■ Prologue: Begin from Darkness

"This says 'we've gone to see the Jyomon-Ceder tree.'"

I took the piece of paper from Akihiko's hands the moment he finished reading what was written on it. There was something I wanted to confirm. Something I suspected from the brief glance I managed to get.

"Looks like Fuuka's handwriting," I said, folding the note and placing it in my pocket. Fuuka really did have neat handwriting. Never really saw much of it, so I couldn't help but be taken aback for a moment.

"Aw man! We're at an island resort in the middle of summer! Why don't they go to the beach?! That's just not right!"

There were a few reasons I could think of as to why they would want to avoid the beach that day. One of them being the pervert who was standing in front of me.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Junpei's actions had led us to our present circumstances. Something that Akihiko had no problem reminding him of.

"Well, it's your fault."

"Whaddya mean?! I-I was just trying to lighten the mood!"

"No, Junpei. What you did back there was just being a dirty pervert. I feel sorry for Fuuka," I cut down his defence without a moment's hesitation, a stone-like expression on my face the entire time. I was definitely not in the mood for any of his flimsy justifications.

It wasn't the time for humour in any case, I felt. Considering what had occurred the previous night, it wasn't hard to understand why. That meeting where Yukari learned the truth of what happened to her father. And my role in the whole affair. As if unaware of this, or perhaps he was just trying to keep my mind off of it, Junpei continued.

"Ahh, it doesn't matter anyway. We're on our own now, just the guys! If you're outta ammo, you pick it up on the battlefield! That's the most basic of military tactics! We'll call this 'Operation: Babe Hunt'!"

Junpei announced our plans with a bombastic voice. Or rather his vision of what we were going to do that day.

"'Babe Hunt'...? You mean, like pick up girls?" Akihiko sounded hesitant. I felt the same way. A sudden premonition told me that this would end in disaster. There was no other possible outcome.

"Whaddya think, Senpai? With you on the squad, we're guaranteed to succeed!"

Akihiko turned to me after a moment.

"What do you think about this?"

I had a chance to avert disaster, and I was going to take it. A heavy feeling in my stomach told me that it wasn't going to be easy, however. It told me that what's to come was inevitable. Even so, I had to try.

"Sounds like a hassle," I told them, putting my hands in my swim-trunk pockets. "Besides, I'm not interested."

"You're right about that. It does sound like a hassle," Akihiko agreed easily.

"Then what are we to do with our time?!" Junpei countered. "C'mon, it'll be fun."

I looked towards Akihiko for a moment. We both had similar expressions of doubt on our faces, but I eventually shrugged my shoulders.

At the very least, it might have helped kill some time.

"Then I'm appointing him our leader as usual." Akihiko pointed to me as he announced this.

"What?! Why?!"

"There's no need to shout, Junpei," I told him calmly, not surprised by the volume of his voice. I was used to it by that point.

"You said yourself this is an operation," Akihiko said, which did not make Junpei happy.

"Aw, man, that's bullshit!"

Akihiko walked away. Junpei turned to look at me, shooting me the most serious look I had seen from him up to that point.

"You better take this seriously, it's an important operation!"

He stormed off after Akihiko.

(...I had no idea that picking up girls is such a big deal. Who knew?)

I looked into the forest for a second, as though expecting something to happen. After a few seconds, I went after the two of them. Mostly to keep them out of trouble more than anything.

※※※※※

Like I had suspected, this whole "operation" had turned into a disaster. The first girls we came across were no so receptive to Akihiko and Junpei's attempts to hit on them. I took to staring out at the ocean, refusing to take part in this farce. The second group of girls turned out to be much older than us. I quickly figured that out and they seemed to appreciate my telling them that they looked much younger than they really were.

It was the truth, so I had no trouble telling them that. I also figured out that they already had boyfriends and that Akihiko and Junpei's hopes were doomed to be crushed. I enjoyed watching them flounder around as the truth was revealed. And the third woman we came across... well, I would rather not talk about what happened with that woman.

An hour had gone by since we began this utter joke of an "operation". We regrouped in the middle of the beach, the boys licking their wounds from the previous battles.

"Man, this sucks... We're zero to three..." Junpei mused on our lack of success. Akihiko let out a heavy sigh nearby, looking almost as depressed as Junpei was about the whole thing. "What's wrong? I thought you weren't interested in picking up chicks?"

(I hear a bit of bitterness in your voice, Junpei. Are you feeling okay?)

"If I'm in a match, I want to win," Akihiko told him. "I know what the problem is. You can't control yourself."

"What?! Don't blame this on me!"

"I'm just stating the obvious."

"B-But, you haven't scored either!"

"What did you just say...?"

I was already starting to get tired of this pissing contest they were having, and briefly considered stepping in before it got out of hand. Before I could do anything, Akihiko turned to me.

"Enough of this! Kazuto, whose fault do you think it is?"

I was afraid of this. I had a feeling they would defer to me when they would inevitably butt heads over whose fault it was this "operation" fell flat.

"How should I know?" I responded neutrally. "I wasn't even paying attention to what you two were doing. How about I say it was both..."

I trailed off as I caught sight of someone from the corner of my eye. Someone who was standing out on the pier.

"What's wrong? You see something?" Akihiko asked. He and Junpei looked towards where I was looking. Soft gasps escaped their lips.

Out there on the pier, looking out towards the sea, stood a girl who wore a blue sundress and had short blonde hair. She wore something on her head that I immediately associated with headphones—something red and yellow with gears in them. The slight breeze blew both her sundress and her hair slightly as she stared out at that blue horizon, as though she was searching for something that could only be found beyond her sight.

She was, without a doubt, the most beautiful girl we had seen that day. And one of the most beautiful girls I had seen in my short life. I was... completely entranced by her. Something about her resonated with me, and I couldn't take my eyes away.

We hid ourselves behind a rock near the pier.

"Whoa... Talk about saving the best for last...! Now that's what I'm talkin' about! Man, she's cute..." Junpei whispered excitedly.

"I agree..."

While Akihiko was able to voice his agreement, I couldn't even form words. I was only able to barely register what the two of them said. I was more focused on keeping that girl in my line-of-sight. Perhaps I was afraid that if I took my eyes off her, even for a moment, she'll just up and vanish.

"And. He's. Speechless!" Junpei yelled. "We've hit the jackpot!" Hearing the sound of Junpei's fist shooting up into the air for a moment, I was suddenly, forcibly dragged into the circle he formed with Akihiko—pulling me away from the girl on the pier. "This is our last chance to make up for our failures. We should go one-by-one instead of together, so we have a better chance."

"Sounds like a good plan," Akihiko said. I nodded, showing that I was in agreement as well.

"Alright, we'll do rock-paper-scissors to decide the order. We go clockwise, starting from the winner. Ready...? Rock, paper, scissors."

I lost. Junpei chose rock, while Akihiko and I chose scissors.

"Yeah, I win! Okay, I'll go first, Akihiko-senpai will go second, and you'll go last. I'm up! Wish me luck!"

Clapping his shoulder in a show of support, I wished him luck as he began to make his way down the pier. I briefly wondered if it was bad that I wanted him to fail. Realising that we were all basically competing for the same girl, the guilt lessened slightly. Similar thoughts were no doubt going through Akihiko's mind.

Junpei walked towards the girl. Even though the two of them were quite some distance away from us, I was able to hear what they were saying.

"H-Hey, h-how's it going? I noticed you've been, uh, staring at the ocean. So, um... do you come here often? My name's Ju-Ju-Junpei."

(Smooth, Junpei. So smooth.)

Nerves got the best of him. But maybe he could still recover from this blunder. That was what I was thinking, in any case.

"...Ju-Ju-Junpei?" the girl asked with a soothing, almost robotic tone, only turning her head to look at him.

"Don't worry, I-I just want to talk. I mean, it's more fun than standing around by yourself, isn't it?"

"...I am looking for a human."

Junpei looked around. It was a rather odd thing to say, indeed.

"O-Oh yeah...?"

"You are not the one."

(...That's one way to get someone off your back, I guess.)

Even if I wasn't able to hear what they were saying, the way Junpei reacted would have told the whole story to Akihiko and myself.

"Wow, he got shot down faster than I expected..." Surprise filled Akihiko's voice, and I silently thought to myself that it didn't take long at all. Junpei walked back over to us, deflated and defeated.

"Sh-She's a tough one, Senpai..."

Akihiko smirked as he stood up, not letting Junpei's report of failure deter him.

"Heh... Don't worry about me."

He walked down the pier with confidence. The girl had taken to staring back out at the sea in the time it took for Junpei to return to us. Akihiko spoke up when he got near, speaking with confidence as well.

"Well, hello there. Say, do you like the ocean?"

"Is your question directed at me?" the girl asked, which threw Akihiko off his stride a little. To his credit, he did recover quickly.

"Oh, um, yeah, I like the ocean too. Hey, I hear that triathletes who train at the beach perform better than those who practice indoors. Makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Wow, he's actually having a conversation with her!" Junpei whispered to me. He lowered his eyebrows as he looked over the scene. "Although, something's not right..."

I got that sense as well, thinking that something wasn't quite right with this image. Turning to look back at Akihiko and the girl, we quickly discovered why.

"That type of information is irrelevant to me."

I couldn't help but feel some degree of sympathy for Akihiko. He lasted longer than Junpei, at least, so he could take some measure of satisfaction in that.

Akihiko walked back to us, his pride wounded but a smile still on his face.

"Heh, I won. I talked to her longer than you did."

Always trying to make things into a competition, that he did. That was something that always bugged me about him. A competitive streak like that was bound to get him in trouble someday.

"It doesn't matter how long you talked to her!" Junpei yelled. "This sucks..."

(Oh, don't tell me he's going to cry? I don't think I could take it if he does.)

"Hey, stop crying! You're making me feel bad..." Akihiko stepped back a little at the unexpected scene.

Junpei rubbed his eyes and turned to look at me.

"So, that's our status. If you can't pull this off, I'll be traumatised for the rest of my life."

"We're on the ropes," Akihiko added, "but it's not over yet... It's all up to you."

While I appreciated the encouragement, that did nothing to take away the weight in my stomach, nor calm my nerves. I breathed in and out a few times softly before walking out onto the pier. I froze as I realised that I had no idea what I should asy. Was there even an appropriate way to begin a conversation in this scenario? I didn't think anything I could do would feel right to me.

(...Well, there is something I'm curious about.)

I looked back at Akihiko and Junpei. Seeing them give thumbs up as encouragement, I turned back to the girl. She hadn't noticed my presence yet.

Taking one last moment to prepare myself, I spoke clearly.

"Looking for something?"

An immediate reaction. She turned to look at me, flickers of emotion in her dark blue eyes. Surprise, and familiarity. I could hear Junpei in the background.

"I couldn't hear what he said, but she looks surprised. We should go over there."

"You are..." the girl said before spotting Junpei and Akihiko running down the pier. "Initiating evasive manoeuvre. Confirmation must be made at a secure location..." She ran past me, down the pier past the others, and retreated into the forest.

"Hey, what did you say to make her run away like that?" Junpei asked carefully. I shook my head.

"Nothing. I just asked her if she was looking for something."

"Well, what're you waiting for? Go after her!"

"Yeah... I probably should. Maybe I can find out something..." I said, more to myself than the others.

"Go on, man. You can catch her if you hurry."

I gave a small nod to the two of them before running into the forest after her. The path was winding, but it was much more straightforward than I thought. There was always a clear path forward and it never deviated, allowing me to eventually catch sight of her.

A few minutes passed in this chase and I had lost track of her... That feeling again. The same feeling of someone watching me that I felt the previous night, after my talk with Yukari. I guessed it must have been that girl who was watching me the entire time.

I ended up at the large tree in the centre of the forest. The Jyomon-Ceder tree that Fuuka wrote about. I glanced around and eventually saw her peeking her head out from behind the sign in front of the tree. A silent warning in my mind, telling me to be careful and approach slowly. I didn't want to scare her off, after all.

I took slow, careful steps towards her as she came out of hiding.

The air was still. Even time was frozen as we stared at one another. How long did we stand there? A few seconds? Perhaps a minute? Either way, I wasn't the one who spoke up first. I didn't have the will to speak up in any case.

"You are... Who... are you?"

That question, asked with uncertain eyes, marked the beginning of our end.

Such a simple beginning to a complex story. Who could have known what would come from a simple meeting under a mighty tree? Perhaps it was fate that we would meet, and perhaps it was fate that led us to this point. At the edge of oblivion with little hope for victory...

His reasoning, his rage against humanity, his anger at their mistakes. I believe he was correct. He was justified in his actions, somewhat. From a purely objective standpoint, it could be said that he was correct to enact this grand plan.

However, there's a difference between being "correct" and being "right". And if being correct was all he cared about, then I was right to stand against him. And yet, even in our disagreements, I had to admit one thing.

⸻He was right when he told me that when we met at the end, I would stand alone.

【Author's Note】

I'm not sure how to begin this, so I'll just say whatever comes to mind. If you're someone who's coming into this without any knowledge of my previous works, then you don't need to read beyond this paragraph. All I have to say is welcome to something that I hope will be a unique spin on the Persona 3 story. I hope you enjoyed what you've read and I hope you stick around. I'll see you folks in the next chapter.

Now, for those who know what this is, you'll have realised that this is a remake of the very first story I've written on this site. With a more laser-focused narrative, and far less bloat. I'll always be proud of what I've accomplished with that story, but I always thought that I could do better with the main premise. And some parts of the original were much better suited being their own thing. So I decided to go ahead and do this, though it took quite a long time for me to get around to it. Mostly due to other commitments I had.

There will be some things that are familiar. Some things that aren't. You might be able to guess what's going to happen. And there'll be some things that surprise you. This should be evident from the fact that it's a rewrite, but no knowledge from the original version is required to understand the plot of this story. Nor should you trust your knowledge of the original.

With all that said, I hope that those who find this story enjoy. Consider leaving me your thoughts in a review or even send me a PM. I'll do my best to answer any questions you may have, barring any spoiler questions. For obvious reasons.

...Well, I guess I can say this. Yes. There is a reason why I started from this point. As opposed to any other point.

◆ Next Time – Chapter 1: Echoes of Emotion ◆