FOOL

Protagonists Anonymous

A/N: My very first Persona fanfic. This is a light project of mine so the updates will be haywire. It's a continuous ficlet that I'll write spontaneously. I take prompts and requests.

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THEY weren't really sure when it started, to be honest.

FOR Minato, one second he was looking after his friends at his post as the seal for Nyx and the next he found himself walking into a lounge of sorts. As for Minako, similar to Minato, she was also looking out for her friends before Ryoji-Thanatos hugged her from behind, lifted her on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and whistling happily as he brought her to an eerily familiar blue door. Yu and Yosuke, on the other hand was entering the TV for an excursion only to find themselves inside a lounge instead of the world they were used to. The Phantom, meanwhile was in the middle of a tryst when he fell into a trap that dumped him in the middle of the room.

"Thanatos! Let me off!" Minako shrieked as she struggled in Ryoji's grasp.

"Sure thing, sweetheart~" He sang before letting her down on the floor and stole a kiss before she whacked him on his head, blushing. "What'd you do that for? I brought you here so you won't be so lonely anymore," he whined.

"... Where is here, exactly, you bastard?" Minato asked as he collected himself, walking menacingly towards Ryoji.

"Maa, it's nice to see you again, Minato. All whole and not statue-like. Ahaha..." He chuckled wryly as he took a step back and another as Minato advanced. He was stopped however as he felt a figure behind him then squeaked as he was confronted by a glaring Yu and Yosuke.

"We'd like to know, too," Yu said coldly.

Ryoji chuckled again as he distanced himself from the three angry males. "Ahaha... I'll tell you if you swear not to hurt me."

"You know, if I knew you well enough and I'd like to say I do, you would've turn into your true form, stop us and flee. Now, why aren't you?" Minato spoke up and he paled.

Minako, who had been helping The Phantom who was sprawled looked up at that and asked, "Ryoji? You can't turn into Thanatos, huh?"

As Ryoji paled further, a rare smile bloomed onto Minato's face but with a dark tint. His smile was predatory, "Perfect."

MUCH later, as soon as Minako finished healing Ryoji with Diarama, revealing herself to be a Persona user, the teenagers settled themselves on couches arranged circularly around a huge flat screen TV. Much to his dismay, Minako made him sit in the middle, sitting cross legged on the floor and asked to explain things. He tried to weasel his way out but The Phantom, who had been silent the whole time whipped out his knives and casually wiped them clean with a handkerchief. Coupled with the pleading eyes of Minako, he had no choice, really.

"Umm... Yo. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Ryoji. Mochizuki Ryoji."

"Thanatos," Minato coughed.

"... Also known as Thanatos. I'm a shadow."

Yu and Yosuke wasted no time brandishing their weapons against him only to lower them once Minako stood between them. Ryoji sent a baleful glare at Minato who remained aloof.

"I'm not one of those shadows. I'm Nyx's avatar. Once. Before the blue-haired dude over there sealed her off and now I'm happily married to this pretty lady here," he continued, hugging Minako and nuzzling into her hair.

She sighed before pushing him away and crossing her arms across her chest. "... Ryoji."

He pouted, "A guy can dream. Anyway, I was minding my own business on my way to visit Minako when I figured, instead of letting her wait for me all alone, why don't I create a comfortable place for her to spend her time and invite all of you for some stress relief. It's a friendly gesture."

"Basically, you took us from who knows where to entertain your lady love?" The Phantom summed up bluntly.

Ryoji grinned. "Pretty much."

"Ryoji..." Minako sighed exasperatedly, blushing to her roots.

"Now then, I'll introduce them to you, sweetheart," he said cheerfully ignoring Minako's exasperation. "The creep with the mask is The Phantom, I can tell you his real name but it's more fun if I don't," and the trickster in The Phantom nodded in approval. "The two lovebirds there are Narukami Yu and Hanamura Yosuke. Yu's the tall one," Yu quirked an eyebrow at that. "Meanwhile, the blue-haired dude is Minato. Arisato Minato."

Minako tilted her head as she regarded Minato. "Arisato... Minato?"

"Guys, this is Minako. Arisato Minako."

Minato narrowed his eyes at Ryoji. "... What."

"Oh, I forgot to mention. Minako, Minato's an alternate version of you so basically you two are sort of-kind of the same person."

"WHAT?!"

HALF AN hour later, Ryoji found himself kicked out of the room he created and being locked out. He tried his best to open the blasted door but the teenagers inside were very resourceful and powerful. Figures. He settled himself outside the room, loudly complaining about the unfairness of it all. Inside, Yu, Yosuke and The Phantom were seated on a three seat couch, warily watching the event unfolding in front of them. Sitting opposite the trio was Minato and Minako, staring at each other; the former with apprehension and the latter with curiousity.

It was Minako who broke the silence, "I'm hot," she said before letting her eyes roam Minato from top to bottom and nodding again, "Yep, totally hot."

The room was pure silence for a second as each male blinked. Within the next second Minato gaped while the other three laughed loudly at that admission. As the laughter died down, Minato leveled his counterpart with a look.

"What? It's the truth. If there's another person who's probably hotter than you, it'd be Akihiko-senpai or Ken once he's older."

"Akihiko? Really? The man's too obsessed about fighting and Ken's a kid," he muttered incredulously leaning back onto his chair.

"Naa, when you said Akihiko and Ken, do you mean Sanada Akihiko and Amada Ken?" Asked Yosuke as he relaxed.

"You know them?" Minako perked.

"Yeah, we met both of them already," Yosuke said excitedly. "Sanada-san was so charismatic and strong! Amada-kun's also really good at fighting!" He added. Yu, sitting next to him rolled his eyes as he leaned back and placed his hands in his pockets.

"Right~" Minako, who noticed the silver haired man's behavior developed a twinkle in her eyes before saying with gusto, "Aren't they cute? Akihiko-senpai had always been charismatic. He used to have all these girls following him around but he's so oblivious sometimes and it's adorable!"

"I know! He gets this bashful look sometimes when he doesn't get something. Amada-kun on the other hand is so mature and calm that whenever he acts his age he's so endearing!" Yosuke agreed.

The Phantom who had been watching the ordeal smirked in amusement looking at the subtle glares and huffs Yu gave whenever Yosuke started talking about other men. He also noticed the cheeky smile on the girl's face and her twinkling eyes. He leaned towards Minato and whispered; "She's good."

"I know. I don't know whether to be proud because she's me or be scared."

'WHEN' is a no clue. The 'how' Protagonists Anonymous was established? That.