Epilogue

On March 31st, most of the SEES members gathered at the dorm to celebrate its last day open. It was the end of an era, and they felt that it was only right to have a little farewell party in the place that they were all able to call home for a little while.

In addition to the celebration, there was another purpose for meeting up again: To return their Evokers to Mitsuru. There was no point in keeping them anymore, now that the Shadows were gone, and so it was decided that they would surrender them to her. Aigis brought Minato's Evoker, having kept it after his passing.

Two members decided to skip out on the event, making excuses for not going despite having been notified more than two weeks ago. Akihiko told them that he was going to be busy at the gym, and Yukari left them a message saying that she had cram school that day. They left their Evokers behind for Mitsuru to collect, and neither had any reason to return to the dorm, as both of them had already moved out.

The others still had their little party, though it was a bittersweet one. They spent the afternoon and evening chatting and reminiscing while feasting on the sushi Mitsuru provided for them. Even though they were missing some members, they were still able to enjoy one another's company.

Just before midnight that night, they all turned their attention to the news report on the TV. They all had a strange feeling come upon them, like a slab of glass cracking within their chests. The next thing they knew, the reporter announced that it was March 31st again. Confused, they checked their phones for the time and date, and sure enough the little screens all read midnight on March 31st.

As strange as the situation was, Aigis decided to return to her room to go to bed. Ryuichi asked Mitsuru if she wanted to return home, but she decided to stay until she was certain that everything was all right. She called Yukari and Akihiko to check on them, and the others stayed in the lounge, trying to figure out if there was some sort of glitch with their phones or if the news report had been mistaken.

Without warning, the floor beneath the dining table opened up like two heavy iron basement doors, revealing a stairway leading downstairs. A girl emerged with a black mechanical body and a white arm, appearing to be an android much like Aigis. She wore a skirt of feather-shaped metal pieces in red and steel colors for armor and wielded a golden war hammer. She had short, black hair and wore a red and gold visor over her face.

She attacked. Without their weapons or Evokers, they all fell to her with little resistance. Fuuka managed to slip away to get Aigis, who came and summoned Pallas Athena to attack the intruder. Her Persona then transformed into Orpheus, and everyone stared in bewilderment as their late leader's Persona subdued the girl. Shortly after, Aigis collapsed.

While Aigis was still unconscious, Mitsuru and Fuuka worked to repair any damage she suffered in her battle with the strange girl. Despite attacking them before, the girl gave them some armor to put on Aigis, as though expecting her to go into battle when she woke up. Mitsuru complied, though she was reluctant to do so.

Akihiko and Yukari were called to come in, but didn't arrive until morning. Both were agitated for being summoned, clearly not wanting to be there, but they were instructed to help the others guard the girl in shifts. She eventually introduced herself as Metis and kept calling Aigis her sister.

Shortly after Yukari and Akihiko arrived at the dorm, they found that there was no way to leave. None of the exits would open, no matter how much they rammed themselves into the doors or tried to kick them in. They tried the windows, and even threw a chair at one, but they wouldn't shatter. With no way out, they decided to ration the little food they had, which wasn't much beyond instant noodles and rice.

When Aigis regained consciousness, Metis informed them all about something called the Abyss of Time. According to her, "The Abyss of Time below is causing a space-time distortion", which was the apparent cause of March 31st repeating itself and preventing them from leaving the dorm.

With no effort at all, she broke through the chains they had restrained her with and took them through the large doors in the dining room floor. The stairs took them to a vast desert with doors propped up on the sand. Metis explained to them that the Abyss of Time was its own entity, but for some reason it branched out to the dorm.

She told them that the flow of time there was not normal, and that she planned to eliminate them all to eradicate the Abyss of Time. The others didn't take her plan too well, and instead decided to investigate.

Mitsuru stepped up as leader and assigned roles to everyone. Aigis was appointed as the new leader in battle, due to her gaining the ability to change Personas like Minato used to. Junpei and Koromaru were sent to see if the Abyss of Time connected to any other parts of the dorm. With Ryuichi's help, Mitsuru searched Ikutsuki's old room in the command room to see if there was any information there regarding the Abyss of Time.

Aigis took a team with her to investigate the Desert of Doors just below the dorm. There, they found a dark figure enter one of the doors, and the team followed it. They ended up in a hallway that looked to have come from the dorm, with the same plain walls and the green carpet patched with yellow. Every so often, they came across a hole in the ground that led downwards to another hallway.

Down and down they went, fighting Shadows along the way. At the bottom, they came across some powerful Shadows. The dark figure from before ran by, and when Fuuka tried to identify it with Juno, she couldn't get a clear reading. It ran off, and they tried to pursue it when the Shadows attacked. They defeated the Shadows and came to a door standing on a platform, with sand spilling down from overhead and a giant, ornate pendulum swinging nearby.

The rest of the SEES team joined them by the mysterious door. When they entered it, it took them to Paulownia Mall. They noticed it was unusually hot there for a spring day, and when they ran into Officer Kurosawa, he scolded them for cutting class. They tried telling him that it was spring break, but he told them that it was actually June. In fact, a calendar in a store window indicated that it was June of 2009. They had been transported into the past.

With nothing more to do, they re-entered the door they had come in from, only to find themselves back in the dorm. They came out from Ryuichi's old bedroom door and appeared in the lounge behind the front desk. They couldn't access his room anymore, but they now had direct access to Paulownia Mall where they could stock up on supplies if needed.

Since they had no idea how long they would be trapped in the dorm, they all decided it was best to do a little shopping. Those who had already moved out had to buy bedding for their bare beds or futons to sleep on. Medicines, toiletries, clothes, and weapons were on their shopping list, and they were fortunate that there were some discount stores in the mall to help with their sparse budget. Any money they got from battling Shadows was put towards sustaining them, and they had to make sure to set aside some funds to pay for the expensive foods at the food court for their meals.

When they had a chance to talk about their situation, it became apparent that this Abyss of Time was like an upside-down Tartarus. The similarities were too much to ignore, especially now that they were back to fighting Shadows again with their Personas. Yukari complained that she had been ready to face the future and not look back to the past, only for them to be hurled back into a situation similar to what they experienced only last year.

There were still several doors to explore in the Desert of Doors. Aigis took another team, and when they saw that shadowy figure again, they pursued it through a different door. Once again, they continued deeper and deeper down through the Abyss of Time and came upon another set of powerful Shadows. The shadowy figure fled again, and after their battle, they came to yet another door, just like the one that took them to Paulownia Mall.

This time, the door didn't take them anywhere, but showed them a memory from the past. It showed Ken sitting in the police station, having just lost his mother. His claims of a monster destroying his house and killing his mother were dismissed by the police officer there, who told him that a car had crashed into their house instead. When the memory finished out, the door disappeared.

No one knew why they had viewed such a painful memory for Ken, but he was strangely calm about it. Metis suspected that the door "reflects the mind of those who enter it", and gave an example of how everyone's desire to get supplies opened a way to Paulownia Mall, which then gave them direct access from the dorm. She then explained that, with everyone sharing the same desire to escape from the Abyss of Time, there must have been a reason why they observed that particular memory of Ken's, and that there could be more memories they had yet to see.

Each door they entered in the Desert of Doors took them to a new memory. Akihiko's showed them the day that Mitsuru recruited him to join SEES. Junpei's revealed that he had run from his drunken father and ended up at Paulownia Mall the day Akihiko saved him during the Dark Hour.

It was around that time when Aigis noticed that Metis, despite being a humanoid android like her, was full of emotions, much like a normal girl. Compared to her, she was lively and spunky since they first met, whereas Aigis took several months to awaken to her emotions.

At some point, Metis pointed out that she got a strange feeling whenever she stood in front of Minato's bedroom door. For some reason, there was now a white-blue light emanating from it. When they tried to open it, they found the door to be locked, and no one had the key. No one wanted to try to break it down, as though it was a sacred place they shouldn't disturb.

There were more memories to see. Mitsuru's surprised her when she saw her father alive and well on the day she accompanied him, some bodyguards, and a scientist to investigate Tartarus about ten or so years ago. Ryuichi wanted to say something to try to comfort her, but he wasn't sure what to say after something like that.

Mitsuru was able to compose herself with Junpei's help. He pointed out how cute she had been as a child, and Mitsuru playfully fired back by asking if that wasn't the case anymore. While the others chuckled at Junpei's panicked reply, Ryuichi silently thanked Junpei for cheering her up.

"Thank you for holding back," Mitsuru whispered to Ryuichi when they were resting back at the dorm.

Ryuichi studied her face carefully. "Are you okay, though?" he asked her, not at all surprised that she was aware he wanted to help her before.

"It's fine. It just surprised me; that's all."

Ryuichi wanted to do more to comfort her and offered to make her some tea. She agreed to it as she walked away, letting him know that she didn't want to talk for the moment.

The next memory they came across was Ryuichi's. He held his breath when he saw his middle school self fleeing up the steps of Naganaki Shrine, all beaten up and filthy with blood and grime and dirt. A goopy Maya Shadow chased after him and slashed his calves with a knife. Little Ryuichi pitched forward and fell, his glasses cracking from the impact. As he lay there, ice exploded upon the Shadow, encasing it in a small iceberg.

A younger Mitsuru hurried to him, looking him over. "Are you all right? Here, give me your handkerchief so I can try to stop the bleeding."

Ryuichi remembered being so terrified back then. Not only had he survived the worst day of his life, he got chased by a monster and was rescued by his crush, who saw him get pantsed only hours prior. He sympathized with his younger self, watching as Mitsuru tied both his handkerchief and hers around the gashes on his calves. She helped him to a sitting position and handed him back his cracked glasses before straightening up.

"Akihiko. Akihiko, come in," she said urgently into her radio. "Can you hear me?"

She went over to inspect the Shadow, still sealed in ice. Static crackled over her radio, and she asked Akihiko to repeat what he had just said. She turned and started heading back to Ryuichi, still trying to explain her situation.

"I'm at Naganaki Shrine," she said. "Yes, he's safe, but—"

Ice cracked. Little Ryuichi looked up to see that the Shadow's hand wielding the knife had broken free from its frigid prison.

"—what was that? You're breaking up," Mitsuru said, not having heard the ice cracking.

The injured Ryuichi staggered to his feet. Mitsuru saw him and ordered him to sit back down. She hadn't noticed the Shadow at all.

"Look out!" Ryuichi cried, and ran over to shove her out of the way.

A glint of metal flew through the darkness. Ryuichi suddenly clutched his stomach, the knife handle sticking out next to his navel. As he collapsed, Mitsuru quickly fired several rounds from her Evoker. The memory closed out with the Shadow getting crushed with ice.

The door disappeared. Everyone looked to Ryuichi with questions plain on their stupefied faces. All he could do was avoid all their gazes and smile shyly.

"Guess I owe you all an explanation," he said, and they decided to head back to the dorm to talk about his memory over tea.

While Fuuka made tea, Ryuichi started to tell the story of how that day played out for him. He explained his family situation at the time, the struggle with the rain drenching him and forcing him to change into his gym uniform, and how he was helping Mitsuru getting some supplies for their next class when his bully pantsed him. They were horrified to hear that, even after humiliating him during school, his bullies still beat him up afterward and left him unconscious in an alley on Tatsumi Port Island. The part that silenced them was when he tried to take his own life by jumping on the train tracks, only for the Dark Hour to save him.

Ryuichi noticed that Mitsuru was squeezing herself around her middle the entire time. She was exceptionally tense, but he understood why. He made sure to keep his hand away from her so she wouldn't be tempted to hold onto it to try to comfort him.

"So, you weren't part of SEES at that time?" Ken asked him once he was through with his tale.

"No, not yet," Ryuichi said. "It was after Mitsuru saved me that I decided to join."

"Does that mean your reason for working for Mitsuru was because she saved you?" Akihiko asked next.

"Pretty much." Ryuichi smiled painfully, noticing that Mitsuru still appeared sullen. "I mean, how could I not want to serve someone who saved my life? I'm just lucky we ended up being really good friends."

"I never would've guessed that you tried to take your own life, since you always seem so happy," Fuuka said glumly to him.

"Well, my life got a lot better since then, so I was just happy to have gotten out of my old life," Ryuichi replied. "At least, until last year happened."

Yukari looked to him with curiosity. "So, even though all of that happened to you, you didn't look back at your old life?"

Something about how she said that struck Ryuichi as odd. "I didn't really want to look back. I was a lot happier when I was able to get away from my family, and things only got better from there," he answered, and Yukari seemed to draw some reassurance from him.

Before they could ask any more questions, he made a show of standing up to stretch and forced a yawn. "Anyway, I'm beat," he said to them all. "I think I'm gonna sleep upstairs in the command room tonight, so whoever's on watch before me, you know where to find me."

He was grateful to have an enclosed space all to himself for a change. Since he couldn't access his room anymore, he had been sleeping on the couches in the lounge for what felt like weeks now, mostly to keep watch over the giant doors in the dining room floor. There was almost no privacy there, but at least now he had a chance to be alone for a little while.

He got to thinking about the night that Mitsuru saved him from that Shadow. He had a feeling that that was going to be the memory that popped up, but he didn't think he was going to tell the entire story of that day. He felt so drained from sharing something so personal with everyone, and being alone only made him dwell on it more.

Mitsuru didn't let him stay alone for too long. She brought him some more tea and a box of chocolate sandwich cookies. She kept him company, the two talking quietly for quite some time. She played with his hair while he laid his head in her lap, and in return, he massaged her aching feet. Incredibly, no one came up to check on them, and Mitsuru left before anyone got suspicious of them.

The second to last door showed Yukari's memory. They all watched what had to be close to the end of her first year of high school, sitting alone with her school bag and her archery equipment and lamenting about how she spent the past four years investigating what happened to her father all those years ago. The dorm manager appeared and gave her a letter that had come in just the day before, and the memory ended with her running off.

Mitsuru realized that that Yukari had spent those years trying to learn the truth behind the Kirijo Group's deception all by herself. She suggested that it would've been better if Yukari had gotten to see a memory with her father in it, just like she did, but Yukari still refused to look back to the past. Mitsuru argued that she had been pushing herself too hard doing just that.

It was then that it dawned on everyone that every memory they viewed had to do with their reasons for awakening to their Personas. Since Fuuka awakened to hers in front of everyone, they didn't have to view her memory. Koromaru didn't have a memory to view, but they knew that he had awakened to his Persona when he protected the place where his owner had been hit by a car and died. Metis and Aigis both had the ability to summon their Personas from the start, so there was no need to see their memories, either.

There was still one more door to venture through. However, they had seen everyone's memories that needed to be seen. So, whose memory was left?

And that shadowy figure they kept seeing—Fuuka suggested that it was trying to show them something. When they saw it run past again, she sounded like she was going to identify it, only to fail to finish her thoughts.

They finally reached the deepest part of the Abyss of Time, finding the final door. The SEES members took a moment to discuss some of the research that Fuuka read from Ikutsuki's files, learning that the creation of Tartarus produced a reaction that created the Abyss of Time.

The researchers apparently knew about The Abyss of Time for the ten or so years it has been around, but determined that it was harmless if left alone, believing that it would likely disappear with Tartarus. The files also indicated that there shouldn't be any Shadows inside, since the Abyss was just a byproduct of the creation of Tartarus.

Except, they had been encountering Shadows since they first started exploring the Abyss. While they pondered why, they also started to question why the Abyss of Time was still there, even after Tartarus had disappeared.

"What was supposed to vanish is still here because of some force. One side's removal caused an imbalance," Metis explained.

When asked what that force was, she didn't have an answer. However, she hinted that that force was "deeply connected to all of you".

They hoped to find out what that force was when they opened the final door. They saw Aigis sitting alone in darkness, with a single spotlight shining down on her. She looked so broken, so dejected, and so lost, like she might never find a way out of the darkness.

Another spotlight shone a good distance away from her. Everyone watched in awe when they saw their leader, standing as he always did with his slight hunch, hands deep in his pockets, and head down, exuding the familiar indifference in his posture. He had his back to Aigis, and without a word, began to walk away from her.

Aigis gave chase, but no matter how fast she ran, Minato's slow footsteps seemed to outpace her. Begging for him to wait for her, she tripped, her body clattering to the ground. Minato continued to walk further and further away until finally his spotlight faded, making him disappear into the darkness.

Aigis staggered to her feet. She stared out to where Minato had disappeared, no longer eager to chase him.

"I promised to protect you," they all heard her say. "I dedicated my life to that purpose. But, I cannot fulfill that purpose anymore. There's nothing more I can do."

Her shoulders sagged. "Can I continue to 'live' this way? Does my life have a meaning?"

She let out a frustrated sigh and fell back, landing hard on her backside. "If so, I wish I could return to being a mere machine," she mumbled quietly.

Her words made the others hurt for Aigis. All of them loved Minato, and all of them hurt when he passed away, but seeing Aigis' memory made it clear to them that his death hurt her so deeply that she couldn't bear the pain of loss anymore.

The memory continued to play. A brilliant, white light shone from far off, blinding everyone as it cast out the darkness. Just as the light became too unbearable to see, they made out a shadowy figure that stood up behind Aigis before the memory ended.

The others were confused as to why they were able to see Aigis' memory, since she didn't have to awaken to her Persona. Yukari argued otherwise.

"No, she did. She awakened to the special power Minato had," she pointed out.

Aigis explained that she would always awaken to that nightmare, always chasing after him in her dreams. Losing Minato had been pure agony for her, until one day, the pain left her, and she stopped dreaming entirely.

They all felt the same way. They all wanted to see Minato again, wanted to laugh with him again, talk with him, get ramen with him, and just live life with their friend. They missed him dearly.

"This is the reason for everything, from the Abyss of Time's failure to disappear, to the presence of Shadows—This was born from all of you," Metis said of their guilt.

It was all so clear to them now. Each and everyone one of them felt a deep remorse for not being able to save Minato. Ryuichi understood now that his friends didn't blame him for letting Minato die, but that their anger towards themselves was misdirected at him. Even after understanding this, he still felt a gaping hole in his chest for failing to protect their friend.

As they came to their realization, a Shadow appeared before them where the door to Aigis' memory once stood. It took the form of a shadowy Minato, with silver eyes shining amid his darkened visage.

Even though it looked like Minato, they were all resolved to defeat this monster that dared to imitate their friend's appearance. It even summoned different Personas like he used to, switching so effortlessly and attacking them without a second thought.

When they finally eliminated the monster, they watched as Dark Minato's body slowly had its layers stripped away. His skin flaked off to reveal raw muscles, and shortly after, the muscles lifted away to expose his skeleton and organs, his beating heart visible through his ribcage. Numerous electric blue butterflies appeared around him, covering his body before leaving his corpse in darkness.

"That was the monster born from us?" Yukari asked in disbelief. "But it was..."

She glanced back to Mitsuru, who met her gaze. "Yes. Its power and form were familiar, but it was a Shadow," Mitsuru told them all.

When Metis confirmed that her claim was true, the others had trouble believing it.

"That doesn't make sense! Personas are supposed to beat Shadows, right?" Junpei asked Metis.

It was Metis' turn to be surprised. "What are you talking about? Don't tell me you've been fighting them this whole time without knowing."

Without giving them a chance to respond, Metis launched into an explanation. "Personas and Shadows are the same thing. That's why you're able to fight them in the first place."

They still couldn't believe it. And yet, it was the only thing that made sense just then.

"Did you all think that Shadows were mysterious invaders or something?" Metis' accusing tone didn't rattle them. "Shadows are the lower parts of the psyche everyone has: Suppressed human thoughts given physical form. When people are unable to face their darker selves, they break loose, free from all control.

"But sometimes, humans with special awareness can tame their Shadows," she continued, not losing the attitude in her voice. "Those are Persona-users."

She argued that whoever created her and her sister Aigis should've understood the explanation she had just given. Mitsuru calmly told her that everyone who was involved in their creation died long ago. Yukari flinched from her words.

"Then, the reason for all of this is our Personas?" Fuuka asked.

Metis looked to her now. "The Shadows' power affects time and even space. Through your Personas, your unspoken desires were manifested. You can't stand to see time move on. You don't want to accept your loss of someone precious. It was by each of your wishes that time stopped moving forward. And as a result, you became trapped here."

Ken let out a hollow chuckle. "So we trapped ourselves? Hah. It's almost funny."

No one laughed. Their situation was far from funny, and so absurd that they had no choice but to believe it.

Akihiko asked if defeating that Shadow that looked like their old leader meant that they were now free. As Metis agreed that they should be able to leave the dorm, everyone felt their hands (or jaws, in Koromaru's case) grow heavy with the weight of a key that materialized out of thin air.

"You should be able to leave with those keys," Metis said. "Once you make it outside, the Abyss of Time should disappear on its own."

There were nine keys in total, since they all played a part in getting trapped in the Abyss of Time. Metis told them that the door most likely won't open unless all nine keys are used simultaneously.

Aigis gasped. "'Strength of heart, when united, is barred by no door'," she whispered next to Ryuichi. Before he could ask, the conversation moved on without him.

Junpei grew eager to open up the dorm's front door to leave, but Metis told them that there were two doors of their choosing. The first one was, obviously, the front door of the dormitory. The other door was the one to Minato's bedroom.

"If you go through the entrance, you'll return to the present. But that door leads to the past," Metis explained.

The other doors they had gone through had also taken them to the past, but passing through Minato's door led to what she called "the true past". If they were to enter that door, the Abyss of Time would disappear.

"To accept the past, or to revisit it," Mitsuru said, weighing their options. "You're saying that in the end, we have to choose."

If they left through the front door, that meant that they accepted Minato's death and chose to move forward from it. If they take Minato's door to the "true past", they will be given the chance to save Minato. Consequently, they risked failing to prevent the Fall.

For the time being, they returned to the dorm to think about their options. When they entered the lounge, they were shocked to see massive cracks all throughout the floors, shining golden light from below. Metis warned them that the Abyss of Time was becoming unstable and that if it worsens, they might not be able to escape, even with the keys.

Their arguments clashed on what they should do. Akihiko and Ken were ready to accept their leader's death and wanted to use the keys on the front door so they could go back to their lives. They believed that whatever Minato did to stop Nyx had to be a miracle, and did not want to risk undoing what he had done to prevent the Fall.

Yukari surprised everyone by wanting to go to the past. After all her talk about moving forward and refusing to look back, she became erratic and desperate, unleashing her wrath on everyone whenever they refuted anything she said. She explained that she kept herself busy by going to cram school because she didn't want to waste Minato's efforts in giving them a future. But, when she was presented with the possibility of saving him, the thought consumed her.

"If there's a way for him to come back, I'll take it no matter what," Yukari said darkly to them all.

And then there were those who weren't sure what to do. Junpei expressed that he thought about what he would do if it was Chidori he had to save instead, but also said that he was afraid of having to fight that battle again.

"Well, aren't you lucky!" Yukari screeched at him. "Your girlfriend got to come back to life, so you don't have to worry about trying to save her! And what's wrong with you? Are you saying you're scared to die, but it's okay if Minato does?"

Koromaru seemed to side with Junpei as he stared up at him with his sorrowful eyes. Aigis wasn't sure of what she wanted to do, getting more and more confused as the others continued to argue. Metis said that she would side with her sister in whatever she chose.

Ryuichi felt like he was in the same situation as Junpei. He imagined losing Mitsuru, feeling like he would be acting similarly to Yukari just then. He considered what it must be like for Yukari, to lose someone precious to her without an explanation as to how or why, and then to be given the chance to save him. It seemed to him like he would have also leaped at the opportunity.

And yet, he agreed with Akihiko and Ken. He didn't want to risk undoing whatever miracle Minato blessed them with, and like Junpei, he didn't want to have to fight that battle again, not knowing if they would be successful a second time.

Still, he wondered if it really was possible to save Minato. If they could see how he stopped the Fall, then maybe they could find an alternative solution that could spare their friend. If not, he still wanted to move forward with his life, but...

While he contemplated what he wanted to do, Yukari proposed another way to settle things.

"'Another way'?" asked Fuuka. "Yukari-chan, you don't mean—?"

Yukari swept her deranged gaze over to Metis. "Taking the keys by force," she said. "That'll work too, right?"

Her suggestion alarmed the others. It was pure desperation and insanity pouring out of her, where she was getting out of control, but looking at Yukari now, everyone could tell that she was being serious.

"It's true that the nine keys will merge if they're brought together, even against their holders' wishes," Metis confirmed for Yukari, who seemed satisfied with her answer. The others kept quiet.

But then, Metis shot a glare at Yukari. "But if it comes to a fight, I'll protect my sister with everything I have."

She gestured to the keys they all held. "These keys represent each of your strength of heart. If you take my sister's, she may lose her life."

They had no words. They all looked to Aigis, wondering how true Metis' claim was.

"What do you mean?" Mitsuru dared to ask.

Metis held her glare. "You're only thinking of what's best for you," she said, accusing them all. "The person with my sister's powers died of unknown causes, didn't he? Did any of you ever stop to think that maybe the same thing could happen to her?"

They hadn't. None of them even considered that possessing such a power could result in death.

Metis vowed to protect Aigis, no matter what. If battle was imminent, then she was ready to fight anyone who dared to oppose her sister.

Aigis, however, was hesitant, both in battle and in deciding which door she wanted to unlock. Her inability to choose seemed to set off Yukari even more.

"So, you're just gonna run away? Again?" Yukari taunted her. "Just like the day we said our farewells to him, and you were the only one who didn't show up."

Aigis was clearly shaken by her accusation. No one stepped up to defend her.

"You got to hear his last words," Yukari snarled at her. "You even made him a promise. But here you are, still running."

Yukari's cold eyes met Aigis' blank ones. "Why were you the only one who inherited his power when you can't even make up your mind? I'm sorry, but I'm not going to lose to someone like you!"

This wasn't the Yukari they all knew. Desperation, despair, and jealousy had taken over her, driving her to lash out at everyone and make brash decisions. When Fuuka asked her if she was truly going to fight, she didn't answer.

"This decision hinges upon someone precious to us all. Our difference can't be settled with a compromise," Mitsuru said calmly in a grave voice. "No matter what Aigis decides, we have no choice but to fight."

She then shocked everyone by siding with Yukari.

"What are you saying?" Ryuichi gasped at Mitsuru, who averted her eyes without a word.

"You're taking her side?" Akihiko growled at Mitsuru. "Are you serious?"

All Mitsuru did was nod. It was all it took to confound and frustrate the others.

Ryuichi still couldn't believe that Mitsuru chose to support Yukari, after how brazen and borderline psychotic she was behaving. She wouldn't have allowed such behavior before, and to support it now, he wasn't even sure if it was really Mitsuru who stood before him.

"Follow me," Metis said to everyone. "I'll lead you to a place suitable for battle."

They all looked to her in curiosity, wondering how such a place could exist.

"If we fight there, no one can appeal the result," Metis told them, and turned and headed towards the back door.

Ryuichi watched as his friends' bonds fractured before him. He thought hard on what he wanted to do, but the harder he tried, the harder it was for him to process his options. He wanted another alternative, where they could save Minato and then start time again with him in their lives. He wanted everyone to calm down and try to rationalize their decisions so they wouldn't have to fight. When he finally looked up from his thoughts, he saw that everyone had chosen their groups. He stood alone.

"Mitsuru," Ryuichi uttered as he approached her. "Are you sure about this? Don't you want to think about it first?"

"I've already made up my mind," she said coldly to him. "As I said before, I will stand with Yukari."

He couldn't believe it. "But why?"

"I agree with her on some points. Furthermore..."

She hesitated, avoiding his woeful gaze. "We might have to fight you, but I won't concede," she warned him. "So there's no need to hold back."

She walked away. As she passed him, Ryuichi saw nothing but raw agony in her eyes. That was all he needed to know that Mitsuru didn't completely agree with Yukari's reasoning, yet for some reason, she still sided with her.

When everyone was ready, Metis took them to the back door. A blue light shone through the cracks, and when she opened the door, they were all transported to a new place.

Ryuichi found himself standing alone in a circular space made of carved stone. Tall lamps with candles stood on either side of a lush, red carpet that spanned across the floor, heading up some stairs to a massive, intricately carved door with a glowing clock motif above it. There was no ceiling, but there was a warm, yellow light in the sky, like it was the middle of the afternoon. Beyond the stone space were some bushes that surrounded the area.

"Where is this?"

Ryuichi looked around. Sure enough, he was the only one there, despite having walked through the door with everyone else. All he had on him were a few items in his pockets, the cheap replica katana he got from Paulownia Mall, his Evoker, and that cursed key that everyone sought after.

He wasn't sure what else to do, so he approached the large door. It opened at his touch, taking him to a large arena that looked to be carved from the depths of hell itself. The darker stone had another clock motif that covered the floor, and every second, one Roman Numeral number there would flash a bright orange consecutively. An iron gate surrounded the arena, preventing anyone from retreating, should the battle start to go badly for them. Tall, unlit torches stood on spiraling stands, but there was no need for them, as the vast arena was lit up by the fiery sky up above.

Ryuichi made his way to the center of the arena. A flash of light caught his attention, and to his horror, the door on the opposite side of the arena opened, and Yukari and Mitsuru appeared.

Yukari had a swagger about her when she saw him. "Well, if it isn't Ryuichi-senpai," she sneered at him. "How does it feel knowing that your girlfriend doesn't agree with your decision?"

Ryuichi said nothing. He kept his stern stare on Yukari, just barely seeing the discomfort leave cracks on Mitsuru's visage.

"What's the matter? Not even going to deny it anymore?" Yukari shook her head in disappointment. "It's not like you guys tried to hide it anyway."

Ryuichi steeled himself, feeling his chest tighten. "Yukari, Mitsuru—Can't we talk about this? Can't we try to find another way?"

"Geez, Ryuichi-senpai. You're so pathetic." Yukari frowned at him in disgust. "Looking at you now, I guess I had it wrong: There's no way Mitsuru-senpai could be into someone as pathetic as you."

Her words shot him in the heart. "When you start attacking a person instead of arguing about the topic at hand, it means that you've already lost the argument," he snarled back at her.

Yukari slashed the air with her bow. "You're one to talk!" she spat. "At least I've made my decision on what I want to do. You still haven't decided, have you? What do you even think you're fighting for?"

"To stop you," he replied in a calm voice. "If I can stop the two of you here, then at least the others have a chance to make a rational decision."

"'Stop me'? Hah!" Yukari nocked an arrow and took aim at him. "I'd like to see you try."

Ryuichi looked to Mitsuru now. "Mitsuru, you gotta talk to her," he pleaded with her. "At least reconsider your decision."

She brandished her sword at him. "If you're intent on stopping us, then prove it in battle," she challenged him. "I'm warning you now: I will not hold back."

"But what if there's another option?" he said to her. For just a second, she seemed to consider it. "Remember what happened with the Fall? It was supposed to be inevitable, but—"

Yukari loosed an arrow. Ryuichi leaned away in time for it to only graze his neck. He touched where it scratched him, finding blood on his fingertips.

"I'm done with listening to you!" Yukari raged at him, and pulled the trigger on her Evoker.

Her Garudyne only tossed him into the air without scratching him, then dropped him to the ground. He knew his own wind spells would only achieve the same effect against Yukari, and instead planned to use it only to stun or stall her, if necessary. He cast enhancements on himself, making it so he was too fast for either of the girls to strike him. His increased defense reduced the damage they dealt to him, where he barely felt it when Yukari tried smacking him with her bow.

"Fight seriously!" Yukari yelled.

Ryuichi refused to attack them. He saw that even Mitsuru hesitated to summon Artemisia, where she carefully calculated her aim to blast ice near him, but not onto him nor in his path when he propelled himself forward with his wind spells.

"Don't get soft on me now, Mitsuru-senpai!" Yukari raged at her. "Or what, does he mean that much to you? Are you scared to hit your own boyfriend?"

Mitsuru's frigid demeanor hardened. She turned to Ryuichi and pulled the trigger. Panicked, he thrust himself away with a powerful Garudyne, casting it twice after to dodge more of Mitsuru's spells. Ice bombarded the arena, and as Ryuichi sped around Yukari, another block of ice almost struck her instead.

"Hey!"

Horrified, Mitsuru lowered her Evoker. "S-Sorry," she murmured, and raised it again to fire more rounds into her head.

Yukari hurled ice with wind. Each chunk of ice missed Ryuichi and smashed against the fences. He kept dodging with wind, even flying up in the air. Ice that formed up there with him fell and crashed to the ground.

When Yukari cast Magarudyne, he grabbed onto one of the unlit torches and held on. Mitsuru protected herself and Yukari in ice while powerful winds sent ice chunks swirling and smashing into anything they could reach. Ryuichi had Heimdall appear and shield him with his massive armored body, and sent him away when the winds died down.

Another arrow almost struck him while he jumped down from the torch. He dropped to the ground and used Garudyne to pop Yukari off of her feet. He gasped and looked away when he accidentally caught a glimpse of her pink and white striped underwear before she held down her skirt.

"Oh, that's really low, Ryuichi-senpai!" Yukari growled.

"W-Wait, that's not what I was trying to do!" he pleaded with her.

She fired a round into her chest, and a pair of familiar white orbs of light appeared high overhead.

"Megidolaon?" he yelped. "But how?"

He barely uttered the words when the orbs struck the ground. The force sent him hurtling in the air until he slammed into one of the large doors and fell to the floor. Panting and shaking, he looked up to see another Megidolaon coming for him. He fired three rounds, using wind to launch him away from the blast zone. Another pair of light orbs descended immediately after, and he saw that it came from Mitsuru.

"You, too?" he cried out in a panic, barely dodging that one.

Yukari cast it again. And again. She didn't notice that Ryuichi had gotten close to her, and while he avoided it, she was caught in her own spell.

"Shit! Yukari!"

Ryuichi hurried over to check on her. Apologizing, he started helping her up, but she shoved him away and thrust him back with Garudyne.

"Don't pity me!" she screeched at him. "Why won't you fight back? Are you that indecisive that you won't even try? Or are you too scared to hit your girlfriend?"

Ryuichi resisted the urge to look at Mitsuru. "I want to try to find another way!" he bellowed back.

"For what? Either we go back and save Minato, or we just walk away and pretend like he never lived!"

"But he did live! We're not forgetting him, we're just moving forward with our lives!"

"But you'd rather take away his chance to live! Is that it?"

"No. Yukari, please—"

She threw a Zionga Gem at him. Electricity exploded down on him, and his body locked up. He dropped to one knee, still grasping his Evoker. He managed to raise the muzzle under his chin as Mitsuru hurried over to press the tip of her sword to his throat.

"Mitsuru?"

She had nothing but pure anguish on her face as she looked upon him. She kept her sword pressed to his skin, her other hand keeping her Evoker aimed at her temple. Looking at her now, all the betrayal he felt from before left him.

"It must be so hard for you right now, huh?" he asked her softly, taking pity on her. He peered around behind her, seeing Yukari get up with a gleeful look on her face.

Mitsuru pressed her sword deeper into his throat. She held it there as Ryuichi staggered to his feet. He kept his Evoker pointed under his chin.

"What are you waiting for, Mitsuru-senpai? Finish him!" Yukari shouted at her. She wasn't smiling anymore.

Mitsuru's face twisted up in excruciating anguish. "Ryuichi, I'm sorry," she muttered under her breath to him.

He knew she wouldn't have said anything or shown the agony on her face if her back hadn't been towards Yukari just then. He said nothing, only bowing his head to accept the final blow.

It never came. He looked up to see Mitsuru's hand shaking as she tried to squeeze the trigger. She took a deep breath and held it, and when she tried to pull it again, Ryuichi pulled his first.

Warm, rejuvenating light enveloped both Mitsuru and Yukari as an arrow struck Ryuichi in the chest. Stunned, he looked down to see the fletching sticking out over his heart. Mitsuru stood frozen in wide-eyed horror as he collapsed to the floor.

"Ryuichi!"

Mitsuru knelt by him, her mouth agape as she touched the area around his chest where the arrow had struck him. She frantically cast Diarahan over and over on him, trying to keep him alive.

He couldn't even feel the pain from the arrow ripping through bone and flesh, nor the warmth of Mitsuru's healing spell. He barely heard her desperate apologies and her pleas for him to live.

"Mitsuru..."

She fell silent and peered down at his face. Smiling, Ryuichi uttered in a raspy voice: "I forgive you. Yukari, too."

He disappeared beneath Mitsuru's fingertips in a cluster of fiery light. The flames of his being appeared over one of the unlit torches, burning brightly but adding no light to the arena. With his loss, the first key was claimed.

When all the battles were over, Ryuichi regained consciousness and found himself standing in the arena with everyone. The wounds he suffered were healed, and the arrow in his chest had disappeared. He looked up to see Mitsuru staring at him with apology in her eyes, looking like she wanted to run over to him. He gave her a look to tell her to stay put.

The others appeared stunned, but also were silently seething in their failures. Even the victors, Aigis and Metis, appeared disgusted with themselves as they clutched the True Key, which was awarded to them once they defeated the others and combine all their keys.

Without warning, Yukari tried to wrestle the key away from her, demanding that she give it to her.

"It's no use," Metis said to the enraged girl. "Only my sister can use the true key now."

At her words, Yukari let go of the key and dropped to the floor. Her tears spotted the ground as she began to sob.

"I want to see him," she wept in quiet anguish. "I, I made a promise to him, too. I promised that I'd try my best to change this world, so that people would stop wishing for the Fall."

She bowed her head even lower. "It wasn't like yours," she said to Aigis. "It was something I promised myself while holding his cold hand. That's why I decided to put the past behind me, and look forward."

"Yukari-san." It was all Aigis said, but her voice was filled with compassion for her friend.

Yukari sniffled. "But I can't—I can't be that person," she uttered. "I wanna see him. I don't care about anything else! I just wanna see him again!"

They all felt badly for her. They all wanted to see Minato again, but it was clear to them that Yukari wanted it the most. All they could do was watch her sob in despair, having lost her chance to see Minato.

Mitsuru knelt in front of Yukari and placed a firm hand on her shoulder. "Yukari," she said softly, "there's no way to truly put the past behind you. In the end, you only succeed in running from it. It's painful to face, but if you don't, your wounds will never heal."

The anguished girl raised her tearful face and glowered at Mitsuru. "So if I keep facing it, someday everything will be okay?" she sassed at her. "Eventually I'll forget all about him, or stop caring?"

She knocked Mitsuru's hand off of her shoulder and looked away. "Like that's ever going to happen!" she hissed. "No one knows that better than us!"

The tears rolled down her face once more, fresh and hot as she bowed her head again. As she trembled, Mitsuru let out a sigh.

"You're right," she said to Yukari. "But, can't we be there for you, when things are at their worst? The way you were there for me last year?"

It was Mitsuru's turn to look away. "That may not have been what you meant at the time, but even now, I consider your being at my side last year as one of the most cherished moments of my life. That's why, when we lost Arisato without being able to thank him, I swore deep down..."

She took a breath. "If something ever happened to make you suffer, I'd put my own feelings aside and stand with you," Mitsuru said to Yukari.

Slowly, Yukari raised her face, the awe plain in her gaping expression. "Mitsuru-senpai," she murmured, appearing rattled by Mitsuru's confession.

Mitsuru turned back to face her. "Yukari, to lose someone you had such a strong bond with is agony. But, there's no need to suffer alone. You have us with you. Isn't that the whole point of forming such bonds?"

Yukari's face twisted up again, and she leaned her head into Mitsuru's shoulder, letting her tears flow freely once more as she sobbed harder than ever. Mitsuru held her without saying a word, offering the comfort of simply being there for her.

Aigis knelt down by them. "Yukari-san, I understand your feelings," she told her carefully. "Ever since I was born, I have spent all my time thinking about him. So, I suggest we see it. To find out once and for all what he left for us."

Everyone looked to her in confusion as Aigis stood up.

"We still don't know the real reason behind his death," she reminded them all. "Without knowing that reason, I can't decide what is right. That's why I would like to see the past again, before using the key—To see the truth of what happened the moment he used his power."

Aigis figured out that there had to be a way to experience the final battle again without the risk of undoing Minato's efforts. All they needed was a door to see into the past. Akihiko pointed out that all the doors had vanished already, but Fuuka remembered that there was still one door left: The door to Paulownia Mall.

"'The doors reflect the minds of those who enter them'," Aigis recalled Metis telling them long ago. "If our wish is strong enough, we should be able to use that door to look into the past."

Metis found it strange that the door to Paulownia Mall was still there. After all, once the other doors fulfilled their purpose, they disappeared, and yet that particular door remained. She pointed out that the door's role was to enable them to prepare for battle, but now that they finished fighting Shadows and dueling with one another, it still had not vanished. Mitsuru concluded that the reason being was that there was still another enemy waiting for them.

"Our feelings are the reason for all of this, and what Aigis proposed relates directly to the core of our pain," Mitsuru told them. "We should probably expect to encounter something unknown."

They made the decision to go through the door to Paulownia Mall. When they stepped through, they found that, instead of the mall, they were standing back in the Desert of Doors. At the center of all the other doors they had gone through now stood a large, dark door exuding black smoke. After resting up and restocking their supplies, they entered the new door to face their final opponent.

They stood in outer space, just as they did after the last battle. Immediately, they all noticed that they were able to move around and interact with this memory, unlike all the others they had seen.

"I said before, if it's a past that everyone experienced, then you can actual interact with it. The same as that shopping mall," Metis explained to them.

"Wait, everyone?" Junpei asked. "But, you weren't here to experience this."

Just as Metis began to answer, they all looked up to see Minato rising high above them with his hand outstretched towards Nyx. A brilliant, blinding light radiated around him, engulfing him, and when the group could see again, they saw a gargantuan door with shifting eyes before them. They all gasped when they saw Minato, now a stone figure, braced against the door with his arms outstretched and held there with what looked to be barbed wire.

"What, what is this?" Fuuka uttered.

"This is his life essence," Metis said.

They all turned to her, still mortified by what they saw.

Metis never took her eyes off of Minato. "As you can see, this is what happened. He himself became the Great Seal."

Everyone turned their gazes back to the door, trying to process Metis' explanation.

"But, relinquishing one's life essence means death for a human," she continued to say. "He must have already found it: His own answer to life."

Aigis cast her gaze downward. "The answer to life," she murmured to herself.

Metis looked to her sister. "I don't think he has any regrets," she told her. "He managed to keep his promise to you all before his consciousness faded away."

Ken glanced back at her over his shoulder. "'His promise'? You mean to meet up on graduation day?"

"Wait a sec." Akihiko turned to Metis now. "How do you know about that promise?"

"How? I just know," was her answer. "I'm probably just like Nyx and the seal this person became: Something that belongs on this side."

No one understood what she was saying, but she wasn't done.

"Nyx's awakening means the destruction of everything, but think about it: If she's that powerful, how was she contained before he became the seal?" Metis asked everyone.

Fuuka started to suggest that someone else must have been the seal before Metis cut her off, asking about the time before humans ever existed.

"As I understand it, Nyx is neither hostile nor malevolent," she explained. "A seal really isn't necessary."

Yukari balled her hands into fists. "What? Are you saying he did all this for no reason?"

Before Metis could answer, a great rumbling noise through space caught their attention. It reverberated all around them, filled with a devastation and despair that threatened to drain them of any shred of hope they might be carrying.

They saw a colossal monster rising out of a dense smoke that came off of its own body. It had the appearance of two dark, human-shaped torsos attached at the ends of their spines, both with powerful upper arms holding it up like four legs. Its heads were only the lower half of skulls, the teeth grinning below its great horns and massive, glowing, crimson eyes. One of the ends of the monster clawed its way to the door and grabbed onto Minato, fighting to tear him off the door.

The monster was called Erebus, and Fuuka confirmed it was not a Shadow. She described it as "the accumulated malice that came from the hearts of countless living people", and that all of them were crying out for Nyx to put them out of their misery.

Aigis watched the monster continued to paw at Minato. "Last December, I, too, wished to learn death. It's probably true that people in town are wishing to touch it somewhere in their hearts. There is only one thing that differentiates life from stillness: It's that we die. That's all there is."

In that moment of clarity, the monster let out a cry and sank down into its own smoke, away from the door.

"I think I understand," Yukari responded to Aigis. "When your life loses its meaning, the fact of death can be kind of comforting. That lurking malice we're unaware of is strong enough to give birth to such a huge monster. And maybe, that's just how it is these days."

The monster rose back up out of the smoke and now turned on them.

"What's it doing?" Junpei yelped. "Why the hell is it after us?"

Metis gasped. "It wants my sister! She has the same power as the one who created the seal!"

Mitsuru took out her Evoker without saying a word.

"Don't tell me you're going to fight that thing!" Metis shouted at her. "It's impossible! It's just too big!"

"This is a battle we can't run from," Mitsuru told her in a bold voice. "The feelings that gave birth to this abomination were inside me, as well. Because I couldn't accept reality, I foolishly sought solace in a past filled with death and strife.

"There's no mistaking it: This monster is the reason for all our troubles," Mitsuru concluded.

Akihiko flashed her a smug grin. "You got that right. If we run away from this, we're off to a lousy start for our future."

The others resolved to fight the monster, no matter how impossible victory felt. They stared up at the grinning skulls and struck it with everything their Personas possessed. After a long, arduous battle, the beast writhed and sank back down into nothingness.

The team celebrated their victory, but Fuuka didn't join in.

"But, will it be enough?" she asked them. "For that monster to truly disappear, everyone's feelings must change."

Reality struck them hard. Even if they beat the monster, that didn't change the hearts of the people who summoned it.

"To stop the heart's yearning for destruction—It's a formidable task," Mitsuru realized aloud. "People try to keep death at bay, but without it, they lose sight of life. It may be that there's no way to fully eliminate this monster."

Hopelessness fell upon the team, but Aigis turned around to face Mitsuru.

"No. I'm sure we can do it," she said, her voice emboldened with determination. "We can all change someday. As long as we're alive, it can happen. After all, even I was able to do it."

"You've got that right!" Junpei agreed with a grin.

Akihiko looked to Aigis, her determination spreading to him. "If we want the world to change, we have to believe it'll happen. People aren't that hopeless; we should know that already."

They all started smiling again. The hope that Aigis restored within them continue to grow, melting away the darkness that lingered from the monster of malice.

Yukari turned to Aigis with remorse in her eyes. She apologized to her for all the things she had said to her before, telling her that she had been envious of her receiving Minato's power instead of her. She came to accept that, out of all of them, Aigis probably wanted to protect Minato the most.

Yukari turned to look up at Minato hanging on the door. "If there wasn't a seal, the world would soon yearn for Nyx again. That's why he's here: For us.

"Even if we went back to before the last battle, the world wouldn't be saved unless he did the same thing," Yukari said, her voice heavy with realization. She began to laugh. "I can't believe I didn't see it before. If there was an easier way, he would've taken it."

She fell silent for a time. Mitsuru called out to her, but she only lowered her face to the stars beneath their feet.

"If I think of him as protecting us forever, it helps a lot," Yukari said to the others.

The others felt the same way. They now knew that Minato willingly gave his life to protect them all, taking some comfort in knowing that he chose to sacrifice himself for their sake instead of being needlessly killed.

They returned to the dorm, where Aigis was to use the True Key on the front doors. She took out the key but stopped, turning back to the others.

She told them that she was happy to have known all of them. Even though they had been through so much, they realized that their struggles brought them closer together.

"I see. Friendship," Aigis said to herself. "What gives you life? What makes you realize you're alive? If it isn't just death, if there's something else, it could be... friendship."

She stared down at the key in her hands. "Is this the answer to life I'm supposed to find?" she asked herself.

As she said that, a small, blue butterfly appeared and fluttered about her head. It permeated through the door, and Aigis finally unlocked it.

When they stepped through the front door, they were teleported to a room that had the appearance of a spacious, blue elevator. An intricate gate towards the far end of the elevator showed lights passing by, as though they were in transit shooting upwards. Aigis was seated among the group in a chair shaped like a lyre, and sitting across from them was a gnarled, old man with a very long nose. He sat behind a round table between Metis and some white-haired girl in a blue dress holding a massive book. The man had a wild look in his eyes as he smiled at them.

He astonished them with his kind, soothing voice, saying that he and the others wanted to say farewell to Aigis. The SEES members were surprised to learn that Aigis knew this man, and apparently about the strange room, as well.

"This is where those who are about to awaken to their power receive guidance," Metis said to them. "My sister and your friend were guests here."

"Wait, How come you're standing there smiling like you know it all?" Akihiko asked for everyone.

Her smile became warmer. "Don't you remember what I said before? My place is here, on the 'other side'."

Metis walked around the table over to Aigis, who stood up from her seat. "The Abyss of Time will soon disappear. Time will flow again, and you will return to your daily lives," Metis told them all.

She looked to Aigis and smiled. "Congratulations, Sister, and the rest of you, as well."

Metis looked to Aigis with reassurance, her smile fading slightly. "Sister, you said before that you promised to protect him. If you've truly come to appreciate your ties to others, I think you can still keep that promise."

Aigis took a step back. "What?"

"Someday, when more people come to realize that, the world will stop yearning for Nyx, and that monster will be vanquished," Metis said to her. "For that day to come, your every action will be important. Isn't that another way of protecting your friend?"

Aigis stood frozen for a time. "I can still keep my promise?" she uttered with uncertainty.

Her sister nodded, smiling again.

"Metis, who are you, really?" Mitsuru asked her. "Won't you tell us?"

Aigis glanced over her shoulder at the others. "I think she's the other me," she said, confusing them all.

She told them that, after Minato passed away, she was so deep in her anguish that she wished to go back to being a machine again. When she made that wish, she cast off the part of her that made her human—her emotions—and that part became Metis.

Aigis welcomed her sister back, and Metis disappeared, returning to Aigis once more. She fell back onto her chair, fatigued but still conscious.

"Hmmm. It seems our guest has safely reached her destination," the man with the long nose said, grinning. "Her answer to life."

No one was sure what he meant, but Aigis seemed to understand it well.

"Please, tell me," she said to the man. "Now that I've found my answer, is my life at its end?"

Alarmed, the others asked her what she meant. Aigis smiled peacefully in her chair.

"It's strange. I feel so satisfied," she said in a tired voice.

Yukari went to check on her. "Aigis, you, you're not—No! This isn't happening!"

There was no worry in Aigis' tone. "I think I'm finally at peace with losing Minato-san," she said weakly as she began to cry. "Odd. For some reason, the tears are only now coming.

"I should have attended his farewell," Aigis lamented, too weak to wipe away her tears. "I was so foolish, locking myself away. Looking back, I remember that Metis would cry. To think I had discarded such a basic emotion."

With parting words from the old man, the others rushed over to surround Aigis, pleading with her to live as their visions faded. When they awoke, they were back in the lounge, all of them slumped over on the couches and chairs. The cracks on the walls and floors had disappeared, the giant heavy doors under the dining room floor was gone, and the TV was on, showing a news report that announced that it was now just past midnight on April first.

They all still had their memories of their ordeal and were surprised to be back in the dorm. Akihiko went to open the front door to look outside, and he confirmed for them that everything had gone back to normal. The Abyss of Time had disappeared.

The only one who had not awakened was Aigis. Scared for their friend, they hauled her upstairs to her room, where they began to look her over to see what was wrong. They had her sit in her giant pod while Fuuka and Mitsuru scanned her vitals on the large computer there. Mitsuru called the Ergonomics Lab to have someone come over to take a look at her, but it was so late at night that no one was available.

"Did you find something?" Junpei asked Fuuka when she gasped.

"Her synaptic circuits," she said, trembling. "They're completely burned out."

Fuuka determined that her ability to summon multiple Personas was the cause of a massive overload. While the parts could be replaced, she let them know that she ran the risk of not waking up as the person they knew her to be.

Without warning, Aigis stirred. Her eyes opened, and she looked around to everyone's relieved faces.

"Um, has something happened?" Aigis asked them.

"Geez. You had us worried sick, sleepyhead!" Yukari told her, her voice shaking with relief. "You took so long to wake up, we thought you might've died."

Fuuka told them that Aigis waking up shouldn't be possible, but said that it was as if Aigis was truly alive.

Aigis apologized for not waking up sooner, saying that she was having a dream, the first one in so long a time. She started saying that she dreamt of all the fun memories she had with everyone, until she got quiet and murmured, "Strength of heart, when united, is barred by no door."

No one knew what to make of it, and Aigis quickly dismissed it.

"Sorrowful partings only show us the weight of our relationships," she told them afterward. "But the joy of living comes from those who care about you."

She smiled at them all. "I'm a very lucky person."

With Aigis safe, everyone felt ready to go to bed. Before they could head out, Mitsuru called them back.

"About collecting everyone's Evoker, I'm thinking of calling that off," she told them. Surprise crossed their faces as she continued. "Our ordeal has given me a lot of food for thought. My own way of running away may have been to try to collect these and put them away forever. But even if there are no Shadows left, the battle against ourselves is ongoing."

Mitsuru took out her Evoker and held it up. "Each of you should hold onto yours," she said, smiling.

Yukari beamed at her. "Until the day when everyone can change, right?"

They all agreed, and appeared glad to be able to hold on to their Evokers as keepsakes.

The next morning, everyone gathered in the lounge. All the futons, pillows, and bed sheets they used while they were trapped were left in their rooms. The cheap dishes and tea sets remained in the kitchen cupboards. Any snacks or food left over were taken by whoever wanted them. They didn't have much trash or recycling to throw out, as they had been tossing them in the Paulownia Mall's bins whenever they had the chance.

Fuuka and Ken both had their bags packed and ready, and had already had their heavy boxes and luggage sent ahead to their new places. The others had either completely moved out prior to their end of the month celebration, or were waiting for a moving company to send someone to take their stuff to their new homes. Junpei was the last one to clear out his room and tried bringing all of his bags down to the lounge all at once. None of them were surprised when he came crashing down the stairs, but were impressed that his luggage hadn't burst open.

With all the new seniors, Ken, and Koromaru moving into the dorms at Gekkoukan, Mitsuru decided to give everyone a ride there. It was on the way to the lab where they were taking Aigis, who had decide that she wouldn't be going back to school to finish her senior year. When the Kirijo car arrived, Aigis changed her mind and asked if she could enroll in school again, wanting to enjoy her life as a student with her friends.

Mitsuru regrettably told her that, since she was no longer part of the school, she wouldn't be able to simply have her added to the school roster. A few seconds after saying that, she changed her mind and informed her driver to head to Gekkoukan High's Tatsumi Hall, cancelling the stop at the lab.

On their way out to the awaiting stretch limousine, Akihiko punched Ryuichi in the arm.

"Hey, sorry I was a jerk to you last month," he said to him.

Ryuichi fought to not grab the sore spot on his arm. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys right away that I moved out," he said with a sigh. "But, I guess we were all still trying to cope with Minato's passing while trying to move forward."

"Yeah. We just went about it the wrong way."

They both watched as the driver began loading everyone's luggage into the car.

"Do you still feel bad about not being able to save Minato?" Ryuichi asked Akihiko.

He shrugged. "Not really. He chose to save us, so there wasn't anything we could do to save him," Akihiko said. "We gotta show him our thanks by easing the burden on him somehow."

He turned to Ryuichi next. "How about you? You were beating yourself up pretty bad about it, too."

Ryuichi exhaled heavily through his nostrils. "Part of me wishes there was something we could've done, but I think I can forgive myself for not being able to do anything," he replied. "But like you said, the least we can do is help him out."

Just then, Junpei ran back up to the dorm's front doors and flattened himself against them in a big hug. The two guys chuckled as Yukari berated him for acting dumb.

"So, what're you gonna do now? Hit the gym?" Ryuichi asked.

"Actually, I think I'm gonna give Hayabusa a call."

Ryuichi nearly choked on air. "Hayabusa? You mean Shiori?"

"Don't act surprised." Akihiko shyly smoothed the hair on the back of his head. "You gave her my number, remember? She said something about you telling her I could give her some workout tips. Well, she asked me out awhile back, but I ended up being a jerk to her. I'm hoping she'll pick up so I can apologize."

"You're damn right you're gonna apologize to her!" Ryuichi exploded on him. "Call her right now and say you're sorry!"

The boxer had a panicked look on his face. "Right now?"

"Yeah! And ask her out on a date and take her someplace nice!"

"W-What?"

"No beef bowls!"

"But—!"

Ryuichi watched Akihiko's confidence shrink as he slowly dialed Shiori's cell phone number. He was spared the embarrassment of Ryuichi hovering over his shoulder when Mitsuru called for everyone to get into the car. Akihiko waved everyone off, saying he was just going to go on foot to wherever he was headed, but the others threw him into the car and piled in after him so he wouldn't escape.

Everyone was chatting and laughing throughout the car ride. It had been too long since they all laughed together, dissolving the guilt that used to tar their insides. Even Yukari was laughing with them and expressed that she couldn't wait to have Aigis as her new roommate.

When they arrived at the Gekkoukan dorms, everyone got out of the limo, but instead of going to their new rooms, they all followed Mitsuru to the school's Tatsumi Hall to get Aigis enrolled back into school with them. The secretary there asked for everyone to wait outside the office to let Mitsuru and Aigis fill out some forms. While they waited, the others went to drop off their bags at their new dorms. Akihiko accompanied Ken and Koromaru to Ken's new room, fondly recalling when he also lived in the elementary school dorms as a kid. Only Ryuichi and Yukari stayed in the hallway just outside the office door.

"Hey, uh, Ryuichi-senpai?"

Yukari motioned for Ryuichi to follow her a little ways away from the doors. Curious, he went with her, seeing the guilty expression on her face.

"Um, about our battle," she began, "I'm sorry I shot you, and for saying all those things. I was way outta line."

She bowed low to him. "I'm really sorry, Senpai," she said in a morose tone.

Ryuichi leaned his shoulder against the wall and showed her a soft smile. "I forgive you," he told her.

Yukari straightened up with alarm on her face. "Really? Just like that?"

"Yeah."

He slipped his hands into his pockets. "Minato must have really meant a lot to you, didn't he?" he figured. "I think if it were me, I would've done pretty much the same stuff you did so I could see someone really important to me."

Yukari managed a sly smile. "Are you talking about Mitsuru-senpai?"

"Maybe. Who knows?"

She glanced around the empty hallway. "She must really mean a lot to you, huh, Senpai?" she asked, keeping her voice low. "I didn't know that she saved your life like that back then, so I used to think that you were just dedicated to her because you had a crush on her."

"You and the rest of the school thought the same thing," he groaned, hoping that meant that she still didn't know about them.

Yukari stepped around him to peek inside the office again. Ryuichi poked his head in just above Yukari's, and both of them watched as Mitsuru and Aigis went through a stack of paperwork for Aigis' enrollment.

Ryuichi felt someone tap his shoulder. Yukari had slipped out from under him and pointed back down the hall where they could talk some more.

"You know, a lot of us really hoped that you and Mitsuru-senpai would get together," she said to him. "And for all we know, you guys are dating and have just been hiding it from us."

Frowning, Ryuichi exaggerated tilting his head at her in annoyance. "And what makes you say that?"

"Well, you guys always look so happy together."

"Well, yeah. People are usually happy being with friends, aren't they?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

She seemed to be scanning his claim for a hint somewhere. "So, you're going to continue as her bodyguard?" she asked, carefully watching his expression for any subtle changes.

"I am," he replied. "I've already started up my training again."

"Already? Did you even get a break after graduation?"

"Not really. I've still got a lot of stuff to learn, since I'll be dealing with human enemies now instead of Shadows. I'm also planning to continue as her butler, too, so that's even more training I have to go through."

Yukari looked to him in admiration. "They're really working you hard, aren't they? Well, if it's you, Senpai, then I feel better knowing that Mitsuru-senpai's in good hands."

She spun around and turned her back on him, clasping her hands behind her. "Well, now that that's taken care of, I have another question for you," she said in a mischievous voice.

He already knew what she was going to ask and braced himself for it.

"Are you and Mitsuru-senpai dating?"

He didn't flinch, nor did he feel nervous. He had a feeling that she was banking on him getting flustered to get the answer she was looking for.

"No, we're not," he said without hesitation.

It wasn't a total lie, seeing as he and Mitsuru haven't been on an actual date in so long a time, nor did it look like they would be going on one anytime soon. He held his gaze on Yukari, neither of them blinking as they stared each other down. Yukari's eyes twitched, and she blinked first.

"Geez, you're good." She wiped a tear from her eye. "But you know, you mean a lot to Mitsuru-senpai, too. You could really tell she didn't want to fight you during our battle."

Her expression darkened. "I feel like I really hurt you guys, making you fight like that."

"It's okay," Ryuichi reassured her. "But, how the hell were you able to cast Megidolaon like that?"

She blushed as she glowered at him. "Maybe because you were asking for it!" she lashed out at him. "I used to think that you were the only guy out of everyone who wouldn't pull something like that, but boy, was I wrong!"

All at once, Ryuichi remembered those white and pink stripes he saw after using Garudyne on Yukari. "Hang on!" he shouted. "You hit me first! And it's not my fault you decided to wear a skirt in battle!"

"You could've cast Garudyne sideways or something!"

"And send you tumbling? That would've shown everything off even more! I was just trying to stop you from killing me by knocking you off your feet!"

"You could've just—"

Ryuichi held up a hand to get them to stop arguing. "Hold up," he said, and thankfully, Yukari quieted down. "Look, I'm sorry about that, okay? It wasn't my intent. I was only trying to keep you from attacking me."

She glared at him, still livid with embarrassment. "Fine," she said, straightening up. "I guess I've known you long enough to know that you wouldn't pull something perverted like that, so I'll believe you this time."

Yukari's hardened expression became riddled with misery. "Still, I guess I got so mad at you that I just wanted to cast something that wouldn't miss," she said glumly. "I'm sorry, Senpai."

She bowed again. Feeling badly for her, Ryuichi bowed back.

"I'm sorry about embarrassing you, too," he said.

They both straightened up, looking to each other with mutual understanding that all was forgiven.

When Aigis was enrolled back into the school, they called the others back to meet them by the car to say their final good-byes. They high-fived and hugged one another, and exchanged promises to try to hang out whenever they got the chance. Their smiles radiated with confidence in one another, knowing that their bonds wouldn't fray just because they were apart. They all went their separate ways, and Ryuichi went with Mitsuru out to the limousine.

Mitsuru still had some work to do with handling Aigis' sudden change in plans. She had to call the lab to inform that of the situation, then had to make a request to have all of Aigis' possessions moved from her bedroom in the Iwatodai dorm to her new Gekkoukan dorm that she would be sharing with Yukari. When she finished with her phone calls, she pocketed her phone and let out a weary sigh.

Up at the front, the driver raised the opaque window between him and the passengers to give them some privacy. Without saying a word, Ryuichi took hold of Mitsuru's hand. She squeezed it in reply, then let her head rest against his shoulder.

He knew she must have been exhausted from not only being trapped in the Abyss of Time with everyone, but also from staying up half the night trying to find what was wrong with Aigis and having to make the arrangements for her reenrollment. She wouldn't have much time to rest before work, and he wanted to make sure that she at least had a chance to have some quiet time away from everything, before life could pummel her again.

They didn't exchange any words during the ride back to the mansion. They just took their time feeling each other's presence without moving beyond breathing and holding hands, communicating in silence. When they were driving beneath the dark canopy of the Kirijo forest, Ryuichi gave Mitsuru a little peck on her head in the darkness.

Two rows of maids and butlers welcomed them home. They offered to have brunch prepared for them, giving them a chance to freshen up before they ate. The two thanked them and headed up to their rooms to shower and get a fresh change of clothes before meeting back downstairs in the kitchen, where their meals were waiting for them.

"Ryuichi."

He looked up from his buttered toast. From across the table, Mitsuru eyed him with her weary gaze, her hands poised to smear cream cheese on her bagel.

"You look like you have a lot on your mind," she said to him. "Is something the matter?"

He finished his piece of toast and rubbed his fingers clean on his napkin. "I do, but I don't know where to start."

"Well, is there something that stands out to you more than others?"

There was, but he felt like he was being petty for bringing it up. "Yeah, actually," he said quietly, and looked up when Harumi poured him some more coffee.

Mitsuru set her bagel and her butter knife down. "What is it? It looks like it's been bothering you for some time now," she said, looking worried.

He took a sip of water before answering. "I've been thinking about when you sided with Yukari," he told her, seeing her straighten up in her seat. "After we finished fighting, you said that you would put your own feelings aside and stand with Yukari if anything ever made her suffer."

Mitsuru took a deep breath and released it slowly, closing her eyes as she did so. "I had a feeling you would ask about that."

Ryuichi nodded, seeing the woeful look in her eyes. "I get that you were trying to support her, but to take it to that extreme—I'm sorry, but to me, it felt more like you were enabling her to be more destructive than helping her."

Somehow, Mitsuru didn't seem all that surprised to hear that from him. She didn't say anything for a time, nor did she touch her food to stall her answer.

"I felt terrible, like I had abandoned Yukari in one of her darkest hours when I couldn't be there for her after Arisato's passing," she finally told him. "She was in so much pain, and yet, I just left her when I should've been there for her."

"But you had work."

"That doesn't matter."

She grasped her arm, her anguished renewed. "I wanted to make it up to her somehow. I thought that, no matter what, I needed to be there for her. Looking back now, I know that was foolish of me, but I remembered how devastated I was after my father died and how Yukari sought me out and helped me through one of the darkest moments of my life. I can only wish that I had been there to do the same for her."

"How did Yukari help you, if you don't mind me asking." Ryuichi drummed his fingers over his water glass. "Did she also cast aside her own feelings to support your decisions?"

"Thankfully, no." Mitsuru's woeful eyes met his. "She was against anything I said and slapped me."

He wasn't expecting that. "She slapped you?"

"Yes." To his astonishment, she smiled. "After losing my father, I lost my will to live, but Yukari was there for me and helped me snap out of my stupor."

Mitsuru let out a bitter chuckle. "I see now. So that's what you've had on your mind."

Ryuichi nodded. "That's why I found it so weird that you were willing to just go along with whatever crazy idea she decided on," he said to her. "With me, you were always against any of my decisions that you thought was wrong, like when I was trying to deal with my family and when I said I wanted to continue as your bodyguard.

"You even stood up for me when I tried to apologize to Miyashiro," he murmured, lowering his face. "It made me wonder where we'd be now if I'd just gone along with whatever my parents wanted, or if you decided to continue with the marriage."

"It's certainly something to think about, isn't it?" She squeezed her arm, putting wrinkles in her blouse's sleeve. "I also wonder what would've happened, had you not stood up for me against Miyashiro. I doubt that I would have survived the marriage."

She leaned her head back and sighed. "Last year, when you confided in me about trying to end your life in middle school, I thought a lot about what you must have been through to make you feel that way," she said. "After losing my father, I think I understood you a little more. I felt like my purpose for living had been taken from me, that everything I had been fighting for was for naught. Is that how it felt for you back then?"

He looked to her with compassion. "Mine was a little different, I think. I felt like I had no purpose, except for my usefulness to others," he said in a somber voice. "Your father said it best when he told me that I needed to learn to value myself. I just didn't know how.

"I felt like I found a reason for living when you saved me from that Shadow back then," he told her, smiling wryly as he rested his face against his fist. "Back then, I really clung to you because it felt like you gave me a reason for living, even if I still couldn't see the value in myself."

Mitsuru sighed again. "So, I helped you, and Yukari helped me. And all I ended up doing was a disservice to Yukari by leading her down the path of destruction."

"Hey, you thought you were helping her."

"My intent may have been for good, but that doesn't justify what I did."

Mitsuru grimaced at her poor decision. "Though, I did agree with her on some parts of her reasoning," she told him. "Like everyone else, I also wanted to save Arisato. However, my reasoning was pretty selfish."

"And that is?"

Shame crossed her face as she squeezed her arm even tighter. "I tried to image what I would've done if I was in Yukari's position and you were the one who died," she said in a small voice.

Ryuichi understood her feelings just then. Sitting up, he let his arm rest on the table. "I thought the same thing," he admitted.

He touched the spot on his chest where Yukari's arrow had pierced him. "But, I know you wouldn't have agreed with my decision if I tried to save you," he added.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because I could imagine you scolding me for endangering humanity in exchange for your life."

Mitsuru managed a tiny chuckle. "I think you're right about that."

Her expression turned cold again. "It seems that I still have a lot to learn about my friendship with Yukari. With you, I feel like I can be honest and speak my mind. With her, I feel like we've always been abrasive towards each other, and so I still don't know how to talk to her."

She hung her head. "I have to apologize to you, as well," she said. "I'm sorry I chose her over you like that, and for attacking you."

"It's okay," he said, holding up a hand. "It must've been a hard decision for you to make. But, Yukari needed you, so I can understand that much."

Mitsuru's eyes tensed up. "You're too kind," she murmured. "After all that, I expected you to be at least a little more upset with me."

"Somehow, I don't think I'm the one you need to worry about."

"Oh? Then who?"

"Yukari."

He flashed her a crooked smile. "She asked me if you and I were going out, and I flat out said no. So, when she finds out about us, I'm leaving her to you."

She blinked. "You're half of this relationship, so you should at least help me talk to her," Mitsuru said, putting on her authoritative voice.

"I'm going to have to talk to the guys, remember? You can handle the girls."

"Why don't we just tell them all together?" she suggested.

He liked the idea. "Sounds good to me," he said, and was about to nibble on his cold piece of toast when Keigo brought them both fresh plates of toast with eggs on the side. Thanking him, Ryuichi looked back to Mitsuru. "By the way, when should we tell them? I mean, you've got a mansion full of people who know about us, so wouldn't it make sense for our friends to know eventually?"

"Unfortunately, we absolutely cannot let anyone else know about us, probably for at least a few years," she said regrettably, and Ryuichi understood the many reasons why. "As for the maid staff, they discovered it all on their own. Of course, they naturally find out the most intimate details of anyone, so only time will tell when they learn everything about you, too."

As she said this, Kikuno came by to refill Mitsuru's teacup. She had her smug little smile aimed at Ryuichi, and he instinctively adjusted the napkin over his lap to cover himself up.

"Tell me about it," he muttered, and made a face at Kikuno that only made her smile even more.

They both ate a few bites of food while it was still fresh and hot. Ryuichi made a sandwich with his eggs and toast, and Keigo brought him some mayonnaise and ketchup to give it a little extra taste.

"So, what do we do now about reforming society?" Ryuichi asked Mitsuru after eating half of his sandwich. "We can't just order people to be happy, and you're already busy enough with work. Everyone's circumstances are different, so for us to spend time solving everyone's problems would be impossible."

"You're right that we can't help each individual person, but we can at least try to influence others and encourage them to change their ways of thinking," Mitsuru suggested. "Even if we help only a few people, that's still a drastic impact we could make on their lives. We'll just have to help them one at a time."

He uttered a despairing groan. "'One at a time'? Well, as long as change happens, I guess."

Ryuichi noticed that she was smiling now. "What's that look for?"

She circled her hands around her teacup. "I was just thinking about the drastic changes your family made since last year," she replied. "All of you went through a lot of growth, and even though it's only four of you who changed, that was all it took to have an impact on those around you."

He took a few moments to think about what she had just said. He thought about his family and their transformations, and then his own.

"Do you see it now? Back then, your father was despised and feared, but when I started working with your family to make changes to the restaurant, he became bearable, and even a pleasure to work with," Mitsuru told him with pride. "Even after the restaurant burned down, when most of your family was still devastated, you gave them hope to rebuild. And from what I've seen, your mother also stepped up and took charge in the rebuilding process."

Ryuichi imagined water ripples forming around his family. "I think I see what you mean," he said slowly, still thinking through his realization. "After you helped my dad, even the workers started enjoying working there. They even helped clean up the restaurant when it burned down and offered any assistance we might need."

"That's right. Don't you see, Ryuichi? Sometimes all you have to do is affect a single person to bring about change in others."

Mitsuru looked fondly to him. "Even you helped me back then," she said. "I was stubborn at the time, but you kept urging me to break off my engagement and tried telling me that what I wanted in my life mattered, too. You may have only wanted to spare me from a doomed marriage, but I feel like my life has improved exponentially just by acknowledging that seemingly small detail.

"And don't forget about your life, either. Had you not made the decision to move into the dorm and work for me, your life may have been different from how it is now."

She was right. He knew she was right, and he didn't want to even try to imagine what his life would have been like had his parents refused to let him move into the dorm.

Sighing, Ryuichi let his head bob a few times to acknowledge that he agreed with her. "Okay, you got me," he finally said. "So, since you're busy with work, I guess I'll handle helping people stop yearning for Nyx?"

Mitsuru lowered her teacup from her lips. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that," she said. "For the past few months, I realized how little I know about business, no matter how much I tried to study up on it. There are still many things I don't understand, and so I was thinking of stepping down as president for a little while so I can pursue a degree in business first."

Ryuichi raised his eyebrows in amazement. "You can do that?"

"I don't see why not. The Board of Directors are far more capable than I am in leading a company, though I intend to remain involved in any major decisions they might make."

"Well, that's great!"

He found himself grinning at the idea until he remembered something. "Oh, but the deadline for enrolling in Kawaguchi's already long over," he realized woefully.

That didn't seem to faze her. "I can always take the exams again," she said, as if it was no big deal. "I passed the first time, and now I'm better prepared for the next time."

"You're serious about that?"

"Quite. You will help me study for my entrance exams, won't you?"

All he could do was utter noises of shock for those few seconds to follow. "Hold up. How are you going to balance college, being the head of your family, checking on the Board of Directors, and obtaining world peace?" he demanded to know.

She crossed her arms in front of her again, thinking. "If I recall one of my chats with your sister, she said that college was so simple compared to high school that even she was able to pass her subjects despite hardly ever attending her classes," she reasoned. "And from what your father told me, college in America was much more rigorous, even though he was only there for a semester. If what they said is true, then college might be the least of my worries in this case.

"However, my concern goes back to our conversation from just a few minutes ago," she said, turning her head to look out the window at the garden outside. "Even though the Dark Hour and Tartarus are gone, I can't help but wonder if Shadows have truly disappeared. My grandfather was able to collect Shadows prior to the creation of Tartarus, and with the knowledge that Nyx is still out there and that people continue to call out for her, I get the feeling that we haven't completely eradicated Shadows."

Ryuichi hadn't thought about the possibility of Shadows still existing. He thought that they were done with them after the business with the Abyss of Time, but after hearing what Mitsuru had on her mind, he began to wonder if there were people out there still succumbing to Apathy Syndrome and unwittingly creating Shadows from their despair.

Looking at Mitsuru, she appeared to still be deep in thought about their new situation. "I know that look," Ryuichi said to her, leaning his face against his fist again. "You're planning on fighting Shadows even with your crazy schedule, aren't you? This isn't like before where all you had to worry about was school and fighting Shadows for one hour a night. You're still going to be busy with—"

"I know that already." Mitsuru fixed her gaze on him. "And before you say anything, I don't intend to handle the Shadows all on my own."

He hadn't expected her to agree to readily. "Oh. Well, good," he uttered. "So, what, SEES the sequel? Are you gonna tell everyone later about what's going on?"

"For now, all I really have is speculation, so we'll have to wait and see whether or not Shadows still exist," she reasoned with him. "If it's so few that we can handle them ourselves, then we won't have to say anything."

Ryuichi tilted his head from side to side to pop his neck. "If that's the case, then I guess I've got more training to do," he said, then slumped in his chair. "But man, after spending what, weeks or months trapped in the Abyss, I feel like I could use a day off."

"I've already put in a request to have you take today off from training, so you can enjoy the rest of the day at your leisure," Mitsuru told him, finally popping the yolk on her egg.

"You did? Wow. Thanks, Mitsuru."

He eyed her suspiciously. "Did you give yourself a day off, too?" he murmured in a low voice.

She finished chewing through a bit of egg before answering. "I cancelled my meetings for today, but I plan to use that time to look through more of the documents regarding the experiments from back then," she said. "I want to learn as much as I can about everything they researched and experimented on, and I also want to look more into those files we found in the Chairman's room."

Mitsuru grasped her elbow again. "I can only hope that I'm wrong about all this," she said with a sigh. "As much as possible, I don't want to interfere with your quiet life just to continue fighting Shadows."

"Psh." Ryuichi mopped up runny egg yolk from his plate with his sandwich. "After everything I went through last year, this'll be a breeze!"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "And don't even try to come up with any excuses as to why I shouldn't help out," he warned, struggling to hide his smug grin. "I've already made a lot of progress with my training, and adding Heimdall to the regimen should be easy with those Dark Hour ring simulator thingies."

Mitsuru snorted over her eggs. "You knew about those?" she uttered, covering her face with embarrassment.

"We read about them in the reports, remember? I didn't even know they existed until I read about them, so now I can train with Heimdall whenever I want.

"With your permission, of course," he added quickly afterward.

Her eyebrows raised. "Interesting. I don't mind lending you one, but just don't overdo your training."

Her expression became more serious, and she didn't move at all as she stared down at her plate. Ryuichi knew that look as Mitsuru's thinking face.

"You know, Kikuno-san probably already got a ring thingy for you so you can train, too," Ryuichi sang teasingly at her. "She knows you hate being outdone."

"It's not a competition, Ryuichi," Mitsuru said, flashing him a tiny smirk. "Although, your strategy for subduing Yukari in our battle against each other was something to be desired."

Just then, Harumi came by to set down a tube of burn ointment in front of Ryuichi. He took one look at it and scowled at her.

"You don't even know what happened!" he yelled at the maid, who, with a gleeful bounce in her gait, made her escape while everyone else stifled their snickers.

After their late breakfast, Mitsuru was ready to go sifting through all those old files she mentioned earlier. Ryuichi suggested that she get some rest first, but she told him that she only freed up the one day in her busy schedule and couldn't afford to rest.

"All right, then I'll help," Ryuichi said, determined to assist her in any way possible.

She was reluctant to take his day off from him just to read through numerous pages of research, but he insisted that he help her out. He followed her to her father's old study, where the maids and butlers brought all the files from Ikutsuki's room. There were more boxes of files than he remembered seeing, and Mitsuru explained that there was more research stored in several other places that she had the maid staff bring over, as well. Together, the two read through countless files, searching for anything interesting that might help them in the future.

Hours later, Ryuichi eventually straightened up with a groan, his spine popping loudly as he stretched. His eyes refused to focus, having strained them from reading so much. He looked over to Mitsuru who was still seated at her father's old desk, surrounded by boxes and stacks of papers and poring over the files.

"Say, Mitsuru?"

She kept her face bent over the papers in her hands. "What is it?"

He approached the desk, leaning his hip against it. "I was just thinking that we should probably grab something to eat," he suggested with a shrug. "You know, to take a break and stuff."

Mitsuru perked right up. "What did you have in mind?" she asked.

"Well, I heard from Shizue that Dad's looking for taste testers for his food," he said. "He had to make a few changes to the menu to adapt to the smaller cooking space in the food truck, so he's trying some new things and experimenting with new ways to keep the barbecue fresh and hot before they reach the customers."

He chuckled. "It feels like I last talked to Shizue months ago, since we were trapped in the dorm for so long," he realized. "In reality, I only spoke to her just yesterday. She was hoping you and I could drop by and visit.

"So, you up for some food?" he asked her with a sly smile. "We can even bring some home for your mother, too."

Mitsuru's face brightened. "Shall we go around dinner time?"

They agreed to head over to his parents' house in a few hours. Until then, they decided to put their research on hold to spend some time relaxing together. They took a walk around the garden, chatting idly about what their futures held for them. When they discussed Mitsuru taking the college entrance exams again, Ryuichi realized that he would in all technicality be a year ahead of her by the time she enrolled in Kawaguchi.

"Does that mean I have to call you 'Senpai' from now on?" Mitsuru teased.

He shuddered. "Is this what it feels like when I call you 'Ojou-sama'?" he asked, cringing.

The two ended up laughing. Ryuichi pleaded with Mitsuru not to call him "Senpai", but she still teased him with it, and he retorted by addressing her as "Ojou-sama". Amid their chuckles, they held hands and continued their relaxing stroll around the garden, neither of them bothering to glance around for any maids or butlers who might see them.

Around dinnertime, they got ready to head over to Ryuichi's parents' house. Kikuno, Keigo, and Harumi were waiting for them downstairs in the foyer with their leather jackets, helmets, and gloves, and two maids brought their motorcycles to the front for them to take.

"Are you ready for the first of many spontaneous family visits you're obligated to do every once in a while?" Ryuichi shouted to Mitsuru over their motorcycles' rumbling engines.

"Obligated or not, I'm looking forward to it!" Mitsuru called back to him.

Ryuichi took a moment to check to make sure that the box with the coffee cake the chefs prepared for them was securely tied down. When they were ready, the two shot down the long driveway, engulfed by the darkness from the dense trees. Their headlights guided them out to the gates, where they went bursting out into the fading sunset towards food, family, and a few hours they could spend together.

Though Ryuichi knew that he and Mitsuru wouldn't be able to spend a lot of fun time together often, he knew for certain that they could overcome their greatest obstacles so long as they had each other. Though the future that Minato secured for them was guaranteed to be full of struggles and pain, there was also life and hope to help them keep moving forward.

For now, they would savor the precious moments they shared, storing them up for those times when they were apart or for when they tumble into difficulties. Through it all, they knew they could continue to build their future one step at a time. Together.

The End