Hey Welcome to my P3 fanfic. It happens inplace of FES and although this chapter goes through a few other characters it mostly focus on Yukari and Minato. Enjoy. DISCLAIMER: I don't own P3 and its characters or locations.
Yukari Takeba jolted upright in her small, single mattress bed. Beads of sweat were pooling on her forehead. She looked around the small dorm room, the furniture and layout familiar to her although she had only been there not even a week. The place reminded of her old room at the S.E.E.S. dorm. The new dorm wasn't co-ed and she was still getting use to it being girls-only. The new school year started, Yukari, a fresh senior, and the S.E.E.S. hadn't seen each other since. Sure, she saw Fuuka and Junpei now and then but Yukari was too busy to sit and talk to either of them, especially Junpei. She had cram school on top of archery practice and maintaining a social life, albeit not as large a one as she had back in her junior year.
She exhaled. Yukari hadn't been sleeping lately and whenever she tried to, she would often have thoughts of "him". The dreams often were painful to her and she could hardly bare it. They would end with her face down into a tear stained pillow and an ache in her heart. She was almost constantly tired and it often showed. She got out of her bed and walked over to her small window, the only one in her room. She pulled the curtains aside and looked down at the quite street below. The streetlights were still off but the occasional car drove by, the engine loud and alien in the quite night. She turned and picked up the cell phone lying on her desk.
Yukari flipped the cell open and checked the time. It was half past two, a time she found herself being awake around often. Seeing as there was nothing new, she closed the phone but the second she did, it gave off a dull, hollow ding as a text message entered her inbox.
"Who in their right mind is up at these hours", she chuckled as she flipped the phone open again and opened her incoming messages folder. Before she checked the message, she looked at the number as she usually did. Sender: 215-7288, a number Yukari was not familiar with. "Odd, I usually never get messages from anybody but my friends." She cautiously opened the text. The message read four short words: "ThE Fall Is NiGH." As soon as the message registered with her brain, she closed the phone and flung it towards the floor, her breath ragged and heavy. "What kind of sick joke is this?!" Yukari walked back over to the window and closed the curtains. She jumped back into her bed, the message the only thing on her mind. She couldn't sleep at all that night.
Sunlight started peering through the crack in the curtains around six in the morning. Yukari never got up this early but decided to turn on her small television set to occupy a few hours of her time. She flipped past reruns of odd anime shows and sports games until she got to the local channel six news. The only thing she ever watched was the news anyway. Yukari, along with her old group of friends, had grown accustom to watching the news. It was one of the only ways to give them clues as to when big events, such as shadow attacks, were. Her sleepless condition didn't help her maintain interest in the television program. It would be a few hours before she did anything about the message she had received.
Fuuka was busy researching migratory patterns and similarities between the Monarch Butterfly and Whale Shark in the Gekkoukan High School library. She was often found there, working on some type of project and was even busier since she was accepted in to the advanced biology classes. Other than school work, she had nothing to do. She even found herself occupying her time hanging out with Junpei Iori, one of her closest friends. The library was closing soon, as it only was open till 12:00 P.M. on Sundays. She bookmarked a few pages she would come back to and opened up MacroHard Word. She would get a head start on her report and finish it later. A few minutes later, she had a page done and started packing up.
Her cell phone, a standard issue adorned with little items and colored in her trademark light green, started vibrating on the table. The sound caused a slight echo to reverberate throughout the library and Fuuka frantically grabbed it. She flipped it open and pressed the view button, silently cursing herself for forgetting to silence her phone. The message was from Yukari.
"Fuuka, when you can, meet me at my dorm. -Yukari." "I haven't spoken to her in a while", she thought as she put her laptop into her backpack and headed out the door. Her dorm was a few blocks before her house and she could easily stop by and check what was going on. Fuuka was the only one, save Mitsuru and Akihiko, who didn't move into a dormitory. Her parents had gotten better and she felt welcome again. She knew that Yukari wasn't moving back in with her mother and concerning Junpei, she hardly knew herself. He kept those things to himself. "Oh well, no skin off my nose", she thought as she headed towards Yukari's dorm.
"Damn, the dorm's packed tonight", Yukari thought as she looked around the small lobby where the girls gathered after school to talk or do work. She need to find a comfortable spot so she could relax. The lack of sleep was starting to catch up with her and she felt miserable. Yukari spotted a large easy chair and snatched it. Flipping open her cell, she checked to see if she had any replies to her message but sadly didn't. "Fuuka, you better have gotten it." She looked around the room for something to do, but noticed nothing exciting or out of the norm, except... the girl next to her. She looked out of it, like she lost her soul. Her eyes were glazed, her expression blank, and mouth agape. "Wow, what's wrong with that girl? She looks as if she has..." She dismissed the thought, refusing to believe that it was anything besides exhaustion. "Yeah, she's exhausted, that's got to be it." The girl suddenly fell off of the loveseat she was sitting on. A moment later, Fuuka walked in.
"Hey Yukari!" Fuuka was actually quite glad to see her friend. "Long time no see. So, how've you been these past few days?"
"It has been a while, hasn't it. I been okay, I guess. I can hardly sleep and it is starting to get to me." She exhaled. Fuuka could see the exhaustion in her face. Fuuka then noticed the other girls standing around the one on the floor.
"What's going on?" She looked at the girl's face. "Umm, what's with her face? She seems so out of it. Like-"
"She has Apathy Syndrome?" Fuuka stared wide-eyed and slowly nodded. "That's what I thought, but I really don't want to believe it."
"I know what you mean. The thought of that whole incident makes me shudder. Who is that anyway? She doesn't look familiar to me."
"She's a sophomore named Kagome Hiyate. A very hyper one at that. She used to be full of energy but a few days ago she suddenly became lifeless."
"That's too bad." Fuuka was starting to feel uncomfortable with the topic. "So, what did you want me to see?" She was interested. Yukari hadn't talked to her in a while and she did enjoy hanging out with her.
"Here." She handed over her phone to Fuuka who stared at the message. Her facial expression changed so quickly, it was almost unbelievable.
"W-what is t-this?" She was slightly shaking. They ended the Fall, Minato even gave his life to end it. "W-who sent it?"
"I don't know who sent it. The number is unfamiliar to me." She pointed out the phone number and Fuuka didn't recognize it either.
"I think we should show this to Junpei..." her voice trailing off. She braced herself for Yukari's reaction.
"What?! Why would we need to tell that perv- person", correcting herself because she remembered how close Fuuka and Junpei were getting. "What does she see in him?" Junpei and Yukari had been bitter towards each other ever since Yukari and Minato started dating. "He's such a jealous, immature..."
"Because he was a part of our team and besides, he deserves to know especially if it involves Shadows and the like." She took Yukari's phone and sent the message to her own and did the same, forwarding the message to Junpei's phone. "Well, I am sorry Yukari, but I am expected home. It's my turn to try cooking for dinner."
Yukari grimaced. She knew how Fuuka's cooking tasted. "Okay, see you again soon." Fuuka gave a large genuine smile. "Oh and one more thing, we should consider bringing Mitsuru or Akihiko into this. They were huge assets and usually know what to do in these kinda situations." Fuuka nodded and waved, leaving the dorm. Yukari sighed and looked around the lobby. Nobody else was in the lobby. They even took Kagome back to her room. She decided to follow suit and go to her room. "I hope this doesn't turn out to be anything serious", she thought aloud as she turned off the lights and walked upstairs.
Junpei was in his dorm room playing his favorite MMO, Nocturne Online. Even he moved into a dorm. He couldn't stand being around father. He is a heavy alcoholic, 'nuff said. Junpei decided that he would stay up all night considering it was the start of the weekend. He knew he should study for that test Monday but he didn't give a damn. His character was too close to leveling up and he was going for a personal record. Junpei didn't notice but his phone's clock ticked 11:59 P.M. The digital hand slowly crept towards 12:00 A.M. The second it landed on it, everything electronic in the room shut off.
"What the?" He looked around the room. His radio and t.v. had also turned off. "That's weird", he thought aloud. "Prolly just a broken fuse." He walked over to the light switch and tried it out. "So much for studying." Junpei decided that he would open the window and walked over to it. He moved the blinds and peering down at the street below. He noticed that the sky was an odd color. It had a familiar green coloring and the moon... It was a sickly luminescent yellow that easily stood out among the pale green sky.
The streets were devoid of all life. Not even a car passed by. A few peculiar shapes stood among the concrete sidewalk. They were black with red outlines and emanated a light mist. They looked as if they were...coffins. "Coffins? In the... street?" He raised his eyebrows at the sight but it finally hit him. The Dark Hour. As soon as he realized it, the phenomenon ended. The coffins transmogrified back into people and the sky changed back to a dark black. "What the hell?" How could that come back?" He grabbed his phone and hit the speed dial button to get a hold of Fuuka.
"Junpei? What's up?" Her voice was groggy. She had been abruptly woken up by the cell phone's vibration.
"There's something important I got to tell you." There was a slight hint of fear in his voice. "The Dark Hour, it's back. I just experienced it." He was heavily breathing.
At the other end, Fuuka dropped her phone. "No, no, no, how could it be back? It couldn't possible be back." She wiped her forehead. They really needed Mitsuru back.
At the Iwotodai Memorial Hospital, in room 251, an odd patient with a rare condition started to stir in his comatose state. When he first arrived, the doctors all thought that he was asleep and needed rest but as his condition continued and the days turned into weeks, they realized there was little hope for the young man.
The past few nights had been out of the ordinary, with reports of Apathy Syndrome cropping up here and there throughout the town. The whole thing started about five days ago, the same time the patient started to stir in his sleep. Another minute passed and Minato Arisato opened his eyes. Mankind's savior woke up, aware of all that had occurred around him including the recent Apathy Syndrome cases.
The room's assigned doctor entered the room. His orders were to shut off the life support of the young man. He had to ask around and it was a unanimous decision between the staff and even Ms. Kirijo, who set up the room, agreed to it. The first thing he noticed was that the boy was awake. "Unbelievable, you've got to be kidding me." He took out his Crackberry and dialed the Kirijo residence.
"Hello. Mitsuru speaking. How may I help you?"
"Ms. Kirijo, this is Dr. Kasawaki at Iwotodai Memorial Hospital. I have some news regarding the patient Minato Arisato.
"Hmmm?" She listened trying to hold back tears. Mitsuru had been asked about her opinion on the life support stabilizing Minato. She had sided with the staff and would like to have him taken off it.
"He seems to have come out of his coma and is in perfect physical condition." He scratched his head and took a breath. "We need you to come down and pick him up. I understand that he has no parents so you are responsible for him. I would suggest coming right away, but considering the time, I believe it would be ok to come around in the morning."
"A-alright. Thank you." She hung up the phone. Mitsuru could not believe it. He was basically dead. He had given up his life to save the world. She hadn't noticed the recent string of Apathy Syndrome attacks because of her busy new life as Kirijo's Leader, thought. She decided that she would pick him up early. She would also have the old dorm reinstated. Mitsuru informed her driver and in less than five minutes, they were on their way. The radio program playing during the drive informed her that Apathy Syndrome was on the rise. "That's peculiar… I thought we rid the world of that." This gave her a sinking feeling but she dismissed it as they continued towards the hospital.
Well Ch. 1 is done. i really dont know where this will go but it is going to be a romance between Minato and Yukari. Also a tartarus like tower appears and battles do ensue. Anyway, Thanks for reading and please review. I would love any type of criticism. xD