The Other Chance
Chapter 3
Disclaimer: I do not own anything connected with Persona, Atlus or ancient deities used for cultural influence. I only own myself. Uh-huh.
Chapter 3: Normal Life, Huh?
April 7, 2009:
The evening went by relatively quickly. Akio used the kitchen area to make dinner for his siblings. Asking either of them to cook was a punishment from God that Akio prayed never to revisit.
He invited both Yukari and Mitsuru to join them since both were sitting in the living area. While Yukari joined them for goulash, Mitsuru politely declined and continued reading her book.
Afterwards they watched a little TV. The news had a very short report on Apathy Syndrome. Apparently, it was a disease that had sprung up in the city lately. Essentially, it made you into a vegetable while still being able to walk around. No clue as to what caused it or how it spread to others.
Mitsuru looked up from her book at the program, her eyes narrowed but only Yukari seemed to notice it.
As it got later Yukari said to them, "You're all probably tired from your first day, huh? Maybe you should go to bed early tonight."
Akio yawned and was about to agree when his hyperactive sister chimed in, "I kinda wanted to go out and see the town at night."
Minako had always been somewhat reckless and adventurous and going out at night was something that always filled her with such excitement. But Akio was concerned about her heading out alone, especially with all the gang violence he had experience at night in other towns. He was about to scold her when Mitsuru beat him to the punch.
"You really shouldn't be outside on your own at night. It's too dangerous," she scolded.
Minako pouted. "She's right," Akio agreed, "Besides, staying out late gives you destructive tendencies. So do us all a favor and turn in early…for my sake," he added smirking.
Minako was about to protest when a surprise yawn caught her. Minato smirked but yawned himself.
"Aww, I'm too tired to argue now," Minako said rubbing her eyes. "Guess I'll head to bed. G'night."
One by one, the Arisato siblings headed up to bed.
When Akio reached his room her remembered that he had yet to unpack his stuff. Begrudgingly, he did so. After he finished he plopped down on his bed, not bothering to cover himself up and drifted into a sweet slumber.
Meanwhile, downstairs in the main lobby a tall young man with short silver hair and a red vest walked up to Mitsuru, who was sitting on the couch.
"I'm going out for a bit," the silver hair teen said to her.
"Hmm…?" Mitsuru said looking up from her book.
The silver hair teen looked down to her and said, "Have you seen the newspapers lately?"
Mitsuru eyes became down cast as she replied, "I know…there was a news report about Apathy Syndrome on earlier." She looked up to him, "People who had no problems before are suddenly developing acute symptoms. They say it's due to stress, but…"
The young man scoffed, "Yeah, right. It has to be 'them'," he told her, "Otherwise, it's not worth my time…"
Mitsuru placed her book down and looked directly at him. "You have a one-track mind…" she teased him, "Will you be okay on your own?"
"Don't worry. I'm just getting a little practice," the silver hair teen said grinning. And with that he proceeded to the door and left.
Mitsuru sighed to herself, "This isn't a game, Akihiko…"
April 8, 2009:
The next morning the siblings were again accompanied to school by Yukari. They chatted flippantly about lots of things along the way.
As they passed by the gate, Akio heard other students whispering. They were apparently talking about one student who had become a vegetable recently. For once, Akio didn't blame TV.
He wondered if it was because of the Apathy Syndrome he heard about but before he could ponder it anymore the first bell rang and he and his siblings ran for the doors.
Class went by the same as yesterday. Akio slept, the twins paid attention. Oddly enough, it seemed that it was the older brother who always scored higher on tests. Minako attributed it to steroids, Minato to cramming, Akio to not giving a shit and guessing.
After school they all headed home together with Junpei in tow. Minato recounted how he saved Junpei's life by whispering an answer to him while Minako pretended not to understand what they were discussing in class to distract the teacher.
Junpei, or rather Minato, answered correctly inspiring awe from both the teacher and students. Akio wished his class was as exciting. He always seemed to do so well, even without studying, as if he already knew the answers.
He shrugged off the thought and returned to the dorms with everyone. Junpei left and the siblings entered the building. Waiting inside for them was tall gentleman with long brown hair. Yukari was also talking with him.
"Oh, they're back," Yukari said noticing them.
"So these are our new guests," the gentleman said to them. Akio was uneasy around this man. It was more than first meeting jitters. He genuinely didn't like this guy for some reason. It made his head hurt.
But he needed to be polite. "Nice to meet you. I'm Akio Arisato. This is my litter brother, Minato and little sister, Minako," he replied as nicely as he possibly could.
"Good evening," the strange gentleman replied vigorously. He motioned to the empty seat, indicating he wanted them to sit. As they did, Akio noticed a strange look on both his siblings faces. He wondered if they felt the same as he did about their new acquaintance.
After they were all settled, the gentleman introduced himself. "My name is Shuji Ikutsuki. I'm the Chairman of the Board for your school."
'That name…' Akio thought, 'So familiar…so infuriating…damn.' He pushed the thought away. It wasn't the first time someone's name had been enough to piss him off. Once he met a guy named Shu and was pissed because so short. No idea why, but it bother him for a week until he finally knocked the kid's teeth out for touching his sister. Good times…
The gentleman continued, " 'Ikutsuki'…Hard to say, isn't it? That's why I don't like introducing myself. Even I get tongue-tied sometimes…" he laughed but the siblings found no amusement.
"I apologize about the confusion regarding your accommodations," Ikutsuki continued, "However, it may take a while longer before you receive the proper room assignment."
None of them really cared either way. They were fine where they were.
"Is there anything you would like to ask?" Ikutsuki offered.
Minako spoke up first, "Why did you come here?" the tension in her voice evident. Akio was right, they all had the same foreboding feelings but tried desperately to hide it.
Ikutsuki smiled at them and Akio was sure that somewhere, somehow, a small animal was screeching in pain because of it.
"To welcome you, of course." His response was adequate enough so Minako didn't reply. He then turned to Yukari and asked "Speaking of which…Where's Mitsuru?"
"She's upstairs," Yukari responded quickly.
Ikutsuki nodded to himself, "As diligent as always. Although, it doesn't hurt to come down and say hello…" his voice trailed off. He redirected himself back the sibling.
"Do you have any other questions?" he asked.
Minato sat forward and asked, "How many other students live in this dorm?" A good question that Akio hadn't even thought to ask.
"There are only 6 students in this dorm…" began Ikutsuki, "You three, Yukari here, Mitsuru and a senior named Akihiko Sanada." He smiled at them again, "I hope you all get along."
Akio pondered why there were so few students in such a large dorm but thought about the number of students that probably live in town and dismissed that thought. He noticed his little brother pondering the same thing.
Suddenly a thought came to him, one he had almost completely forgotten about.
"When we first got here I saw something odd…" Akio started to say but he was cut off by Ikutsuki.
"You saw something strange? Like what?" Again his smile pierced through Akio like a knife. Akio almost stopped asking the question.
"I saw a little kid behind the desk when we arrived…" he continued.
Ikutsuki laughed, interrupting him, "You were probably just tire. I wouldn't worry about it. It's bad for your complexion, you know."
Now he was asking for it. Both he and his siblings had seen the boy and no one seemed to know anything about it. The Arisato siblings were becoming really suspicious, really fast.
They always relied on each other and had little trust for anyone else. Time and time again people had betrayed their trust. After a while they began to only confide in one another and never let anyone get to close.
Akio looked to his siblings who looked to him in turn. They shared a look with each other that meant "We are not to trust him…ever." It was harsh thing to do but one they felt was necessary for survival.
"Any more questions for me?" the Chairman asked them.
"No, that should cover it," Akio answered sternly. He was done with hiding his animosity toward the stranger.
Ikutsuki, however, was not affected by his words and said, "Then, I hope you all have a successful school year."
If Akio had the power, he would have thrown that man into the sun…and then thrown that sun into a bigger sun and just for effect, have that sun be swallowed by a black hole. Fortunately, for Ikutsuki, he stood up and prepared to leave.
"You must be tired from all the excitement. You should go to bed early," he said to them. "As they say, 'The early bird catches the bookworm'!"
He laughed at his own horrible joke while everyone else stayed deafly silent.
"Please forgive the bad pun," he said still chuckling. Behind him, Yukari sighed and looked away. At least she seemed to hate his jokes half as much as they did.
The Chairman then got up, collected his coat and exited the front door.
The moment he was gone, Yukari address all of them. "You'll get used to his lame jokes."
An innocent enough comment but at the moment, tension was high for all of the siblings.
"Dear God, I hope not," Minako said furiously. Yukari looked to her as she stood and stomped off to her room. Minato got up and apologized to Yukari while Akio stared at the door.
'This feels…wrong,' he contemplated, 'I wonder if it'll ever feel…right…damn.'
After the "meeting" with the Chairman, who the siblings dubbed "that man", they all went to bed early exhausted from the encounter.
As Akio entered his room he felt…watched. He hadn't noticed it the other nights but then again he had been so tired he wouldn't have noticed a live cougar in his bed. But tonight he felt definitely watched.
He decided to go straight to bed without delay, so his temper would not flare anymore. He was probably just upset about the whole, meeting "that man" thing and decided to let his rage slip away.
He plopped on the bed and immediately fell into a deep slumber.
Meanwhile in another part of the dormitory…
Yukari and Mitsuru looked at the many monitors. On one was Minato, sleeping soundly in his room. In another was Minako, trying to get to sleep after furious beating her pillow pretending it was "that man". Finally was Akio, lying askew on his bed completely dead to the world.
Just then, Ikutsuki opened the door and enter the control room. "Working hard?" he said to young women behind the monitors. They turn to face him. "So, how are they doing?" he continued.
"Minato and Akio went to sleep a little while ago but Minako seems to be upset about something and can't sleep," Mitsuru informed him. Ikutsuki went over the monitor and looked at each one carefully. He stopped when he came to Minako's.
"I wonder what has her so upset?" he questioned obliviously. Yukari stiffened but said nothing.
Mitsuru looked up at the older man. "Mr. Chairman," she asked, "Do you think they're…?"
"Well," he interjected cutting her off, "Let's wait and see for now. The Dark Hour is approaching."
Yukari looked to the clock on the wall. In only a few seconds, it would be midnight.
The clock struck midnight and once again…the world changed. The lights suddenly went out. The sky shifted to a greenish tint and the moon show bright yellow in the eerie sky.
Surprisingly, the monitors did not shut down. The screens still showed the Arisato siblings, although now in a most eerie light.
While the two men slept soundly, the twin girl noticed the change in the world around her. She slowly calmed down and earnestly tried to fall asleep as fast as she could.
"Hmm…Interesting," the Chairman contemplated. "Normally during this time, an ordinary person transmogrifies into a coffin, and is oblivious to all that occurs."
"Then they must be…" Yukari began before being cut off.
"As you can see, they have retained their human forms. They are definitely experiencing the Dark Hour," the Chairman continued. "The only question that remains is whether or not they have the potential."
Yukari and Mitsuru looked back at the screens. Yukari did her best to hide her unsettling feelings.
Meanwhile, Ikutsuki continued his examination. "Although, they must. Otherwise they would have preyed upon the three of them by now."
"Scary," Yukari whispered to herself.
Ikutsuki clear his throat before continuing, "In any case, we should continue to monitor them for a few more days."
"Yes, sir." Mitsuru nodded loyally.
Yukari couldn't stand the way Mitsuru blindly agree with the Chairman. She decided to no longer keep her feeling to herself. She needed to say something.
"I feel kinda bad, though, spying on them like this," she remarked.
Ikutsuki and Mitsuru looked to her but spared no words.
In the deepest pits of Akio's subconscious he heard a voice.
"Master," it said, "Master Akio Arisato."
Akio could not make out the owner of the voice but it drew him closer. He found himself led to a door. As he approached the door, it flung open and bright light blinded his eyes.
He then found himself sitting in a chair in a very blue room. The room was a gigantic elevator with several doors lining the walls. He noticed that the elevator was constantly moving up and a large clock with constantly swinging hour and minute hands rested high above him.
Akio looked straight ahead to see a short, balding man with long white hairs protruding from the back of his oddly shaped skull. The most striking feature…Note: A nose long enough to be a torpedo.
Before Akio could react to Mr. "My nose can sink your battleship", he was address by said long nosed "man".
"Welcome back, to the Velvet Room."
The little man with the Goliath nose spoke with an eerie voice that shook Akio to the core. Not just because of his voice. The whole experience frightened him. If this was dream, he was sure that he had experienced it before.
'Man, I hate these dreams,' he thought, 'So real, yet so obviously not…damn.'
If possible, the long nosed man's smile widened even more…as if he had heard Akio's thoughts.
"My name is Igor," long nose continued, "I am delighted to make your acquaintance…again."
Akio had had enough of the constant "again" he seemed to be encountering.
"Again, again, again...What does that mean? I've never met you before in my life! How could it possibly be 'again'!" he shouted losing his temper.
Igor held up a gloved hand to quiet him. "Now, now, no need to get upset. Please forgive me, sir. You are indeed right. We have never met before…in this life."
Akio thought he caught what he meant but chose to ignore it.
"Fine. Whatever. God, this is the freakiest dream I've had yet," he said pouting. Igor chuckled at his frustration.
"This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter," Igor informed him, "Only those who have signed the contract can enter this place."
At the mention of the contract, Akio leapt up out of his seat.
"You know about the contract!" he shouted. Igor simply nodded his head.
Suddenly, on the table in front of Igor the contract manifested itself. Akio examined it. It was the same contract, his signature still fresh.
"Henceforth, you shall be welcome here in the Velvet Room," Igor notified him. "You are destined to hone your unique ability, and you will require my help to do so."
Akio lifted an eyebrow at him. "Hone my ability, huh?" he said skeptically. "And just what is my ability?"
"You will know soon enough," replied the long nosed man.
Akio glared at Igor for being so cryptic but it didn't seem to faze Igor so he instead he asked, "And what do you get out all this?"
Igor smiled wider, this time Akio was sure of it.
"I only ask one thing in return…" Igor said plainly, "That you abide by the contract, and assume responsibility for the choices you make."
Akio looked from the contract to Igor and back to the contract. If this was a dream, it was by far the most real he had ever experience in his life. His dreams were usually about fighting giant, shadowy monsters but that didn't even compare to this freak show.
Somehow, Akio knew he had no choice but to accept. He had signed his name, so like it or not, he was stuck with this…agreement. He sighed, resigning himself to his fate.
"I understand," he said finally.
"Excellent," Igor said politely, "Hold on to this…" Igor handed him a strange blue key.
Akio slipped it into his pocket without much thought.
"There are two more residents of this room, who unfortunately could not be present for your arrival," Igor explained. "But I'll make sure you are properly introduced to them. Another time, perhaps."
Suddenly, the world around Akio began to get brighter and brighter until he needed to shield his eyes.
" 'Til we meet again…" he heard Igor say before the light consumed him.
April 9, 2009: Full Moon
Akio awoke from the dream. It was morning already. Strangely, unlike his other dreams, he felt rested. Like he didn't have the dream at all.
He dug into his pocket for the blue key but it was not present.
'Huh," Akio thought, 'It really was only a dream…damn.'
Akio rolled over to look at his clock. His eyes widened as he realized he had slept in. It was already time for school.
He rushed to get ready as he heard his siblings shout from outside his door to hurry. He gathered all his school stuff and ran out the door past his siblings and Yukari and made it to the monorail station before the others even left the house.
As the siblings and Yukari approached the gate they were met by Junpei who was yawning and complaining about the lack of sleep he was getting. He informed his classmates that they had a boring lecture ahead as the Classic Lit. teacher was supposedly in a bad mood today.
Akio couldn't care less. As soon as he entered his class he plopped into his desk, set up his usual guard (his history book in front of his face) and fervently went back to sleep.
After school was finished, Yukari invited the siblings to check out the local shopping center, Paulownia Mall. She informed them that it was a local hang-out for high school students and that student jobs would be available soon.
'Yeah, that's just what I want to do when I go to a mall…work," Akio contemplated to himself. 'Seriously, she killed mood faster than cancer kills old folks…okay, that was really bad…damn.'
They spent some time looking around the mall, stopped at the local café, and Minako did a little shopping. Where she got the money for said shopping confused and frustrated Akio but he let it slide.
Something about today was off. He couldn't tell what but the whole day just seemed…odd. Not bad odd, just odd. He chalked it up to the full moon being tonight and let it go at that.
'Still,' he pondered, 'What's with this sinking feeling in my chest...damn.'
No matter what he tried he couldn't shake that sinking feeling. All he wanted to do was get back to the dorm and relax. Surely, that would calm his nerves…Surely.
To Be Continued…
A nice solid chunk there. I don't like writing all the little unimportant scenes that plague this game so I largely try to skip them but I needed to have all of the secret camera watching included, plus the idea of Minako punching her pillow pretending it was Ikutsuki was a beautiful moment…at least for me.
Please R and R. Flames will be used cook my dinner tonight. Keep smiling. Thanks.