Haruko had taken Suki to the local farmer's market. She never explained why they were there or who they were there for, they just kept riding around, circling this one particular coffee shop until Haruko finally had the gull to actually stop and park right in front of it.

"Haruko, what are we doing here?" She asked, watching as Haruko drummed her fingers on the table.

"Geez, why do you kids have to ask so many questions? Can't you just be wherever you are without having to worry why you're here?" She replied with a shrug.

"Not with you, no." Suki deadpanned.

Haruko rolled her eyes. "Fiiinneee. I'll tell ya. You kids are never any fun....we're meeting a friend of mine."

"That's it."

"Yup. That's it. Boring, right?"

Suki shrugged. "A little bit. I thought someone like you would be, I don't know, kidnapping more kids and dragging them to the beach and giving them some bullshit advice."

Haruko rolled her eyes, her gaze falling to the door. She elbowed Suki in the side. "Look, there she is."

Suki looked up and she could feel her heart race. It was the girl that they had almost run into when Suki formed her bond with Haruko. The same girl Haruko gave a dirty look to before driving away and not talking about it.

'Oh my god, she's come here to sue us for almost killing her!'

"Finally you decide to show up!" Haruko spat, standing up from her seat and making her way over to her.

"H-Haruko! Be nice!" Suki said, flustered, "I am so sorry about her. She's a bit crude."

The woman raised her hand. "It's fine. I'm used to her behavior."

"Wait, you know Haruko?" Suki questioned, turning to the strawberry haired woman.

Haruko sighed. "Suki Ichika, this is Tomomi Hetada. You can call her Pets. Pets, this is Suki Ichika. She's a very close friend of mine."

'Close friends isn't exactly the word I would use to describe us...'

Suki bowed, reaching out for Pets' hand. "It's very nice to meet you."

Pets nodded awkwardly, "Nice to meet you too. I really wish we could have met under better circumstances..."

Suki tilted her head in confusion. A part of her wanted to ask what she was trying to tell her, but another part of her already assumed what was about to unfold.

The three sat down at the table, and for a while, no one said anything. Haruko was playing with her straw, trying to balance it on her upper lip all while giving Pets odd and dirty looks. Pets was trying her best to act like she didn't know Haruko, and Suki was just plain puzzled.

What the hell were they doing there in the first place? Haruko was the one who dragged her along on this trip, so shouldn't she be the one starting a conversation?

Well, what do she expect? This was Haruko they were talking about. She really shouldn't have expected anything good out of this trip in the first place.

But, they had gone about 10 minutes with this awkward silence and Suki had had just about enough and decided to break the tension herself.

"So...Pets, was it? How long have you know Haruko-San?" She asked as politely as possible.

"Oh, we met a while back. Around when I was seventeen. She just kinda...came out of nowhere and it pretty much led to the weirdest summer of my life." The freckled woman replied. She most have had fond memories of that Summer because she was smiling.

But by the look on Haruko's face told her otherwise. "Didn't think you would see it that way, Pets. Especially with the way you left things back home-"

Pets sighed. "Haruko, could we please not do this now?"

"Hey, YOU called ME! You know me so well? Then you should have been prepared for what would happen!"

"Haruko, keep your voice down!" Suki exclaimed, "Whatever it is, we can get through it. We just need to talk like the normal adults you're pretending to be."

Haruko pouted, folding her arms.

"Okay. Ms. Pets, or Pets. What is it that you need from Haruko?"

Pets chuckled. "Little Secretary, aren't you? Well...I don't think it should be too hard since she managed to find us long ago-"

"I didn't find you. I was in the neighborhood. That's it."

"Sure you were-"

"Ladies! Please. We're never going to get anywhere acting like this."

"You're one to talk..."

"Haruko, I swear to god-"

"It's Kana."

A silence finally fell over the two. The bickering had stop and Haruko's anger had seemingly faded. That, or she was just leaving it on the back burner until she could really explode.

"Kana?" Suki asked, confused.

"She was a dear friend of mine. We...had a falling out."

"Yeah, and you really fell hard, didn't ya?"

Suki shot her a glare before turning back to Pets. "Why do you want to find this Kana? And why do you think someone like Haruko could help you?"

"Like I said, she found us once before, I figured maybe she could help me find her so I can make amends-"

Haruko stood, her chair making a loud scraping sound against the hard wood floor. Everyone in the cafe turned to look in their direction. Haruko rested her hands on the table, not looking up.

It was the first time Suki ever saw her be serious.

"The answer is no."

She didn't even bother to add on. She grabbed her jacket and goggles from her chair and made her way out of the cafe. Suki and Pets exchanged a confused glance before running after her.

"Haruko! Haruko, what the hell!?" Suki shouted.

"Let's get the hell out of here, Suki-San." Haruko said, putting her helmet on as she started up her vespa.

"Haruko, come on!" Pets shouted.

"I have nothing to say to you. Suki, hurry up and let's go."

"I'm not going anywhere until you at least talk to her! What the hell is going on here?!"

"HARUKO!"

Haruko snapped her head to the side, glaring daggers at Pets.

"You can run all you want! I've done it before and I regret it more than anything! And I want to fix it! I want to stop living with the regret I have! I thought you of all people would understand!"

"...."

"Haruko! Say something!" Suki whispered.

Pets pointed at the strawberry haired woman. She was crying. "My life sucked, okay? Behind closed doors, it was honestly the shittiest life I could ever have and I was seventeen! I didn't know how to take care of my emotions like a normal person! I was a dumb teen! I...I didn't know what to do! But now I do. Now, I want to fix what I messed up all those years ago! I know you know where she is and I want to see her! And when you're done being 'nineteen forever,' come and tell me. If you don't, then I'll find her myself!"

Haruko was still. Suki couldn't read her in the slightest. She just frowned, but she wasn't sure if it was out of anger or something else that she wasn't picking up.

She turned her head, revving the engine. "Last chance, Suki-San. Either you get on, or you're walking home."

Suki crossed her arms, furrowing her eyebrows. "I'd rather walk that get on that death trap with you."

Haruko hissed, getting on her vespa and quickly driving away, leaving them in the dust. "FINE!"

Suki sighed, exasperated. "There's just no getting through to that woman..."

"It's okay," Pets said, placing her hand on Suki's shoulder, "I didn't really expect anything different from her...thanks for trying to help, Suki-San. I'm so sorry for wasting your time."

Suki shook her head. "No, no! You didn't waste my time! You actually helped me...like a lot. And I really appreciate it."

Pets rose her eyebrow.

She didn't know it yet, but she was actually putting Suki on the path to fix her bonds.

------

As Anzu stood in front of the looming cathedral, she couldn't help but feel this horrible anger swirl inside of her. She couldn't tell if it was because this entire place was built off of Saburo's uncontrollable anger and it was trying to manipulate her, or whether it was her own towards him for leaving her behind.

Saburo Etsuko...look what he had done. He had been so stubborn-so crass, so secretive, he had practically forced her to come down here.

He could never do things by himself. He always needed someone to do it for him.

Always needed someone...to drag him out.

Now she was starting to describe herself more than anything.

But still, Saburo was just as bad as she was.

She knew she wasn't one to talk, but he...he....

He was no different than her.

Anzu grunted and shook her head. 'No! This wasn't supposed to happen! None of this was supposed to happen! We were supposed to be fine! We were all supposed to live our lives the way that it was intended to be lived--going to that stupid fair in the summer and winning all of the stupid goldfish that will eventually die in a week . It wasn't supposed to be like this....it wasn't...

It was at this point that Anzu had realized she had not moved at all. She was still standing at the two giant doors of the cathedral, stiff as a board.

She had to do this.

No more stalling, no more making excuses.

She was going in there. If she would come out, she didn't know. She wasn't as skilled as her fellow Persona users but...she had to try.

She walked up to the doors, gripping the handles tightly as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

'Whether you like it or not, Saburo-san, I am coming in and I am going to fix this. Whether you like it or not, I'm going to bail you out....like I always do.'

(To Be continued)

(A/N: holy shit, I am so damn sorry for taking so damn long. Holy shit, god damn.)