Death Leads The Way
Author: Kel tehkellerz
Character/Fandom: Minato Arisato, Persona 3
Prompt: Event Horizon
Word Count: 921
Summary: Before Minato moved to Iwatodai, he visited it.
Author Notes/Warnings: SPOILERS for like, November. Even though this is about stuff right before he got into Gekkoukan. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK?
Minato had just moved into another foster family's house. He only had one bag, packed with all of his necessities - clothes that were nearing two years old and his laptop. It was known he wasn't going to stay there long, even ignoring his previous track record. The orphanage he had just been transferred to was overcrowded, and a couple families in the area had volunteered to watch over a few kids while they got the problem sorted out.
It was him and two other kids whom he didn't know, but they seemed to know each other well enough. They were both younger than him - most kids in the orphanages were, nowadays - and required more of the adults' time. The adults he got assigned to were a bit put off by Minato - most adults were when they first met him - but like most adults, they accepted him and his uniqueness after a few hours.
He was lying on the couch in the dark, reading a map of the area. The kids refused to share one bed, despite the fact that it could easily fit three kids their size, so Minato volunteered to sleep on the couch. It wasn't to make the children happy, though. It was to keep out of any unnecessary arguments and young wailing screams and the like. Now would be the time to say "He couldn't wait until..." but honestly, he had nothing to wait for. He was living his life to die.
That sounds crueler than it really is. It's not like he had lost the will to live, you see. It's just, he had never really lived in the first place, and the past nine and a half years must have been spent doing something. When one spends their time idly, it usually means they are waiting for something, but with nothing in the future to wait for, it seems most appropriate that he was merely waiting to grow old and die. He could just as easily die young, though, and it wouldn't bother him. But something changed when, on the very edge of the map, in a space so small it could just barely fit the bordering city's name, he saw the word "Iwatodai" printed.
He ignored it, or at least thought he did, but found himself thinking about Iwatodai as he tried to fall asleep. The next day, his first day of school, again, found his mind wandering to that city by the ocean. He wondered if it had changed at all. His memory of the place was nearly ten years old, distorted through time and merged with all the other places he had been. He wondered if he would recognize anyone. The obvious answer was no, of course he wouldn't, but that didn't make this feeling go away. Well, it wasn't really a feeling or a nagging, because it didn't bother him. It was more like, a knowledge. It's hard to describe.
That day, after school, he got on a train to Iwatodai. The first thing he noticed was that it didn't look any different from any other city he had been in. It wasn't a disappointment, though. It was just a fact. His memory of the city was worthless, too, as it's not like he was able to point to a spot and go "That's where that used to be!"
Then he found Gekkoukan High. What followed next wasn't quite logical. There's no real reason as to why he entered the building. He just did, is all, with his school uniform announcing an outsider's presence. A teacher asked him if he was lost and, after being tossed around for a bit, he somehow found himself applying to the school.
--------------------------------
Chairman Shuji Ikutsuki was flipping through the throwaway pile. In it were the files of kids that applied and didn't meet the high qualifications Gekkoukan required of its students. Either they had horrible grades or were known troublemakers or didn't have a reliable means of payment. Each file had a small picture of the applying student. It was something he had persuaded the board to do several years back, able to convince them that the way a teenager carries his or her self says a lot about them.
He slapped down one file, opened up another, and stared. Almost everything was wrong about this kid. Most prominently, his education was choppy and unstable, averaging something like three months in any one school system. It would be a far cry to say that was the only thing wrong with him, though. His hair was too long, his posture was awful, he applied terribly late and had absolutely no way of paying. You have to respect such a hopeless applicant, as it was surely the worst application to pass through the school. However, the chairman had another reason for pausing on this boy.
Ikutsuki stood up slowly, adjusting his glasses, and went over to the large computer behind him. He opened an often accessed file, password protected and to some extent corrupted, and compared the small boy in the video to the low quality image with the application. His heart raced and an evil, manic grin sprouted on his face.
This is it.
The end is near.
------------------------
Anyone that had seen his orphanage history laughed when Minato said he applied to Gekkoukan High School. The full scholarship that came in the mail shut them up pretty quickly though.
Character/Fandom: Minato Arisato, Persona 3
Prompt: Event Horizon
Word Count: 921
Summary: Before Minato moved to Iwatodai, he visited it.
Author Notes/Warnings: SPOILERS for like, November. Even though this is about stuff right before he got into Gekkoukan. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK?
Minato had just moved into another foster family's house. He only had one bag, packed with all of his necessities - clothes that were nearing two years old and his laptop. It was known he wasn't going to stay there long, even ignoring his previous track record. The orphanage he had just been transferred to was overcrowded, and a couple families in the area had volunteered to watch over a few kids while they got the problem sorted out.
It was him and two other kids whom he didn't know, but they seemed to know each other well enough. They were both younger than him - most kids in the orphanages were, nowadays - and required more of the adults' time. The adults he got assigned to were a bit put off by Minato - most adults were when they first met him - but like most adults, they accepted him and his uniqueness after a few hours.
He was lying on the couch in the dark, reading a map of the area. The kids refused to share one bed, despite the fact that it could easily fit three kids their size, so Minato volunteered to sleep on the couch. It wasn't to make the children happy, though. It was to keep out of any unnecessary arguments and young wailing screams and the like. Now would be the time to say "He couldn't wait until..." but honestly, he had nothing to wait for. He was living his life to die.
That sounds crueler than it really is. It's not like he had lost the will to live, you see. It's just, he had never really lived in the first place, and the past nine and a half years must have been spent doing something. When one spends their time idly, it usually means they are waiting for something, but with nothing in the future to wait for, it seems most appropriate that he was merely waiting to grow old and die. He could just as easily die young, though, and it wouldn't bother him. But something changed when, on the very edge of the map, in a space so small it could just barely fit the bordering city's name, he saw the word "Iwatodai" printed.
He ignored it, or at least thought he did, but found himself thinking about Iwatodai as he tried to fall asleep. The next day, his first day of school, again, found his mind wandering to that city by the ocean. He wondered if it had changed at all. His memory of the place was nearly ten years old, distorted through time and merged with all the other places he had been. He wondered if he would recognize anyone. The obvious answer was no, of course he wouldn't, but that didn't make this feeling go away. Well, it wasn't really a feeling or a nagging, because it didn't bother him. It was more like, a knowledge. It's hard to describe.
That day, after school, he got on a train to Iwatodai. The first thing he noticed was that it didn't look any different from any other city he had been in. It wasn't a disappointment, though. It was just a fact. His memory of the city was worthless, too, as it's not like he was able to point to a spot and go "That's where that used to be!"
Then he found Gekkoukan High. What followed next wasn't quite logical. There's no real reason as to why he entered the building. He just did, is all, with his school uniform announcing an outsider's presence. A teacher asked him if he was lost and, after being tossed around for a bit, he somehow found himself applying to the school.
--------------------------------
Chairman Shuji Ikutsuki was flipping through the throwaway pile. In it were the files of kids that applied and didn't meet the high qualifications Gekkoukan required of its students. Either they had horrible grades or were known troublemakers or didn't have a reliable means of payment. Each file had a small picture of the applying student. It was something he had persuaded the board to do several years back, able to convince them that the way a teenager carries his or her self says a lot about them.
He slapped down one file, opened up another, and stared. Almost everything was wrong about this kid. Most prominently, his education was choppy and unstable, averaging something like three months in any one school system. It would be a far cry to say that was the only thing wrong with him, though. His hair was too long, his posture was awful, he applied terribly late and had absolutely no way of paying. You have to respect such a hopeless applicant, as it was surely the worst application to pass through the school. However, the chairman had another reason for pausing on this boy.
Ikutsuki stood up slowly, adjusting his glasses, and went over to the large computer behind him. He opened an often accessed file, password protected and to some extent corrupted, and compared the small boy in the video to the low quality image with the application. His heart raced and an evil, manic grin sprouted on his face.
This is it.
The end is near.
------------------------
Anyone that had seen his orphanage history laughed when Minato said he applied to Gekkoukan High School. The full scholarship that came in the mail shut them up pretty quickly though.