Fodlan's Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad.

Chapter 20: Swing of a Naginata

"Kotoneeeeee!" Bernadetta sobbed, hugging the crap out of the red eyed girl. She sweatdropped, gently petting the purple haired girl's head. S.E.E.S and the Blue Lions just watched in pure confusion. S.E.E.S was confused, as they had no idea who this girl was, even though she was wearing Gekkoukan's uniform, and the Blue Lions were the same. Sylvain pulled the two away after a while to let Kotone get a breather.

"Alright, you two, that's enough. We gotta get back to the Monastery." he reminded. Bernadetta sighed, sulking slightly. Kotone chuckled at her, patting the purple haired girl's head.

"You two haven't changed much in personality." she pointed out.

"Pardon for interrupting the meeting, but who exactly are you?" Mercedes asked. She didn't want to seem rude, but the stranger was... odd. At least to her. Kotone turned to the watchers.

"Sorry! I'm a friend of Syl and Bernie's! My name is Kotone Shiomi. Nice to meet you!" Kotone beamed, a bright smile on her face. Yukari and Junpei exchanged a look, the two of them were frowning. The name sounded familiar. Had they heard the name before?

"You say that, but yet you were siding with the thiefs. Why is that?" Ingrid asked, her head tilted to the side.

"Well. I needed a way to survive. So..." she admitted, rubbing the back of her neck nervously.

"We can talk about this more back in the Monastery. Has anyone seen Professor Byleth?" Bernadetta spoke.

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As soon as the group arrived from their mission, Akihiko wanted to go to the weapons plaza to get some training done. He still had some energy to go and punch a wooden training dummy. Even if it hurt like a bitch. However, Sylvain had other plans, as he called S.E.E.S and brought them all inside his room. It was a bit cramped up, to say the least. "Are we going to talk about Shiomi-san?" Ken asked, being the ever so curious child.

"Yes. Do you guys remember when Syl and I asked you if you remembered a cinema at the end of September?" Bernadetta asked.

"Oh yes. I do recall that." Mitsuru recalled "We all were watching a movie." the two Wildcards nodded.

"What if I told you that we did go to the cinema? But it was a cinema labyrinth filled with shadows inside their movies." Sylvain told them. They all looked confused at that, but Sylvain and Bernadetta explained everything to them. The labyrinth, meeting the two other groups of Persona users, the alternative dimensions, everything. To the now Wildcards, it felt like they had been lifted a heavy weight off of his shoulders. They felt relieved.

"I see. I wonder why only you two could remember it." Akihiko mused out loud, a hand on his chin.

"It could be because we have already gone through time and space." Sylvain suggested.

"But then would that be the same for Shiomi-san?" Mitsuru asked.

"Yeah, she didn't mind when Bernie hugged her and started crying." Junpei pointed out. Bernadetta looked away when he said that, embarrassed.

"It's safe to say she does remember the cinema labyrinth, then. But the question is to what point." Yukari sighed.

"Well, we'd have to ask her. Does she remember up to the same point we do, or at the very least until her... demise? Or earlier than that?" Akihiko started, wincing at the thought of saying the word death. He may not know Kotone, but she was basically the female counterpart of their leader, at least according to Sylvain.

"Yeah." Bernadetta sighed "I... really hope she didn't..." she started, but she couldn't finish the sentence. She shook her head.

"No! Let's think positive! Now that she's here, you guys can get to know her!" she beamed "She's super fun and bubbly to be around! And she is really strong!" she praised. Akihiko's eyes perked up at that, curious.