You better prepare (Hyde)

Nagisa reread the letter which had arrived that morning to the student government to make sure that she wasn't made any mistakes. According to it a grand sports festival would take place in Zela Academy, not something Nagisa expected to see after what happened at the stadium but maybe it was a nice way to help the students calm down. As long as Thesis didn't make another move then the event would go smoothly. Nagisa was tasked to deliver the news to the track and field members and ask them if they needed anything that the student government could provide, of course Nagisa insisted on this job for another reason, Hyde Mizumi was a member of that team and since he was also a persona user he could stand on guard if Thesis tried something funny.

She spotted Hyde on the training grounds and without wasting any time she called him. "Hyde, over here. Can you come here for a minute I have something to tell you." She yelled as she waved at him. Not the most subtle way to call him but if Nagisa knew something about Hyde it was that it was better to be bold with him or else weird situations would develop.

Hyde was running a few laps with a few of the members of the track team. He remained focus and continued to run, not trying to pay attention to any distractions. Some of the members were already getting tired and wanted to take a break, but Hyde didn’t get tired too often. “ Hm” m…Hyde would say as he heard his name and looked around. However he spotted Nagisa and some of the guys whistled at Hyde when he went over. They seemed to have gotten the wrong idea ever since they saw Hyde and Nagisa leave together. When he walked over, Hyde was a little sweat, but he felt that a little sweat wasn’t the end of the world.” Hey Nagisa chan, what’s up?

"Hey don't relax around me, you brat. I'm still your senpai so please stick to my title." Nagisa said to tease Hyde. After all "senpai" had a certain charm which a plain "chan" lacked. She took the letter off her pocked and passed it to Hyde. "This came to our club room this morning, it seems that they want to organize a grand sports festival in our school, and they want it to be well...grand. So you guys better start training in order to break some Olympic records or something because we need to find something to relax the students, they're all too stressed out due to the events at the stadium."

She said as she crossed her arms. Now it was time to deliver the "bad" news of this. "There's another matter I want to talk about... but we are going to need some privacy for that. Do you mind if we walk together a bit?"

That’s pretty cool, we are having something like the Olympics? Well, I’ll have you know that the Zela Academy track team is more than ready for such a thing. I’ll be sure to bring a medal right back here for everyone to see, ok?” Hyde would say as he gave Nagisa a thumbs up. After that, Hyde would ook around for a place to talk.” A place to talk right? We can always go towards the bleachers, its pretty private under them, right? Or if you had a place in mind, I’ll just follow you.

Nagisa checked if anyone was following them before she moved closer to Hyde. "It's better to keep moving, that way people wont be able to eavesdrop on us." She said trying to keep her voice down. "You see ever since we received this letter I can't help but wonder if Thesis, will try to make another move. I would hate to see Zela to turn into another stadium that's why...." She paused for a moment thinking if it was really ok to ask Hyde something like that. He was experienced but on the other hand this was going to be a day devoted to the athletes of the school.

"I just want to be on your guard. If our schools gets attacked then we should at least try to defend it. You have fought those creatures before and unlike me you are actually suited to fight them in direct combat. That's why you shouldn't tire yourself too much during the event." She said as she bit her lower lip. What she suggested sounded reasonable to her but she also realized that it was somewhat cruel, it was possible for scouts to come to the event and if Hyde was that good then he could get a scholarship but for that he would have to give his all.

Hyde would whisper back, but he took her worries into account. “ Well, I’m pretty sure that she herself wouldn’t show up. I feel as if it would fit her egotism to send a strong shadow or even some kind of person with powers that she gave to them. If anything we should be more careful around the everyday average joe. On top of that, it doesn’t serve a purpose to directly attack this world or cause trouble in it, not unless the person she’s looking for is here. Did I tell you about that?”
Hyde wondered if he mentioned it, but he decided to ask anyway. “There was this person named dally , I think that person is the key that thesis needs to awaken the creator. But, i don't know if that’s the name of the person, if it’s a boy or girl, I don’t know anything. But don’t worry, I’m not the kind of guy that gets tired easily. Ill give it my best performance, anywhere.”

Hyde's confidence lifted up Nagisa's mood. If he believed that he could still give his all to the game and still have enough stamina to fight any potential threats then she should trust him. He was used to this kind of pressure after all. However, the new clue that came to light picked Nagisa's interest. "Dally? It could be an nickname for all I know, but I will try to search the student's government database to see if we have any people named like that in our school, it's worth a shot after all." She answered eager to help locate this person. If they wanted to secure Azores then this one should at least be in a secure place, maybe they would even find more answers about Thesis and her plan. "Do you think that this was the reason she attacked the stadium? In order to capture this Dally?"

Nope, that's as far as it goes when it comes to any clues as to who that person might be. IT could all be based off of a nickname. I thought it was Lune Dalamar at first but i was totally wrong. We all were, it didnt turn out to be her, or maybe it is. I'm not too sure myself to be honest with you. Perhaps you should look into that, but i didn't think getting to that little girl would be anything easy. Perhaps your investigation should start there?" Other than that, Hyde decided to ask about some things that weren't so difficult to inquire about. " You know, Nagisa Sempai....i dont know too much about you.... hows council work...is it ever stressful?

"It's alright I wont get into trouble by searching the school records although it's probably a poor choice. I will investigate that Lune Dalamar though." She replied as she stared ahead of her. Since the school was over only the members of the sports club could be spotted outside practicing, Nagisa realized that most of them haven't heard about the sports festival but she was only tasked with bringing the news to the track and field team so perhaps someone else was also send to other teams.

"I don't think there's much to tell. Working for the school government can be rough but I can handle some pressure and I'm good at organizing so I enjoy the activities. What about you Hyde/ Why did you chose to join the track and field team?" She asked in return.

Why?” Hyde thought back to why he decided to join the track team in the first place. There must have been a reason that was relevant enough to be mentioned right? “We, I guess everyone follows the philosophy of sticking to your strengths and doing what you are good at doing. So in my case I’m good at running, and I’m less than likely to get tired. I run, but sometimes I feel jerk I’m running from something I guess, which is why I don’t really like to slow down in life. “ Hyde would then shrug. ‘Well, that’s just me.”

Nagisa didn't expect to hear something like that from Hyde. So far she thought of him as a laid back person and somewhat shallow, so when she asked about the track and field she expected a casual answer like "I want to keep myself fit" or "Running is my passion". She realized that she was smiling and quickly tried to cover her face.
"I'm... I don't know how I should reply to that. I will be honest I have never thought that you would somehow find a connection with running and your life. You are lot more smarter than I thought. But you are right in one thing we all run away from something and we all know that at some point we will have to face it or else we'll be consumed by it." Nagisa blushed as soon as she said that. "Pardon me I said something weird."

“Well, I was always smart, it’s just that math is my worst subject. I guess you could say that everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. For me, it just takes a lot to get something out of me that isn’t too general, and even the simplest of things could remind me of ….moments…” Hyde honestly chuckled a little bit when she said that she said something weird. “Didn’t you get the memo? Weird is normal nowadays, which means you didn’t do anything wrong at all. It’s good that you are comfortable enough to speak your mind. “ Hyde meant those words too. “So tell me if you will, is there something you find yourself running away from too?

Nagisa paused. Could she really speak to Hyde about her problems? She had tried to keep her mind busy with the occult and the crazy thing that were happening in Azores so she wouldn't think about the gender dilemma but in the end it was a problem she had to face sooner or later, the day of her surgery was closing in and frankly she was worried to say the least. "I... I too have something I run away. I guess following my advice and facing it is the best course of action...I'm..." but before she was able to say it dark thoughts began to appear in her mind.

"What if he thinks I'm disgusting? What if he freaks out? What if he leaves? He's not going to understand anyway."

"I'm stressed with all those things. A lot of changes have occurred in my life and now with this power I have a responsibility to take care of Azores. I can't help but worry that I will fail and ruin everything." She said changing her mind. Perhaps it was better not to reveal her secret to Hyde. He was a nice person and she would hate if he thought less of her because of her genitals.

Hmm?” Hyde would turn to Nagisa and wonder why she paused just now.” Hmm….so what does that mean to be exact?  You think that you aren’t granted a normal life because of your family links and the power of persona? That doesn’t mean much of Anything, you didn’t have t do anything even after hearing the story about thesis and what’s in stake.” Hyde was being honest about it. “ you made the choice to act on this power for the sake of something more positive. The simple fact that you took a step forward, failure is the last thing that should be on your mind. You have courage, you’re brave…” Hyde would cross in front of Nagisa and move closer to her face with a smile.



“So  always keep that in mind… this is an effort that we achieve together. I got you….Sempai…..

Nagisa forced a smile, she was able to avoid a bullet there. She know that she would have to tell him at some point but for now she decided to enjoy the bliss of spending time with a person like Hyde without caring about genders and sexes. As always his optimism and energy managed to lift Nagisa's spirits, it wasn't what she needed to hear but Hyde couldn't read her mind, he was able to help get get through one of her problems, not the greatest one but still an important source of stress.

"You are right. We are going to save Azores if we work together. I'm so glad I met you, Hyde. You should go back to training though, I expect you to break some records during the festival so don't let me down." Nagisa replied with a wink. "And if you want we could go to the movies during the weekend. There's an interesting movie about a modern ciderella story. I have heard some good reviews about the actors and the music so I though about checking it out."