"Minato Arisato?"
"…Your family name. Minako, I am your twin brother."
…
I don't believe him. Two reasons. One, I don't have a twin brother as far as I know. Two, he ripped off Darth Vader. NOBODY rips off Darth Vader.
"Do you think I'll believe you?"
"…You haven't seen my eyes yet, did you?"
I looked closely at his eyes. He was telling the truth. His gray eyes were the signature color of my family's as well. My family has two signature eye colors, scarlet red and dull gray, scarlet eyes are more common, gray eyes are very rare in our family, that's why I didn't notice it the first time. Our eyes are our identity. Without it, nobody can tell us apart in our family.
"…Fine, I believe you. But I didn't know that I have a twin brother, let alone a dead twin brother."
"I'm not dead."
"But then, how can you walk through walls and untouchable?"
"I have a body, but I lost it. I didn't die, I can still get my body."
"Oh. So you want me to find your body?"
"No. In this kind of form, I will be able to help you."
"What do you mean?" Then I understood what he meant. "So only I can see you? How do I know that you're not just a figment of my imagination?"
"I can go away. In that time, I can see and hear everything, I will be able to tell you everything that I see and hear."
"…I believe you, what can you help me with?"
"I know about the Dark Hour. I can help you there."
"I know a little about it, but if you can tell me more, then thank you."
"…Get some sleep, Minako."
"Can I ask for a favor?"
"Sure."
"Can you look around tonight for information about the Dark Hour and this dorm?"
"…I'll do it."
"Thanks. …Can you get out, please? I need to get changed and need to sleep."
"Good night."
The boy, Minato, went out from the room, leaving me alone. It seems that I am almost correct, as he walked through the door without even trying to open it. I wonder why he doesn't admit he's a ghost. There must be something that he's keeping secret, I know that, even though he had agreed to help me. But I don't really care about it for now.
What I do care now?
Sleep. For one full day I hope. I'm tired from jet lag.
I wonder who created school, made my life a living nightmare.
…
"Minako. Wake up. Yukari's calling you."
I woke up to see Minato beside the bed. "Thank you." I said grudgingly, sitting up. "Can you please leave the room? I need to get changed." Minato left me and I changed into the Gekkoukan High uniform.
"Minako, please wake up!" Yukari called from behind the door.
Oh, so only I can see Minato, since she didn't scream when Minato went through the door. I wonder if she's afraid of ghosts though…
"Coming, Yukari! Just wait for a while and I'll be there!" I felt bad that I have to leave my good-luck shoes at the dorm, since it's not allowed in the dress code. So I used my school shoes and opened the door.
"Let's go then Minako! …? Is there something on my face?" Yukari asked.
No, there isn't, but there is someone behind you. I tried to send a message through my mind, but Minato just stared at me, confused at what I was doing, it seems that ghosts cannot read minds. I sighed and shook my head.
Yukari then led me to the monorail station. I knew that only I can see and hear Minato, so I used my 'trick'. I flicked open my phone and held it to my ear.
"Hey Minato!" I spoke to my phone.
Minato got the idea at least, he was looking straight at me, waiting for my question.
"Minato? Who's that?" Yukari asked, curious.
"My twin." I answered shortly. I am now thankful that I watched House, he really gives out a lot of advice. "So how's it going, Minato?"
"…Is this about the Dark Hour?"
"Yup!" I said, excited to receive more information about the topic. I like to find information about the Dark Hour, I need to find out as much as I can. "So what did you find out about that?"
"Do you know the basics of the Dark Hour, and the Shadows?"
"Yeah…" I was racking my brain on how to say in code. We really need to work on codes when we're alone. "I'm just curious about that school. Is it true that there's ghosts at night?"
Yukari was trying hard not to shiver, now failing miserably, when she heard the word 'ghost'. I knew it. Now this will be fun to play it. Khehehehehehe.
"There's Shadows in Gekkoukan High at midnight. It's called Tartarus. You know at least that, right?"
"Yeah! Of course! I just never knew that rumor is true! So you saw the ghost already?"
"W-What ghost?" Yukari asked, trying her hard not to sound scared. "I-Is there a-a ghost in G-Gekkoukan?"
I blinked, acting as if I was confused. She is fun to play with. Yes, I know, I'm evil. "We're talking about my brother's school. Don't worry, the school's not in Japan."
Yukari let out a heavy sigh, relieved. "Phew! So there are no ghosts around here!"
I never said that. Oh look, there's a ghost behind you.
"The monorail's here already!" she said, and we stepped in the monorail with Minato following, walking through the crowd.
The monorail started and sped towards the school. "Look, Minako-chan! You can see the school from here! Isn't it huge?"
I turned to look out the window. Yes, I can see the school from here, it's gigantic, but I don't need about half of it.
Flashback, two weeks ago…
"Look, Minako! This school even has it's own swimming pool and kendo club!" my 'aunt' told me, acting excited.
Yeah, except I don't swim as a sport and I don't do kendo, I do a different martial art. Useless…
"Come on! Be excited, will you? Don't you want to get away from this school?"
"…Why send me away to a school all the way in Japan?" I asked. "So that you can break my connection with-"
"You noisy little brat!" she shouted at me before I can raise my voice. She raised her hand to slap me.
I grabbed her hand effortlessly and twisted her arm, dislocating it. Before she had a chance to shout out in pain, I pinned the arm to the ground, raising my foot with my good-luck shoes on, and crushed her arm, which instantly crushed her bones. She shouted in pain, tears springing out from her eyes. "You…"
"I don't care if you hate me. And even if you send me away, I can never break my connection. No matter where I am." I stood up and turned. "I'll go. I'm sick of you." I walked out from the room, leaving her to pick up her crushed arm.
Present time…
"Minako-chan?" Yukari called out, pulling me out from my flashback.
"Yeah, the school's gigantic!" I said out in response, energetically.
"Oh! We're here already!" Yukari told me as the monorail pulled to a stop. "Let's go then! …Oh, and please don't tell anyone about what you saw yesterday, okay?"
I nodded and we walked out off the monorail and walked towards the school, with Yukari warning me about the school, and Minato confirming the truth from the rumors. Since last night, my trust for Minato has risen by a little, he can tell me what some girls were talking about fifty feet away from me. And he has no intention to harm me, and he can't, if he claims to be my twin, I still can't push away the fact that he does have my family's signature gray eyes.
We searched for our class lists, and failed. Yukari decided to give it another go while I have to go to the faculty office anyway to sign in with the teacher.
"Oh, are you the new student?" The teacher called Toriumi greeted her, "Minako Arisato. 11th grade, correct? Wow, you've lived in a lot of different places… Let's see. In 1999… That was what, ten years ago? Your parents-"
It's a good thing that she doesn't realize what my name means yet. She might though, later on. I hope not.
"I'm sorry…I've been so busy, I didn't have time to read this beforehand." Toriumi apologized.
"…"
"Well, Arisato, you're in my class, which is 2-F. I teach composition. You should go along now, the Welcoming Ceremony is starting!" Toriumi said.
I walked away to the Welcoming Ceremony. Sitting behind a gossiping student. The student turned around to face me.
"Psst! Hey, you walked in with Yukari this morning, right?" the student asked me.
"Yeah, is Yukari popular here?" I asked back.
"Of course! Hey, you don't mind knowing if she has a boyfriend, right?" he asked.
"I don't know, sorry. I only talked to her this morning, I don't know her that much." I replied.
He turned around and began to gossip about Yukari and me with his friends. I didn't know that Yukari was popular. Then again, she looked like someone that had charm. I was listening to my Mp3 when I realized Minato walking back up to me after he had searched the audience. I slipped off my headphones, flicked open my phone and put it to my ear.
"Sorry that I got cut off earlier. Was there something I need to know?"
"No. But Mitsuru said someone called Ikutsuki will visit the dorm in two days. He knows about the Dark Hour. It seems that he supervises a group called S.E.E.S. It's a group that maintains the wreckage of Shadows."
"Thanks." I said, closing my phone and putting it back into my pocket. I smiled. The Welcoming Ceremony finished and Yukari walked over to me, since she found out that I would be in the same class as her, she thought that she would accompany me to the class.
"Hey Minako-chan." Yukari said as she observed my face. "Are you wearing contact lenses?" she asked, noticing my black eyes.
"Yeah, I have a problem with my eyes, can't see that well anymore since I read a lot." I laughed, and Yukari joined laughing as well.
Actually, I don't have a problem with my eyes, I have a 20/20 eyesight. The only reason that I'm using black-colored contact lenses is because I don't want people to know where I really am from. It'll just create an uproar, since I bet only my last name will create loads of rumors.
"Class! This is Minako Arisato! Her parents died ten years ago, so she is living at the dorm for the while. Even though her home-country is Japan, she lived in different countries over the past ten years, so be nice to her, okay?"
I won the bet.
"Wait a minute! Arisato? As in that-"
"Yeah, I know right? But she doesn't look like a person like-"
"Maybe it's just a rumor!"
"Yeah, she has black eyes anyways!"
Yup, loads of rumors. But I don't care, unless the rumors gets too extreme, then I need to take care of it.
"Please take care of me!" I said, bowing to the class.
"Okay then, Arisato, you can sit over there." Toriumi told me, and I went to the seat where she pointed. "Now, settle down class! Let's begin our lessons!"
Boring lessons. This is easy though, I've learned about it already. When I have free time, I'd rather study some higher material. So I called Minato over and talked to him for a while about S.E.E.S. It would be rude of me, and troubling, to get my phone during lessons, so I opened my notebook and wrote in it instead, with Minato leaning over to look at what I was writing. "So what's S.E.E.S?"
"Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad. It's a group that fights Shadows during the Dark Hour. You want to join?"
"Depends." I wrote. "If it gets me closer to my goal."
"…Has the weapons arrived yet?"
"Not for another three days." I wrote. "I get to carry my shoes though, that's enough for now."
"I hope so. You never know what the Dark Hour throws at you…"
"I know what you mean. But I can handle it for now."
"Good then. Just don't go dying on me."
"Deal." I erased everything that I had written cleanly, careful not to let a word go out.
Lunchtime…
I sat in my seat, eating the food that I had gotten on the way here. Rumors. Lots of them are flying around. Annoying rumors. I slipped my headphones on my ears and turning them on in max volume, blocking out every outside noise. That's one reason I got headphones, I get to block out every noise with just slipping my headphones on and turning it on max volume. Another reason? I'm bored, didn't have anything to do. Why the hell does school have to be this boring? I can do something else with this kind of time. Seven hours wasted away…
"S'up! …Haha, you look like a deer in headlights." Some annoying boy with a blue cap on said to me.
"…"
"What? You're not talking?"
I don't know what to say, other than "Go away!" or "Shut up, I need to talk with the ghost beside me named Minato." I don't have any better responses. And I don't want to be rude to the stupid guy.
"I'm Junpei Iori. Nice to meet ya! I transferred here when I was in the eight grade, so I know how tough it is being the new kid!" Junpei said. "So I was just sayin' 'hey'. See what a nice guy I am?"
"…" It's better to observe and see what he does next. Especially with a stupid-looking and perverted-looking guy.
"Hey, it's Yuka-tan! I didn't think we'd be in the same class again!" Junpei said excitedly like a little kid when he saw Yukari approaching him.
"I swear, is there any girl that you wouldn't hit on?" Yukari sighed. "Seriously, can't you see you're bothering her?"
Good, thanks for backing me up, Yukari.
"What? But I was just bein' friendly!"
…Eh, nice try.
Yukari ignored him. "Looks like we're in the same class! What a coincidence, right?"
"Yep! Say, you wanna go to the sweet shop in the Iwatodai Strip Mall? I heard they have a new cake on the menu!" I said excitedly. I'm not acting, I really like cake.
"Sure! Why not?" Yukari said, accepting my offer. "Oh! But I forgot to bring my wallet with me…"
"Don't worry! I'll pay!" I said, giving her a reassuring smile.
"…Is it okay? I mean, I bet that you don't really have that much…"
You certainly lost the bet there.
"No, it's okay, Yukari." I tried to sound as cheery as possible. "It's a thank you gift for showing me the directions. And I don't like to owe people is all."
"Hey! What about me?" Junpei cried out desperately. "I greeted you, didn't I?"
"…"
"Oh yeah!" Yukari said, breaking the awkward silence. "You didn't tell anyone about last night, did you?"
I shook my head.
"Good. Don't tell anyone, okay?"
Perverted-looking Junpei probably reached his fantasies up in his head. "Last night?"
"W-What? Don't get the wrong idea!" Yukari said, trying to defend herself.
"She just took some of Mitsuru-senpai's cake. I caught her in the act." I said calmly, trying to cover up for Yukari's mistakes to say that out loud in front of a pervert.
"Oh. Well, good luck with Mitsuru-senpai, Yukari!" Junpei snickered and ran away.
"What-Hey!" Yukari sighed. "Well, thanks for covering up for me, Minako-chan."
I nodded. "No worries. Now, let's go to the sweet shop!"
The two of us walked over to the sweet shop, eating the newest item on the menu: chocolate cake! Yay! After eating one of it, we decided to head back to the dorm, since Yukari had something to do, I bet it's related to the Dark Hour, and I needed to talk with Minato, since he left to examine things in the dorm.
"So how'd it go?" I asked out-loud when I returned to my room and found Minato already waiting for me.
"There's cameras hidden everywhere. Even in your room. I don't know when it records though."
I put my good-luck shoes on and went out the room. "Where's the control room?"
"Upstairs. Sneak up, don't let anybody know you're here."
"Of course. You don't think I'm a-"
Freeze, stop. Footsteps approaching. Behind the sofa. …My mind does that when I'm in danger. Short but commanding commands, usually keeps me out of trouble, so I followed the commands. I peeked to see Mitsuru and silver-haired boy go inside the room.
"Can you go and see what they're doing?" I asked quietly.
"I'll see what I can do."
Minato walked inside the room and observed what the two were doing. After thirty minutes, the door creaked open and the two students went out of the door, with Minato trailing them and walking towards me. Before I can ask anything, he asked me one simple question:
"Can you hack?"
…
Five minutes later, I'm inside the control room, sitting down in front of the controls. Minato was watching the blank screen carefully. He took his hand and gently laid it on the keyboard, but it the screen didn't change since he wasn't able to touch anything.
"You know, I can't hack."
"Then I'll do it. Just follow what I'm typing."
I placed my hand where he placed his hand. He typed slowly so that I can keep up with him. After typing a few more keys, the blank screen suddenly came to life, showing a blocked screen. He watched the screen for a while until he placed his hand on the keyboard again and I followed his hand again. The screen then showed a list of recordings of the cameras in the dorm.
I never knew that I have a twin brother that is a master hacker.
…I am beginning to like him.
"There. That recording." Minato said, pointing to a recording. I clicked on it and the recording played. The two of us watched it.
Oh. It was last night in my room.
Apparently, I was talking with myself, asking who the intruder is when there was no one there.
And so, Mitsuru and the silver-haired boy will think I'm delusional. I have to delete this recording.
"How do you delete this recording?"
"Double-click on the recording." Minato said. I double-clicked it. "And click on the option called 'delete'."
…I have an evil twin brother that is a master hacker. Nice.
Deleted the recording, and now I have nothing else to do. Now I just need to go to my room and be more careful of being recorded. I think I'll stick to the phone-act for now until Minato can teach me how to disable the cameras.
Now to go and sleep again.
I still have a ten-hour jet lag, flying from New York. And there will be a full moon in two days. I need to rest up until then, if the research that we did was correct. I still have to be prepared for anything.
…
Well, the next day wasn't that interesting, except for the man that came to the dorm called Shuji Ikutsuki, as Minato has told me. Not that interested though, but it feels like he's hiding something. It might be related to my goal, so I stuck around, waiting for him to introduce himself.
"Good evening. My name is Shuji Ikutsuki. I'm the Chairman of the Board for your school." Ikutsuki stared off in the distance. "'Ikutsuki'…kind of hard to pronounce, isn't it? That's why I don't like to introduce myself. Even I get tongue-tied sometimes…please, have a seat."
He's definitely hiding something. That or he's just plain dumb.
"I apologize about the confusion regarding your accommodations. However, it may take a little longer before you receive a proper room assignment." Ikutsuki said, dropping his dumb act. He's hiding something, and I intend to know what. "Is there anything that you'd like to ask?"
"You know it already right? He's hiding something. Don't trust him. He knows too much."
"Just like me then. I know too much already…" I muttered softly, so soft that only Minato can hear.
"Ah? Yes, did you say something?" Ikutsuki asked.
"…Well, the other night, I saw something strange." I said, trying to see if he does know about the Dark Hour.
"Something strange?" Ikutsuki said. Now I know that he's hiding something. "Maybe you're just tired is all…"
"Well I wouldn't say so." I said. "See, I was walking from the station to the dorm and I saw the moon creepily yellow and the sky was green. And then there were all these coffins around me, and everyone was gone. It was so creepy, like a ghost-"
Yukari, who was here all along, shivered. I still have fun doing that. …Sorry Yukari.
"-Was creeping up behind me." Well that was true, but I'm talking about Minato here. "I saw this weird black blob, and it approached me, so I attacked it. Well it did die, but I had a small scratch on my arm. And I think it lasted for about an hour, more or less, and then everything went back to normal. Is it normal around here? I've been away from Japan for about ten years."
After my detailed report about two nights ago, it was safe to say that Ikutsuki knows about the Dark Hour, since he's not looking at me as if I'm crazy, and Yukari just looked away. Was that…guilt? I don't know, but I didn't pay much attention to her, but I did pay attention to Ikutsuki.
"Don't worry about it." Ikutsuki said. "Maybe it's just a nightmare."
"Maybe…" I said, playing along.
"Do you have another question?"
I shook my head.
"Well then, you should go to bed early." Ikutsuki said to me, standing up. "As they say, 'the early riser catches the bookworm'!" then he left Yukari and me alone.
"Don't worry. You'll get used with his bad jokes." Yukari sighed.
I nodded and went back up to my room. I opened my phone and placed it against my ear. "So what do you think?"
"He's hiding something."
"What do you think it is?"
"Something close to your goal. S.E.E.S is hiding something, but it's just about the Dark Hour, and they said something about you being a good candidate. They want to make you join the group."
"…Oh…so they can use-"
"Of course. They're dead already if they can't."
"Then I don't have to worry about anything else." I said, lying down on my bed. "Tomorrow night, right?"
"…Full moon? Yeah. Be prepared."
"…I don't want to sleep. I'm not tired." I whined.
"Well, you can always ask them."
"…I will never and can never break my connection." I muttered. "I think I understand why they all hate me."
"…"
"I can't ask them, I don't have my laptop with me." I pointed out. "Besides, I don't want to waste my money for a phone call all the way to New York."
"Don't you have a branch here?"
"I'm not familiar with the branch here. I need to ask the ones in New York to find out the branch in Japan's phone number and e-mail address."
"Won't you be able to find the branch here?"
"…Hm, good point." I said, grabbing my jacket and putting on my good-luck shoes. "Then I'll be going out for a bit."
"Are you allowed to go outside?"
"Nah. But I need to go sooner or later anyway." I opened the door, walked outside, closed and locked the door. I walked down to the lounge and bumped into someone when I was about to open the entrance door.
"…Hey. …You must be the new…I'm Akihiko Sanada."
"I'm Minako Arisato. Nice to meet you." I bowed a little.
"…Are you going out?"
"…I need to meet someone."
"…I need to meet someone too. Do you want to go together?" Akihiko asked. Seems like he's worried about me. I think I understand why, since it's ten o'clock now.
"…Sure." I nodded, I didn't want him to be overprotective of me if I refused. He might just follow me to where I was headed to later. "Where are you going?"
"Behind Port Island Station." Akihiko said. "Where are you going?"
"…Well, I can't really say for sure." I said truthfully. "…They're giving out clues to where I'm headed."
"…'They're'? So there's more than one person?"
"Yeah. What's wrong?"
"…Nothing." Akihiko muttered. "So you want to see if the place is behind the Station?"
"Why not?" I said, following Akihiko.
We went to the Station and went behind it. Yup, I found a clue. The place is around here somewhere, just needed to find the building…
"Oh look! Shinji's Gekko friend brought a girl!"
I looked at where the voice came from, but I looked away when I saw the person, going back to what I was doing before.
"Hey little girl. Wanna play with us?" a guy said and approached me. I didn't care, but Akihiko did. If I was correct, Akihiko Sanada was a teenage-champion boxer. I think I'm correct, by the way he punched the guy out.
"What the fuck dude?" the creepy guy's friend said. "Oh, you're going to die now."
"Hey, stop." A guy with a beanie cap warned. "He doesn't know what he's doing."
I looked around while the guys were arguing, and finally spotted the building with the familiar emblem that I was looking for. I left the guys and ran over to the building, eager to see my friends and relatives again. It has been ten years.
"Hey, is that bitch doing suicide?" the guy said. "Isn't that place-"
Oh, so the punks here know about it. This will be easier to do. "Hey guys! Long time no see! Glad to meet you again!" I shouted loud enough that the punks could hear.
"The fuck? Is that girl crazy? Hey, let's get out of here." And the punks ran away like cowards.
I had fun. Now to make a real reunion.
I took out my contact lenses, safely put it inside the case, and open the door to the building. "Yo!" I shouted at the group, raising my right hand with the V/peace sign.
"Yo! That's our Little Minako! You were the one that was making the racket outside?" a man greeted back in response. His name's Hiro, older than me by three years, he's my cousin. It's not a big age gap, but the last time I was here was when I was six, so everybody called me Little Minako, including him. "Been ten years, eh?" he held up his hand for a high-five.
I high-fived his hand. "Yep! I needed to get rid of the punks outside."
"Eh, no worries. That happens every time. Those punks can get rowdy, if you know what I mean. Hehehehe." Hiro snickered.
"I'm betting that you're the one that leads the punks on those occasions." I joked.
"H-Hey! Well, sometimes…"
"Pervert!" I stuck out my tongue at him.
"Hey, Little Minako!" my other relative called, he's called Yaku. Older than me by four years, but he's my mother's cousin's son, so it's like a "long-distance" related relative. "Don't forget about us as well!"
"Yaku! I don't think we can forget you, after all, you were the one that came back with a broken bone when you were only four! I still remember your mother's face when you came back!"
"Yeah, but you were the one that-"
"Did I just hear Little Minako there?" a familiar voice called out from another room. "I didn't know you would come this fast! You missed us that much?" my also four-years older other cousin Rekka shouted.
"Of course!" I nodded excitedly. "Just got back from the Hong Kong branch, did you?"
"Yup! You wouldn't know how many times I almost got killed!" Rekka laughed.
I laughed along. Places like this are places that make me feel at home. My relatives are the only ones that feels like my family to me after my parents died, well, Minato might be my twin, but I don't know if he feels like a brother yet. "So where's the others?"
"Doing jobs. We have more of those nowadays." Rekka sighed. "So only three of us left for this week, and maybe next week."
"Oh yeah, I remembered why you came back from the Hong Kong branch…" I said. "You got promoted to be the head of this branch, right? Congratulations!"
"Yeah…but the tests-"
"Nah, all of you got graded fairly, don't worry." I reassured. "You did good, that's why you got to be the head of the branch!"
"…If you say so."
"Hey, when are you going to get back? It's almost midnight." Hiro stated worriedly.
"Eh, I'll be fine, after what I've been through, right?" I asked and raised my fist. Fist-bumped with Rekka. Sometimes my relatives wonder if I'm supposed to be a girl or a boy. "I got my good-luck shoes! Well it's a different one though, since I outgrew my last one from ten years ago, but it is still the same kind at least!"
"You got any other-" Rekka said, assuming head branch mode.
"No."
"Got an-"
"No. I only have these shoes."
"Then go. I don't want you to get killed only after two days you arrived here." Rekka commanded.
"Hey, at least give me an-"
"Sorry, ran out of supplies to make them." Yaku, the 'maker' in the branch, reported. "They can wear out after a few months of overuse, you know?"
I sighed. "So how many people are there in this branch? Five? Any girls?"
"Ten. Seven, as I said, have jobs to do." Rekka reported. "Sorry, no girls. They're all out in Europe, mostly in London."
"Oh, I see." I sighed again. "So I'll be the only girl here again, right?"
"Yeah, don't be so upset!" Hiro cried out. "Hey, you're the only girl here, and all the people here have far-blood relation with you, maybe some of them wants to date you! You know, forbidden love!" he gave me a thumbs-up and a wink.
"With you? No thanks." I laughed.
"Hey! That's mean." Hiro laughed along. "But anyways, I got a girlfriend already!"
"Who's the unlucky girl?"
"A beautiful young girl!" Hiro whistled. "You should have seen her!"
I turned to Yaku. "High school?"
"Yeah."
I glared at Hiro. "You pedophile."
"Hey! I'm not even out of college yet! And this is a senior in Gekkoukan High!"
I gave him a serious-looking look. "What's her name?"
"Mitsuru Kirijo."
…
"KHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Sorry, Hiro, you need to learn how to lie better." I was still laughing. Hiro looked hurt. Wait a minute, he's serious? "Wait a minute, you're serious?"
Hiro shrugged, "Why is it that all of you laugh when I tell you that?"
"Hiro, are we talking about the same Mitsuru Kirijo here?"
"…I…think so?" Hiro scratched his head. "Wait, there's more than one Mitsuru Kirijo?"
"Red-head girl with an authoritative aura?"
"Yup, that's her."
"NO WAY IN HELL."
"What? Is it that impossible?"
"Mitsuru Kirijo-senpai is closed off! She's cold towards other people! And she's too smart already! Unless you can keep up with her intelligence, there's no way you'll get to date her."
"…"
"…Minako, you forgot. Hiro's a genius." Yaku whispered into my ear. "He doesn't have to go to college, but he wants to since he has nothing else to do. He can skip college whenever he wants though."
"…Oh." I said. I remembered that he skipped elementary school and went to middle school when he was eight. That explains it. "Okay Hiro, at least you met the requirements to date Mitsuru-senpai, now all I have to say is…good luck."
"…"
"Okay, I'll be going off now! I'll come here again in a couple of days!" I waved. "Bye now!"
"See ya later!"
I closed the door behind me and walked over to Akihiko and the person with the beanie, I'm guessing he's Shinji.
"…Tch. This is that girl?" Yup, he's Shinji.
"…I'm Minako Arisato."
"…What, no handshake?"
"Even if I say, 'pleased to meet you', you won't be pleased to see me. And you won't accept my handshake anyways." I said. This is a psychological matter. I'll tell you why I learned that next time.
"…Tch." Well, yes, I won.
"…Let's go, Minako." Akihiko sighed.
I glared intensely at Shinji, who glared back. "Yeah, let's go back, Akihiko-senpai."
Shinji raised an eyebrow. "Your eyes are scarlet red."
…Oh, I forgot to put my contact lenses back. "…Let's go back, Akihiko-senpai."
"…This is your candidate?"
Akihiko raised an eyebrow questioningly. "…Yeah, why?"
"…No, nothing. I forgot what red eyes mean." He seems that he's telling the truth, he was confused after all. Now, I'm relieved. Means one less person to-
Akihiko cut me off. "Let's go Minako. Later Shinji."
I walked off, putting back my contact lenses on. I have to be more careful next time. I don't want them to panic. If he lives in the dorm, then I bet that he knows about the Dark Hour. I don't need to test him, since all the tests I have made until now resulted positive. So I'd just let out a hint about the Dark Hour.
"Hey, Akihiko-senpai?"
"Yeah?"
"I heard from a friend that the tides of the sea are affected by the moon's phases. Tomorrow's a full moon, beginning a new phase. Maybe something unexpected might happen…?"
"…Maybe." Akihiko said, thinking about the possibilities of what might happen. "Anyways, where did you go just now? You got me and Shinji worried."
"Oh, I was just visiting my relatives."
"…But be careful next time. There's a lot of bad guys there."
If you know me, you wouldn't need to advise me.
"Okay then. Thanks Akihiko-senpai." I said as we both entered the dorm.
…
Mitsuru was waiting for me in the dorm lounge.
"WHERE HAVE YOU TWO BEEN?"
This I can answer.
"I was visiting your boyfriend, Mitsuru-senpai. He's also my cousin, you know."
Mitsuru froze. Oh, so Hiro wasn't lying. Kind of odd for Mitsuru to have a boyfriend though. I thought companies like this would have arranged marriages or something. Unless this was forbidden love and they got away with it…
"H-How? D-Did he tell you?"
"You have a boyfriend, Mitsuru?" Akihiko asked, raising an eyebrow, amused.
"…GO TO YOUR ROOM, MINAKO ARISATO."
I think I crossed the line there. I have to be more careful next time. I followed her instructions and went up to my room. I still wasn't sleepy, but I had nothing else to do. So I went to sleep, unfortunately.
…
"Welcome back, Minako."
"…Hey Igor."
"I should tell you now then." Igor said. "From now on, you will be using my services in the Velvet Room. Should you need to access the Velvet Room outside your dreams, then I will give you this Velvet Key."
A bluish-purplish key was thrown at me from Igor. I caught it. The key had a warm glow around it, much like the Velvet Room. I pocketed it in my school uniform's jacket. I will be expecting my key to appear the next morning in my school uniform's jacket.
"And I will need an assistant from now on." Igor introduced. "He will assist you."
"My name is Theodore. I will be assisting master Igor during our services." A man wearing a blue uniform told me, holding a book.
"…It has been a long time, correct? Ten years…" Igor reminisced, closing his eyes.
"…You said ten years ago, that this place could only be accessed by the ones who have signed the contract." I said. "I did not sign the contract ten years ago, and yet I was still able to come here. …What is it?"
"…You will find out soon, dear Minako." Igor chuckled.
"…Then I should get going."
"Yes. Time marches on in your world." Igor said, the door opening. "Until we meet again."
…
Next morning. Minato watched S.E.E.S watch the recordings and show it to Ikutsuki. So Mitsuru and Akihiko were about to show the recording, but it somehow got 'deleted' because of technical problems.
"Good then, at least they won't show me talking to a ghost that only I can see."
"…"
…
After the boring school day, though I got into an interesting talk with Junpei, but I can't finish the conversation, I got back home. The package should have arrived then, but I guess there was a delay, such an unfortunate timing, and the branch was out of stock as well. Can't be helped then. Just have to rely on my good-luck shoes.
Now, time for hacking.
After we knew that the room was clear, Minato and me went in. Like the day before, Minato guided me at what I needed to type in. Turns out, they were also recording me before Minato came in. Now, I just need to hack in and place this recording in the space of today's future recording, in case they wanted to record me again. I don't have much time in the Dark Hour. I need to find that full moon Shadow, while they're wasting their time here finding out if I'm a suitable candidate, who I am.
I swiftly went back to my room, and locked myself in, preparing for anything that might come up at me. I don't think I'm that well prepared since I only have my good-luck shoes, but it is better than nothing. I went out the dorm without anyone noticing, since they were all already in the command room by then.
11:59:58
11:59:59
00:00
Dark Hour
I took off, searching for the full moon Shadow. It should be around here, somewhere. Stop. Footsteps approaching. Hide behind car. Observe. I peered through the car and saw a coffin, weirdly shaped to fit the shape of a sitting human in, I feel sorry for the poor guy. Going back to the task at hand, I looked to see Akihiko being chased by a huge, not full moon, Shadow that looked like a steel horse and headless knight.
…Good luck Akihiko.
What? My shoes are not cut out to fight metal! It's meant to be used on huge flat and sensitive surfaces! And I don't have anything else!
"You're not going to believe this! This thing is huge! Unfortunately, I don't have time to talk… It's chasing me… I wanted to let you guys know. I'm almost there!" Akihiko shouted at a transceiver.
"Akihiko! Come in! We have some technical problems with the controls in the command room! Takeba is searching for Arisato since we can't see her through the screen." Mitsuru briefed him.
…Wait.
"Well, I didn't exactly copy the recording from last night and put it for today's recording."
"So what did you do?"
"What do you mean by you 'can't see her through the screen'?" Akihiko demanded.
"Well, every time we tried to log in to the recordings. A sentence pops up on the screen."
"What sentence? Is it blackmail?" Akihiko asked worriedly.
"I don't think so…"
"What's the sentence?"
"…You just got pwn'd…"
I stared at Minato. He grinned, satisfied at listening to Mitsuru's attempt to say 'pwn'd'. Oh, so that's why I typed, "pwn", I thought it was some kind of code. …Hey, I'm not a hacker, how should I know?
…I have an evil, pwning twin brother that is a master hacker. Better than nice.
"…" Awkward silence from running Akihiko. "…I'm near the dorm. Did Yukari find Minako?"
"…She just got back." Oh no. "…What? She's not here? Where could she be?"
"So she's not in her room?" Akihiko asked, now very worried.
"Yes, and she might be a victim! She's a candidate. And she experienced the Dark Hour two nights ago, she might be out there somewhere, Akihiko!"
"Dammit! I don't have anymore time! I can't search her in this condition, sorry!" Akihiko shouted.
"…Hurry back, Akihiko!" Mitsuru commanded. "We'll switch positions then!"
Now I feel guilty. I wonder how I'm supposed to help them-
-Wait, is that a crack in the armor?
This is a theory of mine, but there are people that uses powerful defense since they're very weak without the defense. I guess I can throw a rock at it, since my shoes is too big to fit through the crack, and I highly doubt that I can get the rock inside the crack to hit the person controlling it, but I need to find the right time so that I won't get caught. In five seconds.
…
Throw rocks. Metal fell, the body broke down. Hide behind car. Wait for Akihiko to get back to the dorm.
Oh, so it is weak.
Climb dorm's backstairs. Reach rooftop through ledge. Oh, Yukari's here too. Wait, is she angry or terrified at me? She's shouting at me something, but I don't know what, it's probably anger.
Oh shit.
Dodge sword. Grab arm, take sword. Cut off arm. Run to where Yukari is.
"Where have you been? We were so worried!"
"That doesn't matter right now! Can you fight?"
"…O-Of course!" Yukari looked defenseless though. Oh wait, she has her gun. She's taking it out and is now trying to shoot her own head. Well, whatever floats your boat. "These monsters…we call them Shadows!"
Unfortunately, the full moon Shadow that had ambushed me had made Yukari go up in flames before she could shoot herself. The flames weren't that big, but it was enough to make Yukari let go of the gun. The gun slid down to beside my feet. I took it. So this is one model of an Evoker.
"PERSONA!"
Thou art I, and I am thou.
From the sea of thy soul I cometh.
I am Orpheus, master of strings.
Truth be told, it wasn't the first time I summoned Orpheus. The first time he spoke was ten years ago, and Orpheus speaks whenever I summon Orpheus.
"ORPHEUS! BASH!"
…Seems that the full moon Shadow is unaffected by the attack, and he's grown back another arm. Great. So I can't use my melee attacks, since it'll take too long. And the only magic skill that Orpheus knows is Agi, and that won't help either. Now what to do…
Oh yeah.
He said that I can call out a deeper amount of power from Orpheus for one time only, and I would feel immense pain to my head, probably pass out. I try not to, but I guess, and hope, this is the only time that I have to.
"ORPHEUS!"
I can say that Orpheus really has a deeper amount of power, judging by how painful it was when two hands ripped off Orpheus from the inside. I can see something come out of Orpheus, something that has coffins surround it. "Gah! Ugh…" So it really is painful, but I've got to do it. The new Persona roared in anger and trashed the full moon Shadow apart. The Persona grabbed the arm that I cut off earlier and crushed it, dissolving it into nothingness.
I'm beginning to like this Persona.
When the full moon Shadow was done, the new Persona became Orpheus again, and the pain was gone. I threw the sword on the ground and it disappeared. "Stay with me, Orpheus!" Orpheus nodded and took out the lyre behind Orpheus' back. Orpheus bashed the lyre on the weaker enemies that had spawned off the full moon Shadow.
When I was almost finished, Orpheus began to fade and I wasn't as focused as I was before. I'm starting to pass out. "Damn it! Orpheus!" Orpheus read my mind and threw the lyre at me. I caught it and threw the lyre at the Shadow. When the lyre had cut through the Shadow, Orpheus caught the lyre and disappeared. I then passed out, for ten days.
DLWolf: Okay! Hello readers! First of all, thank you for reading this story, putting it into the favorites and alerts. Some of you readers know that I like to do this, but I like to make one of the characters in the story do the disclaimers. And I usually beat them up, physically or mentally, nyehehehehe. Now, who will be my next victim?
Minako: Oh hey! We've met before right? In Fused Dimensions?
DLWolf: Yeah! Good for you to remember me, Minako!
Minako: …Oh yeah. Geez, and how come I don't remember Minato and all that?
DLWolf: Nah, this'll be a one-time thing. I'll erase your memories at the end of the disclaimers is all. Now, how did I get an idea to make an OC for Mitsuru's boyfriend? Doesn't seem like Mitsuru at all, but I guess that's what made it interesting…or not it was just the trick of the mind, but I'm going to stick Hiro to become Mitsuru's boyfriend for a while.
Minako: …So what, do you want me to do the disclaimers?
DLWolf: Yup.
Minako: …Disclaimers: DarknessLightWolf does not own P3P/P3 and any of the characters in it. …And I probably will make sure he won't be able to.
DLWolf: …Wait a minute. Did you just call me other than my name? HEY! I told you before not to!
Minako: HEY! THAT WAS WHAT THE SCRIPT SAID!
DLWolf: What? Give it here! …Oh yeah, I forgot. I got too lazy to write my name after writing this for two days in a row. Hehehehe…
Minako: …
DLWolf: Okay, anyways! Fan of Fanfics21, maybe I'll make Minato do that, well, he doesn't want to see his sister's body, but maybe Yukari's… CA184, sorry, I didn't know you have a plan like this already, but I don't think it'll be the same as yours, of course, but thanks to looking forward to the future chapters! Ryurieri, it's like a dark past, but she's living in it now, so how do you say that? ledah13, I read that fic, but this one isn't like this one, well when the story goes on, it becomes a new and twisted plot, and remember, this is a semi-sequel, so the reference will come up about after the sixth full moon Shadow is defeated, aka, halfway through the story. Soulswallows, there might be MinaYuka, but I haven't decided yet if I will go with it, but I do have an idea for it, so I probably will do it.
Minako: Hey, so when will my memories be erased?
DLWolf: Oh hi. Well, you're going to forget everything about Fused Dimensions in about 3…2…1…
Minako: Hi.
DLWolf: Hi, nice to meet you, my name is DarknessLightWolf. I'm the author for this story.
Minako: Oh hi! Nice to meet you too!
DLWolf: Okay, so please R&R as usual, no insults please! Thank you readers! See you later!