A/N: A lighthearted chapter!

Spring had passed. Ken was now in fourth grade. Everything remained the same. The seniors lived their busy lives. Ken studied in his room. At Tartarus, Ken stayed with Mitsuru in the lobby while Akihiko and Shinjiro fought.

Ken overheard the male seniors talking in the kitchen one day.

"... What? The Twenty-Fourth of June, Midsummer's Day?"

"You know that's not it..."

Ken ignored that for now.

A few days later, Ken came back to a dark lounge. It was quiet. He looked around. "Hello...?"

The light was turned on, and Akihiko threw the confetti in the air. The seniors were at the table and Shinjiro was holding the cake.

"It is June twenty-fourth, isn't it?" Mitsuru asked.

Ken blinked.

After a few seconds of silence, Akihiko glanced at his friends. "I think he forgot."

Shinjiro looked at Ken. "It's your frigging birthday... I'm not singing."

Akihiko was the only one who sang the birthday song. Mitsuru and Shinjiro stood awkwardly until the song ended.

"I hope my mother could rest in peace." Ken blew the candles.

Shinjiro cut the cake and they ate it. It tasted great. Akihiko struck up a conversation and they all talked for at least an hour while eating cake. Even though Shinjiro tried to stop it, Akihiko revealed that Shinjiro was the one baking the cake and decorating it.

"Thank you," Ken said.

Shinjiro pulled his beanie down to cover his face. "Don't mention it… ever again."

The party of introverts was over. Shinjiro was the one to clean up the mess. Ken stayed and helped clean the table.

"Happy birthday," Shinjiro said.

Ken gave the table one last wipe and straightened up. "Thanks?"

"Figure I haven't said that." Shinjiro kept washing the plates. "If you want anything, I'll help. Consider it a birthday gift."

But you have already baked a cake, Ken thought. He didn't mention it though since Shinjiro asked him not to. Anyway, there was one life long goal Ken had, and that was to figure out how and why exactly his mother has to lose a life. Being able to avenge would be a nice bonus, but the truth comes first. It had been nine months since his mother was murdered by a monster. Ken had been waiting for long enough.

"I want to join." It was the only thing Ken could do to get closer to his goal.

Shinjiro froze. "... Kids shouldn't be fighting."

"Please." Ken knew his face was serious and that Shinjiro of all people would take him seriously.

Shinjiro looked at him for a long time. Finally, he sighed. "I'll talk to others."

Ken was now a member of SEES. He still was not allowed to ascend the tower, only train using an Evoker with Akihiko and try using weapons with Shinjiro. Some other days, it would be the same as before he joined, Akihiko and Shinjiro going up the towers while Ken remained in the lobby.

Today, Ken was using the Evoker. Nemesis was unstable at first. Ken had a hard time trying to make him stayed for longer than ten seconds.

"Hngg…" Ken groaned. Nemesis kept fading. They said it could because he lacked motivation. But he wanted to find the truth! He wanted to kill that horse monster.

"Do not be discouraged," Mitsuru said. "Personas are not easy to control."

"But you all make it seems so easy!" Ken said.

Akihiko grinned. "It's because we've been using our Personas for like… about a year now, and a half."

Shinjiro hummed. He didn't say anything.