Falling Away(A persona 3 fanfic)

Part VII ( Reshuffle)

"I chooseth this fate of my own free will."

Those were the very words that were written in the contract.

He looked at the man with the butterfly mask intently. Philemon.

Taking the pen, he slowly, but legibly signed the contract with the name : "Mochizuki Ryoji"

"So you do acknowledge that name of yours, Ryoji...", Philemon said, taking the contract.

"You have change much... since we first met... ", he continued, setting something on the table.

This ring!

"I think it belongs to you...", he said, waving his hand.

"It isn't mine...", Ryoji said silently, caressing the silver band.

"Then, I implore you to give it back to it's rightful owner...", Philemon said, pausing before continuing. "And so it begins, Ryoji Mochizuki.."

"I wish there was still another chance
To turn back the hands of time.."

4/6, Monday
Late Night

"Next station, Iwatodai.."

...

"Since when did I fall asleep in the train?", he thought.

His mind feels sluggish, was he supposed to remember something?

He stood up and stepped out of the train.

"... I never thought that I'll arrive this late, though...", he muttered to himself, Checking the time, which was 11:59.

Tick.Tock.Tick
Dark Hour

"...What...Happened?", he said slowly, scanning the area around him.

He walked silently through the coffins, the large yellow moon reflected on the puddles of water that seemed like pools of blood. Everything around seemed to have a greenish tint.

He should be scared, or at the very least, confused, but he felt calm, as if this time was natural to him.

He heard footsteps, followed by a crash.

"...Please don't play with me! This is all a dream, right?!", a girl said, almost in a hysterical manner.

"Who's there?!", he asked, running towards the sound.

"A... person?", she said. "There's a person?!", she continued, as she ran towards him, holding his hand tightly.

His eyes widened in shock.

"Tell me this is a dream! This is a dream, right?! What is this place? Are you even -"

"Can you please... slow down and get a hold of yourself... for a moment? ", he said, cutting her "hysterical" speech.

"I'll try, but I'm still scared! What happened here?! Why is it-"

"I'll wait for you to finish, then.", he said. He couldn't say anything , or at least comfort her while she's like... this, anyway.

Her breathing started to slow down, gradually, until she finally asked. "Who are you? Why are you not like this...", pointing at the coffins.

"I'm Ryoji Mochizuki..", he said with a smile. " May I ask what the cute girl's name is?", he continued.

"Excuse me...", she said, sounding somewhat disgusted, and let go of his hand. "You didn't answer my question yet! What do I even know of you?"

"My name, I guess?", he answered.

"Funny. I still don't trust you until you answer my question..", she said, almost as if she was starting to regret that she started a conversation with him.

"I answered half of your question, if that counts..", he retorted, his smile not fading at the very least.

"I'll be going now on my own...", she said, walking away from him, going to her destination, Iwatodai dorm.

"Hey! It's dangerous for you to walk alone!", he said, following her.

"It's less dangerous and a lot less annoying than with you!", she answered, continuing.

"Look, I'll answer you're question if you'll allow me to accompany you!", he said, catching up to her.

She stopped and looked at him expectantly.

"In reality, I don't really know why I'm- we're awake, but-"

"Shadows.", a childlike feminine voice echoed in his mind.

"But?", she asked, her yellow eyes gleamed, almost comparable to the color of the moon now.

"I think we should go on are way now, because I think it's not safe here. I'm going to the Iwatodai dorm of Gekkoukan Highschool. How about you, miss?", he answered.

"It's not miss, it's Assete Sakkaku*. Me too. Follow me.", she said, tugging him along.

"You see, Assete-chan, you're not that afraid anymore!", he said.

"We're finally here..", she said, standing on the front of the Iwatodai dorm.

Ryoji turned the knob and opened the door and went inside. The door behind him shut.

"Your late, Ryoji.", the girl in prison clothes said.

"The train I boarded on was late, and I helped Assete-chan to be calm.", he explained, unsure if he would set his bag on the counter.

"If you want to proceed, then sign your name here.", she said, setting a Booklet on the counter.

"Don't worry, it's only a contract. There's no need to be scared. I mean, it only binds you to accept full responsibility of your actions. You know, the usual stuff...", she said, opening the booklet, revealing the contract, saying:

"I chooseth this fate of my own free will."

Why didn't he tore the contract?
Why didn't he asked the girl about all of this?
Why didn't he thought that it was a prank?

Probably, because her striking red eyes held him in place and were all too familiar to him.

He slowly and legibly signed his name: Mochizuki Ryoji then closed the booklet neatly and handed it to her.

"No one can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end. You can't plug your ears or cover your eyes. Even wishing it away won't work...", she said, holding the booklet close to her chest.

What? , he thought, was I just lectured or something?

"... And so... it begins..", she said before dissolving in the darkness .

***********************************

Notes:
*Assete Sakkaku= The illusion of the day after tommorow...

I do pick weird names, don't I? I'm not very fluent in Japanese though. :3

*This chapter... was really meant to introduce 2 (not so) original characters: Assete and ... her.

*I actually had to play that part just to see what Pharos actually says... then I changed some parts of it.