Chapter 2: The Calm before the Storm.
April 8th, 2009. 7:55 AM. Gekkoukan High School, Entrance.
*Music: Persona 3 OST: Want To Be Close*
*3rd Person P.O.V*
The Yuki brothers are approaching the gates of the school, when they noticed two female students talking to each other. They were overhearing what those two are saying.
"Did you hear the rumor...?" The first girl asked her friend.
"Oh, um... Something about... a bathroom?" The second girl tried to guess.
'What?' Takeru mentally asked, feeling confused.
"N-No!" She said. feeling flustered.
"Not that story! I mean the story about the first-year student!" She told her friend about the real rumor.
'Huh. So it's about a classmate of mine. Interesting...' Takeru said in his head.
"Not only did she stop coming to school, she does nothing but sit and stare at the walls all day." She said. Oblivious to the brothers listening in.
"If her mother tries to talk to her, she only mutters to herself, 'It's coming... It's coming...!'" She finished telling the rumor.
"Huh. How about that." The second girl is surprised.
'Sitting and staring at a wall, mumbling words that makes no sense, Where have i heard this before?' Takeru thought.
"Psst. Bro." Takeru whispered.
"Yes?"
"I think what they were talking about, are the things that might happen when you catch the Apathy Syndrome." He told his brother.
"Yeah... It's the talk of the town lately."
"I wonder when this epidemic has started...?"
The first bell rang. Students are hurring to their classes.
"We'll talk more after school, okay?" Takeru said. Makoto nodded. The two of them made their way to their own classrooms.
April 8th, 2009. 3:50 PM. Gekkoukan High School, 2nd Floor, Classroom 2-F.
*Makoto's P.O.V*
I'm writing the last things written on the blackboard. Then Ms. Toriumi said:
"Open up your textbooks. and we'll take a look at the first novel by... Zenzou Kasai." Ms. Toriumi then got an annoyed face.
"Ugh... why him?" She complained.
"I'd rather teach Utsubo Kubota." She said. Feeling a little biased.
"He became famous as a singer, but he's also produced fine literature. I wonder why it's not in the textbook. Well, I'l just bring Kubota's book next time." She told the class.
I listen intently to her words, but it looks like most of my classmates don't care. Especially Junpei, who seems to be zoning out.
"...Hey, Junpei! Were you listening?" She yelled. He snaps back to reality.
"Who did i say was my favorite author?" She asked him. He starts to get nervous.
"H-huh? U-Ummm..."
"Psst. Makoto! Who does she like?" He asked me. I answer to him:
"Utsubo Kubota."
Ms. Toriumi gained a smile, as the class were surprised when i told the answer to Junpei.
"That"s right! So you were listening to me after all!"
"Eheheh. Well, you know i like to pay attention! He lied. He turned to me and said:
"Man, you saved my bacon, Makoto!" He thanked me. I then hear some classmates whispering about me.
"Makoto gave Junpei the right answer... He must really pay attention in class!" One of them said. Because of that, i feel slightly more popular.
April 8th, 2009. 5:50 PM Iwatodai Strip Mall.
*Music: Persona 3 OST: When The Moon's Reaching Out Stars*
*3rd Person P.O.V
Classes have ended, so the brothers decided to go back to the dorms. They were walking by the strip mall. Junpei is seen heading inside Wild-duck burger, a famous burger joint in the neighborhood with another student. By the bench next to the joint, a really fat student is eating a sandwich. A couple was walking in the opposite direction. In front of the bookstore Bookworms, an old couple is seen rearranging some books. When they are near the dorm, A tanned athlete wearing a sky-blue jacket was jogging, getting some exercise.
'Man, the strip mall is lively today. Especially in the evenings... Go figure...' Takeru thought to himself.
April 8th, 2009. 6:10 PM. Dorm, 1st Floor, Lounge.
*Music: Persona 3 OST: Iwatodai Dorm.*
Yukari is seen talking with an adult man wearing glasses. He has long hair, a goatee like Junpei, a small scar in the right side of his forehead, he was wearing a dark brown suit with a black shirt underneath. He also has a wristwatch in his left hand. The two of them heard the door open, revealing to be the Yuki brothers arriving home.
"We're home!" Takeru exclaimed happily.
"Oh, they're back." Yukari told the man.
"So, these are our new guests." The man guessed.
Yukari and the man stood up, and walked towards the brothers.
"Good evening." He greeted them with a small smile.
"Good evening!" Takeru greeted back.
"...Evening." Makoto greeted quietly.
"My name is Shuji Ikutsuki. I'm the Chairman of the Board for your school." The man, now known as Shuji Ikutsuki, introduced himself.
" 'Ikustuki', Hard to say, isn't it? That's why I don't like introducing myself. Even i get tongue-tied sometimes..." Ikutsuki said. Chuckling and complaining at the same time.
"Pleasure to meet you, Chairman Ikutsuki! I'm Takeru Yuki. And this my brother, Makoto Yuki." Takeru introduced both himself and his brother.
"Hey." Makoto said.
"Likewise. Please you two, Have a seat." Ikutsuki told them. The four of them sit down on to the chairs. Makoto, Takeru and Yukari are sitting on the couch, next to each other. Ikutsuki is sitting on the chair by the left, next to them.
"I apologize about the confusion about your accomodations." Ikutsuki said.
"That's still a thing? I thought we already solved that issue..." Takeru complained.
"Yes... However, it may take a while longer before you both recieve proper room assignment." He told them.
"Oh, joy..." Makoto also complained.
"Is there anything that you two like to ask?"
"Why are you here?" Makoto bluntly asked.
"Makoto!! But yeah... I've been wondering about that myself." Takeru yelled, but understands where his brother is coming from.
"To welcome you, of course." Ikutsuki said.
"There's more than that, right, Ikutsuki-san?" Takeru asked.
"Well, to be honest, i do have other business here." He told them.
"Speaking of which, where's Mitsuru, Yukari?" Ikutsuki asked Yukari.
"She's upstairs." She told the Chairman.
"As dilligent as always. Although, it doesn't hurt to come down and say hello."
"Why? Is there something you need to talk about with Kirijo-san?" Takeru asked.
"You could say that." Ikutsuki answered.
"Is there anything else?" Ikutsuki asked the brothers.
"Well... Other than us, who else is living in the dorm?" Takeru asked.
"To answer your question Takeru, there are only five students in this dorm: You, your brother, Yukari here, Mitsuru, and a senior named Akihiko Sanada." Ikutsuki answered.
"Sanada? As in the captain of the boxing team?" Takeru wondered.
"Wh- how do you know that, Takeru-kun?" Yukari wondered.
"Well, some girls were talking about him at lunchtime. It was annoying..." Takeru facepalmed. feeling a headache.
"Well... I hope you all get along." Ikutsuki advised them.
"We will, Mr. Chairman." Takeru told him.
'He really cares for his friends...' Yukari thought to herself.
"Any other questions?" Ikutsuki urged.
'Crap... I don't have any more questions! Well... Except the thing that happened on the night of the 6th...'
"The other night, i saw..." Makoto was starting to say, but suddenly, both Ikutsuki and Yukari flinched. But Ikutsuki kept his posture, while Yukari was silent. Unfortunately for them, Takeru noticed.
'What the... They flinched? Why? Wait a minute... Do they know what the hell was going on that night?!' Takeru began to suspect that were are hiding something.
"You saw something strange? Like what?" Ikutsuki asked.
'This is my chance!' Takeru thought.
"Well, There were large pools of blood, the sky and the moon turned green, The lights went out, Makoto's MP3 stopped working and there was a bunch of coffins floating in some places!!" Takeru told them everything. But Yukari still said nothing. And Ikutsuki's face grew to an amused smile but then quickly reverted to a calm face.
"You two were probably just tired. I wouldn't worry about that."
"What!?" Takeru said. He had a face of disbelief.
'It looks like he doesn't believe me, But he and Yukari-chan both flinched earlier. Something's not right... And i will find out!'
"Do you have another question?" Ikutsuki asked.
"No, I'm good." Makoto told him.
"Me too. No more questions coming from me." Takeru agreed.
'But i will find out about that stupid atmosphere someday!!' He said in his head.
"Then, i hope you two have a sucessful school year. Now, if you'll excuse me..." Ikutsuki said with a huge smile on his face. He then stood up from the chair, and started to walk towards the stairs. But he stopped at the couch to say some last things.
"You must be tired from all the excitement. The two of you should go the bed early."
*Yaaaaaaaawwnnn...* "Man, what timing. You're right Mr. Chairman." Takeru said, feeling a little drowsy.
"As they say, 'The early bird catches the bookworm!' ...Please forgive the bad pun." *chuckle* Ikutsuki said. feeling pretty proud of himself. Takeru just facepalmed as the Chairman walked away and gone up the stairs.
"Ugggghh... Don't tell me he's done these puns before..." Takeru hoped. But Yukari turned to him, also having a disgusted face and said:
"You'll get used to his lame jokes."
"Joy..." Makoto said. The brothers then went upstairs. Takeru went inside his bag to get his book, which inside has all the 22 Major Arcana of Tarot.
*Music Ends.*
April 8th, 6:15 PM. Dorm, 2nd Floor, Hallway.
*Music: Persona 3 OST: This Mysterious Feeling.*
*Takeru's P.O.V*
I was checking my card collection as i drank a mad bull from the vending machine. After i finished my drink, i was making my way to my room closing the tome. And then, my Fool card slipped out of the book and landed on the ground.
*Sigh* "Again? This happens everytime i check!" I complained. I bent down to pick the card up. But when i picked the card up...
*SHINE* "Huh?!" I see that my Fool card is shining! It was blinking blue 3 times before it stopped.
*Music Change: Persona 3 OST: Troubled*
"Ooooookay then..." I decided to put the card in my pocket.
'What was that? It seemed like the card was emitting some kind of energy... What could that mean? And why does it feel so... Familiar?' I thought to myself. Then i entered my room.
April 8th, 2009. 8:10 PM. Takeru's Room.
I was practicing some low level kendo strikes using the moderate space of my room. in the wall in the front of my door, there was a training dummy. I use him sometimes if i want to practice high level techniques.
"Whew... That's enough for tonight... time to meditate now..." I then sat on my bed, crosslegged. I joined my hands together and closed my eyes. i was getting lighter ans, starting to get relaxed, until i was inside my mindscape.
*Music Ends.*
Date: Unknown. Time: Unknown. Takeru's mindscape.
*Music: Persona 3 OST: The Voice Someone Calls*
I opened my eyes. I see a green void. i was there by myself, in my head.
"So... We meet again, My friend." I heard a voice. I turn around, and see a black silhouette, With one yellow/golden eye, and a skeleton mask in half, with the roman number XIII. (Which is 13.) I have a small smile.
"It's been a while... Hasn't it?" I asked him.
"Yes... It has been... I wonder why never talked to each other-- Rather, talked to ourselves since that faithful day... " The voice asked me. He then walked over to where i was. And i saw... myself. but with the obvious yellow eye and mask of course. but he was wearing a cocky smile. He was looking at me with his eye wide open. And had a dark blue aura around him.
"It's because we have nothing to talk about. You're me after all. But more... ferocious, cold, blunt, and sometimes... You can be pretty crazy."
"True... But... The time is coming. When you reawaken your powers, i too, will reawaken. So you better get used to it. And... We made a deal, remember...?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever... Anyways, time for my mental training. Are you ready to be defeated again?"
*chuckle* "Don't think it will be this easy this time, you bastard." He then raised his katana, getting to a stance. I raised my own katana, geting into my one-handed stance.
*Music Change: Persona 3 OST: Unavoidable Battle*
"Now! Let's see which one of us has improved!! RAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHHHH!!"
He started to charge at me, doing a rolling slash onto the ground. I do a back flip to dodge. We started to parry our sword strikes, using some kung fu kicks in the mix.
"You never learn, do you?" I asked, getting some lucky hits and cuts to him.
"What do you mean?" He asked, managing to scratch my face and push me back.
"But i got to admit... You've improved a bit. You managed to finally get a hit in." i praised him. I kicked him in the knee and slashed his shoulder. he felt the pain.
"Hmph. You always underestimate me." He scoffs. He slashed my stomach with his sword. And he kicked me in the head, but i recovered from that.
"But, let's see for how long we can handle ourselves!" Then, i punched him in the gut. causing him to cough off blood.
"Blaaaargh!!" *cough* *cough* "You piece of shit! Take this!!" He then kneed me in the gut, causing me to cough blood.
"Gwooooooohhh! *cough *cough* *cough*" I start to get furious, and got on my feet.
"Okay! You've asked for it! GRRAAAAAAAAHHH!!" I rushed to him, doing a back slash with my katana. he parried it and kicked me in the face. i fall to the ground. i parry a sword attack coming from him, and i do a double kick, standing up once again. After a series of hits, kicks and slashes, we both fall to the ground, exhausted.
*Music Change: Persona 3 OST: The Voice Someone Calls*
"*pant* *pant* See... We both got that... Desire to... Get stronger, and put at each other's limits... Isn't it wonderful?" He asked me, between breaths.
"*pant* *pant* Yeah... It's really... Something..." I said. Also feeling worse for wear.
"Whew. It was a draw tonight... You're really stepping up your game."
"Of course i am. I'm your Shadow, after all. When you get stronger, i have to learn new tricks, so i can finally defeat you in a sword fight!" Shadow Me said. Getting an annoyed face. I then slowly started to get up from the floor.
"Well... I better get going. That was a great fight, though. So... Rematch next time?" I offered a hand to help him up. He looked up at me, and with a small satisfied smile, he took it.
"You bet. This battle is not over until one of us falls unconscious." I pulled him up, and he was standing. Since this battle was happening inside my head, we were fully healed. No scratches, no cuts. We looked into each other's eyes. with smiles on our faces.
"Alright then. See ya!"
"Farewell, My friend. Until we meet again..."
I then started to disappear, getting back to the real world. My shadow is left there thinking to himself.
'It's finally coming... The day that both my original self and his brother is going to awaken their powers... Oh, I can't wait to kill some of my kind...'
*Music Ends.*
April 8th, 2009 8:20 PM. Dorm, 2nd Floor, Takeru's Room.
I quickly open my eyes, as if i awakened a new potential. I then checked my phone.
"It's only 8:20? I was meditating for 10 minutes? Wow... I was training for hours in my mind." I said. Now, i'm feeling tired. i then got inside me sheets, and went to sleep.
To be Continued...
English VAS:
Shadow Takeru: Sean Schemmel.
Shuji Ikutsuki: Daniel Woren.
Japanese VAS:
Shadow Takeru: Junko Takeuchi.
Shuji Ikutsuki: Hideyuki Hori.