Little Busters: Persona Intertwined
Chapter 2: Into The Darkness of Hour
…
…It's cold… but, it's also calm here… What a peaceful place… Amidst all this calmness…
"Master… Master… Master Naoe Riki…" A voice called out…
…
…Inside a tent, Velvet room…
…"Agh… Ah…" Riki found himself sitting on a comfortable spot, with him looking slightly downcast with his eyes only slightly opened. He slowly and slightly raised his head, and saw a young woman-the one he met at the dorm the other night-to be at the side.
…She is sitting with her eyes closed, then all of the sudden, she opened them… "…Master, our guest has arrived." She told that someone who is sitting in front, in which he's on the middle end of this tent, and Riki is facing him directly from where he is. The silver-haired young woman is just beside this someone who is an old man with a long nose.
He's sitting with his hands together and his chin resting on them, his eyes are closed as well. One might think that he's sleeping at the moment, but that doesn't seem to be the case. "… … …Welcome." He said, all of the sudden. And he opened his eyes all of the sudden, and turned to Riki. "To the Velvet Room."
"…Huh?" Riki, now fully awake, responded to that in a natural way.
"Ah… It seems we have a guest… with an intriguing destiny. *chuckle*" The old man chuckled slightly, and he adjusted himself as he's about to address Riki. "My name is Igor… I am delighted to make your acquaintance."
"Eh…? Oh, uh, h-hai… Um, what is this place, um, I-Igor-san…"
"*chuckle* Proper mannerism shows that of a kind, gentle and warm heart… *chuckle*, there is no need to worry my dear boy, so just, relax. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room where only those who are bound by a "contract" may enter." On that, Igor waved his hand, and magically, a document file appeared on his desk…
"Huh…? That's…" Riki recognized it as the one he signed on upon entering and arriving at the dorm.
"Only those who have signed the "contract" may enter this place, henceforth, you shall be welcomed here in the Velvet room. But, let us not get ahead of ourselves. Now then… Why don't you introduce yourself…?"
"Eh? M-Me? I'm… Hm, ahem," Riki, wanting to show respect and decency in front of strangers, composed and behaved rationally, and adjusted his position respectfully. What a kind person, and respectful, too. "I'm Naoe Riki, um, k-kind sir." He bowed in respect after saying his name, then he straightened himself up.
"Hm, I see… Well then, let us take a look at your future, shall we?"
"My… future?" He asked, blinking twice, and is curious at this…
"Hm," Igor nodded. He placed his palm on his desk,
-Flash-!
A set of tarot cards appeared under his palm.
"Do you believe in fortune telling?" As he had asked that, he spread the tarot cards all over the desk with just a wave of a hand, which greatly surprised Riki as he has witnessed that.
"Ah." His expression is mild, perhaps due to the nature of this place, he cannot help but remain calm.
"Each reading is done at the same card, yet the results are always different. Life itself follows the same principles, doesn't it?" At that, Igor flipped one card up… "Hm, the Moon… In the Upright Position. This card represents… Hesitation… and Mystery. Hm, intriguing… The card indicating the future beyond that is…" He flipped another… "The Fortune, in the Upright position. This card represents… great fortune… *chuckle*, very interesting indeed."
"Um, what does it mean…?" Riki, feeling a bit mesmerized by the fortune that he's been read at, asked.
Igor turned to Riki, "It seems you will encounter that which is mesmerizing your own situation, and the mystery in solving such a thing is that which must be searched at… from its source. But, to do that, one may require a "lucky charm" that may benefit them in the long search… *chuckle*." Igor dismissed the cards with just a wave of a hand, the cards vanished. "Ah! I have neglected to introduce my assistant to you." He turned to the young woman who has been silent for the most time. "This is Kaede. She is a resident of this place, like myself."
The woman frowned, "My name is… Kaede. We have met before…" She spoke in a monotone that suggests that she's emotionless…
"Please do not mind her manners, she is simply far from being simple in her demeanor." Perhaps noticing Riki's awkwardness at feeling blunt about Kaede's tone, Igor saw fit to excuse his apprentice.
She turned to her master. "My speech is normal. And it is of no consequences." She said, a bit stubborn.
"Just so, you will learn eventually." They then turned back to Riki, "We should tend to the other details for another time. I will tell you then about my true role. Until then… Farewell."
FLAAAAAAAASSSSHH-!
…Riki's vision is engulfed by blinding light.
…
…
…Inside an hospital room…
"Ugh… Ah… Ah," Riki slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was the white ceiling of a room that seems to be an hospital patient room.
"Ah! You-You're awake!" …Haruka seems to be sitting right beside him. "Oh, um, how do you feel…?"
"…Hm," Riki blinked once, twice, thrice, he seems to be surprised to find himself lying on a soft bed as he woke up. He looked around, "This is…"
Haruka stood up, and looked closer at Riki's face. Then she smiled, "Thank goodness, you finally came through! Geez, how much are you going to make me worry? It's been a whole week! We were so worried about you, everyone was…" She settled down, a bit, after saying that. And she straightened herself to speak with him, "… …" …She seems to be at loss for words, "Um… I-I'm sorry I couldn't do more on my end… But, hey!" She suddenly brightened up, "Your power… It was amazing!" She boasted, quite happily, in fact.
Riki blinked once, "Huh…? Ah," Then he remembered what transpired that night… He summoned the god, The Winged Dragon of Ra, and destroyed that monster, Shadow. "That's right… I… …What happened after that? I mean… What did I…"
"That power that you used… We call it "Persona", and those creatures you defeated are Shadows… our enemy. We'll explain everything later. I'm sorry we couldn't tell you before. And you know…
…
…Later, after Haruka's explanation…
"…so in short, we were spying on you to make sure that you had the potential or not, and if you weren't we would have requested your transfer to another dorm." Haruka said with a bit of melancholy on her tone.
"I see…" Riki said looking up the ceiling, with ponderous expression. "So that's why I was transferred…"
"Uh huh." Haruka nodded, "Oh, I better go tell everyone you're all right. Don't move from your spot, Riki-kun, be a good patient now." Haruka moved to the side, and was about to exit the room-"Oh, um…" She turned to Riki, who had a big question mark above his head upon being turned to. "… … …" Haruka smiled, "You were amazing, I may have underestimated you… You have surpassed our expectations, in fact."
"…? Surpassed?"
"Hm," She nodded eagerly. "It was-No, never mind. I shouldn't ask you so many questions after you woke up. All right, be a good patient now, Mr. Patient! Hehe," She left the room cheerfully.
"Huh, she seems like cheerful and a friendly lot." Riki said eyeing the door where she exited. Then he turned his gaze back to the ceiling. "I guess I should rest for now… … …But… So many things have happened…" His eyes are becoming heavier as he pondered about that… "Shadow… Persona… That thing…" He recalled the Shadow he just beat… "What could this all mean…?" He said that as his eyes were now closed… … … …Then his consciousness drifted away…
…
…
…The next day, at the command room…
Just outside the command room of this dorm, Haruka led Riki to the just location…
"Over here, Riki-kun." Haruka led him to the door that leads to a command room-
-Opening it, a large room that has a long table on the middle is seen before Riki's sight. There are a lot of various people sitting on the seats provided, with Kanata sitting at the opposite end at the opposite direction of Riki and Haruka who just entered in.
Everyone turned their attention to them as they entered.
"Ah, Naoe. You have arrived." Kanata said.
Haruka went to sit on the seat provided.
"Yo! Transfer student!" Masato waved at him, greeting him.
"Hm? You're…" Recalling Masato as his classmate who was the first to greet him personally that time, "Inohara-san, right?"
Masato felt a bit off-guard at being referred to as "-san", "Oi, oi, don't call me "-san" now, just Masato, okay?" He said smiling, "After all, we're gonna be dorm mates from here onward!"
"Yo, Naoe Riki!" Kyosuke himself waved at Riki.
"You're…" Recalling Kyosuke as well, "You're Natsume-san's… older brother, right…?"
Rin and Kyosuke felt off-guard at being referred to as "-san", as well. "Oi, don't go calling "-san" if you don't even know them, well, since we're going to be knowing each other. Welcome to our own club, we'll be sure to have fun with you around here. Since you have the spiritual youth that we are all yearning for!" He said grinning like a child.
Rin sweat dropped at her older brother's behavior. "Would you shut up? That's not important right now," She turned to Riki, and smiled. "Hi, there! We meet again." She waved at him, as well.
"Hm, you seem to be acquainted with some of members already, hm, most convenient." Kanata gestured at the empty seat beside Masato, "Please, have a seat."
"H-Hai…" Riki obliged and sat there.
Kanata adjusted her position, "Well then, before we begin, I would like to introduce some of our other members." She stared at Saya's and A-chan's directions.
"Hey, how are you doing?" Saya winked at Riki as she greeted him, which made him fidget a bit.
"Huh? O-Oh, a-ah."
"Hiya! Nice to meet you!" A-chan greeted him cheerfully.
"A-chan, refrain from going to outburst behavior. You're still in front of our guest, after all." Kanata scolded her a bit, much to her a bit of frustration.
Turning back to Riki, "Well then, Naoe, we summoned you here tonight, because there's something we wish to inform you."
…
…Later…
"…in other words, your transfer to this dorm was not by chance, or you might say that it was not by any means of decisions that were chosen through natural means." Kanata said in words that sounded formal, and cool.
Riki, who is sitting at the other end, simply nodded weakly, and looked a bit downcast. "So, it's not like that I was transferred here due to my academic standing or something like that…"
"Yes. But, before we proceed," Turning to A-chan, "A-chan, bring him the briefcase."
"H-Hai!" She did so, and she picked up a briefcase that is under the table. This seems to have surprised Kanata a bit.
"Where did you get that?"
"It's been here the whole time."
Poink!
"Ow! Hey," She got hit on the head, for hiding it there the whole time.
"Idiot. You should have given it to him when we started this meeting from the very start." Kanata, back to her seat, said.
"""Hahahahahaha!"""
The others laughed at A-chan's misfortune.
"But, does that mean…" Rin said guessing something.
A-chan handed the briefcase to Riki as she approached him, and laid the briefcase before him. "Hai, here you go. Try to have fun with it~" She said, as she returned to her seat.
"Here, let me open it for you." Kyosuke said inserting the numbers on it. "And… there. Now you're one of us, with this in your possession." He opened it, and there, inside the briefcase is a gun-like object-an evoker-an arm brand that says "Little Busters".
That caught Riki's eye, "Little… Busters?"
"Ah, our own group of youth where we fight evil-and preserve the justice that is unseen by others, and beat those who are evil and would do injustice-Gyow!" A cup of tea is thrown at Kyosuke's head-by Kanata. It seems to be wooden, as it didn't broke or shattered upon landing.
"Silence your mouth, imbecile." She said, then turning back to Riki. "That's the name of the squad of Natsume-san and the others. Well, I suppose it's the name of the group that is full of trouble-makers."
"Hey! We're trying to fight for the good side here!" Masato said showing his muscle to strike a pose as he has said that.
"…" Riki saw what Kanata meant immediately through that, and they turned to each other. "I… see where you're getting at."
"Hm," She nodded, "Now, there's something I wish to let you see. This night-at midnight-but before that…"
This time, Saya's turn to speak up has come. She leaned before the desk, with her hands on the desk. "Say, Naoe Riki-kun, do you believe that the world is only of 24 hours…?"
"Eh? Ah," Riki has been aware of the phenomenon of something happening when it's midnight, to be perfectly honest. Now, perhaps it's now the time for the "other guy" to take over.
-Switch-
Flaaaassshh-!
"Yami Riki" is in now.
"… …Well, as far as longer as I can remember." He said having a downcast gaze.
"Eh? You're… You know of it?" Haruka, while leaning a bit, asked, a bit surprised that Riki knows.
"It's only natural. It appears to those who have the potential. That's "persona", the power that you used the other day. But… Your power… have surpassed our expectation." The one with blue hair, Mio Nishizono, said smiling.
"Ah," …Riki just acknowledged that with an emotionless face.
"Yeah, that power of yours was something else. You're pretty interesting." Kyosuke commented.
"Yeah, but, if you train your muscles, too-Gah!" Rin kicked Masato on the leg for mentioning "muscle" topics.
"Don't mind him, Riki-san. He's an idiot who is a drone about muscles." Kengo, with his arms crossed, said with his eyes closed.
"Hey! Mind what you say! We're…" They bicker like kids.
"Anyway," Kyosuke said, "We'll show you something interesting tonight. We believe we can the reason for the dark hour there." Kyosuke said grinning like a kid, as he thought of something…
"…? Dark hour…?"
"I suppose it's something people are not aware of their everyday lives. The Dark hour, Naoe, is a time period where some are awake, while some are not… in an unnatural way." Kanata explained.
"Yeah… Normal people don't realize it since they're all sleeping inside their coffins." Saya added. Riki remembered the coffins he sees every night…
"…Ah, so those coffins were…" Riki said.
"Yes. They're all people who are sleeping, or are being rendered asleep when the Dark hour hits. Oh, Dark hour is what we call that hour. Also referred to as the "Hidden Hour", sometimes." Saya crossed her arms together. "Well, we'll show you there. Game: Start!"
End of Chapter 2
Note: This was a short chapter. But perhaps the others won't be… Well, I'm just following the flow of this story, actually. Well, next chapter is when Tartarus is introduced. As well as the persona powers of the other members of Little Busters, as well as Saya, and A-chan.