Chapter Text
Two weeks after Kotone Shiomi is meant to die, the Kirijo Group lets them all know that the dorm is closing down permanently, and they all need to vacate the premises by the end of the week.
Two and a half weeks after Kotone Shiomi doesn’t die, but survives because her friends decide to sacrifice years off of their lives to keep her around, there are eight Evokers sitting on the coffee table in the middle of the dorm. There are boxes scattered around the room containing the last remaining personal artifacts of the people who have spent the last year here. It’s mostly books – manga, textbooks, a few random binders or files – left, the rest of their belongings have already been taken away to their new homes.
There’s a strange feeling of melancholy in the air as Kotone sets her Evoker down beside the others, still in its tidy white holster.
“Guess Aki ain’t makin’ it,” Shinji mutters. His hands are tucked into his pockets and his beanie is pulled low on his forehead. His school uniform has been packed away since he managed to graduate (only a week late!), so he’s back to his cozy red coat. “Sounds about right. Idiot was never good at sayin’ goodbye to things. He always cut and run.”
Kotone winces, because she can tell it bothers Shinji that his best friend isn’t here for this. But she almost can’t blame Aki – the heavy atmosphere threatens to make her want to scream. They won, and she lived, so why does it feel so much like they’re saying goodbye forever?
“It’s our last day in the dorm, and he and Yuka-tan couldn’t be bothered to show up?” Junpei sighs and scuffs his heel, “That’s a bummer. With all our memories of this place, you’d think they’d want to see it off, too.”
“It can’t be helped. They just see things differently.” Mitsuru says, tucking a strand of her crimson hair behind her ear as she folds the last of their armbands into the silver briefcase and puts it to the side. “Everyone is starting down their own paths. You can hardly blame them. If I didn’t need to reclaim all of our SEES equipment, I’d probably not have made it here tonight either.”
Kotone winces. She knows Mitsuru doesn’t mean to make it sound like she no longer has time for them, but it definitely sounds like it. She’s barely seen the girl since Graduation Day came and went without her untimely death. She’s seen the others briefly, mostly here and there around the dorm as they all hastily packed their lives away in tidy brown boxes, but Mitsuru had movers come for her things. She’s been out of the dorm and living in one of her estates since March 6th.
Kotone doesn’t like that they’re leaving this dorm, especially not so abruptly. Even if her senpai would have moved on anyway, it feels strange for them all to abandon this place, this safe haven after the hell of the last year. She doesn’t like the idea that they’re all going their separate ways. Even if she knows she’ll see the other second – now third – years at school, and she knows Shinji is never far from her side, it all feels… wrong, somehow, to break apart like this.
Especially when they all gave each other a significant part of their lives.
Shinji nudges her, as though sensing her dark thoughts, and Kotone looks up at him and smiles gratefully.
“There’s nine. That’s all of them, right?” Ken points out, gently straightening out Koromaru’s evoker to keep it from slipping from the table. “We’re not missing any, because Aigis doesn’t have one?”
“We’re missing Chidori’s.” Fuuka points out, and Junpei winces.
He sighs, leaning back into the couch and then giving Mitsuru a hopeful but kind of guilty look “Yeah, I’m still working on getting it back from her. She’s attached to it. But it’s not Kirijo property anyway, right? Do you think she can keep it?”
“The company specifically sent me to get their Evokers back.” Mitsuru hesitates, “While I don’t know that it’s a good idea, I suppose if they aren’t made aware of Chidori’s continued possession…”
“Thank you, Mitsuru-senpai.” Junpei says, sounding relieved, “She’s barely dealing with losing Medea and Kassandra, I don’t know what I’d do if I had to take another safety blanket away.”
“Let her keep it.” Shinji shrugs, “It’s a useless toy now anyway, pretty much.”
“That’s… correct,” Mitsuru nods, and then frowns. “But… ah, Amada-kun, you mentioned Aigis. Where is she? She is meant to be coming back to the lab with me tonight.”
Fuuka looks up in surprise. “She is? Is she staying? That’s quite a long commute for next semester.”
Mitsuru pauses, and then frowns. She looks at them all in turn, before her eyes land specifically on Kotone. “I… was not aware she hadn’t told you.”
A strange stone drops into Kotone’s belly, and she looks around the room to see if anyone else knows what Mitsuru’s talking about. They all have apprehensive looks on their faces, but nobody looks like they’re sure of the cause.
“Told us what?” Junpei demands, “What’s wrong? Is Aigis okay?”
Mitsuru holds up her hands, “Aigis is fine. She’s simply… not going to be attending school anymore.”
“What?” Fuuka squeezes her hands together, “Why not?”
“She doesn’t want to.” Mitsuru says, and the frown deepens. “From what I was told, she specifically requested to be moved back to the labs following the end of this semester, and for her name to be removed from all rosters at Gekkoukan.”
“But why ?” Junpei presses, “Does she have some sort of secret mission or something?”
“No.” Mitsuru says, and then sighs, “I think, perhaps, that she’s… a bit lost, still, even after all we went through. A weapon of Shadow extermination without Shadows to exterminate likely feels… purposeless.”
“But she’s more than a weapon,” Fuuka insists, “She’s… she’s our friend.”
“You don’t need to tell me that,” Mitsuru says, looking sad, “But she does not seem to be interested in continuing her education, at the very least.”
“I was definitely made to think that wasn’t a damn option,” Shinji grumbles, and Kotone nudges him, grinning at his grouchy tone. He’s still bitter about the extra hours of English classes he had to take to graduate with his year.
“Regardless, Aigis has made her choice.” Mitsuru says, folding her hands in the lap. “We should respect it.”
“That would be most appreciated.” Aigis’ voice makes Kotone jump, and she twists to look over her shoulder. She comes down the stairs with her arms crossed over her chest, gently holding her biceps. She’s in her blue dress, the flowy one she was given when she first moved to the dorm. “It was not an easy decision. Questioning my resolve will not improve it.”
“You didn’t wanna stay with us at school, Ai-chan?” Junpei questions, looking a little put-out. “But we–”
“She said to leave it.” Shinji says, nudging Junpei’s shoe with the toe of his boot. “Leave it.”
Junpei scowls, slumping back into the couch.
“I apologize if my decision feels unkind,” Aigis says to Junpei quietly, looking the slightest bit guilty, “But I thought it would be best for me. I need to figure out how to live my own life, for myself.”
Koromaru barks, and Aigis looks at him, tilting her head. “Koromaru-chan claims to admire my dedication to my new purpose. Thank you, Koromaru.”
“I hope you find what you’re looking for, Aigis-chan.” Fuuka says, smiling softly, “You deserve to live your life the way you want.”
“Thank you.” Aigis says, nodding.
“Well. It seems that we’ve concluded what I came here to do.”
Kotone whips back towards Mitsuru, feeling her throat go tight. It sounds like Mitsuru is planning to leave already. But then she watches as Mitsuru smooths her skirt, placing the case with all their Evokers to the side, and grins at them.
“I hope none of you had dinner plans. I ordered sushi. Consider me sentimental, but I thought it would be fitting.”
Junpei leaps to his feet. “Sushi? Like from that one place? You got it for us again?”
Mitsuru nods once, “I hope I remembered all of your favorites correctly.”
Kotone throws her fists in the air in a victory pose. “Sweet shrimp!! And gyoza !! I love you, Mitsuru-senpai!”
“Of course,” Mitsuru smiles, and then casually looks at a receipt pulled from one of her leather jacket pockets. “Ah, it seems several flavors of mochi ice cream were also ordered. How strange.”
Kotone whoops and bounces around a little bit, grabbing Junpei’s hands to spin in a circle. Junpei laughs, dipping her.
“You spoil her.” Shinji warns Mitsuru, “She’s rotten, and it’s your fault.”
“Hardly,” Mitsuru laughs, “I do believe some of that might be your fault, Shinjiro.”
Shinji scoffs, but Fuuka starts to giggle. Koromaru barks happily, nosing at Kotone’s hand until she squats down to ruffle his ears and coo at him. Junpei and Shinji stand to help Mitsuru take the last of the boxes to the truck waiting outside, and Fuuka fetches them all the last of the bottled drinks from the fridge in preparation for their last meal in the dorm.
—
“ All medical reports indicate a drastic fall in Apathy Syndrome cases, with those that were already suffering making a full recovery. We think this is the end of that strange illness, and thank goodness for that! Unfortunately, according to the Health and Wellness Committee, the number of people suffering from high levels of stress and depression has not fallen in the slightest, and in fact continues to grow –”
Kotone sits on the remote to turn the TV volume to mute, and around the room there are audible sighs of relief.
The front door opens and Chidori comes in. She’s in one of the new dresses she’s taken to wearing - shorter, with multiple petticoats and elaborate tights. She’s yawning as she enters the building and rubbing at one of her eyes. Junpei scoots over to make room and she drops neatly into the seat beside him.
“I was hoping you’d make it,” he says with a grin, and she offers a barely-there smile, mostly visible in her eyes.
“I almost did not. It is almost midnight. But I thought I would say goodbye to this place as well, and my apartment is… quiet, without you.” She smoothes her skirt, “I do not mean to sound ungrateful. I am more than blessed by the Kirijo Group’s generosity in giving me a home at all. But it will be… strange. To be alone again. This place was not mine like it was yours, but I felt… at home.”
“It was just as much yours as it was ours,” Junpei protests, “You’re one of us, remember?”
“Of course…” Chidori says, looking down and away. “Still.”
“We made a lot of memories here.” Fuuka says, running her fingers along the worn wood of the coffee table. “Sometimes, I find myself coming and sitting down here even with nothing to do.”
“Me, too.” Ken agrees, “Which is weird, because my memories of the whole… thing , are pretty bad, all things considered. But I guess there was some good, too.”
“Yeah,” Shinji agrees, “I get that. It was… it still is a lot, when you think about it.”
Ken nods, looking at Shinji. There’s no lingering malice or hatred. Just a rueful grin. The two of them have a bloodied, terrible past, but they’re working towards their future cleanly.
“All that aside, don’t you think things are weird? People walk around spouting a bunch of bullshit with those stupid stories Takaya and Jin marketed, and sometimes, like… sometimes I think, ‘is this really what we all gave up years of our lives to save’?”
The weeks that have passed were not enough to save Chidori the wince at the names of her old comrades. She scratches at her wrist and Junpei catches her fingers and interlaces them.
“You sound like an old man,” Ken chuckles, “Ohh, people don’t know how good they have it thanks to us – blah blah blah.”
Chidori smiles behind her hand as Junpei sputters. Kotone joins Ken in making various old-man noises at Junpei, laughing as he protests, and Shinji sips at his honey and lemon tea with a small smile. It really does feel like it did a few months ago, before they prevented the end of the world.
Will it never feel like this again? Kotone doesn’t know.
She looks up at the ticking hands of the grandfather clock, inching ever closer to midnight. The hour hand moves to tick over into the new day.
Thrum.
Kotone jumps as the world goes black and white for a moment. For a terrible second she worries this is another of her strange visions, another warning from memories that aren’t her own, but the others react too.
“No way,” Fuuka whispers, “What was that? Is it – is it the Dark Hour – are we –”
Junpei is already at the window before she finishes her fearful question, and he turns back around, already shaking his head. “No, everything is the same outside. And the lights are still on. No Dark Hour.”
“But something –”
“Kotone, turn the volume back on.” Aigis suggests, and Kotone scrambles to pull the remote from beneath her thigh and tap the volume back up.
“ It is now March 31st. Here’s a recap from the news of the 30th…”
“How odd. Did the newscaster misread the date? Yesterday was –” Aigis begins, and then the room explodes.
The two weeks since their final battle haven’t softened them enough to make the explosion deadly. They all move quickly, but that doesn’t stop the tiny pin-pricks of pain nettling Kotone’s arms as the floor splinters and breaks.
The coffee table gets thrown into the wall hard enough to break chunks of plaster and wood from the surface and split it in half. The rug tears with a horrible ripping noise and Shinji snatches Koromaru up from the floor as the wooden boards buckle and protrude out, snapping and flinging more splinters around.
Kotone blocks Fuuka from the worst of the blast and twists as two giant metal doors slam open, chains ringing through the room like a prison being unlocked.
“What the hell is going on?!” Junpei yells, protecting Chidori as something revs and whirs below their feet. It sounds like shifting metal, like Aigis’ guns.
“I don’t know! This dormitory does not have a basement!” Mitsuru shouts, ducking down behind her chair as she fumbles for her phone. “I can’t get a signal to call anyone!”
“My internal clock says it is once again the 31st of March, but –”
Kotone hears them all almost distantly. The floor is still heaving, smoke now billowing from the hole in the floor. There’s more terrible noises, all strange and mechanical but for one: a chime, soft and angelic.
A butterfly appears amidst the carnage and hovers over the gaping hole in the floor. Kotone recognizes it: the soft, pretty blue that reminds her of a jewel. Or Aigis’ eyes. Or… Ryoji, for some distant, sad reason. It always made her think of the Velvet Room, and her Persona.
She stretches out a hand instinctively and it lands on her finger.
“Kotone –” Shinji starts, and it’s a warning, but Kotone doesn’t hear the rest.
It’s a masculine voice. Softer than Shinji’s. There’s no rough-cough-rasp from sickness, but there’s no depth like Aki’s, either. No bounce like Junpei. It’s just soft, careful, almost thoughtful. She doesn’t recognize it.
It sounds agonized, too. I’m sorry. It’s the only selfish thing I’ve ever done. I need you. Help them, the way you helped yours.
“What?” Kotone demands, and then bites her tongue because the butterfly sinks into her skin, and the room fades away.
The last thing she sees is Shinji throwing himself towards her, hand outstretched, fear all over his face.
She dissolves like a Shadow.
—
Here, the story splits in two. Because to her SEES, to the ones that all sacrificed themselves to give each other a little more time, Kotone Shiomi disappears, shattering like a stained glass window and shimmering away like sand in a timid breeze.
But to Kotone, she’s staring at Shinji lurching towards her in one moment, and in the next she’s drowning. It’s not water, it’s sand, it’s all sand. She doesn’t know how much time passes as she chokes and gags on it, as it fills her shoes and mouth and nose. She tries to swim, tries to struggle, and feels herself sink deeper and deeper.
For a moment, she thinks she’s going to die.
And then her fingers break through the hot sand into open air. She could scream if there were air in her lungs, but as it is she just pushes, tries to get out. Familiar warm metal fingers grab her wrist and pull, and within moments she’s being dragged out onto carpet that she knows , and the edge of her familiar dormitory couch is in her vision as she coughs and shudders on her hands and knees, regaining her breath.
She looks up, and Aigis is looking down at her with wide, alarmed eyes. Behind the robot girl, Junpei and Fuuka are leaning over her and staring.
“What – what happened?” Kotone asks, her voice a little hoarse.
“Better question,” Mitsuru says, crossing her arms over her chest. She looks down at Kotone, and Kotone shrinks a little bit at the full force of her cold, wary eyes. “Who are you?”
“What?” Kotone scrambles to her feet, “Mitsuru-senpai, what do you –”
“You know her name?” Akihiko queries, aggression in his tone, and Kotone jumps a little, spinning to look at him. He’s guarding Koromaru, fists raised defensively. “Who are you?”
“Aki-senpai? When did you get here?” Kotone demands, and then looks around, “Where’s Shinji? Is he okay? Did he get hurt?”
The look on Akihiko’s face is so stricken that Kotone knows, instantly, that she’s made a mistake.
“You are not our Makoto,” Aigis says, raising her hand as her fingers turn into guns. “But you feel like him. You feel just like him.”
She looks heartbroken, and Kotone remembers the quiet male voice that begged for her help. Aigis’s eyes spiral, and then narrow. Her fingers level at Kotone’s chest, and she looks so much less human, so much more like a weapon.
For the first time in twenty-six days, something stirs in Kotone’s heart. Something uncoils, unlocks shifts around.
“You are… dangerous.” Aigis declares.
Kotone takes a breath and summons her Persona.