Chapter Text
“Welcome to the Velvet Room,” said a man with bulging eyes and the biggest nose he had ever seen. He assumed he was in the back of a car, big enough to be a limo, and everything was upholstered with blue velvet. The car was rumbling beneath his feet and fog pressed up against the windows, too dense to make anything out. Was this a dream? What was going on? The squat man with the huge nose had been droning on about fate and contracts or some other cryptic stuff, but Yu’s attention was suddenly caught as the man gestured to a boy sitting near him. Yu had been so overwhelmed, he hadn’t even noticed him.
“…And this is my assistant,” said the man (Igor apparently) in an almost apologetic tone.
“Hey, name’s Yosuke Hanamura, I’ll be helping you out. Whatever you need, just let me know,” said the boy, Yosuke, with a grin. He wore a strange two-toned blue suit that must have been tailored specially for him with how snug it fit and some bulky blue headphones were draped around his neck. A matching blue cap sat on top of his reddish brown hair. Yu was feeling more confused by the second. He looked like a normal boy, but the situation was anything but normal. It was almost comical to see him sat next to the strange goblin-like man.
“So what’s your name? The Boss must’ve forgot to ask, he is getting up there in the age department,” Yosuke said as if there was nothing out of the ordinary about the whole situation, just like they were two people meeting on the street, not in the back of a strange blue limo with a big-nosed man. Igor sent the boy a deprecating look, which went completely unnoticed by the other.
“I was getting to that. You lack patience, as always,” Igor said almost to himself.
“…Yu Narukami,” he finally responded to Yosuke, following Yosuke’s lead to ignore Igor’s obvious displeasure. The other boy cracked a smile and his brown eyes twinkled in the dim blue light.
“Yu, huh? Nice to meet you. We’ll be working together soon so, until then!” Yosuke said in a friendly voice and a little wave of his white-gloved hand.
“I’m the one that must dismiss our guests! It’s in the handbook I gave you,” Igor said in a sharper voice, and when Yosuke failed to reply, “You did read the handbook I presume?”
“Uh…” Yosuke rubbed the back of his neck and averted his eyes from Igor’s bulging ones. Igor gave a little huff in response and then the whole scene was fading until everything was black. Yu was left completely bewildered with a mild headache when he finally opened his eyes, but he couldn’t help but feel intrigued as he gazed out of the train window.
Inaba was a small town in the middle of nowhere. Yu was soon settled in with his uncle and niece and beginning his school life at Yosagami High. He had instantly made friends with a couple of girls from his class, Chie and Yukiko. He hadn’t encountered the strange blue car or its inhabitants since his arrival, but it was never far from his mind. When Chie suggested they check out a weird rumor about a midnight channel on TV, he and Yukiko agreed, but he couldn’t keep himself from feeling foolish as he stood in front of the blank screen in his room late at night while the rain gently tapped against the window. That instantly left his mind as the screen flickered to life and a strange blurry picture took shape. Almost instinctually, he reached out to touch it. He watched in disbelief as his hand failed to meet any resistance, ripples spreading from where it disappeared. This wasn’t right, was his hand… inside of his TV? Before he could pull it back, a deep booming voice spoke.
“I am thou and thou art me.”
It was over as quickly as it began and Yu found himself on the floor breathing hard, gingerly touching his hand. What just happened? He shook his head slightly and climbed to his feet. A lot of strange things had been going on lately, the weird blue car dream and now this. Could they be connected…? Maybe he was just tired. He idly wondered if Chie and Yukiko had seen the same thing as he climbed into his futon. After a few minutes of tossing and turning, his eyes grew heavy and he fell into a deep sleep.
The car was gently shaking beneath his feet and he was surrounded by an eerie blue glow. The two from last time were sitting across from him on the long velvet car seat. Igor had his hands folded and stared at him intensely while Yosuke seemed to be preoccupied with listening to music. Yu wasn’t sure the boy had even noticed him yet.
“Ah, welcome to the Velvet Room. It seems you are awakening to your new power, the power of Persona-“
“Hey, welcome back, Yu! So you finally got your powers? Pretty weird, right?” The boy in the blue suit, Yosuke, interrupted when he finally noticed Yu as if he wasn’t even aware of Igor talking next to him. He probably wasn’t with how loud that music had been playing. Igor glared in Yosuke’s direction as the boy pulled off his headphones to rest around his neck.
“Yeah, I guess. What exactly is going on here, I don’t really understand,” Yu said, thinking of his hand sliding into the TV screen.
“Allow me to explain, you see, the power of Persona harnesses the power of your true self and the bonds that you will create on your journey,” Igor began and his long-winded explanation only created more questions for Yu. He noticed Yosuke looked pretty bored with the whole thing, even yawning a couple of times, his eyes going glassy. How often had he heard this speech or was it just Igor? The long-nosed guy was pretty boring, strange and creepy, but boring nonetheless. Yu realized Igor had finally fell silent, Yosuke looked like he was just waking up from a nap beside him.
“Yeah, so it’s like a cool superhero that fights for you and it gets stronger as you make friends. The Boss just likes to make things more difficult and mysterious,” Yosuke said conspiratorially with a roll of his eyes. Igor’s looked a bit bulgier.
“Right… So what am I fighting again?” Yu asked Yosuke.
“Oh man, I don’t think I’m allowed to tell you that stuff yet,” Yosuke said with an uncertain glance towards Igor, who stubbornly remained silent, “But I’m sure you’ll find out soon! And you can come visit us whenever you need help, just go through the weird glowing door.”
“Okay, weird glowing door, got it,” Yu said seriously with a decisive nod. Yosuke smiled in response and crossed his arms.
“You are taking this way better than I would if I was in your position. Well, anyway, that’s all for now, right?” Yosuke asked with a slight nudge to Igor.
“Yes, until we meet again, oh and please pardon my… eccentric assistant. It’s a temporary solution until my other, more capable, assistant can return. We will just have to make due until her return,” Igor said with a smile, which was quite a disturbing sight. Yosuke protested with a “hey!” and his face turned to a light pink, noticeable even beneath the blue light.
“Actually, I think Yosuke has been pretty helpful so far,” Yu replied with a slight shrug. Yu couldn’t figure out which one of them looked more shocked by his comment, Igor or Yosuke. But then Yosuke was smiling a bright, satisfied smile, his cheeks still pink and Yu couldn’t look away. The other boy’s happiness was magnetic.
“Heh heh, thanks, man! And don’t worry, you can count on me! Those shadows don’t stand a chance- Oops! Forget that last part,” Yosuke said hurriedly and glanced at Igor with a guilty expression. He gave a nervous smile, but it wasn’t returned or even acknowledged by the long-nosed man. Yu could see sweat forming on Yosuke’s brow. That was the last thing Yu saw before everything once again turned black.
Chie and Yukiko didn’t believe him when he told them how his hand had went into his TV. Yu didn’t really blame them, he was starting to doubt last night’s events, too. Regardless, they all agreed to go to the local supermarket Junes to find a big enough TV and test it out. He was already somewhat familiar with the store from Nanako singing the theme song every time one of the commercials came on. They gathered in front of the TV and when Yu stuck his whole arm into the screen, Chie and Yukiko were so startled that they ended up jostling him and all three went tumbling head first into the TV screen.
What followed was a surreal blur. They met a stuffed bear named Teddie and found a room with torn up pictures and a noose hanging from the ceiling. Just as they were almost back to where they first entered, some sort of creatures attacked them. They were black and white sphere creatures with gaping mouths and dangling tongues. One used the slimy thing to lick Chie and throw her off balance. Yukiko was the next to be knocked down and soon it was just Yu standing alone. Were these the things he was supposed to fight? He didn’t have time to think about it as one of them lunged at him. Something surged in response inside of him and the word “Persona” was leaving his mouth before he knew what was happening. Suddenly there was an armored figure with a gigantic sword floating above him and he somehow felt a connection with it, he understood that this was a part of him. This was-
“Izanagi!”
The fight was short-lived after that, Izanagi easily dispatched the enemies with blasts of lightning and powerful swings of his sword. So this was his Persona? Well, Yosuke was right, he did sort of look like a superhero. And these must be the enemies he mentioned- Shadows. Yu focused on helping the girls to their feet and, with the help of Teddie, they found themselves exhausted and confused, but still alive, right back in front of the TV’s in Junes. After some excited and disoriented chatter, all three of them went their separate ways with promises to meet back up soon. After school the next day, Yu said his goodbyes to Chie and Yukiko and set out to find the weird glowing door. The riverbank near the school didn’t hold any leads and the shrine was no good either. He was walking farther down the road in the shopping district checking out the stores when he found it. It was an ethereal blue door that seemed to be floating in midair. People walked past it without sparing it a glance. They couldn’t see it? Maybe you needed a Persona? Yu barely touched the door before being sucked in.
“Welcome to the Velvet Room.”
Igor was there, ready and waiting, and Yosuke was sprawled along the seat reading a thick blue book covered in intricate designs. He looked up when Yu entered and instantly brightened.
“Long time, no see! So how’d it go? Did you use your Persona?” the boy asked excitedly, pushing himself up to a sitting position. His cap was a little crooked on top of his unkempt hair.
“Yeah, but I had no idea what I was doing. It all happened so fast. And those creatures- Shadows you called them- what are they and why did they attack us?” Yu asked.
“Well, uh, I guess that’s just what they do, you know? I don’t really know the details, but-”
“I thought I told you to familiarize yourself with the handbook and the Compendium. Just what have you been doing this entire time?” Igor asked with a sigh. Yosuke snapped the thick book closed beside him and moved it from view but not before Yu saw something colorful sticking out of it.
“Y-yeah, that’s what I was doing. It’s just hard to remember it all, there’s so many details-”
“A Velvet Room assistant must be able to provide information to its guests otherwise they will have no guidance, no direction, like a boat lost at sea. It’s your job to guide them,” Igor told Yosuke almost passionately, bloodshot eyes bugging out of his head.
“Okay, I get it, Boss. Geez, no need to get all worked up. Let’s see here,” Yosuke carefully flipped the book back open but Yu noticed he was careful to keep its contents hidden away, using his body to shield it. “Shadows, shadows… Shadows! ‘Shadows are corrupted and twisted aspects born of human emotions’, some other crap about negativity and energy manifestation. Yeah, I think that about covers it. So does that answer your question, Yu?” Yosuke looked up triumphantly from the book’s pages. His brown eyes seemed so hopeful and Yu just nodded his head dumbly. He didn’t have the heart to tell him that it didn’t really make any sense whatsoever.
“See? I can do this job, no problem!” Yosuke said to Igor with a smug smile plastered across his face.
“And just what is this? I don’t remember this being included in the Compendium,” Igor said and held up a glossy magazine covered in motorcycles. Yosuke had forgotten the open book on his lap in his excitement. A blush started spreading across the other boy’s cheeks.
“Um, well… That’s…”
“So this is the type of studying you have been up to, hmm?”
Yu left not too long after that as the conversation quickly evolved into Igor lecturing Yosuke about the finer points of serving in the Velvet Room. Yosuke was enduring it, but didn’t bother to hide his obvious boredom with the subject. He fiddled with the big round buttons on his suit sighing and readjusted the white gloves stretched over his slender fingers with a faraway look. Walking home, Yu couldn’t stop wondering about the boy. Yosuke appeared to be a relatively normal high school-age boy. So why was he in the Velvet Room, a place that defied reality itself? The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he really wanted to know. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his uniform and decided to himself that he would get to the bottom of it as he watched the sun sink into the horizon.
The mystery behind Yosuke had to be put on the back-burner as another body was found in Inaba, some girl who had worked at Junes, after another showing of the Midnight Channel. Yu was still trying to wrap his head around the whole TV world and Persona stuff, but he didn’t hesitate to re-enter it with Chie, armed with some golf clubs she had lying around her house. They meant to search for the figure from the TV, one that had greatly resembled the murdered girl in Yu’s opinion, but things went south. They found a twisted version of the liquor store in town and a disembodied girl’s voice echoed through it once they entered. It kept talking about how fake the whole town had become, how she herself had become fake.
And that was how Yu found out that Chie was really scared of ghosts. Terrified actually, Yu thought as he subtly attempted to pry the girl away from his arm. It was no use, she had his arm in a death lock. Maybe he should have brought Yukiko, he couldn’t imagine the dark-haired girl being shaken by a creepy voice. The voice finally stopped its bitter ramblings and he was able to coax Chie off of him, which she quickly did with lots of blushing and apologizing in a stammering voice. It just got worse from there as they ran into a huge Shadow in the back of the store. It resembled a faceless mannequin but its limbs were stuck on at odd angles and there were too many arms, each holding a head that wore a different expression. The fight lasted longer than he had hoped and they realized quickly that they had to concentrate their attacks on the heads the Shadow was holding before attacking its body. But with Izanagi and Chie’s surprising strength, the Shadow eventually let out a deep gurgling noise and disappeared into a cloud of thick black smoke.
“What was that thing just now? A monster?” she asked, out of breath.
“They’re called Shadows, they are corrupted human emotions… or something like that,” Yu replied with the corners of his mouth tilting up despite his fatigue, remembering Yosuke’s terrible explanation.
“Wow, you sure know a lot about it!” Chie said impressed.
“Not really, the boy in the Velvet Room explained it to me,” Yu said and Chie’s expression started to look a little concerned.
“Velvet Room? You sure you didn’t hit your head during the fight? Come on, we should go,” Chie told him and started pulling him towards the door.
Chie was trying to act like it was purely out of concern for him, but Yu could tell she was still scared about the idea of a ghost girl hanging around so, covered in bruises and exhausted, they trudged their way back to the entrance, stopping only to talk to Teddie. The Investigation Team was formed soon after that, Yu, Chie, and Yukiko being its sole members. They were convinced now that the TV world was inextricably linked to the recent murders. They all agreed to continue watching the Midnight Channel and exploring the TV world. Was this part of his fate, his journey that Igor had talked about? To put a stop to the killing and find whoever was responsible? Yu didn’t really know, but he was determined to find out.
The Investigation Team faced its first true test when Yukiko went missing. Chie was beside herself with worry, scouring the town and the Amagi Inn for any sign of Yukiko. Yu was almost getting used to her panicked texts in the middle of the night with more dead-end leads. The Midnight Channel confirmed Chie’s worst fears, Yukiko (or maybe he should say Princess Yukiko) had been taken like the other girl and soon she would end up the same way if they didn’t intervene. Who was doing this? Yu couldn’t see the point or how any of it connected. He focused on just getting Yukiko back, they could worry about the rest later. After school, he and Chie met at the busy Junes food court to get their plan straight and soon they were delving back into the TV world.
Teddie was waiting for them. He warned them that he had found a new presence and was pretty sure he could lead them to it. Chie was eager to go, practically jumping in place, but Yu found his attention drawn to a familiar glowing blue door near the entrance. He was positive it hadn’t been there before and Teddie confirmed it saying that the door had just showed up a few days ago. He knew that going in at the moment was out of the question as Chie was barely holding herself back from dragging him away, not even paying attention to their conversation. He made a mental note to come back afterwards. Despite everything, the worry for Yukiko and the dread of the shadows they would probably have to face, Yu felt undeniably curious about what must be going on behind the weird glowing door. Specifically, what its inhabitants were up to.
The place Teddie led them to was a tall menacing castle surrounded by thick hedges and radiating a reddish-pink aura. Yu barely had time to take in the sight before Chie was dragging him along, no longer concerned with formalities. Yukiko’s voice greeted them and he knew they were in the right place. The first few floors weren’t much of a problem, but Yu was feeling more and more drained with every fight and Chie could only help so much with only her physical strength to rely on. That problem was unexpectedly solved when they reached the next floor. There in the middle of the floor was an almost perfect double of Chie, but with golden eyes and spouting dark and hateful things. Most of it was about her relationship with Yukiko. Chie argued with it for a while in a shaky voice, denying its words, until she finally cracked, yelling “You’re not me!” The Shadow that appeared was even bigger than the one in the liquor store. It took everything out of them to beat it, Yu relying on Izanagi’s power so heavily that he was sure it was reaching its limit. Chie never gave up, kicking and punching with as much force as she could muster even though she looked dead on her feet.
Finally, the creature disappeared after a final blast of electricity and the golden-eyed Chie was standing in its place. Yu felt sympathy and a greater understanding for the girl as she was forced to accept the truth behind the nasty things the doppelganger had been spewing. Almost as a reward, Chie received a Persona, Tomoe. Yu actually felt a little shocked, he was starting to think that maybe he was the only one with the power to wield a Persona, but he was also relieved to have someone else powerful enough to fight beside him. Chie was a good fighter, but there was only so much damage kicking could inflict on Shadows. They hadn’t found Yukiko, but they were both left without an ounce of strength in the aftermath of their battle and even Chie had to concede that it was best to call it a day. The way back was uneventful, but once they were at the entrance Yu couldn’t resist checking out the blue door.
“Uh, what are you doing, the exit’s over here,” Chie’s voice drifted over to him.
“Yeah, I’ll be there in a minute,” Yu said and his hand was already reaching out.
“Welcome to the- Oh, Yu! What’s up?” Yosuke said, blue cards fluttering to the floor. He had just been shuffling them deftly right before he realized it was Yu sitting across from him. There was no Igor in sight and Yu couldn’t imagine there was anywhere for him to hide inside the confines of the car. Especially with that nose. Yosuke glared at the cards littering the floor in front of him and muttered a few curse words under his breath before bending to scoop them up. Yu instantly dropped to his knees and started helping him gather up the fallen cards.
“N-no, you don’t have to do that!” Yosuke protested but Yu ignored him as he studied the cards in his hand.
They were covered in pictures of what suspiciously looked like different Personas and had strange symbols on their backs. Wait, he had found some of these… He winced with a sharp inhale of breath as he reached for one that had found its way beneath one of the velvet car seats.
“Hey, are you okay? Oh man, are you injured?” Yosuke asked in a worried voice. His brown eyes, Yu could see they were lighter up close than he had previously thought, were filled with concern and scanned Yu’s body as if he was looking for wounds.
“It’s nothing. What are these? I found some on a couple of shadows earlier,” Yu asked, holding one up with a green pile of slime on it. Yosuke slapped a gloved hand to his forehead.
“That’s right, I gotta tell you about the fusing stuff,” Yosuke said and then, “But wait, the Boss isn’t here. Crap, I really don’t wanna mess this up,” in a panicked voice.
“I’m sure you will do fine,” Yu said with a small smile. Yosuke seemed to relax after that and returned Yu’s smile with a tentative one of his own. He took the cards from Yu’s hands, gloved fingers brushing against his. Yosuke sat back, straightening the cards into an orderly pile.
“Okay, but would you at least get off the floor? You don’t look like you’re in very good shape.”
Yu climbed back to his feet with only minor difficulty and took a seat next to Yosuke. He leaned in closer to get a better look at the pile of cards and the book Yosuke had pulled on to his lap. Yu wondered if he was imagining the pinkness spreading across the other boy’s face when he glanced at him.
“H-hey, give me a little bit of space here,” Yosuke said and Yu realized he must be too close. He wasn’t the best when it came to judging personal space.
“Oh, sorry,” Yu said and moved back some, hoping it was enough. Yosuke was still faintly pink but seemed more at ease.
“No big deal. So where to begin…? Persona cards can be collected on enemies sometimes and then you can bring them to me and we can fuse them together to make different cool ones. You can use any of them since you have the Wild Card and-”
“Wait, the Wild Card?”
“Yeah, the Boss already explained it to you, right? Oh wait, was I supposed to- Well, anyway it just means you can change your Persona whenever you want so you don’t have to use the same one all the time,” Yosuke explained while Yu tried not to feel lost.
“Right,” Yu nodded his head at Yosuke’s expectant face, “So what exactly is fusing again?”
Yosuke sighed with a dejected expression, “Ugh, I know I’m terrible at this, sorry. This is all pretty new to me, too. I never thought I would have to do something like this,” then, “But hey, we can learn about it together! It’s like we’re partners! Or fusing partners, at least,” he said in a brighter voice. Yosuke’s smile was contagious and Yu found himself smiling back at him like an idiot.