-Akira POV 4 Years After Rebirth-
Ever since awaking in the arms of Head Sister Kiyo, living in this new world has been similar to a fever dream. I didn't even feel this lost and unsure when I was exiled to Tokyo. Also I didn't have to deal with being fed scraps and having to survive day to day life in an orphanage as a weak 4 year old. The only solace to living here is the mother aura the nuns here admit thanks to the passion I can sense in all of them actually enjoying having to take care of us abandoned and lost kids. I can see the respect and admiration in the eyes of the elder kids here in the orphanage who help out with the scoldings and punishments of misbehaving kids out of respect for the nuns who they clearly view as family.
A loud annoying ringing shook me from my thoughts signaling the arrival of dinner. As I started to walk towards the mess hall I saw a nun walk through the doorway carrying a cowbell yelling it's time for dinner. I quicken my pace to the messhall to find me a seat before I get crushed by the raging stampede of hungry kids behind me.
I find my usual seat at the other end of the crowded mess hall where I waited for everyone to get settled so the nuns could start handing out the minuscule food that could barely feed a family of four supposed to feed a few dozen kids. While pondering over what excuse they were gonna come up with and tell us what this grey shlop was supposed to be made of this time I caught a glimpse of a familiar mane of blue hair belonging to someone I've come to know over the past 4 for better or for worse.
"You think it's gonna be edible this time?" asked Minato, as if on cue Sister Kiyo sat a bowl down in front of me, the bowl appeared to be housing mashed rice and broccoli into a grey and green mush trying its best to be visibly edible but appeared to be closer in consistency to cat hairballs than actual food. "Damn that cat for never doing that outside, I swear he did that just to piss me off." I mumbled, while Minato gave me a sidelong glance which consisted of his usual blank stare but intended on not pursuing a line of questioning after what I said.
"Well I hope it is this time because I don't want to get food poisoning unlike poor Oshima, I heard he's still bedridden in the infirmary." Said 'infirmary' was a repurposed bathing area since it was the only place with white tiles besides the kitchen that had enough room to house a bed for rest and a small cabinet for medical supplies.
I scoffed and took a bite of my mush before answering, "Doesn't matter if we can eat it or not. I'd rather end up dying of food poisoning than starvation, it would be quicker to puke or shit out my guts than become a skeleton cosplaying a little kid." Minato nodded sagely while I spoke and mumbled out something before eating suspiciously sounding like, 'Wise words Realist-Kun.' As we both settled into silence eating our meal I started to think on how malnourished everyone was in the orphanage from me and Minato to the nuns in charge we all looked like we were made of sticks and bones waiting for the Shinigami to come blowing down the doors to the orphanage any minute to take us with him to the afterlife.
Speaking of which it's been awfully quiet and I would assume it to be the same for Minato inside the Sea of Souls we both have. Gone are the voices and arguments of hundreds of deities and mythical beings with conflicting opinions and ethics and all that left was the whispered voice of Arsene sometimes breaking through the silence and the muted voice but undeniable presence of Satanael in my close to vacated Sea of Souls. This new world seemed to have stripped me of the power of all my Personas. I can still feel the connection I've made with all of them but it feels as if they're all covered in a shawl and just out of reach of the presence of my Sea of Souls and waiting to be let back in as if they were stolen away from home. I let out a quiet chuckle that seemed to unnerve the other Orphans around me at the table who've longed since finished their meals and started eyeing mine.
I quickly ate the rest of my meal while pondering over the Irony not being lost on me that I've been stolen away from my home twice now and being stripped bare mentally with the abduction of my Personas from the home of my Sea of Souls.
As I was standing up a hand grabbed onto my arm pulling me back into my seat. I quickly snapped my gaze to the culprit glaring into the blank silver eyes of Minato. "If you were paying attention instead of brooding Edgy Protagonist-Kun you would've heard that Sister Kiyo says we'll have to stay here for physicals from local nurses who work at the nearby hospital."
Ignoring the playful jab consisting of embarrassment aimed at my pride because of the name he came up with I settle more comfortably in my seat after Minato let go of my arm and made idle talk with the surrounding Orphans waiting for Sister Kiyo to return with what I presume to be doctors after making a quick scan of the mess hall and finding no sign of her.
After making idle chatter with those around me for a few minutes Sister Kiyo stepped back in the mess hall with two female nurses by her sides in green medical scrubs and gloves already on their hands and surgical masks tucked under their chins along with both carrying clipboards in each of their arms.
"Seems kinda odd that they would have surgical masks and gloves on for a simple physical" I whispered my thoughts to Minato who seemed to have an inquisitive glint in his eyes nodding along seeming to agree with my suspicions. As I was pondering over what this physical could entail my thoughts were interrupted by the two nurses calling out mine and Minato's names.
"May Akira and Minato Kurusu follow us to the examination room." I looked over at my twin and we both exchanged a silent conversation and got up and followed the nurses out of the mess hall and towards one of the Sisters currently vacated rooms since the nurse's office is still being occupied by Oshima.
As we were being escorted towards the empty I began to ponder on how me and Minato are related in this new world. We had to get restiredf at a hospital after we got dropped off and when the tests came back we were apparently siblings twins nonetheless despite us not looking anything alike or sharing any physical description besides having grey eyes, the only difference being mine are full of life and fire to rebel against the world his are dead to the world and filled with indifference. We both haven't talked much about our pasts but I would like to learn more about my partner in this new journey. I wonder what he had to go through to become dead to the world, but if he's a Wildcard just like me how did his journey end to make him keep that dead look in his eyes because even I still have a fire in me despite what's happened.
That reminds me that ever since being thrown to the wolves in this new world we haven't had any contact with Philemon. He did say the Velvet room still hasn't appeared in the years that we've been reborn. I hope that I don't have to wait years for it to manifest or else I'm gonna have to go without my equipment and Personas for years in this foreign world, and judging from how this world has started for me it's looking like I'm gonna need all the help that we can get.
Once again for what felt like the uppteenth time in the past hour as we arrived at the empty room with the two nurses. They took the measurements for our height and weight and asked question about "How are you eating," "Do you feel safe," and "How do you feel about living here" they seemed normal all thing considered since the state of this orphanage and our food situation left much to be desired but we answered them accordingly. Then things got weird when they asked us to hold out our arms so they could draw our blood.
With all the childlike curiosity and fear I could muster to make it believable that I'm still a 4 year old kid who would have a natural fear of needles with my childlike mask in place I asked, "Nurse-San what do you need my blood for I don't want to give you my blood if I don't have to."
She gave me a patient smile then gave me an explanation that shook my view on this new world, "It's to see what kind of Quirk you may end up manifesting, and quirks are like superpowers that you can get. You could grow wings, gain super strength, or be able to control fire, there are even people out there who have quirks from birth who change what they look like physically like being a frog or dog." As she explained these foreign concepts she was simultaneously preparing my arm with alcohol and preparing the needle while I was lost in shock at being thrown into a world based on western comic books like Batman and Superman.
I barely registered the prick in my arm as the nurse began to extract my blood and when I looked over to Minato to gain confirmation on what I just heard I nearly went into a panic attack as I saw his face. Minato was frozen with his eyes widened and slightly dilated and frozen in shock just as I was. The fact that Minato the statue and emotionless husk of a boy that I knew was just as shocked as I was about being thrown into a world of super powered individuals that most definitely consisted of Heros and Villans if that other deity had set up this world to stop us on our new journey.
After they took mine and Minato's blood they said Head sister Kiyo will get a message in the coming days on what our Quirks are and if we have a quirk. They also warned that if we do have Quirks they may not be able to identify what our Quirks can be since it can be more complex than what a blood test could show and would require physical tests then they would come back and test us and register our Quirks to the public Quirk registration.
As we began to walk back to the mess hall they left us with telling the next two orphans to report to them for a physical. That was the furthest from my mind at the moment as I began to brainstorm what having a Quirk could entail. It's obvious that Quirks are at least based on genetics since they asked for a blood sample and can base Quirk discovery off of it. So does that mean Quirks can be passed down or become mutated when a kid is born? If yes then what would Quirks mix when they're passed on? Could a totally new Quirk manifest separate from their parents Quirks manifest? Would my Quirk be Persona or would I gain a totally new power? Is the reason why my Personas are-
"Hey I know what we heard was a shock but are you okay? You've been thinking with this panicked and urgent look on your face as if you saw the Shinigami ever since we left the nurses." I stopped our walking inches away from the mess hall and put my hands on my head as I slowly shook it and started to take deep breaths. After I regathered my bearings I lowered my hands that ended up tangled in my hair and stared at Akira before addressing him, "No, no I'm not. We're gonna have to start thinking about our future together in this Journey soon or else we're gonna be lost in the chaos of this world."
Before I could continue Sister Kiyo stuck her head out of the mess hall and questioned how the physical went and quickly ushered us into the mess hall. I made eye contact with Minato and gave him a silent nod signaling we would discuss the future later, he gave a nod back in conformation and we began to converse with Sister Kiyo after we gave her the names of the next two orphans who were to meet with the nurses. She quickly called out the next two orphans giving them some reassuring words lost on my ears in the loud mess hall and we're sat down by Sister Kiyo who then began to talk about what happened during our physical.
"I hope you two wern't too scared usually when this happens kids come running to me about the needles when they take your blood." She seemed to give us a proud motherly smile as she questioned and comforted us. Despite her calm and motherly aura I could see in her eyes a sadness that stirred beneath the surface of the usually motherly visage in her eyes. I put back on my childish mask and asked her an innocent question. "Sister Kiyo, what's gonna happen to us when we get Quirks and become super strong? Are we gonna become heros like in the stories you read us?"
As I said that I saw her smile slightly falter that would've slipped by an average kid but was clear enough for me to see, she then tried to explain while unsuccessfully hiding her displeasure to me and Minato from the slightly worried look on his face."Oh i'm sure you will sweetie and you're gonna find a family that's gonna take great care of you and your brother here." I could sense a hidden meaning in her words as she cooed to us. There was no malicious intent in her tone; it was more… resignation? Why would she be resigned to us leaving shouldn't she be happy about us finding families and getting out of this clearly run down orphanage that even the sisters could admit to being a trashy dump?
After talking for a bit more she let us go and we went back to our table and MInato agreed on discussing things further in a more private and secluded location when we were not all stuck having to be in this mess hall.
Me and Minato continued to have small talk between us and the orphans around us until we were able to find a secluded spot under a tree behind the orphanage an hour before curfew in the orphanage.
We both sat there for a moment getting comfortable sitting next to each other under the tree digesting today's events before I started off with a sigh then I began to speak.
"We're gonna have to adapt to this new world quickly or else we're gonna be left here to starve in this orphanage. After that we're gonna need to do research on Quirks in this world to help prepare us for the inevitable fights ahead. Also we're gonna have to network with people outside the orphanage or else we're gonna be stuck here all our lives, and and and... " I let out a sigh after my speech started to devolve into panicked rambling. We need to try and make sense of this world that we're in and being a starving orphan definitely isn't helping our chances right now.
Minato Looked at me waiting to calm down and then began to speak when I calmed down enough for him to talk, "First off I think we should start to sneak out of the orphanage soon and try to gather food because staying here clearly isn't gonna cut it for much longer." We both gave a grimace at our current predicament being stuck as starving orphans clearly wasn't gonna get us far.
"I agree we need to worry that before anything, but before that I'm gonna need your help with something. Do you think you can help me snoop around the orphanage because this whole physical has gotten me a little bothered. The way Sister Kiyo was acting earlier has got me bothered. She seemed to be hiding something and it's clearly something that's gonna happen to us after we get our results back on our Quirks. Think you can help me with this?" I paused for a moment after I finished and then a smile slowly graced my face as I held out my hand towards Minato "Partner."
"I had the same feeling, glad to see we're on the same page. He gave me a smile that seemed to rarely grace his face as he took his hand and mine and we both shook hands "Looking forward to working with you Curly Haired Partner-Kun." His smile turned smug while he looked at me while I let out a sigh of exasperation.
"Only if you stop giving me this stupid nicknames deal?" I heard him briefly grumble about Tsunderes before letting go of my hand and giving me his affirmation, "Deal"
*CRASH*
Suddenly the loud and familiar sound of glass breaking echoed throughout the world along with the freezing of time. Next a familiar Voice echoed in the world reminding him of the god that put him in this situation.
I am thou, and thou art I…
Thou hast reacquired an old vow.
It shall become the wings of rebellion
that help thou challenge society
With the rebirth of the Fool Persona,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
shall lead to freedom and new power…
Something new happened that's never happened before suddenly a blue translucent Tarot card of the Fool started to float down in between me and Minato. I felt a strange compulsion to reach for it and I already raised my hand before I realized my arm started to move. As I touched the card another hand gripped it. I snapped out of my trance and saw Minato with a look of shock on his face as we both reached for the card. After a moment of staring at one another we both schooled our features and gave each other a nod before gripping onto the card harder which suddenly shattered and disappeared into shards seemingly to be made out of glass.
As the world returned to normal and time resumed around us we both stood frozen after what happened. As I was about to speak I became overcome with a raging headache that ended up feeling like it would split my head in two. The feeling was worse than when I first summoned Arsene. Before I knew it the devil himself began to speak to me as if he never left my side.
"I am thou, and thou art I
I have come once again to serve your noble cause
I shall be the symbol of your rebellion.
Come Trickster, reclaim that to which we have lost
take up your wings once more
let's change the world again
Do you accept?"
Before I could respond I heard a shout off to the side. I barely registered Minato going through the same pain as I as he seemed to manifest a Persona that shared the same face as Minato with a teal mechanical body reminiscent of a robot with a giant lyre on its back.
"I am thou, and thou art I
I come again to play the music of life
I shall serve once more under you.
Messiah, let's lead the people to a new golden age
You shall once more lead the ignorant masses
With me by your side
What is your answer?"
As one we both screamed out against the injustice in the world, to less fortunate, and to the success of this Journey raw emotion came from the both of us as we roared out our answers with the skies darkening around us and wind coming from the both of us as raw powered exuded from us and our Personas.
"I ACCEPT!"
"I ACCEPT!"
Afterwards all I heard was the maniacal laughter of Arsene as he slowly started to dissipate and return to my Sea of Souls. I suddenly was hit with a wave of exhaustion as the effects of summoning a Persona again finally hit me.
Right as I passed out I recognized many of the children and nuns staring at the door to the orphanage with some of the kids staring at us with wonder and the rest staring with fear along with the rest of the nuns.
As I was on the verge of losing consciousness with my body prone on the floor I couldn't help but let loose a smile knowing that soon mine and Minato's luck will turn around with us regarding our Personas.
A/N: Sorry for the slightly shorter chapter but this was a great place to leave this off. Don't worry, the next chapter is gonna be longer along with maybe a timeskip or two to help make up for this being a shorer chapter. Sadly this is probably gonna be the last chapter for awhile since Persona Royal is coming out in two days and I'm gonna be playing that religiously. BTW screw all you Ausies since you guys got the game early since they dropped the steelbooks and opened up the playstation store early because of Corona.
*Sigh*
Anyways I'm probably gonna do at least a main and NG+ run before I get back to writing. Doesn't help that I'm starting to get work from online classes now too but I'll try to stay with this since I've started. Also I'm looking to make another Fic soon but it's gonna be a Yu-Gi-Oh one. If you guys are interested in GX then be on the lookout for that in the near future hopefully. Also I fixed the line breaks in the last chapter. Anyways everyone has a good one and stays safe. And thanks for all the fav and follows 3