Persona Zero: The First Journey

Chapter 6: Hidden From Sight

Hey, I'm not dead! Hooray!

Anyway, sorry I took so long. It was the school holidays, and only one computer. You could imagine how that ended up with three other siblings in the house.

The amount of views I'm getting is becoming more promising each day! As always, it's all thanks to you awesome folks.

Persona and all of its characters (and demons) belong to Atlus. I do not own them in any way at all.

Now, without further ado, let's start the chapter!

Class 2-A, Reisen High School, East Iwatodai, April 13, 1990

"Ngh…" Fuyuki groaned as the final bell rang, "That was torture…" "Well, who told you to doze off in the middle of class?" Hoshino snapped at him. "Honestly, he was this close from unsheathing that katana at you." "But learning History is boring!' Fuyuki groaned back at her. "Who the hell cares about what happened in the past? It's the present that we need to…"

*SMACK!*

Souji admits, he had that one coming. Although the excessive force was a bit unnecessary. "But I'm surprised," she then turned to Souji, "that you knew about the origins of the Grand Heritage Pavilion. Weren't you absent when Mr. Murasame covered that?" "Well," Souji said. "I just happened to be reading about that yesterday." "Well, either way," Hoshino said, "you're quite a responsible guy," she then glanced back at Fuyuki, still recovering from the thrown textbook to the face assault, "unlike someone I know." "Hey, I'm a very responsible guy!" Fuyuki said in his defense. "I always make sure my mangas are properly shelved according to their chapters!" He then looked at Souji. "Bro, you know I'm a decent guy, right?" Souji looked at him as he did that face again. Why are you involving me again? Souji cleared his throat as he said, "Well, uh…you do have…uh, a few good things about you." "Whoo!" Fuyuki cheered. "That's what I like to hear, partner! So, what's one of them?"

"A really thick skull," Souji deadpanned. Fuyuki looked at him in bewilderment for a moment, and then suddenly looked smug. "Hah, that's right, Hoshi-chan! I have a thick skull!" Wait, what? Souji looked at him in disbelief. He took that as a compliment? His skull really is hard –wait, screw that- it was impenetrable. "Oh, really?" Hoshino said, smiling, but the aura she's giving is anything but pleasant. "Want me to test that?" she then took out a dictionary. Souji gulped as he looked at it. That is one huge dictionary. "So, how about it, blockhead?"

She didn't get her answer, as Fuyuki was already running away from the classroom. "Help! There's a murderer after me!" Hoshino then laughed heartily while crossing her arms over her chest, watching the poor guy go. Souji wondered to himself if he made the right choice in making friends.

Souji climbed up the stairs to the top floor of the main building, just as the letter told him to. Yuki said in his letter he would be waiting for him after classes. What does he want to talk about, he thought, as he opened the door to the rooftop. As he opened the door, he was treated to a sight that made his jaw drop a little. Since the school was near the coast, he could see the ocean view from up there. Combined with the orange, evening sky as the sun sets, it was a marvelous sight to behold.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" a voice caused Souji turn, as he saw Yuki was sitting on top of entrance's roof. He was gazing at the sea, and although he was still wearing that cold, unreadable poker face, there was a slight tone of happiness in his voice. "I come here every once in awhile to clear my thoughts. You won't see sights like these often around here." Yuki then dropped from the roof and landed perfectly on his two feet as he faced Souji. "We finally meet face to face, Souji Narukami," he said, his voice reverting to his original tone. "Shinosuke Yuki, correct?" Souji said, gazing upon the senior's features; his long black hair which nearly reached his eyes, that would cause them to be hidden from sight if he lowered his head a little, his eyes with crimson pupils staring at him, and what intrigues him the most is that he was wearing a yellow scarf around his neck, which makes him stand out from the other students. It isn't that cold, Souji thought to himself. He nodded. "Ms. Tachibana told you about me, huh?" Souji smiled a bit. "I was curious," he simply said. Yuki sighed. "Then I guess I don't need to bother with the details." There stood there, facing each other in complete silence, until Souji broke it, "Why did you call me here, Senpai?" Yuki didn't say anything, but walked over to the edge of the roof, gazing at the sea again. "Did Philemon tell you everything?" Souji's eyes widen. So it was real… "Not much," he answered. "He only explained my power, and told me something bad is about to happen going to happen here." "He only told you about Personas, huh?" Yuki said, still gazing at the sea. Then he sighed again. "Knew it…"

Souji looked at him as more questions arise, waiting to be answered. "Senpai, what…was that thing in the warehouse that day?" Yuki didn't reply. He simply continues to gaze on the magnificent view. "Hey, Senpai? What's…?"

"Do you believe in demons, Narukami?" He suddenly said. Souji was taken aback for a moment. "D-Demons?" he said. "That's what that thing was?" Yuki closed his eyes. "What you fought there was a Poltergeist," he said. "A ghost that causes mischief and terror upon humans." "A ghost?" Souji said. "But you said…" "It may be a ghost," Yuki interrupted him, "but it is one of the many demons lurking around in this world, hidden from plain sight." Yuki at last turned to look at Souji, and continued. "The Poltergeist you fought that day, however, was a corrupted demon." Souji looked confused, which prompt him to elaborate. "Usually, demons are harmless and would not attack unless provoked. There are a few harmful ones, but they do not reside in this dimension, and they rarely come out here." He sighed. "But recently, the demons are getting more aggressive, and they begin to deliberately attack humans." Souji nodded, as he tries to comprehend the situation and pressed him for more information. "Does the public know about this?" Yuki shook his head. "You didn't hear what I said just now? They are hidden from plain sight. And those who do see them, usually don't last long to tell the tale." "Then," Souji asked again, "how do we defend ourselves against them?"

"Personas," Yuki merely answered. Souji looked at him in confusion again. Yuki glanced back at the sea and explained. "The power Philemon gave you has a variety of functions. You already know that they're used to fight the demons," he then turned back to Souji. "But they can also detect the demons while they are hidden." "How do they do that?" Yuki didn't say anything, but beckoned him with his hand to get over where he was standing. As he approached, Yuki pointed at a student walking through the courtyard. He appeared to be stooping to the front a little bit while he was walking. "Concentrate on him," he merely said, which Souji did. As he was focusing on the student, suddenly his vision became slightly distorted, mainly his view of the student. His head began to ache slightly, as Souji suddenly see a dark shape materializing on the boy's back, which wasn't there before. As his vision became clearer, Souji saw the full image of the being and gasped.

It was a creature, fully in red, with no eyes and mouth filled with sharp teeth. Souji estimated the being's height comparable to that of a small child. It was riding on the student's back; looking gleeful at the discomfort he had caused the poor boy. "I figured something was wrong when he started walking like that since this morning." Yuki said as he looked upon the creature. "W-What is that?" Souji anxiously said. "An Obariyon," he replied. "You know what one is, right?" "You mean the piggyback demon?" Souji asked. "The one in the folklore stories?" Yuki nodded, and then suddenly climbed on the railing at the edge of the roof. "W-Wait, Senpai, what are you doing?!" Souji asked in shock. Is he gonna…? Without answering, he stood on the edge of the roof and snapped his fingers, and suddenly, a bright red aura suddenly engulfed him. "Argh!" Souji said as he shielded his face from the sudden brightness as the aura engulfed the rooftop as well. As Souji lowered his arms, he was surprised to find out the aura has engulfed the whole school grounds. What really shocked him were the people around the school after the aura engulfed them. They stopped moving. The courtyard was now filled with students who were going home or were talking with each other frozen in place where they stood. Even the birds had stopped mid-flight. "S-Senpai?" Souji finally blurted out. "What did you do?" "Something to not cause panic," Yuki merely said, and he leaped off the edge of the roof.

Souji watched in awe as Yuki was sailing through the air in a somersault, landing on the courtyard gracefully before standing up still, completely unharmed by the stunt that would be deemed impossible by normal human standards. "Whoa…" was all Souji could say as Yuki looked up at him, beckoning him to come on down.

…Souji would rather take his chances with the stairs as he raced back to the rooftop door quickly. I can't jump off a three storey building! At the courtyard, Yuki merely sighed at his junior. Oh yeah, I forgot…

"What the…?" Obariyon said as the student it was riding on stopped moving. "Hey, why'd you stop?" It kicked at the student, with no response. Then it looked around and realized the sky turned red, and the other students were also frozen in place. "Uh oh," it merely said when it realizes what was going on, and sure enough, Souji and Yuki were approaching it. Yuki was walking casually, hands in his pockets and wearing that poker face of his while Souji was trailing behind, panting due to the running he had done. "Y-You could've told me I can do that too…" When he finally reached the courtyard, Yuki explained to him that his Persona powers made him more agile and resistant than usual, which is why he could leap off from the roof like that. "Sorry," Yuki deadpanned. "Oh crap, oh crap. Oh CRAP!" Obariyon repeated as he got off the student. "Summoners? Here?!" "So you know who we are," Yuki said to the demon. "Then that makes it easier." A bright blue light engulfed both of Yuki's hands, and out of nowhere, two swords appeared in them. Souji was amazed at the senior. How does he do that? "Take this," Yuki said as he offered one of his swords. "This is enough to kill it." "Whaaaat?!" the Obariyon shouted as Souji took the sword. It felt quite light in his hand, and he tried giving a few swings. "Y-You dare underestimate me, humans?!"

Without warning, the Obariyon leaped at them, unveiling its sharp claws from its hands. The two jumped to the side to avoid the attack, but Souji lost his footing and landed on his back. The Obariyon sees his chance to strike, but then sensed an attack coming from behind it and blocked Yuki's sword with its claws at just the right time. "Heh! You'd think I'll fall for that?" it taunted Yuki, who merely glared at the demon. The demon then launched a flurry of slashes at Yuki, who blocked each one before parrying the last one and pushed the Obariyon over to the side, as it stumbled down; Yuki went over to Souji, who was slowly getting up. "You alright?" "Y-Yeah," Souji replied weakly. "I guess I should work on my footwork, huh?" Yuki looked at the Obariyon he had pushed away, as it got up, mumbling profanities as it does. "Seems like this one is a bit more agile than usual," Yuki said as he watches it get up. "So what do we do?" Souji asked. "Diversion," Yuki replied simply as he readied his sword. "Wait for my signal," he said as he charged over to the Obariyon. "You're not gonna beat me by merely charging at me, kid!" it roared as its claws clashed with Yuki's sword. The two exchanged a flurry of a slashes and thrusts while weaving around avoiding the attacks thrown at each other. Souji realized that he's bringing the fight closer to him. Ah, that's what he's after. Yuki caught his eye and winked at him, as Souji readied his sword. "So, aren't ya' gonna summon those beings of yours?" Obariyon taunted Yuki. "This clash of blades won't last forever, you know?" "Sorry," Yuki deadpanned again with that poker face, "I don't need to use mine against someone pathetic as you."

"WHAAAAT?!" Obariyon yelled at him. "You…I'll make you regret the day you were born!" It then unleashed a lightning fast flurry of slashes at Yuki, who tried to block each one when a strike knocked him off his feet. "Ngh!" he groaned as he felt his cheek, where a slight cut appeared on it and a trickle of blood slowly flowing from it. The Obariyon bared his claws directly in front of Yuki's face, merely inches from his eyes. "Any last words, punk?" it snarled smugly, with a slasher smile on its face. "Yeah," Yuki smirked. "You forgot someone." The Obariyon was startled as he realized what he was talking about, and turned around. Souji was charging at it with his sword prepared to slice the demon. "Attacking from behind? Think again!" it said as it readied to slash…

…and suddenly, a sword pierces from behind Obariyon. "E-Eh?" it blurted as it turned back and saw Yuki stabbing him, still with that smirk. "Checkmate," he said as Souji swung the sword with all his might. It sliced the demon's head clean off, and it rolled over the courtyard before disintegrated into black flames, just like the Poltergeist before. The rest of the body soon follows, until no trace of the demon is left. Souji stared at where the head used to be, panting after delivering the final blow to the demon. Weird, he thought. He didn't fight as much as Yuki, but why was he feeling so tired? "Come on," Yuki said, as he got up from the ground. "Let's head to the bike racks." "Senpai, your cheek…" Souji said, realizing he was wounded. "Just a scratch," he merely said before heading off to the bike racks. As they walked, Yuki snapped his fingers, and the red aura dissipates, reverting the surroundings back to normal.

The bike racks is located near the rear entrance of the school, the entrance used by the teachers and staff. There were only a few bikes left since most of the students had already left. Souji saw Yuki's black RG500 parked at the very edge, secured by padlocks and chains. "Hey, Senpai," Souji asked, "What exactly did you do just then?" "That was a Veil," he explained as he removed the padlocks on his bike. "It's an aura that freezes the soul of those that hasn't awakened to their Persona." "Freezes them?" Souji asked. "So they won't notice the demons if they decide to show themselves." Yuki said, as he finished opened the locks to his bike. "You can do it too. But you need a lot of power to do so." He then looked at Souji with a stern face. "And with your power level right now, it's not gonna be as big as mine. Or last as long." "What do you mean?" Souji asked. Yuki sighed as he moved his bike towards the back gate. "Let's just say I've been doing it for awhile now. I'm already used to it." "Used to it?" Souji asked. "You mean all these demons have been around for awhile now?" Yuki didn't answer, as they reached the back gate and he mounts his bike. "Hey," he said to Souji. "You're pretty good with the sword. You do kendo?" Souji was taken by surprise at the unexpected question, then stop to think about it. How was I suddenly able to wield that thing so easily? I never used a sword before. Souji shook his head. "No, that was my first time using one." "Hmm…" Yuki said, as he put on his helmet. "Your Persona must be influencing your capabilities." "It could do that?" Souji asked. "Tell you what," Yuki replied, "the Kendo Team's recruiting on the 23rd. You can hone your skills there." Before Souji could answer, Yuki revved his bike and looked at him. "Don't do anything stupid," he said before speeding off.

Souji stared as Yuki slowly disappeared from sight. "Kendo, huh?" he said to himself quietly. He shrugged his shoulders and walked back home. This would be quite an interesting year…

Phew… Finally done with this one. Again, sorry it took too long. If I take too long to update next time, it's probably I'm on vacation, or I'm finishing a new game I just bought…or my chronic laziness catches up to me. Let's just hope that doesn't happen when I start writing again.

Well, that's all for now! Seeya on the next chapter!