Chapter 4: The First Persona User
Minato woke up and found him self in an unrecognizable room. "Did I spend the night at Yu's or something again. "No No, that can't be right I'm sure I went home after work yesterday" as this thought crossed his mind Minato tried to get up out of bed. He wasn't able to get up however because of something pulling him back down. He looked down to see that he was shirtless, witch wasn't what surprised him because he usually slept like that these days anyways, what did surprise him however was the arm warped around his waist. He shifted his position in the bed so that we could face whoever was holding him. A look of shock crossed his face when he turned to find Yukari sleeping next to him, her arms draped around him. Suddenly the events of the previous night came flying back to him. A smile crossed his face "Oh yeah, that happened, didn't it" he said out loud. Yukari hearing this slowly opened her eyes and smiled at him.
"What happened?" she asked still smiling.
"Huh, oh n-nothing I was just thinking out loud is all. Sorry I woke you".
"Its fine it looks bright outside anyways, we should probably be getting up".
Minato turned and noticed the bright beams of sunlight that poured into the room. "Who keeps their blinds up in there room? That's like asking to be woken up from the sun" he thought to himself. What time is it? I'm not late for work am I?".
A worried look crossed his face, witch Yukari immediately knew the reason for "Don't worry its Sunday your bakery is closed today right". She assured him.
"Oh yhea, thanks, you always seem to know what I'm thinking" Minato smiled back at her.
A slight blushed crossed her face and she looked away slightly "I-its just that you really only think about that bakery. Y-you don't even care about last night as much as your worried about getting over to that bakery of yours".
"T-that's not true. That's not true at all, I enjoyed last night its just that being late to work at a bakery you co-own would really suck you know...".
Just then Minato heard his ring tone set off from his phone as someone called him. "Saved by the bell" he thought. He leaned in and kissed Yukari on the cheek as he removed her arm from around him "better answer that" he said smiling at a blushing Yukari. He walked across the room, to where his pants where for some reason and got his phone out of his pocket. He slung his pants over his shoulder as he answered the phone.
"Hello".
"Hey, good morning bro" came Yu's voice from the other end.
"W-what do you mean good morning, its 11:30." said Minato checking the time on his phone.
"Well I just figured you just got up".
"How do you figure that, Sherlock".
"Ha well considering that its Sunday, and the fact that you love to sleep in late when given the chance, I just kinda assume.
"Well its not right to just assume things on just little evidence you know, for all you know I could have been up since 5:00".
"I'm right tho aren't I?".
"Y-yeah, lucky guess. Anyways what are you calling me for?".
"D-don't tell me you forgot. You said you would help search for the Velvet Room at Paulownia Mall with me today. Remember?".
"Oh yeah that's right. I'll be right there, just give me a bit to get ready. Alright?".
"Alright I'll meet you there bud." Yu said and hung up the phone.
Minato put his phone back into his pants pocket and went over to pick his shirt off the ground next to the bed. Yukari just frowned at him sitting up in the bed with her arms crossed. "What was that all about?" she asked.
"Oh, that was Yu. I forgot we had plans for today. Sorry but I have to get going, its kinda important". Minato responded slinging his shirt over his shoulder to join his pants.
"Fine. Go have fun with your friend" she puffed laying back down on the bed and rolling over so she wouldn't be facing him.
"Ummmmmmm, your not getting up?".
"No I don't feel like it yet. I'll get up in a bit. You better get going, I know you'd hate to keep Your best buddy Yu waiting" she responded pulling the covers up so that they almost covered her whole head.
After that Minato silently left the room, knowing better then to carry that conversation on any further. He took a quick shower and got on a fresh pair of clothes. He entered the kitchen nodded at Aigis who turned to see him from the couch in the living room, grabbed a plain bagel from a bag on the counter, shoved it in his mouth and exited the apartment.
Finishing his bagel in the parking lot, he checked to see if his motorcycle was working yet or not. He was pleasantly surprised to find it in a working condition. He got on and got the engine running. He exited the parking lot and drove to the mall to meet Yu.
When Minato got there he found Yu standing out front waiting for him. "Hey man whats up, where you waiting long?" Minato said greeting him.
"Nha, I just got here a moment ago, This place is a lot smaller then I thought it was going to be though".
"Yeah checking the spot where the door used to be will take like all of three minutes".
"So what should we do with the extra time, if its not there?"
"I don't know whatever you want I guess. There's a cafe in there that has great …..."
"MINATO IS THAT YOU!?" came a voice interrupting him.
Minato turned to where the voice was coming from to see none other then Ken running up to them. When he got close and realized that it was really Minato standing before him, he suddenly started to cry.
"I-its really is you Minato. Y-your alive, after all this time? I-I saw you die. H-how?" Ken asked all of this crying uncontrollably and clinging to Minato's arm.
"K-ken is that you? Man you've gotten taller, your like what 14 now?" Minato asked starting to find his tears amusing. It was almost to much for him. Did Ken really not know he was alive, even though he had been back a whole year already?
"No I'm 15 now. But never mind that, how did you come back? How long have you've been back? Do the others know that your back yet?"
Hearing this Minato finally couldn't take it anymore, he suddenly broke out into laughter. "K-ken. I-I've been back for a whole year man. Of course the others know I'm back. It was a big deal for a while man" Minato answered him between fits of laughter.
Yu watching this take place started to laugh a little himself. "Ken did you really not know that Minato was back?" he asked smirking.
"N-no, no one told me anything about this. You would have thought that Mitsuru, or Akihiko, or SOMEBODY would have told me". Ken said getting upset.
"Yeah you would think so wouldn't you?" said Minato wiping tears from his eyes. "I-I'm sure they just forgot" he said sending him into another fit of laghter, with Yu joining him.
Ken seeing the two laughing adults in front of him started to get more and more angry. "W-why wouldn't they have told me? That kind of thing is pretty important don't you think?"
"Yeah I guess it is. They probably just didn't think of you, I mean I barely remember you myself. Sorry I didn't tell you myself. I just figured you knew by now. Plus I didn't really care about seeing you again to be perfectly honest" Minato stated bluntly.
Hearing this depressed Ken slightly. "I haven't called any of them in about a year, so maybe that's why they forgot to tell me" he said down casting his eyes a bit.
"Hey don't be so upset about it kid. You know now don't you, and that all that matters in the long run. Hey I didn't mean what I said of course I wanted to see you again, we're old S.E.E.S buddys. I just couldn't because I've been keeping busy since I got back. I own a bakery, maybe you heard about it, its called Fool's Bakery, its downtown".
Cheering up "Yeah I've heard of that place. It's supposed to have great desserts and pastries there".
"Yep that's the one. Hey listen Ken, me and Yu are a bit busy right now; but why don't you come by the bakery some time and we can catch up a bit" Minato said trying to make him feel better but at the same time ditch him so that he and Yu could begin their search.
"A-alright that sounds nice, I'll stop by sometime then. See you guys later then".
"Bye Ken" said Yu.
"Later bud" said Minato.
The two then parted with Ken and entered the mall to begin their search, laughing to each other about Ken's lack of information on the way in. Once inside Minato led down the ally where the door to the Velvet Room used to be. However when they got to the end the quickly realized that the door was no longer there.
"Well what now, leader?" asked Minato raising his arms into the air.
"I don't know. For now why don't we just go to that cafe you mentioned earlier, and get some coffee".
"You read my mind. Lets go".
The two then went into Chagall Cafe and took a seat at one of the tables. They then ordered two cups of pheromone coffee at Minato's recommendation. While they were chatting and drinking their coffee however, the two suddenly felt a malevolent force watching them.
"D-do you feel that Yu? It feels like we're being watched" Minato asked nervously.
"Yhea, I do, and its not a casual glance either. Whoever is watching us intends to do us harm". Yu stated starting to tense up.
Minato slowly started to move his hand to holster to draw his evoker but Yu stopped him.
"Not here. We're in public, besides I don't think whoever's watching us is going to make their move on us out in the middle of public either".
"Then what should we do?".
"Lets leave and take this someplace with no one else around" Yu whispered back.
"Like where?".
"Lets go behind the mall and see if it takes the bait".
The two then payed their bill and exited the cafe. They quickly exited the crowded mall and began walking towards the back feeling the malevolent force following them the whole time. When they reached the back of the mall they realized that they where completely alone.
"That's strange it isn't showing its self and we left ourselves completely open for an attack" Minato said.
"Maybe its smarter then we gave it credit for. Its possible that it doesn't want to fight us together".
"Wrong I wouldn't mind fighting the two of you at once. In fact I think I prefer it that way, that way I can get a bit of a challenge out of it" Said a calm, deep voice coming from behind them.
The two wild cards spun around instantly hearing the voice, stepping into fighting stances. The figure now standing in front of them was a tall muscular man who appeared to be in his late 20's or early 30's. The man wore a long black trench coat that reached the ground, his left ear was pierced and he wore a silver earring in it. Long dark hair fell down over his face in long strands pushed aside so that they didn't cover his eyes that were a dark brown color that seemed to resonate with power, he stood in front of the two with a confident smile on his face.
"So here are the two fools that I've heard so much about. The two of you are suppose to be pretty strong persona users, or so I've been told".
"W-who are you?" asked Yu taken back from the powerful aura that was radiating from the man.
"Oh, where are my manners. I suppose I should introduce myself to the both of you before killing you". He spoke with sincerity. "My name is Naoya, and like the both of you I was also once a guest of the Velvet Room. I am the original persona user".
Upon hearing this both Minato and Yu recoiled in shock. "What did Igor never mention me? Well I guess he dose have that problem with using people for his own purposes and then throwing them away like trash and forgetting about them afterwords. But never mind that lets get this underway shall we?" Naoya said calmly raising his hand a tarot card forming above his palm. "Oh, I almost forgot we wouldn't want anyone to come accidentally stumbling in on our fight now would we?" and with that Naoya snapped his fingers, and suddenly the world around them changed.
Minato and Yu now found themselves standing in a large white room, with nothing else around them except for Naoya who was still standing in front of them with a smug smirk across his face.
"W-where are we? asked Yu, looking around at his blank surroundings.
"We're in, a plain of nothingness" answered Naoya.
"Yeah that sounds about right" answered Minato who spoke up for the first time since Naoya's appearance."I've been here before. This is the perfect place to kick your cocky ass".
Minato drew his evoker and put up to the side of his head. "Lets make this quick I'd like to get back to reality as soon as possible".
Seeing this Naoya's smile grew. "I would expect nothing less from the wielder of the Universe Arcana".
"Alright enough talk. If what you say is true, and you really are the first persona user, then I can't understand why your hurting people. But I don't care, all I care about now is beating you!" yelled Yu bringing his arm up the tarot card forming above his palm.
"Fine then, the time for conversation has passed. Persona!" called Naoya crushing his tarot card in his palm, sending a surge of power through his body. "Amon Ra" he called the name of his persona and it appeared ready for battle a large golden hooked staff in his hands. Minato stood in awe for a second at the power being given off from the persona in front of him before finally coming to his senses and pulling the trigger to his evoker. "Orpheus!" he called bring forth Orpheus and his harp. Yu followed suite crushing his tarot card. "Izanagi!" he called his persona from the sea of his soul and he appeared holding his sword in his hand.
"Amon Ra, take them" said Naoya calmly. His persona immediately surged forward towards the two wild cards. Yu seeing this decide to go on the offensive as well sending Izanagi out to meet Amon Ra in the middle. The two clashed together with the sound of metal hitting metal as Izanagi's sword went up against Amon Ra's staff. Minato seeing to two locked together took advantage of the situation and had Orpheus fly up behind Ra, preparing to bring his harp down over his head. Naoya anticipated this however and quickly had Ra knock Izanagi's sword out of the way. Ra spun around with lighting fast speed and harshly struck Orpheus in the chest with his staff, before he had a chance to use his harp. Orpheus shattered in the air and a sharp pain shot through Minato's chest. He gasped in grabbed at his chest in pain. "Is that all you have to offer me Minato, and you where the one who sealed Nyx. How pitiful" Naoya said mockingly. "Your fighting both of us. Keep your focus on me now!" yelled Yu having Izanagi send bolts of lighting flying at Ra. The bolts struck Amon Ra straight on causing him to shatter completely. For a brief moment a look of slight pain was visible on Naoya's face before it reverted back to his sinister smile. "That actually stung a little Narukami, but you'll have to do better if you want to beat me. Persona!" Naoya called re-summoning Ra.
"Fine then how about this" Yelled Yu making Izanagi transform. "Izanagi No Okami! Finish him". Izanagi No Okami held its blade with both hands and rotated it cuasing a great beam of electricity to shoot out from it, aimed directly at Naoya and his persona. "Seems you finally decided to stop holding back. So I'll stop too. "Amon Ra!" Naoya called out having Ra to hold up his staff and point it towards Izanagi and Yu. A great beam of fire erupted from the staff and collided with Izanagi's beam. The two great powers pushed back and forth on each other almost equal in strength. Minato stood and watched in awe of the spectacle before him, he felt powerless knowing of no way to help his friend. "enough toying with him Ra. FINISH THIS!" yelled Naoya. Suddenly Ra pushed a great surge of power through his staff and his beam completely enveloped Izanagi's. The beam devoured Izanagi No Okami and continued onward, engulfing Yu along with his persona. "YU!" screamed Minato seeing his best friend fall face first onto the ground following the blast.
He turned and faced Naoya anger boiling inside him "YOU. I've had enough of you!".
"What are you going to do about it?" asked Naoya smugly.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" yelled Minato putting his evoker back against his head. "THANATOS!" he yelled at the top of his lungs pulling the trigger.
From the deep within the sea of Minato's soul Thanatos the god on death emerged. He stood tall and powerful a sword sheathed at his side. "Destroy them" whispered Minato ordering his persona. Thanatos let out a great roar and charged towards Amon Ra, unsheathing his sword as he did so. Naoya himself was even slightly taken back from the power radiating off of Thanatos and almost didn't have time to counter the attack. "Ra!". He roared sending his persona to meet Thanatos in his charge. Thanatos' sword clashed against Ra's staff with a deafening clinging sound, stopping the two powerful personae in their tracks. "You think that pitiful staff can stop Thanatos' blade. I'll show you my power! Thanatos!" yelled Minato. Suddenly Thanatos cut completely through Ra's golden staff and sliced the persona in half. Ra's face showed a slight look of pain before the persona shattered completely. "Thanatos destroy him!" ordered Minato causing Thanatos to continue his assault this time directed at Naoya. "Impressive, it seems you've out powered my persona. However if this is all you can do you have no hope of beating me" proclaimed Naoya throwing back his coat, revealing a sheathed sword at his side. Thanatos brought his blade down towards Naoya, but Naoya quickly leaped away and unsheathed his sword. Without warning he sprinted past Thanatos with supernatural speed and struck Minato in the gut with the hilt of his sword. His concentration broke Minato was no longer able to keep Thanatos summoned and the persona dispersed. He stumbled back a few steps from the blow but his instincts allowed him to quickly recover. Naoya swung his blade towards him with skill aiming for his neck. Minato quickly swerved his body backwards and to the side narrowly dodging the blade. Naoya quickly pulled back his sword and once again trusted his hilt into Minato's gut. Unlike the last time however this time Minato completely buckled over from the blow leaving him defenseless. Naoya quickly struck him over the top of his head with the hilt of his sword sending Minato's unconscious body to the floor.
Naoya's smile vanished from his face as he observed his two fallen foes. "I thought they would be able to put up a better fight then that" he spoke. "hopefully they'll do better next time" and with that the white wold dissipated around them and he walked away leaving the two unconscious bakers on the ground behind him.
After awhile Minato began to slowly open his eyes to see himself being picked up off the ground. He opened them fully and turned his head to see that he was slung over Yu's shoulder and that he was carrying him over to the wall of the building. Yu sat him up against the wall and then slid down the wall next to him. The two just sat there for awhile gasping for breath until Minato broke the silence.
"So, I take it we're both still alive then?" he said still gasping.
"Seems like it" Yu responded back.
"Who the hell was that guy?"
"I-I don't know, I've never seen him before and Igor never mentioned anyone matching his appearance either".
"Well I would expect as much from him. I mean the guy never tells us anything".
"True".
The two then sat against the wall in silence until they had both recovered their strength and could stand.
"Why do you think he let us live?" asked Yu.
"I don't know but believe this, I'll make sure he regrets it" Minato said holding nothing but hatred for the man who put them in this condition.
They then walked back around to the mall parking lot and talked by their vehicles.
"Yu I have a favor to ask".
"Huh" replied Yu arching his brow. "What is it?".
"I need to you to come back to my place and help me look for my sword".
"S-seriously?".
"Yeah I have no idea where it is, and I don't want to ask Yukari or Aigis about it because they might get suspicious".
"So you want me to come back to your house and help you tear it apart looking for it?".
"Yeah, I really need my sword if I have to go up against that guy again".
"What are you going to tell the two of them when we burst in and start looking?"
"I don't think they'll be home, Aigis has Shadow Operative stuff to do probly and Yukari usally has things to do during the day, even on Sundays".
"Alright then I'll meet you there".
"Thanks man, see you then" said Minato leaping onto his motorcycle.
He then drove back to his apartment with Yu following behind in his car. Once they got there the two went inside. "Lets check Aigis' room first. She is the one who had my evoker afterall". Minato said starting down the hall towards Aigis' room.
"W-wait. don't you think its an intrusion of privacy to go into her room with out permission?" Yu asked nervously.
"So, who cares? Nobody is here except for us, so nobody will know except us. There for its perfectly fine" Minato said casually opening Aigis' door.
"Nobody else except for our consensuses".
"Your such a goodie two shoes. You said you would help, so help".
"Fine" Sighed Yu stepping into Aigis' room behind Minato.
The two then carefully ripped through her room, checking all of her drawers and underneath her bed, making sure to put everything back exactly as they found it so they couldn't get caught. "I don't think its here. We've check every where" said Yu wanting to leave.
"Not everywhere. Not yet, there's still the closet" said Minato pointing towards Aigis' closet which had a number lock on the door.
"I-I don't think we should open that. People put locks on things for a reason. Usually to keep other people out". Yu said trying to reason with him.
"And people open locks for a reason. Usually to get at whats inside" answered Minato fiddling with the lock. "What kind of code do you think Aigis would put in?"
"H-how should I know. I feel really bad about this man I think we should leave".
"Oh, I got it". Said Minato entering his birth date into the lock unlocking it. "Creepy" he said removing the lock form the door. "That bot really needs to get over me".
He threw back the closet door revealing a large assortment of boxes, most of which upon opening held weapons and ammunition. The two continued shorting through the boxes until they at last came across one that look like it would house a blade. Minato quickly undid the flaps and threw open the box, revealing inside, much to his amazement, his long loss silver one handed sword. "S-she really still had it. Is there anything of mine she didn't take after I died. Well I guess I have little room to talk, I did the same thing to Shinjiro when he died" he said removing the sword and unsheathing it. He slashed it through the air a couple of times to get a feel for it again and then re-sheathed it.
"Well we got your sword now what?" asked Yu.
"Now we put back all of these boxes, including this one" he answered pointing to the box the sword was once in.
"Oh, I get it, but we leave the sword out of it. That way you still have the sword but she doesn't know you took the sword" Yu said with pride in is voice.
"Ha, now your getting it, my partner in crime".
"Technically this isn't a crime because the sword dose belong to you" Said Yu not wanting to have done anything bad.
"Sure. You can look at it that way if you want".
The two then put back all of the boxes exactly as they had found them, closed the closet, put the lock back on, set it back to the numbers it was on before, and exited the room closing the door behind them. Minato then stashed the sword under his bed and the two went out into the kitchen and made themselves sandwiches. While eating at the table Minato spoke up.
"Hey bro we're not going to let what that guy did to us today effect our plans for tomorrow. Right?" he asked nervously.
"No way of course not. The donuts and kolaches are still a go. I'm not going to let anything stop that". Yu said smiling.
"Hell yeah. Screw Naoya, he can't stop the future. The future of bake sales" Minato said and then burst out into laughter Yu joining him.
"No, but seriously we're going to sell a lot of donuts and kolaches".
"Damn straight".
They finished the rest of their sandwiches in silence and then Minato bid Yu farewell because it was getting late, and Yu had things to take care of back at his house. Before he left though he gave Minato some advice.
"I'd be careful around Aigis. That fight we had with Naoya probably gave off large amounts of energy. I'm sure the shadow operatives are going to investigate the area. Their probably doing it right now. I'm just saying that shes probably going to be pretty suspicious of you. I mean who else but us can generate that much power".
"Yeah your probably right. I'll watch what I say around her".
"Good I'd do the same with Yukari too".
"W-why is that?" Minato asked becoming slightly flustered.
"She may not be an official member, but shes still on the Reserve unit. I'd just be mindful of what you say is all".
"I-I'll do that".
"Alright then, later man".
"Later".
After Yu was gone Minato slunk down on the couch exhausted. After a while his phone started ringing and checking the caller id he realized it was Yukari, he hesitantly picked up the phone.
"Hello".
"Oh good, you answered. Listen I need you to call Junpie".
"W-why would any one want that?" Minato replied laughing.
"Because hes the most annoying person in the world and he keeps calling me, to get me, to get you, to call him".
"Why doesn't he just call me?"
"Probably because you don't pick up".
"Oh yeah, I never unblocked him" Minato smiled at himself realizing that had been the reason Junpei hadn't called to talk about his wedding with him.
"Well whatever just please call Stupei. I have to go I'm really busy at the moment".
"K, love you bye" Minato said hanging up the phone before she could reply. "busy with Shadow Operative work no doubt" Minato thought to himself.
After a moment of hesitation Minato reluctantly dialed Junpei's number to talk to him. On the second ring he answered and immediately went on and on about how fun the bachelor party was going to be. Minato just agreed with whatever he said until he just wasn't able to take it anymore.
"Alright, alright already I get it, you want to have a fun bachelor party. Listen how bout all of us just go out drinking next month for it?" Minato asked completely worn out.
"That sounds like it could be fun. Okay we'll go over specifics some time closer to next month then. I can't wait man, this is going to be great. Just the five of us guys out hitting the town for the night, it'll be great". Junpei said excitedly.
"Yeah sure, and you said great twice by the way. Anyways I'll be sure to unblock you from my phone so I get your calls from now on. Bye".
"W-wait you blo..." Junpei started to say before Minato quickly ended the call.
After hanging up an extremely tired Minato went wobbling towards the shower. He took a quick hot shower, got dressed in his boxers and a T-shirt and got into his bed. He slowly closed his eyes, shutting out the rest of the world and welcoming sleep.
Later that night however Minato woke up to the sound of his door creaking open. He squinted in the bright light that came piercing in, trying to make out the figure in his door way.
"Minato, you awake?" came Yukari's voice traveling across his room.
"I am now" he groaned. "Not to be rude or anything but what do you want. Its late".
"C-can I sleep with you". She asked blushing.
"Sure why not" Minato said scooting over in the bed and lifting up the covers for her. She closed the door and slid in next to him in bed, getting as close as she possibly could to him. Minato let the covers fall down over her and warped his arm around her welcoming her closeness.
"You know my bed is way softer then this" she whispered.
"I'm not moving. I'm way to tired, but your free to go where ever you want".
"No, no this is fine". She said shifting slightly to get more comfortable. "Hey Minato" she whispered after a few seconds of silence stopping Minato from returning to sleep.
"What?" he responded slowly.
"I-I'm sorry about this morning. I said some rude things to you, and I want you to know I didn't mean them".
"No, don't be I was being pretty thoughtless myself, I didn't mean to blow you off like that. Now please let me get some sleep" he said starting to close his eyes.
"Minato" She whispered again forcing his eyes open.
"Yeah?".
"I love you".
"Love you too. Please go to sleep".
After that the two of them finally drifted off to sleep, Minato's arms never leaving her.