Once again the members of the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad found themselves sitting in the dimly lit lounge of the Iwatodai Dormitory on a seemingly peaceful weeknight. Each member of the squad was quietly engaged with their own activity, patiently waiting for their team leader to let them know if tonight was a night they would go out and fight the Shadows. But like most nights, everyone was gathered except the leader himself. As they sat there, a brisk breeze outside jostled the front door to the dorm making it sound as if it were about to open.
“Oh, it’s…” Mitsuru cut herself off when she realized Makoto was not walking through the doorway.
Junpei stifled a laugh. “Wow. The wind got you, again, senpai,” he managed to say. Mitsuru ignored him.She tossed her head back to whip her long hair away from her face before turning her attention back to the schoolwork. Junpei glanced around, but no one else looked up from their activities to notice him. Junpei tried to return to the video game he’d been playing on his handheld console, but within a few more minutes - and to absolutely no one’s surprise - he broke the silence.
“Do you guys ever wonder where Makoto goes at night?” he asked abruptly. He tossed his game down on the couch cushion between him and Fuuka. Yukari sighed heavily from the dining room table adjacent to the lounge. Everyone knew that Junpei benching his game meant he was not going to let this go.
“No. Not really,” Yukari said casually. She was lying, of course, but she hoped this would encourage Junpei to give it a rest. A bored Junpei usually led to an annoyed Yukari.
“Judging by his exam scores,” Mitsuru started, “I assume he has a quiet place to study away from the countless distractions he’d find here at the dorm.” She gave Junpei a meaningful glare.
Akihiko, who had been sitting beside Mitsuru, suddenly leaned forward and clasped his hands together into a ball. “I bet he’s out secretly training without us! Man, why didn’t I think of that sooner? He’s out there honing his skills while I’m sitting here drinking a protein shake!” A look of anguish crossed his face. “He’s not going to show me up.”
“I don’t think he’s quite as obsessive about his training as you are, Akihiko-senpai,” Yukari offered with a dismissive tone.
“Perhaps he goes out every night seeking to understand the world around him better,” Aigis volunteered from the corner. She had been standing there silently for so long that everyone forgot their robotic companion was even in the room.
The youngest member of SEES tossed his manga down on the coffee table. “No way!” Ken interjected. “I bet he’s just playing games at the arcade in the mall. That’s where I’d be if you guys ever let me go out at night.” Ken flashed a disgruntled look at everyone in the lounge.
“It’s just not safe for middle school students to be out this late, even if you do have the potential, Ken,” Akihiko said, trying not to sound condescending. He was met with a humph from Ken’s direction.
“You know,” Fuuka inserted herself meekly. “I could try to use Lucia to find him.” Everyone knew she meant using her persona’s abilities of navigation and detection to spy on their friend and leader.
“No! No!” Ken bounced in his chair. He was suddenly full of energy. “That’s cheating! Where’s the fun in that?”
“That settles it,” said Akihiko standing up with his fists clenched. He couldn’t stand the thought of Makoto out training while he sat here idly on the couch. He had to know. “Ken, get Koromaru’s leash. We’re going out.” Koromaru’s head perked up at the sound of his name. Ken popped up out of his chair and rushed to grab the leash for their canine companion.
“Oh, hell yeah!” Junpei shouted as he got to his feet and made a dramatic fist pump. “It looks like Junpei Iori, Ace Detective is back with another case! Who’s coming with us?”
“Hard pass. I’m not spending the night with Stupei, Ace Defective,” Yukari muttered. She returned her gaze to her book and idly moved the food around on her plate.
“I have a lot of studying to do if we’re not going to Tartarus tonight,” Mitsuru said without looking up. “But I wish you bon chance.” Fuuka only nodded in quiet agreement.
“I shall accompany you in case we run into any danger,” Aigis offered dutifully. Everyone in the room heard the anti-Shadow armaments hidden within her synthetic body begin arming themselves with systematic ratcheting clicks and snaps.
“No, no, no!” Ken shouted as he clasped the leash on an eager Koromaru. “It’s not that kind of mission, Aigis. We’ll be fine. Promise!”
Aigis looked from Ken to Junpei to Akihiko and then finally to Koromaru. “I’m counting on you to keep them safe, then,” she said to the white-furred dog. He yipped a short yip accepting his duty as ordered. A soft hiss of released pressure that reflected the release of tension in the room followed by a systematic unsnapping indicated that Aigis’s weapon systems were powering down. After sharing a nervous glance of relief, the three young men stepped out into the cool, evening air with their little white dog in tow.
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Several hours later, the trio collapsed onto a bench by one of the many fountains of Paulownia Mall. Koromaru flopped down at Ken’s feet. The four of them were fighting off defeat and exhaustion at this point. Paulownia Mall was one of the few places even open this late on Tatsumi Port Island, so if Makoto was still out then he almost certainly had to be here. As the boys caught their breath and rested their feet, Koromaru let out a small whine of complaint.
“Are dogs even allowed in here?” Ken asked as he nervously glanced around the mall.
“Are police officers allowed to sell high school students weapons?” Junpei asked in response. “Ken, you worry too much. Don’t overthink everything.”
“If there’s anything Junpei is good at, it’s not thinking too much,” Akihiko said as he leaned forward and put his head in his hands. Ken laughed.
“You sound like Yukari,” Junpei muttered. “I get enough of that all day.”
“Sorry, man,” Akihiko admitted sincerely, “I was trying to lighten the mood.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Junpei said, waving the apology away with his hand. “But, seriously, we’ve looked everywhere! Where could he be? He wasn’t at any of the restaurants over at Iwatodai Station.”
“He wasn’t at Game Parade, either,” said Ken dejectedly. He was sure they’d find Makoto at the arcade. That’s where he’d be if he were allowed out in the evenings.
“I thought that place was called Game Panic,” Junpei said as he glanced over in the direction of the arcade. “Well, whatever, I don’t know where else to look.”
“You think he’s in there?” Ken pointed to Club Escapade as deep, rhythmic beats drifted their way from the nightclub.
“No way. Kids aren’t allowed in there,” Akihiko stated adamantly. “We should probably head back to the dorm. We don’t want to be caught out here during the Dark Hour. As much as I’d like the training, we’d never hear the end of it from Mitsuru.”
“Aww, man,” Junpei moaned. “We got nothing, even with Ace Detective on the case.”
Suddenly, the little shiba inu’s head darted up and his eyes went wide. The sudden motion caused all three boys to look down at their companion. He gave a sharp, but quiet bark so as not to alert the passing crowd or mall security to his presence. “What is it, boy?” Ken asked. Koromaru stood up and indicated they should follow him. He turned in a circle with excitement as he waited for his lazy companions to get off the bench.
“Oh! There he is!” Ken exclaimed, pointing to where he’d seen Makoto disappear around a corner. “Good job, Koromaru!” The dog yipped an excited yip in response to Ken’s praise.
“Where? I don’t see him. Did he go to Mandragora?” Junpei asked. He had followed the gaze of Ken and Koromaru to the location of the popular karaoke bar on the second floor.
“No, he went underneath the stairs, into that narrow hallway. I saw him, too,” Akihiko added.
“Huh? There’s a hallway there? I never even noticed that before. Where does it go?” Junpei asked as they made their way through the thin evening crowd toward the hallway under the stairs. Koromaru was tugging eagerly on his leash as he led the way.
As they began walking down the hallway, the noise of the mall suddenly grew very quiet as if it were coming from someplace miles away. The hallway turned a sharp corner and a faint blue glow seemed to be coming from whatever lay beyond. There was something slightly unsettling about it that caused the boys to slow down and proceed cautiously. One by one they peeked their heads around the corner: Akihiko, Junpei, Ken and Koromaru in descending order.
Ken was the first to speak. “Um. What’s he doing?” he whispered almost inaudibly. No one answered. The hallway ended abruptly several meters away from where they were observing.
There were no doors and the walls were blank. It was an entirely separate mystery why this hallway to nowhere even existed to begin with. At the very end of the empty hallway stood their leader. Makoto just stood there with his hands in his pockets, his eyes fixed on the blank wall before him. His mouth might have moved, but they heard no sounds coming from him. As Makoto stood transfixed by the blank wall before him, the other male members of SEES were similarly transfixed by his peculiar behavior. Everyone just stared motionlessly for a long, long time.
Finally, Akihiko broke away and the others followed his lead back the way they had come. As they stood by the stairs leading up to Mandragora, the sounds of the mall returned in full force, nearly overwhelming their senses. All four of them stood side by side peering out at the crowd with expressionless faces.
“What the hell did I just see?” Junpei asked, breaking their silence. He looked at Ken and Akihiko who just continued to stare out into the mall lost in thought.
“Let’s head back,” Akihiko suggested as he broke free from his trance.
“Is this what he does every night?” Ken asked incredulously.
“We’re gonna take Junpei’s advice for once and not overthink it, Ken,” Akihiko said decisively.
“Yeah, and let’s never speak of it again while we’re not overthinking it,” Junpei agreed. Koromaru let out a small bark of agreement. Ken sighed and shrugged, then followed the two older boys home with Koromaru trotting along beside him. He cast a short but longing glance over his shoulder toward the flashing lights of the crane machines at Game Parade.
