Chapter Five - A Fun Year
Aigis was not taking this development as hard as the others were, to her own shock.
True, this was very unsettling - a video game being made about her and her friends' experiences fighting the Shadows - but she had learned a long time ago that looking at things objectively and calmly was preferable to any violent sort of reaction. At least, that was what she had thought. Her friends, she mused, were outright livid at the events playing out on the screen, though.
Trying to keep herself calm was easy enough. Although she was slightly intrigued at how Minato-san's early life at the dormitory had gone. Before they'd met. It was not like she could have helped feeling this way. The boy had touched her heart (literally), along with everyone else's.
When he had died, she had missed him. She had honestly wanted nothing more than to drift away and return to being a mechanical shell, driven only by her primary programming and nothing else. She was grateful for the times they'd shared, when he had put up with her awkward antics and such. She remembered having been depressed, believing that he'd care nothing for someone like her, someone made of steel and silicon and polymer rather than blood and flesh. She admired and loved the boy. And she was certain that the other women in their little group did, as well. Last time she checked, her sensors were good enough to detect that much.
...it wasn't like she was jealous or anything, but...
Oh, who was she trying to deceive? She blinked and closed her eyes for five seconds before returning to the events taking place on the screen. Minato and Yukari's avatars had made it to Minato's old room. The music was contemplative and simple, reflecting the enigmatic nature of the scene taking place.
[Yukari Takeba: This is it... Pretty easy to remember, huh? ...Since it's right at the end of the hall. Oh yeah, make sure you don't lose your key, or you'll never hear the end of it... So, any questions?]
{What's that contract for?}
{Does that kid live here too?}
Ring.
Junpei opened the phone with lightning-fast reflexes.
2
Junpei's ambiguous expression contrasted greatly with how he fumingly pressed the "down" button on the directional pad-
{What's that contract for?}
{Does that kid live here too?}
-and slammed the X button.
[Yukari: What kid? What are you talking about? ...C'mon, it's not funny.]
That last statement, everyone found to be quite apposite, although they all recognized it as the understatement of the millennium. And then the game tried telling them what Minato was supposedly feeling at the time - whilst speaking in the second person.
Yukari doesn't seem to know what you're talking about.
"Tell us something we don't know," Junpei scowled. This was player immersion going all kinds of wrong. He swore he was never going to touch another RPG that referred to the protagonist in the second person. Not after this very uncomfortable string of events.
[Yukari: Um... Can I ask you something? On your way here from the station, was everything okay?]
{Yeah.}
{What do you mean?}
Ring.
2
Down, X.
[Yukari: You know what I- ...Never mind. It seems like you're alright. Well, I better get going...]
Yukari's avatar started walking away, then stopped.
[Yukari: Um... I'm sure you still have other questions, but let's save them for later, okay? Good night.]
Yukari then left, Minato entering his room, and the scene transitioning into the next day.
4/7/09
"No wonder this game takes seventy hours," Junpei groaned.
"Well, we all kind of expected it'd go through the entire year, right?" Akihiko sighed, straightening himself. "Although...the fact that someone would put so much effort in this mess...," he hung his head upon recalling some very unpleasant memories, "makes it worse..."
Mitsuru laid a hand on his shoulder, and he let it stay there. He gave a small chuckle. But the game went on.
Early Morning
Minato stood in his room, hands in pockets, until a knock on the door sounded out, punctuated with a Knock Knock in-game. The music was joyful, exemplifying the wonders of the morning sun, exciting, uplifting - essentially everything S.E.E.S. wasn't in the mood to enjoy at the moment.
[Yukari: It's Yukari. Are you awake?]
{Open the door.}
{Ignore her.}
second one
"Just type, '2,'" Junpei said to the phone, not expecting any reply in return. How fast could this person text?
Ring again.
2
Junpei wanted whoever this was to die in a fire. Down, X.
[Yukari: Hello! Please answer the door, or I'll get in trouble!]
You decide you had better not ignore her.
Mitsuru, Junpei, and Yukari were all simultaneously thinking how annoying it was that the game was telling them how to feel and act. True, this was technically what Minato was feeling and acting, but the fact that the descriptions just threw them into the whole game through its choice of words just made the experience all the more unsettling.
Akihiko let in a sharp breath. He had never been that close to Arisato, but the boy had been a friend. More than a friend, a comrade-in-arms. And one of the bravest people he had ever met. The fact that Arisato's life was being documented - no, it wasn't even his life. His life would've been fine, in comparison. His thoughts, his feelings, his day by day actions. All of them were on screen right now, and they were in control of them. It made him feel...a bit dirty. If his actions were all being controlled by someone else, he wouldn't be very comfortable.
Arisato, on the other hand, had always seemed...apathetic. Even exhausted. Who knows how he'd have reacted, if he had found out that he had been controlled by someone, something else?
Somewhere...somehow...
Yukari was now in Minato's room.
[Yukari: Good morning. Did you sleep okay?] Yukari's avatar's head bobbed up and down, as if sizing Minato's avatar up. [Mitsuru-senpai asked me to take you to school. It's getting late, so... Are you ready to go?]
{Yeah, I'm ready.}
{I can find it myself.}
1
"Iori?"
"Yes?" Junpei didn't even try to hide his exasperation, not even to Mitsuru. She noticed this, but let it slide, because she would have barely held it together in his situation.
"What if you were to choose something other than what you're being told to choose?" she asked. "Could we try and see what would happen?"
"I dunno if that'd be a good idea...," Junpei stammered, "I mean, considering what this guy could be capable of?"
"It might help us-"
Ring.
◕ ‿‿ ◕
I'm watching you all.
It's not advisable to diverge
Immediately, a chill went down both Mitsuru's and Junpei's spines as the latter hid away the phone from anyone else and the former started darting her eyes all over the place - both of them in frantic, obvious fear. Mitsuru had already gone to the windows and was looking for any snipers of any kind, Akihiko having followed her worriedly, when Junpei obediently pressed X and ignored the others' concerned queries.
The cutout depicting Yukari gave an illustrated smile. [Yukari: Okay. Then, let's go.]
"Mitsuru," Akihiko asked her, as she held her head out of Junpei's living room window and looked in every possible direction, "what happened?"
"Whoever is doing this is watching us right now," she said, obviously trying to remain calm. "Help me look."
He did so without question, his spine straightening and his lungs hollow.
And a cutscene played; another drawn, animated one.
The old monorail was seen zooming by, a magnificently-oversized building in the background reflecting the gleaming lights of the sun.
"So, that's it," Yukari said to Minato, smiling. A stark contrast from her apprehensive and aggressive nature just the previous scene. Both she and Minato were in the monorail; behind them, a crowd of people. Minato's eyes were out of the shot, and focus slowly shifted from the girl to him. "See? There it is," Yukari finished.
Minato's eyes suddenly cut into frame, and he turned. His expression was...very uneasy.
Seeing that expression left Aigis, Junpei, Fuuka, and Yukari with very bad taste in their mouths. It was just harrowing, making it through the first few minutes of the game, and now, they had to see Minato with that expression? Him, looking like that? It was as if he knew Gekkoukan was to be the place he'd...
...Fuuka immediately stood up. "Junpei-kun...where's the restroom...?"
Junpei brought his eyes ground wards. "My room. First door on the left."
Fuuka nodded and followed his directions exactly. Yukari and Aigis looked at Fuuka, then Junpei, then at each other, then just continued watching. The train was speeding ahead on the tracks now.
Ken, immediately seeing the atmosphere become unbearably worse, merely looked upon Koromaru. The dog pouted and whined, and his ears drooped down to the sides of his head. Ken stroked the sad animal's fur, closing his eyes solemnly.
Yukari and Minato were walking alongside each other, the clamors of students and teenagers walking along the same path as they filling the audio. Someone on a bicycle rang their bell and called out to Yukari, "Morning!"
To which the scene shifted to Yukari, who replied to the girl, "Good morning," with a smile. She then turned forward, and the scene shifted once again.
Yukari and Minato were now standing outside the gates of Gekkoukan.
"Well, this is it," the former stated with finality, gripping her bag. The scene shifted directly to her face, and she said to Minato - jovially, happily - "We're here. Welcome to Gekkoukan High School. Hope you like it!"
Yukari was cupping her forehead in her hands, she couldn't take much more. The irony of everything just was being thrown relentlessly into her face - their faces - the game was laughing at them again. She then felt something too heavy for a hand weigh upon her shoulder - Aigis was now there, beside her, trying to comfort her. Aigis' eyes, despite being mechanical, showed something weighing them.
Yukari nodded, and forced herself to stay strong, as Mitsuru and Akihiko reentered the room.
Junpei sighed. The skies on the screen, the building behind Yukari, Yukari's naive "I-haven't-seen-nuthin-yet" attitude towards Minato, everything about this cutscene was reminding him of the old days. And yes, despite the universe conspiring to make Persona 3 FES the worst game ever, Junpei, Aigis, and Yukari still...still found themselves feeling nostalgic.
That school was a nightmare, but it had been theirnightmare. And phrasing it like that certainly didn't help matters, but...it was host to a myriad of experiences, many good, many bad. The school, as disturbing as it may seem, had been their life for an entire year. Who could blame them for feeling that sense of warmth?
It was messed up, but it was the place where their lives had been defined.
"What'd we miss?" Akihiko asked, blasé.
"Not much," Junpei sighed, turning to Mitsuru. "Found anything?"
"Nothing. Not even a camera."
"You check everywhere-?"
"Yes."
"Okay, okay, chill..."
Fuuka had not tried to show it - everyone else had already too much on their plates - but she would be lying if seeing Minato again didn't twist her heart a little.
Like Yukari, she had felt quite...abysmal when Minato had died. After all...unlike Yukari, whom Minato had taken to the summer festival - unlike Mitsuru, whose depression Minato had helped overcome - unlike Aigis, who had stayed by his side when he had died...Fuuka was barely ever in Minato's life. Save for...serving him all those horrible rice balls...
It wasn't like her feelings for Minato had been secret. She had known that everyone had known of what she had felt towards him. Everyone except him had known, anyway. And when he had died, she had been hurt. But everyone else, Aigis and Yukari-chan especially, were hurting as well. She couldn't just wallow with them in despair - he wouldn't have allowed it. So, yes, she had pretended to be relatively alright. Despite Junpei-kun and Sanada-san asking her if she was alright. Despite Kirijo-san's and Ken-kun's encouraging words. Despite Yukari-chan's ignorance of it all. Despite Aigis' ease with getting him to hang out with her.
Despite every single girl in the school falling head over heels in love with the guy and him not even looking like he cared one bit-
...where did that come from...?
She gave a sour expression at the mirror facing her as she turned off the faucet. Taking in a deep breath, she returned to the game.
Now was not the time to think about such horrible, untrue things that she had let go for years and years. Things that she'd kept hidden for so long. Things that just...didn't matter any longer.
By the time she had returned to the living room, Mitsuru had made a gesture at her to come to the kitchen. Kirijo had gathered the rest of the group in said area to discuss her and Iori's findings. Junpei had to continue playing the game. Like he had another choice.
"Mitsuru...what's going on?" Yukari asked her.
Mitsuru cleared her throat and began, "The person behind all this texted this to Iori and me."
◕ ‿‿ ◕
I'm watching you all.
It's not advisable to diverge
Aigis stared at the text shown inquisitively. Yukari's eyes turned into saucers. Akihiko seemed understanding now of the situation, Ken did the same as Yukari, Fuuka gasped, and Koromaru scratched at his ears.
"Hopefully that quells your concerns," Mitsuru sighed disdainfully, placing the phone on the counter.
In-game, Minato and Yukari's avatars had made it to their shoe lockers, within the confines of the school building.
[Yukari: You're okay from here, right? You should go see your homeroom teacher first. The Faculty Office is right there to the left. ...And that concludes the tour. Do you have any questions before I go?]
{Which class are you in?}
{No, not really.}
Ring.
"Kirijo-san?"
Phone opened. "The text reads, '2.'"
Down, X. Again. Was Junpei to choose the second option, always? If so, this person texting him could just tell him so.
[Yukari: Hey... About last night... Don't tell anyone what you saw, okay? ...See ya later.]
Yukari's avatar then left the area, and the game finally, finally allowed Junpei to control the protagonist Minato Arisato. The scene transitioned, and now Minato's avatar was standing in a crowded area - the first floor of Gekkoukan High.
Using the analog stick to control him made Junpei feel dirty. But, but, but. Task at hand. The objective now was to head into the Faculty Office. Which was labelled like a proper noun, in-game.
Junpei ignored all the other characters chattering about and made Minato move to the Office, his phone with Mitsuru and seemingly not objecting to his willingness to try and finish the story as quickly as possible.
No, don't care about how it looks exactly like how the school looked like back then. No, don't talk to Kenji or Kaz or Yuko or those other guys and that foreign kid. Go, just go, just go.
He pressed X on a door labelled Faculty Office on screen.
[Teacher: Oh, are you the new student?]
Junpei recognized the character - Ms. Toriumi! And all he could think of was how much she looked like an older Yukari.
...come to think of it, she did...
Minato's avatar nodded.
[Teacher: Minato Arisato...] she said/not said, as she suddenly and inexplicably lost her voice while the text took note of Minato's name, [11th grade, correct? Wow, you've lived in a lot of different places... Let's see... In 1999... That was what, ten years ago? Your parents- *gasp*]
"You raised it, dammit! This is all your fault! So you should do something about it! You're supposed to be 'special,' right!?"
...
Junpei let out a bit of a ragged gasp and placed the controller down, leaving the conversation at a bit of a standstill. He removed his baseball cap and stared at it contemplatively for three seconds before putting it back on his head, his mouth quivering.
"I'm scared, too."
[Teacher: I'm sorry... I've been so busy, I didn't have time to read this beforehand. I'm Ms. Toriumi. I teach Composition. Welcome to our school.]
{Oh...Thanks.}
{Nice to meet you!}
Ring.
"New text?" Junpei called, from his seat.
Phone opened. "1."
X.
[Ms. Toriumi: Have you seen the classroom assignments? You're in 2-F; that's my class. But first, we need to go to the auditorium. The Welcoming Ceremony will be starting soon. Follow me.]
As Junpei powered through the next few cutscenes, this conversation took place.
"What does he mean by 'something bad will happen?'" Ken asked Mitsuru, pretending he didn't know the answer.
"I don't know. We cannot diverge from the choices Arisato had made, lest we find out. And I personally don't want to."
"We must expect the worst; there's no telling what this person is capable of." Aigis then cupped her mouth in contemplation. "Ask him how long we must-"
Ring.
Phone opened.
Today, play just until the first "boss"
First boss...?
Little did the inexperienced, uncouth savages know that Junpei had made it to a scene which was near and dear to his heart.
[Student: S'up, dude? How's it goin'?]
{Who are you?}
{What do you want?}
[Student: Me?]
No, he means Kenji, idiot. Of course he means you. It was almost laughable how cringy he had been.
[Student: I'm Junpei Iori. Nice to meet ya. I transferred here when I was in eighth grade. I know how tough it is bein' the new kid... So I wanted to say, "hey." ...See what a nice guy I am!]
Junpei noted how the cutout of him perfectly had all the characteristics of the anime best friend; you know. The wide eyes of idiocy and naivety, the laid-back frame which contrasted with the main character's more brooding posture, the dumb grin on his face - the portrait of Junpei was designed to be the bromantic foil of Minato Arisato.
Designed.
He didn't feel happy at that at all.
"What scene is this?" asked Yukari, returning to her seat alongside the others.
"I'm being introduced as a character...," Junpei joylessly replied. He could only wonder if he was the tank of the group, when they would go into battle. Whenever battle came.
Yukari entered and approached Junpei and Minato
[Junpei: Hey, it's Yuka-tan! I didn't think we'd be in the same class again.] Junpei excitedly exclaimed, his avatar's expression mirroring that upbeat reaction.
[Yukari: *sigh* At it again, huh? I swear, you'll talk to anyone if they'll listen.] Yukari's cutout looked...annoyed, to a degree. [Did you ever think you might be bothering someone?]
[Junpei: What? But, I was just bein' friendly.] Flabbergasted, Junpei's cutout appeared to be.
[Yukari: If you say so.] Yukari's massive head swivelled over to Minato's avatar. [Anyway, looks like we're in the same homeroom...]
{Yeah, I know.}
{It's just a coincidence.}
{It must be fate.}
Ring - opened.
3
Junpei snorted.
Down, down, X.
[Yukari: Fate? Yeah, right. *chuckle* Still, I'm a little surprised.]
Ken made a bit of a chuckle, "Minato-san said that to you?"
Yukari blushed a deep red. Aigis seemed to smile goofily at this, while Mitsuru raised an eyebrow in not-too-concealed amusement and Fuuka just...averted her eyes. But she, too, blushed red.
"...guy was never smooth when trying to sweet-talk," Junpei chuckled, he and Akihiko recalling what Minato had said to Aigis when they'd first met on Yakushima.
"Hey, baby."
Come to think of it, Minato was pretty much worse at pickup lines than Junpei had ever been.
[Junpei: Um, hello? Are you forgetting that I'm in this class too?] Now was Junpei's cutout's turn to be annoyed. [By the way, I heard you two came to school together this morning. What's up with that? C'mon, gimme the dirt!] The grin on Junpei's face was exaggerated to the point of offense.
"I never smiled like that...," Junpei shook his head. "Did I ever smile like that-?"
Unanimously, "Yes."
"Wha-!?" Junpei was stunned at this betrayal. "Why didn't anyone tell me this? I'm open to feedback, here!"
Yukari shrugged. "We like you just the way you are?"
"I look like a joke!"
"That's how you normally look when smiling."
"Shut up!"
[Yukari: Wh-What are you talking about!? We live in the same dorm. There's nothing going on, okay? Why are people even talking about it!? Now you have me worried...] Yukari's cutout had widened eyes, looking shocked at Junpei's suggestion. Before turning to our protagonist, [Hey... You didn't say anything to anyone about...you know what, did you?]
{Uh uh.}
{You know what?}
"Pick the second option," Yukari urged Junpei. "I remember, he said that and I got mad at him for it."
"Vivid memory." Junpei found himself grinning, and Yukari flushed again-
Ring. Son of a - we know what to choose!
1
"...what?"
"What's wrong?"
"He...told me to choose the first option."
"What?" Yukari exclaimed. "B-but that's not...wait, I remember, that's exactly what he said! 'You know what?' He was confused! I remember, because I - I kinda...," she slumped her shoulders, "kinda then assumed he wasn't all that smart..."
"You thought Arisato wasn't smart?" Akihiko snorted. "The guy-"
"-got perfect in every exam, I remember...don't have to rub it in..."
"In any case, we can't risk it," Aigis concluded. "Follow this person's instructions."
"...okay..."
He pressed X and hoped the world wouldn't implode-
[Yukari: Okay, good.]
Everyone exhaled, grateful that the world was still there-
[Yukari: Seriously... Don't say anything about last night, alright?]
...
"You couldn't word it a bit better-?"
"Now you shut up."
"Okay...okay..."
A picture of Junpei's head - with a shocked expression and an exclamation point - appeared on screen, along with a loud sound effect that sounded like a BEEP.
[Yukari: Wh-What?]
[Junpei: L-Last night...?]
Shock, on the cutout. [Yukari: W-Wait a minute! Don't get the wrong idea! Listen! I just met him yesterday, and there's absolutely nothing between us!] The cutout then seemed to calm down somewhat. Geez... I've gotta go. I've got something to take care of for the archery , you better not start any rumors!]
Yukari's avatar then left the room, leaving the two men to themselves.
[Junpei: Ah, who cares? No one takes rumors seriously, anyway. She's so paranoid...] Junpei's cutout looked exhausted, but then perked up, [But, hey! It's your first day here, and people are already talkin' about you! Believe it or not, she's actually pretty popular. You da man!] A sick, painfully cringy attempt at a cool smirk. [Heheh, this is gonna be a fun year. I can feel it!]
Everybody collectively groaned.
A/N:
I AM SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY.
I SERIOUSLY NEVER EXPECTED TO GET THIS MANY HITS.
HOLY CRAP. THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH. I LOVE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU.
SO SORRY THIS COULDN'T GET MORE DETAILS - I PROMISE, WE FIGHT ARCANA MAGICIAN NEXT CHAPTER.
YOU ARE DA BEST EVAR AND I LUBYU TO DEATH, BUT COLLEGE IS COMING UP SOON AGAIN.
I AM SO LAZY I KNOW PLEASE FORGIVE ME THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR PUTTING UP WITH THIS TRASH AUTHOR ;_;