A/N: This was something I'd been trying to plan for a while. I think I may as well start on it. It's yet another telling of the story of Persona 3, specifically the female protagonist's path in Portable. The male protagonist, Minato Arisato, is included as her little bro. Dunno what he's gonna do yet. Expect Aki/FeMC shipping (maybe slight Shinji/FeMC and/or Ryoji/FeMC).
Credit goes to The Observer 00 for the idea/challenge.
This is something of a side project while I'm not working on 'The Old Days,' so don't worry if it takes a really long while to update. Warning: there may or may not be poorly written fight scenes, sappy romantic crap, and Kid!Minato being a creepy child in spades (if I can even manage that).
FeMC's name here and any P3-based fic I write that includes her is Karin Arisato. I'm not too fond the fan nicknames. Also, I'm terrible coming up with titles. Bear with me on this one. D:
Enough rambling from me. Hope you enjoy!
-Kaze
I don't own Persona 3 and its related stuff.
Episode Alternate
-
Begin
-April 6, 2009-
Terminal Station: Evening
There were way too many people here at this time of day.
The brunette made it a point to keep a hold of her brother's hand. She already stuck out like a sore thumb, wearing her school uniform today of all days.
They stopped at the entrance briefly, the teenage girl taking out her cell to check the time in the midst of her favorite song blaring through her red-plated headphones. Closing it and placing it back in her bag, she turned to the young blue-haired boy, who was regarding her with a blank stare, part of his face hidden behind a long fringe. He had his own pair of headphones and a music player, both hanging around his neck.
"We need to get going. The train will be here soon."
"Okay."
"Stay close to me. I mean it."
"Yes."
"You're not tired, are you?"
The boy stifled a yawn. "No."
The older girl frowned. "Hopefully we won't get there too late."
Iwatodai Station: Late Night
She was wrong. They had gotten there too late.
The brunette had to wake up her sibling, when they were almost there, as she almost dozed off herself. Sometime during the trip, she either dreamed up or saw something resembling a small blue butterfly, but shrugged it off. She had spent the better part of her day traveling.
Moving around was so very tiring.
She glanced at the clock hanging in the station on the way towards turn-gates. It was just about midnight…
Just then, the lights in the station went off. The music in her headphones stopped.
Everything became bathed in an unnatural yellowish-green light.
The brunette scoffed. This again? She didn't quite know what to call it, but the small weight leaning on her arm told her she needed to hurry.
… Besides the atmosphere feeling oh so wrong, she could sense that her brother was starting to feel a little ill. Not that he'd ever say so outright. He was a quiet, reclusive boy, and she was the older sister who knew how he ticked.
On the way to their destination, things felt unbearably worse; like blood on the walls and coffins lining the streets. It was all very creepy. The huge moon hanging in the sky didn't help, either. It was just… huge… and a very vivid shade of yellow.
"Hey, you alright?" she asked the boy in a whisper.
His weight shifted, but he didn't respond. Luckily, their destination was already in sight.
She reached into her bag and pulled out a pamphlet. Gekkoukan High, Iwatodai Dormitory. This was going to be home for a while. Nice change of pace, she thought sourly.
After checking for the last time to make sure that the boy wouldn't keel over, the pair of siblings, the older brunette in lead, entered the towering building.
Dorm, 1st Floor Lounge: Late Night
The room was eerily empty. She looked around cautiously, as though expecting something else out of the ordinary to show up.
"Welcome."
Her brother's grip on her hand noticeably tightened. "Nee-san…"
She turned. Standing before them was an unfamiliar boy with dark hair, a mole on his face, and striped clothes. In contrast to his very pale complexion, his eyes were a vivid, almost eerie shade of blue.
"What the…?" she started, watching as the strange child took one step towards her and her brother.
"You're late. I've been waiting a very long time," the boy spoke, holding something that looked like a piece of paper in their direction. "If you want to proceed, then please sign here. It's a contract."
The brunette eyed it suspiciously, then looked to her brother. He seemed unusually alert now, almost on edge seeing this strange kid.
"Will he have to sign, too? My younger brother?" she asked, her voice a little shaky.
The pale boy eyed the siblings idly. "That remains to be seen. Anyway, there's nothing to be afraid of." He must have noticed her slight agitation, as a small smile crossed his features. "It only binds you to accepting full responsibility for your actions."
"Nee-san," her brother spoke cautiously, "Make sure you read it."
"I know," she said quietly, taking a closer look at the contract.
She was expecting to see a page full of text, but all she saw was one sentence:
I chooseth this fate of mine own free will.
Below that was a space to sign her name. Somehow, Stripes (what she decided to call him for lack of anything else) also handed her a pen. Oh well, May as well get this over with; she was starting to feel very tired. She wrote her name with precise strokes, making sure she didn't mess up the characters as she wrote them:
Arisato Karin
When she finished, both the pen and the contract disappeared in thin air. Stripes smiled again. "… Very well. Time is something no one can escape. It delivers us all to the same end."
He took a step back. "And so it begins…" The next moment, he, too, disappeared, leaving the siblings alone.
Karin could only look on for the next moments, slightly confused. She felt her brother's weight start to sag against her again, but before she could even check on him, another voice made her jump.
"… Who's there?"
Red and blue-gray hues instantly locked onto a girl with light brown hair wearing a pink cardigan. How long she had been there, Karin didn't know, but her eyes were widened. She was obviously scared. "How can you be… But it's…! Don't tell me…"
The girl took out something that gleamed in the darkness. It looked like a gun!
"Nee-san…" The blue-haired boy inhaled sharply.
"Stay behind me," Karin instructed quietly.
"Wait!" yet another voice called, almost startling the pink-clad girl. It was another female, one with crimson hair. She had an air of royalty about her.
"…!" The first girl lowered the gun, as the unnatural green dimmed and the lamps in the lounge came on. "The lights…!"
Karin felt slightly relieved that at least things were somewhat back to normal… well, not really…
The redhead was the first to address her after a short moment of silence. "I didn't think you'd arrive so late. My name is Kirijo Mitsuru. I'm one of the students who live in this dorm."
"Who're they?" First Girl (Karin decided to call her, for lack of a name) questioned.
"They're transfer students. It was a last minute decision to assign them here. They'll eventually be moved to rooms in the normal dorms," Mitsuru told her.
"Is it okay for them to be here?" First Girl regarded them warily, as though they were some kind of monsters.
"I guess we'll see." A hint of a smile appeared on the other girl's face.
Karin didn't know whether to feel self-conscious or insulted. Thankfully, she didn't have to make that decision as Mitsuru finally decided to address her and her brother again.
"This is Takeba Yukari. She'll be a junior this spring, just like you."
The girl named Yukari shifted uncomfortably a bit. "… Hi, I'm Yukari." It served her right to feel awkward, after pulling a gun on a couple of unarmed people.
Still, Karin smiled politely as she spoke. "I'm Arisato Karin. Nice to meet you. This is my younger brother Minato." She nudged the boy, who had seemingly dozed off. "Say hi."
Minato's head suddenly jerked. "Oh… um…" He felt slightly awkward, too, but his face didn't really show it. "I'm Arisato Minato." He bowed slightly, though he really didn't have the energy to do so.
"Oh." Yukari's eyes widened slightly. "Nice to meet you, too."
Good. The pleasantries were taken care of… Unfortunately, Minato had one more thing on his mind, the very thing Karin wanted to avoid.
"Takeba-san, why do you have a gun?" Even if the young boy's expression wasn't so deadpan, Yukari was definitely more spooked.
"Huh? Um… well, it's sort of like a hobby… Well, not really a hobby…" She was definitely failing at coming up with a lie. Of course, Minato wouldn't have believed her anyway, if his knowing gaze was anything to go by.
Mitsuru seemed to detect this and intervened. "You know how it is these days… It's for self defense." She brushed a strand of hair matter-of-factly. "It's not a real gun of course."
Karin pursed her lips. She should have known.
"It's getting late," the redhead continued, eyeing Minato as he rubbed his eyes. She turned her attention to Karin again. "You'll find your room on the 3rd floor. Your brother's room is on the 2nd."
Karin nodded. "Thank you."
"Your things should already be there. I suggest you tuck in for the night."
Yukari seemed to spring to life again at this point. With a slight smile, she said, "Oh… I'll show you the way. Follow me."
"Huh?" Karin was taken aback. "Alright. Minato, let's go."
"Mmm…" The boy looked like he could barely stand. The trip must have really worn him out. And then he didn't seem too well.
Mitsuru stepped forward. "I'll take him to his room," she said. "You can go along with Takeba."
When she saw that Karin still wasn't convinced, she added, "If you want to check on him, his room is at the end of the 2nd-floor hall. This is a co-ed dorm; normally, students of opposite genders aren't allowed in each other's rooms, but an exception will be made in your case."
The copper-haired girl blinked. "Oh. Thank you, Kirijo-san." She relayed what was just said to her younger brother, who simply nodded in reply, surprisingly, before heading upstairs with Yukari.
Dorm, 3rd Floor Hallway: Late Night
It didn't take long to get there at all, although Karin's mind often wandered back to Minato. Her train of thought halted when Yukari addressed her.
"This is it. Pretty easy to remember, huh? Since it's right at the end of the hall." She smiled a bit. "So, any questions?"
Normally, Karin would have just thanked her and let her be on her way, but there was one other thing that bothered her… Two actually: Stripes and that contract. But it was already late, so she asked at random.
"… Does that boy live here?"
"Huh? What boy?" Yukari was confused.
So much for that one, Karin thought, scratching her head lightly. Was Stripes really a figment of her imagination? No… Minato saw him, too, he clearly did…
"Um… Can I ask you a question?" The pink-clad girl spoke up.
"Hmm?" The brunette cocked her head slightly. "What is it?"
"On your way here from the station, was everything okay?"
Karin found herself pursing her lips again. Sure, if she excluded the creepy moon, coffins in the streets, pools of blood, strange creepy children and lastly having a gun pulled on her, then everything was just peachy-keen. She opted with a simple, "Yeah."
"Oh." Yukari seemed relieved. "It seems you're alright." She started to walk away, but she suddenly paused.
"Um… I'm sure you still have other questions, but let's save for later, okay? Good night."
… The girl was obviously in a hurry to get downstairs, the way she ran off like that. Karin shrugged. She'd had enough excitement for one day, anyway. She thought she'd go check on Minato but she stifled a yawn as she took a step forward. Whoa. She was sleepier than she thought.
"Sorry, little bro," she whispered to herself, opening the door to her assigned room. "Guess I'll see you in the morning."
Dorm, 3rd Floor, Karin's Room: Late Night
She closed the door behind her, groaning at the sight of the boxes stacked on each other. She'd have to unpack some other time. In the meantime, she opened one box and fished out her alarm clock. She was going to need it.
After changing into some pajamas, Karin all but flopped onto the bed, pulling the comforter over herself and drifting off to sleep.
… She'd really need the rest for tomorrow.