Chapter 1: Brand New Days
Author's Note: : Hi welcome to my Persona 3 fan fiction. This is my first ever published fan fiction ever! The Protagonist's name is Makoto Yuki like in the movies. Please enjoy and please review, I'd like to know what you all think and if I should continue or not.
Edit 4/5/17: Chapter 1 has been replaced with the new revision.
I didn't understand it before and I don't recall when I became self-aware, but I'd realized I would never have a permanent home. You see, my parents died when I was six. They died in a car crash that I'd miraculously walked away from, unscathed. From that point on, I was stuck in the system… the foster care system.
I bounced around from family to family, home to home, staying for no more than two weeks at a time. I didn't understand it when I was young, but they'd said I reeked of death. That was preposterous, the system would tell them, yet I was still whisked away to the next home.
After months of the same situation, I found myself on the beautiful island of Fukushima: living with an old, rich couple that I'd only seen once or twice. I didn't see them at all, because I'd taken to locking myself in my temporary room. It made sense at the time, I was gonna go away sooner or later: so why waste my time with them.
It was one afternoon in the mansion that I decided to look out the window. Up until that point, I stayed in bed and slept or read my few copies of Phoenix Ranger Featherman R that I had. There was nothing special about what was outside. Besides the street in front and the woods ahead of it, the only other point of interest was the beach: which one could see if they looked to the right of the window.
The beach wasn't very crowded, from what I can see, and there wasn't anyone of particular interest. Still, I continued to watch the rolling wave's crash onto the golden sand. I had thought that this had to be the most beautiful sight that I'd seen in a long time. I was proven to be incorrect moments later.
As I watched the beach, as I had been doing for the better part of four hours, something had caught my eye. Coming into sight was a woman, or so I assumed, with beautiful, red hair. I don't know what compelled her to turn around, but she turned and it felt like she looked right into my eyes. This was impossible, as I was quite far from the beach and there was the fact that the sun was in my direction (relative to the woman), evident by the shadows and that the women had put up her hand as a visor to block the sun.
Still I ducked down, foolishly fearing that she'd seen me. I recalled what I had seen beforehand: aside from her red hair, her skin was an unusual pale considering she had been in the sun. My young mind had concluded that this is the kind of woman I wanted to marry. Of course, my mind wasn't rooted in reality just yet and the fact still remained: I don't know who this woman is.
Judging from what I saw, there was no doubt that it was an older woman. However, that did not squander my desire to meet her.
After checking to see if the coast was clear, I opened the window up and climbed out. Unfortunately, I was on the second floor of a mansion, so I was stuck for quite some time. After what had felt like hours, I finally managed to climb my way down to the ground and began making my way up the street towards a dirt path that'd lead me to the beach. It was a quick walk, only taking maybe a minute to reach the beach.
Once I was there, I began to scan around for the red-haired woman. From what I could see, she wasn't here anymore. I searched under every umbrella, to the dismay of the beach-goers, and looked out to the sea; but, I still could not find her.
I must've been dangling from my window for quite some time…
Then the realization that I'd have to sneak back into the house via the window struck and I fell into the sand in defeat. I'd decided I would do so towards the end of the night, when the old couple would be asleep.
I stayed on the beach for the rest of the day. For entertainment: I watched the people on the beach go about their lives, watched a crab walk strangely (I'd never seen a live crab), I tried digging a hole at one point, all before watching the sun set below the horizon. It was, to say the least, quite enjoyable. I decided to take a nap to pass the time, hoping I'd wake up in time to sneak back in.
It was difficult to open my eyes, but I had woken up to a voice.
"Um, hello?" a distinctly feminine voice said.
I mumbled something incoherent, prompting the voice to ask: "Are you okay? Daddy says it's not safe for children to sleep alone on the beach."
"Wha…? Y-yeah, I'm fine," I replied, as my eyes began to open.
I was expecting the night sky to be the first sight I'd see, in fact I was anticipating the plethora of stars that would be visible this far from the city. In the city, you couldn't see the stars, so I concluded that I'd see them out here. Instead, I was greeted with something far more pleasing.
My eyes were treated to a wonderful shade of red. I had to blink multiple times before I realized that this was the woman I was looking for earlier. Except it wasn't a woman (at least not yet), rather it was a young girl. Her face was right above mine, her hair falling against my face creating an unbearable ticklish feeling.
In that moment, I studied her face. Her eyes emitted a deep red, similar to the color of her hair. Her face had the perfect proportions, with skin just as perfect. It should've been entirely impossible, due to the night sky, but I could clearly see the blush in her cheeks.
The ticklish feeling her hair was causing became unbearable, so I collected whatever strands I could and slowly moved them behind her head. If I couldn't see her face turning red before, it was quite obvious in that moment. She'd stayed there for a second, my hand still in her hair, before pulling herself up and recoiling in embarrassment.
"W-what d-do y-you t-think y-you're d-d-doing?" she asked, bewildered.
I sat upright and turned my head to the left, in order to meet her eyes: "Your hair was tickling my face, so I moved it."
This clearly didn't appease her: "W-well y-you s-shoulda j-just a-asked!"
"I'm sorry," I apologized with a light laugh. "Your hair… it's just so pretty."
"P-pretty?" she asked, flustered and astonished at the same time. "Y-you t-think t-that I-I'm p-pretty?"
She must have selective hearing, I concluded.
"Uhh… well, I was talking about your—" I started, but was cut off quite abruptly.
"I-I-I t-think y-you're k-kinda c-cute… I-I t-think?" she stuttered, clearly embarrassed to death. "B-but I don't l-l-like b-boys… o-or a-at l-least I-I d-don't k-know i-if I d-do. F-father s-says I-I c-can't h-have a-a b-boyfriend."
The mention of 'boyfriend' flustered her even more, probably to the point of crying. I'd never seen anyone so flustered, that they'd stutter on every single word. This caused me to laugh harder than I have in months. This confused the young girl quite a bit.
"I-it's i-impolite t-to l-laugh a-at someone… y-you c-could a-at l-least c-condiment m-me b-back. T-though, I-I guess y-you d-did c-call me p-pretty…"
I couldn't help but laugh even more: "Condiment!? You mean compliment?"
(Looking back on it, I understand that I was quite rude. However, even today, I still tease her on her mix-up.)
"S-shut u-up!" She yelled, on the verge of tears.
I picked up on this and stopped my fit of laughter abruptly, "I'm sorry, you're just too much fun."
I smiled at her, the first genuine smile in a while, and gave the most sincere look I could.
"W-what's your n-name?" she asked.
I can't recall, but I remember being very nervous when answering her, "I'm Makoto, Makoto Yuki. How about you?"
Instead of answering me like a proper human-being, she instead punched me (very hard) in the shoulder.
"Geez! What was that for?" I demanded an answer.
"Father says it's rude to hit someone whose name you don't know. You're lucky I didn't hit you earlier," she answered.
I was already beginning to miss the flustered version of herself.
"I think it's rude not to give your name when asked," I replied, defensively.
She garnered up a proud aura around her and confidently stated: "I'm Mitsuru Kirijo. I already knew who you were."
This revelation shocked me, "Really?"
"Yes, father told me. He told me the old couple over there had a child my age at their place. Ya' know…" she slowly began, red slowly rising in her cheeks. "I- I saw you l-looking at me… e-earlier today."
My body tensed up and it was my turn to become flustered.
"Crap! She saw me!" I unknowingly thought aloud.
She giggled at my response, further tormenting me, and continued, "I was going to ask them if we could play together, but then I saw you… or at least your hair."
She put a hand in my hair and slowly ran it through, ruffling it up in the process. "You really thought no one could see your blue hair?"
I didn't respond. Instead, I was mesmerized by her touch. It brought back memories of when my mother used to do the same thing.
I had looked deep into her eyes and smiled. Her hand retreated and she looked out towards the sea, clearly embarrassed.
"A-anyways, y-you should g-go home. I-I'm s-sure t-they're worried," she suggested.
"I don't want to go back…" I said, honestly.
When I looked at her, she was gazing intently at her watch. It was hard to tell, but it was clearly close to midnight.
Crap, was all I could think.
"You have to!" she cried, with an urgency that frightened even me.
"B-but why?" I asked. "Why do I have to leave right now?"
"Because…" she started, once again on the verge of tears. "I hate seeing people turn into –"
Before she could finish, I witnessed something truly terrifying. The sky turned green instantaneously, the sea had turned red (not a beautiful red like Mitsuru's hair, but a blood red that sickened me), and the moon was clearly larger or closer (or both) than it was before.
"—those things…" Mitsuru had finished.
She saw that I was still there, though my younger self didn't understand why that was an issue, and just stared at me: not quite believing what she was seeing.
"What is this?" I asked, fear present in my voice.
She didn't answer me like a proper human-being and instead tackled me into the sand, embracing me tightly.
I let out a strange noise in response to this, but I couldn't ignore that I felt tears falling onto my shoulder.
"Are you… ok?" I asked.
She pulled her head from my shoulder and looked into my face. She was crying, but she was also smiling. Up until this point, I had thought crying was reserved for sadness, so you can imagine my astonishment.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine. More than fine!" she cried happily. "I've actually met a friend, during the Dark Hour no less."
Dark Hour? Friend? I didn't know which confused me more.
"What's the Dark Hour?"
She continued to cry tears of joy when she answered: "It's too complicated for me to explain, Father uses too many big words."
"A-and w-we're a-actually f-friends?" I asked, cautiously.
"Of course! We're gonna be best friends!" she exclaimed, still embracing me.
She actually maintained the hug for quite a while, before relenting. She smiled at me sheepishly and apologized profusely.
All I could think of while coming up with a response was, don't say anything weird. Needless to say, my concept of 'weird' is drastically different from today.
I replied with, "There's no need to apologize, I actually enjoyed it."
Mitsuru was an unhealthy shade of red, and my younger self didn't understand why.
She leapt to her feet, back towards me (to hide her face) and said: "L-lets go see m-my father. He'll be surprised to m-meet y-you."
"Me? Why me?" I asked.
"Because you're… we're special. C'mon, I don't live far from here."
Without any say in the matter, Mitsuru took my hand and toted me towards her home.
It really wasn't too far from where we once were, it probably only took five minutes to get there. As Mitsuru's hand gripped mine, I couldn't help but wonder how she could remain so calm in this situation. The sky was GREEN! The sea was BLOODY RED! I had guessed that she's used to it (which blew my mind), considering she called it 'The Dark Hour'.
Another thought that I had thought about was that she said we were friends. I don't really recall having any friends, before the incident and especially not in the following months afterwards. Something about her made me feel warm; like I was actually wanted: something I had not felt with any of the foster parents. I couldn't help but smile at this thought.
I didn't notice it, but we'd stopped walking and were situated in front of some large gates. The gate, itself, looked heavy and sturdy; while the pillars on either side looked imposing, yet elegant at the same time.
"We're here," she said with a cheery smile.
She somehow managed to push the large gate open and continued to lead me inside. We followed a brick path, until the mansion came into view. I had thought the mansion I was staying at was large, but hers made it feel like a dog house in comparison.
She quickly took note of my awe and explained: "My father is the head of the Kirijo Group, so he makes a lot of money. This is just our vacation home, though."
I was in a larger state of awe afterwards. As we approached the entrance to the large building, I noticed a figure standing at the door. As we got closer, I could make out more details of this person. It was an older gentleman (not old, but reaching/or exceeding thirty years), with hair that can only be described as a 'corporate-haircut', he had a stern look on his face, and, interestingly enough, he donned an eye patch over his right eye.
(As a child, I thought that was the coolest thing ever.)
"Mitsuru! Where have you been?" his voice boomed.
"Daddy! Look, I found someone!" Mitsuru seemingly danced around his question.
"What?" he peered in closer and was finally able to see me entirely.
We closed the distance between us, allowing the man to get a better look at me.
"His name is Makoto Yuki and he's my best friend!" she said, without the slightest bit of hesitation.
"So this is the Makoto Yuki that Sho-san was bragging about. He's done nothing, but sing praises about you," Mitsuru's father revealed.
"Ha!" I laughed at this. "What does he know? He hasn't seen me since I arrived."
"And why's that?" he asked.
"I've locked myself in that room since the day I got here. Those guys haven't seen me at all, a bunch of liars."
"I see… he must've been lying to feel better than me. You know he's always been jealous of my Mitsuru," he threw a smile towards Mitsuru. "Unfortunately, you're not the first child to pass through his household. In fact, it's my assumption that he'll probably get rid of you soon; considering, you've locked yourself away."
"Good," I said, quite arrogantly.
"No!" Mitsuru cried. "But he's my friend!"
I'd forgotten all about that, as guilt clouded my mind.
"Daddy, can't you do anything?"
The man looked at me and pondered for a moment. Clearly, the man was deep in thought, as we stood in silence for at least two minutes.
"Say, have you eaten at all since you got here?" he finally asked.
It wasn't a response I was expecting, but I answered regardless: "No, not really."
"It's settled then, we shall continue our discussion over a late-night meal. The outdoors is no place for a conversation. Mitsuru, please take him to the dining hall."
"Ok, this way Makoto!" Mitsuru responded, cheerfully taking me into the home.
I'd noticed on the way here that there were no lights on, not even the street lamps were lit. To my surprise the lights in Mitsuru's mansion were all on, much to my surprise.
"Oh yeah, electric doesn't work during the Dark Hour, but Daddy made sure it worked in here."
There she goes again, talking about the Dark Hour.
We finally reached the dining hall, a large room (that felt bigger than the entire house I was staying at) with a long table that could seat many guests.
We took our seats at the end of the table, Mitsuru having taken the seat next to me. Moments later, a butler (I assumed) came in and placed three trays down on the table. Soon after, Mitsuru's father entered taking the seat in front of us.
"Go ahead and eat," he permitted.
As we began to eat, the man began to talk: "I haven't properly introduced myself. My name is Takeharu Kirijo. As you can already tell, I am Mitsuru's father."
I swallowed the food in my mouth and said, "Pleased to meet you."
"Likewise… I'm sure you've noticed it: the green sky, red water, all that?"
I nodded, "The Dark Hour, right?"
"Correct. In short, it's the 25th hour… there are 24 hours, but I'm sure you know that – as I was saying it's another hour that most do not experience. The three of us are special; we get to experience this hidden hour. I can't be too sure about you until we've run some tests, but Mitsuru has, what we call, the Potential. It's a bit too much to explain since you're still quite young, but we're on the cusp of creating a technology that draws out the Potential. Well that's not entirely correct, we have the technology, but it's not designed for humans… I'm getting sidetracked here," he chuckled at his own mistake.
"Sho, Dahhdy…" Mitsuru mumbled, with her mouth full.
"Swallow your food, dear," Takeharu said with a sigh.
She gulped the food down, "So, Daddy: why don't we keep him? Y'know, so you can do your tests or something."
Takeharu smiled at her, "I was just getting to that."
He looked directly at me, and put on a serious face, "Yuki, how would you like to live here?"
His words echoed in my head. I was stunned at his question. A family that wanted me was beyond my imagination.
"You don't have to decide just yet, it's an important choice that you'll have to make. Just know that you wouldn't be a burden in our household," he added.
"PLEASE, please, please stay with me… I mean us," Mitsuru pleaded, looking very embarrassed.
I thought for a few moments about the events of today. It had been the happiest I'd been in a long time, it wasn't a hard choice to make.
"I would be glad to join the family," I said, attempting to contain my happiness.
"YAY!" Mitsuru exclaimed, hugging me very tightly.
Takeharu smiled and sat back in his chair, similar to how he would after closing a business deal.
"It's settled. Feel free to spend the night in Mitsuru's room, her bed is large enough. I'll settle everything in the morning. Goodnight you two," Takeharu said, with a smile.
"C'mon, I'll show you my room… our room!" Mitsuru exclaimed, grabbing my arm and pulling me with her.
"Wait! I haven't finished eating," I cried to no avail.
Before I knew it, I was being dragged into the hallway.
We finally reached her room after wandering the labyrinth of halls. In that time, the Dark Hour had concluded and the night resumed. Her room, similar to the dining hall, was larger than ant bedroom I've ever seen. It wasn't empty either; in fact, the room was furnished completely.
The first thing I noticed in her room, were the large windows that covered an entire wall. The view was spectacular: the clear view of the beach and ocean was as picturesque as a postcard and the night sky was visible in its entirety. I could see the moon and could count each individual star if I so desired.
"It's amazing," I said.
I then noticed the large bed, which Mitsuru comically flopped onto. The bed was large enough to fit an entire family and looked comfier than any bed I've ever seen.
Mitsuru motioned for me to plop onto the bed as well, which I accepted. The bed, as I predicted, was very comfortable. So comfortable, that the desire to sleep was almost entirely overwhelming.
"Hey! You're not falling asleep yet, are you?" Mitsuru whined.
"Not yet," I claimed, but my large yawn betrayed me.
"But I haven't shown you everything yet," Mitsuru she continued to whine.
I sat up drowsily and rubbed my eyes. It was at that moment that I saw a just-as-large TV set across from where the bed was. Though it was a good distance away, it still felt as if it were only a few feet away.
"That seemed to wake you up, huh? Yeah, it's pretty nice. I only ever use it sometimes, but I think it'll get more use now that you're here," the last part made Mitsuru smile very cheerfully.
The idea of having a family once again made me feel satisfied with my life, like I wouldn't have to worry about anything.
"How about we watch some TV…?" Mitsuru trailed off, after looking at my face. "W-why are you crying?"
I didn't notice it, but I was definitely shedding a tear: "These are… tears of joy…?"
I felt like I understood how Mitsuru felt when she'd found a friend. Strangely enough, I could feel my heartbeat in my chest, but my head also felt like it was pounding.
(It wouldn't be until later, that I'd discover what that feeling was.)
The feeling was brief, but my reaction was enough to warrant a response from Mitsuru: "Are you alright?"
Giving her a reassuring smiled, I replied: "I'm fine. Let's watch some TV."
She agreed and turned on the TV. She climbed into bed, and I followed. Mitsuru situated herself directly next to me and had wrapped her arms around me, as if I was a stuffed animal. I returned the gesture, making an already flustered Mitsuru even more flustered. It wasn't long until we were both asleep; both excited to see how the next day would play out.
Velvet Room
I awoke to find myself in a large, moving elevator.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. You, young man, are an esteemed guest here. If you'd sign this contract, this place will be open to you in it's entirety," a man with a long, sharp nose and a crazed smile said to me.
Beside him was a beautiful woman with short, white hair and wore a blue dress.
"What's the contract for?" I asked.
"It only guarantees that you'll accept responsibility for all of your decisions," He replied.
I nodded at his reply and signed 'Makoto Yuki'.
"I believe I do owe some explanation…" the man said, as if contemplating whether to continue or not.
"Master, he is much too young to make sense of anything. It'd be a waste to proceed any further until later."
"Perhaps you're right," he said, agreeing with the woman. "Yet, I feel as if this one is different. Yes… can you feel it? His heart is already far more developed than previous guests."
'Yes… this one has already formed a bond!" the woman exclaimed delightfully.
"How very interesting… listen well, young man. You have, what you humans call: the Potential. I'm sure you're you've experienced a strange sensation recently, correct?"
I recalled the strange feeling I felt when I understood how Mitsuru had felt. I nodded at the man's question.
"That is a bond you have created. In this case, you've formed a bond with someone of the Empress arcana. Continue building the bonds you've formed and you'll become much stronger."
None of this really made sense, except for me having the Potential. Again, I merely nodded at him.
The man with the sharp nose's smile grew larger as he said, "It seems that our time here is up. Next time we meet, hopefully it is of your own accord."
"Wait!" I yelled. "I never got your names."
"I am Igor and this is my assistant Elizabeth."
"Nice to meet you, I hope we get along well," she said with a wink.
"And with that I bid you farewell. 'Til next time."
When I woke up, the first thing I saw was Mitsuru's face in front of mine. She was still asleep and I could feel her breath on my face. I noticed some drool coming out of her mouth, but I'd never tell her that. We were both still locked in a tight embrace. I heard her mutter quietly, "I'll never let you go." I carefully wriggled myself out and proceeded to see Takeharu.
"Yuki, as expected, Sho-san has already expressed his displeasure with you to the foster care services. You're supposed to leave today, but my people have already filed the necessary paperwork. You're free to stay here, as we expect to get the good news later this week." Takeharu explained.
His grin felt familiar to me, as I realized it'd reminded me of my fathers. He placed his hand on my shoulder and very softly said: "Welcome to the family."
I smiled at his words and thanked him for his efforts.
We'd engaged in some small talk, mostly just me explaining my life, until a very sleepy Mitsuru walked in. Her hair was a bedridden mess (but the red was beautiful nonetheless) and a dried drool mark remained on her face.
"What's going on?" she said, yawning the entire time.
"Ahh, great news Mitsuru. Yuki is staying with us from now on."
Mitsuru burst into happiness, hugging both Takeharu and I.
"I have some other news: the school year starts up in a few weeks. Since you seem to possess an equal intellectual capacity to Mitsuru, I've gone through the liberty of placing you in the same class as her."
"Can you do that?" I questioned.
"Of course! After all Gekkoukan Elementary is owned by the Kirijo group, along with the Junior High and the High School. So as long as you wish it, you two may share the same classes until the day you graduate," Takeharu answered.
"Wow really! Hey Makoto, we're going to be best friends forever, right?" Mitsuru wondered.
"Well I'm not sure I can be best friends with someone who sleep talks all the time," I said teasingly.
"I do not!" Mitsuru countered.
"Do to," I replied.
We bickered back and forth, as Takeharu smiled on. He looked content with the choice he'd made.
From that day on, my life would change forever.
Author's Note: And that's the end of Chapter 1. Let me know what you think by reviewing. If you have any suggestions feel free to contact me.
4/5/17: I am considering replacing Chapter 2 as well, so be on the look out for that.