A/N I'm sorry that this chapter isn't very long, I've had a busy week and didn't have a lot of time to write. Nonetheless I hope you enjoy it. I'm introducing an OC this chapter as well as changing my style a bit by adding perspective changes into the story. So the story could switch from Thomas's POV to a different character, or it could change from a third person into a third person perspective.

As usual please rate and leave feedback :)

Disclaimer: I do not own persona 4. I own Raiden Kowareta.

"I still can't believe this place is real." I said to Igor. Marie snorted in derision and put her feet up on the table in front of her and Igor.

Hmph.

"Problem?" I asked, glancing at her. She sat next to Igor, her arms crossed. Her face had a look of anger, annoyance, and just general displeasure.

"Nope." She said without any emotion.

"...stupidannoyingtwerp." She muttered, trying not to let me hear her.

"You have a tendancy to mesh your words together, you know that?" I said smirking. "The first time I saw you do it you called me cute." She blushed and stared at me, anger in her eyes.

"Sh-shut up!" She yelled defensively, her face turning even redder. "I hate you!"

Ouch. Hit me right in my heart.

"What have I ever done to make you act so rude? We've only met once before, all you could do was blush and stare at the ground." I said. Marie was about to say something, but Igor loudly cleared his throat, drawing our attention to him.

"Well, at least you two have now met formally. That was the main purpose of this visit, so I shall send you back to your own world now." Igor said, waving his hand.

Why is Igor the one playing mediator? I thought that would have been Margaret's job.

"Will I be summoned here again soon?" I asked.

"God I hope not..." Marie muttered under her breath. I glared at her.

And your poll numbers just keep dropping.

"Within the next few days." Igor replied, ignoring Marie.

"Alright. I'll see you then." I said as Igor snapped his fingers and my eyes closed.

3rd Person POV

After Thomas left the room all of the residents were quiet for a few moments, but it was Marie who broke the silence.

"Where did he go?" Marie asked curiously. Igor chuckled.

"Mr. Narukami has gone back to his world. He will be back in a few days, and eventually he will be able to visit us whenever he wishes," He replied, standing up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have business with our master. I will return shortly." Igor said as he left the room.

"..." Marie said. "Do you know what it's like over there?" Marie asked nervously.

"What? You mean in Thomas's world?" Margaret asked, smirking. "Why don't you ask him to take you take you out there and show you around? I'm sure you wouldn't mind spending some more time with him." She said with a small smile.

Marie looked shocked. "And what's that supposed to mean?!" She asked angrily.

"Well from the way you acted when you first realized that he was our guest and your behavior right before he left, I'd say that you are attracted to him." Margaret said plainly.

Marie's face turned bright red and she stood up. "That's crazy! ihateyouyoustupidjerk!"

"Don't get so defensive, Marie. You're not the first resident of the Velvet Room to become infatuated with one of our guests. The same thing happened with Igors' previous assistant." Margaret calmly replied, opening up her leather book and flipping through it. "You were acting nervous when you first saw him, and you attempted to cover yourself using anger."

"I don't have a crush on him." Marie said. "I don't even know him!"

Margaret sighed. "Whatever you say, Marie."

Marie sat down, fuming. "Do you have any paper?" She asked, an edge in her voice.

Margaret looked at her strangely. "Over there." She said pointing to a drawer. Marie opened the small drawer and took out a piece of paper. She placed the paper on the table and took a pen out of the blue messenger bag strapped over her shoulder.

"Thank you." Marie said sarcastically as she began writing on the paper.

"Is that... Poetry?" Margaret thought to herself. The title written at the top of the paper read: 'Velvet Heart'.

"Fascinating. I'll have to read it when she's not around." Margaret thought, closing her eyes to rest.

Thomas POV

After I woke up Nanako made breakfast again, but we didn't walk to school together that time.

As I was exiting the flood plain the same brunette boy from yesterday rode past me on his bike. He looked slightly in pain (probably still recovering from yesterday). The wheel that had popped off was repaired, although it looked as if it was just jammed back into place rather than actually fixed.

I bet he's going to crash again.

And as I predicted, the wheel broke off again. He veered to the right and crashed into a building. The boy flew off his bike and fell straight into a garbage can, knocking it over.

Oh god...

No. Don't laugh.

I took deep breath and walked over to him.

I should probably help him up.

I pulled him out of the garbage can and helped him sit up. He was breathing heavily.

"Thanks," he said, looking up at me. "You're Narukami-kun, right? The transfer student?"

"Yeah, but for future reference I just go by Thomas." I replied, reaching my hand out to him.

He took my hand and I pulled him up. "No honorific?" He asked.

"No honorific." I confirmed. He nodded his head.

"I'm Yosuke Hanamura. Nice to meet ya." Yosuke said with a smile.

"It's a pleasure," I said as the two of us began walking together. Yosuke was dragging his bike behind him and holding the wheel that had broken off. "How did your bike get like that?"

"Funny story really. You remember Chie, the short-haired girl with the green jacket from yesterday?" I nodded. "Yeah, well a few months ago I did something to piss her off and she decided to drop kick me while I was riding my bike." He said.

Damn. That couldn't have been fun.

I chuckled. "That couldn't have ended well for you."

"Nope. Drove my bike right into a tree," he said bluntly, causing me to laugh. "That's the first time I had to get the bike repaired."

Brilliant.

"No offense, but If I were there I would have laughed my ass off." I said, laughing.

"None taken. If I were a bystander and I saw that I would be cracking up." He replied as we walked through the gates of Yasogami High. Yosuke and I went to the bike racks so he could drop off the remnants of his bike, and then we went to class.

"So why don't you just but a new bike?" I asked him as we walked into King Morons' classroom.

"I can't. I'm saving up to but a motorcycle." He replied proudly. I raised my eyebrows at him.

A motorcycle? Seriously?

"It's not a terrible idea, but I'd wait until you know how to ride a normal bike first." I said sarcastically as the two of us sat in our desks.

"Hey!" He said, looking as if he were about to debate, but he just sighed. "...fair enough." Yosuke said as the door opened and King Moron walked in.

"ALRIGHT SIT YER ASSES DOWN!" He yelled as the bell rang. All of the students rushed to their seats and Morooka began his lesson. About halfway through he called on me.

"Narukami! Stop checking out the girl in the corner!" He yelled.

I gave him a confused look. "I wasn't checking out anybody."

He slammed his fist against his desk. "Don't play dumb with me. I saw you ogling her!"

Ogling? Who says that?

"I'm sorry Sensei but that's not possible." I replied calmly.

He looked at me skeptically. "Oh! And why is that?!"

"Because your boring lecture put me to sleep 25 minutes ago," I said with a yawn. "And your whiny-ass yelling just woke me up." The entire class gasped upon hearing my disrespect. King Morons' face turned redder than a tomato.

"That's it Narukami! You just earned yourself detention after school." Morooka said triumphantly. As he continued his lecture I leaned over to Chie.

"Totally worth the extra sleep."

My second day was off to an excellent start.

After School

Mrs. Hammers' room

The person in charge of detention is named Mrs. Hammer? That doesn't bode well.

When I walked into the Detention room, I was surprised to see that it was almost a full classroom. The only open chair was at the back of the classroom, next to an antisocial looking guy with dark green hair. He was wearing brown dress shoes, black slacks, and a gray polo shirt, with his Yasogami jacket tied around his waist. I moved to the back of the room and sat next to him.

"Isn't that the transfer student? It's his second day and he's already in detention?" A student asked as I passed him.

"Yep. I heard he was badmouthing Morooka." Another studend replied as I sat in the desk. The teacher said that she'd be back in an hour, and then she left the room and locked the door behind her.

"So she just locks us in here for an hour?" I asked the green haired guy next to me. He didn't respond. "so what did you do to get detention?"

"..."

So you're the quiet type, eh? Alright, than I'll just have to be more persistent.

"You realize I'm not going to leave you alone until you tell me, right?"

"Fighting." He said quietly.

"Seriously? I'm only in her cause' I talked back to Morooka." I said, realizing that he wasn't going to ask me what I did.

He finally looked at me, a blank expression on his face. "You're an idiot."

Well, that was rather blunt of him.

"For talking back to Morooka? Everybody wants, I'm just the only one with enough balls to do it." I said.

He groaned, obviously not wanting to talk.

Too bad, now I'm determined.

"Not very social, are you?" I asked. He didn't respond.

I'll take that as a no.

"I'm Thomas Narukami," I said, extending my hand. "And you are...?" I asked, waiting for an answer. "You DO have a name right?"

He didn't respond for a moment. "...Raiden Kowareta, third year," He finally said, still not shaking my hand.

Well this is bloody successful.

I spent the next hour trying to talk to Raiden. Every time I asked him a question, he either didn't respond or he gave a half-assed answer and went back to staring at a wall. Eventually Mrs. Hammer came back and we were free to go. As I exited the class behind Raiden, Chie and Yosuke were outside the door waiting for me.

"Hey Thomas." Yosuke said happily as I left the room.

"What are you two still doing here?" I asked them. I noticed that Raiden was slowly walking away.

"We were just checking out some of the school clubs and we thought we'd swing by and invite you to come have dinner with us," Yosuke said. "It's my treat after helping me out this morning."

"And I'm going with you guys as payback for Yosuke breaking my DVD yesterday!" Chie said, a bit of anger still in her voice. I glanced over my shoulder at Raiden. He was about to start walking down the stairs.

I wonder if he'd be interested in going?

"Sure, I'll go," I said, turning around. "Raiden!" I trotted over to the staircase. Chie and Yosuke followed me, confused.

I caught up to Raiden as he was walking down the stairs, and I ran in front of him to prevent him from ignoring me.

"We're going out to dinner. Do you wanna come with us?" I asked him, motioning back at Chie and Yosuke. He looked at me blankly.

"What are we having?" He immediately asked. I was taken aback by his sudden response.

Apparently food gets him talking... Alright, good to know.

"We're getting steak!" Chie said happily.

Woah! Calm down Chie, it's just meat.

"...Sure." Raiden said nonchalantly and continued walking.

"Well that was a lot easier than I thought it'd be." I said with a small smile.

"Who is he?" Chie asked as the four of us walked down the stairs. As the four of us left the school and made our way to the large department store called Junes, I told Yosuke and Chie what little I knew about Raiden was and how I met him.

Junes Food Court

"I thought you said you were going to buy us steak!?" Chie exclaimed as Yosuke returned with four large plates of Takoyaki.

"Yeah, will I had to change plans once I learned that I was treating three people." Yosuke said with a sigh as he handed out the Takoyaki and sat down.

"So, why couldn't Yukiko-chan join us?" I asked, taking a bite of one of the Takoyaki balls.

This is squid? It's really good!

"The inn has been really busy, so she's been helping a lot more than usual these past few weeks," Chie replied looking down. "She's been so stressed out recently. I feel bad for her." She sighed.

As Chie spoke Yosuke noticed a girl sitting at a table across from us. "Saki-senpai!" He said happily, getting up and running over to her. I noticed that Raiden also perked up when he saw her.

Wow, she's cute.

"Is that Yosuke's girlfriend?" I asked curiously. Chie laughed.

"He wishes." She said. "That's Konishi Saki. She's a third year like you, right Raiden-kun?" Raiden nodded.

After they talked for a moment, Yosuke and Saki came back to the table. "You're the new transfer student, right?" She asked in a soft voice.

"Yeah, Thomas Narukami." I replied.

She smiled and noticed Raiden. "Oh, Rai-chan!" She said, surprised. "Please be kind to Hana-chan. He doesn't have very many friends, so I'm glad to see him branching out," Saki said to Raiden and I as she looked down at her phone. "Oh, I should be getting back to work! It was nice meeting you." She did a small bow and walked away.

"Wait, what about that thing I asked you about?" Yosuke called after her.

"Sounds fun! Let's make plans during my next break." She called back.

Yosuke sat down, a look of triumph on his face. "I just got myself a date next weekend." He said happily.

Seriously? Go Yosuke.

"She mentioned having to get back to work. Does she work here?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah, that's how they met. Her family runs the liquor store in the shopping district, but she's working part-time here." Chie replied, finishing her second serving of Takoyaki.

"Hey, where did my Takoyaki go?" Yosuke asked, looking around. His eyes fell on Chie and het TWO empty plates. "Chie..."

"What? You were off making plans so I thought you wouldn't mind." Chie said, reaching over and taking my plate as well.

Hey, I was going to eat that!

Yosuke, Raiden, and I watched in awe as Chie quickly downed the third plate. "Man, this stuff is good! Too bad it isn't more filling." She said with a satisfied look on her face.

"Is she always like this?" Raiden asked under his breath.

"Pretty much." Yosuke replied with a sigh.

"Hmph."

Chie looked up from her plate and noticed the three of us staring at her.

"Aha...ahahaha..." She laughed uneasily. "Umm... Hey, have you guys heard of the midnight channel?" She asked, trying to take the attention off herself. Yosuke facepalmed and Raiden sighed.

"What's the Midnight Channel?" I asked.

"You haven't heard of it?" Chie asked. "Supposedly if you gaze at a switched-off TV at midnight when it's raining, you'll be shown your soul mate."

"Seriously? I thought you were going to say something useful for once." Yosuke said, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Can it, Hanamura. Or do you want a repeat of yesterday?" Chie asked through clenched teeth, causing Yosuke to whimper. "Anyway, it's gonna rain tonight, so let's all watch it!"

That could be interesting.

"Okay." I told her. Yosuke gave me a look that said 'are you fucking kidding me?'

"...Could be interesting." Raiden said with a shrug. Yosuke was taken aback.

"You too?!" He asked with a sigh.

"Come on, Yosuke. It'll be fun!" Chie said in a whiny voice. Then she got a devious smile on her face. "Or do you want me to tell Saki-Senpai about the time you wore a dress to school?"

"WHAT?!" Raider and I asked simultaneously before breaking down laughing.

A dress? Oh my fucking God!

"H-hey, stop laughing! A friend of mine replaced my clothes with a girls' uniform and I had nothing else to wear. It wasn't funny!" Yosuke said, blushing.

I don't know, Yosuke. It sounds pretty funny.

"Soooo...?" Chie asked.

"Fine. You win." Yosuke said, sighing. Chie smiled triumphantly.

"Alright, we'll all watch the Midnight Channel. Agreed?" She asked.

"Agreed." I confirmed. Raider nodded and Yosuke just sighed.

Dojima Household

Another dinner alone with Nanako.

"..." She said, looking down at her food. The TV was on, but she wasn't watching it.

She seems even more down than she was yesterday.

"Did your dad call?" I asked.

"No." She replied sadly. "He always says he will, but he never does..."

As she spoke I heard the front door open. Dojima walked in with a tired look on his face and his coat strung over his shoulder. He tossed his coat to the floor and sat down on the couch.

"Dad! You're home!" Nanako said happily.

"Uh-huh..." Dojima mumbled as a news report came on.

"And now, an update in the strange death in Yasoinaba. Yesterday, a high school student stumbled across the body of Miss Mayumi Yamano, a former news anchor who was staying in Inaba. Miss Yamano was found hanging from a television antenna in the residential district of Inaba," the reporter said. "And now, an exclusive interview with the student who discovered the body."

Oh god...

The screen flipped to a girl with light brown hair wearing a Yasogami uniform.

"So you were just walking home and you found the body?"

"Yes."

Did you see anyone suspicious in the area?"

N-no, not really..."

"Do you think it was scary that someone was killed on a foggy day?"

Huh? She was killed?"

"God, lay off her already..." Dijoma said with a sigh. Even though I thought her face was blurred out and her voice was changed, I thought I recognized her.

She looks a little like Saki Konishi...

The interview with the girl ended and a Junes commercial came on.

"At Junes, every day is customer appreciation day." Nanako perked up.

"Every day's great at your Junes!" Nanako sang along with the jingle, giggling. "Dad, can we go to Junes soon?"

"Zzzzz..." Dojima snored.

He fell asleep on the couch? I mean, not that I blame him. It IS a comfortable couch.

Nanako groaned and I stood up and put a blanket over Dojima.

"Try not to hold it against him. From everything I've seen on the news he's had a lot to deal with at work," I said.

"I know..." Nanako said with a sigh.

"But it still sucks?" I asked her.

"Yeah..." She nodded.

Poor girl...

"Well I'm going to bed," I said as I turned to leave, when an idea popped into my head. "Hey, Nanako. Next time I have some free time, let's go to Junes."

She lit up. "You really want to? Okay!" She replied happily, a big smile on her face.

"Goodnight!" I said.

"See you tomorrow." Nanako replied with a yawn as I went up to my room.

After saying goodnight to Nanako I did my homework and changed into a white sweatshirt and gray pajama bottoms. I then spent a few hours texting a friend of mine from Utah.

As I was texting my friend, I heard a quiet drumming noise and looked out the window.

It's raining...

Oh wait, what time is it?

My clock read 11:59. I said goodbye to my friend and stood in front of the TV.

Tick

Tock

Tick

Tock

12:00.

...

...

Just as I thought. Nothing.

As I turned to sit down I heard static and my room got slightly brighter. I turned back around and looked at the TV.

What the hell?

The TV had turned on. The image was blurry, but I could see the figure of a girl who looked like she was writhing in pain. As blurry as it was I could see tell that she was wearing a short black skirt and a gray blazer.

Is that a Yasogami high uniform?

Suddenly I felt a sharp pain pulsing through my head and I became dizzy. A hollow voice echoed in my head.

I am thou,

Thou art I,

Thou art the one who will open the door.

I put a hand to my throbbing head and stumbled forward. I would have fallen to the floor, but I put my other hand out to catch myself. For a split second my hand landed on the TV screen, before it went into the TV.

The TV...

My hand is inside the TV?!

I was about to pull my hand out, but something grabbed me and pulled me even father in. The rest of my arm, my head, and some of my chest was pulled into the TV.

I frantically looked around, trying to see what was grabbing me, but I couldn't see anyone.

I need to get out of here.

I pushed my other arm against the wall of my bedroom in an attempt to get out of the TV. Suddenly whatever was holding onto me let go and I flew back out of the TV. I fell back and slammed my head against the coffee table.

"SON OF A BITCH!" I yelled in English, clutching the back of my head in pain.

"Are you okay?" I heard a tiny voice ask from outside my door.

Nanako?

"D-did I wake you up?" I asked her, feeling bad about how loud I was.

"Yeah, but it's fine..." Nanako said drowsily. "Well, goodnight." And Nanako went back into her room. Suddenly the TV turned off.

I sat there on floor for a few moments thinking about what had just happened.

The others aren't going to believe this.