Summary: Yu Narukami was not the only Wild Card. In fact, the other was held by his sister, who transferred to Inaba with him. Her name is Kokoro, and this is her accounts of what happened.

Note: Names will be given the Japanese way(surname given name) as that's where it takes place, and any Japanese words used in the game will be used here.

BETA WANTED

"Speech"

'Thoughts/Persona/Text message'


Chapter 1

The Other Wild Card

Narukami Kokoro, called Yosei(Elf) by most, was a seventeen-year-old female with black hair and silver-gray eyes. She was shorter than those in her year and even shorter than most of those in the year below her. She was slender, but not overly so. Overall, she was rather elf-like, which contributed to her nickname.

Kokoro was a rather shy individual and so most people overlooked her. Those that did notice her only saw her as Narukami Yu's little sister, the lost puppy, and nothing more. She had no friends to speak of and her brother's friends found her to be an annoyance, despite the fact that her brother tried to involve her in his activities. When she was younger, she followed him around like a duckling. She loved her brother. Now, she stayed at home when he invited her somewhere to protect herself from hurtful words.

As of tomorrow, however, the two of them would be going to live with their uncle in Inaba for a year while their parents worked overseas. Her father said something about an experimental employee swap program. Kokoro didn't understand why they both had to go, but that wasn't her decision.

While in Inaba, they would be attending Yasogami High School. Her brother said he wasn't going to make any friends. He didn't want to get attached and then have to leave them all behind once the year was up. He could say that all he wanted, but Kokoro knew friends would find him. She had no such delusions about herself, however. It would be just like home for her. New people, new faces, and yet she would still just be the lost puppy.

She stared out the train window and sighed. She didn't want to be friendless, but she was just so damn shy. She felt her eyelids drooping and soon she was slumped in her seat sleeping with the sound of the train rolling over the tracks thumping rhythmically in her ear.


Kokoro's eyes opened and she found herself still slumped in her train seat, but something was off. Everything was decidedly more…blue. It was also homier. All the seats were blue and extremely comfortable. The walls and carpet of the train were a deep indigo. A blue table sat in front of her and across the table from her sat a peculiar man. He had bulging eyes and a long hooked nose. He had gray hair, but the crown of his head was bald. He wore, what seemed to her to be, a butler's uniform. In a seat across the aisle was a beautiful blonde woman who wore a blue suit somewhat reminiscent of a bellhop's uniform.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room." The man said, "It is most strange to have two visitors at once. It is even stranger for their destinies to be linked in such a way. My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance."

"It is very nice to meet you, but where am I?" Kokoro asked.

"I have already told you. You are in the Velvet Room, a place between dream and reality, mind and matter." He said, "It is a room that only those bound by a "contract" may enter. It may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future. Now let's take a look into that future, shall we?"

"If you'd like, I suppose." She muttered.

She wasn't too sure about this whole thing, but it was a dream right? It had to be. She couldn't just fall asleep on one train and wake up on a completely blue one could she? No, she couldn't. This was just a dream, so she'd just go where the dream took her.

While debating if this was or was not a dream, Igor had waved his hand over the table between them and a deck of cards appeared.

"Do you believe in fortune telling?" He asked.

"Sort of." She answered truthfully.

He spread seven cards out on the table in a three, one, three pattern.

"Each reading is done with the same cards, yet the result is always different. Life itself follows the same principles, doesn't it?" He mused.

He waved his hand and a single card flipped over revealing a tower.

"Hm…The tower in the upright position represents the immediate future. It seems a terrible catastrophe is imminent. It reinforces the fact that you and the other visitor are on the same path. The card revealing the future beyond that is…"

He waved his hand once more and another card was flipped revealing a woman with a scepter and crown sitting on a throne.

"The Empress, in the upright position, this card represents "comfort" and "power"…Very interesting indeed." He stated, "It seems there are two possibilities. Either you will provide comfort and understanding to those who confide in you and have the power needed to help them, or they will provide those things to you and give you the power to do something great. Which it will be is not certain. In the coming days you will enter a contract of some sort, after which you will return here. The coming year is a turning point in your destiny…If you cannot accept your role, your future may be forever lost. My duty is to provide assistance to our guests to ensure that does not happen."

He waved his hand again and the cards disappeared. Where they went she had no idea, but, since this was a dream, she decided to ignore it.

"Ah! I have neglected to introduce my assistant to you. I seem to be forgetful today." He said, "This is Margaret. She is a resident of this place, like myself."

"My name is Margaret." The blonde finally spoke, "I am here to accompany you through your journey."

"We shall attend to the details another time." Igor commented, "Until then, farewell…"

The Velvet Room faded slowly from her view. Kokoro guessed this meant she was waking up.


Kokoro woke with a start to her brother shaking her shoulder.

"C'mon, Yosei, we're here. Our uncle's waiting for us." He brother said.

"Alright. I'm up." She muttered and rubbed her eyes.

Yu handed over her bag and she stood. Together they left the train and exited the station. They met their uncle, Dojima Ryotaro, and their cousin, Nanako.

Before they could leave, Kokoro was stopped by a girl who looked to be her age.

"Hey…you dropped this." She said.

"Oh! Thank you." Kokoro said.

"Whatever. All I did was pick it up." She said.

"Still, thank you."

The girl nodded and walked away.

On their way to their home for a year, they stopped at a gas station. While Nanako went to the bathroom and Uncle Dojima went to smoke, Yu started chatting with the attendant.

Something about the attendant didn't sit quite right with Kokoro, but she shook his hand anyway. A few moments later she was hit by a massive headache.

'Thou art I.' She heard in her head, 'I am thou.

The voice sounded like her, but it was distorted and echoed inside her skull. Weird dreams and now she was hearing voices? She must be going insane and yet…

'I don't know why, but I believe you, voice in my head.' She thought.

She couldn't be sure, but she thought she heard a hum of approval from the voice.

"The shopping district is near the house, so you should get to know where all the stores are." She heard her uncle saying.

Yu walked off quickly to have a look around while Kokoro followed at a more sedated pace. As she was walking, she noticed the girl from earlier and approached her.

"Hm… Have we met before?" She asked.

"I met you just now at the station. You returned my paper." Kokoro told her.

"Just now…? Hmm, okay…" She mumbled.

"Yu, Kokoro, ready to go?" Her uncle called.

"Coming, Oji-san!" Kokoro called, "It was a pleasure to talking to you."

Everyone piled back into the vehicle and they continued on their way.


"All right, let's have a toast." Dojima said after dinner that evening.

They raised their glasses, Kokoro a little reluctantly. Dojima looked at Yu once the glasses were lowered.

"So…Your mom and dad are busy as always…They're working overseas was it?" He asked.

"That's correct." Yu replied.

"I know it's only for a year, but getting stuck in a place like this because of your parents…It's rough being a kid." He commented.

"I suppose." The gray haired sibling answered.

"Well, it's just me and Nanako here, so it'll be nice having you two around." Dojima stated, "So long as you're here, you're part of the family, so make yourselves at home."

"Thank you for your kindness." Yu said while Kokoro nodded.

"No need to be polite." He stated, "Well, anyway…Let's eat."

Kokoro ate slowly and her brother raised an eyebrow at her. She shrugged and continued eating. Dojima's phone went off and he made an offhand comment, but answered it anyway. Apparently, he was called into work. This left Nanako to show her cousins where their rooms were.

Kokoro's was a small room packed with a desk, a table, a shelf, a dresser, a sofa, a futon, and a small TV. It was cramped, but she didn't mind.

"How come you're so quiet?" Nanako asked from the door.

"I'm shy." She answered, "I don't mean anything by it, but strangers make me uncomfortable. I've been trying to open up and I'll do the same with you if you'd like."

"Ok." The little girl said and walked away.

Kokoro sighed. She hadn't meant to upset…worry…whatever the child. She just didn't trust people easily. She liked to think she was good at reading people, but she wasn't perfect. In seconds, she could read someone's body language, understand it, and react to it. Yu teased her that it was magic. She called it observation and practice. It was something she had to know from a very young age. Despite years of practice, she still made mistakes. It was why she was so shy. She didn't want to get hurt.

Kokoro quickly made up her futon and flopped gracelessly on top of it. She was asleep in seconds, despite her nap on the train, and she slipped into a dream.


Kokoro was standing on a walkway surrounded by dense fog.

"My my, what have we here?" the distorted voice from earlier pierced through the fog, "It seems I have a curious girl on my claws. Come and find me then. If you can."

She followed the sound of laughter. She ran down the walkway turning corners where she had to.

"You're keeping up are you? Well isn't this interesting."

The voice continued to taunt her as she followed it. She reached a point where the walkway got larger and she stopped.

"It seems you've managed to follow me all the way here. Well then, little one, let's see how well you can fight."

A pair of daggers appeared in her hands and a figure, obscured by the fog, stood in front of her.

"Come at me, child. Come at me and I may reveal myself to you."

Kokoro lunged forward and a fight ensued. She didn't quite know how she was even using the daggers. She'd avoided most pointy objects like the plague, yet she was wielding the blades like she'd been doing so all her life.

"Stop." The voice commanded.

She did stop. She didn't actually want to hurt anything.

"Impressive. I was expecting you to throw your weapons on the ground the minute they were in your hands. You have confidence, but you do not use it. Strange. I shall see you again, child. For now, it is time for you to wake."

Kokoro woke from her dream with a start. Her first thought was to be concerned, but it was just a dream. Anything could happen in a dream so why should this be so concerning?

She stood and got ready for the day, only pausing momentarily to perceive her new uniform. She was downstairs before her brother was even awake and Nanako was making breakfast.

"Good morning." Said child greeted.

"Morning. Did your dad go to work already?" Kokoro asked.

"Yeah. He leaves really early." She answered, "Do you want some eggs and toast?"

"Just toast please." Was her answer, "I want to get to school early to familiarize myself with the buildings."

"Ok." The seven-year old-said and handed her cousin two slices.

"Thank you Nanako-chan." Kokoro said and left the house.

Kokoro managed to find her own way to school. It actually wasn't that hard if you followed all the signs. Once there, she picked up any and all papers she and her brother would need. She'd rather not return to the office due to her brother's tardiness.

She glanced at the papers and saw the two of them would be in class 2-2 with Mr. Morooka as homeroom teacher. She easily located the classroom and returned to the school's entrance to await her brother. He came along five minutes later and the two trekked off towards their class and a teacher who should not be teaching.


"Now I hate wasting my time, but I'd better introduce this transfer student. This sad sack's been thrown from the big city out to the middle of nowhere like yesterday's garbage." Mr. Morooka sneered, "And he's just as much of a loser here as he was there, so none of you girls better get any ideas about hitting on him. Tell 'em your name, kid, and make it quick."

Kokoro had been ignored through his entire speech, but that was normal. In this case, it was a blessing. She really didn't want to be the subject of this teacher's ire. Her brother, unfortunately, didn't like her being ignored…nor did he particularly like being called a loser.

"…You calling me a loser?" He asked the teacher, death glare in place.

Kokoro sighed. She knew this was going to happen. Yu just couldn't stand when people acted like she wasn't there…or actually didn't notice her there. It got him in a bunch of trouble back home. She was only a few months younger than him, but he was extremely protective of his little sister.

"Hrnh…That's it, you're on my rotten little shit list, effective immediately." The teacher said, "Now listen up. This town is miles away from your big city of perverts and assholes, in more ways than one. You better not even think of getting involved with the girls here, let alone abusing them. But what do I know…it's not like the old days. Even here, kids grow up so damn fast. Every time I turn my back, you're fooling around on those damn phones, checking your life-journals and you're my-places…"

He continued going on and on about how today's youth was throwing everything away and blah, blah, blah. If she wasn't so shy, she would have interrupted long ago.

"Excuse me! Is it okay if the transfer student sits here?" A short haired girl asked.

"Huh? Yeah, sure. Hear that? Your seat's over there. So hurry up and siddown already! And who the hell are you?" He asked.

Mr. Morooka, it seems, had finally noticed Kokoro.

"The other transfer student. I'm his sister." She said.

"Well siddown behind Hanamura. He's the deadbeat behind your brother." He said rudely.

It was like it was her fault he didn't see her. She knew his kind.

Kokoro sat down and prepared for a boring day.

"That's all for today. Normal lectures will start tomorrow."Mr. Morooka commented at the end of the day.

Kokoro immediately got up and left, telling her brother she'd meet him at home. She was not staying in that building a second longer than she had to. Mr. Morooka was a jerk and she didn't want to deal with his attitude any longer than she had to.

She was part of the way home when she got a text from her brother that they were being held at school because of an accident. She paused in her walking and contemplated the message. She hadn't really wanted to go home right away, but she had no excuse not to. Now she didn't have to. She remembered passing a river on her way to school. She'd stop there for a while.

The river was calming. To her all water was calming, but a flowing river was always the best. She was sitting on the dock with her feet in the water and her shoes and socks sitting beside her. Most girls wouldn't think of going anywhere near the river without their shoes and yet she had her bare feet in the water. Kokoro smirked to herself. Girls could be so stupid sometimes.

Kokoro suddenly got the feeling that someone was watching her. Looking around she saw an old man, an elderly couple, and a boy who looked like he would pick a fight with anyone who even looked at him funny. He was the one who was watching her.

She was feeling bold today, plus she was going to try and make friends. She looked at him, so he knew she caught him staring, and raised an eyebrow at him in question. He took it as a challenge and fixed her with a glare. She held his gaze and he came stalking over.

"What're you looking at?" He asked.

'His posture is offensive, but not necessarily aggression. Defensive as well then. Interesting.' She thought.

Unfortunately, that's all she could get. She was usually better than this, but there was something about him that made her incapable of reading him completely.

"I believe you were staring at me." She stated boldly and stood up.

Standing didn't do much, as she only reached eye level with his chest, but at least she wasn't craning her neck as much in order to look at him. Sometimes she despised her height.

Since she couldn't completely read his posture she reacted to what she could read. She shifted herself to take a passive stance. She didn't try to look intimidating and she didn't try to look like she was ready to defend herself at a moment's notice. She just stayed calm and looked indifferent to his aggressive nature.

"Well…yeah." He blinked, "I mean most girls don't go anywhere alone and I've never seen any of them sit that close to the river. Somethin' about it's too dirty or some other shit."

"You'll find I'm not like most girls." Kokoro commented, "My name is Narukami Kokoro. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"I…um…I'm Tatsumi Kanji." He said, "Why exactly are you down here anyway?"

"I am not expected home just yet and I'd rather not be cooped up in a house. Especially not when there's a perfectly good river to be around." She answered.

'Hmm…this is the most I've said in one day. Probably even a whole month.' She mused to herself, 'So what is it about Tatsumi Kanji that makes me talk.'

"You like rivers?" He asked.

"I like all water. It's relaxing. My brother and I just moved here and today was my first day of school. I was feeling…stressed and wanted to calm dow." She said, "Silly huh? May I ask what you're doing here?"

"Me? I'm just…uh…I guess you could say I'm avoiding my Ma. I got in trouble and she had to apologize for it."

"Ah. I see." She said, "Well I hope everything works out."

"So do I." He said.

The two talked for a while longer, but it was getting late and soon it was time for Kokoro to head home.

"I'd like to continue our chat, Tatsumi-san, but I should be getting home." She stated, "I'll see you around."

"Um…I'll be here tomorrow. You could come then…if you want to." He said.

"Then I'll see you tomorrow." She waved at him as she walked away.

'Tatsumi Kanji huh? Well this will certainly be interesting. Maybe this move wasn't so bad after all.'


Later that night, the two siblings and Nanako were eating dinner and Dojima was still working.

"So what did you do while we were trapped in school?" Her brother asked.

"I just sat by the river and relaxed." Kokoro somewhat lied.

She told the truth…she just didn't completely answer the question.

The news came on and she found out exactly what was keeping her uncle. It seemed a woman was murdered and hung on an antenna. Kokoro had to wonder at that. Why was it so important to hang her upside down and shouldn't the antenna have broken or something?

She shook her head. What did it really matter? Death and destruction were pointless to report on. Death is inevitable. What someone doesn't know is how they will die. As for destruction…it's just another way for people to be cruel to one another.

Kokoro went up to her room halfway through the report. She'd rather not have bad memories brought up. She fell quickly to sleep.


Kokoro was back in the foggy dreamscape. She didn't know if there was less fog or if it was just her, but it was easier to see through.

"So you're back again?" Asked the voice.

The voice was different this time though. It no longer sounded like a distorted version of her own. It was light, feminine, and had a slightly airy quality to it, like someone was whispering horribly. It was…unique.

"It's wonderful to see you. I apologize about last time. I wasn't quite myself." It…she said.

"I…That's alright?" Kokoro said but sounded questioning.

"Thou art I and I am thou." The voice came, "You have passed my test. I will be here when you need me."


Kokoro trudged through another day at school. Once again, it was like she wasn't even there. Her brother was going somewhere with his newfound friends after school and asked her to come along. She declined.

She didn't want to intrude on his plans, and she sort of had plans of her own. Kanji had invited her to speak with him at the river…in a sense. It was that that lead her back to the river. Once again she sat on the dock with her feet in the river.

"You're weird for a girl. Aren't your feet cold or something?" Kanji's voice came from behind her.

"Hello to you too, Tatsumi-san. And, yes, I guess the water is chilly. It's only April after all." She greeted.

"Just call me Kanji. I'm younger than you." He said.

Kokoro tilted her head to the side in question.

"I'm only a first year." He explained.

"Yet I haven't seen you around school." She commented, "First year or no, I would have noticed you. You could go to another school, but you've been here two days in a row."

He sat near her on the dock, but not too close.

"I…don't really go to school. It's boring. I'm not interested in what they're trying to teach and everyone acts like I'm about to punch their faces in." He said.

"People are hurtful, whether they mean to be or not. It's human nature." She said, "It's best to try to ignore them. They're all idiots."

"Isn't that the truth?" He snorted, "How come you speak all proper one minute and then not so proper the next?"

"Hmm? Oh sorry. I didn't realize I was doing that. I don't normally talk to people too much. I only really have my brother and we don't really need to speak to each other all that much to get points across. My thoughts and writings take on a more proper sentence structure and sometimes that reflects in how I speak." She said.

"So you're not used to talking to…anyone?" He asked.

"Pretty much."

"Isn't it lonely?"

Kokoro stared sadly at the water.

"It can be." She said.

He scratched his neck and appeared to be arguing with himself.

"Hey, if it helps…you have me." He finally said.

She turned slowly to look at him.

"Thanks." She said with a small smile, "I appreciate it. Unfortunately, I should probably head home."

She stood and brushed the dirt off her skirt.

"I'll see you around." She said.

He stood as well.

"Hey…uh…I'll be helping my Ma most days, but I can meet you here on Tuesdays and Wednesdays." He offered.

"That would be nice."

That night she couldn't sleep. She sat on the sofa in her room and stared at the blank TV screen. At exactly midnight, something happened. The TV came on with the sound of white noise. There was a figure on the screen, but the only thing she could tell was that it was a girl. She stood up and walked around the table to inspect the TV.

She reached out and poked the screen. Her finger went into the screen and the girl's image was replaced by a black and white swirl that reminded her of a hypnotist's wheel. She put her whole hand in the screen and was about to see how far she could get her arm in when she heard a crash from her brother's room. She yanked her hand out of the screen and jumped onto her futon.

She didn't know what happened, but she'd find out.


The next day, after school, she overheard her brother and his friends taking.

"By the way, did you see… it… last night?" The short haired girl, Chie, asked.

"Huh?" His other friend, Yosuke, asked, "Uh, well… What about you?"

"I did!" She said, "I seriously saw a girl!"

She tuned out most of the conversation, but then something piqued her interest.

"…then I got stuck in the TV." Her brother said.

Her head shot up and she openly stared at him.

"It sounds like we all saw the same person." Yosuke said, "But weird voices aside, what was that about getting sucked into your TV…?"

"Maybe it was hungry." Yu said.

'Only my brother.' Kokoro thought.

"Were you that tired last night? You must've just fallen asleep in front of your TV." He said.

"That's be one interesting dream though." Chie said, "I like the part where you got stuck 'cause your TV was too small. That's pretty realistic. Well if it had been bigger the- Oh, that reminds me. Our family's been talking about buying a bigger TV."

"Oh yeah? Well, flat screen TVs are definitely in these days." Yosuke commented.

While those two started a conversation, Kokoro whispered to her brother.

"I believe you, Nii-san."

Later that night, Yu told her about what happened in Junes and, more importantly, the TV.

"You went in? Completely?" Kokoro asked.

"Yes." He affirmed.

"And you met a bear thing?" She asked.

"Yes." He said.

"Can… Can I go with you next time? Or the time after?" She asked.

"If I have time to get you, yes." He said.

"Thank you." She said and hugged him.

Her brother did indeed go in a second time, but he had to rush from school. He told her all about it later though, and about this thing called a Persona that he and Yosuke now had. He said they were going to try and solve the murder case as he'd promised the bear called Teddie.

The next time her brother went into the TV world, she went along. They were going to save Yukiko, as she was thrown in.

At one point, they encountered a big pinkish and black striped ball with nothing but a big mouth and a mask on the back.

Kokoro felt her breath catch in her throat at the sight of the monstrous thing.

'I said I'd be here when you need me.' The voice in her head came, 'Well now you need me, so call upon me.'

"My true self." She mumbled, "Persona!"

She smashed the card that appeared in front of her and what seemed to be a butterfly took shape. Once it was formed, there was no mistaking it for a butterfly. It had butterfly wings and a pair of antennae, but that was where similarities stopped. It had a long, blue-violet, snake-like body and an angular head with big red eyes. The body and head also had a metallic sheen to it. It's wings were also blue-violet, but it was a lighter blue than the body. The tip of the tail was similar to its wings. It's antennae and the main structure of the wings was silver.

"Faerie Dragon." Kokoro mumbled.

The dragon defeated the shadow and they continued on their way. They came upon a Chie look alike that revealed itself to be the girl's shadow. After defeating it, they headed back to the entrance. Chie looked like she was about to pass out.

"Will the two of you be helping Teddie as well?" The bear asked.

"I promise I'll help when I can." Kokoro said, "I have prior engagements on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, though."

Her brother looked at her when she said that, but he didn't need to know she was meeting a boy. He'd get all protective brother on her and overreact. She had made a friend all on her own and she didn't want her brother to ruin that.


That night, in her dreams, she returned once more to the Velvet Room.

"Welcome." Igor said, "Do not be alarmed. You are fast asleep in the real world…I have summoned you within your dreams."

"Hello again." Kokoro greeted.

She'd decided at some point that if the fog dreams were real, maybe this was real too.

"And so we meet again." He said.

"This is a space that only those who have, in one way or another, entered into a contract may enter." Margaret stated, "In your daily life, you subconsciously heard the call to awaken, and you chose to follow the destiny of your inner voice…thereby enacting your glorious awakening to your power."

"Hold onto this…"Igor said, handing Kokoro a blue key, "From this night forth, you are our guest in this Velvet Room. Your destiny will require you to hone your power, and for that, you will inevitably require our help. There is but one price for this assistance…You must abide by your contract and assume responsibility for all decisions you may make."

"Understood." She said.

"The Persona you have acquired… It is a side of you that shows itself when you face the world around you. Perhaps you can think of it as… a façade of protection you wear to face various difficulties in life. Your Persona ability however, is that of the wild card…Compared to that of others, it is very special. It is like the number zero… empty, yet holding infinite potential within itself." He told her.

"Special?" She questioned.

"The Persona ability is the power to control one's own heart… And the heart is strengthened through bonds. As you form bonds by becoming involved with others, your own Social Links will gradually develop. The power of these Social Links is what will determine your Persona's abilities. Ah… But it seems you've formed one bond already. It will activate the next time you have an encounter and will come up to the appropriate level." He answered.

"I see." She said.

"Do you?" Igor mused, "We shall see. Where will your awakened power of the wild card take you…? I look forward to traveling the road of your destiny together… 'Till we meet again."

The Velvet Room faded from view.

'I am a wild card.' Kokoro thought, 'Somehow that doesn't feel quite right, but he's the mystical Persona man or whatever.'

A/N: Ah the first chapter rewrite is completed. It's so much longer than the original. Doing all twelve chapters is going to be a pain. Well I hope you enjoyed this rewrite.