Disclaimer: I don't own Persona 3 or Persona 4 in any way.
Mostly inspired by the game Persona 3 FES, the stories Reset by Firebreath Fishslap and Spiraling Destiny by Goojila.
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...
Arisato Minato opened his eyes, to a dull orange lit room. Judging by the light emitting from the window, it was late afternoon.
Sitting up from his bed, he took a moment to look at his surroundings. It was a moderately sized room which had its own TV set, a desk and bed. It also had a sink to which one can do their morning and evening routines without heading towards the restroom.
With the amount of items he had on his person, he didn't have enough to even leave a sizable mess on the floor. The only other belongings he had that weren't clothing or school books, was an MP3 player, a laptop, a cellphone and several mangas that a friend of his had given to him.
Glancing by the clock next to his bed, it was only 5PM.
He had arrived early this morning since he had spent the majority of the night to reach the dorm that had been indicated in the letter that had been sent along with his acceptance to Gekkoukan High.
Thankfully, he had arrived in Iwatodai Station before that hour struck.
It didn't take long for him to find the building that had been indicated in the letter, but since it would be odd for a person to suddenly arrive after time moved again, he decided to hang out by the shrine nearby.
That was when an odd boy with bright blue eyes approached him with a contract.
He had never once witnessed another living person moving once that hour struck, so he was understandably shocked when an odd boy had met up with him, asked for his signature and promptly left the same way he had appeared to him – by disappearing from the shadows.
He didn't know why he had gone and signed a contract to a person he had just met during that hour, but there was a feeling of nostalgia when he had gone and wrote his name on the contract.
Normally, when such an event happened, a person would feel some sort of apprehension as to what the contract entailed, but he had felt none of that.
Once the hour had passed, he had quickly forgotten about the contract and headed towards the dorm.
As it turns out, there was a confusion regarding where he would actually stay. It would apparently take a few days before the papers were finalized so he was allowed to sleep in the dorm, practically empty as it is with only two girls (one the same year and one a year higher than him) and a male upperclassman.
Yawning one more time, he decided to head out to get himself something to eat, before he went to the station to wait.
Sleeping for 16 straight hours would no doubt leave him hungry.
Arisato Hamuko yawned, for a second she thought she had seen a blue butterfly fluttering about, but quickly dismissed it. A butterfly couldn't keep up with a train after all.
Due to several delays in the train schedule, she was now entering Iwatodai Station at 12 midnight. She momentarily cursed the train conductors for the delay, but she shook her head at that. It was her fault for putting off the trip until today.
A friend of her, one that bore the same pronunciation of their respective surnames but written differently, had gone the day before so he could be properly rested for the opening ceremony taking place tomorrow. Said friend could possibly sleep through a whole day without waking up if it weren't for the fact that she took it upon herself to wake him up even though there isn't any school.
Stepping out of the train she noticed that it was about to reach that hour again.
Once the hour hand struck twelve midnight, the light from her MP3 player soon disappeared and every single person around her turned to coffins. The night sky was now tinted with an eerie green color which somehow magnified the size of the moon.
"I wonder if he's still waiting for me..."
Looking around the quiet station, she noticed a dozing figure by one of the benches outside of a restaurant. Said figure had his headphone by his ears and his hands on his pocket.
Hamuko didn't bother calling out to him since she knew he wouldn't wake even if she did.
Approaching the dozing young man, Hamuko sported a mischievous grin.
She had years of experience waking up the young man that had been deemed impossible to wake by even the most shrillest teacher in the school they had attended before. It had gotten to the point that her interaction with the 'sleeping beauty' had also garnered the attention of the student body – namely, her ability to wake him up.
When asked for the secret of her success, she had quickly stated it was a trade secret. Further citing the fact that Minato would get back at her if anyone found out the secret to waking him up.
"Wakey, Wakey, Minato-kun~!" She prodded, patting the head of said teenager.
After waiting what was roughly a minute, the grin that Hamuko had got even wider.
"Looks like you leave me no choice then," Hamuko whispered, although she didn't have an ounce of regret in her tone.
Raising the hand that had been patting the head of the blue haired teenager, a crackle of electricity emitted from her hand before suddenly disappearing as it lost current. She then placed said hand by teenager's forehead.
"ACK!"
The blue haired teenager jumped from his seat and fell to the floor, rubbing his forehead.
Hamuko, having expecting such a reaction from the 'sleeping beauty', laughed at his reaction. Although she had seen it a multitude of times, it simply never got old.
"I'll get you back for this..." Minato grumbled quietly as he picked himself up from the floor.
"Pfft, if you can somehow cool the air then I doubt you can." Hamuko said bemusedly. It was a known fact between them that Hamuko hated the cold.
"Oh?" Minato raised an eyebrow at that declaration, his lips curling to a sly smirk. "Do you know who makes your meals for you?"
Hamuko froze.
One of the few reasons why Hamuko would wake Minato even in days without school aside from her amusement, was the fact that Minato would be the one that made breakfast, lunch and dinner for her.
This had been a tradition that had been occurring ever since the time that Minato had declared he was tired of dormitory food. It had been a blessing, since she herself was tired of the dormitory food at that time but was too much of a horrible cook to do anything about it herself. If she had gone out and ate at the fast food restaurants, the stipend given to her by her grandparents would quickly disappear.
"N-no! Please, anything but that!"
Hamuko quickly clutched at Minato's clothing as if letting go would equal death.
Minato gave her an expectant look to which she reacted, right away by apologizing along with a full 90 degrees bow. Minato shook his head wryly at that while he gave the surroundings a once over.
"It's that hour again, huh?" Minato scratched his head. "I would say, 'I told you so' but then I had also arrived at such a time yesterday."
"There were delays yesterday?" Hamuko asked, as she picked up her bag.
"Yeah, something about conductors falling ill as soon as they arrive in Iwatodai Station." Minato shook his head as he motioned Hamuko to follow him.
"By the way, who else lives in the dorm?"
"A total of three students, two of which are our upperclassman and another girl who's probably the same year as us."
"You mentioned in your email, that the dorm was pretty big."
"Well not big per se, but with the amount of people it's designed to hold, it certainly is big enough."
In their last dormitory, there were a lot of rooms, but those who were on lower years were usually paired up with another of the same year. This usually made the rooms rather cramped and a bit stuffy, so whenever Minato awoke, he would usually spend his time outside or to the local library to get himself some peace and quiet.
By the time they had reached the dormitory, roughly (since none of their watches worked during that hour) half an hour had passed.
They had gone out of their way to make sure that they didn't exert themselves like they usually did and instead, conserved their energy and walked as if they were one of those 'low-energy' slackers.
As it turns out, not only did electricity not work during that hour, but any physical movement they did during that hour, seemed to be multiplied. The one time that Hamuko had forced him to run with her during that hour to pick up her homework at school, left them physically tired the following day when such a run would normally have them barely winded during the day. Since they had been experiencing such an event for years, they had adapted accordingly although they always kept exertion at a minimum so it wouldn't hinder their work the following day.
"Do you think we should enter now?" Hamuko asked, finally realizing what Minato meant by 'big dormitory.'
"If there's a coffin by the lounge, then I suppose not, otherwise let's sit by the sofas. I doubt any of them would be up at this time since Kirijo-san had said we weren't allowed to venture out during the evening."
Hamuko gave Minato a pointed look.
"I'll just say that I forgot, since I was sleepy during the time she had told me about that protocol."
Hamuko nearly snorted at that. If there was one thing that Minato was known for, aside from his sleeping tendencies, was the fact that he had an extremely sharp mind. Even the most minute of details that others would have clearly looked over, was quickly remembered as if it had just happened a few moments ago. So using the excuse 'I forgot' simply did not work, since the teacher's believed that Minato forgetting anything was simply impossible.
That is, disregarding the fact that Minato had suffered amnesia at six years of age.
Minato took a look inside the dormitory lounge, after finding no coffins, he motioned for Hamuko to get in.
"Ah, there you are."
Hamuko jumped behind Minato just as he turned towards the young boy that seemingly appeared from the shadows.
Minato held a look of recognition at the young boy, and by the way he held his body, it wasn't anyone dangerous.
"You're late." The young boy gave her a wide smile that only added to the eerie air that seemed to surround him. "Now, if you want to proceed, please sign your name here."
A sheet paper appeared from thin air once the young boy snapped his fingers.
Hamuko took a nervous look at Minato who merely shrugged.
"Don't worry, it's just a contract. All it says is that you will take responsibility for your actions."
Since Hamuko didn't receive an outright 'no, don't sign it' from Minato, she took the pen from the counter and wrote her name on the paper.
I, Arisato Hamuko, chooseth this fate with mine own free will.
"Excellent." The boy quickly took the paper as soon as it was fully signed.
"Does Minato-kun need to sign?" Hamuko asked, placing the pen back onto the counter.
"Oh, he had already signed, yesterday in fact."
This calmed her a lot more than she'd care to admit
"No one can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end." The boy was gone; yet, his voice still lingered in the air. "You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes."
Hamuko and Minato exchanged looks at the sudden disappearance of the young boy.
"M-maybe, it was a contract to remain in the dorm?"
"Probably."
It certainly wouldn't do if they had accidentally signed their souls of to the devil.
Shrugging to themselves, they sat by the couches to await the ending of the hour.
Minato had woke up at the crack of dawn, courtesy of a quick shock from Hamuko.
How she had broke into his room when the door was obviously locked, Hamuko refused to elaborate (she never did, even in the last dormitory they had lived in). He had expected this of course; that's why he had asked permission from Mitsuru so he could use the kitchen.
"Is there anything in particular you want to have for breakfast..."
"And lunch."
"...and lunch, Hamuko?"
There was no point on arguing with her when it came to food. He had long given up on that account after the first time Hamuko had tasted his cooking.
"Hmm... Since I had shrimp tempura last week, let's go with braised beef today."
He honestly had no idea what made her decide what they should have for food based on last week's menu, but he didn't see fit to question her. He just chalked it up to the mysteries about women he would never understand.
Nodding to her choice, Minato began to prepare the food.
By the time the first person had arrived downstairs, Minato had already finished eating breakfast with Hamuko and preparing two separate bentos for the both of them.
"I noticed that you woke up earlier than usual, Hamuko." Minato said, while cleaning up the utensils he and Hamuko had used.
"Would you believe me if I said that I wanted to see your reaction earlier?"
"..."
"I thought so."
"It's one of those nightmares again, huh?"
Hamuko nodded glumly.
Nightmares had been a frequent occurrence for Hamuko, which probably stemmed from the fact that she had witnessed the death of her parents at such a young age. Although she didn't see her parents in those nightmares, it always ended up with her getting killed by a tall, cloaked being. The cloaked being would alternate from using a long barreled gun or a sword.
This was the reason why Hamuko would wake him up during the that hour. Her nightmares often occurred during that time, and being shaken by such a dream – it wasn't a surprise that she would come to him for company.
The odd thing was, it rarely happened after that hour. In fact, the nightmares had only begun intensifying and occurring in frequent successions ever since the time that he and Hamuko had submitted their application to Gekkoukan High.
"Don't let it get to you. If it becomes too much, you can always come to me."
Hamuko nodded, greatly cheered by that fact.
"Ah, there you are!" A brunette wearing a pink cardigan approached them, from the stairs. "I was wondering where you were... what's that smell?"
"Oh, that's the result of Minato-kun's cooking." Hamuko replied, her expression was that of satisfaction at her latest meal.
"I didn't know you cooked." The brunette remarked.
"There's a reason I asked Kirijo-senpai if I could use the kitchen... Was there a reason you were looking for us, Takeba-san?"
"Oh, that's right! Mitsuru-senpai wanted me to accompany you to Gekkoukan High."
Minato nodded, not having expected any less.
"Then lead the way."
"Wow! It's so beautiful!" Hamuko exclaimed watching the scenery pass by, and finally getting a glimpse of Gekkoukan High from the monorail.
Minato had to admit, it was quite the sight. The pictures of the school simply didn't do the sight any justice. Even though he had caught a glimpse of it during the night he had arrived here, it was completely different during the day time. Instead of the ominous feeling that it seemed to give out during the night, it gave a sort of majestic feeling during the day.
"I know, right?" Yukari agreed, lauging at Hamuko's enthusiasm. "I love this part too. Even though I've seen this a lot of times, it never gets old."
Once the three had stepped off of the monorail and walked leisurely towards the school, Minato began to take note of the streets on the way to Gekkoukan High. Although his relatives had said that he had lived in Iwatodai 10 years ago, he simply didn't have any memories of such an event. In fact, he didn't feel a sense of nostalgia upon his arrival to this place.
"Do you know what class you're going to be, Yukari-chan?" Hamuko asked, to which Yukari shook her head at.
"I haven't checked the class rosters yet. I've been too busy with the Archery Club to check it." Yukari admitted. "Oh, we're here. You should head over to the faculty office and introduce yourselves to your teacher... is there anything you need to know before I go?"
Hamuko shook her head at that. She and Minato had done some research on the school's layout beforehand. They at least had a general idea as to what to expect and where the rooms are generally located.
Once Yukari had left, Hamuko and Minato placed their headphones on and walked towards the faculty office.
"Arisato Hamuko, and Arisato Minato... 11th grade correct? Hmm... Though you're last names are pronounced the same, it's written differently. But it seems like you've both lived here before, 1999... Oh, oh my." The woman stopped sending an apologetic look to both of them. "I – I'm sorry, I've been so busy that I haven't had the time to read this beforehand."
"Don't worry too much sensei. We get the same reception every time we transfer schools. We're used to it." Hamuko said trying to placate the teacher, which only served to make the teacher even more embarrassed at her obvious error.
Whether it was coincidence or it was because Hamuko had been convincing her grandparents to do so, it seemed like Hamuko would always go to the same school that Minato would transfer to. It had gotten to the point that, once he entered the second middle school he had been transferred in, he decided to stay there so as to not trouble Hamuko's grandparents. The only reason he had moved into Gekkoukan High was because his relatives had been pushing through with it in hopes of allowing him to regain some of his memories as to honor his parents, and because Hamuko's grandparents were also asking her to study there.
"Anyway, I'm Ms. Toriumi. I teach composition in this school, I'll also be your homeroom teacher for the duration of this year."
"Nice to meet you, sensei!" Hamuko greeted cheerfully, banishing the heavy feeling from a moment ago. Minato simply nodded his head and tactfully remained quiet.
"My, such enthusiasm. Now, we better run along. The Opening Ceremony is about to begin."
When Minato and Hamuko arrived at the auditorium to which the opening ceremony was to be held, Hamuko immediately dozed off upon sitting on her chair. She had received a small amount of sleep last night, after arriving from a long trip no less, so it was no surprise that she would be out like a light.
Minato himself had the urge to join her, but quickly thought against it. If Hamuko wasn't awake to wake him up, then they'll be the center of attention once it was found they slept through the Opening Ceremony.
"Hey, you know Yukari, right?"
A voice from behind his seat prompted. It only took a glance and he could tell that it was directed towards him.
Minato couldn't say that he knew her all that well. He had only seen glimpses of the young woman since he had spent the majority of his time asleep during his first day in the dorm.
"No."
"Don't lie to me man, you came with her this morning! Anyway, do you know if she has a boyfriend?"
That statement immediately made Minato frown. If the guy thought that he'd help the guy hook up with Yukari or spread rumors about her, then he's out of luck. He simply hated those kind of people.
Turning away from the young man, he promptly placed on his headphones and turned up the volume to ignore any conversation sent his way.
Hamuko woke up from her desk once the bell, which signified the end of class, rung. Usually, she would feel a certain amount of trepidation when she had slept through a class, (since unlike Minato, she didn't have the same memory retaining capacity) but she had been tired from the trip to Iwatodai.
"S'up, dude? How's it goin'?"
Hamuko groggily turned towards a young man wearing a baseball cap.
"I'm Iori Junpei. Nice to meet ya. I know how tough it is bein' the new kid, being the nice guy that I am..."
Before Junpei could continue, a new voice interrupted.
"At it again, huh? Honestly is there any girl you wouldn't hit on? Did you ever think you could be bothering someone?" Yukari walked up to them, her bag hoisted onto her arm.
"Wha? Yuka-tan? Can't I be friendly to the new kid without being accused of hitting on her?"
"I didn't see you say 'hi' to Minato-kun." Yukari commented.
It had been decided the day before that those in the dorm should refer to the two of them using their first names, to avoid confusion. Although their last names was essentially different, it was only in paper one could see it, otherwise it would create a lot of misunderstandings.
"It couldn't be helped! He was – is still sleeping!"
True enough, Minato had his head on his desk and was still silently dozing off. If the teacher had noticed their sleeping forms, they made no move to wake them up for it (or if they tried to wake Minato, it would have simply been impossible).
"Whatever. Anyway, Hamuko, can you tell Minato-kun to be back in the dorm before midnight? It's dangerous to be out so late."
"Oh, don't worry about that, Yukari-chan. He only stayed out so late since he was picking me up!"
Yukari couldn't help but smile at that.
"Anyway, I'm off to archery practice."
"Wow. This Minato must be some real nice guy, you two related or somethin'?"
"Childhood friends, other than that, we're not related in anyway." Hamuko replied as she made her way to Minato's dozing form.
"Well, nice to meet ya! I'm off!"
With the room finally empty, Hamuko allowed herself a small smile. It's time to wake up 'sleeping beauty'.
"Welcome back."
"Good evening, Mitsuru-senpai." Hamuko cheerfully replied. Minato only gave a nod, acknowledging the greeting.
"Off to bed, already?"
"Yeah, couldn't get much sleep last night." Hamuko answered. She was currently regretting arriving the day before school began.
"That's true. Good night."
With that said, the two headed up the stairs.
"Two more days, huh." Minato mused as they arrived at the second floor lounge.
"Two more days...?" Hamuko raised an eyebrow at the comment before realizing what he's referring to. "Oh, the full moon!"
"You're the one that always wakes me up during the full moon you know?"
"Sorry, I've been a bit unfocused lately..." Hamuko laughed nervously at that.
"So, are we going to stay up or not?"
"Of course we are! It's a once in a month event, and it's the only time we'd see the moon that big!"
Minato shook his head with a small smile. Left unsaid was the fact that this had been a monthly occurrence ever since Hamuko realized that Minato could stay up during that hour. It seemed that even though there was a small change in circumstances, certain things would remain the same.
"Ugh, class is finally over..." Hamuko slumped down to her desk, the class apparently agreeing with her sentiments.
Even though it had been only the second day of school, each teacher had managed to give them enough work that would keep them busy for the rest of the week. She had been tempted to lay down her head a few minutes into the second lecture of the day, but had ultimately decided against it since she had no idea how her previous school compared to this school.
Minato on the other hand... already lost the battle to sleep after the first minute of the first lecture. He would have slept through lunch, if it weren't for the fact that he held her bento with him. Although once lunch was over, he had immediately fallen asleep.
"Hey, Yukari-chan, are you free this afternoon?" Hamuko asked after stretching her stiff limbs.
"Sorry, I still have Archery Training this afternoon... maybe next time."
Once Yukari left, that only left Hamuko alone with Minato's sleeping form.
Guess that left Minato... speaking of which, it seemed like he brought the bare minimum into the new dorm, and she certainly couldn't have that with her childhood friend.
Had Minato been conscious at that time, he would have shivered at the smirk that Hamuko sent his way.
When Minato had woke up, or at the very least, when he had regained enough thought to be considered 'awake', he had unwittingly agreed to go shopping with Hamuko in the mall a walk from Gekkoukan High. Under normal circumstances, this wasn't something to dread since Hamuko didn't receive that much of an allowance from her grandparents as she was only given enough to go by, but since she had agreed to her grandparents wishes and the fact that she didn't have to spend so much on food these days, had allowed her to gather quite the sum.
Added to the fact that she insisted on getting himself some new clothes and having also known that his own relatives had given him quite the starting allowance, the amount of clothing he had to carry multiplied.
"Hamuko... don't you think you should carry some of these bags?"
While Minato could barely see the road in front of him due to the bags he was carrying, Hamuko wasn't carrying anything but her school bag.
"Are you trying to make a girl carry luggage, Minato-kun? Why, that's an attitude not befitting that of a gentleman." Hamuko responded in a highly exaggerated tone.
Ignoring the fact that he wouldn't ever call himself a gentleman, Minato merely sighed. Trying to argue would get him nowhere, as did all arguments that involved Hamuko.
"I chooseth this fate with mine own free will, huh?"
Although it had been muttered, Hamuko picked it up.
"Oh, yeah that contract we had signed... that's all it said in the contract, right?"
"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah."
It was an odd contract that only said that each of their choices are made by their own free will, and all responsibilities and consequences are of theirs alone. It was an odd contract that didn't show what exactly they were getting themselves into.
"Should we have signed it, without knowing its purpose?"
Minato merely shrugged.
"We are already abiding by the contract by taking responsibilities of all our choices, besides it's no different to how we normally live our lives, right?"
The only true difference was that humans had the ability to shove the responsibilities to someone else as they see fit. It was much easier to blame someone else than admit one's faults.
"Besides, I get the feeling we'll find out the true reason for the contract soon enough." Minato added, adjusting his school bag to lessen the burden on his arms. "Call it a gut feeling."
Hamuko nodded, accepting Minato's answer. Minato always had good intuition; the times that he gets it (and they're usually few and far between) were always right on the money that if anyone heard him say 'gut feeling' then everyone would take the words to heart even if it had nothing to do with them.
"On that note, can't you take responsibility of the things that you bought?"
"Hm? What was that Minato-kun? I couldn't hear you from the dressing room."
Minato sighed. This was going to be a long two hours.
When Minato and Hamuko had entered the dormitory lounge, Hamuko quickly realized that there was someone else that they hadn't met in the lounge (it took Minato a few moments to realize that fact since he couldn't quite see from the piles of bags he was carrying). By the looks of it, the person seemed like someone important.
"Oh, you're back – wait, Minato-kun? Are you alright?"
Minato would have quickly quipped that he was in fact not alright and needed help – but Hamuko would no doubt round on him if he was to ask a girl for help.
"Let me place this in our rooms first before I answer your question." Minato grunted just as Hamuko placed her room key onto Minato's pockets seeing he had his hands full.
"Well, make sure you go back down once your done, the Chairman wants to talk with both of you."
For some reason, Minato's body shook violently, before he controlled himself and grunted an affirmative as he headed upstairs.
"Maybe it was a good idea I didn't come along... Minato-kun would have been crushed under the combined wait of our shopping." Yukari commented, feeling a bit sorry for the blue haired boy.
"Oh, that's nothing." Hamuko responded absently as she sat by one of the lounge sofas. "There was one time, he unwittingly tagged along when some of our friends and he carried twice the amount of shopping bags he's currently carrying now. Our friends would have bought some more, but he was already having trouble balancing all the bags and seeing what's in front of him."
Since most of Minato's friends were first and foremost Hamuko's friends, it wasn't a surprise that such an event had occurred. Add the fact that most of the shopping propositions took place right after he had woke up, he often didn't have a say in the matter since he would agree to whatever she threw his way in his drowsy state.
"Umm... Sorry if I don't recognize you, but who are you?" Hamuko asked the stranger sitting in one of the sofas.
"Good evening. My name is Shuji Ikutsuki." The man replied, standing up, "I'm the Chairman of the Board for your school. 'Ikutsuki'... Hard to say, isn't it? That's why I don't like introducing myself. Even I get tongue-tied sometimes... Please, have a seat."
"Pleased to meet you." Hamuko replied giving a courteous smile. "I'm Arisato Hamuko."
"Arisato, huh? Are you related to that young blue-haired man that went up the stairs? As I understand it you share the same surnames." Ikutsuki inquired.
"Oh, we're not related." Hamuko quickly replied, getting tired of how many people had asked the same question during the day. "Our last names are written differently. We're just childhood friends."
"Hm, I see. Anyway, I apologize about the confusion regarding your accommodations. It may take a while longer before you receive proper room assignment... Is there anything you'd like to ask 'till then?"
"No." Hamuko shook her head. She had already known all who resided within the dorm, and the only question she'd like to ask would be the odd boy the day before but she doubted any of them knew about that since it happened during that hour. "But I'd, no, Minato-kun and I would like to thank you for allowing us to stay in the dorm, Ikutsuki-san."
"No, no, no, it's the least we can do. Anyways, I hope you have a successful school year. Now, if you'll excuse me..." Ikutsuki quietly excused himself. However, before leaving, he turned back around and gave a wry smile. "You must be tired from all the excitement. You should go to bed early. As they say, 'The early bird catches the bookworm!' ...Please forgive the bad pun." he chuckled before finally heading out the door.
"...that was... unique?"
"You'll get used to his lame jokes." Yukari sighed.
Hamuko shook her head and made her way up the stairs.
Once she had reached the second floor, she noticed that Minato was leaning by the wall that led up to the third floor.
"I was wondering what took you so long." Hamuko commented. "Was there any particular reason why you didn't go downstairs to have a talk with the Chairman?"
"Dunno." Minato answered honestly. "I just... didn't want to meet him, if that makes sense."
"Another one of your gut feelings?" Hamuko asked, resisting the urge to laugh that Minato's gut feeling may have been working on overdrive just for it to tell him to avoid meeting the chairman due to his lame jokes.
Minato however, didn't share her sentiments and frowned, as if thinking hard about the fact as to why he didn't go downstairs. It took another moment before he shook his head, apparently giving up.
"Anyway, I'll prepare dinner, if you have any preference, tell it to me now or forever hold your regrets."
"Hamuko..."
A voice was calling out to Hamuko. It had been insistent for a while now, but she was nowhere near ready to wake up nor did it seem like the sun was filtering through the window to prompt anyone on waking her up.
"-muko..."
Yet the voice was insistent and continued to rouse her from her sleep. The voice itself was extremely familiar, but that person shouldn't be in her room since he had no way of going into her room, right?
"If … -o don't wak... -is instant, I'm not cooki- for you anymore..."
There was only one person that could make that threat, and before she could logically deduce that there was no way that the person in question could be in her room trying to wake her up (as illogical as that sounded) her eyes snapped open, her arms clamping down on the young man's shoulder and shooting said person such a pitiful look, that ignoring it would label said person heartless.
"Glad to see you're awake Hamuko." Minato smirked as he gently removed Hamuko's clasped hands off of his t-shirt.
"Minato?" The absurdity of the situation finally hit her. "What are you doing in my room?"
"We're not in your room. For that matter I don't quite think we're in the dorm as of this moment."
Once Hamuko had finally regained her bearings, she was indeed not in a room but in fact, was inside a large Velvet elevator that seemed to go up with alarming speed.
Turning to the center of the room, their were three other people inside the room.
The man with a rather long nose and hunched form grinned at them, one that would inspire nightmares for days to come.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room, my guests." The man greeted. "My name is Igor, and I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. Only those who have signed the contract can enter this place." Igor motioned towards the two sheets of paper located on top of the desk directly in front of said man.
In those two papers, were their signatures written in vibrant, blood red ink.
"Henceforth you shall be welcomed here in the Velvet Room. You are destined to hone your unique ability and you'll require my help to do so."
Hamuko stole a glance towards Minato who had his eyes directed towards the young woman that was also within the room. If she had to recognize that gaze, it almost seemed like he recognized her, but couldn't quite identify completely.
"The only thing that I ask in return, is that you abide by the contract and assume full responsibilities for the choices you make."
Igor paused giving her an expectant look.
"I understand." Hamuko intoned clearly. Although one could see that she was merely saying it, not actually backing it with understanding.
Igor grinned wider at Hamuko's declaration, almost as if glad she had answered the way he had expected.
"Everything will be made clear once the time comes. Now hold on to this." Igor snapped his fingers and a velvet key descended towards Hamuko's open palms. "Till we meet again..."
As soon as Igor uttered those words, Hamuko's vision began to fill with a blinding white light. Once she had regained consciousness, she had fallen off of her bed, unto the floor. A quick look to the watch by her bed told her that an hour remained before class officially began.
"Do you have any questions, young man?"
Once Hamuko had disappeared from the Velvet Room, Igor turned towards Minato apparently reading his mind that whatever he asked here, would be kept from her.
"..."
Minato had in fact been awake when he had come into the Velvet Room. He had been on the way back to his room from the restroom when that hour struck. He merely shrugged it off as normal and headed towards his room. Of course, since he was half asleep at that time, he hadn't realized that the door leading to his room was of the color Velvet and held an ominous glow.
When he had entered the room, he quickly regained a semblance of alertness to notice that Hamuko was also inside the room, albeit fast asleep.
"...do I require a key?"
Igor shook his head and looked faintly amused at that notion.
"You don't need one. Inhabitants of the Velvet Room don't need one."
"...inhabitants?"
Igor only shook his head and motioned towards the door.
"Time marches on in your world, should you stay here any longer, certain other people will begin to question your absence."
Minato frowned at those words. Before a notion suddenly presented itself within his head, one that he had always chalked to 'gut feeling'.
"We're being watched?"
Igor's silence was all he needed before he bolted out of the room.
"Wow, Hamu-tan. You seem more out of it lately." Junpei commented as he walked towards Hamuko's desk, with said girl having her head slumped on the desk.
"Ugh... You have no idea." Hamuko muttered picking her head up from the desk.
Their last class for the day had happened to be Classical Literature, which wasn't exceptionally that bad of a subject – until she had met the teacher in charged of the subject.
Minato on the other hand, made no sign of actually paying attention in any of the classes that occurred during the day. After homeroom had finished, his head fluidly fell to his desk, sound asleep before he even touched down. The teacher's made no attempt to wake him up (after the first teacher that tried failed miserably on that account), and instead cited that he's forging his own future for blatantly ignoring the lectures.
This had happened in past schools actually, yet they had never seen Minato struggle with passing his grades. He often exceeded any of the teacher's expectations and would usually be in the top 10 of the year. His unique laziness would be the only reason why clubs and organizations had refrained from recruiting him.
"Speaking of which, that Minato guy, slept through all of the classes again today." Junpei noted with a bit of awe. "How the heck did he get passed middle school like that?"
"Surprisingly, he aced it."
"What?! Are we talking about the same Minato here?"
"Hm? What is it now, Junpei?" Yukari asked, having approached Hamuko's desk after packing her own bag.
"Oh, Yukari-chan, you going to practice again today?" Hamuko asked, ignoring Junpei's stunned expression.
Most slackers who had already lumped Minato as another slacker had such a reaction. Seeing their reactions would have been amusing, but it got old real fast.
"No, I'm free for today. Is it too late for me to take you up on that offer you posed yesterday?"
Hamuko perked up at that.
"Sure, let me wake up Minato and we can head over to Paulownia Mall."
"Welcome back." Mitsuru greeted just as Yukari, Hamuko and Minato entered the dorm.
Minato was carrying another set of bags, but one that was merely half the height of the bags he had carried yesterday. It seemed like Hamuko had really intended to follow up another shopping spree with Yukari in tow. Minato had apparently underestimated how much money Hamuko's grandparents had given her and had not expected another shopping spree a directly a day after the previous one.
"Good evening, senpai!" Hamuko replied with her usual cheery tone.
"Sorry about making you carry all this stuff Minato-kun." Yukari held an apologetic look as she took the shopping bags that had resulted from her shopping with Hamuko.
"I'm used to it." Minato admitted as he adjusted to the lighter weight of the luggage. "Anyway, I'm off to bed, come on Hamuko."
"Bed? You haven't made dinner yet!" Hamuko complained as she chased after him.
"So, how is she?" Ikutsuki asked. The Dark Hour had arrived and within the command room located at the fourth floor of the dormitory building, was Ikutsuki, Yukari and Mitsuru observing two separate camera feeds.
"... The same as last night," Mitsuru replied.
The middle-aged man furrowed his eyebrows. "Hmm... Very interesting. Even those who have the potential tend to be unstable at first. Memory loss, disorientation... but, this subject is rather unique. She hasn't exhibited any of the common symptoms. What about the other subject... Arisato Minato?"
Mitsuru shook her head.
"He hasn't been in his room during the Dark Hour until today."
During Minato's arrival to the dorm, he had come directly after the Dark Hour had ended. The following day also had him return to the dorm at a similar time, but with Hamuko in tow. The only time aside from today, that they had been able to observe Minato was put down the drain as Minato had left his room before the Dark Hour had struck and had returned an hour after it had ended.
"I don't like this..." Yukari muttered. "We're treating both of them like guinea pigs."
Ikutsuki shook his head. "I understand your concern, but it's imperative that we recruit new members. I heard they're your classmate... Wouldn't you be more comfortable working with someone from the same grade?"
"I guess, but would they even agree to all of this? I mean, how would we even convince to join all this?" Yukari asked.
"Wait... something's odd in the male Arisato's room." Mitsuru prompted, the other two immediately focusing on one screen.
A figure then placed their hand on Minato's forehead to which, a moment later, Minato jerked and fell off the bed rubbing his forehead.
"Is that Hamuko, inside Minato-kun's room?" Yukari asked.
Mitsuru's eyebrows twitched, but she refrained from going downstairs and lecturing the female Arisato from doing anything like that again. After all, doing so would alert them to the fact that they were watching over them through cameras installed within their room.
From their vantage point, Hamuko and Minato finally stood up and walked towards the window. Apparently they were watching the moonlit sky.
"Well this certainly cements it." Ikutsuki concluded. "They've been aware of the Dark Hour for quite some time now. Furthermore, since they have been aware of it for such a long time, they must have the potential. Otherwise they would have become one of the 'Lost'."
Before anymore could be said on the matter a sharp beeping alerted them to the fact that Akihiko had just called.
And it wasn't just to say 'hi'.
"Doesn't the moon look much bigger here than it did in Kyoto, Minato?" Hamuko muttered absently forgoing honorifics since they were pretty much alone.
"Now that you mention it, it does look a lot bigger here."
From their vantage point, it looked like the moon was going to crash onto Earth with how abnormally big it was when compared to looking at the moon outside of that hour.
"Ever thought of becoming an astronaut to find out what happens in space when that hour strikes?"
"When that hour strikes, your oxygen regulating apparatus would fail and would quickly kill you, you know."
Hamuko pouted.
A moment pass in silence before Hamuko took a good look at Minato's expression.
"Hey."
"What is it?" Minato asked without turning to look at her.
"Is there something wrong? You have such a serious expression in your face."
"Do I?"
Minato turned towards her, a bit of surprise showing itself in his rather impassive face.
"You've been having your gut feeling more often. I'm guessing your current expression is the result of another gut feeling?"
Minato frowned. He usually was pretty good at keeping his emotions secret with an impassive mask, yet Hamuko easily saw through it. He really shouldn't be surprised though, Hamuko had always been good at getting a read from him. If Minato could read through even the most shielded person, Hamuko could read through the person that could read through those person.
"Yeah. That full moon seems more foreboding than usual."
Before Hamuko could reply to his statement, a knock from the door jerked them from their previous thoughts.
The two turned towards the door, with a grim look, their hands out at the ready. Hamuko's hands began to crackle with a faint amount of electricity while Minato's own hands started to emit a fiery yellow glow.
Nodding to each other once, the two crept towards the door -
"Minato-kun, Hamuko-chan?"
The voice of a familiar, yet urgent sounding of a fellow classmate entered their ears.
"Yukari-chan?"
Hamuko had not expected Yukari, of all people to be able to move around during this time. Minato on the other hand merely held a look that showed he wasn't at all surprised at the turn of events.
"Sorry, I'm coming in." Yukari quickly opened the door with what looked like the master key, but also within her other hand were two weapons. "I don't have time to explain, but we need to get out of here, now!"
"Wha-?"
Hamuko trailed off as Minato placed a hand by her shoulder, and directed her a look.
"Take this." Yukari handed them the weapons she held on her hand. Minato took the short sword, while Hamuko took the Naginata.
"Lead the way Takeba-san." Minato muttered after giving a few practice slashes with the weapon he was given.
Yukari nodded while Minato pulled the rather stunned Hamuko by the hand, out the door.
"Takeba, do you read me?"
A faint radio filled noise emitted by Yukari's ear as soon as they reached the back door by the dorm's kitchen. By the sound of it, even Mitsuru was also able to move during this time.
"Y-yes, I hear you!"
"Be careful, there's more than one enemy! The one we're fighting isn't the one Akihiko saw!"
As if on cue, the backdoor that they planned to exit through began to crack as something was forcing its way through.
Minato watched the events impassively as he held Hamuko's hand to no doubt ease his friend's nerves. He himself was worried by the current events, but he couldn't let himself panic when Yukari was practically a bundle of nerves.
"L-let's head to the roof." Yukari suggested shakily.
Upon reaching the roof, Yukari locked the door behind them and let out a shaky breath.
"We should be safe here..."
"What's going on, Yukari-chan?" Hamuko asked, thoroughly confused at what was currently happening. Although she wouldn't admit it, but Minato's calm in contrast to Yukari's panic, allowed her to retain a semblance of lucidity under the current events.
"There's currently a Shadow attacking the dorm." Yukari answered after calming herself marginally, "It seemed to have followed Akihiko-senpai back to the dorm."
"Shadow?" Hamuko questioned before realizing that it must be a term that they had coined to refer to the monsters that only appears during that hour.
Minato and Hamuko had encountered shadows before, but they were often very rare. Although it was rare, this forced the two to find ways on combating these shadows after witnessing first hand what they could do to those who couldn't move during that hour.
"It's here."
Minato's simple words jerked the two girls into looking towards the location of where the blue-haired boy was looking to.
Sure enough, a single black hand appeared by the edge of the roof before many more hands joined it. Instead of a multitude of creatures climbing up the roof however, the hands were all connected into one black body. One of the hands held a mask that had the number 'I' etched onto its forehead. It then used the mask to face the three of them as if it were its eyes, once it had seemingly acknowledged their location, each of the multitude of hands that protruded from its body took a multitude of swords that was easily bigger than the sword Minato currently held.
Hamuko gulped at that sight, momentarily stepping back. Yukari herself, also held a similar look of fear at the monster before them, until she reached towards her thigh and took out a gun looking object.
To Hamuko's surprise however, instead of pointing the gun towards the creature, she pointed it to her forehead, breathing deeply.
"Y-Yukari-chan? What are you doing?!"
Yukari was hesitating however, and as if sensing her hesitation, the creature swatted her aside, knocking the gun-like object out of her hand.
Seeing his classmate get hurt, Minato quickly moved and sliced at one of the hands of the shadow. The sudden attack, easily cut through the shadow's hand, but it still had plenty to spare.
"Hamuko! Take Takeba-san and get out of here! I'll hold this monster off!" Minato yelled, as he ducked, weaved and dodged the swords that the monster was bringing down his way. He had managed to avoid the first wave, but during this time, fatigue would quickly set in. It was only a matter of time before Minato himself would be cut down.
"Mina-"
Suddenly, Hamuko felt disconnected from the events that was currently happening. It was as if someone turned off the sounds and she had turned away from the TV. The only thing that was within her immediate area of realization was her, the gun that Yukari had dropped, and the odd boy that had gave her and Minato the contract to sign.
"Pick it up."
As if her body was suddenly a puppet, only obeying the commands of the puppeteer, her body moved to pick up the only object within the current realm of her realization.
"You can do it." The boy prompted with his ever eerie smile. "It's quite easy."
Hamuko pointed the gun to her temple, a strange feeling of serenity passing through her body that quickly overtook the stress and panic that she had held moments ago. The sensation also prompted her to give an eerie smile, one that reflected the smile that the odd boy held.
Once she pulled the trigger, the sound of shattering glass sounded out and blue flame began to encircle her position.
Adrenaline quickly filled her body, allowing her to bask in the power that resulted from pulling the trigger. Her eerie smile remained on her face as something manifested itself directly above her.
"Thou art I and I am thou." The odd creature said with a notably female tone.
If Minato had heard of it, he didn't react visibly as he was too busy trying to not get himself stabbed, although the amount of injuries he was slowly gaining throughout the battle was becoming more and more apparent.
"From the sea of thy soul, I cometh -" If the odd creature was going to say anymore, it was then muffled by a scream from said creature while Hamuko began to clutch at her head, in obvious pain.
Minato could no longer turn a blind eye at the events occurring to his childhood friend, as a large amount of fire gathered within his free hand dispelling it around himself to repel the monster momentarily. Part of his clothing started to catch fire, but he payed it no heed as he turned worriedly to his childhood friend.
"Hamuko!"
It was at that point that Minato finally noticed the writhing figure above Hamuko, suddenly, a hand pushes itself from the 'neck' of the figure and rips apart the previous body showing another form. This time, the creature wore a cloak of coffins while wearing a a dragon like skull, it also held a sword eeriely similar to the weapons that the monster he was fighting held.
The new creature lunged at the shadow that had been held back by the flames that Minato had produced, and proceeded to massacre the creature. It easily ripped through the monster never having once gone on the defensive, it was a one-sided battle.
Once the creature had annihilated the monster, it roared before suddenly returning to the form it had originally came out from.
Taking a look at Hamuko, she eventually collapsed to her knees and before she even reached the floor she was already unconscious.
"What was - ?" Minato mouthed, unsure of what to make of what had happened.
That creature, was unbridled power. It easily did something he could never hope to do with the same effort the creature had.
Glancing at the gun-like object that was formerly held by Hamuko's hands, he vaguely remembered the sound of shattering glass and there were no obviously broken glass near to her position. He could also remember Yukari pointing said gun towards her head.
Add on to the fact that Mitsuru, heir to the Kirijo group was somehow also aware of this hour, then it could only mean that they had formed ways for those who are naturally conscious during this hour to fight these monsters.
"G-get away from me!" A shrill voice shook Minato out of his thoughts as he quickly glanced towards Yukari, who was pretty much defenseless as monsters, one that looked more like the things he and Hamuko had encountered prior to today, approached her.
Minato was already too tired to possibly fight the three creatures approaching Yukari with his sword alone (said sword looked fragmented and was already in the verge of breaking), and he doubted he could produce the same amount of flames that he had dished out against the larger monster moments ago.
Picking up the gun-like object by Hamuko's hand, he dashed towards Yukari.
He hoped he had this right. Otherwise it would look like he committed suicide in front of the person he was trying to protect.
Author's Notes:
… I honestly don't know why I threw out another story seeing as I'm still busy with two other stories, but I suppose I was a bit inspired after playing Persona 3 FES and reading Spiraling Destiny by Goojila (great story by the way).
Anyway, I just threw this out. I make no promises on finishing this story since my primary focus is my other two stories. Updates for this story (if I do update) would be few and far between – meaning it might take several months to a whole year before I do update again. And if any of you know me for my other stories, then obviously this kind of chapter length is an anomaly.
If I do ever get far enough, this story would probably deviate (a lot) after the Emperor and Empress Arcana fight. Pairings are somewhat already decided, but rest assured; it is definitely not yaoi or yuri.
As I have no beta, there may be some glaring mistakes within the story (I'm pretty sure that I wrote at least a quarter of this story half-asleep or during a lesson...). If so, please inform me so I can correct it. Other than that, feel free to tell me how you feel about the story (please refrain from flaming though).