Frank had returned from The Tiger's Catch, where he, Kate, and Tellka had decided to stop by for lunch. The Persona User noticed two things while he was eating lunch with his girlfriend and her guardian. Ellen seemed happier today. The Persona User put two and two together after he saw Alex and Ellen talking to one another on her break and sharing a tender moment.

Ellie must have forgiven him earlier today... that's good to know... I know Alex was stressing over it... I wonder how he did it...

Yesterday, Frank had heard that something was wrong with Ryan. After fixing the JackFrost problem at Ray's house, he headed toward The Tiger's Catch, hoping to find his best friend. Unfortunately, he wasn't there. Today, Frank was hoping to catch him, but he was off, and currently wasn't at the restaurant.

After lunch was over, Frank took Kate home and left for work. Currently, the Persona User was adjusting some swords that were on display. Satisfied that all was well, he moved over to another display and began to stack various boxes of ammunition.

The Persona User moved over to a rack of double barreled, side by side shotguns. He was about to examine one of them when the bell on the door rang, to let them know that a potential customer had entered the store.

Customer! Frank turned around and made his way to the store's entrance. "Welcome to The Reverse Edge! My name is Frank, how... Ryan? Hey man..."

Ryan Chiba looked at his best friend with what seemed to be a lost, haunted look on his face. "Frank? Hey..."

The Persona User looked his friend over. He could sense an aura of depression and loss radiating from the blonde haired woren. The aura was so strong that it was playing with Frank's own soul.

"Ryan... What happened to you? Good Lord... you look live you've been through hell and back..." Frank said as he crossed his arms and gave his friend a concerned look.

"Don't it beat all..." Ryan replied as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I feel like I've been to the shores of hell..."

"You don't look well..." Frank said as he got a chair from behind one of the counters. "Here man... take a seat. Feel like talking about it?"

"Thanks..." Ryan sat down on the offered chair and continued to stare at the floor. Frank had noticed that he was still depressed. The Persona User could easily tell since Ryan's aura was emitting signs of depression, hurt, and betrayal. Also, Ryan's tail was drooped, and was not moving at all.

"I was looking for you yesterday... But I figured that you were still helping Ray out... so I've already talked to Alex... Frank..." Ryan said as he looked up at his friend while holding his tears back. "I... lost her... Esor... we had a fight... and... we broke up."

"What??? Oh man..." Frank said as he looked at the depressed woren. "I'm sorry... I mean... Ryan... I introduced you both... What happened?"

Ryan shook his head. "Honestly, I don't have a clue, Frank. She said I cheated on her..."

"Wait... how? You're not like that at all! I know you man... you wouldn't do anything like that." The Persona User glanced around for customers, but found none. He turned back to Ryan and crossed his arms once more. "What led her to that conclusion?"

"I don't know... She said it was the last dance..." Ryan said quietly.

"Didn't you say that she didn't want to go?"

Ryan nodded. "I don't know how, but someone told her that I danced with someone... Esor... just got worse... she slapped me, insulted me... and she said that she never... wanted to..." That's all Ryan could get out. The woren began to sob on the spot.

"Ouch... Ryan..." Frank said as he crouched down to comfort his friend. "I'm sorry..."

Ryan just sat there and continued to sob.

"Ryan... don't worry... It'll take time to heal, okay? This just tells you that... she wasn't the one. If she's going to treat you like that, like you are just a possession... then this is for the better. Believe me..." Frank said as he put a comforting hand on Ryan's shoulder.

"Frank... I miss her... I don't know... Alex said..."

"That there are others out there? He's right, you know... And you know what? One of those others out there... Is the one that's waiting for someone like Ryan Chiba to come along." The Persona User said as he looked at Ryan.

"You know..." Ryan said after letting the words sink in for a few moments. "Don't it beat all? Alex and you are probably right... Frank... thank you."

"I'm here to help, Ryan. What are friends for?" Frank said with a smile.

"It's going to take time though... I don't know if I'll go to the dance... Anyway... Frank... thank you..." With that, Ryan got up and smiled for the first time in a long time. As he was about to leave, he turned to the Persona User once more.

"And if you Persona Break Rei... please tell him I said hi. Maybe we could talk again."

"No problem, Ryan. Hey... I'll see you, okay?" Frank replied before turning his attention to a display.

"All right... take care..." And with that, Ryan Chiba left, bent on letting time heal the wounds that he had received recently.

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