A/N: First of all, I want to say thanks for the amount of reviews for the past chapter. My responses to reviews got a bit out of control, but that's fine. Feel free to private message me if you have any burning questions. This story is definitely still a work-in-progress and the reviews are all helpful. This chapter look a bit longer because there was just a lot of information for me to process. The reviews have been great in helping me address issues within the story and hopefully making it easier to read overall. I know the pace is on the slower side, but I intend to make the story fully encompassing of the school year. I am still trying to find a decent balance in length of chapters, but that isn't a big issue. This chapter probably had more in-game text than I originally intended. Not all of it is in order though some of it deliberate. I think that's it for now. On a side note, at the end of this chapter Mitsuru is mad and sad at Minato. You'll understand when you get there. The subtext is essentially from the end of last chapter but it's from Minato's P.O.V, which is why hopefully you'll at least get where Mitsuru is coming from.
Final update: Trying to find a balance of how often to put in P.O.V. It is a bit distracting to have it too often and whatnot. Anyways, thanks to rEpose for finding my grammar issues once again. Thanks!
Really final update: Formatting issues cleared 7/6/14
Update: Special thanks to sillyfudgemonkeys for finding more of my random mistakes and awkward phrases. Even pulling one from the previous chapter!
Thanks to greyarts for listening to my rants and rEpose for beta reading when she can.
Reader Reviews:
Deathchaos25: You and I think alike! I was more inclined where his versatile weapon choice would help him bond with say Akihiko, Mitsuru, and Yukari at school since their clubs "use" their weapons. Of course, as you said Minato could help them when they're in Tartarus as well, thanks for the suggestion. I think in this chapter you can see the nature of Minato's relationship with Mitsuru slowly evolving depending on how Minato handles the situation. He isn't really aware that he even existed in this time, but it's really up to him in how he decides to go forth, so to speak.
arkbar22: Thanks for continuing to read and review what I write. For Ikutski, who knows? I think it depends on how much Minato can convince Mitsuru that he isn't someone who is a loose cannon that could harm the future of S.E.E.S. If he manages to gain the trust of say Mitsuru's father I think she would slowly come around. Not to mention there's the pity aspect in her mind because of what her grandfather did to the Minato that is dead in this timeframe.
sillyfudgemonkeys: Thanks for continuing to find the loose ends that I somehow seem to miss each chapter. I make sure to go fix the mistakes you point out after I read your review. I'll try to go point by point for your questions. Yes, the subject 0 thing is directly related to how he was The Fool. He did "die" in this timeframe as a child so yes I understand aha. Since Minato isn't from this time he will not have to take suppressants because he did not have his Persona artificially implanted. I know Shinji takes them even though he wasn't part of the experiments.
But, I would say in Minato's case it's more of a duality where the Hanged Man Personas and arcana are as much part of his soul and psyche now rather than just a Shadow that he tamed. That probably didn't make a lot of sense, but overall his relationship with his inner half is just more complex than a typical Persona user. The "voice" is really a major plot point I hope so I won't go into too much detail. But, you have a good general idea I think. Once again, Chidori will be important because like you said she also has the Hanged Man Arcana as well as being part of Strega. We'll get to Pharos eventually and I'm slowly building Hamuko up, I hope in terms of development. She is a bit green right now, but I think bits of her personality are showing up. Whew, I don't think I set out to write this much but it is what it is aha.
Yami no Majou077: Thanks for another review. I'm glad you found the last chapter unexpected. Hoping you continue to keep up with the story.
Fanatical-Writer561: Your review helped a lot. It got me thinking in a different way about how to deal with perspective changes and trying to improve dialogue flow. As for the summary, I haven't updated it since I wrote the prologue and that is partly because I am not sure how I would change it at this time. I do agree that the go back in time with the super power level thing has run its course a bit… a bit of a flavor of the month, but I digress. The Hanged Man characterization is a central theme to the story and I am trying my best to allude to it as I write. It really was what convinced me to start the story.
Yeah, I agree that it was hard to follow the perspective changes. I'm still not sure what the best way to do it is, but thanks for pointing that out regardless. Hopefully, it's a bit easier to read now. The dialogue is a work-in-progress since I am still trying to figure out what structure I like. I tried making this chapter flow a bit better, but old habits are hard to break. I tend to use archaic word choice partly because it is so ingrained in my writing in general. For planning, I do have an end game in mind since I formulated this story from the end to the beginning. In terms of specificity, I would say what I have written in my notes is still fairly general, but I have certain things in mind. I want the details of the entire year that's spent in the game and for better and worse I will stick to that path. And before I forget, I think in the characterization I tend to believe readers already know who is who. But I do understand that I was light on motivations for characters doing certain things if that's what you meant. And this has turned out longer than I intended. Once again, thank you. Your review was definitely helpful.
Chapter 6: Equivocality
April 7, Tuesday (Iwatodai Dormitory, Early Morning)
Mitsuru P.O.V.
"Mitsuru, you look sick," Akihiko said worriedly. "Should you really be going to school today?"
Mitsuru always looked preternaturally poised, at least in Akihiko's opinion, but she seemed disoriented today. Her hair was slightly disheveled and there was a hint of dark circles underneath her eyes.
"I'm fine, Akihiko," Mitsuru said unconvincingly. "I just finished the paperwork for Arisato-kun to attend school today."
"You shouldn't overwork yourself, Mitsuru. I know you already have a lot on your plate. Not only with school, but also with your father's company."
"I know, Akihiko. You do not have to remind me all the time. Would you give Arisato-kun his paperwork? I want to get to school early to prepare for Student Council."
"Sure, I can do that," he responded. Mitsuru turned and left Akihiko feeling a bit awkward standing there.
Mitsuru took out her cellphone and pressed 1 on the speed dial. She admired the beautiful morning , the skies blue and the road to school displayed by sunlight, as she waited for someone to pick up.
"Kirijo estate," a woman's voice said.
"Is my father available?" Mitsuru said.
"I'm sorry, Mitsuru-sama, he is out all next week," she replied. "Would you like to leave a message?"
"No, that is not necessary, thank you for the information." Mitsuru hung up her phone. "Maybe it was for the best," she thought. She was probably too emotional to talk with her father rationally and did not want to add to his burden.
Minato P.O.V.
"Minato, are you awake yet?" Akihiko knocked on Minato's door at the end of the hallway with paperwork in hand. Akihiko paced back and forth.
Minato heard a muffled voice from the hallway and finished dressing for school. To his surprise, he saw Akihiko standing in front of him.
"What is it, Akihiko-senpai?"
"Mitsuru wanted me to give this to you. It should let you start school today without a problem. Make sure to reward her faith in your abilities. She seemed to have stayed up most of the night getting it ready."
"Thanks for bringing this to me, senpai. And I understand I'll thank her when I see her in school today." Minato took a quick glance over the paper and liked what he saw.
"No problem. Well, I guess I'll get going then," Akihiko ended the conversation.
"Do you mind if I go with you to school?"
"Huh, you want to walk with me to school?" Akihiko said in a surprised tone.
"Yeah, could you show me around if that isn't too much of a hassle?" Minato asked.
"Sure, why not? But only if we jog the entire way," Akihiko replied.
"Akihiko's penchant for training was the same as always," Minato thought to himself. Minato had never really gotten to know his senpai the first time around. This was as a good of an opportunity to start on the right foot.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Minato said as they went down to the kitchen to get some breakfast.
In the kitchen, Minato opened the cabinet and grabbed a box of cereal. He made sure that the milk in the refrigerator hadn't passed the expiration date, as he remembered some unfortunate experiences.
Akihiko stood with his back against the wall and pulled out just a protein bar from his bag.
"Do you always have a full breakfast?" Akihiko asked. He was watching Minato eat out of the corner of his eye.
"Yeah, I try to eat as healthy as possible when I can," Minato said in between a spoonful of cereal. "You should try to eat better too, considering it's just as important as exercise, senpai."
"You sound just like Shinji," Akihiko chided as he let out a small smile. "He's an old friend of mine from the orphanage. Shinji always told off me and Mitsuru for eating unhealthy when he lived in this dorm."
"Oh? You're an orphan too?" Minato tried his best to appear that this was new information to him. "We have some things in common then. Also, did you say Shinji used to live in this dormitory?"
"Yeah, things got a bit complicated and he moved out, but that's something we can talk about another time." Minato could see that Akihiko had said a bit more than he intended about Shinji.
Hamuko P.O.V.
Just then, Hamuko and Yukari came downstairs to the kitchen.
"Good morning. Did you guys sleep okay?" Yukari said, "Minato, I was wondering where you were. Mitsuru-senpai wanted me to show you how to get to school, along with Hamuko.
"Yeah, we did." Minato replied. "And sorry Yukari, Akihiko-senpai is going to show me the way."
Minato seemed very careful in avoiding Hamuko's gaze. She thought that he was shy at first from what had happened on their way to the dormitory, but there was something else that she couldn't really put her finger on.
"Really? I guess that's fine then. Hamuko, you haven't met Akihiko-senpai yet. Have you?" Yukari motioned toward the lithe senior.
The silver-haired senior looked toward Hamuko who hadn't said anything up until now.
"How ya doing?" he said.
"I'm fine, thank you." Hamuko and Akihiko momentarily met eye-to-eye. It wasn't from impoliteness, but probably out of curiosity on Akihiko's part. Hamuko gave a small smile, partly because Akihiko was at least talking to her, unlike Minato.
"Yeah, we better get going then. See you at school." Akihiko quickly left the kitchen and Minato obliged by following him out the door.
After a while, Yukari and Hamuko walked out of the dormitory and got on the train to get to school.
As they were walking toward the train station, Hamuko started peppering Yukari with questions about what life was like at Gekkoukan.
When they boarded the train Hamuko appreciated how clean it appeared. Yukari let her have the inner seat so that Hamuko could have a good view of the water.
This was Hamuko's first experience on this kind of train. Yukari said this type of train was an Anehazuru.
"We have to take the monorail to get to school. Bet your last school wasn't like that, huh?" Yukari said.
"No, I usually just took a bus. But this is really amazing since we're going over the water." Hamuko peered out the window as she said this.
As Yukari talked happily about the view of the city Hamuko just gave her an enthusiastic nod. This was part of the reason Hamuko wanted to come to Gekkoukan, the ability to live in the big city.
"By the way, don't talk about anything you saw last night. Okay?" Yukari seemed uncomfortable bringing up the subject as she fidgeted with her schoolbag.
"Okay, Yukari. But, I was also wondering what Minato said last night after I went to bed. He seemed really reserved from what I've seen so far."
"Him? I don't really know. I mean we hardly know the guy yet. One minute he says nothing and the next he can't stop talking. Yet, he already seems to get along with Akihiko-senpai."
"Is that so? It sounds like you've paid pretty close attention to him Yukari."
"What?" Yukari blushed crimson. "It's nothing like that!"
"I'm just joking Yukari, you can calm down," Hamuko giggled.
The two girls arrived at Gekkoukan's school gates and got a lot of stares from the male denizens.
"Hey, who's the chick with Yukari?"
"I dunno, I've never seen her around before."
"Wow, she's a looker though. Her eyes are just like Mitsuru's."
"Looks out of our league dude. I mean, she's already hanging out with Yukari."
Hamuko heard a wide riffraff of comments pointed toward her direction. At least they were flattering she thought.
"Just ignore them, Hamuko. Gekkoukan has its fair share of morons, but they learn to leave you alone," Yukari said while they walked past the main doors.
At the class bulletin board there were the names of all the students and the homerooms assigned to them.
"Wow, we're in the same class Yukari!" Hamuko was happy that she would at least know someone in her class.
Yukari gave her a smile, but it was quickly replaced by a frown.
"Ugh, Junpei is in our class this year," she remarked.
"Who's Junpei?"
"Someone who will talk endlessly to anyone if they let him," Yukari said.
"That doesn't sound that bad."
"Well, that's because you don't know the half of it Hamuko. You should go introduce yourself to Ms. Toriumi, in the teacher's lounge, which is in the left hallway. I'll catch up with you later."
Yukari walked away and Hamuko wanted to stop her and tell her what actually happened on her way to the dormitory. What was a Persona exactly anyways? However, Hamuko felt that Yukari would just shush her away if she asked her too many questions at school.
Hamuko wandered toward the hallway on the left and saw a sign labeled teacher's lounge. She was about to step in, but could hear voices inside.
"That should take care of everything. You're in 2-F; that's my class." A woman was talking to someone it seemed.
"Thank you for doing on such short notice," another female voice said.
Hamuko knocked on the door and Mitsuru appeared.
"Hello, Arisato-chan. If you will excuse me," Mitsuru said as she walked off.
A woman waved her hand motioning towards Hamuko.
"Are you the other new transfer student, Hamuko Arisato? I'm Ms. Toriumi and I teach composition at Gekkoukan. You're just in time to attend the Welcoming Ceremony." Ms. Toriumi seemed like a nice enough woman, though a bit strained.
Hamuko nodded in affirmation and saw Minato sulking, looking towards the floor. She wondered why Minato continued to behave this way towards her. Had she done something wrong? They had started off on an odd note, but she did not feel any animosity towards him. It really seemed like Minato was trying his best to avoid her, as far as Hamuko could tell.
With Hamuko and Minato trailing Ms. Toriumi to the auditorium, Hamuko took this as an opportunity to move next to Minato.
Minato noticed her presence, but didn't say anything. He seemed to grimace ever so slightly.
"So how long are you going to give me the silent treatment?" Hamuko said in a sarcastic tone.
This seemed to have done the trick as Minato momentarily let down his guard and spoke with an equal sarcastic inflection in his voice.
"Well, I guess you just ended it. Hi, Hamuko."
For some reason this caused Hamuko to start laughing. Minato's response was not particularly funny, but maybe just the way he deadpanned his response was good enough.
"You know you're pretty terrible at lying Minato," Hamuko said as she composed herself again.
"You think so?"
"Definitely, just before you weren't talking to me, but your eyes gave you away. You aren't some anti-social jerk as far as I can tell."
"Well, thank you. I'll take that as a compliment for now," he sounded amused.
They entered the auditorium and took their seats. Hamuko tried to count how many people there were, but lost interest, as there were a lot more than any school she had ever gone to. The principal began to drone a long-winded speech that seemed to last forever.
Hamuko got bored quickly, but at least she was staying awake. Minato was taking a nap and even snoring a bit too. Suddenly, his head drifted to Hamuko's shoulder. Not expecting this, she let out a squeak, which caught the eyes of everyone around them.
"I hear talking. I believe it's someone from Ms. Toriumi's class…"
"Shhh! Be quiet! You're going to get me into trouble!" Ms. Toriumi hissed.
"I'll get you for this Minato," Hamuko whispered. His response was a smirk slowly forming on his face.
After the Opening Ceremony, Minato and Hamuko introduced themselves to the class. Minato made a clear point that the two were not related in any shape or form. They proceeded to take seats next to each other behind where Yukari sat.
Ms. Toriumi proceeded with the morning lecture and Hamuko took detailed notes. Time passed by without incident and homeroom ended, meaning it was after school hours.
A friendly looking boy in a baseball cap walked up to the Arisatos. Before he could say anything Minato interrupted him with a nonchalant wave.
"You're Junpei, right?"
"Wha, how did you know dude?" Junpei said, as he looked surprised.
"I overheard Yukari saying that you're really friendly and willing to talk to anyone as long as they listen to you."
Junpei just laughed it off and introduced himself anyways, unaware of the mocking tone in Minato's voice. Hamuko gave Minato a glowering look that signaled she didn't appreciate how he treated Junpei. He just shrugged his shoulders and started wrapping his knuckles on his desk, which somehow annoyed Hamuko further.
"Well, I'm glad to meet you too, Junpei," Hamuko stated. "It's good to see someone who is willing to talk to the new kids in class."
Junpei gave a shameless smile in return. Yukari walked into the classroom.
"I see you're up to the usual, Junpei." Yukari shook her head in contempt.
"What? I'm just being friendly, Yuka-tan."
"Right. Anyways what a coincidence that you and Minato are in the same homeroom as me, huh Hamuko?" Yukari said.
"I'm just glad to have some friends that I know already," Hamuko answered.
"Um, hello? Did you forget I'm in this class too? C'mon, lemme in on the fun!" Junpei sighed.
"Well, I've gotta go take care of some stuff for archery team stuff. Don't try anything funny, you got that, Junpei?" Yukari said as she stared at Junpei menacingly.
"Yukari, can I tag along with you to archery club? I want to see you guys practice." Minato had suddenly entered the conversation.
"If you really want to I guess." Yukari didn't really seem comfortable with the arrangement.
"Oh, you already know about the clubs at school? You might not look like it, but you're pretty quick on the uptake there, Minato." Junpei looked like he had an excuse to start another conversation.
"Hmm, I want to hear more about the clubs at this school Junpei," Hamuko interrupted. Minato caught her eye and he seemed to understand that she was giving him an opportunity to get away from Junpei. Minato gave her an understanding smile and stood up to go with Yukari.
Junpei and Hamuko had left Minato and Yukari to go their separate ways. Junpei looked around to see if anyone was listening on their conversation about school life.
Then he said, "Whoa, I wonder if there's anything going on between those two. Minato had some guts to ask Yuka-tan that. I bet the whole school is gonna have rumors about those two."
"Junpei, are you sure you aren't the source of those rumors?" Hamuko playfully punched him on his right arm.
"Heh, if they didn't want the rumors, they shouldn't hang out where a bunch of people can see them."
"Aren't we doing the same thing then?" Hamuko said.
"Huh, yeah I guess so." Junpei seemed a bit flustered. "Why don't we go grab a bowl of ramen at Hagakure? My treat, sort of like a welcome to Gekkoukan High present."
"Haha, sounds fun. I'm pretty hungry now too. Let's go!" Hamuko wanted a free meal and just getting to know Junpei better. The afternoon passed by quickly.
"If you ever have a problem, you can tell your old friend Junpei about it!"
"I'll remember that. Thanks Junpei," Hamuko replied.
Hamuko waved goodbye to Junpei and arrived at the dorm.
As she entered she saw a sign-in sheet on the counter. Hamuko could see that everyone else had returned already.
"Welcome back," Mitsuru intoned and didn't look up. "You should get a good night's rest." Mitsuru seemed engrossed in a novel that Hamuko had never heard of. Over by the table Hamuko saw Yukari trying to get some homework done.
"Hey, Yukari. How did archery club go? Did Minato behave himself?"
"It was fine, thanks for asking. Minato just watched from the side and didn't do much else. I guess he wanted to join the club, but I don't think there are any open spots now. You're probably tired right? You should go to bed early today."
Hamuko was a bit confused about why everyone suggested she go to bed early today. It was her first day, but she felt energetic more than anything else. Meeting new people and socializing was really fun.
"Yeah, I might as well hit the hay early today. Night, Mitsuru-senpai. Night, Yukari." They replied goodnight in return.
Minato P.O.V.
Later on during the night Akihiko came downstairs. Minato had followed him downstairs as silently as he could. He remembered that Akihiko had gone on these night patrols early in the school year to hunt down Shadows that were in the streets. Minato snuck into the kitchen to avoid detection and tried to listen to what Akihiko was saying.
With the number of apathy syndrome cases, it's them. I'm going out," Akihiko said.
"Wait, Akhiko. We aren't alone." Mitsuru interrupted Akihiko, which quickly stopped him from talking.
"Who's there? I know you're in the kitchen," Mitsuru said.
Minato came out. He wondered how Mitsuru had figured out he was there.
"Arisato? Why are you still awake? More importantly, why are you eavesdropping on us?" Mitsuru had an accusatory look on her face. She folded her arms and looked like she may never unfold them.
"Uh, well it sounded like Akihiko-senpai was going out for a patrol, so I thought he might want some help." Minato felt this was a crappy excuse, but ah well.
"Akihiko, go. I think I need to talk with Arisato privately." Akihiko looked like he wanted to stay, but knew better than to argue with Mitsuru when she looked halfway to staging an execution.
"Don't be too hard on him, Mitsuru." Akhiko left, gently closing the door behind him.
"Explain," was all Mitsuru said, once she and Minato were face to face.
"Explain what?" Minato was trying to sound as innocent as he could.
"How did you know Akihiko was going on patrol?"
"I didn't, I just heard him leaving his room and wondered where he was going."
"If that was the case Arisato why did you hide in the kitchen?"
"Um, I wasn't sure what to do during the Dark…" Minato tried to look away from Mitsuru, but it was too late. He had inadvertently mentioned the Dark Hour.
"How do you know about the Dark Hour? You've deliberately lied to me haven't you?" It wasn't a question, but a statement. The conversation was quickly spiraling out of control. "Do you think I am that naïve?"
Mitsuru stood up and looked down at Minato like he was that useless bastard fiancé that she was to eventually get married to. Even the fact that the Dark Hour had made its daily return did not slow down Mitsuru's tirade.
"I know for a fact that Arisato-chan met a Shadow the day you two arrived and you weren't even slightly injured. I only let it pass initially because I thought you had the potential. However, I will not tolerate someone disingenuous living in this dormitory!"
Minato held his breath. He hadn't expected this conversation to turn out this way, but Mitsuru left him with no choice. As calmly as he could, he drew out the Hanged Man card, which he always carried in his pocket now. It was still stuck in its reversed position. Mitsuru eyed the card incredulously.
"Mitsuru, please. I can't really explain everything now. But, please follow me outside for a moment."
"And why should I do that?"
"Because… I can already summon a Persona."
Just outside the dormitory Minato quietly muttered, "Persona." Inugami once again appeared and moved gracefully above Minato's shoulders.
"You don't have to trust me, Mitsuru. I know you can use my help though. Can you please keep this between us for now and let me stay?" Minato was trying his best to not sound desperate.
Mitsuru didn't say anything to him. Instead, there was a look of pity and bewilderment on her face.
Maybe this hadn't been the brightest idea he ever had Minato thought.
Unbeknownst to Minato and Mitsuru, someone else witnessed what had just happened.