Persona: The Wild Cards (Indefinite Hiatus)

by nomey1

Twin brother and sister, Minato and Minako, move to Iwatodai in order to attend Gekkoukan High School. However, the night they move in is not like any other normal night. Even afterwards more strange things keep occurring. What is going on? Why this pair of siblings? Read in order to find out. (Co-op with SuperNova23).

Hello, everyone! This be nomey1 alright! ^_^ I'm so sorry for not updating my Fire Emblem fanfics in quite a long time. I lost my fandom for a little bit and have been really busy with school work. However, I am starting to get it back and hope to find some free time in the near future.

Anyway, that's not the point of this A/N (author's note). Today I bring to you... a Persona 3 fanfic! :D I am absolutely in love with this game so I was very excited while working on this chapter. It is super long, I know, and I apologize. This is basically all of the intro, though, so that should explain why. Next chapter will be more of the legit gaming and whatnot. Oh, and I definitely need to mention this before I forget: I am not working on this fanfic alone.

This is a co-op fanfic that I am working on with SuperNova23. He loves the game series as well so that's how we came up with the idea of working on this project. Should be interesting since in this fanfic we have both the Male MC (main character) and Fem MC making their appearance together as twins. How this is going to work is that each of us will be taking turns writing the chapters in the POV of one of the twins.

ex.) Chapter 1 is me with Minako's POV, Chapter 2 is SuperNova with Minato's POV, so on and so forth.

Now that all of you readers are informed on how this is going to work, I sincerely hope that you all will enjoy reading this. *bows*

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Chapter 1:

April 6th

Inside the New City passenger train called Anehazuru, my brother and I are sitting side by side. He is listening to music through his headphones while I am listening to mine and reading a book. He is more into classic rock than anything else. I like a wide variety but tend to lean towards J-Pop. The volume isn't up that loud so I am able to hear the train conductor through the speakers.

"Due to malfunction in the switching system, today's rail schedule has been greatly altered." I pause the music and look at one of the speakers. "We apologize to any customers who were in a hurry. The next stop is Iwatodai."

I turn off my iPod and put my headphones around my neck. I look over at my brother. "Hey, Minato?" He glances down at me. At least I know he heard me. I was going to say something but the words wouldn't come out. I look back down at the book and shake my head. "Never mind."

There was a pause of silence until, "It'll be fine, Minako. No need to worry."

A small smile appears on my face. He always seems to know when I need him to comfort me. I can't hide my thoughts very well from him and I can understand when something is on his mind. It's just how well we understand each other. We are twins after all. We don't look it for our appearances are pretty different from each other, but we are.

Minato is a few inches taller than me with blue hair and eyes. I'm a girl with reddish-brown hair and red eyes. Our personalities are a bit different, too, because I am more out-going than he is. He isn't shy but he is quieter then I am. Despite all that I think we get along pretty well.

I feel the train slow down and then stop. "Iwatodai." the train announcement says. "This is the final train bound for Tatsumi Port Island. Please take care to board before our departure."

Minato and I stand up from our seat and pick up our bags. We each only have one since the rest of our stuff is already at the place that we are going to stay. When we get off of the train I see we are the only ones at the station. It is pretty late so that isn't too much of a surprise. It took us a very long time to arrive here. Where we used to live is pretty far from here and nervousness starts to kick in again. Beside me I can pick up a bit of the music from Minato's headphones. He tends to play it loud at times. I do that too, though, so I don't have a right to scold him.

I spot a clock and see that it is just seconds from becoming midnight. I do a mental count down in my head while keeping my eyes locked on the clock. Five… four… three… two… one... As soon as it chimed the atmosphere quickly changed. The technology around us was starting to shut off and the natural lighting changes to green. I look up to see glass making the sky visible. It was a dark green and the bright yellow moon was clearly visible amongst the dark grey clouds.

I can tell that Minato is confused by the situation as well but goes head to move out of the area. I quickly follow behind. Once we are on the streets, though, I regret it. My eyes are wide as they look around and see black coffin-like things lining the streets. The city itself looks deserted. It eerily reminds me of being in a haunted city. Was this a nightmare? I pinch myself but nothing around me changes. I am awake and am really seeing all this. I look up again and see that the moon looks very large; more so than normal. It is also days away from being full.

"Let's hurry." Minato says.

I nod. I take his hand and grip it tightly. He gives me a reassuring squeeze before pulling me along down the sidewalk. Though I am scared I can't help but look at all the coffins. They are pitch black and standing up straight. I wonder if there are people within them. Scary images of murder reach my mind so instead I look down at the ground to distract my thoughts. We continue our quick walk.

After what feels like forever we reach our location; Iwatodai dorm. It belongs to Gekkoukan High School which we will be attending from now on. I look up at the tall building and gulp. Would there be more coffins inside? I was afraid of what would be on the other side of those doors. My brother is braver than I am and makes his way straight to the doors. I like how he moves forward while normal people would just stand around expecting, waiting for something to happen.

Inside we both look around. Everything seems normal. I can't see much due to the lights being off. I'm about to calm down a bit when suddenly a boy wearing black-and-white striped clothes appears before us. I jump and cover my mouth to stop myself from exclaiming loudly. It was as if he came from nowhere. I hadn't heard a single noise so how...?

"Welcome." He greets casually with an easy smile on his face. "You're late. I've been waiting a long time." I immediately feel bad. Did he wait up the entire night just waiting for us to show up? We should have left earlier but we couldn't. I'm about to respond when I notice him holding two pieces of paper. "If you want to proceed, then please sign here. It's a contract." I look over the paper with hesitation. His smile is gentler as he says, "There is no need to be scared. It only binds you to accepting full responsibility for your actions." I glance up at him warily then back at the paper.

I read it carefully aloud, "I chooseth this fate of mine own free will."

That's strange. Do people still write contracts like that? It seems very old fashioned. Is this contract to make sure that we behave well in the dorms or something? If it is then this is the strangest contract I've ever seen in my life. I look at Minato. He turns to me and shrugs. That decides it for me. I let go of his hand and reach for the pen that the mysterious boy is holding. I sign 'Minako Arisato' where I am supposed to. I give the pen to my twin and he signs the other paper meant for him. He returns the pen to the boy.

He smiles looking pleased as he takes the contracts from us. "Very well." I can't help but think how creepy he sounds when he says, "Time is something no one can escape. It delivers us all to the same end. Wishing won't make it go away. And so it begins…"

Just like that, he disappears as if melting into the darkness.

"That was strange." I say after a moment.

From the corner of my eye I see him nod. I'm about to ask him something when I hear a different voice calling out.

"Who's there?!" I whirl around in surprise to face a girl that looks about our age. She is a brunet wearing what looks like the school uniform. She is looking at us with accusation, confusion, and fear. "How can you be…? But it's…! Don't tell me…"

I can't make much sense from what she is saying. It feels more like she is talking to herself then us. I look down and see that she is holding a gun. My eyes widen in shock. Minato spots it, too, and steps in front of me becoming my shield. Before anything else can be said or done another voice calls out from the darkness.

"Wait!"

I lean to the side so I can see past my brother. The girl gasps as she looks at the new arrival; a girl with long, red hair. She looks older than the first girl. Another second passes and, just like that, the lights turn on. I shield my eyes for the sudden lighting hurts my eyes.

"The lights…" the first girl says.

The second girl turns her attention to us. "I didn't think you two would arrive so late." She smiles politely. "My name is Mitsuru Kirijo. I'm one of the students who live in this dorm."

The first girl looks at her with confusion. "…Who're they?"

Mitsuru looks at her. "They're transfer students. It was a last minute decision to assign them here. They'll eventually be moved to a room in the normal dorm."

By this point I moved so I was standing next to Minato. The situation didn't appear to be dangerous anymore. I frown in confusion at what Mitsuru had said, though. Isn't this a normal dorm? Why are we being moved around? I am too tired to get agitated. I just want this night to be over with so I can lie down and actually get some sleep.

The first girl becomes worried. "…Is it okay for them to be here?"

Mitsuru smiles amusedly. "I guess we'll see…" She looks back at us and motions her hand at the girl. "This is Yukari Takeba. She'll be a junior this spring, just like you."

I can tell that she is still nervous and uncomfortable. She tries her best, however, to be polite. "…Hi, I'm Yukari."

"Hello." My brother greets. "I'm Minato Arisato and this is my twin, Minako."

I smile politely. "Nice to meet you."

She seems taken aback by this and tries her best to smile and act casual. "Uh, y-yeah… Nice to meet you, too…"

"It's getting late." Mitsuru says. She looks right at me as she says, "You'll find your room on the 3rd floor." She then looks at Minato. "Your room is on the 2nd floor." She looks at the both of as us saying, "Your things should already be there. I suggest you tuck in for the night."

Yukari regains her composure. "Oh… I'll show you the way. Follow me."

I nod my head in thanks. I then turn to Mitsuru and wave goodbye to her. She smiles and nods at me. Yukari walks to the stairs and I follow behind her. My brother stays at my side the entire time. On the second floor there is a sitting area that greets us; a lounge. In the back corner are two vending machines. It makes it nice and convenient to grab a quick snack. We turn right and walk down a long hallway with several doors on either side. We stop at the end of the hall and face the door to the right.

Yukari looks at the door saying, "This is it…" She turns to him and smiles. "Pretty easy to remember, huh?" She laughs a bit nervously. "…Since it's right at the end of the hall." He smiles a little and nods. She grabs her arm and looks up at him. "So, any questions?"

"Does that boy live here?"

I look up at him for he said exactly what I was thinking. The reason I want to know is because he had us sign a contract. Plus we had made him wait for us, too, so I felt guilty. He looked young and kids need their rest. For us to have made him wait was rude.

Yukari looks at him as if he asked if the sky was pink. "What are you talking about?"

That's when I jump in. "You know, a kid about this tall," I say moving my hand to demonstrate his height, "Black hair, blue eyes, striped clothing…"

She forces a small laugh. "…C'mon, it's not funny." I frown in confusion. She seems to have no idea what I am talking about. I decide to let it go and Minato seems to give up since explaining won't do any good. After a moment of awkward silence she looks at the both of us with worry. "Um… Can I ask you something? On your way here from the station, was everything okay?"

That question sounded really ridiculous to me. Either I am getting annoyed with her or exhaustion is finally getting to me because I suddenly have no patience for this. I smile innocently. "Besides the creepy coffins and the enlarged moon? Completely normal!"

Yukari's eyes widen in shock. At first Minato is taken aback but then I can see him struggling not to burst out laughing. I continue to hold Yukari's gaze acting as if I simply said something about the weather. She coughs, obviously looking uncomfortable.

"U-Um… I'm sure you have other questions, but let's save them for later. It's getting late." She looks at Minato. "Good night." My brother nods. I smile and wave at my brother. He gives me a small smile, winks, and goes into his dorm room. The girl then looks at me. "Let me show you your room."

"Okay."

We climb up the stairs, the sound of our footsteps resonating. The third floor looks the same as the second with its own sitting area and vending machines. This time, though, I can see that these machines have different things than the one below. Again, I find myself turning right and down a hallway. At the end of the hall there is a door to the right. I guess this is my room assignment. I find it funny how my twin is in the exact area as me but one floor down. It gives me some sort of strange comfort knowing this. It's some form of connection that I need being in a different place. Plus having the night that we both had? I could use the comfort.

"Good night." I say to Yukari with a polite smile.

"Good night." She returns before heading down the hall.

Inside the room I drop my things on the floor. All I want to do is plop onto the bed and fall sleep just like that. I don't do that, though. Instead, I take the time to take my clothes off and dig through my bag. I find my red PJ pants and grey top. Once those are on I allow myself to crawl under the covers. As soon as my head hits the pillow I am out.

April 7th

I slowly open my eyes. I am still tired from the events of last night. It was really crazy and… I don't know. All I know is that it wasn't normal. I get up and rub the sleep out of my eyes. I stand up from bed and walk to my dresser. I pull out my school uniform and get changed. Just as I am tying my hair up in its usual high pony-tail I hear knocking at my door.

"It's Yukari." The girl says through the door. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah." I say loud enough for her to hear. "Come in."

I pick up my hairclips from the dresser and start putting them in my hair. I hear the door open and watch as Yukari steps in. A warm smile is on her face. "Good morning. Did you sleep okay?"

I smile back at her. "Yes, thank you."

She seems pleased to hear that. She goes on by saying, "Mitsuru-senpai asked me to take you to school. Are you ready to go?"

I put in the last hairclip. "Yeah." I slip on my shoes and pick up my school bag.

"Okay. Then, let's go."

Downstairs on the main floor I see Minato standing by the front doors in his uniform and holding his school bag. His headphones are covering his ears like always. My own iPod is in my bag waiting for me to pull it out. Together, all three of us walk out of the dorm building.

~skip~

Like last night I find myself on the passenger train Anehazuru. This time there are way more people on making their way to their destinations. I am standing against the wall with Yukari next to me and Minato on the other side of her.

"We have to take the monorail to get there." She informs us. She turns so she is facing the two of us and smiles. "Bet your last school wasn't like that, huh?" I shake my head. "This is my favorite part… when it feels like you're gliding over the sea."

I look at the ground and focus on the feeling of moving. I can sort of get what she is explaining. I look out the window and see the ocean below. My eyes widen seeing how quickly we seem to be going over it.

"Our stop is Port Island Station at the end of the line. From there, we walk." I look at my twin who is also looking out the window. Yukari looks at him. "Have you ever heard of Tatsumi Port Island?"

"No." he replies as he turns to look back at her.

"It's a man-made island. They built our school right in the middle." She looks at the window and becomes excited. "Oh, look, you can see it now!"

I look to where she is looking and spot what she is talking about. I wonder what it will be like at the school. Will I meet new people and make friends? Will it be better than my old school? I always seem to ask myself many questions but never find most of the answers. It gets tiring after a while.

From the entrance of Gekkoukan high school I look up at the building. It is large, white, and looks very nice. I'm sure the inside is just as neat and organized. I watch as several students pass by us making their way towards the school.

"Mornin'!" I hear a girl call.

Yukari looks at her and smiles calling back, "Morning!" She then looks at both me and Minato. "Well, here we are…" She motions with her arm towards the building. "Welcome to Gekkoukan High! You're gonna love it here!" I stop staring at the school long enough to look at her. I smile at her excitement and laugh softly but still feel nervous. It is a new place and I don't know anyone besides my brother and Yukari.

The three of us walk into the school. I don't know if it is just me but I feel like almost all the students are looking at us. They are whispering and talking amongst themselves. Of course I can't hear a word they're saying. If I happen to make eye contact with anyone they look away as if nothing happened. This is strange. It doesn't help my nerves.

"You're okay from here, right?" Yukari asks once we are inside. I look at her. "You should go see your homeroom teacher first. The Faculty Office is right there to the left." I look to the left and see a hallway. "…And that concludes the tour. Do you have any questions before I go?"

I look at her quickly. "Where are our classrooms?" I ask for the both of us.

She looks in a direction and I follow her gaze to a bulletin board. "I think they're posted on the bulletin board, but I haven't checked yet either." I'm about to thank her when she suddenly says, "Hey… About last night… Don't tell anyone what you saw, okay?" I didn't have to ask to know what she was talking about.

"Don't worry. We won't." Minato replies. I simply nod in response trying to give her a reassuring smile. She smiles in return and looks a bit more relaxed. "…See ya two later."

After that she is gone. I look up at Minato and he looks down at me. "What do we do now?"

He pounders for a minute before responding with, "Let's check the bulletin board."

"Sounds like a plan."

That gets a little smile out of him making me smile as well. We make our way over to the bulletin. I scan over the list quickly trying to spot our names. When I don't see it right away I begin to panic. We need to know where our class is. Minato nudges me with his elbow. I look at him to see that he is pointing at something. I look to see that there is a small note. It reads, 'Minato and Minako Arisato – Class F'.

I give a small sigh of relief before smiling. "We have class together. That's cool." I look through the names of students also in that class and spot 'Yukari Takeba'. "Oh, hey." I say pointing at her name. "She has the same class as us."

The area around us is getting more crowded. More students are showing up at the bulletin; probably so they can search for their names. Minato takes my wrist and pulls me out of the crowd. When we are free I sigh heavily. He continues pulling me to lead me down a hallway. Oh, that's right. We have to meet our teacher.

Down the 1F hallway I look around. The first door to the right has a sign that reads 'Faculty Office'. Minato lets go of my wrist and opens the door. We both step through. There are about three adults in the office. A woman with shoulder-length, light brown hair turns and spots us.

"Oh, are you two the new students?" she asks. We both nod. She goes to her desk and opens two files. "Minato and Minako Arisato… 11th grade, correct?" she asks looking back up at us. Again, we nod. She begins flipping through the pages of our files. Her eyes widen. "Wow, you've lived in a lot of different places… Let's see… In 1999… That was what, ten years ago?"

My eyes widen hearing the date. I look up at Minato. He continues looking at the file with the teacher. He looks expressionless so I don't know what is going through his head. Most likely the same things that are going through mine.

"Your parents-" The woman suddenly gasps. I look at her. "I'm sorry…" She looks up at the both of us apologetically. "I've been so busy, I didn't have time to read this beforehand." She stands up straight and smiles politely. "I'm Ms. Toriumi. I teach Composition. Welcome to our school."

"Thank you." Minato politely replies. The teacher seems to respect that.

The atmosphere feels a little tenser then I would like so I decide to break that with a bright smile and an enthusiastic, "Nice to meet you!"

Ms. Toriumi is at first surprised but shortly after laughs. "Such enthusiasm! We could use more go-getters like you." She then looks at the both of us as she asks, "Have you seen the classroom assignment?"

"Yes." Minato replies. "Just a few minutes ago on the bulletin board."

She smiles. "You're in 2-F; that's my class. But first, we need to go to the auditorium. The Welcoming Ceremony will be starting soon. Follow me."

Ms. Toriumi walks out of the faculty office with Minato and I following behind. Walking down the now quiet halls is peaceful yet surreal. It's still hard to believe that this is my first day at this school. I hope the day goes past without anything too much happening.

We reach the auditorium. The teacher leads us to where the rest of our class is at. Minato and I sit together keeping our own sort of distance from them. The other students don't seem to notice and that is just fine with me. Only a few minutes pass when a roundish looking man walks up onto the stage and everyone becomes quiet. From my understanding this must be the principal.

"As you begin the new school year," he begins, "I'd like each of you to remember the proverb, "If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well." When applied to student life, this means…"

The speech continues on but I was beginning to lose interest already. The man makes me want to sleep. Then again, teachers in general make me want to sleep. That's when I hear students in front of us whispering. I am able to hear what they are saying.

"I heard we got a transfer student." One of them, a male, says.

Another male smirks. "Yep, I've seen her, too. She came to school with Yukari."

A girl jumps into the conversation. "It's not just her, you know. There's also that guy with blue hair."

The smirking male looks at her as if just remembering. "Right. …You think he and Yukari already hooked up?"

The girl's eyes widen. "I hope not!"

The first male says, "I wouldn't mind asking the new girl out, though."

The other male has the smirk returned onto his face when he says to him, "Unless I ask her out first."

That's when a male, a teacher from another class, say, "I hear talking. I believe it's someone in Ms. Toriumi's class…"

I look over at Ms. Toriumi who visibly twitched. "Shhh! Be quiet! You're going to get me in trouble!"

The three of them go silent. I look up at Minato, my lips pressed together since they first started talking about us, and sigh.

"They suck at whispering quietly." Is all I whisper into his ear.

He nods his head with a little smile tugging at the corners of his lips. I lean my head against his shoulder as I dully listen to the principal continue his speech until the end. I guess the rumors won't end anytime soon.

~skip~

The school day is finally over. There are after-school sessions but I don't know if there are any clubs that I would be interested in joining. I should look at what's available along with Minato. If I don't find anything I'm sure he will. Speaking of him, he just left in order to go to the bathroom. I am packing up my things and waiting for him in the meantime.

That's when someone suddenly speaks from behind me. "'Sup, dude?!" I turn around quickly with wide eyes. He frickin' scared me! My expression must look funny for the person, a guy wearing a hat, starts to laugh. "You look like a deer in headlights."

I look at him with confusion. "Who are you?"

He blinks. "Me?" He then smiles. "I'm Junpei Iori. Nice to meet ya." I lightly nod my head in return. He continues, "I transferred here when I was in 8th grade. I know how tough it is bein' the new kid… So I thought I'd check up on you, make sure you weren't freaking out on your first day."

My eyes widen slightly. So he was just worried about me? Well, that was nice of him. I smile a little. That's when Yukari appears and sighs in annoyance.

"At it again, huh?" she asks as she looks at Junpei. "Honestly, is there any girl you wouldn't hit on? Did you ever think you might be bothering someone?"

His eyes widen as he looks at her. "What? But, I was just bein' friendly."

"If you say so." She then turns to me. "Anyway, some coincidence that we'd be in the same homeroom, huh?"

I smile. "Yeah, I know."

This gets her to smile. "Funny, huh?"

That's when Junpei jumps in. "Um, hello? Did you forget I'm in this class too? C'mon, lemme in on the fun!" I couldn't help but laugh because he kind of sounds like a child who is left out. Yukari laughed with me, too. When that is done Junpei asks, "By the way, do you guys know each other? I heard you two came to school together this morning." He smirks. "A couple of cuties like you, walking side by side… The whole class was buzzing about you."

I sigh lightly to myself as Yukari groans. "Could you just cut it out? I hate dealing with rumors like that. I mean, I'm used to it, but she just got here, you know? Don't you feel bad, spreading rumors like that?" No one says anything for a moment. She is the one to break the silence she created. "Well, I've gotta go take care of some archery team stuff. Don't try anything funny, you got that, Junpei."

Yukari exits the room leaving me with Junpei. "What is she, your nanny…?" he asks. His expression turns to that of a genuine one as he looks at me and says, "Well, just to clear something up, I seriously didn't come over here to hit on you or anything." Just like that his goofy smirk returns. "If you ever have a problem, you can tell your ol' pal Junpei about it!

I giggle a little as I say, "Thanks."

He grins cheekily. "No prob! My door's always open. So to speak."

I laugh a little again and Minato enters the classroom. I look up at him and wave. He walks over to us while giving Junpei a suspicious look.

"Getting hit on already?" he asks.

Junpei's eyes widen. "Not you, too!" He sighs heavily. "First Yukari accuses me of that and now you…" It's amazing how fast his mood can change 'cause in a snap he's back to normal. "Oh, hey! You're the guy the girls can't stop talking about!"

Minato is stunned for a moment. I don't think he knows how to respond to that. I look at him and raise an eyebrow.

"Getting attention from girls already?" I ask in the same tone as he did.

He frowns at me causing me to laugh.

~skip~

Some time passes and soon Minato and I are in the halls ready to head back to the dorms. Junpei caught up to us and somehow managed to be allowed to walk us there. While walking he informs us on school clubs. Because we would be joining as new members we have to wait a bit before being able to sign-up. He says I can join, too, since there are girl's sports teams. The rest of the time is filled with small talk. Once we reach the dorm we both say good-bye to him. It's gotten darker out since we left making it evening.

As we enter the building Mitsuru is on the couch reading a book. She looks up at us and greets us with a, "Welcome back."

I smile. "Thank you."

I spot a sheet resting on the front desk. I don't pay much mind to it, though.

"You two should rest early tonight." I we both look over at her. "You both had a long night last night and are probably still tired."

"Yeah, I guess. At least I know I am." I look over at Minato. "You?"

"A little." he admits.

I look back at Mitsuru and smile. "We'll be heading upstairs then."

She nods with a polite smile and returns to her book. Minato and I make our way up the steps.

"What about dinner?" Minato asks.

I pause mid-step. "Oh, yeah…" I look over at him. "Got money?"

"Not much."

"Me, neither…" We make our way to the second floor and the answer appears right before us. "Vending machines!" I exclaim with a smile. "Useful and cheap!"

My twin chuckles from beside me. "You are so weird."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

We each by a snack and drink with the amount of money we have and head to his room. I didn't want to eat alone and it will be peaceful, quiet time together. We simply talk about what we think about the school, teachers, students, and other like things. We weren't lying to Mitsuru when we said we were tired so it isn't long before I bid good night and leave to my own room. I get changed into PJs and fall asleep.

April 8th

By the time I woke up Yukari came to my room asking if I was ready to go. I told her to go ahead with Minato so now I need to hurry as quickly as possible. I took the quickest shower possible, got dressed, and rushed out the door with my stuff. Now I am on the train fixing my hair up normally. When done I sit down in an empty seat and sigh heavily. I hope I am not running too late.

I get off the stop and walk towards the school. I guess I am doing good on time because there are other students walking not too far ahead of me. That's a relief. While I am walking and feeling relieved I overhear two girls talking to each other.

"Did you hear the rumor….?"

"Oh, um… Something about… a bathroom?"

My eyes widen in surprise. What in the-?

"N-No! Not that one!" the first one responds quickly. "I mean the story about the first-year student!" Once she calms down she continues. "Not only did she stop coming to school, she does nothing but sit and stare at the walls all day. If her mother tries to talk to her, she only mutters to herself, 'It's coming… It's coming…!'"

For some reason this peaks my interest. It sounds a bit crazy for it to be true and yet… I wonder what happened to that girl for her to become like that.

The second girl doesn't seem too affected by what she just heard. "Huh. How about that."

The first girl frowns. "You don't believe me…?"

We were right by the school gates when the bell rings. The two girls rush ahead. I walk quickly into the building and towards my classroom. Meanwhile the girl who only stares at the walls muttering things to herself keeps my mind occupied.

~skip~

"Open your textbooks and we'll take a look at the first novel by… Zenzou Kasai." Ms. Toriumi addresses to the class. As we open our textbooks to the page she looks unhappy. "Ugh… why him? I'd rather teach Utsubo Kubota. He became famous as a singer, but he's also produced fine literature. I wonder why it's not in the textbook. Well, I'll just bring Kubota's book next time." There was a pause before she suddenly calls, "Hey, Junpei! Were you listening? Who did I say was my favorite author?"

Junpei jumps in his seat and appears to be caught off guard. "H-Huh? U-Ummm…" For some reason he leans back in his seat and looks at me. Guess this is what I get for sitting behind him. "Psst! What does she like?"

I hold in the urge to sigh. "Utsubo Kubota."

A few students in the surrounding area seem to be in awe for some odd reason as he repeats the answer to the teacher. She is surprised and smiles happily.

"That's right! So you were listening to me after all!"

He laughs nervously while scratching the back of his head. "Well, you know how I like to pay attention!" Once the teacher is distracted with the textbook he leans back once more and whispers, "Man, you saved my bacon, Minako!"

I smile kindly. "It was nothing."

A few students in the meantime are whispering to each other. I even hear one say, "Minako gave him the answer… She must pay attention in class!"

I feel a little embarrassed by the odd attention but I just go with it. Plus it was time to refocus on the lesson.

~skip~

The school day is over. There is nothing to do so Minato and I walk home together.

"So you helped Junpei out." He comments.

It takes me a second to remember what happened earlier in class. I shrug. "I didn't think it was a big deal." I look up at him and smile. "He was nice yesterday so I figured why not."

He nods a little. "He seems like a cool guy."

"Yeah."

I loop my arm through his as we continue to make our way back to the dorms. There isn't much to talk about so once we share a little bit about today a comfortable silence falls between the two of us.

When we walk into the building Yukari is in the lounge sitting on one of the couches talking to a man with longish brown hair and glasses. He looks sophisticated as he sits in the chair between the two couches in his brown suite. It makes me curious as to who he is. Yukari is the first to notice our arrival.

"Oh, they're back."

He turns to us. "So, these are our new guests…" He stands up to face us with a warm smile on his face. "Good evening. My name is Shuji Ikutsuki. I'm the Chairman of the Board for your school." Neither of us says anything. He smiles a little more. "'Ikutsuki'… Hard to say, isn't it? That's why I don't like introducing myself. Even I get tongue-tied sometimes…" I smile a little. "I apologize about the confusion regarding your accommodations. However, it may take a while longer before you receive the proper room assignment. Is there anything you'd like to ask?"

"Why did you come here?" I ask curiously.

His smile widens. "To welcome you, of course. Speaking of which…" He turns to Yukari. "Where's Mitsuru, Yukari?"

"She's upstairs." She replies.

He nods understandingly. "As diligent as always. Although, it doesn't hurt to come down and say hello…" He turns to us again. "Do you have another question?

This time Minato asks one. "Who else lives here?"

"There are only five students in this dorm: You two, Yukari here, Mitsuru…" The pause makes me think that maybe he will bring up the boy we saw the first night we came here. "And a senior named Akihiko Sanada." I keep myself from showing my disappointment. So no one really doesn't know about him… He smiles. "I hope you all get along. Do you have another question?

Well… While he is asking… "I saw something odd…"

Neither Yukari nor anyone else ever did explain what the heck was up with the first night we came here.

Mr. Ikutsuki looks at me with confusion. "You saw something strange?" He pauses. "Like what?"

Yukari is looking at me with a knowing yet uncomfortable look. Minato is looking at me as well but I focus my eyes on the man's face as to look for any signs of lying.

He smiles. "You were probably just tired. I wouldn't worry about it. It's bad for your complexion, you know."

I furrow my brows and glance towards the ground. Something isn't right. Everyone acting the way they are is making me a tad bit annoyed. I just want a straight forward answer. Is that so hard to ask? Why do they have to avoid this topic as if it were the plague?

My thoughts almost distract me from the, "Do you have another question?" from Mr. Ikutsuki.

"No, not really." I mutter.

"Then, I hope you have a successful school year. Now, if you'll excuse me…" I look up at him as Minato nods his head once. "You must be tired from all the excitement. You should go to bed early. As they say, "The early bird catches the bookworm"!" I raise an eyebrow as my brother says nothing. "…Please forgive the bad pun."

Yukari looks exasperated as she says to us, "You'll get used to his lame jokes."

I laugh a bit as Minato smiles a little. He grabs my arm and pulls me along to the stairs.

"Are you okay?" he asks as we are climbing the stairs.

I sigh heavily. "I'm just sick of these people continuing to tell me that I am tired and need to rest. I can take care of myself just fine." I look down at my feet as I continue, "What are they hiding, anyway? It's bothering me."

"There's nothing we can do. If they won't tell us it's not like we can make them."

"I know… I wish we could."

Without realizing it we are already on the third floor. Minato walks me to my dorm room before making his way back down to his floor. Inside my room I decide to read a book. A few hours must have passed because by the time I am finished I am tired. I crawl into bed and fall asleep rather quickly.

While I am dreaming I hear an unknown voice calling out to me. "…Master… Master Minako Arisato."

In front of me is a tunnel. I walk down it and into a white light. For a few seconds I am blinded by it. When I reopen my eyes I find myself in a dark blue room. The place reminds me of a fancy room yet it's like a giant elevator that is constantly moving who-knows-where. The big clock's hands are continuing to spin in a quick motion. In front of me is a dark blue desk with an old gentleman with a big nose sitting behind it. The thing that surprises me is that my brother is standing in front of the desk. He turns around and his eyes widen in surprise. He is just as surprised as I am.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"I could ask you the same thing." He replies.

I walk up so that I am standing next to him. As we look at each other in confusion I wonder if this is real or a really realistic dream. If it is why is my brother in it? The man behind the desks coughs grabbing our attention.

"My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintances." We both bow in greeting. "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter… Only those who have signed the contract can enter this place…"

I glance down at what I thought was an empty-surfaced desk. However, there are two identical papers sitting on top of it next to each other. I scan it over and realize it is the old-fashioned contract we signed when we first arrived. Does that mean that that boy is here? I look around but there is no sign of him.

"Henceforth, you both shall be welcomed here in the Velvet Room." I return my attention to him. "You are destined to hone your unique ability, and you will require my help to do so. I only ask one thing in return." He pauses for affect. "That you abide by the contract, and assume responsibility for the choices you make."

"I understand." Minato replies.

"Same." I reply.

Igor seems pleased by this. "Hold on to this…" He hands us both matching keys that are the same color as everything else in the room. "There are two more residents of this room, who unfortunately could not be present for your arrival. But I'll make sure you all are properly introduced. Another time, perhaps." A grin overtakes his face as he says, "'Til we meet again…"

As quickly as I had arrived at that strange room it was gone.

April 9th

I wake up with a dull headache. The dream I had was really odd. It seemed too real for my liking. It just couldn't have been… Could it? Maybe I should ask Minato about it later. Right now, though, I need to get ready for school. So as I am doing just that there is a knock at my door. I look at my clock and frown in confusion. It wasn't time to leave yet so there shouldn't be anyone at my door.

"Just a minute!" I call out. I finish getting dressed and open the door to see it's my brother. "Oh, hey. What's up?" A bagel is held up in front of my face making me smile brightly. "Breakfast!" I take it and walk back into my room. "Thanks!"

"No problem." He replies with a light smile. As I am fixing up my hair he asks, "Why do you always tie your hair up?"

"Because it keeps it out of my face." I reply without looking at him.

I take a bite of the bagel before picking up my bag and leaving the room. I shut the door behind me. Minato follows beside me eating his own food. We are a little bit earlier than usual about getting ready so we decide to sit down in the lounge on the first floor. There is no real rush to get to school. Plus this will be the perfect time for me to ask about the dream I had. If he was there maybe there is that odd chance he had the same dream as well. It seems silly but it's something.

"Hey… Minato?" I ask a little nervously.

He looks over at me. "Yeah?"

"Um… Did you… have a weird dream last night?"

There was a pause so look up and meet wide eyes. "One where we were in some place called the Velvet Room?"

Now it was my turn to have my eyes wide. "That's it!"

"That means when I saw you…"

"We really did see each other." I frown in confusion. "What does that mean, though? Did we share a dream?"

"Or was it real."

It didn't sound like a question which sent chills. It couldn't have been real. It just couldn't have. That's too weird. Then again, we saw coffins the night we came here and that is in no way normal. I'm not making this up because Minato is seeing this stuff, too. Something is up. I wish things would straighten out. All this confusion is making my head hurt.

"C-Come on." I stutter while standing up. "We better go before we are late."

He nods in agreement and stands up.

~skip~

"Yo…"

I jump and turn to see that it is Junpei. I sigh with relief.

"Hey." Minato greets.

"Man, I'm so sleepy today." He grins as he looks at my brother. "In times like these, it's best to sleep during class! You ever notice how sometimes taking a nap in class makes you feel more refreshed than sleeping at home?"

Minato smirks. "I know what you mean."

This excites him. "Right? You go from dead to being completely full of energy again. It's such a great feeling." I roll my eyes. I agree with them, but that's not something I am going to admit. "Then again, I'm not listening to the lecture, so I'm screwed later!" I laugh a little. "Oh, but we have classic literature today… That means we're stuck with Mr. Stasty ol' Ekoda…"

I look at him confused. "Mr. Ekoda?"

"Yeah. You'll see what I mean when we're in class today."

"Don't fall asleep." I tease. "I might not help you out like I did last time."

Junpei laughs. "No promises."

He whispers something to Minato which I can't hear. All my brother does as a response is shrug. A nervous look crosses his face because of this. I look at him then at my twin. He shakes his head lightly as if to say it was nothing important. I shrug and move on with them inside.

~skip~

A man with dark brown hair stands at the front of the classroom. "Ahem…" The students go quiet. "I'm Mr. Ekoda. I'll be teaching you Classic Literature. I'll be teaching you about good old Japan all year. Some people say Classic Lit isn't relevant to everyday life, but oh, how they're wrong! The students, the other teachers… Wrong, wrong, wrong! Nobody really understands Classic Lit…"

I now see what Junpei meant earlier by that weird nickname. I'm starting to get sleepy. It's kind of funny how earlier we had the discussion about how you feel much better after sleeping during class. However, I decide to stay awake. Though the teacher is boring, it's only my second day here and I don't want to get into trouble.

"Hey… Are you all listening to me? Wake up, children!" I jump hearing Mr. Ekoda's voice raise. He calms down and continues. "Now open your textbooks." The sounds of textbooks being retrieved and pages turning fill my ears urging me to do the same. "First on our syllabus is "Ise Monogatari," the origin of Japanese literature. It is a very interesting story. You youngsters might call it, "da bomb"." The classroom is so silent that cricket noises would fit very perfectly right about now. He sighs. "I can tell you people are "zoning out"…"

The lesson continues. It feels like time is crawling ever so slowly as I remain awake and pay attention.

~skip~

The school day is over so I am making my way to the shoe boxes. I don't know where Minato disappeared to. Maybe he found somebody of hang out with or decided to study. The first possibility seems more likely. I could text him but I should probably leave him alone. We are around each other pretty much all the time. We don't have to be attached to the hips or anything. I have the image of our hips attached and it makes me giggle. It would be very hard to walk around and function normally. He's a bit taller than me, too, so I would probably be on my tippy-toes.

At the shoe boxes I spot Yukari. She sees me as well and smiles happily.

"Hey, Minako!" she greets as she walks over to me.

"Hey, Yukari." I return with a smile.

I switch the shoes I am wearing for my outdoor ones while she stands beside me.

"Are you heading home now?"

"Yeah."

"You wanna walk home together?"

I stand up straight once I am done putting on my shoes. "Sure. That would be fun."

She seems really happy so I can't help but feel pretty bubbly myself.

"Heyo!" someone exclaims really loudly as hands come down on my shoulders.

I jump and turn my head so quickly I'm surprised it didn't give me a whip lash. "D-Don't scare me like that!"

Yukari groans. "Stupei!"

He laughs cheekily as he pats my back. "Sorry about that."

Two other males appear beside him. One of them is my twin but the other, a male with brown hair, I don't recognize. Minato nods n my direction and I smile in return. I look over at the other male.

"Hello."

The student blinks before smiling back and lifting a hand. "Yo. You're name's Minako, right?"

"Yeah. And you are…"

"Kenji Tomochika." He introduces with a smirk. "Nice to meet you."

"You, too."

Junpei jumps in. "We're going out. Want to join us?"

"She is already walking home with me." Yukari says for me.

"You can come, too."

She looks over at me. The look I was getting was pleading as if to say, 'Please say no'. I feel a sweatdrop form on the side of my head. I look back at Junpei and smile politely. "Maybe another time."

He shrugs. "Have it your way. See ya."

"Bye."

Kenji waves at me which I return with my own wave. Minato looks back at me and I wave to him as well. He gives a short smile before disappearing with the other two. I sigh lightly before turning to Yukari. She appears more relaxed.

"Ready?" I ask.

She smiles at me. "Yeah. Let's go."

We exit the school together and make our way down the sidewalk. There are several other students walking down the same way we are. It's when we pass by a large building to the right of us that I see why. A few different groups of students disappear to the place. Yukari follows my gaze before looking back at me.

"Have you come here before?" she asks. I look at her and shake my head. I haven't had time to. I'm curious about it, though. "A lot of Gekkuoukan students come here after school. There's a karaoke box and a CD shop." She suddenly gets excited. "Oh, and a really great café, too!" She sobers a little when she says, "There's also a nightclub, but that's kinda not for us yet."

"I should check it out at some point."

She smiles happily. "We could go together when I'm not busy."

I smile back at her. "Sounds good."

I look one more time at the mall with renewed curiosity before leaving with Yukari to the station.

~skip~

Yukari and I make it back to the dorms. Mitsuru is staring out the window while Minato is nowhere to be seen. I wonder if he is still out.

"Welcome back." I hear Mitsuru greet. I turn towards her along with Yukari.

"Thanks." She replies with a smile. She then disappears to the other room and sits down at the large table.

"Thanks." I finally manage to reply.

Senpai returns her attention to out the window.

"The moon is beautiful tonight. It might be nice to read a book by moonlight once in a while."

Curious, I walk up to stand beside her in order to look out the window. I was so busy walking with Yukari that I didn't notice the moon hiding behind a few clouds. It's a full moon tonight. It really does look beautiful.

"You're right." I say.

She looks over at me, gives a little smile, and looks out once more. She seems to be deep in thought so I'll leave her alone for now. So I walk over to where Yukari went. She is pulling out papers from her bag. It's probably homework. That reminds me that I have some stuff to do for tomorrow's class. My stomach growls and I look down at it. Yukari giggles grabbing my attention.

"There used to be a dorm mother here to do stuff like cooking, but there's just us students here now. It'd be great to have somebody like that doing stuff for us, don't' you think?"

"You're right." I reply with a light blush and smile.

She looks down at her papers. "I mean, I'm not a good cook, and Mitsuru-senpai just doesn't do things like that…" Her eyes return to me. "You know, if you're handy around the kitchen, I bet you could really do something with this place!"

I nervously scratch the back of my head. "Sorry… I'm an ok cook but I don't think I could make meals and such."

Yukari shrugs. "It was just a thought."

I sit across from her and pull out my homework from my school bag. It would be nice to have someone that cooks for us. I wonder what happened to the person that used to be here. Either way, a regular meal with everyone sounds like a nice idea. Sadly, though, it doesn't look like that will be happening anytime soon. One if these days, if I am in the mood, maybe I could try to make dinner. Something is better than nothing, right?

I hear the front door open and close. There is a greeting from Mitsuru and a quiet reply. I look up to see that it is Minato. He walks past the couches and into the room.

"Hey." He greets.

I smile warmly. "Hi. How was it with the guys?"

"Fun." He puts his bag down on the table and takes a seat by Yukari. "They're cool guys to hang with."

"Really?" Yukari asks. "You don't seem the type to hang with them."

He shrugs.

I giggle. "That's just like you, though." They both look at me confused. "You are so quiet that you can hang out with just about anybody."

"Huh…" She looks at my brother as if to observe him. "You know, that actually makes sense."

Minato raises an eyebrow.

The three of us continue to make small chatter while working on our homework. Within five minutes, however, I am finished. It wasn't that hard nor a large amount so it was easy to get done. I stand up from my seat.

Yukari looks up from her work. "Finished already?"

"Yep." Minato looks at me and starts to rise from his seat but I hold up my hand to stop him. "I'm not feeling my best so I'm going to my room."

He hesitates for only a split second before sitting back down as she says, "Oh… Well, feel better."

I smile reassuringly and nod my head. I head for the stairs with my things. Once I am sure I'm at a safe distance from them I sigh lightly. I really am not feeling too good. I'm probably just a bit tired or something. Either way, it would be best for me to head for bed early. Plus Minato and Yukari could use the time alone in order to get to know each other a bit better. I smirk. He better not make it awkward or anything.

It doesn't take too long for me to reach my room. I kick off my shoes and drop my bag onto the floor. I'm too lazy to properly change so I simply replace my skirt with black shorts and take off the jacket before lying down on the bed. Without me realizing it, I end up falling asleep.

~skip~

A loud noise has me waking up with a start. I sit up and look around with startled eyes. The atmosphere doesn't feel right. It feels almost exactly like that night Minato and I first arrived. I stand up while glancing at my window. The green lighting... Before I can really process anything there is someone banging on my door.

"Wake up!" Yukari exclaims. She sounds so desperate and scared that I am frozen in place. "Sorry, I'm coming in!" The door is forced open as bursts inside. "I don't have time to explain. We have to get out of here, now!

"O-Okay!" I respond quickly.

Just what is going on?! I really wish I could ask but she just said that she didn't have time to explain. I'm honestly scared. This doesn't stop me from moving out of my dorm room, though, with her not far behind.

" Hurry! Downstairs! We'll leave through the back door!" I nod my head. I'm ready to move when she stops me. "Wait! …Take this, just in case."

That's when I finally notice the weapon she had been carrying with her. It's a long stick with a blade at the end. I immediately recognize it as being a naginata. I remember learning about this type of weapon in class at some time before. I'm hesitant about taking the weapon but I don't seem to have much choice in the matter. If she is giving me this then whatever danger is happening is really serious.

"Okay, let's go! Follow me!"

Yukari starts running down the hall and I quickly follow behind. It takes me a bit as we make our way down the stairs but I eventually figure out the best way to carry the weapon. I thought we would continue down the stairs but she goes down the hallway on the second floor. That's when I remember about Minato. We didn't have to go all the way down to the end because he was already outside his room looking startled.

"What's going on?!" he calls when he spots us.

"No time to explain!" Yukari says quickly. "Just take this and follow me!"

He is handed a short sword. He seems startled by the site of the weapon but takes it anyway. He looks up at me and sees my weapon. Yukari makes her way back down the hallway leaving us no room to talk. We follow her down to the first floor. When on the first floor we make it to the back entrance. I see some relief cross her face.

"Alright, we should be safe now-."

She is suddenly cut off my Mitsuru's voice. "Takeba, do you read me?!"

It came as quite a shock because, although I hear her, I don't see her anywhere near us.

Yukari was startled as well but answers, "Y-Yes! I hear you!"

"Be careful! There's more than one enemy! The one we're fighting isn't the one Akihiko saw!"

"What?!" she practically screams. Banging noises come from the back door making us all jump away from it. Her gasp and shaky voice makes me all the more on edge. "L-Let's pull back!"

The girl takes the lead once more. I don't want to find out what is banging on that door so I quickly follow suit. Minato is faster than me so he is a bit ahead of me. On the second floor glass breaks making a short scream escape unwillingly from my mouth.

"What was that?!" Yukari exclaims. Some rumbling noises can be heard. "It's getting closer!" Some more noises reach our ears before she speaks again. "K-Keep moving! Hurry!"

We are almost at the third floor when I trip on one of the top steps and land harshly on my hands and knees.

"Minako!" Minato exclaims. He dashes to where I am and grabs my arm in order to pull me up. "Come on! We gotta keep moving!"

I nod shakily before running up with the two. Minato stays close behind me as we finally pass through the fourth floor to the door that leads to the rooftop. Yukari holds it open as the two of us make our way through. I collapse to my knees with my head hung and panting heavily as I hear the sound of a lock clicking.

Yukari sighs. "The door's locked. I think we're safe for now…"

The noises from earlier make a cold shiver run throughout my entire body. I slowly raise my head to look at the edge of the roof. A large, dark hand rises holding a blue mask with the numeral number 1 on its forehead. My eyes widen into pure shock. It is facing us causing another shiver to run through me. More hands appear either grabbing onto the building or wielding swords. As it makes its way onto the roof's surface I finally will my legs to function in order to stand up and take several steps back.

"You gotta be kidding me…!" Yukari exclaims. "It climbed up the wall…?!" There is a pause of silence between the three of us as we look at the creature that now stands before us. I look at her and she looks at me. "That's the thing that attacked this place…" When Minato looks at her she meets his gaze. "We call them Shadows!" Something flickers through her eyes as if she just remembered something important. "O-Oh yeah… I have to fight…" Her eyes return to the shadow. I can see that her body is shaking. "I… I can summon mine… No problem…"

I had no idea what she was saying to herself. When she pulls out a gun, the same one she had when we first arrived, and points it to her head my eyes widen much more. What is she doing?! Is she seriously considering suicide?! This doesn't make sense!

The shadow finally makes its move and attacks with some kind of fire attack. She exclaims in pain and falls back causing her to lose her grip on the gun. I watch as it slides to Minato's feet. I run over to the girl.

"A-Are you alright?!" I ask in a panic. That looked painful!

"Y-Yeah…"

Some invisible force compels me to turn my head towards Minato. He is now pointing the gun at his head with his eyes closed. My eyes widen and I felt like things were moving in slow motion. I want to say something but nothing will come out. Something unexpected is going to happen. I can feel it. I'm still afraid that it looks too much like suicide but, somehow, I know that's not what this is.

"Per…so….na."

The trigger is pulled just as his eyes snap open and a loud sound rings out into the air. Blue light surrounds him from his feet up. From what seems like within him some kind of creature emerges. It has a light blue body with something right below the chest area, white and grey, robotic-like arms and legs, a red scarf around the neck, a dark face, and pure white hair. The hair style reminds me that of Minato's. On the creature's back is what looks like a harp. Its red eyes are slanted into a serious expression mirroring Minato's.

"Thou are I and I am thou." It says with a deep voice.

My awe-stricken gaze is broken when my brother suddenly exclaims in pain and falls to his knees. The creature seems to be in pain, too, and begins to change.

"Minato!" I exclaim.

He screams and the transformation is complete. The thing that now hovers above my brother is a tall, ominous creature. All black with a strange white mask on its face. Attached to it by chains is a cape of caskets.

It unsheathes its sword and begins to hack away like a mad man at the shadow; ripping it apart like it was nothing. When the killing was done I remember how to move and quickly ran to my twin's side.

"Minato! Are you okay?!"

He weakly nods his head. From the corner of my eye I see that the creature has turned to face us. I look up at it with wide eyes which soon narrow uneasily. I instinctively wrap my arms protectively around him. It stares at us for a few moments before suddenly changing back to its original form. I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. I feel a head rest against my shoulder making me look down. Minato's eyes are closed.

"Minato?" I ask.

There is no response. Whatever happened to him must have really worn him out. I decide to let him be.

"Is it over…?" Yukari asks. I had forgotten that she was here so it was a surprise to suddenly hear her speak. Then I hear a gasp. "It's still moving…!" I look to where her eyes are locked and see two pieces of the shadow. They are making her way towards her. "No… G-Get away from me!"

As gently as possible, I lie Minato down on the ground. Then I picked up my dropped weapon and run until I am between her and the creatures. I hold up the naginata in a defensive pose. I remember the gun. What is it exactly? Could I do the same that Minato did? The fear of seeing what had happened to him has me hesitating. I don't know what all of this is, but what I do know is that I need to kill these shadows.

One of them charges at me. I swing the naginata down and slice it. The creature moves back. It's not dead but at least it's injured.

"Yukari! Grab me the gun!" I yell.

"R-Right!"

As she runs off to where Minato is laying the second one comes at me. Again, I bring the blade down. However, it manages to dodge the attack and continue to come at me. I didn't have enough time to dodge as I was bringing up the weapon so it manages to hit me. I use the butt of the staff to shove it away from me. Yukari is back with the silver gun. The metal is cold as it touches palm of my hand. I hesitate for a second. However, the need to protect Yukari and Minato is what trumps over my fear. I point it to the side of my head and take a deep breath. My will is strong as I glare at the shadows.

"Persona!" I exclaim just before pulling the trigger.

The sudden energy bursts from my head and throughout my entire body. The same blue light which surrounded my brother is now surrounding me. From within my soul something emerges. When I look it looks just like the one my brother summoned. The difference is that it has a yellow body, white face, long auburn hair, and the harp on its back is in the shape of a heart.

"Thou are I and I am thou." It says to me with a strong voice.

The word Orpheus appears in my mind. Is that its name? I couldn't allow myself to be distracted anymore. The shadows look like they are about to attack. I point at them.

"Orpheus!"

Orpheus moves swiftly with the harp-like weapon in her hands. She bashes it down onto one of them. The shadow lets out a cry of pain before disappearing. The other shadow is moving towards me but it isn't quick enough. She again brings down her weapon upon the shadow. And just like that the shadows were gone.

She disappears but I can feel her within my soul. I can feel that we both have grown stronger. I look over at Yukari to see her in that expression of awe and shock. It relieves me to see that she is safe. The exhaustion takes over me and I find myself losing consciousness. My knees give out from under me and I collapse to the ground.

Yukari gasps before running over to me. "Are you okay?!" My eyes close and I feel myself slipping away from reality. "Come on…! Please…!" My mind feels so far away. This brings about a familiar feel to it all. This alone reassures me. If only I could share the same to her so she can calm down. "Can you hear me?! Answer me!" I'm sorry, Yukari.

I am pulled through a blue door into the Velvet Room. Igor is sitting behind the desk like the last time with a smirk on his face. Also like last time, Minato is already there. He turns his head to face me. He looks calm which is enough to make me feel relieved. I was worried when he was in such pain.

"It's so nice to see you again." Igor greets. "You became unconscious after awakening to your "power"." I walk up to the desk and stand beside my twin. "I see that it was Orpheus that heeded your calling, just like Minato. That power is called a Persona… It is a manifestation of your psyche."

I furrow my brows in confusion. "Persona?"

"A Persona is a facet of your personality that surfaces as you react to external stimuli… You can think of it as a mask that protects you as you brave many hardships."

I pause. "That's what 'Orpheus' is?"

I see Minato nodding from the corner of my eye.

Igor continues with explaining. "When you use your Persona ability, you must channel your inner strength. The ability evolves as you develop your Social Links; your emotional ties with others. The stronger your Social Links, the more powerful your Persona ability. Please, remember that." I still didn't fully understand what he was saying. Some things seem to make sense, though, so I nod once. "Now, then… Time marches on in your world. I shouldn't keep you here any longer. Next time we meet, you will come here of your own accord. Until then… Farewell."

Of my own accord? "Thank you." I reply.

"Bye." Minato replies.

The Velvet Room disappears.

April 19th

From darkness I feel my head getting clearer. Outside sounds were reaching my ears, the feel of a blanket could be felt on top of me, and light is trying to pass my eyelids. I slowly open my eyes. The light was painful but I blink rapidly and eventually I can see just fine. I am greeted by a white ceiling and wonder where I am. I finally realize that I am not alone in this room for there is someone beside me. I tilt my head to the side and see it's Yukari.

Her eyes grow wide. "You're awake…!" She stands up from her seat and stands at the bedside. "Um, how do you feel?"

I rub at my eyes with one of my hands then continue to glance around. This place is unfamiliar to me. "Where am I…?"

She sighs lightly relief and closes her eyes. "Thank goodness. You finally came to…" She mumbles this more so to herself. She opens her eyes and seems to realize that I have asked a question. "Oh, this is Tatsumi Memorial Hospital. It's just a short walk from the station. The doctor couldn't find anything wrong with you. He said you were just exhausted…" I lightly nod my head in understanding. "Um… I'm sorry I couldn't do anything…" When I look her in the eyes I can see the guilt is there. "But, your power… It was amazing."

"What were those things?"

She blinks in confusion before understanding what I meant by my question. "You mean the Shadows?" I nod. "They're what we're fighting against. And the power you used… We call it "Persona"." The word makes my eyes widen slightly. This is what Igor was explaining. "We'll explain everything later. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before…" She seems very hesitant as she tries to say something. I keep silent and only watch her with gentle eyes as if not to rush her. "I, uh… I wanted to tell you that… I'm sorta like you."

I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"My dad died in an accident when I was little…" My eyes widen in surprise. "And my mom and I aren't exactly on good terms…" She goes silent for a moment. "You're all alone too, right?" I hesitantly nod. Technically I still have Minato, but I know what she means. Our parents are dead so we only have each other. "To be honest, I already know about your past… But, it didn't seem fair, so I wanted you to know about mine…"

So that's why she is telling me all this. That's nice of her. She doesn't really have to but I appreciate the sentiment. It seems that she is about to explain more so I let her.

"It was back in '99… There was a big explosion in the area."

My heart clenches and I feel a sudden headache surface. The year and the event seem so very important to me but I can't recall why. I know something happened to my parents. I don't remember what, though. All I can recall is their faces when I saw them the very last time.

"Supposedly, my dad died in the blast, but nobody really knows what happened… He was working in the lab run b the Kirijo group." Yukari sighs. "So, I'm hoping that if I stick around long enough, I'll find out something. That's why I'm going to Gekkoukan High, and why I was there when this happened to you." She pauses as she looks down with a sad expression. "Of course, I panicked and wasn't much help… It was my first time fighting them, too." She looks me in the eyes. "I'm sorry… You wouldn't have to go through all this if I wasn't such a coward…"

I smile gently. "I was scared, too." That is the complete and honest truth.

Yukari's eyes widen. "Really…?" I nod. However, she still has that guilty look in her eyes. "But still…" Suddenly, she smiles and laughs softly. "And here I am telling you all this the minute you wake up." I smile back. "While I was waiting, I thought to myself, "I've been hiding so many things from her… As soon as she wakes up, I'll tell her the truth." So, thanks for listening. I've been wanting to share that story with someone for a long time." That's when she stands up. "…Alright, I'm gonna get going. I'll let the others know you woke up." Her body turns to leave but then she pauses and looks back at me. "…Oh, and, uh… You don't have to be formal around me or anything." She smiles genuinely. "Us second-year girls gotta stick up for each other, after all."

I giggle and smile brightly. "Right."

"B-Bye."

"Bye."

With one last smile, Yukari is out of the hospital room. I lean back and glance out the window which gives me a good view of the area around me. I wonder how Minato is doing…

April 20th

Another morning means another day. This means another day of school. Minato and I have been out for almost two weeks. I imagine catching up is going to be quite difficult for us. Trying to explain why we were gone for so long isn't going to be easy, either. As my twin and I walk together I see the familiar grinning face of the hat-wearing Junpei.

"Yo, long time no see."

"Yeah." I reply with a smile.

"What's up? Did you both have an upset stomach or something?"

"Or something." Minato answers.

Junpei, to my surprise, simply nods. I thought there would be twenty questions or something. Instead, that's the only response to the matter and the topic is dropped. "Anyways, I got something to tell ya."

"What is it?" he asks.

He glances sideways nervously. "Actually…" Then, just like that, his eyes widen as he looks back at us. "Oh, wait! I'm not supposed to say anything!" I tilt my head to the side and furrow my brows in confusion while Minato raises an eyebrow. "Sorry, man." He chuckles and scratches the back of his head. What is he hiding?

Yukari shows up and looks at Junpei with annoyance (as per usual). "Sheesh, someone's full of energy today… I could hear you from all the way over there." To show emphasis she points at the area where she came from which was several feet away from the front gates.

Junpei grins. "Hey, it's Yuka-tan." He looks at us then back at her. "You three live in the same dorm, yet came separately today? Is it…" he suddenly smirks, "because you'll cause too much many rumors again, hm?"

She frowns. "What? I just left a little late!" She sighs. "Anyways, I need to talk to them." She smiles at Junpei and waves. "Bye-bye, Junpei."

His eyes widen in disbelief. "Whaaaaat…"

"Come on, Junpei." Minato says stepping up beside him. "I'll walk with you."

Yukari looks at him in surprise. "But-"

"It's okay. Whatever I need to know Minako will tell me later." He looks at me and smiles. "Right?"

I smile and nod. "Yeah, sure."

He waves at Yukari before putting a hand on Junpei's back and leading him away from the both of us. Once the two are at a far enough distance she turns to face me.

"Are you feeling better?" she asks.

I smile brightly. "Yep! Much better!"

She laughs. There is hesitation as she tries to say whatever it is she needs to say next. A light blush forms at her cheeks. "…Minako." I patiently wait for her to continue. "Um, sorry to hit you with this first thing in the morning… but Ikutsuki-san wants to talk to you today. Both you and Minato. Come to the 4th floor of the dorm after school, okay?" She smiles. "Don't forget."

"Okay." I say while smiling back. "I promise not to forget."

Yukari smiles more. "Alright."

She enters the school building. I should do so, too, if I don't want to be late for class. Before I do I pull out my cell phone and pull up Minato's number. I send him a quick text summarizing what Yukari tells me. Once the message is sent I return it to inside my bag and walk into school.

~skip~

Mr. Ono is a strange teacher. He has this helmet on the top of his head and I don't think he ever takes it off. It's easy to tell what part of history he loves. Not just because of the head décor but the fact that he doesn't even try to hide it while teaching class.

"That's enough about mammoths… I don't see the big deal. They're just huge elephants. And that wraps it up for the Stone Age." He sighs. "…I'm tired of lessons about stones." His voice becomes animated as he says, "I'd rather talk about the Sengoku era! Japanese history's not that exciting until then." Dejected once more, he continues. "Though I'm paid to do this, so I've gotta… It's tough being an adult." Most of the time it seems like he is talking to himself rather than addressing the class. "Next is… the Jomon period? When do the samurai get their day in the sun?! I'll just ask a question at random and call it a day. Hmm…" He looks around the classroom looking for a victim someone to call upon. His eyes land on Junpei of all people. "Hey, Junpei!" The said person's eyes widen at the sudden exclamation. "What was the style of houses in the Jomon period called?"

He visibly pales as he struggles to find an answer. "Uhh… How am I supposed to know about something way back then?" He turns to Minato and whispers frantically, "Quick, Minato! What the heck is he talking about?!"

I hear him sigh and glance at him. "Mud huts."

Junpei repeats the answer while everyone else in the classroom gasps in awe. I cover my mouth in order to not giggle. It was nice of him to help.

"That's correct." Mr. Ono replies. He doesn't seem to care much, though. "Mud huts were built by digging a hole in the ground and supporting the roof." He pauses before sighing. "It's no use. I can't get interested. Ugh… I wanna get to the age of katanas. Everything else is so dull…"

Junpei becomes annoyed. "Hey…! I answered right, and I don't get any credit? Tch…" He sighs. "Oh well." He turns to my brother and smiles. "Thanks, Minato."

The classmates whisper to each other about how Minato helped Junpei out and how he is smart. It's like when I helped him out last time. I still don't see the reason why they are so impressed by one person helping another out. Is it that shocking? The answer could not have been that hard to guess. Then again, most students don't really care about school. Oh well.

~skip~

It's the end of the school day. I remember what Yukari told me this morning so I after I switch shoes I head straight out. Right by the school gates is Minato and Kenji talking. Kenji is the first one to spot me as he lightly smirks and waves. I wave back the same time Minato turns around to look at me.

"Hi, guys." I say. "What's up?"

Kenji is the first to reply with, "I was keeping Minato company until you showed up."

"Oh?" I look at Minato. "You didn't have to wait for me."

"I wanted to." he replies simply.

"I'll get going now." Kenji cuts in. He turns to my brother. "See yah tomorrow."

"See yah." Minato replies.

I wave bye to which he returns with a nod of his head. When Kenji is gone I turn to look at Minato.

"Because of the text, right?" He nods which causes me to smile. "Well, thanks."

He smiles back. Together we walk down to the station in order to catch the train. I wonder what this is going to be about. Maybe it will have something to do with the shadow attack. Hopefully some questions that have been bothering me since the night we first came here will finally be answered. If that is the case then it is about time.

~skip~

When we enter through the doors into the lounge room there is no one around.

"Hello?" I call out. There is no reply. "Huh… That's odd." I say more so to myself.

"She said to meet up at the 4th floor, right?" Minato asks.

"Oh yeah, that's right."

"That is probably where everyone is at."

I nod. So together we walk up the flight of stairs all the way up to the 4th floor. On the way there I get flashbacks of the night when we and Yukari were dashing up these very same stairs in order to get away from the danger. That was a scary moment. I can't believe it has been almost two weeks since that night. It's a long time to be knocked out. The Velvet Room made it feel like it was only a few minutes that had passed. So strange.

At the large double doors of the meeting room I take a deep breath. Minato is the one to open both of the doors. He walks through with me following behind. The people in the room turn to look at us. There is Yukari, Mitsuru, the Chairman, and an unfamiliar male with shockingly white hair. Mitsuru and Yukari are sitting together on the couch while the Chairman and the stranger are sitting in their own chairs.

Mr. Ikutsuki smiles. "Ah, there you two are. I'm glad that you're both okay. I wasn't sure what I'd do if anything had happened to you." I smile at his kind words of concern. "The reason I asked you here is because I needed to talk to you both. Please, have a seat." He motions towards the seats. We were about to when he suddenly says, "Oh, before that. I believe I mentioned him earlier, but this is Akihiko." He motions towards the male with white hair.

The male smiles and waves a hand as he says, "How ya doin'?"

Minato nods his head in greeting while I smile and wave timidly. Minato takes a seat on the couch next to Yukari. It would be a little bit crowded if I sat there as well so I decide to take one of the empty seats that are near Akihiko.

Once the two of us are settled Mr. Ikutsuki continues. "Okay, let me start off by asking you this…" He looks at the both of us with intrigued eyes. "Would you believe me if I said that a day consists of more than 24 hours?"

My eyes widen. "Wait, what?" I ask out loud without even realizing it.

"…Excuse me?" Minato asks in disbelief.

More than 24 hours? That sounds- Actually… no. That wouldn't be overly odd. I mean, I've been into a place called the Velvet Room, attacked by shadows, and even summoned a Persona. Why not believe an extra hour or two in a day?

"Do you remember the night the both of you came here?" Mitsuru asks. "You had to have noticed the signs… The streetlights went out…" My eyes widen slowly. "Nothing was working… There were coffins everywhere…" At that point I was looking at Minato. As he looked as me I knew we both understood. "Didn't it feel like you were in a different time…? That's the Dark Hour; a time period hidden between one day and the next."

As I look back at Mitsuru I start thinking about how glad I am to finally have a straight forward answer as to why that night was so strange. I am still a bit confused, though.

"Hidden?" I ask.

Akihiko is the one to answer my question. "I guess it's more like something people aren't aware of. But the Dark Hour does exist. It occurs each night at midnight. It'll happen tonight, and every night to come. Normal people don't realize it, since they're all sleeping inside their coffins." My eyes widen once more. So that explains all the coffins. They aren't really random ones standing around but actually people. Then how come we weren't turned into coffins? "But, that's not what makes the Dark Hour so interesting." He smirks. "…You saw those creatures. We call them "Shadows". They only appear during the Dark Hour, and attack anyone not in a coffin. It's our job to defeat them." He effectively pauses before continuing. "Sounds exciting, huh?

This seems to frustrate Mitsuru. "Akihiko! Why are you always like that? You just got hurt the other day!"

"Now, now." Mr. Ikutsuki intervenes. "He does his work well." He turns his attention to my brother and I. "Long story short… We're the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad; SEES for short. On paper, we're classified as a school club. But in reality, this group is dedicated to defeating the Shadows. Mitsuru is the leader. I'm the club advisor."

Mitsuru, back to herself, adds, "A Shadow feeds on the mind of its prey; the victim becomes a living corpse. They're responsible for most of the incidents on the news, if not all of them."

"How do you fight them?" Minato asks.

Mr. Ikutsuki answers, "Although rare, there are those who can function during the Dark Hour. Some may even awaken to a power that enables them to fight the Shadows. That's "Persona"; the power you used the other night." So that is the explanation as to why all the people in this room are not affected by this mysterious "Dark Hour" thing that makes other people turn into coffins. That also explains Orpheus. Igor already explained a bit about this to us. "The Shadows can only be defeated by Persona-users. Which means, it's all up to you guys."

Minato nods. "I see."

I look down at my lap. That seems like a lot of stress just a group of students to handle. How are they able to handle it?

The Chairman smiles at him. "I'm glad you're quick to understand."

He then looks at me as if expecting something. I become nervous.

"U-Uh… Yeah."

Mitsuru suddenly places two cases on the table and opens them. In each one is a silver gun. They look just like the one Yukari had the night we got attacked by that large shadow. That's how Minato and I were able to summon our Persona.

"What he's trying to say is, we want you to join us. We've prepared an Evoker for you. We'd like you to lend us your strength."

An Evoker. So that's what the guns are called. I look from the guns to Minato hesitantly. We look at each other for a few seconds. My hands clutch my knees tightly as my lips form a hard line.

A nod of my head seems to be enough for him for he looks at Mitsuru and replies with, "Alright."

Yukari sighs with much relief. "I was afraid you'd say no…" She looks at my twin then at me with a big smile. "Welcome aboard!"

I smile back though it feels a bit forced.

The Chairman seems relieved as well as he smiles at the both of us. "Thank you both so much. I'm really glad." Then he pauses. "Oh, I almost forgot… About your room assignment…" My eyes widen slightly. I had completely forgotten that our rooms weren't our official rooms. "Why don't you just stay here, in your current room? I don't know what the holdup is, but I guess it worked out in the end." He chuckles and I sigh softly to myself. Good.

Yukari looks at him confused. "Holdup? But, wasn't that-" She cuts herself off. "Oh, never mind…"

I look at her and then the chairman confused. Suddenly, I hear a sharp sound followed by a voice within my head.

"Thou art I… and I am thou..." I place a hand on the side of my head and close one of my eyes. "Thou hast our established a new bond… Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Fool Arcana…"

Once the voice had gone quiet I felt some kind of inner strength build inside of me. I feel like this is one of the things Igor was talking about before. What did he call it? Right; Social Links. So… With new people that I get to know and meet… those will create Social Links? So that means different Arcanas. How will that affect me and Personas? What about Minato?

"Hey. You okay?"

I jump and look up to see Akihiko, who is now standing, looking down at me with concern. It makes me a couple of seconds to collect my thoughts and return my hand to my lap.

"Y-Yeah. I'm fine."

"Okay. Just making sure."

I smile politely at him. "Thanks."

He smiles a little and nods before exiting the room along with Mitsuru and the Chairman. Yukari looks at me seemingly to want to say something but changes her mind and instead leaves with an awkward wave of goodbye. This leaves me and Minato alone. It took me a moment to realize this, too, because my thoughts were drifting off again.

"Minako." I look up at my brother. "If you don't want to do this you can tell me."

I shake my head. "It would be wrong to ditch after everything we have learned and gone through."

"You still look unsure."

I press my lips together and stare down at my lap, my hands tightly holding each other. "It's just… a lot to take in."

He sits beside me and drapes an arm atop my shoulders. I lean my head against him and blankly stare ahead. This is it. After today our lives are forever changed.

~skip~

That special time of the night is here. I can tell because I was reading when my lamp suddenly went out. I look outside and the moon has that creepy look to it along with the green lighting. I close my book and lie down in order to fall asleep. That's when I feel someone's presence in the room. I sit up and see the boy in the black-and-white striped outfit I had seen my first night here. He is smiling casually at me as if this is normal. I, on the other hand, am staring at him with wide eyes.

"Hi, how are you?"

I blink a several times, unsure of what to say. There were a lot of questions I wanted to ask. For some reason, though, the first thing I think to ask is, "How did you get in here?" Then again, that is a pretty fair question.

"I'm always with you…" He chuckles. I am not sure what he means by that. Wait a minute… Is he a ghost?! Since when could I see dead people?! "Where is Minato?" he suddenly asks.

Finally back to my normal self, I reply, "He is in the room downstairs. Did you need to talk to him?"

"I want to talk to the both of you together."

I nod slowly before standing up. I take his hand. He is not a ghost like I thought. I can hold his hand so he must be real. He appears and vanishes like one, though, which confuses me. While I was lost in my thoughts for a brief moment I failed to notice the surprised look on his face. I refocus on the task at hand and lead him out of my room. We quietly walk down the hallway to the steps. It would be bad if anyone else woke up because I wouldn't know how to explain this.

Once down the stairs and down the end of the hallway I knock on Minato's door. I try to be quiet about it but it's hard when I need him to hear it. After a moment of waiting I get impatient and open the door myself. When I walk in Minato is sitting up in bed and rubbing his eyes. He immediately is awake and alert when he sees the boy that is with me.

"What's going on?" he asks.

"He wanted to talk to the both of us together." I reply.

I let go of the boy's hand and sit on the edge of the bed. He is standing before us with a casual expression.

"Soon, the end will come. I remembered, so I thought I should tell you."

"The end?" I ask.

"The end of everything." He looks away and seems to be confused about something. "…But to be honest, I don't really know what it is." He looks back at us. "Oh, looks like you've awakened to your power… …and an unusual power it is. A power that takes many forms, yet it is bound by none… It may prove to be your salvation, depending on where you end up." Minato and I look at each other. "Do you remember when we first met?" I look back at him. "I expect you to honor your commitment." His smile returns. "I'll be watching you, even if you forget about me…" Neither Minato nor I say anything. Probably because we have no idea what to say in response to everything he just shared. "Okay then, see you later."

His disappears in the very spot he stands. I look back at Minato. "...What just happened?"

"Apparently the end is coming." He says with a shrug.

I frown. "You are supposed to be taking this seriously."

"I am." He replies with a straight face. "The end is coming. We don't know when, why, or how it is going to happen."

"Yet we can stop it."

He frowns. "How do we, though?"

For a long moment we don't say anything. Suddenly, a yawn forcefully escapes from my mouth. He smiles a little.

"We can't think too much about it if we are tired."

I giggle. "Agreed." I stand up from the bed and make my way to the door. I glance over my shoulder to look at him. "Good night, Minato."

"Good night, Minako."

I smile before exiting his room. As I make my way back to mine the stuff the boy said repeat in my head like an audio book. I wish I could figure out what all this means. However, like my twin said before, it's hard to think when tired. Hopefully I can get some good, well-deserved sleep.

Tomorrow is another day.

---

So how was the first chapter? Was it good, bad, interesting, ect? Why don't you leave a review with your thoughts and opinions in order to let me know. No flames, please. Those are simply pointless. Helpful criticism, however, is acceptable. After all, this wouldn't be posted online if I didn't want to hear anyone's feedback. lol

Oh, and sorry for the "~skip~"s.I usually use asterisks but for some reason they won't appear on the document. Neither will any other symbol I try to use instead of those. Very frustrating. _

Well, that's it for now. Next is SuperNova23's turn with his chapter so you should all look forward to that. Until then, see you guys later. Bye~! *waves* ^_^