Disclaimer: I don't own or receive any money from the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona series, though I do get off on ranting about it.
Summary: What happens when the life you're living, isn't your own?
My take on the dealings of our newest fave FeMC. I chose to refer to her as Hamuko, hopefully that doesn't turn you away from this story immediately. (Please?) Honestly, I'm partly doing it also because, knowing myself, I'd make too many mistakes with the MinaKo/MinaTo similarities.
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Overshadowed
Chapter 1: Something to Fear (Intro)
A blue butterfly, its wings flapping slowly as it bobbed around in my mind, uttering words of some profound nature to me…
The words the butterfly was trying to convey were muffled, fuzzy, … as though I was trying to remember what it was saying, even though I'm sure this was the first time I'd ever dreamed of it.
Wow. With dreams like this, you might think I was on drugs…
All of a sudden the image cracked and fell away, and my eyes opened.
Iwatodai Station
Waking me from my nap, the name rang out in my head, even before the automated voice announced our most recent stop. I remembered the name easily, even if I hadn't been here in at least a decade.
I guess some things, even some little things, just stay with you.
As soon as we stopped I got to my feet, the nonsensical dream now one more step behind me. I wanted out of this train, because, for some strange reason, this whole trip had seemed off. Somehow, like déjà vu. Though, that might just have been my music…
Burrrrn Myyyy Dreeeaaad!
Good ol' Shoji Meguro.
A healthy chunk of the music I'd listened to on this trip had been heavy on the beat, some pop, and some punk; anything that would have gotten me moving, were I jogging back home. I don't like being idle. I usually tell people I can't stand wasting time, but really, it's just because I feel like something, I'm not sure what, but something might just catch up with me one day.
As soon as the doors whooshed open for me so I could get off the train, I felt something behind me, something that didn't feel quite right, and I wondered if today was that day.
One foot out the door, the other frozen in place, I started breathing just a little too heavily. Between every nap, I'd made sure to check my surroundings. When I'd boarded this train, there had been roughly twenty or so people around, just enough to fill up the seats in the compartment, which had whittled down to 9 only an hour ago, and now just me.
My point is, I was alone in this compartment for a while now, so this feeling had me understandably on edge. What made it worse was that I wasn't already being told to get out of the way, or pushed aside like most Japanese were used to on trains and subways, (everyone's got places to go after all, …pushy jerks). The presence behind me made no move to yell at me or even shove past me like I'd expected they would, like a regular person would've.
A long beep sounded, jolting my nerves, telling me to hurry up so the doors could close, and my foot simply slid off the train to join my right one on the platform floor. I couldn't turn around, even look over my shoulder. I wanted that train, and whatever the hell was in it, gone.
Suddenly everything from the fluorescent lights to the platform signs above went dark, and I knew I wouldn't get my wish. I didn't even need to check my music player; I knew that everything electronic had just gone kaput (crapped out, or whatever) for the next 60 or so minutes.
"Crap…" I could've slapped my forehead with a tire iron for being so stupid! Planning every twist and turn and train of my trip, I'd forgotten to account for this shadow time, this…weird hour…
Every night at midnight, here in Japan –probably the rest of the world too I assume— this horrid hour of blood and coffins and Darkness just pops up like a nasty black-head. Well, not total darkness. Everything's pretty well covered tonight in the glow of the moon (which turns a sickly yellow-green during this hour) since it's almost full. I'm not sure what it's all about, or even why it exists, because they never talk about it on T.V. or the web, I've looked.
As far as I've been able to tell, after experiencing it for the last 10 years, every person turns into a coffin, like some freaky mosaic-looking transmutation. Just about every ounce of water turns into what I think is blood, never thoroughly checked though.
And everything gets wreathed in shadow, while the moon seems to swap color pallets in favor of the Stephen King Crayola™ brand (he's a famous author of horror books, and mostly horrible movies, from the U.S., in case you didn't know).
Even with all these deliriously delightful treats however, the piece de resistance, (I barely passed French) are the noises. I've never actually seen anything—and this may be a not-so-disguised blessing—but I swear, the low growls and disturbing slimy sounds that echo across the silent streets send tremors through my whole body.
Combine these god-awful sounds with my unabashed imagination, and you've got the perfect recipe for a change of underwear.
All that terrible weirdness, the frightening possibilities and the unknown of it all, was still preferable to me however, when compared with the idea of getting back on the train. The doors hadn't completely closed before the electricity had gone off, so I was pretty sure I could squeeze through and hide in the train till normality kicked back in, but I would rather have sat through all four Twilight movies (horrible, though not Movies-made-from-Stephen King-books horrible), while chewing my own legs off, than stay in there. I still hadn't even turned around!
My internal clock told me it had already been five minutes, so I chose to beat it out of there and start looking for the dorms.
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Even this late at night, the town was full of coffins, (ahem, I mean people). Other than that though, there wasn't a whole lot of difference to experiencing it all back home. When you've seen one town transformed into a malevolent shell of its usual self, you've seen them all.
This far from that nasty train, and I already felt loads better. Judging from what I could make of the map I'd drawn on my hand, which, after wiping the sweat from my brow, was probably also on my forehead, I had… just passed the dorm. Whoops.
I took a few steps back and looked up at the place that had taken me almost 45 minutes to find (I'd tried being sneaky and careful, since I still have no clue what could be lurking out there). With a large roller suitcase and stuffed duffel bag, the search had been very tiring, and I was ready to rest.
I had been dreading a rat motel of sorts, but on an island this swanky, I probably shouldn't have. The doors themselves looked lovely, and even in the horrid moonlight, the 4-storied building with warmly shaped windows looked pretty inviting.
I walked up the steps and checked the door's handle: unlocked. Either they were expecting me, or even the students stayed out late here. Not that I had a problem with that (~party party!~), though on the night before school started, I had to wonder.
The door swung open slowly, and after stepping in, I put my bags down next to what looked like a small counter. I closed the front door, and took a short look around. Even in the dark, the room looked big, and kinda homey. There were couches and chairs, a television, a small boy, that counter with a sign in sheet, a computer…
"Oh GOD!" I jumped back and nearly screamed, looking around behind the pillar at the end of the counter, (though I was doing so in a large arc, at least 8 feet away from said pillar). The face, bright blue eyes, stripes… I wasn't sure if it was a little boy or not, but those features popped out in my memory. Suddenly, the headache started. A hollow ache, as though something deep inside my skull—maybe my brain?—was being stabbed.
I saw static, a contract, more blue, and then-
"What was that…? Is someone there!"
The pain in my head was dying down now, just in time for the owner of those questions to make her appearance. I was hunched down and brought my eyes from the carpet up to see her. Past the heart-patterned socks and the really—really—short skirt, my eyes met the face of the first person I had ever seen during this weirdo hour other than myself. And she was pointing a gun at me…
"W-wait!" I shot up, still on my knees, dropped my mp3 player and tossed my hands out in front of me, acting like shields, also showing the girl how helpless I was in this situation. I really should've been more careful though. As nervous as this chick looked, with her finger on the trigger, sudden movements should have led to a hole in my head.
Judging by her trembling hands and fearful expression, she still looked like she was considering it.
'Am I in the wrong building maybe? This might not be the dorm after all, in which case… Oh hell…' If I had wound up in the wrong building, then I was trespassing, and this girl had every right to attack me. Still, I thought civilians owning guns was illegal in Japan…
"Takeba, calm down." A calm voice, also female, broke through the tension. Suddenly, the lights all came back on, and my headphones once again began blasting out my favorite tunes, which at that moment really made me jump.
With the light of the lamps in the room, I was able to see this Takeba, pink and hearts (and gun) in full splendor, along with the young woman behind her.
I picked myself slowly off the floor, avoiding the offered hand of the second girl I'd ever seen, technically heard, during the shadow hour, ever. Her hair swam down her shoulders like a fountain of exquisite red wine. Either she died it, or wasn't fully Japanese, cuz I've never seen a girl with natural red hair before.
"I didn't expect you to arrive so late."
"I didn't expect to be held at gun point." Crap. Was that out loud?
Judging by her expression, and the Takeba girl's face lighting up like a street light, I had.
The red-head recovered quickly though, "Safety is a prime concern these days, but it's not a real gun, so set your mind at ease." Her smile was very calming, settling my built up tension. Realizing how easily she accomplished that though, set me on edge once more.
"My name is Mitsuru Kirijo," she then turned over her to her right, "And this is Yukari Takeba, a junior, like you."
"Forgive me for not," I looked at the gun, and then at the girl, "…introducing myself earlier…"
Takeba quickly holstered the handgun to her right hip, and I found it hard to pry my eyes away.
"…sorry…I'm, Yukari Takeba…" she slowly inched forwards around the Kirijo girl.
"That's close enough," I raised a hand out, and the girl looked surprised, but quickly stepped back. I didn't want to come off as rude, but being under the impression of almost getting shot put my manners on hold.
"I'm Hamuko Arisato."
Yukari nodded weakly, and turned and whispered something to Mitsuru.
'Yeah, go ahead gun-girl, inspire even more distrust…'
Mitsuru turned to include me, and responded on a more audible level, "It's fine. She'll be staying here until the mix-up has been resolved.
'Huh?' "What mix up?" This was the dorm I'd been assigned, so what was the problem?
She regarded me with full attention, and I had to say, her eyes, almost as dark as her hair, were hard to shy away from.
"More than likely you'll be reassigned to a different dorm building by the end of the week. There have been some mix-ups with the registrations as of late. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."
Such deep red eyes… Whoops, she's talking!
"Uh, right… ok."
"The rest of your luggage should already be upstairs. For as long as you remain here though, please do make yourself at home."
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Somewhat grudgingly, Yukari had led me to my room on the third floor at the request of Mitsuru, and given me the key to it, as well as one for the main door, with a warning not to lose them. Other than that, and a short but full-eyed apology for the whole gun-in-the-face thing, she'd barely said a word to me, though it had felt like she'd wanted to ask me something.
I'd closed the door to my room and locked it, leaving those thoughts outside. The room wasn't as small as I'd expected, though still stuffy. Dropping my bags by the small closet, I maneuvered around my pre-delivered luggage bags and opened the window above my desk.
The small breeze felt grand against my skin, compared to the stale and heavy air from only an hour earlier. Looking out the window, it was easy to see that everything had gone back to normal, as it always did.
Lights were on all over the place, residents were taking out their trashcans and recycle bins, and there were even a few weird looking people walking around outside. I held back the urge to cry out, 'Put a shirt on, Hippie!' and went towards my bed.
The simple comforter was rather soft and cool, a nice sensation against my tired legs. I slipped off my shoes and proceeded to kneel on the floor beside my plethora of bags. Before I could get comfortable, I had to unpack.
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So yes. New story. You may come to understand the premise early, or within the next several chapters. Basically, I've seen only a couple of people tackle the idea, and I honestly wasn't too impressed. Here's hoping that my take on the story keeps you all entertained?
Reviews are greatly appreciated.
P.S. : I'll be posting this story both on the Megami Tensei section, as well as the Persona section of the site. Bigger net equals bigger catch right?