I - The Magician

"I'm not strange, weird, off nor crazy, my reality is just different from yours" - Lewis Carroll

Time never waits.

It delivers all equally to the same end.

You, who wish to safeguard the future, however, limited it may be...

You will be given one year; go forth without falter, with your heart as your guide...

Flipping the page, Minato could only gaze haphazardly at the words in the novel. This had been a common occurrence lately, one where his favourite pastime would be ruined by reality. A reality in which he had been forced to leave his thirteen-year-old cousin behind, all because he received a scholarship to a prestigious high school, Gekkoukan a school that was run by the famous Kirijo Group that owned Kirijo Electronics. At one point he had wished he failed on purpose instead, that way he would be at home to look after her, not that she would have let him fail in the first place. Letting out a tired sigh, Minato clasped the book shut before rubbing the bridge of his nose, just in time to hear the train announcement.

"Due to a malfunction in the rail switching system, today's rail schedule has been greatly altered. We apologise for the delay. The next stop is Iwatodai." As the train slowed down to a halt, Minato stood up from his seat and headed for the nearest exit, pausing briefly as a small blue butterfly flew past.

Odd... He thought before taking a step out onto the train platform, just as he did, however, the station went deathly silent. Once again the male paused, this time scanning his surroundings as he took off his headphones, leaving them dangling against his new school uniform as he gazed around. With the stillness of the area and no other sounds apart from his own breathing, he continued on unfazed and undeterred by the path of coffins that had now appeared in place of people creating a silence that he chose to indulge in as much as it unnerved hin. As his path to the dormitory he was supposed to be staying at grew more arduous with the ever-increasing stream of coffins and the puddles of blood, he couldn't help but gaze up at the sickly green sky.

Looks like they decided to leave me alone tonight... After a short while of wandering around the city aimlessly, Minato finally arrived at the dorm he would be staying at for the next two years.

"Iwatodai dorm..." He mumbled, glancing at the gold-plated plaque near the door before opening it and stepping inside. As expected the entire room was dark, what he did not expect, however, was the boy in prisoner clothes seated on the sign in counter, legs swinging in the air haphazardly as he preched himself at the edge of his desk.

"You're late." There was an unidentifiable edge to the boy's voice dispite his smile, "I've been waiting a long time." He drawled, smiling as he hopped off the counter, a piece of paper tightly held in his grip.

"If you want to proceed, then please sign here." The boy held out the paper to him, "It's a contract. Don't worry, there's no need to be scared. It only binds you to accept full responsibility for your actions..." The boy explained watching the male with inquisitive eyes, reluctantly Minato took the contract from the boy, glancing at what was written on the page.

I chooseth this fate of mine own free will... doesn't look too harmful. Might as well sign it then.

Shrugging to himself, the male then fiddled around in his pockets gripping onto what vaguely felt like a pen. Upon pulling it out he began signing his full name on the dotted line before handing it back to the boy. If possible Minato was sure the boy's smile got wider as he graciously accepted the contract.

"...Very well." It became slightly harder to breathe as the contract disappeared, "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..." With those last few words, the boy then disappeared slowly melting into the shadows.

Maybe he's shy? With that oddity out of the way, Minato continued to look around the place when he heard a slight thump from upstairs.

Don't tell me their here...! Minato then looked around for something to defend himself when he heard someone gasp.

"...Who's there!" Instantly on guard, Minato the turned to face the owner of the voice only to practically freeze up at the sight.

The body shifted, mangled and bloody as it crawled towards him; face, blurred out by blood.

Why... it whispered, the voice haunting and familer.

Not now... His breath caught in his throat, as he clutched his head, fingernails digging into his scalp.

Why did you let me die...?

I...

"H-hey say something..." Like a knife, the stranger's voice shattered through the illusion, replacing Minato's image of her to that of a short-haired brunette around his age, holding what resembled a gun.

"Wait!" As if on sequence the lights came back on, revealing a rather voluptuous woman at the top of the stairs. As she walked down Minato noticed that the brunette had placed her gun back in its holster.

"I didn't think you'd arrive so late." She spoke, her voice thick with authority, "My name is Mitsuru Kirijo. I'm one of the students who live in this dorm." The redhead smiled disarmingly at the male, although from what Minato could tell, it was guarded, false even, which was impressive in its own right. Had he not been able to read people as well as he could, she would have come off as kind and welcoming. The brunette, on the other hand, was far easier to read, as the girl was currently shuffling around restlessly, occasionally glancing at him every so often with suspicion and pent up nervousness. Both girls seemed to have worn different variations of the girl's uniform (based on what he could tell), with an additional red armband that had the letter S.E.E.S stitched in with black.

Part of the same club then? He questioned mentally.

"...Who's he?" The brunette finally spoke up tersely, still tense from the unexpected encounter.

"This is Minato Arisato," She motioned to the male, who had promptly zoned out, bored of the encounter, "he's a transfer student. It was a last minute decision by the board to assign him here. He will eventually be moved to a room in the normal dorm." Mitsuru answered.

"...Is it okay for him to be here?" The younger girl questioned.

"I guess we'll see..." The redhead answered cryptically catching Minato's attention, before gesturing to the brunette beside her "This is Yukari Takeba. She'll be a junior this spring, just like you." The brunette now known as Yukari stepped forward sending him a small wave.

"...Hi, I'm Yukari." For a moment, Minato considered not saying anything for the sake of watching her get freaked out over his silence, however, reconsidered the decision as he could feel Mitsuru's gaze burning into him.

Never mind.

"Why do you have a gun?" He inquired, watching as Yukari mildly panicked at the nature of his question.

"Huh? Um, well, it's sorta like a hobby..." Realising what she said her panic only escalated further causing her to sweat. "Well, not a hobby, but..." As Yukari continued to fumble her words, Mitsuru decided to step up.

"You know how it is these days... It's for self-defence. It's not a real gun, of course." She assured him, stepping between the two before Minato could inquire further.

Nice save...

"Besides, it's getting late. You'll find your room on the third floor and your things should already be there. I suggest you tuck in for the night." Mitsuru's attention then fell on to the brunette beside her, whereas if on cue, Yukari perked up a little.

"Oh... I'll show you the way. Follow me." With that, the two walked upstairs to the second floor of the dorm, to the door at the end of the hallway.

"This is it... Pretty easy to remember, huh? ...Since it's right at the end of the hall." Yukari attempted to joke, only to grimace when Minato simply stared at her blankly, "So any questions?"

"Does that child live here too?" Minato questioned, praying that he wasn't hallucinating.

"Huh? What are you talking about? ...Come on, it's not funny."

Was I imagining him then...?

"Um... Can I ask you something?" Yukari spoke up nervously, to which Minato nodded in response.

"On your way from the station was everything okay?" Again Minato nodded, unwilling to disclose anything further.

"I see... Never mind, then. Well, I better get going..." She then turned around to leave but, paused mid-step. "Um... I'm sure you have some more questions, but let's leave them for later, okay? Goodnight." With that she left, disappearing downstairs as Minato entered his assigned room, and true to Mitsuru's words, his luggage was already there waiting to be unpacked. Sighing, the male then went on to unpack everything, by the time he finished, however, the morning rays of sunlight had already filtered through his window, catching him off guard.

Bright! Turning away from the light, Minato forced himself to leave the confines of his room, but not before grabbing his medication as he headed downstairs. As expected, the lounge was empty of the dorm's inhabitants allowing Minato to easily seek out the kitchen, upon entering, however, he was greeted with the unexpected sight of Mitsuru sipping on a cup of tea as she sorted out what seemed to be files related to personal work spread out on the dining table. Noticing his presence, she looked up from her work causing Minato to notice the file she currently looked over, it was his.

"Ah, Arisato…" She blinked, "I wasn't aware anyone else was awake right now save for Akihiko… what brings you here?" Mitsuru questioned briefly before once again bringing her attention back to the files before her.

"I came for a glass of water, maybe even breakfast while I'm at it," Minato answered bluntly, as he headed over to the sink.

"I see…" She took a sip of her tea, "Then help yourself to anything that isn't labelled in the fridge or any of the fruit in the fruit bowl," Mitsuru explained, gesturing to the aforementioned.

"…Thanks, Senpai," However, as he proceeded to pour himself a glass, Mitsuru spoke up once again.

"Oh, and Arisato?"

"Yes, Senpai?" He responded tilting up the jug in order to stop the flow of water, just as she looked up from his paper, examining him thoroughly. For a brief moment, she opened her mouth to say something only to purse her lips together and went back to sorting through the files, eliciting a sense of intrigue in the male over what she'd planned to say only to speak up.

"…It's nothing," The crimson-haired girl responded sparingly, "I apologise for distracting you." Deciding not to press her for a response, Minato promptly unscrewed the unmarked bottle open before shaking out a rounded tablet, one that was barely the size of his fingernail as he quickly popped it in his mouth. Grimacing at the bitter taste, the male washed it down before heading over the fridge. On opening it, however, he was greeted with a rather unusual sight.

How does anyone need that much protein? You can barely see anything Mitsuru and Yukari have labelled, thankfully, it's rather full but, I should probably have something else…

Closing the fridge door he headed over to the fruit bowl where he proceeded to snag an apple, before sitting across Mitsuru letting attention fly elsewhere as he mindlessly nibbled on fruit face contorting at the mildly tangy taste. For the next few minutes the dorm remained relatively silent save for the occasional crunch of an apple and papers being shuffled about, but, to Minato, it was nice as silence was a rare commodity for him. Unfortunately, as with all good things the silence was priced by the abrupt pull of the chair dragging across the polished tiles as Mitsuru finally moved, the papers all neatly stacked under her arm as she looked over at him a glimmer of concern wavering behind her sharp gaze.

"Takeba will be showing you around the school later. Normally, I would request you to come with me, however, due to my duties I lack the time, so I apologise in advance," She spoke, as Minato twitched his gaze lowering to the blue of his flip, phone as his attention flew elsewhere.

I should talk to Naoto about that later… He silently added as he returned his attention to the redhead.

"I hope you adjust well, Arisato." The male said nothing as she washed up her cup before walking out leaving him alone. Taking a last bite of the apple he then popped it into the trash before deciding he should listen to music as he waited. After an hour of messing around with his playlist, a familiar brunette came walking downstairs.

"Oh! Minato, I didn't see you there. I thought that you were still asleep. Anyway... are you ready to head to school?" Yukari chirped, as she grabbed a box of pocky from out the fridge.

"Yeah..." He answered.

"Great, let's go then."

It's like she's an entirely different person... He thought as they hopped onto the first train monorail upon reaching the monorail station, to which at that point to Minato's amusement had completely finished the box.

"We have to take the monorail to get there. Bet your last school wasn't like that, huh?" Yukari explained, as they stood in the middle of the train, a result caused by the countless amass of passengers that filled to cart, many of which an irritated Minato who assumed that they were heading to work based on their appearance.

I swear to God if it is like this every day I will murder someone, Minato griped as he was jostled around the crowded cabin.

"This is my favourite part…" Her voice dropped to as whisper that Minato barely heard her, "when it feels like you're gliding over the sea." As Yukari finished her monologue, Minato spoke up.

"Hey, Yukari, mind if I interrupt?" A little surprised by the interruption the girl turned to face him.

"Oh yeah, what is it?"

"Why aren't you in the full girl's uniform?" He bluntly asked, gesturing to the pink cardigan that she wore.

"...To be honest, I've been wearing this to school since the start of the year and never got in trouble for it. Why?"

"It's nothing." He responded, waving her question off.

Why the hell did I even bother wearing the uniform properly, then?

"Anyway, our stop is Port Island Station. From there, we walk. Have you ever heard of Tatsumi Port Island? It's a man-made island and they built our school right in the middle. Oh, look, you can see it now!" True to her explanation upon glancing out the window, the male spotted the pristine white building easily towering alongside the city buildings. Eventually, the two got off and then reached the school gates after walking from the station. As they arrived, however, Minato noticed people looking at him oddly some (mainly the male population) were even glaring.

She must be popular then, he concluded, watching as Yukari greeted a girl passing by.

"Well, here we are... Welcome to Gekkoukan High! You're going to love it here."

I'm probably going to hate it then... the male mentally added as two headed inside, Minato was greeted by a mass of students crowding around the main hallway as they hung near the bulletin board.

"You're okay from here, right?" Minato nodded, "Then you should go see your homeroom teacher first. The faculty office is located in the left hallway... And that concludes the tour. Do you have any questions before I go." Minato shook his head.

"Alright then, umm... about last night... Don't tell anyone about what you saw, okay? ...See ya later." At this Minato was now fully aware of the glares that were sent his way.

Talk about being discrete... and it just so happens to be my first day here. Also, note to self; I'm pretty sure that I have pissed off more than half the male student population in the school simply due to walking with Ms Popular… I can't fucking wait to meet everyone! Minato thought as he walked into the faculty office, nearly bumping into a teacher that he was pretty sure looked like an adult version of Yukari.

"Oh! I didn't see you there," the woman searched his face for a while before being hit with what looked like realisation, "so you must be the new transfer student then?" Minato nodded.

I've been nodding my head a lot lately...

"Perfect! Come with me, I have your file." Following the woman inside the office, he stopped as she grabbed, what looked like his file from her desk.

"Minato Arisato... 11th grade, correct?" He nodded again, watching as she continued to flick through his file. "Wow, you've lived in a lot of different places..."

Perks of being apart of the Shirogane family I suppose...

"Let's see... In 1999... That was what, 10 years ago? Your parents-" She then let out a gasp, "I'm sorry, I've been so busy that I haven't had time to read this beforehand. I am Ms Toriumi and I teach Composition. Welcome to our school." Ms Toriumi explained, smiling.

"Oh... Thanks..."

"Have you seen the classroom assignments? 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." Eventually, Minato soon found himself bored listening to the principle go on and on, it also didn't help being seated next to a bunch of unfamiliar people. Halfway through the old man's speech, Minato felt someone tap his shoulder, turning around, he was met with the face of a male student.

"You came to school with Yukari this morning, right? I saw you two walking together. Hey, I have a question. Do you know if she has a boyfriend?" The student sheepishly asked.

"I don't know." Minato bluntly stated, already intent on zoning out.

"I see. I thought you might know, but... I guess not. So, how well do you know her?" However, before Minato could respond to shut him up one of the teachers spoke up.

"I hear talking. I believe it's someone in Ms Toriumi's class..."

No shit sherlock, Minato grumbled mentally.

"Shhh! Be quiet! You're going to get me in trouble!" Ms Toriumi snapped.

I'm pretty sure more then half the school is talking through, he thought amused. After a long speech, Minato eventually headed into homeroom deciding to settle on a desk so he could run unnoticed by the general student population and rest, however, before his head could hit the desk a male student with a baseball cap sauntered towards him.

"S'up, dude? How's it goin'?" The baseball cap wearing male greeted moving rather close.

Personal space...

"Can I help you?" Minato inquired, shifting as far as possible from the male without tipping them off.

"Nah man, I just came here to introduce myself." If possible Minato swore the other male's smile got wider.

"Anyway, I'm Junpei Iori. Nice to meet ya. I transferred here when I was in eighth grade, so I know how tough it is bein' the new kid... So I wanted to say, "hey." ...See what a nice guy I am!" As the baseball-capped male now known as Junpei continued to talk to the half-asleep male. Minato managed to spot Yukari from the corner of his eye as she walked over.

"Hey, it's Yuka-tan! I didn't think we'd be in the same class again." The girl in mention, practically scrunched her face up in annoyance, before sighing.

"At it again, huh? I swear you'll talk to anyone if they'll listen. Did you ever think you might be bothering someone?" She grumbled.

"What? But, I was just bein' friendly." Junpei protested, faking a look of hurt.

"If you say so." She then turned to face Minato who at that point had nearly nodded off already bored of the exchange.

"Anyway, looks like we're in the same homeroom..." Snapping out of he daze, he barely managed to respond in time.

"It's just a coincidence though." He drawled.

"Yeah I know, I'm just a little surprised..." Yukari mumbled.

"Um, hello? Are you forgetting that I'm in this class too? By the way, I heard you two came to school together this morning. What's up with that? C'mon, gimme the dirt!" At this point, Minato was tempted to answer in order to piss Yukari off, however, before he could even say anything, Yukari spoke.

"Wh-what are you talking about!? We live in the same dorm. There's nothing going on, okay? Why are people even talking about it!? Now you have me worried..." She then leaned towards Minato her voice barely above a whisper, "Hey... You didn't say anything to anyone about… you know what did you?"

And this is how people get the wrong idea about you... at least no one else heard you, he shook his head.

"Okay, good... Seriously... Don't say anything about last night, alright." This time, however, it seemed that only Junpei had heard her other than him, as shown by his rather unique reaction.

Never mind… again!

"..." Yukari finally noticing his reaction spoke.

"Wh-what?" She snapped.

"L-Last night...?" Junpei mumbled breathlessly, a crimson blush settled on his cheeks.

"W-Wait a minute! Don't get the wrong idea! Listen! I just met him yesterday, and there's absolutely nothing between us! Geez... I've gotta go. I've got something to take care of for the archery team. But, you better not start any rumours!" With that, Yukari stormed off.

"Ah, who cares? No one takes rumours seriously, anyway. She's so paranoid..." He mumbled to himself, "But, hey! It's your first day here, and people are already talkin' about you! Believe it or not, she's actually pretty popular. You da man!" Junpei leaned back, chuckling to himself, although to Minato it sounded like a giggle.

"Hehe, this is gonna be a fun year. I can feel it!" He fist pumped the air before heading back to his desk just as class started. For the next couple of hours in school, Minato constantly zoned out during his classes having already having covered them previously. As the day ended though, Minato decided to head straight back to the dorm exhaustion clinging to his form.

"Welcome back." Mitsuru greeted from the lounge although her expression changed when noticed how worn he looked.

"Arisato, have you been getting enough sleep?"

"...Not really,"

"Then I suggest you get some rest, we have school tomorrow." He nodded numbly in response as he headed upstairs. Upon reaching his room, however, he nearly collapsed onto his bed exhaustion seeping into his head as his eyelids fluttered closed. Unfortunately, before he could lose himself to sleep a familiar ring tone echoed throughout the ambience of the room forcing him awake and fumble for his phone.

"Arisato,"

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" The voice questioned, causing Minato to blink the sleep from his eyes.

"Naoto?"

The dorm was relatively silent for Mitsuru as she continued reading, barely keeping track of the text as she felt her focus wander elsewhere. Minato Arisato was an interesting case from what she could gather from his medical records alone, that factor alone, however, gave her no indication of his potential at wielding a Persona let alone whether he was mentally stable enough to handle one. Mitsuru frowned to herself barely paying attention to the words on the page, he had seemed stable enough and yet, outside of the brief interaction this morning, she had no grasp on his actual background specifics other than his medical records and the fact that he moved around a lot… Even then, despite her influence and power, she held thanks to the Group those files had been the only ones located under his name no prior history of anything.

It's almost like he hadn't existed until now…

However, she was pulled out of her thoughts when a confident looking male student strutted downstairs heading towards the door.

"I'm going out for a bit." The male stated as he walked past the redhead.

"...Hm?" Mitsuru hummed in response, not looking up from her book.

"Didn't you see the newspaper? There's a lot going on." It was then that she glanced up from her book, watching the male.

"...I know. People who had no problems before are suddenly developing acute cases of Apathy Syndrome…" Her eyes narrowed as she continued, "I've seen it in the news quite often lately. They say its due to stress, but..." She trailed off.

"Yeah, right. It has to be THEM. Otherwise, it's not worth my time..." The male smirked and if possible Mitsuru thought he looked like a child who had just opened their Christmas present.

"You have a one-track mind…" She mumbled to herself, "Will you be okay on your own? The Chairman will be here for the next few days, but after that, I can..." However, before she could continue the male spoke.

"Don't worry. I'm just getting a little practice." He sent her a smile of reassurance, before walking out the door, causing the redhead to let out a sigh.

"This isn't a game, Akihiko…"

The next morning went by a blur for Minato with the male taking a quick shower, before leaving for school. Upon arriving, he found himself bored listening to the two girls in front of him talking about the rumours, before eventually zoning out through most of his classes. The only thing remotely eventful in his day had been when Junpei asked for his help upon Ms Toriumi asking the baseball-capped male a question. A question which he got right only because he hadn't zoned out. By the time he headed back to the dorm, he was greeted by an unfamiliar glasses wearing man and Yukari standing up, upon walking in.

"Good evening, my name is Shuji Ikutsuki. I'm the Chairman of the Board for your school. "Ikutsuki"... Hard to say, isn't it?"

No, I've heard of people with harder to pronounce names…

"That's why I don't like introducing myself. Even I get tongue-tied sometimes..." He chuckled, then gestured to the chair, "Please have a seat." As the three sat down Ikutsuki continued to speak.

"I apologise about the confusion regarding your accommodations. However, it may take a while longer before you receive a proper room assignment. Is there anything you'd like to ask?"

"Why are you here?" He inquired.

"To welcome you, of course. Well, to be honest, I do have other business here." The man then turned to Yukari "Speaking of which... where's Mitsuru, Yukari?"

"She's upstairs." She bluntly answered.

"As diligent as always… Although, it doesn't hurt to come down and say hello." He turned to Minato once again"Is there anything else?"

"Who else lives here?"

"There are only four students in this dorm: you, Yukari here, Mitsuru, and a senior named Akihiko Sanada. I hope you all get along. Any other questions?" Minato pondered it for a bit before shaking his head, he had wanted to inquire about the weird hour between midnight and one but decided against it. Besides for Minato, other than Yukari and Mitsuru there was no guarantee that the man would be aware of that hour.

"Then if there is nothing else, I hope you have a successful school year. Now, if you'll excuse me..." Ikutsuki got up, "You must be tired from all the excitement and go to bed early. As they say, the early bird catches the bookworm!" The man grimaced at the chilly reception.

"...Please forgive the bad pun." The man chuckled before leaving, causing Yukari to sigh in exasperation.

"...You'll get used to his lame jokes."

I'm probably going to end up making them myself anyway...

Sometime during Mitsuru's observation, the Dark Hour had struck, bathing the room in darkness for a brief moment before the monitors flickered back on revealing a familiar head of cobalt hair as he sat by the window reading a novel. Beside her, Ikutsuki leaned forward and from what she could tell despite the glare of his glasses that he was watching the teenager intently, Yukari, on the other hand, shifted nervously a habit that only ever was present during the Dark Hour.

"To think, not only has he retained his human form unlike those unaware in their coffins, he also has no reaction to the transaction of the Dark Hour whatsoever, truly fascinating," Ikutsuki exclaimed, eyes glued to the screen.

"You know, I kinda feel bad for spying on him like this..." Yukari mumbled, facing the screen.

"Don't be, we are only watching him to see if he has the potential or not," Mitsuru answered, watching as Minato flipped a page in his book, before glancing out the window in his room staring directly at the moon.

"He has to have the potential, for had he not had it the shadows would have preyed on him by now," Ikutsuki explained.

"Scary..." Yukari mumbled as the three continued to monitor the male. As they neared the end of the Dark Hour, for a split second Mitsuru who had been watching intently during the other's momentary distraction involving a water bottle, could've sworn that for a moment the male looked straight at the camera as if aware of what they were doing, but just like that turned away immediately, far more interested in his book before eventually nodding off to sleep, exhaustion having finally taken its hold.

Waking up was no pleasant experience for Minato, his neck felt stiff, his back was sore from remaining upright as he slept and his head felt like someone repeatedly hammered a nail into his skull.

Yep, it was the perfect way to start his morning.

Groaning, the male stumbled out of his chair as he attempted to recall the specifics of his dream, only to aggravate his headache further as he headed off to school. As he proceeded to board the train, however, he managed to catch his reflection in the glass and nearly froze.

His eyes were gold; not grey, not blue, but gold.

He blinked, and they disappeared returning to a simple grey-blue as the doors closed behind him. It seemed that the existence of the Velvet Room and Igor had left him more of an impact on him then he had first assumed. Now in front of the school gate, Minato was greeted by Junpei catching up to him from behind.

"Hey man, what's up!?" The male greeted cheerfully.

"Today is the perfect day! The sky is blue... We're young... What more could we ask for!?"

"Well, you're full of energy." Minato deadpanned, watching the other male bounce around.

"Of course! Seriously though, dude, listen to this…" He leaned over once again forcing Minato to step back, "Oh, wait! I'm not supposed to say anything! Sorry, man." He chuckled as the two headed inside. The day felt more sluggish than usual, were at this point Minato could've have sworn Junpei decided to wear Igor's head for shits and giggles.

He nearly jumped out of his seat when the baseball cap wearing male had asked for help in 4th period…

Deciding to return to the dorm, Minato had found it slightly unexpected as he had yet to pass by any of the other dorm inhabitants, something which he thought nothing of as he headed upstairs to his room collapsing onto the bed as he let himself drown in the room's ambience.

Even when they had entered the Dark Hour Minato held no prevalent reaction, he simply lay there unmoving. Which quite frankly, unnerved Mitsuru more then any Shadow could, at one point she had assumed the male was asleep only for the occasional flicker of his eyelids indicating that he was very much aware of his surroundings.

"...How is he?" Ikutsuki questioned.

"...Same as last night." Mitsuru answered, watching him wearily, as the male continued to lay still.

"Hmm... very interesting, to remain completely unaffected by the Dark Hour. The subject seems to be quite the enigma, among others. Had it been anyone else they would have had suffered from some memory loss."

"It feels wrong... We're treating him like a guinea pig." Yukari mumbled.

"I understand your concern, but it's imperative that we recruit new members. I heard he's your classmate... Wouldn't you be more comfortable working with someone from the same grade?" Ikutsuki questioned.

"Yeah... but-" However before Yukari could get a word in, the sound of a transmission rang through.

"Command room. ...Is that you, Akihiko?" Mitsuru questioned, pressing a button which brought forward a screen. On the screen appeared a white-haired male, he was currently running from something.

"You're not gonna believe this...! This thing is huge!" The male on the other end exclaimed, "Unfortunately, I don't have time to talk... It's chasing me... I wanted to let you guys know. I'm almost there." With that, the transmission cut off setting Mitsuru on edge over the unexpected guest.

"Does that mean... he's bringing that thing here!?" Yukari freaked.

"Mr Chairman! Let's suspend our observation for now. We'll prepare for battle!" Mitsuru ordered, before grabbing her gear, as did Yukari a bit with difficulty.

"...R-Right! Be careful!" Ikutsuki hastily answered, watching the two fly out the door. Meanwhile, downstairs Akihiko slammed the front door of the dorm closed before leaning against it, just as Mitsuru and Yukari ran downstairs.

"Akihiko!" The redhead yelled, moving quickly to his side to help him up, causing the male to let out a grunt of pain.

"Senpai!?" Yukari questioned, just as worried.

"I'm alright. Get ready to be surprised... It'll be here any second." The male coughed out.

"This is no time to joke around!" Mitsuru snapped, just as the ground shook, the sounds of growling easily echoing through the building.

"Ahh! What the...!? ...You've gotta be kidding me!" Yukari cried as Mitsuru pulled out a gun.

"Takeba, go upstairs and wake him up! Then, escape out the back!" Mitsuru ordered, causing her junior to look at her in surprise.

"But, what about you two?"

"We'll stop it here. You led it to us, Akihiko, so I'm afraid you'll have to fight." Mitsuru responded, brandishing her rapier towards the door, as the wood groaned under the weight of what was waiting outside.

"Like I had a choice! What are you waiting for, Yukari? Go!"

"I-I'm going!" Reluctantly, Yukari left heading to words Minato's room, however, as she slammed his bedroom door open, she was met with an empty room, hurtling her into a state of horror. Quickly she then went back downstairs only to, hear Mitsuru's voice through another transmission.

"Takeba, do you read me!?" Panicking Yukari barely responded in time.

"Y-Yes! I hear you!"

"Be careful! There's more than one shadow, the one Akihiko and I just killed isn't the one he saw!" Yukari went pale, glancing nervously around for any sign of the cobalt haired male.

"Umm... Senpai, we have a slight problem."

"What!?" Mitsuru snapped, causing the girl to cringe at her tone.

"I-I can't find Minato..." For a moment, the other line went silent, causing Yukari to panic even further.

"Takeba, I want you to get back to us immediately and help Akihiko, I will go find him myself." She ordered coldly before ending the transmission and upon doing so, the building shook once again the foreign cries of the creature once again reverberated throughout the building. After the tremors stopped Yukari instantly headed towards the lounge where she quickly met up with Mitsuru and Akihiko, the former in which left the moment she arrived, cursing under her breath in what vaguely sounded like French.

Mitsuru hastily climbed up the stairs to reach the rooftop of the building, having found no sign of Minato anywhere. She burst through the steel door and was met with a nightmarish sight.

It twisted and convulsed, limbs failing anywhere they could reach, a glimmer of steel catching the moonlight every so often as it attempted to strike Minato down all of which lay connect to a broken bubbling mask.

"A little help here, Senpai!" He yelled, rolling under the blow that would have sliced his head clean of his neck. Snapping out of her trance, she ran up to it clutched the gun to her forehead as she set her rapier in front of her in a defensive stance.

"Penthesilea!" She yelled as she pulled the trigger her head jerking to the side as a large feminine looking knight appeared unleashing a torrent of ice shards towards the creature cutting jagged lines across its flesh. Screeching in pain the monster recoiled, turning its attention away from the male bones and skin shifting at unnatural angles as it now focused on Mitsuru. With a horrid screech, it leapt towards the female but before it could reach her a wall of frost pierced through its limbs shattering them mid-jump. Minato on the other head could only stare at Mitsuru in slight shock, as she valiantly fought it off moving in sync with her rapier in practised movement as she blocked whatever sword came her way that the ice hadn't been able to reach. But, it was then that he noticed how quickly she was losing ground as it remained undeterred by the sharp drop in temperature continued to wail on her mercilessly before much to both of their shock unleashed a column of flame forcing the gun from her hands with a yelp. Minato watched as the weapon slid towards his direction and slowly reached out picking it up as his mind went blank.

He stood there, the gun felt light in his hands, the metal easily cooling down the temperature of his sweat-slicked skin.

"Go on…" Whispered a familiar voice, forcing Minato to look up his eyes widening in recognition as the boy stood across from him, smiling, "She'll die if you don't."

And you will die as well if you continue to stand there… Another voice spoke, it was much lower, more… ancient.

I… He hesitated, nothing made sense anymore.

Was her sacrifice in vain then? The voice spoke again, taunting.

...

"Will you let history repeat itself?" The boy's voice and it's had merged.

He cried out, collapsing onto his knees as he clutched at his head attracting the attention of the monster as it scrambled towards him.

His heart thundered in his ears.

His forehead felt like it was on fire.

And something wanted out.

"Per…" He placed the gun to his head.

"so…" His hand clenched tightly around the handle.

"na!" He pulled the trigger, body jerking, as flame sprouted fourth encasing the creature in a plume of heat leaving nothing but ash in its wake, as a new being emerged.

I am Thou, Thou art I… From the sea of thy soul I cometh for thou is chained to Death itself… I am Orpheus, Master of Strings.

Minato staggered to his feet, the pain slowly ebbing away as last of the ashes of the creature faded away, the short sword barely a hairsbreadth away from his neck as it burned with it leaving nothing but scorch marks and black blood in its wake. Satiated, the Greek incarnate let out a cry of victory as it towered over the damage, its crimson gaze unwavering as Mitsuru looked onto the sight in shock. Yet, before either party could react Minato let out a cry of agony rivalling his previous screams as he tore at his scalp causing Mitsuru to flinch, his persona imitating the gesture before the sickening sound of flesh tearing and metal snapping reverberated throughout the rooftop snapping Mitsuru's attention from Minato to it.

Ivory talon like gloves emerged, clawing at its prison as it let out a high pitched cry; where from what Mitsuru could see from the brief glimpse, a sight that she would never forget.

For she wouldn't have been wrong for mistaking it as Death itself.

And just like that, the sight disappeared, replaced by the shattering fragments of a persona retreating and leaving Minato barely standing as he trembled before pitching backwards, his world going dark as a pair of unfamiliar arms wrapped around his torso intent on keeping him up just as the rooftop doors slammed open, their footsteps echoing into the night air...

Author's Note:

Also, note, it seems I have accidentally deleted my previous author's note in a frenzy and have to substitute with repeating this instead;

- Just to confirm that this is a Mitsuru/Minato fic

- Constructive criticism is welcome, it helps me immensely as a writer

- And don't forget to enjoy!

24/2/2019 -Minato suffers from PTSD now, something I decided to change slightly as it made more sense and still keep in with the idea of Minato having to constantly take antipsychotics in order to beat back his PTSD for a few hours, however, it is not a concrete way and even when the medicine is in effect he can still suffer an episode.

13/3/2019 - Finally done! After about a month or so (which could be worse) I have finally finished the first chapter for the new improved version of Persona 3 Resonetia. As for the style, results, in the end, showed that Option B won, so starting in the next few days I will start writing in the format of the in-game month intervals.

1/4/2019 - Made a few minor edits here and there as well as change the ending of the chapter.

12/4/2019 - I honestly need help at this point since I keep updating the same chapter over an over again, where I shall say that there have been a few more big edits so apologies for having to wait for the next chapter but it is honestly much longer then I anticipated.