Title: Persona Universal World
Chapter Two: Minato Arisato, The Lost Arisato Twin
Minako got off the train to see her cousin Naoto Shirogane. "Hey Naoto, How are you doing?" The first-year high schooler asked her cousin.
"I'm doing well. What of you Minako-Niichan?" The young detective "prince" greeted their cousin. To the public they were known has a boy but to their family they were known for who they really were.
"I'm doing fine. We should head to the estate. Aunt Megumi and Uncle Toshiyuki are probably waiting for us there with Minato-Niisan." Minako smiled has they walked out from the station. A servant was waiting for them outside and drove them back to the estate where the currant head of the family Kinzo Shirogane was waiting for them.
"Welcome home Minako-chan. How have you been. You've been keeping up with your studies correct?" Kinzo asked his granddaughter.
"Yes Grandfather. How is Minato-Niisan doing?" Minako asked softly. She didn't even try to hide the concern in her voice for that matter. She knew it would have been detected and she was tired from the train ride. She just wanted to see her brother.
"He's… not fully alright. But that's to be expected when the secret organization he was with experimented on him. Fortunately their doesn't seem to be any permanent damage but it's best that he returns to Iwatodai with you went the next school year starts." Kinzo smiled at his granddaughter reassuringly
"Thank you grandfather. About the dark hour case. May we talk about it later over some tea?" Minako asked her grandfather with a smile.
"Of course, go see your brother. I'll be waiting in the parlor after you're done." Kinzo nodded. Minako then headed through the familiar halls of the estate and made her way to her room to drop off her bags and then went across the hall to find her brother resting in his bed. She took a moment to gather her thoughts before entering the room quietly.
In the center of the room was a young man with blue hair in what appeared to be a hospital gown. Normally patients would be stuck in the hospital but Minato was an exception do to the circumstances. The brown haired girl walked carefully over to her brother. Making sure her footsteps were loud enough to be heard and noticed, but quite enough that it didn't startle him. She remembered the night with Sinjiro after Ken's mother died to his persona and how it went berserk because of the drugs that the scientists of those rogue Kirijo group members gave him. She had went to the hospital the next day to see if he was alright. He wasn't and Minako could tell that by the look on his face. And it was the same one her brother wore now.
She sat down beside him and smiled like always. "Welcome home Minato-Nii!" She smiled has she hugged her brother. Minato flinches for a moment before hugging her back.
"Minako…" Minato called out quietly. Tears flowed down her face she was happy to have her older twin back. That night after dinner Minako sat in her grandfather's office.
"So Minako. Your studies seem well but I'd like to know about your progress in your investigation into the dark hour. How has it been going?" Kinzo asked his granddaughter. Minako simply pulled out a file and showed it to him.
Case Number: 13MAS
Case Name: The Dark Hour Phenomenon
Client: Minako Arisato
Investigator(s): SEES (Specialized Extracurricular Extermination Squad)
Date Investigation started: April 7th 2003
Date Investigation ended:
Case Type: Supernatural Phenomena
Kinzo looked at the file and focused on the most recent report added to the document. It was just the normal report of shadows that wondered outside of Tartarus didn't cause any problems and how they were taken care of.
"I see… Nothing new to report. That's to be expected due to the nature of this Dark Hour. Thank you Minako continue your work. Hopefully we can finally get some closure has to what happened to your parents." Minako smiled and nodded
Meanwhile Minato was in Minako's room. They had decided to have a sleepover with Naoto to celebrate his return. He wanted to do something nice for Minako so he decided to help her unpack. That's when he found a file.
"What's this case about?" Minato wondered. Normally he would just put the file away if it wasn't one of his cases. However in the file their was a picture of a man who he recognized. Minato opened the file fully and looked inside.
Case Number: 23MAS
Case Name: Aragaki Disappearance
Client: Akihiko Sanada and SEES (Specialized Extracurricular Extermination Squad) Satomi, Haruto, Souji and Sora Narukami.
Investigator(s): SEES (Specialized Extracurricular Extermination Squad) Iwatodai Police depart meant Liaisons Detective Katsuya and Sergeant Tatsuya, Information Brokers Baofu and Ulala.
Date Investigation started: September 27th 2007
Date Investigation ended: October 4th 2007 (On going, see cases 24MAS, New world Oder and 13MAS Dark Hour Phenomena)
Case Type: Missing Person
Missing: Shinjiro Aragaki
Reporter: Akihiko Sanada
Relation to missing person: Childhood friend/adopted cousin
Description of relationship: Sanada-san and Aragaki-san grew up together in the same orphanage with Sanada-san's younger sister Maki Sanada who died in when it was set on fire. The cause at the time was unknown but is highly believed to be arson. At this time I do not believe the two incidents to be related. After entering middle school they were both adopted by Sanada-san's long lost aunt Satomi Narukami.
Summary of incident: On September 27th 2007 Aragaki-san had was last seen going out for a walk with Sanada-san who was found beaten up by Mitsuru Kirijo at Naganaki Shrine at 8:00pm when she had gone out to search for them when they failed to return for dinner at SEES hall. A security camera nearby picked up a fight between Aragaki and Sanada-san the conversation between the two and their attacker points to the corporate having knowledge of the dark hour at the least. (See security camera transcript). It has been confirmed that the footage has not been tampered with. (See Interview Transcript 1: Akihiko Sanada and Interview Transcript 2: Mitsuru Kirijo) with that in mind this file has been linked with case file 13MAS
Minato looked at the first report to see what the report would could tell him. He's known of the dark hour and experienced it for ten years. But he's the only one who he knows that has been experiencing it. But it wasn't just that, He recognized Shinjiro form the facility he had been trapped in.
"So Enzo Senpai's real name was Shinjiro." Minato mused he looked at the first report, it mainly talked about his family. He kept seeing the team name SEES on the paper. Form what he could gather he could tell that everyone on that team was aware of the dark hour and that there were also people that were aware of the dark hour that worked with them.
He looked over the closing report it only served to confirm his suspicions about what he knew. "Alright let's see what I know now. Apparently there are others who are aware of the "dark hour". Furthermore, they've come together in order to attempt to end it. It appears that Enzo Senpai or Shinjiro Senpai is aware of it to. Perhaps I can finally get my answers. But… Will it really be the answers I desire? Will I really be able to end the dark hour?" He asked.
Just has he uttered those last words Minako returned to the room intending to gather her things. "Oh, Minato-Nii, what are you doing in here?" She then realized what Minato was looking at. "M-minato-nii why are you looking at that file?" Minato turned to his sister with a frown.
"How long?" He asked Minako tried to pretend that she didn't know what he meant but he wasn't having it. "Don't pretend you don't know about it Minako. I know that you know about the dark hour! I read that file!" Minato glared.
Minako thought for a moment. She had never encountered someone in this situation before. She weighted her options carefully. On one hand she could get a lead on what happened to her brother if he was willing to tell her. On the other hand he might not be willing to say anything about his experience.
After a moment of thought she decided it was best to tell him. So she told him everything from her first night of experiencing the dark hour and SEES. Minato listened attentively has you could expect.
"So what your saying is that this group "SEES" that you're a member of is trying to end the dark hour? And you're a part of it?" Minato asked in confirmation. Minako nodded and smiled at her brother. Now was her chance to ask some questions of her own.
"How long has it been for you Minato-nii?" She asked with a smile. Minato just laugh at her and dared her to take a guess. Minako only had to think for a moment before the answer came to her. She remembered when her brother started acting differently. He would always make sure she was in by midnight, Always slept only after midnight and a nap during the day. "The night mom and dad died… Don't tell me…"
"Yeah that's right sis! Why do you think that I never let you out at night? You've encountered them haven't you?" Minato let out a laugh. Minako nodded again. How many nights had she spent killing shadows? She had lost count a while ago now. Not that it mattered. To her every night killing shadows was a night spent was a night working towards her goal. She didn't mind the work despite the drain on her sleep schedule. After all she was spending more time with her friends because of this. It made the dark hour feel less isolating. It made her feel more… normal.
She remembered how she felt when she first met someone that could experience the dark hour. She felt like it was a weight off her shoulders. Ture her cousin and grandfather were aware of it. But they couldn't experience it like she could. They couldn't walk around during it like she could. They also couldn't fight during it like her.
"Yes… several times. I fight them on a almost nightly bases. Along with the rest of SEES. That's just what we do after all. I'm guessing you ran into one of them at one point Minato-nii?" Minako asked her brother out of curiosity.
"Well… you could say that… If you count being held captive and experimented on by that secret organization The New World Order. Then yeah I suppose you could say that." Minato replied with a sad smile. However this only served to stop Minako in her head.
"Did you say "The New World Order" Minato-nii?" Minako asked her brother. She had heard the name before, it was the same name of the organization that kidnapped Shinjiro. Could this be the lead that she had been looking for? She had heard from him of a boy code named "Sakuya Shiomi" who had given him the materials he needed to escape.
"Yeah that's right. There the people I was held captive by… I don't know what they .wanted form me but they are certainly dangerous. Why do you ask?" Minato asked his sister.
Could this be the lead that she had been looking for? She had heard from Shinjiro of a boy code named "Sakuya Shiomi" who had given him the materials he needed to escape. Come to think of it the description that Shinjiro had given her match what her brother looked like now.
"Yeah that's right. There the people I was held captive by… I don't know what they wanted form me but they are certainly dangerous. Why do you ask?" Minato asked his sister.
"Yeah Sinjiro Aragaki he's a member of the group I'm in. By the way do you know any one by the name of Sakuya Shiomi? He apparently helped Sinjiro escape. He doesn't remember much about him due to the fact that they only met a few times and his memory of them being vary blurry." She asked in turn.
"Yeah that's me. "Sakuya Shiomi" Is the alias that I was given. I'm assuming Enzo no Shinjiro Senpai told you that they gave us aliases to make it harder for the law to find us?" Minako nodded in understanding. "Now on to my next question how dose SEES intend to end the dark hour?" Minato asked.
"We're still looking into how that might be possible. Right now were stuck waiting for more people to go in because while we do have a big group we don't know much about what's inside and there are blockades throughout that seem to need a key we can't find. That and a lot of us are missing at the moment…" Minako replied then something occurred to Minako. "Minato-Nii… Your thinking of joining aren't you…" She realized.
"Yeah I am. I've been trying to end this stupid extra hour for over nine almost ten years now. If there is anyone else that might know how to do it then who am I to stop them? Besides it's not like I'm good for anything other then that…" Minato muttered sadly.
"Minato-nii… don't think like that. You were always better at detective work then me when we were younger remember? Who was it that helped me remember to look at things from a different perspective? Gave me the courage to face the truth?" Minako smiled at her brother sadly.
"I'm not that person anymore Minako. You don't know what I've been though." Minato said downcast. Minako just went over to him and gave him a hug.
"Life maybe meaningless but that doesn't mean we can't give it meaning if we try." That's something that one of the people who live in my dorm taught me…" Minako told her brother softly. She remembered Tatsuya saying this to Ken when he had first started living with them.
"How can you give life a meaning sister? What do you know about that?" Minato questioned his sister. Minako in response just gave a soft smile.
"I know more than enough about that Minato-Nii. I know because I've seen people just like us. Losing some of the only people that cared about them at a young age… Some not being able to say a proper goodbye. That's just how our world is… Unfair in many ways. But that's why we need to do our best to make it fair. At the least that's what I believe. Tell you what I'll call Mitsuru and get everything set up for you to join SEES. How does that sound?" Minako offered with a smile. Minato nodded and Minako decided to get to work on that in the mourning.
The first thing she did was wright up a report on her interview with Minato. She had asked him some questions regarding the New World Order. After writing that up she took out her phone and made a call. Luckily it was a Sunday so she could make the call without any problems. This call was to Mitsuru.
"Hello Arisato, I did not expect you to call so early. Is something the matter?" Mitsuru asked has Minako sat at her desk looking over the notes for the case regarding the Ikari.
"Yes and no you see, actually may have found ourselves a new member and a lead on The New World Order case. It's my twin brother. He found out when he looked over my case notes on the dark hour and The New World Order cases. It appears his allies while there was actually the Shiomi-san that Sinjiro mentioned.
"What?! Arisato are you sure of this?" Mitsuru asked in a shocked tone. This caught the attention of everyone in the room. This was due to the fact that Mitsuru really got shocked enough to use such a tone.
"Is that Mina on the line? What could she be talking about?" Shinjiro asked Akihiko who thought the same thing. Everyone in the room gathered around to hear the conversation.
"Yeah, I'm a 100% sure. The description and everything checks out. There's no way he's lying about this… What's more important though is some pretty interesting information I got from him. He knew about the dark hour… Even before reading the file. For over ten years." Minako adds to the shock of the group.
"I see… This is interesting information Arisato. Please keep me informed. Dose he know anything about SEES?" Mitsuru asked her friend.
"Yeah he read the whole file. By the way, he… actually wants to join us… is that okay with you Mitsuru senpai?" Minako asked the older SEES member.
"Certainly! Our group needs all the help we can get. I'll handle the preparations for him to join. Thankyou for letting me know Arisato I'll call you back when the time comes." Mitsuru smiled.
"Thanks Mitsuru Senpai! I'll see you when we get back next school year. Look forward to seeing everyone again. Tell them I said Hi." Minako smiled before hanging up her phone. Meanwhile Mitsuru started making the necessary preparations for Minato to join SEES.
Death Magician Arc
Post Script:
In the last chapter I said that only three of the Persona one characters showed up when in reality one more did in fact appear.
Mary Sonomura- Maki Narumi formerly Sonomura