Persona 3 : Two Souls

Part 25 - Arcana Hermit

September 4th, the day before the next full moon, Junpei decided that the afternoon after school he'd go to where Chidori normally was to see her again.

"Yo!" Junpei called out as he walked over to the elaborately-dressed artist "How's your hand holding up, Chidori?" she turned away from her work to look at him, he then noticed her hand was in perfect condition as if it was never injuried at all. "Woah!" he exclaimed in shocked "It healed that quickly?" he was without a doubt confused.

"Junpei..." Chidori spoke up "...What do you do to make yourself feel alive?" her question caught the scruffy teen off guard. "B-Breathing?" he blurted out nervously.

"You've never given it much thought...have you?" Chidori responded.

"No, not really." Junpei awkwardly answered "What about you? Is that why you draw?" he asked, Chidori turned back to look at the paper in front of her.

"Perhaps...." She mused vocally "...In truth, I don't understand myself very well."

"You know when I feel the most alive?" Junpei asked which caught her attention. "When I get to be the hero!" His face gained a cocky expression "Fighting during the darkest hour, an hour unknown to many, I fight against the forces of evil to liberate this world!" he gloated but after a bit of silence he began to nervously laugh. "Y-You're supposed to laugh now..."

"Do you fight alone?" Chidori questioned seriously.

"I-I'm sorry?" Junpei asked "I was just jokin'."

"You fight during a time most are unaware of, correct?" Chidori inquired. "This means that know one will ever know of what you do, you'll never receive proper credit for what you've done....I'm impressed, I did not know you were that kind of guy."

"For real?" Junpei replied "Y-You believe me?"

"Please...tell me more." Chidori said as she slid herself over a little and offered Junpei a spot to sit next to her which he gladly took.

"Well, if you really wanna know..." Junpei began "But you gotta promise not to tell anyone else, okay?" Chidori nodded her head "Yes" in response which was Junpei's signal to start spilling the beans. The young man started to explain to Chidori the concept of the Dark Hour as well as the power of Persona, he even went as far as to embellish the truth a bit by claiming he was the leader of the group he fought in instead of being honest about his position. Once he was finished explaining, Chidori closed up her sketchbook and stood up which led to Junpei standing back up as well.

"Thank you Junpei, I had fun today." Chidori said causing him to blush in response. "You did?" he stuttered out. "Of course, I will see you tomorrow...correct?" she said before walking away, Junpei just stood their in shock and awe.

"T-Tomorrow?" He finally squeaked out "Yes! Who's da man!" he reclaimed his confidence and excitedly exclaimed to himself.

The following day, September 5th, was the day of the full moon and everyone in S.E.E.S knew it. After spending his day at the library trying to study, Takuya began making his way back home. On the walk there, he saw Fuuka and the two began walking back to the dorm building together.

"Are you prepared for tonight?" Fuuka asked, Takuya took off one of his headphones to better listen. "It's likely another large Shadow will appear."

"You're right." Takuya responded "I'm as ready as I'll ever be." the two continued walking as the reached the dorm building, the blue-haired boy stopped walking when he noticed something on the ground near the dorm.

"What's this?" Takuya questioned as he leaned over to pick it up, he noticed what looked to be Junpei's hat on the ground and got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach upon realizing this fact. "Shit..." he muttered to himself as he stood back up.