Author's Note:

Thank you everyone for your continued support. I truly appreciate it. So I now give you chapter 3.

Anyways, enjoy!

Disclaimer: Persona 3 and its characters belong to Atlus.

Ch. 3

Blue Velvet

April 8, 2009

Early Morning

Hamuko heard Minato yawn beside her. She turned to face him.

She saw that he still had some sleep in his eyes and that he would try and rub his eyes.

Hamuko knew that Minato was never one to wake up for early mornings. Even if said mornings were during school, it was mandatory to get up early. So she would hear Minato grumble about wanting to sleep in late.

Right now the two of them were walking over to school. And it seemed that Yukari was right, getting to school didn't seem like such a hassle. If only this could be said for their other school.

The two continued on and were about to pass the school gates when they heard a couple of school girls talking.

Oh great, more rumors? Don't people have something better to talk about in their lives? Sheesh. Hamuko thought. Both Hamuko and Minato then stopped behind to hear, out of curiosity.

"Did you hear the rumor…?" asked one of the girls.

"Oh, um…. something about… a bathroom?" the other girl took a guess.

"N-no! Not that one! I mean the story about the first-year student!" the first girl went on, "Not only did she stop coming to school, she does nothing but sit and stare at the walls all day."

"If her mother tries to talk to her, she only mutters to herself, "It's coming… It's coming!"

"Huh. How about that." The second girl replied.

"You don't believe me..?"

But their conversation was interrupted by the first bell of school. The two girls went off.

"Well that's weird."

Hamuko looked at her brother.

"You think?"

"Yeah. But who knows? People like exaggerate things. It may be right, or it may be wrong. Again, who knows?" Minato answered.

Hamuko looked away and then towards the front. A thought came to her.

She turned back, "Race you to the school!"

She ran off, catching Minato off guard. "Wha-? Hey!" He shouted, soon racing after her.

Hamuko was ahead and was laughing at her brother's attempts to catch up with her.

-XVII-

Afternoon

"Open your textbooks and we'll take a look at the first novel by… Zenzou Kasai." Ms. Toriumi frowned. "Ugh… why him?"

Minato looked up. Normally, he never would hear his teachers say much on the course material, but this was a first.

"I'd rather teach Utsubo Kubota. He became famous as a singer, but he also produced fine literature." Her disappointment showed at having Kasai chosen rather than Kubota.

"I wonder why it's not in the textbook. Well, I'll just bring Kubota's book next time." Her eyes brushed over the class until they stopped on-

"… Hey Junpei! Were you listening?" her eyes narrowed. "Who did I say was my favorite author?"

Junpei snapped out of his daydream and looked up. "H-Huh? U-umm…"

He then glanced at Minato and whispered, "Pssst. Dude, who does she like?"

Minato glanced back, rolling his eyes. I knew this was coming. Though it doesn't help either that I'm right next to him. Damn, I don't think I'll be able to sleep in class as much.

Minato leaned a bit and whispered, "Utsubo Kubota."

"Utsubo Kubota!" Junpei declared.

"That's right! So you were listening to me after all!" exclaimed Toriumi, who was surprised that Junpei actually got the answer.

"Eheheheh….," He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "Well, you know how I like to pay attention."

Ms. Toriumi glanced at Junpei, before resuming. Junpei then leaned over towards Minato, "Thanks, you saved my bacon Minato. If you hadn't, I probably would have had to buy her cake."

Minato replied, "No problem. But, you do owe me for this."

"Don't worry. I'll think of something to make it up to ya."

Minato nodded. He turned back to the front to listen.

But, he could hear from behind whispers from other classmates on how he helped out Junpei.

Well, so much for a low profile, he thought, but Minato did feel slightly popular.

-XVIII-

After school

After school ended, Minato and Hamuko were beginning to pack up their stuff and head back to the dorms.

But, as they were leaving the school, Hamuko asked Minato something.

"Hey, Minato-nii?"

"Hm?"

"Would you like to go out to those stores that Junpei showed us yesterday? I mean, I think it would be best to check out places on our own instead of heading back. What do you think?"

Minato answered back, "No."

"What?!" She said, shocked.

But, when she saw Minato turn to face her, she saw he had a small smile on his face.

"I was just kidding Hamuko. Sure, let's go."

Hamuko huffed in irritation. "I hate when you pull that trick. And it doesn't help that you mostly say things with a straight face either. So I can't tell if you're serious or not."

Minato leaned in and kissed her forehead. Then he looked at her, "Love you."

"Ugh," she groaned, but nonetheless, Hamuko knew she couldn't stay mad at her brother for long.

"Yeah, I love you too."

"So you wanna go?"

"Mm-hm." She nodded her head.

"Alright."

With that, the twins went off to the area where the stores were located near Iwatodai station. They hung around there until evening fell, so they then headed back for the dorms.

-XIX-

Evening

Hamuko and Minato came into the dorm's lobby. However, they did not expect to see the sight that they were now looking at.

Yukari was sitting down in one of the lounge chairs and was currently talking to an unknown man.

The man was tall and had glasses on. He had brown, wavy hair with a goatee and was wearing a brown jacket with a turtleneck underneath. The man continued on with his conversation with Yukari, but he then looked up to see the twins. He gave a smile.

Yukari turned around to see at what he was looking at.

"Oh, you guys are back." She said.

"So these must be our new guests." Exclaimed the man.

He got up from his seat and made his way over to the twins. Yukari followed from behind.

"Good evening." He greeted. "My name is Shuji Ikutsiki. I'm the Chairman of the Board from your school." His smile still present.

He seems nice, remarked Hamuko. But when looking at her brother, she could see him look at the man with wariness. Minato almost always seem cautious of new people.

The Chairman also seemed to notice Minato's wariness. "Oh, don't worry. I don't bite."

Hamuko could see Minato lower his guard a bit. A bit.

But, it seemed he was a little calmer and introduced both him and Hamuko.

The Chairman nodded and continued, "Arisato… . Well, that name seems a lot easier to pronounce and remember than "Ikutsuki" doesn't it? Which is why I am not too fond in introducing myself. Heck, even I get tongue-tied with my own name sometimes. But please, have a seat." He gestured towards the chairs.

Then all of them went to sit down. The Chairman went back to his own seat, while Minato, Yukari, and Hamuko sat together on the other couch.

When they were all settled in, the Chairmen went on, "I apologize about the confusion with regarding your accommodations. However, it may take awhile longer before you receive the proper room assignment. Is there anything you would like to ask?".

Hamuko questioned, "Ummm… why did you exactly come here?"

He then answered, "To welcome you, of course. Speaking of which….where's Mitsuru, Yukari?" He looked at her.

"She's upstairs." Yukari responded.

"As diligent as always. Although, it doesn't hurt to come down and say hello." He sighed. "But, anyways, anything else?"

Hamuko looked at her brother. Minato was thinking about something, but soon snapped out of it. "Yes, just one more thing. Who else lives in this dorm?"

"There are only five students: You, your sister, Yukari, Mitsuru, and a senior named Akihiko Sanada."

"I see. Alright, I'm fine." Minato responded.

"Me too." Answered Hamuko.

"Then, I hope you two have a successful school year. Now if you'll excuse me."

Ikutsuki got up from his seat and went to leave. But, as he was going passed he said, "You two must be tired out from all the excitement. You should get to bed early. As they say, 'The early bird catches the bookworm'!" He chuckled and then left.

Hamuko winced, as well as Minato. Oh god that's so cheesy.

Minato mumbled about how the joke was god-awful, while Yukari groaned.

"Don't worry you'll get used to his lame jokes." Yukari reassured.

However, at the moment, Yukari's reassurance didn't seem to help.

"Well, I'm off." Minato said, he got up and looked at Hamuko. "Want to come with me?"

Hamuko looked at Yukari, "Shouldn't you also get some rest too?"

"Uh, yeah. But I have some things to finish up first. So I'll still be up for a bit." Yukari answered.

"Okay." Hamuko seemed satisfied. She got up and went towards her brother. "Let's go."

He nodded.

The two went up the stairs. But, when they went up onto the second floor, Minato suddenly stopped.

He turned towards Hamuko, "Hey, do you think that he may be in on it?"

"You sure? That's a pretty big assumption Minato-nii. He could really just have been here to greet us, there's really no guarantee that he knows about what happens at night."

Minato looked unsure. "Maybe. I don't know. But, I do know that something's going on and that they're keeping quiet like we are."

Hamuko frowned. It was true that things did seem off. But, what could they do? Just all of a sudden tell the truth about the coffins, the power shutdowns, and the blood. No, they would look crazy and probably wouldn't be believed. But maybe….

"Minato-nii. What if they're in the same situation like us?" She asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean", she started, "what if they know about it too, but don't want to say anything for fear of us looking at them like they're crazy. So if that's the case, then let's wait and see if they make the first move."

"Mmmm." He wondered. "I guess. That's probably our best choice right now."

"Mm-hm. So let's not worry right now about it. Agreed?" She asked.

"Agreed." Replied Minato.

"Right. So good night Minato-nii." She began to climb up the stairs to the third floor.

"Good night Hamuko." He called after her, before he went off towards his room.

-XX-

Late Night

Yukari didn't like to lie to the two twins. But, this was necessary.

Or, so she tried to convince herself for the umpteenth time.

Right now she was in the command room with Mitsuru sitting next to her. They were looking at the screen, which displayed feeds of both Minato and Hamuko's rooms.

The two were asleep, unsuspecting of what was going on.

From behind, Yukari heard footsteps approach.

"Working hard?"

The two girls looked back. Ikutsuki stood there, with his arms crossed. "How are they doing?"

Mitsuru turned back towards the screen. "They went to bed and are both now asleep. But, it did take Arisato-san awhile before he slept."

Yukari's face slightly blushed, upon remembering seeing the blue-haired boy getting ready for bed.

No. Now's not the time for that, she scolded herself. She turned her focus back onto the situation.

"Mr. Chairman, do you think that they both are…?" Mitsuru asked.

Ikutsuki interrupted. "Well, let's wait and see for now. The Dark Hour is approaching."

All three then turned their faces towards the screen.

-XXI-

Dark Hour

The man was looking around frantically. He didn't know what just happened.

All of a sudden when the clock read 12:00 on his phone, everything changed.

The atmosphere cast everything into a greenish light, everything shut off, and coffins appeared in the place of people.

"Wh-what the hell is this?!" He cried out.

He continued looking around frantically, while he was backing away from the coffins. But, as he was backing away, he felt something underneath him. He looked down.

"Is this blood?!" He shouted down when he saw that he was standing in a huge pool of blood.

But, as he was looking down he noticed something wet drip down his face. He touched his face and pulled his hand back to look at what it was. It was a black liquid.

Pain suddenly seized the man and he gripped his head.

"What's happening….to me? …A….A…..Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

The man then suddenly collapsed into the blood with a sickening splat.

-XXII-

"Hmmm… They're still sleeping," mused Ikutsuki.

The screen showed that Minato and Hamuko were still asleep. Nothing seemed to change from how things were previous to midnight.

"The Dark Hour occurs every day at midnight; you could say that it's the "hidden" hour," continued Ikutsuki, "During this time, an ordinary person transmogrifies into a coffin, and is oblivious to all that occurs."

"Then, they must be…" Yukari said.

"Yes, as you can see, that they have retained their human form. They may still be asleep, but they are experiencing the Dark Hour. However, the question remains on whether they both have the potential." The Chairman explained. "Although, they must. If not, they would have already preyed on them. Very interesting, though, that two siblings possess the potential."

Yukari looked to the side. She shuddered.

"Scary."

"In any case, we should continue to monitor them for a few more days." Ikutsuki stated.

Mitsuru looked at him, "Yes, sir."

Yukari looked down, "I feel bad, though, spying on them like this…"

"Don't worry, Yukari. They may indeed have the potential. Who knows they even may be able to help us in fighting them." Ikutsuki reassured.

Yukari continued to look down, the reassurance did ease her a little.

She bit her lip.

-0-

"Master…."

"Master Hamuko…"

"Master Minato…"

Hamuko opened her eyes. ?!

She was sitting down in a chair. She turned to the side and saw Minato was sitting down in a chair also. She looked forward again, but was now checking out their surroundings.

The room was covered in blue. The back wall had some sort of metal grating and chains, making the room look like a huge, blue elevator.

Hamuko then looked up and saw a giant clock with continuous moving hands. For awhile, she became mesmerized, but was brought out of it by the gentle music of a…

They have a piano? She thought.

It was until now that she realized her and her brother were not the only one in the blue room.

There was a strange-looking, old man with a long nose (Is it possible to have a nose that long?) sitting across from the twins. Standing on each side of the man were two individuals: a young lady with bob-like hair and a blue dress and then a young man with a suit similar to that of a well-dressed bellhop.

The old man greeted with a mysterious smile, "Welcome to the Velvet Room, my dear young guests."

The Velvet Room?

"My name is Igor… I am delighted to make your acquaintance."

"It's… a pleasure." Hamuko responded, she then heard Minato say, "Yes, a pleasure."

"This is Elizabeth," Igor smiled as the lady smiled and nodded, " …and this is Theodore. They are residents of the Velvet Room, like myself."

"Pleased to meet you," Elizabeth bowed before Theodore takes his stand.

"Please feel free to call me Theo," he bowed as well, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

The twins nodded. Minato then turned to face Igor.

"Where is this place exactly?" He questioned.

Igor chuckled. "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter…It's been years since we've had a guest."

Then out of the table in front of Igor, the contract that the Arisatos signed appeared there. Igor then flipped his hand, the document opening as a result.

The twins' eyes widened.

They saw the only line that was present on the contract.

I chooseth this fate of mine own free will.

So that's what that contract was for. I wonder why. Questions flooded her mind, but many of whom she did not have an answer for. Hamuko could only wonder what was going on in her brother's mind if hers was going at the pace of a hamster on wheels.

"Only those that have signed the contract can enter here." Igor explained. "Henceforth, you shall be welcome here in the Velvet Room."

"So only me and my sister can access this place?" Minato asked.

"That is correct." Igor smiled. "You are both destined to hone your unique ability, and you will require my help to do so."

Huh? What ability? Hamuko wondered.

"I only ask one thing in return…that you abide by the contract, and assume responsibility for the choices you make."

It was still confusing, but nevertheless, they did get on what was being said.

"We understand." They said.

"Excellent," Igor then closed his eyes and then waved his hand once more, "Hold onto these…"

Faint blue glows radiated from the right hands of both Minato and Hamuko. Then, suddenly, a blue key appeared in their hands. The two's eyes widened, and they looked to Igor for an explanation.

" 'Til we meet again…" Igor said.

"No wait!" Hamuko shouted.

But soon, she began to feel tired and everything around her faded into black.

A/N:

- I just realized something. In Persona 3, how come the teacher never notices when Minato/Hamuko give Junpei the answer to a question even though they are so close to the front of the class? Yet, in Persona 4, the teacher more or less can tell that Yu is the one that gives the answers to his friends even though he is sitting quite a distance in the back.

- Thanks for reading this chapter and for reading this story. Please feel free to leave any comments, feedback, reviews, or even faves.