Persona: The Darker Light

Chapter 2: Enter Jun Arisato: The Upbeat Headphone Slacker

Recap: Shinobu met Shin Yagami, his cousin, as Shinobu entered Antaki City. Antaki is a Beautiful Hillside Ocean Resort like place. Shin is an Avid Anime and Manga fan. As Shinobu was dreaming that night, he got a warning from a strange voice that urged him to "seek the truth".

March 24th 2031, Monday

Shinobu woke up early, restless from the dream he had, if he could even consider it a dream.

Either way, today is the first day of High School and Shinobu couldn't afford to be late

"Hey Shino-kun! Made you breakfast!" said Shin who looked very hyper for a man who is up this early.

"Hm? Oh, thanks" said Shinobu who was still half asleep.

Shinobu, who is a very formal person, actually wore the Antaki High uniform very casual, having the jacket open and unbuttoning the top button. It was recommended to wear a bowtie and the uniform came with it, but Shinobu was too tired to actually tie it and left it off.

"Wow! You look so excited! Wearing the uniform so perfectly!" said a sarcastic Shin.

Shin as seen enough anime to know that important or notable people wear the uniform differently than others. He was giddy to see his proper and formal cousin wear the uniform so lazily.

"What? Oh, um sorry" Shinobu said very tiredly, slowly eating the eggs Shin had made.

"He he, I'm only teasing. I wore the uniform funny too! I'm sure your father and mother did too!" said Shin as he took off the apron he was wearing.

Shinobu looked ready to go back to bed; his hair, which was short to begin with, was everywhere and he forgot his pants.

"Shinobu! Hurry and get dressed silly boy!" said Shin who noticed the time.

Shinobu went over to the coffee machine, poured a shot of it and drank it.*

"Alright, hold on." said Shinobu who was slowly getting more active by the second.

Shinobu left his uniform the same way, put on pants, and took care of his hygiene.

By the time he was done it was time to leave.

"Don't have too much fun!" said Shin as Shinobu left.

"I was just about to say that to you!" Shinobu said as he hurried out and on his way to school.

The way to school was a very scenic one, a seaside walk to the metro station which went on a mountain side track to the other side of Antaki which acted more as the shopping district and school district.

As Shinobu went on this route, he noticed people look at him…differently? He couldn't find the words to describe their faces, but they were staring at him for some reason.

"Who's he?" he overheard one girl say.

"I don't know he looks hot though" the other girl said.

This happened all the way until he made his way to the school gates.

The school itself was huge, but was broken up into different sections; one for the first years, then one for the second years, one for the third years, then one for clubs and sports. The main building was like a main hub, which included the cafeteria, auditorium, and the faculty office.

Shinobu at first thought the main building was just it, but once he looked around the school grounds he noticed how big it was and was intensely taken back.

"Nothing like this in Inaba, not even Junes" Shinobu noted to himself, he made his way inside the main building and went to the faculty office.

"Um excuse me?" Shinobu said as he looked around at the frantic teachers.

"Yes?" one female teacher said as she looked at the hopeless Shinobu.

"I'm a transfer student that came here from Ina-" Shinobu started before the teacher interrupted him.

"Shinobu Amagi yea? You're in my class 1-B" the teacher said, "Just go to the auditorium and wait for the initial assembly"

And with that the teacher brushed Shinobu off and went straight back to her work.

Shinobu, who was a bit disappointed with that, sighed and went to where to other students seem to be heading the auditorium.

The assembly was fairly short and was nothing truly special.

He noticed however that there was one girl wearing a kimono, Shinobu kept this in mind as the principle went on and on about the school's history.

Afterwards students made a mad dash for their classes, mainly to see who was in them.

One student in particular was extra excited.

"Haha! YES! FINALLY!" the boy said giddy-like.

The boy had blonde hair that was pointed to a main spike but the bangs were all over his face, he had blue headphones and had dark green eyes. Despite his eyes being dark green, they seem to sparkle for some reason.

This boy sprinted all over the place, making him seem very excited and unnaturally upbeat, despite the other students running almost as fast as he was.

The boy got out of Shinobu's sight fast and Shinobu hurried to the first year section of the high school.

Much to his surprise, Shinobu found the upbeat boy in his class.

"Hey! Haven't ever seen your face! Who are you?" the boy asked Shinobu as Shinobu entered the classroom.

"My name is…" Before Shinobu could finish the teacher who brushed him off before came in.

"TAKE YOUR SEATS NOW!" she yelled and all of the class not only fell silent, they scurried to take their seats.

"Now, you worthless runts, introduce yourself" the teacher commanded as one by one the students said their name and said something to remember them by, or perhaps what they hope they succeed.

It was now Shinobu's turn.

"My name is Shinobu Amagi; I'm a transfer student from Yasoinaba City."

Shinobu paused there as his classmates whispered and looked with question.

"I'm here for only a year so… try not to get too close with me" Shinobu said with unintentional charms that made some of the girls swoon.

After Shinobu, it was the headphoned boy's turn.

"My name…is…JUN ARISATO!" Jun yelled as all of the class except the teacher laughed.

"I'm so stoked for the year! Let's make the best of it!" Jun said, making the class seem more preppy and upbeat.

"How can Arisato-kun do that?" Shinobu wondered as Jun laughed and sat down in his seat.

Class went on as usual and during lunch break Jun went up to Shinobu.

"So your name is Shinobu Amagi?" Jun asked, "What kind of last name is Amagi?"

"It's my…mother's last name; it is also the name of the inn my family ran." Shinobu said looking downward.

"Don't look so down! Here, let's hang out after school!" Jun said as he smiled at Shinobu.

"Hm? Oh okay…Thanks Arisato-kun" Shinobu said as he smiled back.

"Call me Jun."

After School

"Man class was boring! I nearly fell asleep!" Jun said as him and Shinobu walked down the shopping district.

"It wasn't boring, you're just a slacker" Shinobu pointed out.

Jun was taken aback. "Hey! No fair! Ha-ha!" Jun made light of the situation.

"So where do you live Shinobu?" Jun asked as they continued walking around.

"It's over the mountain, near the train station." Shinobu said as Jun then suddenly looked surprised.

"You should've told me! I could've walked with you back to your house!" Jun said as he looked almost devastated.

"No, it's okay. My cousin doesn't really care if I stay out late, I hope." Shinobu said with a little joy.

Shinobu couldn't help it, it's only the first day and someone is talking with him!

"Ha-ha! Cool, hey you hear about that weird disease thing?" Jun asked with a bit of seriousness.

"Yeah, why?" Shinobu asked as he looked at a worried Jun.

"I want to find the cure for it." Jun said silently

"Yeah just laugh it up alright? I know it sounds childish but, I want to help them" Jun said tearing up.

This was a side of Jun that Shinobu didn't expect a more…depressed side.

"It's not childish Jun, I would love to help you find the cure for it" Shinobu said patting Jun on the shoulder. "It's better to do things with others right?"

"Yeah…Thanks" Jun said wiping his eyes.

There was some silence between the two, then Jun's eyes lit up.

"So, we're detectives right?" Jun said with a bit of giddiness.

"I guess we are…why what are you thinking?" Shinobu said with a look of dread.

"WE'LL MAKE A CLUB, THE DETECTIVES OF ANTAKI HIGH!" Jun announced as others started to look at the two strangely.

"Oh no…" Shinobu said to himself as he could barely even imagine what was going to happen next.

Next Time – The Detectives of Antaki High

* I drink my coffee like this when I'm that tired

Author's Notes:

Thank you all for reading… sorry for the long chapter.

Please Review and look forward to the next one.

P.S Try to guess Jun's Arcana, he is an important character after all.