A/N: This chapter was expected to be released 1-2 weeks later, but I decided to quicken the pace and get it ready for the New Year. So here it is. It's easily my longest chapter at more than double the length of my usual long chapters. I had a lot of events to cover so expect a lot of developments that were seen from the game as well as my original ones.

In case anyone is wondering, "Poi" are those round plastic scoops with paper centers that are commonly seen in goldfish scooping.

Lastly, reviews are welcomed.

CHAPTER XVII: Red and Black

Thursday, August 20, 2009 3:01 A.M – Makoto's Room

Makoto suddenly woke up with a start. He could feel sweat pouring down his body as he recalled his vivid dream. It had been a while since he last saw such a dream and it could only mean one thing. "Horseman of the Apocalypse," he muttered.

He got up and wiped his sweat with a towel. "That hand…probably means five days, I think." He walked up to his wall calendar and counted five days which landed on August 24. After marking it with a red circle, he recalled the intense battle he previously had with Pestilence. It was like no battle he had ever been in before. He probably should've perished in that battle if not for that angel that came to his rescue.

"I can't expect the same thing to happen again, right?"

He approached his window and looked up at the sky. "It's one thing after another. But, all I can do is prepare for it."

11:13 A.M. – Port Island Station

Junpei walked out of the theatre and was immediately overwhelmed by the intense heat. "Man, it's scorching hot out here." He fanned himself with his hand, but it did practically nothing. Despite wearing only a tank top and jeans, sweat was already accumulating on his body. "So hot…"

He flipped open his phone. "It's already the 20th, huh. Summer break's almost over so we'll be back in school soon." He let out a loud groan. "My summer is flying by and I'm doing nothing." After sighing, he began looking around. "This place is so boring…huh?" His gaze then fell on a red-haired girl sitting on a bench near the fountain. She was wearing a typical white Lolita dress that was becoming quite popular these days. Junpei wasn't sure what to think about the frilly white outfit and headdress other than he felt hotter just looking at her. Despite that, his curiosity took over and so he was now standing in front of her.

The girl looked up from her sketchbook and her face clearly showed her irritation. "Get out of my way. I can't see so move."

The girl's harsh words caused Junpei to quickly move to the side. "Uh, sorry."

"What do you want?" She asked after realizing Junpei was still standing there and not making any movement to leave.

"Huh? Oh nothing." He began walking away. "Man, that girl's personality reminded me of someone I know. She's really weird too. Those clothes and what was she drawing?" He thought back to when he saw her sketchbook and noticed some shapes and lines. "Must be something that only artists will understand." He looked back at her one more time and saw that she had resumed drawing. "She is pretty cute though," he admitted with a wide grin before taking off.

5:03 P.M.

The day after Makoto won the National Inter-high Kendo Championship for Individuals was the final day of competitions for Gekkoukan High. The club participants took this opportunity to celebrate their achievements and hard work. It was initially planned that each individual club would celebrate separately, but when Ikutsuki overheard the discussion, he offered to cover the expenses as their reward. It was then decided that the participating clubs would celebrate together which included the kendo, boxing and archery club.

"Since the chairman is treating us, then how about a sushi place?" Kazushi had suggested. Everybody was quick to provide their support and thus, the groups met up at "Sawada", a well known sushi restaurant located in western Iwatodai.

"Cheers!" Every member raised their glasses full of various juices before quickly draining its contents.

Kazushi then loudly cleared his throat. "Before we begin feasting and partying, I have to make a few words. It's not like I want to, but I was selected to do it…" He began to trail off in a mumble.

"Just get on with it," Yuko shouted.

"Tch, fine. Anyway, quick congratulations to the boxing club and Sanada-senpai for bringing back two championships. Everyone had high expectations for you guys, but you did it. Then moving on to Makoto, congrats for bringing back the championship for individuals. I'll take it back next year." His last comment spurned laughter from the club members. "As a team, we'll succeed next year as well. And lastly to the archery club, congrats on getting to Nationals. Good luck to you guys next year also."

After a round of clapping, everybody began eating. The members mostly sat in multiple tables around each other with some people sitting up front at the stools. Makoto was sitting next to Akihiko on the stools and after eating a few pieces of fish, a female archery club member approached Akihiko.

"Hey Sanada-kun, congrats."

"Takenouchi…" Akihiko said after he turned around. "Thanks and congrats to you guys too." They bumped their glasses and took a gulp.

"I guess this is our last year, huh? It's a shame that I won't be earning any championships here, but it's nice to see our school doing great overall. You thinking of continuing after you graduate?"

"Maybe, maybe not. I'm not sure honestly." Akihiko shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, I get you. The same goes for me." Takenouchi turned her body so that she was now facing Makoto. "You're…Yuki-kun, right?"

"Yeah."

"I've heard a lot about you," she said with a wide smile. "I'm Maya Takenouchi by the way, the captain of the archery club. Congrats on your victory."

"Thanks."

"Also…" Maya began scrutinizing Makoto from top to bottom.

"What?" Makoto began sliding back to avoid her sharp gaze.

"It must be you, right? Stop distracting Takeba. If you'll continue, you might as well go all out and-"

"Okay, that's enough, senpai," Yukari said as she began dragging Maya away. "You had too much to drink so that you've started spouting nonsense."

"But I didn't have anything alcoholic," Maya protested.

"Yes, yes," Yukari said with a nod and continued to drag Maya away.

"What was that about?" Makoto asked once the pair was out of earshot.

"Uh…" Akihiko scratched the back of his head. "I think I might know, but maybe not…"

His voice trailed off as he returned back to his meal. "Anyway, let's relax with some good food."

7:15 P.M. – Minatodai Dorm Lounge

After the party, Makoto, Yukari and Akihiko returned to the dorm together. They saw Aigis and Junpei hanging around the sofas.

"Hey, what's up guys?" Junpei greeted. "I heard you guys had a party to celebrate or something. At Ikutsuki-san's expense."

"That's right," Akihiko replied. "What were you doing in the meantime?"

"Nothing much." Junpei slid back into the cushions. "Just had a meal here and then made some small talk with Aigis."

"The next full moon will appear on the 5th of September," Aigis announced. "We will have two weeks to prepare for the Shadow."

"With Aigis here, we'll never forget about the Full Moon days," Yukari joked.

"Two weeks, huh," Akihiko mused as he sat down. "Yuki, you'll recover by then, right?"

"I'll just need a few days."

"That's good. These Shadows seem to get tougher and tougher each time. We'll need to be at full strength every time if possible."

Junpei groaned and then leapt off the sofa. "Hey, Ai-chan, you wanna get some ice cream?"

"That will not help us prepare," Aigis bluntly replied. "Moreover, ice cream rots away human teeth, does it not?"

"Are you a dentist, now?" Junpei complained. "Every now and then it's fine."

"Where did this sudden craving for ice cream, come from?" Yukari asked.

"Dunno." Junpei shrugged his shoulders. "I just feel very hot today and need some cold food."

"Well, it was pretty hot today," Akihiko added. "I'm down with ice cream too."

"Really? Great. Who else is coming? Makoto? Yuka-tan?"

The two looked at each other and just went along with it. "Yeah, alright."

Friday August 21, 2009 2:15 A.M. - Makoto's Room

Makoto's eyes shot wide opened as he woke up drenched in sweat. It was highly similar to the night before. He had experienced the same dream as well, except that he recalled the horseman raising four bony fingers at the end. His suspicions about the fingers representing days might not be all too far off from the truth after all. If so, it feels like his days were numbered.

"I need to train more," Makoto concluded after thinking about the situation for a few minutes. "It's not like I can do anything about it." Resolving on getting some training done later that day, he returned to his bed and tried to get as much sleep as he could.

Sunday August 23, 2009 6:05 A.M. - Yukari's Room

"Hmm?" Yukari opened her eyes and slowly rose from her bed. She heard the sound of a door closing downstairs and then footsteps moving at a quickened pace. The sounds may have been part of her imagination or even her dream, but she knew that likely wasn't the case. After moving to her window, she looked down and saw Makoto jogging outside on the ground floor. "He's at it again," she murmured.

It was by chance, but she noticed that Makoto had been waking up early everyday for the past few days to jog. That would go on for about 1-2 hours before he would head straight to the facility next door and presumably train for several hours. This routine might not be anything out of the ordinary, but she still felt uneasy about it all. "Especially since we had that issue just recently."

She was meaning to talk to him about it, but just could never quite get a good chance to do so. It's usually either because of Makoto disappearing for most of the day or that they're never alone when they do meet up.

She then sighed and made her way back to her bed after feeling sleepy again. On the way, her cellphone appeared in the corner of her eye. "Then there's also that problem too..." With a frown on her face, she went under her covers and quickly fell asleep.

9:30 A.M. - Minatodai Dorm Lounge

"Hey, what's wrong, Fuuka-chan?" Yukari asked when she went downstairs and saw Fuuka staring intently at Aigis who remained oblivious as she continued watching the television.

Fuuka turned her head to face Yukari. "Hmm? Oh, good morning. I was just thinking that Aigis has been cooped up in the dorm for a while now."

"Now that you mentioned it, I don't recall seeing Aigis outside either." It was then Yukari's turn to stare at Aigis.

"How about we show her around town?" Fuuka suggested after a minute had gone by.

"Eh?" Yukari cried out in surprise. "Do you think that's a good idea? Someone might noticed that she's not human."

"That's true...but I think it'll turn out fine," Fuuka replied with much optimism. "That long dress she's wearing would cover her more standout metallic parts."

"Well...I do feel sorry for her." Yukari gave one more look at Aigis and then finally gave in. "If we're going to do it, then it's best we do it now while we're still on vacation."

"Great, then how about inviting the others to come with us? Oh but, I think Junpei-kun is still sleeping. Kirijo-senpai left earlier to take care of a school matter. Sanada-senpai said he was also heading to school to meet up with the boxing club members. And as for Makoto-kun, I'm not sure where he is."

"He should be training next door at this time," Yukari replied as she looked at the clock.

"Wow, I'm surprised you knew that. I didn't even see him much in the last few days. You really do follow his every step, don't you, Yukari-chan?" A mischievous smile spread across Fuuka's face.

"D-Don't make me out to be a stalker or something," Yukari shouted as her face turned red. "It was just by chance that I knew." She then quickly went to the lounge. "Aigis! We're heading out and you're coming with us."

"Is this a mission?" Aigis asked.

"It's not a mission," Fuuka replied. "We're just going to guide you around the city."

"A trip through the city, is it?" Aigis slightly titled her head to the side. "I believe this will be a good opportunity to keep my database up to date so I can calculate the most optimal course to a destination."

Fuuka let out a soft laugh. "Maybe we should update your speech patterns too."

"If that would assist in me blending in, then I would greatly appreciate it."

Yukari and Fuuka then both looked at each other before laughing out loud.

At the sound of their laughter, Koromaru strolled into the room and let out a bark.

"He said, I would like to go out for a walk too," Aigis intepreted.

Yukari kneeled down and scratched the back of Koramaru's ears. "Of course you can, boy. The more the merrier."

Several Years Ago - Kenshiro Yuki's Garden

"You want to see one of the most difficult techniques of the Muteki Tenken-ryu (Invincible Heaven Sword style)?" Kenshiro asked, an amused smile on his face.

Makoto nodded his head.

"Well now..." Kenshiro stroked his beard and closed his eyes. "How about this one? It's one of the secret techniques and it's not something you'll see very often." He looked around his garden and settled his sights on several trees growing near each other. "Step back at least several feet away."

Makoto's eyes grew wide as he did as he was told. Despite retaining his stoic expression, he was greatly anticipating what Kenshiro was about to do.

At first, Kenshiro just stared at the trees for what felt like a long time while he held his sheathed katana by his side. Then, he tapped the ground with the scabbard's end, sending a shockwave across the garden. The trees shook and hundreds of leaves scattered throughout the air before beginning their descent.

Makoto was about to ask if that was it when out of the corner of his eye, Kenshiro's body glowed before he dashed towards the leaves and cut them into pieces without once slowing down his speed for even a moment. Kenshiro had also moved so fast that there were shadow-like afterimages that followed his movements which made it incredibly difficult for the young Makoto to properly keep track.

After what seemed like a mere moment of moving through the leaves, Kenshiro appeared on the other side and sent a large shockwave through the leaves before sheathing his blade. It didn't end there as hundreds of slashes visibly appeared and further cut the leaves into little pieces while spinning around like they were in a vacuum. And then, a bright light appeared in the middle and exploded, scattering the remaining pieces that likely numbered in the thousands.

Makoto's mouth hung wide opened in awe as he watched the aftermath. So much had happened in the mere ten seconds that transpired from the initial dash that he still wasn't sure he had caught every detail.

Kenshiro walked up to the still shocked Makoto and chuckled. "Did you liked that? It's a just a mini version since I didn't want the whole garden torn to shreds."

"What...just happened?"

"A difficult technique, just liked you asked," Kenshiro replied with another laugh.

"I meant...what just happened?"

Kenshiro drank his tea and mulled over Makoto's question. "Our sword style is known for many things and one of those things is the ability to defeat a significant large number of opponents quickly. This technique is probably the one that made it famous for just that hundreds of years ago. Execute it correctly, then you can dispatch a large number of your enemies in an instant. The technique requires a combination of a substantial amount of energy for the quickness and the sight to notice openings and weak points, The Path as we sometimes call it."

"The Path?"

Kenshiro nodded his head and drank his tea again. "The technique must be executed by moving on that invisible path all the way to the end. You cannot backtrack and you must be able to break through each and every one of your enemies' guards. Timing is key. Against leaves it's no big deal, but against live opponents, it's extremely difficult. You thought the speed and timing for Hakai Seisen (Destruction: Star Flash) was difficult? Think again."

"Then that's impossible. No human can execute that technique."

"Impossible, you say?" Kenshiro grinned at his statement. "It would seem like it, but the previous masters say otherwise. And you might be able to join them as well..."

"...What's it called? That technique."

"It's called -"

4:32 P.M. – Minatodai Dorm Lounge

Makoto opened his eyes and blinked several times. It seemed like he had fallen asleep. After looking around the empty lounge for a second, he let out a deep and long sigh from the sofa. Despite the dorm's air conditioner going full blast, it didn't help stop his sweat from pouring down his face and drenching his t-shirt.

"So hot…" He muttered to himself.

"Whoa, you look terrible," Junpei said when he returned to the dorm a few minutes later carrying a plastic white bag. "What were you doing?" He tossed a can of juice from the bag to Makoto.

"Thanks." Makoto opened the can and gulped down its contents. "I was training."

"Seriously? In this hot weather?"

"I was in the underground facility."

"Still…" Junpei sat down on the opposite sofa and propped his feet on the table. "Does that mean that you've recovered?"

"Pretty much."

"Then I guess we'll be back to Tartarus soon." Junpei nodded to himself and then looked at the ceiling.

"What were you doing?"

"Not much," Junpei replied while continuing to look at the ceiling. "Just wandering around the city looking for something to do. I did meet Kenji at the shopping mall. I joined him in his attempts to pick up girls, but that didn't end well." He let out a soft laugh. "Anyway, I think I'll just go take a nap. Catch ya later."

"A nap does sound nice," Makoto muttered after Junpei went upstairs. Just when he was about to get up, the doors swung open and in walked Yukari, Fuuka, Aigis and Koromaru. Aigis was wearing a large brown coat and hat that covered much of her body and face. In her hands were several bags of groceries.

"Oh hey, Makoto-kun," Fuuka greeted. When she noticed that Makoto was staring at Aigis' clothes, she quickly explained, "We were showing Aigis around the town and that was all we had to provide adequate cover."

"I see…"

"Aigis, can you help me store the food?" Fuuka asked as she headed towards the kitchen.

"Certainly, Fuuka-san."

After Aigis followed after Fuuka, Makoto caught a glimpse of Yukari heading towards him. The first thing he noticed was that the top two buttons of her short sleeved collar shirt were unbuttoned, revealing some cleavage and two pink bra straps. His eyes lingered on that area for a lot longer than he'd expected.

"Hey, Makoto-kun," Yukari greeted after she sat down across from him.

"Hey."

"You know, we were looking for you earlier. We thought you'd want to join us on guiding Aigis around, but we couldn't find you."

"You did? Well, I was busy elsewhere."

She smiled and said, "Let me guess, you were off training next door?"

Makoto's eyebrows rose slightly. "How did you know?"

"I just noticed, that's all." Her smile then suddenly turned into a frown and her expression became serious. "Is there...something going on that we don't know?"

Her question took him by so much surprise that he became speechless for what felt like an eternity. While he was trying to find words to form an answer, she continued to watch him carefully without revealing what was going on in her mind. "...I'd like to tell you, but it's really...complicated," he finally replied.

"Really?" Her expression or her tone of voice didn't change.

"Yeah," he replied with a nod. "Even I don't understand it."

Somehow, she found his answer to be satisfactory as she let out a sigh. "I won't pressure

you for the details, but if you need help, then just ask me."

"Thanks."

She smiled again, but even Makoto could see that it wasn't a happy one. Before he could mull it over any longer however, Yukari hurried over to the kitchen to help Fuuka and Aigis.

"Women are complicated too," he muttered to a happy looking Koromaru.

Monday August 24, 2009 2:00 P.M. - Iwatodai Station

Ken walked out of the manga shop with a large smile on his face. In his hand was a plastic bag with a manga book inside. "That cliffhanger in the last volume was unbearable, but now I get to see how Featherman Red gets out of that crisis." He kept on walking until he heard familiar voices nearby.

"Where's it coming from?" He stopped and looked around until he realized it was coming from the floor beneath. He slowly made his way to the railing and looked down. "Sanada-san? And who's that next to him? For some reason, he looks familiar..."

"Dammit, I'm tired of your nagging," Shinjiro complained while he walked away.

Akihiko followed after him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, but I won't take no for an answer."

Shinjiro turned around revealing a face full of anger. "The answer's still the same. I'm not coming back." He was about to take off again, but Akihiko quickly stepped in front of him.

"Wait, just hear me out. We just got a new Persona-user to join us and he's not human."

"...What?" Akihiko's revelation took Shinjiro by complete surprise, his eyes growing wide.

"It's a dog," Akihiko bluntly replied.

"...Seriously?"

Akihiko nodded. "He lost his master six months ago because of the Shadows. He's incredibly loyal. Up until now, he's been guarding the spot where his master was killed despite the bad memories." There was sadness in his voice as he reflected on the past. "We saw someone die before our eyes too, but it's been two years since then." When Shinjiro remained silent, Akihiko grabbed his collar and shouted, "Just how long do you plan to beat yourself up over it!? You're always at that spot behind the station even though you don't hang out with the crowd there."

"It doesn't matter," Shinjiro finally said in a low voice. "It was my fault and it can't be erased. What difference does it make if I come to terms with it? It won't change anything. This isn't the same as what happened to Miki."

"Shinji..."

"Ah, that's enough already." Shinjiro tore Akihiko's hands off his coat and began walking away. "I just want to forget it ever happened."

"That guy...and did they say two years ago?" Ken quietly said to himself and dropped the plastic bag to the ground. He placed a hand on his forehead as images began flashing through his head. There were images of debris and then some shadowy figures in the background. His breathing become rapid and haggard. "It can't be..."

After he took a moment to calm himself down, he returned to the railing and didn't see anyone there. "Sanada-san called him Shinji." He balled his hands into fists so tightly that droplets of blood began falling to the ground.

10:32 P.M. - Minatodai Dorm Lounge

Makoto opened the front door and entered the lounge. To his surprise, every dorm member was in the lounge tonight. Other than Fuuka and Mitsuru who were having a conversation regarding some future careers, the rest were doing their own things such as reading or watching television.

"Hey, you're back," Junpei greeted. "Man, I'm really bored." He dropped his magazine on the table. "How about visiting you know what?" He motioned his head towards Ken who was engrossed in whatever was on t.v.

"Hmmm." Mitsuru ceased her conversation with Fuuka and rubbed her chin. "How about tomorrow?" She asked Makoto.

"That's fine with me."

"Oh, but tomorrow's the summer festival isn't it?" Fuuka interjected. "I'd like to go so can we do the day after?"

"That's fine as well," Mitsuru said in a low voice.

Makoto nodded and then made his way towards the stairs. Along the way, he caught a glimpse of Ken who had on a serious intense expression.

"Is there something on my face?" Ken asked after realizing that Makoto was staring at him. The intense expression was gone and all that remained was his usual self.

"Was that my imagination?"

"Ah, no. I thought I saw something."

"Well, okay." Ken returned to his t.v. show and his face remained the same.

Makoto continued upstairs to his room and then sat down on his bed. "So tonight's the night. There's nothing more I can do."

He looked at his blade on display. "It'd be great if I can take you with me." Despite the odds, he took his blade and brought it with him back to his bed. He laid down and then reached down to his waist and felt the metal Evoker in its holster. "All that's left is to wait until the time comes."

For the next few hours, he just stared at his ceiling while trying to relax his body. The thought of staying awake throughout the night to avoid the upcoming battle did occurred to him, but it's very unlikely he could get away with doing that. It'll probably just be carried over to the next day. Regardless, he didn't have much choice in the end since because he suddenly drifted off to sleep as if his body was compelled to do so.

The Rooftop across the Minatodai Dorm

"Did you see that just now?" Raphael asked his fellow comrade with red hair. He was very alarmed at what he had just seen. "The boy just disappeared and I can't trace his presence anymore."

The red haired angel rubbed his chin, remaining calm despite the sudden development. "It's just like last time with Pestilence."

Raphael drew his blade. "Then, he's in the underworld with another horseman? If so, then I'll go save him like before."

The red haired angel shook his head. "No. I'll go this time. If his opponent is who I think it is, then I'd be better suited for it."

Raphael sheathed his blade in response. "That's true. If it's any of the remaining three, then they'll be too much trouble for me."

"Let's not waste any time then. Get in contact with her so that they'll understand the situation."

"Leave it to me."

?

Makoto's eyes opened and all he could see was darkness.

"When did I fall asleep?" He muttered after realizing where he likely was. To his surprise and relief, his right hand was gripping onto Yoshitsune's scabbard, but it didn't stop his left hand from shaking. Despite experiencing everything he had in the last few months, the battle with Pestilence was the one that shook him the most. It was like going against a God. Its presence was overwhelming and fear threatened to overcome him. "To think I have to go through this again."

A chill flowed through the room and he immediately felt another presence. It caused his body to jump back by reflex. "It feels exactly like that time." As his heartbeat continued to beat faster, he focused his senses and tried to locate the presence. "You're there, right? The one who summoned me here, Horseman of the Apocalypse."

A deep chuckle echoed across the area in response to Makoto's inquiry. "You are correct, lost child. It has been several months since my brethren did battle with you and now it is my turn to test your might."

"Test? What do you mean by that?"

"You will learn in due time, but now is not the time for words!" It bellowed, shaking Makoto to his core. About 50 feet away, a fiery red horse in battle armor appeared, surrounded by crimson flames. Its rider was a skeleton in a red robe. In its hand was a 10 foot long greatsword, raised straight up and pointing to the heavens. "I am the Red Rider called War! My blade will soon drench red in your blood. Come!"

As the Red Rider began its charge, Makoto reached down to his waist and realized that his Evoker wasn't there. "Tch, then I'll have to summon the Personas using the hard way." He drew his blade and immediately moved to avoid the quick charge. The horseman's blade was so long that it still made a shallow cut on his arm.

War swung down its blade as soon as Makoto evaded the attack.

With little room left to dodge, Makoto raised his blade and attempted to block the attack. The force from the greatsword was so heavy that Makoto felt his legs slowly giving in. It was like a sledgehammer had swung down on him.

"Orh...pheus," Makoto called through gritted teeth.

After appearing from a blue light, Orpheus immediately swung his lyre at War.

The Red Rider swiftly struck down Orpheus with his mighty blade before it was struck by the lyre.

Makoto fought through the Persona Break while concentrating the Divine Energy in his blade before initiating his own counter attack. "Hayate (Gale)!" He flew forward at a rapid speed and struck the horse who let out a cry of pain. His attack continued two more times until War suddenly disappeared causing him to strike nothing, but air. "Behind!" Without even looking, he jumped forward and barely avoided the greatsword from behind.

"So it wasn't my imagination when I felt Divine Energy from your blade," War said. "I don't know how it came to be, but you'll need to do much better than that as I turn up the heat." After it said that, red flames appeared and covered the greatsword.

Makoto could even feel the energy emitting from the greatsword had increased substantially from where he stood. One cut from that will end him immediately. "I can't risk another Persona Break so I'll have to do Persona Augmentation, but which one? Doesn't seem like fire will be effective against it." He cycled through his Personas in his mind until it landed on a shadow figure in the shape of a woman wearing a cape. "Skadi!" He concentrated his mind and then ice formed around his blade.

"Hmmm...," War muttered, appearing impressed by the ice blade. "Don't let this end too quickly so continue to keep me entertained." It raised its blade before swinging it down. A beam of flames shot out from the blade like a fiery wave of water, moving faster than a speeding car.

There was little Makoto could do, but try to avoid the attack. That was what he found himself doing for the next minute as pillars of flames suddenly erupted from the ground afterwards. Each time he narrowly avoided the flames, he could feel the intense heat emanating from them. It seemed like it could disintegrate his arm in a mere second if he touched it.

"I can't just keep dodging. I need to counterattack." Makoto spared a moment and looked in the direction of War, but he was gone. "Wha-?" A fiery blade swung from his side and his body moved to block the attack by reflex. The resulting collision launched him into the air, but came to a stop when War reappeared and grabbed his neck with its bony hands. He could see the flames dancing in its eyes when it spoke.

"I'm disappointed. Is this all you can do? I had high hopes from what my brother had told me. Maybe I should put you out of your misery now." It applied more force into its hand.

Makoto screamed when he felt his neck burning as if he was wearing a collar filled with flames around his neck. After squirming his body with all his might, it quickly grew weaker under the fiery touch and everything was becoming darker. "...Attack."

Ose quietly appeared and was able to strike War from behind.

When the Red Rider's grip loosened, Makoto quickly recalled Ose and sheathed his still icy blade. After landing on the ground, he propelled himself forward and drew his blade, enveloping himself in a bright light that went through the Red Rider. In an instant, he appeared on the other side of the Red Rider and then sheathed his blade. "Hakai Seisen (Star Flash: Destruction)."

The horse whimpered in pain as multiple cuts tore through its armor and body. Makoto had aimed for War directly, but it seemed like the horse had gotten in the way instead. Before allowing the horse to recover, Makoto launched forward again and jumped up to War. He made a horizontal cut, but it caught his blade with its hand.

"That's more like it," it chuckled sinisterly.

Makoto could see that the ice on his blade was melting and fearing that it wouldn't end with just the ice, he pulled the sword back with all of his might. War had instead, simply let go, causing him to stumble backwards. Then, the fiery greatsword went flying towards him. "Tsukikage (Moon Shadow)."

The flaming sword pierced right through the shadow image and Makoto swiftly moved behind the Red Rider in the meantime. Without any hesitation, he unleashed a flurry of cuts to the back of War. As expected, the attacks eventually struck nothing, but air when the horseman teleported away. To Makoto's surprise though, the horseman's torn robe began to recover before his eyes. " I can't make any head on attacks with that giant sword in the way and now even landing slashes from behind isn't enough either. Just what else can I do?" The situation was growing worse at time went by. Just like last time, it didn't seem like he could "defeat" these creatures of Death.

War suddenly clapped its hands which reverberated across the massive room. "That was splendid swordplay child. You humans have certainly gone a long way in mastering the art of combat. Allow me to make things more interesting for you." It clapped its hands again, but much louder this time so that Makoto could feel the room shaking.

It didn't take long for Makoto to realized what had just happened. He sensed about 50 new presences in the room. The area behind War then illuminated so that he could see countless creatures standing in several rows. They were all skeletons garbed in steel armor and wielding swords. A few of them were also on horseback and wielding long lances. Just when Makoto thought it couldn't get any worse, it did.

"When the time comes, I will lead the army of Death to bring forth the human's demise." It wave a bony arm to the newly appeared warriors. "And this, is a very small part of that army. You'll be the first human to witness its might. Now come and bring forth that child's head!"

The skeletons raised their weapons and roared at their master's orders. The cavalry then lead the charge with the infantry following closely behind.

Makoto quickly sheathed his sword and concentrated his energy. When the skeleton army was almost 30 feet away, he drew his blade and unleashed large wave of energy that blew through several skeletons and shattered them into pieces. Makoto had made use of Divine Energy for that attack so it left him feeling tired afterwards. "But I can't stop here or else."

"Cu Chulainn and Ose!"

The two Personas appeared by Makoto's side and prepared for the imminent contact of the next wave of skeletons. Makoto evaded the incoming lance attack and immediately struck the horse in its legs causing the skeleton to crash to the ground. Careful to avoid a Persona Break, he remained vigilant of his Personas' actions and locations while he fended off the skeleton army using his sword skills. The task was proving very difficult because after a while, the skeletons would get back up and resumed the battle as if they didn't receive any injury at all. The darkness didn't help either. If it weren't for several lit areas which Makoto assumed was intentionally done by War, the whole room would have been pitched black.

After a few minutes, two infantry skeletons made their way through the pile of their comrades' bodies. They jumped and swung their blades down at Makoto. In response, he skillfully parried both attacks with one single stroke and disarmed them. Then, he lobbed of their heads with another stroke.

The battle was taking a heavy toll on Makoto at this point causing him to fall down on one knee and gasping for air. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a horseman charging straight at him, but he couldn't muster enough energy to get out of the way. Instead, he called his Personas over to aid him.

Cu Chulainn spun his spear in circles before thrusting it forward. The tip of the spear met the tip of the lance head on. The resulting collision knocked the horseman off the horse and into the air. Ose then followed after it and struck it down with his two swords.

By now, the three of them had momentarily knocked out about one third of the skeleton army, but the other remaining two thirds were still surrounding them. However, to Makoto's surprise, they began pulling back.

"What's going on?" Makoto then quickly looked up when he felt an intense heat coming from the above. There, he saw multiple large fireballs raining down like meteors. "It must be the Red Rider." He recalled his Personas before focusing energy into his legs and running as far away as possible.

When the first few fireballs landed, the explosion knocked him off his feet. He looked over his shoulder and saw more incoming fireballs, but before he could get up, a skeleton jumped onto his back and pinned him to the ground.

"Get off of me!" Makoto squirmed under the heavy set of armor, but the skeleton held on tightly. The area around him began glowing brightly and even though he couldn't see them, the fireballs were likely about to land. By reflex, he closed his eyes and braced for impact, but instead, he heard a loud explosion coming from above. The skeleton was then sent flying off of him which allowed him to turn onto his back and look above. The fireballs were somehow destroyed leaving only small remnants falling down.

"So you've come this time," War said, sounding clearly amused at the development.

Makoto turned to where War was facing and he saw a large shiny mass of light appearing in the air. The person that appeared from it resembled the angel that saved him previously. It wore a glossy red chestplate, pauldrons, grieves and also wielded a long sword. The radiance emitting from him was intense and hot.

"Archangel…," Makoto whispered out loud.

The angel looked down at him and acknowledged his presence. "Correct child. I am one of the Archangels. My name is Uriel and together we'll overcome the Red Rider and get you home. But first..." He formed a bright energy ball in his hand and then threw it high up into the air which illuminated the once dark room. The skeletons groaned at the sight and shielded their eyes. Uriel then pointed at his sword straight at War who continued to watch them in amusement.

"Of the Archangels, you make the most interesting opponent for me," War said as his horse began levitating up into the air.

"Why have you and your brethren summoned this child?" Uriel demanded in a loud authoritative tone.

"Why indeed." War laughed at his question. "I have no obligation to answer that. Just know that him being here is not simply on our whim."

"Either way, we won't allow you to further harm this child."

"Then come and stop me." The flames around War's blade grew larger as it thrust a palm out to the two of them.

"I'm sure you have questions, but this isn't the time for it," Uriel quickly said while keeping his attention on the Red Rider. "I'll hold off War for the time being. Deal with its minions and come support me after that."

"O-Okay," Makoto agreed with some hesitation.

"Good." Uriel readied his sword causing flames to swirl around it. "The Lord's Flames will not be outdone." He swung his blade and unleashed a large fiery wave at the Red Rider. Before the wave even made contact, Uriel flew forward at extreme speeds and followed right behind the wave. He made contact with the Red Rider at the same time as the wave causing a giant explosion that shook the battlefield.

Once the flames cleared, Makoto saw Uriel and War locking blades before exchanging a series of quick and powerful blows. During the exchange, they both disappeared and reappeared continuously so it was difficult keeping track of them. Each time they locked blades, the room shook from their incredible force.

Uriel then threw a quick thrust to War's head, but it parried the attack and then teleported behind Uriel. Quickly reacting to the move, the Archangel avoided the incoming slash by skillfully rotating his body in mid-air. Uriel's counterattack was a flaming upward slash that caused War's horse to leap backwards to avoid it, but Uriel followed right after it and delivered a powerful slash to the horse's chest. The attack burned through the armor like acid.

"Not bad, Archangel," War complimented. Before Uriel can continue his assault, War swung his greatsword and generated a massive fiery tornado that engulfed the immediate area.

Makoto shielded his eyes from the hot wind that now blew across the room.

Uriel had created a barrier made of flames to block most of the damage done by the tornado. He then surrounded himself in his own flames and charged straight through the tornado.

Makoto wasn't sure what happened afterwards other than another explosion occurred and shook the ground. "This is crazy," he said out loud. He didn't think it was even feasible to get in between the two fiery superpowers. The presence of the angel was very comforting to him which was probably why he felt reenergized, but he knew that it wouldn't end well with him doing nothing. By now, the skeletons were already making their way towards him despite still feeling the effects of the bright energy orb in the air.

He summoned Skadi and Titania to assist him this time. "Freeze them!" The two combined their ice powers and began burying the skeleton army under ice. For the ones on horseback that broke through, Makoto moved to cut them off, but ended up getting surrounded by three of them.

He calmed his breathing and concentrated his senses, waiting for the right moment. About six seconds later, the three horsemen thrust their lances at him. Makoto jumped up in the nick of time to avoid the piercing attacks and landed on one of the lances. Before the horseman could pull back, he lobbed off its head. The other two lances flew towards him again, but he blocked it with his katana.

While he was pinned down by the lances, the horses began charging forward.

"I got to get out of this otherwise, I'll just stumble and get run over." Using swift footwork, he sidestepped out of harm's way and knocked one of the horseman off the horse with a powerful swipe. Makoto then picked up one of the fallen lances and threw it at the final horseman. The lance pierced the armor and then knocked the rider off its horse as well. After taking care of these horsemen, he took this opportunity to assess the situation. The skeletons were now either placed under ice or temporary incapacitated.

"It's time I help out Uriel." He recalled his Personas and then moved to where Uriel and War were currently exchanging attacks. "Thankfully there's no more fire tornados or the like." Moving carefully, he masked his presence and eventually encircled behind War. Then, he dashed forward with a burst of speed before jumping high into the air and drew his blade. "Mikazuki (Crescent Moon)!" In a loud thunderous boom, he unleashed a large crescent wave. The attack struck War from behind and pushed him forward.

"So you're back child," War said after he recovered from the attack and swung his blade at Makoto.

His prior attack had left him tired again so fortunately for him, Uriel moved to block the sword attack.

"Good work taking care of the minions. Now, let's finish this before they fully recover."

Mustering his remaining strength, Makoto leapt at the Red Rider and made another cut.

War teleported out of the way and quickly attacked both Makoto and Uriel with his far reaching greatsword.

After avoiding the attack, Uriel unleashed a barrage of attacks.

When War moved to defend against the barrage, Makoto unleashed his own barrage of slashes. With the two of them, they were able to pin the Red Rider in its place and all it could do was defend. "Now all we need to do is land a finishing blow...huh?"

Despite being placed in a tough spot, War just chuckled at their efforts.

Before Makoto could figure out what the Red Rider was planning, he was suddenly forcefully slammed to the ground by an invisible force.

War knocked Uriel back with an aura of flames and teleported far away. "Don't tell me you want to join in?"

A low pitch laughter filled the air. "It's been far too long since I've engaged in battle. Who knows when the next opportunity will arise."

Like Pestilence and War, the new voice was chilling and caused Makoto to involuntary tremble. "It's not happening, right?"

As if reading his mind, the owner of the voice materialized next to War from the black mist that suddenly appeared. The first thing Makoto saw was a demonic black horse with red eyes. Riding on it was another skeleton in black robes that continued to ruffle as if a breeze was blowing through it. In its hand was a set of golden balance scales.

"The situation has gotten a lot worse now," Uriel mumbled as the heavy force left Makoto and allowed him to get back on his feet.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the black robed individual said with a slight bow. "I am the Black Rider. I am also known as Famine. Good evening to our guests, Archangel Uriel and the lost child." It pointed a bony finger at Makoto. "Your trial with me begins now."

Uriel hovered over to Makoto and whispered, "Unfortunately, I will not be able to fight off both of them. I will continue to fend off War in the meantime so I will leave Famine with you."

"Do you have a plan?"

"All we can do is buy some time and hope that she has taken notice."

"She?"

"Be careful with Famine. It has many different powers, one of which is the power of gravity."

"That explains the invisible force that forced me to the ground."

"And also-."

War's greatsword suddenly blew past them causing them to separate from each other.

"Let's continue where we left off, Archangel," War growled as it continued to swing his large blade at Uriel.

All Uriel could do was avoid the rapid attacks.

Makoto's attention then turned to Famine who now hovered above him. He drew his blade, but was suddenly struck by the invisible force again and falling to his knees.

"Now…how will you get out of this?" Famine calmly asked.

Makoto gritted his teeth as he focused all of his strength into his legs. It felt like he was carrying a 500 pound object on his back. "Persona Augmentation!" He channeled Cu Chulainn's strength into his legs and slowly got back to upright position.

"Impressive…for a human," Famine complimented. The scales then leveled with each other and the force holding down Makoto suddenly disappeared.

"Is it toying with me? Doesn't matter if it gets me out of here." He leapt into the air and slashed the black horse, but his attacked whiffed in the air when the horse quickly floated higher into the air.

Famine let out a low pitched laugh. "It's a shame you don't have wings."

Makoto grunted and looked up at the Black Rider. "If it stays up there, then I'll have to utilize my Personas." He summoned Titania and Oberon and together they flew up and unleashed a combined wind and thunder attack.

Famine met their attacks by summoning a massive ice block that absorbed the attacks and rained down on the Personas.

Titania and Oberon began moving out of the way, but the ice block suddenly exploded and shattered into pieces. They were subsequently struck by dozens of shards before disappearing.

Makoto gripped his head from the pain while keeping his eye on the Black Rider. "This one is a troublesome opponent too for different reasons." All of a sudden, he felt weak and his stomach started growling violently.

"How does it feel, child?" Famine floated down to Makoto who now had a hand on his stomach. "That feeling of haven't eaten anything for several days?" It placed its face right in front of Makoto so that he could smell the putrid stench coming from it.

Makoto wanted to knocked the Black Rider's face away, but couldn't muster enough energy to do it.

"A country devastated by war will suffer the lack of resources," Famine suddenly said when it pulled away from Makoto. "When food become scarce, the desperation of man will rear his ugly head. Such is the weakness of man in the face of hunger." The Black Rider raised the balance scales and a large portal soon appeared on the ground.

Arising from the portal were beings that appeared to be ghostly remnants of humans who had long died. Their flesh pale and cold. Their eyes full of darkness. The group of undead were composed of various individuals ranging from the elderly to even children.

"Child, if you do nothing, then they will feast on your skin and bones."

The undead made their way over to Makoto and he could only imagine what happened if they got their hands on him.

"It just keeps getting worse." Makoto reached for his katana, but the pain from his stomach was making it difficult for him to move normally. "Then there's no choice." He took his katana and made a cut on his right arm. The stinging pain was enough to take his mind off from his hunger pains. "I'll need to finish them off before I lose too much blood." He readied his katana and looked straight at the undead. "Don't feel guilty. They're no longer humans!"

He drew his blade and struck down a few of the undead. To his surprise though, they began moving much faster and the sheer number of them was overwhelming. Makoto went into overdrive and continued his assault. After striking down about 20 of them, he began to realize the futility of the situation. For every single undead he defeated, two more took its place. The portal remained opened and countless undead were pouring through it without any signs of stopping. "There's no end to them."

When Makoto turned his head to search for Uriel, an undead had managed to grab his arm. Then another grabbed on his other arm and he was soon dragged down to the ground with a few more climbing on top of him. "I have to act fast." He summoned Ose who immediately struck down the undead on top of him. Makoto was able to escape, but the undead grabbed onto Ose and dragged him down instead. Quickly recalling Ose, Makoto next summoned Sati.

"Burn them to ashes!"

Sati summoned a burning ball of fire and threw it down to the undead. The explosion knocked a large number of them away.

Makoto then looked up at the Black Rider. "This won't end until I beat it." With a new plan, Makoto recalled Sati and summoned Cu Chulainn. The Persona lowered his spear and then Makoto jumped on top of it. After planting his feet on it, Cu Chulainn launched Makoto skyward like a rocket. With his hands on the scabbard and grip, he focused his energy.

The sudden launch attack had taken Famine by surprise so it wasn't able to avoid Makoto's quick draw slash when he was within distance.

Makoto thought he tore right through Famine's body, but didn't feel much resistance in the slash attack before Famine disappeared. His body then began falling down to the ground, but Cu Chulainn had caught him in mid-air before he landed.

When Famine reappeared near the ground, Makoto saw that part of its robe was torn.

"Very surprising," Famine said as he placed a hand near the tear. "Maybe there is some truth to what Pestilence had said."

The scales then tipped in one direction causing Makoto to fall straight down to the ground. "Not again." He looked to his side and saw the undead approaching him. After taking a deep breath, he performed Persona Augmentation again and broke free of the force.

"Hmmm." The Black Rider raised the scales and summoned several massive ice blocks.

Using swift footwork, Makoto barely avoided the falling ice blocks, but several shards did pierced his body when the ice shattered on the ground. Ignoring the new pain, Makoto dashed straight at the Black Rider and executed Hakai Seisen. Once again, Famine teleported out of harm's way, but not before receiving some damage from the attack.

From a distant away, Makoto could hear the clashing between the Red Rider and Uriel, but he also heard something groaning near him. He turned toward the sound and that there were about a dozen of undead already closing in on him. "When did they get there?" He gripped his katana tightly and he was now noticeably breathing heavily again. "I don't think I can do this alone."

"And you shall not be alone in this battle!" A familiar woman's voice rang in Makoto's head.

"Who's there?" Makoto looked around and saw another angel with large wings materializing in front of him. It was a beautiful female angel with long light green hair flowing down her back. Like her comrades, she was garbed in shiny steel armor, but in a bluish green color. She also wore a long skirt over legs. In her right hand was a thin yet long steel rod that she used to knock back the undead with a single swing.

The angel then turned to Makoto and smiled. "Finally we meet."

"I've heard your voice before...a few times I think." Makoto recalled hearing a voice right before pulling the train's lever in his second full moon incident. He also recalled a voice just before Raphael made his appearance. The last time was in the love hotel where he fell under some kind of trance. "This'll probably be the fourth time that you've come to my rescue now."

"I'm glad that you've remembered."

Uriel then teleported to their side. "You've made it just in time, Gabriel. The situation has become...problematic."

"I can see that." Gabriel glanced over at Famine and War who had joined up with its brethren.

"Ah, now Archangel Gabriel has graced us with her appearance," Famine said. "I had a feeling you might show up if I did."

"I don't know what you horsemen want with this child, but we will be taking him back," Gabriel said.

"I'll say the same thing to you that I said to Archangel Uriel," War said as he made a gesture with his fingers. "Come and try."

"First, I'll take care of them," Gabriel said while looking at the undead. All of a sudden, they stopped in their tracks and ceased any further movements.

"What did you do?" Makoto asked. Whatever Gabriel did, he couldn't see it.

"She sending messages to their mind and temporarily interfering in their thought process," Uriel replied.

"Now, let us return to business," Gabriel declared and pointed her weapon at the horsemen. "I will leave War to you since you're a better match."

"I agree with the assessment." Uriel took his sword and raised it in front of him. The flames surrounding his sword turned into a bright golden color.

War grinned at the sight and it raised its own blade. The crimson flames turned into black as if to answer Uriel's golden flames.

The two then charged at each other in a head on attack. When their blades collided into each other, a burst of energy exploded and knocked Makoto a few feet away.

Gabriel and Famine remained unfazed by the explosion and stood their ground. The first to act was Famine who materialized a dozen of sharp pieces of ice around Gabriel. With a raise of the scales, the pieces of ice flew towards Gabriel at lightning speed.

However, Gabriel had flown out of harm's way and counterattacked with an energy wave from her weapon.

The scales tipped in one favor causing the wave to fly straight down to the ground instead.

Next, she summoned her own ice blocks and launched them at the Black Rider who countered with its set of ice blocks. The ice attacks collided into each other and shattered. Before the area was clear of the ice, Gabriel flew through the shards and executed several quick strikes to the Black Rider. Each of her attacks were blocked by some kind of mysterious barrier from the horseman.

"You'll have to be quicker than that if you want to break through my defenses," Famine suggested with a laugh.

"Don't think you can keep this up forever," Gabriel replied and continued her assault.

It was clear that she was fast, strong and skilled. About the same level as Raphael is what Makoto thought, but there was a noticeable difference between Uriel and her. Uriel should be able to break through Famine's guard, but Uriel was needed to fend of War who was a much greater threat at close range.

"They'll remain at a stalemate if this continues." Makoto looked down at his hands and felt that he wasn't feeling tired anymore. Even his hunger pains had weakened enough that it was manageable. "I shouldn't be recovering this fast. Then why?" Then he realized how the atmosphere in the room felt different. At first, there was a terrifying pressure that was suffocating to him. He still felt that same pressure, but at the same time, felt some kind of comforted feeling from it. "It'll just be another mystery that I'll never get an answer to."

Regardless of how it happened, he was ready to return to battle because it'll likely fall on him to break the stalemate. For that, he decided to provide support to Gabriel since her battle didn't involve giant explosions.

Famine summoned a dozen of large icicles and launched them at Gabriel who couldn't evade in time.

Instead, she raised her rod to block the attacks.

Famine kept the pressure and summoned even more icicles, but was suddenly struck by Oberon's thunder bolt from behind.

The icicles disappeared and Gabriel took this chance to deliver several blows to the Black Rider's horse and its rider.

Makoto didn't let up either and summoned a new Persona. "Thor!" A burly man wearing a cape, yellow steel armor and a large hammer in his hand appeared alongside Oberon. "Thunder attack!"

The two Personas raised their weapons and unleashed several thunder bolts on the Black Rider who looked like it was stunned from the electric attack.

While Gabriel continued her attack, Makoto entered the fray and landed a jumping sword attack on Famine. He proceeded with a second slash when suddenly, a large greatsword came from somewhere behind Famine and almost sliced Makoto in half. The pressure from the attack was still enough to knocked Makoto away.

"You guys make a surprising good team," War acknowledged. "How about I join in too?"

"And ruin my fun?" Famine asked. It didn't look like it had taken much damage at all.

"We can still make it interesting, right Archangels?"

"It doesn't look like we can separate them any longer," Uriel said with a frown.

Before anybody could say anything else, War suddenly charged at Makoto. The surprised attack left him with no choice, but to block the attack head on with his own blade. Just like before, it wasn't enough to completely stop it as Makoto was continuously pushed back and his balance was getting unstable.

War pulled back its arm and swung again.

This time, Makoto dashed forward and barely avoided the attack by ducking beneath the sword swing. He was now within striking distance of War so he got ready to execute Hayate again, but he was hit by another gravity force.

The Red Rider then swung its blade down at him, but Uriel stepped in front of it and blocked it.

Gabriel created a barrier that shielded them from the ensuing fire twister caused by War's blade.

By now, Makoto had gotten back on his feet, but he immediately noticed Famine's presence close by. "Behind us!" He shouted, but Famine had already fired off several icicles at them so they were wide open to the attack. Even though Makoto's jumped to the side by reflex, he was still struck by a few icicles in his legs, thighs, arms, and even the side of his eye. He let out an agonizing scream when his left eye was punctured by one of the icicles.

The angels glanced over in Makoto's direction, but could not come to his assistance because the two horsemen were starting to put pressure on them.

Makoto remained on the ground while placing both hands on his left eye socket, but it did little to stop the unbearable pain or the blood dripping down his face. His surroundings became dark and hazy and the sounds of combat felt like they were coming from the far distant. His body's energy was draining fast and the thought about closing his eyes and welcome death was growing very tempting. "It would be so easy to just do that."

However, a part of his mind continued to think about the battle and the days to follow. It might be because of that he started reflecting on his battle with Pestilence. "How did I get out of that one? Right, I used a strange power then. How did I use it? I don't really remember."

All of his thoughts had brought his attention elsewhere from his pain and the dire situation. "Maybe if I just concentrated hard enough, then..." He dug deep within and searched for that mysterious power. After seconds had passed, he began to believe the futility of it until he felt it. A warm presence slowly began to take form from within.

"Do you request my power?" A mysterious voice asked.

"Yes," Makoto softly replied.

"Our connection has grown stronger since the last time. It will soon be complete."

"What do you mean?"

"For now, I will grant you temporary use of it."

The warm presence grew stronger, eventually overtook his body and caused an aura of white light to appear. Makoto felt his energy replenishing and his wounds healing even though he still couldn't see through his left eye. There was also a newfound surge of power coursing through his body, threatening to overwhelm him. "My body feels like last time."

The two horsemen and the Archangels took note of the sudden rise in energy and turned all their attention to him.

"So this is what Raphael talked about it," Gabriel said with a hint of awe in her voice. "His potential is surfacing."

"We need to observe closely to get a better understanding of what he can do," Uriel advised. "So far, his power continues to increase and will likely surpass us eventually. It's a gamble, but I suggest we place our faith in him."

Gabriel nodded and the two angels flew away from the immediate area.

Famine chuckled at Makoto who now glowed more brightly than before. "How about we now finish this, brother?"

"I have no complaints," War said as his blade became enveloped in black flames once again. He waved a hand over to his skeleton army who had all recovered and quickly made their way over to Makoto.

Famine raised its scales and Makoto felt another gravity force pushing down on him.

There was a lot more force behind it than the ones he felt previously. Even then, he remained standing firmly in position and raised his blade up, covering the left side of his face.

War swung his sword and manifested another blazing fire twister that blew towards him.

Famine followed up with sending a giant ice block towards him as well as dozens of sharp icicles. The two horsemen charged forward after unleashing their attacks.

At this point, it felt like time had slowed down dramatically for everything except Makoto. Even with only one eye, he could somehow see a faint line that ran through the ice blocks, icicles, skeletons and the two horsemen. His heart continued to beat louder and louder as more time had passed. "Is that the path that Kenshiro-san was talking about? If so, then with this power, it's time to try it. Once again, it's all or nothing." He breathed in and waited for the right moment.

One second passed. Then two seconds. "Now!" Makoto's body propelled forward and moved like a bouncing beam of light. He was followed closely by multiple faint after-images that struck the pieces of ice when he did. After that, he and the after-images traversed the path that continued towards the skeletons and avoided the fiery twister. He struck the wide opened areas on the skeletons' bodies. The final part of the path went through the two horsemen. Makoto struck the horses in their abdomen, sides, legs, and heads. Then, he ended with attacks to War and Famine's arms, torso, abdomen, and neck, never once slowing down his movements.

In what seemed like minutes, only mere seconds had passed when he began traversing down the path so it almost seemed like he had teleported behind the two horsemen in a flash. Before anybody could properly react to what had happened, Makoto unleashed a massive shockwave that flew through everything in the "path." He then raised his scabbard and blade to eye level before beginning to slowly sheath his blade. "Muteki Tenken-ryu, secret technique, Tasogare Tengoku (Twilight Heaven)!" He completely sheathed his blade and hundreds of visible cuts ran through the horsemen's body, ice attacks and skeletons. The energy that was building up from the center of the area then imploded with a blinding white light, scattering pieces of debris and body parts all over.

As soon as the light cleared, Makoto fell to his knees. The bright aura disappeared leaving his body completely drained. "I got nothing left," he muttered.

"Unbelievable," Gabriel murmured under her breath.

"Unbelievable, indeed," War said from somewhere high above.

The Red Rider and the Black Rider then materialized with their robes torn and their horses suffering extensive cuts. Even the red horse's armor was shattered. The two clapped their bony hands as their injuries and robes slowly began recovering.

"We have witnessed the power of his successor," Famine said. "Congratulations. You have impressed us and have passed the trial."

"Finally," Makoto breathed out. His eyelids were now getting heavy.

"Go forth lost child and continue on your path where it will undoubtedly intersect with our own. If you survive until then…that is."

The last thing he saw was the blinding white light that engulfed his surroundings and the horsemen's ominous laughter.

Tuesday August 25, 2009 3:50 A.M. - Rooftop across the Minatodai Dorm

"I assume everything turned out well?" Raphael asked the two Archangels when they returned to the rooftop.

"It was a dangerous battle throughout," Uriel began. "And there were times I wasn't sure the child would get back safely, but he proved himself quite well."

Gabriel leaned over the roof and got a better look at Makoto who was currently sleeping on his bed. "He is full of surprises," she admitted. "More than I'd expected."

"The danger still exists however. The Riders have mentioned a trial." Uriel placed a hand on his chin. "I hope it isn't what I think it is."

"It's clear that the Riders are not serious when they engage the child in battle. If they were, then there's little we could actually do."

Raphael nodded his head. "I know what you mean. Pestilence was definitely going easy on us."

"Even so, there's no guarantee the child would get out alive in the future," Uriel cautioned. "Especially against the last one. When that time comes, we'll need Michael's help."

"I'll let him know," Gabriel said and returned her attention to Makoto. "The end of the Night Queen's trial runs near. But until then, take this chance and rest. You'll need it."

6:30 P.M. - Minatodai Dorm Lounge

"Is Yuki still asleep?" Akihiko asked when Yukari returned to the lounge.

"Yeah, he just won't budge at all," Yukari replied and shook her head.

"Do you think there's something wrong with him?" Fuuka asked. "I don't think this is normal."

"Well...I think I recall him sleeping a whole day before," Junpei said while he scratched his chin. "I think it was several months ago though."

"I seem to remember the same thing," Mitsuru added. "If I recall correctly, he was fine the day after. It's likely the case here too so I suggest leaving without him."

The group was silent for a moment before Fuuka spoke up. "I'll go get changed then." She made her way upstairs and Yukari and Mitsuru began following after her.

"Come on Aigis, I'll help you get dressed," Yukari called from the staircase.

"That will be most helpful," Aigis said before following after the girls.

Akihiko went over to the sofa and sat down. "You're going in that?" He eyed Junpei's clothes which consisted of a black tank-top, shorts and tennis shoes. Akihiko was wearing vanilla khakis, a t-shirt and brown loafers.

"Yeah. It's too hot anyway to look good." He fanned himself with a magazine. "Can't say I envy the girls."

"But what do you think happened to Yuki-san?" Ken suddenly asked. He was dressed in his usual t-shirt, shorts and sneakers. "Doesn't he usually get up early?"

Akihiko rubbed his shoulders and cracked his neck. "It's just like what Mitsuru said. He'll be fine. It might be because he overworked himself in his training."

"Oh yeah, he did mention something like that yesterday," Junpei said. "Did he say something to you, Sanada-senpai?"

"We actually trained together actually. He didn't say much about it so I just thought it was just his usual training regime."

The conversation ended there and each of them began occupying themselves with something else. Several minutes later, the girls returned to the lounge.

"Okay, we're ready," Yukari announced. She was wearing a yukata with a pink and white pattern that included several flowers.

"Whoa...Yuka-tan..." Junpei's eyes grew wide and his mouth hung partially opened.

"Uh...I feel like this happened before...not too long ago actually," Fuuka commented with a light awkward laugh. Her yukata was blue with several sunflowers.

"Really?" Mitsuru asked, not sounded particularly interested. "Let's head out." She was wearing a light purple yukata with purple flowers.

"It's been a long time since I've seen Mitsuru tie her hair up," Akihiko said and nodded his head in approval.

"Wow Aigis-san, you look great!" Ken said when Aigis came into view.

She was wearing a blue yukata with white flowers. "It is thanks to Yukari-san for providing helpful assistance. However, I do not understand why we need to wear these yukatas."

"It's because it's summer," Yukari replied. "It tradition for women to wear these for summer festivals."

"Yukatas are clothing for summer festivals. I comprehend."

Ken laughed at Aigis' statement. "Aigis-san is funny as always."

"Alright, I'm suddenly fired up," Junpei shouted. "Let's go!" He nudged Fuuka and Aigis towards the door with the remaining members following after them.

7:00 P.M.

The summer festival was held at the Naganaki Shrine so it didn't take long for the dormmates to arrive. After climbing the stairs, they saw the shrine lined up with various stalls, most of which sold food. Circular red and white lanterns made of paper were hung above the stalls and provided most of the light for the festival. As expected, there were countless people attending the shrine. Many were with family while others were with friends or their romantic partner.

"So what should we do first?" Junpei asked. "We have food, games, and various booths with merchandise."

"I'll go and pick up some food," Akihiko decided. The smell is making my stomach rumble.

"I'll come with you, Sanada-san," Ken said and quickly ran over to Akihiko at the food stand.

"Now that you mention it, I'm feeling hungry too." Junpei placed a hand on his stomach. "I did have a light lunch after all. Come on boy, let's get you something to eat too."

Koromaru barked in response and followed after Junpei.

"What is that?" Aigis pointed to a stand selling various masks. Most of them were animal themed.

"It's called a mask," Mitsuru explained. "You wear it over your face and uh...have fun with it."

"Hiding your face is fun?" Aigis tilted her head to the side.

"The purpose is not to hide your face. Rather, you wear it to have a different face." Mitsuru placed a hand on her chin. "Hmm, it's actually difficult to explain after all."

"You try to be someone else by wearing a different face?"

Mitsuru's eyes lit up. "Exactly. Your degree of comprehension is simply amazing. At this rate, the Chairman may give you permission to go out by yourself."

"I am looking forward to that."

"Is that true?" Fuuka asked. "Do you think it's a good idea to do that?" She asked Yukari.

"Hmm..." Yukari recalled their time guiding Aigis throughout city. "Maybe?" She didn't sound very convincing.

"She does show improvement from when we first came to know her," Mitsuru added. "I believe it will eventually be fine."

"It is necessary that I can move around freely if I were to protect, Makoto-san," Aigis said.

"There she goes again about Makoto-kun." Much like the other girls, Yukari no longer paid much attention to Aigis' unusual overprotective nature when it came to Makoto. "Speaking of Makoto-kun." She looked in the direction of their dorm before turning back to the girls. "You guys go on ahead. I'll check on Makoto-kun one more time." She quickly left before she heard their responses.

7:15 P.M. - Minatodai Dorm

Yukari knocked on Makoto's door. "Hey, are you awake?" A few seconds passed and all she heard was silence. "Excuse me," she whispered and turned the doorknob. The door slowly opened and she quietly stepped inside.

Makoto laid on his bed with half of the blanket covering his body. The other half was hanging over the side of the bed and touching the ground. There doesn't seem to be any signs of him waking up despite her intrusion.

She shook his forearm a few times, but he still remained asleep. His mouth slowly opened and closed and there was a look of content and peace in his face as if he didn't have a care in the world. "For some reason, I feel like smacking you."

She raised her hand, but instead of smacking him, she slowly reached for the hair strands that covered part of his eye. When she was mere inches away, her hand froze in mid-air. "Wait, just what was I about to do?" Her cheeks flushed red and then she heard Makoto stirring before his eye shot opened. "Wha-!" Her cheeks grew even redder at this point.

The first thing Makoto saw when he opened his eyes was Yukari with an embarrassed expression on her face. She was also wearing a yukata.

"...Is this a dream?" He asked in a sleepy tone.

"N-No, it's not." Yukari took a few steps back to increase the distance between them.

Makoto slowly looked around his room and saw that it was past 7 in the evening. "It's already this late?"

"Yeah, I've been meaning to tell you. Anyway, there's the summer festival going on at the shrine if you remember. Everybody's there right now so you should come too."

"Summer festival? Ah...okay. I'll be there."

"Good," she smiled. "I'll meet you downstairs."

After she left the room, Makoto began recalling the battle with the two horsemen. "Now...was that a dream?" He quickly touched his left eye and was relieved to feel something there. "It's just like last time then." He fell back on his bed and looked at the ceiling. There was a lot that had happened in that one battle. The two Riders, the two Archangels, and executing Tasogare Tengoku. He didn't think he'd be able to pull of one of the secret techniques so soon, but he also didn't think that he would be able to do it again any time soon either. The energy requirement was beyond him.

"But that power again," he murmured, eluding to the mysterious power that allowed him to exceed his strength and speed dramatically. Even after searching within again, he couldn't find any trace of it so it'll have to remain a mystery along with the other countless mysteries that are in his life.

His stomach's growling shook him out of his thoughts and he looked at the clock again. "Guess I'll get changed for the festival."

After a few minutes, Makoto walked downstairs wearing just a simple blue and white t-shirt, shorts, and sandals.

Yukari looked up from her magazine when she saw Makoto. "Ready?"

"Yeah, let's go."

The two left the dorm and made their way to the shrine. Along the way, the two didn't exchange much words. Makoto was partly distracted by last night's events so he didn't realize if the atmosphere between them was awkward or not. When he glanced over at Yukari, he spoke his first words since leaving the dorm.

"You look nice in that yukata." His seemingly innocuous words took Yukari by surprise, but she didn't seem particularly affected by them. Instead, she just made a grin on her face and moved closer to him.

"Hmmm, is that flattery I hear from you?" She asked in a mischievous tone.

Makoto stopped in his tracks and looked into her eyes. "Well, it's the truth," he calmly replied. His words this time had caused her to blush.

"Oh...t-thanks," she murmured and then quickly walked ahead of him.

He watched her go on ahead and couldn't help, but smile at her actions.

When they got to the shrine at the top of the stairs, Yukari began looking around. "Where is everyone? And I think it got more crowded compared to a few minutes ago." She reached into her small drawstring bag and her eyes suddenly grew very wide. "AH! I forgot my cellphone. What about you?"

He reached into his pockets and pulled out a wallet. "Me too." He shook his head and realized he must've still felt tired to forget about it.

"It looks like we have no choice, but to look for them ourselves," she decided with a frown.

Makoto then noticed a pleasant and enticing smell nearby. He traced the scent with his nose and saw a takoyaki stand a bit further in. His stomach growled and his mouth began to water, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since the night before. "Did you eat, yet?"

"Huh? No, not yet actually."

"Why don't we get some food for now? They're selling takoyaki over there." He motioned to the stand that now had only one other customer in line.

"Well...alright. Who knows how long it'll take before we get in touch with the others. But, you really do like takoyaki, huh." She grinned and continued, "I remembered you asked me for some when you were in the hospital."

"Yeah. I used to eat it a lot while in Sapporo. Nearly everyday actually."

"Wow, that's kinda excessive."

"I guess it is," he replied with a shrug as if he wasn't bothered by it at all.

The two got in line and ordered two sets of takoyakis. They watched the cook perform his magic by skillfully flipping the takoyakis and applying some of the colorful special sauce on them. Their stomachs loudly rumbled at the sight, much to the great amusement of the cook. The two looked at each other and let out a good laugh.

"You know, I think you've changed," Yukari said after she calmed down.

"Did I?" Makoto pondered at the thought.

"Yeah. I'm not really sure if it's by a whole lot, but there's definitely some subtle changes. Like, you felt really distant before and kind of withdrawn, but now, you're opening up to the people around you."

Makoto remained quiet for a significant amount of time as he thought about it.

"I-It's not like I've been paying particular attention to you or anything," she quickly said while frantically flailing her hands.

Flashes of images entered Makoto's head as he recalled back when he first moved to the dorm and his new life at Iwatodai. "Yeah, something does feel different." His attention returned and he looked at Yukari who was saying something incoherent. "What was that?"

She looked confused by his question at first. "You didn't hear what I just said?"

Makoto furrowed his eyebrows. "I think the last thing I heard was something about opening up."

Her eyes grew wide and then a look of relief appeared on her face. "Is that right? Well, it's nothing. Anyway, it looks like our food is ready."

The cook handed them each a tray of colorful round octopus balls and toothpicks.

Makoto blew on one of them and then put the whole thing in his mouth. He slowly chewed on it with a full mouth while Yukari looked at him with a shocked expression.

"How can you eat it whole?" She asked in amazement.

"I'm used to it," he replied after swallowing it. "There was also somebody who challenged me to takoyaki races too," he added as an afterthought.

"I don't know if I should be surprised at anything you do anymore," she admitted and began blowing on one of the takoyaki. When she was about to take a bite out of it, it fell off her toothpick and towards the ground.

With his quick reaction, he poked the takoyaki in mid-air with his toothpick and gave it back to her. "Safe."

"I should've expected it," she said with a grin before finally taking a bite out of the almost fallen takoyaki.

They spent the next few minutes eating takoyaki although Makoto had finished much sooner.

Yukari looked around the shrine again and even squinted her eyes. "Still no sign of them."

"Let's keep moving then," Makoto suggested.

Yukari agreed and they began walking down one aisle. Before they even walked very far, Yukari tugged on Makoto's sleeve and pointed to the booth with various objects lining the shelves and pellet guns laying at the front. "Let's stop there for a bit."

"Is there something specific you want here?" He asked.

"Not really. I just want to get some practice in."

"Practice? With what?"

"When festivals come into town, I usually mess around with these games to help improve my archery. It's not exactly the same, but I think it does helps." She paid for a few set of rounds and then took the gun in her hand. None of the prizes seem to have caught her eye, but she decided to aim for the one furthest to her left. She propped her right elbow down on the booth and leaned her body towards the prize.

"She has excellent posture," the booth owner whispered to Makoto.

"Well, she has been practicing archery for a while now," Makoto replied before they heard a pop and a pellet flying straight at the teddy bear on the left.

A second later, the teddy bear swayed backwards and then eventually dropped over the shelf.

"Congratulations, we have a winner!" The booth owner announced and then handed the teddy bear to Yukari.

"Thanks," she said and then got ready to fire the next shot. After going through the same motions as her first shot, she knocked down the next prize. Continuing until she ran out of rounds, she eventually acquired all of the prizes on the shelf.

"That was amazing, onee-san," a little girl said, clapping her hands. She was joined by a few of her friends who all stood around Yukari and Makoto.

The booth owner sighed and shook his head. "You're going to put me out of business here."

"Sorry," she said with an apologetic smile and pushed most of the prizes towards the booth owner. "You can take these back."

"You don't have to, but if you insist..." The booth owner began returning some of the prizes back on the shelf.

"And as for these..." Yukari handed over the remaining prizes over to the little girl and her friends. "You guys can have these."

"Thank you, onee-san," the children all said in unison.

Yukari waved at the children before walking away with Makoto.

"As expected of a skilled archer," he praised.

"Thanks," she said, looking a little embarrassed by the compliment. "You might be surprised to know that I was terrible when I first started it. I've gotten really good at it over the years though. What about your swordsmanship?"

Makoto remained quiet for a few seconds and didn't immediately answer her question. "Uh..."

She laughed and said, "I didn't think so."

The two continued walking and then bumped into some familiar faces.

"Oh hey, Makoto-kun and Takeba-san," Yuko greeted. She was wearing a dark blue yukata. "We didn't expect to meet you guys here."

"Hey, man," Kazushi greeted with a wave. His outfit was pretty plain, but quite common amongst the young men at the shrine which consisted of shorts and a t-shirt.

Makoto looked at Yuko and then at Kazushi. Without saying anything, he just made a thumbs up.

"H-Hey, it's not like that," Kazushi said, looking flustered at the implication. "And what about you?"

Makoto glanced over at Yukari who was now having a chat with Yuko out of ear shot. He then shrugged in response.

"Anyway, it's good to see you guys, but we'll be on our way," Yuko announced. "Come on Kazushi, let's go."

"Y-Yeah, right behind you." Kazushi ran after Yuko who had quickly disappeared into the crowd.

"I didn't expect to meet anyone from school here," Yukari admitted after the two had left. "Wonder if we'll run into anyone else." As if answering her question, they next bumped into Ken and Maiko who were hunched over a booth with countless small goldfishes in water.

Ken swiped the water with his poi, but came up empty as well as a torn poi. "Ah man, not again." He set the poi down and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Keep it up, Ken-chan, you can do it," Maiko cheered by his side.

"So this is where you were, Ken-kun," Yukari called out. "Where are the others?"

"Ah, Takeba-san," Ken said after turning around. "I'm not sure. Some of them are either still around or had left already."

"I see." Yukari then turned to Maiko. "It's been a while. I didn't think you guys knew each other."

"Ken-chan used to live in my neighborhood," she explained with a face full of smiles.

"No need for chan," Ken mumbled.

"So I take it Ken-kun is having trouble catching goldfishes?" Yukari asked.

"That's right, Yukari-oneechan," Maiko confirmed. "I'd like to get one, but we're both terrible at this."

"Then let me try." Yukari rolled up her sleeves and paid for several sets of poi. After trying a few times, she too also came up short. "This is still as hard as I remembered it," she said, looking at the hole in her poi. "Makoto-kun, you're our only hope now." She handed Makoto her remaining poi.

"Don't hold your breath," Makoto warned and took his spot in front of the goldfishes. He spent the next minute tracking several goldfishes with his eyes. The goldfishes darted back and forth without any set pattern, but that didn't stop Makoto from raising his poi. Then, in one smooth controlled motion, he scooped up a goldfish into his poi and then dropped it into a cup. "Got it."

"Wow, amazing Makoto-niichan," Maiko said while clapping her hands.

The booth owner placed the goldfish into a clear paper bag with water and handed it to Makoto who then gave it to Maiko.

"Thank you," Maiko said as she watched in delight at the goldfish swimming in the bag.

"How did you do that?" Ken asked.

"I just carefully observed the goldfish's movements and then predicted its path," Makoto explained. "After that, I just went one step ahead of it and slowly scooped it up so that the paper won't tear. It's a lot like swordsmanship, actually."

"Really?" Ken looked down and pondered over Makoto's words. When he raised his head, a look of determination appeared on his face. "Okay, I won't lose either." He paid for a few more sets of poi and started observing the goldfishes. "I'll get one for Maiko-chan, too," he mumbled under his breath.

Yukari tapped Makoto's shoulders and whispered, "Let's leave these two alone."

"Alright," Makoto replied and they both continued down the aisle.

From there, they went through most of the shrine and visited various booths. They ate a number of food and played a few more games in between. Strangely enough, they didn't run into anyone else from the dorm. Eventually, they decided to take a break at a bench that sat a few feet away from the main booths.

"You know, it's been pretty fun," Yukari said with a satisfied look on her face. "It reminded me of our last day in Yakushima."

"Yeah, I had fun too," Makoto agreed. "It also reminded me of Sapporo."

"You went to a lot of festivals in Sapporo?"

"Pretty much. I think I was dragged to them though."

Yukari laughed and then looked up at the starry night sky. "I was able to forget about some of my worries too."

"What kind of worries?"

She remained silent for a moment before replying in a melancholy tone. "I got a message from my mom a few days ago. She somehow found about the archery club participating in the national competition so she said congratulations."

"...Isn't that good?" Makoto furrowed his eyebrows.

"She also said that she wants to meet up soon."

Makoto suddenly recalled the talk they had in the hospital after his awakening. "Didn't you say that you weren't on good terms with your mom?"

"Yeah, and we still aren't. But it isn't just that. If we met up, then I'll have to mention what we've learned about my dad."

"Right, he caused the explosion in the facility."

"What do you think I should do?" She asked, looking directly into his eyes.

"I'm not sure...but you should at least talk to her eventually," he replied while rubbing the back of his neck.

She lightly nodded her head and went back to looking straight ahead. "Yeah, that's pretty obvious."

"If I can do whatever to help, then let me know."

She quietly nodded her head in response.

Afterwards, they remained quiet for what felt like several minutes. Makoto closed his eyes and drowned himself in the laughter and joyous conversations from the many shrine visitors. "If only we too were as carefree as them."

"Thanks for being here with me," she whispered. "And not just now, but since the beginning."

Makoto just stared at her because he became at a lost for words. He wasn't sure how he should respond to what she just said.

Yukari smiled when she saw Makoto's reaction. "I'm not sure you realized this, but this whole Shadows and Persona business has often made me uneasy. There's just so many questions about what's going on and what's going to happen in the future. But when things got difficult, you were always there to make it better...Since that first time on the rooftop. I'm not sure when it began, but your mere presence eventually became very comforting to me."

Makoto's eyes grew wide and his mouth hung slightly ajar.

Again, Yukari laughed at his response. "I wondered if I ingested something alcoholic which is making me say more than I originally planned on, but...I don't think I care anymore," she whispered and began leaning her head toward Makoto, her eyes closed shut.

His heart began beating wildly as he realized what Yukari was planning on doing. Her soft pink lips were slowly getting closer and closer. The situation was similar to what he recalled from the love hotel incident. "But this time, there's nobody controlling our minds." Just when he felt his own lips drawing towards her, she suddenly opened her eyes and pulled her head back.

"Sorry, I don't want to be skipping any steps." She cleared her throat and said, "I like you…a lot actually. Probably for a long time now. What about you?"

Makoto was visibly stunned by her confession and all he could do was look at her with wide opened eyes. "Uh…I…"

She smiled and stood up. "You don't have to give me an answer right now. Just think about it, okay? And I think I had my fill of fun for a day so I'll head back to the dorm." Without waiting for any further response from him, she walked away and Makoto followed her every step with his eyes.

When she was out of sight, he heard sudden movements in the nearby bushes and then it was gone.

"What just happened?" He asked out loud. Of course, nobody gave him an answer.

8:00 P.M. – Minatodai Dorm Lounge

After Makoto had recovered enough from his shock, he returned to the dorm. There, he saw Fuuka, Aigis, Mitsuru, Ken and Akihiko all relaxing on the lounge.

"Hey, there you are," Fuuka greeted. "You were with Yukari-chan, right?"

"Yeah."

"Did you see Iori too?" Akihiko asked. "He disappeared after a while so I thought he joined up with you guys."

"I didn't see him."

"Is that right?" Akihiko accepted the answer and returned to his magazine.

Makoto then returned to his room and fell face down to his bed, thinking about what Yukari last told him. He then recalled the first time they met and all of their subsequent interactions from there including the time at the hospital, at Yakushima, at school, and even at the dorm.

"What do I want?" He whispered and continued to mull over the situation.

Wednesday August 26, 2009 – 9:30 A.M. – Makoto's Room

At some point, Makoto fell asleep after continuing to mull over last night's events for several hours. He was woken up from a familiar ring that he eventually realized had come from his phone. After letting out a groan, he rolled to his side and saw that morning had arrived based on the warm rays shining through his window. It was very tempting to just lie where he was and sleep throughout the day, but he knew that wouldn't solve anything. He let out a long sigh and then reached for his phone.

Several years ago - Gekkoukan Junior High

It was supposed to be the start of a new life for Junpei. New city, new school and new people to meet, but why did he feel low in spirits? Maybe it's the fact that he's still living with his dad and his problems still remain despite the move.

He sighed and made his way to his classroom. He didn't know much about Gekkoukan Junior High, but it was clear that a lot of money was spent on its construction and design. The area was much more spacious than his old school and if his eyes weren't deceiving him, much shinier too.

"Okay, my new life begins now," he thought. "I'll make some new friends and even get a hot girlfriend too." He grinned at the thought.

"Hey, what's up?" He greeted to a passing student who just gave him one look and then continued on his way. "Huh? That didn't turn out as well as I'd thought. Maybe he's just the shy type."

While continuing down the corridor, he greeted everyone he made eye contact with, but

they all ignored him too. Once he got to his classroom, he was exhausted and depressed at what happened. "I thought this was a friendly place," he muttered and entered the classroom.

There were already a few students inside with none of them were familiar to him as expected. He thought about saying something to them, but they were all in small groups which made it difficult to approach them.

"Oh yeah, I forgot transfer students all have to deal with this."

As if dragging his feet, he made his way to the front podium where the current seating chart was posted.

"Let's see..." He ran a finger through the chart and found his name. "Yes, a seat by the window and it's in the back too." His mood had lightened up quite a bit from that so he had a wide smile on his face and he even felt like letting out a hum. He was so distracted by having the window seat in the back that he almost didn't noticed a person's feet blocking part of the aisle.

"Whoa, that's a close one," he murmured as he avoided the feet. "You should-" He was about to admonish the person, but for whatever reason, something about her had caught his attention and held onto it for a long time. She appeared pretty with her stylish shoulder length shiny brown hair, slender fingers, and smooth skin. That was all he saw at first since she was looking outside the window absentmindedly and most of her face was angled away from him.

He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out so he just remained there and continued to watch the girl.

Eventually, the girl noticed his presence and turned around to face him. She was definitely attractive now that he saw her entire face. She had clear brown eyes and beautiful pink lips. The thought of her smiling made his heart skip a beat and something began stirring inside him. However, she was actually frowning and didn't look too happy about his presence.

"Can I help you?" She asked with a hint of irritation in her voice.

"Uh…I just wanted to say hi," he quickly replied. "Seems like we'll be seat neighbors for the term." He pointed to the seat behind her.

"I see…" She looked at his face and then appeared to have thought of something. "Are you a transfer student? I don't think I've seen you before."

"Actually, I am," he replied with a grin. "I hope that I'll be able to make a lot of friends here including you." He held a hand out to her. "I'm Junpei Iori, but just call me Junpei.

"Yukari Takeba." There wasn't much enthusiasm in her voice when she shook his hand.

"Yukari Takeba, huh...Mind if I call you Yuka-tan."

"Actually, I do-"

"So what were you looking at, Yuka-tan?" Junpei peered through the window and saw some students in baseball uniforms playing a game of catch. "Don't tell me you like someone from the baseball team?" A wide grin appeared on his face, but it quickly disappeared when he saw something like a blush appearing on her face for a moment. Then, he felt a dull pain in his chest.

"No, it's not like that," she quietly said as she looked outside the window again.

Before he could say anything else, the homeroom teacher entered the room so he sat down on his seat. While the opening introductions were made, he continued to watch the brunette from behind and recalled her eyes. There was something about her eyes that reminded him of his own. "She's probably just like me. I wonder what kind of problem is she dealing with? It's like she's a kindred spirit."

From that day on, Junpei would continue to talk with Yukari everyday. Being the first to strike up conversations and trying to grow closer to her. Thinking that her first love was someone who played baseball or something, he ended up joining the school's baseball team. It wasn't really difficult for him to make the rotation since he did play baseball quite often in elementary school.

Despite that and his many conversations with her, the distance between them never grew much shorter, to his disappointment. There was a wall that surrounded her that he couldn't break through. In the end, all he could really do was simply watch her...for a long time. That would continue until after they graduated and became classmates for another two years in high school. It's because of that he was able to easily notice her newfound attraction.

9:50 A.M.

"So this is what it feels like to have a broken heart," Junpei muttered while he looked out at the sea, gently clutching his chest. This morning, he woke up unusually early for a summer day and went past Port Island Station until he reached the piers at the end. As expected, there were barely anyone around other than a few fishermen in small boats.

He let out a heavy sigh. "I never had much of a chance, did I?" He frowned at his own question and recalled all of his memories of Yukari. From an outside perspective, these memories probably weren't considered special, but for him, they were something that he'll treasure for a long time.

When he was done with his recollection, a tear rolled down his face. "Huh? Geez, I can't let this get me down." He wiped away his tear with the back of his hand. "It'd be easier if I could hate him, but I don't think I can. I can't be jealous of him anymore. I know he's a good guy and...he could make her happy in the end."

He took a deep breath and tried to calm his mind before pulling out his wallet. In it were two identical pictures of Yukari. They were candid photos of her just right before she was about to sneeze, her mouth wide opened and her eyes completely shut. Every time he would feel depress, he would take a look at the photo and a smile or grin would always form on his face. "I guess I should move on, right?" He took one of the photos and prepared to rip it in half. The simple act was proving much more difficult than he thought. It took him several attempts before he actually was able to start ripping the picture.

After shredding the picture into many pieces, the remnants dispersed into the wind and then across the sea leaving him with a heavy heart. For the next few minutes, he continued to look out at the sea and listened to the seagulls squawking. "Are you guys telling me that there are more fish in the sea? If that's how it is, then I hope my next one will give me a happy ending." His lips curled into a grin as he started feeling uplifted. That was when he heard somebody approaching him from behind.

"So you're here," Junpei said and then turned around. He was smiling and didn't appeared to be bothered by anything at all.

When Makoto saw Junpei's message to come meet him at the pier, he wasn't sure what to think, although he had an idea of what it could be about. However, after seeing Junpei's face, he didn't think it would be as unpleasant as he'd expected. "So...did something happen?"

"Funny you should say that since that was what I should be asking you." Junpei didn't show any hostility and continued to smile.

A few seconds passed before Makoto replied. "You heard what she said, yesterday?" It was more of a confirmation rather than a question.

"Yeahhhh, I did," Junpei said with a laugh and rubbed the back of his neck. "I was just walking by when I saw you guys over at that bench. I didn't mean to eavesdrop though since it just kind of happened. But man, to think Yuka-tan would end up liking someone. I've known her for several years already and she's pretty much turned down every guy that asked her out. Congrats, man. So what's your reply going to be?"

Junpei's question took him a bit by surprised so he was silent for a moment. "I don't know yet," Makoto finally replied, now looking out at the ocean as if searching for an answer out there.

"Really? Why?" Junpei's eyebrows rose up in confusion. "You like her too, right?" This time, Makoto didn't even say anything in response so Junpei shook his head and continued. "You should go for it…I think it'd be better for both of you guys."

Makoto's eyes grew wide. "You're…okay with this?"

"Okay?" Junpei furrowed his eyebrows. "Why are you suddenly talking about me? Anyway…" He placed an arm around Makoto's shoulders. "Just listen to your heart and take action. Don't overcomplicate things." He then suddenly slipped something into Makoto's pocket. "Here's a present for you. Trust me, you'll thank me later. That's all I wanted to talk about."

After getting pushed forward, Makoto began walking back to the dorm. Before he left the area however, he looked back and saw Junpei with a grin on his face, slowly waving his hand.

Without much of a destination in mind, Makoto just continued walking until he somehow ended up on the roof of the dorm. It hadn't become very hot yet so the breeze that blew around him felt pleasant to his face and arms. "What should I do? No, what do I want to do?" This thought had filled his head since last evening and still remained throughout. He knew what his feelings were telling him to do, but he still wondered if that was something he really wanted.

After a considerable amount of time had went by, he suddenly remembered the thing that Junpei gave him earlier. He took it out and immediately burst out laughing. It even brought some tears to his eyes. Then, he fell down to the ground and took out his cell phone.

Several minutes went by before Makoto noticed the rooftop door open and then Yukari appearing through it.

She was walking towards him with a very subtle, but still noticeable, unsteady gait. "So…I guess this is about yesterday?"

Makoto nodded his head and didn't say anything further.

"Hey, say something already." There was a mix of impatience and nervousness in her voice.

"Ah, sorry," Makoto said with an apologetic face. "I was just thinking." He looked at a spot on the other side of the roof. "This is where it pretty much began, huh?"

"Began…?" Yukari furrowed her eyebrows and followed his gaze. "Oh right. This is where we had that large Shadow attack. It's been only a few months since then, but it feels nostalgic for some reason." She smiled at the thought and had gotten over the nerves she just had.

"It was the same way for me too, you know," he said while he looked at her smile. "You said I was always there for you, but it was the same way for me," he repeated in a louder voice.

"What?"

"When I moved here, I was nothing. I didn't care about anything anymore…at least I try to so that I could forget about that incident. Then, when I awakened to my Persona powers and learned about the Shadows, I sometimes felt like running away from these new problems too. But, I didn't." He turned and faced Yukari. "It's because you were there. I didn't think I could trust anyone here at first, but with you, I didn't have to second guess myself."

Yukari's mouth parted a bit, but then closed when no words came out. It was as if she was struggling to say something in response, but just couldn't.

"I do appreciate you being there for me whenever something comes up," he continued. "Like with kendo and even with last month's incident. With that being said, I'm bothered by your feelings towards me."

"Bothered?" She quietly repeated. "Ah…I see. Of course it is. Then, let's just forget about all of this and go back to being friends, okay?" She quickly turned around and he could see her eyes getting teary."

"Wait!" He called out, freezing her in her tracks. "I didn't finish."

She turned around and appeared confused with what was going to happen next.

"The reason I'm bothered by it, is because this is all new to me. For a long time, I've felt like an incomplete person. I lost everything and then gained a few things, but ended up losing them too. Now, it seems like I've gotten them back plus more, but will this last? Can I make someone happy?" He looked up at the sky and reflected on his situation.

"Of course you can…stupid," Yukari muttered. She took a large step towards him so that they were within inches of each other. "Just because you had issues and circumstances that you had to deal with doesn't mean you can't make someone happy. If you think it's all on you, then you're mistaken. I'll be there too. I know I have my own issues to deal with and we are both troubled people, but I know that together, we can make each other happy."

Makoto looked into her eyes filled with tears and anger. "Yeah, that's what I think too," he agreed with a smile.

"…What?"

"I like you too," he said in a quiet voice and then wrapped his arms around her, embracing her tightly. "There's probably a lot of problems that we still need to deal with in the future, but why don't we start somewhere and deal with them together?"

The anger in her eyes disappeared when she realized what he actually said and was then replaced with great embarrassment and some relief. It was probably only the third time that the two were in such close contact and the scene was reminiscent of their time in Yakushima during the first day. Also like that day, they found themselves slowly drawing to each other. With eyes closed, there were no more words needed between the two after they confirmed their feelings.

Then, their lips touched and they exchanged a deep kiss that was long overdue from Yakushima and a continuation of the one in the love hotel. This time though, there was nobody controlling their emotions. They were driven only by their feelings and desires.

After their lips slowly parted, Makoto gazed at Yukari's flushed face which made his heart skip a beat. They continued to look into each other's eyes and once again, felt drawn to each other. Without voicing their thoughts, they exchanged several more kisses afterwards. It was an intense display of their feelings that left them feeling exhausted and panting heavily when they were done.

"Let's...take a break," Yukari requested in a sheepish manner.

"Okay," he replied with a small smile.

They then sat down next to each other with a wall to their backs as they admired the beautiful blue sky. There was a serene and peaceful atmosphere between them that Makoto wouldn't mind experiencing for the whole day.

"What do you think of Junpei?" Makoto suddenly asked.

Yukari's eyes grew wide with confusion. "Why are you talking about Junpei?" When she saw the serious expression on Makoto's face, she ceased her inquiry and instead, started carefully thinking about her response. "Well, I think he can be pretty annoying," she finally admitted. "There's a lot of things he does that just rubs me the wrong way." A look of vexation appeared on her face before it became noticeably lighter. "But! He's a pretty good guy and despite what he says or does, his heart is in the right place."

Makoto slightly nodded his head. "Yeah, I think so too," he agreed, thinking about the picture in his pocket.

"Hey, I'm going to call you Makoto, from now on, okay? There's no need for honorifics anymore, right?"

"Go ahead. And I'll call you...Yukari-cchi?"

"How about no?" She replied with narrow eyes. "Try again."

Makoto furrowed his eyebrows. "Yuka-tan?"

"Now you're just messing with me," she said with a wide grin before playfully knocking him in the head with her fist.

After that, nobody said anything else and all they did was share a moment of silent peace.

2:14 P.M.

Akihiko walked over to Mitsuru who waited at a small outside table with a large umbrella in the center that provided much needed shade. They were at a popular cafe that was within an area filled with other similar establishments.

"And this is for you," Akihiko said as he handed over a red popsicle.

"Thanks," she said before taking the popsicle and began licking it.

"I still don't know why you lick popsicles like that," he commented with narrowed eyes. "It is pretty lewd, you know?"

"L-Lewd?" Mitsuru slammed her palm onto the table and almost stood up until she noticed several people watching her. "This is just how I normally eat it," she said in a quieter voice.

"I know," he replied with a smirk. "That's just how it looks like. Not only to me, but for other guys as well." He motioned to a young man of similar age with his mouth slightly gaping open.

"T-Then how should I be eating it?" Her face was now tinged red with embarrassment.

"You could try this." Akihiko began showing her how he ate his popsicle and Mitsuru followed suit.

After they were done, Mitsuru brought up the reason for their meeting.

"How's it going with Aragaki?"

"Not good. It's pretty much like before. He's not willing to budge on his decision. It

doesn't seem like he'll return to us." He frowned as he watched a few children ran past their table.

"I see. Well, it would be great if he can assist us, but I don't know if it would be such a good idea knowing that he's here."

Akihiko suddenly grew alarmed at her words. "Don't tell me the chairman has made the decision already?"

Mitsuru frowned and nodded. "Amada has been with us for over a month now and that is sufficient time for the chairman to conclude if he has the potential."

"Let me guess, he does have the potential." He sat back in his chair and crossed his arms.

"The chairman said he awakened to his Persona recently, but I don't have the specific time. Now he wants Amada to join us. I believe he'll make the official announcement very soon to the others."

Akihiko shook his head disappointedly. "I can't believe the chairman wants him to join us. He's only ten! He's too young to be risking his life and not to mention that incident too. I was skeptical at first since there wasn't any guarantee that he has the potential, but now that it came to this...I just can't accept it."

"I know," Mitsuru simply replied to Akihiko's heated thoughts. "I've been fighting with the chairman on this since day 1, but he's just going to do it regardless. While we are in need of members, we can't just be having every person with the potential joining us."

Akihiko sighed heavily. "I'll talk to him too. Hopefully, this will change his mind."

Friday August 28, 2009 10:00 A.M. - Makoto's Room

Makoto was watching a television show when he suddenly heard a knock on his door. When he opened the door, he saw Mitsuru with a grave expression on her face.

"Good morning. The chairman will be here tonight so we'll meet on the 4th floor as usual."

"Okay."

She nodded and abruptly left as quickly as she arrived.

Their meetings with the chairman usually bring good things, but judging by her face, it didn't seem like that will be the case now.

"Hopefully, it's not about me."

7:00 P.M. - 4th Floor Meeting Room

"Hey, do you know what's going on?" Yukari leaned towards Makoto and whispered in his ear.

Makoto only shook his head and looked at the others.

There was a heavy unknown tension that filled the entire room causing the others to refrain from uttering a word once they got to the room. The unhappy expressions on Mitsuru and Akihiko's faces didn't seem to welcome any discussions.

"Do you think it's bad news?" Junpei whispered back, seemingly having overheard Yukari's question.

"I hope not," Yukari replied glumly. "Seems like we've been dealing with a lot of things recently." It looked like she wanted to say more, but she was interrupted by the door opening.

"Good, you're all here," Ikutsuki said after he did a quick scan of the room. He then turned back to the door. "Please come in."

To Makoto and most of the others' surprise, Ken followed from behind Ikutsuki and entered the room. "Sorry to interrupt, everyone." He made a light bow and remained standing next to Ikutsuki.

They all then heard Akihiko loudly clicked his tongue as if he was irritated by Ken's appearance.

"Uh, what is Ken-kun doing here?" Yukari asked before she suddenly gasped. "Don't tell me..."

Ikutsuki nodded his head as if understanding what she was thinking about. "If you all recalled, I brought Amada-kun to this dorm since I believed he had the potential. Well, after running several tests, we've learned that he has more than adequate potential. I called this meeting so that I could officially introduce him as a member of this squad."

There were a few murmurs from the junior members when Mitsuru stood up from her seat. "But Chairman, he's still in elementary school. I don't think-"

"We've already been through this," Ikutsuki said, quickly cutting her off. "His ability is quite promising and with the proper training, he could be of great help. Especially if it's coming from you, Sanada-kun and Yuki-kun."

"Our fights are difficult as is so we can't be watching his every step," Akihiko interjected. "He'll either end up a liability to us or he'll get himself killed. This is too risky."

Ikutsuki shook his head in disappointment. "I understand that, but like I said, he's a quick learner so he won't get in your way for very long. Besides, this is something he wants to do."

"Are you serious?" Akihiko's eyes grew wide with surprise.

"Ikutsuki-san is correct," Ken said. "I was the one who asked to join."

"But why?"

Ken looked at his hands when he began his explanation. "I always felt a strange power from inside me and now that I know what it is, I think it's only right that I used it to help people."

Akihiko opened his mouth to say something back, but quickly refrained from doing so.

"Amada, this isn't fun and games like what you see on television," Mitsuru said. "You can get hurt and you can die. I can't even count how many times we almost lost our lives."

"I know that," Ken said in a low voice, his face showing an unusual intensity. "I'm not a stranger to death so I understand the risks involved. I also know this will help save lives." Unexpectedly, Ken was able to make Mitsuru back down with his fiery resolve.

"What do you all think?" Mitsuru then asked the junior members.

Yukari, Fuuka and Junpei all looked at each other with uncertainty in their faces.

"I don't think Ken should come with us in our missions," Yukari said. "I agree with the senpai on the dangers involved."

"Yeah and he's only ten," Junpei added. "I can't even imagine my ten year old self being able to handle all of these things."

"So you're all against it, huh?" Ikutsuki murmured. "Then how about this? We do a trial run? If he shows no promise then we can leave him out. And as to how you'll incorporate him, I'll leave it to you all. Okay?" His tone of voice didn't make it seem that he would accept anything else. When nobody offered any objections, he smiled and clapped his hands. "Oh and before I forget, I already gave him an overview of what's happened so far so he's up to date. I'll now leave him in your capable hands."

After Ikutsuki left, the room was again filled with a heavy tension. Mitsuru and Akihiko remained unhappy at the development while the others were still trying to figure out how to react to it.

Ken then took matters to his own hands and broke the silence. "I promise that I won't get in your way so please let me fight with you!" He bowed his head towards the others.

Mitsuru sighed in response. "For now…let's just to do a trial run."

Akihiko mumbled something incoherently in response.

"Let's head to Tartarus tonight and see how Amada performs," Mitsuru said before standing up. "Make your preparations."

"Thank you," Ken said and then raised his head. "You won't regret this. I look forward to working with you all."

"Yeah…sure." There was uneasiness in Akihiko's voice.

As for Aigis, she didn't appear fazed by the development at all. "I welcome Ken-san as an important member of this squad."

"Thank you, Aigis-san," Ken said with a smile. "To think you were an android the whole time. I didn't notice at all."

"I have taken the most utmost caution in blending in with my surroundings."

11:50 P.M.

Before the Dark Hour had arrived, the S.E.E.S. team had prepared for their Tartarus venture like always. They packed their weapons and Evokers and were now on a monorail heading towards the school.

"Have you ever experienced the Dark Hour before?" Fuuka asked Ken. "It was a very confusing and scary experience for me. I think I was stuck in Tartarus for several hours."

"That long?" Ken's eyes bulge open, but did not show any hint of nervousness. "I think I only experienced it once. Recently actually. I think everyone was in Tokyo for the athletic competitions and I happened to have stayed up past midnight at that time. So it was a big shock to me when I saw the changes. I couldn't find Aigis-san anywhere, but together with Koro-chan, I wandered outside and saw the dozens of coffins outside. I wasn't sure what to make of it so I just ran back inside and huddled under the sheets with Koro-chan. When it was over, Ikutsuki-san came to see me."

"Wait, so you knew about the Dark Hour since that time?" Mitsuru asked, looking even angrier than before.

"Y-Yes," Ken quietly replied. "Ikutsuki-san made me promised that I wouldn't say anything until it was time."

"When we were in Tokyo…" Junpei began. "You never stayed past midnight when you were with us?" His eyebrows rose in surprise at the thought.

"I try to sleep as early as possible every day since I heard that staying late at night will stunt your growth," he murmured.

"He certainly is a responsible boy, isn't he," Fuuka commented.

Yukari was largely silent in the wake of Ken's inclusion to the team until now when she decided to speak up. "He is, but that's not enough for him to handle our battles. It's still going to be dangerous for him so I think he should stay in the back."

"Speaking of staying in the back, that's your weapon?" Junpei asked, pointing to the large spear standing upright next to them. "It's almost double your height isn't it? How can you even hold it?"

"I've actually been practicing with it for a while now," Ken replied with confidence. "I think I can handle it pretty well now."

"We'll see about that," Akihiko quietly said.

When the team arrived at Gekkoukan, it was just about time for the Dark Hour to make its appearance. Ken became alarmed at the sight of the tower, but quickly got over it and entered the lobby along with the others.

"This is inside the school?" Ken's mouth hung open and this time couldn't hide his shock and surprise.

"Get used to it if you'll be joining us," Junpei said. "You'll be seeing many other weird things that occurs during this hour."

"Let's begin," Mitsuru ordered and faced the other members. "For today, we won't be advancing any further in Tartarus. Instead, we'll be seeing first hand Amada's abilities and how he'll perform down the line. Like with Iori, Yuki and Takeba, we'll have Amada start with the second floor. We'll follow with him." When it didn't seem like anybody was going to say anything else, she continued. "Yamagishi, please continue with your support."

"I will. Leave it to me."

"Good. Then let's head to the second floor."

Mitsuru lead the way while the others followed closely behind. All the while, Makoto and Yukari stayed back and kept a close eye on Ken.

They continued to the 2nd floor and deeper inside until Fuuka made an announcement.

"I sense one Shadow around the corner. It's a normal blob type."

"This is a good one for Amada's first battle. First, we'll see your abilities with the spear."

"Got it." Ken stepped forward with his spear and saw the Shadow appearing from the corner. His hands trembled for a second when he first saw it, but regained his posture and gripped his weapon tightly. With his left hand holding on near the bottom, his right hand was a few inches higher on the spear. He positioned his feet and then thrust his weapon at the Shadow. "Ha!" The thrust wasn't as quick as the attacks from the others, but it was still good enough to piece the Shadow in its face. He then followed up with a jump and then pierced the Shadow from above which was enough to defeat it. "How was that?" He turned back to face the others.

"Did you see his feet?" Akihiko whispered to Makoto who nodded his head.

"His feet were unsteady so there's an issue with the balance between his spear and his body."

"Yeah, I noticed that too. While it was better than I'd expected, it still needs work."

"Then next, we'll have a battle with his Persona," Mitsuru announced.

"Okay, I can do this," Ken said, drawing his Evoker.

"Yamagishi, where is the closest Shadow from here?"

"Hold on, let me check…I see one approximately twenty feet, northeast from where you're standing. It's a…beetle type."

Junpei let out a light groan. "Ah, it's one of those again. I got some bad memories about our first trip here. But hey, at least it's only one, right?"

"Its weakness is electricity if I recall correctly," Akihiko said as he walked towards Ken. "If it gets too rough, then I'll step in."

The group headed northeast and soon enough, saw the large beetle Shadow who was slowly walking away from them.

"It's a lot bigger than I thought," Ken said in a low voice.

"Get used to it," Akihiko advised. "There's a lot of Shadows that big in Tartarus. Some even bigger, especially the ones that appear on the Full Moon."

"I'll show you that I can even deal with large Shadows," Ken declared with a hint of anger. He raised his Evoker to his head and pulled the trigger with a roar. "Nemesis!"

Out of the blue light, a black figure appeared. She was shaped like a person except for being placed within a large sharp circular disk. On her chest were two bright red eyes and a wide white smile.

Upon her appearance, the beetle took noticed of her presence and suddenly charged towards her.

"Electric attack!" Ken called out.

From her hands, Nemesis fired off an electric bolt directly at the beetle and encased it within a field of electricity. With the beetle stunned, Nemesis' circular disk began to spin quickly like a wheel before she flew towards the beetle like a rocket. The disk made contact with the beetle and started chipping away at the heavy shell until it broke into pieces.

Now that the beetle's soft body was exposed, Ken charged towards it with his spear. When he got within 5 feet of it, the beetle suddenly broke out of the stun lock and prepared to ram Ken with its horns.

Even though Ken had reacted in time and jump to the side to evade, he almost lost his balance on his footing. After managing to keep his balance, Ken thrust his spear into the beetle's side multiple times until it disintegrated into a pile of dark ashes. At this time, Ken's breathing was heavy and many droplets of sweat poured down his face.

"I think we've seen enough," Mitsuru declared, her expression remained the same and didn't reveal what she was thinking. "Let's pack our things and head back. We'll discuss this further when we get back."

When some of the S.E.E.S. members made their way back downstairs, Ken stood at his spot as if wondering if he did something wrong.

"Well, I think you did good," Junpei said and placed a hand on his small shoulders. "Come on. You don't want to stay here by yourself. Trust me."

12:20 A.M. – Minatodai Dorm 4th Floor Meeting Room

After the S.E.E.S. team returned to the dorm, everybody, but Akihiko, Mitsuru and Makoto went back to their respective rooms.

"I want to talk about Amada and what we should do going forward," Mitsuru said after she shut the door. "Yuki, I'd also like your opinion as well, particularly his ability in battle."

Akihiko sat down on the sofa and stretched out his legs. "Frankly, he's better than I'd originally thought. For his first battle with a Shadow, what little nerves I saw, he got over it pretty quickly and charged at it without much hesitation. His use of his Persona isn't half bad either. But, he's limited to what he could actually do being at his age, right Yuki?"

Makoto nodded. "Yeah. His form is pretty decent...for a moment, before the weight of the spear starts being an issue. He should be pretty skilled with the spear after a few years."

"I see." Mitsuru cupped her chin and fell into a deep thought. "Then I think we should take him off the team."

"Well, I don't think we should go that far," Akihiko interjected.

"I thought you were against him joining in the first place."

"I was, but..." Akihiko looked at something outside the window. "I feel like we owe it to him. This is something he wants to do and I saw the determination in his eyes. It's the real thing so I'm sure he'll take it very seriously."

"It doesn't change the fact that this is still a dangerous situation that could cost his and all of our lives."

"I know that. Just...I'll do whatever it takes to protect him and everybody else too."

Mitsuru let out a deep sigh and shook her head. "Okay, we'll just continue with this trial run. If I figure that his presence is just a detriment, then he's out. We'll keep him in the backlines in the meantime. I guess I'm willing to bet on him."

Akihiko nodded his head and didn't say anything further.

"Do you agree with this decision, Yuki?"

Makoto thought about it for a moment and then said, "It is risky, but I think we can make this work."

"Alright, then we'll go forward with that for now. This meeting is now over."

After Makoto left the room, Akihiko and Mitsuru remained inside.

"We'll have to tell him the truth someday, you know that right?" Mitsuru asked in a low voice.

"I do," Akihiko replied. "This still doesn't take us off the hook for what we did, but it's a start."

"What about Aragaki? I'm not sure it's a good idea to bring him back now that Amada is here."

Akihiko shook his head. "No. I think we should still try to get him to return to us. Despite the issues that may arise, at least it will be a step forward for him. What he does after is up to him."

Mitsuru leaned back into the sofa and closed her eyes. "I don't even know what's right anymore."

"You should remember to relax. I'll take care of the decision making for now if you want. I'll take some of the burden off of you."

Mitsuru suddenly felt like all of her energy had been drained from her leaving her tired and exhausted. While her eyes remained closed, she said, "Thank you, Akihiko."

Saturday, August 29, 2009 11:00 A.M. - Port Island Station

Junpei wanted to sleep in a lot longer, but the heat was making it quite difficult for him

so he decided to head outside. Without much of a destination in mind, he found himself strolling through Port Island Station.

"Man, this year's going fast," he said with a sigh as he watched the many young people fully enjoying their youth. "Next year, I'll be a senior..." He suddenly stopped when he saw the strange red haired girl in the white Lolita outfit. "That girl's here again? I'm suddenly feeling a deja vu moment."

"You again?" The girl grumbled from her seat after noticing Junpei standing in front of her.

"Uh, w-well...I'm surprised you remember me." He rubbed the back of his head while letting out an awkward laugh."

"Same here," she mumbled in response.

"Well, you kinda stand out in that dress." He looked her up and down and then raised an eyebrow. "I don't think I've seen anyone wear such clothing before so it's hard to forget, you know?"

She ignored him and continued drawing in her notebook.

"She's not very social, isn't she?"

"So what are you drawing?" He craned his neck over to see the contents, but she quickly snapped the notebook closed.

"Nothing, why?" Her eyes reflected some hints of confusion.

Even though her response didn't seem hostile at all, Junpei still took a large step back. "Uh, no reason. I was just thinking it must be nice to have something you're really into." He lightly nodded his head as if agreeing with what he just said.

She stared back at him for what felt like an eternity in that same stoic expression she had since the beginning.

"It's kind of like seeing a girl version of Makoto."

"It's no big deal," she finally replied. "I only draw because I like to." She reopened her notebook and then resumed her drawing.

As if she had forcefully ended their conversation, Junpei made his way towards the exit, but then stopped and left one final request for her. "Still, I'd like to see it when you're done, okay?" Without waiting for her response, he just left the area.

Makoto's Room – Dark Hour

Makoto opened his eyes and he immediately realized the other presence in his room. It was just about that time of the month after all.

"Hello," Pharos greeted from the foot of his bed. "I thought I'd remind you that the next full moon will be in one week."

"Yeah, I remember," Makoto replied. Aigis had been reminding everyone nearly every day in the past week.

"That's good," Pharos said with a smile. "We've been doing this for a while now, right? Soon, it will all end. Until then, farewell." He disappeared leaving his cryptic words behind for Makoto to reflect on.

Monday, August 31, 2009 10:32 A.M. - Port Island Station

Today, Junpei was once again at Port Island Station. He was here yesterday as well and for some inexplicable reason, felt like he had to meet with the mysterious red haired girl again. They didn't talk much and they didn't know each other's names, but he felt some kind of excitement whenever he thought about her. To his disappointment though, she wasn't there even though he waited nearly two hours.

Since today was the end of his summer vacation, he decided that if he didn't meet her again, then he'll just stop trying. Maybe it was because of the imminent end, a sense of relief eased his worries when he saw her sitting in the same bench and drawing in her notebook.

"So we meet again, huh," he greeted while trying to remain calm and composed.

"That's because you keep coming back." Despite her words, he couldn't sense any trace of annoyance which made his heart skip a beat.

He laughed at her response. "We've talked a few times already and I don't recall getting your name. I'm Junpei by the way. What's yours? Do you live around here?"

Instead of responding to him, she continued drawing before abruptly closing her sketchbook. She then got ready to leave without saying a word.

Junpei was about to say something, but quickly noticed a flash of red. "Wait! Your hand."

She continued to ignore him and made her way towards the exit.

"Wait!" He caught up to her in a flash and grabbed her left hand.

"What are you doing?" She shouted, raising her voice the first time since they met.

"You're bleeding!" He cried out. "You can't just leave it like that." He frantically reached into his pocket and searched for some kind of cloth that he could use to cover the bleeding on her hand. All the while, the girl watched him with a steady and enigmatic gaze.

She pulled her hand away from Junpei's grasp. "Chidori," she suddenly said.

Junpei looked up in confusion. "Huh?"

"That's my name. Didn't you ask me for it, Junpei? Well, I'm almost done with the picture. Even though I doubt you'll understand it, I'll show it to you when I'm done. You know where to find me." She then left a stunned Junpei standing in the same spot.

He should've followed up with her bleeding hand, but he was too busy thinking about how she had remembered his name.

"Maybe I left a bigger impression on her than I'd thought." A grin formed on his face that lasted for several long minutes afterwards.

1:12 P.M. – Iwatodai Station

After another long workout session in the training facility, Makoto returned to the empty dorm and realized that there wasn't anyone home. He was hungry, but didn't felt like staying inside so he aimlessly walked around the area for something to eat and later found himself at Iwatodai Station.

"Not a bad place to end up considering all of the food around here." He looked around and his gazed fell on somebody familiar who was standing in line at the takoyaki stand. He was wearing a tank top, shorts and running shoes.

As if noticing Makoto's strong gaze, the person turned around and a surprised expression quickly appeared on his face. "If it isn't Makoto. What are you doing here?" Mamoru grinned and approached him.

"I live around here. What are you doing here?"

"Didn't I tell you? I live in the neighboring city. I forgot that you now lived in Iwatodai. What a coincidence."

"Yeah, it sure is." Makoto look at his clothes. "Working out?"

"Yup. I was on one of my routine runs when I suddenly felt hungry. As luck would have it, I was near a takoyaki stand. What about you?"

"Same. Got hungry after working out too."

Mamoru nodded his head in approval. "I expected as such. I didn't get to see your finals victory in person, but I did saw a recording later. Congrats." He lightly punched Makoto in the shoulder."

"Thanks."

"It means that the person I lost to had become the champion so my loss doesn't feel so bad after all." He laughed at his own joke. "Anyway, are you going to participate next year?"

"Probably." Makoto made a noncommittal shrug.

"Well, if you do, I have something to look forward to next year. I'll be the victor then." His serious resolution was then interrupted by his loud stomach rumbling. With a red face, he said, "Before that, I got to take care of my stomach. But since we're at a takoyaki stand, how about a competition, just like old times?"

"You're on."

They both purchased a set of ten piping hot takyokai and sat down at a nearby bench.

Mamoru readied his toothpick. "You know the rules, first one to down all of them wins. There can't be any remaining in your mouth. And with that, three…two…one…START!"

With one swift movement, Makoto plunged his toothpick into a takoyaki ball and placed into his mouth. It stayed there for barely a second before it fell through his throat and down his stomach. While ignoring the burning hot sensation in his mouth, he picked up another takoyaki ball and did the same.

After getting through each additional ball, the burning sensation got stronger and stronger until tears began to fall down his face. He looked at his opponent and saw that the same was happening to Mamoru despite trying his best to hide his pain.

Noticing Makoto's gaze, Mamoru shot him with a renewed determination to overcome this challenge.

Makoto fired one back and continued wolfing the takoyaki down at an even greater pace. They were neck and neck until it happened, Mamoru began coughing. Taking advantage of the situation, Makoto went all out and stuffed the final two in his mouth and somehow was able to swallow them down.

Mamoru shook his head in wonderment. "Man, that was some technique at the end. If only I didn't attempted more than I could've handled." He shook his head disappointedly, but quickly became full of smiles again. "Oh well. It was a good match. Just like old times, huh. Anyway, I think it's about time I returned to my workout. Since we don't live that far apart, let's do this again some time."

"Sure." Makoto watched Mamoru dash away in a flash and didn't notice somebody dashing out of the nearby corner behind him before colliding into him.

"Aahh!" The girl cried out when she fell to the ground. She rubbed her back and looked back at where she came from. "Crap, they're almost here." She frantically looked around and then dashed into the nearby alleyway.

It was then a large group of young male adolescents came out from the corner. They had cameras and their phones ready in hand as they scanned the area.

"Where'd she go?"

"Shouldn't be far. Let's try over there."

The group charged past Makoto and the alleyway where the girl was hiding. When they had left the area, Makoto noticed a black cap lying on the ground.

"It was probably dropped by that girl," he thought and then picked it up.

"Whew, that was a close one," the girl muttered after leaving the alleyway.

"Is this yours?" He noticed that her copper colored hair was tied into two shoulder length pigtails.

"Huh?" She looked at the cap and then touched her hair before eyes grew wide with shock. In an instant, she snatched the cap away from him and covered her head with it.

"If I give you an autograph, would you keep silent?" She quietly asked.

"Keep silent about what?"

"You know…about me being here."

Makoto looked at the girl for a moment and tried to figure out what she was talking about. "I was planning to do that." He then took a few steps away before she grabbed his arm.

"Wait! Don't tell me you don't know who I am?" She asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Should I?" He furrowed his eyebrows and looked her up and down. She was wearing a large black coat over a pink shirt, a blue denim skirt and black boots. It appeared as if she was in incognito, but he still didn't know who she was.

"Really?" Her eyes grew even bigger as she shook her head. "I'm Rise Kujikawa. Does that name ring a bell?"
The name actually did sound familiar. It took Makoto what felt like a long time to recall Junpei mentioning about a certain popular singing idol back when he first moved here. "Ah…yeah," he finally said without much emotion.

"Doesn't seem like you're a fan," she mumbled and then sighed. "Well, I guess it's better that way considering the circumstances. Anyway, there are some rather extreme fans chasing after me and I need to go to practice at my next gig. So, that's why I need to ask you a favor." She placed her hands together and made a small bow. "Please help me get there."

The request seemed like a hassle for Makoto, but other than that, he didn't have much reason to refuse.

"Hopefully it's not far."

"Where to?" He asked, still feeling uncertain about the request.

Rise's face grew bright in response to his question. "It was at a club...Club Escapade, I think. I heard that it was having electrical problems recently too."

Even though Makoto didn't really accept her request yet, it seemed like she already assumed as such. "I think that was in Paulownia Mall. Not too far at least." He sighed. "Okay, it should be at the mall. Let's go."

"Thanks!" She smiled and winked at him. "Once we're done, I'll give you a really good reward."

Makoto remained unfazed at the prospect. "Let's just start moving." He began walking and lead the way.

Rise stuck close to him while trying to remain inconspicuous which was hard to do while wearing such a large coat and a cap.

"Don't you have a manager that usually helps with these things?" Makoto asked after several minutes passed.

"I do, but she had something to take care at the moment. Somebody else was supposed to guide me to the club, but I was able to convince her that I didn't need help."

"Guess that wasn't such a smart move."

"H-Hey, I didn't expect to get discovered by my fans so quickly." Despite making the excuse, she looked like she did regret her actions. "But, at least I get an opportunity to look around a new place."

"How's Iwatodai?"

"It's not bad. Not as great as the Tokyo area, but at least it's better than my hometown?"

"Where's that?"

"Just a small place hidden in the countryside." A large grin appeared on her face as she walked ahead of him and looked into his face. "You seem pretty curious about me. Are you sure you're not a huge fan?"

"I'm sure," he replied in his usual stoic tone.

"Is that so?" She made a face that said she didn't believe him.

Afterwards, they continued towards their destination while engaging in some small talks that lacked any real discussions, but was enough to pass the time. When they entered the mall, Makoto pointed towards the club. "It's only over there so I think you should be fine the rest of the way."

"Thanks a lot. And obviously I didn't forget about your reward." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a ticket. "We're just preparing right now, but attend the show when it's ready."

Before Makoto could say anything else in response, she forced the ticket into his hands and then waved goodbye before entering the club. "Some kind of singing show?" He wondered out loud and then looked at the ticket. "September 5..." A calendar appeared in his head and that was when he recalled the next full moon. He actually considered seeing what her performance was going to be like, but there was no way he could go now. "Maybe next time." He stuffed the ticket back in his pocket and went on his way.

Tuesday September 1, 2009 7:50 A.M. – Gekkoukan Front Gates

The second semester started today and Makoto was pleasantly surprised to see Yukari in a good mood despite believing otherwise. She had a smile on her face and it stayed like that when two familiar people came into his view.

"Good morning," Imai greeted when she caught up to Suzuhura who did not appeared to be in a good mood at all. "It's official, summer vacation is over."

"Yeah…" Suzuhura mumbled, slightly hunching over. "I'm in no mood to be here. I just want to turn around and head back to bed."

Imai laughed at the sight. "Seems like you're coming down with that Apathy Syndrome that people are talking about. If you did, then you wouldn't have to worry about anything."

Suzuhura's eyes grew almost comically large as she shouted, "Nooo! I don't want that at all-." She suddenly stopped and then smiled. "Now that I think about it, it doesn't sound too bad at all. Maybe I'll try it out."

"This isn't something you can just try out." Imai shook her head and hurried past the gates with Suzuhura.

"I've seen those two before, but I don't think I actually talked to them before though," Yukari mused. "They seem like an interesting duo."

Makoto thought back to all of the time he "eavesdropped" on them since starting school and had to agree. "They're also a good source for information."

She was confused at what he said, but didn't follow up on it. "I don't have practice today so want to walk home together?"

"No practice? You're lucky then since I still have practice. Maybe I should just ditch."

She laughed in response. "I know that you don't need much practice, but you should at least show up for the first one in the new semester."

"Well, I was actually planning on it."

"Realllyy?" She made a playful grin and left it with that.

Lunchtime

On his way towards the school's food shop on the first floor, Makoto heard loud chatter coming from the faculty room. With his curiosity piqued, he took a slight detour and saw a large group of mostly female students crowding outside the room. There were few guys as well, but they don't look anywhere as enthusiastic. While Makoto was pondering whether he should get involved or go back, he saw Fuuka among the crowd.

"What's with the commotion?" He asked.

She turned around and was momentarily startled at his appearance. "Oh, Makoto-kun. Well, you know how the music teacher and the adviser of our music club is pregnant?"

He nodded.

"She'll be having the baby soon so she took temporary time off from work starting today. Her replacement is in the faculty room right now."

He looked at the animated girls who all now huddled around the small opening. "So the new teacher is good looking?"

She furrowed her eyebrows as she thought about it. "He's fairly average I think, but his red hair does kind of stand out. I think his name was Souma Hikage. You'll probably see him at today's practice."

"I'll be at the kendo practice instead today."

She grinned. "I thought as much. Anyway, I was supposed to meet up with Natsuki-chan so I'll be heading off now."

"Okay, I'll see you back at the dorm."

Makoto moved closer towards the door and was able to catch a glimpse of this new teacher wearing a blue dress shirt and slacks. He had simple short red hair, brown eyes and was quite tall at over 6 feet. Just as Fuuka had described, he doesn't have any notable features other than his red hair.

"He kind of looks familiar though. Just like that angel…" He shook his head at the thought. "No, his was more radiant than this person's."

Despite the large number of people watching him, Souma appeared engrossed in his conversation with the principal. With nothing left to see, Makoto headed back to get his lunch.

When the bell rang, the students outside the faculty room dispersed back to their classrooms. After finishing his conversation with the principal, Souma made his way out of the room and immediately turned left onto the now empty hallway. He didn't walk very far when Edogawa walked outside of the nurse's room. Souma then stopped and stood in the middle of the hallway while looking at Edogawa. His smiling face was now gone, replaced by an emotionless expression.

"Hmm?" Edogawa looked in his direction and scratched his chin. "Are you the new music teacher? Now I know why it was so loud outside. Our female students must really like you." He smiled as he walked towards Souma.

"How long are you going to continue with this farce, Astaroth?" Souma asked in a cool and calm voice.

Edogawa suddenly stopped in his tracks so that they were now about ten feet apart. He made a mischievous smile as he looked directly at the new teacher.

The tension between them grew incredibly thick and electrical sparks began to appear in the air.

Edogawa held up his hands. "There's probably a lot you want to talk about, but how about moving to a better location? You don't want to get the students involved, do you, Uriel?"

Souma's shoulders relaxed as he took a deep breath. "Lead the way."

Edogawa snapped his fingers and the two were instantly teleported to the roof. Without even looking around, he declared, "There's nobody here so we're free to talk."

"Hmph. You're more laidback than I'd remembered," Souma said while crossing his arms. "I guess it's due to your new life among the humans?"

"Sort of." Edogawa rubbed the back of his neck. "It kind of just happened. At least, I'm not as laid back as Raphael. But, I don't think you're here to catch up on old times, right? I suggest that you keep that blade of yours sheathed unless you want to turn this whole school or city into a battlefield."

"Do you think I am so foolish that I would do that? What I want now are answers." He pointed a long finger at the school nurse. "You and your group had already found the child, correct?"

"That's right," Edogawa replied without any hesitation. "You don't have to be concerned though since the Night Queen's trial had started. We won't be directly interfering with him until it's over…like what the Lord had decreed."

Souma narrowed his piercing brown eyes. "We doubt you guys will quietly observe the events. Your ideology pretty much conflicts with the directive."

Edogawa raised both of his palms up and shook his head. "Don't give me that look. We used to be comrades, you and I. It's up to you guys if you want to believe me."

"Then explain the divine energy that flows through the child's blade."

"That?" A small hint of guilt appeared on his face. "Well…can't say much about that. At least it proved helpful to him."

A scowl appeared on Souma's face. "You're talking about the battles with the Horsemen? Explain how that had happened in the first place."

"We have nothing to do about that. It came as a huge surprise to us as well. Isn't it caused by that Death God residing within him? That development was also surprising." He scratched his head. "By the way, thanks for coming to his aid on those times. We really appreciate it."

"Spare me your sarcastic comments."

Edogawa walked over to the railing and looked out at the school. "So what now? You're here to observe me until it's all over?"

"Like we can leave you with the child, unattended."

"Is that so? Well, it's almost over, just a few more months. We hoped that we could conclude our ancient war as soon as we locate the child, but sadly the Night Queen's trial had started. Do you think he and the humans can overcome it?" Edogawa looked over his shoulder and saw that Souma was hesitating in his response. "I see. So you too, huh. Not surprising since I don't know how they'll succeed unless a miracle happens. For that though, he needs to completely awaken. Anyway, I think that's the end of our discussion. Let's have a good semester, right fellow faculty member?"

Edogawa walked past Souma and left through the door while leaving Souma to his uncertainties.

5:03 P.M. - Minatodai Dorm Lounge

After kendo practice, Makoto returned to the dorm and to his surprise, saw Yukari, Junpei, Ken and Koromaru in the lounge.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"Oh, you're back," Yukari greeted. "Perfect timing." She then turned towards the bathroom and called out, "Hey Fuuka-chan, is Aigis ready yet?"

Makoto looked at Junpei who just shook his head.

"What's she ready for?" Junpei asked Ken who also just shook his head. "Seems like only the girls know what's going on."

Suddenly, the bathroom door opened and Fuuka walked out of it along with Aigis who was now wearing a Gekkoukan uniform.

Junpei's mouth hung opened when he saw the unusual sight. "Don't tell me...it isn't what I think it is...is it?"

A wry smile then appeared on Yukari's face. "Last night, Aigis said something about wanting to go to school and then without thinking too much about it, I said something to the effect of we should have her transfer in. It was obviously a joke, but when the chairman overheard it, he said it was a good idea. The senpai weren't particularly against it either. So yeah, she'll be a junior tomorrow."

"Seriously? But that's...crazy. She's an android."

"He did also say something about studying her behavior in a social environment and then mumbled something else from there," Fuuka added.

"I haven't been with all of you guys for long, but I'm beginning to just accept all of the weird things that happen around here," Ken commented and moved closer to look at Aigis' uniform.

"I've been here for several months now and I'm still not used to all of these surprising developments," Junpei admitted with a sigh. "But, I'm cool with this." He smiled and wiggled his eyebrows. "Just look at how cute she is in that uniform."

Ken nodded his head in approval. "It looks very natural on you so no one will suspect a thing."

Aigis examined her new clothes and said, "The camouflage that Fuuka-san has provided me with seems to be the appropriate size...except for..." She touched her chest with her hands. "I believe it is a little tight here and that the skirt is raised higher than I think it is appropriate." She lifted her skirt, but Fuuka quickly moved to hold it down.

"I'm sorry. Maybe we should take your measurements and have the chairman bring a different one. I guess my body is a bit on the small size..." She blushed while mumbling some incoherent words.

"Don't tell me that she's wearing your uniform, Fuuka-chan," Junpei said while looking Aigis up and down.

"It's my extra one," she quietly admitted.

"Based on my database, there is somebody that has a very similar body build and

structure to me."

"Who?" Junpei asked. He and everybody else then followed Aigis' line of sight to Yukari.

"What, me?" She pointed a finger to herself.

"Yes," Aigis confirmed. "Yukari-san's height and chest are proportional to mine. Therefore, I believe her clothing will fit me perfectly."

Yukari became flustered at Aigis' observation and then quickly covered her chest with her arms.

"Is that so?" Junpei said with a wide grin on his face. "Just what are your measurements, Aigis-chan?"

Makoto suddenly smacked Junpei on the back of his head.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Just because," Makoto replied in a calm manner.

"Thanks Makoto." Yukari shot him a smile in his direction.

"Makoto?" Junpei repeated before he made a sly grin. "Doesn't Yuka-tan usually address him as Makoto-kun? No honorific this time? I see how it is."

His accusation made Yukari's face even redder. "Well...the truth is...you know."

"That the two of you are dating?" Ken suddenly said. "It's not really a surprise though. We pretty much thought it was going to happen."

Now it was Yukari's turn to become shocked and surprised. "What! Since when?"

"Probably since I came here?" Fuuka said while furrowing her eyebrows.

"As for me, it was probably about a month or so after I came here," Junpei said.

"It seemed kind of obvious, but I didn't want to say anything," Ken explained. "Maiko-chan also said the same thing."

"What about the senpai?" Yukari quietly asked.

"I'm pretty sure they noticed too," Fuuka replied.

"I have noticed that whenever Yukari-san looks at Makoto-san, her body temperature rises," Aigis added. "I did not say anything because the temperature is well within safe levels."

Aigis' comment was the final dagger on how much embarrassment Yukari could take. She let out a cry and then ran upstairs while appearing red as a beet.

"Uh, shouldn't you go after her?" Fuuka asked Makoto.

"...I think I'll wait until she calms down," Makoto replied after looking at the ceiling.

"Yeah, I think that's for the best."

Junpei placed a hand on Makoto's shoulder. "It's going to be a tough road ahead so be prepared to put a lot of work into it."

"I'm planning on it," Makoto replied with resolve.

"Anyway, why do you want to go to school, Aigis-san?" Ken asked after a brief quiet moment. "It's not like there's anything special about it."

"With the commencement of the second semester, I intend to synchronize my schedule with the other members. If I were to remain here on standby, it could delay our deployment. Therefore, I request to accompany our squad leader." She looked at Makoto who just shrugged his shoulders.

"But what if you going to school create more problems?" Fuuka asked.

"Then I will make any necessary adjustments as problems arise."

The others didn't share the same confidence that Aigis had and appeared somewhat uneasy about the situation.

When Koromaru made a few barks, Aigis interpreted, "He said I want to go to school, too."

Fuuka brushed Koromaru's head. "Sorry, Koro-chan. No dogs allowed at school and we can't pass you as a human either."

Koromaru whimpered, causing the room to break out in laughter.

Wednesday September 2, 2009 – 7:53 A.M. - Gekkoukan Front Gates

Today was Aigis' first day of school and accompanying her were most of the dorm members.

"Still, it really feels surreal seeing Aigis-chan in a school uniform and going to school," Junpei remarked. "If I didn't know any better, then I'd thought she was just a normal girl…with foreign blond hair."

"I believe when I first met Junpei-san, he treated me as if I was a normal girl," Aigis recalled.

"Really?" Yukari's eyes glowed with amusement. "Didn't you guys meet her at Yakushima? Don't tell me you were hitting on her?" She and Fuuka shared a laugh.

Junpei and Akihiko's faces both suddenly grew red. "A-Anyway, I actually didn't think the chairman was really going to go through with this," Akihiko quickly said. "Guess I was wrong."

"Yeah, it kind of feels like I'm in an anime…well even more than before." Junpei added. "By the way, where's Kirijo-senpai? I know she usually doesn't walk with us to school, but I would've thought she'd be here in case something goes wrong."

"She's pretty busy these days actually. Kirijo Group related and I think preparing for the upcoming Culture Festival too."

"Oh yeah, it's that time of the year again. Wonder what our class is doing?"

The group then found themselves at the front of the school.

"I see, this must be Tartarus during the daytime," Aigis surmised.

"During the daytime, it's just simply a school," Fuuka explained.

"I see. I shall record that in my memory bank. Currently, I detect no Shadows in the vicinity. However, we must remain cautious at all times."

Yukari moved over and whispered to Fuuka. "Hey, is this going to be okay?"

"No idea."

"I'll trust you three to watch over her," Akihiko ordered.

"Why us?" Yukari asked.

"She's going to be in your class."

Just as Akihiko had said, Aigis was transferred to class 2-D which was Makoto, Yukari and Junpei's homeroom. Unlike their fellow classmates, they remained unfazed at this new development.

Toriumi walked to the podium with Aigis standing by her side. "Class, we have a new student who will be joining us. She just transferred here from…" She ruffled through her papers, but couldn't find what she was looking for. "Well, please introduce yourself."

"My name is Aigis. I am pleased to meet you all." Aigis made a bow after her introduction.

"Aigis…What a strange name," Toriumi murmured. "I wonder if she was born overseas. Let's see." She flipped through her papers again. "Humanoid tactical weapon? What on Earth? That must be a mistake." She stopped ruffling through her papers and looked around the room. You can sit right over there, in that empty seat." She pointed to the desk next to Makoto.

Junpei raised his hand. "Um, that spot's already taken. Jun's just taking a personal day off."

"Which means he's not here so it's free to be used, right?"

Junpei didn't bother to continue the protest any longer so Aigis walked over and sat down. "This spot will be perfect because I wish to be by his side."

Yukari suddenly stood up amongst the heavy chatter as a result of Aigis' comment. "Aigis!"

"Is there a problem?" Aigis calmly asked.

"Uh...no..." Yukari sat back down with a face full of embarrassment.

Junpei chuckled at the sight. "I didn't think Yuka-tan could be so cute."

Lunchtime

Even though it had only been a few hours, they were stressful ones for the three S.E.E.S. members who were on constant surveillance of Aigis' actions. Sometimes she would be very diligent and listen quietly during class, but other times she would ask an unusual question that would lead to problematic discussions. When that happened, one of the three had to quickly remind her to not speak any further.

When the lunchtime bell rang, most of their classmates crowded over Aigis and bombarded her with questions. Once again, the three had to interject every now and then.

"Aigis-san, what country did you come from and what was your family name?" Kenji asked. "I didn't think we heard it earlier."

"Leave her alone, Kenji," Junpei demanded in a harsh tone.

"Why so hostile? Just how do you guys know each other? Not to mention, Makoto! What's with the I want to be by your side?"

"Yeah," somebody shouted.

Yukari stood up and split the crowd apart. "Look, Aigis lives with us at the dorm so we're helping her adjust to the school life. You guys are making it difficult for her, right Aigis?" After noticing Aigis open her mouth, Yukari quickly continued. "Actually, don't say anything."

"Ah, is that how it is?" Kenji said in a low voice. "Sorry about that. I'll catch you guys later," he gestured towards Makoto and Junpei before leaving with a number of other students.

That was when Fuuka popped her head into the room. "How'd it go?"

"Tiresome," Junpei replied and breathed out a heavy sigh.

"I-Is that so," Fuuka said with a half smile.

"School is a good place to be," Aigis said. "I have updated my database with the new knowledge I have acquired."

"That's good and all, but try not to say too much, okay?" Yukari suggested after also breathing out a heavy sigh.

"I will try my best," Aigis said with a nod.

Makoto's phone suddenly rang.

"Who is it?" Junpei asked.

"Sanada-senpai," Makoto replied after opening his phone. "He wants me to meet him after school."

"Just you?"

"Seems like it."

"Wonder what he wants?" Junpei looked at the others to see if they had any ideas.

"The city can be a dangerous place so I suggest that I also join you," Aigis said.

"There's no need for that," Yukari replied. "Makoto and Sanada-senpai are both very strong. Instead, you'll hang out with us after school."

Aigis nodded. "Understood."

"I really think we should do something about the way she talks too," Fuuka suggested.

3:10 P.M. - Gekkoukan Front Gates

After school was over, Makoto met up with Akihiko who was already waiting for him at the front gates.

"Hey, you're here," he greeted. "How was having Aigis as a classmate?"

"Tough," Makoto bluntly replied.

Akihiko laughed. "I have an idea of what went down. Seems like you guys are doing a good job watching over her, right?"

"Guess so." Makoto shrugged his shoulders. "So what are we doing?" He then noticed the familiar silver briefcase by Akihiko's foot.

"I'm going to meet somebody right now and I'd like you to come with me." Akihiko reached down and picked up the briefcase. "I had Ikutsuki-san drop it off for me."

"Seems like we're going recruiting."

Akihiko grinned. "You're right, but this one...can be a bit difficult. Anyway, let's head off."

The two left the school and took the train to Iwatodai station. They continued into the station mall and up the stairs.

"If I got his schedule right, then I think we should find him at the Ramen shop," Akihiko explained as they climbed the final set of steps. "Hey, speak of the devil."

When they reached the top, they saw Shinjiro exit Hagakure who immediately noticed them.

Shinjiro scowled and moved past them. "You're getting on my nerves!" He growled.

Akihiko pulled on Shinjiro's arm before he got too far. "The situation has changed. This time, I'm not asking. I'll force you to come back with us."

"What?" Shinjiro furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

Akihiko raised the briefcase. "This belongs to you. We have a new enemy. They're Persona-users like us."

"Yeah, so what?" Shinjiro spat and started to walk away again.

"There's more," Akihiko continued, raising his voice. "Ken Amada...has joined our team."

Shinjiro immediately froze in his tracks. When he turned his body around, his eyes were wide opened with shock. "W-What the hell are you talking about?" He asked in a shaky voice.

"He has the potential and Ikutsuki-san has given us the go ahead. He's with us now."

"You've gotta be kidding me." Shinjiro moved closer to the railing and slid down to the ground. "Let me ask you one thing," he said in a low, but booming voice. "Was it his decision to join S.E.E.S.?"

Akihiko nodded. "Yeah, he volunteered. We actually tried to convince him to turn it down, but he wouldn't listen."

"I see..." Shinjiro closed his eyes and the three of them were silent for the next few minutes. "I can't believe this is happening." He shook his head and then let out a heavy sigh. "Fine…I'm in."

Akihiko nodded in approval and handed the briefcase over to Shinjiro. "Then let's get everything ready."

"Is my room still vacant?"

"Of course."

"I'll head back first and get my things ready." Shinjiro was about to leave, but stopped when he was next to Makoto. "Your eyes…are clearer than when I was last saw you."

"Things happened," Makoto calmly replied.

"Is that so?" Shinjiro lightly nodded his head. "You're the field leader now, right? We'll talk later."

After Shinjiro left their sights, Akihiko asked, "What was that about?"

"We've met about a month ago."

"Any problems?"

Makoto shrugged his shoulders. "A bit, but we took care of it."

Akihiko chuckled. "Things are going to get more interesting now that Shinji's with us."

"So why did you need me to be here? I didn't even do anything."

"Yeah, turns out you didn't need to, but that was the best case scenario. I thought that if he continued to refused, we'll have to physically take him back with us. I can't do that alone you know."

"I see what you mean," Makoto agreed as he looked in the direction of where Shinjiro had left.

7:15 P.M. – Minatodai Dorm Lounge

Every member of the dorm had gathered in the lounge by Mitsuru's orders. It was rare sight for most of them to see the lounge so full.

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to know why we're called here, do you?" Junpei leaned over and whispered to Makoto.

"Probably to announce a new teammate."

"What? Already? Who?"

The door then swung opened with Shinjiro walking through it carrying the silver briefcase and a brown knapsack.

"It's about time, what took you so long?" Akihiko asked in a lighthearted manner.

Along with the several murmurs at Shinjiro's appearance, Ken jumped out of his seat and stared at him with wide opened eyes.

"Just stuff to take care of," Shinjiro replied. "But it doesn't seem like this place has changed much," he commented as he looked around the lobby and lounge area.

"No way, Aragaki-senpai is the new member?!" Junpei exclaimed excitedly. "We've really got a lot of firepower on our side now."

"Yes, Aragaki will be a great asset for us," Mitsuru agreed and went over to greet Shinjiro. "It's been a while."

"Yeah, it sure has, but let's not go all out with these introductions or celebrations, okay? Just give me the information I need."

"I see you haven't changed much either," Mitsuru said with a smile. "I'll keep it simple then." She turned around and addressed the remaining members. "As you now realized, Shinjiro Aragaki will now be joining us starting today. He has a lot of experience since he was with us when we first established S.E.E.S. so I'm sure he'll be able to provide some guidance." She then handed Shinjiro a key. "It's still the same as you left it."

"Good." He made his way across the room and for a brief moment, glanced over at Ken who now appeared expressionless.

"Have you guys met him before?" Fuuka asked after Shinjiro went up the stairs.

"We met him like…two times before?" Yukari replied and looked at Makoto and Junpei for confirmation. "He seems to be a close friend of Sanada-senpai."

"He's a pretty tough guy that even delinquents and thugs don't want to mess with," Junpei said. "He's also the one who let us know about you and your predicament months ago."

Fuuka's eyes grew wide with surprise. "Really? I had no idea. I think I should go thank him later, but he looks kind of scary."

"Oh you don't worry about that, cuz he's a pretty cool guy."

"Yeah, he's pretty nice," Yukari added.

Junpei then looked over at Ken who was busy reading a magazine. "Hey Ken, you've been pretty quiet over there. Aren't you excited that Aragaki-senpai will be joining us?"

Ken put his magazine down. "I've never met him before, but he does seem strong."

"He has a very optimal body structure so his physical abilities should be at a very high level," Aigis commented.

"Yup, he definitely is," Junpei agreed. "I'm curious what his Persona is like."

"His Persona is a lot like him," Akihiko replied.

"That's right," Shinjiro said after suddenly taking a seat next to Akihiko. "I don't do anything fancy. No elements like electricity or ice. I just use brute force to overpower my enemies so put me on the frontlines. If anybody else has any other questions, just ask me." After he was done, he took a nearby magazine and began ruffling through it.

"We'll be going to Tartarus tomorrow so be prepared everyone," Mitsuru announced. "With this many members, I think we can big significant progress."

10:00 P.M. – 4th Floor Meeting Room

After the dormmates went back to their rooms, the three senior members met up for another meeting.

"Okay, it's time we get you up to speed," Akihiko said.

"Go ahead, I'm all ears." Shinjiro folded his arms and leaned back into the cushions.

"I think I already told you, but we may have found a way to end the Dark Hour for good. It involves destroying all of those large Shadows that appear once a month on every full moon. We defeated most of them already so there's only about a few left."

"That's good. What else?"

"We recently ran into some other Persona-users," Mitsuru began. "They call themselves Strega. Ever heard of them?"

"A shirtless pale guy with messy hair, a glasses wearing nerd with a briefcase and a strange girl wearing white frilly clothes? If it's them, then yeah."

"How and when?" Akihiko asked in an alarmed voice. "This is the first we heard about this girl."

"I don't recall much about the girl so I can't help you more there. Just ran into them when they came asking about you guys."

"What did you tell them?" Akihiko asked.

"Nothing much," Shinjiro replied with a shrug. "Just that you guys were trying to take down the Dark Hour."

"That's how they seem to know about it," Mitsuru murmured. "Why did they come to you in the first place?"

"Probably saw me talking to Aki here and connected the dots. But if you do plan on fighting them, I suggest that you be very careful around their leader. The pale face one."

"What do you mean?"

"There's just something about him that I find concerning, that's all."

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind. I assume that's all you know about them?"

Shinjiro nodded his head.

Mitsuru then turned to Akihiko. "Anything else we should talk about?"

"How about our young field leader," Akihiko replied with a grin. "I think you guys had a run in, right?"

"Yeah, one night I found him getting attacked by some of Port Island Stations' residential thugs." He smiled as he recalled the event. "I just stepped in a bit to help out. A really mysterious guy I think."

"You're one to talk. But as for him, there's a lot that you should know."

At that point, Mitsuru and Akihiko filled Shinjiro in with all they knew about Makoto. From his ability to summon multiple Personas, his past, the Tsukigami Clan, his swordsmanship and the recent incident."

Shinjiro loudly whistled after the two were done. "I honestly didn't think there was that much to him. The incident would explain why he looked so empty when I saw him. So are you guys going to just leave him alone even though he can go berserk again?"

Mitsuru and Akihiko both looked at each other before the former said, "We thought long and hard about it, but we're going to place our trust in him."

A half smile appeared on Shinjiro's face. "Is that right? Then, I'll do the same if you guys are vouching for him. So anything else?"

The other two were silent as they thought how they could bring up the next topic. "Well, about Amada…" Mitsuru began. "What do you want to do?"

"I'll tell him when it's time," Shinjiro decided. "I'll look after him in the meantime."

"Fine, we'll do as such."

"Okay, I assume we're all done, here?" Shinjiro got up to leave. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Thursday September 3, 2009 7:30 A.M. - Iwatodai Station

"Good morning, Yuki," Mitsuru greeted Makoto after he boarded the train.

"Morning," Makoto greeted back and then turned his gaze towards Aigis in the school uniform.

"Morning, Makoto-san. It had been decided that I will accompany Mitsuru-san to school everyday."

"The chairman wants to check up on Aigis before classes start everyday and since I usually meet him myself, I thought it'd be better if she just comes with me then. Besides, I know that you three already have a tough time watching over her during the day so this is the least I can do. Of course, Aigis did protest the decision made." She smiled at Aigis who didn't give a response.

"Thanks, we could use all the help we can take," Makoto replied, recalling the stressful day yesterday.

"By the way, isn't Takeba with you?"

"...So you know." Makoto wasn't really surprised since pretty much everyone at the dorm knew.

Mitsuru lightly shrugged her shoulders. "It's just those things that you can tell without anyone needing to tell you. But, I'm happy for the both you."

"Thanks," Makoto said with a small smile. "Her practices are pretty early in the morning so she just goes on ahead."

Mitsuru's smile suddenly turned grim. "You may have already heard this on the news, but the number of those incidents have increased compared to those during the last full moon."

"I thought we were making progress."

"I thought so too. I don't know the reason for the increase, but we'll just have to remain alert at all times."

"Despite the increasing number of incidents, we are adding more members to the team so the balance should still be the same," Aigis remarked.

"That's true, especially with Aragaki back with us. In any case, make sure not to overexert yourself at school since we'll be at Tartarus tonight."

8:00 A.M. - Class 2-D

A boy with unkempt brown hair entered the classroom and walked over to where Aigis was sitting. "Uh, who are you?"

"I am Aigis," she replied.

"Well, what are you doing sitting in my seat?"

"This is my seat."

"Hey Jun, I tried calling you yesterday, but you wouldn't pick up," Junpei said from his seat. "Toriumi-sensei gave your seat away to Aigis-chan since you weren't here yesterday."

"Wait, what?! How can she do that?"

"I'm the teacher so I can," Toriumi replied after entering the room.

"So where do I sit now?" Jun was now visibly depressed at the development.

"There's an open seat in the back so just go over there," Toriumi instructed. "Maybe this time, you'll think twice about skipping school."

"Man, this sucks," Jun murmured while he dragged his body to his seat.

3:10 P.M.

Makoto opened the door to the music club and saw Fuuka talking to Keisuke and Souma near the front of the room.

"Are you attending practice today?" Keisuke asked.

"Yeah," Makoto replied and walked up to the three of them.

Keisuke grinned. "A rare appearance by our multi-tasking member. You probably heard about our new adviser, right?" He gestured towards the red-haired man.

Upon closing inspection, he seemed to be in his thirties. Again, Makoto felt that the man was familiar.

"Ah, you must be Yuki," Souma said while extending his hand. "I heard a few things about you, most notably that you're rarely ever here."

"I wish I attended more, but I have a lot of things on my plate," Makoto explained.

"You must mean the kendo club. I heard the club is doing well this year. Keep up the good work."

"Thanks."

"Now then." Souma turned around to face the other members. "Let's continue where we left off yesterday." He clapped his hands and the club members got into their seats.

Makoto did the same and had to ask Fuuka where they currently were at. For the next two hours, practice continued smoothly despite being made up of mostly students with limited experience. He noted that the adviser had an advanced understanding of music and was able to guide the struggling ones throughout."

5:12 P.M.

After practice was over, he walked back to the dorm with Fuuka.

"So, what do you think of Hikage-sensei?" Fuuka asked.

"He's very knowledgeable and a really good teacher," Makoto admitted.

"I think so too. I was concerned about what kind of replacement we were going to get, but it seems like my worries are unfounded."

Makoto nodded his head and then suddenly remembered something. "Did that teacher...seem kind of odd to you?"

"Odd?" She arched her eyebrows as she pondered what he had said. "I don't think so? Why?"

"Just a feeling, but it's probably my imagination." He didn't bring up the strange feeling he had anymore and just continued with their conversation until they returned to the dorm.

Dark Hour - Tartarus

Just before midnight, the group assembled and together they traveled to Gekkoukan High School which had now turned into the Tartarus labyrinth.

"I see this hasn't changed much either," Shinjiro mused after he stepped into the lobby. "Other than that weird circular thing in that corner."

"It's the teleportation device that'll get us back to certain areas we already explored," Mitsuru explained.

Junpei walked up to Shinjiro while carrying his large heavy blade. "By the way senpai. "I noticed that you didn't bring anything."

"You mean like a weapon?"

"That's right."

"I don't use such things." Shinjiro raised his fists up. "All I need are these. Not even those steel knuckles that Aki uses."

"Hey, not everyone is blessed with your monstrous strength." Akihiko fired back.

Shinjiro grunted in response. "So how are we going to do this?"

"Going forward, I think we will split into two teams so that we can make better progress, but for today, we'll advance as a single group."

"Fine by me." Shinjiro then turned to Makoto. "Your name was...Yuki, right? And you're calling the shots on the group formation? Then I recommend just leaving me at the front."

"I was planning on doing just that," Makoto agreed. "You'll be at the front with Junpei and Sanada-senpai."

Shinjiro nodded in approval. "Good to see that we're on the same wavelength."

"Now that's taken care of, let's head on inside," Mitsuru ordered.

Floor 98

After exiting the teleporter, the group advanced forward while maintaining their formation. The area they were in had eerie green colored hallways with walls filled with staircases placed in various positions that could give anyone a headache if they concentrated long enough on the walls.

"I sense two Shadows ahead," Fuuka suddenly announced. "Be careful. They are pretty strong."

A few seconds later, they heard heavy footsteps and then two large Shadows entered their

line of sight. Their bodies' structure were the same as humans, two arms, legs, a chest and head. Their bodies were mostly blue and were quite muscular. On their head were what resembled the masks worn by luchador wrestlers, but their bodies were much bigger at about 7 feet tall.

"Weird," Junpei muttered, echoing everybody's thoughts.

The two Shadows let out a roar and then charged towards them, the ground shaking violently with every step taken.

"They aren't strong against any elements, but aren't weak to any either," Fuuka warned.

Shinjiro took a step forward. "Leave this to me."

"But senpai, that's too dangerous." Yukari shouted. "You don't even have a weapon."

"Just trust me, right Aki?" Shinjiro looked over at Akihiko who nodded in response.

"Yeah. These Shadows seem to be the close range combat types so Shinji will be perfect against them."

Shinjiro quickly charged towards the closest one and when he got within range of it, he grabbed the Shadow's large arm while turning his body so that his back was now below the arm. Then, in one swift movement, he threw the entire Shadow's body over his back. He didn't have time to follow up his attack since the second Shadow was already within striking distance.

The Shadow reached out and locked hands with Shinjiro. The two then tried to overpower the other using only their strength. They were deadlocked for only a few seconds when Shinjiro noticed that the first Shadow was getting back on its feet.

With a loud roar, Shinjiro was able to push the second Shadow and then lifted it before tossing it over behind him. The Shadow landed on top of the first Shadow with a heavy thud. He wasn't finish yet however as he charged towards the Shadows and then grabbed one of their arms. He lifted its body before slamming it down a few times on top of the other Shadow. His combo ended with a heavy punch right into the Shadow's face.

"It's over," Shinjiro declared before taking his Evoker and held it to his forehead with steady poise. "Finish them, Castor!"

Appearing in the air was a rider on a floating dark armored horse with only its two back legs. The rider was nearly identical to Polydeuces except it was black and had a long white object piercing through its body from the chest area.

Castor then pointed at the two Shadows before it flew forward in a bright light at incredible speeds. The Persona flew into the Shadows and then pinned them against the wall. He then unleashed several punches onto them.

"Uh, the Shadows are defeated," Fuuka announced. "Good job."

"That was...amazing," Ken said, his eyes and mouth were both wide opened in shock.

"Yeah, he was a lot stronger than I'd thought," Junpei admitted, looking almost as surprised as Ken.

Akihiko grinned at their responses. "Well, you might be surprised to hear this, but Shinji had always bested me when it came to pure strength. Not to mention that despite how he is, he showed a lot of talent in martial arts such as Judo, Aikido and Karate. He did take classes, but just gave them up. It's a shame though since his abilities could've risen to great heights if he continued with them."

"Just shut up, will ya?" Shinjiro demanded in a low, but booming voice. "Who cares about all of that stuff?" Without waiting for the others, he made his way forward.

"He was using Persona Augmentation during that whole fight," Makoto commented with a hand on his chin.

"Really?" Akihiko asked, looking surprised. "It looked like the usual Shinji to me."

"It could be that he had unknowingly tapped into that ability a long time ago," Mitsuru surmised. "He did have talent after all."

"Everyone, I sense a Shadow that's quickly coming towards you guys!" Fuuka suddenly warned.

"Where?"

"At the side!"

The party turned their attention to a nearby hallway where another muscular humanoid Shadow had appeared.

"Dammnit, I won't make it in time!" Shinjiro shouted from a significant distant ahead.

"This time, I'll take care of it," Akihiko said and then ran towards the Shadow without waiting to hear what anyone else had to say. Using his quick speed, he reached the Shadow within seconds. When he saw the Shadow reaching towards him with its powerful arms, he lowered his body and avoided the grab. Next, he unleashed a barrage of electric powered punches to its abdomen before knocking it back with a final powered punch.

The Shadow had one knee on the ground, but then was able to get up afterwards.

"Not strong enough, huh," Akihiko muttered and braced for the Shadow's next move which started with a jump and its body then flew towards him. Taking quick evasive measures, Akihiko sidestepped out of harm's way, but the Shadow had rapidly recovered from its fall and now was already within reaching distance of him. "I can't let it get a hand on me." He knocked the arms away by punching the elbows from below.

The Shadow let out a loud cry, but Akihiko continued with a uppercut to its chin that launched it high into the air. He then took his Evoker and summoned his Persona.

Polydeuces appeared and then pierced the Shadow with his electrical spike before discharging all of its electricity into it.

"Not bad," Shinjiro said after watching the corpse disintegrate. "You're a lot better than I remembered.

"Of course," Akihiko said, gathering electricity into his hand. "I've been rigorously training since you were gone."

"At this rate, we won't be needed to do anything, right?" Junpei asked Ken who looked like he was still in shock from before.

"Huh?" Ken looked at Junpei and then regained his composure with a smile. "Yeah, all of the seniors members are really dependable. We got to work hard and catch up with them."

"Hey, that's the spirit." Junpei lightly slapped Ken on the back.

"Let's save the morale boosting speeches for later," Yukari suddenly said. "Everybody's moving on."

"Oh shoot, gotta return to the front lines." Junpei and the others hurried after the senior members.

Friday September 4, 2009 7:50 A.M. - Gekkoukan Front Gates

Makoto let out a yawn as he neared the school. They had made good progress yesterday and were able to defeat the Shadow guardian after a tough fight. Once again, they ran into another barrier. If it weren't for that, they probably could've climbed ten more floors.

"Hey, man," Junpei greeted while catching up to Makoto. "Yesterday was really something, but now we have to deal with tomorrow's full moon. Hopefully, it won't be as challenging as last time, you know, tanks and scary demonic creatures." He let out a heartily laugh.

"You sound excited," Makoto noted.

"Can't help it," Junpei replied with a wide smile. "There's only 4 Shadows left after all."

"Well, just remember to be careful," Makoto cautioned.

"Don't worry, man. You know me." Junpei pointed a thumb at himself as his smile grew bigger.

3:30 P.M. - Port Island Station

After leaving school, Junpei rode the train to Port Island Station. His merry mood this morning had continued throughout the day. "I wonder if she's here." He scanned the crowd and zone in on the bench near the center. Much to his delight, he found what he was looking for.

"Hey Chidori, how's your hand?"

Chidori looked up from her drawing and there wasn't any changed in her stoic expression after noticing Junpei's presence. Without saying anything, she quietly showed her hand to him.

Junpei furrowed his eyebrows and leaned closer to her hand. "Huh? I don't see anything...not even a scar. Did it heal that quickly?"

Instead of answering him, she asked him a question. "Hey Junpei, what do you do to make yourself feel alive?"

"That's a weird question," Junpei replied with a chuckle. "I never thought about it before. How about you? Is that why you draw?"

"Maybe..." She looked at her drawing and a small frown appeared on her face. "Most of these are just scribbles. I guess I don't understand myself very well."

Junpei scratched his head, unsure of what she was talking about. "I see...Uh, mind if I sit here?" He pointed to the small space next to her.

She shook her head and then moved a few inches away.

"Thanks," Junpei said as he took a seat. "So about what you asked earlier, something just popped into my head. It's kind of stupid, but..." He looked up at the clear blue sky. "To tell you the truth, there is one thing that makes me feel alive." He raised one hand towards the sky. "And that is when I get to play hero."

"Hero?" Chidori repeated with a confused expression.

"In the darkest hour, unknown to all but a few, the chosen ones stand against the forces of evil! Our hero, Junpei, fights to protect the world from these terrifying monsters!"

Junpei laughed and then stood up. "Well, you get the idea. That's when I feel most alive."

Chidori's expression didn't change much except it looked like she was seriously pondering what he had just said.

"Umm, your supposed to laugh," Junpei said, letting out an uneasy laugh himself.

"So...do you fight all alone?"

"H-Hey, I was just kidding around." Junpei slid a few inches away from her, but Chidori slid closer.

"You fight during a time that no one knows about, right? So then, no one knows what you've been doing, either. That means you'll never receive any recognition. I'm impressed. I didn't know that you're that kind of guy."

"For real? You actually believe me?" He asked in a low voice.

"Tell me more," she said, leaning closer to him.

"You really wanna know? Okay, but don't tell anyone, alright?" He looked around to see if anyone was paying any attention. "You see, there's this special power called Persona, and only those who have it can defeat the monsters. That's what I meant by the chosen ones. My friends are fighting too and ever since I joined them, we've been kicking some serious ass!"

"That sounds like fun," Chidori said after his explanation. "Are you the leader? Because it sounds like you're pretty strong."

"Y-Yeah, I guess you could say that," he stammered for a moment before he composed himself with confidence. "I mean, without me, things would just fall apart. Someone's gotta be in charge after all. It's pretty tough being a leader." He nodded his head.

Chidori was silent after Junpei finished his answer. She then closed her sketch book and got up from her seat. "Thank you, Junpei. I had...fun today." A small and faint smile crept up on her face.

"Y-You did?" His eyes grew wide at what she had said.

"It's time for me to go. I'll see you tomorrow, right?" She left without hearing his response.

"Tomorrow, huh," Junpei muttered while he watched her disappearing figure. After what felt like a long time after she left, he couldn't contain the smiles and excitement any longer. He made a fist pump and jumped into the air, ignoring all of the people passing by. "All right! There's no stopping me now. And that includes tomorrow's Shadow."

Saturday September 5, 2009 7:50 A.M. - Gekkoukan Front Gates

When Makoto arrived at the school gates, he saw Fuuka walking only a few feet ahead.

"Morning. So there's going to be a full moon tonight. Hopefully there won't be any issues this time."

Makoto thought back to all of the previous full moon battles and was quite pessimistic about Fuuka's hope.

"We'll be fine," he said. "Probably."

"Hey, don't be so negative. But speaking of negativity, doesn't Junpei-kun seem to be in high spirits these last few days?"

"I think so. It seems to come and go over the months though."

Fuuka chuckled at his response. "I know what you mean, but it seems kind of different these days."

"Maybe something good happened to him?"

"Maybe...And then there's Ken-kun too."

"Ken? What about him?"

"Well, me and Yukari-chan were talking about it recently. Ken-kun seems distant from the others even though he acts friendly when we talk to him. I don't know. It's just a feeling I suppose."

"Hmmm." Makoto thought about it and was able to recall at least one occasion where he thought there was something off about the young boy as well.

5:05 P.M. - Outside of the Minatodai Dorm

Junpei walked up to the dorm's door with a frown on his face. "Man, she wasn't at the station today. But maybe I should check again." He then shook his head. "Nah, on second thought, I'd better stay put. The operation's tonight. But now that I think about it, we're fighting to protect her too." His frown grew into a large smile. "Maybe we really are like heroes. Yeah!" He pumped his fist into the air and then reached for the doorknob.

"Don't move," a voice suddenly called out from behind.

The voice had froze Junpei in his tracks. "This voice...It's-" He turned around, but was instantly knocked out by a metal object.

Dark Hour - Minatodai Dorm 4th Floor Meeting Room

The S.E.E.S. members that gathered in the meeting room were quietly watching Fuuka who was in the middle of a search using Lucia's abilities.

"Tonight marks the 6th full moon," Ikutsuki commented from his seat. He had his eyes shut the whole time. "Do you detect a Shadow?"

"Yes...It's near Paulownia Mall...I think." Fuuka responded with uncertainty.

"You think?" Mitsuru repeated.

"For some reason, I can't quite pinpoint its location, but I'm trying to narrow it down."

"Maybe it's the Shadow's power," Akihiko suggested.

"I'm not sure."

"At least we have a place to start with," Ikutsuki said.

Ken suddenly ran through the opened door.

"Did you find Iori?" Mitsuru asked.

"I can't find him anywhere," Ken replied, his face covered with sweat and his breathing haggard. "His backpack isn't here either so I don't think he's been home yet." He bent over to catch his breath.

"Anyone has any clue as to where he might be?"

"As soon as classes ended, he said he had some business to take care of, but he'll be back in time for the operation," Makoto said.

"If he knew, then what's holding him?" Yukari asked with a hint of anger in her voice.

"I don't sense him anywhere nearby, but should I take more time to look for him, just in case?" Fuuka offered. "He could be in some sort of danger or trouble."

Ikutsuki waved away Fuuka's concerns. "No, it's okay. You're all young so sometimes you just get in one of those moods. Anyway, we should focus on the task at hand."

Mitsuru breathed out a heavy sigh. "We can't afford to waste any more time. Let's go."

Everybody then made their way out, except Shinjiro who remained lost in his thoughts. When Makoto walked by him, Shinjiro stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, did Iori say anything else earlier? Anything at all."

"Not that I remember," Makoto replied. "Why?"

"...It's nothing," Shinjiro finally replied after a brief pause. "Let's go." He followed after the others in his same composed and calm manner that he usually did.

"Despite appearances, Aragaki-kun tends to be a worrywart," Ikutsuki said from the window. "But...he can also be a bit too paranoid sometimes." He smiled and turned around so that he was looking out the window. "Shouldn't you be leaving as well?"

"...Yeah." Makoto took one look at Ikutsuki's back and then left the room.

Paulownia Mall

The team hurried to Paulownia Mall and when they arrived, they didn't see anything out of the ordinary other than a few standing coffins.

Fuuka quickly walked over to the fountain and summoned Lucia.

After a minute had passed, Mitsuru asked, "Detect anything?"

"Only a faint presence. It seems so close, but...why!?"

Makoto looked around the mall and could feel the Shadow's presence as well, but couldn't pinpoint it either.

Misturu clicked her tongue and then turned her attention to the others. "Alright, let's split up and search for it. There's no time to lose, hurry!"

"Wait!" Fuuka shouted so loud that halted the others in their tracks. "Please give me a moment! This is my responsibility!"

The others looked at each other, but ultimately couldn't refuse because of her emotional plea.

"Keep trying, Fuuka-chan!" Yukari shouted. "You can do this."

Akihiko shot a smile at Mitsuru who just shrugged her shoulders and had a half smile on her face. "I'm pretty sure we can spare a few more minutes."

Koromaru barked in support.

"Thanks everyone." Fuuka closed her eyes and concentrated. "Tell me Lucia, what is this thing that deceives me? Hear the wind's answer in your ear. Touch the earth's answer with your fingertips. Taste the water's answers on your lips..." Fuuka's body began glowing faintly within Lucia.

"Hey, is she okay?" Akihiko asked.

"Don't break her concentration," Mitsuru responded.

"Right beneath our feet is some kind of webbing?" Fuuka continued.

"Perhaps it has something to do with the old power cables underground," Aigis surmised. "They were just left there when the island's construction was completed."

"Power cables?" Mitsuru repeated, placing a finger below her chin.

Aigis nodded. "Yes. They run underground in many directions, like a web."

"So these cables...are interfering with Yamagishi's ability?" Akihiko guessed.

Fuuka smiled after hearing their thoughts. "Thank you, Aigis. I understand now. Interference isn't the problem. The cables themselves have been possessed by the Shadow!"

"They what!?" Yukari shouted. "So...it's underneath this whole area?" She looked down at the floor with frustration.

"I get it, but just how far do these cables reach?" Akihiko asked.

"My records show that including Paulownia Mall, the cables extend nearly this entire business district," Aigis replied.

"T-Then how are we supposed to beat something like that?" Ken stammered as he looked at one person to another.

Minatodai Dorm Roof

The door to the rooftop swung opened with Junpei flying through it. Somebody's foot had knocked him through the door.

"Owwww," he groaned. He wanted to rub the aching pain on the back of his head, but remembered that his hands were tied behind by a rope.

"I can't believe how easy it was to sneak up on you," his assailant said from behind the door. "Are the others here just as oblivious?"

Junpei groaned again, but this time out of frustration. "If only I could use my power." With a lot of effort, he was able to get on his knees so that he was now facing his assailant at the door. "Just what's going on, Chidori!"

At the sound of her name, Chidori walked through the door in a calm manner. "I'll get straight to the point. I want you to do something for me. I have new orders for you to give to your friends. Surely you have the capacity to communicate with them?"

He was incredulous at her demand and had to blink several times to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "Me? Give orders?"

She circled around him and then leaned down close to his right ear. "If you do as I say, you won't be harmed. All you have to do is call of the mission. Easy, right? And not just the one tonight, all of them."

He struggled to free himself, but it was to no avail. "You want me to cancel the mission?" At this time, images of the team's prior full moon mission flew through his head. After recalling two individuals, his eyes grew wide and full of anger. "Wait, you're not one of them, are you?"

Chidori stood in front of him and pulled out a small red axe attached to a chain and held it to Junpei's neck. "Just shut up and do it. Or else." She inched the blade closer to his neck.

Paulownia Mall

Mitsuru paced back and forth while biting on her right thumbnail. "If the cables extend that far, then we don't have any way of attacking it."

"Actually, I just recall the notes you gave me regarding that monorail incident," Fuuka said. "You said that the Shadow took control of the monorail, right? Then just like that one, this Shadow must have its own body too. Now let's see if I can find it." She closed her eyes and concentrated all of her energy in the search.

"We still have a problem though," Akihiko said with less enthusiasm. "Even if we know where it is, can we get to it? It's underground, remember?"

"Depending on where it actually is, there may be a path that we can use," Aigis explained.

After about another minute had passed, they saw beads of sweat had begun to accumulate and pour down from her forehead.

"Shouldn't we stop her?" Yukari asked, her face filled with concern. "At this rate, she'll collapse!"

"I found it," Fuuka said while gasping for air. "It's close by. In this mall."

"What part?"

"It's inside a small chamber underground. Coming in the direction of the club." She pointed westward and everybody turned their attention to Club Escapade at the far end.

"If it is in the club, then there is a generator room right below it," Aigis said. "There is even a way for us to get there!"

"Good job Yamagishi," Mitsuru said. "There's no time to waste. Let's move now!"

Lucia disappeared as Fuuka took a seat on the fountain. "I'm going to take a small breather, but I'll resume my support once everyone gets there."

"Okay, take it easy Fuuka," Yukari said before following the others towards the club.

After reaching their destination, they saw several tables turned over, but that was pretty much the extent of the damages inside. There were also a number of standing coffins scattered throughout.

"Aigis, how do we get below?" Mitsuru asked.

"There is a hatch that we can use."

"Then let's split up and search for it."

The others scattered with Makoto searching near the bar counter. He walked past a table, when a familiar hat caught his eye. "Don't tell me she's still here?" His eyes moved from one coffin to another.

"Is something wrong?" Yukari asked when her search reached the counter.

"No...it's nothing."

"I found it," Shinjiro suddenly called out from the kitchen area.

The others met up with him and saw a opened hatch in the corner of the room. There was a ladder descending deep down.

"I'll head down first and see what we're dealing with," Shinjiro volunteered.

"Okay, then I'll also send Akihiko, Yuki and Aigis down as well," Mitsuru decided. "We'll wait here in the meantime."

"Be careful guys," Yukari said as the four vanguards went down the ladder.

They descended approximately down two stories when they reached the bottom which was a relatively small passageway with many cables running along the wall. After taking a right, they found themselves in a spacious room filled with many equipment, generators and cables. Most notably in the center, was the large Shadow.

It had something like a white mane covering the sides of its head and countless cables were attached to its black body including its arms. When it noticed them, its body glowed brightly and they could see electrical sparks appearing in the air.

"Get out of there everyone!" Fuuka shouted loudly.

Fuuka's sudden warning prompted the vanguard members to quickly retreat back to passageway. As soon as the final person got past the corner, the large Shadow dispersed a massive amount of electricity that filled the entire room it was in.

Shinjiro clicked his tongue at the sight. "That was too close for comfort."

"I've noticed that the Shadow had been draining electrical energy from all of the nearby generators. It has already accumulated enough energy to power several tall buildings so you'll instantly die if you touch its attack."

"You got to be kidding me," Akihiko spat, punching his palm. "If we can't get near it, then we can't beat it."

"Let's head back up and regroup," Makoto suggested. "There's nothing we can do down here."

The group agreed and climbed back up to the club. They immediately saw an irritated Mitsuru with her arms folded. "I heard what happened. We now have another problem to deal with."

"It's actually much worse," Fuuka said. "With the way it is gathering the energy, I can only conclude that it intends to release it all out at once. And when that happens..."

"Port Island will be destroyed."

"Exactly. And I think the time limit is the end of the Dark Hour."

"It just keeps getting worse and worse," Yukari mumbled, there was uneasiness in her voice. "So what do we do now?"

When nobody offered a response, Ken meekly raised his hand. "Um, if I'm understanding this right. How about we decrease the Shadow's energy? It's drawing energy from nearby generators, right?"

"That's an excellent thought, Amada," Mitsuru praised. "We'll weaken it enough so that we can attack it while withstanding its attacks. Aigis, where are the closest 4 generators?"

"Under the bank at the north, a library in the east, an aquarium in the south and a bowling alley in the west. They are all less than half a mile from here."

"Good," Mitsuru said with a nod before turning to the others. "We'll split the teams into four groups of two. Find the generators at the locations and destroy them."

"Do we need to go that far?" Yukari asked.

"I'd prefer if we can safely detach the cables from them if we had the time, but unfortunately we don't. I'll take care of the destroyed generators afterwards. As for the locations, Yamagishi will provide guidance."

"Understood."

"I'll head to the bank with Akihiko." Mitsuru glanced over at Akihiko who nodded his agreement.

"I'll go to the library," Shinjiro decided and then gestured towards Koromaru. "The dog's with me."

"Fine. Then Aigis and Amada will head south to the aquarium. And that leaves Takeba and Yuki with the bowling alley. Now go. We don't have much time left until the Dark Hour ends."

Without another second, the group divided into the specific teams and headed towards their destination.

Shinjiro and Koromaru exited from the eastern exit and made a beeline towards the library. Fortunately for them, the streets were wide and mostly clear.

"So you understood all that?" Shinjiro asked.

Koromaru barked in response causing Shinjiro to grin.

"Damn, you're probably the smartest dog I've ever met. Once we're done here, I'll give you a dog treat."

Koromaru barked happily and increased his speed.

"It's time I kick it up a notch." Shinjiro picked up the pace and followed after Koromaru. When they saw the entrance of the library in the distant, they saw two lion Shadows moving around in front of it. "I didn't think this was going to be easy. But we don't have time to waste with them so let's take care of them fast."

Koromaru growled and summoned his Persona, Cerberus. The large three headed dog with dark blue fur howled at the sky before several fireballs rained down onto the Shadows. Only a few of them made contact with the Shadows, but it did separated the two. Koromaru and Cerberus then dashed forward and pounced on one of them. The combined force between the two beasts were enough to knock down the lion.

On the other side, Shinjiro engaged in combat with the second lion. He unleashed a barrage of punches onto the lion's face. The punches weren't as quick as Akihiko's, but the power from them were higher. Despite that, the lion forced its way through the punches and took down Akihiko to the ground. "Like I'm going to let you turn me into lion chow."

He hit it in the abdomen using his knee and momentarily stunned it enough for him to roll out of harm's way. Next, he followed up with a flying jump kick to its side and then slammed his palm down onto its back while making a leg sweep with his left foot at the same time.

The lion collapsed to the ground as a result of the two attacks.

Shinjiro then placed both of his hands together and raised them into the air. "What?"

Just then, the lion spun his body, sending the giant iron ball flying towards Shinjiro who barely managed to catch and stop it with his hands in time. With him distracted by the iron ball, the lion made a swipe at him with his paw and knocked him away.

Shinjiro quickly rolled away from the ensuing jump attack and then got back to his feet. After assuming a stance, he elbowed the lion in the side and then followed up with a focused right punch that knocked the lion down again. "I need to hurry this up." He took his Evoker and summoned his Persona.

Castor appeared and then fired off his own right punch. This time, the lion was sent flying and into the other one.

Koromaru and Cerberus both leaped back to avoid the collision before Cerberus howled and summoned the falling fireballs again. The blazing attacks made direct attacks onto the Shadows and destroyed them.

"Great work," Shinjiro said when he caught up with Koromaru. "Now help me find the generator."

The two went inside the darkened library and with the help of Koromaru's nose, they located the generator room.

After Shinjiro located what was likely the generator, he looked over at Koromaru. "Stand back." He then punched the generator and crushed it with his fist. "Okay, we're done here."

"Uh, we're going in the right direction, right?" Ken asked after they went down several different alleyways.

"That is correct," Aigis replied. "Based on my database, I have calculated the quickest route to the aquarium. If we take this route, then we will save 25.0532 seconds compared to if we used the opened streets."

"I-I see, since time is of the essence." After another minute, they made it to the side of the aquarium. "I don't think I've ever entered the aquarium from here, but I think there should be a door nearby-"

"I sense Shadows nearby," Aigis interjected.

When they turned the corner, they almost ran into a group of beetle Shadows.

"It's those types again," Ken said and then took out his Evoker. "I'll defeat them again." He summoned Nemesis who then started firing off electric bolts at several of the Shadows.

Aigis summoned Palladion right after. The armored Persona swung her lance at the beetles before impaling one of them. She received support fire from Aigis and together with the three of them, stopped the beetles in their tracks. "Careful, I sense another Shadow nearby," Aigis warned.

Ken looked around and saw one of the flying hairy Shadows coming right at him. The sight of it nearly made him trip out of surprise. When the Shadow began glowing red, he readied his spear. "Oh no you don't." He stabbed it with his spear before it could fire off an attack. By the time he was done with that, the beetles had all been defeated.

"The way is now clear," Aigis announced.

The two entered the nearby side door and continued their search. After a few minutes of looking around the large aquarium, Ken finally located the generator room. "Aigis over here."

It took Aigis only a few seconds to arrive. "Leave this to me." She aimed her fingers at the generator and fired off a few bullets at it. "I can no longer sense any power coming from it," she said afterwards.

"That's good," Ken said with a sigh of relief. "I wonder how the others are doing..."

The streets leading towards the bowling alley were actually filled with many coffins so Makoto and Yukari had to carefully maneuver around them.

"Seems just like another busy Saturday night, huh," Yukari commented. "Do you know where the bowling alley is?"

"No," Makoto bluntly replied while following closely behind her.

"What? I don't think I've been there either so I'm mostly relying on what I've heard."

"Don't worry, Yukari-chan, you're both almost there actually," Fuuka said. "Just turn left at the split."

The two did as they were told and were able to see the bowling alley.

"There doesn't seem to be any Shadows outside," Makoto said while heading straight for the entrance. He opened the door and he saw about two dozens more coffins in the place. There were also three of the muscular Shadows inside who were now heading towards them. Makoto took his Evoker and summoned his Persona. "Thor!"

The yellow armored Persona ran into one of the Shadows and began exchanging blows with each other.

Yukari then summoned her Persona. "Io! Use a wind attack."

Io gathered wind and then unleashed it towards the legs of the other Shadow, knocking it down to the ground.

Makoto drew his blade and plunge it down the Shadow's chest before quickly jumping off it and facing off against the third one.

Thor grabbed onto one of the Shadow's arms and discharge electricity throughout its body. He then took his heavy hammer and swung it down its head. After hearing something crack, the Shadow collapsed to the ground.

The second Shadow was now getting back to his feet, but Yukari fired off multiple arrows into its hands and feet. The final arrow was powered by wind and it had pierced the Shadow's skull, ultimately stopping it from moving.

The final Shadow pulled its right arm back and unleashed a hook punch towards Makoto.

After sheathing his blade, Makoto moved to its side and evaded the attack using swift footwork. He then drew his blade and unleashed a powerful counterattack that lobbed off the Shadow's left arm, leaving the Shadow to cry out in pain. He finished it off by leaping up and executing a downward slash that divided the Shadow down the middle.

"Good job." Yukari said. The two then high five each other.

"The generator room is probably behind the bowling lanes," Makoto guessed.

"If that's true, then we should try searching that room." She pointed to the room next to the first bowling lane which they later found lead further down to the generator room.

Makoto took his blade and simply stabbed the generator with it. "That should be it."

Mitsuru's team was able to get to the bank without much hassle. There wasn't even any Shadows outside it either. However, they quickly found that the entrance doors were tightly locked.

"Let me handle it," Akihiko said and then summoned Polydeuces who rammed the door with his pike. The doors broke down, but then a large object fell down behind them and shook the ground. "What was that?"

They turned around and saw a Shadow that greatly resembled the first guardian Shadow with spear arms they fought in Tartarus. Although, it wasn't as big.

"Just where did that come from?" Akihiko murmured.

"Doesn't matter," Mitsuru replied. "Let's end this quickly." She summoned Penthesilea and along with Polydeuces, unleashed their elemental attacks.

The combined attacks did noticeable damage so Mitsuru and Akihiko ordered them to do it again.

The Shadow began spinning around in response which caused the attacks to blew off of it.

"Then how about this?" Akihiko said as electricity began building up into his left hand. "I've been waiting to try this." He slammed his left fist into the ground and the electricity began running along the ground towards the Shadow. The electrical attack ran through the Shadow's feet and stopped its spinning attack. "It's stunned now." Akihiko charged towards it and began punching its abdomen.

Mitsuru followed after him and then jumped onto one of the spear arms before piercing the head several times with her rapier. "Let's finish it now."

The two moved back, allowing their Personas to get closer to the Shadow.

"Now!"

Penthesilea and Polydeuces combined their attacks once again and enveloped the Shadow with ice and electricity.

"Hopefully, there's nothing left inside," Akihiko said.

"Agreed," Mitsuru said.

They ran inside and after navigating through the darkness, they found what they were looking for.

"Yamagishi, what's everyone's status?" Mitsuru asked after Akihiko punched the generator.

"Everybody had reached their destinations and are almost done dealing with the Shadows," Fuuka replied.

"Nothing concerning I hope?"

"No, their situations seem manageable."

"That's good."

Mitsuru and Akihiko waited a few more minutes while the rest completed their tasks.

"Okay, I can confirm all four generators destroyed and the large Shadow's energy had significantly decreased, but..."

"It's not enough, right?" Akihiko surmised.

"Yes...It's still quite powerful."

"We don't have time to destroy anymore generators," Mitsuru said with frustration.

"From what Aigis has told me of the next closest generators, I think the Dark Hour will end by the time everyone reaches them. The Shadow would likely still unleash all of its accumulated energy and inflict significant damage to the island."

"Seems like we have two choices," Akihiko said. "It's your call, but I think we should head back and deal with it while it's weakened."

Mitsuru closed her eyes for only about ten seconds. "That's what I'm thinking too. Yamagishi, relay this to everyone. We're heading back."

Paulownia Mall

"First, good work everyone," Mitsuru said once everybody gathered at Paulownia's fountain. "But as you know, the Shadow is still stronger than we'd expected. The Dark Hour is ending soon and I can't leave the Shadow here when that happens. I'm going to go attack it now. It's still a dangerous situation, so nobody is under any obligation to follow me."

Contrary to what Mitsuru had been implying, nobody seemed to back down from the situation.

"I'm going too," Yukari said. "If it'll save people's lives, then I'll risk my own."

"Obviously, I'm with you," Akihiko said. "Shinji too, I'm sure."

Shinjiro grunted in response while Koromaru began barking.

"My directive is to protect everyone no matter where we go," Aigis said.

"So what about you, Yuki?" Mitsuru asked.

Makoto vupped his chin and thought about the situation. "I think I have a plan."

"You do?" Mitsuru appeared hopeful at the thought.

"I'm going to need Sanada-senpai's help."

"Oh yeah?" Akihiko walked over to Makoto. "What is it?"

Makoto whispered a few words to him.

"That's sounds crazy," Akihiko said after hearing the plan. "But count me in. It'll just be like last time, just at a bigger scale."

Other than Fuuka, the S.E.E.S. team descended the hatch and waited in the corridor next to the generator room.

"Makoto, be careful," Yukari said with a worried expression on her face.

"The same goes for you too, Akihiko," Mitsuru added.

"Don't worry, just trust us." Akihiko gave them a thumbs up which Makoto followed suit. "Okay, we don't have much time so let's do this." He took in a deep breath and then exhaled. "Polydeuces."

Akihiko summoned his Persona and dashed past the corner and into the Shadow's room.

Makoto summoned Oberon and Thor, but he wasn't done there. "Odin!" Standing next to the two electric Personas was a man wearing a loin cloth, a cape and a helmet. In his hand was a large electrical spear. Makoto and his Personas then join Akihiko and Polydeuces at the far left.

When the Shadow saw them, it gathered electricity once again.

"Now!" Makoto ordered.

When the Shadow unleashed its electricity, the Personas raised their weapons and diverted the electric attack towards them as if their weapons had became lightning rods.

Makoto and Akihiko both focused their own electric energy and moved to form a shield. The Shadow's electric attack continued, but it was now only being directed towards the left side of the room while the right side was clear.

"Move on to the second stage," Mitsuru loudly declared. "They won't last long so we need to make it count."

Everybody summoned their Personas and began to unleash a barrage of attacks towards the Shadow.

With no way to defend itself, the attacks all met their targets on the Shadow. It then howled as the room began to shake violently. The attacks halted as objects began to fall down including a pillar that collapsed towards Ken who had gotten pretty close to the Shadow.

Fortunately for Ken, he managed to leapt out of the way in time, but still trip and fell.

"Pay more attention to your surroundings," Shinjiro angrily said before pulling Ken back towards the rear. "Don't think that you're anywhere invincible."

"S-Sorry," Ken apologized with downcasted eyes.

Shinjiro then took Ken's spear and threw it right into the Shadow's face.

The shaking weakened a bit as a result allowing Palladion and Castor to get close to the Shadow.

Palladion swung her lance at the Shadow a few times and then pierced it deep in its chest.

Castor flew down from above and began punching the Shadow's head. After multiple punches, the shaking ceased along with the electric attacks.

Makoto and Akihiko's Personas were withdrawn as they both collapsed to their knees. They were drenched with sweat and breathing heavily.

"Are you guys okay?" Yukari asked as she had Io cast a healing spell on them.

"Peachy," Akihiko said with a grin.

"What he said," Makoto replied.

"It's over everyone," Fuuka happily announced. "I don't sense its presence anymore."

Mitsuru breathed out a heavy sigh of relief. "Let's head back now. I need to contact the chairman about the cleanup."

"I also found Junpei-kun. He's back at the dorm's rooftop."

"I have a lot to say about that, but I'm too tired and just want to head back," Yukari said.

Ken went to retrieve his spear and on his way back, saw Shinjiro holding a hand to his forehead. "What's wrong?"

Shinjiro slowly brought his hand down into his pockets. "It's nothing. Let's go."

12:20 A.M. - Minatodai Dorm Rooftop

"It seems they've completed their mission," Chidori said as she looked out from the edge of the roof.

Junpei's furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What? You can tell?"

"Yes...Through Medea's eyes."

"Who?"

Chidori turned around and approached Junpei with the axe in her hand. "My friend, but that's not important. Why didn't you call off the mission? Is it worth your life?" She raised her axe. "Dying is what people fear most isn't it?"

"Well, that's impossible anyway," Junpei quietly admitted as he looked down at the ground.

"What are you talking about?"

"I never actually given anyone orders before. They wouldn't listen to me anyway. I'm not the one in charge."

Chidori took a few footsteps back. "So you were lying earlier? Why? I don't understand."

"So was everything before an act?" He looked up, his eyes becoming wet. "Us meeting, the picture. Were you just setting me up? Now that I think about it, that cut healed pretty quickly." He let out a sad laugh. "I see how it is."

"That was..." Chidori quietly began when the door burst opened.

"Junpei?" Yukari said when she saw them.

Chidori clicked her tongue and jumped back to create some distance. "They're back already?" She pulled out her Evoker and pointed it to her head. "Medea, come."

Junpei threw his body towards her before she can pull the trigger.

The Evoker fell down to the ground along with Chidori who tried to reach for it.

Makoto quickly dashed forward and kicked the Evoker away before she could grab it.

"Sorry, but we can't let you use this," Akihiko said after he picked it up.

"Medea!" Chidori loudly screamed as if she was in great pain while Shinjiro held her down.

"Why couldn't I sense her up until this moment?" Fuuka asked, frustrated at her failure.

By this time, Ikutsuki had made it up the rooftop. He was panting heavily when he noticed Chidori. "Huh? When did she get here? I didn't notice her either so maybe she has the power to conceal herself."

"That's what I like to know," Mitsuru said when she walked over to Chidori and crouched down. "Along with that, are you a member of Strega?"

"I'm not...afraid of dying," Chidori responded, ignoring Mitsuru's presence.

"Ch-Chidori?" Junpei said, after he was freed.

"M-Medea...I'm..." Chidori let out a few more incoherent words before passing out.

Mitsuru sighed and stood up. "Clearly she's emotionally unstable. We'll let her rest and save our questions for later."

Junpei was confused as he watched Chidori being carried away by Shinjiro. "Chidori...Just what is going on?"

A/N: Hopefully everyone enjoyed the developments in this chapter. With this one, the story is heading towards the finishing line for the first arc. I'll try to cover at least one month of in game events for each chapter. So that makes it about 5 chapters left or so.