This anxious feeling felt familiar somehow.

As the strange creature closed in, its intent to kill more apparent, he couldn't help but utter the following word...

"Persona."


1983, Hinamizawa

"Not much of a talker, are you?"

Yu Narukami worldlessly stared out the window in response to his uncle's question. His failure to respond to his uncle Oishi's words wasn't out of rudeness, but merely out of tiredness from the long trip. Oishi Kuraudo sensed this, after watching him dozing off a few times, and decided to give up on trying to get a response from his nephew throughout the rest of the trip.

After arriving at Hinamizawa, the two got out of the car. Taking a deep breath, Oishi loudly proclaimed, "Damn, it's good to be home! You don't get air like this back where you come from, huh?"

"Uh, no sir," Yu finally replied.

"Finally got a response from you. Anyways, that over there is my house and where you'll be living for the year. Try not to make a mess of the place, will you?"

To this, Oishi laughed, prompting a nervous chuckle from Yu. The latter knew that the former was a police detective, and though he never got on the wrong side of the law, Yu couldn't help but feel somewhat intimidated. Not only was it that he would be living with a police detective, but it was a completely new environment, far away from his friends and school, that he knew nothing about.

After settling inside, Oishi told Yu the basics of what life was going to be like starting tomorrow.

"I'll drive you to school on the first few trips, but afterward, you're expected to walk or take a bike. It isn't far away enough that you need to take a cab. Also, the environment isn't like what you're used to..."

Yu nodded. He remembered being told that there was only one school in the whole village, and it was mixed-age. Meaning that he would be learning in the same room as elementary grade-level students.

"One more thing..." Oishi placed a hand on Yu's shoulder and leaned in. "Don't let anyone else know I told you this, but I'd watch out for the Sonozakis."

Yu paused for a moment before asking, "Why the Sonozakis?"

"They're a major family in this village. Everything that happens in here either officially or unofficially goes through them. If you have no choice but to interact with them, then I'd definitely want to be on their good side, but if given an option, I'd rather avoid them altogether."

Yu gulped. Were the Sonozakis really so dangerous that even a hardened police detective would want nothing to do with them?

After settling in, Yu bid his uncle a good night and went to his room. Staring at the ceiling, he waited for the dark abyss of sleep to take him.

What will my school be like? Will I make any friends?

These thoughts were racing through his head, but eventually, his eyes closed, and sleep overtook him.


The next day...

His uncle wasn't kidding. There were elementary school students all around the tiny building this village considered a school. They were entering it one-by-one.

"With your height, they might think you're a new teacher or something," Oishi joked as his nephew exited the vehicle. "Anyway, have a good day, and remember what I said about the Sonozakis, alright? Also, try not to be so much of a city kid."

Yu nodded. Gripping his backpack, he waited for his uncle to drive off and then turned around.

New school, new atmosphere, new people... He felt both anxious and excited. What did this Hinamizawa have in store for him?


"Settle down, settle down, class," the teacher, Chie Rumiko, spoke. "We have a new transfer student coming in today. You can come in..."

As Yu entered, the first thing he felt was an eraser hitting him on the head.

"Grgh, Satoko!" Chie growled.

Meanwhile, Satoko let out a smug laugh.

Chie went up to Yu and dusted off his head. "I'm really sorry for that, Narukami."

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

As he walked towards the center of the room, many in the class were awed at him.

"Wow, is he really a middle-schooler?"

"He's so tall!"

Yu gave a polite bow and said, "My name is Yu Narukami. It's a pleasure to meet all of you."

School was soon over. Before he had a chance to leave, Yu found himself getting ushered by the oldest-looking student: a girl with vibrant, green-ish hair tied in a ponytail.

"Yo, over here."

Yu complied and went forward.

"Hey there, new kid. The name's Mion. Mion Sonozaki."

Yu winced upon hearing the name. The words of his uncle reverberated in his thoughts: "Watch out for the Sonozakis."

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Yu answered, "Nice to meet you, Ms. Sonozaki. I'm Narukami Yu."

"No need to be so formal! You can call me Mion. And that girl over there is Rena."

"Hm?" Turning her head was a ditzy-looking red-head. "Oh, it's nice to meet you! You came from the city, right? Did you? So did I, and, uh..."

"Not now, Rena," Mion cut in. "That's an inter-club discussion."

Club? "Are you guys part of a club or something?" Yu asked.

"Mhm. The After-School Games Club is what we're called. I'm the leader. Rena is my second-in-command, and..." The girl looked over to her side and saw two girls talking with one another. They both looked to be about elementary-school-aged. "Hey, Rika, Satoko, come over here."

The two turned around and did just that.

"This is the new transfer student, Narukami."

The bluish-haired girl smiled and said, "It's nice to meet you, Narukami. Nippah~!"

"Hm, yes, it is indeed a pleasure to meet the imbecile who fell for my carefully laid trap! Ho, ho, ho~"

"I-imbecile?"

To this, Mion smacked the back of Satoko's head.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Be nice." She then looked up to Narukami. "I'm sorry. Satoko is known for laying out traps. They're always harmless, though, but they can be kind of a nuisance."

"My traps are NOT merely a 'nuisance'," Satoko protested.

But Mion ignored her. "Anyway, since you sound interested, why not join our club? We can always use a new member."

"Sure, sounds fun." Yu sat down. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Well, since you're a beginner, I guess we can start with card game. How does Old Maid sound?"

"Sounds good. I don't play much cards, but even I know the rules of Old Maid."

"Alright, let's begin then." As all the members of the club sat down, Mion began laying out the cards. "Ah, yes, I haven't explained the rules of our club yet, have I?"

Yu shook his head.

"Well, it's very simple. For each game, our club has a punishment game. It basically means that the loser has to do whatever the winner tells them to do. Since you're still new, your punishment game won't be too bad."

Yu chuckled. "You're saying this like you expect me to lose or something."

The club members remained silent, prompting Yu to stop. As he looked at the cards, he noticed that there were several distinct markings on the back of them.

"Hey, Ms. Sonoz- I mean, Mion."

"Yeah?"

"I just realized, but there are some markings on the back of these cards."

Mion remained silent.

"Anyone who played with them a lot might, uh, know what's behind them."

As he witnessed the neutral expressions on the girls turn into predatory grins, Yu's flight-or-fight response triggered. Before he could escape, however, Mion grabbed him by the wrist and said the following...

"Second rule of the club: once you begin a game, you can't quit no matter what."


Yu, of course, lost that game of Old Maid. The punishment game was getting drawn on his face with (thankfully) erasable marker.

"So, how was it?" Mion asked.

"Hell," Yu answered nonchalantly as he washed his face.

The girl chuckled. "I knew you'd say that."

Yu was now waiting at the school entrance for his uncle. He should be showing up any time now. Mion and Rena stood by him in the meanwhile.

"So," Yu began. "Are you four the only club members?"

"What makes you ask that?" Mion replied.

"Well, it's just that I noticed an extra seat where you guys usually play."

When he tried to sit down in it, Mion immediately ushered him to another seat, almost as if they were expecting someone else to sit in that one.

"Oh, about that... You see..."

"Mion, wait," Rena interrupted.

"It's alright, it's alright. Yu is now officially part of the club, so he has a right to know."

As the atmosphere grew more serious, Mion began telling Yu about their missing club member...

"He came from the city like you. Maebara Keiichi is his name."

Yu gulped, thinking that the past tense meant something really bad happened to Maebara. "What happened to him?" he hesitantly asked.

Mion paused for a moment before speaking. "Nothing bad. It's just that he hasn't been coming to school for a few days. And when Rena tried reaching out to him, well..."

Yu looked down and noticed Rena's bandaged left hand.

"It's nothing," Rena said. "Rena was just a little too forceful with Kei last time. Rena spooked him, that's all..."

"He did that to your hand because you spooked him?"

Mion cut in. "Kei hasn't been his usual self since the Watanagashi festival. Ah, you just arrived here, so you wouldn't know about that. Basically, every year, our village hosts a festival. Anyway, the entire club attended the festival, and things were great for a while. But..."

Mion explained how Keiichi began distancing himself from the club and his friends. He had been holing himself inside his house for the better of the week and has been refusing to talk with anybody, including his own parents.

"That sounds serious."

It had to be some massive hikikomori complex or something. Still, it only happened recently, and right after this festival, so maybe the two were connected.

"But anyway, it doesn't really have anything to do with you, Narukami. I just thought you should know, since you're a new club member and all."

It should have everything to do with him, Yu thought. A fellow club member was suffering. Even if they never met, Yu had to do something about it before it turned real bad.

"Do you have any plans of helping him?"

Rena jumped in. "Actually, we do plan on visiting tomorrow. You can come with us if you like."

"Rena, don't put any ideas into his head!" Mion turned to Yu. "I'd like you to come, but I don't want Keiichi to freak out like he did with Rena. When he's calm, then I'm sure he'll be fine with a stranger entering his house."

Yu couldn't argue with that logic. As soon as Oishi came, he bid the two farewell and entered his uncle's car.

"Not even a week in, and you're already popular with ladies, eh?" his uncle joked as they drove off.


It was a familiar and disgusting scent, and it was splattered all around the dark room.

Blood.

Deep crimson. All over the place. The source of it letting out another sickening crunch as the baseball bat made contact with its victim: a young girl with green-ish hair.

The other girl, extended her arms, almost expecting some mercy. She did not receive any, however. She was beaten senselessly and mercilessly until her corpse became drowned in a pool of its own blood.

Then the erratic and crazed boy turned his sights on the spectator to this frenzy. The spectator could not move. He could not speak. All he could do was sit still and wait for the inevitable.

As the boy lifted his bat, many things raced through his mind, but the only one of salience was the following...

Am I really going to die?

Then the boy swung it down.


Yu awoke with a startle. Looking around, he saw that it was around 2:00 AM. He then felt around his head to make sure it was still intact.

That was probably one of the most eerily realistic dreams he'd ever had - or "nightmare" was a better term for it.

The scary thing, however, wasn't that he died, but that he recognized the two other victims in his dream. They had unique styles that were hard to miss, after all.

"Mion. Rena."

Yu clutched his chest. If anything bad were to happen to his new friends, he didn't know what he would do.

Inhaling and exhaling, Yu decided to fall back to sleep. He hoped that his dream would remain just that, but if something terrible were to happen tomorrow, then he needed to greet the coming day with all the preparedness in the world.


Thou art I,

and I am thou.

With the key to overturning fate in hand,

thou will reach out to the truth!