2025-12-17: A Rough Awakening
- Log: A Rough Awakening
- Cast: Ken Amada, Shinjiro Aragaki, Minato Arisato, Fuuka Yamagishi, Yukari Takeba, Suzume Fukura, Ririka Kawase, Hitomi Mandai, Aigis
- Where: Naganaki Shrine, Iwatodai
- OOC Date: December 17, 2025
- IC Date: Monday, August 27, 2012 (Dark Hour)
- Summary: Ken finds himself awake in the Dark Hour, and wanders out of the dorm. Shinjiro, Minato, and soon the rest of SEES follow after him, only to find Koromaru battling a Gigas Shadow and a horde of Mayas. However, Ken, beliving he found the perpetrator responsible for his mother's death, picks up a dropped Evoker... and Awakens.
- Content Warnings: Child endangerment, animal harm
<Pose Tracker> Ken Amada has posed.
It's been not too much time since SEES has returned from their trip to Yakushima. Considering their odd new member and Ken's typical desire to be unobtrusive, one might be forgiven for not noticing that he's been extra quiet lately, even with the souvenirs several members kindly brought back for him. No, even soccer with Ririka, fish with Reiya, cards with Hitomi and a motorcycle trip with Moriko and her kid brother haven't coaxed him out of his shell of late--though granted, some of those things were before the trip.
Shinjiro and Akihiko might have an idea of at least some of what's wrong. After all, Ken passed a message to them from Akechi saying he wants to talk to them about that Sumaru serial killer, in as many words. In other words, Ken's aware that they're involved in chasing down a serial killer...
But it isn't just that. There are certain truths that he's learned, and now he's... waiting.
Waiting for someone to decide to tell themselves.
He might have gone on waiting all summer, too, save that one night--tonight--he's woken up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. He's just finished washing his hands when
tick
tock
tock
the Dark Hour begins.
It's something he's been sleeping through for some time now. He's a young boy, after all; he's used to being told to be in bed and asleep by nine, ten at the latest. He jerks away from the green-lit mirror and his seemingly bloodstained hands with a scream of fright.
But here's the trick: Ken might not know specifically about the Dark Hour, but he has been told the supernatural exists. That everyone else in the dorm he's staying at has the power to fight against it. That he has the Potential to awaken to the same--and that they're all watching and waiting to see if he does.
Once calm, Ken quietly slips back into his room to get dressed, then just as quietly wanders out into the night to explore this eerie, empty scenery.
No doubt he's been noticed along the way--but more on that later.
He's rounded the neighborhood towards Naganaki Shrine, lost in his own thoughts, when he hears a howl that pulls him out of his head. "That's... Koromaru?" he murmurs. His eyes widen in horror as that howl arcs up into a yelp of pain, and without hesitation, he breaks into a run. When he gets to Naganaki Shrine, Koromaru is there--and so are several... creatures is the best way Ken can put it. Dark, viscous things with numbered masks and too many arms, they seem to be led by a massive long-haired giant reminiscent of a pro wrestler. Koromaru is fighting them valiantly, but he's injured in several spots. Above him, a three-headed black dog howls, and darkness tears one of those monsters to shreds... but more seem to surge up to take its place.
The giant hurls a punch at Koromaru, and the shiba-inu isn't fast enough to dodge it this time. He YELPS as his small body impacts the torii that leads to Naganaki Shrine; when he falls, he struggles to stand again but falls limp, though thankfully he's still breathing.
"Koromaru!!" Ken shouts in alarm, taking a couple steps towards him.
That is, until the creatures that had been advancing on the brave hound instead turn to leer at him.
Ken freezes up. His whole body is shaking as the long-haired giant lumbers towards him, but when he tries to move, he only falls over. He can't even cry for help as the giant raises a fist, so enormous it eclipses the yellow gibbous moon overhead--
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
There's the sound of rushing footsteps as Ken stares at the giant, a strike coming forth to end his life.
"AMADA!"
BGM: Persona 3 Reload - It's Going Down Now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KuWjZD6PBA
Suddenly, a fire axe is swung forth, parrying the fist, as a certain beanie-wearing delinquent sweeps in front of him. Despite sending Shinjiro skidding back towards Ken, he swings the axe again with the force of his insane strength, trying to force distance with his sheer power as a Persona User.
He doesn't have time to fumble for his Evoker - one false move and Ken and Koromaru are dead. So he maintains the axe he ripped out of the wall holder at the dorm, maintaining position in front of Ken.
He doesn't usually sleep until after the Dark Hour ends, so Shinjiro was already in his coat; a good thing, seeing how it enhances his attributes.
"Amada. If you get the chance, you run." It is not asked, it is declared.
Even if he may have the Potential... Shinjiro would rather he not awaken to it.
He'd rather be the one to protect him in this moment. Even if he has to get hurt in the process.
<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.
'I'd like you to act as his bodyguard'...
That's what Minato was told, regarding Ken Amada.
That's why Minato assured Ken that he'd protect him.
And that's why...
Ken's door opens, and another door opens, too. Down the stairs, into the streets, one step... after... another.
"Apsaras," he fires, unflinching, into his skull.
The icy blue maiden who rises up is a lesson given to him by Fuuka; an understanding of himself which he has crystallised in the skill he's fused onto her, as she twirls to the tune of Cadenza, healing and quickening Shinjiro with her celestial dance.
It will be a few more steps, though, before he reaches that Herculean giant and the axe-wielding titan beneath him -- even though his steps are running through quicker, now. Step step step step, step step step step...
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
She very rarely sleeps through the Dark Hour, so she's often already alert - but the battle erupting at Naganaki Shrine is like a beacon to Fuuka's senses. She feels the Shadows, in the middle of battle... and a Persona that she's never felt before.
"Everyone, I'm detecting Shadow activity nearby! I think it's coming from the direction of Naganaki Shrine... I think they're attacking someone!" Fuuka reaches out to the Dorm, over the Navigator's link. "We should hurry."
It doesn't take long to don her uniform, and she races with the others over to the shrine, following her senses...
...where two of their number have already made it here. And so is Ken, and...
"Koromaru-san...!" Fuuka gasps, hurrying over to his side. He's awake in the Dark Hour - but more importantly, he's hurt. She can't do much for him right now... the best she can do is provide cover.
"Amada-kun, get behind us!" Fuuka calls out. "Arisato-san, Aragaki-san, how are you holding up...? I'm sorry we're late..."
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
In exchange for power, you can no longer look away from the things you don't want to see.
Is it worth it, Ken Amada? You can't know. No one can know. Your chance at a normal life is forever gone.
This is why Yukari Takeba was always uncomfortable with him staying here. A kid that young especially can't make that kind of decision, mature kid or not.
She's certainly not sure she could...
She doesn't arrive immediately. No not quite. Shadows coming this close to the Dormitory during the Dark Hour isn't actually THAT common an event. So when Fuuka detects them, "Right! Let's get over there in a hurry."
Thus she comes running in after Shinjiro and Minato both arrived, addressing Minato to his back as she runs up, "You're already here!" Yukari double takes at the sight of what's ahead, "Wait - is that Amada-kun!?"
If Yukari were inclined to swear, she'd definitely be swearing. Instead she's more freaking out some.
From her thigh holster, her Evoker is taken out and pressed to her forehead, the trigger is pulled and with a shattering of the mind's barriers, her Persona emerges, Io raising her arms as she tries to blast the Gigas back repeatedly away from Ken and Koromaru with Garula after Garula
"Get away from them, NOW!"
She's concerned about 'them' because she's certainly seen Koromaru walking around, she knows his story from an elderly man in the area. While she'd hesitate to say this... she and the dog are quite a lot alike, aren't they?
Well, in their loyalty to someone dead that is.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume, critically, had *not* been awake. She had meant to be, but sometimes she naps during the Dark Hour even if she doesn't *really* fall asleep again until afterwards. But the noise of people moving out got her attention.
And so she's only a few moments behind, having gotten on about two thirds of her SEES uniform (she has missed the swallowtail jacket, so just short-sleeved shirt and black pants) and with an extremely messy case of bedhead that doesn't entirely conceal her cat-ear headband, which - amusing as it is in a vacuum - means that she is in fact fully armoured up.
"Koromaru?" she echoes Fuuka, before adding, " - Wait, Amada?"
Suzume has generally chosen to stay out of Ken's way. She doesn't know how to interact with someone his age without being awkward about it, but she respects him enough to not *make* it awkward; she's not going to treat him like a kid, because she knows how much being treated in a way you don't like due to something you can't control sucks. She decided that she isn't going to be patronizing about his presence... which means she isn't quite sure what to do.
So she helped on move-in day by carrying whatever needed to be carried, she's said hi to him in the hallways, and offered to trade him one of her snacks or drinks for one of his now and again (she likes the Potech chips that he eats sometimes) but she hasn't, otherwise, bothered him very much. Friendly enough, just kind of distant.
She knew they were keeping an eye on him, but...
Suzume crouches down before running forward, accelerating into a sprint. She's got the Evoker in her hand already, so - "Atalanta!" - her charge is accompanied by a wild blast of wind that appears in the middle of the Shadows, churning in a way that's a little more wild and erratic than a standard Garu and shoving as much as anything else.
The blast of wind churns as it rolls amongst the Shadows, a sphere more than a tornado in counterpoint to Yukari's Garula, as Suzume settles her tonfa into place while running forward.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka wanted to spend time with Ken for his own sake, to be sure--it's sad to see a kid by himself all summer, and she brought back some sweets from Yakushima for him. But that soccer has also been a good distraction for her, considering everything else that's been going on in her life. Someone she can focus on and put her own worries aside for a while.
This is definitely healthy coping mechanism.
The howl of a Persona rings clearly to her own Navigator senses, and Ririka lurches upright as she tries to classify whose it is.
Luckily, Fuuka's pinpointed it already, and Ririka sends back, "I'll meet you downstairs" as she scrambles to get her own uniform on.
She shows up running, Evoker in hand, jerking to a halt as she takes note of everyone here. "Amada-kun? Koromaru!?" She feels a sense of dismay for Ken, after all--
This is how it started for her. Seeing the horror of the Dark Hour without foreknowledge of it. "Amada-kun, we'll protect you. Guys, I'll back you all up."
She grabs her Evoker, her hand trembling as she lifts it to the side of her head. It shakes, and then she pulls the trigger.
Amphion rises up behind her in a swirl of broken glass and blue flame, a tall stone man holding a lyre with heavy, chained boots.
"Amphion! Analysis!" she shouts, pointing right at the giant Shadow. Amphion strums his lyre, bombarding it with sound waves, and she listens to what comes back, eyes closed as she sorts through the sound.
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
Hitomi has not taken great pains to connect with Ken Amada. She had smiled at him; asked after what games he likes. But that's the sort of thing that's cheap talk; friendly language. She's like a million years old relative to Ken, if not quite a literal dinosaur like SOME adults are.
Lately, Hitomi - when not on a mission to Tartarus or other general patrols - has been working on Blade World content, since you can do that with paper and pencil and books which are in no real way impaired by the Dark Hour.
So that's what she'd BEEN doing when Fuuka raised the alarm. "Huh?" was Hitomi's first notice.
While hastening to get in her uniform and grab her... dice, Hitomi had commented to Suzume during hallway scrambles: "Maybe it's the Phantom Thieves or something?"
Hitomi has no idea if it's the phantom thieves but at least they're probably, like, not gonna try to kill them or something. They might have wondered how come Ririka and everyone showed up to pitch in, even if the final battle was only the two of them from SEES, and that makes Hitomi think of that Palace, and just...
... anyway:
Hitomi is wheezing for breath as she's catching up with the group. She coughs into the crook of her arm, and tries to call out something but just ends up stumbling, coughing, and putting her hands on her knees as she gasps desperately for breath. After four or five wheeze-cycles she's able to focus enough to call forth Tyche if with a sort of incoherent gasp of an invocation.
The great statue of the ancient goddess, much like a demon hipster chick, is able to hurtle bolts of flame into the Shadows; Hitomi croaks out as she straightens back up, "Who?? Amada???" She is recovered enough to merely be 'outta breath' at this point, though she is not going to be doing any more sprinting for a hot minute.
<Pose Tracker> Aigis has posed.
Aigis is -- well, 'woken up' isn't the right phrase. Her recharging session is interrupted, at least, by Ikutsuki alerting the dorm that Ken and Minato are missing, swiftly followed by Fuuka's confirmation of this fact.
Her first thought is to check on the rooms of both the Arisato siblings ... but decides against it. It would waste precious seconds when there's a battle already occurring. It doesn't matter where they are, her best bet to protect them both is to head to the source of danger right now.
She arrives with the rest of the SEES latecomers, dashing up the stairs in her ... idiosyncratic running style. Aside from her red ribbon, she wears no clothes over the rest of her chassis -- there's normally no such need to disguise herself or blend in during the Dark Hour. This is a combat situation, through and through.
There was such a need with Ken during daylight hours. She's not fully accustomed to speaking with people, let alone children. She's probably kept as wide of a berth from Ken as he's done the same for her.
As she arrives to the top of shrine's stairs, herself, she assesses: Minato, Shinjiro, Ken, and Koromaru.
(Minato's already here?)
"Yamagishi-san. Allow me to assist." Aigis rushes to stand in front of Fuuka. Ken's the most vulnerable person here, and she's protecting him. The optimal course of action would be to shore up their weakest defenses.
Her eyes glow a bright blue, and Palladion lands on the stone pathway. The effigy appears inert, but exudes its own blue aura, extending its divine protection to Minato, Shinjiro, Ken, and Koromaru.
<Pose Tracker> Ken Amada has posed.
Someone roars his name.
The next second, an axe swings up and around to block that massive fist. The axe's wielder skids back towards Ken but holds his ground, and Ken sits up straight, color rising to his face.
"A-Aragaki-san! You saved me!" he gasps, stars in his eyes. The warning snaps him out of his paralyzing terror, and he scrambles up to his feet. "R-right!"
He half-turns, and Minato's there--with a strange gun and a stranger woman rising up above him to heal and empower Shinjiro as he faces off against the Gigas Shadow. "Minato-san? You're here too?" Ken utters, even though he shouldn't be and in truth isn't surprised. Minato had assured Ken that he'd protect him. Ken had perhaps been a bit more sullen about it than Minato had deserved, all considered... He just--hadn't really expected the follow-through. The fact that Minato is here to protect him--would surely have done so if Shinjiro hadn't beaten him to it in dramatic fashion--means a lot to Ken too.
Close behind Minato, there's also quite a few other members of SEES, including Fuuka, who hurries over to Koromaru's side. Koromaru whines quietly as he lifts his nose to her and gives her cheek a reassuring lick, as if to say 'I'm all right.' (Aigis can confirm that this is what he's saying, in fact.)
"R-right," Ken stammers again to Fuuka and Ririka as they both warn him to stay back and let them protect him. He is not really keen on that, but it's hard to argue when quite a few of them are also pulling out guns and shooting strange spirits out of themselves--including ones he really only knows in passing.
Yukari calls one to hit the big Shadow with several Garula spells, Suzume charges in with one to shoot a windball, Hitomi wheezes before calling up a statue that oddly shoots a blast of fire towards the horde of smaller but no less dangerous Shadows. As the Gigas staggers and a couple of weakened Mayas perish to the flames, Aigis--that odd girl who'd come back from Yakushima with everyone--calls up a defensive barrier around Ken and Koromaru, among others.
"Arf! Arf, arf!" Koromaru barks, expressing, 'Thanks, metal miss!' Then: "Awrooooo!" 'I mustn't let the enemy get up the stairs!' He pushes himself up to his feet, injured though he is, and charges again at the Gigas Shadow, jumping deftly from side to side as that three-headed dog Persona materializes above him again. They howl in sync, and plumes of darkness begin to whorl up around the Gigas--
Until it SLAMS a fist into Koromaru... by way of his Persona, anyway. Cerberus shatters, and Aigis' defense spell keeps Koromaru from getting hurt too much more badly, but the small dog is sent FLYING--right towards Minato!
The Gigas and its compadres don't stop there. The swarm of Mayas surge forward, around the feet of the Gigas, towards the stairs leading to the Naganaki Shrine--right where Fuuka and Aigis are, since that's where Koromaru had been just a moment ago. They rake at both of them with their many, many claws--though Fuuka is obviously harder to get to with Aigis in front of her.
Of course, this means there's a good number of Mayas that can't reach because there are others in the way. The Gigas leans down to stuff several in its massive fists and HURLS them bodily at Yukari, Suzume, and especially Hitomi. Each of them will have to deal a single Maya, right up in their grills, growling and lashing at them as only an amorphous multi-limbed blob can.
Ririka at least goes overlooked for the moment, since her choice to analyze the big Shadow and not move directly in the Shadows' way means she's a less appealing target. Because of that, she has the chance to realize that the Gigas is strong against all physical attacks--and weak to light and darkness. The Mayas have no particular strengths or weaknesses, but they're also much weaker than everyone here; pretty much any of them can take them out with no problem. The issue is the Gigas... Its more powerful aura is attracting the weaker Mayas. If they don't take it out, they'll be overrun, just like Koromaru was...
Unaware of Ririka's analysis, the Gigas turns back towards Shinjiro, a low, throaty laugh echoing its movements. It reaches out with both arms as if to grapple with him, axe and all--or, rather, to pick him up and toss him aside, but Shinjiro isn't about to let that happen, is he?
Especially since Ken hasn't run away yet...
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
As the group arrives, Shinjiro feels the healing, the protection, the hastening over him. "Right on fucking time!" he shouts, not caring about cursing in front of Ken. Instead, Ken gets a nod. "We're getting you out of here."
After everything Shinjiro's done to him... letting him die's not part of the plan.
ut then Koromaru is *wielding a Persona*, a powerful one, and Shinjiro's eyes widen. "The hell?" He shakes his head, but...
The Gigas grabs him by the axe, and Shinjiro is quickly fumbling for that Evoker. He places it to his temple, no recoil, no flinch, and pulls the trigger as he's thrown bodily aside, rolling to a crouch.
"CASTOR!"
The Persona manifests, controlled, subdued, tamed, and unfamiliar, and rushes forward. Ripping that spearhead out of his chest, he coats it in dark energy on the same cue as Koromaru wielding it better than Shinjiro's axe did.
And then, that dark spearhead is slammed straight into the Gigas, trying to push it backwards and away from Ken as far as possible. Castor's strength can hopefully grapple better than Shinjiro can.
<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.
Minato didn't think to warn the others... man, what kind of Leader is he?!
(The kind of Leader who has Fuuka on tap, thankfully.)
Minato isn't the only one guarding Ken's body today, though. "All right," he nods, sternly, to him, grasping his Evoker as he steps up. "Let's defeat the enemy and get Amada-kun home safely." Apsaras is a supportive part of his psyche; he can use her to --
DOG!
Not that Apsaras have much to do with dogs, just -- there's a dog flying for him. Minato's eyes widen, and he yelps, "whoa--!!", as he reaches out instinctively to catch Koromaru -- and his Evoker goes skidding, out of his hands, landing right beside Ken.
Minato, meanwhile, lands firmly on his ass -- but he makes sure Koromaru has a soft landing, at least.
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
The group hurries to Naganaki Shrine... And, thankfully, it seems like they get there just in time.
Koromaru whines... but he tries to reassure her, with a lick on the cheek.
"Koromaru-san..." Fuuka murmurs - and Aigis rushes in front of her to assist. "Thank you, Aigis-san!"
Ken seems reluctant, but he does seem willing to stay back, at least... and then, Koromaru stands. Fuuka looks back at him, watching as he charges theShadow -
- and then, a Persona materializes.
Fuuka watches in surprise.
"That Persona... That's the one I sensed before. That was you, Koromaru-san?" Fuuka asks. It's powerful, too... but Koromaru is still sent flying. Fuuka gasps. Minato catches him, at least...
The Mayas begin to converge on her, but Aigis stands guard, giving Fuuka enough time to act. She draws her Evoker, and takes a breath.
"Lucia...!" Fuuka calls out - and Lucia erupts to life around her. The Mayas that go to strike will find the force of their own attacks deflected back at them by her protective shell.
Right now, there's the Gigas... And Ririka has already performed the analysis. It's weak to Light... Lucia may not be much of an attacker, but she may, at least, be able to provide some help here.
"Thank you, Kawase-san! I'll do what I can. Lucia... please push it back!" Fuuka requests. With a wave of Lucia's hands, Kouha is cast - forming daggers of light in the air in front of her that soon go racing for the Gigas, in hopes of at least distracting it with the threat.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
For all her proficiency with wind, Suzume does not prefer to stand back and cast spells. She goes up front, where she can protect the others; she's fast, and tough, and generally that's enough. That's why she's running up front - normally she shelters people as much as Shinjiro does. She's done this for Minato, and Hitomi, and Ririka, and even Yukari before.
And that's what she's trying to do now; press forward so she can keep the swarm of Mayas - and the Gigas - off. She's had a bad experience with a Gigas before - she can't punch them no matter how hard she tries - which is why she opened with the wind while she rushed in, planting her feet between most of the Shadows and Fuuka, Yukari, and the rest.
She's stalled, momentarily, when - "The DOG?" She hadn't ever thought a dog could possibly have a Persona. Don't you need to be a person? It's right in the name! Aigis is a person too, after all, and she's the weirdest thing (no offense) that she has ever seen with a Persona.
But then a Maya is thrown at her, and Suzume's reaction is instantaneous: she is prepared to get rough with it. THAT'S something she can punch.
Suzume swings her tonfa with the short side of the weight forward so she's more delivering a punch much more powerful than her bare hands than anything else. And she does have an improved tonfa these days; the core from Mementos, augmented with several demon cards, giving it a silver look with a tracery like veining on a dragonfly wing.
She punches as hard as she can, a one-two combo to drive the Maya to the ground and then smash down on it, followed up by a called, "Aragaki-san!"
Suzume summons Atalanta a second time, and this time Shinjiro is the target; a barrier of shimmering light forms around him, a spherical bubble that contracts inward as it vanishes, sharpening his axe... and, though he might not realize it at first, if the Gigas tries to punch him, it's going to be rewarded with a rippling shockwave in retribution.
Then she pushes forward so she's defending the back row of SEES members. Ken is taken care of, after all, and Koromaru is with them too; she holds her fists up, using her tonfas in a boxing-style guard with extra protection.
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
Yukari watches Suzume add a Tornado in addition to her own efforts, staying back rather than launching forward. "Keep 'em busy!" Before then looking Hitomi's way at her wheezing, with a look that's basically communicating 'seriously?'. This is definitely not the organization where one can live a couch potato lifestyle.
Aigis meanwhile rushes into the fray, and Yukari shouts out, "Way to go Aigis-! Keep them safe." Easier said than done though because, dogs will be dogs...
"Wait! Koro-chan!?" Yukari unfortunately cannot understand dog, and thus: "Uh-! Sit boy!? Heel!? Don't run right at them!" And then, a three-headed dog?! "No way! Dogs can use Personas too!?" A fist slams into him, and she cries out, "Koro-chan!" Fortunately, Minato - "Great catch!" Wait, if he has a Persona, that means-! "Hold on! I'm coming!"
That's the same moment the Gigas turns around, and starts throwing some of the Maya Horde at her! As she barely side steps one, only to catch another nearly head on, "Ah!" There's a backwards skip, a smooth draw of her arrow, and abruptly she sends an arrow straight through the Shadowy mass.
"T-Too close..." She breathes in relief, after so many Maya almost killed her and Minato in Yakushima. However, she suddenly tries to dart closer, and bringing the Evoker up to her head, the pull of a trigger, the blue-cavitation of something ephemeral shattering.
And Io rises up to heal both Koromaru and Minato with a Mediarama, as light breezes by, with a scent like freshwater.
"Oh get up." She says to Minato, "This isn't the time to be lounging around." Didn't she tell him he did a great job catching Koromaru!? "As for you boy- does it still hurt anywhere?"
She doesn't expect him to answer much, but there are other ways to indicate if you're hurting.
<Pose Tracker> Aigis has posed.
Aigis nods at Koromaru. "You're welcome. And understood." To the others, despite the chaos of the moment, she calmly announces, "Koromaru-san says the Shadow must not reach the shrine."
Unlike Suzume, she takes the fact that a dog has a Persona in stride. She can't quite pin down the reason why, but there are far more pressing matters to worry about.
In contrast to earlier, there IS alarm in her voice when Koromaru goes flying -- into Minato. "Arisato-san!"
Seeing Yukari come to Minato's and Koromaru's aid does at least reassure her. She nods, then turns her own attention back to the crowd before herself and Fuuka.
As the swarm of Mayas crawls for the pair of herself and Fuuka, she calls out for "Palladion!" again. A red wave of force pulses out from the silent protective effigy, hopefully delaying their advance, if not outright reducing their number.
After hearing Ririka's analysis, that may be the best she can personally do. The Gigas is for the others to take on. The Mayas, on the other hand, she can disperse.
All the while, she has her index finger ready to fire a pinpoint-precision bullet to intercept anything hostile that should start to make its way towards Ken.
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
Hitomi's delay was enough that she can't, quite, see the full breadth of what's going on. Someone calls on a Persona she doesn't recognize and she doesn't see who did it. The Phantom Thieves return to her mind again, mostly because she saw one of them was very small.
But as a summertime special-- It's Hitomi's favorite* thing in the world - a Maya! Hitomi is too off balance to focus her movement. She's barely had the chance to straighten up from that involuntary picked-last-at-volleyball crouch of pendulous, weighty exhaustion, and now something's being thrown at her.
Splat.
Hitomi tumbles over as the Shadow strikes her, letting out a "gyahh!!" and kicking and thrashing back at it! There is, at least, no lethal entanglement even as Shinjiro brings out Castor, as Apsaras -- yeah, Hitomi misses most of this. When she gets free enough to call out "TYCHE!" there's a decisive burst of flame, followed by a second one, and the Maya is done for. Just in time to look outwards.
The world has changed. "Dog?" Hitomi says, blankly, before her attention turns up towards the Gigas.
"What the fuck?!" Hitomi yelps afterwards, even as she says in a more normal if still agitated voice, "Suzume!! Don't let that thing hit you!"
* - actually not her favorite at all
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka reaches over to put a reassuring hand on Hitomi's shoulder as she's gasping for breath. "Mandai-san," she says quietly. "You okay?"
Ririka winces in Sympathy as Koromaru's Persona rises again with a howl. "That's the Persona that woke me up!" she shouts. But she winces as Cerberus breaks, tracking Koromaru's movement as he's thrown-- "Arisato-san, incoming!"
She closes her eyes as the sounds back... "The Gigas is strong against all physical attacks," she announces. "And... weak to light and dark attacks." Ririka takes a quick mental stock--she has magical attacks, but nothing light or dark. "The Mayas are all really weak, but... the Gigas is attracting them! If we don't take it out, we'll be overrun!"
Fuuka thanks her, and Ririka nods to her. "Welcome, Yamagishi-san!"
But they can't let Ken be in harm's way. She casts her senses out, scanning the area. "Amada-kun, I'm looking for a safe path to the dorm. When it's safe, I'll guide you back, okay?" She's missed the Evoker coming to a stop right by him. He might not be thrilled to be protected, but... Ririka can't leave him to get caught up in the fight.
But they need to get the battle under control. "Amphion," she shouts, "Disorient as many of the Maya as you can!" Amphion strums, sending waves of discordant, off-putting music to disorient the Mayas and make them easier for Aigis to take them on.
<Pose Tracker> Ken Amada has posed.
The Persona that Fuuka sensed before--that was Koromaru?
"Bark!" Koromaru barks back in affirmation--and then again, with a tail wag, when Aigis passes on his will to the humans. It is a strong Persona, but the Gigas was a little faster, perhaps sensing a threat to its safety at the Mudo he was about to cast.
Similarly, when Fuuka casts Kouha, the light spell would have done considerable damage--but it deftly side-steps out of the way of the attack. Dodge Light and Dodge Dark are among its abilities, it seems. Still, dodging still means driving it away from the Naganaki Shrine, so Fuuka's gambit is successful in that sense--and it can't keep dodging forever. Now that they know its weaknesses, thanks to Ririka's Analysis, then if they can just catch it off-guard...!
Koromaru yelps upon impact with Minato, but that's just because of the injuries he already had; it is indeed a soft landing, the taciturn leader of SEES having kept him safe. Koromaru licks his face too in gratitude, though he also immediately squirms in an attempt to get up and get right back into the fight.
Hitomi gets splatted in the face with a Maya, which she promptly sets on fire, until it is dead. She's all good. Is everyone else okay, though? She looks to Suzume, who isn't going to have much luck against this particular opponent...
But Suzume might not have much luck with taking on the Gigas directly, the Maya, that's another story. She's ready for it when it's chucked at her, and quite frankly, it doesn't stand a chance against the one-two combo of her tonfas. When she follows up with a downward drive, she smashes through it and reduces it to a black smear that soon vanishes into the night, giving her the chance to summon Atalanta to strengthen Shinjiro.
Yukari meets the Shadow thrown her way with an arrow. It hits, knocking it out of the air before it can land--but only injured, not defeated. However, it and the wave of Mayas in front of Aigis are enervated by the dissonant song of Ririka's Persona, which means they're unable to get out of the way of Palladion's wave of red energy. It takes out the Shadow thrown Yukari's way and injures the ones directly in front of her.
This gives Yukari time to hurry over to Minato and Koromaru and heal them all with a Mediarama. Koromaru stops squirming long enough to make a contented doggy noise as his injuries knit up, leaving him almost as good as new. He wags his tail again at Yukari and barks in gratitude. He also seems to be all good!
Shinjiro cusses in front of Ken, while Ririka tells him she'll guide him back to the dorm where it's safe, but Ken isn't even listening at this point. He hadn't been able to get a good look earlier, but with the flashes of light from everyone's Personas, the visage of the Gigas Shadow is clear--especially when Shinjiro calls up Castor to grapple with it. The spell Suzume cast boosts his strength enough that he can thrust the spearhead against it and drive it back. As powerful as the dark-enhanced attack is, though, the Gigas isn't quite defeated yet--no, it roars. It roars LOUD, suddenly bursting with crimson energy.
It is enraged.
There's something... terrifyingly familiar about it... A familiarity that keeps him rooted in the spot even after he's regained feeling in his legs... Koromaru is batted towards Minato, right past Ken, and he sucks in a sharp gasp--but when Minato catches the shiba-inu, what Ken stares at is not the two of them, but at the Evoker that's clattered to land at his feet.
This feeling... is so incredibly familiar... it's exactly like...
Like the night his mom died.
"It..."
His heart is hammering. His blood is roaring in his ears. Every nerve at the end of his fingertips bids him: Pick up that gun. Shoot it at your face. Carry out your justice.
"...it was you...?"
There was a great shadow that night too, a hideous shape wreathed in eerie light that crushed her under its heel. That shape that's haunted Ken's nightmares, that all the well-meaning police and psychologists told him was just a figment of his imagination to protect his psyche from what actually happened.
"YOU killed my mom...?!"
But he knows.
He knows it was real.
If Shinjiro looks over his shoulder, he'll see rage alight in Ken's eyes--but he's staring not at him, but the Shadow. Minato's Evoker is trembling in his hand now. He lifts it up--and SCREAMS a harrowing howl that no eleven-year-old boy should ever voice. It is a scream that tears at the throat and the air. It is a scream of loss and sorrow.
It is a scream that thirsts for revenge.
Ken clasps the Evoker in both hands, points it at his face, and shoots.
Blue light explodes out the back of his head and in a helix rising up from his feet. He sways, eyes glowing azure, but remains on his feet as a strange smiling mechanoid encircled around the front with a buzzsaw materializes above him.
"Smite them..."
Ken raises a shaking hand and points it directly at the object of his hatred. The one creature he could never, ever forgive. The one who killed his mother.
The Gigas Shadow. And surely not anyone else.
"NEMESIS!!"
Motes of brilliant light spark around Nemesis, and then around the Gigas. Sheets of ofuda paper sweep up around the Shadow and freeze in place for an instant before exploding with purifying light.
The Gigas howls in agony. Caught up in its own fury, there's no dodging an attack it couldn't have seen coming, since it had come from someone who only just Awakened. Trapped in the Hama's web, it is instantly reduced to ash.
The hordes of Mayas scatter thereafter, directionless and fearful once their leader is gone. The few that remain are easily mopped up by the much stronger members of SEES. Ken--and the Naganaki Shrine--are successfully protected.
...Ken sobs then and crumples to his knees, Minato's Evoker clattering out of his hands.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
The counter barrier is enforced over Shinjiro, but he doesn't get a chance to use it. The Gigas roars, Shinjiro looks over his shoulder, and Ken...reaches for Minato's Evoker.
Shinjiro's eyes widen, and he shouts out, as Ken trembles. As he screams in vengeance. As he declares the Gigas killed his mom.
"NO!"
Shinjiro's heart sinks, and in his eyes is despair. One would be forgiven for thinking this is because an eleven year old just picked up an Evoker.
But before Shinjiro can stop him, the Persona is summoned. The Gigas is smoted by a powerful Hamas, Nemesis exploding forth and destroying it in a single blast.
Shinjiro's knees buckle, but he stays up. As the Mayas scatter, as the Gigas dies, as the rest of SEES goes to clear the Shadows...
Shinjiro does the thing he absolutely feels he should not. He shouldn't be here right now. He should have been the one to die two years ago... but now he has to deal with the consequences of his actions.
"Amada, come on. We should get out of here," Shinjiro says, trying his best to check on the boy he just saved. To make the future better... means not to repeat the mistake of the past and leave a struggling orphan alone.
<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.
"Roger," Minato groans, to Ririka, flat on the ground. Incoming... indeed. "We're okay," he adds, to Aigis's alarm. ... it is a little bit just-fell-on-his-ass-with-a-dog, which is a very specific tone of voice.
Still, Yukari thought it was a great catch...
Minato can't dwell on things like that right now, though: dog. He pushes himself sitting, Koromaru in his lap. "Dog... okay?" He adds, for Hitomi, looking down to Koromaru for confirmation. Koromaru licks his face, and he calls out, more sure of himself: "Dog okay."
The dog with a Persona --
"Don't be hasty," Minato tells Koromaru, as if he were people. "If you're too eager to fight when you're injured, you'll worry everyone... my team is reliable, too." Just like Koromaru is!
Of course, the reason why he can give that advice at all has given him his five seconds of grace, already. And so -- "Thanks," Minato says, to Yukari, apparently not minding the way she insists he get up at all. But as he reaches for his Evoker, he realises...
Oh. No Evoker.
Evoker's... with the child.
Oh.
Minato can only sit there as he watches Ken's fury, mouth agape. (Did... did he do that. That's his Evoker... well, he had to catch Koromaru. There wasn't any other choice, for him.)
"Can you walk?" Minato asks Koromaru, as he lets him up. "Come back with us. We can carry you, if you need help. You're hurt... we can help you."
He's still talking to a dog.
Be fair, though: the dog has a Persona.
With that, he picks himself up, and goes to Ken, crouching down to clasp a hand on his shoulder. The boy whose history is so similar to his... he meets his eyes, on his level.
"You were holding a strong Persona," Minato says, his voice level. "Maybe we can't understand where those feelings come from... but I hope you'll come back with us, too."
Not 'you must'. He doesn't issue a command, despite Ken's age.
Instead, he picks up his Evoker, holstering it as he straightens up.
And lets Ken find his own two feet.
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
"Heh. Thank me by getting back into it-!" Is Yukari's easy response to Minato saying that, not realizing he doesn't have his Evoker with him any longer.
Instead, her good feelings go towards- the actual bestest boy here. "You're okay! That's a relief." Yukari says, smiling at Koromaru's recovery. If not for him somehow having a Persona - that punch would have probably killed him.
But she doesn't expect what happens next.
"Good-" She feels something behind her, that sensation. "-boy?" She turns around, just in time to see Ken pick up-
"Wait!" It's too late. It took a lot for her to work herself up to pull the trigger, in Ken's case it was anger, a scream of rage.
But once you pull it. You can't really go back.
And what comes forth is a Persona, defeating the Gigas.
And the only cost is...
... an eleven year old boy's ability to look away...
"So Shadows..." 'killed his mom'? She almost says. And in her eyes there's the distant knowledge that that means her Father is responsible in some way for another life.
"... Yeah." She says to Shinjiro's comment, while giving Amada a look of sympathy, for his tears. However, she leaves it to the others...
... despite her nascent optimism, she believes in these moments, that he'd rather be alone. She knows she would.
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
Koromaru barks back at her, as if in confirmation. Sure enough, there's no one else here it could've been...
Fuuka's Kouha is dodged - but it keeps the Shadow from going closer to the Shrine. Right now, that's what's important, give how much Koromaru seems to want to protect it...
With a Persona, that means Persona-based healing can work on him. Fuuka breathes a sigh of relief as Yukari sends a Mediarama Koromaru and Minato's way.
"Thank goodness..." She murmurs.
But, Ken has an Evoker in hand. And he screams - screams in a way that makes Fuuka's heart hurt, for a boy that young to hold so much loss and sorrow.
...They had been told he had the Potential. And sure enough... he summons a Persona. The Gigas is utterly destroyed by the Hama spell Nemesis casts - and the rest of the smaller Shadows soon fall over.
"How is Koromaru-san? Is he alright?" Fuuka asks, looking around - and then she finds Ken.
"Amada-kun..." Fuuka murmurs. Yukari starts a thought, but doesn't finish it... but she doesn't need to.
"...Let's go back." Fuuka says quietly, after a moment.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka winces s the enraged Gigas roars--the price of being an auditory-based Navigator. "Hang on--" She instantly switches her focus to studying the Gigas again. "Everyone, watch out--"
But her head snaps up and she leets out an audible gasp as Ken lets out his horrific scream of loss and sorrow... and revenge.
She doesn't know exactly what Ken went through, but a newly awakened ache in her own heart surges in sympathy to hear Ken's pain. But the Evoker. "Ken-- no!"
She gasps at the rush of Resoance from Ken's awakening, and as Ken pours his rage into dispatching the Gigas. She watches, stunned, and then closes her eyes.
Sadly, she reports. "... The Gigas is defeated, and the Maya are dispersing." She sighs in relief as Minato reports that Koromaru is okay. Ken, however... she's not sure what to say.
She lowers her head. "... I'll find us a path back to the dorm."
For whichever of them choose to follow.
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
Stunned, surprised, but not all-engulfed in darkness, Hitomi is not completely out of it despite her fear-inspired overkill on that Maya. Her attention is on the Gigas... which means it's also turning towards Ken. Poor brave little Ken. He has potential, they said, and right now Hitomi remembers this in the more literal sense. He has potential...
Because he's a young kid.
Yukari's helping Minato (and... the...? dog??) and they have Aigis, the barrage-dropping robot. It *should* pretty much be in the bag, because they can always just leave... especially now that they've rescued this -
This --
Hitomi's turning her head.
'YOU killed my mom?!'
Her eyes widen. The young boy is raising an Evoker --
Hitomi Mandai's feelings about entering the world of the Persona are, to say the least, mixed. The facts aren't all out, but she hasn't been shy that coming to SEES was a good thing from her perspective, even if she hasn't banged on about it to other people. But she sees Ken picking up the Evoker with cold fury in his eyes.
She gets it, at least.
A moment later the Gigas does the same, and Hitomi's the only one of the two still there.
Hitomi turns her head to look at Ken. Her eyes are wide behind her glasses. She has no words. Not until Fuuka suggests they... that they go back. "... yeah," she says, raising an arm up to wipe the sweat that she feels just *fell* upon her, as if she'd been drenched by one of those five-minute summer thunderstorms and left in the Dark Hour like a half-wrung dish towel.
"... good work," Hitomi says, towards Aigis of all people, raising a hand to wave at her and smiling in a shell-shocked kind of way.
"Good work," Hitomi sort-of repeats to herself.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
"Don't worry, I'll keep it off 'em," is Suzume's call to Minato.
Suzume is ready to take a strike for the team, but she knows she's probably not going to be the one to take down the Gigas. She hates that she can't manage it, but - after a few months with SEES - she knows how to work as part of a team; she may like the glory but she can cooperate.
So as it roars, she keeps her fists raised, covering her upper body while she interposes herself between the Gigas and the others (well, except Shinjiro; he's tough, he can handle himself, and more importantly he *wants* to be up front).
She's preparing something else with Atalanta, something to at least blast it off its feet, but -
"NEMESIS!!"
Suzume doesn't actually realize it's Ken for a moment. Ken doesn't have a Persona, or an Evoker, right? The new (?) Persona-user is Koromaru. But suddenly he's got both of them and a scream that makes her skin crawl.
And the Gigas is gone. Vaporized. Suzume, having been prepared to call on Atalanta anyway, does so; she appears once more, firing a rain of arrows from her bowgun at the fleeing, disorganized Mayas to skewer some and 'encourage' the rest to scatter enough that they don't present any real challenge - one singular Maya is not exactly SAFE, but they're also not especially dangerous to anyone here, not even the Navigators. It's only when they're together that they're at their worst.
She turns, then. She doesn't know what to do with Ken. She seems... awkward, at best. Unhappy, at worst. She glances over at Yukari - Suzume resented being told she shouldn't have accepted the offer to stay with SEES, but she privately agrees with Yukari when it comes to someone as young as Ken. (Koromaru is different. He's a dog. He'll do what he wants anyway, and as far as she knows, he mostly lives around the temple; she imagines once he's healthy he'll be right back here.)
"...I'll make sure there aren't any of those Mayas coming after us on the trip back," Suzume offers, uncharacteristically adding, "Takeba, want to come with me? Buddy system."
Suzume asking Yukari? Wild.
<Pose Tracker> Aigis has posed.
"Target ... neutralized." Aigis announces this to the gathered crowd, though hesitates as she moves her gaze to the one who had fired the decisive blow. "Thank you, Amada-san."
Something weighs heavy on her heart as she considers Ken's words about his mother's death. She steals a glance at Minato as she's distantly reminded of why she feels compelled to remain so close to him. Her own pang of guilt is lesser than Shinjiro's, perhaps, more muted. They both have their responsibilities to carry out.
She then walks over to join him and Koromaru and kneels down to listen to the latter. She would translate for Minato ... but it appears there is no need to do so, since he's talking to him like he would a normal person. "The shrine is safe now, correct?"
As they begin their return to the dorms, she nods to Ririka, too. "Thank you for identifying the best avenue of attack. It helped me to determine which approach was optimal. Unbalancing the swarm also proved greatly effective."
Aigis' response to Hitomi is very matter-of-fact, and smiles pleasantly back at her, as if nothing strange had occurred at all. "Of course. It is what I was built for. You did very well, yourself."
"Do be careful," she calls out to Suzume and Yukari.
<Pose Tracker> Ken Amada has posed.
Dog: okay. And that's what matters.
When Minato gently chastises Koromaru, the shiba-inu looks back at him with head cocked. "Awroo?"
Thanks to that pause (paws) though, he's able to see the others fight and witness for himself exactly what Minato means. Not only are Suzume, Hitomi, and Shinjiro competent fighters and Ririka a fine guide, but Minato talks to him on his level, Aigis can pass on his meaning to the others, Fuuka went to his side first, and Yukari healed him...
Koromaru wags his tail and barks at Minato when he invites him back to the dorm. He barks again for Fuuka to show he's all right, and wags his tail /even harder/ for Yukari when she calls him a good boy. That Mediarama has him mostly back up to speed physically, but he /is/ exhausted after taking on that Shadow horde for so long before everyone showed up. His message is clear, with or without Aigis's interpretation: he'll go back with them. Aigis's question gets her a short, confident, "Boof." (This is as much 'yes' as it is 'thank you/thanks to you.' Translation is not always clean work.)
But there's something not yet resolved. As Koromaru looks at Ken crumpled on the asphalt, he whines in concern...
For a moment, Ken is simply overwhelmed. The hand on his shoulder breaks through first as he looks at Minato with wet cheeks; then he looks up at Shinjiro, gruffly telling him that they should get out of here. A strong Persona... Akechi had told him about this world, and Minato had confirmed it when he'd said he was going to be his bodyguard, but it still feels so surreal now that it's been actualized.
Yukari and Fuuka speak, but... discussing what just happened--why a boy as young as Ken awoke to a Persona--is a conversation for later. Ririka is more practical, offering to find a path back to the dorm. Hitomi offers everyone (as far as Ken can tell) a 'good work,' and it's almost as awkward as Suzume's silence. When Aigis thanks him, though--a rush of emotion rises in his chest, heating his face. "You're welcome," he mumbles, voice thick. Hearing himself, he gives them all a weary, tearful look before he bows his head.
"Y-yeah." It's a response for everyone... but for Shinjiro and Minato in particular. Ken does his best to catch his hitched breath as he scrubs his eyes with his sleeve. Minato and especially Shinjiro are so cool... He doesn't want to keep crying forever in front of them. Knees shaking, he pushes himself to his feet.
Koromaru pads over to him to offer him a counter-weight to lean on. Ken offers him a wobbly smile in return. They'll both head back to the SEES dorm with the others, possibly minus Suzume and Yukari as they take up the rear to make sure those Mayas stay gone (spoiler alert: they do), and collapse into a deep sleep once they each find a bed.