Five years later. April 8th, 2026.
Leiko groans in her sleep, sitting up slowly, finding herself in a dark room, a blue light shining down upon the wicker chair she is seated in. Across from her another light shines down on a semi balding man with a large hooked nose in a suit, smiling at her from behind a messy work table. "Welcome to the Velvet room, you are here due to a unique ability you hold and your strong sense of hope for the future."
Leiko growls at this man, "And what sort of crap are you going to spew huh? I don't have anything unique about me, just some Persona that lets me scan or track those Shadow things."
The man laughs softly, "You are more than just that, you hold something unique which you will discover soon, like several have done before you. A power that if you do explore, will surprise you. But the choice of whether to use that power or not is up to you, it is your future to explore after all. I merely am here to give you the choice. You have your agency, not something I wish to deny you. I hope we do get to meet again. I will give you my name then."
The room dissolves and Leiko awakens in her single dorm room of the Datekawa building near the bustling city of Ainoska, a port city in northern Japan on the island of Hokkaido. Her parents had transferred back to Japan due to their work for the Kirijo Group's merchant accounts section, just two weeks ago. She had no idea what the company even did beyond just trade goods.
Regardless of her parent's work, the main reason she is in this city has to do with its rather good high school. While she wasn't thrilled with living at this dorm so far away from campus, it was better than being at Tatsumi Port Island and going to Gekkoukan High School. It and Shujin academy in Tokyo were known to be great schools, neither appealed to her. Shujin was marked by the Phantom Thieves incident in 2016. Nor did she want to go to a high school owned by the company her parents worked for, especially if the old forum internet rumors of Shadows from those Burrows were seen in 2009.
So Orimasu High School in Ainoska became the next best pick due to distance from involvement with ex friends, the company her parents work for and due to this being the only one who'd take her due to needing to repeat one year of school since those last semesters of her class credits from her Canadian high school in Vancouver didn't transfer.
Looking at her clock, Leiko rolls out of bed, standing at 5'11 and turns on her TV. What appears on screen is a rerun of the newest episode of Feather Man, which is doing a special season with select special team members of the older seasons. She quickly changes the channel to the news and starts her daily routine for school.
"Ms. Yamagishi's homeroom…" Leiko gazes at the homeroom assignments upon arriving at the school's entrance hall, finding her name on a small piece of scrap paper tucked under another school announcement on the board as if it was an afterthought, "Class 3-C."
Stepping away from the board, she walks through the halls in her school uniform, which is meant to be a darker purple, but she opted for an appropriate top of gray without the jacket, a purple pleated skirt and typical school shoes. She keeps the pin from the school off her clothing since to her it is unnecessary.
While most people were probably itching to join clubs once the school day was over, she wouldn't even bother unless it was something related to writing or drawing to help refine her skills. Sports clubs weren't something for her, it would just steal time she needed for studying. While her plans for the future did revolve around becoming a mangaka, she still needed to be sure that her grades were good enough to prove she is willing to put in the work, but having a backup didn't hurt either.
Arriving on the second floor, the girl passes by several groups talking and laughing, finding her classroom at the end of the hall. She quickly slides open the door and takes an empty seat in the back, just wishing to disappear for the day. Other members of the class filter in, some talking to each other, others looking at their phones. None of them paid any attention to her, which is really for the best in her mind. She could make friends after getting settled in with school life. With enough time before homeroom begins, Leiko cracks open a book from her bag, reading about some of the local area's attractions and stores.
A few students begin to chat, talking about some of the local eateries and how they'd only sell the best cakes and other foods if you were a regular. Leiko looks over her book, annoyed that a business would do such a thing. If she was going to eat out, she'd stick to a local ramen place, Wild Duck or Big Bang Burger due to her limited money. If there were other options in the area for that same price, that would be great.
The first bell rings and Leiko stashes her book in her bag, sitting up straight. A cute woman with dark teal hair in a braid, wearing a soft green skirt and blouse strolls into the room and stands before the class with a smile, "Good morning everyone. We have a transfer student starting with us today, having just returned to Japan just two weeks ago." 's eyes fall directly on Leiko, "You were supposed to come to the faculty office when you arrived today Ms. Mizaki."
"Sorry Ms. Yamigishi, I was rather focused on getting to class." Leiko answers, having honestly forgotten that this is protocol for transfer students.
"Come on up and introduce yourself if you would please." Ms. Yamagishi says softly with a gentle smile.
Leiko stands and walks to the front of the room, unhappy about being forced to stand out, but making it short would put her in the driver seat. She turns to face the class. "Uh hi. I'm Leiko, nice to meet you all." She can hear the whispers circulating around the room and quickly darts back to her seat. Sinking down in her chair, Leiko winces slightly, not from any pain, but from the presence of something that wasn't human.
Please, not here of all places. I don't need trouble from a Shadow or anything else, Leiko thinks, half listening to the roll call. Should she really be concerned about this? It could just be something dumb that triggered that sense and not a Shadow. A cat had triggered this sensation two years ago in Vancouver.
Shaking her head, her focus returns to the end of roll call and Ms. Yamigishi heading for the door, "Your first and second period classes have swapped. Mrs. Nakada is running late due to an accident outside her home."
The teal haired woman is half way out of the room when she stops and pokes her head back in. "Izumi, can you please give Leiko a copy of the class schedule or at least take her to the facility office to request a copy for her during lunch?"
A girl with mid shoulder length dark brown hair, adorned with a cherry blossom barrett in the back, bangs falling down the right side of her face to her shoulder, and dark purple eyes nods, grease stains on her cheeks shining in the light. "I'll do my best to help her out ma'am."
"Thanks." The woman answers with a smile as she disappears into the hall.
The bell to signify the end of fourth period blares, setting off the student's lunch period. Standing up slowly, Leiko stretches her arms feeling a tad bit stiff from sitting so long.
"So…" Izumi, who is just 5'7, approaches Leiko with a beaming grin, "Let's get that schedule for you and then we can have lunch together."
"I appreciate the help, but I'll pass on lunch." Leiko answers kindly to the girl. No offense to Izumi, but she wasn't interested in eating with anyone just yet, she needed to review some personal work of hers.
"Come on, it will be fun! You can't say no to a meal and good conversation! I can tell you all about Ainoska's history and lore I remember or you can tell me about yourself." Izumi shouts almost aghast at someone, even a new student would pass up making a friend.
Leiko shakes her head, trying to not come off as abrasive, "Izumi, I said no. Maybe we can have lunch or something another day, just not today."
Izumi frowns at losing this opportunity, but nods seeing it as a victory of having lunch another day, "I'll hold you to that rain check. Come on, let's get you that schedule." The two girls head through the halls and stairways to the first floor seeing the various club rooms, hearing students outside them talking about the kendo team.
After passing by the nurses office, the pair arrive at the faculty room to the door already open. Inside is a fellow student wearing an apron with spatula patterning upon, with dark blue hair slicked back. "What are you buttering Mr. Yamitsuki up with now, Watanabe?" Izumi asks, trying to get a look at the food.
The male student, who stands at 6'2, turns on his heel, his green eyes shining as he grins, holding up some red bean paste buns on a plate, "This was just something from Home economics, they're not as good as what I'd make at the Okumura Cafe." The boy lowers the plate and the smile vanishes, "And I'm not bribing him, he requested I bring them for the other teachers."
"I was only ribbing you Yamato, I didn't think you'd take it so seriously." Comes Izumi's half exasperated tone.
Yamato snorts, giving Leiko a quick glance, then back to focusing on Izumi, "I will take it seriously, bad rib preparation is just poor form." The grin returns to his face.
Izumi shakes her head with a groan, "Why must everything devolve into some kind of food based joke attempt."
"Because I like to add a little spice to everyone's lives, Izumi. You've known me since we were in primary school, you should know this is just how I yam." The boy answers as he walks past the two. "I'll drop by later to pick up the item for my boss." Without another word, the young man disappears into the sea of students outside.
"So, what did you two need from me?" Asks Mr. Yamitsuki, munching on one of the buns, enjoying the exchange between the students.
Leiko clears her throat, "Izumi escorted me here sir so I could pick up a copy of my schedule. My name is Leiko Mizaki."
The man gives several nods, swallowing a bite of bun, "Ah yes, the transfer student. Let me see here." The man opens his drawer, thumbing through the files, "Here we go."
He hands the girl a small sheet with the class periods. "Don't let me keep you from your lunches." He waves his hands in a shooing motion and the two students exit, walking back towards their class.
"See you back in class Leiko. Have a good lunch." Izumi announces and rushes up a nearby set of stairs.
Leiko returns to her desk on the second floor, retrieving a bento box from her bag, along with her tablet with manga panels on screen as well. For the next fifteen minutes, she munches on some rice and beets as she works, drawing rough outlines of backgrounds and of character's faces and bodies. A broad warm smile crosses her lips, her feelings that her future is indeed in her grasp as a mangaka.
The bell rings for afternoon classes as she finishes off the page and she swiftly stashes her tablet away after saving. Her classmates didn't need to know that this is her current aim for the future. She is sure several of these people already have an inkling as to what they wish to do with their future.
Students begin to filter in, some talking about the recently reopened Datekawa school dorms by that dilapidated shrine and how creepy that part of town was. This bit of information wasn't that new to her, she could see the shrine from her dorm room on the 4th floor of the building. Maybe she'd visit it in a few days to pray for help with her studies.
The school day comes to a close and Leiko walks through town, passing several restaurants, various good stores and a large mall with several department stores. Leaving these behind within a matter of minutes, the girl crosses over a small metal bridge to the north eastern side of town towards the dorm. Trees of every kind dot the landscape, including oaks and cherry.
As the roof of the eight story silver painted dorm looms on the horizon, a delivery truck drives past her and stops just outside. A young woman in a green uniform with a brown baseball cap and blonde hair steps out with two packages and an electronic signature pad.
"Hey kid, is this your dorm or did someone prank me with the wrong address for this stuff. The place looks kind of abandoned." The woman shouts, eyeing Leiko as she approaches.
"This is certainly the place I'm living in." Leiko answers, wondering if this is her order of extra pencils.
"Great, so are you a Leiko Mizaki or know her if you're not." The woman shifts rather uncomfortably, this place and that shrine on the hill just didn't feel right to her.
"I am she, I can show you my ID to confirm." The girl answers, stopping in front of the woman.
The woman shakes their head, "No need, just sign that I made the delivery and the sooner I can get out of here."
Must want to knock off work early. Leiko takes the pad and signs her name, taking the two boxes while handing back the pad. "Hey wait a moment, I didn't order two things." Leiko utters as she looks at the sender of the second box, but there wasn't a label for that.
"Not my problem kid. Sorry." The woman calls out as the truck turns over and she drives out of sight.
Confused by this person's actions, Leiko quickly absconds inside and once back in her room, opens both packages. The first one contains her pencil and other supplies she had indeed ordered, it even has an invoice. Unfortunately the second box didn't have one of those, all that is inside is an ornate blue key with a face that is half shaded with one side having an eye and sunray on the outer edges of the circle the face is in.
"What is this thing?" Leiko wonders aloud, turning it over several times. Who could have sent this thing to her? No one she knew currently would send her such things. "I'll figure this out later, I need to study this evening." Dropping the key into a drawer, the girl sits at her desk to do her homework.
Several hours pass with the girl having finished and gone to make herself a meal from the dorm fridge downstairs. She eats in silence, wondering when others would move in, since it was just her. There was a dorm mother, but she hadn't even come across her yet. She supposed it wasn't so bad, but it was a tad lonely in here. Maybe she'd invite Izumi or another friend she'd make over to hangout some time to watch a DVD or play a game.
Looking at the time, The lilac eyed girl yawns, returning to her room to have a restful night's sleep.