The next day I woke up early to do Ms. Toriumi's assignment. The paper took forty minutes, not counting time spent showering and making coffee. It was odd how empty the dorm was with only four residents, even early as it was--it meant no race for the hot water, but it also meant no Junpei or Ken or Koromaru or Aigis passing in the hall, joking or chatting and being around. Of course it also meant that none of my roommates were around to, accidentally or not, see me writing up a future calendar. This morning's memory recalling session was different from the frenzied scribbling I'd done on the train. This time I was trying to remember details about the relationships and social links I'd formed: when and how they had started, the major crises and turning points, the other people that had been involved, and their arcana. Once I had finished my chaotic write up of random anecdotes and events, I made a quick side by side chart.
01 - Magician: Kenji Tomochika/Junpei Iori
02 - Priestess: Fuuka Yamagishi
03 - Emperor: Hidetoshi Odagiri/Akihiko Sanada
04 - Empress: Mitsuru Kirijo
05 - Hierophant: Bunkichi&Mitsuko Kitamura/Shiniro Aragaki
06 - Lovers: Yukari Takeba
07 - Chariot: Kazushi Miyamoto/Aigis
08 - Justice: Chihiro Fushimi/Ken Amada
11 - Strength Yuko Nishiwaki/Koromaru
I hesitated over the last, but added it for completion.
Since I had a social link with Junpei it stood to reason that it was possible to form a link with the other members of S.E.E.S. The links were the sum of my connections to others, representing both the people involved in the relationship and the nature of the connection. But since no two relationships were exactly alike, the power of the Magician would manifest differently when the bond fully matured. A different Magician Persona wouldn't help defeat Nyx, but stronger Social Links might, and I had been closer to my S.E.E.S. friends than non-S.E.E.S. friends. Making bonds with them, combined with completing more S Links perhaps could lead to a better outcome. It was a slim hope that "stronger bonds" were the solution to the Nyx problem but it was something to try.
Looking at my list one thing was immediately apparent: I had been much closer to the female SEES members than the males. Every one of us in the group had a secret or two Junpei, Akihiko, Ken and Shinji kept secrets that prevented us from forming a link. Aigis was hardly capable of expressing her emotions, much less feeling the human empathy needed for a friendship until January, and Koromaru wasn't human. In all but the last two cases I was at fault for not reaching out. How was I supposed to that Akihiko and Junpei needed a friend to talk to? How was I supposed to know about Ken's rage or Shinji's depression, and the tragedy the two of them would star in? I had been lazy in my last cycle, relying on others to make the first move. I'd have to do better this time.
