A/N: I've never realized that trying to keep the characters from being ooc is so difficult. OTL Though I enjoy writing this story nonetheless.

Again, to those who reviewed/favorited/followed this story, thank you. It really encourages me to keep writing. C:

Disclaimer: P3 belongs to Atlus.

Chapter 3

The storage was dark, and Minato wondered if equipping Thanatos helped his vision by a little.

He could hear the children's chatter and almost feel where they were. They were young, maybe around five to seven years old. Most of them were excited about something, and he briefly thought if the child that looked like Takaya was one of those excited kids. They talked about new lives and new beginnings, as if the Shadow Experiments were a million miles away.

Minato wished that he had Fuuka with him. Or Mitsuru even. He would like to avoid being spotted, and his senses were rather limited. He could only sense the walls (or objects, he was not sure) that were close to him and the children that accidentally got close, but that was it.

At least you could sense something. And I'm not helping you, you know? Ryoji answered his questions in his head, you are sensing stuff on your own. Hey, maybe you can be like Fuuka-san in the future!

With my current progress? I don't think so, Minato answered quickly to prevent himself from being distracted.

Suddenly, the lights turned on, and Minato darted behind a large storage crate to hide. He searched for Jin or Chidori in the group of children, but he could not find any trace of either of them. A group of scientists came out, all in lab clothing. In the middle stood a man whose face Minato would never forget, no matter how much younger he looked.

Shuji Ikutsuki.

Minato glared at him, trying his best to suppress his urge to kill Ikutsuki right at that instant.

The man walked in front of the children and cleared his throat.

"Hello, my name is Shuji Ikutsuki," the man introduced himself with a benevolent smile, "'Ikutsuki' is very hard to say, isn't it? Even I get toungue-tied myself," the man chuckled, "I apologize for sending you here to stay for the night. We have temporary rooms here for you to stay this week, and then we will take you to Yakushima for a little vacation before we come back. This place will be renovated by then."

Minato could hear the children cheering with excitement.

"Wow, we're going to Yakushima? I heard that only rich people get to visit that place!"

"No kidding. But we are invited to help to Kirijo Group after all. It's only fair that we get to go somewhere like that."

"But still! Who would have thought that they would spend so much on us?"

While the kids continued to chatter away, Minato could feel his heart sinking with worries. He was forgetting something. Something about Yakushima other than the beautiful scenery he saw the last time he went there, Mitsuru's huge mansion and maids, operation babe hunt...

Wait. Operation babe hunt.

Oooh, what's that? Ryoji asked with interest.

I met Aigis on that island, Minato thought without replying to Ryoji.

During operation babe hunt? Wow, how did that go? Ryoji asked again with excitement.

The Kirijo Group has a lab there. For developing Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapons. I can't believe I forgot about this until just now, Minato said with frustration.

Ikutsuki began to lead the kids to their temporary rooms in the deeper parts of the storage. As Minato observed longer, he felt someone's gaze focused on him. There Takaya was again, staring at the general direction where Minato was hiding. Minato attempted to shuffle away from his vision before Takaya could tell the scientists of his presence.

Minato knew fortune was not on his side as soon as Ikutsuki approached Takaya with that fake smile like always.

"Hi there," Ikutsuki greeted the young boy, "What are you looking at?"

Takaya looked at him for a while before answering, "...There was someone there. Watching."

"Hm? Oh, you must be talking about our security guards," Ikutsuki answered gleefully.

Security guards?

"What do you mean?" Takaya asked.

"The Kirijo Group create their own security guards. Robots. We call them ASWs. The full name is too long to remember, but know that they mean no harm."

Too long to remember my ass, Minato thought, wait, there are ASWs here?

Once he finished that thought, he felt something pointing at the back of his head. His arms were held together tightly. There was a mechanical noise behind him, and a robotic voice pronounced the words "do not move" with clear syllables.

It took merely a second for Minato to switch his equipped persona from Thanatos to Odin and gave the robot behind him a painful Ziodyne. Switching personas within seconds was second nature to him, especially after training with the SEES members to defeat Nyx - the entity that they could never defeat. The electrocuted robot fell onto the floor with a loud "thunk", and Minato swore at himself for letting a Ziodyne loose before his brain could even process what was happening.

That noise certainly caught Takaya and Ikutsuki's attention.

"Hm. Maybe they are malfunctioning. It happens sometimes," Ikutsuki let out a seemingly embarrassed chuckle, and called for another nearby scientist's attention, "hey, check over there and make sure there's nothing wrong. I'll lead this boy to his room."

Well, shit.

Minaton brainstormed for ways to knock out that scientist without anyone else noticing.

He absentmindedly checked his equipment. He was surprised to find Akihiko's Brass Knuckles that his friend abandoned for better equipment in his pocket, just like how the weapons he bought always appear to him when he needed them.

Bingo.

He swapped his Lucifer's Blade with the Brass Knuckles.

By the time Takaya was taken away by Ikutsuki, a quiet "whack" and a "thump" went unheard by the two as Minato punched the scientist who fainted immediately and collapsed. Minato tore a piece of the broken ASW's clothes and gagged the scientist and another to tied him up. Then he took off the scientist's lab coat and seemingly standardized trousers before dumping the scientist along with the ASW into those convenient boxes that were in this storage building.

What did you do that for? Ryoji questioned with mild disgust.

Oh, you're back, Minato thought as he put on the lab coat. He must have equipped Thanatos again without noticing, I'm trying to sneak in with these clothes. Ugh, they stink.

I thought- Never mind.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what Ryoji was thinking. Minato, Ryoji, and Junpei were best friends after all, and the ASW was barely wearing anything since most of its body parts lacked the human qualities that ASWs did not need, so those parts were just painted over.

He decided against commenting on it.

Hey, did you notice something strange? Ryoji asked in a serious voice.

Like what?

When Ryoji did not answer, Minato thought that maybe even death itself could be paranoid.

After he finished changing into his new outfit, he followed the path where Ikutsuki led Takaya towards. Since he did not need to hide anymore with these clothes, all he needed to do was the look like a scientist. Minato walked as confidently as he could, exploring the building. He found many bedrooms that were barely furnished, just enough for the children to settle down for a few days. He opened one of the doors and immediately felt several pairs of eyes focused on him.

"Sorry, wrong door," he said and closed it after not finding who he was looking for.

This cycle continued. He would barge into someone's room confidently and look around before apologizing for his interruption. He hoped that none of the children would rat him out before he could find Takaya.

This reminded him that he needed a good way to rescue Takaya. That young boy was probably convinced that the Kirijo Group was trying to help them, not experiment on them. In that case, it would make Minato look like the villain, and he definitely could not knock him out with fists like he did with the scientist. He hoped that he had some Rancid Gravy with him. That stuff stank so much it would probably make everyone faint except for the desperate. And Nozomi.

Ryoji, how is your aim? Minato asked, after opening another door and apologizing.

My aim? Why?

I need to use your Mudoon to make Takaya unconscious. I know I shouldn't, but he is not immune to it yet and it won't kill him. Not to mention that is the only way to get him out of here without attracting too much attention.

He could feel Ryoji's discontent and disapproval, but Ryoji stayed silent. Finally, when he opened the door and found who he was looking for, he prepared his evoker.

"It's you. So you aren't a robot after all," Takaya said as if he knew from the start, "You work here?"

Click. He closed the door behind him.

"Yeah," Minato lied, "Just have a few questions for you."

"Right. Sure you do. Otherwise you wouldn't-" Takaya stopped talking when he saw the evoker Minato had in his hand, "You-"

Minato aimed at his head.

"Thanatos!"

The God of Death appeared in an instant and unleashed Mudoon in the small bedroom. Without any foreknowledge, Takaya could not escape the spell, and collapsed onto his bed. Thanatos disappeared, and the two were left alone again. Minato lifted Takaya with one arm and opened the door. For the second time of the day, he regretted his decisions. Marin Karin would have worked better, he realized. At least if there were hidden cameras around, the Takaya would be walking beside him instead of being carried out. Oh well. Too late.

If there were security cameras, then he would have probably been caught by now. But he should not take any chances. After all, he was quite charismatic and eye-catching, even to the people on the other side of the surveillance cameras. Having Narcissus as a persona must have rubbed off on him.

Equipping Lucifer's Blade again and temporarily switching out his Omnipotent Orb for the Indigo Cape, he hoped that this setup would increase his chance of escaping successfully without anyone recognizing him. Strangely enough, Minato had been very successful at avoiding everything that would cause him trouble and his escape went without a hitch. Maybe the Indigo Cape did have some use after all.

Then he carried Takaya on his back, as if Takaya was just a tired child waiting to go back home. No one would suspect Minato for kidnapping or anything of the sort.

The moment he returned to the apartment, the sight he encountered was very shocking.

Calling it a trash lot would be an understatement, Minato thought, this will not leave a good impression on the kid. Not at all.

"Elizabeth, what did you do?" Minato asked even though he knew the answer.

"Welcome back, Minato-san," Elizabeth greeted cheerfully, "I have discovered a passion known to humans as 'shopping spree'."

"...You would have to move all of that into your room. He'll be staying here tonight," he directed her attention towards Takaya, who was still unconscious.

"Ah, so he is one of the people that you knew from the distant future," she inspected the child on Minato's back, "There seem to be no signs of a persona awakening yet. Are you planning on letting him join you on your quest?"

Minato stared at Elizabeth, dumbfounded. He had not thought that far into his plans regarding Takaya, or the rest of Strega if he managed to find them. There was a possibility that he could be some help once he obtained his persona, but on the other hand... Minato was not so sure if his wish stayed the same.

His wish for The Fall. His wish to witness the coming of Nyx.

If it did, then there would be no need for Takaya to join. It will only hinder his goals, and it would make more sense for Minato to prevent him from getting a persona in the first place. The same applied to the rest of Strega.

"You have reached your decision, then," Elizabeth said, "No matter what you choose, I will stay by your side for as long as you require my assistance," after she finished her sentence, she looked troubled, "Now, I believe it is time to move all of my new belongings into my room. How would one fit all of her belonging into one room? This is quite the puzzle."

As she begins to move her stuff away, Minato carried Takaya to an unoccupied room. The room only had a bed, a desk, and a chair, so it was not much better than what the Kirijo Group offered him. But still, the room's lights was brighter and the room itself looked newer, which should not be too awful for his stay.

Minato placed Takaya on the bed, and turned off the lights. Just before he closed the door and left, he decided to stay in the room instead.

Better not to let him escape, Minato thought to himself.

Minato sat on the chair next to the desk and fell asleep.

When Takaya woke up, he found himself in a large, unfamiliar room. It was bright; the sunlight shone right into his eyes, causing him to wince a little.

A man was sitting on a chair next to him. He was asleep, head drooping onto his chest with something plugged in his ears. Takaya looked closer. Something about this guy seemed vaguely familiar.

The sleeping person mumbled something that Takaya could not quite catch and yawned before waking up.

They stared at each other for a few seconds.

"It's you! What did you do to me? Where the hell am I?" Takaya exclaimed after recognizing the person in front of him. It was the guy who attacked him and made him unconscious with some gigantic monster. He got off the bed, panicked, and tried to run away before that guy grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Wait. I didn't do anything to you. I just want to help," he said.

"I don't want your 'help'. Let me go," Takaya snarled.

"What did the Kirijo Group offer to make you so eager to go back?"

"As if I'd ever tell you."

Other than the trip to Yakushima, all that the Kirijo Group offered was that he and the children who live on the streets would have enough money to get by, food to eat, and places to live. Takaya did hesitate when the Kirijo Group offered this deal; it was suspicious and too good to be true. But for children like him, he did not have much choice. It was getting harder and harder to earn enough money for food and clothes, and he would rather take a chance than to die on the streets.

He was not as excited about this as his companions were. But he was sure that the choice was for the best.

And the man in front of him was definitely more suspicious than the Kirijo Group.

The blue-haired person sighed in frustration. "My name is Minato," he said without releasing Takaya's arm, "The Kirijo Group is going to harm you. It's better for you to leave."

"Right. And if that's the case, then why did you only 'save' me? Why didn't you save everyone else?" Takaya sneered.

Minato looked hesitant to answer, and that made him even more suspicious.

"Do you have... someone that you care for in that group of children?"

"I care for all of them."

"That's not what I meant," he paused to emphasize his question, "Do you have anyone special to you that you don't want to be dead?"

"What kind of question is that?"

Minato did not answer. He stared at Takaya before taking a deep breath and told him in an apologizing voice.

"By the end of this, none of you will survive," Minato said with certainty, "And I saved you because you will be the one to suffer the most out of your group."

A/N: I shall give internet cookies to those who can guess what Ryoji thought was strange but did not mention. xD

Anyway, school is killing me with work lately, so the next update might come a little later than usual.