April 9th, 2009

AN: I don't really have much to say here. I like it when my stories have more views than visitors. That means that people are reading the chapters! Most people won't read past the first chapter if it doesn't interest them. Anyways, a lot's going to happen in this chapter. Enjoy!

I ran into Junpei on my way to school today. Yukari's wrong about him. He doesn't have bad intentions with me. I think he's just friendly, almost like a brother. I'm normally nervous around guys but he doesn't intimidate me at all.

"Yo. Man, I'm so sleepy today. In times like these, it's best to sleep during class! You ever notice how sometimes taking a nap in class makes you feel more refreshed than sleeping at home?" Junpei asks. He strikes me as the slacker-type. I still should look out for him.

"Don't sleep in class." I reprimand him.

"Whaaat? Why do you have to be all serious? That feeling of being completely recharged is awesome. But I'm screwed later since I didn't hear the lecture! Oh, but we have classic literature today. That means we're stuck with Mr. Nasty ol' Ekoda." Junpei complains.

Mr. Ekoda turns out to be the whiny teacher from the first day. I don't want to get on his bad side.

"Ahem. I'm Mr. Ekoda. I'll be teaching you Classic Literature. I'll be teaching you about good old Japan all year. Some people say Classic Lit. isn't relevant to everyday life, but oh, how they're wrong! The students, the other teachers, wrong, wrong, wrong! Nobody really understands Classic Lit." Mr. Ekoda sure likes to complain.

My eyelids feel heavy and my head begins to nod. I don't think it would be a good idea to nod off on the first day of class. I might miss something important. I adjust my posture and catch my second wind.

"Hey. Are you all listening to me? Wake up, children! Now open your textbooks. First on our syllabus is "Ise Momogatari," the origin of Japanese literature. It's a very interesting story. You youngsters might call it, 'da bomb.'" He pauses for laughter. When he doesn't get a response, he sighs. "I can tell you people are 'zoning out.'" I inwardly groan.

The rest of the passes by without anything interesting happen. I met Yukari at the shoe lockers and she asked if we could walk back together. I agreed. We stopped at Paulownia Mall on our way back.

"Have you come here before? A lot of Gekkoukan students come here after school. There's a karaoke box and a CD shop. Oh, and a really great café, too! There's also a nightclub, but that's kinda not for us yet," Yukari gives me a tour of the large mall. I take note of where all the clothing stores are. It doesn't hurt to have variety on my days off.

We arrive back at the dorm that evening. Mitsuru greets us from behind the desk.

"Welcome back. The moon is beautiful tonight. It might be nice to read a book by moonlight once in a while," Mitsuru smiles softly. I look over at the computer she was working on. I wonder why I don't have one in my room. She notices where I was looking. "These networked computers were installed when the dorm was built. Their main purpose is to send the school reports about daily life here in the dorm."

I nod in understanding and join Yukari on the couch. She's poking at a TV dinner on the table in front of her. "There used to be a dorm mother here to do stuff like cooking, but there's just us students here now. It'd be great to have somebody like that doing stuff for us, don't you think?"

I think back to when my mom used to cook dinner for my father and me every night. The memory is a bit fuzzy but I remember how they used to leave the best bits of the food for me. I smile sadly at Yukari. "You're right."

"I mean, I'm not a good cook, and Mitsuru-senpai just doesn't do things like that. You know, if you're handy around the kitchen, I bet you could really do something with this place!" Yukari doesn't notice my sadness and turns to look at the TV. It's on some kind of gossip news column.

"Hi, I'm Trish, with today's installment of 'Who's Who.'" The reporter announces. "Today's subject is a very dependable-looking 20-year-old woman. Her sister is a camerawoman, and I've heard she got her camera from her master. Next is news. Pain, pain, go away!"

This doesn't interest me. I go to my room and get ready for bed.

I wake up with a start. A crash from outside startled me awake. My room was tinted green, as if I was looking through night vision goggles, just like it had been on my first night here. I speed-dress and head for the door to see what was going on.

Someone knocks on my door desperately. "Wake up!" It's Yukari. "Sorry, I'm coming in!" she barges in. "I don't have time to explain. We have to get out of here, now!"

I have no choice but to comply. "Okay!"

"Hurry! Downstairs! We'll leave through the back door!" she grabs my hand and then looks like she remembered something. "Wait! Take this, just in case." She gives me a long, thin weapon. I recognize it to be a naginata. I don't time to think about why she had one. "Okay, let's go! Follow me!"

Yukari practically drags me downstairs. We reach the locked door by the kitchen. Yukari fumbles with the lock. "Alright, we should be safe now-"

She's cut off by Mitsuru's voice. I don't see an intercom anywhere. It seems to be coming from inside my head. "Takeba, do you read me!?"

"Y-yes! I hear you!" Yukari responds without speaking. Are they communicating telepathically?

"Be careful! There's more than one enemy! The one we're fighting isn't the one Akihiko saw!"

"What!?" Yukari gasps. "L-let's pull back!" she grabs my hand and runs upstairs.

We're on the second floor when we hear what sounds like shuffling. "What was that!?" the noises get louder. "It's getting closer! K-keep moving! Hurry!" Yukari commands.

We keep running until we reach the roof. Yukari locks the door. She sighs with relief. "The door's locked. I think we're safe for now."

A loud crash sounds from right next to the building. We turn toward the noise and see something that makes my blood turn cold. A giant black hand grabs onto the ledge. Another arm slowly raises. It's holding a blue mask with the Roman numeral I on its forehead. It looks left and right before focusing on us. It pulls the rest of its body over the ledge. In every other hand, it's holding swords sharp enough to cut you into pieces. I make eye contact with the mask and suddenly the world around me is slowly being replaced with someone's living room.

The house smells strongly of alcohol. A man stumbles into the room, obviously drunk.

"What'rye you doin' home so late, boy?" the man slurs.

"I told you already. I had afterschool duty today." I explain. My voice sounds different.

"I told you not to talk back to me!" a bottle is thrown at my head. I dodge it in time and it smashes on the door behind me. A bit of glass cuts into my right cheek. "You're useless. Just like your mother. She did everything she could to protect you, but in the end, her body just couldn't take the stress. You killed her." The man swings at me and connects with my stomach. I collapse. I refuse to cry. Not in front of this worthless piece of garbage.

"I'll prove myself one day. You might not be around see it." I spit bitterly at the man.

The man laughs coldly. "The world would be better off if you weren't around."

"Then maybe I should do it a favor!" I shout before storming off to my room. I slam the door and frantically search my dresser. I find it. I put it to my temple. My finger is on the trigger. I close my eyes, bracing for what's about to happen.

I'm snapped out of my dream by a scream. "You gotta be kidding me! It climbed up the wall!? That's the thing that attacked this place. We call them Shadows!" Yukari pauses. "O-oh yeah. I have to fight. I, I can summon mine. No problem." She removes a silver gun from her holster. She puts it to her forehead. She hesitates.

My eyes widen in horror as the Shadow hurls a fireball at her. Yukari is knocked down. The gun appears at my feet. I know what to do.

I pick up the gun and point it to my temple. I pull the trigger and hear the sound of glass shattering. A cool breeze flows through my mind.

A woman resembling a robot appears in front of me. 'Orpheus'. Her name rings in my head. Suddenly, my head feels like it's about to be split open from the inside, like something is trying to get out. I fall to my knee and clench my head. The robotic woman does the same as me and out of her head comes a figure surrounded by coffins. It manically laughs before tearing the Shadow apart, limb from limb. The Shadow shrieks as the dark figure tortures it mercilessly. When the shrieks die down, the figure smiles in satisfaction and disappears. Orpheus returns unscathed.

"Is it over?" Yukari peeks from behind her hands. She was cowering in fear the entire time. She screams. "It's still moving!" she scurries away from the Shadow that is heading for her. "N-no. G-get away from me!"

I couldn't just leave her there. I jump in front of them and slash, using my naginata. The Shadows go down easily. Relief washes over me. Exhaustion overtakes me. I fall to the ground.

Yukari gasps. "Are you okay!? Come one! Please! Can you hear me!? Answer me!"

It's not long until I'm back in the Velvet room. Igor is there to greet me.

"It's so nice to see you again. You became unconscious after awakening to your power. I see that it was Orpheus that heeded your calling. That power is called Persona. It is a manifestation of your psyche."

I blink in confusion. "Persona?"

"A Persona is a facet of your personality that surfaces as you react to external stimuli. You can think of it as a mask that protects you as you brave many hardships."

I don't know what Igor is talking about. "That's what 'Orpheus' is?" I thought Orpheus was just a myth.

"When you use your persona ability, you must channel your inner strength. The ability evolves as you develop your Social Links- your emotional ties with others. The stronger your Social Links, the more powerful your Persona ability. Please remember that. Now, then, time marches on in your world. I shouldn't keep you here any longer. Next time we meet, you will come here of you own accord. Until then, farewell." Igor's voice fades as I wake up.