Author's Notes:

Xin Fyrrae: Hello there, this is a collaboration OC/AU fanfic with my friend KingHiro that takes place shortly after Persona 4. If OC/AU-fics bother you, then this may not be the story for you. Other than that, this is both our first times writing in this fandom and in this style, so we're open to comments and criticism. Thank you for taking the time to read Persona X, and enjoy!
KingHiro: All I could say is enjoy this story made by me and Xin Fyrrae.

Disclaimer: The original "Shin Megami Tensei: Persona" series as well as any other mentions of copyrighted material is not ours, and is copyrighted and owned by Atlus and/or their rightful owners. All material in this work that is not our own is borrowed for fair use and entertainment purposes.

Persona X
Chapter 1: A New Beginning

September 17, 2016
????

Subete no hito no damano shi...

He blinked. Those words being hummed softly sounded very ffamiliar to him, probably because he understood what they meant. It sounded like it was being played delicately by a piano in the distance. When he ignored the senses of hearing and focused more on the senses of seeing, the music was the least important thing that came to mind in place of the current aeroplane cabin covered in nothing but blue velvet.

There was a strange, elderly man sitting across from him rather contently. He appeared to be wearing very formal clothing, consisting of a dark suit with a black tie wrapped around the collar of a white shirt, and his gloved hands were relaxing on a cane placed between his lounging legs. His nose was very long and rather pointy, as were his ears. His eyes bulged out and looked rather strained and large, as though he was wearing glasses, but it appeared to be the real size of his eyes.

Sitting in the aeroplane chair next to him was a bespectacled, brown-eyed woman wearing an indigo blazer over a white blouse and a black vest. There was a round, smooth sapphire studded with pearls clipped to the blouse's ascot. A notched, dark skirt covered half of her thighs, and she wore grey stockings and black heeled shoes. There were black gloves on each of her hands, and two pink roses sparkled on her earlobes. Upon closer inspection, her long, straight red hair had dark brown roots, indicating dye, and clashed with the blue of her outfit.

The music returned to his ears as he looked around the rest of the room, realizing that he was sitting down just from across them in his own seat. He noted that the woman seemed to relax under the music, and was most likely the one who had sung those words he had recognized earlier. Still, he could not take his eyes off the man and the woman sitting from across his own, observing him as though they expected his presence.

What the hell is going on...?

The strange man raised an eyebrow at him, before he gave a strange smile – it was almost a mix of a smirk, a frown, as though he had tasted something bitter. Then without a single other movement other than his lips moving said five words:

"Welcome to the Velvet Room."

* * * * * * * *

September 17, 2016
International Airlines Flights, Flight 13

"Onii-chan! Onii-chan!"

The boy pushed away the arm shaking his own and bolted up from his seat, wide-eyed and looking very discombobulated. He blinked as he looked face-to-face with a small girl, wearing two ribbons in her dark hair and holding a large stuffed toy in her arms. She looked up at him with sparkling brown eyes, looking very enthusiastic contrast to the boy's current mood.

The boy looked at her, still unsure of what was going on, before he leaned back in his seat with a groan. What a strange dream, he thought groggily as he placed a hand to his head, brushing a few bangs away from his face before running it back through spikes of black hair. He straightened out the white T-shirt he wore and placed on the red jacket over him – it was starting to get cold. He looked down at the girl uncertainly. "What is it?" he mumbled, his body stiff and sore from sleeping on the aeroplane chair.

The girl tugged at his sleeve again and pointed out the window of the plane. "We're here, onii-chan!" she chirped happily, before she squinted at the brochure that was on her older brother's laps, trying hard to read the foreign letters. "'Ka-na-da?'" she pronounced awkwardly.

The boy chuckled, ruffling the hair of his younger sister. "Close," he replied, and looked out the window upon the urban city. There it was – the tall skyscraper that marked downtown, along with more buildings, and very nice houses that crowded the area. He glanced out with eager eyes towards that saddle-shaped building he remembered from years ago – sure enough, it was still there, looking as though any person could go on top to try and skateboard on it. "Imouto," he said affectionately. "We're finally here."

"Oi, oi, don't forget about me, onii-chan!" a male voice as young as the girl's cried out, and the older boy turned to see a younger one, who had the same dark hair and eyes as his sister's, as well as many of the same facial features. He pouted as he sat back in his seat and buckled up. "It took forever just to get to Calgary Cancun."

"Calgary Canada, Akira," the older boy corrected, still looking down upon the city with amazement and intrigue. "At least Ai knows where we're going."

"Yeah, Akira!" the girl called Ai retorted, beaming proudly at her knowledge. She pretended that the animal in her hands was talking as she held it in front of her other brother and moved its arms. "We're going to North America, and Cancun is a place in South America because it's lower in America! Right, onii-chan?"

"Idiot!" Akira snapped. "That isn't right all, North America and South America are two different places! Why don't they call the United States of America Middle America then?"

"Calm down, you two," the older brother lectured lightly, turning back to them. "We want to put on our best behaviour for our uncle and aunt, and you and your double better not drive them crazy."

This caused the two children's eyes to widen as they gasped, looking very offended, and pursed their lips as they folded their arms and looked away from their brother. "Hiro-nii-chan, how many times did we tell you?" Akira huffed. "Despite us being twins, we are two different people!"

Ai sniffed. "Do you really think that I am like Akira, onii-chan?" she pouted. "I thought you thought better of me."

The boy called Hiro sweatdropped, and he chuckled nervous as he rubbed the back of his head with a hand. He unplugged the cord attached to one of the seat speakers that connected to a headset around his neck – the object had a sleek design of black, red, and gold, and it was something he had gotten used to carrying around his neck wherever he went.

The plane finally landed smoothly on the ground, and everyone on board gave a round of applause. "Onii-chan, why do they do that?" Ai asked, grabbing a pink and white backpack from under the seat in front of her.

"It's because we landed without any shaking, duh," Akira huffed, slinging his own red and black backpack over his shoulder.

"Was I asking you, jerk?"

"Alright, come on, you two," Hiro said, grabbing their carry-on bags from the luggage container. He handed Ai one, Akira another, and grabbed the last one, extending the handle of the roll-on. "Uncle and aunt said that they would meet us down at the baggage pick-up in Terminal 8. We have to hurry."

Hiro and his siblings hurry towards their destination to meet up with their uncle and aunt for the first time in a long while. "Onii-chan, where are they? I don't see them," Ai murmured as Akira struggled to haul her luggage off the conveyor belts.

"What did you put in here, Ai?!" he groaned.

Ai looked at him irritably. "I brought all the necessary things to live in Kanda," she huffed.

"That's from that stupid anime you watch!"

"It's not stupid!"

Ai and Akira begin again to start a sibling quarrel. While they were doing that, Hiro was looking around to spot his uncle Eric and his aunt Luna. He nearly missed one of their important big luggage bags on a conveyor belt, and quickly reached for it. "Will you two help me out here?!" he scolded, tugging hard.

The bag slipped off, and Hiro nearly fell over, if not for somebody catching him.

"Hey, who look grew up!" a voice said from behind him.

Hiro immediately recognized that voice. He turned right around to face a man believed to be in his thirties, with brown eyes that were clear to see after noticing he had a brown ponytail. The man wore a loosely-buttoned striped dress shirt and a brown jacket, and had a wide smile on his face that was like looking at a little boy's. "Recognize me?" the man asked.

Hiro had a smile on his face as he stood back up straight and shook the hand of the man in front of him. "Hey, uncle Eric!" he said.

Ai and Akira stopped arguing and looked up at the strange guy in awe. Eric turned to look at them and blinked. "Oh, are these little Ai and Akira?" he questioned.

The twins hid behind Hiro. Hiro chuckled – they were still too shy at this age, and might still be frightened by him. "Yeah." He glanced behind him. "It's alright, this is our uncle Eric Johnson."

Akira blinked and looked towards him. "But how can he be our uncle?" he wondered.

Ai also blinked and looked towards him. "He's Cambodian."

Hiro sweatdropped. "Canadian." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry about that, uncle, they are a bit shy of you."

"Ha, kinda like you when I first saw you," Eric teased, and bent down to the twins' eye level. "Uhh, konnichiwa." He pointed at himself. "Uncle Eric." He pointed back at them. "Niece and nephew."

The two looked at them for a while, before Akira looked up at Hiro. "He tries too hard..." he commented dryly.

"Don't be rude, idiot, he is trying just for us!" Ai snapped.

Akira just stared at her. Then, he looked back at his uncle and raised a hand. "Hey, was sup," he panned. "It is nice to meetchu, yo."

"Akira, TV English isn't really the same as normal English..." Hiro hissed as he placed a hand over his head.

"Well, I'm trying too!"

Uncle Eric suddenly burst out laughing. Hiro and his siblings began to stare at him, wonder what was so funny. Finally, Eric began to stop laughing. "You know, Akira, you did what your big bro did when he first got here," he smirked.

Hiro and Akira flushed a bit, and Ai giggled. "Hey, I never spoke like that when you got here!" he shot back.

"No, you didn't speak like that, but you actually spoke like this." The man put on a faux tough face as he tried to mimic a younger Hiro. "Ummm h-he-heeey wha – wh – whaaaatsu up – ups?"

Akira and Ai began to giggle at this and Hiro began to flush even more. Eric's smirk softened. "But, you know, not only have you grown taller and bigger, but your English has gotten amazingly better from last time."

Hiro smiled humbly. "I had a good teacher back at home, thank you," he replied.

"I take it Ai and Akira have learned under him too? How good can they understand English?"

"Yeah, you are right, and they can understand it pretty well," Hiro said, and turned back to look at the two.

"I'm telling you, it's pronounced Kanadia!" Akira lectured towards a stubborn Ai.

"No, it's Cascada!"

"What?! Come on! Where did you get the su from?!"

"It sounds more closer than yours!"

"Does not!"

"Does so?"

Again Hiro and now Eric sweatdropped with the situation of another sibling quarrel between Ai and Akira. "Oh!" Hiro gasped. He looked around. "Uncle, where's aunt Luna?"

Eric grinned. "Oh yeah, she's waiting in the car until I get back with you guys."

"We should hurry up, then," his nephew exclaimed as he loaded their luggage onto two metal carts. "Oi, Ai, Akira, we're going to see aunt Luna now, get your stuff!"

"Ah, not a problem," Eric said. He grabbed Ai and Akira's luggage and pulled it along with the other cart. "I can do that."

Ai stopped quarrelling to look up at him with an astonished look. "Oh, sankyuu!" she said, and gave him a very cute, happy smile.

Akira rolled his eyes. "Innocent smile my – "

Ai quickly hit him on the head, and went back smiling again so innocently.

* * * * * * * *

September 17, 2016
International Airlines Airport

Finally Hiro, his sister and brother, and their Canadian uncle got outside to see what looked like a silver Honda Civic. A Japanese woman with long black hair stepped out of the shotgun seat, wearing a long white coat and black pants and shoes. Her dark eyes widened when she saw them approach. "H-Hiro!" she gasped. "Is that really you?"

Hiro gave a warm smile; it was good to see his father's sister again. "Yes, aunt Luna, it's me!" he called.

Aunt Luna came running at him to give a big warming hug to Hiro, with all her strength. It almost sounded like she was breaking Hiro's bones as Hiro gave a strangled sound as his eyes popped wide open. "Oh my, you grew up so well!" she practically squealed as Eric began loading the luggage into the trunk.

She opened her eyes, and caught sight of Ai and Akira. Ai looked happy to see a female. Akira, however, looked the opposite as he took a step back. The woman suddenly had a twinkle in her eye as she stared at her niece and nephew.

She quickly let go of Hiro from the hug. He fell to the ground and began to grumble about his back as she looked towards the twins. Ai and Akira began to get frightened after they realized how much this looked like a wolf preying on its meat. "Ai..." Akira started, taking another step back. "Get ready to run to safety..."

The twinkle reappeared in the woman's eyes. "You know I can still understand my native language..." Luna drawled as she raised her arms.

Ai and Akira looked again at their aunt's eyes. They were about to bolt, until...

Suddenly, Eric dashed from the now empty metal cart near the trunk, swooped the woman up, and dipped her. "Ahh, just looking at your love and affection for your dear family makes me want to love you even more, dear," he purred with a sly smile.

Luna turned pink as she giggled. "Oh, Eric-bear," she sighed.

Luna and Eric began to sweet talk one another while Hiro, Akira and Ai began to sweatdrop at their aunt and uncle's affection to one another. "It's kind of sweet..." Ai murmured. She held onto Hiro's hand and looked up at him with a smile. "Onii-chan, can we go now? I'm sleepy."

Akira huffed. "I can stay up all I can, I want to see that big saddle thing Hiro was talking about, and and the Celery Tower!" he cried enthusiastically as he pumped his fists in the air.

At that moment, he began to yawn as he stretched his arms out even more. Eric and Luna immediately noticed this. "Oh, we should probably get home soon," Eric said. He closed the trunk and opened the car doors for them. "Hiro, you can ride shotgun, you're a little tall for the back anyway."

Akira's eyes widenened. "Sh - SHOTGUN?!" he yelled. He began to hide behind Hiro, as though to protect himself.

Eric and Luna exchanged glances, before both burst out laughing. "Hiro, he's exactly like you were as a kid," their uncle wheezed.

Luna chuckled as she got in the back. "Yep!"

Hiro rolled his eyes with a smirk. "Akira, there is nothing to being afraid of, there is no shotgun, it's just the phrase of sitting in the front next to the driver's seat," he explained.

Akira and Ai gave a relieved sigh in unison. Ai's eyes clouded over. "I don't want you to leave us alone, onii-chan..." she mumbled.

Akira nodded slowly. "Y – yeah..."

Hiro turned to face them, and placed his hand on each one of their shoulders. Luna noticed this, but did not say anything as she looked away briefly for a moment, almost in remembrance, before she put on a smile as she tapped the back seat. "Come on now, the faster we get home the quicker you can all get some rest," she said.

Ai and Akira turned away from their big brother to look towards Luna. Luna gave a comforting smile to them. "Don't worry, I'm not going to bite," she added for extra reassurance.

Ai seems convinced as she nodded and jumped to sit next to her. Akira, however, was still a bit wary of her as he scooched in slowly next to his sister, watching his aunt carefully. "C'mon, Hiro, hurry up and climb in the shotgun," Eric said as he got in the driver's seat.

Ai and Akira twitched again. Luna sighed. "We may need to find a new name for it, dear..."

Eric rolled his eyes. "Fine, hurry up and get in the London's driver's seat."

Hiro just sweatdropped at the name – for one good reason, it sounded out of place. "Get in the car next to me, please," Eric sighed with a surrendering, half-lidded look towards his nephew.

"Okay," Hiro quickly responded, climbing in the car and fastening his seatbelt right away.

Eric couldn't help but smirk – his English improved, but as long as Hiro was around him, he'd have to teach Hiro how to butcher it more to his tastes. "Alright, let's go," he announced, and he drove the car out of the airport.

September 17, 2016
Downtown Calgary

They arrived in downtown of the city pretty shortly. "As you can see, the buildings got a little sleeker, more glossy too, but they're still as big as ever," Eric told Hiro as he drove down the very industrious structures. "Alberta is pretty much the heart of Canada's economy right now, and in Calgary, a majority of us work in a lot of business jobs."

Ai and Akira looked around in rapt interest. "It's sort of like the districts, onii-chan!" Ai pointed out.

Eric chuckled as he gestured towards a large skyscraper needle. "Now this I think Akira mentioned earlier..." he remarked.

The male twin let out an amazed gasp. "USO!"Akira marvelled,looking up at it with wide eyes. "I thought it would be only like the radio towers!"

Hiro chuckled as well. "The Yokohama Landmark was taller than this though," he reminded his younger brother.

Akira smiled widely. "Yeah, but this is like a needle!" he replied. "It was like that one you saw at Shuttle!"

Luna giggled at Akira's mispronunciation of the United States place. "We'll probably get to go to it some time later on," she told them as they drove by some smaller chain stores.

Eric nodded as he continued to drive. "By the way, are any of you hungry?" he asked.

A stomach suddenly grumbled loudly. Ai blushed and Akira snickered. Luna laughed. "Looks like we can stop somewhere to eat, then," she concluded.

* * * * * * * *

September 17, 2016
Red Oak Circle, Northwest Calgary

After they ate out at a fast-food restaurant (Hiro did not remember the food at that place being as greasy as it was now) and filled their stomachs, they finally returned back to their home at around evening's peak. Hiro, Ai and Akira marvelled at the neighbourhood. "This is Red Oak Circle," Eric explained. "We just got a house here two years ago."

Luna nodded. "The mortgage is still going to take us about six or so years to pay off, but I love it," she beamed.

Hiro nodded – he could see why, this neighbourhood looked really nice and peaceful. Every house had a lawn and was spaced out pretty evenly, and there were pine trees and nice gardens in front of most of these homes. "This is a developing neighbourhood too, so it's still pretty new," he said as he drove past a field with a small pond, a bench, and a little park.

At last, the car turned into a cul-de-sac. "Here we are, the Johnson Residence," Eric announced as they stopped in front of a spacious-looking blue-rimmed, white house. "The garage is full, though, so we can't park inside."

Hiro was the first to get out as he looked up in amazement at the new house he would be staying at. "Uncle, this looks so nice," he commented in awe as Eric got out of the car and opened the back of the trunk. "I am glad you managed to get all this."

He reached for a bag, but his uncle shook his head. "Nah, Hiro, I'm fine, you don't have to help," Eric told him. "You should get to sleep. You look sort of out of it."

In truth, Hiro was pretty out of it. "Just tell me which one of these bags has your pajamas and toothbrush and bedtime stuff," he added as he pulled out the bags and placed them on the drive-way. He smirked at Hiro. "You still don't sleep with stuffed animals, do you?"

Hiro's face reddened as he grabbed one of the roll-on bags. "No, uncle, I've grown," he called back as he walked inside the house.

Eric just looked at him walk off, and smiled to himself as he closed the trunk. "You sure have, Hiro," he murmured.

As Hiro was directed by Luna into his new room after brushing his teeth, he placed his luggage down, zipped it open, and quickly got changed. He placed his headphones near a computer – that was really too much of them, he could pay for a computer with his own money – and walked out to check on Ai and Akira in their own room. Turns out they had already fallen fast asleep, back-to-back, Ai hugging her stuffed animal tightly.

Hiro nodded to himself as he went back to his room, and flopped onto the queen-sized mattress. It was a really comfortable bed – it must have been his uncle and aunt's before. He decided not to pursue the implications of that thought as he threw the sheets over himself – Calgary was still pretty cold at night. Hopefully, it wouldn't go from a sunny day to a snowy one tomorrow, like his last Christmas visit.

As Hiro looked from the ceiling out the window to the left, noting the clear full moon glowing in the night sky, he sighed contently. "Canada, treat me well," he said, then closed his eyes and soon fell fast asleep.

To Be Continued...

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