Disclaimer: Own nothing, save for maybe the occasional OC that might slip in. Totally just borrowing the characters for my own amusement in fanfic writing when the mood strikes me. WEEEEEE!

Please note that chapters may be subjected to re-uploads with new edits or adjustments due to maybe some issues with my chapter set-up clashing with FF's upload thingie or need to re-write some parts, or whatever the hell I feel like doing to it.

Song lyrics are cited accordingly, and there may also be slight evidence of crossovers and references/visitors to/from other Atlus games, along with a few nods to the manga.

Summary: This is just a random novelization of adventures with both Protagonists of Persona 3, and the happenings in the basic story I imagine that would happen when they share the spotlight.

Because it would TOTALLY kick ass if they did.

Enjoy!

.~.

Duet

By: Ica Rue

Theme 00: The First Midnight

"The mouth of a wolf's not the end of the world.

A servant is not just a dog to a Prince.

Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor.

You may know what you need,
But, to get what you want,
Better see that you keep what you have.

One midnight gone...

Sometimes the things you most wish for are not to be touched."

.~.

~April 6, 2009 – Late Night~

.

Within a dark room, a short, hunched figure is settled in a chair, staring idly at the shelf across the way. It's littered with books and scrolls, all upright, sideways, and of varying sizes and colors. He is content with the darkness, with the silence, with the stillness, but he knows nothing in life can ever really be still, and that forever being still is a boring, boring thing for him.

Oh, and the carved blue butterfly that normally perched at the top of that shelf seemed to have fluttered off. Again. Leaving the spot horribly unadorned.

That had been hours ago, though. In the waking world, he knows it's nearing midnight now. His favorite time of night, when all sorts of interesting things happen and dreams fly by outside the door and unusual people come to him... and... oh.

"Well, this is a surprise..."

Behind him, he can hear the gears slowly begin to grind, the sound of a piano beginning to play. Light suddenly fills the room, illuminating the doors, the floor as the room... the elevator, (pardon him, of course, because that's what it is this time and he tends to forget the fact) jolts around and begins to ascend. The hands on the large clock situated on the bar doors slowly begin to turn around its face. They are moving at the same speed, and he recalls that they've never moved in tangent like that before, and it's an interesting development and he knows the story is changing.

He hasn't been this excited in sometime. Not since back then, when his companions were three in number, and there was an actual piano in the corner instead of this recording, the microphone and its stand just a few feet away, and an easel on the other side.

A violin and a woman's voice joins the piano, and he knows it's almost time. And, of course, he never receives guests without the proper help. A snap of the fingers summons a bell to his hand and he rings it, once. Twice.

Then he sits back and simply waits.

.

The station was bigger than she remembered.

That was the first thing the girl noted as she got off the train, hefting the backpack a bit more securely on to her shoulder. Her earphones thankfully blocked good bit of the outside sound and the sad nostalgia out, the words of "Burn My Dread" echoing in her ears and helping her keep the emotions in check. It had been years since she'd step foot in this town; she didn't think she'd ever be back, much less come for schooling. But, fate had a funny way of writing things, and she hoped that the blue butterfly they'd seen at the last station meant good fortune this time.

She turned her head to glance behind her, and smiled at her companion taking his sweet time to join her off the train. He was wearing his own pair of earphones (blue, of course), blaring with Shuhei Kita's 'Soul Phrase', and moving quite easily, the heavy pack no burden to him. He never seemed to be bothered by much, anyway. His gaze skimmed the platform briefly, before a concerned look spread on his face. He turned to her, lifting an eyebrow.

She shook her head in response, mouthing, 'Tired.'

He gave her a look that told her he didn't believe her, but nodded anyway, letting her go back to figuring out the directions. It was late, and he was too tired to argue. Their train had been majorly delayed. The two of them had been forced to wait a good extra three hours in the previous station, preventing their planned arrival at nine PM. He supposed they could have called ahead to warn those at... (He glanced at the brochure in her hands) 'Iwatodai Dorm' ('Since when was there a school here, anyway?') of the issue, but his argument at wanting to save the then-low cell phone batteries for incoming calls and lack of any more change for the payphones won the argument.

Though, that did NOT help the fact that it was nearing midnight now.

He guessed they had to find their own way around. There was barely anyone in the station with them. The few passengers that gotten off with them had meandered away to wherever they were wont to, and the little signs of life were attributed to the occasional squirrel and cricket. Machines hummed away, listing delays and arrivals, and glowing. And the presence of the kind gentlemen who normally lined the platforms to help getting everyone safely in the train was missed since it was so late. If he was the type to freak out as badly as she did, the lack of people at the station would have been almost creepy. Especially if the lights weren't on.

CLICK!

She squeaked, jumping nearly a foot in the air and practically barreling in to him when everything suddenly went dark. He cursed his wandering thoughts that seemed to have summoned the sudden black out.

The only light that illuminated the station now came from the yellow moon filtering past the barred windows on the ceiling. The brunette checked her music player; the sound had gone out, and sure enough, the screen of the player was blank. Like the batteries died, even though she knew she'd put in fresh ones that morning in anticipation of the long looked around, dropping the dead player back to her chest and tried to gauge the situation. It seemed like... everything just stopped. Just what kind of black out was this? There was no movement, sound, electricity... She inhaled quickly, and realized that even though she could breathe, even scent somehow ceased to exist, so dry and dead and just stale.

"Well... thiiiis is peachy." A frown mars her lips. "...Is this really our home town?"

There was also a faint green in hue to the area, too, sickly in color, like the world had suddenly become ill. And was that blood on that clock...?

His hand fell on her shoulder, stopping her before she could take another step.

"Ko-chan." He shook his head, before gesturing to the stairs that would lead them out. His headphones had been removed from his ears, letting them dangle at his chest, his player just as dead as hers. The expression on his face was calm and clearly unaffected by the sudden change in atmosphere, but his eyes belied his message. Her curiosity would have to wait. They had to get going.

"...Haaa...hai..." She took one last glance at the clock (midnight?), popping off her own earphones before allowing him to lead her away. They took the stairs one at a time, slowly. She stuck close to him, a bit apprehensive and glancing behind them every so often, eyes darting at the shadows. It seemed that the farther the interior of the station got, the more nervous she became at the dark spots that kept increasing in number. Her wild imagination had her expecting something to jump out and drag them back down. The abundance of even more blood on the walls didn't help her apprehension. It was lucky he was always so relaxed (the result of living with her for so long, probably), to keep her from having a major freak out. He kept his gaze forward, his grip tight around her shoulders and keeping her moving.

It was a relief when they got to the top of the stairs, reaching the side walk that would eventually lead them to the dorm. But, what they saw, she decided, was no better than down in the depths of the station.

"C-c... coffins?"

.

Yukari cringed when the Dark Hour had settled in. No matter how many times she experienced it, she couldn't get used to it. Even with the ability to fight, she almost would rather be one of those who transmogrified. The heavy oppression, the constant green darkness, the dread... not only of what lurked in the corners, but of... hnn... her fingers brushed lightly at the cool metal on her leg. The practice this afternoon had done her absolutely no good. She still couldn't pull the trigger without a long preamble, and even then, the pressure wasn't enough to force the mechanism to work.

Mitsuru... she always seemed so calm when the clock ticked down seconds to the hidden hour. And she wasn't afraid to look down the barrel of the Evoker and pull the trigger (though, it probably helped that she kept it to the side of her head, instead of in front of her.) Either way, she envied the red-head. Where could she get some of that courage and steel nerves?

It would certainly help now while she waited. She had been in the Command room for a while now, waiting for both her dorm mates. Akihiko was nowhere to be found, (but if she had to guess, he had probably gone out) and Mitsuru had slipped out ten minutes before, citing the need to check on something, leaving her alone with the couch, the computer, and the moon through the window. Not even the Chairman was in this time. 'And the silence just makes this a tad bit unnerving...'

The door squeaked open, and she nearly jumped out of her seat, sighing in relief when she saw who it was. "Senpai! It's just you."

The older girl gave her a wry smile as she closed the door, before walking over to the console they'd gotten to work especially for this time of night. She tapped a few buttons, the machine responding in tangent, producing scenes from the city, the dorm, and words that scrolled in a code the younger girl could not understand. "How are you holding up?"

"Ok, I guess. I'm still having some... difficulty getting used to this... um..." Yukari trailed, idly poking at her Evoker and looking away. "Ahhh, err... where is... uhhh, is Sanada-senpai going to be joining us?"

"Eventually. He's out on a small errand for me and should be back soon..." Mitsuru glanced at her, before looking back up at the screen. To the blonde, it seemed she was nervous. More so than usual. Jittery, even. The screens she was combing weren't showing any of the usual places she checked, either. "With any luck, there won't be any problems tonight."

"Right... what kind of problems?"

"Well, hopefully you won't have to find out."

"Oh..." 'Well. That comment was a bit foreboding...' Yukari bit her bottom lip, standing up. "Ahh, is there anything I can help with, then? Maybe checking out the perimeter of one of the floors? I really don't like just sitting around, doing nothing..."

Mitsuru paused when the scene of Iwatodai station revealed nothing, turning to the girl. Yukari was definitely getting edgy, shifting from one foot to another. 'It probably wouldn't hurt...' "That would be a good idea, Takeba-san. Do you mind doing a quick run through of the floors and the lobby, then?"

.

"Yo, Shinji!"

The brunette looked up at call, nodding to the approaching figure and quickly pocketing the object in his hand. He stood up. "Aki. By yourself tonight?"

"Sorta. Sorry to be in a rush, but I'm looking for some one... two people, actually, who're suppose to have come today, but they haven't yet." Akihiko looked around the area, his eyes falling on the coffins that littered the alleyway. "You didn't happen to see them come by, did you? They wouldn't have transmogrified."

Shinjiro lifted an eyebrow at that part. "...Two of 'em? Lanky kids? Kinda short? Boy with dark hair, and a girl with brown?"

"That sounds like it'd be them from the picture Mitsuru showed me."

"Oh. Well, crap." He scowled, gesturing vaguely in the direction of the bridge. "I think I saw 'em already down the way when I got here, but that was a bit ago. They seemed to be doin' alright, but the girl kept looking back. They... stayin' at the dorm?"

"Yeah. New possible recruits."

"Tch. Well, you better go see if you can catch up, then. Make sure they don't get in trouble. They couldn't have gotten far."

"Thanks, I'll do that. See you later, ok?" Akihiko grinned, jogging off before the other man could answer.

Shinjiro rolled his eyes at the action, fingering the bottle in his pocket. "Whatever."

.

Yukari peeked around the corner, staring down the second floor. No Shadows, no demons, nor any sign of life, the yellow moon shining in the window and not full quite yet. An unnerving sight, but she's just glad to be out of the command room and actually doing something useful.

"Takeba?"

She puts a hand to her ear, tilting her head to one side when Mitsuru's voice fills her mind. "Yes, senpai?"

"Anything to report?"

"Negative, so far. I've still got the lobby to check. And Sanada-senpai doesn't seem to be back yet, either. Any word from him?"

"A moment ago, yes. He says he's taking a little detour, so it's just you and me for now. Let me know if there's anything wrong."

"I wi-... huh?"

Yukari pulled from the connection, looking down the next flight of stairs. There were footsteps, faint ones, with some murmurs that were voices she couldn't identify.

Someone was in the building.

"Takeba? Still there?"

"There's someone downstairs..." She whispered, creeping towards the banister.

"I'm coming down."

The connection dropped completely as Yukari started down the stairs. Here was a good test for her. If it's an enemy, she can prove to herself that she can use the Evoker... just maybe...

At the bottom of the stairs, she can see two silhouettes standing near the desk.

"WHO'S THERE!"

.~.

"One midnight gone!

Into the woods!

Into the woods!

Into the woods, and out of the woods, and home before dark!"

-"The First Midnight"+ Stephen Sondheim from 'Into the Woods'

.~.

Thanks for taking the time to read!

Constructive criticism and comments are always welcome! Flames need marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate bars to apply. Now, I totally want s'mores.

Lots of hugs and Jack Frost plushies to all the SMT-lovers out there!

-Ica Rue