I do not own Persona, just the OCs and the original plot.


Chapter 2: 1st Chapter; First Day of School

-Date; April 8th Monday 2013, early morning-

Morning came, and everybody in Dōwa was waking up to start their day, especially the children.

In the Miyazaki Residence. Seiya woke up and came to the living-dining room. He sees his grandfather, Takeru, in the kitchen making breakfast.

"Good morning Grandpa." Seiya greeted him.

"!?" Takeru was startled, he turned to see his grandson, a bit surprised. "Well, good morning, you've given me a surprise. I didn't peg you the early type, I'm in the middle of making breakfast."

"I was thinking I should wake up a little early just in case." Seiya replied. He had set his alarm so he may wake up early in case he needed extra time to get to school. He is taking a train cart to get to Kataribe Town, yesterday his grandpa explained to him that he'll be taking the train to travel to town and that kids must be on time before the next one.

Takeru chuckles, finding his grandson's over-prepared amusing. He looks at his grandson's new uniform. He wears a navy blue long-sleeve sweater with white cuffs and a white label over a white shirt, a white tie around the label, navy blue capri pants and white socks. Embroidered on the left chest was the school's emblem, an upside-down white three-diamond emblem with a red flower in the center.

"I must say, that uniform suits you well. I've seen lots of boys wearing that, but somehow it brings out your inner manliness." Takeru complimented.

'My inner manliness?' Seiya thought, a sweatdrop appearing on his head. He had seen his uniform and looked at himself in the mirror. He can tell that there's nothing about the uniform that spells manly, it is an elementary school uniform. But seeing that his grandpa just wanted to compliment him, he decided not to say it.

Ssshhhhh-!

"Ah! The Tamagoyaki!" Takeru went back to prepare breakfast after hearing the over-cooked sizzling.

Seeing his grandfather working, Seiya decided to ask. "Do you need help?"

"You have experience in cooking?" Takeru asked, focusing on the tamagoyaki.

"That's right." Seiya nodded. He did help his mother a few times in the kitchen, and his old classroom had home ec lessons.

"Well… you could start by adding rice to the rice cooker, then preparing two salad bowls." Takeru instructed. Those may be easy and boring tasks, but he wanted to prepare breakfast for his grandson to start the day.

After a stomach-filling breakfast, with his backpack, Seiya left for his first day of school. He walks towards the direction of the train station. He walked for a while until he noticed two to three more kids of his age and younger, wearing the uniforms, walking in the same direction.

After a short while, Seiya arrives at the train station, where he sees two carts the first with opened doors. A few early bird kids went inside the first cart, Seiya figured that the train wouldn't close the doors until every kid was inside to fill and the kids didn't want to waste time waiting to get in. He may as well get in and wait.

It had been a couple of minutes, and with more kids coming in and taking their seats, the cart was beginning to fill. As the kids were chatting among themselves, Seiya waited patiently the whole time while playing a game on his phone.

"Wait! Wait wait wait wait wait waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwait!" The cry was coming from one boy, who was running from a distance between the station. Even if a bit far and inside the cart, the children and Seiya could hear him well.

The boy arrived at the station but was still running before he tripped and fell inside the cart, the doors closed on time. Seiya and the children looked at him, they heard a groan as he stood up on his knees, hissing at the pain on the front.

"Ouch… not my day." The boy had messy brown hair and green eyes, he was wearing the Kyoiseiza Elementary School uniform. He stands up on his feet and rubs his nose. "Well, I guess this is what happens when you're tardy." He said out loud, earning chuckles from the other kids, except Seiya.

The train cart starts to move, as the boy moves closer to Seiya, he asks. "Is there any room for a seat?"

Seiya blinked but obliged as he moved a bit to the left, allowing the boy to sit.

"Thanks." The boy smiled. "You have no idea how panicked I was when I saw the time, so I had to run like the wind."

"But there was a second cart on the back. You could have taken that one." Seiya said.

"Yeah, true… but I'm just so excited to start the first day of school." The boy chuckled, he then looked at Seiya closely. "Say, don't think I've seen you before."

"I just moved here." Seiya replied.

"Oh! Is that so?! Well, welcome to Dōwa. Hope you'll like it here!" The boy happily announced. "And may this day be a great start for you, transfer student!"

"Thanks." Seiya responded, though he already liked Dowa since way before. But he did have a point, he hoped that this day would be a good start.


We now found ourselves in classroom 5-2, also known as Class 5-2, the second classroom for the fifth-grade students. Students were already inside, chatting to one another, some even were happy to be in the same class since the last grade, while they patiently awaited their new classroom student to arrive.

The classroom door slid open as the teacher came in and announced. "Okay! Everyone take your seat!"

Everyone did as they were told, the teacher arrived in front of her desk and faced her students. "Alright, I'm your new homeroom teacher, Shion Endo, nice to meet you all and I am looking forward to working with you all."

"Alright, before we start, I would like to introduce a new friend." Ms. Endo turns her head facing the door. "You can come in."

Seiya enters the classroom, he stops beside Ms. Endo gaining everybody's attention.

"Could you introduce yourself?" Ms. Endo kindly asked.

Seiya nodded and turned around facing the chalkboard, he picked a chalk and wrote his name for everyone to read the characters. He faces the students and introduces himself. "My name is Seiya Teshima. I'm from the city and moved to Dōwa. I hope we can get along." He finished with a bow.

Meanwhile, the students mutter about Seiya.

"From the city, wow. Wonder it's a big one?"

"Moved in Dōwa? We got another Dōwan."

"His name sounds so cool like it's straight out of an anime."

"He seems more mature than the boys here."

"Alright, Settle down. Now then, your seat will be… ah, right over…" Ms. Endo was pointing at the empty seat on the second row until she cut it short and went to check over the seat position list. "Ah wait… that one over there is Suzuki's. So your seat should be next to Maki-san over there." She pointed at the last seat on the back next to the window.

"Ok." Seiya nodded. He walks towards the empty seat. He sits down, looking to his right is a boy of his age, in fact, the same boy he met on his way to school. "Hi again."

"Well, ain't this a coincidence. To meet up so soon and end up being in the same class. Talk about fate." Maki said with a smile. "The name's Kotaro Maki. Nice to meetcha."

"Good then, shall we start with everybody's introduction? Some of you may know one another but some of you don't." Since the students are now in 5th grade, they were assigned to new classrooms. Most have been in the same class for two years, thus many know each other. "Now, let's start in the alphabet order."

"Eh, teacher." A random student raises his hand.

"Yes?"

"Usually we do that after the Opening Ceremony." He pointed out.

"Oh my! That's right!" Ms. Endo gaped at the realization. "Sorry class, my head's in the clouds. Teehee."

The whole classroom has a pile of sweatdrops after that.

After which, the students of 5-2 went to the auditorium for the ceremony. The principal gives a heartfelt speech to the whole student body. Seiya thought that he seemed nice and had the same vibe as the principal from his old school.

After it was over, they all went back to the classroom meanwhile Seiya took a few glances at the school along the way to familiarize the place.


-Date; April 8th Monday 2013, Morning-

"Now, since we have that orientation… how about that introduction, now?" Ms. Endo announced half-jokingly. "Now, in alphabet order…"

Ms. Endo did exactly in the alphabet order, calling out each student whose names start with the first letter and each introducing themselves.

"Next; Koizumi." Ms. Endo called.

One girl stands up, whose seat is in the center. She fidgeted as all eyes were on her, she gave a nervous reply. "Hmm… Hello, my name is Mizore Koizumi. I'm… from Dōwa, a-and I like spring, and… I like art sculpting." She then bows. "I-I-I hope we get a-along!"

After her introduction, some of the students mutter.

"Wow, she must be shy."

"Same old Koizumi. I've been in the same classroom as her."

"Her shyness is pretty cute."

"I like her already."

The introduction continues, as they reach the letter M.

"Next; Maki-kun."

"Hai~!" Kotaro announced, standing up. He introduced. "My name is Kotaro Maki! I'm also from Dōwa. I like adventures and bicycle riding. Some of you may not know me, but I hope we get along!"

The students muttered about Kotaro this time.

"Hehe, so Maki is here too."

"At first he could be a pain, but he's pretty friendly."

After some introductions later…

"… Sasaki."

Responding to it, a girl stands up, one who is in front of Seiya.

"My name is Ayame Sasaki. I'm from Dōwa village. I like reading, practicing calligraphy, and helping out at my family shrine." She bows to everyone. "I hope we can get along."

This time the mutter is about her.

"Wow. More cute girls from Dōwa."

"She definitely fits the same category as Koizumi."

"Shrine? Then she has to be a shrine maiden."

"I was in the same class as her, she is a shrine maiden. I even saw her wearing the robe once."

And so on until they start lessons.


-Date; April 8th Monday 2013, After school-

Classes are over and so is the day, many students preparing to leave or have already gone home. Seiya was still in the classroom and making a few adjustments before leaving. So far so good, he managed to go through the day and stayed focused on the lessons. He thought that he might have a hard time being in a different school than his own but he somehow prevailed, but he got to remind himself that he's in 5th grade and the lessons are tougher.

As he is preparing just then, Kotaro approaches him.

"Hey, New Kid, you're about to leave? How about we go together?" Kotaro asked with a friendly smile.

Seiya looked at him with a questionable look, Kotaro understood it and replied. "We're both from Dōwa, plus, you've just moved to the village, so you must be clueless about it."

"Not really. I know about the places in the village." Seiya replied bluntly.

"It may be small, but you'll end up… wait, what?" Kotaro blinked. "You already know about Dōwa? How long have you been after moving there?"

"The day before yesterday." Seiya responded.

Kotaro got close to him. "You've got a tour of the entire village and learned everything, already?!"

"Personal space." Seiya said with Kotaro backing away.

Ayame finishes packing, she roses up from her seat. She turns to the boys and addresses Kotaro. "Maki-kun, quite bothering him."

"I wasn't. I just want to get to know our new Dōwa resident friend, Aya-chan." Kotaro retorted. "Now don't tell me you aren't excited to meet him?"

"Well… I am happy to see a new face moving into our village." Ayame admitted, then looked at Seiya. "A pleasure to meet you, Teshima-kun."

"Yeah." Seiya nodded, returning the greeting.

"Our village isn't as interesting as the big city but I hope you'll give it a chance and see the beauty in it." Ayame said with a hopeful smile. She placed her pack bag and added. "Anyway, I need to go."

"Shrine temple business? You're working hard, Aya-chan." Kotaro said.

"Only natural for children to help their parents." Ayame retorted. She walks out of the classroom.

"Man, talk about killjoy, ruin the mood."

"Are you two friends?" Seiya asked.

"Meh. We may have played a lot in kindergarten and 1st grade. So I guess you could say we're… semi-friends." Kotaro replied.

"Ok." Seiya responded with an uninterested expression and tone.

"Wah- Was with that response?!"

Afterward, the two boys decided to go home together. They just left the school and in the middle of walking towards the gate, there Kotaro was having a conversation with Seiya.

"Well, since you know all about Dōwa already, bet you don't know all about Kataribe, don't you?"

"Well… only a few places." Seiya replied. That was true, he doesn't fully know the town yet despite coming here a few times in the past.

"Really? Which kind?" Kotaro asked curiously.

"A western café, a trattoria, a fast food restaurant, the arcade, a park," Seiya listed off the places he went. "... and that's about it."

"Uwa-! You already knew about those places?!" Kotaro gaped in shock. "Well… except the park and the fast food place."

"Umm, just wondering; what kind of western cafe?" Kataribe has variants of cafes, so asking him just to make sure he didn't jump to conclusions.

"Err… I think it had a name that means sunflower." Seiya replied the best he could remember the place.

"Ah! That's Le Tournesol! That place is pretty famous even for a small cafe, a lot of middle and high schoolers went there, even us elementary kids could go."

The two walked out of the gate and headed towards the train station along the way.

"Man, you already know some of the great places. Here I was hoping to be a good host." Kotaro was amazed that the new kid already knew some of the popular places. "But wait… you moved to Dōwa about like two days ago, how far did you visit the whole village and come here?"

"That's because… me and my parents would visit my grandfather on vacations and different occasions. And we would come here for dining or shopping for what the village is lacking." Seiya replied.

Kotaro blinked. "Eh? So… you came to Dōwa numerous times and visited Kataribe before? No way!"

Then, Kotaro went up in front of Seiya and stared straight into his face.

"Personal space." Seiya said, which Kotaro backed away.

"Sorry. Our village may attract tourists with the hot spring, but we rarely see return ones each year- not that they never return just rarely. So I was trying to rack up my brain to see if you're familiar, I used to play with kids who visited our village before." Kotaro replied sheepishly.

"Well… I didn't often play with the village's kids back then." Seiya said. That was true, whenever he visited Dōwa he would often stay with his parents and grandparents, but he never had a chance to play with the other kids.

"But I gotta say, for your parents to move to Dōwa means that they loved the village so much that they wanted to stay." Kotaro chuckles.

"My parents passed away."

Those sudden words caused Kotaro to freeze up. His expression turned blank before he turned his head to look at the boy who said those words. "Eh?" Was the only word that came out.

"Yeah. About two months ago. And the only relative that can take me in is my grandfather that I'm living with now." Seiya explained, with a melancholy expression.

The two boys stood in the middle of the sidewalk with neither of them saying a word and felt like the whole world had stopped, while Kotaro wore a shocking expression.

Seiya finally snapped out of it before he realized he just dropped the bomb and looked at Kotaro's face. "Oh, but I'm-"

"I'm sorry!" Seiya was cut off by Kotaro's sudden loud apology with a bow. "I'm sorry for bringing it up!"

"No, like I'm saying-"

"I'll be heading straight home, bye!" Kotaro loudly said before he made a mad dash leaving a surprised Seiya behind.

"Hey, wait!" Seiya called him out but he was already far away and made a turn. Seiya continues to look where Kotaro went and hangs his head to look down.

He knew that people would react if they knew about his parents' passing, which is a common thing among good-natured folks, even his classmates and teachers at his old school had reacted to the news after coming back to school. His classmates, each gave their words of sympathy and even some did not know how to approach. The counsellor had said to him that people would react differently to anyone's loved one's passing. He looked up in the direction again, he thought that Kotaro had hurt him and didn't want to hang out any further, he experienced this sort of thing before but not this bad. He thought of talking to him tomorrow to clear out any misunderstandings.


"I'm home." Seiya called out after arrived at his grandfather's home.

"Grandpa?" He called his grandfather after he did not respond. He went to the living room, he wasn't there. Seiya thought that the elder must be taking a nap, so he went to check on him and as soon as he opened the door; he wasn't there. He even went knocking the toilet room but no response.

"He's not here, weird." He wondered where his grandfather could be.

"Probably still at work." He recalled that Takeru worked at the peach orchid, but Seiya didn't know how many hours he did.

Seeing that there was no point, he went to the living room for a little rest. Sitting in front of the small table turns on the TV where the news is on.

"-in other news; the Deep Sleep State report. We found new victims after the previous one yesterday morning, two at most. One was a high schooler, who was supposed to start their first day of the second year. Reports stated that the parents thought that their child was pretending to be in deep sleep, but after constant failed attempts they finally called the ambulance." The anchorman reported. The screen shows an image of a house with an ambulance. It then switches to a building that looks like a company. "The second victim was an employee at the office company. According to reports; the employee's colleagues saw them fall asleep during a job when one next to them attempted to wake them up they didn't respond. Others join in in hopes to wake them up in fear of upsetting the president, but after numerous failed attempts, and the number of insistences towards the president, they called the ambulance. The ambulance staff stated both victims were in coma-like states, the same as the others."

"For the second victim; many believe that their conditions must have been due to stress and exhaustion from a poor working environment in the company, believing that place to be a Black Company, to which the president denies it. This was not the first time an employee suddenly fell asleep during a job, whether in the middle of work or on break, but this development is rare, as victims usually went to bed one night then never woke up in the morning." The news showcases images of workplaces where previous victims were. "But what draws much attention is the high school student, the first victim. Up until now, the only people who suffered the Deep Sleep State are between their mid-20s to early 40s, but the latest is a high school student, age 17. Many are wondering if their children will be the next victims. Of course, some are worrying if more will fall next."

Seiya pays close attention to the news. There was a report similar to that one last night; more victims of this condition? Just what is the Deep Sleep State?

Turning off the TV, he decides to go to his room and do his homework, to get his mind off that subject, and to kill time before his grandfather comes home.


Date; April 8th Monday 2013, evening

Hours later, Takeru came home. He even brought groceries that looked like they could be made for four people. When it was dinner time, the grandfather and grandson were at the table with the prepared meals; Katsudon rice bowls, Karaages, Miso Soupes and take-out Vegetarian Gyozas.

"Sorry about coming late. I thought we had a feast to celebrate on your first day at school, so I went shopping for ingredients, and I even bought the take-out gyozas." Takeru said, feeling both embarrassed and ashamed for coming late and leaving his grandson alone… though he kinda forgot most children of Seiya's age are fine being home alone.

"No, it's alright. This looks really good." Seiya waved off. Though he thought that his grandfather going all out for dinner just to celebrate his first day at his new school was kinda exaggerated, he didn't have the heart to tell on his face. This is truly a nice gesture.

They both clapped their hands and said. "Itadakimasu!"

Seiya and Takeru took a moment of their time to enjoy the meals. The boy took a bite of a piece of katsu meat, savouring the meaty flavour combined with seasonings and crunchy breading, mixing with the eggs, he took a piece of rice along with it and mixed both flavours, nothing could beat rice. He then went to take a bite of a karaage piece, the moment he chewed the chicken meat juice burst in his mouth, cooperating with the crunchy breading and seasonings with a hint of soy sauce. He goes to the soup next, taking a sip there was a hint of herbs and a mix of saltiness, of course, he took a bite of a piece of vegetable and with the taste still in his mouth both flavours unlocked a new one, so refreshing. He went for the gyoza, picking with his chopsticks he bit it, the mixed vegetable flavours inside burst out, and he noted about seven vegetables in it, each cooperating with the other quite well. Truly a feast.

"So, how was your first day of school?" Takeru asked. Decides to make a conversation after taking a moment of savouring.

"It went well." Seiya responded, then recalled a certain teacher's mishap. "Though… except the part where the teacher wanted to do the introduction now and almost forgot about the Opening Ceremony."

"Oh really? What sort of teacher would forget that?" Takeru asked with a hint of chuckles.

"That's what everybody was thinking." Seiya pointed that out.

"Oh? Have you made new friends?" Takeru asked.

"Not yet." Seiya shakes his head.

"Oh…" Takeru was hoping that his grandson would be able to make friends, but he should have known that on the first day, you don't immediately become friends in one day. He gives him advice. "Well, it's only the first day, so I'm sure you'll be able to make some. Not that I'm saying you should forget your old ones. Just… do what kids do."

Seiya looks at his grandfather with a blank expression.

"What is it?" Takeru asked in confusion.

"Grandpa, do you even know what kids do?" Seiya asked bluntly.

"Wha…? Err… O-of course, I do! These days, you kids play video games a-a-and do extreme stuff with your bicycles and skateboards. Oh! Tic Tac Toe!" Takeru responded and listed off the things, flustered.

A sweatdrop appeared on Seiya's head. It is clear as day that his grandfather does not know what kids today do.


And I'm stopping right here! Yeah, sorry. But this is how Persona story goes, slow pace, to which will slowly build up the hype befor finally reaching the best!

Our boy Seiya has started his first day at his new school, so far so good he managed throughout the day. I have to go into looking how Japanese schools work from time to time. But things went gray as soon he mentioned his parents. Don't worry, things will be ok on the next chapter.

Speaking off... next chapter will have surprise. Stay tune!

One more thing; I added a little something in the first chapter, nothing too big or important though.

One moore thing (hehe, I like doing Uncle); This may take slow, due to my job having increase of customers and I had to work my butt off which lead me exhausted and no motivation. I jus hope it won't be like last year.