P4: EVERSION

LADY SHINIGAMI

DISCLAIMER: I ONLY OWN THE PLOT.

CHAPTER 7

The next morning, as Souji and Yosuke walked to school together, they kept noticing that everyone they passed was gossiping quietly, a frantic, excited energy buzzing through the air. Was this because of last night? If so, how was that possible?

"Dude, do you have any idea what's going on?"

"Not one clue."

"Let's find the others, maybe they know what's going on."

"Good call."

They reached the school without incident and found their friends assembled together in the classroom. As it was still a little early before the day would start, Souji found, to his surprise, that everyone from his Social Links that would be at Yasogami was assembled there, gathered around his and Yosuke's desks.

"Souji! Yosuke! Get over here!" Chie said, motioning them over.

Ai latched onto his arm as soon as he was within reach. "Ah, it was horrible! What was that thing last night?"

Souji and Yosuke glanced at each other, baffled, and both Yukiko and Naoto caught the silent exchange.

"You mean, you didn't witness it on the TV?" Naoto asked, and Souji shook his head.

"No, what are you talking about?"

"There was this monster on the TV last night, fighting off a pack of those dogs!" Kou said from his place beside Chie. "I've never seen anything like it, not at all."

Ayane then gave them an accurate description of Izanagi, and it was all Souji could do to keep a straight face. The good news was that it seemed that nobody had seen him transform into his Persona, just the fight after.

"How come you guys didn't see it?" Daisuke asked.

"Ah, well, we were... preoccupied. My uncle, the detective, got hurt last night by some of those hellhounds, hurt his leg. Also, there was a power outage that killed Dojima's car." Souji shrugged. "It was weird; like suddenly electricity didn't exist."

"Is Dojima-san okay?" Rise asked, and Souji nodded.

"Yeah, he's fine. He's staying home for a few days."

"Did you know that was going to happen?" Startled eyes turned to stare at Naoki. "You sent all of us home yesterday. It was like you knew."

Souji shook his head. "I knew something bad was going to happen, but I didn't know what, exactly. I just had a feeling, that's all."

"It's kinda weird, you know?" Yumi stated. "Everything that's been happening, and now your warning yesterday. You sure you don't know anything?"

Souji could only shrug helplessly. "I've always been perceptive to, well, everything. I know there's a reason for what's been happening, but it's only a feeling to me. You guys know that I've always been perceptive."

Daisuke gave him a look. "I get the feeling that you're keeping something from us, but I trust you to let us know about whatever it is if we need to know about it. Until then, well, I'll deal."

The others gave their mutual agreement to the soccer player's words before leaving the room for their own respective classroom, leaving Souji alone with his fellow Persona users.

"You will tell us the details of the incident last night to us during the lunch period, correct?" Naoto asked, picking up her bag and moving to Rise's side.

Souji nodded. "I will."

"Then we'll wait." Kanji said before leading the younger girls from the room. Chie and Yukiko frowned at him and Yosuke, concerned for them.

"Is everything okay, though? You guys didn't get hurt?"

Yosuke shook his head. "Only Dojima-san, and he'll be okay soon."

"That's good." Yukiko didn't get a chance to say anything else as Kashiwagi called the class to attention and the school day got started.

Souji found it hard to pay attention to his classes that morning, and he could see that the others were also tense, waiting to hear his version of the previous night's events, and what this could mean for them in their fight to save the world.

When the lunch bell rang, he found himself surrounded by the others, and quietly, he told them about the previous night's incident, including his vision of the other unknown teen, which had led him to shooting himself. He hadn't even told Yosuke of it yet.

Naoto was curious about the teen from Souji's vision. "So he said the word 'Persona'?"

Souji nodded. "Yes, before he shot himself in the head. It was very disturbing, but because his brains didn't get splattered, it gave me the idea of using Dojima's gun to release Izanagi."

"But that was still very reckless, Senpai!" Rise pouted at him. "What if it hadn't worked?"

"But it did, so there's no point in thinking about it." Souji shrugged, holding up his hand, wrapped up and bandaged. "But I didn't get through it completely unscathed. As you can see, shooting myself did hurt me, but not as bad, I think, as it would have been under more normal circumstances."

"If you say so, but what are the rest of us gonna do?" Kanji asked, clearly not comfortable with the idea of shooting himself in order to help save the world.

"And where are we going to get the weapons? Only Naoto-kun has a permit to carry her pistol, as part of her job as a detective." Yukiko said, and Souji could only shake his head.

"I don't know. Maybe something will turn up."

The train pulled into Inaba station sometime in the afternoon, and it wasn't until Akihiko Sanada had shouldered his one bag and stepped off the train that he noticed the abnormal environment that completely enveloped the town.

Then again, how could he not notice the decayed mailbox beside the station entrance, or the strange almost-invisible things hovering in the air, or the floating balls of blue fire?

He took this all in with one glance around before digging in his pocket for his cell phone. With a press of a button on his speed dial, he smirked as the other end was picked up before the second ring.

"You have arrived, Akihiko?"

"Yes, Mitsuru. Something is definitely going on in this town. I'll get back to you once I've found the kid."

"Good luck, Akihiko."

"Thanks." He hung up, dropping his phone into his pocket before setting off into town.

He had a picture of his objective in his leather-covered hand, preferring to wear his customary gloves for this investigation. He knew he stood out in his suit that Mitsuru had insisted on, but he found he was actually comfortable in the expansive clothes his best friend had provided for him. Dressed in tan colored slacks with a matching suit jacket slung over his shoulder with his bag, a black button-down collared dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, accented with a striking red tie, he looked like a prominent businessman or perhaps a lawyer.

Mitsuru had already made arrangements for him to stay at Inaba's famous Amagi Inn so with the directions she'd given him; he hurried over to drop off his things before canvassing the streets for his mystery Persona user.

One of the employees of the Inn had told him, upon seeing the photo, that the kid was definitely a high-schooler, and also friends with the Inn owner's daughter, and perhaps they were still at the school.

Now armed with directions to Yasogami High School, Akihiko proceeded into the central core of the town, and was troubled to see the state of the dilapidated Shopping District, and the scale of the destruction.

Something was definitely not right with this town, and he had a sneaking suspicion that it wouldn't be as easy as just finding his objective target.

Why did things have to get complicated?

Then again, when didn't things get complicated?

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Akihiko asked around some of the stores, and he found out that the kid was a frequent visitor to the Chinese food restaurant, was friends with the delinquent son of the textiles shop owner, and that Yasogami was out for the day, but maybe the kid was still there.

Akihiko continued his way towards the high school, absently wondering why he couldn't seem to call the kid by his name, even in his own mind. Maybe Akihiko didn't want to get personal, and calling the kid by his name would make it personal for him, because of that weird familiarity he felt when he'd witnessed the battle last night on the TV, a familiarity that still strongly reminded Akihiko of Minato.

He hated the fact that Minato had chosen to die for them, he hated feeling so helpless as to depend on him to keep them safe, to continue being the barrier keeping Nyx at bay.

But even with that ordeal with the Abyss of Time, and learning what had become of his friend, Akihiko still, even given the choice again, would not have changed a thing.

Because despite it all, only Minato was strong enough to keep fighting, and Akihiko had to do his part in keeping Minato strong, since he figured that Minato relied on them, the friends he'd left behind to be his strength.

So Akihiko would continue to be Minato's strength, since it was the only he could figure to repay the debt.

A figure ahead of him, walking towards him, towards the Shopping District behind him, broke through Akihiko's morbid and depressing thoughts, and he frowned.

Ahead of him was a tall teenager, just slightly taller than him, and a bit broader in the shoulder, too. Bleached blonde hair that was slicked back, several piercings in both ears, a nose stud, a scar right above one eye, and a skull-n-crossbones tattoo on his arm clearly labeled the teen as a delinquent, possibly a gang member, and Akihiko recalled that his target was friends with the town delinquent. Also, the blonde teen ahead of him was carrying a shield of some kind, although Akihiko couldn't begin to fathom a reason for it.

With a small smirk, he approached the teen with confidence, unfazed by the sudden suspicious glare that was thrown his way.

"Excuse me, would I be able to ask you a few questions?"

The teen narrowed his eyes. "What about? And who're you?"

"Akihiko Sanada, of the Kijiro Group. I'm looking for someone; maybe you can help me. And you are?"

The blonde hesitated just for a second or two. "Kanji Tatsumi. Who're you lookin' for, and what makes you think I can help?"

Akihiko flashed his target's photo to the teen, Tatsumi, and he smirked inwardly at the slight flash of recognition in the delinquent's blue eyes. This kid knew something, and Akihiko was now determined to find out what.

"Have you seen him? I hear he goes to Yasogami High, which, by your jacket, you do too. It's important that I speak with him."

But Tatsumi took a step back, away from Akihiko. "Why do you need to talk to Senpai? What's this Kirijo Group? Everything was taken care of, so there'd be no reason for someone like you to need to see him!"

Apparently Tatsumi was protective of his 'Senpai'.

"That is a matter for me to discuss with him, so I suggest that you cooperate, and since I believe that you know where Seta is, you're going to take me to him for our little chat." Akihiko said, and Tatsumi snarled.

"Hell no! Not until you tell me what you need to talk to him about!"

Akihiko was impressed, annoyed but impressed. This kid was standing up to him with the intentions of protecting his friend. It was quite admirable, and if Akihiko had been anyone else, he would have quit already in the face of Tatsumi's imposing menace, as the kid was dangerous.

He was also intrigued at his own reactions to Tatsumi. The delinquent made him want to fight again. He wanted to spar again, either verbally or physically, it didn't matter which, and this kid in front of him was also a fighter.

Akihiko remembered something that Minato had once told him. He had told Akihiko that he was the Emperor, and as the Emperor he was strong and would never falter in his convictions, and his strength, his inner strength would never fade.

And Minato's words were true. Akihiko had not once given up on anything he believed in, especially since hearing those words spoken so long ago.

It was strange, because this kid called out to his soul, like a kindred spirit, and it certainly helped that Tatsumi was fairly attractive too.

Wait a minute.

Where had that thought come from?

Shaking his head to clear his wandering thoughts, Akihiko focused on Tatsumi, mentally sizing him up like he would an opposing fighter in the ring. "Alright, fine, kid. It has to do with the events of last night. Both myself and my employer witnessed it, and I've been sent to search him out."

"And what the hell do you want with him?"

"Again, that's a discussion I'll have with your precious 'Senpai' only."

A frustrated snarl from Tatsumi was his only warning, but it was warning enough, and Akihiko easily dodged the first punch, ducking under his taller opponent's arm to get in closer.

But it turned out that Tatsumi wasn't stupid, and the teen jumped out of the way of Akihiko's retaliating jab long enough to bring around the shield he carried.

The thing was massive, and Akihiko wasn't able to get too close a look at it before the shield made contact with his shoulder, sending him skidding across the pavement. The boxer stared as Kanji settled into a battle stance, holding the shield in one hand against the ground, and he realized that the blonde street fighter didn't use the damn thing like it was meant to be used; as a freaking form of defense!

"That all ya got?"

Akihiko grimaced at the taunt, eyes narrowing as he lifted himself off the pavement, dusting off his shirt as he did so. Cracking his knuckles loudly, Akihiko settled into his own familiar battle stance, fists raised before him.

"You've seen nothing yet."

He didn't allow the kid to respond, leaping forward with all the speed his slightly smaller frame gave him, ducking low beneath the shield Tatsumi wielded, spinning around and getting behind and with two quick movements, Tatsumi was unarmed, the shield clanging noisily against the concrete, and the kid was on the ground, pinned beneath Akihiko with both arms behind his back and Akihiko's knee digging in.

"Get offa me! Fuck, fine! I'll bring you to Souji-Senpai, just get the fuck off me!" Kanji squirmed beneath the stranger's knee that fucking hurt like hell, digging into his back like that, and it pissed him off that he couldn't move, not even an inch.

"That a promise?" Kanji could almost hear the damn smirk. "You'll behave?"

"Goddamnit, I'm a man of my word! Now get off my back before I make you, you little punk!" They both knew it was an empty threat.

Then Sanada's weight was gone, and Kanji's arms were free again, and he slowly picked himself up off the ground, rolling his shoulders to try and relieve some of the ache from being pinned.

The thought of Sanada's weight on top of him had Kanji blushing a little, although he'd never admit it. Punk was good, damn good, though, at fighting, and if Kanji was right in his guess, he'd say that Sanada was probably professionally trained or something.

Akihiko waited patiently with his arms crossed as Tatsumi got to his feet, glowering at him. The kid was looking a little flushed, but that was probably just embarrassment at having his ass handed to him.

He watched as the blonde picked up his shield, slinging it across his back like a school bag before glaring in Akihiko's direction and stalking off past him, heading more into town. The boxer only smirked and gathered up his suit jacket from where he'd dropped to fight Tatsumi before following the blonde.

As they quickly past the Shopping District, heading in a direction to the north of the town, Tatsumi reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a cell phone. Without looking at the older male beside him, keeping pace with him, he dialed a number.

Kanji didn't even wait until Souji fully acknowledged him on the other end of the line. "Senpai, are you home yet?"

Akihiko listened carefully to the half-conversation and he could even hear someone's voice on the other end. A glimpse at his surroundings revealed a residential neighborhood but they passed a wrecked car that was still in the process of getting towed away. He could see scratches on the side of the vehicle, and he wondered what kind of beast had made them.

"Is Dojima-san there, too? 'Cuz you're about to get some company. We'll be there in a few minutes." Kanji hung up, pocketing his phone.

"Dojima? The detective?"

"If you really know what happened, you know that he got hurt."

Kanji took him to the last house on the street, knocking once on the door before it was by another teen, a brunette with red headphones around his neck, and upon seeing Akihiko, the other teen's brown eyes narrowed.

The brunette returned his attention to Kanji, jerking his head in Akihiko's direction. "The company you mentioned?"

"Yeah. Punk's good at scrappin', too."

"Souji's waiting inside with Dojima, and fortunately Nanako-chan's with a friend, so we won't have any interruptions, either."

They were ushered inside, and they removed their shoes before stepping fully into the house. Akihiko could the kitchen immediately off to the left, opening up into a decent-sized living room.

He recognized the detective from the video as Ryotaro Dojima, still disheveled and bandaged up from the attack the previous night, glaring at him suspiciously as he walked further into the room. Then Akihiko caught his first look at his target, and, to be honest, he stared.

Souji Seta was above average in height for his age group, but not quite as tall as Tatsumi, with gray-silver hair that swept across gray eyes, and the way he held himself, cool and aloof at first glance, with an unshakable, confident determination that strongly, no, fiercely reminded Akihiko so much of Minato that he almost stopped breathing.

For a moment, all Akihiko could see was Minato standing before him, superimposed against Seta, looking as he had been when they had faced Nyx together.

"Who are you?"

Seta's voice, cautious and distant, brought Akihiko back from his memories, and he pulled out his Kirijo Group ID card, flashing to Seta. "Akihiko Sanada of the Kirijo Group, formerly of S.E.E.S., here to investigate a certain incident that occurred very recently."

"What you've just said means nothing to me." Souji shrugged. "Tell me something that does, and we'll talk. Meanwhile, have a seat and make yourself comfortable. You too, Kanji, Yosuke."

The other two teens in the room nodded, and once settled on the couch or around the small table, Akihiko decided to get to the point.

"What do you know of the Dark Hour?"

Confusion flashed across Souji's face, and Akihiko frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

"The Dark Hour, the only time in which we can summon our Personas; how did you summon yours last night?"

This time, alarm was apparent in Souji's expression. "I have no idea what this Dark Hour is, that you're talking about!"

"If you know nothing of the Dark Hour, how do you know of your Persona?"

Souji could see that the subject was making the adult across from him uneasy, and he suspected it had something to do with him, but he couldn't figure out why. He knew he had a choice to make, a decision in whether to trust this complete stranger with the truth of their Personas and the world inside the TV, and as he contemplated, a memory surfaced, and he recalled what Igor had said of his mysterious predecessor. He wondered if this Akihiko Sanada was connected to the other Fool and Wild Card.

With these thoughts swirling around in his head, Souji made his decision and explained to Akihiko about the world inside the TV, and their battle against Izanami, explaining the ordeals they had gone through to lift the fog on their souls and face their true selves, revealing their Personas.

Silence descended after his somewhat lengthy explanation, and he allowed the man sitting across from him a few moments to go over his words.

"So how is it, Akihiko Sanada, of the Kirijo Group, that you know about our Personas?"

Akihiko smirked at him, pride glinting in his cool eyes. "Because I, too, wield one. My Persona's name is Caesar."

"And the Dark Hour? Could you explain that to me?"

The story Akihiko told him sounded almost unbelievable, as he described the Dark Hour, and what had caused it, and what he and his friends had done to bring it to an end. From Akihiko, Souji learned of Tartarus, the Harbinger Nyx, and how they had prevented what he called the Fall, giving the world a future. He also learned the secret about the full moon, remembering that Igor had mentioned it once before.

The largest revelation Souji learned was that Akihiko's friend and leader had sacrificed himself to become the Seal, protecting them forever, and Souji had a flash of memory again, of the previous night when he'd had that vision of the boy with blue hair shooting himself.

"The friend you lost, your leader..." Akihiko frowned as Souji hesitated, not sure of his words to proceed. "He wouldn't happen to have been kind of short with blue hair that fell in front of his face, would he?"

The sharp intake of breath and the widening of blue/gray eyes answered his question, and as Souji studied Akihiko, he could see that his mentioning of the other Wild Card had hit a sore spot in the boxer, since Akihiko's face was pale, a stricken look to him, and his gloved hands were clenched tightly in fists.

It took a few tense moments before Akihiko could speak. "How... how do you know of him?"

Souji suddenly felt guilty. The subject was obviously a sore and trying for the man across from him, and here he was, rubbing his face in it. "He and I, well, we have a mutual acquaintance who helps me with my Personas. That acquaintance has mentioned your friend to me before. I also saw him in a vision, right before I transformed into Izanagi. That vision gave me the idea of shooting myself."

Through all the explanations, Yosuke, Kanji and Dojima had remained silent, watching the two of them as they spoke to each other. But now, Dojima leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees with a sigh.

"Yosuke, could you grab some Advil from above the sink, please? My leg is killing me. And Souji, I still think it was stupid idea to use my gun like that." The detective nearly snarled, but it lacked any heat behind it. Akihiko looked at him, frown in place.

"You have an Evoker? Where did you get one?"

"Evoker? What the hell's that? I've just got a standard police-issued automatic." Suspicion gleamed in Dojima's eyes, and Souji felt his stomach sink.

Akihiko seemed to realize the situation and pulled the small briefcase he'd been carrying onto the small table. "Only one person in my group of Persona Users didn't use an Evoker, but then again, she was built and programmed to not need one. The rest of us had to go through the disturbing process of summoning our respective Personas using this."

From the briefcase, Akihiko removed an object that Souji had only seen once before, in the vision of his predecessor. It was sleek and shiny, obviously brand new and had never been used, the metal gleaming in the light of the room, and Souji could only stare at it.

He reached across the table, hand shaking slightly as he took the imitation gun from Akihiko's gloved hand. It fit perfectly in his palm, and for a brief second, Souji flashed back to his vision from the previous night, and he could hear, just barely, the soft whisper invoking the being inside his mind.

"The Evoker you're holding is a gun, a weapon, but at the same time, it isn't, not in the conventional sense as we know it." Akihiko explained. "I don't know the specific mechanics of how it works like it does, but it does function as it should. The feeling you get from shooting yourself in the head is real, too."

Kanji spoke up for the first time since the explanations started. "How can you do that?"

Akihiko smirked at the bleach blonde. "It wasn't easy, and some of us had some serious problems with the method, but it was the only thing we had."

"I assume you have permits for these... Evokers?" Dojima spoke up, and Akihiko nodded.

"Of course. Not that I ever carried my Evoker outside the Dark Hour before, but Mitsuru, my boss in this case, felt it was a necessary precaution. I also have permits for each Evoker I have with me; they only need to be filled out with some names and filed." Akihiko smirked at Souji. "I have one for each person on your team, and some extras, since I was unaware as to how many I'd be needing."

Yosuke had stopped paying attention to the conversation, instead looking at his boyfriend with a frown. The silverette hadn't responded since grabbed the Evoker, gray eyes slightly vacant, as though listening to something none of them could hear.

"Souji?"

His partner blinked suddenly, staring at the weapon he held. "Akihiko, can you hear your Persona when you hold the Evoker?"

The boxer was taken by surprise by the sudden question. "Um, no. Caesar doesn't really have a voice."

Souji glanced at Yosuke, and his uncle and Kanji, then to Akihiko, hearing the unvoiced query hanging in the air. "Izanagi spoke to me just now, swearing to fight beside like he always has, and when the time comes, he will choose."

"Choose?" Kanji asked, bemused. "Choose what?"

Souji could only shake his head. "He didn't say."

"I don't know about you kids," Dojima announced. "But it's been a long day, my meds are starting to kick in, and I want to get to bed, even though it’s still early. Night's over."

The others assembled nodded, and the detective recruited Kanji to help him upstairs to his bed, since he still couldn't put any real weight on his leg, and the pain pills were starting to make him unsteady. Akihiko removed two more Evokers from his case, along with the paperwork for them, leaving them for Yosuke and Kanji before taking his leave with a nod to Souji.

"Hey, Akihiko?"

The boxer turned back to glance at Souji. "Yes?"

"Don't leave town anytime soon. I have the feeling that you will play an important role in the events to come."

Akihiko snorted, a small grin in place. "You sound just like him. Don't worry; I won't go anywhere. I'll be at the Inn if you need to reach me."

Yosuke heaved a huge sigh as the door clicked shut. "Man, this is too much. Who would of guessed there were other Personas than ours, huh Partner?"

Souji looked back down to the Evoker in his grip. "Yeah. Who would have?"

A/N: AND HERE'S CHAPTER 7! YAY! THE END WAS FRUSTRATING, IT DIDN'T WANT TO END, BUT THIS IS A GOOD PLACE TO LEAVE IT, SO HUZZAH! JUST A NOTE TO MY READERS, I AM NOW A FULL TIME STUDENT AT COLLEGE, ALSO WORKING PART TIME IN A RETAIL CRAFT STORE WITH THE CHRISTMAS SEASON IN FULL SWING, AND I'LL BE WORKING ON TWO WEBCOMICS AS WELL. THIS MEANS THAT UPDATES WON'T BE AS FREQUENT, MUCH TO THE DISMAY OF FOLLOWERS OF MY OTHER FICS-IN-PROGRESS, BUT UNFORTUNATELY, YOU GUYS WILL HAVE TO BE PATIENT. I AM ALWAYS WORKING ON SOMETHING; I JUST HAVE A LOT OF THINGS ON THE GO. THANKS FOR READING, AND LEAVE A REVIEW!