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WHO: Akira and Minato
WHERE: edge of the forest
WHEN: around April 2nd
WHAT: Minato and Akira have been assigned to each other for sparring, which means two jrpg protagonists are liable to put a crater in the ground.
WARNINGS: Persona violence?

[Since Guren had told him to go all out against Minato, Akira had been a bit worried. He wasn't sure what all Minato could do, but he didn't look like much, and his arm strength when he'd try to push Akira up in the well hadn't felt all that impressive (though then again, Akira's own jump hadn't been too impressive at the time, either). Though he's beginning to think that revealing his powers here wouldn't be such a bad thing after all, especially as everyone else seems to be freely doing so, he doesn't want to hurt the guy.

So maybe he'll hold back for now. Just stick with knives and jumping around, see what Minato is capable of.

Now that the furniture has stopped denigrating them all, he's waiting for Minato in their agreed meeting spot. Regardless of if he has to hold back, it'll be nice to let off some steam. He's honestly pretty excited.]

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[Curiosity killed the cat, Akira!!!

And in truth? Minato doesn't think Akira would be the sort of person who would just shoot someone in practice like this. He doesn't know him well, but he just didn't seem like that kind of person, and he doesn't believe that Guren would pair him up with someone who would just gun him down.

But.

Even for Minato, survival instincts are strong, especially when it's staring down the barrel of a gun--which is something he and SEES both did a bit too much of.

So it's automatic. Akira's finger twitches on the trigger and Minato flicks the Evoker to the side of his own head, planting the cool metal to his temple, and pulls his own trigger--with significantly less hesitation.

(It's probably fine, Akira. In truth, the only reason Minato was holding back his Personas is the summoning method, because he's met some people with absolutely bonkers powers here, but--well, too late to worry about that.)

There's the sound of something akin to shattering glass, and then...there's a Persona right there in front of him, as if to block the bullet's trajectory.

Except. No bullet comes. Uh.]

[What.

The.

Fuck.

Akira looks incredible concerned at first - he wasn't expecting Minato to turn the gun on himself, and he's already scrambling for Sarasvati in case he needs to cure that head wound, and quickly.

But then there's that sound, one fairly familiar to him, and then there's a monster in front of him. And he doesn't know for sure, because so many people here have strange powers, but he's pretty confident he knows exactly what that is.

His eyes widen for a moment, then he looks back at Minato. Understanding dawns.

He drops his gun.]

It's a fake. I use it to make the shadows believe I have a real gun.

[A pause, and then he grins the same from before, Joker starting to creep back up. Maybe this will be more fun than he thought.]

Who are you, really?

[Oh thank god. Messiah fades out of existence basically immediately, Minato's shoulders slumping as the hand holding the Evoker falls to rest at his side.

P h e w.

(Can Shadows really be intimidated by fake guns...?)]

I'm... still just me. [Yep.] Arisato Minato, a regular high school student at Gekkoukan High School.

["Regular".]

But I guess... I also have a Persona. You too? [If he's talking about Shadows...]

[(Of course they can, silly Minato!)

"Regular," huh? Akira raises an eyebrow, skeptical, before he laughs, once, under his breath.]

Yeah.

[Okay, the shooting yourself in the head thing? Pretty hardcore. He doesn't know what to make of that, honestly. He's a little worried about how Minato even discovered that would work. (He tries not to think too much about Shiho.)

But otherwise? Where is the style, Minato? The panache? It's pretty lame, if you ask Akira.

Well, he'll just have to show him how it's done.

There's a dark flash, and almost a poof sound, and then Akira's hoodie and jeans are replaced by his full Joker gear.

He rips off his mask, bloodying his face for only an instant, before Arsene appears behind him, grinning to match Joker's own.]

Joker, Leader of the Phantom Thieves.

[Whoa, holy shit. That was... cool. Out of nowhere, like some sort of magical girl....

Minato blinks slowly...and then he's setting his sword aside so he can instead come closer, stepping right up into Akira's space to inspect the Phantom Thief gear more properly.

Whoa...!!]

How did you do that...? [Arsene is cool too, but less surprising. The Persona, he expected.

The transformation, not so much.

...Wait.]

"Phantom Thieves"?

[He wasn't really expecting Minato to get in his space! But he accepts it easily, not moving away as Minato closes in. He's more okay with this than some people might be.]

Yeah. You haven't heard of us?

[To be fair, their popularity has been decreasing pretty rapidly lately. They'd been hoping Shido's confession would give them a boost, but that hadn't gone according to plan. So it's normal that Minato hasn't heard of them.

Normal that no one has, now that he thinks about it.]

We steal the hearts of criminals, to make them pay for their crimes.

No, I haven't...

[... At all. But also. Whoa, slow down, what?

Minato finally takes a step back now that he's done inspecting the costume, brow furrowing.]

Sorry--what does that mean? "Stealing the hearts of criminals"?

[So it's like he thought. He almost wants to laugh. Maybe he shouldn't have been hiding himself this whole time, if no one even knows who he is...]

We make them repent. That's all.

[It's... significantly more involved than that, but Akira doesn't look that interested in explaining. He replaces his mask, Arsene disappearing, and looks down at Minato.]

Maybe I'll tell you later. But I thought we were here to spar.

[.... Ah. Hm. Well. That doesn't really tell him much of anything, but...

Obediently, he takes a few paces back, reaching for his sword.]

I guess we're more evenly matched than I thought, but...are you sure? I've never really sparred with someone else with a Persona before.

I haven't either.

[He's fought someone with a Persona, but... that's not something Minato, or anyone, needs to know. And there's a definite difference between sparring and fighting, anyway.]

But it'll be fine. [He has healing magic, after all!] If you're still up for it.

[... Well. He's pretty chill and laidback, but... Akira's still giving him that grin, and the flicker of it being a challenge is enough to get Minato to straighten a bit more, Evoker in hand.

Ahem.]

... I'm still up for it. [Is this a good idea? Probably not. They probably shouldn't actually spar like this with their Personas. But...he's curious about Akira, and this is a good way to learn more about him and a good way for both of them to blow off some steam after the furniture fiasco.

And so?]

Let's do it.

[He lifts his Evoker to his temple once more, utter easy in his movements, and fires. He starts, of course, with Orpheus (a different Persona than the one he used before)--so there's a fire spell coming your way, Akira.]

[Akira is fairly certain he will never get used to Minato so casually shooting himself in the head, but at least he knows now it doesn't actually hurt him.

He should also probably be more surprised by his ability to switch Personas, but then, he already knows Akechi can do it, too. If the both of them can do it, why couldn't others? Of course, he's curious about Minato's power, and its limits, but then isn't that part of why they're fighting?

He switches lightning quick to Cerberus, who doesn't have any ice attacks but is, at least, strong against fire. The spell curls around him but doesn't hurt him - if anything, he feels more energized than before.

His mask comes off, again, and with Cerberus behind him, he comes at Minato again, much faster than before, to see if he can take him down with one big physical attack.]

[... Oh, interesting. Akira pulls out another Persona as easily as that, and Minato wasn't expecting it at all. Another Wild Card...? Is that how it is?

Minato stands his ground, throws his arms up and takes that physical attack head-on. It makes him stumble back a step or two (brutal, it's been a long time since he was the target of someone else's Persona), but not enough to give him pause.

Instead, he grits his teeth, lifts his Evoker, and summons again. Physical attacks? They can do physical attacks. Still, calling upon Satan or Messiah or Sandalphon for the sake of a spar doesn't really feel right. Instead?

He fires, and uses Thanatos instead. There's definitely a slashing attack coming your way, Akira, heads up!]

[If physical is the way this is staying, Akira sticks with Cerberus for now. He can't move in time to totally dodge the attack, and he feels it slam into his non-dominant arm. There's definitely going to be a cut there, he's guessing, or at least a bruise, but he ignores it for now.

Cerberus gives him the power to counter more easily - he feels his perception heightened, the ease of finding an opening to return a jab in Minato's attack. He still doesn't want to actually hurt the guy, but now that he knows Minato can do a lot to defend himself, he doesn't hold much back.

He knife comes up, slashing at the arm holding Minato's evoker. Akira is clearly trying to knock it away - playing a bit dirty.]

[It'd be no good, after all, if Akira held back. Instead, Akira flings himself forward with fierceness, and Minato counters, yanking his Evoker hand back as quickly as possible to try to get it away from that knife.

The knife nicks his hand a little even so, but it's a cut Minato can ignore, stumbling back a few paces to try to put more distance between them.

He can't bring his Evoker up to his temple like this, not with Akira swinging weapons at it, but he can swing his sword up in a techniqueless but focused swipe at Akira to try to get him to back off just long enough for Minato to summon another Persona.

(Really though... this is kind of fun, holding back less like this, stretching their metaphorical legs more fiercely.)]

[Akira seems to be having fun, too - his lips quirk in a smile as that sword comes up, forcing him back off of Minato for just a moment.

It doesn't do much in damage to him, but it does give Minato an opening, and Akira can already guess what he's going to do with that opening.

His mask is replaced as Cerberus is dismissed, and he waits to see what Persona Minato summons next, eyes dancing as he watches for an opening to attack again.]

[There are certain connotations to the majority of his Personas, especially Personas like Messiah, that he's really not quite ready to delve into. Aside from that early, very brief lapse when he thought his life was legitimately in danger... he'd rather not use Messiah on another person.

However, using any of his other Personas on Akira doesn't feel right either. He can tell that Akira is strong--very much so--but Minato's Personas are ~~from a post-game canonpoint~~ the culmination of all of his efforts towards stopping Nyx.

He can't exactly use Satan against Akira, can he? Akira might even be able to tank it, but Minato's too gentle a soul for that.

So instead, he calls upon Orpheus again, launching a fire spell Akira's way, more to see what he does with it than anything.]

[Another fire spell, huh? Akira notices he's already reusing Persona, but then, he has no idea how many Persona Minato has. Akechi only has two, that he knows of. Maybe Minato doesn't have that many.

Or maybe he's holding some back. Akira shouldn't assume anything until he has facts.

Off comes his mask.]

Koropokkuru!

[A Red Wall envelops Akira, shielding him from the worst of the flames that lick at his coat. He immediately turns that around, raising an arm to Minato.]

Bufu!

[It's a weak ice spell, he knows - he left the stronger ice magic to Yusuke. But still, shards of ice are now flying back at Minato.]

[Thankfully, Orpheus isn't weak to ice, but despite his affinity with his starter Persona, Minato knows it's not particularly great in the endurance aspect of things. He takes the bufu head on, shaking ice shards from his sleeve with a slightly furrowed brow. Ugh, cold...

And then he reaches into his mind.

It's fine if he doesn't summon Messiah, right? He can still use Messiah's resistances to his own favor.

So as soon as that small mental shuffle has happened... Minato's moving forward again, bringing his sword up and over his head to try to bring it down on Akira.

Now that he knows Akira's got Personas? He doesn't have to hold back near as much with his physical attacks either.]

[The ice attack doesn't do much, doesn't even phase Minato, but that doesn't surprise him. It was weak, after all.

He's still prepared when Minato comes at him again, using his blades to try and block the sword attack. He can tell as soon as it lands that Minato's hitting him harder now - the force of the blow rattles his hands, leaves them vibrating slightly from the impact. It's almost painful, but it's also exhilarating.

He decides to forgo the Personas for a moment, though he does switch through his mind back to Cerberus, to help with his physical abilities. He trades blows with Minato, harder now, faster, hunting for a weak spot.]

[It's interesting.

As exhilarating as this is, there's something really interesting and fascinating about it too. Minato almost feels as though he's learning a bit more about Akira through this too. Akira's fast, and he's strong and he's fierce--but even more than that, he almost seems to be enjoying this.

Minato wonders what sort of differing circumstances they come from--

But he feels, too, as though this was definitely a very worthwhile spar.

So when Akira blocks Minato's sword strike and sends a particularly neat strike back, Minato ends up having to stagger back quickly to try to avoid it--

And then he lowers his blade, breathing out a sigh.]

... I think that's probably good enough for now. [In all honesty--]

You're too fast for me. I'm starting to get tired.

[Akira is enjoying it.

Fighting shadows is fun - though it's also incredibly dangerous, he'd be lying if he said he didn't like it. But there's always something even more exhilarating about fighting the shadows that rule the Palaces; stronger and smarter (usually) and full of the desire to protect the world they've created at all cost.

But it's exciting fighting someone like Minato, too - seeing how his skills match up with another with similar powers, learning how he stacks up against them. He's fast, but Minato hits hard, and from what little of them Akira has seen, there's a power coming off his Personas that feels strong, maybe even stronger than his own.

It makes him think more than a little of his fight with Akechi, but this is different. He and Minato are fighting to train; he and Akechi fought for blood.

If they had been fighting for blood, it would have been too easy to attack once Minato lowered his sword, but instead, Akira lowers his own knives. He's panting as well, even through the grin on his face.]

Heh. Just when I was about to win, too.

[It's a friendly taunt, really.]

[Minato's not particularly competitive--especially not when it comes to himself and his own pride. He'll fight forever for the sake of his friends or someone else, but with something like this?

He just shrugs at that taunt, and gives Akira a casual:]

Maybe so.

[Maybe Akira was about to win. Maybe not. It was fun, either way, and Minato has no complaints there.

Instead, he stretches a bit, and flashes Akira a small smile.]

We should do this again either way, though. It'd be nice to stay sharp in a way that isn't as deadly as taking on a nest of Shadows.

[The smile is enough; Akira had fun, and it's good to know that Minato did too. It was nice to stretch his legs (and everyone other part of him) again, to not have to worry about anyone finding out about his Persona.

He nods in response, his Joker outfit disappearing, replaced with his normal clothes.]

I would be up for that. I enjoyed this.

[And Minato's right, it's considerably safer than fighting monsters and shadows. Perhaps he should have had his group do the same, back home.

Then again, back home they had a strict deadline, much of the time. When would they have found the time? This place is nice, in that way.]

Yeah... it was honestly fun.

[Minato definitely feels that too.

Anyway, when he thinks about it--]

I feel like...we can maybe push each other more than we'd be able to with other people.

[Since they have the same general abilities, and can change Personas--they have a lot of options.]

Mm. You're right.

[He nods in agreement. Even against the others, who only have one Persona (well, Yusuke who has one Persona), there's only so much he can do. But with Minato, he can really stretch his abilities - push himself further than ever.

Although, he does wonder about one thing...]

Was that all the Personas you have... or were you holding a few back?

[... Oh, caught. He shouldn't really be surprised that Akira caught him out even just from that short spar, honestly.]

... I guess I was keeping a few to myself.

[A few that it doesn't feel right to bring to bear on Akira, not in a friendly spar--Personas like Satan and Beelzebub, who are there to destroy and not just to battle.

And Messiah... who has some symbolism he's not prepared to explain.

A quick shrug, and:]

Maybe next time I'll share some more of them.

[Akira is beyond curious at that cagey answer, but he decides it probably won't get him anywhere to push right now. If Minato isn't willing to use them in a fight against him, he thinks there must be a good reason.

So he only nods in understanding for now, and lets it go.] Alright. And you can see the rest of mine.

[There aren't many more that he didn't use, though. It's... probably not as exciting.]

[As far as Minato's concerned, it's still exciting... he's curious about Akira and the sort of Personas Akira has, and what his general set up is. Meeting another Wild Card is exciting!]

I'll be looking forward to it.

For now... [He'll offer his hand for a handshake.] Good match, Akira-san.

[He will accept that handshake!]

Good match, Minato.

Let's do it again soon. For now... I think I'm going to find something to eat.

[He is a simple soul, okay... Time to go grab food.

THANKS FOR THE SPAR, AKIRA.]

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