Chapter 1: Hokkaido

She ran. Just about as fast as she could. A hood over her head, pointed downwards in order to cover her face. It was mostly black, with the pointed portion being gold, coming up to form a diamond with spirals inside of it. On her torso, she wore the rest of the hoodie of a similar color, only instead of it being a proper hoodie, it led into a small tailcoat, only about a foot long. On it, is a white and gold Feather, about a foot long that spans her back. At about the chest, there was a hole cut out so you could see her breasts, with a gold trim around it and small red and green dotted around it. The shirt led down to her waist, being buttoned, black and gold still until it got to her waist, where a skirt that hung to about mid thigh was, and a pair of knee socks, which were black with gold running down the achilles, and a pair of matching black and gold heel-like boots. On her left arm, however, is a silver gauntlet, starting at about her elbows, and leading to sharpened claws that stick out about six inches from each finger, including the thumb. The tips of the claws themselves, however, were red, and were positioned just above the finger itself.

The gauntlet, however, was glowing red at the moment, as a small sizzling was heard, and her arm was bent at a slightly awkward angle.

She just ran, as the only thing she could hear aside from her own breath were the heels clicking on the marble floor of the complex. It was a barren hallway, and she dared not look back, lest she see it again. Her outfit was torn apart, showing bleeding skin in several places as she left a faint trail of blood.

"Feather, Feather, are you all right?!" A girl's voice came from her hood. She would have answered, but it would have wasted the precious breathing pattern she forced herself into, despite the fact her left arm was in agonizing pain.

She stopped just before a crossways. She bobbed her head back and forth before bolting down the left.

"Look, just get to the exit as fast as possible. I know it hurts but you're going to have to push through if you want to live!" She didn't respond, as the other female voice chimed in. She ran to the end of the hallway and took a right turn, finding a dead end. She stopped completely and muttered;

"Shit." She was out of breath, but just as she turned around, she heard:

"Find her! Find her and bring her to the Lord! Split up!" Her eyes widened as she glanced around, finding a crate in the corner. She quickly jumped to it and crouched beside it, feeling herself become darker, and blending in with the shadows around her.

It wasn't a moment later that a proper shadow walked in. It stood at seven feet tall and hunched over, with long arms and claws on the tips of its fingers. Its head was completely blank and its shoulders emitted fire, bursting from the shoulderblades. It was an amalgamation of bone, and skin that covered it, moving in a very unnatural way.

"Feather, Its not going anywhere… You're going to have to backstab it. But with your arm and the state you're in..." A bit of a high pitched, yet more masculine voice said. "Feather" Scoffed in her head and looked at her arm, shaking and unsteady. She took a deep breath and emerged from the shadows, sprinting directly for the Shadow. She slid between its legs and let her clawed hand drag on the floor. With a mighty roar, she got in a runner's starting position and launched herself at it, driving her left arm directly through the shadow's back. The shadow made a choking sound, as She pulled her hand out of its back. As she did, orange ichor spewed from the wound, as Feather backed up. It seemed to fold in on itself as the ichor spewed everywhere, revealing a single Black Frost.

"Or not. Its just one enemy, from my readings, it shouldn't be difficult for you. Kill it and get out quickly." Feather nodded at the deeper and posh masculine voice as she lifted her arm and poked at her throat with her index finger's claw. She grit her teeth and she used all the strength to thrust her arm in, and forward.

"PERSONA!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, ripping her claw through her carotid artery, the blood flying out, only to become a purple flame that wrapped itself around Feather, as the flames collected behind her.

Out of the flames, was the image of a woman with ash blonde hair, pale skin, blood red-lips wearing a pale red dress, with a blood-red flower tucked in her hair. The dress itself had a slim fit to it, showing off curves and pale white legs. She wore a soft smile on her face, as she had short heels on her feet, making her stand a little taller than Feather herself.

"Whatever you do, use magic for now. Not blood types either, god knows how that'll effect you." Feather scowled and put her right hand forth.

"Psiodyne!" She screamed out. At the same instant, Her persona let out a small grin and waved its hand as its hair rose and fell, its eyes becoming more bloodshot for a brief moment. Just in front of the black frost, the very air in front of it turned pink and black, forming a spiral. For a brief moment, it stopped spiraling before Black frost was knocked back.

"Clever, Use just about anything and you'll knock him right off his feet!" Another male voice said, this one sounding a bit nervous. She didn't let her expression change as Feather grit her teeth and yelled out:

"Megidola!" The Persona performed the same action, and this time, the Black frost was enveloped entirely by a bluish white light that formed a dome from the ground. It was over after a few seconds and Feather wasted no time rushing in the get closer. She pounced on it and held her gauntlet up to the downed Black Frost's throat and sliced through, dissolving the Shadow. She sighed and got back up, scratching her nose with her right hand.

"Sheesh. Overkill much." Another Female voice says, a bit playfully.

"Hey, she could have died using a Blood based move, so don't send her out of the zone. Feather, go down the other hallway and go up through the grates on the roof. There aren't any shadows there." A previous voice says. Feather nods as she starts running again, her arm laying limp at her side at the moment. She grits her teeth as she runs through the pain. Running down the other hall, she spots a shadow, and the grates above it. She quickly analyzed the path she needed and executed it.

She bolted towards the shadow and crouched, leaping onto it, and boosting off of the shoulders of the shadow, grabbing the grate with her right hand and using her momentum to pop it off, flipping the grate over and landing on the other side of the grate, in between the ceiling and the actual floor. She wasted no time in admiring her work and sprinted down the hall, her heels not even getting stuck in the grates.

"She's here! Get her!" The shadow yelled out. Her breathing became more erratic as she felt its presence again. Hot, and suffocating, as if she were in a hellish sauna.

"To your left, a ventilation shaft. It'll be hot, but you should be able to escape from there." the boy's voice said. She nodded to herself and took the sharp left, diving into the ventilation shaft, just avoiding the fire erupting from below the grates. She brushed her right hand against the gauntlet and nearly screamed at the hot metal while crawling through the vent.

"Listen, feather. You're going to have to prepare to leave the moment you get out of the complex. There's an ungodly amount of shadows lurking out there. You won't be able to fight them all off." Feather nodded her head as she looked below and saw tons of shadows scrambling about. She reached a vertical section of the vent and wiped her face. Sweat dripped off her nose as she looked up.

"Take that straight up and it should take you to the roof. You'll have to jump right off it, though." Feather nodded as she took her legs and pressed her back against the wall of the vent, pushing herself up. The vent ascended quite a ways, until She came across the exit vent. Feather took a couple of quick breaths and launched herself out of the vent. The air outside was slightly cooler, but still hot nonetheless as she spotted at least fifteen shadows just in front of her. She got low and ran right off the building. She fell about three stories as she hit the ground and rolled, sprinting away.

"In that alley, to the left. You're going to make it.!"

"Knew you would."

"Absolutely no doubt."

"Thank GOD!"

"You'll be okay.." each voice said, with one staying silent. She didn't say anything as she rounded the corner and walked into the alleyway.

"Taking you out now!" She gulped as her vision became red and black, as her world flipped upside down for a moment. She had a suppressed urge to vomit, but doubled over anyways. She was back. Looking around her, she was in a cool alleyway, with cars driving by outside the alley. She let a small smile envelope her mouth as she rubbed her face. She stopped, however, as her left hand wouldn't budge. She looked at it and screamed.

A full, proper scream, blood-curdling and panicked to the ear. Her arm was covered in third-degree burns, and a small fracture could be visibly seen from the outside. She felt it a moment later.

The Pain that came with it. She tried to breathe, but took a few steps, neglecting to touch it as her vision became blurry, as she passed out from the pain.

...

Beep

…

Beep

…

Beep

…

Be-

The nearly silent room suddenly burst with life as a desperate voice gasped for air. Silver eyes opened up as her back arched in the bed, her right arm desperately grasping at her face, taking of an oxygen mask. Her vision was blurry as she collapsed back down, the monitor to her left starting to beep more rapidly. Her eyes darted around as her vision was extremely blurry, barely able to see the white room she was in, much less the hospital bed she resided in. She lifted her left arm too, to take the full mask off her face, only to stop short, seeing her arm wrapped all along in bandages, including the fingers.

Her breathing got heavier as she tried to sit up, only for a hand that definitely wasn't her's to push her back down. She freaked out for a moment before the owner of the hand spoke up.

"Honestly, when your friends dragged you in here, my heart nearly stopped. You were in pretty bad condition." It was a feminine voice, likely in her early thirties or late twenties, who sounded like she was on the brink of tears.

"I-I just can't imagine if You…" The room was silent save for the Heart rate monitor to her left. The girl in the bed struggled to get up as the hand was on her.

"Please, don't. You're on an ungodly amount of painkillers right now, so I doubt your head is clear." She was right, The Girl could barely even think at the moment, all she knew was that there was something wrong. She was forgetting something VERY Important. She attempted to rack her brain as the woman said:

"I know you haven't been completely honest with me. And quite frankly, I don't care about that. But I just need to know How you ended up like this. I won't be able to sleep otherwise." The girl laying down finally let herself lay down as her blurry vision started to focus in, just a little more. Her breathing was a bit ragged as she tried to let it calm down. She opened her mouth and said:

"When… When It started?" Her voice was soft, and almost pleasant to listen to. The woman could be heard shifting a bit and said:

"I gave you enough so you're not in pain, but can talk. I want to see if you're in the right mindset… What's your name?" The woman asked softly, as if to make sure she heard her, and to jar her memory. The girl looked at her hand and took a breath.

'My name. Its… What's my name? Yuri… Yuri.. Ochiru. Yuriu Ochiru. That's my name right?'

…

…

'Yes, that's my name.' Yuri thinks to herself, taking a breath as her silver orbs became a little more focused, being able to make out the figure of a woman beside her.

"Yuri Ochiru." The woman gave a sigh of relief and said:

"Good, Good. Now, please tell me, how did you get here? Who did this to you?" Yuri closed her eyes and said:

"The beginning."

Ten months earlier.

It was January. Debateably the coldest month of the year for most of the country, but not for Yuri at the moment. About forty miles outside of Osaka she lived in a more residential area, and was walking home in shorts and a T-shirt. She had long black hair that reached to about mid-back that she didn't bother to style, and stood at about 5'5. Over her shoulder, was a bag of some snacky foods, sweets like chocolate and a couple licorice. She yawned as she kept walking down the quiet of the road, houses to each side of her. It was the dead of night, and pretty chilly, but Yuri didn't mind at all. In fact, she appreciated the cooler weather as it was now. She knew she'd be sweating like a pig once summer rolled around. And god, that would be hell for her. She closed her eyes as she continued her walk home, a light smirk on her face as she took in the nice and quiet atmosphere.

That was until she heard steps behind her. She ignored them for a minute, but as they got closer, she couldn't help but turn around. It was a man in a suit, walking quite clearly fine, not as if he was drunk at all. She shrugged and continued her way, figuring that if the man wasn't drunk, he probably wasn't a big problem for her. So she just kept walking, up until she felt something on her shoulder.

Yuri jumped at the touch, but kept her composure, looking at the man.

"Girl, Have you ever considered a job as a secretary of sorts?" The question was out of the blue, and not at all what she was expecting. But nonetheless, she responded:

"Uhhm, N-no. I haven't. I'm actually-"

"Let me rephrase that-" The man rudely interrupted, as all friendliness in his voice was gone, his eyes hardening a bit.

"I'm offering you a job as my personal secretary. I'd appreciate it if you accepted." Yuri's eyes widened as his grip on her shoulder firmened, making her drop the bag she was holding. She just shakes her head and tries to pull free, but the man then grabs her wrist.

"It's not something You'll say no to." The man grinned sadistically now, as he grabbed her by the throat and started pulling her along. Yuri still struggles as the man lets out a growl.

"Stop!" He shouts, throwing Yuri to the ground. She roughly hits the concrete as she lies prone, starting to crawl away.

'No, No, No! He's trying to kidnap me! What's he going to do once he does? Where's he going to take me? Will I… What's he going to do?' She thinks to herself, her left hand finding something that fills her hand nicely, rough and hard and circular. The man gets on all fours and starts salivating, the clearish white liquid dripping onto Yuri's back. "Maybe We'll do it right here? Doesn't that sound nice?" Yuri's eyes widen as blood rushes to her ears, hearing only the roar of her blood rushing around. Her hand completely grips the object and she spins around.

"DIE!" She screams out, using all her might, hits the man in the head with the object, hearing a sufficent crack and feeling a warmish liquid coat her fingers and pepper her face. Holding the rock in her hand, Yuri stands up, towering above the man who was crumpled on the floor. She raised the rock above her head, when she heard a voice behind her.

"Stop." She whipped her head around, and for a brief moment, she saw a woman, with ash blonde hair, pale skin, blood red-lips wearing a dress, with a blood-red flower tucked in her hair. She wore a soft smile on her face, as she had short heels on her feet, making her stand a little taller than Yuri herself. It was only for a brief moment, however, as she blinked, and it was gone, replaced with a different woman, screaming:

"STOP!" Yuri was snapped out of her trance as she realized the houses around her started to come to life, the lights turning on with people waking up and seeing the commotion.

"Someone call the cops!"

"She attacked him!"

"You.. BITCH!" The man on the ground screamed, his face covered in blood, dripping onto the pavement. She dropped the rock, and looked at her hand, covered in blood.

April 3rd- Sunday, 12:35 AM

Yuri opened her eyes, finding that she dozed off while on the train. She shook her head and looked around, finding that there were about four people on the train. She looked over her shoulder and out the window. Closing her eyes, Yuri rubbed her face and gripped her suitcase between her legs. Leaning forward she rubbed her eyes and looked out the window again, seeing the lights from a city not too far away. She shudders a bit as Yuri shifts in her seat as she scratches a bit at her neck, at a small pale scar a little less than halfway around her throat. She takes out her phone and looks at some messages. She ignores most of the social medias, seeing as she has over 900 notifications on one of them, knowing they're from the students at her previous school. She glosses over it and takes a look at her texts, only finding one from one person.

1 message from Sae Nijima.

Sae Nijima was her defense attorney. A damn good one as well. As far as Yuri saw it, Nijima was likely the only person who actually believed her testimony. Attempted murder is a heavy crime, especially for someone whose just sixteen. Your life hasn't really started yet, so some bad reputation pretty much makes your future… Nonexistent.

Yuri smiled a bit at the notification, at the memory of Sae only a few weeks prior. She was able to get her Attempted murder charge down to some simple battery. It was still serious, but when you have sixty witnesses who all said you attacked someone out of the blue screaming "Die", Its kind of hard to negotiate Self defense.

But Sae Nijima was likely the nicest person Yuri ever met. Even before the… Incident she had after she was assaulted. The court case could have been worse, and Sae gave her a dilemma. It was apparently an Idea from a few years ago when a friend of her's was in a similar situation, either go to Juvie for a couple years, or leave. Away from her hometown and to Hokkaido.

She chose Juvie in a heartbeat. She honestly figured it wouldn't be bad, that Juvie wasn't as horrible as people have said. But the former prosecutor lived up to her career as both a prosecutor and Defense attorney and convinced her to leave for a while, to let her suspicions clear up.

Or, that was what she was told at least. Yuri knew why she was really being sent away, but refused to dwell on the thought, since it brought up negative memories.

So here she was, about ten minutes away from the city of Hokkaido with a suitcase right beside her. She opened up the message and saw:

Sae: Ochiru-san, I know I figured that you'd be arriving soon, so I decided to make sure you were awake. Yuri just giggled at the message and replied:

Yuri: Yes, I'm awake. Please, Just call me Yuri.

Sae: Sorry, I have to keep an air of professionalism. Are you feeling all right? Yuri put the phone down and thought for a moment, checking her journal for a moment and responds.

Yuri: I'm feeling quite well. Haven't had an episode in a month, so that's good. I just hope that this lady I'm staying with doesn't clash with me. She waits for an uncomfortable amount of time before Sae finally responds.

Sae: Itsuka Kendono is a very well respected figure, and I do believe she can help you mentally. Yuri sighed and looked out the window again, looking at the shadows of trees pass by and the city's rapid approach.

Sae: I really hate doing this, but I don't believe I'll be able to talk to you for a while. Or consistently, at least. My work always keeps me busy. She didn't let it show, but Yuri was obviously disappointed at the message. She stared at the words for a moment before just replying:

Yuri: Ok. I understand since you have an extremely important job. We can't have more people like me running around, can we? I'll be fine! Don't worry too much about me.

Yuri had a distinct feeling that she would NOT be fine. She sighed as she sent the message and saw as the train approached a station, not yet slowing down, however.

Sae: I know you will be. You're strong, Yuri. Anyways, I'm going to sleep now, I don't know when I'll be able to message you again, so take care until then!

Sae Nijima has left the chat.

Yuri looked at her phone and gripped it tightly, putting it in her purse. Out of her pocket came a green and purple pocket watch, with the numbers inside being roman numerals, and a chain about a foot long. Yuri opened it up and checked the time:

12:45

Yet for a split second, the 1 on the pocket watch glowed a soft red before reverting. Yuri blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes, finding that it was just as it should have been. She shakes her head as she felt the train come to a stop.

"Last stop: Hokkaido. Please enjoy your stay and remember to take all of your belongings." A voice over the intercom said as the train started to come to a stop. Yuri yawned and grabbed her suitcase between her legs, extending the Handle portion. Yuri leaned back a bit as it came to a complete stop, letting Yuri finally stand up. She dragged her suitcase behind her as well as a bag holding some books and her phone.

Walking off the train, it started to get going again, at a much slower pace than before as she was left alone on the platform.

Yuri looked around for a minute before she sighed, pulling her stuff over to a bench. She then sat there and closed her eyes, listening to the silence of the station before opening them again.

"It's… Cold." She notes aloud, being able to see her breath come out of her mouth. She shivers a bit, only wearing a light hoodie and some Jeans. She looked around and waited patiently, before she checked her pocket watch again.

12:57. It was unmistakable this time, the 1 on her watch was glowing. She inspected it quickly and found that it wasn't broken, nor was there any more components than there should have been. She just shook her head and put it back, standing up.

'Guess I was forgotten. Figures.' Yuri reaches into her bag and takes out a piece of paper, holding an address on it. She read it out real quick and put it back in her bag, walking out of the station.

It was quiet, which was nice. Yuri was in Tokyo for about a week and she hated all of it, the hustle and bustle of the massive city wasn't exactly what she was used to, being from a rural town. She looked towards the larger portion of the city in disdain as she walked to a street. There was the occasional car passing by, but unfortunately none of them were cabs, so Yuri looked down the illuminated street and walked.

"Just try not to get yourself into too much trouble and you'll be fine. I guarantee it." Those were Sae Nijima's words to her. She very much intended to start living by them, so when she was walking down the street alone, there wasn't a moment that went by where she thought that she might get jumped again.

Thankfully, it didn't happen. She came to an intersection and sighed, looking up at the street signs.

Sheridan St.

Yuri took note and started walking down the street.

'1871 Sheridan. 1871…' She thought to herself, looking at the houses that lined the street. She read the numbers on the houses and stopped, looking at a brown house. It wasn't massive by any means, but it could easily have at least two bedrooms at least in it. She walked up to it, holding her suitcase as she reached out to the door, and hesitated. She clenched her hand into a fist, and knocked.

The lights were on in the house, so it shouldn't be a shocker that someone opened the door. The woman who opened the door was a a few inches taller than Yuri herself. She appeared to be young, only about five years or so older than Yuri. She wore small reading glasses and a tank top along with a pair of shorts. She was only an inch or so taller and had long black hair that led down to about mid-back. Yuri the two blinked a couple times as Yuri bowed.

"Are you Itsuka Kendono?" The woman nodded and said:

"A- You're Yuri Ochiru." Yuri just nodded her head as the woman pursed her lips.

"I'm so sorry, I thought you'd come tomorrow. Or today.. At noon. Come in, come in, please. Yuri just nodded as she walked in, Itsuka stepped aside as she let her in. Yuri took note of the house, it was neat but comfy, with a couch in the living room to her right, and a kitchen to her left and a dining table inside of that. Directly in front of her are some stairs, leading up to a second floor.

"Sorry, again. Ahm, I guess you should go get some rest first. You're probably tired after traveling so long… I'm sorry I didn't look at the memo correctly I-"

"It's Okay, really. Its early, so… Yeah." Yuri looks down as she interrupts her, shuffling her feet a bit, any trace of a smile gone from her face. Itsuka sighs lightly and says:

"Lemme show you to your room. Its kind of bare bones for now, but I hope its fine for now. Itsuka led the way as she started climbing the stairs. Yuri stayed down the stairs for a moment, looking into the kitchen. She took exceptional note that she didn't see any knives in the knife block. She just shook her head and started heading up behind her, lifting up her luggage as well. The two went up a short flight of stairs before coming across a small hallway with two rooms on each end.

"My room is downstairs, that-" She points to the door on the right. "Is my office. Here we are." She walks in front of the left door and opens it up. It was a bedroom. With a queen size bed, a bunch of comfy cushions and a desk over in the center of the right wall. It was plain, but Yuri didn't complain, it was a place to stay, after all.

"Sorry, I'm just tired. Please go to bed for now, We can talk some more in the morning when I'm not a zombie." Itsuka said, standing in the doorway. She leaned against the doorframe and had an obviously exhausted look on her face. Yuri forced a smile and bowed some.

"Thank you, I'll see you in the morning." Itsuka nods and closes the door, leaving Yuri alone in the rather plain room. Yuri turns off the lights and collapses into bed. She takes note that while there are sheets, there don't happen to be any blankets, either somewhere else in the room or in the house entirely.

She didn't want to push her luck any further so she just laid on top of the bed, and allowed herself to drift off into sleep.

Allow yourself… Allow yourself to see who you truly are

Yuri woke with a start, quickly identifying the room she was in. Sighing, she got back up and rubbed her eyes. Taking a look at her pocketwatch, she noticed the 1 wasn't glowing anymore.

9:34

She blinked the sleep out of her eyes and got up, still in the clothes she wore the day before. She got out of bed and looked to a door next to the desk, not the one she entered before. She walked over to it and saw it was a bathroom. It was small, but functional. With a sink, toilet, and Shower. She turned the light off and walked out of the room itself, heading down the stairs.

Sitting at the table, was Itsuka, wearing some medical slacks and sipping on some coffee.

"Good morning." She said with a smile, setting her mug down and turning towards Yuri. Yuri forced a smile and waved a little.

"G-Good morning." She responded. She walked over to the table and sat next to her.

There was an awkward tension in the room as Yuri sat with her fingers intertwined within one another. Itsuka sipped on her coffee for about a minute, before saying:

"So, we're going to be living with one another for the next year or so. Might as well get this out of the way- Itsuka Kendono, but please just call me Itsuka. Bit about me.. I work in Hokkaido City Hospital. I'm an On-call doctor and surgeon. So I'll be here sometimes and not be here other days." Yuri just nodded as she clicked her tongue. She thought to herself for a little bit before shrugging.

"Not much I really can say about my life. Before my life… Went to shit-" Yuri states a bit harshly, leaning back in her chair.

"- I was going to try and become a psychiatrist. But that's obviously not happening. Uhh, I like small animals." She muttered, obviously still uncomfortable. Itsuka let a smile envelop her face as she said:

"I doubt anything that happened to you would prevent you from doing what you want. It'll be harder, sure, but I believe you'll be successful." Yuri held back the urge to roll her eyes as she said:

"So this new school I'm supposed to be going to, ahh, Hyoko, is it? Is it any good?" Yuri asks, not so subtly changing the subject. It doesn't go unnoticed by Itsuka, who looks up and bobs her head back and forth.

"Can't say. Its still pretty new, ten years or so. Its trying to make a name of itself, which is probably why They're accepting not only you but a lot of students from all over the place." Yuri nodded as she scratched at the scar on her neck. She thought to herself for a minute, as Itsuka just watched.

"We're going to your school later, so why don't you go get your uniform on and cleaned up. We'll leave when you're ready. Itsuka gets back to her coffee as Yuri nods, getting up and going back upstairs.

A few minutes later.

Yuri stood in the shower, letting the water fall on her. An American-style shower was always nice, letting the water fall on you. Its like standing in the rain with the water at the preferred temperature.

But Yuri couldn't bring herself to enjoy it. She stood there watching the water go back in the drain as she began to daydream.

'Psychopath!'

'Stop it!'

'We don't want you!'

'Do me a favor and KILL YOURSELF!'

Yuri stopped daydreaming and caught herself. She was digging her nail in her neck, the same place with the scar exactly. She let go and blinked a few times, feeling the water fall on her head as she lifted it up, letting the water hit her face as she closed her eyes. She just breathed calmly and let her arms limp at her side.

A few more minutes.

Yuri kneeled at her Suitcase, dressed in a tan and black schoolgirl uniform as she rummaged through her stuff. Past her outfits and clothing articles, she took out a box. It was small, about five by five inches, and five tall, it was pretty fancy, being a mahogany material painted black and gold, even with some jewels embedded in the lid. She sighed and put it on the desk.

'God knows how long I've had that box for. Best not open it up now.' She kept rummaging through her stuff, and hung what she had in her closet, noticing it was still quite empty.

"I'll have to go shopping later." She muttered under her breath as she left her room and descended down the stairs. She looked to her left and saw that Itsuka was watching the news, looking at the forecast for the next few days.

"And Its looking pretty nice today, sunny and staying in the sixties, until tonight when It should hit the forties or below, with a possible light drizzle, tomorrow is looking a little bland, cloudy most of the day, with some pretty heavy showers that night from Eleven to three in the morning-" The T.V turned off as Itsuka set the remote aside and said:

"I can drive, so I'll Take you to see your Principal and teacher." Yuri realized she was still on the stairs and quickly finished descending.

"R-Right. I'm ready." She said, a slight stutter. Itsuka let out a slight smile as she said: Well, let's go!"

Yuri supposed it was kind of cool, driving around with her guardian in a luxury car, but Yuri couldn't find herself able to even crack a smile. She stared with a light frown at the city that passed before her eyes, as some of the buildings and people appeared to be about as bland as they come, trudging along at a sluggish pace going about their day.

"So, I guess its a little random for me to ask, but what's a hobby of yours? What did you like to do?" Yuri looked out the window as everything rolled by and said:

"I used to Like Go-karting. They were always fun." Itsuka was visibly surprised as she glanced at the girl and said:

"Well I didn't expect that, you seem so-"

"Bland? Boring?" Yuri responded. She felt the car jerk a little as Itsuka said:

"What? No! Not at all, That's just-"

"A really weird thing? You'd expect a boy to do things like that?" Itsuka is left speechless as she tries to think of something. Yuri just sighed as she straightened her posture.

"I just like it. My parents raised me with the mindset that Genders didn't really mean anything apart from how babies would be made. They encouraged me to do things I like, even if they were something like digging up for bugs in the dirt." Itsuka stayed silent as Yuri explained, seeing the city turn into a road with trees lining it, about a quarter mile stretch to a multi-leveled school.

"W-We're here." Itsuka stutters, pulling into a small parking lot. Yuri gazes directly at the school still sitting in the car as Itsuka unbuckled her seat belt and started getting out.

"Come on, It'll be fine." Even Yuri's Obliviousness at the moment could detect that Itsuka didn't sound so sure about it. Yuri nodded and got out of the car, keeping an eye on the big black metal gates that wall off the entrance of the school. The courtyard just beyond the gate, is completely devoid of foliage save the grass, leading up into the massive Tan High school, roughly three stories high, with a Fenced off roof. She walks with Itsuka, who remains silent as they walk to the front doors, being greeted by a rather gruff looking Man, middle aged presumably, with a stubble. He towers over the two, roughly six foot as he was wearing a Collared T-shirt which seemed like it didn't want to be on his body, seeing as it did nothing to hide his bulging muscles, nor did he wear anything on his face to hide the massive bruise, on the side of his face, yellow at this point. His brown eyes danced over the two women, as Itsuka greeted the both of them.

"Hello there! I'm Itsuka Kendono, I'm Ochiru-san's guardian." Itsuka bowed a bit, as Yuri did the same. The man returned it and said:

"Right. Name's Keji Tatakai. I guess you'll be calling me Sensei, however." Yuri just nodded as he jerked his head back.

"C'mon. The Headmaster is waiting." The man turned around and walked through the halls. They weren't anything special, but they did seem rather clean, with the walls still looking pretty pristine. They walked in silence until they walked through a pair of doors, revealing an older man with gray hair writing on some papers, he looks up, surprised for a moment before giving a light smile. It seemed genuine this time, as he stood up and walked in front of his desk.

"Ahh, Ochiru-san. Its a pleasure to finally see you." He gives a short bow, and the three return it, with Yuri being a bit brief.

... Persona!

Okay, so I wrote this one last year, when I finished P5 and was in love with it. But I wanted to write something a bit more for myself, so I created a whole new concept and plot for a game. But I started writing it again when I played P5R, and my love for it reignited. Why It's like this now and so short lived? Well... The Persona series fanfiction business is a bit dry. I wouldn't really get feedback on this, like at all. I'd probably get a better response if I pitched this shit to Atlus themselves. Although, I'm legitimately thinking of finishing this and releasing a full story on that. But... If this book has anything to say about that, it's not likely to become a full-fledged story... Haha.

Self-deprecation aside, It's not exactly meant to be edgy, instead it's meant to be about as fabulous as P5 itself, just holding back a bit less. I even have each character in the Main Arcana written out seperately, so If I ever gain some courage I might continue this.