So, here we are. The first true chapter of the revamped UT. I had this thing finished a while back, but I staved off posting it for the sake of a few revisions First off I wanna answer one comment on the last couple of chapters.

KnightGamer724 Okay, so, for 1), I kinda sorta already planned out a bunch of the story with this cast in mind, plus some other people who aren't here yet, so I can't really do reductions at this point. I understand that it's a huge undertaking to do this sort of thing, and I always planned to mitigate it by keeping the earlier games' casts in the background for a very significant portion of the story. With that said, everyone else stays, because at this point it would be even more of a hassle to rework my plans without them. As for 2) however… well, just read this chapter and you'll see.

Okay now, no more mincing words. Let's get going.

April 6, 2009

Tatsumi Port Island

11:59

Another train ride to another town. Same as always. That was all the boy thought as he rode the train into town. A new school, a new start. It wasn't anything to get worked up over.

As the boy silently listened to his music player, he made sure to take notice of the stop he was getting off at.

[Burn my dread-]

As the song reached its crescendo, he got off the train and the world turned green. His music player went totally silent.

This wasn't anything new. He had experienced it before.

He was even less surprised to see the streets filled with coffins where people should have been.

He wasn't taken aback by the puddles of blood that decorated the streets.

He certainly wasn't surprised by the lack of electricity.

He had walked all the way to the dorm which would function as his new home without acknowledging any of these things.

After that one awful night, none of it had been anything other than routine.

He never bothered to ask why it happened. Or why he seemed to be the only one it happened to. He didn't even know if he could trust his own senses. All he knew was that he had nothing to gain by acting like it was anything other than expected to him. Anything to keep from looking like a madman.

The only thing that surprised him was what happened after he stepped through the door to the dorm.

The green glow suddenly disappeared, even though it should have only been 55 minutes into this strange phenomena. Putting down his bag and taking off his headphones, the boy noticed a young child to his left.

"You're late," said the child, "I've been waiting for a long time." He held out a piece of paper. "If you want to proceed, then please sign here. It's a contract. There's no need to be scared. It only binds you to accepting full responsibility for your actions."

There was something written on the paper. "I chooseth this fate of my own free will," and below it, a line to sign a name. Although it probably wasn't legally binding, and looked to have little, if nothing, to do with the dorm, the boy felt strangely compelled to sign his name. And that he did.

"...Very well," the child said, taking the contract, "No one can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end. You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes," he somehow made the contract disappear, "And so it begins…"

The child reached out with his arm and vanished into the darkness. As if he was just a hallucination.

And then, the green glow returned.

"Hey, who are you?!" a voice suddenly called.

Turning his head, the boy found a girl who looked to be about his own age nearby. She was dressed in a pink cardigan, which she looked to be wearing over a school uniform. She was also clearly on-edge, surprised that the boy was here. To be honest, the boy was surprised as well. He had never seen anyone else outside of their coffins during this phenomena before. Unfortunately, this girl looked to be hostile. She was breathing quickly, and reaching for what looked like a gun holstered to her leg. Suddenly, she grabbed it and-

"Takeba, wait!" a voice called out.

Suddenly, another girl appeared on the stairs. She was a tall girl with long dark red hair, and an imposing gaze. She walked down and faced the boy.

"I wasn't aware that you would be arriving so late," she said, "It seems that this is a recurring trend with this dorm…"

The boy didn't know what she was talking about, but the red-haired girl quickly continued.

"I'm Mitsuru Kirijo, one of the students living in the dorm," she said.

"Who's he?" the brown-haired girl said, looking at the boy.

"He's a transfer student," Mitsuru said, "It was a last minute decision to assign him here. He'll eventually be transferred to a regular dorm."

"Are you sure about letting him stay here?" the brown-haired girl asked.

"We'll see…" Mitsuru said, "By the way, this girl is Yukari Takeba. She'll be a junior this year, like you."

"Hi… I'm Yukari," the brown-haired girl muttered.

"Kirijo-san?" a voice came from the stairs once more, "What's going on?"

Turning to the stairs again, the boy found that the voice belonged to a silver-haired boy who still hadn't gotten out of his uniform. Why were all of these people dressed so well so late into the night?

"Oh, Narukami," Mitsuru said, "We were just welcoming our newest arrival." She turned to the boy. "Go on, introduce yourself."

The boy spoke.

"I'm Makoto Yuki."

Chapter 1: Dread My Burning

The silver-haired boy, Narukami, stood silently for a minute. An action which was quite confusing to Makoto. Takeba herself was also surprised.

"Uh, are you two okay?" Makoto asked, concerned about them.

"Oh, don't mind them," Mitsuru said, "They're probably just surprised that they now have two dormmates with the same name now."

"Excuse me?" Makoto exclaimed.

"You see…" Takeba muttered, "There's a girl also named Makoto Yuki who moved in here a couple days ago."

So that was it. He wanted to talk to this girl now. But there were more important things to address right now.

"Putting that aside," Makoto continued, "Why do you have a gun?"

"Uh…" Yukari said, stumbling over her words, "I guess it's like a hobby…? Well, not really I guess… but..."

"You know how it is these days," Mitsuru interrupted, "It's for self-defense. Of course, it's not actually real."

"Excuse me," Narukami said, "But it's getting pretty late. I think I'll show Yuki-san to his dorm room."

"His things should already be there, so that should be fine" Mitsuru said, "We'll be going up ourselves now."

"Okay," Yu said "See you in the morning."

After getting the key to Makoto's room, the group of late sleepers walked up the stairs, going up to their dorm rooms. Makoto and Narukami got off on the second floor while the girls continued upwards, and Narukami directed Makoto to the room at the end of the hall on the right.

"This is your room," Narukami said, "Pretty easy to remember, what with it being at the end of the hall. You good from here on out?"

Makoto only had one question.

"What about that boy?" he asked.

"Huh?" Narukami said, clearly not understanding the question, "What are you talking about?"

It appeared that Gekkoukan High wasn't lodging an elementary schooler with high schoolers. Though, thinking about it a bit longer, Makoto realized that such a thing was ridiculous, and would probably never be allowed.

Yu paused for a moment, "By the way, did something happen when you came in?" he continued, "I heard quite a bit of noise down there earlier." He seemed a bit on-edge.

"What do you mean by that?" Makoto asked.

"Nothing…" Narukami said, clearly tired, "Just making sure… By the way, my name's Yu Narukami. Nice to meet you." He extended his hand for a shake. Makoto accepted it, and Narukami gave a firm, yet comfortable shake.

"Good to meet you too…" Makoto mumbled.

"Well," Narukami said, "We'll have plenty of time to talk tomorrow, so get some rest."

Narukami turned around and began walking in the other direction.

"'Night," he said, "See you in the morning."

Narukami walked over to one of the doors, pulled a key out of his pocket, opened it, and walked in. Makoto followed suit, and took in his new room. It was a bit small, with a lot of space being taken up by the bed and desk, but it was still big enough to suit his tastes. With nothing much else to do this late at night, Makoto decided to catch up on his sleep.

April 7, 2009

7:55 AM

Iwatodai Dormitory: Makoto Yuki's Room

Makoto Yuki was brought to consciousness by a loud commotion going on outside his room. It seemed like several people were moving.

"Dammit Ryuji!" someone yelled, "Get your ass in gear! I'm not going to be late on our first day!"

"Yosuke! You put your pants on backwards!"

"Ted, for the love of God, brush your hair!"

The people outside seemed to be in a hurry. Makoto on the other hand was keen on taking things slow. In an orderly fashion, he got dressed in his uniform, deciding to leave it unbuttoned, and grabbed his bag before exiting the room, where he was greeted with the sight of about ten people either waiting, yelling, or knocking on doors. A blonde haired boy was trying to lock his door, a caucasian boy was busy trying to get his hair looking presentable, at least three girls were knocking on doors to wake up their owners, and the rest were just waiting irately for the others to finish. Knowing that trying to get them focused would make him late, he simply walked past them all, went down the stairs, and exited the dorms. Just outside stood Mitsuru, Yukari, Narukami, a boy with glasses and black hair, and a girl with brownish-red hair. None of them had noticed Makoto yet.

"So," said the boy with glasses, "Do you think they'll all calm down soon enough to get going in time?"

"Probably," Narukami said, "But they'll be cutting it pretty close."

"It's their own fault if they're late," Yukari said, "They probably should've woken up earlier."

"I don't think that janitor guy's even up yet," said the red-haired girl.

Wait, they were housing a janitor in the dorm?

"I just hope he's not expecting a raise anytime soon," Mitsuru said.

Just then, they realized that someone was standing behind them. They turned around to look at Makoto.

"Yuki-san," Narukami said, "Good to see you."

"Uh, over here?" the red-haired girl said.

"I think he was talking to that guy," the boy with glasses said, pointing at Makoto.

"Oh…" the girl said, a bit flustered, "Well this is going to be strange…" she turned to face Makoto. "My name's also Makoto Yuki. Sorry about the confusion."

So this was her. Now that he had gotten a good look at the girl, Makoto couldn't help but feel... odd.

He observed her features; a cute face which was currently showing a slight smile, hair in a high ponytail, one earphone from a music player on her left ear, and the Gekkoukan uniform worn perfectly. She was certainly conventionally attractive, but that wasn't what was drawing him to her. He just didn't really know what it was about this girl that made him so… curious? Wary? He didn't even know what he was feeling. Sure, this girl shared his name. But… there had to be something more here to warrant this reaction from him. What was going-

Makoto shook his head. He was overthinking this. It probably was just that they shared the same name. The feeling would wane very shortly in all likelihood. Best to just leave it be.

"No problem," Makoto said, "I'll just have to get used to a bit of confusion here and there."

"You think that's complicated?" the glasses boy said, "We've got another Makoto living here as well. Can't believe that even she's getting hung up in there…"

"At the very least, her last name isn't Yuki," the female Makoto Yuki said, "You know, if it makes it any easier, you guys can just call me 'Mako.'"

"You sure?" Narukami said, "We haven't really known you for that long yet."

"Hey, if it makes things less confusing, I'm fine with it," 'Mako,' said.

"Haru calls our Makoto by that nickname sometimes," the glasses boy said, "but I'll let them know about this just in case."

"It would certainly make things easier so long as we're all under the same roof," Yukari said, "Anyway, we've wasted enough time. We should get to the station."

"Indeed," Mitsuru said, "Let's go."

Makoto walked down the steps and joined the group as they walked to the train station. The walk was quite short and silent, and getting through the station thankfully wasn't very difficult. Though, he couldn't help but notice on the trip that Mako looked incredibly nervous near him. Was she crushing on him? After they had just met? Makoto didn't doubt that such things could happen, but it seemed pretty unlikely. The weird vibe he had just gotten wasn't as strong as before, but it was still present. He decided to put it out of his mind once more. He had gotten to the platform and began waiting for the train, which ended up arriving quite quickly. However, just as the group was getting on the train…

"Waitwaitwaitwaitwaaaaaaaaaaaittt!"

Out of nowhere, the hurrying students from this morning, alongside several others, came rushing onto the platform, and began to pile into the train. Makoto and Yukari ended up pressed near the window as the spots filled up, and the train doors closed.

"Next stop: Port Island Station," the automated voice said as the train began moving.

"Oh man…" the blonde-haired kid from the dorm said, "Didn't even have time for breakfast…"

"Well that's what you get," said a platinum-blonde girl with twintails, "Should've actually tried waking yourself up."

"Shut it!" said the blonde boy, "You were behind too!"

"Only because I was trying to get you up!" retorted the girl.

"Don't worry," Yukari said, "I've only known them for a short time, but they seem pretty accustomed to this."

"Do they?" Makoto said, rhetorically.

"Yeah," Yukari replied, "You'll get used to it. By the way, what do you think of the monorail? Bet your last commute wasn't like that, huh? This is my favorite part… when it feels like you're gliding over the sea." Yukari stopped for a moment to look out the window and take in the view. "Our stop is Port Island Station at the end of the line. From there, we walk to our school. Oh, look, you can see it now!"

Makoto turned to face the window, and got a got a look at the school. It was definitely a big place, larger than any school he'd ever been to. He was almost nervous about having to navigate it. He was also surprised at just how fast the monorail was moving. At this rate, they'd be at the school well before the first bell at 8:30.

As the train pulled into Port Island Station and the passengers piled out, Makoto found himself surrounded by his dorm mates, who were now walking at more relaxed paces. Not quite comfortable around them yet, he avoided talking to any of them as he walked to the school. Within ten minutes, he was there, standing in front of the gates with the school's full splendor right in front of him.

"Welcome to Gekkoukan High School," Yukari said, "Hope you like it!"

After walking in and dropping his shoes off in his locker, Makoto was instructed to make his way to the faculty office. There, he went over the usual routine of having a teacher react to his life story and getting his class assignment. Ms. Toriumi went through the usual motions that all his other teachers did. Even if he understood why these people reacted with such empathy, it had always failed to affect him. He had been through the process so many times that he couldn't help but be desensitized. With that out of the way, he got his assigned class, 2-F, and made his way to the introduction assembly. He then ended up sitting through a rather boring speech from the school's Principal and being asked pointless questions by an annoying boy sitting behind him. He never thought he'd be so happy to go to class in his entire life.

When the assembly was finally over and it came time to go to class, Makoto sat down at a desk in the middle of the class without giving it much thought. As the first day's classes went on, he noticed that many of his dorm mates were in the class as well. Narukami, the glasses boy, Yukari, Mako, the blonde guy, and the twintail girl were all there, as was a boy with red headphones, a brown-haired girl with a bob cut, a black-haired girl with a red hairband, a blue-haired boy who looked awfully similar to himself, and a silver-haired girl who he had all seen in the mob earlier. Coincidence was probably too subtle a word for this.

After classes had ended, Makoto was planning to just walk around Tatsumi Port Island for a bit, but before he got up to do so, he was interrupted.

"S'up dude?" a voice called, "How's it goin'?"

Looking behind him, Makoto saw a boy with a baseball cap and stubble walking up behind him. He looked a bit older than he probably was, and was wearing his uniform very loosely, with the undershirt entirely replaced with a dark blue one. The boy walked up beside him.

"Who are you?" Makoto asked.

"Me?" the boy in the cap said, leaning in close, "I'm Junpei Iori, nice to meet ya!"

"Personal space," Makoto said, leaning back.

"I transferred here in 8th Grade," Junpei said, moving back a bit, "I know how tough it is being the new kid, so I wanted to say 'hey!' See what a nice guy I am?" He leaned in close again.

"Personal space," Makoto repeated, louder this time.

Just then, Yukari walked up with the boy in glasses, grabbing Junpei's attention.

"Hey, it's Yuka-tan!" he said, "Didn't think we'd be in the same class again!"

"There you go again…" Yukari sighed, "Talking to anyone who'll listen… Did you ever think that you were maybe bothering him?"

"Nothing wrong with being friendly," Junpei said, sheepishly, "Anyway, who's that guy? You get a boyfriend while I wasn't looking?" he pointed to the boy in glasses.

"No," the boy responded, "I'm just staying in the same dorm."

"What?" Junpei said, "You're kidding me!"

"No, actually," Yukari said, "A lot of people in this class are actually in the dorm. It's pretty crazy, huh Yuki-san?"

"It's almost too perfect to be a coincidence," said Makoto.

"By the way," the glasses boy said, "I don't think I introduced myself this morning." He reached out with his hand and smiled. "I'm Ren Amamiya. Nice to meet you."

Makoto reached out and shook it. "I'm-"

"Makoto Yuki, I know," Amamiya finished, "I don't know if I could forget that name if I tried, what with there being two of you and all."

"Two of them?" Junpei asked, "What does that mean?"

"Ugh," Yukari groaned, "Weren't you paying attention? There's another girl with the same name in our class."

"Wait, really?" Junpei said, a sly grin on his face, "Where is she?"

Makoto took a quick look around the room. But before he had even done so, he inherently felt that Mako was nowhere near the room. And that quick look confirmed that feeling. This was starting to become uncanny.

"Typical Junpei," Yukari groaned, "Is there any girl you wouldn't hit on?"

"Seriously," Junpei said, "Can a guy just not be nice and friendly nowadays?"

"I think she's worried about any ulterior motives you might have," Amamiya snarked.

"What ulterior motives?" Junpei said, offended, "I'm as pure as the driven snow!"

"Yeah," Amamiya said, "And I'm the Prime Minister."

"By the way…" Yukari whispered, ignoring the two boys having a snark-off, "You didn't say anything about… 'you know what,' last night, right?"

"Yeah," Makoto said, thinking she was talking about the fake gun.

"Huh?" Junpei said, listening in on the two, "L-last night…?"

With that remark, the implications of Yukari's phrasing instantly dawned on her.

"Wait a minute!" she yelled, "Don't get the wrong idea! I just met him yesterday! There's nothing between us!"

"Yep, he's definitely gonna buy it when you say it like that," Amamiya quipped.

"You're not helping!" Yukari said, "Ugh, whatever. I've gotta do something for the archery team. Don't go spreading any rumors!"

Yukari stormed out of the room, considerably flustered at the awkward conversation she had just engaged in.

"Yeesh," Junpei said, "What's with her? Doesn't she know that no one takes rumors seriously anyway?"

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Amamiya said, "Back in my hometown, rumors were usually quite true."

"You know what I mean," Junpei said, "But hey, rumors or not, people are talking about you, Makoto!"

Makoto didn't remember giving Junpei permission to use his first name, but he didn't really care at this point.

"Believe it or not," Junpei continued, "Yuka-tan's pretty popular. You're lucky. I can tell this's gonna be a fun year!"

Makoto was a bit more skeptical.

April 7, 2009

11:30 PM

Iwatodai Dormitory Lobby

After their conversation, Makoto decided that it would probably be best to stick around Junpei while he toured the Island. Amamiya decided to tag along, if only because he had nothing better to do, but spent a lot of the time on his phone for some reason. Despite initially seeming a bit nosy, Junpei turned out to be a pretty okay guy, and they talked quite a bit on the way out. Makoto wasn't normally the kind of guy that got along with guys like Junpei, but there was an earnestness to his character that was strangely appealing.

After a day of exploration, Makoto decided to return to the dorms, where he found the lobby filled with occupants who were now looking at him.

"Hey," said another thuggish blonde kid with slicked-back hair, who was sitting on the couch, "You're the new arrival, right?"

"Yeah," Makoto said, "I'm Makoto Yuki. I hope I'm not bothering you."

The boy had a look of surprise on his face before he kept talking. What was the big deal? Was it his name? It really shouldn't have been that shocking to have two people with the same name in the dorm. One would think that news would have travelled faster.

"No worries," the other blonde guy said, regaining his bearings, "I'm Kanji Tatsumi. I'm a year below you, so I guess that makes you my Senpai."

"I'm Naoto Shirogane," said the dark-haired girl next to Tatsumi, "Also a first year. Nice to meet you."

"We moved in here with the others about four days ago," Tatsumi said, "The place is pretty crowded now, but it's also real homey."

"That's nice," Makoto said, "But I'll probably have to transfer to another dorm at this rate."

"It's not finalized yet," said a smiling brown-haired boy sitting in a chair, "You can probably switch to this place if you'd like."

"I don't know…" Makoto said, "It would probably inconvenience the school…"

"Pay it no mind," the brown-haired boy said, "They'd be more than happy to let you stay here. You've already made friends with Yukari-san, haven't you?"

"'Yukari-san?'" Makoto said, "Are you familiar with her?"

"No," said the blue-haired boy from earlier, also sitting in a chair, "He won't can't call people by their last names for whatever reason."

"Of course, I can," the brown-haired boy said, "I just choose not to when it suits me."

"Please ignore him," the blue-haired boy responded, "It will serve you quite well during your time here. By the way, my name is Yusuke Kitagawa."

"I'm Goro Akechi," the brown-haired boy followed up.

"Nice to meet you," Makoto said, "But I can't really talk anymore, I want to get an early start tomorrow."

"Suit yourself," Kitagawa said. "We'll see you in the morning."

Makoto was a bit perplexed. "Aren't you guys gonna get any sleep?" he said, "It's getting close to midnight.

"We're used to staying up late," Shirogane said, "And we'd prefer to make the most of our time here."

"If you say so…" Makoto conceded, turning and walking to the stairs, "Good night, I guess."

With little else to do, Makoto retired to his room and fell asleep in record time.

A few minutes after Makoto had gone up, a group of eight descended from the stairs, led by Mitsuru Kirijo and Akihiko. The group consisted of Amamiya, Narukami, Mako, Futaba, Makoto (Nijima), and Adachi.

"Shirogane, Akechi," he said, "We're heading out for practice. You coming?"

"Mm hm," Goro said with a nod before getting out of his chair, "I'm ready to go."

"As am I," Naoto said, standing up.

"Alright then," Akihiko said, "Let's get a move on."

With Naoto and Akechi now in tow, the group walked out the front door.

"Later," Kanji said, "Don't get yourselves killed out there."

"We'll be fine, Kanji-kun," Naoto said assuredly.

The door closed, and Kanji and Yusuke were left alone.

"They've been making good progress, haven't they?" Yusuke said.

"Yeah," Kanji said, "Makes me wanna get in there myself."

"I must admit," Yusuke said, "I'm a bit irritated at the notion of Goro getting his chance before me."

"Well, life's unfair like that sometimes," Kanji said, "And he hasn't gotten anyone killed yet."

"Of course not," Yusuke said, "He's been under constant observation since we arrived."

Kanji was silent.

"Regardless," Yusuke said, now standing up, "I think I'll get to bed now."

"I'll stay down here," Kanji said, "Maybe watch a little TV."

"What's on this late at night?" Yusuke asked.

"I don't know," Kanji said, going over to turn the television on, "But there has to be something."

"If you say so," Yusuke said, now walking to the stairs, "See you in the morning."

"You too," Kanji said, now walking back to a chair and looking at the TV.

He would later be found asleep in that chair the next morning.

April 8, 2009

3:15 PM

Gekkoukan High School: Class 2-F

The next day at school wasn't particularly memorable for Makoto Yuki. Ms. Toriumi, the homeroom teacher, had asked a strange question about Utsuo Kubota that only a total dumbass could have trouble with considering the rant she had given about him only a minute before. Of course, Junpei was having trouble with it, so Makoto decided to help him out. It did end up making him feel a bit more appealing to his classmates, so he thought that it was probably fine if he helped Junpei out if he needed it. Junpei had bailed right after classes had ended, so today Makoto was thinking about just surveying the city on his own. He was about to leave when a peculiar conversation caught his ear.

"Geeze…" a loud voice said, "Why'd she go on such a pointless tirade in the middle of class?"

"You might want to keep quiet," said a softer voice, "If Ms. Toriumi catches wind of what you're saying about her, you could get her even more riled up."

Makoto turned around and saw that the loud voice belonged to the first blonde guy from the dorm and the soft voice belonged to the caucasian twin tailed girl. The two were sitting at their desks conversing.

"Let me guess," the blonde guy said in a sarcastic tone, "'It wouldn't be the first time that your loud mouth got you in hot water?'"

"Well if you know how I'm gonna scold you, why do you still do it?" the twin tailed girl said.

"I-" the blonde guy was about to retort when he caught sight of Makoto. He got out of his chair and walked over.

"Yo!" he said, "You're the new guy in the dorm, right? Makoto Yuki?"

"Yes," Makoto said, "I am."

"Nice," the blonde guy responded, leaning in close, "I'm Ryuji Sakamoto! Great to meet you!"

"Ryuji," the girl said, "Back up a bit, you're bothering him."

"To be honest, I'm kind of used to it," Makoto said.

"See?" Ryuji said, leaning in even closer, "He's fine!"

"Personal space," Makoto said, "I only said I was used to it, not that I liked it."

"I told you," the twin tailed girl said, walking over to the two, "Sorry, Ryuji's always been kind of high-energy. He's really not a bad guy."

So basically, Makoto thought, Junpei except blonde.

"Yeah, yeah," Ryuji said, finally backing up, "Look I'm sorry, okay? I mean I was just excited that we-" he stopped himself suddenly, and after a couple seconds, continued, "-that we got ourselves a new dormmate!"

"Ugh…" Anne said, "If you say so... " she turned to Makoto, "My name is Ann Takamaki by the way. I'm also staying at the dorm."

"I'm Makoto Yuki," Makoto said, "But I guess you already knew that."

"Yeah," Takamaki said, "I know it's intimidating being the new arrival, but the people at the dorm are all really nice."

Makoto felt like he had already been through this conversation.

"So," Ryuji asked, "How're you liking the dorm so far?"

Makoto didn't really know how to answer.

"It's nice…" he said, "but I don't really know if I'll be staying much longer."

What happened next perplexed Makoto. Sakamoto and Takamaki exchanged small glances of… concern? Were they really that attached to him? Everyone had been acting a bit strange around him recently. He was getting uncomfortable now. He got up and grabbed his bag.

"Where're you going?" Sakamoto asked, his face no longer looking down.

"I'm just gonna check out the area a bit more," Makoto said, now walking to the door, "I don't have much else to do right now."

"Alright then," Sakamoto said, a bit disappointed, "See you later I guess."

"Later," Makoto responded, going out the door.

5 Minutes into the Phenomenon

Iwatodai Dormitory: Observation Room

The rest of the day was pretty boring for Makoto. He had opted to survey the Iwatodai Strip Mall by himself, but hadn't yet found anything that piqued his interest. He had returned to the dorms early, only to be met with the school's chairman, a jovial fellow with long hair and a stubble by the name of Shuji Ikutsuki, telling him that his transfer to the main dormitory would be delayed, and also working in a copious amount of bad puns. He was hoping that he wasn't going to have to go through any more of them in the future, otherwise his stay at the dorm would be more trouble than it was worth. With that, he once again decided to sleep early. However, he was being watched this time.

On the fourth floor of the Iwatodai Dorms was an observation room, where a group of students had situated themselves. Ren Amamiya, Yu Narukami, Makoto "Mako" Yuki, Goro Akechi, Naoto Shirogane, Yukari Takeba, and Mitsuru Kirijo. And their findings were most intriguing.

"It seems we were correct," Mitsuru said, "Makoto Yuki also has the potential."

"Wow…" Yukari said, "We're getting pretty lucky, huh…?"

"How rare did you say Persona users were, again?" Ren asked.

"The estimate isn't certain," Mitsuru said, "But the Kirijo group's studies indicate that it's far rarer than our recent results would indicate."

"I guess it really can't be understated just how fortunate you were," Goro said.

"Not at all," Mitsuru said, "I don't even know if we can say it was luck so much as it was a miracle that brought you all here."

"Regardless," Naoto interrupted, "We now know that this Makoto Yuki has the potential. What do we do from here?"

"Mind if I chip in?" a voice said, coming from the door to the room.

The group turned, only to face Shuji Ikutsuki himself. Fashionably late to the meeting.

"Hello, Mr. Ikutsuki," Goro said, "Glad to see you could make it."

"The pleasure is all mine," the jovial man said, walking over to the monitor, "So, it seems that our new arrival is quite accustomed to the Dark Hour. Do we know if he has the potential?"

"It's hard to say at this point," Mitsuru admitted, "But considering the results of our latest scoutings," she glanced back at the rest of the group. "We might just be on a lucky steak."

"Well," Ikutsuki said, "We'll wait and see for now, let's monitor him for a few more days before we take action."

"That sounds like a good idea," Yu said.

"Thank you," Ikutsuki said, "By the way, Mitsuru," he transitioned, turning to the student council president, "How have our new recruits been doing in the field?"

"Their performance has been tres bien," Mitsuru said, "They've all proven to be quite astute and capable in combat. Many of them have shown potential to be leaders of their own units."

"Oh," Ikutsuki said, "Now that I think about it, with 23 active members, it would be prudent to divide into smaller units."

Yukari sulked a bit, her mind clearly clouded with doubt.

"The only question is who to choose," Mitsuru said, "Narukami, Amamiya, Akechi, Shirogane, Nijima, and Yuki, that is, the female one, have all proven to be the most worthy of the positions so far, but we'll have to look at their skills a bit more before we sort out who will be the leaders. We don't want too many small groups to function properly."

"Please," Goro said, "You're making me blush."

"If I were you," Ren said, "I wouldn't trust Goro here as far as I could throw him. He's smart, yeah, but you're much better off with someone less conniving."

"What's wrong with Akechi-kun?" Mako said earnestly, "He seems plenty trustworthy."

"We'll tell you later," Naoto whispered to her

"It's a joke," Ren said, playing off the comment about Goro. He then let out a large yawn.

"Uhhhh-ah…"

"Are you okay, Ren-kun?" Goro said, concerned.

"I'm fine," Ren said, visibly annoyed, "Just a little… worn out from yesterday…"

"Don't worry," Mitsuru said, "You'll get used to the schedule over time. Just get to bed for now"

"That's probably a good idea." Ren admitted, "What I wouldn't give for a massage…"

"I don't think that there's much else to see here," Naoto said, "So we should all do the same."

"Yeah," Yu said, getting up with the others, "Good night."

And thus, Mitsuru switched off the monitor, and the group made for their rooms.

April 8, 2009

?

?

Makoto Yuki was sitting. Which was pretty strange considering that he remembered being asleep in his bed, lying down. He was sitting in a room that was covered almost entirely in blue, in what appeared to be a large elevator. There was an old man with a long nose and a suit sitting behind a table in front of Makoto. And by his side was a girl in a blue dress and cap who looked awfully familiar. Suddenly, the long-nosed man spoke.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room, my dear young man," he said, "My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance." He gestured to the girl by his side, "This is Elizabeth. She's a resident here, like myself."

"Pleased to meet you," Elizabeth said.

"This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter," Igor continued, "It's been years since we've had a guest." He waved his hand, and suddenly, the contract that Makoto had signed on his first night at the dorm was on the table.

"Only those who have signed the contract can enter this place," Igor said, "Henceforth, you shall be welcome here in the Velvet Room. You are destined to hone your unique ability, and you will require my help to do so. I only ask one thing in return: That you abide by the contract, and assume responsibility for the choices you make. Hold onto this..."

Igor made a strange gesture, and suddenly, a key appeared in front of Makoto. Seeing no harm, he decided to take it.

"Heh heh…" Igor chuckled, "This will be an interesting journey… So many new faces to take part… I wonder, what does fate have in store for you this time?"

Just before Makoto was able to ask Igor what he meant by "this time," he suddenly began to lose consciousness.

"'Til we meet again…" Igor whispered as Makoto closed his eyes.

April 9, 2009

5 Minutes into the Dark Hour

Iwatodai Dormitory: Observation Room

April 9 had been yet another boring day for Makoto Yuki. First thing in the morning, he had been required to sit through an incredibly banal lecture from Mr. Ekoda, a classical literature teacher who had very little patience for those slacking off. Despite wanting to close his eyes and rest, Makoto had decided it would be more worthwhile to stay awake, figuring that keeping up to date with his academics was worth it. He spent the rest of the day surveying Port Island Station with Junpei, but once again failed to find anything that piqued his interest more than just a little. Returning to the dorms once again, he had decided to tune into a reality show called "Trish's Who's Who." The guest was a 20-something year-old camerawoman. Makoto didn't know why, but there was a strange feeling of familiarity watching the show that he just couldn't place. But he got bored of the TV pretty quickly, and once again made for bed, not even bothering to take off his uniform. However, he was once again being observed.

In the observation room, the same party from yesterday were resuming their observation of the sleeping Makoto Yuki. The group once again consisted of Yukari, Ren, Goro, Mitsuru, Naoto and Ikutsuki.

"How is he?" Ikutsuki said.

"Well…" Mitsuru said, "Very much the same as our other candidates. No memory loss, no disorientation, none of the usual symptoms."

"I almost feel kind of bad, treating him like a guinea pig…" Yukari muttered.

"Well," Goro said, "The more members we have, the better."

"I know but…" Yukari started.

"Don't worry about it," Ren said, "If we explain it to him reasonably, he probably won't mind."

"I hope so," Yukari said.

All of a sudden, a voice was broadcast into everyone's minds. It was a girl's voice. And it was quite frantic.

"Guys!" the voice said, "We've got big trouble!"

"Sakura?" Naoto said, "What happened? Did you defeat the shadow?"

"No," she said, "It got the jump on Sanada-senpai and Makoto, and we had to retreat. Now it's following us back here! And it has help!"

"Got it!" Yu said, "We'll provide assistance! Hold tight!"

"We're trying!" Sakura said, "Hurry!"

The girl's voice stopped, and everyone in the room jumped to their feet.

"Narukami, Shirogane!" Mitsuru commanded, "Go downstairs and meet up with Akihiko's team!" she turned to Goro, Ren, and Yukari, "Akechi, Amamiya, and Takeba! Wake up the other Persona users and prepare them for battle!" she turned to Mako, "Yuki, you're with me. We'll hold off the Shadows coming from the front!" and finally, she turned to Ikutsuki, "Ikutsuki, get to the back rooms immediately!"

With the plan in mind, SEES sprung into action.

Makoto Yuki's Room

Makoto Yuki was interrupted in his sleep by a frantic knocking at his door. Opening his eyes, he found himself once again in the strange phenomena that occurred every midnight. Both curious and desperate to get back to sleep, he decided to open his door to see what the fuss was about. What he saw surprised him greatly. It was Yukari, carrying a bow and a quiver, as well as a sword, breathing very quickly.

"No time to explain!" she said, "We just have to go!"

She handed the sword to Makoto, who took it, not knowing what else to do. Stepping out of his door, he saw Amamiya, who was carrying a large knife, and Akechi, who was carrying the hilt of a sword, frantically knocking on doors and waking people up. He could only just barely make out what they were saying.

"Shadows are attacking, get a weapon!"

All of a sudden, the dormitory seemed like a military bunker, with students getting dressed and rushing of their rooms to, presumably, fight whatever "Shadows," that these people were mentioning. This didn't make any sense. What was going on? Amamiya then turned to face Makoto and Yukari.

"Come on!" he yelled, "We have to act quickly!"

Suddenly, behind him, Makoto heard a strange dripping noise. Turning around, he found a strange black, blob-like creature coming in through his window. The next thing he knew, Yukari had grabbed his hand, and he was running.

[OP 1: Odd Future - UVERworld]

(Intro Beat)

Four quick shots of Yu, Ren, Mako, and Makoto before ending on a shot of them all together on the first floor of Tartarus, looking up.

I keep my ideals Sorezore no tenmei woooo~! (What's going through?)

Quick zoom in on Makoto as he blinks and finds himself floating horizontally in a black space, with a tired, half-awake expression. As the music swells, the black space turns to the green, Dark Hour sky, and he begins to fall towards the ground, noticing that the other Wild Card users are also falling nearby, all with the same expression.

(Piano Solo)

The camera pans out to show the entirety of SEES, the Investigation Team, the Phantom Thieves, and their friends falling. The title, Persona: The Unholy Trinity is laid over them.

Subete wa mi kara deta sabi

Zoom in on Makoto's falling body, paralleled with a black-and-white version of him overlaid on the screen with blue highlights casually walking, hands in his pockets, listening to music.

Haburi yoku fuyashita kurorekishi

Slide to Mako's falling body, also paralleled in the same fashion with pink highlight, with her double sitting on a chair casually, with her hands around the seat's edges, a smile on her face.

Ari to arayuru mono wo suterari

Slide to Yu, paralleled in the same style as well with yellow highlights, with his double giving a cordial wave.

Mi ni oboe no nai unmei ni

Slide to Ren, who is once again paralleled as the others were with red highlights, his double pushing up his glasses and mitigating the glare.

Korosarekaketa koto mo atta shi

Slide to the falling SEES with Sho and Labrys, each given a more simple profile parallel next to their bodies with blue highlights

Shinda me wo shite ikita jiki

Slide to Investigation team + Adachi for same treatment with yellow highlights

Soredemo kyou mo ikasareteru tte koto wa

Slide to Phantom Thieves for same treatment with Red highlights, and then transition downward with speed lines.

What's going on?

Stop on a shot of Elizabeth relaxing with her compendium in a chair in Makoto's Velvet Room, looking at the camera with a coy smile. Igor, with a blue butterfly on his shoulder, as well as Margaret, Theodore, Lavenza, and another Elizabeth, are in the background.

Mada sou yarinokoshiten darou

Cut to a Makoto being hung on a cross on the roof of Tartarus, his eyes closed. Match-cut to Mako sitting in front of a cross, a worried expression on her face.

Shuusei no shiyou no nai hibi no naka demo

Cut to a shot of the crosses from the side, showing that Makoto and Mako are facing one another. The camera then zooms in to show Mako standing up and reaching towards her counterpart, a butterfly flying by in the opposite direction as she does so, and bringing the camera upwards.

What's going on?

The transition brings the camera full shot of two groups in a large hall containing three large pine trees, a man with black hair, a pierced left ear, and a black suit, and a woman with brown hair and a blue suit, a man with brown hair in a red motorcycle jacket facing right, with a black-haired woman in a tan jacket with pink hearts on the chest by his side. All of their eyes are closed, and their faces are angled downwards.

Hito to wa chigaou

The camera spins to the brown-haired man and black-haired woman's side, and in the empty space instantly appears a peppy girl with blonde hair, a rough-looking boy in visual kei makeup, and an elegant looking boy with black hair holding a yellow flower, all posing happily by the man's side, and a serious looking brown-haired man in a grey suit with a red undershirt, a happy red-haired woman in a green dress, and a coy-looking long-haired man with glasses appearing by the woman's side.

To mitometa ue de

Spin to the side, or the man with the earring and the woman in the blue suit. On the man's side, there is a man in white makeup, with a purple suit and headband, on the woman's side, a man in a suit with short brown hair with purple sunglasses, and a woman with brown hair and a black suit.

Kanousei no rutsubo hiraku

A series of quick shots recapping the climactic battles of each Persona game, going from 1,2,4, and 5 before ending on a front shot of Makoto on the Moonlight Bridge.

Ah~

Makoto raises the evoker to his head...

Dreaming

And fires.

ishi gyakusou

Orpheus appears behind Makoto, who is still recoiling in slow motion. Its hands are stretched out to the side, with static showing it as Thanatos and Messiah for a split second.

Shikakui sora kokoro no sukima umenu

Cut to the side, as Mako, Ren and Yu walk in, Orpheus, Arsene and Izanagi appearing behind them.

Akenu yoru

Match cut to Takaya and Strega, with a man in a large headdress, a hooded figure with a white mask, and a black-haired man with sunglasses in a suit, all three draped in shadows, watching over them from background, left to right.

kara nukeyoooou~!

Strega unleashes a dark aura, and the camera pans out to show the heroes from behind, shielding themselves from the force generated by it.

Mirai no kaizou do sage bokura wa

The dark energy overwhelms the group, and they ground their stances to stay planted.

Me wo sorashite wa naritai

Makoto is sent flying back, and Mako takes notice and begins to run to attend to him, but the bridge collapses before she can do so.

Mono nante nai to usobu ita hibi woooo~!

Cut to still shots of Ren and Yu falling, before focusing on Makoto and Mako's faces as Mako reaches out for him, a look of harsh determination on her face. As the music swells, there are rapid back and forth shots of their eyes.

I keep my ideals sorezore no jinsei

Mako finds herself back in the sky, her eyes now open wide, and a split screen shot shows all the other heroes doing the same.

Ai mo yume mo kiken na hodo kantan ni hi ga tsuichau no sa

The group is shown from the front landing on the ground unharmed on their feet, their Personas appearing following their impact. The rest of the group is shown landing as the camera pans up to show the large amount of people.

Gongu nari sorezore no tenmei woooo~!

Hard cut to the side to show the group in front of Tartarus, before the shot zooms back in to show the four heroes leading the charge, Personas behind them.

Okay, so… yeah. This is a different way to start out the story. For those of you who didn't read the original, I actually started out from another perspective before this one. I decided to change it around this time mainly because I wanted to bring Makoto back into focus. He's the center of this chapter, and I feel like telling the story this way makes his importance far more apparent right off the bat.

Now, with that said, recent recommendations. Not very hard, since this is a great season for anime. You're all probably watching Hero Academia, Shokugeki no Soma, and Steins; Gate 0 or whatever, but also make sure to check out a bunch of the other cool shit that's airing this season as well.

Megalo Box is sort of like the Steel Ball Run of Ashita no Joe, probably THE seminal boxing manga in Japan, being about a scrappy young dude called Junk Dog who throws fights for a career making an effort to rise up after a chance encounter with the world champion, Yuri. Despite how stock that premise might seem, the presentation of it is stunning. It has an excellent sense of style, great animation, and absolutely killer direction. This one looks really promising, especially considering it's an original story coming from a new director, so seriously, give it a shot.

Speaking of original shows, Studio Bones has put out Dragon Pilot: Hisone to Masotan, a cute little show about a young lady named Hisone in the SDF who finds herself shanghaied into piloting a dragon that's disguised as a fighter jet, because Japan has secretly been hiding dragons in plain sight for centuries as a way of taking advantage of their high-speed aerial capabilities. It starts off just with her learning how to pilot the thing and interacting with coworkers, but it gets by mainly on the strength of its genuine feeling characters who are still quite funny, and it's unique, heavily animated art style. Unfortunately, it's Netflix exclusive for now, and if you've been paying attention, you all know what that means.

Finally, Hinamatsuri, a cute little comedy about a vase-collecting yakuza reluctantly forced into the role of caregiver for a young, emotionally reserved psychic girl named Hina who teleports into his room. While that part of the story is strong enough as it is, the supporting cast is really where this show shines. Anzu and Hitomi, two friends of Hina's, are particular standouts. The yakuza dad himself, Nitta, is actually kind of cynical in a sense. While he does acknowledge Hina's basic needs as a child and a person, he's still a yakuza who really wasn't expecting to be forced into the role of "dad." He's less Kazuma Kiryu and more Gintoki Sakata. Nevertheless, keep an eye on this one. It's funny, heartwarming, has surprisingly good art and animation, and probably is gonna keep you wanting more. Just ignore the out-of-place intro scene though.

Okay, now that we're done with seasonal shows, I have one more recommendation for y'all in the form of an older show. From 2003, Cromartie High School is kind of like Pop Team Epic if it was about punks, and tried to have some semblance of a plot, being about a normal guy who gets stuck in a school for delinquents wherein hilarity ensues. The entire show is basically a massive experiment in low-budget visual comedy, and has probably one of the single funniest series of jokes I've ever seen in history. Trust me, once you get to episode 13, you'll be laughing your ass off. With the first punchline I had to pause the episode for a few minutes just to stop laughing, and shortly after that, I did the exact same thing once more for the exact same reason. I'm trying really hard not to spoil a lot of the great punchlines in this show, particularly in the dub, so just take my word for it and watch this one guys. It's a big winner.

And with that, I bid you adieu. Thanks a ton for reading, and see you on the flipside.