Work Text
9/ 5 Sa
Dark Hour
Full
We had just defeated the Shadow that was plaguing the night club. Of course, I wasn’t exactly in that fight considering Minato figured it used electricity. He’s incredibly resourceful in picking his teams. As we walk back to the dorm before the Dark Hour ends, I can’t help but wonder about all this. The Shadows, Strega, and apparently why Junpei didn’t show up tonight. We arrived at the dorm only to find out that one of the members of Strega captured Junpei!? After Junpei managed to free himself and tackle her, I grabbed the Evoker before she had a chance to make a grab for it. “Sorry, but we can’t let you use this.” “Medea!!” Everyone starts talking about this girl, Chidori I think Junpei called her? About how Fuuka couldn’t sense her, how she’s a Persona-user, how she’s part of Strega. After the whole fiasco ended, Mitsuru asked me to accompany her the next day to ‘talk’ with her. Of course, who in their right mind would say ‘no’ to Mitsuru Kirijo?
9/ 6 Su
DaytimeNext: 28
Mitsuru and I were trying to get a response out of this girl, but she wasn’t yielding. Of course, things don’t always go to plan when Junpei busts into the room demanding to see her. And of course, Mitsuru does the one thing I told her not to do: mention Chidori’s Evoker. All that did was upset her and once again, we are back to square one. “…Yukari, call a nurse. We’re done for today. I’ll inform Ikutsuki-san of the difficulties we’re having.” The trip back to the dorm was again, less than exciting. Mitsuru was frustrated with the lack of results, as was I. I knew we would be going back that night. Though right now, we both needed to calm our nerves. We were still high-stung from the Shadow last night and everything that happened afterwards. We got back to the dorm and the only ones there were Shinji and Koromaru. It looked like everyone else found something to do for the day. “Akihiko, I’m going to my room to relax for a few hours. After, I would like to go back to the hospital to try talking to her again. Is that acceptable for you?” “That’s fine Mitsuru, I’m just going to hang out here for a bit or train some more. Just come find me when you are ready to go back.” With that said, Mitsuru nodded and proceeded to walk up the stairs after saying hi to Shinji. Since he was here, might as well talk to him too. He was sitting at the table eating some ramen. It looked good but I didn’t really feel like eating at the moment. I sat in a chair across from him since I know how Shinji likes his space. I didn’t really look at him or try to talk to him like I originally planned. I was thinking about all the things that had happened recently. All of these new Persona users, including Strega, last night’s Full Moon Operation, the Shadows; everything. I guess Shinji didn’t like the faraway look that must have been in my eyes, because he reached over the table and smacked me. “What the hell, Shinji?!” “Stop that Aki, thinking isn’t your thing. You’ll end up hurting yourself. Stick to what you’re good at: being a thickheaded idiot who charges headfirst into everything.” Shinji got up after that and took his bowl to be washed to the kitchen. Shinji never did like it when I got lost in thought. He would always tell me I don’t think about anything, but if I got lost in my thoughts he got worried. I guess that’s just his way of caring. I got up with the intention to go to my room and train a little. Once I got there however, I just laid down on my bed and started thinking again. I must’ve been thinking for some time because the next thing I knew, Mitsuru was knocking on my door asking me if I was ready to go. I shook the thoughts away and opened the door for her. She must’ve seen something in my expression because hers instantly changed. “Is everything alright, Akihiko?” “I’m fine, Mitsuru. Just a little tired I guess.” “Well, if you’re sure you are feeling alright shall we go?” “Yeah, just give me a minute and I’ll be right down.” Mitsuru nodded and walked away. I closed my door and composed myself. Getting myself together, I walked downstairs where Mitsuru was waiting for me. Once I was there, we began our trip back to the hospital. Needless to say, it was going to be a long night.
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9/ 10 Th
After School
Next: 24
The past few days had been more of the same. Junpei managed to get her to talk but it wasn’t anything useful. Ever since, he’s been coming to see her every day. Today was no exception. He walked in looking happier than he had the first day he came to see her. “Yo, Chidorita!” “…Don’t call me that.” “C’mon, cheer up… I brought you a new sketchbook. I thought your old one might be getting full.” “That wasn’t necessary, Junpei.” “Heheh, you said my name… I was worried I’d never hear that again.” Man, he has really fallen hard for her. I was just watching them talk for a minute when… Shinji comes in? What’s he doing here? “…Any luck?” “She finally started talking. But, nothing useful yet.” “Well, that’s a start.” I turned to face Shinji directly. “So…Why are YOU here?” Of course, I don’t exactly get an answer before Chidori lets out a cry. “Ugh…!!” “Chidori!? Wh-What’s wrong!?” “Ugh…Agh…” That’s when we all see it: a Persona! It was only for a split second but we could all see that it was a Persona and it was strangling Chidori. Shinji was the quickest to react, running over to her and giving her a pill of some sort. After that, things seemed to calm down a bit. Junpei was still a little freaked out but it seemed we were going to get some kind of answers. “Relax…It happens. They’re not like us. They can’t fully control their Personas. That’s why they need to take suppressants…to keep their Personas from killing them…” “Suppressants? …You know about Strega?” “You’d be surprised what you can learn on the streets. I’ll give the doc the right pills. …The rest is up to you.” “Shinji, wait! Hey!!” There was no way I was letting him get away from me that easily. Something about this whole thing didn’t sit right with me. I knew what those pills were and I needed to know… ‘What you can learn on the streets’ he said. He’s been on the streets for two years! Does that mean…? I need to know. I have to catch up to him. Luckily, he didn’t get too far before I finally caught up to him. I know he heard me calling him the whole time but he was ignoring me. I certainly wasn’t going to let that happen. Finally, I got him to stop walking away. “Hey, wait! Shinji!! What the hell’s going on…? Why did you have those pills!?” I waited for a response and all I got was Shinji turning his head toward the ground. He really didn’t want to talk about this and I didn’t care. “I’ve heard about those… …They’re taken to suppress a Persona when the user can’t control it. But, the side-effects…” He turned to face me, and he was glaring hard. “You’re not taking them, are you?” “......” “Answer me!” “I don’t owe you anything.” Stupid, stubborn, pain in the ass!! That’s what he is! At this point, I’m glaring right back at him. “Tch. The same as always…” “Save it. I’ve heard it all before. You think I’m wasting my power… but you’re just too thickheaded. I’m tired of your damn preaching.” My fists tightened to the point I’m sure I would’ve drawn blood if I hadn’t been wearing gloves. I was mad, madder than I’d been in a while. Shinji was pushing it and it looks like I pushed back. I didn’t even think of what I was doing. I was just going through the motions. Next thing I know, I punched Shinji across the face. He deserved it for all the shit he was talking. I saw this whole body move with the punch, I saw every person that was nearby walk away from a potential fight. But I didn’t care about any of that, I just wanted to know what the hell was going on with Shinji. “Don’t you get it? You know the reason… 10 years ago. My sister. The fire. I wasn’t strong enough to save her. They held me back, while she…” Shinji finally looked at me, without the glare. But I was nearing my breaking point. I needed to get this across now or it would never happen again. “……” I looked back at Shinji, really trying to get my point across and hoping for an answer. “That’s why I try to so hard… We promised, remember? To become strong enough to do what we think is right… So, why the drugs? Why didn’t you come talk to me…?” Why are you still pushing me away? Why don’t you trust me anymore? I wanted to add all that but I couldn’t. “I’m back in the fight now… So let it go.” I looked away. I couldn’t keep eye contact when I’d already hit rock bottom. I sighed, because Shinji really doesn’t want to give me a straight answer. “…… …And the side-effects?” He turned away from me too. I guess we both aren’t exactly in the right state of mind at this point. “…… There’s something I need to take care of. It’s something only I can do.” Now he had me a little curious, and slightly worried. “…Like what?” He turned his head to talk to me over his shoulder. I guess eye contact was out of the question now. “Listen, don’t worry about me. Just do what you think is right.” And with just that, he walked away. I don’t really know why, but at that moment, I felt I had just lost something truly important to me. It wasn’t like the feeling when Shinji left 2 years ago. This was entirely different. Needless to say, the trip back to the dorm wasn’t long enough. I had too much on my mind and very little time to think about any of it. Before I knew it, I was back at the dorm and Minato was asking me about the hospital. I told him we probably wouldn’t be going back anytime soon, since Chidori hates us. Well, most of us anyway. Then I’m being informed that we’re going to Tartarus. Not exactly something I wanted to do tonight.
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9/ 10 Th
Dark Hour
Next: 24
We all entered Tartarus, this huge tower that never seems to end. Is our journey ever going to come to an end, or is something going to happen? I don’t know if it was just my nerves from earlier in the day or not, but the moment the Dark Hour hit, I had a very bad feeling about tonight. We all waited for Minato to pick his team. I really didn’t want to go tonight, but Fate must hate me today because not only do I have to go, Shinji and Mitsuru are going as well. “Okay, I have an ice user, an electricity user, and a physical damage dealer. I’ll handle fire and wind. Mitsuru-senpai, you and I are going to be the main healers tonight, okay?” “Understood.” “Alright, let’s go. We have a whole new area to explore today.” We ventured into Tartarus, to the last floor we fought a guardian (or ‘boss shadow’ as Minato likes to call them) on. We started up, since Minato didn’t want to engage in any fights until we were on the next floors. How he always knew when we had new floors to discover, I had no idea. Once we made it to the barricade, we watched it fall, allowing us entrance to the floors beyond. Once we ascended the stairs, we all heard Fuuka try to analyze the next floors for the next enemies.
”I’m sensing something but it’s not like the other enemies you’ve faced so far. The distance from you all to the enemy is still too far, can you please go up a floor or two?”
So we continued on by Minato’s orders. My feeling of dread came back full force with what Fuuka said about the enemy being different. After we had climbed 3 more floors, taking out some enemies along the way, Fuuka came back with some news.
“!! Everyone, be careful! The enemy I was talking about is on this floor!”
Of course, the shock of those words put us on guard in an instant. The only thing that disturbed me more than that, was that this was just another normal floor. It was nothing like the boss floors we’ve encountered already. Suddenly, I felt a chill go down my spine and I spun around on spot. There, staring at us, (or what could be called ‘staring’) was a Shadow. While at first it didn’t seem any different than all the other Shadows, this one was staring right at me. I must have gained Minato’s attention when I spun around so suddenly, and he told us all to retreat. He must’ve felt the difference in it as well. As soon as the words left his mouth however, the Shadow was upon us. We no longer had a choice but to fight. Since we were in the process of running when it attacked, it had the advantage and it knew that. The skill it launched wasn’t anything any of us had seen before.
Um…That skill is one I’ve never seen before! I have a bad feeling about this. Everyone please, be very cautious. This Shadow isn’t like any you’ve encountered before.”
I wanted to say that she had already said that about 3 times already, but I needed to focus. Whatever that skill was, I doubt it would end well for us. Minato was already making a plan, having Fuuka analyze the target, and giving it a strong wind attack. Though that attack proved useless since the Shadow dodged it. The way it dodged the attack though, gave me chills. Its movements were erratic like it didn’t give a care in the world. What really scared me though, was when it looked straight at me again. Normally, I don’t bother to remember a Shadows appearance, but this one, it looked like something out of a horror movie. It resembled a combination of multiple Shadows that we had already encountered yet none of them. It had the sword of the Dancers, the armor of the Musha, the symbols of the Snakes, the eyes of the Seekers, a lantern from either a Raven or a Phantom, what looked like chains and the overall appearance of a Maya. I tried to snap out of my shock, only to see the monstrosity charging an attack right at me! I could vaguely hear my teammates yelling my name, but I was more concerned about the sword sticking out of my shoulder. That felt a lot…like…Primal Force…you bastard… I felt dizzy and I could barely see. I wonder how much damage that one attack did to me. The Shadow was still there, right in front of me, and I could still barely move or see. Something must’ve happened where I couldn’t see, because I heard a lot of shouting, including Fuuka’s. I felt the attack before I heard it, one of my teammates was trying to get the Shadow away from me. The only reason I knew the attack didn’t work, was because I felt the sharp pain of the sword go deeper into my shoulder. I’m not sure if I cried out or not. Not much was making sense to my slow brain right now. Then I felt the sensation of being lifted, or more like, I was being thrown into the air. I don’t know how or why, but I heard what Fuuka was saying about the Shadow.” It’s going after Akihiko-senpai because its only weakness is electricity!” Oh, so that’s why it targeted me. I wonder how it knew I used electricity. Why did it know? Shadows shouldn’t have the ability to see that stuff… I opened my eyes, (when did I close them) and saw the thing that might be my death tonight. I’d never seen this attack before, but I knew it was an attack of my weakness. Ice. I heard the attack hit before I felt it this time, but when I did feel it, it was excruciating. It had to be the most powerful ice attack that I’ve ever seen, or felt. I could already feel my consciousness fading, but I kept my eyes open on the Shadow. I don’t know if I could take my eyes off it if I tried. Now, my only weakness may be ice, but after being frozen solid, having to be thawed by an attack of the same magnitude as the first is even worse. I know I screamed this time. I could feel every part of my body go from frozen to fire all in a second. I could feel every burn, whether it was a freezer burn or a third degree burn. I finally felt my eyes close no matter how much I tried to keep them open. “AKIHIKO!” “AKIHIKO-SENPAI!”
“AKIHIKO-SENPAI!”
“AKI!!” I could hear all the screams and yells of my teammates, and I wondered if it was just because of the attack or because they saw me close my eyes. Then it hit me. Or I guess, I hit it. The wall, I mean. I felt my head and back slam right into one of the many walls of Tartarus, and as my consciousness finally faded into nothing, I slid down onto the ground in nothing but a lifeless heap of steaming flesh. “AKI-“ …Then nothing.