Chapter Text
During the reunion of Akira’s little family, Minato had sat to the side, focusing on Koromaru. He kept an ear out, quietly, wanting to make sure everything was okay. But he only heard half the conversation, Jun’s half, since Akira seemed to be signing.
(At one point he heard a robotic voice, but the words didn’t sound like what Akira would say. They seemed directed at the kid. It was strange, but he decided not to worry about it.)
When Mr. Kashihara and Akira stood up, Morgana securely in Akira’s arms, he wandered over.
“Everything okay?” he asked, looking at both Mr. Kashihara and Akira.
Akira gave a shrug, then a nod. Mr. Kashihara sighed. “Well enough, for now. Thank you again, Arisato, for looking out for him.”
Minato nodded, hands casually in his pockets. “Akira, is any of your stuff still at the dorm?”
Akira shook his head. Minato quietly congratulated himself on helping the situation resolve. But there was one last matter.
“Mr. Kashihara. Can we talk tomorrow?”
The other woman approached the group, hanging near Mr. Kashihara. She gave him a sharp look, but Minato ignored it, focusing on his teacher.
“Of course. Does after classes work for you? I’d offer for us to both come in early, but I don’t know how long the talk will take.”
“After classes is fine,” he replied. “Later.”
And with that he walked off.
—
The next day, after classes, Minato followed Mr. Kashihara into an empty classroom. (Technically it was career experience week, so he had to come back from Wild Duck Burger to the school. But this conversation was important.)
Neither of them spoke until the door was closed and they'd both settled at desks.
The silence lasted for long moments, until Mr. Kashihara spoke up. “Should I start with my story?”
Minato fiddled with a lock of hair as he thought. “Did it have anything to do with the Kirijo Group?” he asked.
Jun frowned. “No… Why?”
Minato flapped a hand. “You go first. I'll go after.”
And Jun did go first. After gaining a promise not to tell anyone about it, he dove into the details. He skated over details, some, but he told a tale of two timelines, and of meddling entities called Philemon and Nyarlathotep. That was a lot, but Minato decided to mostly ignore the other timeline, focusing more on the conspiracy at the root of the Sumaru City Crisis.
As he listened, he debated how much he should share of his own story. How much he could share, when he felt like he knew so little at this point.
Finally, Mr. Kashihara finished his story. Silence fell once more, before Mr. Kashihara looked out the window and asked, “Does your story have anything to do with that extra hour at midnight?”
Minato, glad for somewhere to start, nodded. “We… recently realized we were wrong about a lot of things, and right now we don't really know…” He trailed off. Decided what to share. But Mr. Kashihara had shared his own story, and his story was in a way dangerous. If he was trusted with that, Minato could probably trust him in return.
So he shared about the Dark Hour, the sins of the Kirijo Group, and the way they'd all been manipulated by Ikutsuki. How everything had come to a head last month, when they thought everything was over, only to face betrayal. Mr. Kashihara looked worried, and partway through shifted over to place a comforting hand on Minato's shoulder.
He gave a ghost of a smile, and continued talking.
He didn't talk about Shinjiro. It was still too raw. He regretted the death of Mitsuru's father, mostly for how it affected her. But he didn't know the man. Shinjiro, on the other hand… Plus, it would involve sharing things about Ken that he doubted the boy wanted a stranger to know.
When he finally finished talking, Mr. Kashihara squeezed his shoulder. “Thank you for telling me, Arisato. And… if you, or your team, need a helping hand, or just advice or a listening ear, please come to me.”
His teacher's eyes went distant, then, for long moments. Minato finally asked, “What is it?”
Mr. Kashihara flashed an apologetic smile. “A few things. Mr. Ikutsuki had said some… odd things about Akira, trying to convince me not to move ahead in fostering him, a while back. It worries me, knowing what I now know, although with him… gone, we should be safe from that.”
Minato gave a shrug. Mr. Kashihara continued.
“I also noticed… you didn't mention the Velvet Room. It's still around right?”
And that made Minato's eyes widen. “Wait, you know the Velvet Room?” he asked.
“Of course,” Mr. Kashihara replied, bemused. “It's open to all Persona users. Where else would you manage your Personas?”
Minato shook his head. “I'm the only one on my team who can see it.”
“But then how do the others access new Personas?” Mr. Kashihara asked.
Minato shrugged. “They don't. Igor calls me a Wild Card. I'm the only one who can use other Personas.”
Mr. Kashihara frowned. “I guess that must be another change. Like your Evokers. In my time, you didn't need anything special to summon a Persona.”
Minato stayed silent, so Mr. Kashihara just gave a small smile. “I doubt it's important. If you're curious you could go to the Velvet Room. And… I may have someone to ask about that stuff too.”
The teacher got to his feet. “But, now that we've swapped stories, I wanted to say something else. I wanted to thank you for being my friend, and for your advice and encouragement with Akira. Your journey sounds like a hard one, and I’d like to help how I can, but I hope you don't lose sight of human connections along the way.”
Minato ducked his head a little. “I’ll… do my best,” he murmured. His friends were precious to him, even though the losses recently scared him and made him want to retreat mentally.
Suddenly, a hand was thrust into his vision, holding two flowers.
“Iris and Shion,” Jun said with a smile. “The game may be shutting down, and the game itself may have been… some sort of convoluted plot. But I don't regret remembering, and I especially don't regret our friendship there.
Minato took the flowers, holding them to his chest. Everything froze for a moment as he felt the power of the Hermit within him crest to its final tier. When it was over, though, he offered a small smile in return. “I don't regret it either. I'll keep your offer of help in mind.”
“That's all I can ask. But… I should be getting home to Akira now,” Mr. Kashihara said, standing and looking towards the door.
Minato nodded. “Say hi for me,” he said, a hint of a smile still lingering on his face.
Mr. Kashihara gave him a warm look and a farewell before they parted ways. Minato got to his feet, mind starting to drift to how to spend his evening. The next full moon was in a week or so. He didn't know what that would mean. But, with the knowledge that others had made it through things like this, he was willing to face forward and press onward.