a/n: My very first Shin Megami Tensei Persona Fanfic! YEY!

for obvious reasons, this is AU, so please, don't point that out to me to say that this is AU cuz i very well know it is AU. Thank you.

And i try so much in writing this, i really hope you guys would enjoy this! :)


Chapter 1: Pepper Spray

"Met a girl in the parking lot,

and all I did was say hello

Her pepper spray made it rather hard

For me to walk her home

But I guess that's the way it goes…"

A night jog, huh. It would have been fun if Shinji would come along, but that bastard's decided to ditch him and not show up nor answer his calls. Akihiko Sanada was a bit furious about that, but then retracted the idea. He somewhat did annoy the guy with all the calls he made for the past few hours prior to now. Sheesh, and they both just live in the same apartment.

Rain started to pour that he grimaced; he pulled up his jacket's hood above his head and was thankful he was already nearby the apartment. He didn't have an umbrella and he did not fancy going to look for shade and be stranded.

Just a couple more blocks and he's almost home, and then maybe he can have something warm for dinner, like ramen or what. Forget what Shinji had been telling him; unhealthy or not, he's eating instant ramen. It's freezing and he's hungry so it doesn't matter now.

He's almost there now, when he noticed a car pass by; it looked familiar, he thought, but he wasn't able to get a closer look. He thought of looking at the plate number, but aw the heck, as if he can remember plate numbers of cars he thought were familiar to him or belonged to someone.

"Better hurry…rain's picking up." He muttered to himself, as he turned the curb and sighed in relief at seeing the complex gate. He slowed down a bit, taking his time to get there and heard some voices and a car door closing. Two closes…no three. The third sounded more like the car trunk being closed. "huh. Someone just got back." He grinned, hoping it was Shinji. If it was, then, he might not have ramen tonight. That guy would cook anything to avoid having Akihiko lay a finger on a cup of instant ramen. Seriously, sometimes, Shinji's more like a mother to Akihiko than a best friend.

Finally he's at the gate, and looks at the complex parking lot; Huh. Shinji's not home yet; his car hasn't arrived. He looked around. A girl carrying a pink umbrella stood nearby a blue car he recognizes to belong to the third unit's resident. Who is she? What is she doing here? He was rather curious if there was a new resident in the apartment but he hasn't heard that they were going to have a new female neighbor. He thought, wasn't the apartment full already?

He heard her groan in frustration and the moment she turned around, he was able to glimpse her façade; the first he thought of was 'hey, she's cute.' She was trying to pull a big luggage by herself amidst having difficulty while holding her umbrella. Many times she almost fell back.

Akihiko watches her intently, sighing. 'She's never going to get that bag to move.' He thought. He then decided to lend her a hand. Walking up to her, with her back on him, he called out. "Hello." He said and she snapped up, looked at him and suddenly, Akihiko smelled pepper and his eyes stung like hell. He immediately pulled back, his hands in his eyes and yelling in pain. "AHG! WHAT THE-CRAP! OW! MY EYES!" he was yelling about, "What did you do that for? I was just saying hello and ask if you needed help!"

Great. Now he's partially blind.

"Huh? W-what? You…you're not a criminal?" she asked timidly, her voice as angelic as it sounded, but Akihiko had no time to appreciate the voice of the girl. He was in pain.

"Whatever made you think I-Oh crap, forget it! OWW…" he tried to reach for something, anything, so he could lean for a moment. He wanted to wash his eyes badly. Crap, the pepper spray stings so much, just how much did she spray on him?

"Minako, what's- Sanada-san?" a familiar voice called out and Akihiko tried his best to look and get a clear view of who spoke. He could make out who it was though, but the voice evidently told him who it was.

It was his ever lonesome neighbor, Arisato Minato. "Your eyes are red." He pointed the obvious out without any emotion in his tone, as his eyes traveled from Akihiko to the girl whom he called 'Minako.' "I told you that the bag is heavier than it looks. Give it to me." He said and walked towards her, umbrella in his other hand and his other effortlessly picked up the bag Minako was trying so hard to lift. "I see that's your fault." He looked at the girl, Akihiko and back at the girl. "You said you wanted to meet the neighbors. What a good first impression you made on one of them, Minako." He smugly said and walked ahead towards the stairs leading to the upper floors. Minako's jaw dropped as he heard Minato's words and quickly turned to Akihiko.

"I'm so sorry!" she apologized. "I didn't…I didn't mean…I didn't know…" she pouted as Akihiko only sighed. He wanted to yell at her more, but hearing that she was already feeling bad about things, he decided not to make her feel worse.

"It's all right. Mistakes…happen…" he said and stood up straight once more, finally having a clear vision; however his eyes were still red and still stinging. Minako noticed they were still standing in the rain and she moved a bit closer to share her umbrella.

"Uhm…you're going to catch a cold in the rain." She said, trying to smile. Akihiko was able to look and take in her features; she was good-looking, no doubt, and he thought he was going to blush at their close proximity but the urge faded when he was reminded of his painful predicament with his eyes.

"Uh…thanks." He nodded. "I should be heading back to my apartment and wash my eyes."

"Oh…uhm...I see…" she bit her lip. "Uhm, I won't mind sharing the umbrella." With that, he nodded and they both walked towards the shaded area and up the stairs that led to the upper floors. He waited for her to fold her umbrella before they both climbed up the stairs in complete silence and oddly enough, side by side. He felt it weird to be walking side by side with a girl he just met today, let alone a complete stranger to him, but forces unknown had them both walking side by side. He usually was ahead, if he recalls. She on the other hand felt it awkward to walk side by side with someone she just sprayed in the eyes with pepper spray.

Akihiko stays in the second floor, but before they even reached the second floor landing, he stopped and turned to Minako.

"Pardon, I don't think we've introduced ourselves yet." He said and Minako stared at him for a few seconds. "I mean, we're neighbors, right?" taking note of what he heard Arisato say earlier. How was she connected to that silent dude anyway? "I don't mean to pry into your private life, but I was wondering how you knew Arisato-san." He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. Man, he rarely asks other people such questions. Scratch that, he never asked anyone such questions.

Minako on the other hand stared at him as if he caught her off guard. He started to panic, but then she smiled. Wow, was she taking long at registering what he just said. "I'm his sister." She said nonchalantly. "Younger twin sister."

"Twin?" he blurted out and realized he did, so he apologized. "Sorry…I find it a bit hard to…believe."

"We're fraternal twins." She explained sweetly. "We don't look alike, but we're siblings."

"I see." Akihiko nodded. True. They don't look alike. She's got brown hair; Minato has blue. Her eyes are a brilliant red and Minato's are crystal blue and her face is much cheerier than her brother's. But still, they were siblings. Fraternal twins. "Sanada. Akihiko Sanada." He introduced himself. "I stay at the first unit in the second floor."

"That's nice. I'll be staying with my brother in the third floor." She looked and realized that they were in the second floor. "Well, I guess I better head up."

"Let me walk you up." Akihiko politely offered, but Minako shook her head.

"No need. I won't get lost. Minato-nii's apartment isn't that too hard to find. Uhm…besides…don't you need to wash your eyes?" she pouted remembering she sprayed him in the eyes with the pepper spray.

Akihiko suppressed a groan. He was trying to forget that his eyes were still stinging to save the girl's guilt since she was feeling worse already. "It's not a big deal now. Think of it as a welcome greeting." He said and climbed up towards the third floor. "Well? Come on."

Minako sighed. She gave up in telling him not to bother, but he sure is nice. She followed him upstairs and as soon as they were in the third floor, found the Arisatos' apartment door. "Well, here you go. Guess I'll see you around." Akihiko said and turned back to the stairs to go back to his unit. Minako turned to look at him.

"a-anou…thanks, Sanada-san…uhm..see you around." She said and turned open the knob to walk in. Akihiko made sure she went inside before going down and to his unit where, upon entering his premises, groaned and made his way to the bathroom.

"damn, stupid pepper sprays…why the hell do they have to sting so much? Guess that's the way it goes…"

-TBC-


a/n: Got the idea from listening repeatedly to Owl City's "Deer in Headlights" and I remembered Junpei mentioning something to our dear female protagonist (i used the name 'Minako' and not 'Hamuko' for various reasons although both names are really cute) that she looked like a deer in headlight on their first meet.

I really tried to get Akihiko in this story... and i was waaaay too amused with Minato. Minako? uh...well...uhm, i'll try even harder to make the next chapter better! :)