4/19/09
My head...
It's getting clearer. I open my eyes and look at the white ceiling until I realise someone's presence beside me.
"You are awake!" She looks surprise
"Um, how do you feel?"
"Where am I…?" I ask her weakly.
"Thank goodness. You finally... Oh, this is Tatsumi Memorial Hospital. It’s just a short walk from the station. The doctor couldn’t find anything wrong with you. He said you were just exhausted…" it looks like something has been bothering Yukari
"Your power… It was amazing" she sounds sincere.
"The thing that you were fighting, are called shadows. They’re what we’re fighting against. And the power you used… We call it..."
"Persona" I cut her words
Yukari looks shock because I already knew the answer.
"We’ll explain everything later. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before…" she scratches her head.
"I, uh…I wanted to tell you that…"
"I’m sorta like you" She is just like me? I adjust my position on the bed, ready to listen to Yukari.
"My dad died in an accident when I was little and my mom and I aren’t exactly on good terms" she must have gone through a lot after her father's death.
"You’re all alone too, right? To be honest, I already know about your pas. But, it didn’t seem fair, so I wanted you to know about mine" How does she knows about my past? But I just keep it to myself.
"It was back in ’99. There was a big explosion in the area. Supposedly, my dad died in the blast, but nobody really knows what happened.He was working in a lab run by the Kirijo Group" Kirijo Group, it sounds familiar...
S"o, I’m hoping that if I stick around long enough, I’ll find out something. That’s why I’m going to Gekkoukan High of course, I panicked and wasn’t much help as it was my first time fighting them, too. Lucky me, Mitsuru saved my ass" she chuckles as she wipe her tears off her face.
"And here I am telling you all this the minute you wake up.While I was waiting for you to wake up, I thought to myself,
“I’ve been hiding so many things from her… As soon as she wakes up, I’ll tell her the truth.” So, thanks for listening. I’ve been wanting to share that story with someone for a long time" I give her a smile and say thank you for willing to share her story with me.
"Alright, I’m gonna get going. I’ll let the others know you woke up. Oh, and, uh… You don’t have to be formal around me or anything. Us second-year girls gotta stick up for each other, after all.
B-Bye." She waves at me before leaving me here in my bed, thinking about myself.
---
4/20/09
First person I saw in front of the school gate, is no other than Junpei Iori.
"Yo! Long time no see!" He gives me a hi-five as a comeback gift.
"Anyways, I got something to tell ya."
"What is it?" I look at him, waiting and anxious about what he's going to tell me
"Actually…Oh, wait! I’m not supposed to say anything!Sorry, man" he chuckles and I give him a quick slap at the back.
"Sheesh, someone’s full of energy today… I could hear you from all the way over there" I look at the back, it's Yukari.
"Hey, it’s Yuka-tan. You two live in the same dorm, yet came separately today? Is it… because you’ll cause too many rumors again, hm?" Junpei gives Yukari a wink
"What? I just left a little late! Anyways, I need to talk to her. Bye-bye, Junpei." She quickly grab my hands away from Junpei.
"Whaaaat…" Junpei's mouth hangs open.
"Minako.Um, sorry to hit you with this first thing in the morning but Ikutsuki-san wants to talk to you today. Come to the 4th floor of the dorm after school, okay? Don’t forget."
I nod my head as Yukari walks away. I pass by Akihiko on my way to class, but we didn't say anything.
---
I head back to the dorm after school, no one is at the lounge so I decided to go the 4th floor.
Yukari, Mitsuru, the Chairman and... Akihiko are sitting on the sofa.
"Ah, there you are. I’m glad that you’re okay. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if anything had happened to you. The reason I asked you here is because I needed to talk to you.
Please, have a seat." The Chairman looks like he's going to talk about something serious.
"Would you believe me if I said that a day consists of more than 24 hours?" He starts off with a weird question.
"Excuse me?" I ask him again, trying to make sure he is not kidding.
"Do you remember the night you came here? You had to notice the signs…
The streetlights went out… Nothing was working… There were coffins everywhere.Didn’t it feel like you were in a different time?" Mitsuru shots me with more questions
"That’s the Dark Hour—a time period hidden between one day and the next."
Hidden?
"I guess it’s more like something people aren’t aware of but, the Dark Hour does exist. It occurs each night at midnight.
It’ll happen tonight, and every night to come" Ikutsuki continues.
"Normal people don’t realize it, since they’re all sleeping inside their coffins" Akihiko finally speak, but he doesn't make an eye contact with me, he's staring at the desk, like the previous days, where he stares at the teacher's desk.
"The creature you fought, it is called shadows. They only appear during the Dark Hour, and attack anyone not in a coffin" Ikutsuki takes off his glasses and wipe it with a cloth, surprisingly his eyes are quite small.
"Long story short. We’re the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad—SEES for short." He wears his glasses and he looks normal again.
"On paper, we’re classified as a school club. But in reality, this group is dedicated to defeating the Shadows. Mitsuru is the leader. I’m the club advisor." He looks, well proud of himself.
"A Shadow feeds on the mind of its prey; the victim becomes a living corpse.
They’re responsible for most of the incidents on the news, if not all of them" Mitsuru adds on
So the Apathy Syndrome, where the normal people suddenly have no interest in life is actually caused by this? Interesting.
Although rare, there are those who can function during the Dark Hour.
Some may even awaken to a power that enables them to fight the Shadows. They are-"
Before Ikutsuki can finish his word,
"Persona, I know you can skip this part"
Ikutsuki startle a little bit but he continue to smile "I'm glad you are quick to understand"
Mitsuru opens the case on the table and a silver gun gleams uncannily from inside.
"What he’s trying to say is, we want you to join us.We’ve prepared an Evoker for you. We’d like you to lend us your strength" she push the case near me. Without hesitation, I take the gun called Evoker and nod my head.
I joined SEES to fight shadows, well that's an interesting story but I have a bunch of cool peeps to hang out with...except for the Ikutsuki guy...
".....!"
Suddenly a voice rings inside my head.
Thou art I, and I am Thou...
Thou has established a new bond...
Thou shall be blessed when creating a Persona of the Fool Arcana...
I can feel my inner strength growing, this must be the one Igor said about the power of Social Links. The intensity of Social Links strengthens the power of the Personas.
Social Links... are these the bonds that form with people I meet?
I'm still tired from the my hospital stay, after everyone congratulates me, except for Akihiko, I went straight to bed.
---
Dark Hour
I can feel a familiar presence in my room
The weird kid that help me the other day...
"How did you get in here?" I ask him as he chuckles and reply
"I am always with you" he gives me an innocent smile.
"Soon, the end will come. I remembered so I thought I should tell you."
I look at him, confuse? The end?
"...Thanks?"
"Ahaha. I wasn’t expecting you to thank me. But you’re welcome. That is what I’m supposed to say, right?" I'm still thinking what he meant about the end.
"I don’t really know what this “end” is about, either." Wow, he can read my mind.
"Oh, looks like you’ve awakened to your power and an unusual power it is.
A power that takes many forms, yet is bound by none. It may prove to be your salvation, depending on where you end up." This kid has a seriously great vocabulary.
"Do you remember when we first met?" In front of the counter at the lounge?
"I expect you to honor your commitment.
I’ll be watching you, even if you forget about me…" I'll never forget about this weird kid.
"Okay then, see you later."
The Dark Hour comes to an end.