Warning: Offensive language, sensitive issues, and suicide. Reader Discretion is advised.

October 5th Wanning Gibbous Rank Reverse

The grip on her Evoker tightens at the sight of me. Her enemy or her lover, it was clear I couldn't be both. There is dirt on her from her fight with the Shadows, and blood from the man she watched die. I can imagine how she looked in that moment, with her face pressed to his chest. Was she crying, screaming, or some combination of the two? She swings the Evoker to my forehead the moment I'm within range.

"Why…?"

I don't answer her. What she asks doesn't warrant any answer. Why did I let him die? Why did Takaya want to kill him? Or why did I come? Perhaps she understands because she changes her question.

"Was there any real reason to kill him?"

"Of course. He's the enemy. Just like you and the rest of your friends. We're going to kill all of them Mina. Aragaki was just the beginning. The kid was supposed to die with him, but we'll take what we can get."

"Will you kill me too?" She says the words slowly, so her voice doesn't shake. There are tears rolling down her face and I desperately want to hold her, but I know I can't. I've already come too far. She can't ever come back to me. She'll fall in love again. Maybe with Sanada. Maybe with that weird blond who lives in an alley. It doesn't matter as long as it isn't me.

"You know I've already tried to kill you once. I probably will again soon." I say the words with a grin that feels unfamiliar, like my mouth is moving on its own. I couldn't kill her. I came to this meeting unarmed: My Evoker was sitting in my suitcase at home.

"... Haven't you done enough? Does the Dark Hour really mean that much to you?"

I shrug, holding her gaze with as much nonchalance as I can fake. "None of it really matters to me. You know that. This is all for Takaya. Me and him are going to die soon, together. The only one who could have save us from that fate was Chidori, and SEEs has got her locked up."

"If I free her, will you stop? Will the three of you go live your lives in peace and let us do our job?"

I sigh, wrapping my fingers around the front of her Evoker. She wouldn't hurt me, despite her threats, but I had no qualms about hurting myself. "No. If we wanted her back, we would've gone for her, but we didn't. I think if we went for her now, she might not even leave with us. She's been tricked by your friend Iori. She's useless to us until she wakes up from her happy little love dream. We might need to kill him next."

Her hand drops from the Evoker, and it falls to the ground with a clang. "Jin... Don't kill anyone else...Please...I'm begging you."

"Why do you care so much Mina? You said those people weren't your friends, so why are you trying so hard to protect them? Were you lying? Was that another one of your little acts to get me to like you?"

She runs up to close the distance between us. Grabbing my shirt into her hands, she's practically shaking me when she screams. "He had a future, Jin! People needed him! Do you understand that?! People loved him! He was like a brother to Akihiko. And what about Ken?! He's going to blame himself for the rest of his life! He's just a child! And you could have stopped him! You could have helped him! He…" She lets go of my jacket, falling to her knees onto the docks. Sobs rack her body.

A part of me wants to comfort her, but I'm more logical than that. Every thought is telling me that I should leave. There isn't any reason to stay here with this weeping girl. She will never come back to me after this. All that's left is to salt the wounds and make sure they never close. "Did you love him?"

"Why would you ask me that?…I love you... Its always been you." Her voice is strained with emotion. Like she's trying to get more words out than is physically possible.

"Do you? Are you sure you weren't just using me as a replacement for your brother?" Her eyes grow wide at my accusation, but she doesn't respond. Maybe because she knows this is the truth. I kneel down so I can hold her face in my hands. She doesn't make any move to stop me. "Your eyes fade out sometimes when you're looking at me, almost like you don't see me. You whisper his name when you're asleep. Admit it, Mina. You don't love me, you never did. The one you're always looking for is your brother." I lean in close, so my lips are brushing against her ear. "Freak. You disgust me."

I push her into the ground with as much strength as I can muster. She makes no move to protect herself, falling hard onto her side. Her face registers no pain but I can see the ugly scratches on her hand when she moves. Blood smears onto her sweater. Her eyes are wide and blank, detached. I'm already walking away when I hear her whisper. "You're just as bad…"

My logical brain tells me I'm making the wrong choice. I should leave. Whatever she's about to say will only making things worse. I turn around, "What did you say?"

"You're in love with Takaya." She's on all fours, and then she's on her feet, staring up at me with such fury I'm almost scared. "You never loved me either. I was just your replacement because you know he'll never want you back. Did he make those burns on your back? Is he the reason you have a scar on your thigh? Or was that someone else? What kind of man did you let touch you? Did a big hairy guy bend you over-"

I punch her across the face, and she practically flies back to the ground. There's blood trailing down to her chin, and I can see her lip is cut badly. When she looks back up at me, the sneer on her face is cruel. "Did I hit a soft spot? I know you like men. Does that disgust you too? So what if I loved my brother? You're just as bad. At least my brother didn't treat me like shit." She wipes the blood off with her hand, struggling to pull herself back onto her feet.

The words hit like a ton of bricks. She's been a manipulative little vixen since the day I've met her. A thousand attacks in her arsenal, and she will always find the one to cause the most damage. I let out a loud breath and smile. "You're right. You're just my replacement for Takaya. But I don't need you anymore. It's just me and him now since Chidori is gone. I get him all to myself. Get it? He's the one I'll always want."

The tears and anger have all dried on her face, leaving a blank slate. She reaches into her bag, and pulls out a small, crumpled package, throwing it at my feet. "Congratulations, I hope the two of you live out your short pathetic lives in happiness."

She grabs her Evoker and walks away from the dock without turning back and I'm instantly reminded of the night she left me on Moonlight Bridge. She was once again someone I didn't know.

The weeks that flew by afterward is mostly a blank in my mind. A lot of it is spent working. Takaya rarely came home and even when he did, it was mostly to sleep. I saw Mina's name show up on the Revenge Site a few times at first, and then they sprung up like a hurricane overnight. Dozens, almost a hundred requests with her name on it. It only took a couple minutes to realize it was because of Akihiko and an epidemic of jealousy. That was good.

I left our apartment as it was. Most if it was her stuff, and if she cared about it, she would go back for it. I kept paying rent, just in case. I took the photograph she'd made of us, and the gift she threw at me on the dock: A set of real bullets for my Evoker. To keep you safe, when I can't.

XXX-XX-XXXX

Her fingers trail over stone, canvas, paper, paint, everything within sight. "Did you miss it?"

"No. I'm trying... to remember... what I was thinking about when I made all this."

I shrug. We'll never know. She never explained her art to us, and we never asked. Takaya leans against the wall to smile at us. "Don't think too much Chidori. You must rest. Tomorrow, we will meet them at Tartarus, and you will get your chance to kill them for what they did to you."

She follows me back into my room and crawls onto my bed. The lights are already off, but there's a natural glow to her eyes, like a cat. I boot up my computer station and it's almost enough to delude me into thinking that the past few months didn't happen. Chidori never left, and I never met Minako. Every day is just the missions, my computer, and sleep. Chidori breaks the spell. "...What happened with you and the girl?"

I pause for a few minutes as I wonder how to answer her. I could lie, but I don't see the point. "...I pushed her away."

She doesn't answer, and I almost believe she's fallen asleep when she reaches out to grab my jacket, calling my attention. When I turn to look at her, I can feel her life pour into me, healing my wounds, both new and old. She's curled onto her side, watching me through heavily-lidded eyes. "Did she...make you afraid...?"

Her eyes tells me she understands and it's almost enough to make me laugh. "Yes..."

"...Why is it so painful?" Her whisper is sad, and already she's different from the emotionless, callous woman that I know. This Chidori no longer belonged to me and Takaya. A part of her now stood next to the boy from SEEs and we would never be able to reach her.

"I don't know. But this is what Takaya tried to teach us. I guess neither of us were very good students." I sigh, sitting against the bed. The grip on my jacket loosens and she wraps her arms around my head instead.

"Do you regret letting her go?"

"Sometimes. But I don't think it matters. Everything is going to end soon." I climb into bed next to her, and it's the first time in years we've been this close. "Don't think too much. You can do whatever you want Chidori. If you want Iori, go to him, run away with him. That's what you told me about Minako, isn't it?"

She nods, pushing herself next to me. We've been together so long I'd forgotten the girl she'd once been: An innocent child pulled along into schemes bigger than she could understand. She'd been used by the Kirijo Group, and then by Takaya. She never had any real choice. "Are you going to leave?"

"No... I can't. Do you remember the first time you met Takaya?" I can feel her nod against my arm, and I continue. "We would've died if he didn't save us that night after the explosion. I can't, I won't let him die alone."

She sighs but doesn't respond. I feel her changing her position next to me, and I pull her into a hug. "We live and die together, Chidori. That's what makes us family." I close my eyes, match my breathing to hers, and sleep.

January 31st Full Moon Dark Hour Rank 10

Chidori is dead. She gave up her life to save Iori's. None of it surprised me. When I think back on it, the two of us had a lot in common. We both fell in love with the enemy and failed miserably at it. She tried to push Iori away, tried to kill him too, but he came back and proved how much he loved her, just like Minako did with me. But Chidori was stronger than me. She chose love, and death. My sad, lonely little sister.

"What are you waiting for?! Finish me off!" I scream the words. My body was beat, too worn from the drugs and fighting to respond. They won the battle but it was much too late . Takaya was already at the top of the Tower of Demise, waiting for Nyx to arrive for the Fall.

"C'mon, let's go." Kirijo urges her team forward, and they follow her to move around me. So they weren't going to kill me after all.

"Arisato?" She hasn't moved, her eyes focused on my broken form. I'm sitting on the floor. No energy to even stand up. The rest of SEEs is watching her expectantly.

"Go, I'll be there in a minute."

"But..." Sanada is about to protest, but her glare is enough to scare him off.

Once everyone is gone, she squats in front of me, the two of us alone once again. She presses her Evoker to her head, and pulls the trigger. A persona I've never seen appears and I can feel the wounds on my body heal. I'm once again reminded of Chidori. I've only ever had two women in my life, and they both made it a habit to try and fix me.

"What was the point of that? We're all going to die in this tower tonight." My eyes are fixated on my hands in front of me. There is blood and dirt on them, but any wounds underneath are gone.

"Do you have the bullets I gave you?" The random question surprises me and I raise my eyes to look at her. Why was she here? Why were we having this conversation? Didn't we say everything we wanted to say? I thought I did an excellent job of pushing myself out of her life. Her smile is sad, but warm. Oh god, how I missed her. Why was she so different? So odd? So very impossible to read? What kind of sane person did the things she did?

One of Minako's bullets hang on a chain around my neck. The rest are sitting in my pocket. I didn't use a single one. I didn't need an Evoker to kill people. I hold the chain up for her to see.

"I won't move. If we're all going to die because of Nyx anyway, I'd rather you be the one to kill me. Shoot." She throws her Evoker onto my lap, leaving herself defenseless. My eyes watch her, shocked. This can't be a trap. What would be the point? Her friends have already defeated me. This entire exchange was pointless, so what was she trying to do?

"...Have you forgotten how I treated you on the docks...? We're enemies, Mina... Go. Leave."

She shakes her head, and she reaches out so the tips of her fingers are touching my face. "I remember...You were right about my brother, and I deserved that punch. I shouldn't have said those things to you."

I sigh, leaning my head back to look at the ceiling where I knew everyone would be waiting for her. None of this mattered anymore. Not Takaya, not the Fall, not SEEs. Right here in this space, it was just the two of us, and that was it. "It's okay. We both know everything we said was true, and I deserved it for being an asshole."

Minako smiles, and kisses me softly on the cheek. When she pulls away, I wrap my arms around her, pressing my lips to hers. The taste is familiar and nostalgic. I spent months without this, and the feel of it rushes back to consume me. I wanted her with me that night on the docks, when Chidori died, when I thought the world was going to end. I wanted her so badly it hurt, but this wasn't right. This wasn't like her. She wasn't here for me. She was here for revenge. The end to the Dark Hour, the Shadows, and all the nightmares was waiting for her just two floors up. I pull away, and push her towards the stairs. "Go. Save the world."

Her eyes drink me in, drawing me into her memory. She wraps her arms around my neck for one last hug when she whispers, "I'm not going to kill Takaya. When I win, I'm going to find you again. And I'll make sure you pick me this time." She runs up the stairs, pausing for only a few seconds to look at me one final time, and I know her promises won't matter. He won't live to see tomorrow, and I'll never see her again either.

I pull one of her bullets from my pocket and load it into my Evoker. "You're an idiot." I whisper, and the only things to answer me are the strangled cries of the Shadows from down below.

"Takaya is family. You don't get to choose family." I hold the Evoker to my head, and I take a long breath. Memories flash through my mind. The day I broke out from the ruins of the Kirijo Lab, sleeping next to Chidori, meeting Minako on Hemlin, kissing her on the dock, and then a dream. The four of us are sitting on the roof of the apartment, laughing, talking. There were only three people in my life, and they didn't even get the chance to be friends.

"I picked you. I chose to love you..." The cries from the Shadows are louder now, crawling up behind me. Soon, they'll overwhelm me, and my body will be torn to shreds. I wrap one hand around the bullet on my chest, and the other pulls the trigger.

A/N: I want to thank the 30 people or so whose read from beginning to end. This was originally intended to be a Hermit social link for Minako but it ended up being more like a Fool social link for Jin. I didn't like this couple before I wrote this story but they've grown on me. Funny how writing about something can actually make you like it more. Anyway, an epilogue might show up at some point because I have a lot of random scraps left about Jin's days in the Kirijo group and a Christmas date. But I doubt it. Special thanks to Rivai, Shinrai, Elana, Cube Addict1, Metal Vile, LaniCherri101, Proxy Saga, and all the unnamed guests who stopped by. I hope to see you at my next story.