Persona 3: Birth of Death [ON HIATUS]

Chapter 23: Incoming Danger

__The Next Day, September 6th__

"Both Yuki and Aragaki, eh? What a headache..." Ikutsuki spoke as he was having a talk with Mitsuru about what happened in the previous battle. Also, regarding the drugs Shinjiro had been taking. He was sitting on the sofa with her at the lounge.

"Yes. Fortunately, we haven't observed any changes in Amada." Mitsuru replied as she looked to the side and saw Ken sitting alone at the table while reading a book. He was away so he wasn't hearing them.

He closed the book and put it back on the shelf before walking upstairs to head to his room. He saw a door open as Yukari walked out of it. She looked at him and smiled lightly, "oh, Amada-kun! Going to bed already?" She asked.

"Yes, good night." Ken looked back at her and returned the smile. He continued his way to his room.

Mitsuru sighed and said, "as for Yuki, to be honest, I am at a loss."

"After all, he is irreplaceable in battle." Ikutsuki replied.

Meanwhile, Makoto was in his room, sitting on his bed while he was holding his evoker. He was looking down at it with a slight sad expression on his face. He lightly stroked the metal with his thumb as he was having many thoughts in his mind. Tartarus, Shadows, the Dark Hour and the Apathy Syndrome, including what happened in the previous battle, were all making his head a mess. He also happened to remember what that group called Strega said to S.E.E.S when they last saw them every once in a while. He was at a loss, not knowing what he truly wanted.

His thoughts stopped after he heard the door open. He lifted his head and saw Aigis coming in.

"....Is something wrong with me?" He asked her.

"I don't know. But to me, your actions were incomprehensible." Aigis answered.

"Is that right?" He looked down again.

"Even so, the most important thing to me is to be by your side." Aigis said with a soft expression.

He looked back at her after hearing the same thing she said to him before. He gave her a look of confusion, he wasn't sure what to say in response.

.......

Ken was also in his room as he was feeding the goldfish Shinjiro caught for him at the summer festival. He chuckled lightly and watched the little fish swimming around in its small tank. He then eyed the picture frame that the group took at the festival. Everyone was smiling while standing together in the picture.

He looked at himself and Shinjiro standing next to each other in the picture with eyes full of both pain and rage, "why did it have to be you?" He mumbled then hugged himself as he clutched his shirt's sleeves. His hands were shaking a little, "why?" He took a shaky breath and began sobbing quietly. "Why?" He repeated.

.......

After talking with the chairman, Mitsuru walked upstairs and saw Akihiko standing alone at the staircase as he had been waiting for her.