A/N: So, I posted the previous chapter a couple of hours before going to sleep. I wake up the next morning and my email has a lot of notifications from readers who have begun following the story, which is great. I haven't experienced writer's block yet so hurray for that. Waiting for my beta to help me with my grammar mistakes the previous chapter and this one as well.
Chapter is updated without my various grammar issues!
Thanks to greyarts for listening again and rEpose, my beta reader.
Reader Reviews:
arkbar22: Thanks, I'm still determining how long I want the chapters. It's an ongoing process, but I'm glad you like where the story so far. As for possible pairings I have not really decided yet. I will probably figure it out as the story evolves.
Varianto A: Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the previous chapter. I really wanted that chapter to sort of anchor everything else.
Blue Bragon: Thanks for your comments. That is a really interesting idea and I will admit I did brainstorm about it for a while and couldn't really get too far with it. It could just be that I am not talented enough to implement such a change, but thanks for opening up more avenues of thought for me. Glad you liked the Hanged Man idea. I found that it was what really got me into starting this story in the first place.
Update: Cleaned for formatting issues 7/6/14
Chapter 4: Advent
April 6th, 2009 Monday (Near the train station, Dusk)
Minato P.O.V.
A cacophony of noise greeted Minato. The blaring of car horns, buzz of TV advertisements, and carefree chatter of the local denizens signaled he was back in the city. Minato still wore his school uniform and carried a blue rucksack that he did not remember owning before his trip to the Velvet Room.
The sun was slowly setting across the horizon as Minato began to retrace his own steps from the past. Igor had said this was a new start, but what did that really mean anyways?
While walking, Minato made a quick survey of his surroundings and recognized that this was the area near the train station, where he once bought his ticket to go to Tatsumi Port Island.
It had been only a moment ago that Minato confidently told Igor that he was ready to return to the past. Although, that bit of bravado was lost upon him now.
"Sir, do you plan on buying a ticket?" asked the ticket attendant.
"Oh, yes… I would like a ticket to Tatsumi Port Island," Minato muttered as he turned to the counter. There was a problem though since he did not seem to have any money on him.
"That will be 800 yen," she said.
"Uh, sure, that sounds reasonable," Minato responded as he quickly rummaged his pockets and came up empty.
"I'm sorry sir, but if you are unable to pay for the ticket please leave the ticket counter," and with that Minato's return to the past had begun with a bit of a letdown.
Minato's gut feeling was that he had to catch the next available train, or else things could get really complicated. Had Igor and Margaret expected him to beg his way to the dormitory in time?
"Hmm, maybe there's something I can use in here," Minato muttered as he decided to look through the rucksack remembering that he forgot to search through it earlier. His eyes saw a few items, including his old headphones and an envelope that read, "from the Velvet Room to Minato Arisato." Ignoring the other items, Minato opened the letter and found a note in neat handwriting that he did not recognize.
Dear Minato,
It was a pleasure to meet you for the first time in the Velvet Room. I will admit the stories that I heard from Elizabeth were a bit fantastical, yet they piqued my interest in you. My master and I have included a small stipend to assist you at the beginning of your journey.
I await your next visit,
Margaret
Well, it seemed like a minor crisis passed without incident and enclosed within the envelope were the promised funds for Minato. Still, he wondered if there was any ulterior motive for Igor to provide him with monetary assistance. Igor seemed too eager to take Minato's money when using the Persona compendium in the past.
Minato proceeded to buy his ticket without a hassle and proceeded to get on board the train to depart, which was going to leave shortly. The train was filling up fast. Minato found a seat for himself in the corner.
He recalled the time when he had guessed the correct lever to prevent the trains from colliding in one of his first missions as the leader of S.E.E.S. Minato, but broke out of his reverie because someone rushed toward the ticket booth as he glanced outside.
It was a female student with auburn hair in a high ponytail, wearing a school uniform, with her back towards him. She had a pair of pink headphones that slung around her neck, and seemed preoccupied trying to buy a train ticket. Minato thought that it was probably just another student ready to start another school year.
Although, she had probably caught his attention because there weren't too many redheads that he knew, if any. The only other person that came to mind was Mitsuru, but this was definitely someone else.
When she turned around, Minato knew who the redhead was, just from her striking crimson eyes. He quickly turned his head away from the window, hoping that she hadn't seen him. There was no mistaking it; it was the girl who he had saved from his parent's burning vehicle.
She was a teenager now with silver barrettes in her hair and a Gekkoukan High badge pinned on her uniform. The girl wore the standard uniform with knee-high socks, a ribbon, a blouse, and a jacket. Minato thought the uniform fit her well, and had to admit she was pretty.
Minato's daydream ended abruptly when she started moving toward the train he was on.
"Oh crap," Minato thought. He had not anticipated meeting this girl so soon, and had good reason to worry.
There were multiple problems Minato had not considered when returning to the past, and she was a major one.
She would probably recognize him right away, with his mop of blue hair and that he had worn his school uniform throughout their last encounter. Furthermore, there was the issue that Minato had not aged at all, since the day of the accident ten years ago. This would lead to several uncomfortable questions, none of which Minato had prepared any plausible answers to.
"I need to hide somewhere," Minato thought urgently. However, there was hardly any room to maneuver with so many people on board.
Hamuko P.O.V.
Hamuko had run around all day so that she wouldn't miss her train. Her day had not started well, as traffic made her trip to the train station take far longer than she had anticipated. Even her new pair of shoes, which she had bought for the trip had scuff marks on them already.
Her difficult morning seemed like a microcosm of her life so far. She always had to move from one place to another just as she started to get settled. Hamuko just longed to belong at her new school and hoped to make some new friends.
If she were being honest with herself, her life had been a struggle ever since that night ten years ago. That was the day when her adoptive parents perished. Sometimes, she thought maybe she would have been better off if she did not make it that day.
Hamuko shook her head, aware that the past could not be changed. There was no need to brood over what had happened. She was mentally tough and didn't want anyone feeling sorry for her. Besides, an angel had saved her that night.
Hamuko paid for her ticket and felt relieved, as she got on the train. Hamuko was an optimist and she wouldn't let a rough start temper her mood for long.
The train was more crowded than Hamuko would have liked, but she could see that there was an empty seat in the far corner next to someone. Oddly enough, it seemed he wore the same Gekkoukan uniform with the school patch that she was wearing, except that it was presumably the guy's version. The weird part was that whoever was sitting there had something over their head.
Hamuko had some misgivings about sitting next to someone who looked so shady, but she plopped next to the stranger anyways.
Minato felt the impact of someone sitting next to him and tried to stay calm. He had heard the luggage rolling in his direction and could guess who was next to him now.
The train began to trundle along and Hamuko pulled out a flyer that had a picture of her future dormitory. It read "Iwatodai Dormitory," and was a co-ed dorm. She wondered what it would be like to live with a bunch of guys in the same dormitory and sighed, hoping that there wouldn't be any perverts there.
After a while, she became bored and turned her thoughts over to the person sitting next to her. Why he had a bag over his head was none of her business, but did make her curious a bit. "Perhaps he had a terrible pimple on his face," she mused.
Minato knew that he looked absurd, but he had no time to react when the auburn haired girl was boarding the train. He hoped the trip was almost over, as he couldn't hold out much longer without passing out.
The people on board the train passed the trip in silence as the train moved towards its destination.
Hamuko started to look elsewhere when she saw something on the ground. It looked like the back of a Tarot Card. Figuring that it belonged to the person next to her, Hamuko picked it up and turned it over. While she did not know much about the card, she thought it looked odd, considering the figure in the image was hanging from the bottom of the image, which did not make any sense.
"Attention passengers, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused by the delay. The next stop is Iwatodai," the announcer said.
Hamuko groaned. Today just seemed like a day full of delays and hassles. She deposited the card into the hands of the mysterious passenger.
Minato felt something drop in his hands and wondered what it was.
"I think this belongs to you," she said a bit too loudly, since he probably couldn't hear her too well. She began to repack her belongings into her bag.
"Iwatodai, Iwatodai, this is the final train bound for Tatsumi Port Island. Please make sure you board in time for departure."
With a last look of exasperation, Hamuko left the stranger, eager to get to the dormitory.
Minato P.O.V.
Minato felt the crimson-eyed girl leave and felt it was safe to remove the bag on his head. She had given him the Hanged Man card that Igor had shown him in the Velvet Room. For a moment, Minato reflected on the card's significance in his journey so far and proceeded to pocket the card.
Minato's hair had gotten even messier than usual because of the static with the bag. He really had nowhere else to go except for the dormitory, and decided he would follow the girl from a safe distance.
Hamuko was just about to walk out of the station when it happened. The music on her MP3 player stopped, all the terminals shut off, and everything was dark except for the light emanating from the moon. Every clock remained at midnight and did not move forward.
It was silent and the only noise she could hear was her shallow breathing.
The Dark Hour had returned, Minato thought as he hid behind a column to keep out of sight. He was keeping a close eye on the girl, just to make sure she was safe.
If this was a joke, Hamuko was not amused, and began to walk into the street towards the dormitory according to the flyer. Hamuko couldn't help but feel nervous as an eerie green glow was everywhere, along with rows of upright coffins. There were even puddles of blood, like a bad movie from Halloween.
Suddenly, she saw something from the corner of her eye. A black figure was quickly approaching in her direction. Hamuko's instincts told her to run. She began to move, but slipped in a puddle of blood. She screamed and put her arms up to try to defend herself.
The Shadow greedily closed upon its target, ready to devour Hamuko's mind.
Minato had fought countless Shadows. His body seemed to move on its own now. Any questions he had about this Shadow being outside of Tartarus could be saved for later.
Minato remembered the card Hamuko had given to him earlier. He quickly drew the card out of his pocket and felt a strange resonance inside his head.
"Why bother saving her? Have you already forgotten that she will replace you?" a voice hissed.
Minato ignored what he heard and put the card across his head in the same gesture as he would with an evoker. He prayed something positive would occur.
"Persona!" he yelled, and felt an odd sensation that was different from when he first summoned Orpheus, master of strings.
When he looked behind his shoulder, Minato saw Inugami, the weakest Persona of the Hanged Man Arcana. Hamuko and the Shadow were temporarily distracted by the summoning of the demon dog Persona. Minato felt like he was Koromaru's relative and wondered whether the earlier voice had belonged to Inugami.
Hamuko's gaze momentarily shifted towards Minato, and she had a peculiar expression on her face. Minato could tell she was trying to process what was going on.
The Shadow tried to assault Hamuko again, but Minato wasn't going to have any of that.
Minato recalled this persona had Zio and proceeded to use it. The spell while not particularly powerful, was enough to finish the weak Shadow. The Shadow's corpse vaporized into the ground.
Before Hamuko could get any words out, Minato started to get dizzy. He had not summoned a persona in a while, but he felt especially tired for some reason.
Hamuko could see that the blue-haired boy was about to fall down, and caught him before his head could hit the concrete. She had the strangest feeling akin to a déjà vu.
"Hey! Stay with me," she said. Minato was still conscious, but slumped against Hamuko's shoulder.
"I'll be fine, we need to keep moving," Minato replied. Hamuko thought he looked rather ill, but agreed that it was important that they get out of the street.
"What's your name?" the girl asked offhandedly, as she picked up their stuff from the ground with her free hand.
Minato thought it would be wise to tell the truth.
"Minato Arisato. What's yours?" he answered.
"Wow, really? My name is Hamuko Arisato," she said. "I guess we share the same surname."
Hamuko's statement unsettled Minato and he did not respond.
In her thoughts, Hamuko thought it was a coincidence that this guy looked so similar to the one from ten years ago, or was he? Not to mention that they even shared the same last name. Though, none of that explained how he seemed to have magically made a monster appear out of thin air and would be right next to her a decade later. Of course, this was not even mentioning what was bothering her most.
She looked into Minato's eyes closely and could recall that she had seen this dark blue shade only once before in her life.
Regardless, she felt that he had protected her from the black figure that was attacking her, and felt that she had to help him to safety. The rest of the trip was in silence and they arrived at the street that the dormitory was on.
They slowly moved along with their luggage to the front of an austere looking building with a double door entrance. It was Iwatodai Dormitory and Hamuko was thankful that the door was not locked. They entered the building without closing the door. Just then, all the lights in the building lit up temporarily causing the duo to see dark spots everywhere.
"Who's there?" a nervous female voice questioned.