the mermaid queen - symbiosis

8/19/2019 The Mermaid Queen - Symbiosis

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Symbiosis

Story: Symbiosis

Storylink: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11592129/1/

Category: Persona Series

Genre: Adventure/Friendship

Author: The Mermaid Queen

Authorlink: https://www.fanfiction.net/u/1895551/

Last updated: 02/13/2016

Words: 134926

Rating: T

Status: In Progress

Content: Chapter 1 to 29 of 29 chapters

Source: FanFiction.net

Summary: "Two in harmony surpasses one in perfection." Because apparently dying young once wasn't enough, she's

thrown for a loop and left in the mind of mankind's future martyr. A slightly unorthodox take on the OC SI phenomenon.

https://www.fanfiction.net/u/1895551/https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11592129/1/


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*Chapter 1*: Down the Rabbit Hole

Disclaimer : I do not own Persona 3—or any version of the Persona series , really. I just own this rather shameless piece

of work.

Other Notes: This fanfic is brought to you by FANOWRIMO and my own inability to stop playing the game through again

no matter how depress ed the ending makes me. Also, I've been reading too many OC SI reincarnation fanfics like Silver

Queen's famous Dreaming of Sunshine as well as others, such as Runner by CompYES and Casalinga by Freydris—

which als o ins pired the m ainly non-OC-centric POV of this story.

Symbiosis

Chapter One

For as long as five-year-old Minato could remember, he had never been alone.

Okay, so maybe his mom and dad rarely left him unless they had work. And maybe they hired a babysi tter to watch over

him when they were both gone. But he didn't mean it that way.

He may be a kid, but he wasn't stupid. He knew he couldn't actually be left alone, physically. He knew that because when

he tried insis ting that he was old enough to not need a babysitter, his mom and dad told him that they worried. It was for

their sake, they said, so that they knew he was s afe and no bad guys got him while they were away.

Minato understood that. It was common knowledge that bad guys used the precious people of the good guys to make

them hurt. So he s topped pestering his parents about babysitters after that, so he wouldn't worry them about being by

himself.

Anyway, back to the point, Minato was sm art enough to know that he couldn't be physical ly alone. But he also knew that

even around other people he could s till be lonely . That was what some girl said on a TV show he saw once, anyway.

Minato couldn't really relate to that, though.

He was never lonely, had never known "true loneliness ", because he had his Other.

His Other lived in his mind, curled up and settled in a back corner like the puppy he saw once in his neighbor's house. At

first, Minato barely even noticed his Other there. His Other had been with him since he was born, he was pretty sure,

since he couldn't remember a time he didn't feel that presence in the back of his head, but it was only at his recent fifthbirthday that he got curious enough to investigate it.

Because it moved.

Well, maybe not move. His Other wasn't physical. But it shifted somehow, like something asleep twitching in a dream.

Sometimes , he tried to get his Other's attention, imagining himself prodding at the mental presence. But other than his

Other shi fting again in response, it never responded and instead, as Minato convinced himself, kept sleeping.

But that was okay. Minato s till liked his Other even if it was lazy as heck.

His Other was his cons tant companion, sleeping habi ts aside. Ever since he discovered it, Minato talked to it about

anything and everything. He liked to think his Other could hear him , even while asleep. His mom s aid that people in

comas could. Minato didn't know exactly what a coma was, but the way his mom explained it made it sound like

hibernation or something. Maybe his Other was in a coma?

Anyway.

Minato talked and talked to his Other, sometimes prodding it to see if it would wake up this time, and then talked some

more. Sometimes aloud, sometimes in his head because that was where his Other lived. Minato talked better in his

head, but talking aloud was a habit.

Sometimes he jus t wanted a quiet day, though, and jus t spent time lying around, trying to mentally cuddle around his

Other as it slept. It was kind of weird, but it felt very warm even in his mind. A sort of gentle warmth, like the feeling of the

sun in the morning. It made him feel nice and sort of sleepy, so those days he usually took long naps, sprawled out

wherever in the house whi le curled up by his Other in his head.


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Those were the best days, in his opinion.

For a while, all I did was sleep. I think .

It was all so very hazy, so I don't really rememb er much of anything. I knew I was resting, sleeping like the dead. It was

the type of rest that followed that deep sort of exhaustion—like staying up for almost thirty-six hours straight. The type of

rest that happens when the body is finally al lowed to sleep after running on fumes and just sort of shuts down to try and

mak e up for the lost time.

I k new that type of rest well. It k ind of came with the territory of being a college student, really. Which is why, I suppose, I

didn't really find it alarming. Somewhere along the line I guess I figured that I was just sleeping off a couple of all-nighters

and barely budged for anything.

Sometimes, something would reach me, like what felt like a b rush on the shoulder or little fingers pok ing my back. But I

could ignore them. I had had little cousins, nephews, who were too precocious for their own good and lik ed to bother

whoever they saw to play with them. If I didn't react, they would lose interest. So I didn't and, as expected, I was left alone.

And so I kept on sleeping, completely obl ivious.

His parents were worried.

Minato knew this becaus e his mom only ever asked such pointed ques tions when she was worried. Questions like

"Staying inside again today?" and "How come you don't go out to play with your friends anymore?" and "Are you sure you

don't want to go out with the other kids?"

The first times she asked he didn't think anything of it, but then she s tarted asking more frequently and it became much

more obvious.

His dad worried, too. More than once, Minato would wake up from his nap alongside his Other to find his dad looking

over him, or jus t sitting nearby and running his hand over Minato's head. It was soothing and usually made him want to

sleep again, but his dad always s topped him.

"You s leep more than a sloth, kiddo," was what his dad would say. It started out as a s imple tease when Minato first

started taking more naps. But the way his dad said it s tarted to get quieter over time, heavy with som e meaning that

Minato didn't understand.

Eventually, his parents took him to see a doctor. And as Minato sat, nonplussed, they took turns explaining his odd"symptoms" and their concerns for his health to the medical profess ional that came in to see them. He tried to keep track

of the conversation, but los t interest after a while, only catching snippets of words and phras es they shot back and forth

over his head.

"—sleeping far more than what's heal thy—"

"He has no motivation—"

"—becoming highly antisocial…"

Minato kicked his feet, head bent and glowering at the tops of his shoes . He didn't understand a lot of what they were

talking about, but none of it sounded good. His parents were talking in that hushed sort of way that he recognized

whenever he got really bad flus, too, which only made him feel worse. Did they think he was sick?

He wanted to complain about being there for nothing, but when he tried to tell them he was fine, they insisted they had to

know for sure. So he couldn't do anything but s it and wait until they got the results back.

The doctor ran a few tests and asked Minato ques tions that he tried to explain about, but Minato didn't understand. His

parents asked questions back, though, so Minato left it to them and instead focused on the warm presence of his Other

to keep him calm. All it did was sleep, but Minato found it comforting to s ort of latch onto it mentally. Like the teddy bear

he used to have before he outgrew it.

Eventually, the doctor found nothing wrong with Minato, as the boy had been expecting. Minato himself couldn't help the

small, smug grin that painted itself on his face even as his parents asked even more ques tions to test the doctor's

certainty.


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The medical professional held firm. Minato was a quiet boy, merely introverted and maybe a little shy, he concluded. But

there was nothing wrong with him. Even the excess ive napping was doing no harm—the boy napped so much simply

because he liked to sleep.

Defeated but relieved, Minato's parents thanked the doctor for his time and returned home with Minato in tow.

I don't remember when it started, but I started noticing more things in the time b efore I woke up. I guess they were

warning signs that I was going to wake up soon, like that feeling you get when you're trying to cling to a dream but are on

the verge of consciousness. Minato's voice, for instance, began reaching me even in the m idst of my slumb er at some point even before I woke.

Minato was a good k id. Kind of strange, but a good one nonetheless. As quiet as he could b e on the outside, he had

some very loud thoughts sometimes. But he toned them down, I think, for me.

He took care of his friends like that—something that would follow him later in life no m atter how outwardly antisocial he

became. He was very thoughtful of them, of me, even if I was much less of a good friend in return since I ignored him by

sleeping most of the time.

Still.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was his voice that I honestly started to pay more attention to as my consciousness gradually

shifted from slumber into wakefulness. As I learned later, he really liked talking to me, like I was some sort of mental

diary for him—or mayb e a sounding board. Either way, it was this habit of his that kept me sane when I finally did wakeup.

His voice became familiar to me long b efore I was conscious enough to notice it, and I latched onto that familiarity like a

piece of driftwood in a sea of confusion.

His Other dreamed sometimes.

The first time Minato felt it, he was in his elementary school's library, looking at a book on Greek mythology. He was

flipping through the contents, looking at the colorful illustrations of gods and monsters, when his Other shifted in the

back of his mind.

Looking around to make sure no one was around to see him , Minato focused inward, automatically heading s traight to

his Other's location after a year of practice. His Other shifted again when he "approached", which surpris ed him . It didn't

usual ly move more than once every few days unless he talked and prodded incessantly at it to goad a reaction.

Curious (and maybe a little worried), Minato mentally reached out for it. When he made contact, he was stunned when,

instead of the familiar brush of warmth, he was met with a long beach and an endles s sea beneath a bright blue sky.

The only thing that stood out, quite literally, was a lone tree that sat on a cliff at some point in the distance.

Everything was silent.

As his surpris e died down, Minato looked around. There wasn't much in this dream—if it was a dream, anyway—so he

was a little los t as to what to do. There didn't seem to be anyone around but him, either, which made him rather curious

about where his Other was. Perhaps the tree would have clues? It was the only other thing around.

But, as Minato moved to take a step forward, a shril l bell sounding tore him out of the dream and back to reality. Twisting

around to s ee a nearby clock, Minato realized that break was over. He put the mythology book back on the shelf and left,

promis ing to look back into his Other's dream another time.

Somewhere along the line, I think my subconscious started to see Minato as a part of myself and vice versa. We had

been linked for reasons beyond my understanding at his bi rth, mayb e even before it, so our minds (or would it be

souls?) gradually acclimated to one another as he grew.

In a way, this was a very good thing b ecause in the early years, while I was asleep, Minato was a curious child and

apparently went snooping around where he prob ably shouldn't have. I won't pretend to be an expert on anything, but in

the universe of Persona, the concepts of the mind and soul are very important. And fragile. Had it not been for our

unexpected link, he could have potentially been cut off from his own mind or worse by venturing into mine.

When I think about it now, it might be the fact that his potential as a Persona-user was so strong that allowed my soul to


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attach to his with relative ease.

Because, I mean, obviously fanfiction and real life are different, but in fanfiction when people are reborn into an already

existing character, they usually sort of… kick the original character's soul out. I can only speculate that I had been meant

to do the same, to be b orn in his place. But because Minato's soul is a veritab le sea to accomm odate multiple Personas,

instead of him b eing shunted aside I was instead absorbed and kept alongside his.

…Granted, this was all just hypothesis. I have no actual idea on how reincarnation worked or why mine seemed to go so

horribly wrong. All of this was just what I told myself to try to make sense of things.

Sometimes , Minato would wake up in the middle of the night and the sky would be green.

He thought it was weird and kind of cool, but even though he wanted to get up and explore or maybe ask his mom or

dad, he didn't. Instead, he stared at the sky outside his window and had hushed conversations with his Other, telling it

about the weird things he saw until he fell back asleep.

Several times , Minato would wake up to see this s trange sky. But he always stayed put, sim ply watching quietly, until

either he slept or blinked and it went away. It never lasted, but sometimes it went on for so long that he wondered why no

one ever told him about it before.

He asked his mom once, but she had only smiled at him and dism issed it as a dream.

"You're reading too many of those fairytales, Minato," she had chided teasingly, petting his hair. "But my, what an

imagination you have!"

Realizing that she didn't know about it either, Minato decided not to say anything more. He could try to show his parents

instead, som ehow. They would s urely scold him for staying up s o late, but at least then they would know what he was

talking about.

Unfortunately, he never got a chance to show them the strange time. Even when he managed to stay awake long

enough, whenever he went to find his parents, he found an empty house instead. Occasionally he would find large boxes

in weird places of the house—normally in his parents' room, but sometimes in the kitchen or one of the hallways. Once,

he found one right outside his room, preventing him from leaving.

Eventually, Minato had to give up trying to show his parents the weird time of night and, when he s ullenly told his Other

about it, had a feeling that it agreed.

So Minato kept his s ecret about the odd green sky and big yellow m oon, growing us ed to it as the year went on. By thetime several months passed, he barely registered the time and los t interest in it.

It was for this reason that he barely batted an eye when he and his parents were caught out late at night. They were

driving, on their way back home from some party of a friend's that they had attended. Minato found him self s leepily

looking at the car's clock, watching the m inutes tick by.

11:54

In the back of his m ind, his Other stirred.

Blinking, Minato focused inward on it and was surpris ed when i t kept moving. Was it another dream?

He reached out, but was not drawn in to his Other's quiet world. Instead, he could feel the presence of his Other tense at

his touch—something i t had never done before. And then, the feeling of his Other grew, and Minato could feel it move

around s lowly, steadily, in its little corner.

With a s tart, he realized that his Other was waking up.

11:56

"Good morning," Minato whispered after a long, stunned paus e.

His Other stilled.

Minato caught flashes of emotions that were not his own. Surprise, worry, confusion—his Other was disoriented, like it

was groggy, but Minato couldn't help but grin as it finally, finally , was able to interact with him.


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"My name is Minato Arisato," he introduced himself because his mom was always telling him to be polite. "It's nice to

finally meet you."

In the passenger seat up front, his mom turned. "Minato? What're you whis pering about back there? You should be

asleep."

11:59

"Nothing, Mom," Minato replied, dis tracted. His Other was moving around again, s till confused. He tried thinking at it to

keep it calm. It seem ed to be working.

He glanced outside the car window. They were over the bridge now. Just a few minutes m ore and they would be home,

where he could talk to his Other better.

12—

The world turned green.

Minato looked forward when the car stopped, engine dying. His eyes widened when he didn't see his parents, the two

oddly-shaped boxes from before taking their places. He looked back outside and found that everything else had s topped

moving, too.

"What…?" he muttered. Then he paused, an anxious feeling erupting from his Other. "Other? Are you okay?"

"Minato," said his Other.

Minato jumped at the sudden voice in his head. It sounded s imilar to his mom, almost, but maybe a little higher. His

Other was a girl?

"Minato," his Other repeated. "Minato… Arisato… you are…"

"Yeah, that's me!" Minato affirmed, forgetting the si tuation in his excitement. His Other may be a girl, but she was talking!

She was actually talking back! "I'm Minato Arisato. What's your name?"

His Other ignored his question. Fear burst from her, making him frown. "Oh my god… Minato. Minato, get out of the car.

Get out of the car now."

"Why?" he as ked, confused. He peered outside at the green-tinted world. "We're on the s treet. That's dangerous."

The car was s topped and so were the others, but what if they started moving again? His parents told him not to open thedoor while they were driving or even just on the street because s omeone passing by could drive too close and hit them.

"Please, Minato! You have to get out—" His Other was cut off by a loud sound. Minato looked around for the source. It

sounded like a roar. "Oh my god."

Movement in the corner of his eyes m ade him look forward again, between the two boxes that sat where his parents had

been. Up ahead, on the bridge, a dark shape was flying towards them. Behind it, something lighter followed.

The lighter thing jumped up into the air and shot at the dark thing—Minato could barely see what they were, but he could

hear the sounds they made. There was a lot of gunfire.

The dark thing roared and turned, swinging something and knocking the light thing back. Then it continued flying towards

the car. As i t got closer, Minato shrunk back in his seat.

The lighter thing purs ued and Minato noticed that it looked like a girl with short blonde hair. She shot at the ghost—or it

looked like a ghost, at least. The ghost roared again and they clashed, struggling against one another. The girl knocked

the ghost back with a kick and the ghost went flying—in their direction.

"Minato! "


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*Chapter 2*: The Unwitting Soul Possessor


of work.

Other Notes: Nameless "she" point-of-view. Many apologies. She hasn't been named yet (in-story; I have a name picked

out already after much trial and error), so it'll be a little confusing for a bit. And while this and the next chapter focus on her

POV, this s tory will actually heavily focus on Minato's. I jus t suck at writing kids so I'm unashamedly glossing over those

growing years here.

Symbiosis

Chapter Two

It was l ike waking up in the middle of drowning.

Granted, it took her a while to realize jus t what the hell was going on. She woke up in some dark space that felt

completely empty and yet totally surrounded her, like water.

It was disorienting to say the least and even when she moved it did not feel natural. She felt sluggish and everything felt

hazy, like when s he s lept for too long. The fact that her vision remained dark even when she "opened her eyes", so to

speak, did not help matters at all.

Where was s he?

The space around her flickered, but she was too dis oriented to really react. It was only when she heard a quiet, almos t

shy, "Good morning" that she froze.

She did not know that voice and yet it was so familiar. She turned, or tried to, to find the source. No one appeared, but

she did manage to find something else out of the endless darkness.

It looked like a very wide screen, only it was more ovular than rectangular like she was used to. It was also much larger

than she was judging by how it towered over her even as she approached it. The image in it was of the interior of a car,

taken from the backseat. Two people sat up front, a man and a woman.

That was… strange. And worrying. She didn't understand what she was looking at or why she was being shown it. So

why…?

"My name is Minato Arisato," the voice continued eventually, still hushed like a whisper and yet so very clear. Though she

still could not see the owner, the tone and pitch told her that it was a young boy. "It's nice to finally meet you."

She stumbled back when the woman in the screen turned around in her seat, peering around. Her eyebrow was raised

and she had a s tern little frown—the same kind she had gotten from her mother when she was getting scolded.

"Minato? What're you whis pering about back there? You should be as leep."

Oh god.

The woman was looking at the screen, at her, but wasn't addressing her. The woman was talking to the boy—to this

Minato—and, behind the screen in that dark void, she was… she could see what he saw?

She turned around in the dark space and was m et by emptiness. There was nothing there but her and the screen andyet she felt like she was already making the connections—even though she really did not want to.

Don't worry, it's okay , said Minato, but outwardly, through the screen, she could also hear him reply, "Nothing, Mom."

You just woke up, so you're just groggy , he continued in this other voice. It echoed against the blackness , not sounding

like it came from any one direction but rather all of them at once. Don't worry, I'll explain everything later.

She felt like freaking out, could feel a hysterical scream bubbling up in her throat, but there was something about this boy

that kept her from releas ing it. That odd familiarity. It was like it was telling her that he was safe. That she could trust him .

And then the new s ide-image of a bridge through a car window went green and she felt herself blanch (as much as a

mental cons truct could blanch).


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She knew that image of a green-tinted world. She had loved it as much as the idea of it terrified her.

The Dark Hour.

The hidden time between one day and the next. It lasted much longer than an actual hour and plunged the waking world

into a time of Shadows and des pair. The only ones capable of traversing the Dark Hour with their consciousnes s intact

were those that had "the potential" or some sick scientific experimentation done on them to s imulate the talent.

She still didn't know exactly what was going on, but from what she deduced she was stuck in this kid's head and—

Minato.

He said he was…

"Minato," she said, voice trembling. The void—his mind —flickered around her wi th what she felt was surprise. She didn't

want to think about what it meant to be able to read his emotions like that. "Minato. Minato… Arisato… you are…"

She knew him. Information flowed from his mind to hers , surrounding her and adding to her outside knowledge. It

should have felt like an invasion, or at least something foreign, but it was a s eamless transference. His m ind to hers,

like they were one in the same.

He was Minato Arisato. His parents were Seiichi and Midori Arisato, but Minato only ever called them "Dad" and "Mom".

He was six years old. He attended Port Island Private Elementary. His grades were average. He liked taking naps. His

favorite hobby was reading. He liked dogs . His favorite color was blue. His current favorite food was oden; his leas t

favorite was tamagoyaki—

There was so much information that it was almos t overwhelming, but she was fixated on one thing.

He was Minato Arisato. He was six and he was experiencing the Dark Hour in a car on a bridge.

"Oh my god…" She felt sick. Could he hear her? Pleas e, let him hear her! "Minato. Minato, get out of the car. Get out of the

car now ."

"Why?" Minato asked, sounding puzzled. The screen, his vision, moved to show her the outside and she flinched at the

sight of the green, green world and random puddles of blood. "We're on the street. That's dangerous."

Her thoughts whirred.

Persona 3 started when its protagonis t was around sixteen or seventeen, instigated by Death leading him back to

Tatsum i Port Island, where he used to live. The game's plot specifically stated that the time of the Dark Hour officially

began ten or so years prior to the game's beginning, when Minato was about six or seven. He los t his parents in a "car

accident" during the Dark Hour, due to them getting caught in the cross fire in a fight between Aigis and Death, who

escaped captivity an unknown amount of time after it had been split into twelve other Shadows in the incident that turned

Gekkoukan High School into Tartarus.

Minato had to be there, but he had to survive.

"Please, Minato! You have to get out—" A roar interrupted her and it was all s he could do to not panic further as Minato's

gaze swiveled around to locate it. "Oh my god."

She saw it before he did, not much more than a blur in the dis tance. When Minato focused on it, she could s ee the

incomplete Death hovering over the s treet, sword in one hand as it flew in their direction. Aigis was in hot pursui t,

opening fire whenever the opportunity was presented to her.

It happened so fast, two inhuman forces clashing and, before she knew it, Death was knocked into the air, swiftly falling

in their direction.

No, Minato had to survive! He had to get out!

"Minato!"

Minato gasped as he opened his eyes. Shakily, he looked around, wincing at the pain at his neck and sides. He paled

when he faced forward and saw flames dancing over the crushed front of the car, just beyond the cracked and broken

window. The boxes were gone and his parents were back, but…


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"M—Mom?" He reached out, shaking her arm gently. She didn't respond. When he pulled away, his hands were red and

sticky. His breathing hitched as he looked to the driver's seat. "Dad…?"

No answer.

Whimpering, Minato curled up. What should he do? What could he do?

In the back of his mind, his Other let out a shaky breath.

"Other!" he cried, relieved. "Other, Mom and Dad…! They're…!" He felt his eyes burn with tears and tried valiantly to wipe

them away. "They're…"

There was a moment of silence from his Other before she said, "…I know. I know, Minato, but… you've got to get out of

the car. Don't think about them right now, just—just get out of the car, okay?"

Minato didn't reply and s tared ahead, unfocused, at the unmoving bodies of his parents. A tendril of worry trickled through

from his Other.

"Minato? Minato, please move…"

Mechanically, reluctantly, Minato obeyed. He fumbled with his seatbelt and unlocked it before reaching blindly for the door

handle, unable to look away from his parents. His body ached, but he was relatively unharmed, somehow. The door was

hard to push open, but he managed.

He stumbled out, backing away from the car at his Other's urging. The flames were mesmerizing, but he found his gazedrawn away when dis tant sounds caught his ears .

It was the blonde girl and the ghost—the thing that killed his parents. They were s till fighting.

Only now the girl was losing. Badly.

His Other made a choking sound. "Minato, I 'm so—sorry."

He was about to ask why when the blonde girl turned, the ghost following her, and zoomed s traight towards him.

Just before everything went dark, Minato was swept away in a horrible feeling from his Other that he couldn't quite

describe.

(Much, much later, Minato would recognize the feeling as resignation.)

The fact that Minato was not awake during the s ealing of Death was both relieving and utterly terrifying.

Relieving, because for all her morbid fascination with the art of seal ing eldritch abominations into little boys, she

probably would not have been able to stomach watching it happen up close.

Terrifying, because the moment Minato passed out, she los t contact with the outside world, too. The long time in the dark

scared her beyond reason that something had gone wrong. And even though it had been a good way of learning that she

could s tay awake while Minato was not, and that time flowed differently in his m ind, she would have appreciated it a lot

more if she had s imply been knocked out as well.

She had never been good at the waiting game.

Still, the break gave her time to analyze her s ituation more thoroughly, so s he supposed she couldn't complain toomuch. While "waking up" from what she thought was a sim ple s leep only to find out that she had gotten herself locked in

the mind of a fictional little boy wasn't exactly a nice revelation, she found herself accepting it with a calm that surprised

even her.

Honestly speaking, what bothered her mos t about it all was that she couldn't remember how she got into this s ituation in

the first place. If she had been reborn, or meant to be reborn, how had s he died? All she could think about was the wide

gap that separated her pas t from the present—the las t memory she could recall was walking the path from her university

to her car and then… she s lept and woke up.

It was almost clinical, the way she thought about it. Just "Oh, I'm not in my body anymore. Okay. And oh, I now inhabit the

body of a boy who shouldn't really exist while he's still inhabiting it, too. Okay."


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…She knew she was more of a passive individual, but was n't there a limit to that?

She couldn't find it in her to care much m ore than that, though. Maybe reading all those rebirth fanfiction helped eas e her

into the idea. She had always loved the concept of the fantastic being secretly real, of other worlds existing, so maybe

this proof was all she really needed to convince herself she was n't sim ply going crazy.

Regardless, she decided not to dwell on the subject much more, content to let the knowledge slip around her freely and

keep her pride on not freaking out. Since she knew where she was and whose l ife she was (technically) inhabiting, there

were many more things she had to worry about than pas t lives and the cycle of rebirth in the afterlife.

And so, she focused her time and energy on getting us ed to her new surroundings.

It was probably a good thing that she had first woken up when she had, when Minato's m ind contained jus t her and itself.

It gave her a bas e as to what belonged and what… didn't.

Like the door that sprouted up some time after Minato pass ed out, ominous ly chained up with the Roman num eral XIII

printed prominently in white on its s leek black surface.

She couldn't feel anything from it right now, but she was quite certain that it was the seal on Death. It was nice to know

that there was at least some form of barrier between Minato's mind and the Shadow. She didn't want to think of what

would've happened i f it had been allowed to roam around, trapped but unhindered.

Death's door (and wasn't that a funny thought?) was the only thing that popped up while Minato was asleep and, after

carefully examining it, she was satisfied that it wouldn't spontaneously collapse or break open at an inopportune

moment. She knew that as Minato grew, Death's seal would grow weaker and allow it to influence his s ubconscious

mind to convince him to return to Tatsumi Port Island, but the chains looked s turdy enough to hold for a while yet.

She had time to prepare, in the case that Death's eventual release would res ult in her untimely (second?) dem ise.

Grim acceptance in place, she decided to ignore Death's door for now and ins tead concentrate on Minato. Despite the

appearance of Death's door, his mind remained stable enough. There were occasional flickers of emotions while he

slept, and something told her that if she focused hard enough s he could reach a deeper level of his m ind where he

dreamt, but she refrained from prying. He had been through a lot, so s he would let him rest as much as pos sible without

her experimenting.

It was a tense wait, though. With her presence in his m ind, she had no guarantee that something hadn't gone wrong with

the sealing anyway. It would be horrible to find out that she caused him to go into a coma trying to house mul tiple entities

at once—although, Minato did have the "potential" and, even more, was deemed worthy of the power of a Wild Card.

Perhaps even as a kid he was naturally inclined to hosting multiple beings in his mind and soul.

Those thoughts did little to comfort her, though. It was only when Minato finally woke up to find hims elf in a hospital room ,

which she judged to hopefully be only several hours later, that she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Other?" he whispered. He sounded so small and frail.

Now that she could think of it better, she wondered why he called her that. But it was a question s he could s ave for

another time.

She did her best to convey a smile to him. "Hey, Minato."

Minato didn't say anything immediately, instead looking around at his s urroundings . She watched as he took in the

sterile hospital room, gaze not lingering on anything in particular. She lis tened with him as he heard the beeping of heart

monitors, one in his room and others echoing from rooms down the hall.

Then he laid back down and closed his eyes and—

She blinked when he appeared, almost popping into existence before her as if it was completely natural. She didn't have

time to question him or his ability to enter his own m ind, however, when he s potted her and, after a moment's hesitation,

ran forward. He was hugging her in the next instant, his form barely taller than her wais t.

His m ind flickered around them, pouring in feelings of such des perate, heartrending grief and fear that she sank to her

knees. She couldn't see hersel f in this dark world, but he apparently recognized her easily enough to take comfort in her

presence, crying openly in her arms. His sobs echoed strangely in the outside world, hidden by his closed eyes.

She held him as gently yet as firmly as s he could, anchoring him and feeling utterly useless .


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It took a while for Minato to calm down, his tears slowing only to pick up again as he thought of his parents. She waited

patiently, and was grateful for the lack of true form in the mindscape, as kneeling for so long probably would've resulted

in numb legs i f she had a physical body.

Eventually, he settled and unwound from her, stepping back as he tried to stem his own tears.

She wanted to say something, anything, but could only think of the standard responses . The useless questions like "Are

you okay?" or "How are you feeling?" as if it wasn't obvious.

Sighing, she decided to settle for petting his l ittle mind-self's head, hoping that the comfort she was trying to convey got

through to him.

After a few mom ents more, Minato was the one who broke the si lence. "Other, what're we gonna do…?"

Hell if she knew.

She wondered what she could s ay to put it lightly that she had no idea. She had an inkling of what he would go through

based on what she could remember the game saying about his past, but there were no concrete details as far as she

knew.

The protagonist of Persona 3, no matter the name he was given, was rather… undeveloped as a character. He was

meant to be empty, so players could fill in their own ideas of who he was and how he acted. There were manga, sure,

and movies she hadn't read or seen, but it seemed universal that his most defining characteristic was, ironically, having

no character at all. Or so his character description in Persona Q had jokingly claimed.

That was "Minato Arisato". Or "Makoto Yuuki". The already grown protagonist with a mysterious past on a path set for him

by something far bigger than himself.

But this Minato was, at the moment, none of that. He was s till at the beginning of that road, which she had a feeling she

wouldn't be able to fight with Death's door literally at her back. But there was still so much uncertainty. He was malleable.

"Well," she s aid lightly, "you'll probably be taken in by a relative…" Or was it jus t straight to the orphanage? "Some people

might as k you ques tions about what happened before you get to leave, though."

The boy tensed, and his emotions trickled in al l around them. They overlapped and mixed, muddling together until she

couldn't pick them apart from one another. But she got the gist of it, boiling it all down to reluctance and an emphatic no.

She petted his hair more, letting him settle back down, before gently shooing him off to rest. "You need it, Minato. Gosleep."

He mum bled something in a half-protest, but she had a feeling that his little catharsis had more than tired him out. The

mental emotional purge, coupled with jus t waking up from such a traumatic incident, mus t have left him exhausted.

As he faded from sight, she found it interesting how she could feel his m ind and emotions so clearly, but not any

physical sensations like pain or tiredness . Though they technically shared a body, or so she believed, she s eemed to be

completely locked in his head. If she tried, would she be able to influence the outside world through him? Or was she

strictly limi ted to his m indscape?

"One s tep at a time," she murmured, s ighing. If ever. The thought of trying to control a little boy's body like a puppet made

her kind of sick, actually.

A wordless thought drifted to her, questioning.

"Go to sleep, Minato."

There was no actual reply, but she caught a slip of feeling that was probably meant to be a bidding of goodnight. Like the

mental equivalent of incoherent mumbling.

That thought, despi te her situation and despite his shaky future, made her smile.


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*Chapter 3*: Growing Pains


of work.

Other Notes: Starting this fanfic has m ade me finally get a move on to learning the full plot of Persona 4. I wanted to

eventually finish playing it myself (I'm only at the beginning of Rise's dungeon…), but I think I've finally come to accept that

I don't have the same time to dedicate to playing it through as before. Thankfully, YouTube exists. With Golden videos, no

less.

Ah, this should also clue you in to the fact that this OC SI has only the same knowledge I did when I decided to write this

story. I've read some s tuff on the wiki from the later gam es, but I think I've managed to avoid s poiling myself majorly until

now (I think). We'll see how that affects things as we continue on, but I guess I just wanted to get this out there so people

who know the later games don't wonder things l ike "This was explained in 4, so why doesn't she know?"

Symbiosis

Chapter Three

In the end, Minato did go to live with relatives, but in a very loose sense. Long s tory short, he more or les s lived an

existence of being pas sed from relative to relative like a hot potato.

"Other", as she s upposed she was dubbed now, watched as this occurred from within Minato's mind. She could

understand s ome of them, given that they had their own famil ies or unstable incomes that could make living difficult even

without having the six-year-old orphan on the side. But she could not help frowning and furiously ranting about some of

his m ore sel fish relatives, who clearly had the means and ability to support Minato living with them but s imply could not

be bothered.

The rants were mostly for herself, she admitted, to vent out her feelings of useles snes s. But they were als o partially for

Minato. She could not quite shield her thoughts from him while he was awake yet and he was uncannily good at knowing

when she was upset, so she made do by trying to make him feel better about basically being set aside. If coming up with

immature insults about this dis tant uncle or that spoiled aunt did the trick, she gladly did so.

Most of her time was spent like this, s imply watching as Minato's life moved on and chatting with him in hopes of making

him feel less alone. She kept an eye out for lingering s igns of trauma, too, soothing him through it as bes t as she could.

The worst had to be his aversion to cars and being in them. It was… a work in progress.

It also became apparent that he was truly a quiet child, though she worried off and on that he was being too reclusive.

She'd had a nephew who was sim ilarly quiet and preferred to keep to himself in his formative years, but even then he'd

had moments of high energy where he craved social interaction.

Sometimes , she took cues from the various adults in his life and shrugged his behavior off—she was no child

psychologist or what-have-you—but sometimes her paranoia and worry made her s imply unable to trust them.

During those times , she always checked in on his status.

"Reading again, Minato?" she as ked, trying to send him the feeling of a pat on his head. She'd been doing that more

frequently now, trying to find the limit of what she could do from wi thin his mind. Sending him phantom sensations was

odd, but one of the eas iest. It often helped to comfort him, too, since he rarely got physical attention from his other family

members.

Yep, he answered, thinking directly at her instead of replying aloud as he used to.

(After living with a couple of relatives, she realized rather belatedly that he tended to talk to her out loud. Though he

sometimes tried to quiet his voice when around others, he always spoke freely when he thought he was alone. One aunt

walked in on him in the middle of one of their conversations and had looked so worried that Other decided to put a stop

to it, telling Minato to talk with her in his head only.)

(He had been confused, but he thankfully agreed, trusting her judgment.)

"Not gonna go out and play with your cousins ?" she mused. "These ones were much nicer than the other ones at the

last house. I'm sure they won't leave you alone."


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They were innocently insens itive, as children were wont to be, asking Minato about his parents and the crash. But at

least they didn't look at him as if he were some al ien intruding on their lives or ignored him out of petty jealous y for

holding their parents' attentions while he adjus ted.

She had to fight to keep her irritation at bay just remembering. Damn brats.

No thanks, he replied, thankfully unaware of her ire and idly flipping a page. She barely paid attention to the artwork of

what was supposedly a depiction of the phoenix's fiery rebirth. I don't like hanging out with them all a lot. Too crowded.

Distantly, she was reminded of a certain other character that disliked "crowding"—amongst many, many other things—and shuddered at the idea of being stuck in his mind. "Okay. Just making sure."

Besides, he added, I have you, so I'm not alone anyway.

Frowning, she shot a wary glance over her shoulder where Death's door loom ed, ever present even while dormant. She

still didn't know what would happen to her when Death began to awaken. Pharos had been fairly… harmles s even in his

first appearance as the Mysterious Boy, if a tad creepy, but she als o knew that his Thanatos form would have a sort of

psychotic break during Orpheus's first summoning.

She wanted to be optimistic in her own continued s urvival, but she knew from experience that the Persona series were

games where everything could change at the drop of a hat. And often quite brutally.

"Not that I'm not flattered, kiddo," she began, "but try not to depend on me too much, yeah? I m ight not always be here."

Outside, she saw Minato's hand s till in its action of flipping another page. When his m ind began to flicker, full of volatileand mixed emotions, she cursed. Too soon! Too soon!

You're not gonna leave, are you? Minato asked, a slow dawning terror encroaching upon his m indscape l ike a heavy

black fog. Please don't leave! First Mom and Dad—I don't wanna lose you, too!

"Minato—"

He was frozen, staring down at the page in his mute horror. Before she could get another word in edgewise, she was

overcome by a veritable tidal wave of his fear—the fear of being alone—and grief all at once.

Did you want to go out and play? I can do that! I—I don't mind, just don't… he s obbed. Please don't leave…

Even as the wave enveloped her, all s he could feel was guilt. She had jus t been thinking for his benefit of not getting too

dependent on her in case she disappeared one day. She didn't think he would be s o scared of losing her, who was atmos t just an imaginary friend as far as he knew. But it seemed he cared more than she had believed.

The thought was both heartwarming and distressing.

While she was glad to know that her presence wasn't a burden or an annoyance to him s o far, she wondered what it

meant for his ps yche to be so attached to someone in his head.

Minato was ess entially settled into his odd life when he turned eight, celebrating his birthday quietly with the lone uncle

he was currently living with and spending the res t of the day alone. Of course, in reality he was with her, his proclaimed

Other, celebrating "their" birthday by doing what they enjoyed: reading.

It was just as he got to a simplified version of the tale of Kaguya that she finally asked him why he called her his Other.

There was a moment of plain confusion as he registered her question.

Then, he replied, Because you're my Other.

It was said, or thought, so simply. As if it answered everything rather than nothing.

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

Well, said Minato. You're always there. In my head. I asked a kid in my class once if he had something else in his head,

too, and he said no. So did a whole bunch of other kids. So I thought I had something special. Another me. So, "Other".

In a way, he probably wasn't entirely wrong. If she had been meant to be reborn as him only to be caught up in his s oul

and his "potential", then she would have technically been him . A literal "Other Minato".


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She hummed, understanding. "I see."

Minato gave a responding hum before returning to his reading. He was only at the beginning, when the old bamboo

cutter found the infant Kaguya in the shining s talk.

After a moment of debate, she decided to ask something els e.

"…Say, Minato, would it be okay if I used a different name? Not that I mind being called 'Other', but it's kind of weird

sometimes." It was a bit dehumanizing, rather, not that she'd tell him aloud for fear of making him feel bad.

Minato paused again. Then, he sat up from his posi tion of reading on his s tomach on the floor.

Okay , he agreed readily. What do you wanna be called?

She honestly had no clue.

She had been an aspiring writer in her pas t life, but if there was one thing she would likely never forget about that, it

would be her inability to name things in a timely manner. Naming, for her, was an absolute chore.

"Um… Why don't you help m e?" she s ugges ted. If she sounded a little desperate, she firmly ignored it. Minato was a

smart kid; he could definitely help her! "What do you think my name should be?"

He would be the only one to know it and use it, anyway. She had a feeling she would be s tuck in his head for a long time,

sudden death-by-"Thanatos" scenarios aside.

She watched as Minato eyed the little mythology book an aunt got him for his birthday last year, pulling it towards him to

flip through the contents. He was quiet for a long time, turning page after page. But, just as s he began losing faith and

fearing that she would end up wi th a random, overly complicated name, he sugges ted something that made her blink.

"Did you say 'Tamago'?" she asked, perplexed. All that perusing through the myths and he chose to name her after his

breakfast?

Minato snickered. No! I said "Tamam o". Like Tamamo-no-Mae!

"Oh." She recognized that name. It was a myth she remembered a little obscurely, or so her memories told her. The only

reason she hones tly recalled it was because the character in the myth appeared as the identity of a Servant in a certain

TYPE-MOON game.

…Yeah, she could live with that name. It was easy to remember and wasn't half-bad.

"Sure," she agreed, smil ing. "From now on, I am Tamamo."

Minato laughed again. Nice to meet you, Tamamo!

She chuckled. "Nice to meet you, Minato. And thank you. For naming me."

His m indscape lightened in response, pleased to have helped.

(Much later, she would remember the full version of the myth and wonder why he decided to name her after one of

Japan's three vilest youkai. This would also make her realize that Minato, for all his introverted nature, was a bit of a

rascal when he wanted to be.)

The days faded into weeks into months as Minato's life moved steadily onwards. He was still shuffled from family tofamily, but over time it seemed to become m ore of an annoying inconvenience to him than anything else. This worried

Tamamo, as many things tended to do these days, but he insis ted on reass uring her that he was fine with it, never

holding it agains t his family members for being unable to settle him somewhere. He was indifferent to the matter and

took it all in s tride.

Unable to argue or do much of anything else, Tamamo let it slide and ins tead focused on helping him behind the

scenes . Being trapped in his head gave her plenty of time to learn what she could do, after all, so s he used the majority

of her time to practice when not watching Minato's life or chatting with him .

And, as it turned out, despite the fact that she had no body of her own, there were some things she could do from within

his m ind. Perhaps she had the universe to thank for that, as much of the Persona series relied on the somewhat

abstract power of the mind and s oul.


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The first of the two main "abilities" she learned was her ability to influence certain things in Minato's mind, like his

dreams when he s lept. She had finally taken the leap into the deeper parts of his mind when a particularly bad

nightmare dis rupted his mindscape while he was as leep. Though she took care not to be drawn in to the dream itself,

she carefully tugged and blocked the images that plagued him until he settled.

It was a rather easy task, especially when she got to learning how to set mental constructs. It also gave her something to

do while he slept and so s he safeguarded his mind as best she could, glad to be of some use.

That said, mental constructs were what she experimented with next. Given that she was in a mindscape, her automatic

thought was of utilizing the power of imagination: to create something out of virtually nothing. This was much moredifficult a task than i t sounded, as it required concentration on her part to actually form something fully and correctly. The

cartoons always made it look easy, just poof! Instant item. Not for her, though. There were a lot of failures of items half-

created. If she hadn't erased them all, she would probably have her own little rubble pile. However, once she got it down

once, it became much easier to reproduce. The shields s he used to protect Minato's mind were one such construct she

used often.

She also used it to give herself a body.

At first, she hadn't thought to use i t for such a thing, seeing as there was no real point to it. However, a conversation with

Minato when he dove into his m ind one afternoon (and s he would really have to figure out how he did that sometime)

ump-s tarted the whole thing.

"Y'know, it's kinda weird," he said, kicking his legs where he sat on the little couch she had m ade just because she

could.

"What is?" she as ked.

"You, kinda. I can see you and I know you're there, but sometimes it's just… weird," he explained in that way that said

nothing at all. Until he added, "You look like a shadow."

She flinched. "A—A what?"

"A shadow," Minato repeated, looking at her strangely. "You know. All dark and kinda misty. Which is why it's weird

because you're pretty warm. Shadows are cool, aren't they?"

Oh. He meant actual shadows and not the monstrous kind. That was a relief.

Still, Tamamo grimaced. Actually learning what she looked like from his point of view made her uneasy. What would

happen later when he went up against actual Shadows and compared their dark bodies to her?

So, using her self-taught less ons on mental construction to guide her, she focused on trying to give herself a body after

he left, returning to reality. It was significantly more difficult to do as she was using it on herself, as well as the fact that

creating the image of a human body was much more complex than forming a flexible mental shield or a piece of

furniture. She could only be grateful that she only needed the outer image to be created and not the entire structure,

organs and all.

When she could get the general shape in mind, it just became a matter of filling in the rest of the image.

Now, when it came to her past life's appearance, Tamam o admitted that there was nothing for her to be ashamed about.

She had been average in looks, maybe even pretty depending on the angle, but she had certainly been comfortable in

her body. It would be a great comfort to be able to settle back in her own skin, so to speak, while coping in this alternate

universe.

She also admitted that it would be very boring. She could jus t hear her mother chiding her on being unoriginal. Infinite

poss ibilities of how to look and she chose herself? What a shame! What a waste!

Her mother's nagging was always a motivating factor (even when not actually there), and so Tamamo formed something

else. Still not quite original, but better than her first thought.

The female protagonis t of Persona 3 Portab le.

It made her laugh when she completed it, looking over herself in her new appearance. There it was, the two protagonists

in one body. A fanfic waiting to happen if it hadn't already.

She didn't go with the Gekkoukan uniform to avoid suspicion, instead creating some clothes that looked nice since she


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17/204

She learned more of who he was day by day, wishing she could record the little moments of his life. Like his first time

visiting an aquarium, or his reaction the first time a girl called him cute (which would pile up s o much that he eventually

became desens itized). Memories she could have shown him to indicate how far he'd come later in life… if… if he got far

enough at all.

("I should tell him," she would say to herself when the grief and terror of what was to come became too much to bear. "I

should tell him. Prepare him for the tasks ahead. Somehow.")

(But then he would talk to her, the remnants of his innocence shining through his impass ive demeanor, and she would

fall silent.)

As his s ixteenth birthday came and went, Tamamo watched with no little trepidation as Minato prepared to move yet

again—only this time, to Iwatodai. To Tatsum i Port Island. The Gekkoukan High School uniform was sent to him in the

mail, which he hung up to wear when he finally set out.

When she went to look, she observed that the chains around Death's door had loos ened, allowing it to creak open jus t

the tiniest bit.

She sighed. "'And so it begins '… right?"


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*Chapter 4*: Press Play


of work.

Other Notes: My living soundboard for this work told me, after reading the chapter, how funny he thought it was to put two

characters with such pas sive personal ities in this s ituation. "It helps to keep the plot intact," he said, "but not for really,

actively changing s tuff. Are you going to?"

Who knows? Status Quo Is God. Except when it's not. You'll see.

Also, WARNING, there will be s ome s light ribbing on Yukari in this and some future chapters (and maybe some other

characters later on; here's lookin' at you, Junpei). Personally, I like her jus t fine, having watched her growth from the

Journey to the Answer and back again for P3P 's Girl's Side, but that does not change the fact that characters will have

opinions that may be less than favorable at the start, especially considering first impress ions.

I do not like to bash characters personally and do not go out of my way to do so. That's much too troublesome. This is

ust here to warn you all ahead of time so I don't get the nagging reviewer that doesn't know how to differentiate character

opinions from writer opinions. Thank you.

Symbiosis

Chapter Four

It was late into the afternoon when Minato finally set out, bidding his aunt Sayuri goodbye as he left. She was kind

enough to pack him a bento to eat on the way, insistent on giving him one last home-cooked meal .

He smiled faintly in thanks and took it gingerly. He was honestly grateful. While he had lived in m any relatives' hous es,

this was the one he had stayed in the longes t. Even when she was having financial hardships, this aunt had welcomed

him into her home and didn't insist on shipping him off as soon as poss ible. Even if he'd had to move out again for a

while when it got particularly bad, she always invited him back when her life was relatively stable again.

It had been… nice. Like he wasn't just some extra baggage or a box of half-remem bered mementos of his parents,

shipped from place to place becaus e no one knew what to do with him but couldn't just throw him away either.

"Do you have everything? You should hurry to the s tation s oon, dear," his aunt said, looking at the sky with a worried

furrow in her brow. "There's no direct route from here to the Iwatodai Station, so you'll have to do s ome walking to get to

the train route that stops there. And even then it may take time for you to find that dorm of yours…"

Minato nodded, patting his new uniform's jacket for the pamphlet that came with his transfer papers. It had a map of the

area as well as the addres s of the Iwatodai dorm that he had been assigned to. It was a bit of a walk from the station, but

nothing he couldn't handle.

His aunt sm iled, encouraging. "All right, then. Off you go." She waved as he started down the path. Though she had

offered to drive him to the s tation, he declined, m indful of her work schedule. "Take care of yourself, Minato-kun!"

He waved over his shoulder, adjusting the s traps of his bags until they were rearranged more comfortably. When he was

a sufficient distance away, he slipped on his headphones and pressed play. The heavy beats flooded in and s oon he

was im mersed in the flow, letting the mus ic carry him onward.

The train ride was long, but he'd dealt with worse modes of transportation and for far longer travel times . He could only

be thankful for his mp3 player for keeping him relatively occupied and awake enough to lis ten for his stop. If he had fallen

asleep, he might've missed it.

Of course, if he wanted to he could have probably bugged Tamamo into a conversation. Rare was the time that she

wasn't willing to chat, likely even more bored than he was, stuck in his head. But the pas t few days she had been rather

quiet, and he was reluctant to interrupt.

When he had asked if som ething was wrong, she told him only that she was fine and was simply concentrating on

something.


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Curious, he had wondered if he could "dive in", as she phrased it, and see what kept her so busy. Is it something big?

Another ab ility?

The ones that she developed were pretty neat, in his opinion, especially after she practiced with them a while. The abili ty

she us ed to shield him from nightmares while growing up, for instance, had progressed from plain shields to what

seem ed like a full barrier, lighting up the dark space of his mind like a makes hift starlit night sky.

"No, not really," Tamamo had replied, tone dis tracted. "Don't worry, Minato. I'm pretty much just introspecting at this

point." He felt her presence brush agains t him—her version of pushing him along. "Just focus on yourself for a while. Get

used to your new surroundings and whatnot. I'm just fine."

Thus, he was stuck with only his mus ic for company, watching the scenery of Japan rush by. He was all too eager to get

off the train and stretch his legs when his s top arrived, grabbing the directions he wrote to get to the other train line that

would take him to the Iwatodai station.

The streets were busy as he passed, crowded to the point of making him feel mildly claustrophobic. Minato focused on

ignoring them, paus ing briefly to turn his music up louder before continuing on his way.

By the time he boarded the train, he was all but sighing in relief at escaping the crowds. There were so many people…

Too many, in his opinion. They crowded the streets like ants, gathering to the point that their numbers seem ed endles s.

Not for the first time, he wondered if they would react the same way as ants if he introduced a little chaos in their m idst

and scatter, wildly breaking formation in their panic.

There was a l ight tap from the back of his m ind and Minato stifled the urge to grin. It never failed to amuse him when hecould manage to exasperate Tamam o enough to deliver her little mental slap upside the head.

(She had worked s o hard to get the feeling right, too.)

Still b usy?

"Nope," Tamamo s aid airily. "I wasn't really busy in the first place. Just… distracted."

Minato cocked his head to the s ide. With what?

She sent him an image of something (that was another of her little abilities s he'd honed over time; she called it

"projection"). Minato frowned when the image entered the forefront of his mind, trying to make sense of it.

It looked like a s chool blackboard, covered with writing. The shapes of the characters she used were familiar, but they

certainly weren't in Japanese. Was that English?

He sent the question to her. She hummed in respons e.

"Yes. I default to writing it, it seems, though I can read and understand Japanese thanks to you." It sounded as if she was

muttering, making him wonder if he was meant to hear all that. Then, somewhat louder, she explained, "I retain a lot of

memories of… well, different things. I was just trying to get them all organized to refresh myself."

It was times like those that it occurred to Minato that his Other—as he s till secretly called her sometimes s imply because

it was habit—was quite an enigma. All the readings he'd idly done over time, plus all the shows and movies he'd

watched, had told him much about people with voices in their heads. He had done the research initially in order to keep

her voice in his head, so terrified he was of being abandoned by his only constant since childhood (which was probably

worrying in and of itself).

Just about none of what he found meant good for him and for her.

And yet, while she was definitely a voice in his head and not an imaginary friend, as some of his ruder cousins liked to

tease him about, Tamamo often felt like something much more. She wasn't just a mish-mash of random or dis turbing

utterances and, while she instructed him on what to do sometimes, she didn't try to force him into anything. She thought

and considered and learned , often to both their benefits.

Minato didn't know exactly what his Other was. Couldn't define her. And he respected the fact that she wasn't willing to tell

ust yet, fumbling around with halfhearted answers that told him she wasn't quite sure ei ther. He only told her once that

he believed they had a symbiotic relationship. She blandly told him that she was flattered he compared her to a paras ite,

but ultimately agreed. It was the bes t description either of them could come up with thus far.

Shaking his head from his thoughts, Minato ruefully added this instance to his ever-growing lis t of questions to ask her


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about later, when she was willing to ans wer them. Then, filing the lis t away, he settled further into his s eat.

So what do you think this Tatsumi Port Island place will be like?

"It'll absolutely change your life," Tamamo drawled before pointing out, "You've lived there before."

I know, but I hardly rememb er it.

She chuckled. "True. Still, I think i t'll be fine. All I know about it are bits and pieces, but even on that pamphlet it looked

like a nice place."

Yeah… He sighed. I guess what I'm most worried ab out is the new school. Been the new kid so many times, but…

"You'll be fine, Minato." There was a small brush on the back of his m ind; a gentle pat on the head. "Your new school

might have a few… surprises, but just take it in stride."

There was something odd about the way she said that last part, but Minato didn't dwell on it. If she wanted to clarify, she

would.

It was dark when the train finally rolled to a s top at the Iwatodai s tation. Tamamo grumbled about delays all the way out

of the train and he res isted the urge to laugh.

What're you complaining about? At least you didn't have to sit through the extra time on those godawful seats.

"Maybe not, but the stronger emotions and sensations you experience, the more lik ely it is to drift back to me—shield or

no shield," Tamam o said. He could almos t see her analyzing the barrier in his mindscape, frowning in the way she did

when she thought something was inadequate. "Besides, it looked uncomfortable. Imagination is pretty much all I need

to feel sore."

Minato snorted, about to reply, but was interrupted when the power cut out all around him and the world was bathed in a

familiar green hue. He blinked in s urprise when it happened and peered around at the clock set up on the station,

ignoring the blood-like subs tance that dripped down its surface. Midnight.

Oh wow, it is late.

" And you've got class tomorrow. So let's get a move on and find your dorm so you can sleep." Despite her casual words,

his Other sounded uncomfortable.

Deciding not to point it out, Minato shifted his bags and s tarted walking. His footsteps echoed eerily along the still

streets, coffins lining the buildings and s ometimes scattered along the roads themselves. Minato paid them no

attention, weaving around them almos t carelessly as he kept track of what street he was on relative to the directions he

wrote out to find the dorm.

Eventually, the Iwatodai dorm building came into view. He double-checked the address , confirming it for what it was,

before walking up to the doors and tugging one open. Stepping in, he set aside his bags and was mildly surpris ed when

someone called out to him.

"Welcome." It was the high, childish voice of a young boy. Turning his head, Minato found the child standing by the

counter to the side. Blue eyes, almost too bright to be real and practically glowing, stared back at him, a s light smile on a

cherubic, paper-pale face. "You're late. I've been waiting a long time."

It was creepy, Tamamo thought. Even creepier than watching it happen in the game, when Pharos was just the"Mysterious Boy" whose identity was, as stated, a mystery.

And if she couldn't hear his thoughts broadcasting right now, she would have found Minato's lack of reaction just as

creepy. She certainly had while playing the gam e. As i t was, she jus t had to refrain from snorting when he thought, louder

than he probably wanted, What the ab solute hell?

The undercurrent of disbelief shone through like a beacon, bright and strong. She could pick out the scattered thoughts

of him being more tired than he thought he was from travel if he was hallucinating now.

After all, this was the first time he'd seen anyone active during this time bes ides himself, his thoughts read, and what

would a kid be doing in a high s chool student dorm anyway, especially so late at night?


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A swing and a mis s, Tamamo thought, but c'est la vie.

"I see him, too. He's there," she as sured Minato. Then, blinking, she said, "Actually, I wonder how hallucinations would

work on us since even though I'm in your head, we s till have separate minds ."

In some ways, she still didn't understand how that worked. Not that she was complaining. Even she wouldn't want to fully

share a mind with herself if given the choice. She was rather glad Minato had not been subjected to it.

You're not helping , was Minato's bland reply.

Tamamo s hrugged, remorseless , as she watched him take the pen to sign the contract Pharos produced. The single

mos t important line, so innocuous and yet so binding, stood out agains t the other text as Minato printed his name below

it.

Then, Pharos took the contract, bade Minato farewell, and faded into the dark.

As he melted away from Minato's sight, Tamamo spun around, spooked, when she heard Death's door creak open

behind her. It stilled when her eyes fell upon it, as if acting innocent.

Uneasy, Tamamo watched the door for several long moments more, only vaguely listening as Yukari confronted Minato

—another person still awake and moving? he thought—and pulled out her Evoker—his alarm rang high and clear—

before Mitsuru's voice halted them.

By the time Tamamo felt comfortable enough to turn her back on Death's door again to watch the events play out, the

Dark Hour had ended and Mitsuru was approaching, looking every bit as calm and poised as her in-game counterpart.

To be honest, Minato wasn't feeling entirely certain, or safe, being unarmed in a room wi th two girls bearing guns. As the

red-haired, older female drew closer, he edged back as subtly as pos sible, angling his body for poss ible escape.

The girl in pink s till had her gun drawn, after all.

The redhead gave a distantly polite smile, all bus iness. "I didn't think you'd arrive so late. My name is Mitsuru Kirijo. I'm

one of the students who l ive in this dorm."

Minato could only nod warily. He didn't bother to apologize or offer excuses for his lateness—not after that fiasco of a first

meeting. Maybe that was why the kid made a run for it.

The girl in pink (still holding her gun), moved just the smallest bit closer to the older woman, eyeing him sus piciously.She asked, in a low tone, "Who's he?"

"He's a transfer student, Minato Arisato," Mitsuru replied at a normal volume. Her red eyes, darker than Tamamo's and

less warm, more analytical, glanced over at him in a speculative fashion before returning to the other girl. "It was a las t

minute decis ion to ass ign him here. He'll eventually be moved to a room in the boys' dorm."

The brunette shi fted uncomfortably. "Is it okay for him to be here?"

Minato wondered if he s hould bother with feeling ins ulted by the fact that she was still talking as if he wasn't right in front

of them. At least Mitsuru seem ed cognizant that he was quite clearly listening in.

"I guess we'll s ee," Mitsuru said before turning more fully his way. She made a s hort gesture to the girl beside her. "This

is Yukari Takeba. She'll be a junior this spring, just like you."

Yukari, thus introduced, sent him a grimace of a smile. "…Hey."

Minato eyed her, careful not to give any tells on his face. When she shifted her weight, looking awkward, he asked the

question that had been burning away in his mind since their appearance. "Is there a reason why you have a gun?"

…that you seem to be ready to pull on a hai r-trigger? he finished silently in his mind.

Tamamo snorted. Minato was actually surpris ed at how quiet she was being. His Other was normally such a worrywart

about everything even remotely related to his health that he would have thought the sight of a gun would have her railing

at him to leave immediately. Maybe she was in shock?

Yukari gave a very shaky explanation about a hobby that was not a hobby and Minato could only think that she needed to

work on her lying skills. Thankfully for Yukari, Mitsuru s moothly intervened, citing self-defense and excusing i t with the


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fact that it was, apparently, not an actual gun.

Minato eyed it dubious ly as Yukari tucked it back in its hols ter. But he flicked his gaze to Mitsuru and gave a short nod in

understanding. He didn't quite accept it, but, well, he had no proof otherwise. And he didn't exactly want to give her a

chance to prove it, either.

Mitsuru nodded back before turning, eyeing the clock on the dorm wall. "It's getting late, so you should get some rest.

Your room is on the second floor, at the end of the hallway," she informed him. There was a short pause before she

added, "Your things should already be there."

The two girls then seemed to share a s mall conversation in a look. Yukari jerked. "Oh." She stepped forward with a

hesitant sm ile. "I'll show you the way. Follow m e."

Gathering the las t of his bags that he had left on the floor by the dorm's entrance, he followed Yukari to the back of the

lounge, giving Mitsuru a courteous nod as he passed, and climbed up the stairs behind her.

His weariness rose the closer he got to his assigned room, piling on the hours of sitting on stiff seats and other traveling

aches and pains. The little adrenaline rush that appeared the moment he saw the gun drawn had mitigated that

somewhat, but now that it was gone he was feeling even more exhausted than before. He could barely listen to Yukari

talk—something about a key?—and, oh. She asked him something.

What a time to zone out. Ignoring the girl that drew a gun on him for entering the dorm late was probably hazardous to his

health, wasn't it?

"She just wants to know if you have any questions," Tamamo told him softly.

God bless his Other.

"Mm…" Minato tilted his head, trying to keep the urge to sleep at bay. "…Does that kid live here, too?"

Yukari sent him an odd look. "What kid? What are you talking about…?" Her face went strangely pale. "C'mon, it's not

funny."

"…Oh! That's right," Tamamo s aid with all the air of one experiencing an epiphany.

What's right?

"I just rememb ered something, that's all," she replied. She began muttering to herself in dis tracted tones (something

about ghosts), telling him that her attention was els ewhere. Was she working on that blackboard thing again?

"…hey. Hey! You in there?"

Startled, Minato refocused and found a hand being waved in his face. Yukari, noticing he was back in reali ty, lowered

said hand with a s mall frown.

"Wow, you must be really tired. Sorry, but I just have one m ore ques tion," she said. She looked troubled. "Was everything,

er, okay on your way here?"

Minato blinked slowly, trying to think of anything out of the ordinary that happened on his way to the dorm. Nothing in

particular came to mind. "Yeah."

"I see…" The anxious expression on her face didn't fade even as she shook her head. "Never mind, then. I'll just be

going. Goodnight."

Too tired to think of doing anything more, Minato entered his room wi thout further ado and all but collapsed on his bed.

He didn't even bother changing out of his uniform, despi te the wrinkles that were sure to accumulate when he woke up.

As he sank into sleep, he felt Tamamo's pres ence rise up to meet him, pulling him deeper into the safety of his mind. He

didn't resist. She would watch over him, as s he always had. The silent sentinel of his dreams.

Distantly, he wondered if she s till dreamed.

It was a good thing that Minato had been so exhausted that he fell asleep alm ost instantly when Tamamo met him in his

mind. It allowed her to guide him safely to the deeper levels of his subconscious just before her little neighbor decided to

finally make his appearance. Outside of the Dark Hour, too, she noted. Though s he supposed that didn't matter, as they


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He didn't think so, but thankfully Junpei spoke up again, interrupting whatever he could have said. He got s traight to the

point, too, asking them to tell him about why they came to school together.

"High schoolers," Tamamo scoffed. "You gossip ab out the weirdest things sometimes. It's your first day here at this

school and everyone wants to know what? The transfer student coming in with the popular girl. Of course. How… cliché. "

Better than being told I was haunted , he reasoned.

" At least that one was somewhat truthful," Tamamo shot back. She paused. " And done with good intentions."

Then, Yukari said s omething s tupid ("Oi, Minato. That's rude."). Or rather, she asked s omething stupid. "You didn't say

anything to anyone about… you know what, did you?"

Honestly, she was just saying that she was worried about people talking about them com ing to school together and then

she words a question like that. Couldn't she have phrased it any other way?

He didn't reply, thoroughly speechless , which only seem ed to perturb the brunette more. "Seriously! Don't say anything

about las t night, all right?"

That was even worse.

"Hey now, it's just foot-in-mouth syndrome at its finest," Tamam o said. She sounded far too amused. "Maybe a b it of word

vomit, too."

And now Junpei was staring at them with wide eyes.

Shit .

"You s hould… be careful about how you s ay things," Minato suggested, with difficulty, before things could devolve any

further.

Yukari blinked at him. "Huh?"

"'Don't say anything about las t night'…?" he parroted before jerking a thumb in Junpei's di rection.

The brunette appeared to visibly soak in her own words , following his gesture to the gaping Junpei. She colored. "H—

Hey! Wait! That's not—I mean, no! Stop it! Don't get the wrong idea!"

"I got to the dorm we're ass igned to late last night," Minato cut in with a small s igh. "I was tired, but she and… Kirijo-

senpai apparently thought they saw something when I arrived." He shrugged.

Junpei relaxed, comical express ion melting away. "Saw something? Wait, you guys live in that one dorm kinda near the

station, right? It was probably just a bunch of punks s tumbling home drunk."

He sounded a little sour at that, but Minato didn't comment on it. "Probably."

Yukari, still looking flus tered, left soon after for club activities, but not before warning Junpei to not spread rum ors.

Junpei watched her go, looking partly amus ed. "She's s o paranoid. Like anyone actually takes rum ors s erious ly." Then,

turning back to Minato, he grinned. "Anyway, it's your first day here and things are already picking up! This is gonna be a

fun year. I can feel it!"

In the back of Minato's head, Tamamo laughed. "He doesn't know the half of it."


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*Chapter 5*: Shadow Fight, Full Moon Bright


of work.

Other Notes: I'm glad people seem to be enjoying this. It's fun to write and try to reimagine scenes that people have no

doubt watched and read countless times before. I admit I was a little nervous that people wouldn't give it a chance given

the "OC SI" note s traight in the summary hanging over this like a neon s ign, and the fact that I can't write Minato as a s toic

badass… Still, to all you readers , skeptical or enthusias tic, thank you for giving this a s hot.

Also, I would like to note that this attempt at a FANOWRIMO challenge involves more than jus t reaching the 50k word

goal. I want to keep writing and updating throughout November… in order words , to update pretty much daily the entire

month regardless of word count. I don't know if I'll be able to keep up the steam for it, but hopefully I'll make it at leas t

halfway before tapering off.

Symbiosis

Chapter Five

The next evening, Minato met Shuji Ikutsuki, Chairman of the Board of Gekkoukan High, and felt Tamamo's normal ly

warm presence go cold.

Ikutsuki, in Minato's opinion, looked like any other authority figure of the high profile school. At first glance, Minato felt wary

ust at the sight of the long hair, glasses, and pressed s uit. Something about the combination seemed off, like the

villains portrayed in disguise in anime. But then the man opened his mouth and he s eemed so very… plain.

But the corner of Minato's mind that Tamamo occupied seemed to freeze over. He had trouble concentrating on the

conversation after that and excused hims elf before long.

"Sorry," he said, though he wasn't sure he meant it. "I've had a headache since school ended. I'd really just like to go

sleep it off right now."

"Oh, of course," Ikutsuki said with a kind smile. "Feel better, Arisato-kun."

"Goodnight," said Yukari.

Minato nodded and briskly walked away, taking the s teps two at a time before hurrying to his room, inconveniently at theend of the hall. Once he entered, he practically threw his bag by his desk before flopping onto his bed on his stomach.

"Tamamo," he called his Other aloud, "what happened?"

Silence met him. He was just starting to fear that she wouldn't respond when s he sighed. "I don't… like that guy."

Minato shifted, rolling so that he was on his back and staring at the ceiling. Why? We just met him .

He felt her hesitate and knew she was holding something back. It was a famil iar sens ation. She did the same thing

whenever he asked her more about herself. "…I just have a feeling, I guess. Watch out for him, Minato."

Minato agreed, confused as he was , and, sens ing the conversation's end, got back up to prepare for bed. As he shuffled

about his room, he pondered Tamamo's words.

Again, he felt that there was so much he was miss ing about his Other. It didn't so much as bother him, per se, but he felt

as if he were always playing catch up with her. Even when he was a child, she was older than him and seemed to know

much more. It had been a goal he eagerly chased after to match her in age and finally be equals , but even now, when he

more or les s appeared the same age as she did, she still felt frustratingly out of reach.

It was almost funny.

"You'll tell me one day," he said, voice firm.

He could be patient. He could wait.

"Of course," Tamamo replied.


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They depended on one another, after all. He relied on her intuition and knowledge when his wasn't enough, just as she

relied on him to ke

the mermaid queen - symbiosis

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