"Iori."

It wasn't very often that Kirijo-senpai addressed him personally. Usually if she needed something done she'd ask Akihiko, or Minato if she had SEES business that needed tending to. Compared to everyone else in their little group, Junpei didn't see himself as anything special. So seeing her standing here alone, in the common room, addressing him, he immediately grasped that he was probably in trouble. And if the most powerful woman in Japan felt the need to speak to him in person, he must have really screwed up this time.

"Y-yes, Senpai?"

The stack of papers she was holding wasn't helping.

"Your score on the last exam was unacceptably low. I do not expect perfection from you, especially given the circumstances, but I do expect improvement over time. This score is lower then your last, and that score was lower then the previous as well. You can do better than this." Mitsuru said, flipping through the stack.

Junpei squeezed his backpack strap nervously. "S-sorry Senpai." He briefly considered making an excuse, maybe blaming Tartarus, but it would probably be poorly received since his Senpai was there just as much as he was. "I'll study harder for the next one. R-really." He said with a nervous hitch in his voice.

Mitsuru straightened the stack of papers, apparently done examining his records. She finally cleared her throat and began. "I've noticed, Iori, that your best subject seems to be math. Would you agree with that?"

The boy rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess... It's not all about rememberin' stuff like the other subjects are. I mean, I'm still not really good at it, but sure, it's my best one."

She hummed at his explanation. "Iori, there will be a math test coming up in two weeks. I want you to score 80 or above on it."

Junpei's eyebrows shot up. 80 or above? The last time he got that on a test must have been in primary. "...What happens if I don't?"

His senpai regarded him for a moment before responding. "Then I will be disappointed in you."

Sucked to admit it but it sure wouldn't be the first time he disappointed someone. "...And if I do?" He added hopefully.

She seemed to have been waiting for that question, if her thin smile were an indication. "There will be a reward if you meet my expectations. That is all you need to know. Good luck." She started to walk past him but stopped at his side, he face changing from hard authority-figure to something at least slightly more friendly. "Iori... I know you can do this. You just lack proper motivation. Compared to your peers you lag behind academically. Part of that has to do with our expeditions into Tartarus, I know... But you could still be doing better then you are." Mitsuru said, straightening his uniform jacket a bit. It was rather wrinkled and crooked, and probably needed to be dry cleaned sooner rather then later. She made a mental note to send Akihiko to clean all the boys' uniforms.

"That is all." And she went upstairs, leaving Junpei alone to consider her offer. Well, her order.

Later that night, Mitsuru had just set down some club reports when there came a knock at her door, much louder than usual. "Come in." She called.

Yukari very nearly kicked her door open and slammed her hands down on Mitsuru's finely hand-carved Brazilian desk. The younger girl looked the older one right in the eyes and said in a pitched-low voice, "What the hell did you do to Junpei?"

Mitsuru blinked and waited, hoping that Yukari would continue on her own. She did not, and so she deigned to answer herself, speaking slowly. "What are you talking about, Takeba?"

"When I left four hours ago, Junpei wasn't in the common room, but his shoes were still by the door. I went to check on him and he said he was studying. I got back just minutes ago, and he was still studying. I asked if he was studying again, and he said he hadn't really stopped. I have known Junpei Iori for most of my life and he's never spent this much time looking at a book of any kind, much less a textbook. So whatever kind of Persona mind-control you're using on him, either turn it off or let me in on it." She finished by falling backwards into Mitsuru's visitor's chair and crossing her legs in one motion.

A silence settled in while Mitsuru smiled. So he was taking this seriously. She was pleased to hear that. Even if he failed to meet her given score threshold, she could be satisfied he made an effort, and moreso if he kept it up until the test. He wouldn't get his reward in that case, of course- She considered herself tough but fair. But she wouldn't be disappointed in him either. "I'm glad to hear that, Takeba. I knew he could do it if he tried. Hopefully he's taken my words to heart." she sipped her tea.

Yukari relaxed a little. "What did you tell him? I mean, not that I doubt your abilities, but everyone's been trying to get Junpei to study for years. How did you do it in one day?"

Mitsuru pushed her papers away and leaned back in her chair, arms and legs crossed, and flicked some hair out of her eyes. "While I am sure that his teachers and peers have put a great deal of effort into motivating him, I doubt they have gone about it the correct way. Evidence implies that I have made the right call." She stated with an air of confidence. Yukari grimaced slightly and Mitsuru realized that she had accidentally insulted present company. She should have realized that Takeba was one of the mentioned peers who had a crack at getting Junpei into his schoolwork. Time to backpedal. "Er, not that I'm implying- I just-"

Fortunately, Takeba interrupted her scrambling. "No no, it's fine. Although I am interested in your secret. How'd you do it?"

Mitsuru stood. "One must tailor the teaching to the student. Negative reinforcement, such as threatening to punish in some way, would most likely discourage Iori rather than motivate him. I am using positive reinforcement by offering a reward for a score of 80 or above." She finished her tea and refilled the empty cup from a teapot on her dresser and prayed that she hadn't said too much, and made Yukari suspicious. Today would not be a good day to explain that she knew far more about her dormmates then she really should. That she knew well why her "executions" would only hinder Junpei and strain relations with the team. Knew exactly why Junpei had been quick to move into their dorm and why he never visited his family. Knew of lifelong physical and emotional abuse.

Yes, she knew too much without proper permission.

If Yukari had any difficult questions, she didn't ask them, merely stood up herself. "If you say so. Sorry to bother you, Senpai." She turned to go.

"Takeba," Mitsuru called, stopping her. "If I can ask a favor, can you tell Iori not to overdo it? If he exhausts himself, he may do more harm then good. I'm not asking you to babysit him, but do tell him to take breaks and not miss any sleep."

Yukari froze for a second to metabolize the ridiculousness of having to tell Junpei to go easy on the studying before leaving with a "Sure. 'Night, Senpai."

"Knock knock!" Yukari called, singsong, as she pushed Junpei's door open. The place was still a wreck, so it was nice to see that he hadn't also cleaned up, or stopped wearing his stupid hat or decided to grow his hair out or any other world-shattering changes. She could only take so much in one day.

"Heeey, Yuka-tan, you're back!" He smiled at her, a bit tiredly, from his desk, dropping his pen and leaning back in his chair, hands clasped behind his head and stretching. "Didja go and ask Fuuka-chan to check if I was some kinda pod-person or somethin'?"

The girl shoved some manga off his bed and plopped down on it. "No, but that's a good idea. I did ask Mitsuru what she did to you though. Said something about a reward if-"

"-If I get an 80 or above, yeah. I've never gotten a score that high in high school." He continued absent-mindedly, turning back to his work.

"Hey hey..." Yukari stood up and spun his chair around to face her again. "Mitsuru-senpai asked me to tell you not to go too long without a break." He looked back at his books for a second.

Yukari continued. "Have you been taking breaks?"

"Well, sure." He answered. "For bathroom and food and stuff."

She shook her head. "That's not enough. You really are new to this aren't you?" Junpei just grinned and shrugged. She sighed. "Well, you can't just study all the time. You're not giving your brain time to process and file the information you're feeding it." She leaned forward and tapped on his forehead with her finger. "And your brain needs all the help it can get, Stupei."

He swatted her hand away and stood, stretching. "Yeah yeah, makin' fun of me for bein' dumb. I'm tryin', alright?" He grumbled, not really looking at her.

Yukari shifted in her seat. Something seemed... off about this exchange. She decided to chalk it up to tiredness on his part and change the subject. "Anyway, what kind of reward do you think she's got planned for you? You're working awful hard on this for something that you don't really know anything about..."

Junpei's mood seemed to improve and he sat back down, almost tipping his chair over in the process. "No idea, really. Haven't thought about it."

"You haven't even thought about it? Why are you working so hard?"

He glanced back at his books again but seemed content to take a break for the moment. "...Dunno. I just feel like I gotta do it. For myself, not just Senpai." He paused for a bit, but she held off on speaking, given the strange look on his face. It was like he was going over something in his head. Eventually he did speak again. "Well, I guess it's cause she said she thought I could do it. She believes I'm good enough at math to ace this exam... I mean, I want the reward too, and I don't wanna disappoint Senpai, but... I want her to be right about me. Minato's always the top of the class, and you're usually second... This time, I wanna be third. Not gonna let you two pull out so far ahead of me this time." And he stops, pulling his leg up onto his chair with him.

Yukari hadn't really been expecting an answer like that. She was just intending to tease him for whatever he thought the reward was gonna be. Instead she just stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. "Well Junpei... good luck. I believe in you too. When the results are posted, SEES' second years are gonna be at the top together!" and walked out.

Junpei stared at the door after she left. Their relationship was usually based on mutual antagonism, it was almost uncomfortable for her to be like this. He got up and rushed out his door after her.

"Hey wait, Yuka-tan!"

She spun around to meet him. "What is it?"

He adjusted his hat and grinned. "I was just thinkin', since ya wanted me to take a break so bad, I'd do ya the honor of accompanying ya to that takoyaki stand in the strip mall. I'll even treat ya."

Yukari scoffed and rolled her eyes and shook her head in that Yukari way, but still walked out the door with him to get takoyaki.

By the next week, Junpei had mellowed out his studying schedule to something more reasonable and effective, and he felt like he'd learned more about math since he started then he had in his entire life up until now. He couldn't cover everything like this, but studying sure had gotten easier for him. Minato made some cryptic statement about spending time at the arcade too, but Junpei just assumed he was talking about taking proper breaks and brushed it off. Fuuka offered to study with him some nights, which he happily accepted. Mitsuru seemed very proud of his efforts and wished for him to keep them up, Yukari found different things to pick on him for, and Akihiko seemed to take it as a sign that he was maturing and learning to work harder, and offered to tutor him sometimes. (Junpei said he'd consider it.)

Two days before the test Junpei and Minato were hanging out in the room of the former, who was studying while the later quietly listened to music while laying on the bed. He was the only one who hadn't expressed surprise at Junpei's sudden studying interest, though he didn't express surprise at much of anything. All he had to offer, as usual, was helpful advice and subtle encouragement.

So Junpei was expecting, when Minato stopped his music and removed his headphones, that he was going to quiz him on something again, but instead Minato rolled over and said, "You wanna know what I think the reward is gonna be?"

"What?" Junpei answered without looking up.

"A date. With Mitsuru-senpai." Minato placed his headphones back on, but didn't start the music again.

Junpei stopped studying and turned to coolly regard his friend, disappointed to see that Minato had turned back to the ceiling and shut his eyes, so he missed out on the great glower that Junpei just sent his way. "Dude, let's keep it to serious guesses only."

"I am serious." Minato sat up. "She wouldn't be keeping it a secret if it was just money or something. She might get you a new sword, but I've asked her to leave the weapon shopping to me. And she doesn't really know enough about your other interests to buy something having to do with them... which reminds me, as a bonus, she could learn more about you if she took you out someplace. It makes perfect sense to me."

Junpei shook his head in exasperation. "Mitsuru-senpai is way outta my league, and we all know it, bro. She's probably got designs on Akihiko, anyhow."

Minato made a dismissing hand gesture. "...I bet you she's gonna take you to a fancy place where you gotta wear a suit that costs at least a million yen just to get in the door." He said, a wry smile building on his face.

"Highly doubt it, man."

Minato would not be deterred. "She'll take you in a Kirijo limo."

"You've been reading Yuka-tan's weird fan fiction again, Minato."

"...And when you get there, they're gonna lead you to a big table with a giant K on it."

"Bro, you got an active imagination and I'm jealous. But there's just no way." Junpei said, turning back to stare at his notes. "...I wouldn't mind being closer friends with her, though."

Minato nodded. "It would be good for both of you and for the team."

"...I like her hair."

"Red is a nice colour."

"Girls with red hair are hot."

The day of the test, Junpei got up early, trimmed his beard, buzzed his hair down, and put on a freshly cleaned uniform. It felt right to do anything he could to feel like he was preparing, although he knew he wouldn't be graded on grooming today. He even briefly considered buttoning his uniform coat, but hey, let's not get crazy here, he told himself.

Junpei sat at his desk, accepted the test, took a deep breath and started in. He still would rather have been in Tartarus killing shadows, but he didn't have his usual feeling of panic and hopelessness when looking at exam questions. He almost always knew exactly what the question or problem was and how to answer or solve it. It wasn't easy, and he knew that he couldn't possibly get all of them, but he felt confident about the majority of his answers. He finished ahead of most of the class for the first time.

It felt good.

"Come on Junpei, let's go." Is all he needs to hear. Today's the day that the test results go up and it's time to find out if he's failed again, or succeeded for once. Junpei stood instantly in response to Minato's command and headed for the door, Yukari not far behind, and the trio move straight for the board.

He felt so nervous, walking to the board, even though he had failed exams before. But he had also stopped trying then. This was the first time he put real effort into it since Junior High.

Minato was in first, as expected. Yukari took second, and Junpei was in third, with an 82- two points higher then what Mitsuru demanded of him. He could hear the other students murmuring about his unusually high score, Minato inviting him to Hagakure, and Yukari inviting Fuuka and her friend Natsuki along as they arrived, but he just stood there and admired it a bit. Taking it all in, you know?

But then he snaps out of it and starts yelling about how they're making such a big deal out of him not-failing, all while grinning wildly.

"Iori".

Just like two weeks ago, Mitsuru and him were alone in the common room, but this time he was standing up a bit straighter and she was smiling instead of frowning. Not exactly a warm smile, but not forced either.

"Yes, Senpai?" Junpei was smiling too. He hadn't really stopped since seeing his score. And now that the pressure was over, it was time to get that promised reward... whatever it could be.

"I've received your test score, and I am very pleased to see you met my expectations. Your math teacher and homeroom teacher are suitably impressed as well." She shifted her weight to her other foot and crossed her arms, waiting for him to speak.

"Th-thanks Senpai. I worked really hard... So uh, about that reward..." He rubbed the back of his head. Minato's speculation coming back to him at an inopportune time. It would be bad if he blushed and made his Senpai think he was imagining something inappropriate about her offered reward. He forcibly pushed it from his head.

"Yes. To tell you the truth, I'm interested in knowing what you think it may be." She said, moving her head in that way that makes her hair cover her eye like Minato.

Junpei thought for a second. He really hadn't thought about it this whole time, being too busy studying and all. But alarmingly, the only thing coming to mind was Minato's stupid date suggestion. And if he said that, then she'd either execute him on the spot, or burst out laughing, and he wasn't interested in either. But it just would not get out of his head! Damn that Minato, he'd make him pay for ramen next time too for sure.

He was nervous now, and when Junpei is nervous he makes jokes. So before he could stop himself the words "How 'bout a kiss?" fell from his lips. It might have come out well too, if he hadn't still been so nervous, and it came out sounding far more serious than he intended. The silence that fell in around them hammered home to Junpei that this was just as bad as if he had requested a date. Mitsuru stared at him for a second, shook her head, and began to move towards him.

Well, it was a good run, all things considered. The past few months have been great, so he couldn't complain. He was hoping to make it to the beach sometime this summer, but it didn't look like that was happening. So what was his sentence gonna be? Frozen in a block of ice? Thrown into Tartarus with only a whiffle bat? Fuuka-chan's taste tester?

None of that came to pass, however. Instead Mitsuru gently laid her hands on his tensed shoulders, leaned forward and pressed her lips to his cheek for a fleeting second before pulling back, still resting her hands on his shoulders.

The poor boy was too stunned for words, so Senpai broke the silence. "I hope you enjoyed your reward, Iori. You had best keep up your studies, however, as you'll need to get a 90 or above if you want another kiss." She straightened his jacket again before heading for the stairs. She called back as she ascended, "Also... you may want to clean off that lipstick mark before Takeba sees if you don't want her interrogating you."

And so Junpei was left in the common room alone again to make sense of it all. He was going to keep this quiet of course. Not only was he sure that Mitsuru would actually kill him, but no one would ever believe it anyway if he told his friends about it. Nope, this was- wait.

"Another kiss!? 90!?"