Persona - Chaos Butterfly 12.2

Chapter 12: Misadventures in Babysitting. (Part two)

    The next morning, everyone woke up early to prepare for the mission. Unfortunately things didn’t go as smoothly as planned when you add kids into the equation. The children didn’t appreciate being awakened so early, trying to get away from the adults when it was bath time. The little boys managed to squirm their way out into halls, running around naked. A few of the chambermaids and guests shrieked as the guys chased them around the inn. At least Akihiko had the workout of his life; they were sweating bullets by the time they caught little Minato and Souji and hauled them to the bathroom. Who knew that such passive and aloof teenagers would have so much energy? Trying to get them dressed was a different story altogether…

    The young women were having an equally difficult time with Minako, but that was expected. What they didn’t expect was for her to dash out of the room like a bullet train in her undergarments when Shinjiro opened the door to check up on her. Thus the chasing began yet again.

    Yukiko greeted the rest of the Investigation Team plus Nanako and ushered them to the dining hall. The SEES members and the Wild Card trio were already seated, waiting for the other group. On the huge circular table breakfast was served.

    Nanako was surprised when she saw the children, especially the little boy who had dark silver hair like her Big Bro. After a simple explanation from Teddie and Yosuke, the little girl giggled with delight. “So you want me to help take care of Big Bro, Aniki and Aneki?” Nanako concluded. “I’d love to! I get to be the big sister this time!”

    “Sorry we couldn’t take you to that place, Nanako-chan. It’s pretty dangerous there at the moment,” Chie told her. Nanako nodded in understanding.

    Breakfast was finished in a matter of minutes. After the table was cleared, everyone prepped themselves for their mission.

    “So you’re going there to find something to turn them back?” Nanako asked. She looked a bit worried.

    “Yeah, we’re all going except for Shinjiro-san and Ken,” Yosuke informed her. “They’ll be babysitting you and the little guys.”

    “We should get going,” Mitsuru said, adjusting the ribbon on her collar. They were all dressed, armor hidden under their school uniforms. They left their weapons in an abandoned store room at Junes.

    “Right!” everyone echoed in unison.

    Mitsuru turned around one last time. “Shinjiro, once we are out of that place, I’ll give you a call.”

    “Will do,” he responded.

    Shinjiro and Ken watched them leave as Nanako played with the toddlers. “Why don’t we go play at Samegawa River? It’s nice there this time of year!” the little girl suggested.

    Shinjiro thought about it for a while. “Sure, I don’t see why not. Better than being cooped up here, I guess.”

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    Samegawa river bank…

    The air was nice and cool despite the summer heat. Cicadas were buzzing and birds chirping amongst the many trees surrounding the area. It was a nice change of scenery.

    Nanako guided the toddlers to her favorite spot near the riverbed where her mother used to take her when she was alive.

    As if on cue, an old man came fumbling along. He spotted Nanako and gave her a big toothy grin. “Well, if it isn’t little Nanako Dojima. How’s your father doing these days?”

    “He’s doing great. Busy catching bad guys like always,” Nanako beamed. “Oh, and these are Big Bro’s friends from the city. Meet Shinjiro Aragaki and Ken Amada.” At the mention of Ken’s name, the little girl’s cheeks turned pink.

    “Souji’s friends, huh? So it’s you guys that he was borrowing some of my fishing gear for,” the old man said. “It’s a pleasure to meet such fine looking young men. Where is Souji anyway? I haven’t seen him lately.”

    Nanako fidgeted at that. She didn’t like to lie, but…

    “Souji is showing the rest of our friends from the city around town. He asked us to take care of Nanako for a while,” Shinjiro answered for her. He saw Nanako sigh a breath of relief and smirked a little.

    “Is that right?” the old man rubbed his chin. He looked at Shinjiro for a minute. “I was hoping Souji could help me catch the Samegawa Guardian again. My tinker almost stopped when he presented that monster to me last year. I’ll never forget it!”

    “Big Bro fished a lot during the summer. He caught me my first pet goldfish,” Nanako told Ken. “He’s so thoughtful.”

    “Tell him I said ‘hi’ for me, will ya? I’m sure he’ll want to challenge the Guardian again.” With that, the old angler walked away.

    “Exactly how big is this ‘Guardian’ he keeps talking about?” Shinjiro asked Nanako.

    The little girl merely giggled. “You should have seen it! Big Bro said it could swallow me whole…” she emphasized her point by extending her arms vertically to give the two an idea of how big the Samegawa Guardian was. “I’m sure Dad still keeps the picture somewhere.” Nanako giggled again when Ken and Shinjiro’s eyes went as wide as saucers.

    The Wild Card children were playing nearby, splashing water at each other. Nanako joined them to play with the fish.

    Ken laughed at their antics. “Look at them, you’d think this is the first time they see what a river looks like.”

    The senior chuckled. This was nice; being able to relax without any distractions of their current life, in a beautiful countryside town. His eyes settled on little Minako, and he blushed, recalling Rise’s question the previous day.

    “You’re blushing, Shinjiro-san,” Ken pointed out. He sat down beside the senior on a rock nearby, putting the small duffel bag which contained extra clothes for the toddlers (just in case), by his feet.

    “It’s just an embarrassing question that Kujikawa girl asked me yesterday,” Shinjiro said bluntly, turning away from Ken. “And before you ask, I’m not telling you about it.”

    The middle-school student just shrugged. His thoughts wondered about the others in the TV World. ‘I hope they’re alright…’

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    Inside the TV World…
  
 “It’s weak against wind spells. Finish them off!” Fuuka yelled.

    “Zap ‘em with thunder, guys!” Rise cheered.

    “Go Susano-O! Magarudyne!”

    “Isis, Magarudyne!”

    “Psyche, Garudyne!”

    “Cesar, Maziodyne!”

    “Crush them Rokuten Maoh! Maziodyne!”

    In a blink of an eye, the Gigas and Raven type Shadows surrounding them were eliminated.

    In order to cover more ground, they divided themselves into two groups. The first group consisted of Junpei, Aigis, Koromaru, Chie, Yukari and Akihiko with Mitsuru as the leader. The other group had Yukiko, Naoto, Teddie, Metis and Kanji with Yosuke as leader. The Fox stayed with Fuuka and Rise.

    After a few hours of dungeon grinding, they were nowhere close to finding anything that might reverse the condition of the Wild Cards. They even checked other dungeons, but all they found were the normal items used for healing or support during battle. Even Fox and Koromaru were about to give up sniffing.

    At the Entrance Hall, the Persona-users were catching their breath. The Fox was passing around leaves for the injured members. In one corner was a heap all the items they collected earlier, but nothing out of the ordinary. It was a frustrating day…

    And they were getting hungrier by the minute.

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Back at Samegawa…

    After playing at Samegawa riverbank until it was almost noon, the temperature became unbearable. Shinjiro decided to call it quits and head back to the inn. The kids didn’t want to go just yet.

    “I want ice cream!” Minako chirped.

    “I want soda!” Souji demanded.

    “I’m hungry…” Minato groaned, his stomach growling. He had to pat it in order to calm it down.

    “Old Lady Shiroku’s shop is not far from here,” Nanako pointed out. “We can get some tasty snacks there.”

    “I am getting a little hungry myself,” Ken admitted sheepishly.

    At first Shinjiro was reluctant to do so; sugar and children weren’t exactly a good combination. But Minako gave him the puppy-dog eyes and he couldn’t say ‘no’ after that. He cursed himself at his weakness and sighed. “Fine, let’s go get snacks.” The toddlers whooped with joy.

    Old Lady Shiroku greeted them, a warm smile adorning her gracefully aging features. Nanako and Ken made small talk with her as the kids ran around the shop, trying to figure out what snack to get. Shinjiro waited for them outside. While waiting, he thought about the menu for today’s lunch. Mitsuru gave him a credit card in case he needed to shop for groceries.

    The toddlers were chattering happily when they exited the small shop, each one carrying a small bag filled with rice crackers and sweets. They used their free hand to hold a Topsicle which was slowly melting from the hot sun.

    “What flavor did you get, Aniki?” little Minako asked her brother.

    “Grape. I wanted cherry,” Minato sighed. “What about you, Banchou-kun?”

    “I got sour apple,” Souji said, scrunching up his face in displeasure. “What about you, Aneki?”

    “I think its pineapple,” she said. “It’s yellow and doesn’t taste like banana.”

    Ken also walked out of the shop with a small bag in hand. He was halfway through his animal crackers when he pulled out a small sticker. Thinking that he didn’t need it he absent-mindedly offered it to Nanako.

    “Wow, a rare sticker of the Featherman badge! I was looking for this forever!” Nanako’s eyes sparkled. “Thank you!”

    Realizing his mistake of not checking his prize before giving it to someone else, Ken felt torn. He wanted the sticker, being a huge fan of the series, but he didn’t want to disappoint Nanako and look like a jerk for retracting his offer. Like the gentleman he is, he gave it her anyway.

    “Wait till Yuuta-kun sees this,” Nanako exclaimed. “I completed my collection before he did!”

    Before Ken could ask her about it, Shinjiro cleared his throat loudly. “Are we done here?” he asked. Ken and Nanako nodded, and so did the toddlers. “Let’s head to Junes before going back. I need to get some groceries.”

        It looks like Shinjiro was right all along; sugar and children were a bad combination. When they arrived at Junes, the Wild Card toddlers, still in their hyperactive sugar-rushed state; dashed in three different directions at the same time, leaving their babysitters speechless. Shinjiro cursed under his breath and ordered the other two to chase after them.

    Half an hour later, exhausted and out of breath, Shinjiro, Ken and Nanako managed to gather the troublemaking toddlers
together at the electronics department.

    “I told you guys…” Shinjiro panted “…that giving them snacks wasn’t a good idea.”

    “But you said it was okay Shinjiro-san,” Ken countered.

    “Whatever. We still have some shopping to do,” the tall teen grumbled. Nanako on the other hand, looked like she was in heaven despite being tired; they were in Junes after all.

    Meanwhile, the children were in front of the giant flat-screen TV used as the gateway to the Shadow Dimension. They were in awe by its size.

    “It’s so huge~!” Souji said, his mouth still hanging open.

    “It’s flat too,” Minako stated. “I wonder if we’re allowed to touch it.”

    “I dare you!” Minato challenged her.

    “Not if you do it first!” she shot back.

    “What’s the matter? Being a scaredy cat?” Minato taunted. “Mi-chan is a scaredy cat, scaredy cat~” he sang.

    “Aniki, stop it…” Souji whispered timidly when he saw anger flash in Minako’s red eyes.

    “You’re going down!” Minako screeched, and tackled her twin brother. Souji tried to stop her, but ended getting caught in the tousle.

    Shinjiro’s temper wasn’t cooling down. He was about to snap at the three to be quiet, until he saw what they were about to hit in their petty struggle; the television. “Shit!” was all he could say before they collided and got sucked into the screen. He was quick enough to catch Souji’s ankle, but the combined weight of the toddlers and the suction of the portal was enough to pull him in. A few unpleasant words echoed out of screen.

    “Shouldn’t we go after them?” Nanako inquired, sweatdropping.

    “Yeah, I think we should,” Ken said in an exasperated tone as he held out a hand for Nanako. “Let’s go.”

    The little girl blushed and took his hand and together they leapt into the TV.

    Shinjiro’s backside hit the ground, bearing the full brunt of the fall and his body acting as a cushion of sorts for the toddlers. They simply rolled off of him as if nothing happened. A few seconds later, they heard another thud nearby.

    Ken managed to land on his feet, but he lost his balance and fell flat on his behind. “I’ll never get used to this,” he groaned. “Are you alright, Nanako-chan?”

    “Yes,” Nanako said. “I’m fine.” She stood up and dusted her dress with her hands. “But I don’t think Shinjiro-san is.”

    The tall teen was still lying on the floor, breathing heavily. He then stood up and rubbed his tailbone. “Those damn brats! I can’t wait for this to be over with... Now we can’t get out of here until that bear shows up. Just PERFECT!” he hissed.

    Said brats were looking at their surroundings, curiosity shining brightly in their eyes and mouths hanging open in a perfect ‘O’ shape as they ogled the fog-filled world. The fog at the Entrance Hall wasn’t as thick as the other places, so they could still see some of the surroundings.

    Minato saw something shining on the floor from the corner of his eye. He immediately went and picked it up. “Look what I found!”

    Souji and Minako snapped out of their trance and approached him. Shinjiro, Ken and Nanako turned their heads to Minato’s direction and gasped. The blue haired boy was holding an Evoker! Ken and Shinjiro checked their holsters, and sure enough, both were empty. ‘I must have dropped it when I fell,’ they thought at the same time.

    “I found another one!” Minako shouted proudly.

    “I want one too!” Souji pouted, flapping his arms wildly.

    “There aren’t any more. You can have this weird hat, Banchou-kun.” Shinjiro immediately felt his head. His beanie was gone too!

    “B-but…” Souji tried to protest, but Minako shoved it on his head anyway. Souji took the opportunity to grab the Evoker.

    “Hey, give that back!” was her response.

    “No!” Souji stuck his tongue out. Minako proceeded to wrestle the gun-shaped object from his hands.

    The toddlers continued to bicker and grapple each other.

    Shinjiro finally snapped. “THAT’S ENOUGH!” he roared. He grabbed the Evokers by force as well as his beanie, and returned one to Ken. “You three are going to sit here and be quiet until the others come back. Understand?!” He shot them a glare for good measure.

    All of a sudden Minako’s eyes begin to water, her bottom lip trembling. ‘Oh shit, she’s gonna cry!’ the older teen thought, slightly panicking. Souji and Minato were immediately by her side and patted her back to comfort her, disputes forgotten, and shot an equally devastating glare at Shinjiro at the same time.

    Nanako stifled a laugh. She never would have thought that her Big Bro would be so rebellious and cute at the same time.

    As soon as Minako stopped crying (much to Shinjiro’s relief) the three Fools’ attention were now on a glowing blue butterfly which fluttered past them. As if Shinjiro’s warning didn’t exist, they ran off to chase it.

    “What are they doing?” Nanako wondered. “It looks like they’re chasing something.”

    “Chasing? I don’t see anything,” Ken answered.

    One of Shinjiro’s eyebrows twitched with annoyance, a vein in his forehead throbbed. Seeing that arguing is not going to make them stay, he decided to take action and secure them by force if necessary. ‘If Ken and Nanako can’t see that blue butterfly, then something is about to go wrong,’ his gut told him. “Stay here and protect Nanako. I’ll be right back,” he ordered Ken, and put on the glasses Teddie gave him.

    Ken and Nanako already had their glasses on. “Alright. Be careful, Shinjiro-san!”

    “Damn kids and their short attention span,” Shinjiro grumbled. “Wait till those brats return to normal…I can’t wait to give them a piece of my mind!”

    The trio hadn’t run off very far. Shinjiro recognized the area they were in; it was the shopping district on the North side, albeit a creepier version. ‘Oh yeah, Hanamura told us that this is the place where he and Souji awakened to their Personas.’

    The blue butterfly was fluttering around an electric pole in front of Konishi’s liquor shop, the children running around in circles trying to catch it. As they butterfly was floating above them, they had to jump up and down to reach it. It was giving Shinjiro a headache. He was going to grab and possibly tie them up when his ears heard growls somewhere nearby.

    Five Shadows emerged from the shop. There was one Shadow which looked like a lion, chained to a floating ball wearing a blue mask. The other four were literally enormous floating balls with black and purple stripes. It had huge grey lips, with their tongues hanging out. They had their sights on a certain target; the Wild Cards.

    By now, the toddlers saw the Shadows and cowered in fear. Minato and Minako were hugging each other, with Souji protectively in the middle. The butterfly was the last thing on their minds right now. The screamed when the lion Shadow begin to pounced on them.

    Shinjiro whipped out his Evoker. “Pegasus, Fatal End!”

    Pegasus performed the slash attack, but as soon as it came in contact with the lion Shadow the attack deflected and hit his master instead. He was fast enough to dodge it before it caused serious damage. ‘Another one that reflects physical attacks…Just my luck!’ Shinjiro thought sarcastically.
 
   While Shinjiro was struggling, the other Shadows continued to approach the trio menacingly. The children continued to back away before hitting a wall. They gasped in dismay as they were surrounded, their fear of getting eaten growing and growing.

    One of the balls lunged itself at the trio, its tongue sticking out much longer than before. The toddlers were too scared to scream this time.

    Blue smoke was glowing at their feet, and suddenly three figures hovered above them.

    Shinjiro was surprised when he saw that the three toddlers summoned their respective Persona, especially when they didn’t have their Evokers or in Souji’s case, his tarot card. Orpheus managed to hit one Shadow with his lyre while Eurydice casted Agi as a follow up attack, causing the rest of the Shadows to back away. Izanagi zapped the lion Shadow with Zio, nearly hitting Shinjiro.

    Distinct shouts could be heard from the distance (Junpei and Teddie’s stood out so far) when the cavalry arrived. Shinjiro never felt more relieved. The children were exhausted from the oppressive atmosphere of the fog-filled world and the summoning of their Persona. They immediately fainted, and the three Personae disappeared.

    Seeing the window of opportunity, the Shadows attacked again. But before they can do so, Shinjiro blocked them with Pegasus. He grunted as a piercing sting coursed through his body when his Persona’s pain was transferred to him.

    “Guys, the Halberie Shadows are weak to fire. Burn their asses!” Rise shouted.

    “That Beast Shadow has a weakness to Light. Naoto-chan, please get rid of it!” Fuuka said.

    Yukiko was furious. She summoned Amaterasu and released a Maragidyne attack. ‘If those Shadows think they can hurt MY boyfriend, they’ve got another thing coming!’ she glared dangerously. Her anger fueled her flames and the Halberies were ash in no time. Junpei didn’t even need to help.

    “Yamato Takeru, Hamaon!”

    A symbol with runes of yellow light flashed beneath the Beast Shadow before the light engulfed it. And the Shadow was no more.

    “Shinji, are you alright?” Akihiko approached his childhood friend. “Don’t move. I’ll heal you.” He summoned Cesar and casted Diarahan.

    “Thanks, Aki.” Shinjiro let himself relax as his cuts and bruises healed, letting the cool sensation of the healing spell wash over him. “How did you guys know we were here?”

    “Rise said she sensed a bunch of Shadows here. Mitsuru had a bad feeling about it and we had to check it out. I’m glad we did.”

    Yukari and the Fox ran towards the toddlers, followed by Yukiko, Yosuke and Teddie.

    The young brunette kneeled beside Minato and began to look for injuries. She sighed with relief and checked on the other twin. Yukiko was cradling Souji while Yosuke casted Diarahan on him. Teddie used the Fox’s leaves to help them regain their energy.

    “Shinjiro, how did you even get here?” Mitsuru questioned. “I thought you were supposed to be babysitting them in our world.”

    “I was. We were just doing some grocery shopping when they started to fight. One thing led to another and they got sucked here,” Shinjiro scowled. “I’m never taking babysitting duty ever again!”

    “Where’s Ken? More importantly, what happened to Nanako-chan?” Kanji asked frantically.

    “Don’t worry. I left them at the entrance,” Shinjiro grunted. He stood up and dusted himself off before picking Minako up bridal style. “We should head back before this world does any more damage to them.”

    Junpei took the opportunity to say something. “Shinjiro-senpai, was that Orpheus, Eurydice and Izanagi we saw when we got here?”

    “Yeah, I’ll tell you about it later.”

    As the group reached the Entrance Hall, they were greeted by Ken and a very worried Nanako. “Are they alright?” she asked when she saw Minato asleep in Kanji’s arms and Souji in Yosuke’s.

    “They are fine, Nanako-chan. They’re just exhausted,” Metis answered.

    “We are sad to report that our search has not been successful,” Aigis said in a depressed tone. Koromaru only whimpered beside her.

    “Yes. So far we checked most of the dungeons and found nothing of remote interest,” Naoto continued. “Teddie, if you would be so kind to let us out of here.”

    Teddie nodded. He tapped his foot three times and the stack of televisions appeared. All of them exited the TV World.

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    Back at Junes Food Court…

    Yukiko and Yukari were cradling Souji and Minato on their laps, wiping their foreheads with a damp cloth. Shinjiro did the same with Minako. The little girl giggled in her sleep and embraced him, feeling safe in his arms. Souji and Minato did the same with their girls, making them giggle and Shinjiro smile a bit.

    Behind him, Akihiko snickered. His best friend rarely showed any sort of affectionate behavior, but never in front of this many people. It was a first. Mitsuru smirked when she saw what Akihiko was smiling at.

    Teddie was fussing over Nanako, offering her some of the Fox’s leaves and poking and prodding her for injuries. If she was feeling uncomfortable, Nanako didn’t show it. The rest slumped on chairs or the benches, exhausted out of their minds. On the table were the items they managed to collect so far.

    “We’ve been through them three times. Most of them are just the normal stuff we use for healing or support,” Chie
reported.

    “I’m so tired. I can’t wait to get to the inn and soak in the hot springs,” Junpei sighed.

    “You can say that again,” Yosuke echoed. “But I’m never spending a night at that inn after what happened last year.” He shot Yukiko a dirty look, which she didn’t seem to notice.

    “That was worse than the camping incident,” Kanji said as a depressing aura surrounded him.

    “We agreed to never speak of that again,” Yosuke hissed. “Do you want to mentally torture yourself to death?”

    “You started it…” Kanji mumbled before becoming silent.

    Everybody else was too tired to ask what both of them meant. There was one more important question to ask; Junpei was the one to voice it out. “How did the little dudes summon their Personas without the Evoker? I thought we left them at the inn.”

    “Interesting…” Akihiko mused. “I suspected that it is possible to summon a Persona without one. These guys proved it -” he gestured to the Investigation Team. “How else did you summon yours during your awakening, Junpei?”

    “It must have been some sort of defense mechanism,” Fuuka theorized. “They were in extreme danger when those Shadows attacked, and they unconsciously summoned their Persona. Minato-kun did that when Minako-chan and Souji-kun were in extreme danger when we faced Adachi.”

    “Really? Aren’t they a bit too young to have any sort of emotional baggage or whatever?” Rise asked. But then she lowered her voice to a whisper. “I mean, remember what we told you about Nanako-chan?”

    “The same logic may not apply to them, Rise. After all, they did possess the power of Persona before turning into toddlers,” Naoto said.

    Shinjiro overheard their conversation while he nursed an unconscious Minako. He had a strong feeling that the blue butterfly helped them, and if anything was connected to the three Wild Cards it had to be the Velvet Room. While he was confused, at the same time he was thankful that everything turned out alright. He might have to thank Igor if he ever saw him again.

    “It looks like we should just call it a day,” Mitsuru concluded. “Why don’t we all grab a bite to eat before we head back?”

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    Night time, Amagi inn…

    “Stupei actually made a good suggestion today,” Yukari said as the girls headed for the hot springs. The SEES girls were already in their yukata. They had invited Yukiko to join them, but she declined saying she was busy helping her mother.

    “This will be a new experience for me,” Metis chirped. She was extremely happy; she had never been in a hot spring before.

    “As long as what happened in Kyoto never occurs again,” Aigis said in a grim tone.

    “Still mad about that, huh? Don’t worry, I haven’t forgiven Junpei yet either,” Yukari reassured the blonde android.

    “I’m sure the boys know better now,” Mitsuru smiled triumphantly. The other girls shivered at the memory, grateful for not ending up on the other side of their senpai’s ‘execution’.

    Behind the group of girls, the Wild Card trio happily trotted in their little bathrobes. In each hand they carried their bathing items and a towel in the other. It seems that the girls were okay with Minato and Souji joining them; they would be playing at the kid’s section anyway.

    When they reached the hot springs, the girls took Minako to the locker rooms to undress. Souji and Minato were already in their swimming shorts and made a dash for the children’s pool.

    The girls came out of the locker room in only their towels. Yukari was holding Minako’s hand as she guided her to the hot springs. The little girl was jumping up and down in excitement, causing the others to smile at her limitless energy. They could hear the little boys splashing each other in the distance.

    Mitsuru, Yukari and Fuuka sank their tired bodies into the hot water of the springs, letting out a satisfied sigh as they let their muscles relax. Aigis and Metis sat at the edge of the pool with their feet in the water. Minako was at the shallow end, mimicking the three girls while chatting with the androids who were closer to her.

    “Hey, let’s have a breath holding contest!” Minako announced, waving her arms excitedly. Seeing the girl’s enthusiasm the female SEES members didn’t have the heart to say ‘no’. ‘She’s just too cute!’ they thought.

    Before they can start, Minako had already disappeared under the water’s surface. At the same time they heard loud voices coming from the kid’s pool and it didn’t sound like they belong to children.

    “That sounded like a man’s voice!” Yukari hissed. “That stupid moron, he’s trying to peep on us again!” At the word ‘peep’, the young women wrapped themselves with their towels.

    “It will be my pleasure to get rid of him,” Aigis said nonchalantly and walked stealthily to the small pool, readying her guns.

    “I’ll come with you, Sister,” Metis said. Both of them disappeared.

    Two loud (and manly) screams followed soon after. Yukari and Mitsuru were out of the hot spring and into their fighting stances, with Fuuka behind them. They heard the bushes rustling nearby and readied themselves to beat the crap out of whoever dared to sneak in while the women were bathing. To their utter surprise, Aigis and Metis pushed two young men from the bushes; and it happened to be Minato and Souji, who weren’t kids anymore but full-grown teenagers!

    Not just full-grown, but half-naked as well. The swimming shorts they wore when they were in their child forms now closely resembled speedos. Yukari blushed as she caught herself comparing Minato and Souji’s physique; Minato was lean and muscular, while Souji had a bit more bulk and wider shoulders.

    There was a few seconds of silence before Fuuka screamed. A few moments after that, the sliding door opened to reveal Shinjiro.

    “What the hell happened? I thought I heard Fuuka shout–”

    “I win!”

    Everyone heard a splash of water coming from the middle of the hot spring as a grown-up Minako emerged from the water with her arms raised in a victorious manner.

    The three young men blushed at what they saw. Since Minako was facing the opposite side of the pool, her bare back was facing the entrance, slightly covered by her wet, chestnut colored hair. Her lower half was (thankfully) still in the water.

    Minato’s over-protectiveness kicked in. “Minako, for goodness sakes cover yourself!” He saw her body stiffen at the sound of his voice before she tilted her head downwards and gasped at what she saw.

    “KYAAAA!!!” Minako submerged herself into the water once more and wrapped her arms around herself.

    Mitsuru found her voice again. “GET OUT OF HERE, YOU DAMN IDIOTS!” she thundered. At the same time Yukari picked up a
bucket and threw it at the guys. Fuuka, Aigis and Metis followed suit.

    The situation was becoming all too familiar. Minato and Souji high tailed it out of there, dragging a still blushing Shinjiro and dodging buckets in the process. The sliding door slammed shut behind them. The young women swore they heard Yukiko shriek in the hallway a few moments later.

    Yukari threw Minako a spare towel and they rushed to the locker room to get dressed, no longer in the mood for another dip in the hot spring.

    Somewhere in the inn, a silver-haired boxing champ and a cap wearing class-clown shivered in the warm night.

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    “So let me get this straight…” Yosuke said, pinching the skin between his eyebrows. “We went through all that dungeon grinding, found nothing, and all it took to cure you guys was a bath in the hot springs?!”

    Souji rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.”

    Nanako hugged her Big Bro. “I’m so glad that you guys are back to normal.” This earned her a pat on the head from Souji.

    “Why do bad things happen to us at hot springs?” Minato uttered grimly. His twin was grinning sheepishly between him and Souji, who looked just as dejected.

    “So it’s like putting clothes in the dryer…they expand!” Kanji said suddenly, punching a fist into his other hand.

    Everybody sweatdropped at his analogy.

    Mitsuru had booked a conference room the next day and called the rest of the Inaba Persona-users to join in the meeting to deliver the good news. In the middle of the room was a huge oak table, surrounded by soft, red cushions. Everybody was already seated as Yukiko and Rise passed around some refreshments.

    “Ugh…I’m just glad this whole ordeal is over,” Chie grimaced. She knocked Teddie, who was sitting on her left, at the back of his head. “For the record, this is your fault!”

    “What did I do?” the little blond whined. Everyone ignored him.

    It took a while for everyone to notice that Minato was avoiding Yukari’s stare, Souji blushed and quickly looked away when he spotted Yukiko (which is weird because she wasn’t sitting beside him like she usually does) and Shinjiro was sitting by himself in one corner trying desperately to avoid a certain crimson-eyed girl.

    “Uh…what’s going on here?” Yosuke whispered to Akihiko. Beside him, Chie’s ears twitched.

    The silver-haired boxer seemed uncomfortable at the question. “Well you see…the girls didn’t know that this would happen when they took Minato and Souji, when they were still kids, to play at the hot springs. Shinji kinda barged in on them when he heard Fuuka screaming,” he whispered back.

    Getting a sense of what might follow afterwards, Yosuke just nodded. ‘I’m just glad they weren’t hurt in any way, if past experience helps,’ he thought.

    “They did WHAT?!!” Chie squawked, making Akihiko and Yosuke jump in their seats. She happened to be paying extra close attention, since Yosuke wasn’t really that skilled at whispering, and she swiveled her head towards Souji. “Even after what happened the last time, you still haven’t learned?” she hissed venomously.

    “This happened before…?” Fuuka asked.

    “They peeped on you guys too?” Yukari gasped.

    Souji gulped. He was very much aware of what Chie was capable of when angered enough, and he doesn’t think he can handle a Galactic Punt. “It was an accident, I swear!” he shouted indignantly.

    “You can’t blame us! We didn’t even know that would happen!” Minato stressed, backing up Souji.

    “Aniki is right. You shouldn’t get too worked up, Chie-chan...Yukari-chan and Fuuka-chan too. Like Souji-kun said, it was an accident.” Minako shyly smiled. But when she caught Shinjiro’s eye, she blushed and found the floor more interesting instead.

    Yukiko was also very red. Even during the hot spring incident last year, all she remembered was throwing wooden pails at the guys. Last night she saw Souji half-naked, and she couldn’t help but stare and admire. When she became aware of what she was doing, Yukiko screamed her head off and ran away covering her eyes. ‘I wonder what kind of impression I left on him,’ she sighed mentally.

    The atmosphere in the conference room was getting awkward, and fast. In one corner of the room, Shinjiro sat by himself trying to avoid people especially Minato and Souji. He stole occasional glances around the room, but mostly he just stared at the ceiling or the carpet.

Flashback

    The three of them managed to return to their room without running into the other guests. Minato dashed to the bathroom while Souji just grabbed a robe from the closet to cover himself up. Junpei and Akihiko were shocked when they barged in suddenly, two of them in skimpy clothing. Junpei had the decency not to laugh, which made the situation a little more bearable. Ken and Koromaru were already fast asleep so neither of them noticed the commotion.

    A few minutes later, Minato came out of the bathroom fully dressed. Souji took his turn.

    “Damn, that was one freaky experience,” Minato mumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose as a headache was forming. “I’m just so glad Mitsuru-senpai didn’t execute us this time.”

    “Dude, you had to bring that up?” Junpei whimpered. He could still feel the prickle of ice on his skin after all of these years.”But wait…weren’t you guys little kids a little while ago?”

    “Yeah…you’re going to fill us in on that. All I remember was us training in the TV world, surrounded by yellow powder, and then pushed by Aigis and Metis in front of the girls.”

    Akihiko grimaced. “That is never a good situation.”

    Souji stepped out of the bathroom, dressed in a t-shirt and pajama bottoms he borrowed from Minato. “So you guys had a hot spring incident too?” he chuckled, rubbing his hair dry with a towel.

    “It was Junpei’s idea,” Minato deadpanned. “Why Akihiko-senpai and I listened to him and Ryoji was beyond me.”

    Shinjiro found this amusing, but it angered him as well especially when it regarded his girlfriend. “You had a part in peeping on girls, Aki? How low can you get?” he glared dangerously.

    Akihiko sighed. “Like Minato said Shinji, it wasn’t our fault.”

    “Tell us about yours, Souji, while we’re still on the topic,” Junpei said, grinning. Akihiko only rolled his eyes at Junpei’s perverted intentions.

    “It wasn’t really our fault either,” Souji began. “We were a little jumpy because of the whole murder business and a tiring day at the school’s cultural festival. We took the chance to go relax in the hot spring since the front desk called to inform us that it was the guys’ time. When we arrived, the girls and Nanako were already there. Long story short, we got chased out by wooden buckets. But what happened after that was a lot worse though, and that time it was Yosuke and Teddie’s fault.” Souji skin crawled as he tried to scrape the horrible memories from his brain.

    “Is that what Hanamura and Tatsumi were mumbling about earlier?” Akihiko wondered. Shinjiro just shrugged.
 
   “Persona-user women really are scary,” Junpei muttered. “We were lucky we didn’t get frostbite after Mitsuru-senpai executed us.”

    “So us guys escaped but not without injuries, huh?” Minato laughed lightly. Then he turned sharply to Shinjiro and narrowed his eyes. “Senpai, I hope you don’t get any ideas about my sister after what you saw in there. Just because you weren’t in Kyoto when it happened doesn’t mean you’re entitled to a chance.”

    “That’s right, Shinjiro-san. What Aniki said,” Souji clasped a hand on the senior’s shoulder. His face was smiling but the malicious aura indicated otherwise.

    Shinjiro gulped, but still kept his stoic exterior. He was never one to be intimidated, but it was different when being confronted by two powerful Wild Cards who also happen to be overprotective brothers to the girl he loves.

     “Whatever,” Shinjiro said in a flat tone. That was all he could say at the moment as his heart was uncomfortably beating very, very fast.

    Junpei and Akihiko had a newfound respect for Shinjiro, but they also made a mental note not to cross these two (scratch that, make it three since Minako can be just as scary) ever.

End Flashback

    Before Mitsuru could say something to defuse the situation, Rise beat her to it. “This calls for a celebration! How about a karaoke party?”

    “That won’t be necessary, Rise,” Souji told her. “We squad leaders have decided to make lunch for you guys instead.”

    “Yeah, to thank you guys for braving the Shadows to help us turn back to normal,” Minato said, smiling.

    “I’ll even bake a cake!” Minako smiled.

    “It’s the least we could do,” Souji added.

    Yosuke could barely contain his excitement. “Awesome! More delicious food!” His enthusiastic cheer was echoed by Kanji and Teddie, while the girls could only pout.

    “It’s been a while since we tasted anything you made, Minako-san. I can’t wait,” Ken said.

    The hostility was temporarily forgotten as the conversation steered to the topic of food. The Investigation Team were praising their leader’s cooking skills while the SEES members were reminiscing about Minako’s home-made sweets or Minato’s whacky but delicious ramen combinations and milkshakes. Even Shinjiro was in the mood to join the conversation.

    Three hours later, all of them returned from Junes carrying bags of groceries and placed them at the inn’s kitchen. The chefs had already cleared out a small area for them to use at Yukiko’s request. The three Wild Cards started to work while the rest went to wait at the same conference room earlier.

    Give or take another two hours later, the three of them arrived, pushing three carts of food. Everyone was in awe as they ogled their leaders’ creations; grilled chicken skewers, soba noodles, beef sukiyaki, salad and fried rice with omelet. To top it off, there were fruit tarts, milkshakes and chocolate cake for dessert.

    The sight of the desserts and omelet fried rice made Nanako very happy. It didn’t take long for the food to be passed around and everyone started consuming.

    Mitsuru cleared her throat to catch everyone’s attention. “I would like to propose a toast to our leaders.” She raised her glass of fruit punch. “Congratulations to you three for turning back to normal. And may our search for the truth be victorious!”

    “I wouldn’t say no to that,” Naoto commented as everyone also raised their glass.

    “And again, we would like to thank you all and for standing beside us all the way,” Minato said, as he glanced to Minako and Souji. “We couldn’t have asked for a better team!”

    The Persona-users took pleasure in each others’ company as they partied into the night, fully aware that tomorrow would bring even more challenges and possible dangers. But for now they were content with the time they have to just enjoy their youth.