I'd just like to say that I edited this Chapter, and that I'm working on the second chapter after months of no progress.

Well, I should say this fic is inspired by a couple of fics that jump-started this idea.

Read on then.

Julyanne: Hello, I'm a Rune Fairy, and I'll be presenting the disclaimer. -Ahem-

Characters, art, and storylines depicted in the game(and this fiction) are purely work of fiction. Any similarities to persons living or dead is purely consequential. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Atlus USA or its employees.

That said, Hirume is NOT part of Atlus USA.

Did I forget anything...? Oh! Hirume doesn't own Persona 3, 4, or -filtered- but does own a Persona 3 FES CD, Persona 4 CD, and a laptop with a burnt Video Card that restarts, hangs, and gets the Blue Screen of Death! when you so much as drop a tissue on it. And the rune fairies. There are three by the way, but Hirume says I'm the sanest one. By the way, does that mean we're slaves?

Edit (November 14 2014): Added extra scenes and polished the grammar.

Chapter one: Kimi no Kioku/Memories of You

Her eyes as red and vibrant as blood slowly opened, the misty lights of the room giving their clouded gaze a stronger feel. They blinked once, twice, before registering what they were seeing and turned from the velvet carpeting to the man seated over to the other side of her.

"Ah, I see you're awake." The hunchbacked man with the most peculiar nose said. "Welcome back to the Velvet Room."

The man's voice The girl felt a smile worm its way to her face and tried to speak, but no words came out. Instead, she settled to just mouthing what she thought was the man's name.

Igor

The simple gesture earned her a pleased grin from the man. He wears a ceaseless tuxedo, the fabric not wrinkling even with his most minute of movements. His bloodshot eyes are comically huge, which made him even more eerie by his balding head, pointed ears, and frail body.

He waved a hand to his side, emphasizing the space beside him. "I apologize for my assistants' absence this evening. Your predicament caused quite a stir, but they did ask me to tell you 'Welcome Back.'"

The girl nodded, taking in the features of the room she's in. She imagined that the Velvet Room is supposed to resemble an ever-rising, old fashioned elevator, but instead what greeted her is a bizarre mix of a 17th century galleon and a planetarium.

The room is carpeted in blue, curtains made of smooth velvet hung on the walls of the room. On the far end of the room behind Igor is a large bay window that takes up nearly the entire wall and giving view to a sea of stars. The sight of the moon orbiting the planet outside made the girl wonder if she's somewhere in outer-space, but the seemingly thin glass window made her think otherwise.

Chrome chairs with indigo cushions and tables furnished the room, and the girl noticed that she is sitting on a chair with a backrest shaped like a harp and a heart. In the middle of her and Igor laid a table centerpiece, an empty canvas and a compass resting atop it. To the right are a row of doors leading to who knows where, while a bar occupied her left with its shelves filled with all kinds of alcoholic beverages. A lone blue butterfly rested on the cork of a champagne bottle, its wings flapping lazily.

Everything in the room is perceived clearly despite the pale lighting, contrasting the dream-like essence the room has.

Igor chuckled at the girl who continued to marvel at the sight. "This room reflects your perception of the world and the sea of your soul. A place between dreams and reality, mind and matter. It is this room that only people who have signed a contract may enter. The changes you see right now shows that something has changed inside of you. A change in your psyche."

The girl seemed to think about his words before allowing him to continue.

"Now, you may be asking why you are here, correct?" The girl nodded, earning another chuckle from Igor. "Do not worry, this is all a result of your previous Journey, or should I say a reward earned by a fragment of your soul? All of these are result of your actions and choices. Everything you are about to receive, you have earned. All you have to do is to walk through that door and continue on with your life."

Igor raised a hand to at the glowing blue door behind the girl.

"Be warned, the life you are about to return to will not be your old one. His has passed, the one you will be taking is different and unique, but worry not for everything has been taken care of for you."

The girl furrowed her brows, gazing curiously in order to convey her question.

"Ah, yes. The Seal." Igor folded his hands in front of his mouth, his head tilted slightly down. The butterfly flapped up and down the cork, as if it was hopping in place and drawing the man's eyes towards it. The girl followed the motion, entranced by the small insect's tiny movements. "Truth be told, we underestimated your desire to live. Humanity is truly boundless in Potential."

The man chuckled again.

"But I digress. Do not worry about the Seal. It has already been taken care of." Igor's eyes twinkled in delight, his smile shifting into an unreadable intentions.

The girl straightened up, tears had already formed at the corner of her eyes. She walked to the glowing velvet door and grabbed the knob. She turned back to look at him one more time before opening it to reveal blinding light from the other side.

"Till we meet again, Minato-sama." Those were the last words she heard before her world was enveloped in white.

She woke up to her mind in a haze, her limbs feeling as heavy as lead, and her eyes trying their hardest just to stay open. Maybe it had to do with what Igor said, about her having a 'second life'.

Or maybe it was because she's laying on a bed in the hospital. Yeah, that makes more sense.

She tried to sit up, but the effort to just lift her arms were too much for her, and she ended up back on the bed. Her eyes trailed to the IV stuck to her arm, and she wondered how long she's been here to have needed that. She tried to remember how she got here, but her memories are a total blank.

Looking down at herself now clad in a pristine white hospital gown, she noted that she's a healthy, albeit pale and skinny girl around 18 or so. Brown hair framed her face, flowing just past her shoulders. A glance to the window reflected blood-red eyes, looking perfect on her flawless face.

Satisfied with her little observation, she realized that she's currently in one of the private rooms in the hospital, a little after lunch if the bright sky and singing birds are anything to go by. Boredom quickly overtook her, and she contemplated on whether to call the nurse, or just lay down and sleep for a while. She decided that, yes she had enough rest for a while and tried to reach for the button to call the nurse.

Just then, a sharp pain assaulted her, forcing her to hold her head in a futile effort to lessen the agony. Images, names, events and other thoughts flashed before her, ingraining a life's worth of memories into her. As something resurfaced in her, some slipped away to the deepest pits of her, and soon the bizarre room and everything related was soon forgotten. The pain receded, and the girl remembered who she is.

Kiboumi Hamuko, a senior in Gekkukan High School and a member of the 2010 student council. She got involved in an accident while hanging out with her best friend and captain Iwasaki Rio, a dedicated member of the Tennis team.

Apparently, they just finished an exhibition match and was about to head over to Paulownia Mall to meet up with Rio's childhood friend when an accident at Moonlight Bridge sent both of them over the rail and down to the water below. Or at least that's what she thought happened. She blacked-out as soon as her head slammed on something.

Hamuko was broken out of her musings when the door to her room clicked open and a familiar figure walked in.

Said figure had her head down with both hands holding on to her school bag. The few strands of hair that aren't kept in her ponytail covers her face, the shoulders drooped and a weary sigh escaped as the girl closed the door behind her. She stayed there for a while leaning against the door seemingly gathering her courage.

The brown-eyed girl counted the times her friend sighed before the girl managed to move closer to her. Six and a half times. How did she managed a half sigh? Well, Rio was always amazing like that.

Rio wiped her face in case some tears managed to escape. She wouldn't visit her friend looking down, even if her friend had been in a coma for months now. The girl's energetic and optimistic nature would hate her for visiting as if she's attending a funeral. At least she still had the chance to wake up and live her life, right?

The black haired girl pushed off the door, slapped herself on the cheeks and then plastered on a smile as she approached. She froze, however, when the supposed-to-be-comatose patient turned from gazing out the window to look at her.

"Hey." The bed-ridden girl's raspy, scratchy, almost inaudible voice said to her. The post-afternoon sun shined a perfect halo around her, making her appear like a true angel, something Rio would readily believe. So it was perfectly understandable why she caught herself gaping. Her friend never looked so... otherworldly as she did now. The image shattered however when Hamuko suddenly pouted and talked again. "Do you always visit me like that? You look like you just played and lost three straight matches."

Her little joke was ignored in favor of the girl latching on to her and shedding tears of joy. She buried herself into the other girl's chest to not only hide her tears, but to confirm that it was not all a cruel dream and that her friend is still in the hospital asleep.

Hamuko caressed the girl listening to the repetitive words of gratitude. It took her the better part of the hour to calm her friend down, in which by then night has fallen. A nurse assigned to check up on her came, saw the scene between the two girls, and left the two in consideration. He'll be back later, with a doctor in tow.

"So." Hamuko started, Rio claiming the seat near the bed. Hamuko noticed that the tennis player had the standard Gekkoukan uniform on (for her). So, the school must have started and Rio came here after classes. Did she attend the club? She doesn't have her racket with her. All of those thoughts raced through her mind, but once question in particular stood among the rest. "How long was I out?"

The bright smile directed at her dimmed a bit as the girl spoke. "Today is January 31, 2011. You were in a coma for more than 4 months."

"Ah, I see." Hamuko's expression didn't change, but it was clear to the other girl that she is obviously sad about what it meant for her. "Sorry Rio, you'll have to wait for a year before we can play together. You alright playing Singles till I catch up?"

"D-don't say that Hamuko! We're friends, right? Of course I'll wait." Rio moved to sit beside the Brown-eyed girl wrapping her in a loose hug around the several tubes connected to the hospital equipment. "I'll help you! You're strong and smart, I'm pretty sure you can catch up with me pretty soon!"

The two enjoyed the slight contact in the warm, comfortable silence. It was Hamuko who broke it.

"Thank you." She said, leaning her head on Rio.

"I should be thanking you." She replied.

"For what?" Hamuko asked, her face scrunching to think of any reason for her friend to thank her.

"For saving my life."

Hamuko frowned, "... You're not blaming yourself for what happened to me, are you?"

Rio laughed a little, pulling back to sit on the chair. "No. I know that if you knew that I did that, you'd stop being my Doubles partner. Well, not it the way you planned, but yeah."

"How did it happen?" Her throat hurt, but she wanted to keep on talking, even if she knows it wouldn't do her any good to speak right now.

"Let's just say..." The tennis player smiled a wistful smile "He knows how to comfort a sad girl."

The Brown-eyed girl tilted her head, confusion evident on her face. She smiled though, so that Rio wouldn't feel disappointed.

And so, Rio continued on the discussion about school, what she missed, and the last four months she was out.

Sometime later, Hamuko found herself alone again in her private room. Rio left for home as the next day was a school day. The nurse kept his promise and dropped by again accompanied by the doctor. After a quick check of the IV, reports and a test of her muscles the doctor smiled at her.

"Well Kiboumi-san, from our records it seems that you're quite healthy. Although, since you've been in a coma for a long time, there might be some things we have missed. I'd like you to stay here and bear us till we run some more tests just to be sure."

Hamuko nodded, marvelling at how the liquid in the IV works. Drip, drip, drip.

"Do you have any discomforts whatsoever?"

The clock struck twelve, and the Brown-eyed girl shook her head. She looked at him behind his frameless glasses, the brightest smile on her face. "My legs are stiff, and it's hard to use my voice. But no, no discomforts."

That morning, Hamuko was given a test after a rather awkward breakfast. The results of her exam were to be announced on the 13th, by then she would already be let out and attending school for a week.

Several complications greeted the Brown-eyed girl when she was released from the hospital.

First, she's recovering from the malnutrition of the past four months. The nutrition from the IV and muscle can only do so much.

Second, she's currently disabled and confined to a wheel chair. She broke her legs during the incident. Coupled with the common problems a post-coma patient experiences, she'll need support to walk until around June or July.

Lastly, there's school. She missed more than a semester, which disqualifies her from graduating. Though a special permission from the principal allowed her to attend the remaining school days, but she still has to repeat the year.

Throughout her ordeal, her friends and housemates supported her, but even then she is unable to fully recover. Finally, the time for graduation arrived.

The song "Time" flowed from Hamuko's headphones hanging around her neck as she watched her friends, classmates, and schoolmates each step on the stage to receive their diplomas. Currently, she's still confined to a wheelchair, but that doesn't stop her from coming to see the ceremony.

Most of the people in attendance have smiles on their faces, some crying joyful tears, but there is a handful whose hearts are not on the program. Two of them are seated to the left of her, a brown haired boy around twelve and a silver-haired teen that Hamuko recognized as an alumnus of the school. A silver Shiba Inu tucked itself under the boy's chair, its tail swishing back and forth ever so often.

Both the boy and the alumnus wore distant looks on their faces, but would snap to attention when graduates they recognize are called, ("Iori Stupei" "Aww, come ON! It's JUNpei!") smile, clap, then continue to mull over their thoughts. The silver-haired alumni would also occasionally steal glances at her, but otherwise left her alone.

The guest speaker, Mitsuru Kirijo, also wasn't paying much attention to the ceremony, but the Brown-eyed girl chalked it up to the responsibilities and problems a company lead faces. She doesn't know how much work the Kirijo head has piled up atop her desk, but to be fair she has to be really distracted not to notice Mr. Edogawa waving a hand- Oh, wait. He's waving one of those abominable concoctions in front of her face. Why he keeps on making those, she and the health committee doesn't know, but it makes the students more reluctant to enter the nurse's office. Ah, Mitsuru just noticed him.

Turning away from the disaster in making (did she just see ice crystals forming around the Kirijo heiress?) she leaned back on her wheelchair and waited for the ceremony to end.

The past month left her with mixed feelings. Her friends have been doting to the point of annoying. In fact, it reached the level where she feels like glass among them. As thankful as she is to the others, it left her fatigued more often than not.

She watched Rio and Kenji's, Rio's childhood friend, relationship develop. It surprised her how far they have gotten over the past months. Sometimes when they hang out together, she becomes a witness to the shameless PDAs the two share with each other leaving her blushing for the three of them. It brings a smile to her face to think that she played a role to get the two together, even if she got caught in a disaster for that to happen. She doesn't regret it though, and would gladly do it again (albeit without the coma)

She relived the moments with Hasegawa Saori, whom she had the pleasure of working with in the health committee, and Fushimi Chihiro, an androphobic member of the student council she befriended while in Hamuko's term as Events Organizer during her junior year. Both became quite independent and more confident of themselves. She knows that Chihiro had someone else besides her to help overcome her fear of men, but for the life of her couldn't remember his name, much less what he looks like. Saori, for her part, left school before finishing her year, but did often send messages to her. She must have been worried that she forgotten about her during the 4 month gap of not being able to reply to her.

Hamuko remembered more good times she spent in the city, times she spent passing the day by the park, or living it out with her friends. Strange thing is, she remembers some odd stuff, like hanging out with Kenji, who she knows she hasn't met before she set him and Rio up on a blind-date before the incident.

"Arisato-senpai" The boy from earlier muttered, catching the attention of both Hamuko and the silver-haired alumnus. She knows that name, a name she holds almost as dear as her own.

"What about him?" The alumni asked after a short pause, either from surprise or confusion, probably both.

"Nothing, it's just..." The boy sighed "It's strange not seeing him around the others, even if it has been over a year now."

The alumni nudged the boy, looking at a group of graduating students that gathered together. The four formed a circle but left a spot between the only male and the blonde girl wearing what seem to be earphones. "Hey, he did that so that we can live on with normal lives, remember? Just live the best you can, that's the only way we can make it up to him."

"... He's coming back, right?" The boy asked, though downcast.

"With everyone working on that, I believe he would." A grim silence fell upon the two, leaving Hamuko slightly guilty for eavesdropping on their conversation. For some reason, she felt that she has the right to know how they are doing.

"...I hope this graduation would end soon." The girl said to herself.

Kirijo Mitsuru's speech signaled the end of the graduation, and the cliques gathered together for what could be their final meeting. Sanada Akihiko, the alumnus, and Amada Ken, the boy with him, went with Mitsuru and four other graduates to the back of the school after the greetings.

Rio and Kenji headed for Paulownia Mall where Hamuko and a few other batchmates will meet up later. Hamuko's parents who returned to Japan from their over-seas work had to leave that morning, but they gave her their well-wishes and apologies for not being there for her, especially now that her condition worsened and leaving her with the family servants again for the next year or so.

Slowly, the people filtered out of the auditorium, and Hamuko asked the day's helper to bring her back home to wait for the time to pass till their meeting.

In the car, she strapped on the safety belt as she waited for Shirogane-san to finish his fight in getting her wheelchair inside the trunk. A heavy thump and an over-enthusiastic "YES!" declared his victory and Hamuko had to suppress the giggle at her servants' antics. She almost felt sorry for him when she saw the expression on his face when she told him that she forgot her medication on the back pocket of the wheelchair.

After the little mishap where she remembered that she placed it on the dash-board compartment, which by then Shirogane-san already brought out the chair, they finally rolled out of Gekkoukan High and down the tree-lined road.

As the car drove down the path lined by blossoming Sakura trees, the brown-eyed girl spotted the same group of graduates from earlier with the two alumni, the kid and a white dog crossing the intersection. She met eyes with one of them, a blonde wearing headphones, as they passed them.

"Aigis...?" Recognition struck her for a second, and she felt strangely close to her. The feeling vanished as soon as Shirogane-san rolled up her window.

"Apologies, Ojou-sama, but you might catch something." He only chucked as the girl complained how pampered she'd been since her coma.

"...Hm? Ai-chan, somethin' the matter?"

Aigis snapped out of her daze and watched the black car driving away from them. She turned to stare at her friends on the sidewalk before looking up to gaze at the sky above. "I... thought I heard someone call me."

"Ah, nostalgia eh?"

"Give her a break Junpei." One of the girls wearing a heart-shaped choker said "Besides, do you even know what nostalgia means?"

"Course I do." He shrugged, and began walking again. "It's such a perfect day! Let's celebrate!"

To be continued

After-notes:
I'm compelled to call this post-notes, but that makes me think of post-its. You know, those yellow square papers you often find in offices?

So, do I have anything to say? Well, I can't wait to get to chapter 2, where most of the story is... Aside from that? Eh... Oh! If you find any Typo, tell me. I'm weak with tenses, so you don't have to point out that I make a lot of mistakes with those.

Hmm... I should go ahead and say this, but originally Minato was supposed to be Hamuko, as in Minato in Hamuko's body. As fun writing it sounds, it would create a complication later on in the story. Yeah, I got stuck there for a while until I thought of my current concept. I'll explain it later on as the story progresses.

Ah, before you get any ideas, no. Shirogane-san is not related to Shirogane Naoto. Also, I apologize if there is no Persona 4 material here. I'm just tying up the loose strings and I'm all set to go.

See you next time! Stay magical!