Archive of Our Own

Mitsuru couldn’t help but narrow her eyes as the shadow before her effortlessly shrugged off Penthesilea’s Bufula. Bits of ice cracked off and clattered to the floor, its voice gurgling with contempt as it thrashed about before them.

“Damn it… what isn’t this thing immune too?!”

Normally she’d have taken the time to reprimand Akihiko for the needless swear, but she would be remiss to act as if she herself weren’t growing a little agitated. They had known well before engaging that the shadow before them was exceptionally powerful- but its position on the current floor had left them little opportunity to simply slip around to a higher floor. Though she remained confident in their capabilities, Kotone had already been aware the fight would be an uphill one as she led the charge.

Though what neither she nor the rest of them would have quite been prepared for was just how tailored the shadow ahead of them was against their abilities. While they’d done fairly in wearing it down slowly- the fight dragging on for such a long time had everyone on edge, especially with the end of the floor in sight just beyond the monstrous shadow.

“Do you have any readings for us yet, Yamagishi?!” She barked into her earpiece, watching as Kotone stepped forward to summon another vaguely familiar persona among dozen’s, casting down some healing onto a weary Junpei who’d just caught a reflected blow head on.

“ Y-yes! It’s just finished!” Fuuka cried into their ear pieces, sounding weary. “ The shadow is immune to ice, electric and blessed attacks! It doesn’t have any weaknesses other than physical- but it also knows reflective skills, so you need to be careful when attacking it head on!”

“You’re kidding me…” Akihiko gawked, grunting as he rolled out of the way of the shadows flailing limbs.

“We can handle it!” Kotone cut in, pointing her evoker to her head as she called forth an entirely different persona- wind picking up around the enemy shadow to blow it back as it let out an enraged cry. “How do you think ailments will fare against it, Fuuka-san?!”

“ It doesn’t seem inherently immune to anything other than freeze and shock!”

Kotone nodded at nothing in particular, glancing between everyone present one by one.

“Junpei- you focus on burning it down until we can be sure it won’t try to reflect physically! Sanada-senpai, try and get its defense debuffed and keep the others topped off! Kirijo-senpai, see if you can charm it to give us a better opening! If we can get this thing knocked down first- we can move in to go all out with physical blows!”

“Gotcha!”

“Sounds like a plan!”

“Understood.” Mitsuru nodded along following the other two members on the field, watching as Kotone stepped forward with a determined glint in her eyes and her chosen persona appearing behind her.

“I’ll keep it occupied with neutral hits with Junpei-san until we find an opening, that way Kirijo-senpai can work her magic!”

Within moments the battlefield grew chaotic. Kotone and Junpei weaved in between the Shadow’s attacks, attempting to get chip damage in as they could. Akihiko, regardless of how eager he looked to take to the front lines himself, remained in the back as he drained the shadows' defenses and helped undo the smaller blows or reflected damage the other two SEES members took on the frontline.

Mitsuru, meanwhile, readied herself— standing in way for the perfect opening to try and charm the shadow. If they could sufficiently disarm it with a charm, knocking it down with a decisive blow would be nearly guaranteed, and from there an all out attack would easily destroy it!

She narrowed her eyes, watched her teammates carefully in the crossfire, and steadied her aim true, determined to hit .

“Marin Karin!”

Penthesilea’s rapier gestured out as her spell flung across the battlefield— perfectly aimed at the shadows back as Junpei distracted it from the other side. Mitsuru almost felt the hint of a smirk spread across her face.

Or she did, up until one of the shadows stray arms erected a small wall.

In the span of what must’ve been mere moments, but felt like minutes, Mitsuru's eyes widened as the battlefield lulled in her peripheral vision and her own spell was sent sprawling back at her.

Before she could even hope of reacting, she heard her own name echo throughout her ears as she was sent sprawling onto the ground from a harsh force to her side just as the spell was set to hit its mark.

It took her a moment to regain her bearings, but as she did Mitsuru couldn’t help the sinking feeling in her chest— staring up and ahead at Kotone’s back as the team's leader went deathly still.

She… she didn’t —

“Shiomi!” She barked out, climbing back to her feat as an eerie dread pooled in her stomach. “Are you alright?! Did it-”

Before she could even finish, Kotone was moving.

Before she could call out to her teammates that their leader was compromised— Kotone ran right past Junpei and towards the shadow, lunging into the air with a shrill yell as she struck true.

The shadow fell to the critical blow, vanishing within an instant as Kotone was left heaving where it stood as SEES looked on in stunned silence.

She was the first to let out the tense breath coiled in her chest, unable to help but shake her head— grateful for once in her life that Marin Karin was so dreadfully hard to hit.

“That was, perhaps, a little close…” She breathed out, brushing herself off. “And while I certainly appreciate the—”

Before she could finish, again , Kotone was moving, again — and this time Kotone’s mad sprint was directed right at her.

No— i-it couldn’t be! Was she affected after all?!

Mitsuru’s eyes widened as her hand fell to her rapier in an instant, the other members around her moving to try and subdue Kotone as Fuuka’s panicked voice cried between her ears.

“ Kirijo-senpai! Kotone-san is still—”

Pomf!

“ ...c-compromised? ”

She had been expecting, perhaps, a decisive strike through the heart by Kotones naginata.

What she had not been expecting was Kotone to wrap her arms around her and pull her into a crushing hug while burying her face in Mitsuru’s chest.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Mitsuru couldn’t help they slight flush that rose to her cheeks as she sat stiff in the second years arms— Kotone’s hushed murmurings of ‘You’re okay…’ and ‘Thank god…’ doing little to ease the awkward tension that lingered in the air.

“Bah-hahaha!”

Or at least it was an awkward tension to her. To Junpei, the situation seemed to be quite the laughing matter.

“Iori! This— this is serious !” She attempted to muster up her more decisive and stern voice, the type she often reserved for threatening executions, but even to her own ears her delivery felt meek and defensive.

“‘Course it is— ‘course it is.” Junpei held up his hands, the smile playing on his lips signifying he was lying better than words ever could. “I’d never treat getting manhandled by a girl anything but serious, senpai!”

“ Iori .” She warned again, just as frail and meek as before as Kotone continued to hold her tightly in place. “Shiomi— please . Let me go so we can help you recover!”

“I don’t need to recover— you’re better off using all our items on yourself! You’re hurt!” Kotone definitely shook her head, to which Mitsuru gawked.

“I’ve hardly taken any damage in the time we’ve been here!”

Kotone suddenly raised her head, and Mitsuru couldn’t help the flinch as she saw the misty, manic look in their leader's eyes as she scowled up at her.

“ Any damage is too much— we can’t risk you walking around at anything less than tip top shape!” Kotone shifted her hold just enough to peer around Mitsuru to glare at Akihiko. “Sanada-senpai— use a bead on Mitsuru, now!”

“I— huh?” Akihiko blinked in surprise at being addressed. “But she’s barely—”

“ Useless .” Kotone hissed, shaking her head and stomping her foot. While Akihiko let out an indignant ‘hey!’ Mitsuru meanwhile found herself finally able to breathe as Kotone let her go, which was rather relieving.

The relieved feeling she received from being topped off by a bead was not quite as comparable, especially as Kotone moved to stuff a precious egg into her maw.

She made a mental note to execute Junpei after they solved the current problem and left tartarus for the evening as he continued to cackle at the situation unfolding.

“Are you feeling better now? Everything okay?”

Despite her increasing exacerbation at the situation, Mitsuru couldn’t help but smolder her temper at the painfully earnest look Kotone was giving her. It was, perhaps, the most vulnerable and fragile she’d ever seen their leader— and the look was only occurring because of how absurdly concerned Kotone was over her sake.

So swallowing both her pride and the precious egg, she pursed her lips and offered Kotone a slow nod.

“...Yes. Thank you. I’m more than refreshed.” She said slowly, not wanting to risk exasperating the situation as Kotone’s expression relaxed. “Now that I am taken care of… we should assess everyone else, including yourself—

“Unnecessary.” Kotone shook her head, patting her pockets. “I can manage just fine! Everything I have here is reserved for you and you alone.”

“Huh?” Junpei, seeming to find the humor to suddenly slip from the situation, sagged. “ Everything ? C’mon, Kotone, you’ve got all the best healing items! I wore myself out with that last shadow, and Mitsuru-senpai’s already healed up. Can’t we split ‘em up a bit…?”

“And waste what good items we have left so she has nothing for our next encounter?! No way!” Kotone snapped back as Junpei reeled from her tone. “You’ve got some spare items from the lesser shadows already anyway— So think about someone else and use your head on your shoulders instead of the one between your legs for a change, Junpei! ” 

“I— ow , dude! Harsh!” He clutched his chest, having the decency to look alarmed now. Mitsuru would have found it the smallest bit gratifying, if not for the fact Kotone’s behavior was becoming increasingly erratic and illogical.

“...Well, Mitsurus is not exactly afflicted with anything right now, right?” Akihiko spoke up tentatively, to which Fuuka’s voice cut back in between all their ears.

“ Y-yeah! I can confirm she’s fully healed and not suffering from any conditions! And… and you are, Kotone-san. So… uhm… “ Fuuka trailed off for a moment. “ Y-you’d be able to protect her better if you dis-charmed yourself, wouldn’t you? It wouldn’t be wasteful!”

Kotone seemed to actually consider that proposition for a moment, briefly checking her stash of items before the group's collective hopes were dashed with the shake of her head.

“We’ve only got one on hand- and I can’t risk anything happening to her!” Kotone stepped closer to Mitsuru, standing in front of her as if to separate her from an enemy— only said enemies were Junpei and Akihiko. “The dis-charm stays with me for Mitsuru’s use only!”

Nobody looked willing to try and challenge her for it, and Mitsuru herself hardly wanted to make the situation worse… and none of them naturally had access to a cleansing spell from their personas that worked on charmed teammates.

With Kotone hovering around her like a guard dog as both boys looked at her wearily for guidance, Mitsuru let out a low sigh.

“Do you have an idea on when the charm might break, Yamagishi?”

“ ...No. Not at the moment.” Fukka sounded a little hopeless, and a matching feeling sunk through Mitusur’s chest. “ Usually, at worst, most ailments tend to deteriorate rapidly once the shadow that dealt them is vanquished, but… ”

Nobody said anything more as Kotone put a hand to her weapon,  glowering at the other two members on the field.

“Yes… I suppose that’s not an option for obvious reasons.” Mitsuru nodded, pursing her lips. “It might prove dangerous to wait around in hopes it’ll simply go away on its own. If we could make it to a teleporter and reconvene with you and Takeba, she should be able to naturally cleanse the status.”

“I mean, sometimes we get snapped out of it when we get knocked around a bit, right?” Junpei offered. “Maybe we—”

Kotone raised her weapon in Junpei’s direction, to which he let out a yelp and ran behind Akihiko.

“ Kidding - kidding! I-It’s a joke! You know me, Koto-tan— a-always jokin’, yeah?!”

“You could stand to do it a little less when Mitsuru’s in danger.” Kotone sneered, to which Mitsuru blinked in realization.

“Shiomi—”

“Yeah?”

Kotone turned to her- the picture of obedient and innocent as all the malice and spite in her expression and tone faded away. Putting on her most placating, practiced smile, Mitsuru gestured to Junpei and Akihiko.

“If you’ll recall, we’re all working together in an effort to finish tonight's expedition. Iori and Akihiko are just as willing to see to it that we leave Tarturus safe and secure as you or I are. Isn’t that right?”

The stern look she affixed to them both had the boys straightening up with a nod in mere moments— though whether the sudden respect was on her authority or out of fear of what disagreeing would make their leader do, she couldn’t know.

“Right.” She turned back to Kotone, the younger girl's gaze calculating as Mitsuru continued. “So, despite your… reservations with their current decisions, I’d like you to trust in their capabilities and work with them until we can all descend to the bottom of the tower. Can you do that for me?”

Kotone had to take a moment to mull it over, biting her lip as Junepi looked a little hurt over how seriously she seemed to need to consider it.

“...Alright.” Kotone said slowly, sounding a little unsure. “They’ve done a pretty decent job in the past, I guess… and if you trust them to help protect you, we can try and work together until you’re safe.”

Smiling despite the foreboding implication that Kotone might turn violent or uncooperative the moment they were secure at the bottom, she nodded and cleared her throat.

“Yamagishi, how close is the next teleporter?”

“ Oh! Uhm… it’s… there should be one 3 floors up right near the entrance if you can all make it there!” Fuuka cheered momentarily, going silent for a second. “ Yukari-san is fully prepared to heal Ko— uhm— Mitsuru with Io once you all get here, i-if she needs it!”

“Tell her to be on standby to heal her regardless.” Kotone said decisively— not exactly hostile, but her tone made it clear she was giving a command rather than asking a question, which raised another concern.

“Until we make it to the teleporter, I believe it will be in both of our best interests if I assume leadership of the team.”

“W-what?” Kotone blinked in surprise, quickly shaking her head. “We can’t! You’re way too soft for the role, Mitsuru!”

“I— soft ? Excuse me?” She couldn’t help but sound aghast, perhaps even a little offended despite knowing Kotone’s words weren’t really her own because… obviously Mitsuru Kirijo was not known for being ‘soft’ on her peers.

“In a good way, of course!” Kotone was quick to amend, offering a placating smile. “You spend so much time worrying about the well being of the team instead of focusing on yourself— it’s super sweet, but… you don’t take care of yourself nearly enough while in the lead.” Kotone looked her in the eyes, the younger girl's irises swirling slightly from her infliction. “ I’ll lead. You’ve trusted me to do it up until now— and you can still trust me to do it well! I won’t let anything happen to you or let you down, I promise!”

Mitsuru found it difficult to keep the heat off her cheeks from the backhanded compliment and the determined passion Kotone had put behind her words. Of course, there was never a doubt in Mitsuru’s mind Kotone was a capable leader to SEES— but even if Kotone always made it apparent how dedicated she was to the task, she couldn’t help but wonder if this feverish selflessness to protect everyone was how she saw things when she normally lead… Kotone did have the tendency to do exactly as she claimed Mitsuru herself did, actually. There was seldom a trip to Tartarus where Kotone didn’t put the wellbeing of the party above her own— as if what had occurred earlier hadn’t compounded that fact ten fold.

Mitsuru wasn’t willing to call out an afflicted Kotone out on her hypocrisy, of course, but… she was touched by the earnestness regardless.

“That’s… very noble of you, Shiomi.” She said slowly, swallowing the lump in her throat, buying herself a moment to formulate some roundabout logic to convince the manic leader to step down for a few floors. “...But if you’re having to lead the entire time, you might have an exceedingly difficult time focusing on… protecting me,” the notion she needed protection sounded particularly bitter coming from her own tongue, but she pushed past it. “If I am able to dictate the flow of battle and keep Akihiko and Iori in line, you’ll be able to better accomplish that.”

Despite how disappointed Kotone looked, she didn’t seem to disagree with Mitsuru. After a moment of deliberation she let out a sigh.

“That’s… a good point.” She tapped her foot, pursing her lips as she shook her head. “Okay. Until we can retreat, get rid of the dead weight—” Junepi let out a discontent ‘hey!’. “-and get you to safety, you can lead. Just make sure you’re making yourself the priority as leader!”

Mitsuru intended to do no such thing. If anything Kotone would be the priority, since she was in the most volatile state among them. But it seemed wise not to reveal that notion.

“Of course.” She glanced between Akihiko and Junpei tiredly. “I take it you two have no issues with this current course of action?”

“...Nah man, not at all.” Junpei held up his hands to signify his surrender.

“Nope.” Akihiko sighed. “Sounds… good.”

“Good.” Mitsuru cleared her throat, relieved at the way in which Kotone simmered from the new plan. “Before heading to the next floor, let's all take a moment to recover ourselves.”

“B-but-”

“It’s for the best.” Mitsuru cut in decisively before Kotone could argue against her decision. “We have more than enough supplies to spare a few healing items for everyone else…” Mitsuru trailed off, sucking in a breath at Kotone’s unimpressed look despite her completely sound reasoning as she switched tactics. “...a team that’s half as healthy as I am will do poorly in protecting me, yes? And there are many shadows that might be immune to many of my own attacks. Spreading our resources at least partially will keep me best protected.”

Even despite the roundabout rationale- Kotone still looked less than pleased at the turn of events. But eventually the fight in her eyes and stiffness in her shoulders subsided.

“...Fine.” She huffed out, securing a few measly medicines and snuff souls from her inventory. “But we can’t start giving these out like candy, okay?”

“We won’t. I want to waste them as much as you do.” Mitsuru assured, and that was enough to get Kotone to hold out some items for Junpei and Akihiko.

Akihiko took his share soon enough, all the while Junpei approached Kotone’s outstretched hand as if tempting the jaws of a hungry crocodile.

“You’re wasting time .” Kotone warned him after a moment, to which Junpei quickly snatched them from her grasp before backing away a good distance… which was probably a tactic, all things considered.

“Alright. Let's mov-'' Kotone began, cutting herself short as she let out a frustrated huff, turning to Mitsuru with a more gentle, pleading look that made Mitsuru’s chest tighten in an odd way she found difficult to describe. “...Are we good to move now? I don’t want you here any longer than you need to be.”

“ ...Kotone-san? Aren’t you going to heal yourself?” Fuuka cut in before Mitsuru could voice a similar sentiment, to which Kotone just shook her head.

“I’m fine— better to save the items in case we actually need them.”

“ But your stats are kind of low, especially after that finishing blow you did on the—”

“I said I’m fine! ” Kotone snapped, beginning to step forward. “Lets—” She appeared to catch herself faster this time, curling her hands as she took a moment to relax, letting out a tense breath before turning back to Mitsuru with a pleading look. “Can we go now? Please ?”

As uncomfortable and tense as the situation was, it seemed this was as agreeable as Kotone was going to get for the time being. They all just needed to work around this unfortunate issue and remember Kotone’s actions were not her own…

…And besides that, Mitsuru found the idea of denying Kotone rather difficult considering just how serious she was about all this, despite not being in her right mind. And the guilt from being the one to incidentally charm her in the first place certainly didn’t help.

“Of course.” She nodded, taking a step forward as she signaled back towards Akihiko and Junpei to follow. “Let's act swiftly and avoid shadows where possible.”

“Right.” Akihiko tightened the glove on his right hand.

“Yeah… you’re the boss, Senpai.”Junpei breathed out as he adjusted his cap, sulking behind as they all—

Mitsuru flinched as a warm presence enveloped her hand, entangling it tightly as she turned back to Kotone aghast.

“W-what are you doing ?” she couldn’t help but ask, voice rising with something which wasn’t quite anger, but was certainly heated.

“I can’t let shadows sneak up on you. If we move like this— they can’t separate us to ambush you if I don’t let go of you.” Kotone said without a moderum of sarcasm and the most intense expression on her face that Mitsuru had perhaps ever seen. 

Outside of how wildly inappropriate the gesture was— obviously the both of them were in hardly a condition to fight if Kotone had her hand in a death grip!

“And how will either of us use our evokers or weapons for self protection if we’re like this ?” Mitsuru couldn’t help the exasperation, frustration, and embarrassment leaking into her tone.

“Well I won’t hold on if there’s a threat in front of us, obviously! It’s just for the sake of not losing track of you in the meantime!” Kotone smiled, though it faded after a moment as her gaze turned calculating. “...though if I need to get you out of harm's way again I might—”

“There does not need to be any more pushing nor … this!” She raised her hand, and Kotone’s in turn.

“Just until we get out to safety— I won’t hold you back, I promise!” Kotone pleaded, to which a bemused snicker echoing out from behind them in turn. 

Both her and Kotone’s joint ire had Junpei shutting up rather quickly- and the subtle grin on Akihiko’s face was whipped clean off the moment they turned to him in turn.

“Do you have some kind of problem with my idea you want to raise, Iori?”

“N-nope. No problem here, just thought of something stupid.” He whistled innocently.

“Sanada?”

“...Not a one.”

Her deathly cold gaze turned warm and pleading the moment Kotone looked back at her. And so, once more, Mitsuru let out a soft sigh— doing perhaps the one thing most shameful a Kiroji could… outside of under the rug atrocities, of course.

Admitting defeat.

“Alright… this is- acceptable, for the time being.”

As if told the whole of Tarturus had disappeared and the dark hour had been banished forever, Kotone grinned ear to ear as she began to move forward with unfounded enthusiasm. Resisting the urge to pull her hand back as Kotone began eagerly swinging it as they walked, all Mitsuru could hope was that they’d find floors devoid of shadows so that they could make a hasty exit back to Yukari to solve this issue.

That and contemplate on if she should inform the oblivious Kotone of the great joy both Junpei and Akihiko were taking at her predicament right now as they trailed behind at a distance.

Mitsuru was never one to hide her shortcomings or faults when it mattered. She was not above admitting she was wrong, or that her pride could lead her astray despite her best intentions, or even that she on occasion came off more cold and callus than intended.

But one thing she saw no reason to ever admit is that she was partially enjoying certain elements of this experience.

She was not a very… ‘touchy feely’ kind of person, as the saying went. The most exposure she had with physical contact was the occasional handshake, but even that was a rare occurrence. It wouldn’t be particularly exaggerated to try and claim she got more intimate with shadows while cutting them to pieces than she did other people in her day to day, and it was a fact she was accepting of. She had no desire to change it.

‘Had’ being the damning admission, of course.

She still thought it wildly unprofessional and unneeded in interaction, both with her peers as well as with SEES. A Kirijo such as herself was not and should not be one for overly affectionate hugs or immature shoulder locks, or anything else of the sort.

But… Kotone’s hand was rather warm and pleasant to hold in a way that escaped her sensibilities.

Naturally the situation was not entirely positive. Kotone was not very adept at allowing her to break away, lest they come across a shadow. Being confined to Kotone by the hand was not a particularly elegant solution to her manic mood or helpful to their actual traversal of Tartarus… but it also wasn’t entirely enjoyable.

The fact it was enjoyable in any fashion perhaps said more than it should’ve. Mitsuru had no idea as to why it was enjoyable— because on all accounts it didn’t make sense. Apart from the softness of her hands, or the warmth of Kotone’s body being shared, or the oddly personable manner in which Kotone acted when speaking with her and only her for the time being, even addressing her informally by her first name with such eagerness, and of course, though fully capable of defending herself, there was a certain joy to seeing Kotone so passionately vow to protect her at any given moment— even if it was equally concerning, and…

…What was she thinking about again?

Ah, right, this was enjoyable when it more than likely shouldn’t be.

Which was precisely why Mitsuru feverishly vowed that such an event can never occur again, even if it means she needs to banish Marin Karin from Penthesilea’s abilities entirely.

“ You’re all almost there!” Fuuka's voice suddenly sounded out, and Mitsuru tried not to focus on the way Kotone’s hand strengthened its grip on her own. “ There’s a few more shadows on this floor and the next, but the teleporter is close to the entrance once you go up!”

“Right. Thank you, Yamagishi.” 

“Hear that, Koto-tan?” Junpei called out teasingly. “We’ve almost got Ms. Leader to safety!”

“Don’t patronize me— and don’t call her that!” Kotone scoffed. Normally Mitsuru would see herself stepping in to discourage the banter or break up any petty squabbling, but regardless of what was good and bad from this experience, she was already exhausted trying to be the voice of reason.

“But ya said I can’t call her Madam President, what else am I supposed to call her with you bodyguarding her like that?”

“Her last name , like you and everyone else already does!”

“ You aren’t calling her her last name though.”

“Because we’re close like that!” 

They really weren’t— or they really shouldn’t be. She’ll have to affirm that when this is all over to… Shiomi.

Yes. Shiomi is the one who needs this reassurance, clearly.

“You’ve made record time then. I’ve known her since the start of middle school, and sometimes she still calls me Sanada in front of Ikutsuki. She used to just stare at me when I first tried calling her Mitsuru last year.” Akihiko couldn’t help but divulge unimportant information as Mitsuru tried to keep her exasperation out of her voice— lest Kotone take her too seriously and attack either of them for upsetting her.

“Stop bickering with her, both of you.” She sighed out, to which Kotone let out a sharp, giddy laugh.

“See? Close! She likes me more!~”

Kotone should not have sounded so triumphant and delighted to say such a thing.

Mitsuru’s blush was hidden well as she and Kotone walked in front of everyone, all the while Akihiko’s and especially Junpei’s bemusement with the situation was well apparent in their tones, even without having to turn around.

Kotone’s suggestion that they spare no resources for either of the boys had been becoming more and more enticing a strategy the more she thought about it.

“ Careful, there’s a couple shadows up ahead! They aren’t very strong, but there’s multiple of them!”

Suddenly the amiable atmosphere ebbed away as the whole of SEES was focused on the path ahead, Kotone’s grasp tightening around her fingers as she stepped ahead of Mitsuru despite not being appointed as the leader anymore.

As the sparse few shadows came into view, blocking the way forward, Kotone released her hand again as she decisively stepped forward- completely blocking Mitsuru from the brunt of the fight again. Instead of trying to argue against an unstoppable force, Mitsuru steeled her will and called out commands to Akihiko and Junpei as they sought to surround the shadows. She already knew the fight shouldn’t be anything difficult, so long as they all played their parts and used their personas effectively… but that was also partially the problem.

The sight of the first Shadow falling to a critical god's hand amplified that fact.

Kotone’s ruthlessness in dealing with the shadows before them was unmatched, if not completely unnecessary. Try as she might to dissuade her or insist that Junpei and Akihiko were capable of picking up the slack— every fight so far Kotone had elected to spare no health or soul in defending her.

It was a testament to Kotone’s prowess as both a leader and a fighter, of course, but it was also fairly concerning considering Kotone’s refusal to ‘waste’ healing items upon herself. Similarly to previous fights, after finishing the final two shadows with a Magarudyne, Kotone was left heaving from exertion in the battle's aftermath.

She shared a brief look with the two boys of the group, the humorous disposition they both took up having eroded away as they shared a concerned look. A light buzz echoed through all their ears.

“ Kotone-san’s health and soul are getting concerningly low. She’s wearing herself out really quickly…” Fuuka almost seemed to whisper into her head. If she’d had transmitted a similar sentiment to Kotone head, the second year didn’t react to it.

Pursing her lips and sliding her rapier back into place by her waist, Mitsuru took a cautious step forward.

“Excellent work, Shiomi. That was… a very quick fight.” She said after a brief hesitation, unsure of how else to address the behavior.

The way at which Kotone beamed at her felt wrong, considering how strained she looked.

“Thank… Thank you.” She caught her breath after a moment, kneeled over her knees for a moment more before straightening herself up. “You didn’t get hurt, did you?” Kotone asked, sounding just about as tired as she did gently.

“...No, not a scratch on me.” Mitsuru shook her head with the pursing of her lips. “I’m unsure if the same can be said for you, though.”

“I’ll live—” Kotone laughed, or perhaps more accurately wheezed , waving her hand in a dismissive manner. “W-we’re almost there, anyway.”

“Sure. Sure...” Junpei suddenly chimed in, to which Kotone’s expression suddenly soured. “But, like, doesn’t that mean we can probably afford to ration out a few items?”

“If we are doing just fine without, we shouldn’t use them.” Kotone’s cold tone was like night and day to how it was before. “Just because these shadows were pushovers doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods… there’s no reason to waste energy on healing or useful items when we don’t need them.”

“Naturally… but we’ve got a good excess of items now, and it’s not like we’re trying to actively take fights.” Akihiko supplied. “I don’t think it’s possible for Mitsuru to even take this many medicines or soul drops in the time it would take us to walk to the exit. We-”

“You don’t know that.” Kotone cut in firmly, a thickness to her voice. “You never know what might happen—”

“Shiomi—” She began, but in an instant Kotone’s eyes had snapped to her as she shook her head feverishly.

“You don’t! There’s lots of strong shadows here that might knock you down in an instant! What if the reaper shows up and we need every last medicine to keep you standing?!”

It was a completely absurd notion. Even before they’d looted chests and shadows alike for different materials- they’d had a good half dozen medicines and snuff souls stashed away just in case. Kotone’s worries were more than irrational, by this point they were self-destructive.

It wasn’t exactly a surprise, considering the nature of this status was supposed to be self-destructive… but it was still rather disheartening to see.

“With how you’ve been fighting, Koto-tan? Who’s scared of the reaper?” Junpei let out a meek chuckle, attempting to alleviate the tension.

Kotone turned to him with a fierceness in her gaze Mitsuru had only seen reserved for shadows up until that point. Despite her affinity to ice, Mitsuru had to suppress a shiver from running up her spine.

“You may think this is all fun and games, but I don’t!” She spat at him, voice raising an octave. “Make fun of me all you want— but I'd rather err on the side of caution and seem absurd to you than ever risk losing her!”

Mitsuru’s heart bumped in her chest, skipping a beat the moment after as she blinked at Kotone. Naturally this was all just a passionate side effect of the charm, of course, but… Mitsuru found it difficult to not feel deeply touched by the sentiment regardless.

Junepi seemed taken aback, seemingly at a loss for words for once in the wake of Kotone’s outburst. Akihiko, looking more somber than perhaps Mitsuru could recall ever seeing him in recent memory, nodded along.

“None of us here want to lose anyone— least of all Mitsuru. It’s the last thing we’ll let happen. Trust me.”

“I don’t.” Kotone bit out, to which Akihiko sighed.

“That’s… fine.” He rubbed the back of his head. “I just want you to know that I get it. We all-”

“No you don’t .” Kotone hissed out, sounding more bitter than she did angry at this point. She moved to hug herself, shaking her head as her voice lowered further. “No you don’t.”

The floor went deathly silent at that as Kotone faced the floor, rubbing at her arms.

Mitsuru took a cautious step forward, hand hovering awkwardly above the auburn haired girl's shoulder for a moment before she initiated contact.

Kotone flinched.

“Shiomi,” she started slowly. “You think of me as capable, right?”

Kotone took a little while to respond.

“Yeah… of course,” Kotone murmured, though she wouldn’t quite look at her.

“And what of SEES? Do you think us as a whole are capable?”

“...Y-yeah. I guess.” That seemed to strain her more to admit, but she’d done it regardless.

“Then you know well enough already that nobody intends to let these shadows get the better of us— nor have they come close yet. Especially under your leadership.”

Kotone went quiet for a moment.”

“Things still happen, no matter how capable you are.” Kotone swallowed thickly. “Even you could get caught off guard or ambushed or… or anything .”

“But I’m both in capable hands and capable of adapting to whatever may lie ahead, regardless of how dangerous it may be.” Mitsuru affirmed. “I’m not defenseless… and I don’t need every action you take dedicated solely to my well being.”

Kotone shifted in her hold, and Mitsuru squeezed her shoulder as a result to try and steady her.

“If you can’t trust in anyone else to protect me, or even in me to protect myself— you should trust in yourself.” Mitsuru offered sagely. “You’ve done an excellent job thus-far, even if I think the protection itself is unnecessary. But in order to trust yourself to do the job, you should be at full strength, yes?”

“...I guess.” Kotone sighed out, and Mitsuru couldn’t help a smile as she felt the tension begin to fade from Kotone’s shoulders.

“C 'est magnifique. ” Mitsuru patted her shoulder, to which Kotone let out a sigh.

“But not— don’t waste everything on me… or, actually!” Kotone snapped her fingers. “If we spare out a snuff soul or two and Akihiko uses Dia, we can spare all the—”

Mitsuru wasted no time in using the bead she’d subtly taken from Kotone’s item stash as she popped it, the second year gawking at her for a second before scoffing.

“You’re kidding— you didn’t just…” Kotone pouted at her in a manner that was hardly threatening. “I didn’t need all that .”

“I said ‘full strength, and you agreed.” Mitsuru hummed with the shake of her head, producing a chewing soul from her other hand. “You’re hardly in a position to bargain. I’m currently the leader, may I remind you, so you’ll do well to heed my words Shiomi.”

Kotone looked hardly happy about the whole ordeal, glaring at Mitsuru with a mere fraction of the actual intensity of the glares she’d previously sent Akihiko and Junpei’s way. Eventually, she relented with a huff and popped the ailment in her mouth— already looking noticeably better from her state just a minute prior with just those few items used.

“Looks like even like this, you aren’t immune to senpai’s lectures.” Junpei decided to suddenly speak up, the remaining tension diffusing into the air as Kotone passed him back a dirty glare— all the while Mitsuru simply chuckled.

“Thank you for reminding me, Iori, but once we’re secure on ground level, I’ll certainly need to have a discussion with you about your attitude in serious situations.”

“My- huh?! What’d I do?!” Junpei cried out in shock, to which Akihiko just huffed out a laugh.

“Yeah yeah, let's hurry up and get Mitsuru there already, we’ve wasted enough time!” Kotone suddenly cut through the noise, grabbing hold of Mitsuru’s hand once more as she found herself quickly jerked back into action.

With Kotone refreshed and the floor ahead housing the exit, they wasted little time in paving the way forward through every shadow they saw. Kotone still feverishly pulverized any and all shadows they came across with excessive force, all the while boxing Mitsuru out of the frontline so she could take any stray, weaker hits instead… and Mitsuru certainly wasn’t happy about it, but at the very least she was assured by the fact they were nearly done, and that Kotone was plenty healthy for whatever fights remained. And soon enough—

“ There, on your left! The teleporter should be right there everyone! ”

They’d made it.

Before she could even make the call to rush for the teleporter, Mitsuru nearly tripped over her own feet as Kotone dragged her towards it at alarming speed— not even waiting as Junpei and Akihiko called out behind them. Stumbling behind Kotone onto the teleporter.

Before she could even react, the world span for a moment, and in the next—

“ Finally !”

“Shiomi-” Fighting off her own disorientation from the quick transition as her eyes adjusted to the bottom floor of Tarutrus.”-we can’t leave the others! That’s-”

Chu .

Mitsuru went stiff.

Kotone let out an excited if not slightly manic sounding giggle as her hands cupped one of Mitsurus’ eagerly swinging it side to side as she herself sat stiff— staring straight ahead as Yukari and Fuuka stared back at her, seeming equally as appalled as she felt.

Shiomi had just pressed a kiss to her cheek.

“I’m— god, I’m so glad you’re safe now! From now on you’re staying down here when we go to Tarturus!”

Shiomi had just pressed a kiss to her cheek.

“You can be a navigator like how you were before, that way you can stay out of… or… actually— no, no that won’t work. The arcane shadows showed up in the lobby once, and even if not that you’d be all alone…”

Shiomi had just pressed a kiss to her cheek…

“I can’t stay with you, because I need to climb Tarturus to stop the dark hour so you’ll be safe… but I also can’t leave you alone unprotected… hmmm… that’s kind of tough…”

Shiomi had just pressed a kiss to her cheek… and she was doing nothing?

Why wasn’t she slapping Kotone for such a behavior, or insisting upon how inappropriate and invasive that had been?

She hadn’t— she hadn’t liked that, had she?

“Maybe the rest of SEES could be a little useful if you have to come with me… you’d be a lot better protected by a lot of bodyguards than just one, but we’d really have to make sure they know how important the job is.”

Had she liked it???

“What— what is going on?!”

Yukari finally called out above the noise, startling Mitsuru back to attention as Kotone scowled at her.

“I’m trying to figure out what we’re doing for future expeditions since obviously Mitsuru can’t be put in harm's way on any of them.” Kotone tutted, turning back to face her. “Do you have any— oh my god what’s wrong with your face?! ”

“My… w-what?” Mitsuru put a hand to her cheek, feeling the warmth radiating off of it as she startled back to attention.

“Takeba-san, heal her, somethings wrong!” 

“Hold on, what's wrong?” The voice of Akihiko sounded out from behind them as Mitsuru felt cold dread running through her.

“Did you guys not get a handle on Koto-tan yet?”

“What are you talking about?! I’m not the one who needs attention right now, Mitsuru is!” Kotone kissed- hissed , hissed! Kotone is making a fuss, not kissing her! Mitsuru resisted the urge to slap her own face, lest she cause more of a stir from Kotone as she shook her head to try and shake off her own mortified embarrassment.

“ Takeba .” Mitsuru grit out impatiently. “Discharm her!”

“Discharm— oh! Right! ” Yukari nodded hurriedly, raising her evoker to her head as Io materialized into the air, Kotone going briefly pale as—

“Wait, wait wait wait! I don’t need you to do anything to me! I’m not the one who needs help right now!”

Mitsuru nearly lost her balance as Kotone ran behind her, attempting to use her as a human shield as she veered both of them off to the side.

“Io, Discharm!” Yukari called out above the chaos.

“Don’t waste energy on that, I don’t—”

Kotone cut herself off with a choked noise as Mitsuru felt the other girl's head go limp against the crux of her back.

The lobby went dead silent.

“...Did it work?”

Mitsuru felt Kotone’s weight shift, slumping against her a little more as her brows furrowed.

“Shiomi?! Are you alright?”

Kotone let out a low whine.

“Holy crap- you killed her!”

“I— what?! ” Yukari cried out. “I did not , Stuepi!”

“She’s okay, according to Lucia! T-the charm should’ve been dispelled!”

“It didn’t work, Yukari-san.” Kotone droned out miserably, causing both Mitsuru herself and the Archer to stiffen in tandem.

“What do you mean it didn’t work?!”

“I’m still alive.” Kotone bemoaned. “You didn’t kill me, and I think you really, really, really should try to.”

“...Oh.” Junpei snorted. “She’s fine!”

The whole of SEES let out a collective breath, and Mitsuru felt herself capable of breathing fully again.

“Oh thank goodness… we were all so worried about you, Kotone-san. I’m so happy you’re okay!” Fuuka chimed in, ever the positive one— all the while Kotone just let out a frustrated groan as she sadly (sadly?) detached herself from Mitsuru and began to pace about, head in her hands. Mitsuru had to do her best to stifle a chuckle— whether it be from relief, bemusement, or some other emotion she wasn’t sure, but she found her chest fluttering with pleasantries regardless.

“I’m going to stay here tonight. I’m going to let the shadows eat me.” Kotone began to stumble towards the teleporter, to which Yukari sighed with the shake of her head, though Mitsuru noted the fond smile.

“Only you can go from 1 to 100 back down to 1 like this…”

“Ya damn well can’t do that, Koto-tan. Who’d we have left over to protect Mitsuru-senpai if you were gone?”

Kotone raised her beat red face to glare at Junpei, which made him flinch back a little bit and hold up his hands as a result.

Instead of pushing the advantage, however, Kotone just sighed and deflated— back to her usual self.

“...Crap, I’m so sorry for how I treated you guys.” She bit her lip, unable to quite look Junpei or Akihiko in the eye. “That— I was awful .”

“I’ve met girls with worse moods before, don’t worry about it.” Junpei shrugged with as carefree a smile as could be.

“Maybe if you caused those moods, yeah.” Akihko chimed in, to which Junpei had the decency to look appalled.

“D-dude! Who’s side are you on here?!”

“What made you think I was choosing sides? And what more that I’d choose yours here?” Akihiko paused, gesturing back towards Kotone. “You’ve seen what happens when you get on her bad side, after all.”

“I changed my mind.” Kotone drawled as she shook my head. “I’m not sorry at all , you both deserved it.”

“Now you’re getting it.” Yukari hummed out in response, and all of them had a good laugh at that— Mitsuru herself being unable to help but join in, despite her usual reserved nature.

It really was quite the relief, everything considered. Though she’d never admit it, it was quite scary to face the possibility of a compromised Kotone, especially considering she had her share of fault in it happening… 

Even beyond that, though, Mitsuru couldn’t help but wonder what all about Kotone’s condition had been a result of the spell's influence and exaggeration, and what, if anything, might have been genuine. There had certainly been a lot of concerning behavior from Kotone, no doubt— and it was perhaps behavior they’d need to discuss moving forward given what occurred today.

But there had also been ways that Kotone had acted that been…

…been…

…

Mitsuru shook her head, reminding herself of the purpose of a ‘charm’ spell in the first place as her heart thrummed happily from the simple fact their leader's safety had been ensured at the end of the day and nothing more.

As she caught Kotone staring over at her, amidst the idle chatter and prodding of the other members of SEES, she noted the almost guilty look on her face.

Mitsuru saw no reason not to meet her gaze with a sincere smile in that moment, letting out a soft hum as she closed the distance between them that little bit. She didn’t dare make contact— but she stood by Kotone’s side close enough to whisper.

“I’m glad you’re alright, Kotone.”

At that, their leader looked to relax— unable to help a bubbly laugh as the flush on her face ebbed away, bumping her shoulder against Mitsuru’s own.

“Me too… Madame President.”

Mitsuru couldn’t help but sigh, trying her best to smother the smile on her face as she made distance between the both of them, now that the moment was over.

“Naturally, you would remember that…”

“Wow… Do you really remember everything that happened while you were charmed? Normally everyone’s memories are a little fuzzy from moment to moment after an ailment!” Fuuka couldn’t help but ask, looking almost excited at the prospect.

“Yeah, I remember pretty much all of it.” Kotone groaned, rubbing the back of her head. “I’m going to have to wear a bag the next time we come into Tarturus, I’ll never be able to show my face to the shadows around here ever again… I acted like such a brat.”

“Really? That’s now how I’d describe how you were acting from what I saw~” Yukari chimed in with an all too sultry tone, to which both she and Kotone stiffened as Akihiko and Junpei exchanged glances.

“You weren’t even there for, like, any of it. What the heck could you have seen?” Junpei chimed in.

“Welllll—”

“Shiomi!” Her voice snapped above the chaos as she snapped her fingers. “Execute her!”

“H-huh?!”

Mitsuru took no small pleasure in the palpable fear in Takeba’s tone, and neither did Kotone as she began to creep towards the archer.

Among everything she couldn’t and wasn’t ready to admit… Mitsuru could confidently say there were certain advantages to being in Kotone’s favor.