(Sometime in the afternoon)(Aika's Apartment)(Aika's pov)

I just got back from college, feeling extremely sluggish BUT excited to finally replay my favorite game of all time; Persona 3! I had played both male and female routes, fell in love with everyone(I mean, can you blame me?), and got the endings I wanted. I now wanted to get a new game plus finished with all the trophies achieved, and no one could stop me!

I made my way to my small room, my crow Seno squawking at me as a greeting from his perch on my light stand. I flopped onto my bed with a giggle and grabbed my PSP to begin playing. Seno flew next to me and perched onto my shoulder, snuggling my neck for affection. 

"Let's go through this game together, my friend!", I cheered as I played with Seno's feathers, booting up the game. The game began with the regular sequence.

Time never waits. It delivers all equally to the same end.You, who wish to safeguard the future, however limited it may be...You will be given one year;go forth without falter, with your heart as your guide...

After the sequence though, something new came up..

Would you like to experience the game to its full potential?

                      No?                              Yes?

"Huh... I don't remember this being a part of the intro... OH! Maybe this is the new game plus thing? Yeah, I bet it is!", I giggled as I grabbed my bat that sat on the bottom of my bed, as it feels good to have it next to me. I slowly hovered over the YES option with a grin. The second I selected it though, things went haywire; The psp was so hot all of a sudden I had to drop it, and it began vibrating before a large amount of light burst out of it, blinding me. I opened my eyes after a while, peeking to see that...

"Where in the frick frack am I!?", I gasped, seeing I was not in my room anymore, but in some sort of street. Seno seemed to be with me, as well as my bat and my psp, and nothing else. I looked up at the sky, the night calming me just a bit, but it was short lived...

The sky suddenly turned a eerie green, the people who seemed to dismiss my presence turning into standing coffins, and the silence thickened around me.

"What the... This looks like the intro to Persona 3...", I mumbled, looking down at my feet to see a fallen map. I picked it up, looking at the map to see detailed directions to someplace I didn't know. I turned to Seno, the crow looking at me from his perch on my shoulder and squawking. 

"I guess we go there?", I shrugged, sprinting towards the destination with my bat in one hand, and my psp in the other with the map secured under my arm, and Seno following me in the sky. The more I ran, the more I heard strange scary noises from the alleyways. They reminded me of... 

"No, it can't be. I must be dreaming!", I huffed as I stopped at our destination, looking at the place and gawking; It was the dorms from Persona 3. I looked at Seno as he sat on my shoulder.

"Seno, peck me. Make sure I'm not dreaming!", I squinted as Seno kept poking my shoulder quite sharply with his beak, but I didn't wake up.

"Holy crap... Holy crap on a stick!! Seno, we-- We're IN persona 3!", I gasped out loud, covering my mouth quickly before trying to calm myself down. I looked down at myself, seeing I looked a bit younger than normal, probably 17... I knew that would make sense in this world because the main protagonists were in high school.

"I-If this is real... I'll be able to see Pharos... And Yukari will burst through later on with her gun... Mitsuru will come as well... And in a day or so, Igor will contact me. I mean, someone from another universe should alert him, right?", I mumbled. I took a few steps up the stairs towards the door, took a deep breath, and opened the door.

The power was out, as expected. there was a small living room, a kitchen space and dinner, stairs leading to the other floors, and a little reception area at the side of the entrance. As I took a few steps in, I yelped when a voice came from behind me.

"You're late. I've been waiting a long time for you.", I spun around to the source of the noise to find a small boy. He had black hair, piercing blue eyes, and was dressed in a black and white prisoner's uniform...

Pharos... I don't want to alert him by saying his name, so I'll just act like I don't know.

"Um... hello there, prison boy.", I waved with a small chuckle. Pharos seemed to smile a bit, seemingly satisfied with my easy introduction and little to no questioning of his existence. He snapped his fingers, revealing a small piece of paper in the middle of the air, plopping into his hands.

"That's some reverse-Thanos sh*t right there...", I mumbled to no one in particular.

"Now if you want to proceed, please sign your name there. It's a contract. Don't worry, all it says is that you'll accept full responsibility for your actions. You know, the usual stuff.", Pharos explained without taking his eyes off of me. I gently took the paper from his hands and a pen that was conveniently situated on the table. I hesitantly wrote my name down and handed it back to the strange boy.

"Hm... Aika Ishihara... You have a pretty name.", Pharos smiled at me when he glanced at the paper.

"Thanks, you have a nice... prison uniform!", I replied back, a little taken aback by his compliment.

I don't remember that being part of his dialogue... Or maybe I just forgot.

"No one can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end. You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes.", Pharos said absentmindedly as the paper disappeared from his pale hands.

"And so it begins.", the boy said as he began to disappear as well into nothing. I stood there for a solid minute, thinking about what I should do.

Yukari is supposed to come down in any second... Might as well announce my arrival.

I took a deep breath and yelled.

"I'M HERE, F*CKERS!"

Seems appropriate.

"Who's there?", I heard a female voice say. She sounded confident yet shaky. It was Yukari, coming from the stairs and her hand hovering over a gun on her holster.

Well, that was a bad idea.

"U-Um, I come in pieces! W-Wait, no, I mean peace!", I stutter as I raise my hands up for the brunette not to shoot me.

"Takeba, wait!", I heard from behind Yukari, we both look towards the voice to see my savior, Mitsuru Kirijo.

"Hey! Your friend has a few loose screws! SHE NEED SOME MILK!!", I yell as I point at Yukari. The two girls looked at me in a bit of confusion.

"Milk...? What does tha--", As Yukari was about to question me,  the power went back on and everything seemed to return to normal. They both looked back at me as Yukari put back her gun in the holster. Mitsuru then came up to me.

"I didn't think you'd arrive so late. My name is Mitsuru Kirijo. I'm one of the students who live in this dorm.", Mitsuru explained. Yukari looked at Mitsuru with a questioning look while I started staring at nothing, something I did on occasion.

"...Who's she?", Yukari asked.

"I'm the muffin man.", I suddenly blurted out.

"I'm being serious!", Yukari huffed.

"She's a transfer student. It was a last minute decision to assign her here after the last student cancelled her reservation in our school. She'll eventually be moved to a room in the other dorm.", Mitsuru explained my situation to Yukari.

Hm... so whoever the protagonist was has been changed to me, changing the world around me to fit me into the picture.

"...Is it okay for her to be here?", Takeba asked. 

"Hey, I am RIGHT HERE!", I grumbled, puffing my cheeks at Yukari.

"I guess we'll see...", Mitsuru said calmly as she turned to me. "This is Yukari Takeba. She'll be a junior this spring, just like you.".

"... Hey.", Takeba greeted hesitantly.

"Hello, fellow human. I am Aika Ishihara, aka the Queen of Memes. I hope we become the next Monica and Rachel of our generation!", I grinned with my hand extended.

"Uh, y-yeah... Nice to meet you too... Um, is that a crow on your shoulder?", Yukari returned the handshake with pure hesitance. 

"Yep, his name is Seno. It... said pets were allowed in the dorm, so...", I shrugged, Yukari seemed to let it go, although she didn't seem to get used to Seno's beady stare.

Man, I love these reactions.

Mitsuru looked at me with a questioning look but soon dismissed my behavior.

"It's getting late, so you should get some rest. Your room is on the third floor, at the end of the hallway. Your things should already be there.", Mitsuru pointed out.

"Oh... I'll show you the way. Follow me.", Takeba offered as she walks towards the stairs. I quickly pick up my stuff and ran behind her. She led me all the way to the third floor and went all the way down the hallway to the last door.

The layout hasn't changed, so I won't get THAT lost in this place...

"This is it... Pretty easy to remember, huh? ...Since it's right at the end of the hall. Oh yeah, make sure you don't lose your key, or you'll never hear the end of it... So, any questions?", Yukari asked. I decided to ask her if anything seemed odd  to her concerning my arrival.

"Um... I saw a flash of light when I came near the dorms... Did you see it too?", I asked.

"What light? What are you talking about? ...C'mon, it's not funny.", Yukari didn't know what the heck I was talking about. I waved my hand as if to say "Nevermind" and decided to leave it. Yukari didn't look done though.

"Um... Can I ask you something? On your way here from the station, was everything okay?", Yukari asked slowly. I thought for a bit.

Well, this would be the part where I am given the choice to answer her with what happened near the station or just bluff and say everything was fine. I'll just say things were okay.

"Yep, everything was a-okay!", I nodded.

"Well, I better get going...", Yukari started to walk away, then stops. "Um... I'm sure you still have other questions, but let's save them for later, okay? Good night."

"Good night, Takeba.", I answered as I watched her figure walk down the stairs. I turned to my room and opened the door and took a look around.

The room looks the same... So things change when it has to do with the previous protagonist and their actions. 

I sat down on the bed, Seno sitting on my shoulder to comfort me. My psp sat in my hands, looking useless as I tried to turn it on and nothing worked.

Welp, there goes that escape... So I'm stuck here. Seeing as how I know the events of the story, I can go through this. I mean, I did sign that contract, so that means my deal with Igor will commence. That means my Persona will appear on the day of the attack on the dorm, if I play my cards right... Well, I better get used to this. I mean, it's not like I won't have fun here, this is PERSONA we're talking about!

I freshened up for the night and changed into the most comfortable thing I found in the suitcase that was brought; A pair of PJs with banana design all around it. I crawled into bed and felt myself slip into unconsciousness.