Disclaimer: Do not own Persona 3. Fun and games only to be had.

N.B: Totally ignoring events revealed in FES, because apparently the timeline is EVEN WORSE than when in the original game.

Growing Pains

His things, packed in just a small duffle, were still shoved in a corner of the room. If it wasn't for the fact that there was only one single bed, Shinji might have thought that the orphanage had moved them to a new room in the wings. But the smell of new paint, the lack of cracks in the ceiling, the feel of crisp, fresh sheets and the lack of noisy kids dispelled the idea that he was at the orphanage. No, this was his own place. Sort of.

Well, with the exception of one noisy kid.

"Man, this is pretty awesome, isn't it, Shinji?"

Awesome, in relation to where they were now. Iwatodai Dormitories. He recalled looking at the place that was to be called their home for the next two, maybe three years. Home, huh. Absently, he wondered what people would have thought of when it was said that the Iwatodai dormitories would be co-ed.

Akihiko didn't seem particularly bothered about the fact that they were going to share a building with a girl, especially one who's the daughter and sole heiress of the Kirijo Group. Then again, nothing seemed to faze Akihiko much these days, ever since they woke up to the Dark Hour, always surrounded by lying coffins.

"Can you imagine? Gekkoukan, I never would have dared to dream-"

"You know I'm shit at studying, Aki."

That earned him a punch barely bordering on painful. "Shinji, be grateful."

"I am. First time having a room to myself. Don't have to hear you snore anymore. Luxurious."

Now that punch hurt. "Jackass. I don't snore."

"Okay then, I'll leave a tape recorder in your room to prove it."

There was a polite knock on his bedroom door, and Akihiko nearly stumbled over his own two feet in an attempt to open it. Their new dormmate stood in the doorway, arms customarily crossed over her chest. At first it irked Shinjiro, but he came to recognise it as a purely protective gesture. They were still uncomfortable with each other, after all.

"Kirijo-san!"

"...Kirijo."

The slightly pinched look on her face seemed to indicate that somehow, it hadn't been the greatest idea to move in with two complete strangers. Boys, even. Perhaps, if not for the fact that all of them share the strange phenomenon of being aware of an hour that should not exist, Shinjiro thought that they wouldn't be where they were now.

Funny how things worked out.

Mitsuru fingered the edge of her sleeve before she coughed and said, "It's late. I know it's Sunday tomorrow, but-"

"Yes, Mom," Shinjiro drawled, prompting a shocked, "Shinji!" from Akihiko. It didn't stop the Kirijo heiress from flushing and her lips thinned. She made to turn away but Akihiko clutched her arm.

"Hey, don't let that bother you. Shinji's like that."

She smiled at him uncertainly. "Thank you, Sanada-san."

"Aki. Call me Aki."

For some reason, Mitsuru looked to Shinjiro instead, and he found himself unable to meet her steady gaze. What did she think she was doing, looking at him like she was asking for permission- "Thank you, Sanada-san," she repeated, and extricated herself gracefully from his grip. "Have a good night."

Akihiko watched her go with a puzzled look on his face, and shook his head. "I never could understand girls."

Shinjiro snorted, and then threw the sole pillow at Akihiko, who yowled in indignation. "You heard her," he said, "go to bed."

"What the hell," Akihiko retorted, throwing the pillow back. "Suddenly you're listening to Kirijo-san?" He made to go back to his spot on the bed, but Shinjiro was already rolling over in a semblance of going to sleep.

"Well, I think it's time for me to enjoy my first luxurious night without your snoring, remember?"

Even though he couldn't see him, the curious explosive noise told Shinjiro more than enough. "Honestly," Akihiko spat out in the end. "Good night, Shinji."

"Night."

Thankfully, Akihiko shut the lights and closed the door after him, leaving Shinjiro to stare blankly at the wall for a few minutes. He didn't like the look Mitsuru shot him, didn't like the sudden changes that were being wrought in his life. Dark Hour and Persona and Shadows and now Kirijo Mitsuru.

Too much, he found himself thinking sourly, before closing his eyes.

"Psst. Shinji."

He didn't know when he fell asleep, but he was suddenly, rudely, woken up again by none other than Akihiko. He tried to keep still to avoid detection.

"Shinji. I know you're awake. Your breathing changed."

Damn. He cracked open one eye, somehow relieved to see that the world had not turned a sick green to his sight. "Time?" he grunted. It better be after the Dark Hour shit, because even though they had grown used to the strange variation of the world, Shinjiro heartily preferred sleeping through it whenever he could. Too bad Akihiko's body seemed attuned to waking up before it or halfway through it, and if he awoke during the hour then he woke Shinjiro up as well.

"I...I think, after one," Akihiko said, still whispering, caught in the throes of orphanage habits, even if the only other occupant in the entire building was a floor away, and probably sleeping a peaceful, uninterrupted sleep. His white hair glinted in the light of the waning moon, face half hidden by the edge of the bed.

"Well?"

"I can't sleep."

"...what."

Akihiko swallowed loudly. "It's, it's too quiet." But there was something in his voice, and Shinjiro sighed loudly before lifting the blankets, and the other boy scrambled under the covers. His feet pressed against Shinjiro's legs, but due to the coming summer, at least they weren't cold.

"Thought you said this was awesome," he murmured. Akihiko rooted around the covers for a moment, before popping up to share the pillow with Shinjiro.

"You've got a better bed that I have."

"You woke me up to tell me this?"

"...Yeah."

There was silence for a few minutes, but already the sound of another person breathing was more familiar and, as much as Shinjiro hated to admit, comforting.

Just habits of the orphanage.

"Kirijo is going to kill us in the morning, you know. 'You each have your own room for a reason,'" he imitated in a raspy voice. Somewhere below his chin Akihiko chuckled once dryly.

"You shouldn't be so mean to Kirijo-san. After all, she-"

Immediately he felt his chest clench. "I'm going back to sleep," he announced, and tried to turn away, but just like a few hours before, Akhiko's hand stopped him as he did Mitsuru.

"Damn it, Shinji," he hissed. "Would it kill you to be nice to someone else other than me?"

"I was nice to Miki."

He heard a sharp intake of breath, and then, "That's not the point!"

"It's the dead of the night, Aki. If your real intention in waking me up was to talk about Kirijo Mitsuru, you can haul your sorry ass off back to your room. I've had enough."

Shinjiro took the opportunity to turn over fully, crossing his arms over his belly. He didn't know why he was being so hostile to his best friend, and he hated feeling that way, but the idea of Akihiko speaking for a complete stranger made his stomach twist. He was fine with Akihiko making friends aside from him, Akihiko had tons of friends from the orphanage, but to push another person on him...that was something Shinjiro thought he couldn't take.

Akihiko squirmed behind him, and he could feel two fists form on the skin of his back, before the other boy whispered, "I just...she's like us. She knows more about this...this thing than us. I thought, maybe it would be good if-

He whirled around before Akihiko could continue babbling like an idiot. "Aki, just, just shut up. Please."

"Give her a chance, Shinji," Akihiko wheedled, and Shinjiro felt the last bit of his resistance shattering. He blamed it on the fact that he would really, really like to go back to sleep.

"Oh for- If I tried, would you shut up about this?"

Akihiko's smile was brilliant even in the darkness. "You know I always will."

He thought about smacking Akihiko at the back of his head, and then did it anyway. The resultant "ow" offered a little recompensation from the feeling that he just lost to Akihiko, again. "Go to sleep, dumbass," he told Akihiko.

In the morning he was woken up by a sharp rapping on his door, and he stumbled off the end of the back instead of attempting to crawl over Akihiko's sprawled, sleeping body. There was only one person who could be knocking at his door anyway, and the commanding, "Aragaki-san," served to confirm her identity.

"Hold on," he croaked, moving to the washbasin and splashing some water on his face and rinsing his mouth. After a brief consideration, he pulled his wrinkled shirt down hard and ran fingers through his hair in a poor attempt to tame it. Then he went to answer the door before Mitsuru knocked a hole. "Yes?"

Mitsuru's fist narrowly stopped before hitting his face. "Aragaki-san," she repeated, before she blinked and then said, "Good morning. Tonight, we'll be meeting with the Chairman to talk about what we're going to do with the Dark Hour and the Sha-"

Shinjiro snorted loudly, making her eyes widen before she narrowed them in anger. "Aragaki-san," she started, and he raised a hand to placate her.

"Kirijo...san, look. I know we got off on the wrong foot yesterday, but I don't do the formality or the boot camp shit. It's one thing at the orphanage, but we're all equals here, yeah? Maybe it's just the way you speak, but," he let out an irritated whoosh of air, "Anyway, I'm sorry about yesterday. Maybe we could start over." He stuck out a hand, letting his fringe fall over his eyes. "Aragaki Shinjiro. Pleased to meet you."

There was a suspicious sound, much like a mix between a laugh and a cough, and then Mitsuru replied in her snotty, yet distinctly amused tone, "Apology accepted. I am Kirijo Mitsuru. Pleased to meet you."

They shook hands, and for a moment, all was well with the world.

Until there was a muffled thump behind him, and then a confused, "Owwww. Shinji?" rang in the silence.

Mitsuru's grip turned deadly tight, and the smile on her face was deceptively sweet. "Is there something I should know about between you and Sanada-san? You do know that you each have your own room for a reason..."

-end-