The afternoon ticked by.
As Kurosawa preoccupied himself with keeping up to date regarding events of importance with regards to cognitive affairs, the other adults were busy trying to organize and prepare for the wake of Junpei Iori and Ken Amada.
This left the teens to their own devices. So they decided to teach Akane how to play Tycoon while elaborating on what had happened that morning, using one of the empty guest rooms.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu8AhRht6Nc
Hasegawa was understandably subdued by it all. "...this has been a pretty crazy summer," she mused. She, Shinji, and Kensuke were sitting out of the current round, whilst Toji, Mana, Mayumi, and Ren were playing.
("Let us see if your luck can hold against me," challenged Ren with dramatic flair.)
("Why do people keep saying I'm lucky?" honestly asked Mana.)
("...bruh," said Toji with a flat tone. "You got
all of the 2's, all of the Aces,
and the Jokers in your last round.
Who does that?!")
("Mana-san, apparently," remarked Mayumi with a tired smile.)
"No kidding," remarked Kensuke, glancing at the wrapping around her ankle. "How's that been?"
Akane glanced at the ankle she had sprained on the 13th, during the whole business with Kuchisake-Onna. "I still feel some phantom pains, even though it got healed; my mind is
convinced that it should still 'feel' sprained, so the medical tape and bandages help."
"...cognition can be powerful, huh?" muttered Shinji.
"Hard to believe there are other people with the power to manifest multiple Personas...or Personae." Akane frowned. "Which is the preferred plural?"
"Don't look at me," remarked Kensuke. "I'm just an intern at NERV and a kid trying to make sense of everything. How about you?"
"Me?"
Kensuke made a gesture with his hand that evoked a sense of unease or uncertainty. "I know Agent Hasegawa's been training you in preparation for the Trainee Preliminary Exams...but with everything that's happened with Kuchisake-Onna, and now with two seasoned A.T. Agents perishing in battle...are you having second thoughts?"
Akane, to her credit, didn't answer immediately. "...I'm not sure."
"...you're not alone in feeling like that," acknowledged Shinji, feeling the unease and trepidation within the depths of his soul. (If another implacable enemy approached them...would he falter again? Would he have the resolve to muster the full extent of his power?)
(
You won't know until it happens.)
By the time the sun had set and a simple dinner of leftovers from Sojiro's cafe had been had, everyone had seemingly decided to turn in early. The Hasegawas departed, and everyone else alternated with the washrooms.
After Shinji had showered and washed up, he exited the bathroom in his sleeping yukata, only to come face-to-face with Sojiro. "Sakura-sensei?"
"...how are you holding up?" he asked, lips contorted into a familiar frown.
"...I don't know," he honestly admitted.
"...I see." Sighing, the man scratched at the back of his head in a well-practiced gesture. "It can be hard, finding the right words to say at times like this. But...it's okay to
not feel okay, you know?" When Shinji didn't say anything, Sojiro patted him on the shoulder. "Just keep that in mind. Sleep well, kid."
Shinji followed Sojiro's back as he walked away, wondering just what it meant to 'feel okay'. (Human emotions and thoughts could be so ambiguous, at times.)
However, it seemed like he wasn't the only one experiencing such uncertainty; shortly after he had turned in (staring rather intently at the tarps which had been taped over the hole caused by Minako), a familiar whisper could be heard. "Psst. Shinji."
Turning over, he saw that the door to his room had been partially slid open; Kensuke and Toji were there, holding their futons. "Guys?"
"...well, we thought about what happened this morning, and figured it would be best to be in a situation where we can quickly react in case of another surprise attack. You know?" explained Kensuke, as if justifying why he and Toji were both bringing their futons with them.
Toji snorted, not buying the excuse in the least...but it was one he was willing to go along with, apparently.
"...that makes sense," admitted Shinji, rising to let them in.
Not even ten minutes after the two boys had arranged their futons on Shinji's floor, another voice whispered from beyond his door. "Um...Ikari-san...?"
Rising to his feet, Shinji stepped around Kensuke and Toji's futons to open his door; sure enough, Mayumi and Mana were standing there. "Is something wrong?"
Mayumi seemed embarrassed, judging by how her eyes couldn't look at him. Mana, blunt as always, said, "she couldn't sleep, and wanted me to come along."
"Mana-san!" she quietly hissed with a mortified blush.
"...it's fine," he relented, opening the door to let them both in. Sure enough, Mana had brought her weapons with her as well, as though they were a security blanket instead of implements of battle.
Kensuke and Toji, to their credit, didn't say anything; they
all knew why they were here, deep down.
The girls put down their futons, with Mana placing AIGIS and LABRYS on the floor between her futon and Toji's; an artificial barrier at best, but still an effective one.
With one bed and four futons in one room, it suddenly felt...not quite cramped, but not quite comfortable, either...but the sense of closeness was undeniable. "...good night everyone," Shinji said aloud, in the manner of someone testing out new words.
"G'night," said Kensuke.
"Night," mumbled Toji.
"Good night," muttered Mayumi.
"...sleep well," whispered Mana, breaking the trend.
It was an odd sensation.
His Other quietly placed two skulls upon a gravestone.
"In the face of death...is this not a natural inclination? To seek out the living?"
If nothing else, Shinji didn't feel quite so alone; he only hoped that the others felt the same.
Thus did Team Statherós fall into an uneasy sleep: marred by memories of loss and the occasional fluttering of plastic tarps against the wind...yet bolstered by the sounds of their friends slumbering in the night.
xxxx
/Elsewhere/
View: https://youtu.be/OjACNTXzxOY
With a sudden burst of energy, Phanuel and Minako burst into a realm of red: with railway tracks winding downward into a crimson pit, it gave off the impression of an old realm called Mementos.
Funny, that such a place would be in and of itself a memento of a time long past.
Phanuel set down on the ground, his trio of Personas holding their weapons at the ready.
Minako did so as well, holding her naginata up as Thanatos, Metatron, and Lucifer glared at Zorro, Mercurius, and Diego.
"
Welcome to my Domain," said Phanuel. "
A bit drab...but a memory of an important place."
"You...are fated to fall," solemnly said Minako, using words that were not her own.
"
Maybe. Maybe not. You are strong in your own right...and empowered by that wretch who pretends to be God, you might be undefeatable. But I don't care." Raising his windy sabre, the Angel also known as Morgana vowed, "
because I have hope in the others! So let us fight: whether it be for days, weeks, or even months...I will give you a challenge unlike any you've had before. And in that...you will at least have respite from being that fool's plaything."
Minako said nothing.
(In her heart of hearts, she was grateful for such a small gesture.)
Thus did Phanuel's Domain tremble from the roars of cataclysmic battle.
xxxx
END OF 8/18/2015
xxxx
/EDIT: added a bit of narrative prose to this snippet and the last one
//because I totally forgot Shinji had blasted Minako through the wall of his room
