Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Persona 3 or any of its reincarnations. If I did, Shinjiro would have had a Gekkoukan uniform as an alternative costume in the game. All creative rights to the characters named in this story belong to Atlus and I certainly do not profit from this story.

Shinjiro: What an Axe

One of the requirements in joining Kirijo's club, or SEES as she called it, was to move in to another dormitory, which was supposed to also double as our headquarters. I didn't really mind, because I certainly wasn't going to miss tough-guy wannabe Tetsuo and bratty kid Yamato. The important thing was, I needed to keep an eye on Aki.

Aki. There were times I can't believe that this guy was my age. Sometimes, I even wondered what his groupies see in him, because as far as can see the guy has a tendency to act like a complete idiot. The mere fact that he agreed to be Kirijo's bitch in exchange for the promise of challenging fights was off-putting. Was there nothing else in his mind but competition? What also ticked me off was that Kirijo knew exactly which buttons to push. She had him eating out of her hand, alright. Was she a BS Sanada Akihiko major? And I thought his fan girls had it bad.

The new dormitory was located in Iwatodai. It was a refreshing change from the shithole we lived in back in Shirakawa. Of course, in a seedy place like that, we could expect no less. As for the Iwatodai Dormitory, it was different. Way, different. For once, the lounge was actually well-kept. I could see the teal color of the carpet, instead of a layer of dust and detritus. The brown leather couches didn't have any holes or stains in them, and I believe that the 24-inch TV in the lounge had cable in it. In addition, we even had a well-equipped kitchen. Hmph, it must be Kirijo magic at work. After all, the COO, aka the Child of the Owner, was staying with us. I'm kind of surprised her father did not object to letting his princess stay in a co-ed dorm. Well, Aki was harmless, but my record wasn't exactly stellar.

I was not like Aki, who got into our school because of an academic and sports scholarship. On the other hand, I was listed under students who needed financial assistance. However, the aid they provided barely covered my basic necessities. If I didn't work part time as a cook at Wild-Duck Burger, I'd probably have to survive on instant noodles all year long. Of course, I'd rather eat glass than admit to Aki that I flipped burgers every other afternoon at Grease City. The smell of the fatty oil and the thought of how many calories our customers must be consuming churned my stomach, but I bore with it, considering that the pay was surprisingly good. For a place that raked in millions by endangering their customers' health with junk food, that is. I get the feeling that they're keeping me in Gekkoukan in order to tie Golden Boy Sanada to the school. After all, what did they have to gain by retaining me, a guy who skipped classes for the heck of it and spent most of his after class hours in detention for snapping back at authorities?

Back to the Iwatodai Dormitory. For the first time, I had my own room. Since there were only three of us occupying the place, it was a quiet most of the time. It was something I was actually happy about. Gone were the days I had to pull my pillow around my ears to drown out the sound of my roommates' mindless chatter about muscles and girls. I still had to deal with Aki, though, but he's less annoying compared to the twits we used to live with. Plus, we were now a door apart (technically two doors, but who cares?) instead of being a few inches away. It was a relief, considering how he used to bother me about inconsequential stuff, like badgering me with invitations to join the school's boxing team so we can have fun together. As if. I am not too keen on spending my time venting out my frustration using a pair of oversized red gloves and parading around in shorts when a tournament comes around.

My room had a modestly sized-bed, a study table topped by a bright desk lamp, a wooden chair, a decent cabinet, and a desktop computer. I also had an air conditioner and a heater to boot. I've never had so much furniture to call my own in my life.

I will never admit it to Kirijo, but our new dorm's fucking awesome.

~o~

A few days after we moved in, we met Ikutsuki Shuji, the school chairman, who also doubled as our club adviser. It was fortunate that we just transitioned to wearing the winter uniform, because it was a cool and cloudy day. On the way back, I spotted a calico cat mewing by the dorm entrance. Tch, why is it hanging around here? It would be better off begging by a convenience store than a dormitory with three residents, who were out of the place for the most part. I ignored the animal as Aki and I entered the dormitory. However, for some reason, I can't seem to get its mournful expression out of my head. I excused myself as we were about to go up the stairs, mouthing something about the restroom. To avoid arousing suspicion, I hid in the men's bathroom for a minute. Once the coast was clear, I slipped past the lounge and through the door.

The cat moved to the bushes. It stopped meowing when it saw me approach. It gazed at me inquisitively as I crouched down next to it. Upon closer inspection, it looked like it hasn't eaten in a while, judging by how thin it was. Taking off my faded brown rucksack, I opened the zipper of my bag and began to rummage inside it. I hit gold when my hands felt a something smooth, like plastic. Pulling it out of my bag, I carefully unwrapped the plain onigiri enclosed in the plastic and held it out to the cat. Curious, it sniffed the triangular object on my hand. To my astonishment, it turned away from the food, uninterested. "Look, it doesn't taste so bad," I said, demonstrating by biting off a corner of the rice ball. It was a little on the salty side, but passable enough for my standards. I offered it to the stray once more. The feline blinked. Its yellow eyes watched me balefully, as if to ask why I was giving out such substandard food. Tch, stupid, picky cat. I sighed. Stuffing the rest of the onigiri in my mouth, I searched my bag once more and selected another rice ball, this time with a salted salmon filling. Again, I handed it to the animal, while chewing on my food. It smelled the item with interest and gingerly bit into the rice ball. The cat seemed to like it, because it took another bite. For a while, I just observed the orange-white cat as it slowly polished off the rice ball in my hand.

Unfortunately, our moment together was interrupted by an unfamiliar chuckle. "'Catting' around, are we?" Rattled, I quickly stood up, unintentionally dropping the rest of the onigiri on the ground. The cat gave me a very dirty look as I hastily zipped my bag close. At that point, I did not know that the long-haired brunet in the brown suit was someone I would be working with soon. It wouldn't have made much of a difference though. I would've just had additional names to choose from when I chose to address him.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked, glaring vehemently at the newcomer.

He shrugged, much to my annoyance. "Just a random passerby." He grinned at me, which, for some reason, I found very creepy.

"Well, fuck off then, you're on the way," I replied as I stepped towards the dorm entrance, which he was blocking.

As I was saying this, Kirijo appeared, strutting towards us. She looked slightly bewildered when she saw the man by the doorstep. However, she got over her confusion quickly, because she let out a bemused smile when she laid her eyes on me. She probably overheard our conversation. How much she heard, I did not know. "Aragaki, it seems like you are now acquainted with The Chairman," she commented.

"Chairman of what?" I exclaimed. Chairman of All That's Lame? Lame hair, lame clothes, lame puns, just to name a few.

"Nevermind, let's go inside so I can formally introduce you two." She nodded towards the other man, who took it as his cue to climb up the steps leading to the entrance. "Is Sanada inside?" she asked as she sidestepped past me to unlock the door.

Lips pursed, I nodded and reluctantly followed them inside the dormitory. I slouched towards one of the large couches in the lounge and plopped into it, ignoring the guy seated across me.

"Would you please call Sanada while I'm busy preparing some drinks?" she requested, rather, demanded me, a look of annoyance flashing on her face, distorting her normally composed features.

Half-groaning, half-amused, I got off the couch and hiked up the stairs to the second floor, making my way to Aki's room. I rapped my knuckles against the door. "Hey, Aki, Kirijo wants a word with us," I said out loud, wondering if my voice carried all the way to the lounge.

"Coming, Shinji!" The door creaked open, revealing Aki, who already changed out of his uniform, into an old, white t-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts.

"Aki, you should seriously consider wearing something more formal than that," I commented, thinking about the important-looking guy downstairs.

"It's just Kirijo-san and us, isn't it?" He shrugged cluelessly.

"There's another guy downstairs. 'The Chairman', Kirijo called him."

"The Chairman?" He looked alarmed upon hearing those words, eyes widening in shock. "Wait a minute, Shinji, I'm going to change." He hastily dived back in his room, slamming the door behind him.

I found it amusing that he was going to dress up for "The Chairman" and not for Kirijo. So, Aki knew this guy?

I was a little taken aback when he reappeared wearing the school uniform, complete with the blazer he abhorred, although he still kept that ridiculous band-aid over his nose. The guy in the monkey suit must be some big shot for Aki to pull out all the stops in terms of clothing.

Kirijo was carefully laying out four glasses on the table when Aki and I came down the stairs. There was a pitcher of orange juice on the table, which was probably the best Miss Student Council President could come up with given the time.

"Sorry, Mr. Chairman, our pantry has not been restocked yet," she apologized.

"Don't worry about it, Mitsuru," "The Chairman" waved it off, smiling as he poured a glass for himself. Taking a sip of his drink, he observed us as we made our way to the couch opposite him. Once we were settled down, he said, "My name is Ikutsuki Shuji." Iku-what? He must've noticed the frown on my face, because he chortled. "'Chairman' is fine, I know my name's a mouthful. Anyway, it all fits, because I'm the Chairman of the Board of your school." He glanced at Aki. "Why, if it isn't Sanada Akihiko, our very own boxing champion. A pleasure to meet you again."

"Y-yes! And same to you, Sir!" he replied nervously, bowing deeply at him. Hmm, so my guess was correct. Aki met this guy before.

"Now, now, no need to be so jumpy, Sanada-san. After all, you don't want to 'jumpstart' our adventure prematurely." He laughed heartily as the three of us cringed at his god-awful pun.

Kirijo managed a chuckle which was a cross between a laugh and a "hmph"-sound, "You'll eventually get used to his puns," she told us as she took a glass and poured some juice for herself.

Yeah, we'd better, especially if we'd be working with this guy a lot. I took the pitcher and filled the two remaining glasses with orange juice. Returning it on the table, I took one of the glasses and offered it to Aki. He accepted it, mouthing his thanks as I claimed the remaining glass for myself.

"So, I believe that Mitsuru has informed you about this club's activities." Aki and I nodded. Kirijo told us the gist of it, something about Shadows prowling around during what she called the "Dark Hour". Apparently, it was our job to exterminate these abominations before they can wreck havoc on mankind. It sounded like something out of one of those sentai shows, Phoenix Ranger Featherman R, was it? "Of course, you can't rely on your Persona all the time. Summoning them can be quite taxing, as Mitsuru probably explained to you. You need to arm yourselves to reach maximum efficiency as Shadow hunters."

I took a sip of my juice. Tasting the orange liquid in my mouth, I nearly blanched. What the fuck? Powdered orange juice? I could almost taste all the sugar and artificial food coloring that went into the making of this drink. I swallowed, forcing myself not to spit out the disgusting substance in my mouth.

He looked at Kirijo. "Mitsuru is a fencer, so she'll be using a foil as a weapon. It never hurts to be prepared." Then, he turned to Aki. "Akihiko... mind if I call you Akihiko?" Aki shook his head as he said this. "Is a boxer, so he'll be fine too." He glanced at me, frowning. "My concern here is Shinjiro." I jolted at the name, nearly spilling my drink. "Do you have any preferred weapons? Sports?"

"No, I have my own means of making people shut up," I replied bluntly, setting my barely touched glass on the table, wiping my mouth on the sleeve of my blazer. I cringed as I saw Aki down the rest of his drink without a thought of its potential health risk.

An amused smile formed on the Chairman's face. "Alas, these are not humans we are dealing with. Conventional means do not work against them." His dark eyes met my gray ones as I tore my eyes away from Aki. "Meet Mitsuru tomorrow at the Student Council Office after school." Before Kirijo and I could protest, he continued, his voice taking on a serious tone. "You have no excuses. I made sure that you will be having no shift in Wild-Duck Burger and that your volunteer hours at-"

Pissed off, I lunged for him across the table, eyes flashing dangerously. During this course of action, I felt my hat slip off my head. I must've knocked over a glass, because Kirijo was exclaiming something about the carpet. Grabbing him by the collar, I hissed at him in a low voice, "I get your point. I'll be there, okay? Just hold your tongue on that." I did not dare comment on the potential blackmail factor of my volunteer hours at the animal shelter. How did he know about it? I could've sworn I've pulled out all the stops when covering my tracks to the animal shelter, from disguising myself using glasses or whatever props I can find to swearing all the other volunteers to secrecy. Damn, I shouldn't underestimate the Kirijo Zaibatsu's information network.

"Aragaki, let go of the Chairman," ordered Kirijo. I turned to the source of her voice. Our eyes met as she threw me a dirty look. Then, she directed her gaze at the liquid dripping from the table. Aki scrambled off the couch, muttering something about getting something to clean the mess.

Reluctantly, I released him, not without glowering at him. I sighed as I picked up my black skull cap from the floor. Sagging back into the couch without meeting Kirijo's eyes, I watched as Aki returned to the lounge, a wash cloth in hand. Looks like tomorrow was going to be a long day.

~o~

That evening, Aki cornered me outside my room. "You never told me you worked at Wild-Duck." His lips were curled into an amused smile as he punched me lightly on the shoulder, but his eyes betrayed the hurt he was feeling. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Oh God. I slapped my forehead. Not this again. Everytime he learned that I've been doing something behind his back, he gets really worried. "Tch, it wasn't important." In irritation, I began to rub the spot he jabbed.

"Is the allowance they're giving not enough? I can always spare you something," he offered. "Or we can ask Kirijo-san if she could do something about it."

"Over my dead body, Aki. OVER MY DEAD BODY."

He snickered at my statement. "I knew you would say that." Then, his tone became pensive. "Shinji, you don't have to keep all your problems to yourself. I mean, I'm here. At the very least, I can listen, and I might be able to help." He sighed. "Things must be really bad if you're working for a fast food chain. I know how you feel about them."

I shrugged nonchalantly. "Don't sweat on it, Aki. You know very well that you need the money they're giving you. Those boxing shit you need don't come in cheap." I rolled my eyes. Secretly, I was thankful that he was concerned about my well-being, but he had other things to be worried about, like keeping his scholarship. Lately, he'd been practicing too much. As a result, he barely had time to do his schoolwork, and with his recent refusal to copy my work, his grades were starting to slip. "Besides, it's not like I'm doing anything illegal in obtaining this cash."

He placed a hand on his chin, deep in thought. "Hmm... By the way, what was that thing the Chairman mentioned? Something about volunteer hours."

"None of your beeswax, Aki." I replied as I entered my room, ignoring his protests as I slammed the door behind me, locking it.

~o~

The next day, I dropped by the Student Council Office after school. It was located at the ground floor of the junior high building, near the faculty rooms. It was conveniently labeled "Student Council Room", so I had no trouble finding it. I was debating on whether to knock on the door or simply turn the doorknob when the door swung open.

It was Kirijo, who was expecting me. Nonetheless, she still wasn't thrilled to see me, judging by her raised eyebrow. Taking a deep breath, she managed a smile at me. Trying to keep her reputation, I suppose.

"Let's go to the back of the gym, shall we?" she said in an admirably dignified voice. She beckoned for me to follow. Shoving my hands into the pockets of my pants, I lagged behind her. She nodded and acknowledged the people who greeted her as we moved around the campus, whereas I had to endure some strange looks the teachers and students were giving me as I trailed behind Kirijo.

After what seemed like an eternity, she led me to a storage room located off the side of the gym. Taking a key from her skirt pocket, she unlocked the door and entered the room. I heard the familiar click of the light being switched on. "Enter."

I complied, curious about the warehouse's contents. The lighting was surprisingly bright, better than the light filtering in through the small window. However, it only served to highlight the light layer of dust which coated most of the objects in the room. I had to cover my nose as I entered the room, due to the particles that floated in the air as I stepped inside. Damn, this place needed some airing out. I spotted some old mats rolled up in the corner, a rack of baseball bats, a bin full of volleyballs, and among other things, poles and hurdles stashed in another corner.

At the center of the room was a large mound, covered by a white cloth which has never met a washing machine in its life. Ironically, it was the only object that wasn't covered in dust. Kirijo, who was standing next to it, pulled the cloth away, revealing a bunch of clubs, bludgeons, maces, and hammers stacked haphazardly on each other.

She tucked one of her stray curls behind her ear after casting aside the cloth, coughing a little as she inhaled the dust that scattered through the air. Looking at me straight in the eye, she cleared her throat and spoke grudgingly, "Based on what we researched, you have a lot of strength." I looked at her in disgust. Research? What were we, lab rats? However, Kirijo shrugged off my reaction and continued with her monologue. "Admittedly, your lack of technique makes you unsuitable for ranged weapons, such as bows. Swords and polearms, on the other hand, do not take full advantage of your brute force. With all these said, you are suited for blunt weaponry, which maximizes the use of your strength." Hmm, Aki said as much, that's why he kept on pestering me about joining his team."The question is, which type of blunt weapon best suits you?"

I groaned. "Since you guys know so much about me, can't you just pick out one for me?"

"Point taken. Of course, I could do that, but don't blame me if you're stuck wielding a walking stick during our operations," she shot back sarcastically. "Anyway, these weapons were delivered to the school this morning, so take your pick." When she noticed my lack of movement, she narrowed her eyes at me. "Aragaki, enough playing around. If you will continue wasting my time like this, then I will be forced to take drastic measures."

To be honest, I did not like the sound of that. I also did not like the idea of sticking my hand in that goddamned mess. At that moment, a few cuts sounded like a better deal compared to what Kirijo may have in store for me if I disobeyed her. There were rumors going around the school regarding her "executions". Apparently, there was this guy she caught smoking behind the bleachers. Instead of being hauled off to the discipline committee, this guy's case was handled personally by none other than the Student Council President herself. Once she was through with him, he never dared to puff a single cigarette again. Or so the legend went.

Throwing my hands into the air in exasperation, I approached the pile of weapons. For a while, I stared at the stack of weapons, wondering how I was supposed to stick my hand in that mess without causing grievous harm to myself. Gingerly, I pulled out one of the shafts that protruding from the pile. It was halfway out when the pile suddenly gave way, some weapons falling on the floor with a resounding crash.

Kirijo, who was fanning herself by the volleyball bin, studying the ceiling in boredom, straightened up. Surveying the room nervously, she snapped her fan close and ambled towards the small window, taking a peek outside. She breathed a sigh of relief as she looked away from the window, probably because no one noticed the commotion coming from this room. Resuming her old post, she noticed me staring at her. She shot a glare at me, folding her arms and urging me to carry on with what I had to do.

Turning back to the collapsed pile, I thought that I might as well take this choice seriously, considering what the Ice Queen expected of me. Starting with the mace I drew out, I examined the weapons in turn. One thing they had in common was that they were all fucking heavy. Also, none of them felt right. The mace made me feel all fuzzy and holy for some reason. The police baton reminded me too much of my least favorite people on earth. I actually felt comfortable with the sledgehammer, but it looked a little too lame for my taste. Maybe if the handle was a little longer, and the head was somewhat bigger, I might've settled for it. However as things stood, I looked like a freaking carpenter with it. Surprisingly, there were some boxing gloves in the pile, but of course they were obviously out of the question as I pictured Aki getting fired up if he saw me wearing boxing gloves.

I sighed, stowing away my beanie and wiping some sweat off my forehead. Damn, it was getting hot in here; I could feel my armpits getting damp and something sticky on my neck. Any moment now, my sweat's going to seep through my blazer. Not a very flattering sight. Tch, as if I cared about how I looked in front of Kirijo. Speaking of which, it was amazing that she still looked fresh as a freaking daisy.

Picking out a weapon was trickier than I expected. No wonder she left this decision to me; it was a pain in the ass to think about. Giving up on the pile of weapons, I decided to scan the room, spotting a battle axe lying by the door. Why didn't I notice that before? I made my way to it, puzzled as to why such an object was in this room.

"Aragaki, where do you think you're going?" Kirijo demanded, thinking I was walking out on her.

I ignored her and scrutinized the axe in front of me. It had a double-headed blade, and from what I can tell, it was made of steel. It seemed to be of the stainless variety, as the head still glimmered despite the dust. As for the shaft, it was metallic, with a leather grip.

Her expression changed as she noticed my interest in the axe. "That axe… it was supposed to be used as props for a school play," she commented thoughtfully, sauntering towards me. "However, we, the student council, weren't expecting them to bring a real axe when we approved the school production." I raised an eyebrow at her, which she returned with one of her own. "Of course, we had to confiscate the weapon. Somewhere along the way, we forgot to dispose of it." Her lips curled into an amused smile. "Do you want to give it a new home?"

I carefully lifted the axe by its handle, and then gestured for Kirijo to stay back. I did not like the girl, but I didn't want attempted homicide under my record. When I had sufficient area to move around, which was amazing considering the space I had to work with, I tested the weapon by swinging it around several times. Not bad. It was heavy enough that I could feel the power of each swing. Despite its weight, I could still lift it to my shoulder with no problem and maneuver properly, although I still needed to work on the latter bit.

She took my enthusiasm as a yes. "It's settled then," she declared. "I'll be bringing that to the dorm using my car, as there would be unnecessary complications if you were to be seen in public with that." She smirked. "If the Chairman were here, he'd say something like 'You've taken a 'shine' to it.'"

I half-grunted, half-smiled at that. Until that moment, I never knew that Miss Priss was capable of cracking jokes, lame as it was.

She studied the mess of weapons on the floor. "Now, how do I take these equipment back to the limousine?" she looked at me expectantly. "I can't leave them lying around overnight, and my driver cannot leave the car alone..."

As much as I wanted to leave her alone in that mess, something in the back of my mind prodded me to help her out. Groaning, I returned the axe to where I found it and picked up the discarded cloth on the floor. I proceeded to pick up some of the weapons, with Kirijo looking on in surprise. Most likely, she wasn't expecting me to agree so readily to her plan.

Damn, it must've been the pun.

This particular story was longer than I expected.

In summary, we have a somewhat dorky Aki, a fairly jerkass Shinji, and a slightly prissy Mitsuru. Bear in mind that we are talking about them pre-character development. To be fair to them, Aki's still the cool upperclassman type (when he's not around Shinji or Mitsuru), Shinji has a hidden heart of gold, and Mitsuru's greatly admired for her achievements and is still at the top of her class.

At this point, I'll be keeping the contents of the next chapters a surprise. Partially for the suspense factor, and partially because I need some flexibility when writing the stories.

My research in this chapter, regarding blunt weapons, led me to rethink the classification of axes as bludgeons. In fact, I even ran across a forum topic in GameFAQs debating on Axes as Blunt Weaponry. It was fascinating to say the least.

I retconned Shinji into joining SEES at roughly the same time as Aki. I looked through in-game references and trawled various websites to determine the actual point in time when Shinji joined Akihiko and Mitsuru, but it was hard piecing things together. Let's see, he's referred to as one of the founding members, which implies that he joined the club at roughly the same time as the aforementioned characters. However, there was this line that really ticked me off, and sort of conflicted with my earlier notion. In the October 4 Full Moon event, Mitsuru mentions the line "Aragaki was new" when he lost control of his Persona. Rage followed after I played through that part. Partly because of what happens to Shinji, and partly because I was at a total loss as to what I should think about his membership status. That statement contradicted one of the lounge conversations I had with Mitsuru. She mentioned that the three of them were part of SEES since middle school (or junior high, since this is Japan we're talking about). If Shinji was "new", then that's kinda impossible, is it not? Eventually, I decided to disregard that mind-boggling line and go with my original conclusion.

Review reply corner, just for the LULz. Screw the PM function, I have an A/N CORNER!

EpicPrinnyDood: Thank you. Yeah, Aki's kind of predictable if you come to think of it, at least during the pre-character development phase. xD
AquaAries19: I suppose it's a matter of opinion. The idea of the beginning of the chapter was Mitsuru having a bad hair day, which doesn't happen very often. The thought did cross my mind, but portraying her this way shows a realistic side of her. I mean, people are entitled to a bad day once in a while. xD Plus, it leaves more room for character development. BTW, I LOL'd at your comment about Shinji.
Your fan: xD Thanks!