Akira found that he didn't like Sojiro.

The first thing the man had done when he had entered was brush him off, having forgotten that he was coming today.

Then, as Sojiro proceeded to grumble, he made light of the situation and told him he shouldn't have interfered with adult matters. Given, it was because of that that he was here, in this situation that neither of them seemed to want, but that only meant that Sojiro was just another one.

Another person who saw not the person he was, but the criminal he wasn't.

But it wasn't in his place to complain. Even given a storage space as his room and treated as an idiotic teenager, he wasn't about to get himself in trouble and sent back to the juvenile detention center again.

He felt so frustrated. It was all he could do to keep his head down and mutter the "it's big," about his room, in place of the "it's messy" he so desperately wanted to snark back.

He didn't even register the faint surprise from Minato while Sojiro was speaking. Sojiro strode back down the stairs to the café while he got up and about, cleaning up the hellhole of a living space the attic was.

Hey, if he was going to be living in a hellhole, he'd at least make it comfortable.

It was a small pleasure to clean anyways. Hard work always felt so gratifying afterwards, when one stepped back to look at the result. He smiled at the thought.

And then frowned as he felt the slight disapproval from the spirit's end.

Oh, right. Minato was still there.

Oh well. There wasn't much better to do now anyways. Normally he'd be running through his thoughts while doing something as mentally mundane as cleaning, but that was about the same as speaking anyways, since Minato could hear his thoughts.

Not a fan of hard work?

"No."

God. Akira was going to go crazy with all these one-word answers one day. How did this person ever hold conversations when he was alive?

"… Sorry."

Startled, Akira's breath caught for a bit as his face flushed. He didn't mean to insult Minato, but he forgot that Minato could hear into his thoughts. He'd need to be more reserved with his thoughts from now on, he supposed.

"Don't hold back on my account. I'm used to it."

Akira frowned.

What do you mean you're used to it?

"I've been a quiet child just about forever. Old habits die hard."

Akira didn't like the thought that this person may not have had many friends in his life, but held back the thought as he pondered over the words again.

I think that's the most you've said in one line so far.

A huff came from his companion. Akira smiled. As odd as Minato was, his silence paired with the emotions Akira could feel endeared him. The amusement was stronger than the indignation, Akira could tell.

And he once again mulled through the words. Something was amiss.

Old habits die hard.

Did he just make a frickin' pun?

Akira couldn't help the snicker that escaped his lips. Awfully morbid pun, but a good one nonetheless. He could feel the amusement bubbling up in Minato's ocean of emotion (or apathy) as the two of them continued conversing, Akira asking mindless questions and Minato answering in brief responses.

Sojiro couldn't for the life of him fathom why the boy upstairs was snickering. Was something happening? Was he ruining his attic? This spelled trouble, and the shop-owner wanted no trouble. As kind of a soul as he was, the boy had better understand that if he so much as messed with a single thing in the restaurant, he was out.

As he apprehensively climbed the stairs and peeked over the wooden railing, he found the boy humming to himself while arranging the boxes.

Huh.

Was he actually cleaning?

Sojiro was not expecting that.

Nor was he expecting the boy to have a small, genuine smile on his face. It was so different from how the boy was just an hour earlier, with the cloud of gloom overhanging and an air of depressed complacence.

His eyes softened a little. Perhaps he had been too harsh on the boy earlier. He seemed decent, those glasses giving him a certain innocent quality about his face. His eyes held no malice, his smile held no mischief.

And yet, just an hour earlier he looked like a kicked puppy.

Sojiro sighed. He'd ask just in case.

"Hey, kid."

The boy's head abruptly turned in surprise and unconsciously, his body, crouched to fit a box into a shelf, unconsciously curled inwards. His smile fell into something more alarmed, and Sojiro felt horrible. But he'd have to keep up the stern façade, or worse may happen. The attitude of a kid he barely knew didn't matter compared to the living he had to earn for both him and Futaba.

He still sighed, for good measure.

"What were you snickering about over there?"

"Nothing, Sakura-san. Just an old joke I remembered." The words sounded level, with practiced calm. They held a tinge of shame and worry though, and Sojiro would've winced. Maybe he was taking it too seriously if the kid had started thinking smiling and laughing was now a crime also.

Sojiro raised an eyebrow, and quietly made his way back downstairs.

Akira sighed in relief when Sojiro finally left. "Man, I really cannot get a break."

"Don't envy you," Minato said. Akira could almost envision the indifferent shrug from the teenager, if it weren't for his inability to see the ghost. An awkward lull in the conversation followed as Akira busied himself dusting off the rackety old desk.

Then, Minato spoke again, hesitantly. "When I… moved, it was more normal. There was a girl with a gun though."

Akira rose an eyebrow, though whether in amusement or just surprise, he himself didn't know. Minato rarely initiated conversation, though that was… awfully interesting. What ended up happening? Akira found himself inquiring.

There was a comforting wave of nostalgia over their emotional link, as Akira now dubbed it, and Minato continued. "I asked why she had it… and she answered that it was a hobby."

The teen smiled. A hobby? That piqued his curiosity.

"It did turn out that she was lying, but I found out what it was for that same night."

A shiver ran up Akira's spine as more emotions flowed forth. There was the nostalgia, but it was amongst a flood of sorrow and slight fear. All were dubious, and Akira's mind tried grasped for more information. What happened?

A bit of sadism. "Hmmm… story for another time, I suppose. You wouldn't believe me now."

Akira certainly did not pout. He knew Minato was toying with him. That was just unfair. It wasn't like he could listen in on Minato's thoughts, like Minato did to him. He wanted to know.

There was a tinge of something apologetic, but Akira tried to ignore it. "Really though. You wouldn't believe me."

What made Akira stop questioning was the biggest wave of sorrow he had felt since coming in contact with the ghost. He knew Minato had some tragic past, but it wasn't in his right to push it right now, he realized. This was a sensitive topic… and Minato should have the right to reveal it when he wanted. He was no less human.

Akira sighed. I'm sorry, he mentally mumbled back. The whispered "it's fine," that he received in return told him with an air of quiet finality that their conversation was over for now.

In several hours, Akira had finally succeeded in making the dusty attic into something reminiscent of a living space. It was actually a lot more spacious now that he had de-cluttered and shoved the boxes onto the shelf at the side. His bed on the corner had a ratty old futon as a mattress… but he supposed it would suffice for now. It wasn't like a criminal like himself could expect high class living quarters on probation anyways.

On the side, he heard some faint breathing noises, slow and steady, but again reverberating as if echoing through his mind. That was his sign that the noise came from Minato. He sighed. Was that why the link seemed to be dormant for the past few hours? His ghostly companion was sleeping?

Well, his time, his (after)life. It was probably late enough for him to get some shut-eye too, anyways.

Below him, through the dark wooden floor, the sound of a phone could be heard. Akira cautiously stepped downstairs, arms tucked against himself as if touching even a single speck of dust would make the whole place explode.

Hey, better safe than sorry. He looked over to the gaudy vibrating yellow phone. Apprehensively, he picked it up.

It was just Sojiro. He didn't know whether to be relived or not, but quickly completing the task he had been given, he ambled back up the stairs and took his place on the bed in the corner.

The steady breathing continued, slightly ominously. Akira felt like there was another person there, continuously watching him, even though he couldn't see them. Oh right. That was just a summary of exactly what was happening right now.

He took a moment to ponder how surreal all of it was. Just a month or two ago he had been a normal student, with average grades, doing average things. Sure, maybe he was a bit righteous, but it wasn't what people would call a defining trait on him.

And in such a short time, he'd been spirited away to a new place, a new scary place, might he add, living with a stranger, and having a ghost tail him.

It sounded like a crappy story where the author liked beating him up the most. He hated it.

The black haired teen was drawn out of his musings when the phone in his hand vibrated again. As he looked at the screen, he was vaguely aware that Minato had awakened abruptly, but ignored the fact in favor of staring at the creepy red eye icon.

He thought he deleted that. Maybe the phone was malfunctioning, he thought as he dragged it back to the trash icon again.

He could feel Minato's odd alertness through their emotional link, but he was too tired to think about it now.

Closing his eyes, he tried to empty his mind again. The next day would be better. Yeah, he'd just keep telling himself that, and maybe one day it would come true. The next day would be better.

"Good night," he whispered to no one in particular.

He barely registered a quiet hum of acknowledgement from Minato before he sank into the world of unconsciousness.

Or so he would've liked. God, as if he hadn't had enough. Creepy long-nosed old man and loli wardens. God, why couldn't he just be left in peace?!

Minato almost laughed at the other teen's fascination and confusion. No doubt he had entered the Velvet Room for the first time. His amusement took a more somber note when he remembered Igor's situation though. He sighed.

This mindset was more Akira's, though Minato started picking it up slightly. This is going to be a long year.

Akira woke up that morning, refreshed(?). He didn't know what the dream was about, but it was just a dream, and that was that, and he would go to school and get out of school like a normal child, just like he was.

He definitely didn't see the new shiny blue key on his keychain. Nope. Must've been a trick of the light, he decided, stuffing it into his blue bookbag.

He looked around the room, seeing if there was anything he was missing. He had his journals, his textbooks... and his own stamp of approval for the school day.

Alright. He was about ready now. Just one more thing.

He turned to where he knew the steady breathing of his ghostly companion came from. If at all possible, please do not talk to me while I'm at school.

Minato was silent for a moment, before muttering a short assent. Akira winced a bit. No doubt he had tried to nod again. Being dead didn't sound fun.

His bookbag slung on his shoulder, and his uniform buttoned and clean, he stepped downstairs to the unfamiliar smell of coffee awaiting him. Sojiro stood at the counter, behind a plate of curry and a mug of coffee.

Akira glanced at it dubiously on his way to the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" called out Sojiro's gruff voice, stopping Akira in his tracks. "Get back here and have breakfast."

The teenager meekly turned around, pointing to himself, as if asking, me?

Sojiro rolled his eyes. Akira felt a slight pang of betrayal when he heard Minato snickering from beside him. The black-haired teen went back to the counter and took a seat in front of the… odd breakfast.

It turned out delicious. He gave a coy side-eye to where he could feel the slight jealousy of Minato. Take that.

After all was said and done, with a few more warnings from Sojiro for good measure (I better not be getting a call from the school!) he rushed out the door, running to the nearby subway station.

He was glad he had gotten all the documents sorted and settled before he came. He didn't think he'd be able to stand going in to the school on his own to meet the teachers. At least if it was with other students, other average Japanese teenagers, he'd be just another head in the crowd, if only for a bit.

He was making good time to the school for a while.

Until he wasn't. Damn rain. God dang it.

He stopped underneath a shop a few blocks from the school, hoping none of his books got too wet before he stopped. He would hate to have to go back to Sojiro saying he couldn't turn anything in because all of his paper wasn't fit to write one.

So much for a good first day. God, please don't let him be late on top of everything else.

As he looked disdainfully at the droplets of water falling from the sky, a blob of white and black ran next to him, probably also taking cover from the rain.

She was stunning, with luscious tails of long platinum-blonde hair, a rare sight in Japan. Her ice-blue eyes as well, though they looked more dejected than anything.

She gave Akira a sad smile, seeing as they were in the same predicament. Akira smiled back.

He would've asked her name, had it not been for the man in the car that drove by at that moment. The girl got on, and the two drove to school, but she didn't look happy.

"Probably because she wasn't," Minato chimed in from his side. Akira jumped. He forgot Minato was still with him. How could you tell? he questioned.

"Hmmm… You just… can, I guess. Her facial expression and body language."

Akira mentally opened his mouth to retort, but stopped, hearing the pit-pattering of running strides towards his location. He turned to his right to see… a really loudly dressed, blond-haired student.

"Damn it! Screw that pervy teacher," the blond gritted out. I see, Akira mused. His loudness in clothing also translates to loudness in voice.

Minato snickered at that.

What followed was a sort of one-sided… enlightening introduction to one of the school staff. Akira didn't know what was worse, his tardiness on the first day, or the apparent fact that there was a pervert as a gym teacher.

Oh yeah, he knew the answer to that. Neither. It was the sudden headache he got a few minutes into the blond boy's rant.

The tingly feeling that shot through his body when that happened was mildly creepy. So was the fact that the blond boy had also gotten a headache at the same time.

What made Akira most wary, however, was the sudden alarm coming from the other side of his emotional link. There was surprise among familiarity, calm among alertness. They contradicted, but Akira could figure that something was wrong, for sure.

Minato? You there? Akira thought tentatively.

There was a small serious hum of acknowledgement. "This is different… Stay on guard."

Akira didn't know what Minato meant by this or different, but heck if he was going to stay long enough to find out.

"…o… Yo!" Akira finally registered that the blond beside him had been shouting in his ear. "Sorry," the teen mumbled. "Got lost in thought." Wasn't that much of a lie if he was holding a conversation by thought.

"Yea yea, got it, dreamer boy. Let's get to school, we're gonna be late." The blond grinned, seeming unfazed by the wrongness in the air. "I know a shortcut! Follow me."

Akira apprehensively stepped through the alleyway behind the boy. And eventually reached a castle.

Well shit.

He was so done. Could this year get any weirder?

Minato would have found the panic of the Wild Card absolutely hilarious if it weren't for how many unknown variables there were at the moment. The instant he'd felt the tingle through his body, he knew.

This was the new equivalent of the dark hour. It might not have seemed so yet, with no visible change to the surroundings, but he could feel the churning Sea of Souls closer than ever since he'd come back to the living world.

He had half a mind check using his evoker, but he didn't want to frighten the Wild Card until he'd gotten his own Persona.

Either way, he knew the feeling of wrongness in the air that came with being close to the Sea of Souls could and would get stronger. It seemed the center of the… distortion(?) was somewhere closer to the school. That was foreboding.

He hoped it wasn't another Kirijo Group situation. That had caused more distress than it was worth.

Either way, he remained alert and followed behind as Akira got closer and closer to the school.

Scratch that. It was apparently now a castle.

Minato furrowed his brows. This was too close to Tartarus for his liking, but seemed a lot more isolated. It wasn't a time thing like the Dark Hour had been… what was this new phenomenon?

He distinctly remembered the phone app giving him an odd feeling. He could explore that later. For now, he hesitantly floated behind as Akira made his way into the castle alongside the blond. He hoped things wouldn't turn any worse.

Who was he kidding? Wild Cards had terrible luck.

This was confirmed when Minato felt the dizziness that made his head spin. The dormant emotional link probably meant Akira was unconscious. He floated behind the boy being taken to a cell, unsure whether or not to step in.

Minato didn't really want to, if he was being honest. It was the Wild Card's battle and not his own. It was through hardship that the Persona was inevitably awakened. He couldn't very well let the boy die though.

He withdrew the evoker from the holster on his hip, relishing in the comforting cool weight of the gun in his hands. Minato fell easily into a stance he hadn't done for years.

Evoker at the ready, he followed behind.

Man, the natural awakening of his Persona looked a lot more painful than Minato remembered it. Minato was quite glad that he hadn't needed to pull off half his face when he awakened Orpheus, though if he was being fair, the mental stress of his own awakening was no less painful.

He could still remember that day as if it had been yesterday. With some amount of fascination and pride, he watched as the azure flames swallowed the teenager, and congregated into a sinister looking demonic form behind the black-haired teenager.

Arsène.

Good thing he hadn't stepped in, though he was about to. But also, dang, that costume looked badass. Not that Minato wanted one like it, though. He very much enjoyed his modest school uniform, thank you very much.

Akira felt so powerful. The new ability, the new comfort that flowed through his veins, somehow told him that this was his territory. It instilled him with confidence he knew wasn't his.

He couldn't care less. It felt euphoric, those blue flames licking at his face, where a mask had made itself present. They were refreshing, cool. He felt like nothing could stop him now.

Vaguely, he noted that the flames seemed to be the same from that plaza when he'd arrived the day before. Minato's familiarity and nostalgia with them brushed his mind, but he passed it in favor of pondering the current circumstances.

He was in a castle.

Probably not of his own world, hard as it was to believe.

Other people were being tortured in here.

He needed to leave. He and Sakamoto both.

Oh shit, he was late.

Also, he noted that Minato had been awfully silent the whole time, despite having a constant air of familiarity and confidence. Are you there? Akira thought.

Minato gave one of his trademark hums. "I don't know the way out."

Alright. Tell me if you notice anything, please?

The silence in response was confirmation enough, as he and Sakamoto plowed their way through the castle.

The… not-cat-thingy was awfully loud, Akira noted. And arrogant. Morgana, it was called.

Without much griping, Akira already knew he'd let the not-cat out, despite Sakamoto's protests. It wasn't going to do any harm to have an extra ally after all.

Morgana nya'd in triumph when he finally got out of the cage. "Finally! You have some potential!" Akira felt some small pride when the cat gestured to him. Morgana then turned to the blond. "You, not so much."

He could hear the small breath of faint amusement from his side, and recalled again that Minato was by his side. At that sound though, Morgana's head snapped towards him in a look of astonishment and fear.

As if he'd seen a ghost.

"Akira, who's next to you?" Morgana appeared entranced, bulbous blue eyes staring at the space to his left. It was a bit offputting, knowing there was nothing there to be seen, Akira thought.

"What do you mean?" Akira knew Minato was next to him, but Morgana couldn't see him… right?

"Denial unnecessary. He can see me," Minato replied from next to him.

His head snapped towards the right, where Minato's voice echoed from as well. "What?! He can see you?" He forgot to think it.

Sakamoto's eyebrows were furrowed in clear confusion. "What? Who? I don't see anythin'?"

Minato looked at the creature with some trepidation. Those eyes were… too similar to Ryoji's, Pharos's, for his liking. He was sure Morgana was otherworldly by some right, by the rings in the piercing blue orbs.

Well. He should at least be civil, even if he was a ghost.

"Arisato Minato. Nice to meet you."

Morgana's face scrunched up into one of abject confusion. "Nice to… meet you too? … Pardon my asking, but what exactly are you?"

Minato shrugged. "A ghost, you could say. You?"

A flash of hurt went through the creature's eyes, though he answered. "I'm not exactly sure myself. I know I'm human, but I have amnesia, so…"

Minato almost gave a look of incredulity at the suggestion that Morgana was human. Maybe he'd have a human form. But no. No way was he human, not with those eyes.

There was an awkward lull in the conversation. Minato didn't feel like saying anything, while Morgana scrutinized the blue-haired teenager's spectral form.

"You should probably continue finding an exit," Minato finally suggested. Morgana snapped out of his reverie.

"Ah, yea…" he said, looking back towards the two living high school students. His eyes gained back their confident glint. "Follow me!"

Through the entire time, Morgana, while keeping the role of a guide, couldn't help but think about the ghost — Minato, he said his name was.

He also couldn't help but feel oddly uncomfortable in his presence. It wasn't anything visible; to the best of his knowledge, the boy looked like any other high school student, if his pristine uniform was any indication.

Of course, the gun was… questionable. But not the weirdest thing Morgana had seen before. Maybe it was for self defense?

He didn't know that he was right in that line of thinking, just in the wrong way.

Anyways, besides maybe looking more emo than the average teenager, Minato gave an air of… insignificance, one could say.

In appearance only.

Truly, despite how he looked, Morgana could feel nothing when observing Minato besides the tugging feeling on his pit that there was something greater inside him. And that the something was not good.

It felt too close to a Shadow. But not quite. It wasn't a Shadow; it wasn't the culmination of negativity that Morgana knew so well.

But it was something similar, and Morgana didn't like it.

Regardless, there wasn't really much that he could do, probably, seeing as Minato was a ghost. Perhaps his cognition was there, since he was definitely present, but unless he had a Persona, he couldn't physically interact with anything anyways.

Common perception of ghosts after all said that they weren't corporeal.

With that in mind, Morgana stopped his fretting over this issue in favor of leading the new Persona-user and his idiotic friend out.

When they had finally found their way out of the torturous palace, both Akira and Ryuji had to take a moment to process just what the hell had just happened.

If what Morgana said was to be believed, then the school (which Akira was late to now, on his first day no less) had some bigger problems than they could deal with.

Ryuji, next to the very-done and annoyed black-haired teenager, was frantically speaking, "Dude! We have to go back! We can't just leave it be!"

And quite frankly, Akira agreed. He was no hero, but he was a more righteous person than most.

And Arsene was right.

He hadn't made a mistake. That night, that fateful moment, if he could've chosen again, he would have done the same thing. If his "rebellious spirit" as Morgana had called it was the origin of his Persona, then he'd go with it all the way.

He almost forgot in the middle of his mental tirade that Minato could listen to his every thought, but he still felt that niggling at the back of his mind as usual, indicating the ghost's presence… and it seemed he wanted to say something.

Anything to add? he thought.

A low reverberating hum of contemplation permeated the air.

"Lucky."

Akira had to narrow his eyes in frustration at his ghost friend. What part of getting stuck in a castle for the better part of a morning and then ripping off the top half of his face sounded lucky?

"When I awakened mine… I shot myself in the head."

…

What?

Akira massaged his temples.

I hope you know you're crazy, and we're definitely talking about this later.

As he turned to see two policeman, likely there to question why two Shujin Academy students were still on the streets in the middle of the day, he sighed.

"No objections," Minato added. Akira could hear the half-hearted shrug in his voice.

Hey! I'm not dead! Yay!

Sorry about leaving for so long. I had this in the works when I posted the last chapter but a plethora of things including but not limited to homework, my lack of inspiration/motivation to continue, and tests.

So I hope you enjoyed this chapter? I definitely plan on continuing this, I had like a good bank of ideas on this that I ended up digging up somehow...

Anyways, best way to keep me motivated is to leave a fav, follow, or review, so I know that you care. Thanks for reading!