Chapter 1: And It Begins

4/6/09

MIDNIGHT

Yukari sat alone in the dorm restroom on the first floor, her finger wrapped around the trigger of the evoker. She glanced outside the window, the sky was an eerie green and there were no clouds in sight, only the lone quarter moon. She had left the tap running, to mask the sound of her screams as she tried to summon her persona for the first time since her awakening.

The more she thought about it, the worse she felt. Yukari gulped uneasily as she picked up her evoker, which was shaped and modelled after a Lugar. As the seconds ticked past, Yukari's breathing got more and more erratic. Her hand pulled the evoker closer and closer to her forehead and when very barrel of the firearm was pressed painfully against her sweat drenched skin, and her finger that was hovering right above the trigger twitched ever so often, the tension in her body was struggling to stay contained.

"I just... put it to my head... and pull the trigger," she breathed, "... it's that easy, so just do it... j-just do it..."

No chickening out, Yukari...!

She shut her eyes forcefully and pressed the barrel even harder on her forehead. The sweat from her forehead rolled around the steel easily and it continued its way down her cheeks. Breathing hard now, Yukari paused. Her finger was still hovering above the trigger and a surge of fear crippled her. Yukari threw her evoker unto the ground and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "No...! I-I can't..."

She pushed herself off of the floor and turned the tap off. Yukari looked into the sink and wrinkled her nose, the stench of the blood running from the tap was nauseating. Yukari wiped off the sweat beads from her head and stripped off her wet blouse and changed into another clean one. Picking up her pink cardigan from on top of the radiator, she quickly wore it over her uniform. Yukari pinned on her bright, red S.E.E.S armband and just as she strapped on her holster unto her thigh, she heard the main doors swing open.

That's strange...

Sanada-senpai had left early tonight and was not due to be back until the dark hour ended and Yukari knew that Mitsuru-senpai was upstairs, probably studying or maybe already asleep. Freaking out, Yukari shuddered involuntarily. What if it was a ghost?

A G-ghost? D-don't scare yourself, Yukari! Akihiko-senpai probably came home early tonight. Yeah... That's it!

Feeling a little better, Yukari approached the bathroom door cautiously. On the other side of the door was the lounge, and in the lounge was the entrance to the Iwatodai Dorm. And right behind this very door, somebody, who was awake during the Dark Hour, is waiting. Feeling her heart beat faster, Yukari leaned against the door and twisted the knob, pushing the wooden door open.

"W-who's there?" She called out, hoping that Akihiko-senpai would reply, but instead, somebody else was standing in his place.

Minato Arisato was exhausted from the train ride to Iwatodai. It soured his mood even more when his mp3 player died on him the moment he arrived in Iwatodai proper, and he was pretty darn sure he had at least 3 of the 4 bars lit up. As he stormed out off the secluded train station, Minato noticed that the environment had changed. The atmosphere was eerie and he felt as if a crushing force was trying to explode from within his body. He glanced at his cell phone and noted that it was Midnight.

I wonder. Since I'm usually asleep by Midnight, maybe this is what happens all the time when the clock strikes twelve. Or maybe I'm just insane. Yup, Insanity makes a lot more sense. Or Hallucination, that sounds about right too.

He headed towards the direction of Hanatoda street, the place where his new living quarters would be. The roads and paths were all littered with numerous, towering coffins. The stench of blood was strong and it made Minato a little dizzy.

Smells like somebody period-ed all over Iwatodai. What's with all the blood?

He walked faster, hoping to reach the dorm soon. He thought that maybe he could sleep this off and awake with breakfast in bed and a nice deep tissue massage while he's at it. Taking a left turn at the corner, Minato literally ran the remaining distance and reached the Dorm in record time. The doors were tall and large, occupying almost three quarters of the wall. Pushing the heavy door open, Minato rolled his eyes as more insanity headed his way.

The lights were off and the dorm was extremely dark. Minato could barely make out anything beyond a couple of feet away. However, he could most definitely make out the pale, little boy with huge blue eyes and black, curly hair that stood behind the counter. He grinned, "I've been waiting a long time."

Long time? For what? Nevermind, I don't wanna know, nor do I care. I just wanna hide under my bed and be done with this.

The mysterious boy held out a file. He waved at Minato to come over, and stupidly enough, Minato did. Walking over to the counter, he glanced at the content of the file as the boy explained, "If you wanna proceed, just sign here."

Minato arched his eye brow. The boy shrugged, "It's a contract that says that you'll take full responsibility for all your actions. Same-o, same-o. Aren't all contracts similar?"

Nodding vaguely, Minato signed his name unto the dotted line. He was pretty sure that he was dreaming. Bloody streets, coffins, mysterious little boys in prison clothing asking for his autograph, this was all an insane dream.

The boy smiled, satisfied that Minato had complied. He picked up the file and held it against his chest protectively, "Time is something no one can escape from. It delivers us all to the same, tragic end."

Minato stared at the boy. He was saying something no little boys would say, or should say. The boy disappeared, and then re-appeared near the lounge table, "Wishing for it to end, wishing for it to pause or stop. It won't work. It won't go away."

"And so it begins."

Minato felt uneasy. Was this really all just a dream? The encounter was too surreal. He rubbed the back of his neck, sighing. Suddenly, a female voice came from the shadows, "How can you be... B-but it's...!"

Minato was about to introduce himself when the girl took a step back glared at him as if he was a dangerous animal, "Don't tell me...!"

"I..." he started, but the girl didn't seem to hear him. She reached down to her thigh and snapped up a silvery, gleaming gun. Minato's eyes widened when he saw the gun, A GUN?

"Wait!"

Yukari turned her head to the direction of Mitsuru's voice. The taller girl had long, wavy red hair that reached her tiny waist. Her hour glass figure was complimented by her fitting, white dress blouse and her high waist skirt. Mitsuru Kirijo was also the most brilliant girl in school and was the student council president. She was perfection personified.

Just as Mitsuru came down to the first floor, the lights came back on. Yukari mumbled to herself, "The lights..."

"I didn't think you'd arrive so late." Mitsuru smiled, "My name is Mitsuru Kirijo. I'm one of the students who live in this dorm."

The boy nodded, acknowledging Mitsuru and Yukari. "Minato Arisato," He introduced, "I'm sorry for the delay. The train ran into some troubles."

Mitsuru assured him that she understood, she then gestured at Yukari, "This is Yukari Takeba, she'll be a junior this spring, like you."

Minato muttered a soft 'hey' at Yukari. She returned the gesture, but uneasily and almost reluctantly. Yukari cleared her throat and poked at Mitsuru, whispering softly, "Uh... Who's he?"

"He's a transfer student. It was a last minute decision to assign him here. He'll eventually be moved to a room in the boys' dorm." Mitsuru explained nonchalantly.

"I see." Yukari felt a little pissed. Why hadn't anybody informed her about the transfer guy coming to the dorm? She asked again, "...Is it okay for him to be here?"

Minato seemed to have heard the comment and he cocked his eyebrow. Mitsuru chuckled, "I guess we'll see."

Minato has had it. He felt left out, and these two girls were simply gossiping about him right in front of his nose. He asked abruptly, "Um, is it okay if I went to see my room? I'm a little tired from the long ride here."

"Oh, not an issue," Mitsuru nodded, "Yukari would bring you to your room."

Minato saw Yukari shoot Mitsuru a glare before she turned towards him, "Alright, let's head up then." She arched her brow at his apparent lack of luggage, "Since you have nothing with you, I'm guessing that your stuff is already in your room."

"I was told that they arrived two days ago," Minato shrugged.

Yukari threw her hands up in frustration, "Nobody tells me anything anymore!"

The two students climbed up to the second floor. Minato was told that the third floor was the girl's floor and that it would be advisable not to hang up there if he knew what's good for him. Yukari took him right to the end of the corridor and she stood in front of the very last door, "This is it! Pretty easy to remember, since it's right at the end of the hall."

She folded her arms as she explained certain rules and regulations, she even took the initiative to inform Minato to certain unspoken rules around the dorm, such as no stealing protein drinks from the fridge because they all apparently belonged to a certain Akihiko Sanada-senpai. And also if he found strawberry cakes in the fridge, he is advised to stay the fiddlesticks away from them because they're probably hers'.

"Oh yeah, make sure you don't lose your key, or you'll never hear the end of it... So, any questions?" Yukari asked, her voice trailed off a little.

Please say no, please say no, please say no.

"Nope."

Amen!

Yukari started to feel guilty. He had arrived during the dark hour, so he probably saw those things, the coffins that littered the streets. She just had to ask, "Hey um... Can I ask you something? On your way here from the station, was everything okay?"

Minato seemed to pause for a while, but he replied coolly, "It was fine."

"I see... Nevermind then."

"Good night." Minato smiled politely.

Yukari couldn't help but smile back, "Y-yeah, good night. You've got a big day tomorrow, huh?"

"Yeah, first day of school," Minato sighed dejectedly, "Soooo excited."

Yukari laughed, she waved back at him as she headed back to her room, "You'll get used to it."

Minato watched her disappear up to the stairs, he then sighed heavily, "Get used to it? Yeah, I already am."

Author's Note: This is the novelization of Persona 3 but with several twists! This chapter have been altered from the original chapter! It was embarrassing to read the first chapter. I'm currently on a quest to rewrite the first couple of chapters so they'll probably suddenly seem like new chapters! I hope both new and old readers would enjoy this chapter!

Reviews are always nice! I'd love to know what you guys think about this!