Persona: Rise of a New Wild Card

Chapter 15: The Distant Future

Friday, November 28th, 2031,  Maki, Lance, Matsuyama, Kojiro, and Minerva all walked to school together. Matsuyama avoided speaking to the others however. The students went to their class rooms as Ms Toriumi stood at the front of the class. "Everyone settle down, we've got a new transfer student in today. Go ahead and introduce yourself." A young man walked in wearing a bright yellow scarf and odd white uniform. "Hello everyone, I'm so excited to meet you all. My name is Ryoji Mochizuki. I transferred here due to my parents working overseas. I'm excited to see how this year ends." Ms Toriumi then had Ryoji sit in a seat in the front. Anton looked upset when around Ryoji. Maki had almost forgotten he was sat next to her but then she remembered how Mitsuru placed Anton in her class to keep watch over her.

The end of the school day was a bit odd. Ryobi tried to hit on Maki but Anton stood between them as Anton told Ryoji, "You are dangerous, you will stay away from her if you know what is good for you." Ryobi was taken about a long with Maki. Maki told Anton to return home and that she would be fine. Anton reluctantly followed her request as she and Ryoji talked. She made things clear that she wasn't interested in a relationship with Ryoji as the two of them just talked. Kojiro came running up telling the two that they needed to get home quick and that the class trip to Kyoto was starting tomorrow. Ryoji walked with Lance as the two of them hung out the rest of the day. The next day everyone met at the train station to go on the trip for Kyoto. Yukari, Kotone, Shinjiro, Mitsuru, Junpei, Mitsuru, and a girl nobody recognized that was standing with Mitsuru was waving them goodbye.

Once everyone reached the inn they were quickly told to head up to their rooms. The next day the girls and boys went all over Kyoto sight seeing. Maki was told a lot about Kyoto by her mother seeing as how Yukari was from Kyoto. Ryoji, Lance, Matsuyama, and Kojiro hung out while Maki, Minerva, and a girl they had met a few days ago in class, Kiama were walking around the river of Kyoto. The next day which was the one before their exit day went by smoothly. Everyone did some final sightseeing before heading back to the inn. Ryoji and Lance managed to convince Matuyama and Kojiro to head into the hot-springs of the inn with them. little did they know that Maki, Minerva, and Kiama would soon enter. "Its Yuki-san! Sweet!" Lance then pushed Ryoji's head down into the water to get him to shut up.

"D-Did you hear that?" Minerva called out. Maki asked what was wrong. Minerva told her that she heard voices in the hot-spring. Maki and Kiama went walking around. Lance and the other boys tried moving around to avoid detection, they found that hiding in the steam was a smart move. Maki then had a strange vision. She heard her father's voice as he called out, "Let's hide in the steam for now" Maki then started walking into the steam as she looked in horror at the four boys standing there. She screamed very loud as the other 2 girls ran over. "I... Uh... We, we can explain." Maki help up her hand as she yelled at them, "You will be executed for this!"

The final day of the trip was one filled with embarrassment. None of the guys spoke a single word as the girls walked past scowling down at them. Mitsuru had told Maki how to perform her executions should any of the boys do anything foolish. Once everyone returned to their homes Kotone and Shinjiro were told by Kojiro what happened on the trip. Both parents laughed at Kojiro for getting caught with those fools. Yukari felt sorry for Maki as she had to go through that. She was proud though that her daughter stood her ground and punished the boys for their stupid actions. The next several weeks would be filled with fun times though. Maki ended up hanging out with everyone more and more as they closed in on December 25th. Kojiro invited Maki to hang out at Paulownia mall on Christmas day. "I know you're not interested in anyone romantically but I still just wanted to have fun with you today. After all you can only celebrate this holiday once a year. I got this for you cause we're such good friends." Kojiro then held out a beautiful watch for Maki.

Maki didn't have anything for Kojiro but he wasn't hurt by it. They hung out till it became very late before returning back to their homes. Maki would soon face a difficult choice as December 26th, the next full moon arrived. Maki felt a strange urge to walk to the Moonlight bridge as she saw Ryoji and Anton at the center. Yukari had remembered what the next full moon meant as did the rest of SEES. They quickly got everyone together as they ran for the bridge. The Dark Hour rose over the city as Ryoji took to his true form. Before Anton could engage in a fight Maki stopped him. "Ryoji!?" Ryoji then floated to the ground before telling Maki, "I remember everything. I was brought her against my own free will. That who you would call Takaya took my pieces, the twelve shadows you have fought and defeated into this universe. Please, he has brought death into your world. You can live what little remaining time there is left without any pain if you just kill me right now. Nyx will come, your parents know this. Nothing can stop her from destroying this world." The others soon arrived as Yukari explained everything. Nyx was the embodiment of Death, but Maki held the power within herself to stop Nyx from destroying the world, even with Ryoji objecting.

"Maki, you can either chose to kill Ryoji right now and we will forget everything this past year. We'll die peacefully and without pain. Or you can choose to fight and beat Ryoji and we'll save the world." Mitsuru said as she put her hand on Maki's shoulder. Maki was left with no other choice as her father's voice rang in her head, "Go on." Maki looked Ryoji dead in the eyes as she said, "Never" Ryoji looked deep into her soul and saw the ultimate power within her and had hope. "Very well. I wish you luck in the fight against Nyx." Ryoji then flew off. SEES had one month to prepare for the ultimate challenge.