(Don't Skip This) Author's Note: So, I had an idea today that I wanted to do as soon as possible. Don't worry, chapter 2 is currently in the process of being edited and scheduled for release, but I wanted to see how this idea worked out before uploading it. You can expect it to be uploaded within one to two days, tops. This is meant to be an "Author's Commentary" in a sense, with the goal being to help further explain my thought process and help others with their writing. It's also meant to fill the void between chapters with something that I find interesting, and I hope you do too. This is still an experiment, so be sure to let me know what you think in a review or PM. Anyways, let's get started!
'How the hell did I end up here again?'
A single figure on a train bound for Iwatodai was silently contemplating the order of events that led to him being expelled from his home and school. The train was, surprisingly enough, empty except for the lone teenager in the very back of the train car.
(Prince: I find the first paragraph to often be the hardest part of a chapter to write. It's supposed to set the tone of the story and will probably be the deciding factor on a reader on whether or not they wish to continue a story. The idea of starting with Minato's thoughts and leading into a description is meant to pique the reader's curiosity. Why is he here? Is it any different from the base game? What will be the backstory of the main character? I find straight novelizations boring, so I made sure to change the personality and backstory of Minato Arisato as much as possible while still being able to fit into canon territory.)
'Oh yeah. That's right. I'm an impulsive idiot.'
(Prince: To be honest, I didn't really know how to follow up with Minato's first thought. At first, I was going to let it hang there without explanation, but I decided that would be odd, and wouldn't really mesh well with the next paragraph I had in mind, so I decided to simply follow it up with some self-chastisement.)
Even with the teen's contemplation, he knew why he was here, and he knew, deep down, that this was for the best. He looked out the window, only to see the empty black void that was the night sky, only, there was something small, but definitely noticeable amongst the contrast of the night.
A small, blue butterfly fluttering in the dark.
'Guess you're alone tonight too, little guy' The teen simply turned his attention down to his MP3 player and started skipping through the songs as he recounted the events leading him here.
(Prince: I knew I wanted to include a flashback in this chapter. In fact, when I wrote out the outline of this chapter, the flashback was the first scene I came up with, and simply used the opening cutscene of the base game as a template for the rest of the introductory sequence.)
1 Week Earlier
"What the hell were you thinking?!"
A large, cream colored office was filled with only two figures. One was a teenager. The other was an older gentleman, and they were separated by a large, mahogany desk. Both figures had blue hair, but the older one had strands of grey hair, and the blue looked faded. His age was starting to become more apparent as the years progressed.
"I've bailed you out one too many times, Minato. I told you if this happened again I would have no choice but to send you away. You knew the consequences, so why did you do this?!" The older figure gestured to a file in a manila folder on top of his desk. Its contents containing a police account and arrest description for the teen currently in his office.
(Prince: I wanted to keep the details of Minato's arrest secret for a little bit. I felt that if his arrest was explained instantly, the feeling of mysteriousness of his character would be instantly wiped away. This is a character that has been portrayed a hundred different ways in thousands of fanfics on this website. The vagueness was meant to add a little uneasiness within the reader. At this point, I suspected that many people weren't quite aware if the arrest was going to be serious or not, and that was the point.)
"I'm sorry, Uncle. I knew the consequences, but I did it anyway. Do what you have to do." The teen's voice was, at best, bored and uninterested. He wasn't fazed by his uncle's stern demeanor or threat. He was used to these talks by now. The only difference with this one is that his uncle would actually do something. No matter. What was a year in Iwatodai anyway? Couldn't be too bad.
(Prince: This was meant to be the first real taste of Minato's personality. An apathetic, often times uncaring person with a chip on his shoulder. I didn't originally know how I was going to characterize him. I knew what I didn't want to do, but there were many different ideas I juggled with before settling on what I thought would fit his backstory.)
His uncle pinched his nose and sighed. "Listen, Minato. You're on your way to becoming an adult. These types of things," he picked up the folder and read the contents once again, "cannot happen. It looks bad on the company when the youngest Arisato child gets arrested."
"The media will spin it into a sob story, Uncle. They always do." The teenager, Minato, was used to the media attention by now. Countless reporters bombarding him day after day about recent scandals and his arrests were a common occurrence. This arrest would be no different. It would be another story about how the distraught Arisato Heir coped with the loss of his parents by performing unlawful actions, and the media would swoon over the teen's bad boy behavior and then they would forget about it in a week. Just like they always did.
(Prince: Once again, another look into Minato's thought process. The media outlook was heavily inspired by my own observations on celebrities and their media presence, as well as a small nod to how Persona 4 treated reporters when dealing with the murders in Inaba; nosy, uncaring, and a gossip machine.)
"Nevertheless, Minato, you've made it a habit of getting into trouble. This is the fourth time that you've been detained, and it's getting harder and harder to bribe the Tokyo police to overlook these sorts of things when they happen this often." His uncle was as stubborn as ever, and the chances of avoiding the transfer to Iwatodai was looking less and less likely. "Honestly, the only thing that makes sending you to Iwatodai problematic for me is having to do the paperwork for school transfer, but at this rate, it seems that would be a small drop in the pile of work you and your troubles force upon me." His uncle continued to glare at him.
"It's surprising this Gekkoukan High would even accept you, but it seems your studies are paying off after all. If only you kept your nose out of trouble." His uncle grimaced. It pained him to have these talks, and he didn't really want to send Minato away, but he didn't really have a choice in the matter.
(Prince: I wanted to make it perfectly clear that Minato's uncle wasn't a total dick. I wanted him to come across as a stern, but still caring individual. The act of bribing the police is meant to show the shady connections of the Arisato Corp. and also serve as a small nod to Persona 5. I'll be honest, it took a lot of restraint to not throw in a remark about the police having a "Change of Heart" about Minato's record.)
"If you've made your decision, Uncle, should I start packing?"
Minato's uncle rose from his desk and sighed once more.
"Yes, Minato, you should."
And with that, Minato gave a small bow and left the room, shutting the door again behind him.
The Arisato Estate was quite large. Large enough to house three tenants as well as multiple maids and chefs who lived on the property as well as leave room for multiple guest rooms on every floor. The place was colored similarly to Minato's uncle's office. Cream colored walls with mahogany and similarly colored tables, chairs, and desks adorning every room in the estate. A library was built on the second floor right across from Minato's room, and it was here that he encountered the other person who lived here along with his uncle and himself.
(Prince: I knew how I envisioned the Arisato Estate, but I can't help but think that I gave an inadequate description of the place, whether that be in the sheer size of the place or the lavish lifestyle the Arisato family lives in.)
"Well, well, well… what did you do this time?" A mocking voice called from behind Minato as he turned the knob that led to his room.
"Nothing that you should concern yourself with, Makoto." Minato tried to ignore the annoying chuckle from behind him as he opened the door to his room.
"Anything that concerns my brother concerns me, Minato." At this point, Minato turned around with a glare towards his older brother, Makoto. Makoto was older than Minato by four years, making him Twenty-one years old. He was slightly taller than Minato, and slicked his blue hair back to give it a more dignified look.
(Prince: Makoto has existed in this story since the beginning outlines that I've made. I wanted Minato to have a surviving family member, and I was originally going to include the female protagonist, but I decided against it due to them being twins being a stale idea at this point. Makoto acts as a lite antagonist here. Not really a villain working against the main character, but certainly being an unceremonious dickhead throughout the chapter. I have a few interesting ideas for Makoto, but telling you now would be spoiling *wink wink*)
"Since when do you care about what happens to me, asshole!?" Minato made no attempt to hide the venom in his voice. Him and his brother were on horrible terms. Makoto's constant teasing and harassment had hit a high point a few years back, and it struck a chord damaging enough to Minato that it forced him to block his brother completely out of his life.
If Makoto's harassment hadn't been annoying enough, now that he had returned from college, he had a "high and mighty" stick up his ass that made him worse to be around. The old Makoto may have been a jerk, but the new Makoto was a jerk who scolded Minato on "proper behavior and etiquette" while in public, which did nothing to better their relationship as brothers.
(Prince: I wanted Makoto to be the more serious of the two. While Minato is uncaring and doesn't care much for his family's heritage, Makoto is meant to be the more involved in the politics and economics of the corporation. Makoto cares more about loyalty and respect while Minato tends to be less thrilled about the aspect of being born into a family with such large expectations. This ends up creating a large rift between the two brothers as their ideology and ideals clash.)
"I'll always care for my baby brother," Makoto's eyes and smug smirk betrayed his voice's faux sense of caring, "besides, it's not going to be any fun without you around. The house is just so… boring otherwise." Makoto gave a small shake of his head accompanied with a chuckle.
"Well I doubt it will be boring considering you're preparing to take over the corporation and all. What is it that you told me? That I was a "nuisance that disturbed your studies"? Perhaps you'll actually get something done while I'm gone." Minato brushed off the mocking laugh that his brother fired back with and started packing for his move.
"So, you actually pissed the old man off enough to actually be sent away. My, what did you manage to do this time, I wonder… Was it drugs? Guns? Perhaps your childish ways finally caught up with you and you fooled around with the wrong people? So, Minato, which was it? And to think you're being sent to Iwatodai of all places. My, my…. Uncle must be really mad if he's sending you to the lion's den with our rival's home base. Damn Kirjio dogs." Makoto continued to berate his brother with questions pertaining to his detainment, and it eventually got to the point that Minato snapped.
(Prince: This was meant to show the hostility the Kirijo Group and the Arisato Corp. have for each other a little earlier than when it is fully revealed.)
"It was nothing, okay!? Some asshole was threatening me on my way home so I shut him up, but then he went to the police like the chicken shit he was and they got me," Minato's voice rose in volume and the hatred in his voice increased, "You happy!? You satisfied!? Now leave me alone, Makoto!" Minato slammed his door shut and put his headphones on his ears and put his MP3 on full blast.
(Prince: I was tossing a couple of ideas in my head as to what Minato got in trouble for. At first, I thought he would have been caught intoxicated, but decided against it as it wouldn't mesh well with his personality here. I settled on an assault charge as another nod to Persona 5 as well as to show Minato's short fuse here. He isn't to be trifled with so easily, and while he may seem carefree and friendly on the outside, threatening his life or a life of someone he cares about will only end in disaster.)
His MP3. The last memento Minato had of his parents. It was beaten up and old, but he always kept it. Whether it was the sentimental value or his laziness that stopped him from selling it and getting a new one, he didn't know. All he knew was that it kept him sane. All the baggage that came from being the second heir to the Arisato Corporation's throne was blocked out by the sweet sounds of music that could be activated in a moment's notice. Makoto had kept a memento of their parents too, of course, but his wasn't an item one could use, and Minato wasn't quite sure when he got it. It was a small, silver medallion that he kept clipped on his belt at all times. Whenever he would ask about the strange object, Makoto would always brush off the question, but not before mocking his brother's own memento, because everything was a matter of discord between the two, nowadays.
(Prince: I was very cautious about how much I disclosed here about their mementos of their parents. Without giving too much away, there's a good reason as to why the brothers hold on to their memento's as much as they do.)
Minato zipped up the last remaining items he would be taking to Iwatodai, laid back in his desk chair, and let his music lull him to sleep.
Present Day
"Attention passengers, we would like to apologize for the delay. This is the last call for Iwatodai. Iwatodai station coming up." The P.A. system onboard the train alerted Minato and brought him out of his quiet reflection.
As the train slowed to a stop and the doors opened, Minato grabbed his luggage and began making his exit. The station was quite bustling considering it was almost midnight, but that was to be expected in a highly populated area like Iwatodai. It certainly wasn't the size of Tokyo like Minato had gotten used to, but it wasn't a small town by any means.
That was when everything got weird.
In an instant, Minato's MP3 abruptly stopped, and a sickening green glow covered the streets, and the smell of iron crept up to Minato's nose. He looked down to find the source of the smell only to find a puddle of blood right at his feet.
Minato quickly looked around to find all the people he originally saw, but in their absence, coffins lined the roads and alleyways of the station. The teen suppressed a shiver and inhaled sharply at the horrific sights. With a final steadying breath, Minato looked down at the directions he was given to his new home, and continued at a steady pace towards the dorm he would be staying at for the year.
'Just another night in Green World, Minato. You can do this. Just quickly reach the dorm.'
Minato was no stranger to this change in the world. He had experienced it for a few years, and whenever he told his uncle about it, he would just brush it off as a nightmare, but Minato knew better. Nightmares wouldn't feel so… real. No matter how many times he experienced it, however, he would never get use to the churning feeling in his gut when the sky turned green and the moon turned yellow. It was unsettling.
(Prince: This was one the harder scenes to write, believe it or not. I find it hard to correctly describe the horrors of the Dark Hour and characters' reactions to it without relying on the game as a crutch, which I decide to stay as far away from as possible when writing. I use the scenes the the game as a reference and tend to change character dialogue and interaction from there. That way, it feels more personal and original.)
It didn't take long for Minato to reach the dorm. The directions provided were direct and simple enough to follow, and the lack of traffic due to the arrival of "Green World" made the trip faster by a considerable margin of time. The dorm was large, and must've housed a lot of students, Minato thought.
The living room that greeted Minato was empty, which didn't really surprise him, considering "Green World" was still active.
'It's going to be an awkward night with nobody here to greet me. How am I going to explain this?' Minato's thoughts would've continued going further into the negative territory if not for the scurrying of feet he heard amongst the darkness.
"W-who's there!?" A feminine voice called out to Minato, and a slender silhouette appeared in the hallway in front of him.
(Prince: I was originally going to use the game's standard introduction to the dorm, but decided leaving some elements out could lead to some interesting plot divergences later on.)
'Another person awake during this time!? That's unheard of!'
Before Minato could make a case for himself, he saw a silver glint being pulled out from the silhouette's thigh.
'A gun!? Those aren't even legal for citizens to carry!'
"Hold on, I promise I'm not a home invader. My names Minato Arisato. Perhaps you heard I was arriving?" Minato tried his best to dispel the girl's anxiety, but his words seem to cause her to panic more, and before he knew it, the gun was trained on his head and the girl's breaths became more rapid and uneven.
'If I die tonight, I'm haunting whoever set me up in this dormitory.'
(Prince: I wanted to show that Minato was calm under pressure here and that he could even joke around despite the apparent danger he's in. This all ties into some of his escapades that he got in trouble for that will be explained in due time.)
"Takeba, stop!" Another feminine voice called out in the darkness, and in an instant, the lights came on, fully illuminating the two teenage girls in front of him. The "Green World" had ended.
"Um…hello…?" Minato tried to reintroduce himself to the gun-toting girl in front of him, hoping to dispel the tension by greeting the two in front of him.
With the lights back on, Minato got a better look at the girls in front of him. The one with the gun had short, brown hair and seemed to really like the color pink if her outfit had anything to say about her. The other was taller than her friend, with red hair fashioned with curls at the end. A white blouse accented with a red ribbon and armband accompanied with a black skirt and boots gave her an authoritative presence, which, if her commanding voice was of any indication, was the look she was going for.
"You must be Minato Arisato, correct?" The redhead raised an eyebrow quizzically at the dumbfounded Minato, who was still trying to figure out how a high school student got a gun in the first place.
The blue haired teen shook his head one final time before deciding to introduce himself.
"Yep, that's me. Sorry for arriving so late. Delays and all that jazz. I'm sure you know how it is." Minato shifted his weight to his right foot and crossed his arms as he glanced at the gun one final time.
"I didn't realize they allowed high school students to carry firearms. Not to mention using it on unarmed civilians." Minato didn't try very hard to hide his scrutinizing look at the brunette who looked shocked that he brought up the weapon.
(Prince: Once again, this was meant to show Minato's irritation coming into play here. His jab at Yukari is meant to be direct, and is meant to be a moment of him gathering his composure as he's processing what just happened.)
"Don't worry, it's not real." The redhead said, perhaps a little too quickly, in Minato's opinion. "I'm Mitsuru Kirijo, and this is Yukari Takeba." The redhead gestured to her companion and gave her a look that seemed to signal something for the brunette.
'Wait… did she just say Kirijo!? THE Kirijo? Damn you Uncle!'
(Prince: Some of the early drafts of this story had Minato and Mitsuru being childhood friends before being separated by their families' feuding, but I thought having them meet as strangers and learning about each other as the story progressed would be more interesting, as it makes the distrust and the eventual growth of trust all the more noticeable.)
"H-hi. Sorry about that. There's been a few break-ins recently. Can't be too careful." Yukari let out a nervous chuckle while averting the gaze of the newly arrived student, who wasn't really paying her any attention. Instead, his focus seemed to be on Mitsuru, who seemed to notice his staring.
"I'll be honest, when I heard an Arisato was going to live here, I didn't believe it at first, but here you are." Mitsuru seemed to narrow her eyes slightly towards Minato, who returned her look with an equally suspicious glare.
(Prince: My biggest issue with Mitsuru's dialogue here is a fear of OOCness. I was genuinely worried of getting her initial reaction to Minato wrong. I don't personally believe I did a stellar job with it, but I personally believe it could've been a lot worse, and if I ever rewrite this chapter, this line is going to receive the most scrutiny.)
"I assure you that whatever issue you take with my family and our corporation won't be replicated with me. I have no interest in our families' politics, Kirijo-san." Minato gave her a respectful bow, believing that a civil approach was preferable to a bloodshed in a dormitory living room.
(Prince: This dialogue has two purposes. The first one is to show Minato's lack of interest in his family's company, and the other is meant to show his public behavior compared to his private behavior. He comes off a lot nicer and polite when talking to strangers, but is really cynical and rough on the inside.)
Mitsuru's gaze softened a bit with the teen's gesture, and she returned his bow with one of her own, albeit somewhat restrained.
"In that case, I hope we can get along," Mitsuru sighed softly before rubbing her arm, "it was wrong for me to treat you inhospitably, Arisato-san."
"It's quite all right." Minato gave out a small chuckle and brushed some of his hair out of his eyes.
(Prince: I originally thought I would have the two hate each other for the better part of the first month of the story, but decided against it as neither character would be able to avoid OOCness had I gone that route.)
"Wait, you guys know each other!?" Yukari looked confused and didn't really seem to comprehend the exchange between the two young aristocrats. Minato was the first to enlighten her, however.
"The Arisato Corporation-my family-and the Kirijo Group have never really been on good terms." Minato shook his head a bit as he recounted both his uncle's and his brother's multiple slurs for people associated with the Kirijo group.
"Yes, they originally split from the Nanjo Group together with the Arisato-Kirijo Group, but a few bad business dealings between the two led to an eventual split." Mitsuru also recounted multiple slurs used to describe Arisato Corp. associates. Ones that she heard from her grandfather as well as other Kirijo Board members.
"Well, the past is the past," Minato extended his hand towards the Kirijo Heiress with a friendly smile, "I'm willing to bury the hatchet her if you are, Kirijo-san." She reached out a shook his hand.
(Prince: "The past is the past". This quote played an integral role in the outline of this story.)
"Gladly, Arisato-san." Mitsuru returned the smile. "You must be tired. Tatsumi Port Island is quite far from Tokyo. I'll have Takeba show you to your room." She nodded her head towards the younger teen.
"Yes, Senpai." Yukari gave a small bow, "Follow me, please."
Yukari led Minato to the last room on the right on the second floor.
"Here's your key. Don't lose it, or you'll never here the end of it." Yukari handed Minato the key and began walking away.
"Thank you, Takeba-san." Minato gave her a small smile.
"Please, just call me Yukari, last names are a bit too formal for me." Yukari let out a small chuckle.
"Well, only if you call me Minato, then, Yukari-san." Minato gave a small smile while Yukari nodded.
"Hey, Minato-san, can I ask you something?" Minato turned back around and gave her a nod to continue.
"Why were you so quick to drop years of rivalry with Mitsuru-senpai like that? If it was as bad as you both let on, I would've figured you would be less accepting of living here." There seemed to be more to Yukari's question, Minato thought. Almost as if she wanted a specific piece on information out of him or something, but he just gave her the simplistic answer.
"I'm not one for holding grudges, especially if it's with people I've never met. Besides, if we're living in the same dorm together, it would get really awkward if we were at each other's' throats all the time." Minato gave a small chuckle.
(Prince: This is something that I really wanted to stress here. Neither the Arisato Corp. or the Kirijo Group have spoken to each other in YEARS. All they know about one another is that their team hates the others, and that is good enough reason for people like Makoto to hate the Kirijo Group.)
Yukari seemed unsatisfied with the answer, but she wasn't going to push it. Instead she gave a quiet 'thanks' before turning around and heading upstairs.
Minato walked into his room.
'Blue, blue, and more blue. Whoever set up my room knows me well.'
Minato dropped his bags onto the desk in his room and rummaged through to find more comfortable clothes before collapsing into his bed with a final yawn.
'This year's gonna be… interesting.'
Authors Note: I hope I could enlighten some of you on my thought process here. Honestly, my biggest concern with doing this is the artificial bump in word count I get from doing it like this, and if that bothers you, please let me know, because this idea is merely an experiment, and if you don't like it, this can stop and be deleted. If you want this to continue, let me know, because I had a lot of fun doing this and it actually helped me formulate some of the ideas I have for this story.