[h2]Mako Moritomi//Game Over Arcade[/h2]
[h3]Saturday, July 4, 2015[/h3]

==~==

For a moment, Mako was worried that he'd said or done something wrong- Sato seemed to be having some sort of panic attack, by the looks of things, and dread wormed its way into his mind. Did he read this situation wrong? Was Sato's slip of the tongue just that? [i]Did he really just call this outing a date without confirming whether or not it was?![/i] He choked down his fear, forcing himself to be calm- it wouldn't help in the slightest for them both to be freaking out. Thankfully, as things progressed, and he explained himself further, Sato seemed to calm down and start rationalizing things. At least, that's what Mako hoped was happening- he may have superpowers now, but that didn't make him a mind reader.

"Um, I..." Sato still refused to look him in the eyes- hopefully that was still just nerves. He looked over the rest of the arcade, seeming lost in thought. Just when Mako was about to say something, however, Sato grabbed his wrist, dragging him over to the back of the arcade, toward a line of cool blue cabinets. [color=0076a3][i]Wait a second... I recognize these.[/i][/color] His mind drifted back to a few months ago, when the arcade had held a tournament for this very game. Mako had done well- not good enough to win, mind- and he'd certainly enjoy being able to play again, even if it had been a while since he had. He turned to Sato and smiled, hopefully in a reassuring way.

[color=0076a3]"Huh. Good choice. Sure, I can teach you. I will warn you, it's been a while since I've played it- I may be a little rusty. Hopefully that's okay with you?"[/color] He slotted a couple coins into the machine, starting it up for the both of them. [color=0076a3]"Don't worry. I'll walk you through it, okay?"[/color]

The day progressed much smoother after they got started playing- Sato wasn't bad at the game, per se, just inexperienced, and he learned fast enough that he was hopefully still enjoying himself. Hours passed by in a blur as they played, and Mako felt much more at ease as time went on. [color=0076a3][i]Huh. Maybe this was actually a good idea after all.[/i][/color]

Eventually, the time came for the date or whatever it was to come to a close, and the two walked out of the arcade, still quiet, but comfortably so. Mako turned toward Sato, smiling warmly.

[color=0076a3]"I had a lot of fun with you today, Sato. Thanks for coming."[/color] He paused for a moment, pondering his next move- that is, how best to end this excursion. Granted, he knew what he [i]wanted[/i] to do, but considering Sato had nearly had a panic attack just from being told this outing was a date, he decided to perhaps have a bit more tact. So he contented himself with reaching out and squeezing Sato's hand affectionately, saying goodbye, and going off on their separate ways. He walked toward home, unhurried for once, hoping they'd get to do something like this again.

==~==

[h2]Mako Moritomi//Abandoned Warehouse[/h2]
[h3]Sunday, July 5, 2015[/h3]

==~==

Mako ground his teeth as he stood in the warehouse, amongst what he assumed were now his peers. There was Kotori from his class, one of the boys who'd saved him during his first trip to the Mirror World, Rui- who had a hawk on his shoulder, for some reason- Sato, of course, the people who'd been rescued along with him, and a bunch of other people Mako didn't know all that well. He wished they could have been meeting under better circumstances than this.

[color=0076a3][i]Well, that didn't take fucking long at all,[/i][/color] Mako thought grimly to himself, testing the edge of the hatchet he held with a thumbnail. It was more out of nervousness than anything else; he'd already been meticulously sharpening it the night before, in preparation for the next outing into the Mirror World. He just wasn't anticipating it to be so soon. Wrapped around his left hand and wrist was a length of heavy chain, a makeshift bracer for defense- and possibly also beating up on some Shadows. Truth be told, the hatchet was more of a backup plan- he didn't exactly know how to fight with it, so punching things was his go-to choice of offense. Still, it couldn't hurt to have something that hurt more than his fists or a chain. Always be prepared, after all.

He stood solemnly, listening to the briefing, so to speak, about what the plan was. There were a lot of people in there, this time around. And not all of them might be friendly, either. He turned toward Sato, trying to suppress his concern. If anything, his senpai should be worried about him- he was the new kid here, along with the other two. Everyone else was much more experienced than he was when it came to this whole Persona business. So, he stood, quietly, no matter how much he wanted to charge in and start hacking away at Shadows. If he wanted to live through this, then he'd have to listen- he was no good to anyone dead.