entranceway | 5th Social Link ▫ Video + Action

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5th Social Link ▫ Video + Action

[Winter was now over and spring had just started. Minato kind of missed the snow, but at least the weather was cool and comfortable instead of being too cold. For a change of pace as he wandered outside, now that the space event was over, he decided to head to the Checkerboard Hills. He hadn't been there often. It was time to check it out again.

That is, if checking it out meant doing a once-over on the checkered patterns from dark to light, then ending up laying in one of the darker square patches, his comm device off to the side as he looked up at the sky.

It's spring here and spring at home. School would be starting again, if he were there and time progressed.

Were these questions even fair? Did he have too much time on his hands, playing around with or thinking about 'what if' in a place that may make him forget his existence here at all?]

..... Would you rather be dead at home or alive here?

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[Talk about your heavy subjects. Still, while it's not immediately relevant to Kanji, he knows it happens to be exactly the case for more than a handful of Wonderland residents.]

I mean, if I had to pick-- alive here. Wonderland ain't so bad. I'd rather be home, but being dead there would mean not bein' able to spent time with the people that make me miss it.

Mn, I know what you mean.

[Minato was so there about that last part. Being dead had its drawbacks and that was one of them.]

What do you like about this place?

[What did he like the most? They might not remember it though, which was a little depressing.]

The people, mostly. Not like they're replacin' the people I missed, but-- I've made a lotta friends here I never wouldn't met if I'd stayed home. Hell, you an' I probably wouldn't know each other.

[Really, he has no idea just how impossible it would have been for them to meet back home.]

[It's the last part again that hits Minato the hardest. He nodded.]

I'm really glad I met you.

[He was. His heart hurt, thinking about if he hadn't arrived here. He was grateful then in some way to this place that he ended up here. They started to talk about home last time, but they needed to do it again.]

We might not have the chance to at home.

[Kanji nods, his demeanor more solemn than most people would likely expect from him.]

Same. You've been a good friend-- I can always use more of those.

[He'd gone far too long without any at all.]

Crazy, isn't it? How we can be from the same world, even the same country an' not really cross paths. I've even been to Port Island.

[It was also the same for Minato. He could always use more friends. Anyone could.]

What did you like about it? Where did you go?

[He could live a bit vicariously through Kanji then.]

We spent most of the time at the school there, but we went a few other places. Uh-- the ramen shop at Iwatodai, that was great! There was also a club at the mall, but...

[He's not sure he wants to talk about what happened there.]

Well, our friend Rise really wanted to go there. Think she'd performed there before or somethin'?

[Casually best friends with an idol, no big deal. They have the same taste in animal crackers.]

[Hagakure. He missed the ramen there. Best ramen. And Club Escapade. Minato had heard about a certain idol too who had been around the area.]

Mn, I've seen her picture up at Hagakure. And we fought a Shadow at Club Escapade that was powered by electricity.

[Hence the blackout. Who knew though that Kujikawa Rise was a Persona user? The world was so small.]

Was that when there was a blackout? Rise said she had a secret concert that got cancelled there because of that!

[Small world, indeed.]

Crazy.

[Minato nodded, smiling a little more. He found it almost unbelievable that their lives were this intertwined. But he hadn't wanted it any other way. Some people might think they weren't that related, but every little thing added up for Minato.]

I heard you went to a love hotel too on Shirakawa Boulevard.

[It was still there, for better or for worse.]

[He grimaces.]

I don't, uh-- I don't think most of us knew what we were gettin' into... senpai's homeroom teacher made the reservations for that one. Weird place.

[You couldn't pay him to go back.]

We fought a Shadow there too.

[Minato thought it'd be kind of fun to go back and see what it was like. He went there when it was creepy. Now it wouldn't be creepy. Well, maybe not that kind of Shadow creepy.]

I'm glad you went there and that it didn't change much.

Yeah? A Shadow out in the real world?

[That's definitely different than how things worked with the TV world, but he'd already heard a little about how Port Island operated differently from Inaba beyond its being far more developed than their rural little town.]

It's been a long while since you've seen it now, huh. Sometimes I forgot how much time has passed here.

During the Dark Hour. Except for one who could wander around outside of it.

[Thinking about him... Minato missed him a lot too. Friends with a Shadow? The IT had someone like that too from what Minato had heard.

And he did think about home again as he talked about it with Kanji. He thought maybe he should tell him more then.]

I'm not sure when I'll see it again, even if I go home.

Mm.

[Kanji frowns, his brow furrowing.]

That's gotta suck. Can't be a good feeling, not knowing when you'll see your friends again. I mean, I already feel that enough, even knowin' that if I go back, I'm goin' to Inaba. What about you, though? You take a trip or somethin', or move away?

[Minato had made his peace with it already. He had accepted it then and had accepted it now. He just didn't think Wonderland would intervene in his life and give him time to think about or look back at it. He didn't have regrets. But Wonderland liked to think that maybe he should, now that he had time. Twist the knife and open up a wound.]

I died after it was over. But it's okay. I meant to.

[That sounded a lot worse than it came across, but that had to be more than enough for the present moment.]

I'm sorry I didn't tell you before.

You meant to?

[Without context, that doesn't make sense. Hell, Kanji's not sure it would make sense even with context, and his frown pulls deeper.]

It's okay. I mean, you don't... owe me anything. You didn't even hafta tell me now, but shit. Makes me feel like an ass for always sayin' how great it'd be to go home.

What the hell happened?

[Maybe this isn't a conversation for the network, but he has to ask.]

[Minato knew he had to explain. It was a little complicated, but for Kanji, he wanted to tell him. If he had to be now, then that was fine too.]

Don't worry about it. And I do owe you. I have to thank you.

[It was because of Kanji and Souji and the IT that he could trust that the future was safe.]

... We can talk at the Diner, if that's better.

[He pauses before nodding. Yeah, that's a good idea.]

Seems like this is an in-person kinda talk. I'll be there soon.

Thanks.

[The Diner was safe. Felt safe. Minato could go over there too soon. He wanted to.

He did wait at one of the tables, not picking the one not too far in the back or tucked away in the corner. He shouldn't have to hide, not literally either. There wasn't anything he should be hiding or wanted to hide from Kanji at all.]

[Kanji shows up not long after, his face seeming to have taken on a permanent frown. He spots Minato easily, offering a half-hearted wave as he heads over, the topic of their previous conversation weighing heavily on him, making him wonder how he'd made it this far without ever knowing, without guessing that things weren't so great for Minato back home.

He does manage a grim smile as he slides into the seat opposite him. In-person was definitely better for this.]

Hope I didn't keep you waiting.

[Minato shook his head. He was the one who made Kanji wait this long. There hadn't been a good time to tell him, and that was also Minato's fault for not bringing it up any sooner.

Where to start though? Maybe just in general for now.]

You visited Gekkoukan. The school was built over a decade-old testing site where scientists experimented on Shadows to harness their power. Things went wrong, and a Shadow with the Death Arcana was created.

[This was all so much out of context, but Minato thought explaining more might help along the way. He needed to set the background first.]

Death was supposed to bring the Fall, or end of humanity. It got separated into different parts though to stop the Fall from happening.

[It sounds familiar in a way, even though it's entirely different than what had happened in Inaba-- but in both cases, it was something so much bigger than they'd first expected, something that threatened all of humanity, not just the place where they lived.

He grimaces, and he nods.]

Off to a bad start already.

In SEES we were told to defeat the Shadows, but in doing so, we brought those parts together. I had one part in me too.

[And every time he thought of that part, he missed the person who was with him for ten years.]

Since we inadvertently initiated the Fall, the only way to stop it was to put a seal on a door.

[That part sounds like a complicated story in and of itself-- maybe too complicated for Kanji at the moment, but he'll be making a mental note about it all the same, because of course he's curious.]

You guys thought you were doin' the right thing, huh. No idea what was in store.

[He grimaces. That has to have been a low blow.]

The world is still there, so how'd you seal it?

5th Social Link ▫ Video + Action

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