___Gekkoukan High School, June 6th __

A week had passed with still unanswered questions about the unconscious girls that were found at the school's entrance. And surprisingly, Fuuka had suddenly disappeared as she wasn't coming to school. S.E.E.S weren't aware of that since she wasn't in the same homeroom as them. They haven't even known the girl yet. 

That's why Makoto and Junpei decided to meet her and ask her some questions about joining S.E.E.S since she had the potential. Besides, they could get to know her. She could be a new member, and they didn't want to lose her.

They went to her classroom, class E during break time. However, she wasn't there which made them confused.

"Fuuka Yamagishi is not here," Junpei blinked, looking inside the classroom as they were standing at the door.

"Can we leave?" Makoto asked, leaning against the side of the wall.

"H-hey, this is a new girl we are talking about! Don't give up so easily!" Junpei turned around to face him, furrowing his eyebrows.

Makoto just closed his eyes and didn't say anything as if he didn't care about anything.

Junpei noticed one of Fuuka's classmates passing by them as he got her attention. 

"Hey, got a minute?" 

"Hm?" The female classmate stopped, looking back at Junpei.

"Has Yamagishi-san gone home already?" 

"Yamagishi-san hasn't come to school in over a week," the classmate had a worried expression on her face. 

"She's been out sick," she said as the two looked at Fuuka's empty seat.

"What, seriously?" 

"Yeah." 

Suddenly, another female voice could be heard in the same hallway the classroom was in, which got Makoto and Junpei's attention.

"How can you talk like that?!" 

"I only offered a hypothesis based on established evidence. They brought it on themselves." A male voice said, it was one of the Student Council members. Hidetoshi.

"What?! What did they do to deserve being unconscious in front of the school?" 

"They were probably on drugs or something. I heard those two used to party a lot at night behind Port Island Station. That's a notorious hangout for delinquents." 

"You are such a jerk!" 

Makoto and Junpei looked at each other after hearing the conversation. They decided to tell Yukari about this and go and discuss it after school.

___Wilduck Burger, After School__

"Port Island Station, huh. Do you think it's connected?" Yukari asked as the three teenagers were sitting and eating together. 

"Beats me, but that's our only lead. What would a couple of girls have been doing at school at night?" Junpei replied while resting his head against his hand.

Meanwhile, Makoto was just eating his fries quietly, not saying any word. He didn't show he cared.

Yukari glanced at Makoto for a second then looked back at Junpei, "the people who partied with them on the Port Island might know something." 

"Huh??" 

"Let's check it out!" 

"Oh, but.." 

"What's the matter?" 

"I've heard some nasty rumors about that place! We should steer clear of it," Junpei was right, that place wasn't a good place to go to, especially for people like them, but Yukari didn't care about that. She wanted answers.

"Who cares about that? This might keep the Shadows from causing more harm! We have to go!" Yukari leaned back to the seat and closed her eyes while her eyebrows were narrowed. 

"Though, you might not be interested in any sort of that stuff, Makoto-kun." 

Junpei suddenly wrapped his arm around Makoto's shoulders and frowned, "come on, Makoto! I am not gonna let you weasel your way out of this! You are coming too!" 

Makoto sighed and closed his eyes, "understood." 

"That's our Makoto! You're on board?" 

"Personal space," Makoto told him since he was close to him. 

"With you and me together, there's nothing to fear!" 

"Personal space," he repeated.

Yukari looked down while the two were talking. Makoto looked like he was being forced to find information with them. That's what it looked like to Yukari, and that bothered her. She tightened her grip on the cup of soda she was holding.

_____Time Skip, Port Island Station____

"So anyway, he was still talking back, so I got pissed, too." 

"You are such a baby!" 

"Shut up!" 

It was dark in the back alley. Voices could be heard as there were punks having a chit-chat in their usual spot to hang out.

The sound of the footsteps interrupted their conversation. 

"Who the hell are they?" A punk had noticed the three teenagers walking in their direction.

"Seriously? Uniforms?" 

"Aren't those Gekkoukan kids?" 

"Oh man, this is worse than I thought," Junpei looked around nervously. The punks were staring coldly at them as if they were looking for trouble. 

"Junpei, quit staring!" Yukari said while walking beside him. 

"Th-they are the ones who are staring, I can't help it," he mumbled nervously. 

"Hey, you, I think you took a wrong turn."

"You don't belong here." 

"Beat it, Goatee." 

A group of punks stood in front of them. 

"G-Goatee?" Junpei widened his eyes and blinked, then he chuckled nervously while scratching his chin lightly after he realized the punk was talking about him. "Oh, y-you mean me."

"We don't need your permission to be here," Yukari suddenly told the punks while frowning as she had the guts to face them unlike Junpei.

The punk clicked his tongue then smirked, "you've got guts. I like that." He sarcastically said.

Junpei stood there while smiling nervously then he turned around to face Yukari, "hey! Are you one of those people who always picks the worst thing to say?" He frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean? Anyway, don't be intimidated by these scum!"

The punks glared even more.

"Scum, huh?" They started to move closer to them as they were surrounding them. 

"W-we are sorry! She didn't mean anything by it!" Junpei looked around nervously trying to prevent themselves from getting into a big fight. He didn't want to get in trouble. 

A punk with a nose piercing that was a chain connected from his nose to his ear walked close to Makoto after seeing him all cool and quiet.

"Come on, say something!" He dared him to face him.

"That's impressive. You chained your nose to your face so you won't lose it." Makoto said with a blank face. 

Hearing that from the high schoolers made the punks snicker.

"It makes sense now!" 

"Buuuurn!"

"Dude, he took a dump on you!" 

The punk that got roasted widened his eyes, he was shaking in anger.

"Drop dead, you asshole!" He lifted his fist to punch him in the face, but Makoto was quick enough to dodge it. 

The punk tried to punch him again and kick him, but Makoto dodged it all thanks to all the training in Tartarus. Also, never mess with the Wild Card.

However, the punk didn't give up as he was preparing to punch him real hard. But instead of punching Makoto, the punch was aimed at Junpei since Makoto dodged it again.

That made Junpei groan and fall onto the ground.

"Oops. My bad," Makoto said after seeing Junpei getting hit.

"Why, you little.." The punks walked closer and closer to Makoto and Yukari while they both stood next to each other closely.

Until a deep voice interrupted them.

"That's enough."

The punks turned around to see who it was. It was the guy with the beanie as he was walking with his hands in his coat's pockets.

"And who the hell are you?"

Yukari raised her eyebrows, she remembered who that guy was as he looked familiar to her. "It's the guy from the hospital."

"They didn't know what they were getting into. I will make sure they leave, alright?"

"It's too late for that! You want some too?!" The punk yelled at him as the guy with the beanie clicked his tongue, not bothered at all.

"What a pain," he said while looking straight into the punk's eyes. 

"Don't act like you are the hot sh-" The same punk who punched Junpei was going to punch the guy, but he easily grabbed his fist tightly preventing him from hitting him, then he hit his forehead hardly with his own forehead without flinching, making the punk groan and fall onto the dirty ground as well.

One of the punks widened his eyes then turned to face the guy with the beanie, "w-wait, you are that Aragaki guy, aren't you?" He frowned nervously.

"I thought you were one of us." 

"I don't remember swearing a blood oath," the guy said as he opened his eyes, staring at the punk.

"Screw this.." The punk clicked his tongue then walked away. The other punks followed, leaving the three teenagers alone with the delinquent-looking guy.

"Um, thank-" 

"Dumbasses." 

As Yukari was going to speak, the guy cut her off. 

"Get outta here, this place isn't for you," he said, turning around to leave, but Yukari tried to stop him.

"Wait! We are sorry, but we had to come because we needed some information." 

"You are talking about the rumor?" 

"Eh, how'd you know?" 

"I can tell from your uniforms," he said as he turned around to face them instead. "Those girls who wound up in the hospital were here talkin' shit every night...about all the things they'd done to some girl named Yamagishi." 

"Oh.. so she was bullied." Junpei looked down feeling bad to hear that fact.

"That's why everybody freaked out. Someone saw them bullying her and they threatened them. They think that someone did that to them." 

"Huh? Someone? Wait, you mean.." Yukari widened her eyes. 

"You guys don't know? The girls were being stalked by that person after the night they were hanging out here."

The three teenagers looked at each other. It all makes sense now.

"So, the story you told us about, Junpei, turned out to be correct," Yukari told Junpei.

"That's all I know. Satisfied?" 

"Y-yeah! Thanks for your help," Junpei smiled nervously. The guy looked scary, but at least he was being nice. 

"Come on, show some appreciation," Junpei pulled Makoto close by wrapping his arm around his shoulders again to say something instead of just standing there quietly. 

"Uh, thanks. I guess." 

"Thanks a ton!" Yukari said.

"Don't pull another stupid ass stunt as this," the guy warned them. 

"You are very kind," Yukari smiled.

"Huh?" The guy looked at her surprisingly.

"S-sorry," Yukari was sort of still scared of him because of his appearance and how he talked.

"Tch.." The guy didn't say anything else. He turned around and walked away.

_____Time Skip, June 7th______

The three wanted to investigate to get more information as they decided to go to the shrine and meet the girl there after school.

Of course, they informed Mitsuru and Akihiko about it and they didn't refuse. After all, they wanted to ask as many people as possible to get the answers they needed.

"Are you ready?" Yukari asked after they all met up with each other.

"I-I am nervous a bit," Junpei gulped, it would be his first time going to the shrine to meet that girl everyone was saying strange things about her.

"Come on Junpei, nothing will happen. Let's just keep our guard up."

"You were freaking out about the girl's story that day!" Junpei was confused how Yukari wasn't hesitating to go.

"Honestly, I don't mind anymore. I just want things to be clear," she said, getting tired of asking people about it.

"Okay, fine..Let's go." He sighed.

The three made their way to the shrine after they were done with school.

Once they arrived, they could see the pink-haired girl playing with a kid in the small playground. She was swinging a little girl in the swing.

The little girl looked like she was in elementary school. She had brown eyes and hair, which was braided into two buns. She was wearing a navy blue jacket over a pink shirt with a rainbow design, a navy blue skirt, slightly long white socks, and green shoes. She was also carrying a red backpack.

The two were giggling and having fun. They looked so innocent and pure.

"Uhm..is this the scary weird girl everyone is talking about? She is just playing with a child.." Junpei scratched the back of his head while they were standing far away, watching them. Nothing looked scary to them.

"Are you having fun, Maiko-chan?" The pink-haired girl looked down and smiled, seeing the kid named Maiko happy. No matter what, seeing someone happy made her happy, that's it.

"Yes I am!" The kid beamed.

"Being a kid must be fun.." There was a sad smile on the pink-haired girl's face when she said that as she was facing the ground instead.

"Oh..! It's getting late, I have to go before mommy and daddy get mad," the little kid said, getting off of the swing and standing up.

"Will you play with me next time?" The little girl tilted her head. 

"Of course! I will always be here to play with you," the pink-haired girl smiled.

"Yay! Thank you, nice girl!" The little girl waved before running off.

"Bye-bye!" The pink-haired girl waved back then turned around before flinching, noticing Makoto and the others just standing there.

"Wha-!" That startled her as she stepped back while looking at them surprisingly.

"S-sorry if we scared you. We came here to ask you some questions," Yukari said as she was brave enough to speak first.

"Huh?" Yukari and Junpei were unfamiliar to the girl, but she noticed Makoto was there too.

"You are the guy that I've met twice before. You brought your friends with you this time?" She was very confused until she noticed they were wearing their school uniforms.

Wait.. their uniforms..

Junpei cleared his throat trying not to blush. The girl looked very cute to him, but that was not the time for that. "Uh yeah, we are. We want to ask you about those girls who got unconscious days ago in front of our school's entrance. Gekkoukan High School." 

"We also heard those girls used to hang out in Port Island Station, so we went there to investigate and someone told us they heard they were being threatened and stalked by someone. Is that true?" Yukari frowned.

"S-stalked?" The girl widened her eyes then looked down. "So, it's called stalking..? B-but I was only trying to save her.." 

"Huh?" 

"Please, tell us. Everything." Makoto told her as she looked back at him nervously before facing the ground again.

"I will, I promise. So, please listen carefully. I met the girl who was getting bullied, I don't know her name, I haven't even met her before. But when I saw those girls awfully bothering her, I couldn't just stay still and do nothing.. So, that's when I decided to help her from those horrible people. About the threatening, I didn't mean it at all, I was only trying to scare them so they won't bother the poor girl anymore. I am sorry if that was wrong of me.. And about the stalking thing, I didn't mean no harm, I only wanted to make sure the girl was alright, so I decided to watch over her.. That day before the incident.. " She paused, then continued the story.

___Days Ago, Before The Incident_____

I saw them...I saw them meeting up with each other close to Port Island Station...planning to do something horrible to the girl...So, I decided to follow and see what they were going to do to stop them...

The girls laughed with each other, entering the school building after it was completely empty. They were going to prank Fuuka. 

I couldn't catch up to them after they entered the school building because I lost them, I didn't know which was the right direction. I've never been to that place before, there were many directions and it was dark, so I couldn't see clearly. I decided to hide and wait. Once I noticed the girls coming back, I followed and listened to their conversation. That's when I knew they locked her in somewhere. I wanted to stop them and knew where they locked her in, but they pushed me away and ran off. I didn't want to give up, so I went to look for her. But...she was nowhere to be found.

___________

"That's when I thought.. she might be dead.." The girl said the final part of her story then looked down painfully. 

"Dead?!" Yukari widened her eyes. 

"No way!" Junpei frowned.

"She hasn't been home in over a week, correct? Don't you guys go to school? How do you not know this?" 

"We thought she was out sick," Junpei said while holding his chin.

"By the way, there was one girl that had escaped safely," she said, telling them about Natsuki.

"Huh? There were three girls?" Yukari raised her eyebrows surprisingly. 

"She has orange hair, correct?" Makoto asked as he remembered seeing that girl before when he first met Fuuka.

"Yes! She has orange hair tied in a small ponytail. Oh! When I saw them the first time, I heard the girls were calling her name. Natsuki..uhm.." She thought to herself, trying to remember the name. "Natsuki Moriyama, I think. That's what I remember." 

The three looked at each other and nodded. Now they knew what to do next, which was meeting Natsuki.

The pink-haired girl looked down, she tried not to cry, "but about those two girls unknowingly getting unconscious, I have no idea how it happened.. Believe me, I didn't do anything to them.. Why do people always get the wrong idea? But you know what, it's all my fault, I couldn't save her. If I didn't get lost, she would be safe now. It's my fault she might be dead now!" She held her head and started to blame herself instead. 

"H-hey, you didn't do anything wrong. At least you were trying to do something to save her," Yukari now felt bad after seeing her feeling guilty. 

"It's those girls' fault, not yours." Makoto said as he was defending her. 

"A-and we believe everything you said, so you don't need to worry about it!" Junpei smiled nervously, trying to comfort her.

"We are going to save her," Makoto said. 

The girl lifted her head up, facing them with tears in her eyes, "save her..? But how?" 

"Just leave this to us!" Junpei grinned while pointing to himself. They didn't want to give up. 

"Are you like... heroes or something??" Her eyes shined. "I-I wanna help too!" 

"Uh, it's fine! We don't want to trouble you. We can take care of it." Yukari smiled nervously.

The girl faced the ground, looking sad a bit that she couldn't help, "well.. okay. But please if you find the girl, inform me, alright?" 

"We will," Makoto nodded.

"Promise?" She offered her pinky finger. 

"...Promise." He wrapped his finger around hers, making a promise to meet again.

The girl smiled as there was a light blush on her cheeks, "thank you. I will pray for you and the girl and I will be wishing you good luck!" 

"Thank you very much for explaining to us," Yukari smiled back before turning around to walk-off.

The girl was left alone again as she watched them leaving. She hoped that problem will be solved as soon as possible.

_The Next Day, Gekkoukan High School_

Mitsuru called Natsuki to come to the Student Council Room after school. She was informed about the disappearance of Fuuka.

"Now, you are aware why I called you here," Mitsuru spoke while sitting in front of Natsuki who was very nervous.

Makoto, Yukari and Junpei were there as well, standing far away behind the chair Natsuki was sitting on.

"I.." 

"I will cut to the chase. The night before the incident, we heard the four of you went to school at night to lock Yamagishi in. Where did you lock her in? Explain everything to us." 

"That girl told you, didn't she?? She threatened and stalked us! We were only hanging out, why she had to butt in and-" 

"She was just trying to save her," Makoto cut her off.

"Save her..? But we were... we were only playing around-" 

"Please answer my question," Mitsuru said seriously.

Natsuki looked down and frowned painfully. 

___A Week Ago, Gekkoukan's Gymnasium___

"Go on! Get in there!" 

"Wait! Don't!" 

The two girls forced Fuuka to get inside a small room while Natsuki was standing there with a cocky smile on her face. Fuuka tried to stop them, but it was no use.

They hardly pushed her. Then before Fuuka can get close to the door, they close it before locking it.

"Thanks for guarding the school!" The girls laughed while Fuuka banged on the door and called Natsuki's name. 

"Moriyama-san..!" 

__________

"They were afraid we'd get in trouble if Yamagishi committed suicide, so they returned to the school, but they never came back." Natsuki shut her eyes tightly. 

"Then they were found on the ground by the gate out cold, right?" Yukari said.

Natsuki got up and looked at them in fear, "I was scared! I went to the gym to let Fuuka out, but the door was still locked, so I opened it and went inside but she wasn't there."

"She wasn't? I see." Mitsuru spoke as Natsuki looked at her instead.

"Did you notice anything unusual before the incident? Anything at all?" 

"They.. they heard voices... voices were calling out to them. They said they heard creepy voices calling to them." Natsuki wrapped her arms around herself as she was very scared. "At first, they thought it was that girl who went to save Fuuka, but.. they looked around and saw no one.."

"Voices?"

"Could it be.."

"It's them. Until now, there was no way of knowing how or why some people were conscious during the Dark Hour. I see, voices..." Mitsuru frowned, mentioning the Shadows.

"They are lured in and fall into the Dark Hour. Or rather, get pulled in," Makoto said.

"Dark.. Hour? What.. what are you talking about?" Natsuki looked at them as she didn't understand anything they were saying.

"Seeing the damage they cause firsthand drives home one thing: they are clearly targeting humans. No two ways about it, the Shadows are humanity's enemy," Mitsuru narrowed her eyebrows more.

"But why Yamagishi-san? Why is she missing, and not stuck with Apathy Syndrome?" Yukari wondered.

"The Shadows have to be behind that too, right?" Junpei asked as he looked at Makoto who was just facing the ground blankly.

"Beats me." 

Hearing that made Yukari widen her eyes and frown. Seeing Makoto careless about all that irritated her.

"How can you talk like that?! Isn't she a friend of yours?" She walked close and stood in front of him. 

"I guess." 

"Aren't you worried?!" 

"What are you so mad about, Yuka-tan?" Junpei blinked. 

"What do you think?!" 

"W-wait a second, Sh-Shadows? What are those? What are you talking about?!" Natsuki kept asking as Mitsuru stayed calm. 

"We will assemble in the Command Room after school. We will discuss how we'll deal with this then." 

"Understood.." Yukari looked down.

"Um, Command Room? What kind of club are you guys?" 

"We will save Fuuka Yamagishi at any cost," Mitsuru said with her serious expression. "If my hunch is right, she should be inside the school." 

_____Iwatodai Dormitory _____

After S.E.E.S were done with school, they gathered together at the Command Room to discuss how to find Fuuka and save her. 

"I've decided to keep Natsuki Moriyama in the dorm for protection. That way, if anything should happen to her, we'll be able to take immediate action." Mitsuru told the gang.

"Uhm, I don't get it. Is Yamagishi still inside the school somewhere?" Junpei asked while his arms were crossed. 

"What happens to the school at midnight?" She asked.

"It turns into Tartarus," Yukari answered.

"Exactly. That's how Yamagishi wandered into Tartarus." 

The two gasped, "but that was ten days ago! That means..." 

"Not necessarily," Akihiko spoke. "Tartarus only appears during the Dark Hour, so what about the rest of the day?" 

"She is nowhere. She essentially ceases to exist during the day, I think." Makoto said as he nodded. "That's what I think too. Yamagishi has probably been in the Dark Hour ever since." 

"It may be ten days for us, but Yamagishi has only experienced those Dark Hours. It's possible she is still alive." Mitsuru continued the explanation.

"Even so, that's still a lot of time. An ordinary person who can't use a Persona, trapped in a Shadow-infested place.." Yukari said, looking worried.

Akihiko clenched his teeth and suddenly banged the table with his fist angrily which made Yukari gasp. "Are you just gonna let her die then?!" 

"...."

S.E.E.S looked at him quietly, seeing his sudden behavior.

"....Sorry," he exhaled heavily trying to calm down. "I have an idea, let's try to enter Tartarus exactly how Yamagishi did." 

"Wait for midnight inside the gym? Is that really okay?" Junpei asked.

"Honestly, I have reservations. If something goes wrong, you could all end up lost in Tartarus too. Still..." Mitsuru looked down.

"I won't stand by and do nothing if there's a chance we can save her. I'd never forgive myself," Akihiko frowned, determined to save Fuuka. He wouldn't let someone die again. 

"If you guys don't want to go, then I will go by myself." 

"Senpai.." Yukari looked at him sadly. 

"We are aware of the risks, but we can't just leave her there." Mitsuru spoke again before looking at Makoto. "I can't guarantee your safety, but I hope I can count on you." 

"Understood," Makoto replied, closing his eyes. 

"Do you really?" Yukari suddenly asked, looking down instead. 

"What's gotten into you, Yuka-tan?" Junpei looked at her while he was sitting next to her. He noticed she had been acting strange since the day they decided to investigate the problem. 

"I don't have the same kind of amazing resolve that Sanada-senpai has. But even so, if I see someone in need, I want to help them. I want to help Yamagishi-san too. You don't even care. Don't come if you're doing it because you were asked to. That side of you makes my blood boil," she told Makoto, frowning slightly. 

"Understood," Makoto said again before getting up from his seat to leave. 

"H-hey, what do you mean understood?" Junpei blinked in confusion. The atmosphere between them got heavy. "Hey, wait up, Makoto. Yuka-tan didn't really mean it like that! Okay, Makoto?" He got up too, seeing him leaving.

Seeing Makoto leaving to head to his room, Mitsuru let out a sigh before continuing to speak. "If we are going to plan on saving Yamagishi, we have to start now before the Dark Hour begins. I will get the supplies ready. I will come back after I finish preparing," she said, getting up before leaving too.

"I will come too," Akihiko followed as Yukari and Junpei were left alone. 

"Well, I will be having a snack before going on the mission. You want something to eat, Yuka-tan?" He asked as Yukari was still facing the ground sadly.

"No.." 

Seeing her expression, he sighed, "uhm..okay." 

Meanwhile, Akihiko and Mitsuru were outside. Mitsuru was fixing her device's signal on her motorcycle. 

"We will leave Makoto here? Are you sure?" Akihiko asked while his arms were crossed.

"If it's just to rescue Yamagishi, we don't need a lot of manpower. They should be able to handle it by themselves. But just to be safe, I will arrange a little insurance," Mitsuru said, placing her hand on her motorcycle while looking down. She had hoped they could take care of the mission while Makoto stayed in the dorms to protect Natsuki in case a Shadow appeared.

Yukari and Junpei stayed inside the dorms, waiting for Mitsuru to finish her preparations.

Junpei felt hungry as he decided to eat instant noodles. He was holding the cup of noodles while slurping them.

He looked at Yukari, seeing her quietly staring at the ground, "don't you think you were a little hard on him earlier?" He said while his mouth was full. 

She sighed, "I am scared. If Makoto-kun keeps fighting without thinking of himself, he's going to end up dead someday." In truth, she wasn't mad at Makoto. Also, she didn't mean to be harsh, she was worried about him and only wanted him to take care of himself without being forced to fight.

"Relax, you are overthinking it," he replied before the sound of the door being opened interrupted their conversation.

"Takeba, Iori. Everything is ready, let's go." Mitsuru said, standing at the door. 

Junpei hurried to finish his noodles before leaving, "alright!" He placed the cup down before standing up to leave.

"What about Makoto?" He asked. 

"I will have him stay here and guard Natsuki Moriyama."

"Well, if you are okay with it." 

Yukari inhaled and exhaled deeply before getting up to leave too.

After the four of them left, Makoto was left alone with Natsuki. He went to one of the vending machines in one of the hallways to get a drink.

"You are not going?" Natsuki said, walking downstairs. 

"She said that having me along would make her mad," he replied, opening the can of soda.

Natsuki snickered, "what's up with that? Well, not that I care." She said, continuing her way to walk downstairs, but Makoto stopped her by speaking again.

"You hated her that much?" 

"Hm? You mean Fuuka? Heh, get real! Stuff like that doesn't have anything to do with hate." She said, glaring sharply. "She annoys me, that's all."

"....."

Makoto stayed quiet, only facing the ground. 

"With Fuuka, you can just poke her and she gets this look on her face like it's the end of the world," she continued. "I could tell right off the bat. She was a good-two-shoes, but deep down she was just like us. I could tell, she didn't belong anywhere, either. That's why I let her hang out with us." She said, kicking the ground with her foot. "But what do you think Fuuka said? You should go home, your family must be worried sick!" She grinned, even though her face showed pain. "Seriously? I'm going out to party because I don't have a home!" She raised her voice while glaring again. 

"We are birds of a feather. We are the same, so I can tell. I know exactly what to say to hurt her, hahaha." She started to laugh painfully. "Ah.. it was fun!" 

"She said she wanted to apologize," Makoto finally said. 

"Eh?" 

"She wanted to apologize for saying mean things. That's what Yamagishi told me." 

"Tch, kinda late for that now," Natsuki frowned, placing her hand on her hip. 

"She said she was afraid you wouldn't forgive her." 

"That's her, alright," she kept frowning.

Makoto took a sip before looking back at her, "she said she was scared because you were her precious friend." 

Natsuki raised her eyebrows then looked down. 

Makoto only said those final words before leaving Natsuki alone while being lost in her thoughts.

"How can she say that?"

_Gekkoukan High School, Gymnasium_

Meanwhile, S.E.E.S were trying to get the keys to the gym to open its door. They didn't want to get caught by one of the school's guards, but Junpei insisted on getting the keys. He successfully managed to get them from the Faculty Office. 

After the door was opened, Junpei grinned. 

"See? We got in no problem. I am a whatchamacallit, genius!" He smirked while holding his chin.

"You unlocked it. Très bien!" Mitsuru smiled proudly. 

"Tray ben?" Junpei blinked as he didn't understand what she said.

"Good job!" Akihito said in English while clenching his fist.

"Seniors and their languages.." He mumbled to himself.

"Alright, we'll divide into teams again. Two of you will enter Tartarus. And one of you will remain outside with me," Mitsuru said. 

"I am feeling fresh and new! I will be on the assault team," Akihiko said, excited to get back to fighting. He was finally coming back to battle after his injured arm got treated.

Yukari opened her mouth to speak, "oh.. okay, I will go in with Sanada-senp-" 

"Time out, Yuka-tan!" Junpei cut her off.

"What is it?" 

"Remember when I screwed up on the monorail? Let me make up for that, okay?" He smiled.

"Trust is something that you earn back. Alright, we will give you another shot. You are with me on the assault team," Akihiko agreed.

"Sweet!" 

"What's wrong, Takeba? You don't want to stay behind with Mitsuru?" Akihiko asked after he saw her worried expression.

Mitsuru turned around looking at her as Yukari looked back and got more nervous, "n-no! It's fine!" She shook her hand.

"If that's settled, let's all get ready." Mitsuru said, looking at the clock that was hanging on the wall. "It's almost time." 

..........

Huff

Huff

Natsuki was panting heavily while running on one of Port Islands' streets.

Fuuka!

Meanwhile, Makoto was just sitting on his bed in his bedroom while looking at the clock on the table as well. It was very quiet, he was only hearing the clock ticking.

Natsuki stopped running and tried to catch her breath while she was standing in front of the school's building. 

Once she opened her eyes, she saw the sky was green and the school's building was changing its shape in front of her. 

"What.. is that?" She stepped back slowly while shaking in fear. She didn't believe what her eyes were showing her.

She kept stepping back. Until suddenly, her eyes turned red for a second as she was being controlled by something. Shadows. 

"They are calling..." She looked down as her eyes looked lifeless. "Fuuka.. have to tell her I am sorry..." 

______Tartarus_____

Mitsuru and Yukari were alone at the entrance. Mitsuru was having trouble sensing Akihiko and Junpei while they were inside.

She tried to fix the signal. But unluckily, it wasn't working.

"It's not working. I can't hear Akihiko and Iori's voices. I will try to boost the output." 

"Maybe I should've gone with them," Yukari looked at her.

"As I said before, I am not willing to risk any more members." 

Yukari looked at the staircase that led inside Tartarus, "I am sure those two are fine." She believed in her teammates, but she was also worried about them. She couldn't help it.

"Don't be such a baby, Junpei." 

"Easier said than done. It's been over thirty minutes since we lost voice contact with Mitsuru-senpai." 

The two boys were wandering around one of Tartarus' floors. Akihiko was calm, but Junpei was looking around nervously while holding his sword up in case a Shadow appeared. 

"Don't worry. It's still midnight." 

"That doesn't help, Senpai." 

"Somebody there?" 

Suddenly, they heard an unfamiliar voice for a moment which caught their attention. They thought it was an enemy as they got in position to attack, but they thought wrong. 

"Who's there? Are you...human?" A female appeared, looking very worried and nervous as she was holding her two own hands against her chest.

Seeing the girl, they rushed to her. 

"Are you Fuuka Yamagishi?" Akihiko asked while frowning. 

"Huh? Oh, yes! But who are you?" Her voice was slightly shaking from nervousness.

"Everything is okay now! We are here to rescue you!" Junpei smiled, feeling happy they found the girl and she looked unharmed.

"To rescue me?" She wondered who those people were.

"I have to say, I am amazed you are okay! There are monsters here, you know?" 

"So there are strange creatures in here then. I've managed to avoid them so far," she said while looking around her. 

"Are you serious?! How's that possible?!" Akihiko was shocked. 

"Uhm, it's hard to describe, but...I can sort of tell where they are."

"Whaddya mean? Are you psychic? Or is it a woman's intuition?" Junpei scratched the back of his head. 

Akihiko spoke after he realized something, "she has the same power as Mitsuru. No, maybe even stronger." He said taking out an evoker from his gun holster belt. "Hang on to this." 

She widened her eyes after seeing a gun, "eh? B-but this is.." 

"Think of it as a lucky charm. It's not really a gun," he said after giving it to her. 

She accepted it. Once she held it, she looked at it surprisingly. She saw the name S.E.E.S written on it.

S.E.E.S?

..........

Meanwhile, Makoto was also holding the evoker, doing nothing but staring at it while the green-colored moon lit through the window. He was still in his room, and he suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"Hi there." 

Makoto lifted his head to see the same young boy standing in front of him. 

"What?" He didn't even bother asking why he was there and how he came to his room. 

"It looks like your teammates have found the girl. Good for them. After all, her abilities are something that you guys need," the mysterious boy smiled. "Are you sure you shouldn't go?" 

"I don't know," Makoto looked back down. He didn't know what to do anymore.

"Even though the other girl left?" 

"Huh?" Makoto immediately got up to head to the room Natsuki was staying in. Once he opened the door and walked in, he saw no one. 

He continued to walk inside until the big window that showed the green moon was beside him. He looked at the moon. It was full.

..........

"Woah, check out the moon!" 

While the boys and Fuuka were on their way back to the entrance, they could see the moon too through a big window.

"Wait, was it always this bright?" Junpei asked. He was right, the moon looked brighter and bigger when it was full.

"Some research indicates that the Shadows are affected by the phases of the moon. Of course, the same can be said for humans," Akihiko said.

..........

Makoto just stood there quietly while staring at the moon as a flashback played in his head. The night when they were going to the monorail to fight the Shadow. 

He remembered what Yukari said.

"It's a full moon tonight. The moon sure looks creepy during the Dark Hour..."

"It's a full moon.. again." Makoto mumbled to himself.

...........

Akihiko suddenly gasped and widened his eyes, Junpei and Fuuka looked at him in confusion. 

"It's a full moon. Of course...the same goes for that night. And that other night." 

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Junpei asked.

"Why didn't I realize it sooner?!" He groaned. "The night the dorm was attacked...the night of the monorail battle...and now today!" He frowned more. "They were all full moons!" 

..........

"Yes, an ordeal is coming tonight." The mysterious boy appeared again, standing behind Makoto as he was watching him staring at the moon. There was a smirk on the little boy's face as he said those words.

..........

"Come... Akihiko!"

The three suddenly could hear Mitsuru's voice, but it wasn't clear to hear.

"Mitsuru?" 

Her voice was being cut off whenever she was saying a word. They couldn't hear her clearly, and they couldn't understand what she was trying to say. 

"Shadows... Be careful!" 

"Mitsuru! Mitsuru!" Akihiko called her name, but no response from her. 

Fuuka closed her eyes and narrowed her eyebrows, "what is this thing? It's much bigger than the others," she then gasped. "And it's attacking someone!" 

"Let's hurry!" Akihiko said, running off first. Fuuka and Junpei followed. 

"Wh-what's going on?!" 

"It's one of them! If my guess is right, they come every full moon!" 

............

"It looks like you will be facing more than one ordeal tonight," the mysterious boy spoke again. 

"What do you mean?" 

"I am saying that it will be difficult to overcome them," the boy said with his innocent-looking smile as if everything was normal.

"If you don't do something, everyone will die." 

"Die?" 

Suddenly, he heard a loud noise in his ears, the sound of a car's wheels when the incident ten years ago started to play in his head. Images of his parents dead appeared in his head, which made his face turn pale.

"Die..." He repeated the word. 

"Are you okay with that?" 

He couldn't respond as he stepped back instead. 

"Die.."

He clenched his fists and turned around to look at the moon again. 

A chuckle could be heard coming from the mysterious boy as he was smirking again. 

..........

Finally, the three of them made it to the entrance.

What they saw was shocking. There were two huge shadows while Yukari and Mitsuru were on the ground injured.

One of them was a tall Shadow that carried a rather small sword. On its torso was a large red cross and arms were long and almost floppy, with small tassels at the end of its "sleeves". It had no neck or head, only a floating mask, identifiable by its signature purple color and spiked top.

The other one was a large, pot-bellied Shadow that resembled a turkey/peacock with a staff, a blue dress and a green cloak.

They were the Emperor and the Empress Arcana. 

"Mitsuru!" 

"Yuka-tan! Are you alright?!" 

The two boys ran to the harmed girls. 

Yukari's body felt numb as she couldn't move. She could only open one eye. As for Mitsuru, she was struggling to move too, but she tried to warn them.

"Be careful.. they are.." She couldn't finish the sentence. 

"Alright, you've had your fun! Polydeuces!" Akihiko ran to the Shadows and summoned his Persona. He hit the Empress with a strike attack, but it didn't work.

"Strikes are useless against it. Let's try this then!" He pulled the trigger again and used an electricity attack. It worked.

"Way to go, Senpai! I am not gonna be one-upped!" Junpei ran to the other one to take care of it. Once his Persona was going to hit, the Emperor dodged it with its sword.

"Ugh, come on come on come on, work!" He hit it with a fire attack, making the Shadow fall to the ground.

Seeing the two Shadows on the ground, Akihiko smiled, "heh, they are not too tough."

Fuuka was slowly walking downstairs with the evoker in her hands while watching the fight. She was scared and nervous. Then, she gasped noticing something coming from the two Shadows. They were changing their weakness with Paradigm Shift.

Akihiko and Junpei could notice that too, "wh-what the-" 

The Shadows got up and were ready to fight again as they were getting closer. 

"I will handle this one!" Junpei groaned and raised his evoker to his head. He hit the Emperor with a fire attack again, but it didn't work this time. 

Junpei widened his eyes and frowned, "but it worked a second ago!" 

The Emperor raised its sword up, but Junpei's Persona tried to prevent it from attacking. However, the Empress hit the Persona with its stick instead, making it disappear. That was an opportunity for the Emperor to punch Junpei hard, sending him away to the staircase as his back hit against the stairs.

Meanwhile, the Empress raised its stick up and attacked with a wind attack. The strong wind threw the two boys away and made them fall hard against the cold ground.

The Empress turned to the side, noticing Fuuka standing there in the staircase. Once it did, it started to come close to her. Fuuka wanted to stay away from it somehow, she started to look around nervously until she noticed Natsuki far away walking to where the fight was happening.

Natsuki was walking slowly while her head was lowered down. She was like a zombie. 

"Moriyama-san!" Fuuka called her name. What was she doing there and how did she get there? Fuuka had many questions.

"No way... Why is she here?!" Mitsuru yelled while frowning as she was still on the ground with the others. It was too dangerous for her to be there. 

"Fuuka.." Natsuki kept mumbling her name.

The two Shadows noticed the girl walking towards them as they focused on her instead. They started to approach her with their slow moves. 

"No!" Fuuka yelled as she didn't want to stand still and do nothing. She wanted to go and save her before it was too late. She started to run towards her. 

"Wait! What are you doing?!" Akihiko yelled after seeing her running. How was she going to pass by those two huge monsters? 

The Shadows, of course, were going to attack as the Emperor raised its stick up again to hit her while the Emperor was going to punch her. However, they hit nothing but the ground as Fuuka successfully dodged it all. She passed by without getting hit. She was shaking in fear, but she wanted to get Natsuki out of there so bad that nothing could stop her.

Natsuki fell on her knees as her legs couldn't support her anymore. Fuuka kneeled down too and held her shoulders, "run!" 

Natsuki looked back at her, a sad expression on her face, "Fuuka.." She paused as her eyes turned red again for a second.

"I wanted to tell you... I am sorry," she said as she started to tear up. 

"Huh?" Fuuka was surprised by the sudden change in her behavior. 

"I am sorry... Fuuka." She looked down, tears were falling down from her eyes to the ground after she shut her eyes tightly. "I am sorry.." She repeated it over and over. 

"Moriyama-san..." Fuuka smiled sadly then shook her head before leaning close and tearing up too. She leaned her forehead against Natsuki's while she was sobbing. 

The Shadows interrupted their moment as they were coming close to them.

Fuuka wiped her tears with her sleeve before turning around to face them. She was frowning at them.

"Fuuka? What are you doing? Let's run away!" Natsuki saw her standing in front of the Shadows and aiming the evoker she was holding at them. 

"Wait! That's not a weapon!" Akihiko told her from a distance. 

"I know," Fuuka said as she then aimed it at her forehead after closing her eyes. She watched how the boys were fighting, so she knew what she was doing 

"Huh?" Natsuki watched her in confusion.

"Don't! Run!" Yukari yelled, warning her that fighting them alone was no use.

"Persona.." 

Suddenly, a strong wave of power appeared where Fuuka was standing which made the Shadows step back. 

The others were watching as they looked at Fuuka surprisingly after she awakened her Persona. 

Her Persona had a blue bubble looking shell, Fuuka was inside it.

The Empress was ready to attack as it used another wind attack. Fuuka couldn't do anything nor her Persona could as the strong wind was making her struggle to move. 

"That's crazy! Your Persona isn't meant for battle!" Akihiko said.

Fuuka heard someone groaning from behind as she quickly looked behind her seeing Natsuki getting thrown away then falling onto the ground from the wind.

"Moriyama-san!" Fuuka called her name then looked back in front of her seeing the Emperor coming closer to her before raising its sword up to hit her and her Persona.

Fuuka looked up at it nervously. She felt hopeless when she knew she couldn't fight as she just hid her head in fear, knowing that was the end.

Until the sound of the motorcycle running caught all their attention. 

Yukari gasped after seeing it was Makoto coming to save them before it was too late.

"Orpheus!" He summoned his Persona while he was still on the motorcycle. 

Orpheus appeared in the front on time and blocked the Shadows attack. 

"Orpheus?" Akihiko watched the scene.

"Why?" Yukari looked at Makoto worriedly.

Mitsuru smiled, relieved to see Makoto while Junpei grinned, "there you go again, showing up and stealing the show!" 

Orpheus kicked it hard, making it step back. Orpheus' red eyes then glanced as it used a fire attack which was useless against the Shadow.

"Forget about using fire. Orpheus' attacks are no good!" Junpei warned him.

"They aren't?" Makoto glared at the Shadow and pulled the trigger again to summon a different Persona. 

They all looked at him, amazed at the fact he could summon different Personas unlike them. 

"Heh, the show off evoked another Persona?" Junpei said smilingly. 

The persona he had called out used an ice attack. Ice surrounded the Shadows all over their bodies.

"Did... it work?" Junpei asked.

"No," Akihiko replied while frowning.

The Shadows were changing their weakness again as Fuuka noticed that.

"Be careful! They are still alive!"

The two Shadows broke the ice as it wasn't effective then hit the Persona making it disappear. 

The Emperor was going to hit Makoto with its sword, but he dodged it as his back got hit against Fuuka's Persona's bubble looking shell once he tried to get back.

"So, we are no match for them?" Akihiko groaned after seeing that taking them out was impossible.

"Yuki! Get Yamagishi and Moriyama out of here!" Mitsuru yelled. "If you stay, we will all be killed! Save yourselves! Hurry!" 

"....."

Makoto looked at her quietly then gasped after seeing the Emperor was going to attack with its sword, but he was quick enough to summon Orpheus and block the attack.

"What are you doing?! Come on! Hurry!" Akihiko summoned his Persona to attack back.

"Oh, no you don't!" Junpei decided to join too. "Get going, damn it!" He yelled at Makoto after seeing him still standing there and not running away.

"Get out of here! Hurry!" Yukari shut her eyes tightly and called out her Persona. 

They didn't want to give up, not yet. However, their attacks were useless and they were so tired as they had no energy left to fight, which made them all fall onto the ground and pant heavily.

Mitsuru groaned then yelled again, "leave, Yuki! That's an order!"

Makoto just stood there far away with his shocked face, seeing all his teammates struggling on the ground was hard for him to watch. Now, it's all up to him, to fight or run.

"Yuki!" Mitsuru called him again to make him get back to his senses. 

His eyes suddenly were wide open and a gasp escaped his lips.

Words could be heard in his head.

"Makoto-kun, let's go after him!"

"But he said..."

"He's our teammate!"

"She is my friend, I care about her."

"I am trusting you to watch my six."

"You damn show off."

"If I don't do this, I will lose my man card!"

"She said she was scared because you were her precious friend."

Makoto tightened his grip on his evoker and walked close as he was in front of the Shadows. He raised his evoker. He didn't want to give up and let his teammates die.

"Why are you..." Yukari mumbled after seeing him still there.

"Orpheus!"

His persona grabbed its string and hit the Shadow, but it blocked its attack and then attacked back with its strong strike making his Persona disappear. He groaned and pulled back.

Still, he didn't give up as he summoned Orpheus again to attack. But to no avail, the Empress used wind again, sending Makoto away to prevent him from attacking.

"Ugh!" His back got hit against Fuuka's Persona again as he leaned down to the ground while breathing heavily then stood right back up.

He walked close and placed his evoker against his head. He saw the Emperor was going to attack until an electricity attack stopped him, making it get weak.

He saw Akihiko already standing on his feet while smirking, "a fight's no fun if someone else is protecting you!" 

"I am not gonna let these things hurt my friends anymore!" Junpei tried to sit up and call out his Persona as he succeeded.

Fuuka was just staring at the Shadows, not knowing what to do. Until she noticed an aura around them.

"What is that? I can see it.." She said as she frowned. She knows what to do now. 

"Use fire! It will work now!"

"Huh?"

"Hurry!"

Junpei frowned, "Hermes!" He ordered his Persona as it used a fire attack on the Emperor and it worked this time.

"Dude, seriously? That worked!"

"These enemies can alter what they are vulnerable to at will. But they can't become invulnerable, so they will always have a weakness," Fuuka explained.

"You are kidding. You can see that?!" Mitsuru was surprised by her ability.

"Yes. Use wind," she said with her eyes closed.

"Got it!" Yukari was her turn now to use her wind attack.

After getting hit, the two Shadows used Paradigm Shift again.

"They are changing their weakness again!" Junpei yelled.

"Use electricity!"

"I've been waiting for this!" Akihiko yelled excitedly as it was his turn to hit them.

The two Shadows kept changing their weakness after every hit.

"Ice!"

"Jack Frost!" Makoto succeeded in using an ice attack this time. They were becoming weaker and weaker after every hit.

"Now, a slash will work!"

"On it!" Junpei called out Hermes as it slashed the two, creating a wound as black clouds appeared on their bodies from getting injured.

"Let's finish this!" Akihiko joined in as his Persona punched the Empress hard, making it disappear after black clouds surrounded all around its body.

"Just one more! We can do this!" Yukari said as the Emperor was left. After it changed its weakness, Fuuka spoke again.

"Fire will work now!"

Hearing this, Junpei took the opportunity to hit it hard before it could get beaten to death.

"It's on the ropes! Nail it, Makoto!"

"Makoto-kun, it's all yours!" Yukari yelled, next was Mitsuru to encourage him.

"Yuki! You can do it!" 

"Get it, Yuki!" Akihiko cheered for him too.

Seeing his teammates supporting him made him more determined to finish it off.

"Persona!" He yelled as Orpheus appeared and hit the shadow with its fire attack.

The Emperor was surrounded by flames until there was nothing left to be seen. The fire then disappeared with it.

Seeing it was finally over, Makoto stepped back and sat on the ground while catching his breath. That battle was the hardest one they had so far.

"We are...alive?" Yukari couldn't believe they made it alive.

"We did it...haha..we actually did it!" Junpei couldn't believe it either. That battle was crazy.

Fuuka's Persona disappeared after the battle was over. She stared down at the evoker as S.E.E.S approached her.

"You guys.."

"Congrats, you awakened your Persona. You really had the potential," Akihiko smiled.

"I..don't understand," she looked down as she was confused about everything that related to S.E.E.S.

"Don't worry, we will explain everything to you," Mitsuru assured her.

She turned around and saw Natsuki laying on the ground in the distance.

"Moriyama-san!" She ran to her then kneeled down and shook her slightly. She was unconscious during the whole battle. 

"She will be fine. She only needs rest," Mitsuru said as the Dark Hour was going to be over. They decided to head back. They all needed rest anyway.

______Time Skip, June 16th_____

It was the end of the week, and the day Fuuka will be back to school all safe and sound. Because of the battle, she was so tired she couldn't go to school and she was also busy packing her stuff to move in. She accepted to join S.E.E.S, which means she will be staying in the dorms with the other members.

"So, I heard Yamagishi-san will be back in school starting today," Yukari said as the gang gathered together in the Student Council Room. 

"Yeah. Being thrown into battle unprepared really wore her out, but she seems to have finally recovered." Mitsuru replied.

"I have mixed feelings. That Natsuki girl doesn't remember anything that happened in the Dark Hour. But that means she will forget Yamagishi saved her life, right?"

"Actually, I don't think it will matter."

Once Fuuka opened her classroom door, she saw how all the students were looking at her. She kept her head down while walking inside, she could hear them murmuring about her.

"Fuuka!"

Hearing a familiar voice made her stop walking. She saw Natsuki approaching her.

"Moriyama-san..."

"Fuuka, I heard you started living in the dorms."

"Y-yeah," she looked down.

"You will need to buy some stuff, right?" She looked away and blushed. "If you want, I can tag along with you when you go shopping." 

Fuuka looked at her surprisingly then smiled happily, "Moriyama-san...Sure, I would love to." She was feeling very glad they were friends again.

"Still, what was Moriyama doing in Tartarus in the first place?" Junpei asked as they were outside Fuuka's classroom now, watching the two talking to each other as everything came back to normal.

"Isn't it obvious?" Yukari smiled. "She came to help her friend."

"....."

There was a blank expression on Makoto's face, but then it changed as a light smile replaced it. 

"Eh?" Yukari and Junpei both looked at him surprisingly after seeing him smiling for the first time.

Makoto placed his two hands inside his pants' pockets then turned around to walk away.

"H-hey, wait a minute, Makoto! Was that a smile??" Junpei ran up to him.

"Junpei!" Yukari followed.

The two looked at each other and smiled then looked back at Makoto as the three were walking together. 

Makoto then remembered the promise he made as he spoke, "before going back, we have one more thing to do."

"Going to the shrine to meet that girl, right? Well, we should keep her updated," Yukari said.

"Then, let's go there after school!" Junpei grinned. He admitted to himself he felt excited to meet that girl again. She seemed interesting to him. 

____Time Skip, After School___

The three went to the shrine after school to inform the girl about Fuuka as they promised.

They saw her already standing there alone in front of the shrine. After the girl heard footsteps, she turned around seeing the trio.

"I've been waiting for you. You really came!" She gave them a bright smile.

"Oh, yeah! Of course we will come as we promised," Junpei grinned and blushed while scratching the back of his head.

"How is she? Did you find her??"

"Yes, she is safe and sound now. And she came back to school today," Makoto nodded.

The pink-haired girl sighed in relief while holding her own two hands together against her chest, "I am very glad. That's impressive though, how did you find her?" 

"Uhm, we just found her locked inside the gym and then we sent her back home to rest," Yukari smiled nervously.

"I suppose you really met that Natsuki girl, and you knew that from her. I hope she learned her lesson and won't bother that girl anymore."

"She did. And they became friends again. It was just a misunderstanding."

"Thank you.."

"Eh? Why are you thanking us?" Yukari blinked.

"Haha, because you saved the girl. I am really happy there are people like you who exist in this world." 

"It's nothing, haha. Well, we need to get going." Yukari said and looked at Junpei and Makoto, but Junpei stopped her.

"Woah woah, wait a sec, we didn't get to know her name! What's your name, little lady?" He grinned. "And why are you always at the shrine? You don't have a home?"

"Huh..?" The Pink-haired girl widened her eyes then looked down.

"Junpei! Don't you see you are making her uncomfortable?" Yukari sighed.

"Uh, s-sorry! She is pretty cute. Soo, I thought why not get to know her."

"C-cute?" The girl looked at him and blinked.

"Ignore him, he always says this when he sees a girl," she pouted.

"Uh, okay.."

"Oh man, seriously.." He sighed. "Fiine, let's go."

Seeing them ready to leave, she spoke, "Wait, nice guy."

Makoto stopped and turned around to face her again, "hm? Me?" 

"Can we..meet again?" She looked down sadly.

"Sure. I will come by and see you."

Hearing that made her smile and her eyes lit up, "really?? Okay! I will be waiting for your next visit." 

Makoto nodded as he kept looking at her for a moment before continuing to walk away.

The pink-haired girl stood there in the distance while watching them leave. 

Her hair and wide dress moved from the calm wind. She looked like an angel that held many mysteries. 

Can I really be with them..? I hope I can be one of them.

___________

A/N: FINALLY this is the end of the chapter! This is the longest chapter I've written so far! It has 10158 words aaaaaaaa 

I hope you enjoyed it!

THE HYPE IS REAL IN THE NEXT CHAPTER YEA! 

Also, the story had reached over 1000 reads! Thank you very much!