Disclaimer: I do not own Shin Megami Tensei Persona 3, Shin Megami Tensei Persona 3 FES, or Shin Megami Tensei P3P nor any of its characters. All are copyrighted under Atlus and all rights belong to them.

Author's notes: I've always loved P3, and it's been an all time favorite game. When they came out with P3P with Hamuko (I'm sorry, I go with that name ever since I learned that that was the name Atlus came up with), I wondered how it would be with them together in the story.

So this is the result. I know a lot of people may not like the idea of the two not being siblings in this story and instead are the main couple, but I'm sorry, it just came out that way.

I always listen to music while writing stories, and naturally, the song I listened to was Burn My Dread last battle version which DISCLAIMER: I don't own either, sung by Lotus Juice with Yumi Kawamura, and Is composed by Shoji Meguro with all rights belonging to him. (That's a guys name right…?) So if you're looking for music that song fits well of course.

Last thing. I would like to thank Shylien7765 for listening to a complete stranger and looking over, editing, and suggesting things over the first chapter. She did a great job and I appreciate her help immensely!

Now, may I introduce the first chapter of "Persona P3P: Their Journey"

The train sped beneath the looming buildings, lights from the train carts blurring across the various surfaces through the night, the almost full moon rising steadily in the sky. The interior of the carts were practically empty, it being so late in the night. Passengers were far and few between, scattered about; a few here, and a few there. Sitting absolutely alone in one cart however, was a certain figure, dark blue eyes staring out the window at the blurred landscape. His hair was a darker shade of blue, medium and full, part of it hanging over his right eye. He looked to be in his late teens, adorned with a school uniform composed of black dress coat and pants, a white dress shirt, a blue ribbon tied around his neck, and the seal for a "Gekkoukan High School" on the left side of his dress coat.

His eyes tore away momentarily from the window down to the long cylindrical MP3 player in his hand. His thumb quietly pressed a few buttons scrolling through the songs until he found a new song. There pause and then new music started up in the silver circular headphones that hung upon his ears. His eyes went back up and looked around the train cart. The particular cart he was on contained no other occupants, the white seats empty, the only sounds moving through the cart being the grinding of the wheels against the track and the creaking of the hand holders swinging from the ceiling.

The young man didn't seem to mind, however, as he turned back to look out the window. The city lights had since disappeared from view as the train had entered into a tunnel, the lights now being replaced by a reflection of him on the glass. You could hear his music loudly even with his headphones on, yet even then he was somehow able too hear the announcement come over the train speakers. He turned down the volume on his player.

"Attention all passengers. I would like to first off apologize for the delay. We hope that it didn't adversely affect any of your schedules. The current time is 11:53 and we'll be arriving in Iwatodai Station shortly. Please make sure that you have all of your belongings, and we hope you make it safely…"

The young man didn't hear anything else as he turned the volume up once more and quickly made sure his bag was ready as he felt the train start to slow down. He quietly threw it over his shoulder as he stood up and the station came into view through the windows. With a quiet screeching of brakes and a slight jerk, the train came to a stop, and the doors hissed open. Cold wind hit his face as he stepped out onto the station platform. Only a handful of passengers were getting off the train, a few running off up the stairs into the darkness, no doubt late for some appointment, while others simply walked off. The young man stopped on the platform as he heard the train let out another hiss and start up once more. He frowned as he pulled up his sleeve and checked his watch.

11:59

He was extremely late. The delay had thrown his schedule off quite a few hours. He could only hope that the dorm was still open and he wouldn't get in trouble. With a sigh he took a step forward, and then everything seemed to freeze.

The lights suddenly faded out throwing everything into darkness, the sounds of the train suddenly gone, and his music simply died without any warning. The temperature seemed to drop ten degrees as the full moon above took on a sickish pale yellow color, everything under it shed under a ghostly green light. The young man blinked, confused. He blinked once more, as though thinking his eyes had tricked him, but nothing changed when he opened them again. He pulled up his mp3 player. It was completely dead, no light, no numbers, nothing. His eyes flicked over to his watch. The two hands had stopped on the twelve, even the second hand hovering perfectly above it as well, and the analog clock located under the hands were dead as well.

He frowned as he looked up, seeming to try to decide something. Finally he just let out a sigh and reached into his pocket pulling out a piece of paper. His eyes scanned over the handwriting as he slowly started forward and out of the station, his footsteps the only sound around him. He walked out onto the chilly streets, everything in the same greenish light as the station had been, but the young man continued onward, still walking down the street. He turned a corner and once more paused as a new scene greeted his eyes.

Scattered about the street in different intervals, some alone, some grouped together, were upright wooden coffins, bathed in an eerie red glow. The young man at this point seemed to wonder if he should just turn around, but after a moment took a step forward, only to step into a puddle of liquid on the ground. The young man's sight shifted downwards to the large puddle, ripples moving across it from the disturbance of his foot. He paused, noticing that it was thicker and moved slower then water. Leaning down, he touched it with his finger tip, lifting it so he could examine it. Its consistency was thick, the color a deep red. His nostrils flared as the smell hit his nose, and with a slight jolt he understood what it was. He had stepped in a pool of blood. Looking about, he noticed that there were quite a few puddles of blood all around, as though something horrible had happened there. He stood up and flicked the drop off and continued forward through the puddles.

After what felt like an eternity, he stopped in front of the large dorm building; his destination. It was just as quiet and dead as everything else about it, building dark and silent. He paused and checked his player once more. After getting no response from the device, he sighed and slowly started up the steps to the door. Stopping in front of the door, he took out the key he had received and with a gentle click, he fitted it in the door handle. With a turn, he slowly pushed open the door. The lobby he entered was even darker then outside, and he could barely make out the details and the furniture around the room. Closing the door behind himself he let the bag drop from his shoulder to the ground with a loud thump. A sudden motion caught his eye the instant after the thump as a figure suddenly seemed to jump up from one of the couches in the room.

"Who's…?"

The young man froze as he heard the voice and saw the figure move clearly into view. He wasn't sure what to do; he hadn't expected anyone to be up at this forsaken hour and with everything that was outside… or at least what he thought he saw outside… He opened his mouth to speak, to say his name and quickly introduce himself, but his voice was caught in his throat as the figure stepped forward. Even though the voice had given it away clearly, the young man could tell from the figure that it was a young woman that had stood up, a good few inches shorter then him. Her hair was pulled back in a large layered ponytail, held back with pins, part of her hair over her forehead, and even in the dim light he could see the same school uniform as his; black coat, large bow, skirt and knee high socks, the same school seal. However, it wasn't those details that had caused him to go silent.

His eyes had automatically moved to hers as she stepped forward, and something seemed to click in his mind. While in this dim light he couldn't see the color of them, couldn't see the major details of anything, something about those eyes that caused him to pause. They were… familiar… like he had seen them before… like he had memorized them before. He couldn't put his finger on it but it felt like he knew this young woman. But that made no sense to him. He couldn't remember meeting anyone looking like the young woman before him. For that matter he had never lived in Iwatodai… well… at least not after that incident…

During this whole time the girl had been frozen as well, having seemed to lost her own words in her throat as well, just as mystified with his eyes as he was with hers. Her mouth opened for a moment, hesitating, then spoke. "Do… do I… know you?" she asked cocking her head to the side questioningly.

His voice seemed to jump back down and he was about to ask the same thing when a single light turned on next to them, and a new voice spoke.

"My, you're both so late…"

The two heads spun to the side at the entrance desk and towards the source of the voice. Standing under a single light behind the desk was a dark haired boy, dressed in a white shirt and pants, with black strips across it, making it look like a prison suit. The young man had completely missed him when he had walked in. But the light wasn't on either when he walked in. How had…

The young boy gave smile to the two, his piercing light blue eyes seeming to look through the two knowingly. "I was wondering if you two would get here at all." He reached behind the desk and pulled up two red folders. "No harm done though. Here you are." He quietly flipped open the first page of each folder, revealing identical typed pages.

The boy continued as the two stepped forward to examine the folders and he walked around the desk. "It's a contract." He smiled again as he saw the young man's face burrow in confusion. "It's nothing really. It only says that you will take responsibility for your actions, and accept all the consequences of those actions. You know…" His smile widened. "The usual."

The young man's eyes scanned over the page quietly, confused. He looked up to ask for more details of the boy but his voice had disappeared once again as he saw the smile and the eyes. He looked over at the young woman next to him. Her own eyes were scanning the page, her mouth open to say something, but silently closing instead, her own voice seeming to have disappeared as well. The young man's eyes turned back to the boy as the boy placed two pens forward.

"Well?"

The young man's hand went forward as though with a mind of its own and grasped the pen lightly, pulling it down to the paper. It froze, hovering above the line at the bottom as his mind raced, then gently pressed down on the paper, and in smooth scrawling hand writing signed his name.

X Arisato, Minato

With a suddenly shaky hand he placed the pen on the table and out of the corner of his eye looked at the young woman. She took a deep breath herself and in large, fancy curves signed her own name. He was able to get a glance at the signed name.

X Hirabashi, Hamuko

The boy seemed much happier as he took the two red folders and closed them. "It is done." He smiled. "You can't runaway from it, you can't drown it out no matter how you try." With a twist of the hand the two folders seemed to turn and disappear into the air. The darkness suddenly seemed to move forward towards them as it started to engulf the boy, his piercing blue eyes still visible. "Good luck on your journeys." He disappeared in the darkness as his last words hung upon the air.

"I look forward to seeing how you shape it."

With an audible click the single light went dead, plunging both Minato and Hamuko into darkness once more. Minato let out a breath that he didn't know he had been holding and swallowed hard as he stood there, hearing a similar reaction from Hamuko next to him. He turned his head to look at her as she did the same at the same time, mirroring his actions, mouths open to speak.

"Who's there?"

Minato's head swiveled to the stairs at the far end of the room, another figure having suddenly appeared there. The voice was nervous, shaky, demanding. Minato's heart suddenly hammered in his chest as he saw the young woman in the shadows staring at them, body at the ready, hand hovering over something on her leg. His blood froze and ran cold as his mind registered what the object was, and his heart jumped as her hand flew down towards the object in a blur. His body moved without thought as he stepped in front of Hamuko preparing to protect the young woman he didn't even know from the attack as the young woman's hand pulled it up and raised it ready too…

"Takeba wait!"

Time froze in that moment once more like it had done when he stepped off the train and everything seeming to stand still and hold its breath. Then, in the next instant, the lights clicked on all about them throwing bright light upon them, the electronics turning on, Minato's clock hands and analog clock moving once more, and the humming of the lights sounding once more. It took a moment for it to register, but he realized that his music was playing once more in his ears where it had stopped before, though; he could hear faint music behind it. Daring to move his head he looked behind him, and ironically, saw the same Mp3 player hooked on her chest and the same exact headphones dangling around her neck, though red in color unlike his silver ones. Even more ironic, the song was from the same artist as his music.

He didn't have time to appreciate this as he heard footsteps in the direction of the stairs. Coming down the stairs was a tall, dark red haired young woman, her hair long and flowing over one shoulder and covering one eye, a small confident smile gracing her features as she observed the two newcomers. She had an air of natural confidence and leadership about her, which only added to the fact that she looked beautiful. The same uniform he and Hamuko wore adorned her as well, though she optioned for no coat, a longer skirt, and long black boots.

"I was wondering if you two were going to make it tonight," she said walking up to the two. She glanced over at the other young woman behind her giving her light nod. "I was under the impression you would be arriving earlier then this."

"Sempai… are these the two new students?" asked the young woman behind her.

Minato took her in as well. In contrast to the dark red, long flowing hair of the first, this one had short dirt brown hair that curled around her head and came out swept to one side, while the front was parted to the other side. She wore a pink coat, short skirt and red bow with a heart shaped choker and black socks, and the entire outfit seemed to give her a girl next door look; naturally beautiful and friendly. Her eyes seemed to swivel from him and Hamuko to the window nervously as her hand played with her skirt absentmindedly. Minato's eyes lowered down to what was hooked around her leg as his suspicions were confirmed. A brown leather holster was there, and inside it was the gleaming metal handle of a gun. The girl had previously holstered it as the red head had called her name it seemed.

"Yes Takeba," said the red head. She turned to the two and smiled. "Welcome to the dorm. I'm Mitsuru Kirijo, a senior at Gekkoukan. I'm a student living here at the dorm." She looked at the brunette. "And this is Yukari Takeba, she's a third year like both of you."

Yukari smiled nervously and nodded at the two. "Hello."

Hamuko came up smiling brightly at the two. "Nice to meet you both! I'm Hamuko Hirabashi."

Minato bowed slightly as his face curved into the small smile it seemed to settle into so naturally. "Minato Arisato. Pleasure to meet you both."

Mitsuru must have noticed Minato's eyes staring at the gun before he introduced himself because she motioned to the gun. "Forgive Takeba. Just a precaution. You never know who it is in this day and age."

Minato nodded, accepting the answer for now as Hamuko just smiled. "Of course! Better to be safe then sorry!" she said.

"Your main baggage has already arrived here and is in your rooms," explained Mitsuru. "It was a last minute decision to move you both here; there was a slight mix up with your assignments. Eventually you'll both be moved to other dorms."

"Are you sure that's… wise Sempai?" asked Yukari hesitantly.

Minato frowned inwardly at that comment. He wasn't that type of guy. But to his surprise Mitsuru chuckled and smiled. "Well we'll just have to see now won't we?" She smiled reassuringly at Minato. "Well, I'm sure you two are both tired from your trips, and we do have school tomorrow. Takeba will show you both to your rooms. I hope you both have a pleasant night."

Yukari, while still seeming slightly nervous, smiled at the two. "Follow me."

Minato silently grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder as he and Hamuko started after Yukari and up the stairs. "You'll be on the second floor," said Yukari to Minato. "The third floor is for the girls; that's where me and Mitsuru-sempai live, and where you'll live Hamuko."

"Is there anyone else living here?" asked Minato.

"Another fourth year. Akihiko-sempai. He's never really around much." She paused slightly then spoke again. "I doubt you'll see him before you transfer," explained Yukari, the pause not lost upon Minato.

The three walked up to the second floor rest area and down the hallway where the dorm rooms were. Yukari stopped at the last door on the right. "Here's your room. Easy to remember huh?" she asked laughing slightly. "We have to wake up early to get the tram that will take us to school on time so be ready okay?" She frowned then smiled as though remembering something, and pulled something out of her pocket. "Oh. Here's your key. Do NOT lose it. You'll be in huge trouble and you'll never hear the end of it from the dorm president. Any questions?"

The boy and his contract come instantly to his mind, as well as what had happened on his way over to the dorm. But even he knew it was all far fetched and if he asked Yukari, she would think he was crazy. He just simply shook his head

"Sleep well," said Yukari then paused, her face settling into that nervous look once more. "Hey… real quick… did you two see anything… unusual on your way over here?"

Minato kept his face straight and quickly looked at Hamuko. Though her own face had the smile upon it he thought he saw something of recognition pass across her eyes. But she cocked her head questioningly once more to the side and spoke for the both of them. "What do you mean unusual?"

Minato turned to look at Yukari, taking on his own questioningly look and Yukari frowned slightly then smiled and gave a shaky laugh. "Just wondering. Don't worry about it. Sleep well."

Minato watched the two young women walk down the hallway and out of sight as they climbed up the staircase then slowly unlocked his room and walked in. It was a simple room; a bed, desk, computer, TV, sink, and mirror. He was quite satisfied with it all. He didn't need anything extravagant. Silently he closed the door behind him and placed his bag on his bed, unzipping it and taking out his school supplies.

His movements slowed as he thought back to the events of the night. Everything he had seen made no sense. The world had changed just an hour ago, everything going dead on him, coffins lining the streets in pools of blood, the moon that yellow color. When he came here, a boy was here making him sign a contract about "choices", only to disappear in the darkness right in front of his and Hamuko's eyes, and only to be replaced by a girl pointing a gun at them. He paused as he got ready to put his school books away.

"Hamuko Hirabashi…" he muttered under his breath.

That raised other questions. She was the only other person he had seen that night, during that weird little period of time. Had she seen what he had seen? When Yukari had asked the two of them about "unusual things" he could have swore he had seen something register in her eyes, but she said she hadn't seen anything unusual. But, she could have lied… just like he had… And if he hadn't been hallucinating about this all, she was definitely there with the boy. She had signed the contract just like him. Could it possibly be something that you had to do when you joined the dorm? A type of student agreement? And if that was, was the boy part of the dorm then? Did Hamuko know something about it? Would she be able to explain it if he asked her?

He closed the drawer as he unpacked the last of the books and closed his eyes breathing deeply. No. No, he wouldn't ask her about it. All of it couldn't have been real. It made no logical sense. Somehow his eyes tricked his brain, and he lost touch with reality, or hallucinated, or SOMETHING. He couldn't explain how he was tricked, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know how, but nothing he saw was real tonight. He would keep his mouth shut. Maybe he was just tired from the trip. The lack of sleep must have caused it. He put the now empty bag in the closet, dressed into his sleep ware, and collapsed upon the bed. He just needed sleep. It would all work out. He would wake up tomorrow, and just remember it all as a bad dream he thought it was. His eyes slowly closed, his body aching for the sleep it desperately needed.

You can't drown it out… can't outrun it… no matter how hard you try.

Minato's eyes snapped open as the voice seemed to echo through his head. He breathed in deeply and shook his head vigorously. Despite his body aching for sleep, it took a lot of tossing and turning, the words haunting him until he finally closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Author Notes: I know this first chapter is slow without much dialogue and action, and with way to many descriptions. I'm working on improving all of that and I plan to put more interesting things in the second chapter and later ones, including more scenes based solely upon Minato and Hamuko, so if you didn't like this first chapter, please at least read the second one before deciding whether to burn or kill me.

All reviews are welcome, just please keep flames to a respectful manner and as suggestions. You can either contact me through the reviews or private messaging, and all ideas questions or thoughts are welcome. Also, if you have any songs beyond the persona soundtrack that you think would be good and will go with the story, please send them to me. I love music and always try to have a song go with a chapter and will always give credit where credit is due on the suggestions (both on music and story).

Thanks again, second chapters halfway done at the time this was posted, so I should have it up soon.

LightningStorm98