Chapter 1
This is a fan story written in the world of, and using the characters of the Persona series while taking elements from various Spider-Man media. I do not own the rights to any of the characters. This story is a work in progress and is being updated at a pace convenient to me. Any and all criticism is welcome.
[1]
Ren Amamiya was having a terrible day, the school trip to Shido Sciences had sounded interesting, but not being allowed to see any actual science happening made the trip incredibly boring. The other students looked as bored as him and even the teacher and chaperone Ms. Kawakami wasn't paying any attention to the tour guide.
"Duuuuude this suuuucks." Ren's best friend at Shujin Academy, Ryuji Sakamato, complained to him. Ryuji wasn't even interested in science to begin with so he looked the worst of the group.
"What do you want me to do about it? I'm stuck here too. And keep your voice down, Kawakami is looking our way." Ren responded
Ryuji was one of Ren's current two friends. He was considered a delinquent by the student body and staff due to his low grades, his appearance of dyed blonde hair and complete disregard for the student dress code as well as a violent encounter with the school's gym coach which ended with Ryuji's leg getting broken. In him, Ren found a kindred spirit who knew what it meant to be an outsider as Ren's own past wasn't too dissimilar. One would think by looking at him that Ryuji would be one to start trouble in any situation, but as Ren came to know him he found that Ryuji was a loyal friend with a heart bigger than his brain.
"What's even the point in comin' here if they're just gonna talk and not show any cool stuff?"
"Would you rather be in class right now?"
"...Okay good point. But I'm still pissed." Ryuji looked over and noticed two scientists in hazmat suits leaving a room. He looked over and saw that Ms. Kawakami's attention was on her phone now and no longer paying them any mind. He tapped Ren's shoulder and pointed over to the room the scientists had exited.
"Hey man there might be somethin' interesting over there, let's check it out." He whispered
"Let's just stick with the group, I don't want to get in trouble." Ren replied
"We're not gonna! No one cares what's going here. Plus if anyone sees us we'll just say we got lost looking for the bathroom."
Ren debated with himself, it had been a pretty shitty week, multiple exams, long hours at Leblanc, and his phone had gotten cracked on the subway, this trip was the one thing he had been looking forward to and it was the biggest letdown yet.
If he was going to salvage this tour he needed to do something to cure his boredom.
"Fine you can take a quick peek inside and let me know if there's something worth seeing."
"Alright but you keep watch."
They subtly broke away from the group and made their way over to the room which was shockingly unlocked.
"The researchers must be coming back soon so let's be quick." Ren quietly informed Ryuji who was already peeking through the door.
"Dude come see this!" Ryuji told Ren as he entered the room
Ren glanced around ensuring that the coast was clear before entering the room himself. When he entered the room he was shocked to see next to no tech or equipment but a small, dimly lit room with every wall covered in glass containers, though the content of them couldn't be seen.
"What do you think's in these?" Ryuji asked, pulling out his phone and turning on the flashlight and examining the container closely. All of the sudden a large spider slammed up against the glass, causing Ryuji to stumble backwards right into Ren who knocked over a container on a table. The container didn't break when it fell but the lid came off and spiders began spilling out onto the floor.
"Shit!" Ren began grabbing spiders and frantically tossing them back into the box.
"Help me!" He yelled to Ryuji who was cowering as far away as possible.
"N-no way dude you knocked it over, you pick it up!"
Ren scooped up the last of the spiders and shoved them into their container quickly shutting the lid.
"You're the worst." He said, glaring at his friend "C'mon let's get out of here." The two quickly left the room without being seen and joined back up with their tour group.
"Where have you idiots been? The tour's almost over!" Ann, Ren's only other friend at school and the third member of their trio, questioned the pair as they returned.
"Bathroom." They answered in unison
Ann rolled her eyes and turned back to the tour guide who was guiding them towards the lobby.
Ann was the only other student at Shujin Academy who gave Ren the time of day. This surprised him initially as Ann had all the makings of a popular girl in school, a beautiful girl with natural blonde hair worn up in oversized pigtails, she was very stylish and had a kind personality so Ren was baffled to find that she was almost as disliked as him. As it turned out, Ann had been the victim of some cruel rumors accusing her of sleeping with teachers for good grades.
He'd only gotten to know the person behind the rumors because he sat directly behind her in class and got to talking with her one day.
Ryuji turned to Ren and whispered "Dude, I'm shocked you handled those spiders like it was nothin' aint you scared of 'em?"
"I was more scared of getting caught." Ren responded. "Agh!" He suddenly felt a sharp pain on the back of his hand. Quickly checking it revealed a spider that had made its way onto him. He quickly swatted it away.
"Oh shit dude did one get you?"
Ren shoved his hands back into his pockets. "It's nothing, let's go."
The train ride back home felt like a rollercoaster to Ren as he experienced severe vertigo, he felt like he could hurl chunks at any moment.
"You're not looking too good Ren." Ann sat across from him, concern written on her face. Ren attempted to respond but feared that opening his mouth would open the floodgates. His only response was a weak thumbs up. Ann relented and stood up to get off at her stop.
When Ren finally made it home to Leblanc he collapsed onto his bed in the cafe's dusty attic, not even bothering to change out of his school uniform, he passed out immediately. That night he dreamt of spiders crawling over him.
[2]
Yu Narukami awoke to the sound of bacon sizzling on a pan. He sat up on the couch of his penthouse apartment and turned to see his wife, Rise Narukami, in the kitchen making breakfast.
The apartment was technically the two of theirs' but it was Rise who was the breadwinner between the two of them, being a former idol-turned-moviestar tended to earn one a higher salary than Yu's official job of freelance photography.
His unofficial and main job earning him exactly $0 annually. If it wasn't for his loving wife of 3 years he would be spending his nights dumpster-diving for ham scraps rather than saving lives and throwing costumed freaks in jail.
"Morning sleepyhead, what time did you get in last night?"
"I'm not sure, 2 maybe? Minazuki was terrorizing boats on the docks last night."
"Scorpion's out of prison already? Our tax dollars at work." She said with a bemused look.
Yu got up off of the couch, his joints popping loudly, and made his way into the kitchen. "I thought we agreed that I'd be the one cooking in this house."
Rise turned to him and pouted "It's pretty hard to mess up bacon and eggs."
Yu smiled "I've learned to never underestimate you. So what's the occasion? Aren't you usually off to work by now?"
Rise turned to him with a deadpan expression. "You really forgot what today is?"
Immediately Yu's brain went into overdrive trying to remember every important date today could potentially be. Valentine's day? Anniversary? Rise could see the gears turning in his head and laughed. "It's your birthday today Yu!"
Yu was taken aback, it didn't seem like it should be. However Yu's sense of time was awful considering his nearly nonexistent sleep schedule, the past few weeks had especially been a blur as he hadn't even come home most nights.
"You'd better get ready for today. The gang's all coming over tonight, Nanako's especially excited to see her 'Big Bro' again."
The gang as it was called, included Yu's uncle, Dojima and his daughter, Nanako, as well as some close knit friends from high school back in the small town in Inaba; Yosuke Hanamura, Chie Satonaka, Yukiko Amagi, Kanji Tatsumi, Naoto Shirogane, and Teddie Kuma.
These people were closer to Yu than his own parents were and were privy to Yu's closest guarded secret, his identity as the city's masked protector, Spider-Man.
"Go get showered and dressed for today! Oh and wash the suit, smells like you haven't taken it off in days!"
Yu looked down and noticed that he was still dressed in his costume, the bright red and blue colors stained with sweat and grime. The white spider emblazoned on the front nearly turned brown as it was caked in dirt and presumably his own blood.
"Right, I'll get on that." He responded before kissing his wife and making his way out of the kitchen.
"Also," he turned as he walked out "Eggs are burning."
"Shit!" Rise frantically tried to salvage breakfast as Yu walked off, chuckling.