Chapter 2: Gekkoukan High, The Unsocial Twin
04/08/2009
A boy was standing near a car crash as fire engulfed the surrounding area of a bridge, the boy was carrying an unconscious girl in his arms as he gazed upon burning two corpses in the fire. He saw the color red splattered everywhere…, the sky was tinted green… yet the moon was shining brightly. As sounds of metal clashed in the background the boy absolutely paralyze by what he saw, in front of him a towering figure that was staring down on him. This creature had an inhumane figure, it was floating off the ground as if it was a ghost. The boy managed to hear the chain's rattling as the air around him lost its heat, he saw the creature's face and this horrified the child. Its face was white as snow… with an unusual and unnerving smile, the creature smiled at the child as it carried a gigantic sword, ready to chop off his head. Terrified the bot couldn't move a muscle as the creature lifted the giant sword ready to end the child's life… …
"*Gasp!* GAAAAHHH!?" Minato's eyes shot open as his body jolted out of his bed, he sweated heavily as he gasps for air. "W… w… what?" Minato tried to regain control of his senses and breathing. "A… nightmare?" He was able to regain his composure as he tried to think of what just happened, Uh-huh… that was a nightmare and a very old one to boot, maybe… returning here brought those nightmares back… I hope I just get over them again soon, I don't want to wake like I was running a marathon… Minato mentally reassuring himself that it was only a nightmare.
Minato gazed at the window to see sunlight shining brightly, then he looked at the clock that reads 7:26 AM. "Well… I gotta get up now since there's no point sleeping again, I should probably get ready and change" So after Minato groaned from an unnerving wake-up call, he quickly changes into his school uniform. Until suddenly he heard a knock at his door.
"Hey, are you okay? I heard screaming." It sounded like Yukari, Minato sighed and walked over to his door and opened it. "I'm… fine. Just had a bad nightmare, nothing to concern yourself with." Minato wants to avoid stretching their conversation on the subject too long, he doesn't feel comfortable talking about it in detail.
"O-oh, are you sure? You really don't look too good." Yukari looked at Minato in a very concern manner. Minato sighed and then mildly smile at Yukari, "Thank you for your concern Takeba-san, but I'm really fine… I promise." Yukari didn't seem to convince on Minato's word, but she decided to drop it. So both Yukari and Minato decided to head downstairs to get ready for their school.
Both of Minato and Yukari arrived at the ground floor of the dorm, Minato smelled something odd in the kitchen "Takeba-san do you smell that? Somebody must've cooked something in the kitchen… wait, oh no, don't tell me…" Yukari looked at Minato with a confused face when he stressed out something about cooking. "Hmm? I do smell something… but why are you so tense all of a sudden? It can't be that bad- WHAT THE HELL!?" Minato and Yukari entered the kitchen to see… a complete and utter mess EVERYWHERE THE EYE CAN SEE!
Minato looked at the corner to find Minako crouching in a corner dismayed, he sighed as he approaches his twin sister. "Minako… did… did you to cook breakfast for us?" Minato flat-out said to Minako who just nodded, this prompted Minato to sigh again and grab Minako by her wrist. "Come on… I'll help you cook, so don't be disappointed imoto. Takeba-san please take a sit, me and Minako will prepare breakfast quick." Yukari nodded as Minako stand up again, Minako was somewhat okay now as Minato cleaned all the mess on the counter so they could start.
Although Yukari didn't expect to see anything interesting will happen while the twins' cook, little did she knew that one of them was a seasoned chef prodigy. Minato reflex kicked in as he grabbed three eggs and simultaneously cracked open and land on the frying pan, he then grabbed and swiftly garnish the frying eggs with salt, grounded black pepper, minced onions, and garlic. Minato ordered Minako to prepare six slices of toast and coat them with hot butter then place three plates on the table, she did as her brother ordered and she saw Yukari slightly gaped at Minato's cooking, which made Minako smirk in a delight to see somebody else try her brother's cooking.
Minato grabbed the set of plates Minako place and somehow manage to gracefully place the cooked eggs on each of the three plates, now Minato grabbed the hot buttered slices of toast and place two of them in each plate. Minato grabbed a pitcher and filled it with cold water while Minako grabbed the utensils and glasses for their breakfast, finally, Minato cleaned his hands and promptly said "Breakfast is ready and served, so dig in already… we'll be late if we don't hurry up." Yukari was astounded by Minato's expert cooking skills, she didn't expect that the quiet and somewhat emotionless boy to be a good cook. She hasn't even tried his cooking yet and already she was salivating at the aroma and visuality of his dish, Minako looked at Yukari and just approached her.
Minako leaned next to Yukari as Minato and Minako sit down at the table. "Your surprise or what Yukari-chan? I can say to you that it really was surprising to learn Minato-nii's cooking skills. I could eat his cooking forever~" Minako whispered to Yukari who was still in shock to see Minato's skills in cooking, He can't be THAT good of a cook, I mean sure… it looks and smells good… Yukari thought as she tasted the eggs Minato made. "…!?" Yukari's eyes shot open as she finished her first bite of the meal, WOW! It's amazing!? It's soft and melty, and the seasonings Arisato-kun added were just right! Yukari thought as she wolfed down her portion of the dish, Minako on the other hand… just plowed through her's in an instant.
After all three of them finished eating breakfast, they all headed to Iwatodai Station to board a train to their school, Yukari and Minako talked while walking and Minato listened to his MP3 player's music and stayed silent all the way to the station.
"Is he always like that Minako-chan? I mean, was he always distant?" Yukari asks Minako about Minato's behavior to distance himself from others, Minako frowned as she looked down to the ground. "No… we… weren't together for a long time now, I only met him again a month ago… a can say he has changed a lot…" This made Yukari stiff but it wasn't noticed by anyone, Oh yeah… their parents died 10 years ago… … dad… Yukari thought as she frowned a little. Minako notice she was frowning, so smile and nudge Yukari in a teasing manner.
"Hey Yukari-chan, what do you think about Nii-san?" This prompted Yukari to look at Minako in a surprise and embarrass manner. "U-um… w-what do you mean?" Yukari was slightly red as she tried to keep her composure, Minako pushed her teasing a bit more now. "Oh, you know what I mean~! Is he handsome, boring, a jerk, or even interesting… what're your thoughts on him?" Minako grinned devilishly as Yukari silently cursed in her head. "W-well… um… I-I think he's… unique… impressive… a-and… ch-charming in a way!?" Yukari tried her hardest to remaining composed, but ultimately succumbed to her embarrassment and blurted out her answer load. Minako tried her hardest to keep her chuckle and laughter at bay when Yukari answered "O-okay… I see… pfft! W-we… b-better… head to the station fast… hahaha!" Minako couldn't take it anymore and laughed her heart out.
Minato, on the other hand, was somewhat listening and now he was slightly red when Yukari said her thoughts on him, Okay… I'll pretend I never heard that and quickly walked to the station NOW! Minato reassured his thoughts by almost sprinting away from the girls, which Minako notice and saw this as the perfect tease. "Come on Yukari-chan! Minato-nii's booking it, let's catch up to him!" Minako was bow very hyper as she grabbed Yukari's wrist and dragged her to running speed, Yukari wasn't prepared for it and now was losing her balance by a hyper Minako and a runaway Minato.
All three of them made it to the Iwatodai Station and boarded a train to Port Island Station, but the awkward silence between Minato and Yukari made it hard to talk to one another. Even Minako could feel the intense awkwardness the situation made, so she tried to find a to make the air a little bit less tense. "So Nii-san… this scenery brings back some memories huh…" Minako looked outside the train's window, outside was beautiful scenery of the ocean with a bridge in the distance of the train. Yukari looked outside and gave a wry smile, while Minato had a… depressed look.
"That bridge… yeah, memories… the good ones… and the terrible ones…" Minato had a depressed and disdained look when he saw the Moonlight Bridge, this didn't go unnoticed by Minako and Yukari. "Nii-san…" Minako had a concerned and guilty expression, So Moonlight Bridge huh… it must've had a terrible impact on him 10 years ago, even I'm worried about him… Yukari kept her thoughts to herself as the train shortly arrived at Port Island Station.
The group of dormmates walked all the way to their school, yet after arriving for a couple of seconds… and it became very rowdy for the twins and Yukari. The dormmates noticed a LOT of the students were whispering and staring at them… more specifically at Minato and Yukari, Minato and Minako were confused about the behavior of the students around them… until they saw Yukari…
"G-good morning Takeba-san!" "G' morning Yukari-chan!" "Hello, Yukari-san!" Yukari was bombarded with greetings by the male and female students, which prompted a sigh from the twins as they telepathically thought in unison 'Oh boy… she's ms. Popular… do I even wanna know what they're all thinking about…'.
Yukari turned around and faced the twins with a warm welcoming smile on her face and said: "Here we are at Gekkoukan High, I hope you enjoy it here~!" Minako smiled in response while Minato kept his usual emotionless demeanor, I just it won't end up like last year… *shudder* all those girls… it was an utter nightmare…Minato thought in a grim-like style.
"You two should check to see what homeroom you guys are in and you should also check the faculty lounge as well too." Yukari said before she got closer to the two and whispered: "Hey, don't tell anyone about last night, alright?" Minato nodded as she immediately walked away.
Minako heard what they were talking about and started to giggle as she approached her brother. "Ooh, last night huh~? Wow, Nii-san you move VERY FAST. You naughty, naughty boy~…" Minako gave a smug look as Minato's eyes shot open as his entire face turned bright red from embarrassment, he looked at his imoto as he waved his hand at a frantic pace.
"W-what!? T-that's not i-it at all!?" Minato's composure has completely done a 180° as his voice started to stutter, Minako was enjoying it and decide to go even further with her teasing. "You can't-fool me Nii-san, the glares you give her and how you manage to talk to her calmly and relax might differ…" This made Minato blush a deeper shade of red.
"What!? I-I mean… sure I think she's pretty but… a-anyway!? We both know what she meant, so can we please just go already…" Minato said in the quietest way possible, Minako sighed and giggled again as she walked towards the entrance. "Fine, but try not to keep any secrets from me~" As Minako giggled, Minato was about to faint from all the teasing his imoto pulled on him. I'm so gonna get you for this imoto… very soon… Minato thought maliciously.
The twins walked towards the faculty lounge to meet their homeroom advisor, though Minako was still confused. "Nii-san, shouldn't we go check our homerooms first before going to the faculty lounge?" Minako flat-out asks Minato about her confusion, Minato just sighed and handed Minako their transfer documents. "We're in the same homeroom, Class 2-F… it was written in the documents. So don't worry about it…" Minato clarified to which Minako nodded.
Both of the twins entered the faculty lounge to see a female teacher sitting by an office like cubicle looking what seems to be a document, the twins looked at each other and nodded as they approached the sitting teacher. "Hmm? Oh, are you two the new transfer students?" The teacher saw both of them and proceeded to properly arrange the papers in her hand, "I am your homeroom advisor, Mrs. Toriumi. I'll be teaching composition." Mrs. Toriumi smiled at the two as they bowed at her. "Nice to meet you Mrs. Toriumi." Minato and Minako said in unison, both of them looked at each other in confusion and uncomfortableness while Mrs. Toriumi chuckled.
"Hehe… if only a lot more students were as polite as you two, now let's see your files… Minato and Minako Arisato…" All of what Mrs. Toriumi said was a blur to Minato until… "Hmm… in 1999, that was like what? Ten years ago… your parents- …!?" she stammered as she read the following passage that made the twins looked down in grief, Mrs. Toriumi cleared her throat and continued to speak. "…I'm sorry, I haven't had the chance to look at your files. A-anyways you probably know about your homeroom right? Class 2-F, though the principal had called all students and teachers to head to the auditorium first…" Minato and Minako nodded silently and then walked to the auditorium…
Minato wasn't listening to the speech the principal had since something bothered his thoughts, She didn't show any pity on us… that's at least a better enough start than last year… I absolutely DESPISE the bullshit excused people make for me… He had a threatening look on his face as he thought of his last school year, but this was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder from a male student sitting behind him. "Hey… I heard you walked here with Yukari-chan, mind if I ask if she has a boyfriend already?" Minato looked at him with his usual emotionless face and shrugged, How the hell should I know? I've only met her yesterday and why should I tell her personal life to a random guy?
The boy behind Minato looked disappointed "Ah man, I thought you would know. Hey, how 'bout that cute looking chick next to Yukari? I hope she's available~" As soon as the male student fished talking, Minato emitted a deadly aura around him as his cold lone eye glared at the guy that pierce the guy's very body and soul. This made the guy terrified for dear life and asked the guy next to him "D-dude w-what the hell was that about!?" The male student shouted as quiet as possible and the guy next to him responded in a tense way.
"Dude, the girl you're talking about is his kid sister! That's the reason why!?" Both of them felt the ever deadly aura Minato gave off, even the male students around them felt it and are now terrified for dear life as well. "I hear talking! And I believe it's around Mrs. Toriumi's class!" The old man (probably the principal in Minato's perspective…) shouted as Mrs. Toriumi sighed and called out to her class "Be quiet, you're going to get me in trouble." Mrs. Toriumi said firmly and threateningly, which piped down the entire class. Well, that's a way to address student behavior Mrs. Toriumi… Minato thought.
The speech resumed as Minato saw Minako from a few seats away gave him a thumbs up and mouthed 'Thank you~!', Minato gave his sister a small smile as the speech went on, after a while, the students were now sent back to their classes as the principal's speech came to an end.
Minato was sitting in his chair while listening to the music on his MP3 player and Minako were talking to the other female students in their class after awhile Minako approached her brother to talk about something. "Nii-san, wanna go to the dorm together later?" Minato looked at his sister with a mundane look and nodded to her, "Yeah sure…" Minako pouted at Minato for his plain answer.
She was about to complain to Minato until another student approached them. "Yo, what's up?" Both of them turned to the voice's source to be greeted by a boy wearing a baseball cap and a goatee. "Hmm… nothing much, but who are you?" Minako asks the obvious which Minato sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, *sigh* Minako… why did you answer a question from a random guy who approached us… Minato thought.
"Oh right, I'm Junpei Iori. Nice to meet cha!" Junpei smiled widely as Minako nodded. "Nice to meet you to Iori-san, I'm Minako Arisato and this guy sitting so casually is my brother, Minato Arisato." Minako introduces both her and Minato (much to Minato's chagrin…), Junpei smiled in the most energetic way possible "Heard from some of our classmates that you guys just transferred here, so I just thought that I'd come to say hi. Cuz' I know how it feels to be the new kid, anyways… hope we get along!" Junpei reached out his left hand to Minato, Minako smiled as she nudged Minato to accept it. Minato sighed as he grabbed Junpei's hand then proceeded to shake it, I'll admit… he seems to be a nice guy, but I won't let that pass him. I still don't trust anyone here or at the dorm, except for my imoto… she's important to me… Minato thought as he smiled at Junpei.
The twins (mostly Minako…) talked to Junpei, Minato wasn't interested in socializing at all. He had a… difficult time talking to other children when he was little, but he still feels weird about Yukari… He didn't know why, but… he feels like he'd seen her somewhere before… And as Minato looked at the homeroom door, he saw Yukari opening the door. Hmm, Takeba-san? Why is she… oh… well, this is definitely a coincidence Minato thought as Yukari entered the homeroom.
Minato smiled at Yukari, who smiled back as she approached him. Junpei notices Minato's stare and looked at the direction of his sight to find Yukari walking towards them. Junpei smiled as he greeted Yukari, "Hey Yuka-tan! Who would've thought we'd be in the same class again?" Much to Yukari's annoyance, she looked at the twins and back to Junpei. "*Sigh* at it again Junpei? I swear you'll talk to anyone as long as they listen to you."
Junpei looked as if he took Yukari's word with an exaggerated offense "Hey, I was just being friendly with the new guys." Yukari rolled her eyes as she gave an annoyed look. "Whatever… " She then looked at the twins (though Minako was giggling from the event that transpired in front of her while Minato just sighed) "Anyways… apparently, we're in the same homeroom, what are the odds of that, right?" Yukari looked at Minato who smiled and nodded. "Yeah, it must be a coincidence…" Minato gave his usual plain reply, which made Minako pout at his brother's attitude.
"Nii-san, that was very rude!" Minato looked at his imoto and hummed, Yeah I guess I was a little rude to her… better apologize to her Minato thought then turned towards Yukari and bowed. "My apologize Takeba-san." Yukari chuckled and gave Minato a small smile, "Don't worry, anyways I agree with you about this being a coincidence."
Minata, Minako, and Yukari talked for a bit and this made Junpei felt a little forgotten as he chimed in. "Hello! I'm in the class to y' know!" Minato sighed as he thought, Believe me, it isn't easy to forget someone like you Junpei… While not noticing that Yukari sighed at the same time as him. "Whatever Stupei…" This made Junpei irritated while Minako tried to stiffen her snickers from getting out, Geez… ain't that a little unnecessary Takeba-san, I know he's annoying and all. But that a little low of a blow… Minato looked at Yukari with a sweatdrop forming on his head.
"Stop calling me that!..." Junpei's irritated look turned into a devilish grin as he looked at Minato and Yukari then asks them something. "So I've heard something about you two, they say that you two came to school together. What's that about? C'mon give me some dirt on it!" Minato looked very agitated about Junpei's question, Son of a-! Rumors spread faster than I expected, *sigh* this is going to be a LONG school year… If Iori-san keeps asks any further, I might not be able to hold myself from hitting him HARD Minato thought with a mixture of agitation and annoyance in his face.
"Excuse me what!?" Yukari was surprised enough to shout (Minato gave a face that said 'really?') "We just live in the same dorm, that's all!?" Junpei was somewhat disappointed while Minato was a little relieved that Yukari's explanation didn't stir anything up. She then looked at Minato with a concerned face and asks "Hey… you didn't tell anyone about you know what did you?" Minato immediately nodded to avoid any suspicion from Junpei and his sister, God… Takeba-san please don't be so vague about something like that! I don't want to feed the rumors more fuel! At the very least don't say it THAT loud! Minato furiously thought as Yukari sighed in relief.
"Good… seriously though, don't tell anyone about last night… it's something we can't talk about outside…" At this point, Minato was screaming mentally as he felt something embarrassing is about to unfold. DAMNNIT TAKEBA-SAN! Minato cursed in his mind as Junpei looked in awe and shock while Minako's mouth was gaping from the sudden revelation. "W-whoa, l-last night? What? Did you and him…" Junpei was a little lost for words while Minako went ballistic as she shouted "I KNEW IT! YOU TWO REALLY DID IT!" The whole class heard this and were utterly surprised.
Neither Minato nor Yukari dared to stop their embarrassment as both of them blushed in the deepest shade of red. "W-w-we j-just m-met last night!?" Yukari shouted which made the whole homeroom go ballistic, this, however… didn't stop Minako's teasing. "Oh… I'm sure you got to know each other VERY WELL last night~" Minato felt his consciousness slipping as Yukari kept stammering. "M-MINAKO-CHAN!?" Yukari's mind went blank and couldn't think of anything else to respond to the teasing girl, Minato was somewhat calm now and now tried to clear up this ludicrous situation.
"Look here listen straight, Yukari and I just met yesterday and there is NOTHING between us…" Minato's aura drastically changed from an embarrassment to straight murderous, everyone in the room went silent as they felt eminent dread if they spoke a single word. Minato faced Minako (Which terrified her beyond belief…) and stated "Imoto if you spread rumors or add fuel to other rumors. I won't hesitate to absolutely embarrass you in public with and expect to NOT taste any of my cooking for an entire month…" With absolute dread in his voice with his lone cold eye glaring at Minako, she wouldn't dare to try it.
Minato then turned to Junpei (Who was at the verge to pissing his pants in fear…) with an even GREATER animosity and dread lingering around him, he got closer to Junpei and grabbed him by his uniform's collar (But he wasn't going to hurt him… YET.) "Iori-san… if your gonna run your mouth about this and start a serious rumor, hehehe… let's just say… you won't live to say what I'll do to you…" Junpei nodded, even though he was as pale as paper when Minato let go of his collar.
Minato then looked at the entire class and simply said: "Forget ALL of this happening, or do you all want to know what true hell feels like…" EVERYONE didn't say a word, they just resumed what they did before the whole situation happened. Yukari didn't know if Minato was bluffing or not, but she wanted to think it is a bluff. But nonetheless, she smiled at Minato and said "Thanks, Arisato-kun, oh shoot! I gotta leave now, I've got something to take care of for the archery club. And Junpei… you better listen to Arisato-kun's threats, bye guys…" Yukari then quickly leave the homeroom, leaving the twins and Junpei alone.
Junpei looked at Minato with pleading eyes and said: "Y-you weren't serious about earlier, r-right?" Minato shrugged, I mean… if push comes to shove… I'd probably give you 5 broken rib cage bones and a little bit of internal bleeding at the minimum. Junpei smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up, "Thanks, dude! You're a pal already, but man… can't believe you two have stirred up the whole school! I can already tell this year is gonna ROCK!" Junpei was very hyper as he pumped his fist in the air, Minato gave him a genuine chuckle (Which is a rare sight for anyone who've been friends with him for a long time.) "Hey, how about we go grab something to eat, my treat~!" Junpei spoke something he didn't know what he got into, Oh Junpei… you poor, poor uninformed dude. I won't take advantage of your kindness, but that doesn't mean I won't pitch in. Minato thought deviously. Minako giggled as Minato approached Junpei and whispered to him, "We'll all pitch in… believe me, with Minako and especially my stomach… you're going to need it."
Junpei looked confused and just decide to say "Uh… sure, why not?" Junpei then left the classroom as Minako sneak up behind Minato and said: " Aww, looks like my unsocial Nii-san has finally gotten a friend, I'm so proud~!" Minako teased Minato of his supposed friendship with Junpei, Minato sighed as he turned to Minako and said "Well, the guy's tolerable and somewhat interesting. So I guess I'm friends with him…" Minato replied, then proceeded to walked out the door. "Anyways, we don't want to make the poor fellow wait now don't we? Let's go…" Minato calmly said as Minako nodded in excitement, Looks like Nii-san's finally mellowing down his insecurity with others. I wanna see this Nii-san over the grieving Nii-san, I'll play my cards right… Minako thought.
Beyond the events that happened was just normal, Minako and Junpei talked to each other while Minato was listening (And also eating a grotesque amount of food that he bought). When school ended the twins said goodbye to Junpei and headed towards their dorm, they talked along the way with Minako trying to make Minato laugh but utterly failing. After they got back to the dorm, Minato went to his room to rest while Minako was at the lounge watching the TV.
And about 2 hours in the dorm Minako saw Mitsuru walking downstairs and Minako wanted to ask something from her, so she approached Mitsuru which got her attention. "Um… Kirijo-senpai, are we allowed to go outside the dorm during the evenings?" Mitsuru looked at Minako and quickly responded to her. "No, at least not now. The two of you are living at this dorm temporarily, so you shouldn't do that until the matters are dealt with and sorted out." Minako sighed in disappointment. "I see… well, that makes sense, I guess. There's nothing to do so I'll be at my room now Kirijo-senpai, I'm gonna sleep now good night Kirijo-senpai." Minako said good night to Mitsuru and she also said good night as well, both of them left their separate ways.
Minako thought of something while heading to her room, Well… Kirijo-senpai is a little bit weird, I guess must be stress or something. *yawn* I'm tired now… I sound like Minato-nii a little hehehe~. Minako arrived at her room and entered it preparing her nightdress and then proceeded to sleep…
Chapter 2: End
Author's Note: Sorry for not uploading for a while, I'm kinda busy with school work lately… so my chapter uploads might vary. So here's a lengthy chapter to compensate for the slow chapters, I'm standards on this fanfic high, cause I REALLY LOVE the Persona series. I'm making this fanfic a little different than the fanfics I've read on, though I really you'd like this fanfic and I applaud to you reading this. I'll keep on this and I hope you guys will like it~!