"Himezawa-senpai!"

Sentaro looked up from the book he'd been reading and groaned when he saw Koro waving from the library doors. "This is the library." He said when she got closer. "You have to be quiet."

"Sorry." She laughed. "I was just thinking I wanted to talk to you, so when I saw you sitting here, I just called out without thinking."

When do you ever think? Sentaro sighed inwardly. "What did you want?"

Koro blinked, then scrunched up her face. "I forget."

Shocker. Sentaro thought sarcastically.

"Hey, can we walk home together after school?"

Sentaro coughed in surprize. "What? Why?"

Koro shrugged. "I just wanna."

How can she get away with talking so casually to an upperclassman?! He thought furiously. What year is she in, anyway?! Is she even in high school? "Did you steal a uniform?"

"Yup." Koro smiled proudly. "I didn't want to wear a skirt, so I stole a uniform from the nurse's office." She held up her hands, showing off the too-long sleeves of the stolen uniform.

Why does she insist on bugging me? Sentaro pointedly turned back to his book. "I'm a little busy right now, Koro."

"Will you meet me after school?"

"Sure, whatever." Anything to make you leave.


Koro was waiting for him by the school gates. For a moment, Sentaro thought about waiting inside until she left. But Koro would probably wait until after dark. Better to get it over with.

"Himezawa-senpai!" Koro called when she saw him. "You actually came!"

"What did you want?" He tried to sound friendly, but she really annoyed him.

They started walking and she didn't respond until they were away from any other students. "I want to know why you pretend to be someone you aren't."

Sentaro was caught off-guard. "What makes you say that?"

She grabbed his sleeve, forcing him to stop walking. "You act like you don't care, but I know you do. Grades aren't everything, you know."

What is she talking about? "Look, Koro, please stop acting like we're friends. I need to study for exams, and you just get in the way." He pulled his arm from her grasp and continued walking.

She was silent for a while and Sentaro thought she'd left, but she made her presence known again when she pushed him into a park.

"What are you-"

He was cut off by something crashing into the ground where he'd been standing just a second before.

"Get up!" Koro pulled on his arm until he was back on his feet. "Run!" She commanded.

"What just happened?!" He asked while they ran through the park.

"This is why I asked why you were pretending." She huffed. "I was trying to avoid this."

"What exactly is this?!" He looked over his shoulder and dug his heels into the ground.

A boy his age stood at the park entrance. His black hair was cut to regulation and his glasses were plain and practical.

"What am I doing over there?!"

Koro winced. "Would you believe I pulled your spirit from your body?" When he didn't respond, she sighed. "Alright, guess I should explain. That's your shadow."

"What?!"

"He's your supressed desires." Koro pulled Sentaro back so that she was between him and the… other him. "He's the you you don't want to admit exists."

"That doesn't make any sense!"

The other Sentaro took off his glasses and crushed them between his fingers. "It's just for show, you know. I don't need them."

"Interesting." Koro reached back and took Sentaro's glasses. "You can still see?"

"Yes." He admitted. "I have perfect vision. Glasses just fit my image."

"Ignore your image." She instructed as the other Sentaro approached. "Who are you, really?"

"Everyone looks up to me because I'm smart." The other Sentato explained. "That's all I am to them: a genius. That's not who I am."

"What's he talking about?"

"He's answering my question."

"I just want friends. I want a normal school life. Not all these advanced classes!" The other Sentaro reached out his hand. "Just one friend."

"Get down!" Koro tackled Sentaro to the ground just before a blast of energy scorched the air above them. "Gemini!"

Sentaro opened his eyes to see an Amazon woman with monkey ears and two monkey tails floating above them. "What is that?!"

"My Persona." Koro explained. "She'll help protect us." She turned to him. "Now, tell me who you really are."

"I'm Sentaro Himezawa." He shook his head. "Um, my parents run a hospital and expect me to become a doctor. I'm number one in our school."

"Who are you?!" Koro screamed as another energy shot hit the Amazon.

"I'm lonely!" Sentaro confessed. Tears streaked down his face. "I don't have any friends! I'm popular because of my grades! No one wants to know the real me!"

The shots stopped and the other Sentaro smiled. "Just one friend." He repeated.

"I just want someone to see the real me!"

The other Sentaro started emitting a pale light. Koro pulled Sentaro to his feet and nudged him toward the other boy, slipping his glasses into his hand. "Go face yourself."

Sentaro approached his shadow. "I'm hiding behind my image. I'm hiding myself." He dropped his glasses and slammed his foot down on them. "If I want a friend, I can't keep hiding."

The light grew and engulfed the shadow. It morphed into a man with the mane and tail of a lion. "You've taken the first step." It said before merging with Sentaro.

"Good job!" Koro was back to acting happy-go-lucky.

Sentaro gave her a sharp look. "What was that all about?"

The Amazon woman stepped up beside Koro and placed a hand on her head before disappearing. "Most people in this world hide their true selves." She explained. "I've made it my mission to make sure they don't forget who they really are." Her eyes grew dark. "If I can't, their shadows attack. If I hadn't been here, you could have been killed. That's their goal, to kill the 'imposters'."

"They think we're imposters?" Sentaro barked a laugh of surprise. "They take our appearances and call us imposters?"

"He didn't take your appearance." Koro corrected him. "He was you. And they think of us as imposters because we aren't being ourselves. We're pretending to be other people."

"I get it." Sentaro nodded. "That actually makes sense." He looked back at her. "What did he turn into at the end?"

"Your Persona." Koro smiled. "That's the only good thing about facing shadows. If you survive, you get a Persona and can help other people. Gemini and I want to help as many people as possible survive the truth."

"Leo." The name popped into Sentaro's head. "They're both named after Zodiac signs."

"Cool." Koro laughed. "I just thought Gemini was named that because of my shadow." She extended her hand. "Well, let's be friends, okay? We both have this power, so we should work together. Alright, Sentaro?"

He smiled and shook her hand. "What happened to 'senpai'?"

"That was when you were just a guy who was smarter than me." She giggled. "We are in the same year, after all."

"What?!" Sentaro looked her up and down. "Are you serious?!"

"I'm a third year, class D." Koro started laughing uncontrollably. "Did you think I was a second year, or something?"

"I didn't believe you were even in high school." He confessed. He looked down at his watch and grimaced. "I should get home. I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Koro."


For all the geniuses out there, don't let that define you. Be who you are.