(It should be known that this Smith is neither John Smith, nor John Smith.)

'Who?'

(Exactly.)

The Author doesn't own Persona. That belongs to Atlus. We only own the original ideas and characters.

Chapter 1: Traveling Man Extraordinaire, 'Smith'

Minato

Mom...Dad...?...Mom...!?...Dad...!?...Mom! Dad!

He woke up with a half strangled scream, sitting up in a cold sweat. He was in his room. Not the bridge. His room. He breathed deeply, resting his head on his hands. For a second, he thought it had just been a nightmare, that the crash never happened, that his parents were...were okay. Then he rubbed his cheek and felt a bandaged cut. He looked at his hands, covered in various bandages, and his torn clothes.

It hadn't been a dream.

The fact hit him like a ton of bricks. He grabbed the covers of his bed in balled up fists. It hadn't been a nightmare. It was reality. His parents were...dead. A lone tear was quickly followed by more, and he let out a strangled sob.

"Mom...Dad..."

"Why are you crying?"

He opened his eyes to see bright red orbs centimeters from his face. His yelp was buried in his throat as he jerked back, head hitting the wall. He winced, and the bright red orbs blinked owlishly.

"Why'd you do that?"

He just looked at the girl in front of him.

Wild copper hair framed an inquisitive face and bright red eyes. She was thin, but not painfully so, and she was wearing black and white clothes that hung loosely on her frame, along with an old brown jacket that she was practically drowning in. She looked the same age he was.

"Are you a criminal or something?" he asked, looking at the clothes.

The girl frowned.

"What? No, these are my pajamas," she said with an angry pout.

He nodded, and was about to call his parents about the strange girl. Only to remember he was never going to see them again. He looked back down and felt tears prick his eyes. So imagine his surprise when he felt a warm pair of arms wrap around him. He blinked in surprise and looked at the girl in confusion.

"You looked really sad, so I thought you needed a hug," she said with a soft smile.

"...Minato."

"Hmm?"

"My name's Minato Arisato. What's yours?"

The girl blinked, and scrunched her face in confusion.

"My name...M-My name is..." the girl's mouth opened in a silent 'oh'.

"My name's Natsuno."

And then she cupped her chin.

"Natsuno..." her face morphed into one of dread, and she grabbed her hair.

"My family name...I have one, but...I can't remember...I...Where are my parents...Why can't I remember...Why...I don't remember anything!" she cried out, startling him.

She started to hyperventilate, jacket falling of her shoulders. "Mom...Dad..." she choked out.

He acted on instinct, and found himself hugging her and patting her on the back. Her breath steadied, and she opened her eyes to look at him.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded slowly and gave a hesitant smile.

"Yeah, I'm...fine."

They sat there for a while, silent. Until they heard noises from the hallway. They turned to see a shadow growing larger as footsteps grew louder, the hallway filled with an odd blue light. He suddenly felt something tug on him and before he realized it, he was under his bed, along with the girl. He glanced towards Natsuno, and was surprised to see fear in her eyes.

"Are you afraid?"

Natsuno nodded, and started to whisper.

"T-That might be a monster!"

"A monster?"

"Like a bogey man!" she clarified.

He nodded slowly, before looking forward as black boots came into view. He heard Natsuno whimper, and the figure stood in front of the bed. They waited with baited breath. And then-

"You know bogey men usually hide under the bed, right?"

Natsuno immediately froze, before scrambling out from under the bed. He quickly followed, and the both of them looked up at the strange man.

He was tall, with odd whitish-grey hair that made him look old. The rest of him was far from old though, and he looked to be in his late twenties. He wore a loosely fitting white shirt and black pants. Other than that, he had fingerless gloves and an old cap.

The man grabbed the jacket and put it on with a satisfied sigh, and looked at them with a kind smile.

"Ah, I see you two are awake," he said happily.

Both he and Natsuno glanced at each other. Who was this guy? And why was he in his house?

"I was just about to wake you guys up," the man said.

"Why?" Natsuno said cautiously.

The man just walked to the door, before turning around and grinning.

"It's dinner time."

?

He picked up the modest meal of a pot of soup and two loaves of bread, before lying it down on the table, and sitting down, looking at the two children.

"Go on, eat up. I'm not the best cook, but I'm not bad either."

He gave a small chuckle.

"I didn't have all the ingredients for Yeto's Soup, no reekfish and all, but I managed."

The children continued to look at him, the girl with a mixture of suspicion and confusion, and the boy neutrally. He looked around the house. It was a comfortable, middle sized house. On the walls were pictures of a happy family. Pictures that seemed to cause distress to the boy, judging by his subdued atmosphere. Automatically, the girl squeezed the boys shoulder reassuringly. He smiled and steepeld his fingers.

"I haven't poisoned it or anything, so you can go ahead and eat it. I mean, Yeto's Soup is pretty good, and you must be hungry."

The kids still didn't move, and he stifled a sigh.

"Is there any reason you aren't eating?"

There was a moment of silence, before the blue haired boy spoke.

"Mom and Dad said not to accept food from strangers."

He just stared at the boy, who looked back with a blank face.

"Your parents are right," he said, closing his eyes, before outstretching his arms.

"Alright, you about this? We introduce ourselves. Then we wont be strangers, right?"

The children were silent, until the boy spoke up.

"My name is Minato Arisato."

He smiled and tipped his hat.

"Hello, Minato. And you?" he asked, turning to the girl.

The girl just narrowed her eyes, before speaking.

"Natsuno," she said in a tone of voice as if daring to disagree. He just nodded.

"What about you?" Natsuno asked.

He tilted his head. Ah, that was the question. What name should he use this time? He thought about the names he had acquired over time. A specific name came into mind. He frowned mentally. Would he really use such a generic name? That and the fact it was already taken...He mentally shrugged. Oh well. The Doctor wasn't here to yell at him either way.

"My name is Smith," he said pleasantly.

Minato and Natsuno just stared at him, and he coughed into his fist.

"Well, right then. Now that introductions are over, let's have dinner, shall we?"

They still didn't move, and he sighed.

"Look, what do you want me to do to prove you can trust me?" he asked.

Not begged. Asked. Minato and Natsuno glanced at each other, and he had the ominous feeling that they were having a silent conversation. Natsuno turned towards him, and the feeling of foreboding rose.

"We'll trust you...But you have to close your eyes for five minutes."

He quirked an eyebrow.

"That's it?"

Natsuno nodded, trying to look threatening and failing. Minato nodded as well.

"That's all."

Feeling there was more to this than met the eye, he still closed his eyes.

"Now, you have to keep them closed for five minutes!"

"I know."

He sat there for a minute, feeling very silly, as he heard footsteps.

"It's been five minutes. Can I open my eyes no-?"

*WHAM*

Let it be known that the sound of a frying pan hitting somebody in the face made a very unique sound.

He jerked back, clutching his face.

"Oh, why would you do that!?" he said, opening his eyes.

Natsuno stared at him in shock, holding a dented frying pan, before turning to an equally confused Minato.

"I thought you said that would work!?" Minato shrugged.

"It worked in the movies!"

"We're sorry," Natsuno said, bowing.

Minato did the same. He rubbed his face, before sighing.

"Look, it's fine. I'm not hurt, see?"

He looked at them.

"Now do you trust me?"

Natsuno and Minato nodded guiltily.

"How were you not hurt?" Minato asked.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it is true that most normal people would be very much out of the count after a frying pan bludgeoning, but seeing as how I am not counting as a person to begin with..."

Both Minato and Natsuno stared at him.

"...What do you mean 'not a person'?" Natsuno asked hesitantly.

Instead he looked at the now cold soup.

"Now look. The food's gone cold."

He snapped his fingers, and two small flame orbs appeared from thin air, hovering for a moment, before plunging into the soup. The soup glowed, and steam rose from the surface of the now hot soup. He smiled, partly because the soup was now hot, and partly because of the flabbergasted expressions on Minato and Natsuno's face.

"H-How did you-?" Natsuno started.

He just smiled.

"Magic," Minato said, slightly breathless.

He nodded and tipped his cap.

"Well, some would call it magic. Others wouldn't, but the point remains. You can call it whatever you like."

Minato and Natsuno opened their mouths, and he raised a hand before they could speak.

"Dinner first, questions later."

Natsuno pouted, and Minato lifted a spoon and looked at the soup skeptically. A taste test later, and he watched in slight bemusement, slight surprise as Minato and Natsuno wolfed down the soup and bread at speed unparalleled.

"Hey, easy there. You're going to choke otherwise."

They continued to eat, and only spoke up after they finished.

"Who are you?" Natsuno asked, wiping her mouth.

"Ah, yes," he coughed into his fist, taking out a piece of paper from his jacket pocket.

"As I said, my name is Smith, and I am..." he flourished the psychic paper, and waited.

There was a moment of silence, before Natsuno spoke up.

"You're a blank card?"

He blinked.

"What?"

"You're showing us a blank piece of paper," Minato said.

He looked at the psychic paper, before lifting it up to the light, tapping it. "Oh, come on!"

Don't tell him he hadn't already broken it? He hadn't even told that big of a lie yet!

"So, what are you really?" Minato asked.

He looked at them before clearing his throat.

"Well, I'm what you could call...Well, I have a lot of titles."

"Like?"

"Traveling Man, Tourist, Oh God You Came Back," he listed off a few of the titles he had acquired.

"...Why do they call you that?"

"Because that's what I do. I travel."

"That's it?" Natsuno asked skeptically.

He nodded.

"Yup, that's it. I travel around, taking in the sights of the worlds. A bit of heroing on the side, but not much."

Minato and Natsuno just stared at him, and he could feel their questions, so he raised a hand.

"I know you have questions, but we have to talk about something first," he steepled his fingers, "Is what do we do now that your parents have died."

Minato flinched, and Natsuno glared at him, looking at Minato worriedly.

"I'm sorry for being so blunt, Minato, but this is something we must decide. I promised your parents I would protect you."

"You were on the bridge?" Minato asked slowly.

He nodded.

"Then why didn't you save them?"

He didn't react to the venom in Minato's voice, and continued to look at him.

"By the time I got there, they were already dead. I found you two at the bridge."

He looked at Minato straight in the eyes, and Minato looked down.

"Minato. Do you remember what happened?"

Minato remained silent for a moment, before speaking.

"A monster..."

"Describe it."

"It was...made of black goo...And...A mask...And some lines."

Minato shook his head.

"That's all I remember."

He sighed. Unfortunately, that description could match a lot of monsters, but it seemed unique in a way.

"Well, that's not true..."

He looked up, seeing Minato looking to the side.

"There was..."

He raised an eyebrow.

"There was...?" he urged.

"...A hero."

There was a moment of silence.

"You mean someone was fighting the monster?" he asked.

Minato nodded, and he glanced towards the broom closet, before sighing.

"Well, there's nothing we can do-"

"What about me?"

He and Minato turned towards Natsuno a she blurted that out.

"What about me?" she repeated, looking down, "I was on the bridge too, right? So...Who am I?"

He watched the girl for a moment, before sighing.

"To be frank, I don't know. One can assume that you are linked to the monster. Perhaps it stole you before going to the bridge. Whatever it is," he smiled, "I promise to help you both."

Natsuno pouted, before holding out her pinkie finger.

"Pinkie promise," she demanded.

He quirked a smile, and glanced at Minato, only to see him do the same thing. The smile became full blown, and he interlocked pinkies with them.

"I promise."

Hopefully it's a promise he can keep.

'That being said, who would use a fish called reekfish in food?'

"It does sound rather unappetizing..."

(Hey, Yeto's Soup is the best soup. Especially if your sick. Don't knock it till you try it.)

'I'll take your word on that.'