October 7th
Early that morning, Miyuki was awake, her entire sleep schedule had been destroyed by her constant on-again off-again sleeping habits that had started as a side-effect of not doing anything else and bursting into entire sobbing sessions during the past few days.
"Can you believe it's already Autumn?" Alexandria's voice said, Miyuki pulled her head up from her pillow and looked up at her friend "At this rate, it'll be winter before too much longer." the little girl took notice of her older friend's worn-out expression and red face. "What's wrong, Miyuki? You look dreadful." she asked.
"I...I lost someone." Miyuki answered, her voice was tired and distraught.
"Is that so?" Alexandria asked, she then turned away from the sad teen and looked up at the ceiling "In this world, people die every day...don't they?" she inquired.
"It still hurts..." Miyuki replied back.
"Until recently, I thought of people dying as just a fact of life...much like the wind blowing or the sun rising, but lately it's become something more to me..." Alexandria spoke "...I think that is because I now have a friend." she looked up at Miyuki and the two girls stared at one another for a moment.
"You know the end I've spoken of before? Some people call it The Fall, but I feel it drawing closer...do you feel it as well?" Alexandria asked.
"I'm sorry....I haven't." Miyuki answered before retreating back to her pillow.
"I don't understand much, my identity is something that slowly comes to me as the months pass...." Alexandria said "...but I feel like...your pain is great, I will visit you again..." with that the little girl disappeared leaving Miyuki alone once again.
After a few minutes of silence in her dark room, she heard a knock at her door like the previous mornings.
"Miyuki, please come out." Takuya said from the other side "You can't keep cutting class like this." "Go away!" Miyuki shouted back.
On the other side of the door, Takuya stood in the hallway once again disheartened by his sister's rejection.
"What she say?" Yukari asked as she walked over to the blue-haired boy, he let out a sigh in response "No good, she still won't come out." in response to his response, the pink-clad girl lightly pushed him to the side and knocked on the girl's door herself.
"Miyu? It's Yukari." she said from behind the closed door "Can I come in?" there was a moment of silence, the two teens standing in the hallway had no idea what to do next when they suddenly heard the door unlock.
"Well...here goes nothing...." Yukari said nervously before opening the door and leaving Takuya out in the hall by himself, he heard the door lock after she entered and he decided he had no choice but to go to school while Yukari dealt with Miyuki.
Inside her room, Yukari took note that the lights were not on and Miyuki looked disheveled and unkempt which made sense as she hadn't left her room since the night of Shinjiro's death.
"Miyu, we need to talk." Yukari said as she walked over to Miyuki's bed and sat on it, she pat down a spot on the bed next to her which Miyuki understood as an invitation to sit next to her. It was an invitation she accepted quietly as she sat down next to her friend.
"I know..." Miyuki spoke "...I can't keep myself locked up forever, I know that..."
"I wasn't going to say that." Yukari replied "I know how you feel, when my father died I was a wreck." she placed her hand on her friend's back "I still haven't gotten over his death...I still have this letter he wrote me, I've never let go of him." Miyuki looked up at Yukari, the two locked eyes and Yukari could see how tired and worn out her friend's eyes were.
"You've had it so hard...but I know that if I can pull a brave enough face to get myself out of bed every day, someone like you can." Yukari said trying to be motivational.
"Someone...like me?" Miyuki said sheepishly.
"Yeah!" Yukari replied "You've always been so strong, able to face any sort of hardship with a smile...even in situations where I was afraid..."
"Yukari..." Miyuki said quietly. "Remember when we first went into Tartarus? You were ready to fight the Shadows, no question...You've been fighting for yourself since I met you." Yukari replied, with those words something in Miyuki clicked.
"You're right..." Miyuki spoke "...When Shinji asked me what I fought for, I answered that I was fighting for me...." she stood up "Maybe now...I can fight for someone other than myself." Yukari stood up as her friend continued to speak.
"Are you sure?" Yukari asked "I don't want to force you to keep going if you don't want to." Miyuki turned to look at her friend "No, I want to fight." she clenched her fist "I have to. I have to make sure he didn't die for nothing..."
"Miyuki..." Yukari said, in response the other girl placed a hand on her friends shoulder and smiled for the first time in days.
"Yuka-chan, thank you." Miyuki replied "You've helped me realize what I had been missing...You've been fighting every day because of your dad, I need to fight for Shinji in the same way. If I don't, his death will remain meaningless."
"And...you're alright with this?" Yukari asked.
"No." Miyuki answered "I still miss him, and I don't think I'll ever stop missing him...his death hurts and his absence makes me feel empty...but I have to fight in spite of that pain, just like I did before."
That evening, Miyuki exited her room in a washed and put-together condition as her days of personal lock-up had never happened. Everyone seemed shocked to see her come downstairs into the lounge area.
"Miyuki?!" Takuya exclaimed in shock as he rushed over to his sister "Y-You're up."
"Yeah..." Miyuki replied "I'm up."
"A-Are you...okay?" Takuya asked nervously.
"Miyuki-senpai?" Ken said, Takuya glared at the child as he stood up from his seat.
"Ken..." Miyuki began as she walked over to the child, she got down so they were at eye level with each other "...I am not mad at you, you may have planned to hurt him...but you didn't." she placed her hand on his shoulder "He died protecting you, it'd be wrong for me to hate you for that...I want you to promise me you won't throw away the life he gave you." Ken nodded in response. "I promise." he added.
"If Miyuki's fine with you, then I guess I'm fine with you too..." Takuya spoke up.
October 11th, after a couple more days Takuya returning to the park by the shrine where he said he'd meet Kamiki.
"You...came?" Kamiki asked as he noticed Takuya walking over to the bench where he was sitting, the autumn leaves crunching underneath his feet. "Yeah, of course." Takuya replied "Why wouldn't I?"
"You're...different from the others." Kamiki said.
"Really now?" Takuya asked with a light chuckle as he took a seat next to the pale teen, he smiled distantly in response to the blue-haired boy's words.
"Nobody else treats me like a person...not even my family, I can tell by how they look at me..." Kamiki explained "...That pity is unmistakeable. I don't need their sympathy any more than I need their curiosity."
"I get it." Takuya replied "I imagine it's exhausting."
"It is...." Kamiki responded "...Dying isn't so unusual, is it?"
"It's not." Takuya answered "...but it's uncomfortable for a lot of people, tragic too."
"Is that so?" Kamiki asked.
"Recently I lost someone." Takuya admitted "He was...my sister's boyfriend, she loved him a lot and his death broke her." Kamiki listened silently "She locked herself up in her room for days and wouldn't leave...and even though she's gone back to living her life, I can tell she's still hurting..."
"To be honest, I have a hopelessness festering inside me...I can't remember a time without it...Your sister sounds like a much brighter soul than I." Kamiki said.
"She's a brighter soul than me, if I'm being honest." Takuya replied with a sigh. "Seeing her like that...heartbroken and upset...It hurts me."
"You seem different from others." Kamiki said "You care about your sister a lot, don't you?" he asked, Takuya nodded. "She's the only family I have left."
"I envy the closeness you have with what remains of your family..." Kamiki replied "...I lack that connection, I blame how I am...I've lost the ability to connect with most people."
With that, the two sat in silence as they took in the atmosphere around them. Takuya looked up towards the sky and closed his eyes, letting the sensation of the wind envelop him in a calm he hadn't felt in days. His moment of silent clarity was cut off when Kamiki began to cough and wheeze next to him, he opened his eyes and turned his attention to his pale friend.
"I'm sorry..." Kamiki apologized "...I think I've got it settled..."
"You're fine." Takuya replied, Kamiki turned away from his blue-haired friend and looked towards the street with a distant stare.
"Why must I suffer this?" Kamiki lamented out loud "Others aren't straddled with such a burden, forced to live with this sickness."
Takuya was a caught a little off-guard by all this but didn't want to speak, he knew saying something like "It's okay" or "you can't think like that" wouldn't help anybody nor would it change anything.
"Why is this happening to me?" Kamiki spoke with a despair Takuya couldn't describe "...I mean, I understand what is happening but why?" he asked as he turned back to look at the blue-haired teen. "Is there any meaning to any of this? There isn't a meaning to life that I can find...so perhaps I'm not missing much..."
"Akinari..." Takuya began to speak, Kamiki was a tad surprised to hear his first name, unfortunately Takuya had no idea what to say next and had just blurted out the other boy's name.
"I wish I could just run away..." Kamiki admitted "...but I can't run away from myself, no matter where I go my body will always be there to remind me that I'm going to die." right after saying that the boy started coughing again, Takuya placed a hand on the boy's back as he loudly wheezed. "Don't go...just yet....when I'm alone...I feel like I could go...any second." he said inbetween coughs, Takuya nodded in response. "I ain't going anywhere, okay?" he added in an understanding tone "I'm here for you."
Kamiki smiled at his friend weakly as he tried to settle down his coughing, Takuya could feel that his presence made his sick friend feel more at ease.
October 20th, the general atmosphere around the dorm was still fairly grim as none of the members had really been shaken by Shinji's violent passing and no one had fully processed it all. Takuya could tell his sister was still in pain, even if she was back to living her life as if everything was normal. He could also see that Akihiko was suffering, he couldn't blame him considering Shinji was his best friend and that kind of loss takes a lot out of you.
On this day, Natsuki had asked Fuuka to meet her on the roof and since she was her friend, she accepted her offer and met her there during the school day.
"You came." Natsuki said.
"Of course." Fuuka replied before walking over and sitting down next to Natsuki, the two now facing towards the city. Through the chainlink fence they had an outlook on almost all of Tatsumi Port Island.
"I'm transferring after this semester." Natsuki said out right.
"You're what?!" Fuuka exclaimed in total shock, she couldn't believe what she was hearing right now. "W-Why?!"
"My dad's gotten real sick, and we can't afford to stay here anymore..." Natsuki said before standing up, she walked over to the fence and placed her fingers through the chains as she looked out towards the city. "You're weird, Fuuka..." she spoke "...The biggest bitch in the school is moving away and you're sad about it."
"You're..." Fuuka began but stopped herself.
"I'm your friend, I know." Natsuki spoke up "Which I still don't get, why did you continue to be friends with me after all I put you through...after all I did."
"Natsuki-chan..." Fuuka replied sheepishly.
"I won't be in school next week since I'll be packing then..." Natsuki said.
"You're leaving that soon and you're only now telling me this?!" Fuuka replied shocked, the other girl sighed in response. "What good would it have done to tell you sooner, no good making us both depressed."
"I hate living with my folks...I was actually jealous when you moved into the dorm with those guys." Natsuki spoke up "...Something I don't get is why you moved? Your folks seem fine and they live close to the school, so what gives?"
Fuuka stuttered as she tried to come up with an explaination, she knew damn well she couldn't even begin to explain S.E.E.S to Natsuki especially since she knew the girl had forgotten about her own Dark Hour experience.
"If you don't want to tell me, that's fine." Natsuki said as Fuuka's mind was racing for an answer which destroyed her train of thought "...but if it's something you can resolve with them, you should while you can."
"Natsuki-chan?" Fuuka asked, Natsuki looked over her shoulder at Fuuka who was still sitting. "I use to think every day was the same....but since this'll probably be my last time seeing this view, my last time talking to you like this..." Natsuki spoke "...I'm starting to feel different...I realize now that we don't get a second chance to live any moment of our lives." she let go of the fence and walked over to Fuuka.
"I'm glad I met you." Natsuki admitted "Thanks to you, I now know I need to focus on what I want...what I want for me, I mean."
"What you want?" Fuuka said questioning.
"Y'know, like what I want out of life and stuff." Natsuki explained "You should do the same, you're too focused on pleasing everyone else."
"What...I want?" Fuuka spoke "I've never thought about what I've wanted...I was always so focused on pleasing everyone else and fitting in."
Natsuki let out a laugh "That's just like you, Fuuka." she said with a chuckle "Well I say that if they don't like you for you, then they can screw themselves!"
"Natsuki-chan!" Fuuka exclaimed with a shocked gasp.
"I like you for you, even if you don't like yourself." Natsuki replied with a smirk, she took Fuuka's hand and lifted her to her feet. "I better get going, don't forget what I said." she said as her eyes met Fuuka's.
"I..." Fuuka began but Natsuki brought a finger to the teal-haired girl's lips.
"Even if we're apart, we'll still be connected...right?" Natsuki said, Fuuka paused for a bit before nodding her head in agreement.
At this moment, Fuuka came to a realization, that realization being that Natsuki's words held a greater meaning than she probably realized. Fuuka had always been so concerned with how others felt, and her Persona seemed to reflect that as it's powers was centered on other beings instead of itself.
As Natsuki embraced her friend in a hug, Fuuka's heart came to the resolution that she wanted to remain friends with everyone she had become close to this past year including Natsuki. This resolution within her heart awoke something within the sea of her soul as her Persona Lucia shifted and gave rise to the Persona Juno.
"Fuuka!" Yukari called out, the two girls turned to see the pink-clad girl approaching them alongside other dormmates of Fuuka's.
"Did something happen?" Fuuka asked as she and Natsuki separated from their hug.
"Nope." Miyuki replied.
"We were just wondering what you were up to." Junpei chimed in.
"It is surprising to find you on the rooftop." Aigis explained, Takuya walked up to Fuuka and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Talk to you later, okay Fuuka." Natsuki said with a wave before leaving the roof. "Sure thing, Natsuki-chan!" Fuuka called out as she waved back.
"Anyway Fuuka, I thought it'd be a good idea if we all did something together after school." Yukari spoke up.
"Sure thing, Yukari-chan." Fuuka said with a smile, her mood lifted by her new found resolution.