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alexandrite-dragoness · 2 years

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P3:HEX - Chapter 05 (PART 1 of 2)

Gekkoukan!Strega AU: What a Lovely Couple

A/N: Oh hey look word dump!

This is part of my Persona 3 HEX story on Chapter 5, tho since I'm taking forever finishing that up (I'm currently writing the summer vacation scene atm), I thought to post this rough bit in the meantime. Hope you all enjoy, and if you have any thoughts or feedback be sure to leave it in the comments ^^

This part in particular takes place where they tackle the Arcana Shadows at the Love Hotel (ohhh yes, fun stuff)

Fandom: Persona 3 | Characters: S.E.E.S., Takaya, Jin, Chidori | Word Count: 13,421 | Relationships: General (slight hint at Junpei/Chidori & Jin/Fuuka)

More on HEX/Gekkoukan!Strega AU

The second week comes around, and everyone suspects this night under the full moon having another large foe underway. Everyone gathers around at the lounge room as Fuuka summons her Persona once the Dark Hour begins. The new recruit uses her ability to scan all over town to find any larging presence, easily pick out what they are looking for. It takes time for her to locate any large enemy due to their odd power, so the group grows patient until they get word of her discovery.

“Any luck so far?” Akihiko goes to ask along with the others knowing it'll take her quite some time. They also hope she doesn’t stress too much with her power to find the Shadow if she struggles already as is. Fortunately, the girl answers reassuringly.

“Not yet… it'll be just a moment…” Her voice comes out calmly and soothes the others as she continues her search. She resides inside of Lucia like before, acting like a locator to pinpoint the next target’s location. Everyone else stands by while waiting it out and making side talks with one another to pass the time.

“Takaya, do you happen to recall any Shadows in your visions lately? How many do you oppose we would face tonight?” Mitsuru asks the long-haired man with the insight of his abilities being able to benefit the team once they know what they’re going up against.

The eldest student tilts his head over to the young lady’s direction upon being asked. “If my memory serves me well– there is a significant chance we’ll be facing two Shadows under the same night, just like the previous month. The Hierophant… and The Lover Arcana.”

“So double the trouble like before huh?” Junpei asks this with curiosity. “Not a problem: We’ll get this over with just as quick! They’re only making this easier for us.”

“I’m not sure how I feel about this…” Yukari admits as she holds one of her own arms with worry. “We should be careful if it’s anything like last month.”

Kotone catches the worried tone from the brunette as she smiles over at her with glee. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about a thing. We’re stronger now than we were before. Now with Chidori by our side, of course!”

The younghead then smiles faintly, finding this to be somewhat exciting for her. “I’m truly looking forward to this. You could say tonight would be my first time fighting a large Shadow alongside all of you. I know I technically had that time last month… but that was more of a last moment notice…”

Another exchange is made within the team as Fuuka then finally announces her finding. “Oh, I found it!”

“Nice one! Looks like we were right!” Junpei does an air pump in victory, despite tonight only being the beginning of their Dark Hour operation.

“So it would seem…” Ikutsuki scratches under the chin in thought as he goes to ask the girl with the navigation skills. “Where are they located?”

“It’s located in…” She goes to focus on their exact coordinates with her ability, wanting to make sure she got the area right. “The interior of a building… at Shirakawa Boulevard.”

“Shirakawa Boulevard…?” Yukari questions this outloud, realizing where she had heard that name before. “Hang on, is that…!?”

“Appears to be so.” Ikutsuki kindly answers the brunette. “That would explain the rising case of The Lost being in pairs lately. Now I truly understand.”

“Understand what exactly…? Oh, I see…” Mitsuru didn’t need to ask any further. She realizes it already.

As Fuuka dismisses Lucia from any further use for the time being, she looks at everyone else in her own sign of puzzlement. “Why, what’s on Shirakawa Boulevard? Is it another of those shady areas of the place?”

“Oh, no. Quite the contrary actually…” Takaya holds his hand up while going to speak. “There’s actually a popular hotel for partners and lovers alike in that area. You know the ones.”

“Uhmm…” Fuuka still doesn’t quite get it, somehow. Her first thought was it being a place for a honeymoon. Her sign of innocence shows.

Junpei decides to fill her in on it, with a sly mischievous grin of his to further elaborate. “Oh yeah. That’s where those types of hotels are! Ya know, where they go do their… lovemakin’ stuff and all that…”

“Huh–?” The girl slowly takes in those words bit by bit and puts them together like a puzzle. Finally, she figures it out with a slight flush in her cheeks. “O-Oh… you mean…?”

“Ugh, boys…!” Chidori even rolls her eyes over that thought. She swears that guys like him have the dirtiest minds in the whole world. And someone had to be immature about it, too.

“Now that’s just bullshit,” Jin shoots a disappointed glare towards the man making the suggestive comment. “They’re no different than any other establishments around here. Their rooms are just fancier– nothing to it. Plus I heard they’re quite affordable for a hotel as well.”

“Aww man! That’s it?” Junpei gives a tone of disappointment hoping it would be more obscene based off what he heard. Still, he wouldn’t mind checking out the fancy rooms.

“Affordable you say?” Takaya takes this within interest, even rubbing the base of his chin. “Well I'd say this place is worth investigating. It'd be like a grand tour with a few standing coffins in the way. Not a huge deal.”

Chidori only turns slightly to look at the oldest brother with a raised brow but indifferent expression. “... You just want to try out the bedding in the guestrooms, don’t you?”

“And is that so wrong?” Takaya comes back vocally with a raised hand and relaxed posture in a sign of having an innocent curiosity of his own.

The sister then shakes her head in response, this time with a smile. “Not at all. I'd like to try them out as well. See if they’re in fact comfortable…”

“Everyone, please focus…” Mitsuru calls out to the others while gently massaging her temple. “This is a mission. We’re heading over to the Shadows’ location to take them out before the Dark Hour disappears tonight. Are we clear on that?”

“Question,” Chidori briefly raises her hand up before taking a chance in asking. “What would happen if we don’t take down these large enemies in time? Will they come back next month, or are they gone forever?”

“Well, that is a fair question…” Yukari voices her understanding on that. “But hopefully we don’t have to find out. As long as we are all in this together, we shouldn’t waste much time.”

“I’m with ya!” Akihiko grins deviously with determination as he pumps his fist up. “Let’s take ‘em out now while we still have the chance! We can worry about the ‘what if’s later.”

Ikutsuki admires the energy coming from the group, but still leaves in his fatherly advice to the rest of the teens who may also feel pumped about the mission. “Now don’t get too cocky. We may have a better grip with how these Arcana Shadows are, but there’s still a lot we don’t know. So, please, don’t let your guard down.”

Chidori gives an innocent smile towards the Chairman while making a slight bow with sincerity. “We won’t, father. Promise.”

“Say Yuka-tan,” Junpei eyes over to the brunette to ask a teasing question. “You’re not scared to come along with us are ya? I can tell you look uneasy already– imagine what will be behind those hotel doors I wonder…”

“Eh!? Am not!” Yukari makes a puzzling glare while making her way over towards their leader to stand next to him. “In fact, I’m tagging along with Makoto, just to prove it to you! You’re leading the team for tonight, right?”

“Uhhhh— I suppose…?” It didn’t sound like Makoto had much of a choice, but simply went along with it.

“Then it’s settled. Let’s make our way to the coordinates and set out a plan. We can continue any discussion in the meantime over there.” Mitsuru heads out of the command room first as everyone casually follows along.

Ikutsuki watches as each person walks by, only stopping the one moving last to speak with them momentarily. “Ah, Takaya! I was actually meaning to give this to you!”

“Hm?” The eldest son turns towards the man’s direction while watching what he’s grabbing nearby, simply to give it to him. It was merely a small box full of pellets that he got recently.

“I figure you would need more of these for your weapon. You see– these are slightly different but even more effective then what you got going now. They can penetrate through a Shadow and fire sparks from within, making it a very flashy show if you think about it! But here…” The father speaks to Takaya in a happy yet well mannered sense, very much excited for his son to try them out with his gun to see how he likes them himself.

“Oh, why thank you.” Takaya shows mild appreciation, while still being awestruck and surprised to be given this. “Did you order these yourself? Or did you happen to have them specially made?”

Jin happens to turn around at the doorway to hear the distant conversation between the two family members, wondering if he should wait it out until they’re finished to exit out of the dorms together. Chidori only notices Jin standing still to turn around too, seeing their oldest brother is still behind with their foster father giving some care as he would. The middle sibling only notices the smiles and heightened tone between the two as a form of their very bond they share, something Jin doesn’t seem to have with their father at all. Not that it matters greatly to him anyhow, but he still can’t help but feel mildly bitter about it. His brows furrowed with the little patience he has left, as he finally steps out of the room to catch up to the rest of the students. The two then finish their conversation as Takaya catches up to Chidori who is waiting for him happily before walking alongside him.

“Oh, pardon me sister. I didn’t mean to lag behind everyone else. Did Jin take off already?”

Chidori then realizes his absence by the doorway, seeing he may have just left without them. “Uhmm… yeah, I suppose so.”

She wonders why that was the case, knowing Jin being a loyal person of the family when it comes to staying behind for either of them. Tonight seems to be the exception apparently. She can’t blame him; they have a mission to do today, and they only have so much time to do it. They only manage to pick up their pace to catch up to everyone else, with their brother included.

They make it to Shirakawa Boulevard where the hotel is located. From the outside it doesn’t look anything special, but it doesn't stop the gang from being eager to enter the place and hopefully find the enemies inside. The older redhead surveys the building from the front and shifts her stance towards the others with a plan in mind.

“The hotel has two stories inside to explore. I suggest to speed up the search we can split into two teams. One can cover the first floor upon entering while the other goes upstairs to explore the second level.”

“Heh, sounds good to me!” Junpei proudly states it while adjusting his baseball cap and smiling widely. “I guess that means Kotone can play the leader too!”

The female student mentioned then makes a small endearing smile. “Hm, never thought you’d be happy seeing me lead a team again. Alright then, I accept.”

“Excellent.” Mitsuru makes a nod in agreement. “Just like how we form together in Tartarus, I’d say four members in each team will be ideal. I’ll let you two choose who you want to have. Remember: Strategy is important too.”

Not only that, but Makoto technically already has Yukari next to him since she announces herself to be with him throughout the mission, which leaves the male leader two other members to pick from. Kotone goes first in choosing three of her own choosing.

“Let’s see here… Akihiko, Takaya, aannddd you!” The young girl points at Mitsuru herself to join her formed team, which the third-year smiles and goes along with without asking.

“Hmph, very well. Yuki-kun?” The older redhead refers to the other leader for his time to pick.

Quietly, he glimpses over at three remaining team members to choose from. He knows it’s all about what abilities each person has to offer, but he does want to give the newest member a chance in this fight as well. Without question, he calls her up. “Chidori-chan?”

The young redhead perks up with an intriguing look as she then quickly walks over to join by his side. That leaves him with two remaining members, but as soon as he is about to pick one out, he sees a series of hand waving from one of the others already.

“Oh c’mon, pick me, pick me! Let me get a piece of the action!” Junpei sways his hand up to get the leader’s attention, his wide grin and loud voice shows off his excitement.

As the others simply roll their eyes and try to ignore the man’s plea, the leader however goes along with it. “Well okay then. As long as you don’t cause any trouble…”

“Hell yeah! Not to worry my man!” Junpei happily walks over and pats Makoto’s shoulder in glee to join him. “This will be a piece of cake.”

“And that leaves us with…” Mitsuru then turns over to see the last remaining member next to the new navigator. “Oh, Jin. I apologize– I didn’t realize we’re at an odd number.”

“Don’t worry about it,” The young man simply shakes his head to dismiss any trouble. “It was going to happen eventually. I can watch over Yamagishi-chan while you go about the mission.”

It’s already established that the navigator of the group would be waiting outside the building on her own, so it’s only fair someone would stand by and be on the lookout in case any outside forces were to come around. Besides— someone has to look over someone who is watching over everyone else. Last anyone checked, Fuuka doesn’t possess any actual combat abilities, leaving her chance of fighting against anything extremely low.

“Very well then…” Mitsuru gives a seldom nod to it, seeing it only being logical. “If anything turns up, don’t hesitate to reach us.”

Fuuka nods in understanding to her request, knowing she’ll try to do her best however possible. It was very nice of someone to stay behind with her after all, keeping her company during the Dark Hour as she plays her role for the team. She doesn’t think she needs a personal bodyguard, of course, but it never hurts to have someone else nearby to be on the lookout.

With the small exchange between the teams on who’s covering which floor, the eight members enter the building and start their expedition. With no power on during the Dark Hour, the interior of the hotel is pitch black with only shreds of the green glow coming from the moon outside. The vast area is unusually quiet, yet that’s to be expected in this ominous hour as is. They proceed with caution, as usual, as they would do when exploring Tartarus.

“I sense two Shadows up ahead where you’re at. Be careful.” Fuuka transmits her communication to the male leader, who stays at the first level as his cousin and her team goes for the second floor. Makoto then gives appreciation to the navigator’s observance while continuing down the hallways. The others try to make as little noise as possible down the halls with the floor underneath, trying to get a jump at an enemy Shadow and take it by surprise. Meanwhile Kotone and her own team make their way around the hallways themselves while taking a look in each bedroom passing by, making sure they can find any clues.

It has only been a few minutes since their exploration began, as Fuuka continues looking out for the two teams at once and therefore being occupied in her conscious thought. As Jin goes to lean against the wall seldomly bored during the time, he gets a round disk-like object out of his pocket with a long string attached, dropping it down only for him to reel back up with the thread. He occupies his boredom with it, minding his own business and leaving Fuuka be to focus on her task. With only a good moment of herself communicating with the two teams, she finally looks around and sees the young man with the rolling toy in his possession, which happens to catch her interest. He makes several tricks with the fluctuating disk object in his possession, having the thread tie around his fingers while having the rolling end part still going, and then undoing all of that to the basic up and down motion.

Jin only realizes her gaze looking right towards him and pauses momentarily to ask. “Sorry, you needed something?”

“Huh? Uhm, no,” She shakes her head in response. “My apologies, it’s fun to watch someone with a yo-yo on occasion.”

“Ah… yeah,” He plays one more round with a toy. “I don’t use it often, but it’s a good time killer for sure.”

The young girl hums in delight, watching him continue his play while also keeping quiet to have her focus still keeping track of the others in the building. She can be good at multitasking, though with two teams venturing inside the building rather than one, she can have a tough time keeping tabs on every member like this. The other student seems to realize this as well, as he tries not to distract her as much as possible.

“If you need me to— I can stop, if it’s hindering your focus.”

“Oh no, not at all!” Fuuka waves off any worry he may have, smiling towards the individual with specs. “By all means…”

Her gentle nature gives a slight appeal to the haunting atmosphere the Dark Hour possesses over everything, easing both their tension as they continue what they were doing before. Fuuka brings out Lucia for a moment to maximize her power, using her telepathic skills for communication. While everything is still going to plan, she dismisses the Persona temporarily while being lost in thought. She hangs her head low, only to finally make eye contact with the other member again to speak her mind.

“I’m sorry to ask this of you, I know this can be kind of random: But is it possible that you might be holding something against me? Ever since I joined the team I mean.”

“... What do you mean by that?” The young man stops using the yo-yo almost immediately, looking up with a puzzled expression while trying to make sense of the question. Did he show any sign that he may be? He doesn’t think so, in fact he was really meaning to be as genuine with her as he can be. Sure he may be brash with her at times, but it was by no means hard feelings. He wonders where she picks up on this assumption.

“Well,” She continues. “I hope this doesn't cause any problems between us. I didn't mean for you to have to stay behind and not be able to put your abilities to good use like before. Because of me… I replaced you and Chidori both.”

“Hey! This isn't your doing, and I know that we’re both aware of that.” He goes to reassure the girl with a stronghold nature. “Your skills easily exceed both mine and Chidori's combined, even surpassing Mitsuru’s altogether, so give yourself some credit. You're not doing anything wrong– in fact, you're doing pretty amazing right now.”

She can already tell that he is dead honest with her. She doesn’t have to question that. “Oh, well, I appreciate your thoughtfulness Senpai… but really, I hope there's no strain in our companionship.”

“You're kidding, right?” He makes a small scoff at it, but it was in a kinder manner than usual. He hates seeing someone beating themselves up over something they're doing, especially if what they’re doing is for a good cause. However, people like her would be too modest to express that. He then gets his back off the wall and approaches the other team member steadily. “If you believe there will be some hard feelings over something like you doing a better job than I could, then you're being way too humble for yourself. Me? I was more than glad to focus more on the battlefield than having to worry about some enemy's weakness at the same time. With one less thing to keep track of, it certainly made my life a little easier– and I appreciate you for that.”

The girl finds this to be a surprising point. She didn't think about that earlier, and doesn't know why either. Perhaps she was focusing too much on the negative aspect rather than the actual benefits her role brings to everyone else. Jin then looks up at the building the others are in, confident everything will be fine in the end. “Besides, I'm sure Chidori is having the time of her life fighting against the very things she was scared of before. I saw how she was doing on our way here too– she's way more than excited to be part of the action for sure.”

At the first floor of the hotel, flashes of burning flames enlighten the dark atmosphere thanks to the Persona’s fire abilities. The Shadows melted into the cold wooden floor and let out very meek screeches before disappearing for good. The redhead who commanded the fire applauds to herself in victory, finding this to be a delight to watch from a safe distance. “Yes, excellent!”

The young redhead then finally turns to the other three members standing behind as they watch her enjoying the fun. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let's find some more to fight!”

Yukari only leans close to the male leader just to see if he has any similar thoughts she has. “Is it just me or is she enjoying this way too much?”

“I don't know– but I'm feeling the burn too. Now my Persona is more ready than ever!” Junpei was in earshot to hear Yukari's side comment and answers for them, grinning in excitement as well as he sees this fighting spirit from Chidori. She's even scary at times when being like this too, especially with a pleasing smile on her face. It was a new side of her he never thought he would experience himself, but over time he doesn't mind it so much anymore. It's like each passing moment in her free will to cast various skills at their enemies makes him appreciate her more each and every time. Whenever he sees her happy, he feels the same way, oddly enough.

Makoto sees the battle being about over as he goes to kindly remind the rest of the group with a small sense of concern for the team. “Now let's not get off track about what we're here for. We're looking for the Arcana Shadows before the Dark Hour ends, just so everyone is aware.”

“Right right, we know…” Junpei responds somewhat in dismay while rubbing the back of his neck. They speed up the pace, making time for what they have to find the largest Shadows in question.

The redhead catches up to the others, speed walking only to catch up to one of the members and walk casually afterwards.

“How strong are these Shadows we're seeking for?” Chidori mainly asks herself this within a tone of curiosity. Knowing she has gotten a taste of fighting one last month, she's still relatively new to the large enemies that are indeed more powerful than any other.

Junpei then makes a casual hum along with his own answer. “They can be a tough cookie if you start out a little rough into battle, but otherwise they can be pretty fulfilling to beat up.”

“Hm… I sure hope so.” Chidori makes one smile at that idea, hoping maybe she can get a chance to show these baddies who’s boss under the Dark Hour. She knows she should be more serious about this task, knowing how dangerous and scary this whole mission can be, but the drive she has only has her tackle any doubts she would have for tonight.

“Hey…” Junpei smiles back at the girl walking next to her. “You got a nice smile there. I don't see that very often.”

“Huh?” She squeaks in surprise, trying to wipe the grin away to pretend she wasn't. “I have no clue what you're talking about.”

“You don't have to hide it ya know,” The young man keeps his grin up regardless. “It looks good on you. It means that you're happy, yeah? If you’re happy, I’m just as happy. The feeling spreads, ya know.”

The girl makes an inaudible grumble, glancing away from the guy to hide any other visual cues of embarrassment. Her cheeks make a warm flush, which would be hard to tell in this darkened place.

The team continues walking around and checking inside one of the rooms, seeing it may be good to find anything if possible. Next floor up, the female leader walks into a room first, doing the same thing as to check on any vacant area if possible. The other members behind her follow along and look around the room they wandered in, finding an abundance of pink and red colors in the decorative bedroom. The bed itself is fairly large that multiple people can be on at once, being in the shape of a heart as well. They take a look around as one of the members decides to stop and gaze over the sight of the one area upon curiosity.

“Hm, how interesting…”

Akihiko hears one of the members speaking and turns around. “What is it Takaya?”

The man in question gestures over to the heart-shaped bed by casually pointing with one of his fingers. “There's three coffins on display on top of the mattress as we speak. Strange; I would assume at least two would be together in this type of setting. But three? Why such an odd number?”

Nobody wanted to answer that for him. The three at that very moment got a good idea why that may be, but they rather not discuss it in case one were to be wrong. Other than that, it's literally none of their concern.

“... Let's not get any ideas while we're at it, alright?” Mitsuru awkwardly glances over to the side only to see their leader walking towards the one end of the bedroom. “Did you find anything Shiomi?”

“I… think so?” Kotone makes an unsettled answer while looking at a glass plane hanging on the wall. At first glance it looks to be as if she's checking on her own reflection, but that doesn't seem to be the case at all. Partially why showing the confusion. “This mirror doesn't have a reflection at all.”

“What do you mean? Can you not see yourself?” Akihiko asks questionably as well, not finding this to be logical if that is the concern here. But for the Dark Hour to appear with the large Shadows located here, anything is possible they suppose.

Kotone makes a small hum in response, her focus mainly being on the mysterious mirror showing the empty room in its own reflection, nothing else. It's extremely strange, knowing she is standing right in front of it. She goes for a closer look, not seeing anything new until a flash of light hits her eyes all so suddenly. Everyone else is affected too, trying to hide their face from the same bright light before all they can see is white. The other team at the lower floor experiences the same thing, also being blinded by the flash of light and being consumed in the brightness.

Fuuka's eyes shoot wide open in sudden surprise, feeling no one's presence at all as everyone has disappeared from her navigational senses. She starts breathing rapidly, looking up at the building in front of them before looking around her anxiously. She's starting to freak out, and Jin starts to realize this as he notices her change of stance and her hyperventilating nature.

“What's wrong? Is everything okay?”

Fuuka however only whimpers in fear before trying to spit out an answer. “I can't… I can't find them!”

“Wait, who!?” Jin starts to ask this cautiously. “Who can't you find?”

“E-Everyone!” She shakes her head while trembling in fear of the idea. “They all disappeared! They're gone!!”

…

. . .

One person so far finally gains some conscious after that obnoxious white-out everyone else has experienced. Everything looks very blurry at first, as a few blink of their eyes finally shows everything much more clearly. It's the over-saturated pinks and reds again, this time the person is sitting on the mattress themselves. It's almost eerily quiet, with only the sound of running water in the distance behind an already closed door. The man then rubs the front of his forehead in ache, realizing their blue cap isn't on their head anymore. He then looks around, only to see it on the nightstand next to him. Weird… since when did that get there? Where is he anyway? How did he get here?

He checks everything else on him. He still has his evoker in his holster, which is always good. Everything else seems to be in place, along with…

The shower is turned off, as the person then exits the bath area by opening the door to the bedroom. Junpei turns to look, seeing a familiar student in his gaze. Their long silky hair sheens from the dim light in the bedroom as they show their relief from the shower they have finished. The hot steam exits out of the other room and envelopes around the person as they briefly pat their bare body with a towel before wrapping it around… their… waist…

Wait what? The other student couldn’t figure out who it was at first, only seeing a darkened silhouette entering the room before they finally flicked the lights on. The tall slender individual pulls his hair up while stretching their arms out all the matter, displaying the signature ponytail he usually has outside the dorms.

“Ahhh… now that’s what I call a mystifying haven…!” The man breathes out with an eased expression and continues playing with his hair, the recent washing session has him feeling freshened up and ready to go. What were they doing again? Eh, who knows. He enjoyed his spare time to himself without realizing another person in the room.

Junpei then jumps out of the bed in terror as he witnesses a half-naked Takaya before him. Out of all others he would expect to be trapped in a room with– this would be the last person on his mind. “AW HELL NO—!!”

His terrified scream emits even outside the building, surprisingly not being caught notice by anyone else in the hotel or anyone from outside. Meanwhile Fuuka continues pacing around anxiously, trying to use her skills to locate the members again with no luck.

“I don’t understand…! I knew where they were, I knew where they were at! I… I… I don’t know what to do!”

“Fuuka, stop!” Jin grabs hold of one of her shoulders for the new recruit to stop pacing around, turning her towards him. “I’m going to need you to calm down, alright? Breathe. Where did you last locate them?”

“Where–?... Okay…” Her voice comes out shaky and rashed, but following his simple order, she takes a breath. “Th-They were surveying one of the bedrooms. Looking for small clues, I’m sure.”

“One of the teams, or both?”

“... Both. At the same time, even.”

Jin makes a hum on that, loosening his grip on her while eyeing over at the eerie hotel where the teams have possibly disappeared. There’s a good chance this is one of the Arcana Shadow’s doing, blocking any communication between the team and her for some type of advantage over their teamwork. That’s only his guess afterall, and he isn’t going to wait around to find out.

“I’m going in. I’ll need you to stay behind and continue looking for them on your end.”

“Wait, by yourself?” The girl chirps cautiously, not admiring the idea one bit. Of course, it is just them two, but doing a solo mission is a risky task, especially tonight.

“There’s a chance they’re all in trouble, someone has to do something!” Jin spares the arguing. If there’s any chance he can help the teams out of a sticky situation, whether it be his brother, sister, or anyone for that matter, he’ll take the risk. “I’ll go look for them inside, but if you happen to find them first– reach out to me, and I’ll head back out as soon as I can.”

“But…” She doesn’t find this to be strategic on her behalf, putting himself in danger can make this mission even more complicated if something were to go wrong. She doesn’t have time to make a protest by the time he leaves her and goes inside the hotel on his own. While she’s okay being on her own and continuing her job, she can’t help but feel more afraid of losing another member if everyone else is unable to be rescued. Where did they go anyway?

One by one each of the Persona users wake up from the mysterious spell they were in, and surely find consciousness again to get out of their so-called ‘intimate’ moments with another person. Shortly after they have, they all exit out of their respective bedrooms to reunite with anyone else. So far Makoto and Yukari run into Akihiko and Mitsuru on their way down the hall, all being partially relieved that they found one another at least.

“Well good thing we ran into you guys! … What happened to you?” Akihiko spits it out first while having shortness of breath. He sees what appears to be a red mark right on Makoto’s cheek, as he then goes to gently massage that area with little reaction to it.

“I’ve been better…”

“Where are the others?” Yukari cuts in to drift away from that topic, seeing there's nothing they should know about. “Has anyone seen—?”

Just as the brunette goes to ask anyone else, they see two men running towards them and finally stop in their tracks.

“There you are! God I was dead worried— this place is haunted as hell!” Junpei pants over exhaustion as Takaya finally catches up to him and the others.

“Glad to see everyone else is safe and sound. Where’s sister?”

“We don’t know…” Yukari answers sincerely. “At least, not yet.”

The oldest redhead gives out an order. “I’m afraid we’ll have to search through all the bedrooms nearby. Everyone be on the lookout– I’d rather have none of us become separated again.”

“Is everybody alright?” Fuuka comes into contact with everyone else after finally being able to locate them.

“Yes, we're doing okay!” Yukari responds promptly seeing she was able to reach out to them again.

“Thank goodness, I was getting worried.” Well, ‘worried’ is a tamed way of putting it, but they don’t need to know how extremely scared she was after losing them like that. “What happened to you all?”

“It appears to be the Shadows’ doing, randomly warping us into separate rooms without prior warning. Can you locate Shiomi and Yoshino-chan for us?” Mitsuru gives a small sound of concern for the remaining missing two members of the group, hoping they are safe from any harm.

“I’ll give it my best. I’ll let you know if I find anything.” Fuuka notifies the team before ceasing their communication, possibly on the search for the others as the team members start on their search.

While everyone else goes around the hallways to look around for the remaining students, Jin makes his way down another hall to look for the team. He’s been having no luck so far, sprinting from one end to another before heading up the stairs. A Shadow crawls around the corner as Jin then hides behind a wall to avoid interaction with the creature. Fortunately the Shadow didn’t catch the wandering member at all, and goes along with its usual route before Jin makes a move again. He tries to be careful not to get caught, while he would be more than willing to fight off the monsters he’ll cross paths with, it’ll only take too much time to find anyone. He sticks to his main objective, being stealth with one knife in hand in case he would run into anything. He then hides behind another wall once more, noticing a creature sitting by on the lookout. He steadies his breath, peeking over at the edge of the corner to watch its movement from the distance. He then slowly removes the drawstring bag from his back and holds it in his hands, ready to open it any second now if he has to. Since the monster doesn't move much after, he's about ready to make a move and keep going, not looking anywhere in front of him as he then runs into someone unexpectedly. It didn't become a forceful thud, thankfully enough, but it surely doesn't save his glasses from falling off and having him drop his bag. “Ah shit!”

“Oh my gosh, are you okay!?”

“Y-Yeah… I think I broke my glasses though…” He winces out as he then kneels down to pick the glasses back up. He then puts them on, noticing a crack on one of the lenses before shifting his focus to the young girl before him. He freaks, his eyes widened only to readjust his posture to stand up. He then rubs one side of his head.

“F-Fuuka!” He angrily whispers at her, being cautious with his volume. “What are you doing here!? I told you to wait outside and stay there!”

“I know I know, I’m sorry!” She whispers back, even somewhat anxiously while folding her hands together. “But I thought to help you out of here while I'm at it. I fortunately found the others, and—!”

Jin then quickly hushes the girl, noticing the Shadow is slowly creeping up to their side of the hallway where it could potentially see them if it ventures any further. The young man has his hand hovering over her mouth, making sure she keeps quiet so the shadowy creature doesn’t catch any sound of them. It then slowly turns around and goes to the other hallway, being out of their sight for sure. While Jin breathes a sigh of relief, he then glares back at the girl.

“Do you have any idea what position you put yourself in? You didn’t have to go searching for me either, you could’ve just communicated with me just fine outside the hotel!”

“I know…” She says again, this time with a sound of guilt in her voice. She knows what she’s doing is illogical, she knows better than that. But her unsettling feeling and the sudden impulse to go try to help surely got the best of her this time. “And I’d hate to see yourself put in danger all because of me and my current struggles. I want to do my very best, and I wouldn’t forgive myself if something happens to you.”

He blinks in mere astonishment, realizing at this point she’s wanting to do whatever she could to fix whatever issue she had made that led him to where he is now. But… it’s certainly not her fault. He chose to do this task on his own, and not entirely because of her. Suppose her feeling of being responsible that led him to venture in the dark hotel, it wouldn’t be right to dismiss her and her concerns so much. He mentally sighs at that, finger combing through his hair with a mix of exhaustion and defeat only to make up his mind.

“Fine. Just stay close to me, alright?” He places a hand on her shoulder while walking past her and looking around the corner to see if the coast is clear. With that, he then motions her to follow right behind him. She looks to be surprised, but makes little time to follow his cue as stealthily as possible. She then notices the bag on the floor and picks it up to carry with her, surely knowing he would need it with them.

The other team members went around to check many of the bedrooms they could find, with little luck knowing they can only do this in so much time. Mitsuru lets out a huff with a sound of frustration yet keeps her mature demeanor for the most part to focus on their current task. It’s too soon to break now. She then turns to two of the members nearby in hopes to have them cover more ground.

“You two check the rooms on that side, we’ll check these ones on the other.”

She wants to make sure they don’t strand too far either. They’ll still be nearby while making the search quicker, so this would be the most ideal. Junpei and Akihiko obey without question, checking the rooms down one side of the hallway while the rest check on the other doors. With the men entering the one empty room and looking around, the one with the blue cap goes to ask.

“My God, check out these rooms! You think this is pink enough?”

“We don’t have time to check out the place, let’s look through the others while we’re at it.” Akihiko gives a calm command to keep themselves moving. While they enter the next empty bedroom with no sign of Chidori or Kotone, Junpei then rubs the side of his head in mere confusion.

“Where the hell are they? You don’t think they’re out in the halls already looking for us too, right?”

For the remaining four members, they have finally struck their luck. Upon entering another decorative bedroom during their search, they noticed two figures immediately upon entering in. The lights in the room are already on, like maybe they have been this entire time. Either way, at least they completed one part of their mission.

“I think I see them!” Makoto announces his finding, having the others enter inside too.

They then all spot the two girls laying in bed next to each other, one of them shifting their feet and yet laying still on the mattress. The other girl happens to be cuddling up to the older student, her face planted in the bosom and her arms wrapped around giving no indication of moving from her comfort spot. The others slowly approach the two, one of them even raising an eyebrow in confusion trying to contemplate the current situation.

Before anyone would make a peep, the auburn-hair girl gently holds her finger up and gives a small ‘shush’ of a sound to the four standing before them. She then whispers, “It’s okay. She’s sound asleep, I can feel her soft snoring right on me. Isn’t this precious?”

“Kotone…!” Yukari was the one raising a brow earlier, as she goes to question her judgment. “You’re telling us that all the while as we wind up under a spell you two were taking a nap!?”

“We don’t mean to intrude your slumber,” Mitsuru gently brushes part of her hair aside as it was in the way of her face. “But we should make haste. We don’t have much more time before finding the Shadows and defeating them. I suggest waking her up and getting ready before we lose too much time.”

The younger redhead then sighs deeply against Kotone’s chest as she happens to hear the unsettling noises from the individuals interrupting her sleep. She then grumbles but doesn’t move from her position. “Just five more minutes please. I want my beauty sleep…”

“Now now sister…” Takaya then palms the side of the bed before kneeling down to their laying position to get closer at them to speak in a reasonable manner. “This is not the time. Remember the two big Shadowy monsters we planned to face tonight on the full moon? It’s time to get a move on, or else they’ll disappear along with the Dark Hour tonight. You wouldn’t want that to happen, now would you?”

The eldest brother talks to the younger sister like trying to get her out of bed to get ready for school. Perhaps he’s been in this similar situation before already, given the lack of exasperation and surprise out of Takaya as is. The others stand by and wait for any reaction to see if his persuasion will work.

The brother then continues. “Do you want to beat up the two Arcanas as promised?”

“Mmhmm…” The girl responds weakly, feeling a bit annoyed to answer but shows to indeed want to take part into battle as stated.

“And see them fall to the ground and plead for mercy before striking them down at the face of death itself?”

“Mmhm!” She then nods under Kotone for that one.

Takaya then smiles fondly knowing she doesn’t deny her own wishes for the sake of more sleep. Their time is running a little thin as they speak. “Well now: Get up and get out there, why don’t you? And show them who’s the real tough nut of this fight. Come on… I know you want to.”

“.... Mmmhhgg…!” Chidori then finally, but lazily, lays straight up from the bed and limply places her feet down on the floor, looking up at the others with dead tired eyes and mildly furrowed brows. Her hair is unkempt in this state, but she couldn’t care less. “I hate all of you right about now.”

The brother then stands up from his kneeling position and offers his hand to pull her up from the bed. “That’s a good girl. Come on now: Let’s find them and make sure they won’t set foot on this fine hotel ever again. Then would you get your beauty sleep...”

While the two go out of their way to get out of the cozy bedroom they were at, the others look mildly awestruck from what just occurred.

“How did he…?” Yukari makes a small comment of a question as Mitsuru then smiles and shakes her head with little to no surprise.

“Perhaps he’s familiar with this kind of experience before. Let’s go: We don’t have much time to waste.”

Meanwhile down at the other side of the floor where a huge door lays with a couple Shadows standing guard, the two wandering students find themselves in this particular location when trying to find the others. Jin peeks around the corners and sees the two Shadows there, quickly drawing his head back to stay completely hidden.

“Do you sense any other Shadows nearby? It would be best not to get caught.” Jin softly asks the girl next to him in case he missed any others.

Fuuka makes a hum as she uses her abilities to search all around, finding something else phenomenal within their range. “I’m sensing some really large energy behind that door… that must be what we’re looking for.”

“You mean those Shadows?” He has to ask just in case. He didn’t mean for any of them to stumble upon the Arcana Shadows the teams are searching for, but while they’re here…

Jin then peeks out around the corner again, this time spectating the guarding Shadows who seem to be minding their own business, not looking to be too much of a hassle to fight from this distance. He then holds his hand out and motions to Fuuka to hand something over. The girl looks confused at first, only to remember she’s holding the drawstring bag in her possession. Within that notice, she hands it over to him, seeing him opening it up and reaching down for something to get. He shuffles around, grabbing a small round object and pulling it out of the bag into his grasp. It’s about the size of an orange, but metallic and gray in color. He clasps it tight close to him, surveying the scene in front of them again before pulling a small pin from the round object with his free hand. He then throws it, having it bounce and roll towards the guarding Shadows direction. The creatures spot notice of the odd round object, crawling towards it to check on what it is. Jin then hides behind the wall once more before the two hear an emit of an explosion from that very location. It takes Fuuka by surprise, given she has no idea what it was and what it did, only to see with her own eyes the aftermath of an explosion down the hall. She then looks over at the young man with a sign of surprise and curiosity.

“What was that just now?”

Jin then puts his drawstring bag back on and adjusts it before walking around the corner. “A prototype. Still a work in progress… come on, let’s keep going.”

The explosion also alerts the two guys down the other hall as they were checking at the nearby bedrooms. Junpei makes a slight jump at the sounds and hesitantly points in the general direction with his thumb.

“What was that just now? A Shadow?”

Akihiko however makes a move to go over to the source of the sound. “I don’t know, but we’ll soon find out. Come on!”

“Wait, we’re heading over there? Now!? Shouldn’t we—?”

By the time he tries asking him, Akihiko already heads off, going into any potential danger this may lead. Jumpei then looks over at the opposing direction as if deciding what to do at the moment. However, he goes after the boxer, surely he shouldn’t be wandering around here alone. “Hey, wait for me pal!”

The next sound to make is the shattering of glass, making Mitsuru and the rest turn towards that sound while they were going to exit the guest room. Makoto happens to be the one to cause that effect, literally breaking the ominous mirror that is up against the wall.

“What are you doing!?” Yukari asks the male leader upon the surprise, as Kotone then shifts her stance to watch what he's doing. She then realizes something.

“Honestly I would break those mirrors too, they were creepy enough as is.”

“Can anybody hear me?” It's Fuuka communicating to the others with her ability. “I noticed an entrance to another room up ahead had their seal weakened. I believe this was the cause of shattering the mirrors, they must've been keeping that door protected.”

“What door are you implying?” Mitsuru asks upon confusion.

“There's a high amount of negative energy behind one particular door that wouldn’t budge. It's not like any of the guest room doors we see here.” The girl elaborates further regarding where the potential enemies they’re looking for might be. “It looks to be more awfully decorative. Try to see if you can find another mirror that has a seal, that shall weaken the door tremendously.”

“We’ll do just that.” Makoto takes her advice and looks for another room with a funky mirror with similar qualities. Kotone then runs after him knowing where the other one will be, since she saw one too before everyone was transported elsewhere.

Meanwhile Yukari then gives a sound of puzzlement. “Well hang on. How does Fuuka know what the door looks like? Can she see things from outside?”

Chidori finds that oddly interesting herself, even with her sleepy eyes still visible to the rest of the cast. “Well I sure can’t do that. Maybe it’s just a guess.”

“... Or she is actually there as we speak,” The long-haired makes the realization as this could be a possibility. “We should hurry! It wouldn’t be like her to wander into the hotel by herself!”

“Then where would that leave Jin?” Mitsuru asks this upon thought, knowing he would be staying by her since the start of the mission. “You can’t say he’s…”

One thud after the next, the blue-haired student with specs rams into the partially-sealed door hoping to bust it open. While it seems weaker now, one seal down isn’t enough to get this door to open. The man curses under his breath, but knows better than to waste his energy before a battle. No way his other weapons will break through either…

While Jin goes to give in on any more potential attack until the final seal is broken, two more individuals show up and find them standing nearby in mild surprise.

“So that’s where the sounds were coming from. What are you two doing inside?” Akihiko goes to ask in a relatively curious manner. Unlike the other team members who would find them in the hotel an irresponsible move, he shows the least amount of judgment.

“Oh, apologies.” Fuuka is the first to answer that for him. “I got worried that I lost you all under my radar—”

“I happened to take a quick trip in here to find where you guys might’ve gone. She wouldn’t stop anxiously pace around otherwise.” Jin finishes answering it for Fuuka, knowing she may just become too modest or apologetic for both of their actions. He did this under his own choice, afterall.

“... And then she followed you inside?” The young man with the cap scratches the back of his head while asking that, seeing she is indeed present with the rest of them too. Fuuka only shows mild embarrassment in response, as Jin makes a side glance but doesn’t comment on that. It’s really nothing to be concerned about in the end.

While it seems as obvious as such, Akihiko then glances over at the decorative door next to them. He then pops his knuckles in eagerness. “Is that where they are? Can’t say that I’m surprised.”

Jin then observes the door as well, assuming as much. “Supposedly, based on Yamagishi’s readings. But the door is still shut tight. The others are still looking for the seal to break it open, in case you two don't know yet.”

Fuuka then goes to speak to the two that just arrived to give them up to date news regarding the team. “And don’t worry: They found Kotone and Chidori safe and sound too. So once they find the seal, the door shall be open.”

“Alriiiight, I’m ready!” Junpei smiles proudly, not only looking forward to the fight, but the fact that they were able to find Chidori at last. He hopes she and the rest can arrive here soon so they could at least fight together. That would make the night all the more better. “Let’s go kick some ass!”

After the seal is found and broken thanks to Makoto and the rest of the members, the seal to the door is finally open, letting the four members in to see what they could find. Inside they see one large Shadow in front of them, startled to see it representing a rather large obese man sitting on its throne. The seat itself has legs in representation of actual human legs with leggings and red high heels on. Sprouting from the back of the small throne the man sits on is a beige-colored woman figure with a flailing head of formed crosses and having their caressing hands all over the man’s head, appearing to be giggling mischievously having them meet their upcoming foes ready to fight. The fight is about to start.

“I sense this one being the Hierophant Arcana. But I can feel another Shadow lurking about… I’d say be careful. Meanwhile I’ll try to look for any weaknesses.”

“We’ll do just that.” Jin summons his Persona first to make any first moves on the enemy. “Moros!”

The silver pendulum-shaped Persona emerges and activates an ailment skill to attack with. The purple-like mist surrounds and poisons the large Shadow, making it look very weary already.

“Nice going! Now let’s see how it likes this!” Akihiko then summons his Persona next to activate its electrical attack, sending it right to the enemy.

This only frightens Fuuka fairly, realizing this only a matter of seconds too late. “W-Wait, Senpai–!”

The electricity sent at the enemy ends up being reflected back right at the boxer student, letting him take the hit instead. He only winces softly in pain, as the others realize it and looks over to check on him.

“Shit, are you okay?” Jin reaches out to him, seeing he didn’t take a big hit but just enough to have him almost kneel down.

Akihiko cockishly smiles in response, rubbing the base of his chin with his hand. “Yeah, of course! It’ll take more than that to knock me down.”

“I’m sorry Akihiko-senpai, I meant to warn you sooner…” Fuuka softly speaks out in grief, while the man surely waves it off.

“It’s okay, I appreciate your effort.”

“Anything else this thing can bounce back…?” Junpei asks somewhat hesitantly, hoping it doesn’t reflect any of his fire skills if possible. Or even his physical skills, which can be troublesome.

Fuuka then shakes her head softly. “That’s the only reflective ability it has. Otherwise dark and light skills won’t affect it.”

“Sounds fair enough. Now we’ll just have to avoid using electricity from now on!” Jin then dodges one of the attacks from the enemy Shadow.

It's Junpei's turn to make an attack, summoning Hermes to use his fire skills at it. Even with the good starting point they have now, it's already overwhelming without the rest of the team here. Jin then takes his turn by having his Persona knock the Shadow on the side, making the enemy somewhat wobbly and losing its balance on its seat. It gives the third-year an idea.

“Try knocking it back and forth until it falls over. It may just give us an advantage for an All-Out.”

“Hmm, doesn't sound like a bad plan,” Akihiko then draws out his evoker to summon his Persona, making a small smile at that idea. “It's better than always attacking aimlessly.”

“If at any chance, try to land a critical hit. It's a small chance but still possible.” Fuuka informs the team regarding the plan, showing a feeling of hope that this could indeed work.

Junpei shows a cocky smile as he summons his Persona himself, gaining the confidence. “Alright Hermes, it's time to shine!”

The rest of the group are slowly catching up as they speak, pacing down the halls where they believe the two Arcana Shadows would be located. Mitsuru and Makoto are making the haste pace, almost leaving the rest of the team behind as the one other redhead is dragging behind. The brunette of the team then looks back to see Chidori taking it slow and steady, not trying to keep up due to her still being tired. Her eyes are half-lidded, looking down to the floor in front of her as Takaya tries to get her to start walking faster. While it’s obvious he’s being considerate of her reason not to do so, he also wants the rest of the team to slow down so she can catch up that way. Yukari then slows down to match Chidori’s pace so she walks next to her, letting out a smile and matching her speed.

It takes a moment longer for Chidori to realize that, only glancing back at her only to look back at the floor again. “You don’t have to stay behind for me too, you know. I’ll keep up.”

“Yeah, well…” Yukari then tilts her head in somewhat of an agreement. It certainly doesn’t mean she can’t. “Sometimes I like keeping away from the crowd too. It’s nice to have the space to breathe.”

The girl just hums with a giggle, taking Mitsuru’s attention as she looks behind her to see the two girls talking at a fair distance. The third-year then smiles, knowing at least she’s having someone to talk to in these trying times. However, this peaceful moment can’t last much longer.

“You guys are almost there, I can tell.” Fuuka reaches out to the team. “Akihiko-senpai and Junpei-kun are with us as well, but I’m not sure when the other enemy should arrive. Please hurry.”

“Understood.” Mitsuru answers promptly to her request, making her speed walk now into a jog and a run towards their destination. “Let’s go, we have no time to lose.”

Back at the boss fight, each and every fighter takes a shot at the enemy to make it wobble side to side, trying to knock it over. With each Persona either using a physical skill to effectively push much force on the Shadow, two of the throne legs would lift from the floor, making it a good chance for gravity to take advantage of this opportunity. The winged deity then lands a critical hit right at its seat just as it is already slanted from the previous attacks. The monster then finally loses its balance, the throne’s leg trying to hold its stance until the entire Shadow falls down to the hard fancy floor. The fire-user manages to make the final blow, even inflicting more damage than usual. The Shadow then tries getting back up, but judging by the size of the Shadow and the lack of support it has itself, it's pointless to even try.

“Bravo, you knocked down the enemy!” Fuuka exclaims proudly to the team upon their efforts. The Shadow then continues struggling with no success.

Junpei then grins and adjusts his hat before getting a good grip on his sword. “We got ‘em right where we want it! Let’s take it out!”

“I’ve been waiting for this.” Akihiko then smirks and holds up his fist to make the first strike.

The three go up close and personal with the wobbly enemy being attacked at all angles, leaving little to defend itself. After their moment to give it their all, they back out from previous cautionary habits. The enemy then finally manages to bring itself back on its already weakened throne, already showing little energy to fight back.

“Haha, looks like we got ourselves an easy victory. How about one more round and finish this guy off?” Junpei goes for his evoker again, being more than ready to summon his Persona and make another attack on it. The Shadows shows to be wary and makes itself an easy target to make the same strategy, so nothing should go wrong.

However, Fuuka gasps suddenly and darts around warily in the room. “Hold on— I’m sensing another enemy!”

The men then stop and look around as well, keeping their guard up. They know it would be too soon to finish this night when the other team members haven’t made it to their location yet. Even then, no other person would be able to predict when the other Shadow would appear.

The sudden arrival of a heart-shaped Shadow comes from behind the already wounded enemy as it then makes its first move. Arrows appear from the jelly-like Shadow and aim right at the team members, with them being able to avoid most of the piercing attack. Akihiko this time goes for an electric attack on the enemy, having little doubt this one would have the same immunity to it.

“Polydeuces!” The boxer sends out his Person with the evoker as he commands it to attack, sending waves of electricity at the floating Shadow. It seems to do something at least, seeing it stake off and remaining electrical shock from it as it then absorbs energy straight out of the third-year. Akihiko suddenly feels weak, his knees even shaking to give out. “The hell…?”

“It appears to have draining abilities for health and spirit power… please be wary you guys. This one has a different tactic from the previous enemy.” Fuuka warns the guys after observing the enemy, seeing this can easily be a tough battle if they aren’t careful.

However, the previous Shadow that was knocked down before got back up to sit on its throne, creating a strike attack to target straight at Jin. He takes the blow, even sneering at the light damage it made. He summons Moros to throw an attack right back at the Shadow.

“Have no fear, I can take this one on!” Junpei goes against the Arcana Lovers with the wield of his sword to make the attack. The Shadow realizes the close presence and emits a rose-colored aura as it sends its way to the student with success. The other team members then look at Junpei with slight hesitation.

“Iori…!?”

“Junpei, are you alright?” Akihiko voices his sign of concern right after Jin, also realizing he didn’t seem to take any actual damage. Of course it doesn’t mean they can’t check on him, he must’ve gotten a status condition instead.

The man with the sword then has his body moving wobbly and awkwardly, like he doesn’t have control over his own body. The eerie sight does make them worry even more. The young man’s eyes glow bright orange with his face flushed pink and a nasty grin of a smile. Two of the members then back up with puzzlement.

“Junpei-kun–!? Whoa!” Akihiko then steps back swiftly to avoid the sudden swing of the man’s sword going right at him. “The hell!?”

Jin then takes a few steps back in case he goes after him next, which predictably enough he does. Junpei’s attacks are aimless and wild, even the third-years have a hard time avoiding them so easily as they still show major confusion of his actions.

Right as Junpei takes another swing at the student with the specs, Jin pulls out his two knives and holds them up to block his attack. He could barely hold him off with the comparison of their weapons and strength. He grunts out, “Hey, will you knock it off!? We’re on your side asshole!”

Junpei then laughs like a maniac, something that would be heard from a clown horror movie to make this all the more fearsome. This only makes Jin only slightly pissed off as he forces him back with whatever strength he could use. Akihiko then attacks Junpei from behind before he would take a chance to strike anyone else. “God damnit, what is wrong with you!? Snap out of it already!”

Fuuka then watches this from afar as she tries to make out what the status condition actually is inflicted on the second-year. “He’s affected by Charm! Because of the Shadow it makes him turn against his own teammates.”

“Well no shit!” Jin mutters out loud as he avoids another attack from the affected user. “He’s trying to chop us into pieces from the way he’s swinging that thing!”

“So what now!?” Akihiko pants for a moment to get his breath back. “Do we go after the Shadow, or find some way to smack him out of it?”

“The latter should be your best option,” Fuuka answers sincerely, despite the pressured situation. “But don’t try to hurt him too much. A simple attack or two may do the trick…”

“Tch, screw it then,” Jin keeps his stance with his weapons still in his hands to take a shot at the love-controlled Junpei. “Gives me an excuse to finally kick his ass.”

Akihiko goes first by going for a light punch, but somehow it doesn’t faze Junpei at all. The young man swings back with his sword, his grin still wide and sinister with that hysterical laugh of his. “Hahaha, what’s wrong Mr. Senpai!? Aren’t you man enough to stop me?? Haaa!”

Jin then joins in by kicking the young man against his back to knock him down. Junpei lands face first, his rear up in the air while sounding weary from the attack. Jin then sighs in relief and yet some irritation, finally showing to be laxed as he sees the man lying on the ground. “That should do it…”

The young man’s hand still grips tight around his sword and shoots straight back up effortlessly. This is making the two third-years mildly uncomfortable while they return to their battle positions.

“You gotta be kidding me…” Akihiko sighs out but is ready to throw another punch at the man once he starts running. The mind-controlled Junpei then approaches fast, giving the two little time to react appropriately for a counter attack.

“Watch out!” The blue-haired student shouts out so he and Akihiko can move out of the way to avoid Junpei’s attack altogether. At the door, Yukari enters into the room where the protruding Junpei leads to to see the young woman in front of him. His laugh then becomes sinister and deviant as his eyes lay on her from head to toe, then full-on to her chest.

“Whoohoo Yuka-tan! I forgot just how hot you look in dat outfit hehe, lemme get a closer look at you will ya…!”

“Ew, you sicko!” The brunette gets startled by his remarks and quickly moves out of his way.

Behind her is Chidori with a tired yet deadpan expression as she shows no emotion at the man running towards her. It’s only when he gets up and personal with the redhead when he puts her hand up and slaps the man across the face to push him aside. It makes a loud smack of a noise, giving notice to practically everyone nearby what just happened. Junpei almost falls to his knees as he then rubs the side of his face in sudden confusion.

“Huh!? What just…?” His eye color returns to normal as he looks at everyone with a few blinks. His cheek hurts, but he doesn’t know why.

Jin realizes the change of attitude almost instantly. As much as he wanted to give Junpei another piece of his mind after the kick, he is more relieved to have their member back in their right mind. “Oh good, he’s back. Thanks for that, Chidori.”

“Uh-huh…” The girl shows no care of what was going on and joins the battlefield to get this battle over with. She takes out her chained hatchet and stares right at the floating heart-shaped Persona with her dead eyes, taking no more hocus-pocus for this night. She takes a wild swing at the Shadow and hit it right in the midst of its head as it then cries in agony.

While everyone else takes their position into battle to take on the Shadows, Akihiko then turns towards Mitsuru with a slight smile in relief of his own. “Took you guys long enough. Where are you guys?”

“Hmph, funny. I should have asked you that.” Mitsuru replies with a tilt of her head, knowing he and Junpei were the ones who left from their previous mission to wind themselves here with the Shadows. “Doesn’t matter now. Now that we’re all here, let’s take them down as swiftly as possible.”

“Now that’s what I like to hear. A performance isn’t worth delaying.” Takaya smiles sincerely at the thought as he draws out his gun to shoot right at the Arcana Hierophant Shadow. With a few bullets shooting straight through the Shadow, the enemy then falls down from its throne once more.

The other enemy then casts the same previous spell right at Takaya to get him charmed. However, the move failed. “Seriously? Is that the best you can muster?”

Fuuka goes to warn the others about the potential Charm attack, but fortunately the team doesn't have to deal with that problem as much as they come around to finish off the first enemy before the second. The Lovers Shadow hasn’t gotten much success after the first time it casted the charm skill, giving the team a worthwhile victory.

“Well done everyone! The battle is now over.” Fuuka applauds the team for their efforts in taking down the two Shadows in the hotel. While half of the team barely felt it as a challenge, the other half were somewhat exhausted in knowing they did some of the work before everyone else did. That, or they are simply too tired to process the victory themselves.

“I’m going to bed. I’ll see you all later.” Chidori goes to get out of the room, the hotel entirely, first before everyone else follows along.

Mitsuru then walks up to the young navigator in her own sense of judgment. “May I ask why you entered the hotel in the first place? Surely that wasn’t the safest tactic for someone with no way to defend themselves in battles. I know you can sense Shadows regardless of distance, but what if something were to happen to you once you entered here?”

Fuuka then glances down at the floor with her hands folded in front of her. Like a guilty puppy who found itself to be in trouble, the girl meekly speaks up. “I do apologize Mitsuru-senpai, it was just…”

“It was my fault, Mitsuru.” Jin walks over to the two after overhearing the conversation on his way out of the room, only to notice the tension of the situation and take action from there. “I’ll take full responsibility in regards to it. I ran inside in search of you and the others after she told me how she lost track of everyone, only for her to run after me to make sure I was safe.”

“Is that so?” Mitsuru did have her suspicions on why they both entered the building, but she didn’t think that’d be the reason. “Well it was still a reckless decision to make. For both you and Yamagishi. She had no reason to enter the building with the kind of ability she has.”

“I’m aware of that.” Jin gives his insight on the manner. “She’s still somewhat new to the operation though, so I’d say give her some slack. We’ll both make sure it won’t happen again.”

Fuuka looks back and forth at the two third-years wondering what the final conclusion to this debate would be. She knows what she did, and surely Jin is more than willing to take the blame for everything that has happened. However, it certainly doesn’t make her feel that much better about herself and the actions she made.

The older redhead then makes a hum to that. “Very well. I know you two are mature enough about this and therefore responsible, so I hope you don’t attempt another stunt like this.”

Jin gives a light bow in agreement to the young woman before she takes her leave outside the room. Fuuka feels a sudden rush of relief knowing there wouldn’t be anymore scolding from Mitsuru-senpai. Even then, she can’t let this guilt go so easily.

“I appreciate it Jin-senpai, but I can’t help but feel terrible about having you step in.”

“...Why?” Jin asks somewhat awestruck. “I was just being honest. It was in fact my decision to run inside in the first place, only for you to follow right after. Sure what you did was… not the best thing to do, but, honestly,” He shrugs in thought. “I should’ve just stayed where I was at. I had no reason to throw myself in there.”

“Well sure, but,” Fuuka mentally shakes her head in that doubt. “I don’t know, if it wasn’t for me saying anything in the first place, we would’ve—!”

“Hey, you did what you think was for the best.” Jin kindly argues the point, keeping his voice low and even. “Ok? Don’t beat yourself up over it. You were scared, you didn’t know what to do. And I was only trying to help by finding them for you.”

She can’t argue about that. As much as she would, he knew he meant well even when seeing her in distress. It makes her appreciate him more, as he finds her caring nature for the team somewhat admirable. Of course there is a fine line when not to put their own lives at risk.

“With that being said— in case we run into this similar problem again, don’t go running and chasing around unless you happen to have someone else or two with you to keep you out of harm’s way. Am I being clear on that, at least?”

Fuuka looks up and smiles at her Senpai before making a light nod in response. “Yes, crystal.”

He grins slightly upon her understanding. He’s aware she is more obligated to follow clear instructions than most of the other members of the team, so chances are she’ll rarely make the same mistake twice. He then sees that everyone else is already gone, leaving them as the last two inside the large room. He looks back at her and quickly nods over to the entrance door.

“C’mon, let’s catch up to the others.”

The team surely makes it out of the hotel while the green full moon still shines brightly from above with little trouble in sight. Akihiko and Takaya are the ones making it out of the building first followed by Junpei who’s rubbing the side of his cheek in dismay. He still feels a slight sting from earlier, but doesn’t recall how exactly that happened.

“Aww man, why do I feel so sore?” The man whimpers in very mild agony.

The boxer then looks behind him to hear the young puzzled man. “You haven’t been training hard enough. You’ve seemed to be slacking a lot lately.”

Rather than giving him the full story of how it all went down, he decides to twist the truth of the reason as an excuse to tease him. Junpei, even still mildly puzzled, easily takes his answer. “Oh, is that why? Huh…”

Everyone else gets out of the hotel with Jin and Fuuka as the last ones heading out. The brunette of the group nudges against the male leader just to tell him not a word, keeping their experience in the hotel room a secret. Junpei for sure wants to forget what he saw during that time with Takaya, who only wore a towel around him and nothing more. Other than that, he seems more concerned with the sore cheek he keeps rubbing, but he can’t complain if it only means having time pass to heal.

With the group then heading their way back to the dorms to finally get a goodnight’s rest, another being seems to be lurking in the dark up on the rooftop of some other building. The figure shows to be larger than average and covered in black, like a Shadow during the Dark Hour. Its long dark fingers clench on the edge of the roof material, surveying over the individuals walking down at the ground floor in eerie silence. Its eyes are shaped in an angry furrow and glows a bright golden color, as it slowly inches across the roof to keep an eye on the students down below. With it, it pauses right at the edge of the building where it can’t venture any further, making a low growl and continuing watching from its own safe distance.

Chidori suddenly turns around swiftly in feeling the presence of another individual nearby, looking up only to see no one in sight. She glances around for any further inspection, getting a sense of suspicion and puzzlement from the odd sensation.

“Is something wrong, sister?” Takaya happens to turn around to see the puzzled girl who paused during their walk.

Chidori then looks back at the older brother with no further concern of her own, and so shakes her head. “It’s nothing… I suppose.”

Even with the sound of hesitation in her voice, Takaya then smiles at the sister before continuing his walk with the others. The young redhead notices this feeling she has is different than what she usually feels… maybe it was nothing after all. She’s tired, and she has made that clear already. She’s probably just too exhausted to comprehend anything at the moment while seeking to crawl into her bed and get some shut eye. God she really despises that hotel now because of it.

#persona 3 story #strega cast #persona 3 fanfiction #sees cast #takaya/jin/chidori #yes this is the love hotel scene

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