Part 32: 07/04/09 - 07/06/09

There's but a scant few days until the full moon. We've pretty much done all the prep we can do at this point. Just got a few small things left to go.

An Unpleasant Premonition



Are you nervous?
Nah.
...Seriously? How can you be so calm, Makoto-kun...?
I guess we have to do this no matter what...

There's not really much point in getting nervous over it now. We've done what we can, so it's just a matter of time now.

Want To Be Close (Reincarnation) / Time



Since I met you, each day has been better than the last.
Because of your support, I have the confidence to do anything...
I hope I can be a help to you as well...

> You feel an unbreakable bond between you and Chihiro.

Despite the S.Link being maxed, we can still spend time with Chihiro if we really want to. That's, uh, kind of a giant waste and there's no reason to ever do so. Options there if you've got absolutely nothing else to do, though!



But, well, we DO have better things to spend time on, and people to spend it with. Like Yuko.

Joy



...I did, however, forget about the children. That's an inconvenience.



Repeat after me: "I can win!"

Kids: I can win!



Don't give in to fear!





The winner will get to use the playground.
They asked me to write a formal challenge for them... I'm a little worried.
Not just about the race, but also about my spelling... *blush*
So, what's your honest opinion? Can they win?
Let's hope for the best.
Th-That's right! A coach has to believe in her team!



They've done their best!
They'll be fine, right!? After all, they learned from us!

> You feel a bond with Yuko.

> Your relationship is stronger now!





Mine doesn't sound very impressive... I'll be so embarrassed if those sixth graders laugh at it...

> You walked home with Yuko.

I, uh, yeah. I'd be embarassed if I got laughed at by gradeschoolers as well.

Iwatodai Dorm



I'm sure some kind of Shadow will show up.
Please be ready.

There is one thing we still need to do, but yeah. We're mostly ready as-is.



I can't wait to see what the next Shadow looks like.



Witnesses spotted the girl last night with a friend, but the other girl is missing as well. This is the sixth such mysterious disappearance this month. Police are still searching for any leads in the case...

I guess this is probably just a public explanation, since the general implication is that the police know about Shadows and the like. Maybe that's just because we only get Kurosawa as the only officer we see on-screen though.



Ah well, that's not super important. What is, is that we need to go to the Antiques Store and trade 2 Turquoise gems for a creepy doll. We're not gonna be using this for its allegedly intended purpose.

The Poem for Everyone's Souls



We'll just give it to Elizabeth instead. She wanted one for some reason, after all.

It looks quite old... but I'm certain someone put a great deal of time and energy into making it.
If I'm not mistaken, there's a Persona this item resembles...
Please accept your reward.



It's, sadly, not a joke weapon for Akihiko. It's a normal weapon for Akihiko, with +3 Agility attached. How... exciting...?



And it turns out this was the start of a quest chain itself! We need to pay Edogawa another visit at school, it seems.



Since we both have an exam coming up and no other social stats left to work on, we're gonna be spending Saturday at the Arcade instead of with Tanaka. Sorry, Mr. President!



And then, because this isn't Portable, we can study immediately afterwards as well. +6 Academics is always nice to get, even though we're not even close to rank 4 yet if my napkin math is accurate.



I just realised it's been almost a month since we got to buy anything from Tanaka. We've really not been nice to him this week, huh...?

When The Moon's Reaching Out Stars / Way of Life



> Yuko is staring at the steam rising from her coffee.

But, I'm sure it won't affect those kids one bit. They're so excited about racing, you know?
They're pretty amazing kids...

> Yuko seems happy.



You'll find something.
Y-You think so? That makes me feel better, hearing that from you, Makoto-kun...
I've been so busy being team manager and coaching those kids... not that I mind.
I don't have much free time, but... How do I put this...? It makes me feel good about myself.



> You two became a lot closer today.

We don't need to give her a gift, so we won't bother.



After all, we're gonna hit rank 7 when we get the chance sometime down the line. That won't be for a bit of a while, though...

Iwatodai Dorm



I have no idea what kind of Shadow it will be, so make sure you're ready for anything.
As the saying goes, "If you're prepared, you won't have any regrets."



I don't see Junpei or Akihiko anywhere around here, but we weren't told they won't be here, so...







hey wait no cmon i wanna know

The missing elementary school girl has been found. However, her slack expression indicates that she may have fallen victim to Apathy Syndrome.

Okay, I guess that was fair...

Anyway, uh, we'll head upstairs to try and find Junpei and Akihiko next.



...the Shadows have been getting stronger too.
How long can we keep this up?
What happens if we reach our limit and then totally get our asses kicked? Man, that would suck.



...and that only applies to someone who's a master.
Most people use it as an excuse. They say they've reached their limit, but in reality, they've just given up.
You can start by forgetting about reaching your limit. That's the first step to getting stronger.

Hmm, let's see... what to do tonight? Sunday is a bit of an awkward day, really.

Wait, Sunday? I've got it!



We haven't spent time with Mutatsu in a while. Let's see what our favourite drunk monk's been up to.



...is what I'd like to say, but this was guaranteed to happen here. Even if we somehow had a Tower persona before we hit the last rank, this would happen here. It's fine though. Not like we have much else to do most evenings now.



We could always just go to our room and opt to not do anything, but that is so insanely boring I don't even know why you would consider that.



Last day before the full moon, sure, but it's also a school day so we should be able to finish one last request for Elizabeth at least.

An Unpleasant Premonition



Yeah.
Dude, I'm totally stoked... like right before a tournament or somethin', ya know?
Now, I know how Akihiko-senpai feels before he gets in the ring...

I appreciate how short these last few days have been since it keeps things moving a bit.



Although, now we have to get Edogawa to give us his, uh, "medicine" again. And this time an actual bottle of the stuff. I feel like that's a violation of some right or another.

This Mysterious Feeling



However, keep in mind that you are interrupting my, um... scholarly pursuits.
...You seem healthy enough. My eyes cannot be deceived!
Now, get back to class!

...School's finished for the day...?



But this is an annoying minor inconvenience. We need to somehow get Sick or Tired before we can get the thing. Fortunately tomorrow is a full moon, which has so far made us tired the next day every time. Except the Magician one, which just knocked us spark out. We'll be back on Wednesday then!

...Sure is a good thing this request didn't have a time limit attached.



As for what we are going to do today, uhh... we haven't been to Student Council in a while. I guess we could do that? It's probably the lightest of our available options right now anyway.

Joy



> The hours fly by as you work on the tasks.



Um... no... I think he's busy...
Busy doing what?



Oh... You mean what Fushimi was telling me about earlier... I see.



...You can go if you'd like. I don't mind. Sorry for all the drama.

> You decide to leave the Student Council Room.

Well, that was an actual scene but Hidetoshi wasn't there. We've seen this before with Kaz, so we know where this is going...

Calamity



There's no need for evidence. I know all about you.
You were arrested for beating up a guy in the park who snitched on you, right?



My boyfriend said he was accused too. He was so pissed off. That guy's gonna get himself punched in the face one of these days...

> It looks like the punk is going to hit Hidetoshi.



...If it's not you, then give me some names.
Don't worry. I won't tell anyone. You have my word as a member of the Disciplinary Committee.



Don't think you're off the hook just yet.

> The punk walked away.

Troubled



You look like you want to say something...
Good work.



If we let people get away with breaking the rules, things will only get worse.
One day, it'll spiral out of control, and there will be nothing we can do.
So, we should deal with the problem now, while we still can.
...I know what people think of me.

That you're an egotist who's got a tiny sliver of power, and it's clearly gone right to your head?



So, let this serve as a warning to other offenders.
Makoto-kun, you're a sensible person... You understand, right?

> You sense that Hidetoshi is beginning to trust you.

> Your relationship is stronger now!





> You decided to go back to the dorm.

We're only 4 ranks in here, but Hidetoshi's... really not a sensible person, either. He appears to be calm and actually rational (as opposed to internet Rational), but his actions to persue such a minor goal betray him.

Iwatodai Dorm



If we lose, then pretty soon the city will be full of The Lost.
We better win, man... It's all on our shoulders...
Dude, I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight... If you wanna go to Tartarus, count me in.

Dangit Junpei, you need to sleep at night. If you get yourself too tired to fight, you can sit out tomorrow!



It's really kinda cool how almost everyone is sat together. Even though they're no really interacting and mostly doing their own thing, this is such a small thing that tells you a lot about the current dynamic. That Yukari is NOT there is also quite conspicuous.



...the next Shadow will appear tomorrow.



A Shadow will appear during the full moon...
That is very exciting for a researcher, such as myself.



I'm so psyched!
Duuuude, I'm not gonna sleep a wink tonight!

go to bed, junpei



...so we have no choice but to wait until tomorrow.



Yukari sitting all the way over here on her own makes sense in a way. She's suspicious of Mitsuru and only really gets along well with Fuuka of all people. Sure, she'll banter with Junpei a bit, but most of that seems more like genuine sass than a friendly ribbing...



Many of the wishes hung up are requests that Apathy Syndrome be finally eliminated.

Anyway, uh, what we're gonna do tonight is a difficult proposition. We don't need to go to the Arcade for the Charm boost, Karaoke is also unneeded, Tanaka and Mutatsu aren't available since it's a Monday...

When The Moon's Reaching Out Stars / Way of Life



Well, first, we're gonna take a trip to Be Blue V for the first time in a long while. We could buy these charms ever since we hit level 17, but I'm just gonna grab a couple Thunder Charms for convenience. It's not a necessary step in my plans here, but it's nice to have.



And then, uh, I guess we can go to the Arcade anyway. We don't need the Charm boost, so we'll look at the other games we haven't touched yet. The remaining 3 are all very cheap for what they do...



They give +3 to a combat stat! Yes. For a tiny amount of yen, and your day and/or night slot, you can get a +3 boost to a stat. There isn't one for Endurance or Luck so if you want those you still need to get cards but for Strength, Magic and Agility you can just spend money. And it's kinda ridiculous, really!



Plus we can still study afterwards. That this isn't even a decision between the two means we can make major gains MUCH faster than the game seems to anticipate us being able to. I probably won't abuse the Arcade too much, because it's ridiculous, but it's always an option.



Anyway, tomorrow is a Full Moon! That means we've probably got a bit of a small dungeon-y area before a boss fight. Yukari forces herself into the party for this and we cannot remove her. Level 18 seems like a bit of a liability, but I'm sure she'll be fine. She's definitely the weakest link we have, but she's not really a liability.



So, what about everyone else? Junpei's revealed his dark weakness that he does not ever get Maragi for whatever reason. Instead, he opts to be able to use all 3 Physical elements which is a 100% fair trade considering it's Junpei. It's kinda funny that Slash is his least useful of the three right now, and his best attack does Strike damage and he's much better at it than Akihiko. How bizarre!



Akihiko is, uh, Akihiko. Tarunda is technically more useful than Rakukaja if you want one of them, but aside from that Akihiko doesn't really have any advantages over anyone else. He's not exactly bad or anything, but he's just lacking in a specialisation.



Mitsuru's probably the best damage dealer of the bunch, since she has Bufula now. It's only slightly more powerful than Assault Dive (100 power vs Assault Dive's 90), but it's more usable since it won't make her ever-so-slightly easier to kill.

Really, no one is overtly bad right now, which is nice. They're just different degrees of good.

So with that in mind:

Vote for the 2 we will be bringing on the operation!

The two that get the most'll get to come along.