Hereafter

Disclaimer: I do not own persona 3 series in any format. Though the plot is mine

The time she opened her eyes, she instantly attacked with a strong headache. She quickly closed her eyes again after a second of blurry vision. Her head felt terrible that she prayed she was knocked out or dead until her headache gone. Luckily for her, her hope came true in the form of anesthetic drugs so strong that she only a few minutes awake before asleep again. The last thing she saw was a worried foreign face and blond head.

"You are awake. " It was odd how he said it, the blond stranger with foreign face and yellow eyes. His tone indicated he was confirming that she was awake, not obviously stating the fact. She didn't know this stranger but he seemed happy to see her.

Her eyes flitted to observe the room she was in. According to her knowledge, this was a private room in a hospital albeit someone has been decorating it a bit— the curtain was pink with heart and strawberry pattern' there was a series of poster hanging on the white background and one of the is takoyaki and elevator of all things, and some other things that should not be in an hospital room. She gave up making sense of the room then.

"Yeah, I am. " She answered him mindlessly. She was raking through her memories to remember why she was in the hospital room in the first place. Weirdly, her mind was blank. Huh?!

Her eyes felt to the person that might be able to find the reason she cannot remember anything.

"Hey," She started but her voice was really scratchy. She coughed a few times to clear it up. "Hey, am I in hospital?"

The guy's yellow eyes twinkled happily. "Yes."

"Why am I here?" Somehow the reason she was admitted here feel important.

The guy blinked a few times and looked worried. "…how they said it?" She didn't really heard but, "You had an accident and fell into a coma?"

Huh?

"What accident?" She asked again while feeling strangely calm.

"A car crash. They said a car run over you when you were crossing the street in your field trip to Port Island." The way the guy said it like he didn't know better about the accident and didn't really care.

"Oh." And oh, it was really ironic to get caught on an accident in your holiday trip. "So, where are we?"

The guy blinked one time and slowly said, "In a hospital? You said it though."

She twitched. Any normal person knew what it means and somehow he was her family of her friends. "No, I mean. What town are we in? Are we in Port Island or maybe hometown?"wherever her hometown was.

"Ooh, you mean that! We are in Tokyo."

Huh, Tokyo? Somehow I didn't expect it. "Did we live here?" She continued with her questioners. The strange guy oddly didn't mind it.

"Yeah, I suppose." The guy sighed and looked out the window with the cute curtain.

Suppose? What does that mean? She tried to search for any memories of the guy, of her life, of the accident, anything. The effort gave her no result. Panic started to bubbling up but a glance at the man beside her make her calm down.

"So," she started again. The guy stared at her eagerly like he was participating in some sort of quiz competition. "Who are you?"

She saw how the blonde's eyes widened then he frowned thinking something. Few seconds too fast, he sighed and seemed resigned. "It was not the worst situation we expect but," he mumbled too loudly. "…fine, then."

"My name is Theodore, but please, feel free to call me, Theo." His introduction was weirdly familiar.

"And what is your relation to me?" she continued. The guy was really hard to be coaxed of information.

The guy became shifty-eyed then. "I am…, I'm your brother."

She was related to this weird and foreign man. God!

"And last question for the day because I suddenly become tired," The sarcastic part did not offend the guy. He was intrigued for god sake! "Who am I?"

"You are you?" The guy perplexedly answered and she tempted to throw him her pillow if she had the strength.

"Not that." She gritted. "My name, my age, my background, what I like! Who am I before I lost my memory?!"

The blonde's face lit up a bit before worriedly stared her. "Uh, you are Arisato Minako, nineteen years old this year. You have been in coma for two years, ten months and eleven days. You like music, especially loud, umm I mean rock. Before you were a cheerful and knowledgeable person who teaches me may essential things." He stopped to gauge her reaction. "Is that acceptable? Or you want more information?"

She, or Arisato Minako, felt exhausted hearing his winding explanation that somehow was twisted. Obviously she—Minako, she chants her name a few time so she never forget it again— wanted to know more but the sleep was calling her again. She might as well inform her brother or whoever he claimed to be.

"I will ask more after I have another round of sleep. " She yawned. "You better be here when I woke up, so I can straightly ask you. Good night."

She closed her eyes while praying she retained her memory when she woke up or didn't lost it again. The guy stepped closer and she felt a hand caressed her forehead.

The last thing she heard was, "Have a good sleep, master.

The newly named girl, Arisato Minako, had no memories of her life before although she retained her knowledge (thank god for that!). Even for an amnesia person, someone who claimed to be her sibling was really odd. His mannerism, the way he talk, and his knowledge didn't match up for a person who has been living in a modern world. Minako guessed he was very rich and sheltered, or had been living in a very remote place with no internet or electronic.

When she was out of hospital and shown the place where they were going to live in, she called the dibs in the first option. They stood in front of a quite big and grand apartment building. Some bellboys were grabbing their luggage and led them to the elevator. Their floor was just a couple down the rooftop and there were only four door in this floor. Then they walked in to her new home, everything was evidently new and shiny—not to mention looks expensive. She feared the guy was not her brother but a yakuza trying to sold her.

The bell boy left them alone. Minako felt a bit scared because she didn't really know the truth if he was a sibling or really a yakuza. Then Theo (she faintly remember his name) sat on the soft looking sofa and started bouncing. Minako felt stupid for thinking he was a yakuza.

"Hey, Theo." She quietly took a seat in front of him. Theo instantly lighted up and stopped bouncing. "I really want to believe that we are sibling. But we look like we had a different ancestor. I am sure like a normal Japanese and you look like came from England or something. Hell, even our hair color and eye color doesn't match."

The claimed brother was quite for sometimes before he released a smile that was harmful to the female population. "We are not blood brothers." He explained. "Your parents died thirteen years ago and you had no living relative. My uncle found you in an orphanage and adopted you. He raised me, too, because I don't have any parents either."

"Oh." Lately it was her favorite phrase. "Do we have any photo?"

"Wait a minute." Theodore, or Theo, ran into a room next door. Minako heard some worrying sound before he appeared in the living room again. "Here". He gave her a very thin album. "Uncle didn't like photograph, so there are not much."

The amnesia girl took a deep breath before opening it. She knew she might remember something or nothing at all looking at the album. Both of the prospects terrified her. The first photo was very old and worn, a baby photo of her—she knew because the red eyes— that might be one of few which her real parents took. The second was child version of her pouting while wearing kimono with caption 'Hinamatsuri 95'. The third, fourth and five was her with her parents in her home, playground and shrine. She stared and stared to remember any of it. When there was no trigger, she moved on to the next photo which portrayed her wearing elementary school uniform in front of a school. From there there was a blank page informing her that her parents were no more.

Minako flipped the page. From there, the photos were sporadic, and most of it seemed taken from a cell phone and printed. She guessed it was her in middle school. Then there was a photo of Theodore, an old man with long nose, a beautiful woman with feature like Theodore, and her in a strange blue room with a big window (is it a window?) that reminded her of an elevator.

"Theo, who is this and this? And when and where this was taken?" She pointed to the old man, He wouldn't be Theo's uncle who gracious enough to adopt her, would he?

"Ah." The good looking adopted brother of her smiled. "That is my dear uncle. Your adoptee, Igor-sama. And that is my sister, Elizabeth. We were in, umm, our mansion abroad. You were quite adamant to take a photograph because we never have one."

"Elizabeth?" She inquired. She didn't know she has another pseudo-sister.

"Yes, Elizabeth, my sister. Now she is working with ma— Igor-sama back in our country. I am freed of the responsibilities to take care of you." Theo explained. He was getting better at giving more information without more actual questions from her, after days of prodding.

"Back in country? We live abroad?" She was getting tired at this. The more she knew something, the more she realized the things she forgets.

"Not you. But, Igor-sama, Elizabeth and I were living in England, you could say that. Uncle adopted you when he had a business here in Japan for a few years." Theo whizzed out the answer patiently.

She didn't ask anymore in favor of turning the page. The next one was Theo and her smiling in front of a mall. "It seems this was taken very recently."

Theo took a peak and gave her a pleased smile. "Oh yeah it is! It is taken on our play date. You showed me around when I visit. It was a good day and the takoyaki was good and thankfully your cheek did not fall off."

Minako stared at her brother who was deep reminiscing. Times like this made her speculate her brother was an alien or living in the end of the world with no one else but a teddy bear. No need to add her cause of headache when she still not fully healed.

The brunette glanced at the next photo. Something made it blurry. She tried to wiped it, but the picture still vague. Minako felt it was not the actual photo which is blurry. There was a layer of something that preventing her to see the real picture. It was a group photo that was taken in front of a door. There was seven person—one of which she could indentified to be her—and a dog. Faintly there was a smile line in all the blurry faces.

"Why this one is like this, Theo?" From the moment she was awoken again, she believed Theo could answer all of her question.

The smile she received from the kind foreign guy was arguably sad. "Maybe, it's not yet time for you to see that." He took the album from her gently. "Come, I will show you your bedroom and you can rest. Many things will be revealed tomorrow."

For now, she let the puzzle slide. Just for now.

And CUT!

Thanks for reading and see ya in the next chapter!

50cm