Authors Note

Heyo! I'm back with the second part of the prologue!

?: "Too much energy, this kid... I swear..."

Oh shut it! Let me savor the moment, will ya!

?: "Fine... It's YOUR story... I guess..."

Sorry about him-

?: "SPOILERS! WHAT DID WE TALK ABOUT!?"

OK, OK! Sorry... SOMEONE didn't want me to spill any genders of the Persona's, *cough* MY PERSONA *cough*.

?: "THAT'S IT! YOU'VE ASKED FOR IT!"

*SHING*

Uh... CUT TO THE STORY! CUT TO THE STORY!

Monday, April 10th, 2017

"Yo! Sakamoto-senpai! Wait up, dang it!" Kaito shouted as he ran to catch up with his blond-haired upperclassman.

"Hey Kaito-kun! What's up man!" Sakamoto-senpai said as he finally noticed Kaito running towards him.

Ryuji Sakamoto was a star runner for their school's track team, before Kamo-Shit Head broke his leg and got the track team disbanded, it is starting to come back, but no one could forget the rumor's turning Ryuji into a delinquent.

Kaito caught up with Ryuji, huffing from exhaustion (He had gotten the act perfected) and noticed a lighter blond-haired girl with bushy pigtails and parted side bangs on the right side of her face walking with them.

"Oh my gosh! It's been forever since I've seen you, Kaito-kun!" Takamaki-senpai said, Kaito recognized her immediately, and facepalmed for not seeing her sooner.

"Takamaki-senpai! It's great to see you! And yeah, it has been a bit." Kaito said, (feigning) catching his breath again.

"U-Um… Guys? W-Who is this?" A girl with orange hair and glasses said, Kaito didn't recognize her, she must be a friend his upperclassmen made last year.

"Oh crap! Sorry Futaba, this is-" Ryuji started but Kaito cut him off, extending his hand to the girl.

"Kaito Mamori, second-year. Nice to meet ya!" Kaito cheeringly said, the girl hesitantly shook his hand.

"S-Same to you, I-I'm Futaba Sakura. I'm starting high school today." Futaba-chan said, Kaito saw that she wasn't comfortable, he guessed it was some kind-of social disorder(?) he was never good at guessing problems like that.

"Ah, I remember my first-year at Shujin, my upperclassmen helped me get my bearings, now it's my turn to help you!" Kaito said, Futaba looked relieved, and Sakamoto-senpai and Takamaki-senpai looked pleased as well.

"Ha! Same old Kaito!" Sakamoto-senpai said as he elbowed Kaito (The metal body Kaito had thankfully simulated a human body) in the shoulder.

"Ow! Ha, glad some things are still the same, it's gonna be weird when you two and Mishima-senpai leave though… It'll be weird enough with Nijima-senpai and Okumura-senpai gone as is…" Kaito sadly said, he would miss the ex-student council president and the girl who reignited his love for gardening again, and then there was Suzui-senpai…

Kaito started crying (A function he installed himself) at the memory of his upperclassman jumping off the school roof in an attempt to kill herself after what Kamo-Shit Head did to her… Kaito felt his hands curl into fists.

"Mamori-senpai?" Kaito was pulled back to reality by Futaba-chan's voice.

"S-Sorry, I just remembered a bad memory." Takamaki-senpai instantly knew what Kaito was thinking about.

"It's about Shiho, isn't it?" Kaito nodded.

"I'm glad that she's ok, but what HE did to her is not something that you just forget OR forgive." Kaito spat out, hate coating his words.

"Well, what's done is done. And either way, the Phantom Thieves took care of Kamoshida. Now, let's get going or we'll be late." Sakamoto-senpai said, the students nodded and started walking towards Shujin Academy.

At the gate though, Kaito saw the transfer student from last year waiting by it. "A-Akira!?" The three students said as they ran and tackled the poor guy.

"Jeez, it's nice to see you guys too." Kurusu-senpai said. The students broke up the hug, Akira messing with his messy, black hair. And…was that a cat in Kurusu-senpai's bag?

Kaito wasn't going to say anything, BUT it was weird that the cat was even there at all.

"So, who's this?" Kurusu-senpai asked Sakamoto-senpai, nodding to Kaito.

"That's Kaito Mamori, he's a second-year now, but I've known him since I was a first-year here." Sakamoto-senpai explained, Kurusu-senpai nodded and extended his hand out to Kaito.

"Akira Kurusu, nice to meet you, Kaito-kun." Kaito nodded and shook his senpai's hand.

"And who's this little guy?" Kaito said, addressing the cat in the bag.

"That's Morgana, Mona is fine too." Kurusu-senpai said, Kaito couldn't help but pet Morgana, funnily enough, Morgana started meowing angrily, causing all of the students to laugh.

"Jeez, I guess Morgana's not a fan of petting." Kaito said in a joking matter. In reality, Morgana talked, and it wasn't a meow.

Morgana said, "'Little guy'?! Who is this punk?!" Futaba-chan picked Morgana up.

"Now Mona, be nice." Morgana meowed again, he said, "Fine… Something's weird about this guy though. I'm not sure WHY, but something's just…off about him."

Kaito was glad he couldn't sweat, because he would be sweating buckets. Whatever Morgana was, he could somehow sense that Kaito wasn't human, Kaito was glad that Morgana didn't put two and two together though.

"So, what are you doing here, man? I thought you were done with your probation?" Sakamoto-senpai asked Kurusu-senpai.

"I somehow convinced my parent's too let me finish high school here, you guys should have seen Sojiro's face when I walked into Leblanc." That got a laugh out of the student's, minus Kaito.

"We even made a deal, I help him with the café, he'll let me stay in the attic again."

"Attic?" Kaito thought as he eavesdropped on his friend's conversation, he didn't get a chance to hang out with any of his friends last year, and it looks like he found out why. He could tell a deep friendship when he saw one, Kaito wasn't jealous, but he did want some answers.

"Ok, let's talk later. We DO have school today." Kurusu-senpai said, earning him a groan from Sakamoto-senpai, but they did as he said and headed into the school building.

The school day mainly consisted of catching up with Mishima-senpai and Yoshizawa-san, showing Futaba-chan around, and hanging out with Kurusu-senpai, Sakamoto-senpai, Takamaki-senpai, and Morgana.

The rest of the day flew by, Kaito was walking and talking with his friends when he ran into something, Kaito looked in front of him and saw a girl with short, blond hair, dark blue eyes, and some sort of headband that reminded Kaito of headphones, but it sure wasn't a pair of headphones.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! Here, let me help you up." Kaito said as he extended his hand out to help the girl, she took his hand and he helped her up.

"Thank you." The girl said, it sounded robotic, but at the same time alive. "Sorry again, my name's Kaito Mamori, and yours miss?" The girl looked like she figured out something.

"My name is Aigis." Kaito almost gasped, Aigis was the name for an older Anti-Shadow Weapon, and Kaito just KNEW she ran into him on purpose.

"Hey Kaito-kun? Do you know her?" Takamaki-senpai asked him, Kaito didn't get a chance to respond when a girl with blueish gray hair and pale skin ran up to them.

"Hey Sis! Did ya…" The girl stopped when she saw Kaito, and Kaito instantly recognized her as Labrys, another Anti-Shadow Weapon…JUST GREAT!

"Hey! It's been a while Kaito-san!" Labrys said as she elbowed Kaito gently.

"Hey guys, I'll catch up with you all later." Kaito said in an annoyed tone.

"Alright, we'll see you tomorrow Kaito-kun!" Sakamoto-senpai said, his friends left the three robots there.

"So, ya gonna come quietly or not?" Labrys asked Kaito, ready to knock him out if necessary.

"No, I'll come quietly…" Kaito said sadly, he knew he wasn't going to get out of this. Kaito knew exactly where he was going, and going into a Kirijo Group building solidified his theory. And sure enough, there was the red-haired leader of the company.

"Hello Kaito-kun." Said Mitsuru Kirijo, the daughter of the man that employed the man that buried him all those years ago.

Kaito was…well, he wasn't mad, he couldn't be. Mitsuru was only a kid at the time when everything went down, and Kaito knew that her father didn't intentionally hire an evil man, so he couldn't be mad at her. Annoyed? Yes. Mad? No.

"Hi, Mitsuru-san." Kaito said through clenched teeth, he did this to show he wasn't mad, but VERY annoyed.

"You don't have to be formal, I think you earned the privilege." Mitsuru said.

"Well, at least SOMEBODY from your company is treating me like a person. Sorry, I'm just a little sore from my previous interactions with the Kirijo Group." Kaito said, trying to keep his cool. Mitsuru nodded in understanding.

"Yes, your annoyance is understandable. I honestly can't imagine what you've been through." Kaito was honestly shocked that Mitsuru was owning up to his and his fellow Anti-Shadow Weapons abuse, or at least his.

"…Ok, so Mitsuru. Why am I here?" Mitsuru motioned for Kaito to sit down, and he did, followed by Aigis and Labrys.

"I would like to offer you a position with the Shadow Operatives." Kaito was shocked that Mitsuru just flat out said it, and Kaito had already been thinking about joining the Kirijo Group after he got a proper education anyhow… BUT his motto rang true for this exact event.

"Well… For now, the answer is no." Mitsuru looked like she expected Kaito's response, while Aigis and Labrys were shocked.

"The reason being a motto I came up with that kept me going all these years, you want to know what that motto is?" Mitsuru nodded, intrigued. While Aigis and Labrys looked like they knew what he was gonna say.

"'Learn your past after in the present you have a successful future', THAT is what has kept me going all these years. And I won't break my motto now." Kaito said sternly, Mitsuru nodded knowingly.

"I expected that response, however, I'm going to break that motto of yours a bit." Mitsuru said, and Kaito expected that response from her.

"Your Unit number was 037, your model name: Excalibur." Kaito made sure to catalog his Unit number and model name into his memory.

"Well, I think I'll allow that info to pass." Kaito said with a smile.

"So, does that mean we can't hang out with our little brother?" Labrys said goofily to Kaito.

"No, I'll be sure to schedule something with you two soon. And two things: One, please don't pull the same stunt you two did today in front of my friends, I can't afford the chance of getting exposed. And two, please don't call me 'little brother' or so help me I will start calling you two Onii-chan so fudging fast your heads 'll spin." That got a laugh out of Labrys and surprisingly Aigis as well.

"Ok, it is nice to have a 'family reunion' and all, but can I go? Mrs. Mamori is probably worried about me, knowing her." Kaito asked, Mitsuru nodded. Kaito said goodbye to Aigis and Labrys and started to leave, but Mitsuru stopped him.

"But, before you go…" Mitsuru handed Kaito a briefcase, "…I think you should take this, it's not your original weapon, but it should work either way." Kaito was confused, but he could take a guess at what was in the briefcase.

Kaito thanked Mitsuru, she gave him her number in case he changed his mind, again, Kaito expected this to happen. Kaito went straight home, and like he thought Mrs. Mamori was worried sick about him, and surprisingly so was Mr. Mamori. Kaito told the two who took him in the information he had learned today.

"Wow… That's a lot to take in…" Mrs. Mamori said after Kaito was done telling the couple what he learned, Mr. Mamori shook his head.

"It's hard to believe, but then again it fits." Kaito's adoptive father said finally. Kaito agreed and said that he was going to bed, if you could call a makeshift Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon charger a bed at least.

Kaito woke back up in a…graveyard? The world had a blue tint too it, and there was the long-nosed old man again, sitting on a bench with a desk in front of him.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room." Igor said, the old man's grin and bloodshot eyes still the same from back then.

"Well, well, well. It's just one old friend after another today." Kaito said, earning him a chuckle from Igor.

"Let me guess… You want me to sign that contract from before now, right?" Igor clapped at Kaito's correct guess.

"Yes, you and her will make very interesting guests."

Wait…her?

"All your questions will be answered in time, but first…" Igor snapped his fingers, a contract appeared out of thin air right in front of Kaito, and a pen was somehow in his hand.

"…I believe you know what to do." Igor said, Kaito signed his name on the contract.

"And with that, the contract is sealed." Igor snapped his fingers again and the contract vanished.

"Ok, now can you explain what's going on here please?" Kaito asked, Igor shook his head.

"That, my guest, I cannot fully say. However, I can tell you this." Igor motioned for Kaito to sit down, Kaito obliged, curious on what the old man had to say.

"Your role in this event is one of great importance." Igor said, Kaito was confused at the statement.

"What is my 'role' then?" Kaito asked, Igor snapped his fingers again, and something flashed before Kaito's eyes.

"Persona Potential Sensor installed, activate using application on phone." Kaito was shocked, how did Igor do that exactly? Kaito made sure that absolutely NO ONE could hack him, so how did Igor do it?

"Impressed?" Igor asked Kaito. "Yeah, extremely so." Igor chuckled again.

"We are in your mind, it would make sense for me to do something like that." Kaito was flabbergasted, this graveyard was in his head?

"I promise you, all will make sense in time. Now, regarding your role as a Wild-Card and seeker of others with the potential of Persona…"

Igor started, and Kaito braced himself for the crazy that would DEFINATLY come out of Igor's mouth.

"That app I gave you will allow you to find current and potential Persona users. As for your role as a Wild-Card, you have the ability to wield multiple Persona's, your Wild-Card abilities are different from normal Wild-Card's, however. Yours are more…scripted, so to speak." Igor said, Kaito caught Igor's emphasis on 'scripted'.

"What do you mean by 'scripted'?" Kaito asked, Igor closed his eyes.

"Your Persona's are already within you, unlike other Wild-Cards, who can change their Persona's freely with infinite possibilities, you only have finite possibilities. However, in exchange for finite possibilities, you can use more Persona's than the normal Wild-Card could AND use multiple Persona's at once." Kaito was intrigued even more so now, but Kaito realized something horrifying.

"Wait, I couldn't summon a Persona at all, even now I can't do it. And based on what I know about Shadows… Does that mean…?" Igor nodded his head sadly.

"Yes, you, my guest, must face your Shadow, the very thing you were created to fight, to unlock your Wild-Card abilities fully." Kaito cursed his luck, but that fact explained a LOT about his lack of Persona capabilities.

"However, you DO have access to a very strong Persona already, which explains this." Igor snapped his fingers, and a tarot card appeared in front of Kaito, one side was a black and white jester with the word's 'Le Mat' on it, and the other side was a skull on a door with the roman numeral for '13' on it.

"The Fool and Death, walking hand in hand. Intriguing, isn't it?" Igor asked Kaito, Kaito knew deep down that these two Arcana's fit him almost perfectly, as a robot and a Wild-Card, he fit the requirements of the Fool. And as for Death, he was plagued with it and destined to be surrounded by it due to him being a robot, and for crying out loud he was buried alive!

But Death also meant a 'deep change' and 'metamorphosis' or something like that, and didn't Death also mean for 'regeneration' and 'cycles'? Kaito only fit SOME of Death's requirements, not all of them. Igor chuckled.

"Now, on to the second reason for me calling you here…" Igor snapped his fingers, and a girl with long, brown hair appeared.

Two sentences floated above her.

"Nanako Dojima, age: 11, Cousin of Past Guest, Wild-Card: Yes. Shadow Present: Yes." Kaito was confused, why did Igor show him a hologram of this Nanako girl? Kaito could understand she was the other Wild-Card and was probably the 'stereotypical' one between the two of them, but why was Igor showing him her hologram?

"Ms. Dojima will need a guide during her journey, as do you to find your way again. As such, I would like you to assist and protect her during this journey."

Oh…OH.

Now it made sense why Igor would show him a picture of Nanako, if Kaito was going to protect her, he needed to know what she looked like. But Kaito was worried by two parts of the sentence's above the hologram Nanako's head. 'Cousin of Past Guest' and 'Shadow Present: Yes'.

"My, my. You catch on quick." Igor said.

"Well, can you explain the 'Cousin of Past Guest' part to me? I already know where the Shadow thing is going." Kaito asked, causing Igor to chuckle again.

"Without saying too much, a past guest of mine crossed paths with her and gave her the potential as well. But that's not what you're getting at, you're worried about my past guest getting involved with his friends, correct?" Igor said, Kaito nodded, the old man caught him red handed.

"I already informed him of the situation and asked him and his friends to not interfere, but knowing my guest, he most certainly will interfere as will his friends." Igor said, Kaito groaning at the cards dealt to him, but this 'Past Guest' may listen to him, but then again Nanako is a younger kid, and he knows how protective family can be.

"Oh boy, tomorrows gonna be fun." Kaito said as he massaged his temple, he may be a robot but that doesn't mean he can't get a headache. Igor chuckled again.

"I can tell that you and her will truly be interesting guests already." On that note, Igor and the Velvet Room faded away.

Ow...

?: "I warned him..."

SURE you did...