(A/N: I have gone with the suggestion of continuing the story with Minako being further referred to a Hamuko because reading Minato/Minako is extremely confusing.)


"It's so nice to see you again." A familiar voice cackled. The twins looked around in confusion only to find themselves sitting in the room of blue velvet again. "You became unconscious after awakening to your 'power.'" An eerie smile creeped across Igor's features. "It's nothing to worry about, though. So, just relax."

The twins forced a laugh. Falling unconscious seemed like a lot to worry about, even it was a result of them awakening to their 'power'. Exactly what was that power anyway? They had summoned something and then it turned into...that.

"By the way... I see that it was Orpheus that heeded your calling." It was as if he had read their minds. "That power is called a Persona... It is a manifestation of your psyche."

"Persona?" Hamuko let the word roll off her tongue. She remembered saying it before they had to fight those things everyone calls shadows.

"My...psyche." Minato raised a brow. Did that mean that Orpheus was inside of him? Would that mean THAT was inside of them? He shivered at the thought.

"It may take some time to fully comprehend." Igor said waving off their confusion. Some help this old guy turned out to be. "A Persona is a facet of your personality that surfaces as you react to external stimuli. You can think of it as a mask that protects you as you brave many hardships."

"You lost us." The twins frowned.

"That being said, your power is still weak..." They raised a brow. Weak? That deathly figure tore that shadow to shreds. How was that weak?! "When you use your Persona ability, you must channel your inner strength. The ability evolves as you develop your Social Links-your emotional ties with others." Was he telling him to go make friends? "The stronger your Social Links, the more powerful your Persona ability. Please remember that." He waved them off again and the twins could feel themselves being pulled back to reality. "Now, then... Time marches on in your world. I shouldn't keep you here any longer. Next time we meet, you will come here of your own accord. Until then...Farewell." They still had so many questions. The could barely understand what he meant!

/

[4/17/09]

/

Minato stirred from his sleep. He sat up, his mind still hazy, to find a light-chestnut haired girl dozing off next to him. The girl stirred awake from his movement and popped awake when she saw him sitting up. "Y-you're awake!" She almost looked to be on the verge of tears. "How do you feel?"

"Where am I?" Minato asked holding his head, still a little dizzy from his dream.

"Thank goodness. You finally came to..."How much sleep do you need? It's been a whole week!" Yukari smiled a genuine smile. She was happy. Glad to know he was awake to the point she could joke about it. "I was so worried about you..." Yukari leaned in close as she reached for his hand. Minato could feel his heartbeat quickening.

A throat was cleared with annoyance causing the two to jump. "I'm here too ya'know." Hamuko called from a bed behind Yukari. The auburn haired girl shot Yukari a glare.

"o-oh yeah, this is Tatsumi Memorial Hospital. It's just a short walk from the station."

"I see..." Hamuko said sounding rather skeptical. "Why are you here?"

"Seriously?" Yukari's jaw dropped. "You two saved my LIFE! I couldn't just leave to here!"

Hamuko let out a defeated but silent 'oh'. Her brother shot her an apologetic smile from behind Yukari. 'See, she's not that bad.' Was what it really read.

"The doctor couldn't find anything wrong with you. He said you were
just exhausted... But, you kept sleeping and sleeping. You know how
worried I was?" Yukari's voice was shaking again. She looked down at her hand that was tightly balled into a fist on her lap. "I'm sorry I couldn't do anything...I was supposed to protect you, I..."

Minato reached out and lightly touched Yukari's shoulder. "It's okay."

"But, your power... It was amazing." Yukari smiled as she recounted the incident, how they had battled valiantly against an unknown enemy.

"What were those things?" Hamuko shivered as she remembered the creepily crawling monster.

"You mean the Shadows? They're what we're fighting against. And the power you used... We call it 'Persona.'" They remembered those words, from the man in their dreams. "We'll explain everything later. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before...I, uh..." Yukari had begun to fumble over her words. She seemed nervous. "I wanted to tell you that... I'm sorta like you."

The twins both raised a brow. "What do you mean..." Minato began.

"Like us?" Hamuko finished.

Yukari let out a heavy sigh. "My dad died in an accident when I was little... And my mom and I aren't exactly on good terms."

The twins felt a sharp pain in their chest. They knew her expression all too well. The feeling of being abandoned by the world.

"You're all alone too, right? Well I mean you two have each other, but you know what I mean." The twins smiled, not at her but each other. That was one advantage they had that most orphans didn't. They still had someone who cared about them more than anything.

"To be honest, I already know about your guy's past..." Okay that was weird. "But, it didn't seem fair, so I wanted you to know about mine..." Yukari let out another sigh. They could tell that whatever it was pained her. "It was back in '99...There was a big explosion in the area. Supposedly, my dad died in the blast, but nobody really knows what happened... He was working in a lab run by the Kirijo Group." Suddenly her expression shifted from sorrow to something stern and cold, completely unlike the Yukari they were used to till now. "So, I'm hoping that if I stick around long enough, I'll find out something. That's why I'm going to Gekkoukan High, and why I was there when this happened to you." A frown appeared on her face. "Of course, I panicked and wasn't much help...It was my first time fighting them, too. I'm sorry... You wouldn't be going through all this if I wasn't such a coward..." A tear rolled down Yukari's cheek and spattered the back of her hand.

In unison the twins both leaned over and touched Yukari's hands. "It's not your fault." Minato said with a shake of his head.

"I was scared too." Hamuko said with a smile.

A hint of red tugged at Yukari's cheeks. "R-really? Still..." She pulled away from them as she stood. "And here I am telling you all this the minute you wake up." Her cheeks continued to burn red. "While I was waiting, I thought to myself, 'I've been hiding so many things from them... As soon as they wake up, I'll tell them the truth.'" Yukari smiled and gave them both a small nod. "So, thanks for listening. I've been wanting to share that story with someone for a long time." She gave them both a quick hug. "Alright, I'm gonna get going. I'll let the others know you woke up. Take it easy, okay?" Then she was gone. Well actually no. Yukari poked her head in once more. "Be good patients! And don't hesitate to call the nurse. I'm sure she'll take good care of you." She gave them a wink, one last wave and she was gone.

Minato waited for a moment to insure she was gone before he shot his sister a smile. Hamuko gave an overly dramatic sigh. "Alright, she's cute okay!"

/

[4/18/09]

/

Unfortunately even with them awake they wouldn't be cleared until the end of yesterday. So it was another day of school missed. Hamuko grumbled and rubbed her eyes as her and Minato walked through the school gates.

"How are you still tired?" He said with a laugh. "We slept for a week."

"I was up all night catching up on everything we missed." She yawned. "I don't know how you get through it all so fast."

"Hey!" A blob of pink waved them over. "You seem to be doin' pretty well."

"Yeah. We're doing okay." Hamuko smiled. She had finally warmed up to Yukari after their moment yesterday.

"That's good." Yukari let out a relieved sigh. "Sorry to add to your worries but, Ikutsuki-san wants to talk to you today. Come to the 4th floor of the dorm okay. Don't forget." Then she was gone. She seemed awfully mysterious about it.

The day passed without much cause for concern. Then came the time of the big meeting.

"There you are! I'm glad that you're okay." The glasses wearing man from before waved them into the large room that was their command center and ushered the two of them to sit, everyone else was already gathered. "The reason I asked you here is because I needed to talk to you." His features appeared utterly serious before he broke character. "Before that. I believe I mentioned him earlier, but this is Akihiko." He gestured to the white haired male in the room.

"How ya doin?" Akihiko replied with a winning smile and a small salute.

"Akihiko, huh?" Hamuko in a near silent lull as her eyes flicked across him. It went almost completely unnoticed. Her brother knew her too well though.

"Let me start off by asking you this..." Ikutsuki wore his serious expression again. "Would you believe me if I said that a day consist of more than 24 hours?" The two gave a puzzled expression that marked for a unified 'no'.

Mitsuru chuckled as she sat her tear cup down. "I'm not surprised by your reaction." Of course not. The very concept was insane. "However, you've already experienced the truth firsthand." ...What? "Do you remember the night you came here? You had to have noticed the signs... The streetlights went out... Nothing was working... There were coffins everywhere... Didn't it feel like you were in a different time...?" They recalled the moment she spoke of. They remembered it vividly. Their fully charged phones had suddenly died. The streets fell silent Not to mention the world was swallowed in an eerie glow. "That's the Dark Hour-a time period hidden between one day and the next."

"Hidden?" Minato pondered attempting to wrap his head around this.

"I guess it's more like something people aren't aware of." Normal people? So certain people can't experience the Dark Hour? "But, the Dark Hour does exist. It occurs each night, at midnight. It'll happen tonight, and every night to come."

"Normal people don't realize it." Akihiko interjected. "Since they're sleeping inside their coffins. But, that's not what makes the Dark Hour so interesting. You saw those creatures." A hungry smile spread across his face while Yukari, Mitsuru and Ikutsuki all sighed. Hamuko on the other hand shivered, but not because of the talk of shadows. "We call them 'Shadows.' They only appear during the Dark Hour, and attack anyone not in a 's our job to defeat them. Sounds exciting, huh?" His eyes seemed to gleam as he talked about combat.

"Akihiko!" Mitsuru sounded annoyed. "Why are you always like that? You just got hurt the other day!" She seemed to berate him.

'So that's how it is.' A small frown appeared on Hamuko's face.

"Now, now. He does his work well." The chairman tried to quiet the riot between them before he turned his attention back to the twins. "Long story short, we're the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad-SEES for short. On paper, we're classified as a school club. But in reality, this group is dedicated to defeating the Shadows. Mitsuru is the leader. I'm the club advisor."

Hamuko made an interested cooing sound. They sounded like undercover spies.

"A Shadow feeds on the mind of its prey; the victim becomes a living
corpse." Mitsuru explained. The idea unsettled them both. "They're responsible for most of the incidents on the news, if not all of them."

"So how do you/we fight them?" Minato decided to cut to the chase.

"Although rare, there are those who can function during the Dark Hour." The chairman explained. "Some may even awaken to a power that enables them to fight the Shadows. That's "Persona"-the power you used the other night." The memory was still fresh in their mind, though they knew that they'd never forget. "The Shadows can only be defeated by Persona-users. Which means, it's all up to you guys."

"I see." Minato said taking it all in. "Sorta like super heroes?"

"Well, yes!" Ikutsuki gave a small smile. "I'm glad you're quick to understand."

"What he's trying to say is, we want you to join us." Mitsuru opened a briefcase on the table to reveal two guns like the ones from before as well as two red SEES badges. "We've prepared an Evoker for the both of you. We'd like you to lend us your strength."

The twins looked between each of the faces. They all seemed stern and fortified as they waited for their responses, but their eyes were different. They were pleading. "Alright." They nodded in unison.

Yukari, who had remained silent until now let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I was afraid you'd say no."

Ikutsuki smiled. "Thank you so much. I'm really glad." Everyone seemed so relieved at their answer. "I almost forgot, about your room assignment. Why don't you just stay here, in your current room? I don't know what the hold up is, but I guess it worked out in the end." The chairman grinned.

The twins shot him a glare. That smile seemed overly forced...he couldn't have...

"Hold up?" Yukari looked puzzled. "But wasn't that-" The other three gave her a look. "Nevermind. It doesn't matter anymore." He did plan this!

/

Night fell and with it the Dark Hour. The twins would be visited again. But not by Igor, the boy from before would appear before them again, somehow simultaneously in their respective rooms. "Hi, how are you?" The boy smiled as he sat at the foot of Minato's bed.

"How did you get in here?" Minato asked trying to hold back his fear. He was certain he locked the windows and door.

"I'm always with you..." The boy smiled again. "Soon, the end will come. I remembered, so I thought I should tell you."

"The end?" The thought rolled off Minato's tongue. What was 'the end'?

"The end of everything." The mysterious boy said flatly. "But to be honest, I don't really know what it is." Minato frowned. Some help that was. But 'the end of everything' sounded like a problem. "Looks like you've awakened to your power...and an unusual power it is." Was he talking about their Personas? "It may prove to be your salvation, depending on where you end up." The boy smiled and faded away, startling Minato, but he quickly reappeared in the center of the room. "Do you remember when we first met? I expect you to honor your commitment. I'll be watching you, even if you forget about me... Okay then, see you later." The boy disappeared but this time for good it seemed.

Minato's phone vibrated loudly. He reached for it to see a message from his sister.

[Received] CREEPYYYYYYY! ),:

He laughed before tossing the phone aside and subcumbing to sleeps embrace.