Persona - Chaos Butterfly 18.1

Chapter 18: Bonds and Rivalries (Part one)

            “Is everybody here?” Souji questioned as he scanned the faces of his teammates. They agreed last night to meet up at Dojima’s house the next morning, and reminded them to bring their summer assignments. The only ones who didn’t protest at this were Yukiko, Naoto, and surprisingly Yosuke. Satisfied that none were absent, he smiled to Nanako standing beside him. “Alright, everyone’s here. Did you bring all your stuff?” He proceeded to lock the door.

            The little girl smiled and nodded. “Yup! I brought all my homework I couldn’t finish yesterday.”

            “Why did we have to bring our homework with us?” Kanji mumbled unhappily. “I thought we were just helping them arrange their furniture…”

            “Yeah,” Chie agreed. “Why are we having another study session like we did at Junes, or at your house? I mean, the last time we did that all of us ended up not studying. I blame the animal crackers.”

            “Hey!” Kanji and Rise protested in unison.

            “Chie, I’m pretty sure you won’t get everything done with the amount of time we have left. School starts in a week,” Yukiko reminded her. She knew her best friend was rather slow when it came to academic matters, and with her pace she’ll never finish her assignments by herself on time.

            Souji walked ahead holding Nanako’s hand. The others trailed behind him, chatting excitedly. Yasogami High would sure to become more colorful after this.

            “So partner, what’s the plan for today, anyway?” Yosuke asked.

            “After I got home yesterday, I talked with Aneki and Aniki,” Souji said. “Turns out those transferring to school with us also have a lot of homework to do…”

…Flashback…

            “I wonder what kind of homework Nanako-chan is given,” Minato wondered aloud as he fiddled with his MP3 player. They were walking back to the Dojima Residence after the twins offered to help him with Nanako’s summer homework.

            Souji blew out a warm breath against the cold night air, a small wisp of mist condensing in front of his face. “Last year she mostly had essays and reading assignments, along with a crafts project. Kanji helped her with that. But my favorite was the picture diary.”

            “Picture diary, huh?” Minako mused. “I remember helping Maiko-chan with that one. We had a lot of fun!”

            Minato then proceeded to explain who Maiko was before Souji could even ask, including the Arcana of her social link. “And she moved away with her mother after her parents’ divorce,” he concluded. They already reached their destination without even realizing.

            “We’re back!” Souji announced, taking off his shoes after opening the door. The twins followed, and were greeted by Dojima who was sitting at the dinner table, reading the newspaper.

            The older man grunted, and turned his gaze from the miniscule texts. “Oh, Souji. I was wondering when you were getting back.” He bent down and placed four brown paper-wrapped packages on the table, that were previously beside his chair. One was rather thin, but the other three were thicker. “These came to my office while you were away. It’s from your previous school.”

            Souji raised an eyebrow. “From Gekkoukan High?”

            “It’s not just for you. It’s also for you two –” Dojima pointed to the twins, “– Metis and Aragaki. I’m pretty sure they sent it to me all at once because they knew you lot were coming here.”

            Nanako came rushing down the stairs, excited when she heard the voices of her cousin and his surrogate siblings. “Aniki, Aneki!” she squealed, glomping them in record speed.

            Minako almost fell over from the force of the hug. “Easy there, Nanako-chan,” she giggled, patting her hair. “We came today to help you with your homework. Souji-kun said it was a lot.”

            “Un,” Nanako nodded. “We’ll start after dinner. Dad just brought back some really delicious side dishes. I cooked enough rice for all of us!”

            Dojima laughed light-heartedly. “You guys can stay for dinner. If I’m right about those,” he nudged his chin towards the wrapped packages in their arms, “you’ll need to be starting soon.”

            “Alright, I’ll go put these in my room while you guys set the table,” Souji said. Minato helped him carry half while his twin helped Nanako.

            After a wonderful family dinner, Dojima continued to read the paper as Souji, the twins and Nanako sat around the short table in the living room, their books and stationary strewn all over the surface. They had opened their packages earlier and found that the teachers from Gekkoukan had mailed them their homework, including those the twins had missed during their coma, plus some exam sheets and tests. Souji and Minato browsed through what they had to do in the next seven days, while Minako was happily helping Nanako with her essay.

            Minato grabbed a fistful of his hair and let out an exhausted sigh. “How are we gonna finish these in a matter of weeks?” he groaned. “I don’t mind the extra work, but this is too much…”

            Souji could understand his frustration, but he dared not complain since his workload was much, much lighter. “Don’t worry, Aniki. I can tutor you with the lessons that you missed for the previous semester, and I’m pretty sure Yukiko could help too.”

            Minato nodded. Perhaps Yukari could also help him with his studies. He grinned at the thought. ‘I’ll be looking forward to that.’

            “It looks like Shinjiro-san’s pile is the highest,” Souji sweatdropped. “I’m guessing it’s because he missed nearly two years of high school, and this is the teachers’ punishment. He’s not going to be happy…”

            “Then why don’t we have a group study session starting from tomorrow?” Minako interrupted as Nanako was too distracted with her work. “I’m pretty sure there are more people who need help with their homework. After all, two heads are better than one, right?”

            Souji sighed. “Tell that to my team. The last time we gathered for a group study, we didn’t get any work done. All because Kanji and Rise were arguing over animal crackers, trying to find the elusive penguin.”

            “Yeah, I can totally see that happening with Junpei,” Minato snorted.

            “Then it’s a good thing Mitsuru-senpai will be there,” Minako beamed. “She’s a real discipline enforcer, so I’m sure all of us can finish on time. After all, she isn’t the only one who wants to see Shinji-kun graduate.”

            Souji and Minato sweatdropped, but they couldn’t refute what she said either. They took turns helping Nanako and discussing how to manage their time during the last stretch of the holidays.

            Dojima offered to send the twins back to the inn in his car along with their piles of assignments, after Souji had put Nanako to bed.

…End flashback…

            “So, do you think this time the study session will work?” Naoto asked, looking a bit skeptical.

            “Yes. From what Aneki and Aniki said, Mitsuru-san can be quite…forceful…when it comes to academics. And you already saw what happens when someone gets her annoyed.” Souji received sweatdrops and shivers. “So guys, no fooling around this time. You got that?”

            Everybody nodded. That’s when Kanji noticed someone heading their way. “Huh? Ain’t that Shinjiro-senpai and Koro-chan?”

            The group looked up ahead and indeed Shinjiro was walking Koromaru. Judging from the look on the senior’s face, anyone could tell he was in a foul mood. “Damn asshole teachers and their shitload of schoolwork!” he complained, loud enough for anyone to hear. “I oughta shove their assignments up into their asses and @*$<^#-+^%*!!!” He kept spewing obscenities until he bumped into Souji, who was covering Nanako’s ears for obvious reasons. “Oh…hey,” he greeted nonchalantly.

            “Hello, Shinjiro-san…” Souji greeted back with a tight smile as he purposely summoned Lucifer from his psyche. The rest of his team and Koromaru instinctively backed off, feeling the murderous vibe radiating from the silverette. “I know you’re upset about your workload, but I must ask you to refrain from cursing, especially in front of Nanako.” His left iris almost turned black as he released his cousin, who rushed up to the Shiba Inu. With long strides, he came face-to-face with Shinjiro, and whispered something in his ear. “Do I make myself clear?!”

            Shinjiro gulped. He wasn’t stupid and immediately knew that this guy wasn’t kidding around. “Yeah, yeah… I get the point…” He looked at Nanako, who was busy playing with Koromaru, and then back at Souji. “My bad.”

            The youngest leader smiled with satisfaction. “I knew you’d understand.” He dismissed Lucifer instantly. “Then, shall we get going?”

            No one dared to object as they moved on. Shinjiro was at the back of the group, trying to remain calm despite the fact his heart was racing. Although he wasn’t wearing his coat for a change, he was sweating even more than usual for a summer’s day. ‘Damn Wild Card’s ability… Another close call like that and I’m done for…’

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            Nanako was impressed with the size of the dorm building, especially the front yard where she played fetch and a few other games with Koromaru. SPIES got to work, arranging the furniture and putting everything in their proper places. After assisting with the new dorm, it was starting to look like a proper dwelling minus the personal touches, but that will be added with time. The former SEES members had already checked out of the Amagi Inn first thing in the morning and brought all their own stuff in.

            A short break and an icy glare from Mitsuru later, SPIES gathered in the meeting room, seating themselves around the rather large meeting table and piling their books on it. They broke into small groups to assist each other with their homework.

            “Okay, this is the part where you really need to be careful guys. No Chie, we’re not taking a break until we finish this page! Now, as I was saying, you multiply it with this specific trigonometric identity and then it becomes easier to solve because…Yosuke, ‘sec’ is short for secant, and not pronounced as ‘sex’!” He threw a book at his friend’s face. “Get your brain out of the gutter!”

            While Souji was having slight difficulty tutoring his friends, Yukiko wasn’t having any problems with the Arisato twins. She went through snippets of the revision subjects, making sure to go slow. It was overwhelming at first, but the twins caught up and the lessons become much easier.

            As expected, Shinjiro wasn’t happy with the amount of work assigned by his former teachers. Since nobody but Minako and Koromaru could handle him in a bad mood, Akihiko bravely took up the challenge to prompt his best friend into studying. “Come on, Shinji. You can totally do this. Long division isn’t that hard! You just have to hit the variable with the highest degree first, and knock them down by order until you obtain the smallest nominator. See?” Akihiko began scribbling onto a piece of paper, showing Shinjiro the steps to solve one math problem for his homework.

            Shinjiro could only roll his eyes, bored out of his mind. ‘Typical Aki. Always with the boxing jargons...’ Despite not wanting to, he sucked it up and listened. A huge part of him wanted to impress his girlfriend and make her proud. And if he didn’t graduate, Mitsuru would murder him for sure.

            On the other side of the table, Naoto was going through English with Kanji and Rise. Kanji seemed serious, but if one paid enough attention, they could see his eyes were starting to swirl while reading the literature text. Halfway, Rise got bored and started flipping through a teen magazine. It was only when Teddie, who sat beside her, made perverted comments about the models did she slap him with the magazine and continued to study. Yukari decided to step in and tutor her instead. The two Lovers soon found a comfortable rhythm. Rise didn’t even complain once about the difficulties of the lessons; Yukari’s perspective made it easier to understand. Teddie, who was ignored completely, wallowed in sorrow behind his textbooks. “The wind of society is a cold breeze…” he kept mumbling.

            Aigis was going over everything with Metis, her patience knowing no bounds to quench her sister’s insatiable curiosity. Fuuka was also patiently watching over Junpei doing math, correctly him gently whenever he made some missteps. The capped young man was sincerely trying his best, but everyone could see how much he was struggling. Yukari and Rise were making silent bets on when his brain would finally explode.

            At the other end of the table, Ken was helping Nanako since he was the only one free and capable to do so. The little girl was trying hard not to squeal or blush at being so close to her crush, nodding furiously every time he asked her if she understood or had any questions. Souji was too busy with Yosuke and Chie to notice this though.

            Watching over them was Mitsuru, who was sitting at one corner of the room with her laptop on a foldable desk, typing a report of some sort. Anyone who dared to complain or whine would answer to her. Fortunately, everybody behaved to avoid her wrath. Koromaru, being the only one who didn’t have to study, snoozed contently at her feet.

            It was early evening when the gang had enough and demanded a break. “Now would be a good time for tea,” Minako said, stretching her back. “I think there are enough ingredients in the kitchen to bake some sugar cookies.”

            “Let me help you,” Yukiko offered.

            “And I’ll make some sandwiches. I don’t think cookies are enough,” Fuuka said. As she followed the two to the kitchen, she failed to notice how everyone’s faces turned pale aside from Nanako. Even Koromaru had woken up and started to whimper. He nuzzled against Nanako’s leg, hoping she could save him from the impending doom. She could only pet him, puzzled by his behavior.

            Akihiko nudged Shinjiro’s ribs. “Shinji, go keep an eye on them!” he hissed. “Who knows what those two will come up with without you backing Minako up.” Shinjiro wasn’t concerned at first, but when he remembered Yosuke’s comment regarding Yukiko’s cooking and Fuuka’s destructive tendency with utensils, he worried for his pristine kitchen and made a dash towards it, leaving the others exhaling in relief.

            “That was a close call…” Junpei said, slumped tiredly against the table surface. “If not, I would’ve had a double whammy of sore brains and an upset stomach.”

            “Do you even have a brain, Junpei?” Yukari teased.

            “Hey, it’s rude to call Sir Junpei brainless!” Teddie protested.

            “You’re still calling him that?” Kanji sweatdropped. Light teasing and laughter soon followed.

            While the girls and Shinjiro worked on the snacks, Souji headed for the garden to get some fresh air. He was rubbing his temples and sighing, with light groans between intervals. Most assumed he was just tired from all the studying and tutoring, but Minato knew better and decided to follow him.

            At the garden, Souji sat beneath one of the trees near the swing and sighed. Minato joined him. “Izanagi again?” he asked softly.

            Souji nodded. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him …” he sighed. “In the middle of the tutoring, he started getting agitated again…It took a lot to keep my focus so it wouldn’t interfere with the study session.”

            Minato crossed his arms. “I wonder why that keeps happening to you, but not to me or Minako…” he pondered.

            “I’m not sure… It all started after we met that masked man…” Souji leaned back against the tree, closing his eyes. The two sat in silence for a long while before he spoke again. “I can’t help but feeling there’s a connection there.”

            “Maybe there is,” Minako said as she approached them, balancing a tray of sandwiches, three cups of tea and a plateful of cookies. “It’s strange, but after meeting that man, I felt something different with Eurydice and my other Personas,” she said as she put the tray on the grass and sat next to her two brothers. “I don’t know how to put it, but they kinda feel like they’re more in tune with myself, like… ya know, in complete harmony.” She emphasized the last word by pressing her right palm above her heart.

            “Now that you mentioned that, I do feel the same regarding Orpheus and the others,” Minato said thoughtfully as he took a bite of a sandwich. “At first I thought it was because of our friends defeating our Shadows, but I felt they became more…complete after we met that man.”

            “So, he had a hand on your Persona’s power becoming more stable?” Souji questioned, taking a sip of tea.

            “That I can’t be sure, but it seems like it.” Minako said before munching on another cookie. “When Izanagi gets agitated, does anything come to your mind, Banchou-kun?”

            Souji closed his eyes in thought. “Well, sometimes there are these images flashing in mind and when that happens, he starts pounding inside my head like crazy.” He massaged his temples. “They go too fast. I see men in white clothes, my parents, black blobs… I can’t really make out anything else…”

            “Hmm…That’s really odd,” Minato said. “There’s gotta be a connection between those images, Izanagi’s behavior and your headaches.”

            “Yes, but what is that connection?” Souji asked, ruffling his hair in frustration. “And why does this keeps happening? Is it connected to my parents? Or is it related to that chairman? Gah! I just don’t know anymore!”

            The twins frowned, not knowing what to say to comfort their surrogate younger brother, who continued eating their light meal and dealing with Izanagi’s constant hammering inside his mind. They knew that he was finally pain-free when his tense shoulders relaxed, and his eyebrows weren’t scrunched up together. They continued to sit in silence, listening to the birds singing.

            The silence was broken by the sound of footsteps. Chie and Akihiko were walking up to them. From the looks of it, they were in a good mood.

            “Alright, ready to go Satonaka?” Akihiko smirked at her.

            “You bet, Senpai!” Chie grinned back at him, overflowing with enthusiasm.

            Whatever they were talking about, it got the trio curious. Forgetting their concerns, the Wild Cards stood up and approached to them. “Hey, what are you two up to?” Minako asked.

            “We’re gonna train!” Chie replied excitedly.

            Souji raised an eyebrow. “First Yosuke, and now Akihiko-san?”

            “What can I say? Satonaka is the best sparring partner I’ve had in a while.” Akihiko punched the air before grinning back at Chie. “Besides, I need to get back at her for our first match.”

            “Your first match? Wait, so you sparred before and lost, Senpai?” Minato was rather surprised. Whatever challenge that involved physical strength, Akihiko never lost.

            “Yeah…” he mumbled, rubbing the back of his head. “That was a bit before you guys arrived in Inaba.”

            “Oh yeah, we had just dropped off Nanako-chan home and were heading back,” Chie said. “It wasn’t dark yet so I wanted to train a bit since we didn’t get any action after visiting the TV World.”

…Flashback… 

            Ever since his group reached Inaba and met the younger group of Persona users, even getting to know them a little, Akihiko often wondered how this group of youngsters fought and trained, despite living in a remote area far away from the proper training facilities in the city. He himself was lucky that he at least had a coach when he was in Gekkoukan High boxing club, and Officer Kurosawa supplied them with some of the best weapons available.

            Akihiko looked around. This small town didn’t have anything he was accustomed to having back when he and SEES fought Shadows. Just hours ago, the Investigation Team introduced them to Old Man Daidara, the person responsible for crafting weapons the team used when they were venturing in the TV World. It wasn’t a big shop, and the whole town knew what the old man did for a living. The shop had a mysterious air about it, nothing sinister of the sort but still he wondered. Even the general store where the younger group bought their supplies of medicinal and restorative items gave off the same, mystifying feeling. Not that Akihiko minded; dealing with Personas and Shadows tend to have that effect on you.

            “Yosuke, how about you and me go and get some training done at our usual place?” Chie asked her companion-in-training when the entire group was walking home after leaving Nanako at the Dojima Residence.

            Yosuke only shook his head. “Sorry Chie, not today. My dad asked me to come back early and pitch in restocking duty,” he answered, followed by a groan. Out of all the chores he had to do, that was the one he hated most.

            The word ‘training’ made Akihiko’s ears twitch. Ever since he graduated from high school and started college, he hadn’t been able to keep up with his training as much as he wanted to, thanks to various assignments and tight deadlines. He also wanted to see how well these younger teens can fight. It would be killing two birds with one stone. The words just flew out of his mouth. “Instead of Hanamura, why don’t you train with me, Satonaka?”

            Every head around turned to the three. The conversation just got a tad interesting.

            Chie was taken by surprise. Never in her lifetime had somebody volunteered to train with her. Even if Yosuke was her training buddy, she was the one who had to drag him along. “Are you alright with that, Sanada-san? I mean…an amateur like me…”

            “All the better to start training, right?” Akihiko gave Chie a small smile. “Besides, ever since I entered college I think I’ve gotten soft. I couldn’t keep up with my training as much as I would like to.”

Yosuke let out a big chuckle. “Haha, good luck with that. There are two things in the entire world that our Chie is passionate about: meat and training.”

            “Why you little –”

            “So it seems that Akihiko isn’t the only one who has the same train of thought,” Mitsuru cut her off. “And to think meeting such a person who happens to be a Persona user as well, I must say the odds of that are close to zero.” She covered a delicate chuckle with her right hand. “Today is just full of surprises.”

            Akihiko’s ears turned red. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

            “If you’re serious about that, then you’re gonna need safety pads,” Kanji chipped in. “I still have some at my house if you wanna borrow ‘em.”

            ‘Is that fear in the boy’s eyes?’ Akihiko thought, noticing how the other Emperor, despite his size, seemed to shrink whenever Chie looked at him. ‘What exactly happened between those two?’

            “Don’t worry about that, dudes,” Junpei interjected. “Akihiko-senpai used to be a boxing champion back in high school. But I would sure love to see his ass get kicked, especially by a girl.”

            A nerve on Akihiko’s forehead was throbbing. “Junpei…” he said in a warning tone.

            Fuuka decided it was her time to speak up. “Um…I think it’s a good idea to wear safety pads for protection, even if it is for training. What do you say, Senpai?”

            Before Akihiko could speak, Chie cheered with renewed vigor. “Awesome, then let’s start the training immediately!” She started to throw some jabs into the air, almost hitting Teddie square in the jaw.

            “Watch it, Chie-chan! I can’t let you hit my bear-ry beautiful face,” Teddie said as he threw some of his sparkles at Yukari and Yukiko. They both felt disturbed.

            Yosuke let out a sigh. “YOU are helping me since we both work there, Ted. No excuses this time.”

            “But that’s not fair!” he complained.

            Yosuke crossed his arms against his chest. “Then why don’t you go train with Chie instead?”

            Teddie started to sweat. He didn’t like where this was going. “Uh…I change my mind. I’ll help you!”

            The blonde’s swift change of behavior from whiny to compliant had the other SEES members bewildered. Yosuke and Teddie took their leave after bidding everyone goodbye.

            “Yosh! Kanji-kun, you go get those safety pads. Meet us at the riverside, where Yosuke and I often train,” Chie pointed to Kanji with a dictative tone.

            “Good luck… Ya gonna need it…” Kanji mumbled under his breath and sauntered off to the direction of his house. His ramblings were loud enough for Akihiko to hear.

            As they were walking towards the flood plain, everybody’s curiosity was at its peak. Akihiko wondered time and time again just how strong this Satonaka girl really was. For someone like Kanji (who reminded him strongly of his foul-mouthed, punk-ass best friend) to be scared of training with her, she must be really strong indeed, and maybe a bit violent. He couldn’t help but smile at this newly awaited challenge.

            When they reached their destination, it was Ken who finally broke the silence. “How come Yosuke-san is the only one willing to train with Chie-san? Kanji-san looked more suitable if you ask me.”

            “Errr…he had a bad experience with Chie last year. I don’t really think he’ll like it if I told any of you,” Yukiko chuckled.

            “Aww…come on Yukiko-senpai. I always wanted to know about that. Kanji never tells me anything!” Rise whined.

            “While it is true that Kanji-kun is strong, I do think that Chie-senpai has too much stamina for her own good,” Naoto said. “She should cut back on the beef bowls and steaks.”

            Everyone laughed at that statement. Akihiko turned red again. ‘Now why does that sound so familiar?’

            “Don’t let Senpai hear that, Naoto. You know how she feels about that particular food group,” Kanji warned her in a low whisper. Fortunately for them, Chie ran ahead and couldn’t hear. He was panting, trying to catch his breath after making it back from his house. He carried two sets of safety equipment in his arms, and handed one to Akihiko.

            “What kind weapon do you use, Chie-san?” Aigis asked.

            “My kicks of course,” Chie said, eyes sparkling. “Hwa-taaaaa!” She doubled back and did a round-house kick, Bruce Lee style.

            “Then this fight is fair, to say the least.” Mitsuru sweatdropped as she watched Chie begin to shadow-box. The red-head didn’t know what to say. As far as she knew, Akihiko never fought with a girl before, let alone a kung-fu movie addict. Then she grinned mischievously. ‘This will be good entertainment.’

            “I suggest we let Aigis be the referee,” Fuuka piped in. Koromaru voiced his agreement in barks.

            “A sound suggestion, Fuuka. Do you have any objections, Akihiko?” Mitsuru asked the boxer.

            “Nope, sounds good to me,” Akihiko said as he donned on black leather gloves.

            “Then I suggest that two out of three hits are necessary to determine the winner,” Aigis stated. “What do you think?”

            Chie didn’t hesitate to agree. “No problem. That’s what Souji-kun and I used to do all the time before he left.”

            “Yeah, I think that’s fair,” Akihiko said.

            As both fighters prepped themselves for the training / fight, the other spectators kept their distance.

            ‘Any fight with Chie in it is going to get messy,’ the Investigation Team thought.

            ‘Any fight with Akihiko in it is going to get messy,’ the former SEES thought.

            Aigis stepped forward. “Then let the battle commence!” Both Chie and Akihiko took their stances. The blonde robot took out a pink handkerchief from her pocket, held it above her head, and gave the starting signal. “Begin!”

            Both Chie and Akihiko stepped forward, eager to start. Chie scanned the tall boxer, her brain doing some serious calculation, and decided to aim for Akihiko’s ribs from the get-go because she was shorter than him. She wanted to get a feel of his fighting style before hitting any other targets on his body.

            At first, Akihiko was nervous because he never fought a girl before. He wasn’t thinking when he accepted Chie’s challenge. But he realized from Chie’s fighting stance that the girl wasn’t just a martial arts enthusiast, merely copying fighting styles from movies. There was a spark in her eyes that told him she was out to prove something, and he immediately understood. He threw his nervousness away, and gave 100% focus to the fight before him, just like in the boxing ring.

            Chie successfully dodged Akihiko’s punches. She side-stepped to his left when he tried to give her a right hook, leaving his right side wide open. Chie stooped down and spun around, the momentum collected in her right leg hitting Akihiko’s side with a good amount of force.

            Wincing in pain, Akihiko retreated and put up a guarding stance. ‘This girl is better than I thought.’

            Junpei was filming the fight with his digital camera. “Ouch, that has gotta hurt. Haha, Senpai is getting owned!”

            “It was a good thing you suggested the safety pads, Kanji-kun. Those are some dangerous legs,” Yukari commented.

            Rise shook her head. “You should see the special attack she uses on Shadows. Two words: NOT. PRETTY.”

            Seeing Akihiko’s focus waver, Chie attacked him with a frenzy of kicks. He did his best to block them. ‘What is with this girl? Her kicks are so hard my arms feel like they’re gonna break!’ Nonetheless, Akihiko continued to block her attacks, waiting for a chance to strike. It finally downed on him that Chie was aiming for his ribs, most probably because of her height. ‘So she’s playing it like that, huh? Guess it’s time to show her I’m serious too.’

            Akihiko’s footwork set into motion. Instead of blocking Chie’s attacks, this time he dodged them. After all, winning a fight doesn’t consist of brute strength alone. However, side-stepping and ducking Chie’s high kicks proved to be difficult because she was still shorter than he was. Any sloppy evasions would mean a direct hit to the head causing massive concussion. An opening presented itself when Chie aimed one of her kicks directly to Akihiko’s left rib. He used his left hand to slap the leg away, and aimed his right punch toward her stomach. Fist made contact with gut, knocking the air out of her. The force was enough to get her stumbling backwards, but not enough to send her down. Chie stood her ground.

            “One point for Chie-san, one point for Akihiko-san,” Aigis announced.

            “That was friggin’ awesome!” Junpei half-squealed, half-shouted, still recording the fight. “Never thought Senpai had it in him to hit a girl though.”

            “Akihiko-san isn’t holding back,” Ken commented. “He usually holds back a bit when training with the freshman boxers back in school. I’ve seen him do so.”

            “Chie wouldn’t be happy if he was either. That means he’s taking her seriously,” Yukiko smiled. After all, she knows Chie the best.

            The martial-arts enthusiast couldn’t help but feel excited. Adrenalin rushed to her head. She clutched her sore stomach and grinned at her now silver-haired rival. ‘If he thinks that little punch was enough to take me down, he’s got another thing coming!’

            ‘The stubborn type, huh?’ Akihiko thought, grinning back. ‘Then it’s a good thing I’m not holding back.’

            This time, Chie decided to change tactics. Instead of just kicking, she used a mix of kicking and punching, something she learned while watching a Thai kick-boxing movie (which one of her classmates kindly lend to her). Although she hadn’t practiced any of its moves, now was a good chance to start. She blocked and swiped Akihiko’s fists with forceful palm thrusts, just like what he did to her kicks earlier. It was tough, because his punches were much stronger than her own, so she had to focus really hard in order to redirect them.

            Akihiko became suspicious when Chie changed tactics. ‘She’s up to something…’ He kept his jabs short but fast in order to thwart her into creating an opening, never taking his eyes off her.

            Training with Yosuke had its advantages. Thanks to him, Chie’s footwork improved and her evasion speed increased. Yosuke’s specialty in battle was his high evasion and hit rate, compensating for his lack of strength. Chie used this to her advantage to dodge the boxer’s swift jabs. Timing was important, her brain calculating furiously. In order to pull of this off successfully, she needed the full use of her lower body strength.

            The boxer was starting to become impatient, seeing his opponent focusing solely on dodging. ‘Time to finish this,’ he thought. ‘However, dropping my guard would mean I’ll be open to her kicks,’ his reason rationalized. Impatience was battling with reason, and impatience won. He drew his left arm back a bit further, intending to land a harder hit and making it much more difficult for her to swipe away his attacks.

            Of course, Chie saw this, so it was now or never. As one of Akihiko’s punches came flying her way, she side-stepped to her right as swiftly as possible. Quick as a flash, she used her Galactic Punt and aimed for Akihiko’s stomach.

            It surprised Akihiko, but he didn’t have time to dodge or guard himself as the kick hit his abdomen. He cursed himself for being too brash as he was sent flying backwards and landed on his back, luckily missing a tree. It took ten seconds for the adrenalin rush to go away before he started coughing and wincing in pain. Mitsuru was by his side in an instant.

            “And the winner is Chie-san!” Aigis announced. “Congratulations.”

            “That was too awesome to describe in words!” Junpei jumped up and down in excitement. “Former boxing champion got his ass handed to him in a silver platter by a martial-arts wannabe, and I got it all on recording!”

            “Stupei, keep your voice down!” Yukari scolded.

            The Investigation Team were crowding Chie, patting her back and congratulating her.

            “That was amazing, Chie-senpai!” Kanji and Rise exclaimed. The amount of respect (and fear) they had for their upperclassman shot up tremendously.

            “I knew you could do it, Chie!” Yukiko beamed at her best friend.

            “Souji-senpai would be proud!” Naoto added, smiling.

            Junpei came to join them. “You totally kicked ass back there. I’m sure Yosuke and that Teddie dude would be happy to watch, since I got it all on video.” He held up his digital camera for Chie to see.

            Meanwhile Mitsuru, Ken and Koromaru surrounded Akihiko. They sat him up against a nearby tree, making sure he was comfortable.

            “Here Akihiko, drink this.” Mitsuru opened a bottle of medicine she purchased earlier at Shiroku Store and held it to his mouth. Akihiko drank without objection.

            “You got impatient, Senpai,” Ken said calmly. “She used that against you.” Koromaru panted in agreement.

            Akihiko coughed twice. “Yeah, I know. If Shinji was here he’d hit me and scold me about that,” he chuckled.

            Chie made her way to her new rival. “Are you okay? I’m really very sorry if I hit you too hard.” She held out her hand to help him stand up.

            “Don’t worry about it”. He took her hand, and with some help from Mitsuru managed to get back on his feet. “Where did you learn that, though? It hurt like hell.”

            “That’s Chie-senpai’s special attack, Galactic Punt,” Naoto explained. “She made it up along the way during our fights with Shadows in the TV World. At least the full effect of that attack was toned way down since we’re not able to use our Personas in the real world.” Akihiko gulped. Now he was afraid to know what happened to the Shadows she used that move on.

            “The way her face was screwing up during the entire fight, it looked just like the one during math class,” Yukiko giggled.

            Chie rolled her eyes. “If only my brain is that good for class though,” she sighed.

            “Looks like I need to double my training in order to keep up with you, Satonaka.” Akihiko smiled painfully, his hand poised for a handshake. Not only was his body injured, but his pride was hurt as well.

            Chie shook his hand and smiled. “You were pretty awesome yourself. I look forward to another training session with you.”

            “Then I suggest we all head back for some well deserved rest,” Mitsuru said. “Akihiko will need some treatment for his injuries. It has been a long day after all.” She turned around and faced Chie. “Congratulations, Satonaka. I believe this fight will be a lesson to Akihiko as well.”

            Chie blushed. “Ahahaha, no problem. So I guess we’ll see you guys later.”

            And with that, the Investigation Team (save for Yukiko) and the former SEES parted ways back to their homes.

…End Flashback…