant of hot and humid.

A sticky feeling settled over his skin as he made his way to Tartarus. There were a few shadows wandering the streets, but they were outnumbered by the amount of coffins he passed. It was people who most likely wanted to avoid the hottest hours of the day and enjoy the cool night air.

He paused at a corner to let a sole shadow pass by. Akira could take it out swiftly, but he didn’t want to risk getting any goop on his jeans on a non-mission night.

“You must hurry.” Yaldabaoth said as they gave him a mental push.

Akira waved them off and got moving again, “Yeah, yeah. We’re on a time limit. I know.”

Tartarus was more imposing when you were alone. Akira kept his steps quiet as he walked up the front stairs. The doors groaned when he pushed and walked in. Every sound echoes off the walls and down into the darkness surrounding the platform. The gold staircase in the middle cut through the first floor. The shining surface did nothing to distract from the empty void at the edge.

Akira shivered despite the warm summer air.

“So, Yaldy… is this good enough for you to do your scans or whatever it is you need?” Akira said out loud to try to break the weighty silence. His voice echoed back at him.

“While I despise such a diminutive name, this will do.” They said “For now.”

“For now?”

There was a contemplative silence that none of his Personas interrupted.

“I do not yet know how much information this floor will yield. Further investigation is likely to be required.” Akira could feel Yaldabaoth’s presence begin to filter through to the physical world.

There was a soft ring behind him.

“Your continued presence on this floor, however, is not.”

Almost exactly half the distance from the doors to the bottom of the stairs, was a bell. Floating at eye level, it gave another quiet ring . Akira recognized it, of course. He hadn’t seen it since his first solo excursion. Then Yaldabaoth’s words registered.

He squashed down his first reaction. To snap back with something spiteful. But the Grail was doing their best to play nice, so Akira would do the same. “Do you need privacy for this to work?”

He both felt and heard Yaldabaoth sigh. “No such thing is needed.”

Well that didn’t really answer the question of why. Yaldabaoth seemed to recognize this too and continued, “This tower strengthens me. Each moment I spend here, the well of power on which I draw upon grows. I can manifest without difficulty, even at a respectable distance from you.”