Persona 3: Mass Accession Written by x-22. Based on an idea by Colonel-Sandman and characters from Atlus' Persona 3 A cool light filled the office of Mitsuru Kirijo's Tatsumi penthouse apartment. The large room was one of downplayed ostentatiousness and elegance, much like the young woman sitting at her desk. Glancing at the time and barely acknowledging that it was very late, the Kirijo Group CEO opened another report on her computer screen. Like most of the ones she had skimmed through today this one was really the province of someone further down in the company system, but Mitsuru preferred to keep tabs on everything that was going on in her organization. "I'll just skim through this..." the red-haired woman muttered to herself, but the voice in her head was not convinced: Didn't you learn anything from the incident seven years ago. Mitsuru smiled. It was true the Tartarus event had taught her that she could rely on others instead of shouldering all the responsibility for everything. And she liked to believe she had gotten better at it, but there had been no major Shadow-related incidents for over two years and she had to do something. "I'm sorry, Tunoku," Mitsuru chuckled. "Old habits die hard." It was the transfer student Carla Tunoku who had really opened her eyes and showed her the power of relationships. That wasn't the only thing the vibrant redhead had showed her, however... "Who knew commoner food could be so delicious?" Mitsuru chortled and bunched up a Wild Duck Burger wrapper and tossed it into the trash can, already overflowing with the things. "Oof. Maybe a bit too good," she exhaled and put a hand on her stomach when she realized how full she was. She had been so absorbed in her work that she had unknowingly devoured all the burgers, fries and takoyaki she had been brought – even after telling Kikuno she had bought far too much. Only when she started reminiscing about all the times she and Carla had been to the food court at the Iwatodai strip mall did she notice how much she had eaten. Now that she was aware, her belly felt like a balloon. She had even opened the buttons on her skirt to accommodate it and now it spilled into her lap like a mound of pale dough. Deftly pulling up her blouse with a sweep of her hand, Mitsuru bared the rest of her gut to give it a much-needed rub. Filled to the brim it felt enormous to her touch, but she knew it was an exaggeration – even if she had put on some weight lately. Delegating shadow-hunting to the Shadow Operatives meant little opportunity for field work and it was starting to show. "Kikuno has to stop giving me so much to eat," Mitsuru groaned as her hand dug into her gut, taut beneath a not insignificant layer of flab. Her thoughts were on how overly stuffed she was rather than her appreciable weight gain, even if her belly was big enough to reach halfway across her thighs. The fact of the matter was that the maid knew how much her charge loved junk food while working – and how much of it she would eat – and did what she could to please her. Despite being gorged to the brim, Mitsuru found herself craving something sweet after all that deep fried and salty fare. Leaving one hand on her bloated belly, she went through the many soda cups on the desk, but none of them yielded anything but the chiming of half-melted ice cubes. Smacking her lips, she dreamt of cola and wondered if it would seem hedonistic to ask Kikuno to get her some, considering how much she had consumed. Just as Mitsuru was about to click the intercom – somehow getting up and going over did not cross her mind – she was pre-empted by her maid: "Lady Mitsuru, you have a visitor," sounded Kikuno's mellow voice over the speaker. "Shall I serve the tea in your office?" Mitsuru nearly asked who it was when she noticed the time and remembered this was no surprise guest. "Send her in," she commanded before realizing she groaned as she did. Clearing her throat she sat a little straighter – while rubbing her overfed belly she had lost her bearing. "Ahem. I will have my tea with extra sugar, thank you," she said, licking her lips at the prospect. It wasn't quite cola, but it would do. "Sugar, my lady?" the voice on the other end sounded puzzled by her preference, but it did not break the maid's professional demeanour for long: "Understood." The conversation ended with a click of the intercom and as soon as it did, Mitsuru found herself slipping down in her chair with a sigh of relief. Just as she had let herself go, she remembered she was having a visitor. Snapping up, she instinctively tried and failed to suck in her gut. Hurriedly she pulled down her blouse to mostly cover her gut and began fiddling with her skirt. She pulled and tugged mightily, to no avail. Kikuno had been steadily buying her mistress bigger clothes (which had unintentionally made Mitsuru less aware of her increasing weight) but this skirt was already getting a bit snug. When its owner was this stuffed it stood no chance. Mitsuru briefly considered dashing off to fetch a roomy sweater to cover all of her gut, but realized there was no time. Instead she pulled her chair closer to the desk, hiding the exposed part of her midriff behind the tabletop. Hastily regaining her composure, Mitsuru noticed the parade of empty paper cups on the desk just as the door opened. Swiftly she swept them away, just managing to neatly fold her hands on the tabletop as her guest entered. "Ah, Yamagishi! How good of you to come!" Mitsuru said confidently, successfully masking her fluster. "Oh, thank you for seeing me, Kirijo-san!" Fuuka said softly. Her greenish hair practically tucked away in a ponytail, the slight girl looked as if she had stumbled into a dangerous and unknowable jungle. With her she carried a tablet pc and a large bag. "Yamagishi, please! There's no need to be so formal: you might be a Kirijo Group employee, but you're still my friend." Mitsuru offered a calming smile: "Don't think of this as my office." Fuuka chortled anxiously at the reassurance, but did look more at ease. "Okay, I will! It's just that I've been preparing for this thing the whole week and maybe I got a little worked up about it. Thanks, though. Oh, and leaving all those candy wrappers and stuff was a nice touch; it really does feel more, uh, 'homely'." Mitsuru paused briefly to suss out what her friend was talking about, before realization struck her like a bufudyne from the sky. Taken aback she glanced over to the sofa group to her left. She had taken a break earlier and had ended up munching snacks in front of the TV. Empty crisp bags and candy wrappers littered the table and blankets and pillows lay strewn about. I should have let Kikuno disturb me after all, Mitsuru thought while berating herself for not cleaning up after herself. She never had to do that, however, nor did she entertain guests here very often. "Ah, yes I had Kikuno, uh, liven the place up a bit before you arrived. Now, what did you have to show me?" Fuuka jolted up at the invitation and stuttered helplessly for a moment before she got her bearings, cleared her throat and began to speak: "Ahem. Ladies and, uhm... lady. Allow me to present to you the most recent innovations of the Kirijo Port Island Integration Research Division. My name is Fuuka Yamagishi, head researcher." There's only you and me here, Mitsuru thought, mentally shaking her head. There's no need for the speech. Fuuka was a mechanical and digital genius, but she was still not that good with people. There was a reason she wasn't just head researcher, but the only researcher at the renovated labs beneath Gekkoukan High. The operation had its share of mechanics and the like, but Mitsuru could not imagine the woman mustering the authority to lead a team of scientists. Not that she had to; she had done remarkable things for a twenty-three year old working alone even if she was just over a year out of university. Fuuka must have noticed Mitsuru's amused smile, because she suddenly became flustered and lost track of her carefully rehearsed presentation. "Uh, as I was saying... when I was in high school I was a terrible cook. I even started a cooking club in an attempt to get better at it, but it didn't really help. Now, there was this very special girl there and I really wanted to show her what I could do. She helped me realize that I could approach cooking in a way I was familiar with; as a science." Mitsuru could not help but be moved by Fuuka's words, as stilted and meticulously prepared as they were. She knew exactly what the genius girl was talking about. Carla Tunoku had that effect on people. "Did you like it? I read online that it helps to add anecdotes to make the presentation easier to identify with. You don't think it was too personal?" "Not at all, Yamagishi," Mitsuru smiled fondly.