Chapter Text
March 5th, 2022, Naganaki Shrine - Morning
After Sakuya and Aigis prayed at his past life’s grave, they decided to hang out at the shrine for an amicable conversation. They sat next to each other on a bench.
“Sakuya-san, I've been meaning to ask you, how did you regain your memories of your former self? Are you still capable of summoning a Persona and Wild Card ability? How many people knew your true identity?” Aigis questioned him curiously.
“I’m not sure about the Wild Card ability I once had. Yes, I can still summon my original evolved Persona, Messiah. The only person I told to is you, Kaname, and Yukari, my wife, knows about my real identity. As for your first question, it’s a very long story if you don’t mind listening to it.” Sakuya responded to her positively.
“Yukari-san knew it was you too? You even told Kaname-san, younger brother about your secret too? How?”
“That’s a long story as well.”
“I got time. Mitsuru-san gave me a day off today, and I got no plans besides visiting your grave.” Aigis kindly smiled.
“Well, it started when I was reincarnated in the same year as my past life…” Sakuya smiled back.
April 10th, 1992
I wasn’t able to remember how I was freed from the Great Seal, but I was born to a lovely, kind family in Shinjuku. I was given the name “Sakuya,”. They were similar to my past parents except for different hair colors. However, I couldn’t remember who I was at the time. I was an average child with no trauma experience from before. My current self looks very identical to my past life. My father was a firefighter, and my mother was an artist.
A year later, I gained a younger brother named Kaname. He has navy hair and green eyes. I was thrilled to earned a sibling I never had. I became very protective of him and played with him.
I lived peacefully with my family for seven years until the Dark Hour was created on December 2nd. This is when I began to experience it for the first time.
December 2nd, 1999
When I woke up when I was going to use the bathroom. I saw a dark green eerie atmosphere with blood on the ground and a bright yellow full moon in a bright teal sky. I looked around my house and tried to find my parents and little brother, but there were none except three dark red coffins.
I tried to open one of them until I heard an unfamiliar voice telling me not to open it or else the Shadows devour their minds and become the Lost. I listened to what it said and calmly went to bed. I tried to think this was a nightmare once I woke up the next day.
December 3rd, 1999 - Early Morning
Sakuya’s POV
After I woke up, everything was back to normal, and my family wasn’t in coffins anymore. I made my morning breakfast before going to school until my father put the news from last night on the television.
“In other news, there was a terrible accident at the moonlight bridge in Tatsumi Port Island where a married couple was killed in a car accident. The only survivor was a seven-year-old boy. He will leave to live with distant relatives to look after him until he is old enough to care for himself. He is being treated in the hospital and won’t be discharged in the next few days…” Says the news reporter.
“I felt sorry for this boy, losing his parents at such a young age. I hope his relatives treats him well.” He says it is a depressing tone.
“I don’t think he wouldn’t..” I say it negatively. Usually, I should feel sorry for him, yet I’m not. Does that make me a heartless person?
“Sakuya, why would you say that? It’s not like you share the same experience as him.” Father looks concerned for me.
“I’m not sure why I say that. I get a feeling that he might have difficulty making friends and being transferred from different relatives because of his traumatic experience. That’s what I think…” I say it honestly.
“You normally don’t say depressing things that often… Is something a matter?” My father patted my shoulder.
“I had a nightmare… you, Mom, and Kaname were turned into coffins. I was alone. The night turned green, blood everywhere, and the full moon was bright yellow. I was scared…”
“Son, it’s okay. It was a bad dream. We won’t kick the bucket anytime soon. You and your brother will have a full life ahead of you. Don’t worry about it.”
“Yeah… you’re right. Thank you, Dad.” I smiled at him.
“Come on, you better eat breakfast, get dressed, and go to school. You don’t want to be late, aren’t you?” My Dad reminded me.
“Oh.. right, I’ll do that right away!” I ran to the kitchen to eat my daily breakfast that Mom cooked for us.
Present
“Oh… you first experience the Dark Hour around the same time as your past life. That night where I fought Death and sealed it inside of your past self… I never realized you must have been terrified without knowing what’s happening, even without your memories.” Aigis fell sorry for Sakuya.
“Yeah… I kept it to myself since if I told my parents, brother, and friends, they would think I was crazy. Even without my memories, I just had a feeling.” Sakuya looks lonely.
“How can you guess what your past self’s life would be like through his childhood?” Aigis wondered.
“I wasn’t sure how I knew, but I started remembering a fragment of my memories when I first experienced the Dark Hour. That was when I slowly started to remember.” Sakuya guessed.
“What happens next?” Aigis wondered.
“After I tried waking up in the middle of the night again… I began to realize it wasn’t a dream. So I decided to explore the city to see if anyone like me was not in a coffin. I searched everywhere, and there wasn’t a single soul. I was truly alone. And then….”
December 3rd, 1999 - Dark Hour
I searched everywhere… my school, the train station, my favorite food restaurant, and the shopping district. There is no one outside of the coffin. I noticed that there’s no electronic devices weren’t working during this strange hour. So I decided to go back home before my parents saw me.
Suddenly, I saw a strange black ooze-like creature with red eyes roaming the city. It seemed to be searching for something or someone. I didn’t want to know, but I accidentally tripped on an empty can and began to notice me. The creature was chasing after me. I ran as fast as possible to reach my house until I tripped on my shoelaces and fell. I thought it was going to be the end. I closed my eyes and waited for that monster to kill him until it disappeared. I open my eyes and see the sky; the city is normal again. I looked at my watch that reads “12:01 am”.
“That monster is gone… don’t tell me that it only appeared at midnight. It’s almost like a hidden hour for monsters to appear.” I say nervously. It's strange; I felt like I heard those words before.
I was glad I survived another night, but I had to return home immediately before my parents woke up. By the time I snuck back home, only my brother was awake.
“Big Brother, why are you up so late? You know we still have school today?” Kaname asked, half asleep.
“I…I was studying all night, so I decided to get a midnight snack.” I lied to him.
“Wow… you are brilliant. However, our parents won’t let us stay up all night until we get older. We should go back to sleep.”
“Okay. Kaname, please don’t tell Mom and Dad about this.” I begged him.
“I’ll do it buy me … *yawn* “that” trading card from the shopping mall I saw with our parents.”
“Deal.”
After that, we both went to bed before our parents woke up.
After that night, I decided to keep the existence of Dark Hour a secret from everyone I love. Even if it means I will be miserable for the rest of my life because of the horror of those monsters who only appeared in the Dark Hour.