Persona Trinity Seal

Chapter 4

Shin stirs awake and goes to sit up only to be stopped by a tight grip where he spots arms wrapped around him tightly and traces them to the crimson eyed girl beside him who greeted him with a bright smile. He finds himself wondering once more how she can smile like that so early in the morning and even more so after what she just went through, but he shrugs off the thought and smiles in return. She sits up and he notices how close her face is to his own and after a moment he is surprised at her not pulling away and even more so that he isn't either.

"Morning" she says, her smile not leaving her face.

"Good morning. Are you doing alright?" he asks, his face now changing to one of deep concern.

"I should be asking you that" she says now looking down avoiding his gaze.

He places a hand to the back of his neck and says, "We both have been having some crazy days lately, huh?"

She raises her head to meet his now small smile and manages one of her own. She nods in response.

A silence lingers between the two of them, yet it doesn't feel awkward. They both have lots on their mind, but Kotone decides now to bring up her idea that will hopefully help them both relax for a while.

"I have a question for you" Kotone says.

"Ok, what is it?"

She takes a deep breath and says, "After school today, maybe you could show me around Ayanagi?"

Shin gapes at her request but regains himself not long after. It makes sense, she has been there for a while now and hasn't really gotten to just see the sights and go exploring. It seems like a good idea to him, and a smile returns to his face.

"Sure" he says then adds "We can see if the others want to come too later"

She seems to hesitate a moment before saying "Actually... I was thinking about just you and me going"

Shin pauses "U-um what?"

"I was hoping we could get to know each other more, have a break from everything" her smile now much smaller than it was.

She internally sighs, what is going on with her? She was never so hesitant on things before.

He seems to relax and says "Yeah, that does sound like fun"

The two get up and Shin heads into the bathroom to take a shower after she tells him to go ahead. She stretches and hears a jingle and moves over revealing a key on the bed. She takes it and holds it close. It brings back memories of before, but she quickly moves to place it in her school uniform top not wanting to get lost in her head again right now.

The two meet up with Jun and have a quiet breakfast before heading out to school, though not without meeting Ryo who had kept his silence for now but clearly held a disapproving look on his face. Entering the school Shin and Kotone separate from Jun and meet the others in homeroom. The school day passes by relatively quickly and soon the gang are making plans for the rest of their day.

"So, what do you all have going for later?" Takuro asks as he stretches his arms behind his head in his usual lazy posture.

"I'm going for club activities" Megumi says while pumping a fist in the air.

"Oh, what club?" Kotone asks.

Megumi waves off the question with a mischievous look and says "You'll see" with a wink.

"What about you Kanaru?" Takuro asks, seeing her looking towards the ground.

"I... umm have an afterschool activity too" she doesn't meet anyone's eyes.