Chapter 3: False Shuffle
A/N: I seem to want to put out more stuff. This fic seems to be getting some response, at any rate. There is a direct correlation of that with the amount of effort I put in. In the end, no one reads this part, so it doesn't even matter. I know I skip 'em all the time, but for those who bother, heya. Onwards, I guess.
-RRR-
The sun had already risen when Hamuko rolled out of bed sleepily.
"I'm still tired..."
Knowing she had to leave for school in an hour, she mentally gave herself a pack on the back for having the foresight to unpack her necessities the night before. As she groggily made her way to the shared bathroom at the end of the hall, she passed by Yukari, who gave her a quiet "Good morning" and left her to her own devices.
A teeth brushing and shower later, a much more awake Hamuko stepped out of the bathroom. Her hunger from last night had carried on to the morning, so she made her way downstairs to the dorm kitchen to see if there was anything she could eat.
As she reached the ground floor of the dorm, she noticed a gray haired boy leaving the dorm. Wondering who it was, she entered the kitchen to find Mitsuru sitting down at the table with a cup of coffee in her hands.
"Morning, Senpai." Hamuko greeted her.
"Good morning, Arisato. I trust you slept well?"
"Slept like a log." Hamuko looked around the kitchen. There seemed to be many cupboards and a fridge as well. "Am I allowed to eat anything here?"
Mitsuru nodded. "All meals at this dorm are covered by the Board of Directors. Feel free to eat anything in the kitchen."
"Thank you!" Hamuko chirped, and quickly proceeded to hunt for anything quick to eat. Finding a pack of cornflakes in the cupboard and a carton of milk in the fridge, she quickly fixed herself some breakfast and sat at the table with Mitsuru.
It was a rather awkward silence before Mitsuru decided to pitch a question. "Are you prepared for school this year?"
"What do you mean, Senpai?" Hamuko asked in between two spoonfuls of cereal.
"Have you started studying yet?" Mitsuru asked.
Hamuko decided to answer honestly. "Not at all, Senpai. The school term's just starting today, 'ya know?"
The redhead gave a chuckle. "I suppose most people wouldn't have at this point. Nevertheless, I'm expecting you to work hard."
"Okay, senpai." Hamuko said, and the two returned to a rather uncomfortable silence.
"..."
"..."
Hamuko had no idea how to initiate conversation with the older girl, which was a first for her. It seemed like there was some kind of barrier between them that she just couldn't break through. Her instinct told her she simply wasn't smart enough to hold any real conversation with Mitsuru at this point.
"I apologize." Mitsuru said with a sigh. "I'm afraid I'm don't have much talent when it comes to casual conversation."
Hamuko was surprised that Mitsuru would readily admit that. "It's not just you, Senpai. I honestly have no idea what to talk about either."
"Do you have any interests?" Mitsuru asked. "Economics or politics, perhaps?"
"Um, not really." Hamuko stated. The only thing she knew about politics was the name of the new Prime Minister of Japan, and she didn't understand anything in the business section of the newspaper. It seemed like any conversation with Mitsuru was doomed to fail at the moment. And if she were being honest, Mitsuru rather intimidated her a little as well. "I do like tennis, though."
"I see." The redhead seemed a little disappointed, before standing up and moving to the sink to wash her cup. "I assume you'll be joining the Tennis Club when the applications open, then?"
Hamuko nodded. "Most likely."
"It's good to be involved in club activities." Mitsuru finished drying the cup with a cloth. "But don't forget about your studies."
Hamuko nodded again in response. Mitsuru seemed to care a great deal for academics.
"Well, I'll be going now. I've asked Takeba to show you the way to school. Don't be late for your first day."
Mitsuru left the dorm, leaving her alone to finish her cereal.
"She's a bit hard to talk to, isn't she?" Hamuko recognized the voice as the only male resident of the dorm she had met so far.
Sure enough, the blue-haired boy entered the kitchen with a yawn.
"A little, I guess." She replied. "She's just so..." Hamuko trailed off, looking for the correct word.
"Intimidating?" Minato guessed, to which Hamuko gave a shrug.
"I guess. I don't know how to describe it, exactly. She's like on a whole different plane of thought entirely." She shook her head. "Don't tell her I said that, though."
"It's fine, you're not the only one who feels that way. From what I can tell, Yukari-san feels the same way too."
"But you're okay with her?" Hamuko asked.
Minato shrugged. "She's not that bad. It's just in her nature to worry about everyone's future. As the dorm leader she feels she has the responsibility to make sure everyone stays above water."
"I can tell." Hamuko had finished her bowl and moved to wash up. "She reminded me to not neglect my studies twice in five minutes."
The boy grinned lazily. "You'd better not. If she gets on your back you're never going to hear the end of it."
Hamuko tilted her head curiously. "How'd you know? Didn't you just move in as well?"
Minato hid a small smile. "Observant girl." "I heard Sanada-san talking about it. Apparently she forces him to study as well."
"Sanada-san?"
"Ah, you probably haven't met him yet. He's the other guy living in this dorm."
"Oh, does he have gray hair?" Hamuko asked, to which Minato nodded. "I saw him leaving the dorm when I came down."
"Well, I'm sure you'll meet him soon. Anyway, I'm heading off as well." The boy said. "I need to visit someone before school starts. I'll catch you later."
"Alright, bye."
And once again, Hamuko was left alone to her thoughts. She found it rather strange that she was more reserved than usual. Normally she could carry a conversation fairly easily with people, and more often than not she talked more than she should. She shook her head and attributed the change in her behaviour to the unfamiliar environment.
She cleared the table and went back to her room to get a little unpacking done before she left for school. Someone knocked on the door just as she was nearly done sorting out her casual clothes.
"Hey, it's Yukari. You're awake, right?"
"Yeah, it's unlocked. Go ahead." Hamuko replied as she folded the last of her sweaters and tucked it away. The door opened.
"Good morning again! Did you sleep okay?" Yukari asked.
To which Hamuko nodded. "Slept like a log!"
"That's good to hear. Anyway, Mitsuru-senpai told me to take you to school today. Are you ready yet?"
"Hold on..." Hamuko scrambled for her cell phone and spotted it on the table. She pocketed it. "Yeap! Let's go. Lead the way, Yukari-san!"
"Geez, you're a morning person, aren't you?" Yukari smiled. "And here I thought you'd be all sleepy and stuff."
"Nah, you caught me before my shower earlier." Hamuko laughed. "Before the water hits my skin I'm pretty much dead to the world."
"Yeah, I can understand that." The two proceeded to head downstairs, all the while chatting about morning their respective morning behaviours.
-RRR-
By the time they boarded the train, Hamuko had discovered that Yukari was a very easy person to talk to. She was much more easygoing and approachable than Mitsuru, and any reservations she had was washed away by the flowing conversation.
"By the way," Yukari was saying. "I bet at your last school you didn't need to take the monorail to get there. Have you ever heard of Tatsumi Port Island? It's a man-made island, and they built our school right in the middle of it."
The brunette was gazing out the window with a small smile on her face. "This is my favourite part... when it feels like you're gliding over the sea."
Hamuko was mildly amused by Yukari's cheesy sentence and said so. "That's kinda corny."
"W-well I... Shut up! Forget I said anything!" Yukari grew a bright shade of red, while Hamuko giggled at her reaction. "A-anyway, our stop is Port Island Station at the end of the line. From there, we have to walk."
"Aww, so no more gliding?" Hamuko teased. Yukari was kinda cute when she was embarrassed.
"No."
The two girls were enjoying the conversation even as they got off the train and began the walk to Gekkoukan High. Quite a few students greeted Yukari along the way, and Hamuko realized that the brunette was quite popular in school.
When they reached the school gates, the two of them spotted a familiar blue-haired boy.
"Oh, hey." Minato greeted them with a lazy wave.
"Ah, hello, Arisato-senpai." Yukari greeted him, which caused an annoyed expression to cross his face.
"Okay, no more of this, Yukari-san. We're finally at school now, and we're officially the same grade." He started. "There's a chance of me being your classmate, and there's no way in hell I'm going to be called 'Senpai' by everyone else. So repeat after me. I will not refer to Minato Arisato as my senior."
Yukari laughed and played along. "Alright, Minato-san. I will not refer to Minato Arisato as my senior. After all, I can't go against the wishes of my respected Senpai."
Minato blew the hair out of his face. "It's a start."
Yukari smiled and turned to Hamuko. "Well, here we are. Welcome to Gekkoukan High."
"It's huge."
Minato managed to resist slipping in a "That's what she said."
-RRR-
The trio entered the school together, talking mostly about the school. At the lockers, Yukari caught a glimpse of someone and turned to her fellow brunette.
"You're okay from here, right? I need to talk to my Club President about something."
Hamuko nodded. "Sure!"
"You should go see your homeroom teacher first. The faculty office is right there to the left." She pointed. "And that concludes the tour. Any questions?"
"Nope, I'll survive." Hamuko smiled. "Minato-senpai's in the same boat as me, after all."
"Not you too." The blue-haired boy groaned. The girl grinned.
"Don't worry, if you're in the same homeroom as I am, I'll stop. Otherwise, you're still older than we are, Senpai."
"Whatever." Minato ended the conversation and walked off to the bulletin board, leaving the two girls behind.
"Um... about last night." Yukari began, a little unsure of what to say. "Don't tell anyone about what you saw, okay?"
"Huh?" Hamuko was confused. Was she referring to the gun? Or was it the creepy green stuff?
"Exactly." Yukari seemed satisfied. "See ya later."
And now Hamuko was left alone. She took her surroundings. The school seemed very lively to her. There was a pair of students chatting over near the bulletin board that she couldn't help but overhear.
"Hey Kaz, why are you wearing your P.E uniform? School just started!" The female of the pair seemed a little frustrated. "You really oughtta change to some normal clothes for class!"
"Eh... I guess." The aforementioned Kaz seemed to be stalling, which caused the girl to get a bit angrier. "Okay, okay, fine! Quit glaring at me like that, Yuko. Where's the bulletin board with the homerooms and stuff?"
"It's right there, Kaz! You're in class F!"
"Oh."
Hamuko thought the two seemed close. The next thing the girl said only confirmed it.
"I'm in a different homeroom, so I can't keep an eye on you this year." She said with a sigh. "I worry about you sometimes..."
Hamuko thought the conversation was getting a little too personal to eavesdrop on, so she decided to just find her name on the bulletin board as soon as possible. Thankfully, her name was right at the top of the first list she saw.
"Class F. Oh, Minato-senpai's here too. Or Minato-san now."
Taking a quick glance at the class list, she saw that Yukari was also in the same class as she was.
"That's nice. At least I'll know two people there already."
Having obtained the information she was searching for, Hamuko started walking to where Yukari had pointed the faculty office was. Along the way, she passed an extremely strange pair consisting of a man in a samurai helmet (Is that a teacher?) and a foreign looking student. From what she could tell, the topic of their conversation centred around samurais, bushido and zen. They seemed to be having fun.
Realizing she passed the faculty office due to the strange spectacle, she backpedalled and open the door. There was only one teacher in there at the moment. She looked up from her work and noticed Hamuko.
"Oh, are you one of the new students?" The teacher asked, to which Hamuko nodded.
"Hamuko Arisato, ma'am."
"Ah, hold on a moment." The teacher picked up one of two files large files lying on her table. Inwardly, Hamuko was amused at the messy condition of the desk, considering it belonged to a teacher.
"Hamuko Arisato... Grade 2, Junior, correct?" She perused the file, flipping through the pages. "Wow, you've lived in quite a lot of different places. Let's see. In 1999, your parents..." She gasped and closed the file.
"I'm sorry." The teacher gave her an apologetic look. "I've been so busy I haven't been able to read the file beforehand."
Hamuko managed a smile, though it was slightly painful to be reminded of her parents' deaths. "It's alright, sensei. It's been ten years now. I've had time to get over it."
The teacher smiled sympathetically. "I'm Toriumi-sensei. I teach Composition, mostly. Welcome to our school."
"Nice to meet ya, Sensei!" Hamuko greeted cheerfully, trying to push her parents out of her mind.
"My, aren't you an energetic one!" Toriumi commented. "Ah, to be young again..."
The door of the faculty office opened and a familiar voice rang out. "Excuse me, is class 2F's homeroom teacher here?"
Toriumi-sensei turned and saw another student she didn't recognize. "Ah, are you the other new student?"
Minato walked in. "Yes, Sensei."
He noticed Hamuko standing next to the teacher. "Oh, hello again, Hamuko-san."
"I see you two already know each other." Toriumi smiled.
"We've been assigned to the same dorm." Hamuko explained.
"Ah, I see." The teacher picked up the other large file on her desk. "Minato Arisato... are you two related?"
"Nope!"
"No, Sensei."
"A strange coincidence, then." Toriumi chuckled. "It'll get a little confusing if I call you both by your surname, so do you two mind if I address you by your first names?"
"Sure."
"Go ahead, Sensei."
"Alright then, Minato-kun, Hamuko-kun... To be honest, I haven't read your file either, Minato-kun." The teacher said a bit sheepishly. "Let's see... it says here you're a older than the normal age for Grade 2 by a year and you missed your year-end exams because..."
Toriumi read a little further and her eyes widened. "A coma?"
Hamuko turned to Minato curiously at that. Minato nodded and replied. "That's right, Sensei. I just got released from the hospital yesterday."
"I see..." Toriumi massaged her temples. Hamuko thought that she was likely wondering what the odds were of having both students have such unusual circumstances. And also that she probably should have learned after reading the first one out loud.
"I'm sorry, I really should've tried to make time to read both your files." She apologized again. "Anyway, since you weren't here earlier, Minato-kun, my name is Toriumi and I teach Composition."
Minato nodded. "Pleased to meet you."
"Oh? You're a polite one. Anyway, you two are in Class 2-F. That's my class, so you're both under me." The school bell rung, interrupting her.
"Well, the Welcoming Ceremony's about to start. We need to head to the auditorium first, so follow me."
And so they did.
-RRR-
"As you begin the school year..."
It took six words for Hamuko to tune the old man on the podium out.
She wasn't trying to zone out. In fact, she entered the auditorium with the mindset of being a model student this year. Really, she did. But the stupid principal was just so BORING.
She tried to refocus on the principal again, only to find it impossible. Something about proverbs and a job. Hey, wasn't that part of that Christian religious book? She remembered seeing something like that once when she was younger...
She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.
Her internal struggle went unnoticed by those around her. She slid a glance at Minato, who happened to be just in front of her.
He was actually sleeping.
She puffed up her cheeks in annoyance. Why couldn't he have the same dilemma as her?
She dismissed the small voice in her head that she was being rather irrational. She could think whatever she wanted to think about if she wanted to think about it, damn it!
The small voice somehow rolled its eyes at her, and it was at this point Hamuko started questioning her sanity once again.
"...transfer student."
Her mental tug-of-war was interrupted by a gossiping male student from her class seated somewhere behind her.
"Yep, I've seen her too. Her name's Hamuko Arisato. She came to school with Yukari this morning."
Hamuko blew a strand of hair away from her face. It seemed that the rumour mill never stopped, regardless of where she went.
"Her? I thought the transfer student was a guy?"
"No way, I've seen her dude. That's a girl for sure."
"I'm pretty sure I heard Yukari-san say something about Arisato being a 'him'."
"Wait, do you think that he's a cross-dresser?"
"..."
"I'd still tap that."
That was where Hamuko drew the line. She got up, turned to the source of the voices and snapped.
"I'm not a cross-dresser. I'm a GIRL! These are REAL, thank you very much!"
...And then she realized where she was and her face caught on fire.
"Ahem," The principal cleared his throat. "We can very well see that, young lady. Would you please return to your seat so we may continue?"
The entire auditorium had turned their heads at the commotion. And at that exact moment, Hamuko decided without a doubt that she wanted to die right there and then. She nodded furiously in embarassment and sat down, her face flaming like a... It's not a good time for analogies, damn it!
Oh God, why did she do that? Why why why why why?
The assembly continued with everyone now fully awake. The hall was suddenly abuzz with talk about Hamuko's ridiculous outburst. She even heard a few loud whispers from the Senior classes across the hall mentioning 'transfer student' and 'those are real'.
The subject of everyone's amusement spent the rest of the assembly trying to find a way to hide her face.
"Just kill me now."
A quick and merciless death would be nice.
Throughout it all, a certain blue-haired student was miraculously still asleep.
-RRR-
Homeroom was over for the day. As it was the first day of the school year, there were no classes being taught for the day.
One Hamuko Arisato was slumped over the desk with a depressed air around her.
The other Arisato was slumped over the desk for a completely different reason.
While the misconception had been cleared in Class 2-F when the two transfer students were introduced to the class, the rest of the school had had no such explanations. The two boys who were talking about her had apologized profusely to her about the whole incident, actually admitting their fault in the matter. Being the non-crossdressing, benevolent human being that she was, she had forgiven them, much to their relief.
Not completely though. Those bastards would one day rue the day.
But for now, she was just going to hide out in class until everyone had left school. Most of the class had already gone home. Hopefully she would sneak out unnoticed and everyone would forget her face by tomorrow.
She banged her head on her desk repeatedly. Who was she kidding? She wouldn't forget her just like that!
Hamuko, not exactly in her right state of mind, was honestly expecting 'These are REAL!' T-shirts to be on sale tomorrow. Buy one now and get a "I'm not a cross-dresser" hat for free!
"..."
Hamuko gave one final attempt of hammering the table deeper into the ground with nothing but her forehead before giving up and slumping over the desk once more.
"'Sup, dude?"
Hamuko looked up and gave the nastiest glare she could muster at the source of the voice being directed at her. It was one of the few of her classmates that actually stood out during the introductions; he sported baseball cap and a goatee. She couldn't remember his name though.
"Whoa, whoa, chill out, dude!" He stepped back in response, raising his hands in fear.
Hamuko growled menacingly. "I'm a GIRL, if the whole school hasn't heard by now."
The male student sighed. "It's just a figure of speech. Geez, talk about touchy."
"If you hadn't noticed yet, my entire social life is dead before it even began." Hamuko said before pouting. "I have the right to be touchy!"
The cap-wearing student chuckled. "Ah, c'mon, it's not THAT bad."
"I'm not a crossdresser. I'm a girl. These are real, thank you very much." Hamuko said monotonously.
"Hehe, instant classic." The boy replied, to which Hamuko slumped back onto the desk.
"Dead, I tell ya. So whaddaya want? I'm a little busy trying to forget everything that happened today, so if it's nothing important I'm going to continue what I was doing before." She deadpanned from the desk.
"Oh c'mon, let me introduce myself at least." He flashed a grin. "I'm Junpei Iori. Nice to meet ya."
"Nice to meet you too, Junpei. So anything important? If not I have something I need to do."
"H-hey, c'mon! Don't let it get you down." He said, trying to reassure her. "I transferred here in the second year of middle school myself. I know how tough it is being the new kid, so I thought I'd check up on ya. Make sure you don't jump out that window an' all."
To which Hamuko actually looked up and saw the window.
"...Huh. Maybe that would've been a better plan than slamming my head on the desk over and over again." She mused.
Junpei actually seemed a little panicked at that, before Hamuko laughed and gave him a quick smile. "I'm kidding, Iori-san."
"It ain't funny to joke about stuff like that." Junpei said, though he was still smiling. "And none of that Iori-san crap. That's my old man."
"Junpei-san, then?" Hamuko asked.
"Eh, it'll do for now." The boy answered. "So I take it you're feeling a lil' better?
Hamuko nodded rapidly, some of her regular personality already recovering. "And it's all thanks to you, Junpei-san!"
Junpei blushed, having no idea how to react to that. He rubbed the back of his neck rather sheepishly. "Well. I didn't do much-"
"At it again, huh? Honestly, is there any girl you wouldn't hit on?"
Yukari appeared, giving Junpei the stink eye.
"Huh? That's not what I was-"
"Did you ever think you might be bothering someone?" Yukari interrupted him relentlessly.
"Wait, what? But I was just being friendly!" He protested.
"Well, Hamuko-chan? You're the victim. What's your verdict?"
Junpei frowned. "So she's the victim AND the judge? Won't that make the trial a little bit biased?"
Yukari ignored him in favour of Hamuko. "Well, do you believe that the accused is guilty of hitting on you?"
The brunette who had suddenly been vested power pretended to think about it for a while.
"Based on the accused's track record of attempted flirting (Hey!), according to Takeba-sama's witness, he would be the primary suspect for such a crime."
"You're taking HER side?" Junpei was full out panicking at this point. No doubt he had experienced his fair share of the diabolical schemes that women tended to cook up from time to time.
Hamuko held up a hand. "However! Based on both the crime scene and the victim's point of view, there is little evidence to support that claim. Furthermore, his actions have managed to indirectly aid his victim during her plight."
"Therefore, I pronounce him... GUILTY!"
"Huh? B-but wait! I wasn't tryin' ta-"
"...Of trying to cheer me up." Hamuko continued with a smile, to which the boy sighed in relief. "Thanks, Junpei-san."
"Eh, don't sweat it. We're classmates, it's what we do."
"I do think that you were trying to flirt a little, though." Hamuko gave a knowing grin.
"Well, can ya fault me for that?" Junpei said. "You said it yourself. You're a GIRL. And a good-lookin' one at that."
"...And now it's gettin' a lil' creepy." Hamuko said.
"Seconded." Yukari said.
"Thirded."
The only other boy left in the classroom had woken up, it seemed. One drowsy-looking Minato Arisato was stretching and turning to look at the trio.
"So, what's up?" He said before yawning. "Besides Baseball cap-san here failing to flirt with Hamuko-san."
"Did you sleep well, Minato-san?" Hamuko asked. "I think you slept three-quarters of school away."
"It wasn't too bad." He replied. "So who's the Goatee?"
He was totally ripping off one of those guys from the Back Alley, but they didn't need to know that.
"'Sup dude. The name's Junpei Iori."
"Minato Arisato." The blue-haired boy introduced himself, although he had already done so earlier in class.
"Oh yeah, what's the deal with that? Having the same surname and all, I mea-"
"No relation." The two Arisatos eerily said in unison with completely expressionless faces.
"Creepy." Both Yukari and Junpei said, before realizing that they had done the exact same thing. Worse still, they had actually agreed on something.
"Anyway, some coincidence that we're all in the same homeroom, huh?" Yukari quickly said.
"Yeah, I know." The other brunette replied.
On the other hand, the blue-haired boy paused for a moment. "It must be fate."
Which he knew to be true, but again, they didn't need to know that.
"..."
"Senpai, I don't get how you can say such corny things with a straight face." Hamuko said, to which Minato immediately put on an annoyed expression again.
"No." Minato said. "You promised. No more Senpai this, no more Senpai that. We're in the same class, so stick to your word, Hamuko-san."
"...Huh? Senpai?" Junpei was confused, and it showed.
"Arisato-senpai here's actually a year older than us." Yukari explained. "And don't you dare give me that look, Senpai. I only said I would stop referring to you as my senior. I never said I would actually stop calling you Senpai."
"Wait, so you're sayin' he's older than us by a year? What's he doing in our class then?"
Minato had anticipated the question. "Long story short; I was in a coma, missed the final exams, and actually just got discharged from the hospital yesterday."
Junpei's eyes nearly bugged out. "You're serious?"
The two girls beside him nodded. "He and Hamuko-chan are staying in our dorm at the moment due to last minute placement issues." Yukari supplied.
"Wait, so you live in the same dorm as these two lovely ladies, Senpai?" Junpei asked. "Damn, you're the luckiest man alive!"
Minato groaned. Were they doing it on purpose, or was it just a side-effect of having his age altered?"
"I mean, c'mon." Junpei was still saying. "Think about it! A couple of cuties livin' under the same roof as you. That's the dream, man!"
"Yeah... your dream." Yukari said.
Minato wisely chose not to say anything.
"Anyway, the rumor mill's been kickin' up again." Junpei changed the subject. "The whole school's abuzz with news about the two of you."
"Ugh, more rumours..." Hamuko said.
"What're they saying?" Minato asked, curious.
"Well, after Hamuko's display earlier this morning, people've kinda twisted the whole story, ya' know?" Junpei started. "For one, the whole cross-dressing thing stuck around."
"Oh, no..." Said brunette was starting to get depressed again.
"Except it's not about you." Junpei finished.
Hamuko gave a puzzled frown. "Whaddaya mean, Junpei-kun?"
If Junpei was surprised about the change in honorifics, he didn't show it. He did get a little uneasy though.
"Well... they're saying that since you had to deny being a cross-dresser, one of the two of you had to be one."
"Oh, no..." Hamuko said, seeing where this was going.
"So one of them took a picture of Minato-san over here and passed it around."
"..." Minato was dangerously quiet. "And?"
Junpei thought his life might be in danger depending on how he answered the question.
"Well... they thought you were skinny enough to pass for a girl." He gulped. "It didn't help that your hair's rather long for a guy and in their words, 'effeminate', as well."
Yukari looked rather horrified. "No..."
"Yeah." Junpei nodded solemnly. "He's Gekkoukan High's first transsexual cross-dresser."
Minato froze, before standing up and walking out of the room without a single word.
"You know, I get the cross-dresser part." Yukari glanced at Hamuko, who grimaced . "But where'd the transsexual part come from?"
"Eh, the idiots spreading the rumours didn't know the difference between a transvestite and a transsexual, and it kinda stuck." Junpei shrugged.
"..."
"...Junpei-kun, I hate to have to ask you this." Hamuko said. "...But do you know the difference between a transvestite and a transsexual?"
"Uh..." He hedged. "One of 'em dresses up while the other one plays for the other team?"
"Uh huh." Hamuko nodded. "Which is which?"
"Um..."
"You have no idea, do you?"
"Not a clue."
"One more question for you, then." Hamuko said. "Are you one of the idiots spreading these rumours?"
"..."
"..."
"Eheheh..." Junpei chuckled nervously. "Gotta go!"
The baseball cap-wearing student made a mad dash out of the classroom, fearing for his life.
"Damn it, Junpei. Get back here!" Yukari yelled, but to no avail. "I swear, he loves rumours and gossip more than the rest of the girls in this school. If Senpai ever finds out about this..."
"Huh, I guess you really aren't calling him Senpai just to annoy-" Hamuko suddenly froze before nudging Yukari to the entrance of the classroom.
"I see. Thank you for the information." Minato had a smile on his face. "Be sure to stop by the flower shop and get some flowers on your way home today."
"Huh?" The girls were confused. The boy's smile widened.
It was then that they realized something was off with Minato's smile. It seemed pleasant, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. Empty. Chilling.
"You'll be needing it for tomorrow. It's Iori's funeral, after all."
It promised death in all its entirety.
The blue-haired boy turned around and left the classroom, the air feeling colder with each step he took.
The two girls shivered.
"Hey, Hamuko..." Yukari said.
"...Yes, Yukari-chan?"
"Remind me never to piss Minato-senpai off."
"Sure." Hamuko nodded, still shaking slightly. "As long as you do the same for me. Technically, this whole situation was my fault. If I didn't decide to embarrass myself this morning, this whole rumour wouldn't have started up."
"Oh yeah, I've been meaning to ask. What's up with that anyway?"
"Please don't ask."
Yukari chuckled. "Okay then. Anyway, I've gotta go take care of some archery club stuff." She massaged her temples. "I swear, agreeing to be the secretary was the worst idea I've ever had. You're okay going home on your own, right?"
"Yeah, no problem!" Hamuko affirmed.
"Alright then. See you back at the dorm." Yukari waved and left the room.
Now that the school seemed empty enough, Hamuko decided that it was finally safe to leave.
-RRR-
"I'm back." Hamuko announced tiredly, stepping into the dorm.
"Welcome back." Mitsuru greeted her. "You're late, considering you haven't joined any clubs yet."
"...I got lost again." The brunette muttered. "So I decided to just have dinner at a restaurant nearby since I was already there."
This time, Hamuko had accidentally gotten off the train one stop too early and ended up in some kind of strip mall. She was hungry, so she decided to sample some sushi from a place called Wakatsu that was supposed to make the consumer smarter. She felt she needed it after today's debacle, even if it was likely to be just advertising. By the time she reached the dorm, the sun was already beyond the horizon.
"I see." Mitsuru said. "Do let someone know when you're going to be back late if you can next time. It's dangerous to be out alone at night."
"Okay, Senpai." Hamuko agreed, before writing her name and time of entry on the sign-in sheet at the counter.
"By the way, Arisato..." The redhead seemed to hesitate. "May I inquire as to why you felt the need to declare your gender to the whole school during the Principal's speech?"
Hamuko groaned. "Please don't ask."
"Very well." Mitsuru chuckled. "I hope that there won't be a repeat occurrence, however."
"You aren't the only one." The brunette said drearily. "Anyway, I'm feeling rather tired. I think I'll call it a day."
"Alright. Rest well, Arisato."
"You too, Senpai." She walked past Mitsuru and waved at Yukari, who was eating some cup ramen at the dinner table, before heading upstairs.
Reaching her room, she groaned when she realized she hadn't finished unpacking. Deciding to put it off yet another day, she took a quick shower and crashed onto her bed.
For some strange reason, she had been feeling really tired ever since arriving at Tatsumi Port Island. Like there was a weight settling on top of her mind.
Within seconds of her head hitting the pillow she was asleep and off to another world.
-RRR-
Minato had returned to the dorm even later than Hamuko, but Mitsuru didn't ask him quite as many questions besides the cursory request to notify one of the dorm members.
It seemed being a year older gave him more freedom than before. Mitsuru would've been much more concerned about his late arrival if her were a year younger. It was a good trade-off for the whole Senpai issue, he supposed, considering it didn't bother him too much besides being a change from what he was used to.
Honestly, he wasn't too bothered by the rumours Junpei had had a hand in starting. It would die off sooner or later, after all. It wasn't like it was anything too new, anyway. Minato was well aware his hairstyle was metrosexual, and was used to such comments by now. He honestly didn't think the rumour would survive too long, though it did make a dent on his reputation.
Not that it really mattered to him anyway. Facing the embodiment of the Night really opens one's eyes to what was truly important in life. Seeing Junpei again had put him in a good mood. He had already reunited with three of the most important people to him.
The blue-haired boy sat at the dinner table alone, waiting for the free-to-take cup ramen he had fixed to finish cooking itself in the hot water. He glanced at the living room. Mitsuru was still on her laptop. She was probably doing research on the college syllabus that she was working on. She always did like to study ahead.
He hadn't encountered the Traitor today, so he supposed he would be meeting him tomorrow. Minato couldn't really remember the actual dates of when things occurred. They took place literally a lifetime ago, after all. Instead, he remembered the sequence of the events that took place within his first lifetime.
He remembered meeting Ikutsuki before he had summoned Orpheus and Thanatos for the first time. The full moon was tomorrow and the chairman wasn't here today, so he put two and two together.
He needed a plan on how to deal with Ikutsuki as soon as possible. SEES wouldn't believe him if he told them. They had known the Chairman for too long, and he was trusted in all things Shadow-related. No one had really suspected his motives the first time around.
The first thought that came to his mind caused him to be repulsed at his thoughts, but he considered it anyway.
Should he just kill Ikutsuki?
Killing him before he could lead them on about the Shadows was an option, but that would leave the group directionless. They would continue hunting the Arcana Shadows anyway as he had no way of convincing them to do otherwise. If he spoke up, he would very clearly divide SEES into two factions; those who would believe him, and those that wouldn't.
Fuuka and Ken would believe him. He knew Junpei and Mitsuru wouldn't, though the latter would have her doubts. Yukari would side with him just to spite Mitsuru. Akihiko would follow Mitsuru to the ends of the Earth. Shinji would stay out of things altogether. Koromaru, as intelligent as he was, would continue protecting the shrine. And Hamuko... he really had no clue, but he knew Aigis would follow her as per Akihiko and Mitsuru.
If the twelve Shadows were successfully defeated by Mitsuru's faction, humanity's last stand would be divided and would inevitably fall.
That wasn't his only concern. The act of killing was simply morally reprehensible to him.
Minato had never taken a life before. Even when Takaya and Jin barred their way to Nyx in the Tower of Demise, SEES had shown them mercy. He had had the final say, and he chose not to kill them. Their purpose on the 31st of January was to save the lives of humanity, not taking them.
Somehow, he knew that if he chose to kill Ikutsuki, he would forever be tainted with murder. No matter how he tried to justify it, he couldn't bring himself to agree to kill someone. He wouldn't be able to live with himself, even if he knew that Ikutsuki did and deserved to die. If he took one life, it would open a whole other can of worms. Killing would only get easier and easier. The prospect of losing himself in such a way scared him worse than death itself.
No, killing Ikutsuki was never really an option. He steered far and clear away from those thoughts.
If he completely ignored the Chairman altogether, things might play out the same way as they did the last time around with Hamuko sacrificing herself to save the world. But the two of them were different, so he wasn't even sure if SEES would make it that far this time around either.
Before he palmed himself in the forehead. It wasn't like HE wasn't around at all. Worst comes to worst, he knew he was strong enough to spearhead the climb to the roof of Tartarus by himself. He had managed to survive the depths of the Monad, after all.
So that was still an option, then. Let the same story be told, and let Hamuko sacrifice herself to become the Great Seal.
Minato shook his head. That would be the last resort. If Fate had decided to place him in this Universe, that meant he had a role to play in the shaping of its future. He would rather Hamuko survive.
Which brought his thoughts to turn to the girl in question. He had observed her behaviour for the whole day now. Or whenever he wasn't asleep. Whatever.
He had found her to be his polar opposite. She was excitable, he was calm. She was impulsive, he was calculating. She was energetic, he was lazy. She was naturally sociable, he needed time to adapt. Her laugh was infectious, he never really laughed at all.
To take things even further, it seemed her favourite colour was orange. His was blue. The exact opposite on the colour spectrum. And of course, gender differences.
It was as if Fate was playing a cruel trick on him. She was everything he was not.
And therein lied the reason he wasn't sure of the outcome this time around. Maybe she would be better for SEES than he was. Maybe she would be worse. Only time would tell.
It was then that he realized that no matter whether he used a hands-on approach or not, things were already slated to change. The little differences here and there would add up in the long run, no doubt. The Butterfly Effect practically demanded it. And if things were already going to change, then he might as well have his say in it.
He returned to his original train of thought. He had already ruled out killing Ikutsuki. That meant his only real option was to let things be. Or maybe...
An absolutely illogical and outrageous idea entered his mind.
Was it possible to talk to Ikutsuki?
The more Minato pondered about the it, the more it seemed to make sense. If he could convince the Chairman on a few key points, like his nihilism and disdain of the human race, things might turn out to be for the better.
Or it could simply be a fool's errand. He chuckled at the unintended wordplay.
An errand only a Fool would run. Every second he took considering the idea only made it him like it more.
He suddenly remembered that he was in the midst of waiting for his noodles to cook, and opened the flap of the cup to find them overcooked, a little cold and rather soggy. He inwardly groaned, but he didn't mind it too much.
Because Minato Arisato finally had a real plan for the future for the first time since returning to the past.
-RRR-
A/N: Booya! It's done. The fic seems to be getting a rather overwhelming response, considering the Persona fanfic community isn't as big as the others on the site. You guys must really like time travel fics or something. 18 follows in 2 chapters is simply mind-blowing. Seeing the demand, I decided to hurry things up a bit and work more on the fic. (I was procrastinating with a couple of games)
If you think what I'm writing now doesn't have any continuity with the author's note at the top, it's probably because you have a little too much time. And because I write those when I start writing, and these when I finish up a chapter. I was initially planning to take this one to the epic declaration of "Per...so...na", but somehow it ended up getting longer and longer without me even realizing it. I decided to keep it at this length, though, because I found a very nice place to stop.
I'm also realizing that I'm writing this fic in extreme detail. I mean, it's only the SECOND day of the game, and I'm already edging on 13,000 words. God knows how many more there'll be at this point. By the end of the game, I think I'd have approximately 500,000 words or maybe even more. It's scary just thinking about it. But hey, if the interest keeps up...
But enough about the unimportant details of the writer's thoughts, and let's get on to a casual explanation of the fic's progress. Honestly, the entire direction of this chapter ran away on its own. From a minor change in the morning with an attempted Social Link with Mitsuru, to the whole debacle in the assembly and class, the fic took on a mind of its own. I didn't even remotely plan to deviate whatsoever. I hope that I managed to tickle your funny bone though. Hamuko's rather amusing announcement actually tickled mine when it came to mind.
I've also decided on a new formatting style. The -RRR- breaks are mostly to help those who use their phone apps to read fics like myself. They don't support line breaks. Plus, it looks fancier anyway, so I'm keeping it. I'll re-do the breaks in Chapter 1 and 2 when I inevitably return to edit them.
It seems that the fic will be following a rather unplanned format for now, with Hamuko taking the spotlight until the very end, where you finally get to see the part you probably came for; Minato. Speaking of which, I hope what I wrote made sense. I personally think that he would be indisposed to the act of killing whatsoever. He has never killed before, even in the past. He survived with his morals intact. And unless there was no other way, he wouldn't resort to killing. He certainly isn't opposed to letting him die, though. Just having a hand in it himself. I think I've nailed the his hesitance to change things pretty well, considering he's the type to overthink stuff until the very last moment.
For those sharp enough to catch it, yes, Minato meant three, not four. He lied to cover his slip of tongue.
I have a few ideas for the fic planned ahead. It's not set in stone, but I don't think I'll forget. You'll see.
Oh, talking to Ikutsuki? Inspired by P4G's Jester social link. Not that I've played the Golden version, but those who have will know what I mean.
Okay, enough with this long-ass AN. I hope you've enjoyed reading this humble writer's fic thus far. I'll try to get a new chapter out soon. Review, favourite or follow if you like what you see. Or not. It's up to you.
But seriously. Do it.