A/N: And here we are at another chapter. Just on a random note, there is something weird about the dates of the videos I am watching of P3 FES and P3P, which is why the dates are whacky. Anyways, I know the pace is grinding. Trust me, I didn't think it would be April 8th, 7 chapters in. Ah well, I like to explain the thinking behind characters and some subtext as well. Though, at the current trajectory this could take a long time to finish, but my enthusiasm is still there. This chapter turned out a bit longer than I intended, but I wanted to finish April 8th. I think that's it for now. I'm still working on things stylistically. If you have questions, concerns, or whatever feel free to ask. Thanks for the reviews!
Thanks to greyarts for reminding me that pacing could be a problem and to rEpose for continuing to beta this story.
Update 1: Fixed the awkward phrases as noted by sillyfudgemonkeys. Apparently, I spelled Ikutsuki wrong... all 22 times... ahaha.
Final Update: Thanks for beta reading rEpose!
Reader Reviews:
sillyfudgemonkeys: This is a preëmptive thanks if you find more stuff I goofed on haha. I did like the milk part as well. It was just a random tidbit that I wanted to include in the previous chapter. I think Hamuko can see when Minato is lying a bit too obviously because she's known him the "longest" since in the prologue they met. Glad you liked the friction too and just the interactions between characters. Minato can't really have a new game plus, super easy mode without the power of the Wild Card telling him to answer one way or another. And I think Minato knows Junpei at his most vulnerable like when Ryoji tells them they will all die. Minato knows that what Junpei does is part of an act because of his father's alcohol abuse. And yeah, it is a careful balance as I don't want Minato to be like I know everything versus I am the greatest pathological liar ever. I think that's it. Thanks for continuing to read!
arronvang69: Partly yes. It is also because she feels guilty because her grandfather killed the young Minato in this time. But, she is confused because the current Minato seems to be the same person. I'm confused as I'm typing this, but I think you get the gist.
arkbar22: I think Minato has to at least try. His background, or lack thereof in this timeframe makes him on thin ice… bad reference to Mitsuru, but I digress. Minato does not yet know about his history in this timeline. It will probably be a friction point until he finds out and resolves it with Mitsuru. Thanks for the review again.
Guest: Me too, aha. The life at school was one of the major things that got me interested in Persona 3 as I was playing the game the first time. It will be an adventure since he can't really "cheat" with his Wild Card powers anymore. I think the next question is answered in the chapter written below.
Starter: I'm glad you liked the twist! It took me a while to put it together where it would be actually believable and make a decent backstory for Minato.
DeathChaos25: It's good to see another review from you. Yes, he no longer has the ulterior motive for leveling up his social links. He'll have his up and downs just like any other person in relationships. At first, I think his caring about his teammates is partly driven because he has nowhere else to go in this world. Over time, I think he will slowly open up and will develop relationships that are not grounded in social link subterfuge, but just caring about the people around him.
Chapter 7: Contract
April 7, Tuesday (Outside Iwatodai Dormitory, Dark Hour)
Minato P.O.V.
The Dark Hour was closer to ending, as far as Minato could tell. He wondered what was going through Mitsuru's mind now. She really got worked up easily around him it seemed. Minato was starting to get tired because the adrenaline of using his Persona was wearing off. After a while, Mitsuru seemed to regain her composure and spoke to him.
"Arisato-kun, you said that you would be willing to help me. I don't really know much about you, yet you seem to know so much about the Dark Hour already."
"I can help you fight the Shadows; that's enough, isn't it?"
"Yes, I suppose. But, you aren't telling me everything are you?"
"Like what, senpai?"
"How did you obtain your Persona?"
"I'd rather not say, but you could say I awakened to it naturally."
This seemed to stop Mitsuru's line of questioning for a moment. Then it continued.
"Did you have any unusual circumstances occur to you as a child?"
"No, not really."
"When you say you awakened your Persona naturally, how and when did it happen? My personal case was because I wanted to protect my father from the Shadows." Mitsuru grabbed her left arm and looked downwards as she said this. Minato knew what this gesture meant. He only saw her do this when she was genuinely feeling down.
"Well, it was…" Minato's voice trailed off. His instincts were screaming to him that he had messed up enough for one night. He needed to cut the conversation off. "Senpai, you should get some rest. We both have class tomorrow. I know you aren't really satisfied with my answers, but it is what it is. You need all the help you can get against the Shadows, I know that much at least."
Minato walked toward the front door of the dormitory without looking back.
Hamuko P.O.V.
Hamuko couldn't hear all of what Mitsuru and Minato were saying, as they were too far away from her bedroom window. However, she could hear parts of the conversation, and from what she could see with her eyes, was plenty. Hamuko could see that Minato had summoned that flying dog monster again, just like the night before.
"You know it isn't nice to spy on people," a voice said.
Hamuko almost fell out of the window in surprise. After pulling her head back into the room she saw by an eerily dressed boy. He couldn't be older than seven or eight years old she guessed. His outfit made Hamuko think about prisoner outfits. Yet, his eyes were probably his most striking feature. Their cobalt nature reminded Hamuko of Minato.
"Well, it isn't nice to break into a girl's room either," she retorted. Strangely enough, the door remained locked and Hamuko was sure she would've heard someone breaking in.
"Oh, but I'm always with you." He smiled a bit, and Hamuko thought this was creepier than before. "I wanted to see you yesterday, but I wasn't able to. That made me really sad."
"Yesterday?"
"Yes, I can only visit you during this time," he replied.
Hamuko tried to collect her thoughts. This boy said he only appeared during this time when strange phenomena seemed to occur.
"What do you know about this time of day?"
"Nothing much, but if you want to learn more you should sign this contract." He held out a piece of paper to Hamuko.
Hamuko skimmed the contract and noticed that it did not have any fine print. In fact, the only words on it were "I chooseth this fate of my own free will."
"Wait, what's the catch?" Hamuko said as she looked up from the paper. She had no idea what she was signing up for. It just all seemed too vague.
"There's no need to be scared. It only binds you to accepting full responsibility for your actions."
"That still doesn't really answer my question," she said raising an eyebrow at the boy.
"But don't you want to know what's really going on with your friends?"
The boy's words annoyed Hamuko. Of course she wanted to know what was really going on. Everyone seemed to have something to hide in this dormitory.
"Fine, I'll sign it." Hamuko pulled out a pen from her bag and signed Hamuko Arisato in big, loopy handwriting.
"Very well." With that the mysterious boy melded into the shadows and vanished.
Not really sure what to make of it all, Hamuko decided to try to go back to sleep.
April 8, Wednesday (Gekkoukan High, Afternoon Session)
Minato P.O.V.
Minato let out a sigh.
His conversation last night with Mitsuru was a debacle the more he thought about it. What in the world had he been thinking? Was Mitsuru always this hard to deal with? Minato no longer had the power of social links it seemed. Otherwise, he was sure he would've had an easier time talking to people. There weren't any easy answers anymore it seemed.
He doodled on his notebook as Ms. Toriumi continued to lecture about authors she liked. Suddenly, she snapped at Junpei and asked him who her favorite author was. Hamuko told Junpei the answer was Utsubo Kubota. Yukari just rolled her eyes at Junpei.
All of his classmates really had no idea how fleeting their time was. Then again, how could they? Minato missed messing with Kenji and Kazushi. Had he only gotten to know people because they strengthened his social links? That sounded rather selfish, but also true.
Minato stopped doodling. What had happened on April 8th anyways? He racked his brain trying to remember. The answer came to him and it wasn't one that he particularly liked. This was the day that he first met Ikutsuki. It wasn't like Minato could do anything about Ikutsuki today anyways. It was a bad idea to open with hostilities as Ikutsuki was the Chairman of the school.
Class ended and the bell rung. Minato needed to clear his head and decided he would go visit the Velvet Room. He quickly packed his things and was about to leave his desk when someone grabbed him on the arm. It was Hamuko.
"Hey, can we walk home together?" she asked.
Minato wasn't sure how to respond because he didn't really want to meet Ikutsuki just yet.
"Sorry, Hamuko. I have to go somewhere," he said. Minato was trying hard not to sound like a jerk.
"Well, then can I go with you to wherever you're going then?"
"Um, not really."
Immediately, Minato could tell that he had said the wrong answer. Hamuko's smile turned into a frown.
"Fine!" she grabbed her bag and pushed past Minato out of the class. The rest of the class watched in amusement.
Even Ms. Toriumi let out a small cough trying to stifle a chuckle.
"Dude, what's wrong with you?" Junpei exclaimed. "I would be the first in line to walk Hamuko home."
"I wouldn't expect anything less of you Junpei," Minato replied.
With that Minato proceeded to leave and took the train to Paulownia Mall. He walked underneath the Karaoke Bar, Mandragora, which had the alternate entrance to the Velvet Room.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room," Margaret said.
Igor was in his usual spot and Margaret was beside him.
"Do you remember everything from our last meeting?" Minato asked Igor uncertainly taking his seat.
"Yes, of course. Why would we not?"
"I just wanted to make sure Igor. I did return to the past after all."
"The Velvet Room is not impacted by the outside world," Igor said.
"So, I wanted to ask about my social links."
"I recall telling you that they would not remember you, my young man."
"Right, but why am I finding it so difficult to build relationships with them again?"
"That is because you only hold the power of a specific Arcana now," Margaret interceded. "I thought that would be obvious." She said this with a bit of frostiness.
"So, I can easily build relationships with people who have the Hanged Man Arcana? The only person that I remember having the Hanged Man Arcana is Maiko." Minato was hoping he didn't sound like a child asking obvious things repeatedly.
"You are relying too much on the power of the Wild Card," Margaret said. "You can no longer depend on its power to guide you to the correct answer. Just like any other individual you have to slowly gain the trust of those around you."
This had been Minato's hunch, but Margaret's answer was discouraging. Trying to change the subject Minato could see that Margaret had a book in her lap called "Le Grimoire."
"Is that book similar to the Persona compendium Elizabeth always had? I don't remember it having a name though."
"It performs a similar role, but I imagine you would wonder why you need it anymore."
"Well, yeah considering I can't use the compendium to recall different Persona now."
"Let me show you then." Margaret opened the book and Minato saw small moving photographs of himself in an elaborate sketchbook. He examined one of the photos closely and recognized it was the time in the hot springs where he narrowly avoided Mitsuru's execution and laughing afterwards. He tried to figure out what was going on in the other photos, but Margaret abruptly closed it.
"These are your memories from the past. They may not seem useful, but they hold the key to understanding how you shape your destiny moving forward."
"I don't really get it." Minato was not really sure what Margaret was hinting at.
"The Velvet Room is inseparable from the heart of its invited guest. Its contents are not an exception. Therefore, Le Grimoire will display the memories associated with what feelings are deepest in your heart. It will recall the events that you have witnessed with unerring accuracy."
"Why should I care though? I mean, it is nice to remember things but, it isn't like people are going to magically remember everything I've been through with them." Frankly, Minato felt the book was a bit on the useless side.
"My young man, I think by now you would have realized the connection everything has," Igor said.
Igor probably had a point, but Minato wished he could be a bit more specific in his cryptic warnings. As if he read his mind Igor continued on.
"Just because you no longer have the power of the Wild Card does not mean you cannot build relationships. The power of a social link is two sides of the same coin. Otherwise, how could the ones from before have heard you in your hour of need and given you the power of the Universe? Think of the end in mind before you act. That is the best advice I can give you considering the limited time that you have."
Igor's words were a lot to chew on. Minato almost forgot that he needed to leave the Velvet Room and get back to the dorm.
"We will always support you, regardless of the choices that you make," Igor said. "We just thought that this would help you better understand what actions to take and more importantly what actions not to take."
Igor rubbed his gloved hands together.
"Of course, there will be a small fee to use the service."
"I already figured that one out Igor," Minato said somewhat sarcastically rising out of his seat and heading toward the door.
"Until we meet again," Margaret said.
Minato walked out of the Velvet Room and opened the door back to Paulownia Mall. As he stepped forward, he was temporarily blinded by the sunlight and crashed into something.
"Ow, you jerk, look where you're going!" some said angrily.
Minato had walked headlong into Hamuko and smacked foreheads together. He rubbed the spot where their heads collided and hoped it wouldn't form a welt later.
"Hamuko, why were you standing there?"
"I was following you obviously." It seemed Hamuko was impervious to pain because her forehead remained red.
"What for? I told you I had to go somewhere."
"It's your fault for making me curious in the first place Minato," she said irritably. "How did you disappear and reappear out of thin air though? Is this a magic trick?"
"You probably just weren't looking carefully enough. Well, I'll see you." Minato was about to walk away from Hamuko, but she grabbed his arm.
"You aren't getting away that easily. You owe me a walk home remember?"
There was no escape from this girl it seemed. She was persistent.
"Alright, I guess I don't have anywhere else to go."
Hamuko released Minato's arm and they began to walk toward the dorm.
"Why is everyone at the dorm a liar?" Hamuko said.
"What do you mean? And why am I included in that?" Minato tried to sound indignant.
"All of you do stuff when I go to my room. Everyone tells me that I should go to sleep early."
"Well, maybe they're just concerned about you." Minato saw a pebble and kicked it in front of the path they were walking.
"Look, Minato," she said, suddenly. "I know you can summon a dog monster thing. I'm not stupid. It's called a Persona. Am I right?"
Minato hadn't expected her to know about Persona already. He nearly tripped over the pebble somehow that he had kicked earlier. Had she already been to the Velvet Room? It was too early. He decided to just shrug his shoulders.
"You'll know eventually. I wouldn't worry about it too much." He tried his best to sound disinterested in the topic.
"Why aren't you telling me? Is it because I'm a girl?" Hamuko puffed up her shoulders, which for some reason Minato thought was cute.
"Yes, if that'll stop you from asking me 20 questions, Ms. Arisato."
"Hmph, I'll figure it out on my own then. Thanks for nothing Minato!"
"You're welcome. Now, if you'll excuse me, I can go to my room in peace."
They had arrived at the dorm and entered the lobby. Hamuko didn't look particularly happy, but Minato had to stonewall Hamuko's barrage of questions the best he could.
(Dorm Lounge, Evening)
Hamuko P.O.V.
"Oh, they're back," Yukari said. She was with the man of the hour.
"So, these are our new guests…" Ikutsuki said.
Hamuko saw a middle-aged man in circular glasses that fell down the bridge of his nose. This gave him an elderly appearance and along with his long hair, black turtleneck, and brown suit, he looked like a poor facsimile of a hipster.
"My name is Shuji Ikutsuki. I'm the Chairman of the Board for your school. I apologize for the confusion regarding your accommodations. However, it may take a while longer before you receive the proper room assignment. If you have any questions for me, feel free to ask."
"It's nice to meet you Ikutsuki-san. I'm Minato Arisato." Minato gave Ikutsuki a firm handshake and looked him right in the eye.
Hamuko thought Minato was acting like this was an interview.
"Hi, I'm Hamuko Arisato. Nice to meet you Ikutsuki-san." Hamuko wasn't going to let Minato get all the glory.
"It's good to see such enthusiasm out of you two," Ikutsuki said while flashing a cheesy smile. "Is there anything that you'd like to ask?"
Hamuko didn't know who was worse. Minato or Ikutsuki. However, Hamuko wasn't going to let this opportunity to ask some questions slip away.
"Chairman, why did you bother coming here? I'm sure you're a pretty busy person."
"To welcome you two, of course. By the way where's Mitsuru, Yukari?"
"She's upstairs."
"As diligent as always, though it wouldn't hurt to come down and say hello. Do you have another question?"
"I saw something strange the other night," Hamuko said. Apparently, this got Minato's attention and he began to slightly shake his head slightly, side to side.
"You saw something strange? Like what?" Ikutsuki brought out that cheesy smile again. Yukari eyed Hamuko in an odd manner as well.
"You were probably tired. I wouldn't worry about it. It's bad for your complexion, you know." Ikutsuki tried to pass it off, but Hamuko could definitely tell something was amiss. Judging from the reactions of Minato, Yukari, and Ikutsuki there was definitely something she wasn't realizing.
"Then, I hope you have a successful school year. Now, if you'll excuse me. Both of you must be tired from all the excitement. You should go to bed early." Ikutsuki got up and left the dorm.
There it was again, Hamuko thought. Everyone wanted her to go to bed early. Was it so that she would not be awake during that weird time?
After Ikutsuki had left, Hamuko started to talk to Yukari.
"Yukari, is Ikutsuki always like that?"
"What, you mean with the lame jokes and puns?" Yukari said. "I mean, they are pretty terrible, but that's just who he is."
"No, he just doesn't really seem forthcoming."
"I'm sure he has his reasons, Hamuko."
"By the way, Yukari. Why does everyone in this dorm tell me to go to sleep early?" Hamuko asked while staring at her nails. Even without looking at Yukari she could tell this question was giving her trouble.
"We're just worried that you're tired from school and moving to a big city. That's all."
"Are you sure it isn't so that I don't look outside when that time of night comes again? What's really going on?"
"Hamuko, I'd love to continue to chat, but I really need to get my homework done. I'm sure Minato can answer what questions you have left. Right, Minato?" Yukari went upstairs without waiting for an answer.
Hamuko didn't want to deal with Minato so she just decided to go to her room as well.
Hamuko decided to continue unpacking her stuff from the boxes she brought. Eventually, she decided after finishing her homework that she could finish unpacking over the next few days. There was a lot on her mind.
"That chairman guy. He didn't answer my questions directly when I told him that I saw something strange. What am I missing out on? Yukari, Minato, Mitsuru, and what's his name… Akihiko. They all won't tell me anything!"
Hamuko was getting a bit watery-eyed not out of sadness, but anger. That feeling of being excluded just made her furious. Hamuko experienced ridicule incessantly because she was an orphan growing up moving from place to place. The other kids had left her alone because they thought she was abnormal and never did anything with her. Was she that different from everyone else?
Minato P.O.V.
Minato felt really depressed as he paced the corridor outside his room. Hamuko had only come to him to ask him questions about what was going on during the Dark Hour. If he were in her shoes, he knew he would've felt the same. Between the monsters and people in the dorm lying to her face, Minato wasn't sure which was worse. Minato noticed the blinking red light of the hidden camera as he entered his room.
Taking a notebook out of his bag and his favorite black pen Minato slowly walked downstairs and sat on the sofa. It was around an hour or so before the Dark Hour. Igor and Margaret had said that he was taking the wrong approach in trying to build his relationships with people so far. Not having the Wild Card as a crutch for what to say was really troubling. It really seemed like that all he could do was to pick out specific relationships that would give him the best chance of changing the result.
But, really where to start? He began jotting his thoughts down. Nyx, according to Metis, had been neither good nor evil. She was merely responding to the call of humans seeking their own utter destruction. Of course, Death had played a major role in becoming Nyx's avatar. Minato was certain that Death resided in Hamuko even now. Beating Death in his current state was next to impossible Minato thought. Think of the end before you act…
Strega was obviously not good for society's chances against Nyx. But Minato had no idea what they had been up to during this early part of the year. The revenge website did not even exist at this point. However, the cult that Jin and Takaya would eventually start was probably one of the biggest problems he would need to take care of.
Minato started twirling his pen absent-mindedly. He started to yawn and covered his mouth with his hand.
"Great job Minato. You're hopeless," he muttered as he dozed off.
Mitsuru P.O.V.
Mitsuru and Yukari were in the control room upstairs. Ikutsuki entered the room.
"Working hard? So, how're they doing?"
"Arisato-chan already went to bed. She's asleep now," Mitsuru said. "Mr. Chairman, do you think she is?"
"Well, let's wait and see for now. But, what about Minato-kun?"
"He's not in his room," Yukari said.
"Where is he then?"
"We aren't really sure. Mitsuru and I saw him enter and leave his room."
"With the curfew in place, I'm sure he is still in the dormitory," Mitsuru added.
"Go find him. Now. We need to find him before the Dark Hour starts!" Ikutsuki said this in a voice different from his usual carefree tone.
"Takeba, you stay here and help the Chairman watch Arisato-chan. I will go find Arisato-kun."
"O-okay, Mitsuru-senpai."
Mitsuru hurried down the stairs. Minato was nowhere in sight on the second or third floors. There was no way that Minato could have known he was under observation. Once she was downstairs she saw him on the sofa. As she got nearer, she could tell that he had fallen asleep.
Mitsuru couldn't help but smile at his appearance with his mouth slightly open. Unsure of whether to wake Minato up right then and there, Mitsuru noticed that there was a notebook near Minato's left arm. Then, the Dark Hour arrived. Mitsuru got closer to Minato unable to see that well, when his arm involuntarily released the notebook and the notebook hit the ground. She could see that there was some writing in black ink that had not completely dried yet.
Mitsuru picked up the notebook and began to read. Nyx, Strega, Death, Metis, and Hamuko? How were these things related? Death was inside of Hamuko? Was this a code?
Unable to figure out what Minato's notes meant, Mitsuru put the notebook back where it originally was and went back to the control room.
"Mitsuru did you find him?" Ikutsuki asked.
"Yes, he is sleeping in the lobby through the Dark Hour. He isn't showing any outward signs, but is definitely experiencing it."
"I see. That is great news. The only question now that remains is if both have the potential. Although, they must have it. Otherwise, the Shadows would have preyed on them by now. In any case we should continue to monitor them for the next few days."
"Yes, sir," Mitsuru said.
Hamuko P.O.V.
Hamuko was zooming through a darkened room. The only thing visible was the checkered black and white tile at the bottom. She saw a door, saw was going too fast, she was going to crash! At the last moment, the door swung open.
Hamuko squinted her eyes and looked around her. It was the first time she had ever been to such a place. The room she was in had velvet carpeting and a door that was visible on either end. The room seemed like an elevator going up a building. There was a clock that kept on whirling endlessly and made Hamuko feel queasy just looking at it. This was definitely a realistic dream because all of her senses seemed to work well.
At the center of the room sat a formally dressed old gentleman with a white handkerchief out of his suit pocket. His huge nose and protruding eyes were the most distinct features on his face.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room. Please, have a seat. My name is Igor… and I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter… Only those who have signed the contract can enter this place…
Hamuko proceeded to sit in a chair in front of Igor.
Igor conjured a piece of paper out of thin air. Indeed, it was the contract the young boy had given to Hamuko before.
Henceforth, you shall be welcome to the Velvet Room. You are destined to hone your unique ability, and you will require my help to do so… I only ask for one thing in return… that you abide by the terms in the contract, and assume responsibility for the choices that you make."
"My unique ability?" Hamuko said. "How did I even get here in the first place, Igor?"
"I summoned you from your dreams. You are still sleeping in your bed in the real world. As for your unique ability, you will come to understand it quickly. Your time here is short today, but before you go I would like to meet my assistant." Igor snapped his fingers and Hamuko observed the right door swing open revealing a tall woman wearing an interesting hat.
Her white hair framed her face in a bob with bangs covering her forehead. Her outfit consisted of various shades of blue including knee-high boots, gloves, and a one-piece dress. The dress caught Hamuko's attention because of the unusual design down the middle of concentric circles.
"How do you do. My name is Elizabeth."
Hamuko felt something fall into her pocket.
"The Velvet Key will allow you access to this room," Igor intoned. "The next time you visit the Velvet Room will be of your own free will. Until we meet again."
The Velvet Room disappeared from Hamuko's mind.
