SPOILER WARNING: THIS FANFIC HAS SPOILERS FOR THE END OF PERSONA THREE. JUST SAYING o.o

Prologue

All eyes were glued on the clock as it clicked ever closer to midnight. People usually celebrate the New Year as a time of happiness and new beginnings, don't they? Starting again with a blank slate is always a welcome thought…Not in our case, however. Whatever way we choose, the world my not survive to see the next New Year. But even though the chances were slim, we had agreed that we'd rather see this through to the end.

The silence had become almost suffocating. Not that I breathe anyway, but even I was feeling the strain. I clenched and unclenched my fists, making a metallic clicking sound that echoed eerily around the common room. The clock ticked on.

Finally, it was Junpei who broke the silence. "How long is he going to take?" He grumbled irritably, though his voice trembled slightly. I could see he was shaking. Everyone was.

"Certainly Ryoji is trying to convince him otherwise once again." Mitsuru-san replied curtly. She was wringing her wrists nervously. "But I'm sure he'll make the right decision."

Yukari was playing with her hair, twisting it around her fingers. "I sure hope so." Her voice wavered, unlike how strong she had sounded only minutes ago. "I don't want to forget all that's happened…But I wish he'd get it over with."

Junpei stood suddenly and started towards the stairs. "Where are you going?" Akihiko-san called after him. Junpei's eyes looked angry.

"Did he ever even tell us his opinion?" He shouted. In his sudden anger, his hat had fallen to the floor at the bottom of the stairs. "What if he's up there right now killing Ryoji and forgetting all about what we decided?"

"He wouldn't do that!" Ken-kun looked petrified. "We all said we wanted to fight!"

"And then we sent him up there alone to make the final decision!" Junpei growled, starting up the stairs again. "I don't trust him."

"Calm down, Junpei-kun." I reasoned calmly. "He will not betray our trust."

But then we heard the shot.

"No!" Fuuka screamed. "No, he can't do this!"

Junpei had frozen at the sound, but he soon collected himself and raced up the stairs, tripping over himself has he went. Akihiko-san and Mitsuru-san stood quickly to follow, while Yukari only put her head in her hands, defeated.

I also leapt to my feet and rocketed up the stairs, blowing past Junpei in a flash. Koromaru was hot on my heels, barking wildly. Disbelief clouded my mind. How could he have done this? Someone needed to stop him, before-!

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This will most likely be a rather short story with just a couple chapters. It's just a little something I've been thinking about since my friend told me to watch the 'bad ending' to Persona 3. What would you do if you had to wait out the end of the world, and you knew there was nothing you could do?

Anyway, I'll try to finish this up quickly. Kinda just a little something to work on while I'm between big stories. I need to hash some things out for the sequel to Black Frost, one of my Warriors fanfics.

So, please read and review, and tell me what you think of this little start!

Hooray for long author's notes!