A/N: Alight, I'm new to the game section of fanfic so please be nice XP In other area's lots of people like my work and now that I've finally hunted Persona 3's section I just could resist. Word of warning, I have not completed the game (but I know the plot) and I'm a tad shaky on the honorifics that these guys use for each other. Also, I'm using (obviously) the manga's name. I apologize for any OCCness on my part but these characters are very different from what I'm use too... Please tell me if I make a mistake~ This is based shortly after the Hanged-Man boss and the night where the plot takes a wicked twist. So Mitsuru's dad and (sadly) Shinjiro are dead T-T

DISCLAIMER:MESSA DO NOT OWN PERSONA 3 OR ANY CHARACTER/SETTING/ANYTHING ASSOISIATED WITH SAID GAME/MANGA!

Reading Legend

normal

"talking"

Thinking

SHOUTING

Expressing/Exaggerating

Shadowed Time

Chapter 1: Wings of a Blue Butterfly

It's wings were delicate and glowed faintly in the dark room that Minato found himself in. It was as if the world had decided to turn off all it's lights and cover the moon and sun with a blanket. There was no warmth or feeling here. Just himself and that single blue butterfly. He felt compelled to follow it, as if it was calling his name silently. He felt as if it was a part of him, as much as his hands and his feet were.

Taking two steps forward he approached the fluttering butterfly. Minato extended his right pointer finger to it and watched with childish delight as it landed softly on his finger. He felt no weight as the butterfly ceased it's flapping and closed up it's beautiful blue wings. How he wanted to stroke it, but he knew that touching a butterflies wings was harmful. His oily fingers would rub off the precious powder that dwelt on those wings, making it increasingly difficult for it to fly. But the blue-haired teen didn't mind. He was completely content with it resting there on his finger, feeling the small tingle of warmth seep into his unnaturally cold body.

Minato awoke to the sound of his alarm cloak screaming it's artificial lungs off. Oh how he loathed Monday mornings. It wasn't the day, but more of what happened almost every Monday, and that, was school. He dreaded school for several reasons. Today it was the academics portion. Being a A+ student was hard enough, but keeping it up there was nearly impossible. Rolling out of bed and slamming his alarm cloak to silence the thing, Minato slowly got ready for school.

Monday's just loved to suck for poor Minato. Not only did every teacher decide to give a pop quiz, but Ryoji and Junpei kept flirting with Yukari in between classes, which resulted in a very angry teenager.

"I have to go to archery." Yukari stated bluntly and left with sharp turns and brisk movements.

"See you later Yuka-tan!"

"Bye-bye!" The two idiots called out. Minato just sighed in relief, glad that he had survived the might of an angry Yukari.

"Hey! We should go to the arcade!" Junpei suggested.

"Yeah! Sounds like fun!"

"What about you Minato? Wanna come?" Junpei nudged the teen playfully and all the boy did was sigh and nod "Alright! Let's move out!"

Why does he have to be so loud? Minato thought as the two dragged him out of the school. As the trio walked down the pathway the blue-haired teen though he saw a sparkle of blue. Turning to face the flowers, he could have sworn that a butterfly had sat on one of the many flowers only seconds before.

"Hurry up Minato-san!" Ryoji called as the two waited at the schools gates. Shrugging to himself, Minato turned and ran to catch up with his friends.

"Where have you been?" Akihiko questioned as Minato and Junpei entered their shared dorm.

"Just out with Ryoji, Senpia." The loud boy explained.

"We were at the arcade..." Answered the more quite teen. How the two of them ever got to be friends was indeed questionable. One was loud and always flirting to try and get a girl to like him. The other was silent, self-included if you will and didn't even have to bat an eyelash to get girls swarming around him. Even if neither had persona's, it appeared as if they were destined to be friends, the way they leaned on each other's strengths.

"So, is Yuka-tan back yet?"

"Nope. She called saying that she would be late because of a late archery meeting." Mitsuru stated calmly.

"Oh, I see."

"You sound disappointed Iori, is something wrong?"

"Ah, I just wanted to bug her."

"One of these days you're going to regret doing that to her..." The boxing leader warned as the short haired teen sat down on the couch.

"Who knows." He answer, waving his hand in the air.

Minato smiled sadly at the scene in front of him as he wandered over to the fridge by the bar. No matter how hard he tried, it felt like he could never mesh in with anyone. He always felt secluded and even though he knew it wasn't their fault, Minato felt as if his 'friends' were purposely ignoring him some days.

Reaching into the fridge, the silent boy pulled out a sandwich that he had made for himself that morning. It was a simple cheese and turkey sandwich with nothing special and no marveling taste. When it was for himself, Minato never liked getting fancy with food. He felt that he would waste the good food on himself, especially sense he was never hungry. Know that he thought about it, he's stomach never growled at him, demanding attention, quite like the others had.

As he finished, he noticed Koromaru looking happily at the door. Having done it since the dog moved in, Minato knew that he wanted a walk. Getting up slowly he walked towards the door, Koromaru paddling his feet after him. Opening the door slightly, Minato turned towards the three occupying the room.

"Would any of you like to come?" the boy asked quietly, never being one for words.

"No thanks Arisato-kun, I'm afraid I'm busy." Junpei also gave a negative, shortly followed by Akihiko. Smiling thoughtfully, Minato opened the door fully and let himself and his dog outside. (1)

A pleasant breeze blew around the two figures as they headed towards the shrine. Minato never knew why, but after Shinjiro's sudden death, going to the shrine brought back a small taste of happiness that had been left for him. None of his friends noticed just how much the death had affected the teen. No one but Koromaru noticed the change in his walking companion.

The dog barked happily, racing ahead and Minato soon found himself chasing after him around the playground, a smile on his face. He couldn't remember much about his life as a child, so he wasn't sure if he had had a dog, but playing here with Koromaru felt as natural as breathing too him. The dog barked again, and Minato responded by laughing happily, the first time in so long that he had almost forgotten how good it felt to laugh.

Breathing heavily, Minato laid in the playgrounds sand, Koromaru panting lightly at his side. "Well that was fun, wasn't it boy?" The teen spoke quietly. "Think we should head back?" A bark was his reply and Minato laughed again, slowly getting up. "Alright, then lets g-" His voice stopped as his gray eyes landed on a blue butterfly. It's wings seemed to glow in the darkness that surrounded them.

Minato arose slowly from his spot and stood still, watching the insect flap it's wings ever so gently. Koromaru looked at his companion questionably, not seeing nor smelling the quite creature that had captured his interest.

Without realizing it, Minato began to walk towards the butterfly, as if he was in a hypnotic daze. He could hear his name being called, and he felt compelled to answer. The dark playground seemed to darken and the sky flashed an eerie green. Koromaru whined, confused at the strange smell that reminded him of a shadow. Minato paid no notice, only focusing on the butterfly. He reached out to it, like he had done in his dream. His right pointer finger was extended, biding the small animal to take refuge on the small limb.

The shadow's that extended from the butterfly reached out towards the blue-hared teen. They wrapped around his finger and worked their way up his arm. He appeared to not notice the strange things that tangled themselves around him like a deranged ribbon.

The sky flashed green, the moon a shocking yellow, and blood littered the shrine's grounds. Koromaru growled loudly, trying to grab Minato's attention. The boy still seemed to be in his own world and the dog barked loudly, running towards him only to be stopped by the very things that their group hunted.

A large shadow loomed over the dog. It was made up of hands and had a blue mask attached to it's black body. Koromaru barked louder as he watched his friend being slowly wrapped in the same substance that made up their enemies.

Yukari was heading home, complaining about the horrible taxi driver that had dropped her off at the wrong house. "Seriously, it's not thathard to find!" she cried out. As she approached the Naganaki Shrine, she felt a very bad feeling wash over her. Her cell phone (that she was just about to call Mitsuru with) was no longer working, and the street had taken a gloomy look. It was like the Dark Hour, but with one major difference, there was a much larger abundance of blood. The stench, that didn't exist in the Dark Hour, was strong and overwhelming making her head spin. It was then that she heard a dog barking, one that she knew was Koromaru's.

With a quick dash, she raced up the shrine's stairs to see the dog staring down a shadow. There was a larger mess in front of the two, vaguely representing a human. Whatever it was, Koromaru was determined to get to it. With slight hesitation, Yukari pulled out her invoker and summoned Io, her persona. As Cerberus, Koromaru's persona, attacked with Agi (fire) spells, Yukari focused on attacking the strange blob with Garu (wind) spells.

The fight continued on for twelve minutes before a scream erupted through the air. Both persona user's tensed, they knew that voice. The shadowed blob suddenly burst apart, destroying the other shadow in the after shock. There, on the cold ground, laid Minato shaking horribly, tears streaming down his eyes.

"Minato-kun?!" Yukari cried out as her and the loyal dog rushed forward. The strange Dark Hour-like world, seemed to glitch and screech as it returned to normal. Taking out her cell phone, Yukari quickly dialed the dorm's number.

"Hello?" It was Akihiko.

"Akihiko-Senpia! Hurry and come to Naganaki Shrine!"

"Yukari? What's wrong?"

"It's Minato, I don't know what happened but he's not responding!" she cried out as she shook the still crying boy.

"Alright, we'll be there soon." Yukari hanged up and continued sobbing as she tried to snap Minato out of whatever he was in. Koromaru whined sadly as he licked the teens facing, remembering how he was laughing lightly just minutes before.

Closing her phone, it was then that Yukari noticed what time it was. It was only 9:43, exactly two hours and seventeen minutes before the Dark Hour was supposed to commence.

Minato didn't know where he was. It was dark and cold, with no sense of feeling. It unnerved him. Every once in a while a bark would enter his hearing, bouncing off the walls of his chamber. This was soon accompanied by a girls yelling, one he was sure he recognized.

Why can't I remember? He asked himself as he focused on the voice. It was definitely familiar. One that he had heard just that day. Wait, what is today? The darkness provided no answers to his questions. He tried moving, but it was as if his body was frozen in place. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't budge. He could feel something wrapping around his body even though he saw nothing. It was warm but cool at the same time, and against his will, Minato found himself relaxing.

Suddenly he felt a horrible force push against him. It surrounded his body, trying to enter him from any opening. Worse, was the feeling of something trying to get out. Oh god how it hurt! He cried out in pain, wanting the suffering to end. The calm presence was overwhelmed with the pain he was in. It was worse than any wound he had suffered and he felt his insides being thrown around inside him as the power ran amok inside him.

He could feel something wrap around his neck and writs. Being beyond panicked, Minato thrashed his arm about, succeeding in tearing whatever it was off of him. His flesh was torn and raw, blood dripping down into the black nothingness. As if afraid to do any more damage than it had already done, the strange power dispersed and Minato slowly opened his eyes to the glaring lights of his old hospital room.

Story Notes

(1) I always see him as his dog, sense he always walks him and stuff... also I like thinking that those two are like, best buds!