Little did Minato Arisato know how his life was going to flip when he heard about the news of his transferring; of how it would turn him, an unknown high-schooler, into someone significant.
As summer began to drift away, his uncle reported to Minato that he was about to be moved to another high school, due to a failure in rearranging new students' information for the new school year. Minato was kind of annoyed when he learned this (he had things to get packed up!), but he was also somewhat delighted to know that he was able to live in a dorm (The school was far from his uncle's house so in order for him to enroll into the school, he had to move). Still, the place which he would be living in was nowhere else but his former hometown – Iwatodai.
It was ten years ago when Minato's uncle decided to bring him back to Tokyo with him, because of the death of his parents.
For several times, Minato's uncle would reconsider with him about moving back to Iwatodai, since he feared that Minato wouldn't be able to withstand unfortunate past. But in the end, he had to surrender to his nephew's determination, though there was his aunt, who had always been the person cared for Minato the most, she also could not prevent him from doing this. They would move together with him if they could, but due to their job, they could not.
On the day of departure they took a day off from their work and escorted Minato straight to the station themselves. They told him many things; most of them were about what he should do to live independently; getting a part-time job was one. Well, working for money wasn't that unfamiliar to Minato anymore, since he had been through several before. It was just because his aunt and uncle were too busy with their jobs to actually check on their nephew, though they'd constantly ask if he needed anything in particular.
After a few quick words and goodbye kisses from his aunt, Minato entered the train, waving his hand at them before finding an empty seat.
"It's going to be a long ride." Minato said to himself, glanced around the car filled with passengers, he slid his bag under his seat and put on his headphones, drowning into the upbeat music that would soon deliver him to the land of dreams.
Subconscious could create many phenomenons that none could provide the exact answers for them. In his last train that would eventually lead him to Iwatodai, Minato awoke with a start, jumped at the sight of a luminescent butterfly in his head - a small, fragile insect in the color of blue. With a sigh of relief for no special reason, he shifted in the seat and fixed his eyes on the window. Lights of the tunnel rushed past like fireballs flying at an amazing speed, but only they all went in the same track.
Unfolding the handout he received a few days back, Minato once again ran his eyes down the neatly written information on the building he would be living in. It was a dorm-a private dorm-which somehow intrigued him. Iwatodai dorm. Named after the city's itself, it was founded and sponsored by the Kirijo Group – the same organization that had funded the city and the high school that Minato was about to attend in. It seemed like this Kirijo Group had way too much authority, though they meant no harm.
Forcing the paper sheet to his pocket, Minato lifted his bag and exited the train when it came to a stop at a station.
The night was dark and windy, which made him thought a bit about how long had he been sleeping. Minato wandered around the station and found himself a soda can. The unusual taste of its made him discarded the can after just one gulp.
Maybe I shouldn't have tried that colorful drink.
After a few polite responses to passersby, he was now outside of the station. The city was quite modernized, maybe not as Tokyo but it was fairly decent. Tall buildings, urban houses… all could be expected for a normal city. Despite it was the middle of the night, the city was still buzzing with noises. People talking, car honking, neon lights from some nearby stores… they were all clear.
Few steps forward and Minato noticed his shoes. The shoelaces were untied. So he bent over and fixed them. But just about he was finishing up, an odd thing occurred.
The music in his headphones cut off, as if the batteries had died. The yellowish light from the streetlights disappeared, replaced by an eerie green one. Surprised by the changes, Minato promptly got up to his feet and his eyes widened, shocking before this new world he had set foot in. It was nothing like what he had just seen, nothing like the regular night life of a normal city that he had just looked at a second ago. It was… like it was shifted into another dimension.
The sky had turned green and blood poured on the street, creating a frightening scene, as if a massacre just took place. Scattering on the road were some coffins, standing with their iron-cold stillness in every direction. Still having no idea what was going on, he decided to rush as fast as he could to the dormitory, ignoring his surroundings. Calling out for anyone by now would be futile; no one would be able to hear him anyway, because all the citizens had somehow… disappeared.
The stinky odor delivered by the blood on the street sickened him, it splashed under his feet when he tried to run faster and faster to his destination, and shortly, he was wet up to the knees. Winding through the coffins that he did not want to stick around and investigate, Iwatodai dorm had finally in front of him. And taking no time to think, he opened the door, quickly crept inside, and shut the door.
Gasping for air, Minato exhaustedly slid down to the floor and rest his forehead on his arm. Didn't know why he runs so fast, he let a bitter chuckle slip out. But if he didn't run, who knew what could have happened to him? Arriving late and suddenly the world turned upside down, crazy stuff appeared… Well, he thought he did the reasonable thing.
"You are late… I've been waiting for a while…"
A voice reached down to him. As Minato lifted his face up, he could see a small boy was staring back at him with a small smile on his lips. The boy was wearing black-and-white horizontal stripe pajamas, which almost looked like a prisoner. He was very young; maybe five years younger than Minato, perhaps he was ten. "Now if you want to proceed, please give your signature to this contract," he handed Minato a thin, red folder with a sheet a paper tucked in by his left hand while the other was holding a pen.
"My name is Arisato. Minato Arisato," Minato spoke to the young boy while writing down his name on the contract, assuming that it was some kind of agreement that he should make before settling down in the dorm. "Nice to meet you." And he gave him back the folder, getting up back to his feet as he did so. "What's your name?"
The young guy received the folder back with politeness, casting a mysterious smile across his face, and it seemed like he didn't concern about Minato's greeting. "Time is something that you cannot escape from. It delivers us to the same end. You can't run from it even if you plug your ears and close your eyes…" Along with his odd speech, the boy closed his eyes and held the contract tightly to his chest, slowly stepping back to the dark side of the room. When the darkness slowly engulfed him, his eyes abruptly went opened and looked straight at Minato. "And it begins…"
"Wait!" Minato took a few steps to reach for the boy, but he wasn't there anymore. "Dammit, am I seeing more things?" He pressed his thumb and index finger against his eyes, slightly cursing the doziness he'd got from riding nine-hour train to get here.
Glancing to his right, a small sofa appeared. Happy to see the comfortable furniture, he made his way towards it and sank deep into the sofa, hoping that would help settle his mind down.
But it did not. Instead, the moment his back leaned against the soft surface, his eyelids also began to close, as if they were dragged down by a heavy anvil. He tried to rub his eyes, but it didn't seem to change the fact that his body required sleep.
There's no one here... I want to get to my room...
He suddenly remembered that his first day at school started tomorrow.
Agh, screw it. I'm sleeping here.
Chapter 1- End.
And that is the first chapter! Yeah, it's kinda "off" compared to the game, right? Well, that's just how I want it to be!
Disclaimer: I do not own Persona series.
