Chapter 2: First Encounter

A review (Granted, it was asking if it was an OC and I forgot to place the pairing in general) and two follows?! Definitely more than I can hope for, if I'm being honest. Oh, and yea, this is an OC. Three characters, as of writing this, will be OC. There will be a heads up if I decide to change that. Anyway, Chapter 2. I'm still thinking overall on how I want to handle the story and have a few ideas for the next few chapters. Anyway, this will be here as a way to introduce a character to Jin and to introduce Mother, because if I delay it, I'll forget the brief idea of how I wish to create her. Anyway, song below is there and not necessary, but its what I'm listening to when making this chapter. So, see ya at the bottom and enjoy.

When The Moon's Reaching Out Stars [Extended] – Persona 3 OST

"And I agreed to this, because?" Jin questioned, as they were boarding a train, walking alongside Ino.

"Because if you didn't, Mom wouldn't have taken too kindly to your day in. Either you go out or she forces you out. Pick your poison!" The younger sibling said happily, sitting down at a seat with her feet kicking slowly, looking up at her elder brother. As he sat down, he groaned silently to himself as he remembers how his mother left a note for the two of them with money in the counter. In the letter, Jin's mother told him to take his sister to her friend's place and to take the money for himself so he can relieve himself of his studies for the day.

After the incident with the slime monster and a few days passed, he was hit with the reality that the entrance exams for UA High School was to be held in under a year, and he had only just started on a few topics prior to the realization. While he was studying eagerly and consistently, his mindset and physical appearance started to take a heavy toll. And to his dismay, his mother noticed this as well.

Annya Sugiyama, mother to both Ino and Jin, is certainly a one of a kind. She was slim, didn't have much muscle and tan skin. Her personality was high-spirited, gentle, and sharp. She loved her kids, even more than she did herself most of the time. But she wasn't exactly laid-back when it came with studies. She was keen on her children to be successful and prosper as heroes while retaining their intelligence.

While she was keen on this policy, Ma would make exceptions and one of these was when her son was overworking himself to the point he might collapse. So she decided it would be best to send her kids out to enjoy their time today, since she's seen exceptional progress with their studies.

And now here he is, taking a train to Tokyo to "relax", so to speak. While he's fine with taking his sister out to leave her with friend, he wasn't keen on being out in such a crowded and public place. After all, he didn't really have anyone to hang out with, nor did he have anywhere to go, other than to explore and he wasn't to happy on doing that.

And he had to dress decently enough, which he's fine with. After all, his mother isn't exactly going to be picking out his clothes for him forever. So he went with his bread and butter; a grey shirt, a dark blue plain button-up shirt, black skinny jeans that stretched a bit and some white and grey shoes. His hair wasn't really his concern so it was straight down with the good lock of hair in front of the left said of his face, covering his eye slightly. As for his sister, she took a simpler approach and wore a white sundress with floral patterns at the bottom, had a brown sun hat, and her hair was in a braid that rested along her shoulder and let down along the front side of her body.

Now that all is said and done, he can't go back, not that he had a choice anyway. But he did notice something; his sister and her unusually high energy. Normally when they went out, she was excited and happy, but not to a noticeable and maybe worrisome degree.

"Seems you're excited for something. Spill the beans, sis." He said to her, only for the young girl to jump up, somewhat startled as she was thinking of something before a light hint of pink hit her cheek.

"Oh crap, not yet. Anything but that." He said softly, his eyes lighting up and tons of thoughts storming his head at a million miles per second. And she caught wind of this, to which she punched his shoulder gently and shook her head rapidly. "Not that, you dummy! Its a girl and we just started being friends after she noticed the bracelet I made during art class and no one else did except her, OK!?" She said as the words shot out of her mouth. Well boy or girl, it didn't really change how he saw it. But it seems he didn't have to worry about anyone like that yet, luckily.

After they both calmed down, he let out a little laugh and looked at the bracelet that she mentioned. It seemed like it was another other bracelet but it seemed to be done with handle and care. Though he was still curious.

"But why is she so special? Didn't your friends see the bracelet as well?" Jin said to her, in which she puffed her cheeks up and messed around with bracelet as she blurted out some words. "Nope, not even my friends cared about it. They only care about the paper mache thing that someone else did." While Ino was sad for a little, and it disheartened him as well, she perked right back up as she looked at her elder brother. "But then she walked up to me and told me how pretty and nice it was, even while everyone else was looking at the other thingy. She was really nice and really quiet, but a great friend! She is my best friend and said I was her best friend! And this is gonna be our first playdate!" She said, excitedly bouncing up and down at the seat while letting go of the bracelet and looking out the window.

It made him happy to know that she was making friends and even happier to make a friend that notices the little things. Hell, he'd probably be the same way, if he had the courage or...didn't have such a bad reputation. "Well make sure to cherish such a friend. Those are the type that are irreplaceable and I'm sure she'll be happy to keep you as her best friend." To which she nodded her head, still looking at the window while smiling a bright smile.

The train was surprisingly smooth without a delay, to which he was fine with. The seats weren't exactly comfortable and he didn't want Ino to be late to meet her friend. As they got off, the younger sister was zooming past everything and everyone, making quick haste as the older brother was keeping pace as well.

Everything about the place is as he imagined; Loud, busy, crowded and bright, especially since its a Friday. Ino was slowly starting to lose energy quickly as they made their way down a neighborhood, which was lucky since Jin could finally catch up and look around. As she was panting, she looked around to see the houses around the relatively quiet block. Apparently, they were looking for a house that was big, blue with a white rooftop and a garage on the right side. And they found something with the description. But big may be a slight understatement.

It wasn't exactly a mansion, but it wasn't like their own house, which was only one floor and could accommodate decently enough given the size of their family and how much space they didn't need. No, this house had two floors, an open backyard and a decently big front yard.

As they both walked up to the door, Jin noticed only one car parked in the driveway, which he thought was odd, but maybe the parents weren't home? Then who would be taking care o-

And then the door slowly opened up, with a young girl peeking through the opened space until it was fully opened and they were greeted with a sight; a pink skinned girl with equally pink hair and some horns that were among the hair, a slim figure with some slightly curvy thighs, smooth but thin legs and a reasonable bust, for her age anyway. And the cherry on top was her outfit...which wasn't much; Just a white tank top, and some pajama shorts that reached halfway to her thighs. It seemed the older girl was busy texting on her phone and smiling, and damn was it a smile. And he thought Ino had a smile to lighten up his day. But as she noticed the silence, the pink haired girl looked up from her phone to see an unexpected a visitor; a guy alongside the expected visitor. As their eyes locked together, he noticed something that was surprising and, at the same time, lovely; the fact that her pupils were surrounded by a black color, instead of the usual white.

"Wow, your eyes are gorgeous" Jin blurted out, unable to help himself and he looked at her eyes with further interest, until his leg was bumped by an elbow, which broke the stare that the two had.

It was his sister, that was looking up at him. And as she was about to ask, she looked at the teen that was beside her friend and saw what Jin saw; a black sclera covering all around her golden pupils. To this, her mouth was agape without a word, as the pink-skinned girl was now looking into her eyes, letting out a small gasp before kneeling down and let out a small giggle. "Holy heck, and I thought I was alone." The small-horned girl said, holding Ino's hands on her own while having a smile that was so sincere. Ino could only giggle and smile as she jumped toward the elder sibling and hugged her tightly, happy to know she wasn't alone and there were more that were like her.

As their interaction was slowly taking up more time than expected, Ino's friend couldn't help but clear her throat, seeing as she was the one that requested her here and not, who Jin presumed to be her sister.

He also evaluated the younger sibling of the two females. She was as tall as Ino, had shoulder length brown hair, regular brown eyes with white surrounding the pupils, pale skin and had an average build to her body. As to her attire, she was wearing blue jeans and a black hoodie with matching blue and black socks.

As the two stopped hugging, Ino went in to hug her friend, to which she accepted but was awkward in how to do so, which both the elder siblings noticed and slightly chuckled at. "U-umm, Ino, t-the hugging isn't required." Ino's friend said, to which Ino stopped the hugging and rubbed the back of her head, laughing it off and jumped up and down in excitement. "Sorry, Michi, but I couldn't help myself! You're still my best friend and your sister is awesome! Her eyes are awesome and like mine, but a little different!" Ino said, happily looking up at Michi and her sister at the same time. Michi sighed, but smiled as she looked up at her sister and then back at Jin and Ino, "Yea, I thought you two would get along on that alone, but it seems you and Mina are more compatible than expected. You two are sugar and sweet personified." she said as she kept her smile but was slightly irritated.

"And I thought dealing with Ino was enough. But it seems her equivalent is present here, huh?" Jin said suddenly, looking down at the interaction unfolding between his sister and her friend, to which Michi nodded and looked up at Jin. "And is she just as bad at home as my sister is when we are home? Full of energy, talking about friends and what not?" Michi said, to which he laughed slightly and nodded back. "Just as bad, if not worst." Jin said, before he let out his fist to Michi, smiling as he looked down at her for a response, "I'm Jin, and it seems I befriend my own sister's best friend, huh?" Michi smiled and happily punched his fist back, nodding in approval and walking in her house again. "Let them in, Mina. The neighbors are gonna watch be skeptical if they stay out there too long."

The one who was surprisingly quiet, was Mina, who was there watching the whole thing and still had a light shade of pink on her cheeks. While the three of them were talking, she was taking in the compliment from a boy around her age. Despite her bubbly self, Mina was self-conscious of her unusual appearance but was used to the bullying that kids unleashed and she nullified any attempted to insult her. However, this was the first time she was complimented on her most hated part about her; her eyes and the unusual condition of the usual white part of her eyes being black. She shook her head, coming back to reality as she moved to the side and looked at Jin and Ino, "Come in, you're both welcomed in!" As Ino happily skipped into the house after taking her shoes, Jin wasn't exactly planning his day to spend with Michi and Mina, since he was told to spend it relaxing and enjoying himself. But after a little, his arm was pulled in by Michi, as she forced him inside.

And there he was, inside the household of a complete unfamiliar household for the first time. Without many friends growing up, his experience within other houses isn't exactly there for him to use as reference. Jin did what his own sister did and took his shoes off, placing them down neatly beside the row of other shoes that lined up. There seemed to be another pair of shoes beside the four already there, who is probably older than the two in the house judging from the shoe size and the car outside. As he was thinking to himself, Jin noticed that Michi, Ino and Mina were around a table in what he presumed to be the living room. Scattered around the table was a bunch of art supplies, and all three were doing individual projects while talking among each other. As Jin was walking to them, Ino was busy making...another bracelet, from what he can tell. It seemed Michi was trying her best to make one, but was struggling to make it hold itself together, to which she asked Ino to help her and Mina was there...not really making something but trying to keep herself preoccupied. Hmm, why was she here if she isn't going to make someth-

"Yo Pinky! Mom and Dad aren't gonna be happy to see you slacking around and not doing your stu-" an annoyed male voice said, making his way down and stopping midway sentence once he saw Jin, the unexpected visitor. Jin could only turn his head around slightly, enough to let out a slight glare out of pure habit, which surely stopped the male in his track. He seemed to be older than Mina, by a few years and was around three to five inches taller than her. He had pale skin, normal eyes, short frizzly brown hair and had a slimmer body than Mina did. Jin did wonder if it was healthy to be that skinny, as he looks like he hasn't eaten in days. As to his outfit, it was some basketball shorts, and a black shirt with some skateboard in the center of it.

The elder brother stood there, looking at him before walking up to him without much expression on his face, which made Jin turn around and look up at him. Jin's glare was still there but was interrupted as Mina made her way to the middle of them, pushing them back a little with the two younger girls behind her. "Uhhh, first off, Lanky," Mina said, "This is Jin: Michi's friend's brother. And Jin, this is Misao: My older and annoying brother." Then she sighed, rubbing her head and groaning silently, "I don't wanna study again. I know what I need to pass the exams!" It seemed that she had studies to focus on and was in the middle of studying before Ino and Jin's intrusion. But it seemed Misao wasn't convinced and was tapping his foot, while grabbing his phone from his pocket. While this was happening, Jin couldn't help but feel guilty in all of this. He did disrupt her studying session and was mainly here to drop off Ino and be on his way, but it changed when he became friends with Michi and complimented on Mina's eyes. Jin finally spoke up, clearing his throat for Mina and Misao's attention. "It was mainly my fault for the interruption of her studies. I was originally supposed to be here to drop Ino off but Michi insisted I stay for longer. The least I can do is volunteer to check if Mina is ready for the exam." He said, looking at Mina with a smile then looking at Misao to see his response. Mina's elder brother was thinking about it, then crossed his arms and looked at Jin, "And why should I let ya? I don't mind Mina having a boyfriend or anything, but she needs to study badly in order to get into UA High." He said, speaking from experience due to his failure at the entrance exams. Mina's cheeks flared up for a little before hitting his brother's shoulder angrily and looked at him in frustration. "We only just met, you ass! And even if I wanted to do something like that, I know better than to have you home during it. Lord knows you'd do some crap to make it scarring." She said, still blushing a bit but slowly calming down. Mina looked at Jin, seeing he was unfazed which made her slowly calm down at his relaxed state. Jin could only be confused at what's happening, clueless at the exchange that's happening between the two. "I can assure you," Jin said, now speaking in the conversation, "that I wouldn't have a reason to do such a thing. Additionally, I was originally supposed to go out as a means to relax since Ma insisted I was close to collapsing from the constant studying I was already doing. It was having a toll," He admitted, "but I'd hardly call it exhaustion."

Both Mina and Misao looked up at Jin, staring at him before noticing that he might not be lying and saw a slight hint of baggy eyes under his own eyes. Misao shrugged, turning around to walk back up the stairs while saying, "Fine, go ahead. I do believe you but don't overdo it. I don't want you collapsing in our house and have to be responsible for an accident, yknow?" As he reached the top of the stairs, he stopped. "And Pinky, make sure to listen, got it? Focus on what is happening and not on what could happen, alright?" He said, smirking and let out a snicker as he made his way to his bedroom. Mina just let out a sigh, looking at Jin and smiled.

Why was that smile so...persuasive? Lovely? He didn't even know the word for it. All Jin knew was that it made him feel something special within and he wasn't sure what.

"Michi, keep Ino here and make sure you guys finish your bracelets, alright? The TV controller is beside the TV if you guys get bored. We gotta study for the upcoming exams and yknow Mom said not to disturb me when studying, OK?" Mina said to her sister, to which she nodded, took Ino's hand and headed back to the table filled with arts and crafts. As they left, Mina looked back at Jin, to which he looked back at her. "C-C'mon, let's just get to studying, if you don't mind," she said, heading to the stairs.

He was still wondering what they were talking about, somewhat clueless about what the sibling exchange was all about. And while he should be relaxing, Jin knew if he left right now, then he'd feel guilty about it later on. Also, this would help him review some material along the way. Oh well, couldn't hurt to help her and himself. "Lead the way. I may as well help while I'm here." Jin said, shrugging to her and following her up the stairs. Though as they went up the stairs, he was looking either to the side or down at the stairs, not wanting to see what he could out of respect for Mina and to himself. As they made it up the stairs, he noticed a few doors along the hall, with one clearly being to Misao, based on the skateboard sticker planted above the door. Then the one beside it seemed to be Mina's room. Not much to tell that it was, but she was in front of it and opening it up. As she entered, she waited for him to enter inside while moving some things to the side, making some space and not so cluttered. Now entering the room, Jin looked around the room and damn, she made Ino's room look neat in comparison.

Mina wasn't really keen on cleanliness and neatness unless she knew she was inviting someone. However, with the unexpected arrival of Jin and his offer to study, she didn't really have a chance to clean. She didn't mind if someone saw this mess, but it did somewhat embarrass her.

"Sorry for the mess. I wasn't expecting any visitors, let anyone a boy. Um, the seat beside the desk is probably the best place to sit." Mina said, putting on an over sized sweater, realizing the outfit she was wearing. Then she sat down on the seat beside the chair that Jin was offered to sit down. He sat down on said seat, looking down on the desk to see what she left on.

Though, it seemed the paper is mainly scribbles and some notes, more or less. It seemed that she had a hard time studying and focusing, which is surprising. He thought that Math is very interesting. Oh well, to each their own.

He grabbed the pen beside the paper and looked at her, letting out a smile as he looked at her as he handed her the notebook laying around. "The sooner we start, the better. I don't want you getting in trouble." And Mina nodded, with a pen in hand and looked ready to begin.

...and she's asleep. Granted, they spend two hours straight of pure formulas and equations that she knew she wouldn't even care to know. After she dozed off, Jin knew she wasn't prepared for the Math portion of this, since it seemed that she struggled here the most. During the last hour, he was writing down some notes on math portions he knew would be part of the exam and some other parts that he had a feeling would be in the exam. Honestly, it was him reviewing the equations to himself and explaining to himself the reasons why it worked and such, but also to let her study it. After all, he had more subjects to study than just Math, but a good refresher is nice once in a while. However, his point doesn't always come across as crystal clear, evident by the constant questions that Ino asks him when he tries to lecture her. He was wondering how he can help her even more, only for the vibration of his phone to go off. Apparently his mother was on her way to pick them up, with the address that Ino gave her, in 15 minutes.

Then an idea popped up; his number, duh. Jin reached to the notebook, and wrote down his number on the top page of the paper filled with formulas with his name underneath the number. Then Jin looked at the sleeping teen beside him, sighing as he knew he couldn't leave her in such a state. He moved some things from the bed to the floor, hoping she didn't mind and lifted her up gently. Then he moved Mina slowly to her bed and laying her head down on the pillow with the rest of the body on the mattress. After moving the blanket over her, she was smiling, cuddling up against said blanket while still asleep in whatever dream she was having. "See ya around, sweetheart," Jin said, smiling as he walked to the door, turning off the light and walking out the room, closing the door slowly to not wake her.

As Jin made his way down the stairs, he was surprised at the sight which made him smile even more, and let out a small laugh; Ino and Michi were sleeping next to each other on the couch as they were watching TV. It seemed that the time they spent together has drained them both and now they're resting calmly together. He checked the time on his phone and he had approximately 8 more minutes before his mom came to pick them up. So he went up the stairs and knocked on the door with the skateboard sticker and was met with Misao in the other side of the door, looking down at the Jin with a soft smile.

"What's up?" The elder brother said, "Taking off?" Jin only nodded and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Well first off," the younger male said, "I...kinda looked at you in a certain way and it wasn't meant for you in specific. I just suck at...well making friends, honestly." Misao could only laugh, a little too loudly at that, but laughed for a good few seconds and could only let out his hand for Jin to shake. "Don't worry about it. With that look, you could scare off anyone who wants to mess with Mina, so I don't mind." Jin could only look up at him, slightly confused but smiled at the gesture and decided to give him a firm handshake, happily erasing the first interaction between both of them. "O-oh, right. Secondly, Michi seems to have slept on the couch. I just wanted to let you know since I'm heading out with Ino in a few minutes," Jin stated. Misao nodded, walking out from his door and headed down the stairs to see the sight of what Jin saw. Jin could've sworn he heard a small "Aww" somewhere there. "And lastly, Mina is sleeping on her bed. She seemed to have had a burnout somewhere along the way, which I can't blame her since my methods aren't the simplest," Jin pointed out. The elder male could only shrug, looking at the younger one. "And is she ready for the exams?" Misao asked, wondering how she was doing in terms of studies. Jin only nodded, smiling and looking up at him, "Oh for sure. Other than math, she is doing considerably well. I'm sure she won't have much trouble. Just let her enjoy a bit of freedom or else she'll fry her brain trying to take all the information in," Jin added, wanting to let her have a least some free time on her hands.

"Ultimately, that is our parent's decision but I'll at least ask to ease up on her, at least a little," Misao said, knowing full well that she could use some freedom, and some bonding time, at that. And as Jin was going to add something, the sound of a honking horn can be heard outside. It's probably his mother waiting for him and Ino. Seems he made her wait long enough.

"You better hurry," Misao stated, "since it seems like she won't wait long," to which Jin agreed. "You're not wrong, and it is late. Anyway, it was a pleasure meeting ya, and hope we meet again." Jin said, as he was lifting Ino carefully, trying not to wake her. He slowly carried her out to the front door, putting on his shoes, which he was lucky were easy to slip on considering that he had to carry his sister as well. Then he bent over to take Ino's shoes as well, holding them by their laces as he made his way out the door, which Misao helped open it for the both of them. "Take care." Jin said after a last wave goodbye to the eldest Ashido sibling. As he headed to the car, his mother helped him place her inside the back seat. It seemed Ino was sound asleep in the car as she was placed on the seat and Jin sighed happily, sitting down on the car seat and relaxing as he put on his seat belt, after putting on Ino's seat belt.

After his mother was in awe as she saw her daughter sleeping peacefully and happily, she asked a barrage of questions to Jin along the way, mainly about how their day was and what he was doing. Jin had to slightly change what he did since he knew his mother would flip out if she knew he was studying, instead of relaxing. Honestly, it was relaxing for him to have a slower studying pace but he couldn't risk it. He also excluded any mention of Mina, to which he deemed unnecessary to include for the time being. And as the ride back home was silent after the questioning, he was looking out the window, smiling for the entire ride as he was happy to make some new friends, especially with someone like Mina. For some reason, he felt it wouldn't be the last encounter, and, to his surprise, he hoped it wasn't the last one.

OK, so damn. Uhh, this took way longer than it should. Trust me, I wish this came out on Monday night, but I was slacking and now its done today. Still a review and two followers and I love you all. :D Anyway, I'm still wondering who I'll let Jin replace. I'm thinking Sero, honestly. He aint a bad character but not one that makes too much of an impact, yknow? Just how I see it and I'm sorry if it offends anyway. But let me know if Jin should replace some other character before the entrance exams are over! I'll definitely consider options but won't guarantee anything. Anyway, I'm out! Also rip E3. D:

P.S. - Much love to QuirkQuartz. I freaking love how they're handling Mina and her family. There are slight parallels to the Awkward Energy story but I tried to make it as different as I could without using the same thing that they used. Thanks for the inspiration and definitely check them out.

Have a good one, and keep smiling!