A/N: As part of the Persona X series, I was inclined to write a prequel to my main Persona X story, "World's Universe." I felt like I needed to give insight onto how Yu and Rise met each other and how their subsequent relationship developed. In its basic form, this is a novelization of Persona 4: Golden with a couple of twists and a very heavy emphasis on the Lover's Social Link. As expected, a YuxRise shipping story, with minor YosukexChie and KanjixNaoto shipping.
Note: this is the edited version of the story where the concepts flow much better and characterization is given greater significance. If you are a return reader, this omits the backstory of Yu and Rise and gives more of the spotlight to Yu.
Chapter 1: Welcome to Yasoinaba!
'Everything's moving forward. I'm just moving along with it. I walk the straight path, never looking away from the grey light that precedes me. Everything is grey. I trudge ahead into the unknown, never asking the questions why I was walking forward…'
He quietly dismissed any thought of questioning his actions; it was always a thought that whatever lie ahead of him was the path that he would take. There was not a single lasting memory for 16 long years, his life remaining dull and uneventful. Nothing stood out to him; nothing stood out for him. He walked the path of a robot, a machine assigned to do its task: eat, exercise, study, sleep, repeat… without much questioning or resistance. After all, he was raised by parents who put work first before everything else.
Yu Narukami had frequently moved around with his parents all over Japan since he was five years old and sometimes being alone for up to half a year with a caretaker. He never questioned why they moved around so much, repeatedly telling himself it was his mother's job, and his father was inseparable from her.
Speaking of his parents, he knew they both worked for the international conglomerate Kirijo Group; it was how they met, bonding over their inherent otaku interests. It just so happened that Yu's mother passed by his father's office one day and noticed his shelf full of Dragon Ball Z manga alongside his corporate stuff. She stepped in, proceeding to argue with him about who was the better Saiyan. Of course, Yu's mother had much difficulty expressing her emotions, either showing very little of it or becoming angry whenever she did show it. She played the straight-man (or woman) of the comedy duo; the people Yu knew from the Kirijo Group always told him it was always like watching a sitcom: they would hate each other, bark at each other, but they were inseparable from day one. But it didn't trump over the fact that both his mother and father were chronic workaholics, and thus will stop at nothing to ensure business was conducted.
Yu had gotten used to wearing a soft, fake smile; he had been used to it ever since he realized the position he was in by middle school. All throughout elementary school, he became progressively withdrawn as time went. He was no longer the instigator, only responding when being approached. Where people approached him, he would answer with little emotion, feeling, or empathy. He resigned to his fate, leaving the school he briefly attended for usually a year at most, with a sad smile and a wish that his life would only played out differently.
'I don't want to get close; it'll only hurt me, and them, in the end. After all, I leave after a year and go to another school in a different city. There's just no point…'
Anyone looking at his phone book at any given time would see an empty phone book. On his final day, he would be approached with phone number requests, silently accepting them with a soft smile, and erasing them when he got home. It was a disgusting and cruel habit he developed in acceptance of his grim fate. Still, he pressed on, never looking back on the past, walking the straight path into the unknown…
-4/10/2011 – Sunny – 11:00 AM-
Tokyo Station, Chiyoda Prefecture, Tokyo, Japan
There was barely any walking room. Thousands of people rushed past the young man with a dark silver hair to get to their trains at the largest rail stations in all of Japan. It looked more like an airport rather than a train station. Then again, he guessed any place where they pool people together on transportation would look like this. The entire building inside was coated in white, so white it hurt to look down at the ground in fear of becoming blind. The outside was of a much different grandeur, that of bricks and marble. He passed several food and trinket stalls while contemplating for a small snack or something to entertain himself en route, but he knew he wasn't going to because his parents were walking next to him. Yu's father was wearing his eternal happy-go-lucky grin, while his mother wore her eternally stoic façade. He'd always wondered if they ever changed their emotions… well he'd only seen his father change emotion, but always reverted to his smile rather quickly; his mother always looked like she was always bored and uninterested (unless in cosplay, of course, or in a dire situation). In any case, they reached the ticketing carousel, where Yu turned around to face his parents, probably the last time he will see them for a year. How did it all come to this?
-Flashback to 3/31/2011-
"Alright, son!" Yu's father called excitingly, "This year, we'll be moving to Berlin, Germany so your mother can close a business deal over there. Your mother and I were thinking of taking you along with us. Maybe you'll pick up some German, haha!" Yu was sure this was his father's way of attempting to smooth over some rather abrupt news. It was quite odd they would suddenly pull out of the country for that amount of time. But that wasn't the main point that concerned him; it was the fact that he was going to be pulled out of school yet again. He could only sigh at the fact.
"I don't think that he wants to go," his mother spoke from a distance, reading off words from a contract from the glass dining table.
"Oh, c'mon! He'll love it!"
"He doesn't look too happy about it." Yu just sighed again, knowing where this conversation was going. He wasn't going to argue against the fact that either he was going to follow them, or be assigned a caretaker in another city. It was the first time that they were going to travel abroad for a year, which meant that they would have to move out regardless.
"Yu, do you want to move with us?" his mother calmly asked.
"It doesn't matter, does it?" Yu replied in a rather defeatist fashion.
"I'll take that as a no. I'll call Ryotaro, then." Yu then saw his mother making a phone call to an unknown party and sounded rather displeased and hasty. She quickly hung up the phone and looked towards Yu.
'So that phone call was about me,' he thought with a bored expression. His mother quickly snapped her cellphone shut.
"You will be staying with your uncle and cousin in Yasoinaba, which you have visited before when you were very young. You will be transferring to the high school there and return here at the end of the year. We'll see where it goes from there."
'Well, I should be thankful that I don't have to move to a foreign place,' Yu thought bitterly, '…I guess it was the lesser of the two evils. And I sure as hell don't remember visiting… or do I?'
As expected, Yu was packing all of his belongings (what little he had since they were always on the move), and shipping them to what he thought was another city. All the while, Yu's parents were having a conversation about it.
"Kirino, are you sure we can let him go?"
"I trust him enough, Kyousuke. The Dark Hour ended a year ago, so he should be fine. I'm putting him under Ryotaro's care just in case anything should happen. There's no real reason to move around anymore… That ass-wipe is finally dead… and home is really nothing to write about, so he should be fine."
-End Flashback-
Yu looked at his parents with sad eyes, well his parents knew they were sad eyes, but as far as one could tell he was staring blankly at them. There was never a moment where his parents weren't in business attire. Yu's father had his black suit and red tie, which he might say was well fitting to his figure (he was really fit), and his mother had her black and white business suit and skirt on. She, for some reason, dyed her hair golden blonde, completely overriding her natural brown hair, which Yu saw only once in his life. She was also ridiculously fit. Yu's parents, being in their mid-to-late 40s, looked like they were in their mid-20s, well Yu's dad looked like it; his mom looked even younger, like she was still in high school. She and Yu would often get confused as being each other's brother and sister, which would be quite hilarious at times. But back to Yu's sad eyes, it may not seem like it but he was going to be without them for an entire year, a lamenting thought. He had never left their side, and however disinterested his mother looked, she actually doted on him more than his father ever did… with her stoic expression. But still, Yu could tell this year will be different from the rest.
"Alright, son!" Kyousuke beamed, "Looks like you'll have an interesting year, I hope. Stay safe and say hi to your little cousin for me!"
"Yu," Kirino plainly addressed, "You will be living with your uncle for a year. Please do not cause any trouble for him as he is a very busy man and tends to work harder than I do. Be grateful to him as he is letting you stay with him for a year. And also, don't forget to help around the house. And treat your cousin nicely. From what I heard, she is a bit reserved, so don't upset her. Here is his number and address. Don't lose it." Yu took the sheet of paper and let off a soft smile at the both of them, which for the record, still looked quite stoic with a slight upward turn at the cheeks; it was better than his mother's at least.
"Will do," Yu plainly stated. This was the awkward moment where no one wanted to say goodbye, but they'd have to part sometime in the immediate future. Kyousuke was the first one to come up and hug Yu goodbye, with Kirino quickly following suit.
"Stay safe, Yu. And don't get into any trouble, you hear? One call from your uncle and I'm flying back to drag you to Germany, understood?" Kirino sternly stated, pointing her finger at Yu.
"Yes, mom." he replied, still with a soft smile. Yu knew she wouldn't seriously drag him to Germany, but that was always a possibility. He guessed he would play it safe for now.
Yu hauled his bags through the ticketing carousel (using his rail pass), which looked a lot tougher than it was since he was carrying a duffle bag and two shopping bags, and was now on his way to the central area where even more people gathered. There, he searched for his train to Iwatodai, where he would be transferring out into another train to Okina, and then to Yasoinaba. Three train transfers. Three times he'll have to look like a total idiot hauling his bags.
Yu stood at the platform, with his pass in hand, waiting for the train to pick him up to carry him off to who knows where this Yasoinaba City was. There was a large TV behind him showing what looked to be that commercial about that new diet drink everyone was talking about.
"I'm tired of diets!" a girl with maroon hair shouted excitedly in her rather revealing bikini, "Luckily, there's something even I can handle!" Yu could only find himself fixated on the girl for some odd reason, and it happened every time that commercial would air. It soon switched over to a news segment.
"In other news, Secretary Taro Namatame was found having an affair with reporter Mayumi Yamano…"
Sounds of a speeding train could be heard in the distance, drawing closer and closer to the platform. The sound of the wind grew louder and louder and the rattling of the tracks growing more intense. The train slowed down to a complete stop in front of me as the doors opened. A swarm of people slowly, but surely, stumble out of the trains and onto the platform where they make their way to wherever they were going.
"12:00 to Nagoya-Kyoto-Osaka now boarding. 12:00 to Nagoya-Kyoto-Osaka now boarding. This train stops at auxiliary stations. Please watch your step. 12:00 to Nagoya-Kyoto-Osaka now boarding. 12:00 to Nagoya-Kyoto-Osaka now boarding. This train stops at auxiliary stations. Please watch your step..."
Yu was fortunate that his parents could afford a reserved seat in the first class car; being a high-level Kirijo employee really did have its perks. They also lived in luxurious condos and lofts everywhere they moved, but that didn't matter now as he sat on the train next to another business man in a fancy suit. Said business man glanced over at Yu, who wore his day clothes, and then looked away as he silently read his newspaper.
"Last call to Nagoya-Kyoto-Osaka. Last call to Nagoya-Kyoto-Osaka. Doors will close in 1 minute. Last call to Nagoya-Kyoto-Osaka. Last call to Nagoya-Kyoto-Osaka. Doors will close in 1 minute…"
Yu's mind began to wander to the girl with maroon hair. Why did she seem so familiar? Was it because they'd met before? If so, where did he meet her? Were they playmates? It was too long ago…
"Doors will now be closing. The next train will depart in approximately 30 minutes. Doors will now be closing. The next train will depart in approximately 30 minutes."
Back in the car, Kyosuke and Kirino looked at each other.
"Well, looks like he'll experience what it's like to live in our hometown," Kirino mused.
"Yup. We never told him, did we?" Kyouske laughed.
"Nope."
Yu had always like bullet trains. They were fast, sleek, quiet, and spacious (well the first class cars at least). It was too quiet on the train, with the occasional screaming child who wants to go to the bathroom or was more bored than Haruhi on a summer day. In fact, Yu felt like he was Haruhi on a summer day, so he took out the light novel he was reading the night before. Yu was drawn to the more action-packed light novels over the romance ones, but he'd pick one up every now and then. Today's offering was, well, Haruhi Suzumiya. What more was there to love about an abnormal high school girl who can control what happens based on her state of mind?
'This'll keep me entertained for a while.'
-Partly Cloudy – 1:45 PM-
"Welcome to Iwatodai City. Welcome to Iwatodai City. Doors will be opening to the left. Welcome to Iwatodai City. Welcome to Iwatodai City. Doors will be opening to the left…"
'So this is the place where Kirijo is located,' Yu thought to himself. Surprisingly, his parents weren't there often for being high-level corporate staff for Kirijo. He guessed they did what one would call "telecommuting" often with only his father flying or riding in every couple or so months from wherever he was. Yu also heard the head honcho being a young woman not much older than he was, in fact, only a couple years older. Yu always wondered what his parents thought about it…
-?-
En Route to Yasoinaba, Japan…?
'I think I might have finally gone insane. Those years of social isolation finally caught up to me. I should probably admit myself to a shrink. Whatever the case, I'm in a… limo of sorts…?'
He was beyond confused at how he had arrived there. Yu recalled he was last dozing off in a train to Yasoinaba while reading the ever-so entertaining novel of Haruhi Suzumiya, but now he found himself in a seat, unable to move. Just to confirm where he was, he started to glance around, taking note of all of the features of the low room. If he had one word to describe it, it would be blue. The windows were tinted blue, the couches were tinted blue, the table was tinted blue, the lights that lit up the liquor shelf emanated an electric blue, even the clothes of the lady sitting to the right of the table…
'…wait, a lady?'
Sure enough, sitting before Yu was a lady dressed in blue holding what appears to be a giant, encyclopedia-sized book in her lap. The top of her medium-length platinum-blonde hair shined in the only source of …electric blue light in the room. She had her face cast downwards, with her eyes closed and held a stoic expression not unlike his mother. It seemed like she was sleeping, or mediating? Overall, she's beautiful, more beautiful than anything Yu had laid his eyes upon, save for the girl with maroon hair in those commercials… Risette she was called? Anyways, moving left, he saw… an old man.
It was not that Yu hated old people, he just never dealt well with them, or it was the other way around. Old people always had a tendency to be inimical towards him, for some odd reason. He assumed this one would be the same. The first thing he took notice of was the abhorrently long nose that would make any scene look like it was straight out of a nightmare, not that Yu thought he wasn't in one. It was humorously propped up by his propped up arms that held together in the center. He was noticeably balding with white hair that grew from the side, typical of an aging, old man. His plain black tuxedo was accented by his black bowtie and white boutonniere. He also seemed to be questionably sleeping.
There was sudden movement from the lady, almost like she was expecting the right time for Yu to appear. Her eyes shot open and her head moved up. She stared in the direction of the table, not noticing he was sitting 90 degrees from her. Then, a soft piano melody started to play. It was soothing to the ears and really felt like he was in a dream, or nightmare, or some chaotic mix of both which brought him to the creepy, long-nosed man. The old man's eyes shot open and stared Yu down like he was his next meal, and showed the creepiest grin Yu had ever seen. And the old, senile laugh that the old man made following made Yu decide that this was truly a nightmare.
"Ah… it seems we have a guest with an intriguing destiny…" the old man softly chuckled.
'Okay… that wasn't creepy at all. Wait, a guest?'
"My name is Igor… I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room that only those who are bound by a 'contract' may enter. It may bet that such a fate awaits you in the near future. Now then, why don't' you introduce yourself?" Yu stared at the old man for a long while, trying to wrap everything the old man said in his head.
'Okay, so this is a place that exists in limbo. I can only enter it if I signed a contract of some sort, which I haven't seen yet. The hands of Fate apparently have something in store for me. That's it; it's a nightmare. I'll just roll with it and hope I'll wake up in time.'
"My name is Yu Narukami. It's a pleasure to meet you, Igor-san."
"Hm… I see," Igor replied in his raspy voice of wisdom, "Now let's take a look into your future, shall we?" His hand hovered over the table as a white light began to glow from it. Within a split second, a deck of cards appeared where the lights were. This is truly a nightmare. Igor stared up at Yu again.
"Do you believe in fortune telling?"
"No, not particularly," Yu replied. Igor seemed to ignore him as the old man waved his hand over the cards. The cards began to move on their own, just like a magician with real magical powers. They lay themselves in circular order as if having intelligence of their own. They all lay face down in mystery to what card would appear when one turns it over. Igor looked up at Yu again, presumably to explain what he has done.
"Each reading is done with the same cards, yet the result is always different. ~chuckle~ Life itself follows the same principles, doesn't it?"
'Oh great, it's a creepy, crusty, and philosophical old man, just what I needed in this… whatever this is in my head.' Yu noticed the old man reach down at a particular card and flipped it over. It was a picture of a tower being split in half by lighting of sorts.
"Hmmm…" Igor mumbled pensively, "The Tower in the upright position represents the immediate future. It seems a terrible catastrophe is imminent."
'Well if this were all true, I'm definitely getting shipped to Germany," Yu humorously thought. Still, Igor continued.
"The card indicating the future beyond that is," He flipped another card over, "The Moon, in the upright position. This card represents 'hesitation' and 'mystery'… very interesting indeed."
'And weird, don't forget weird. '
"It seems you will encounter a misfortune at your destination, and a great mystery will be imposed upon you. In the coming days, you will enter into a contract of some sort, after which you will return here."
'Wait, what? Why are you making it seem like this is actually happening?'
"The coming year is a turning point in your destiny… If the mystery goes unsolved, your future may be forever lost. My duty is to provide assistance to our guests to ensure that does not happen." With one swipe, the pile of cards disappeared into thin air. Yu looked at the lady to see if she was still there and noticed she was anxiously looking back at the teen. He wondered if she was looking at him the entire time.
"Ah!" Igor exclaimed as if he remembered he was supposed to do something, "I've neglected to introduce my assistant to you." He gestured towards her and even looked at her, bringing Yu's attention to the lady.
"This is Margaret. She is a resident of this place, like myself."
'So you both live here? Like not step foot out this room?'
"My name is Margaret," the lady spoke with one of the most soothing female voices Yu had ever heard.
'Whoa, she sounds as pretty as she looks…'
"I am here to accompany you through your journey."
"We shall attend to the details another time," Igor interrupted, "Until then, farewell…" As soon as he said those words, Yu began to black out again…
Yu opened his eyes to be back in his seat in the small train. He had woken up, apparently, from the most bizarre dream-state he had ever been in: an old, senile, creepy, and philosophical old man with the longest nose he had ever seen served by a beautiful young lady in blue, in a limousine that was entirely blue, telling him his fortune of misfortune will be inevitable and that he would have to go through it.
'If that's not crazy, then the world is insane,' he thought bitterly. He looked out the window to watch the clouds pass over the sky and the green grass of the farmlands wave to and fro as the train zips by. He was no longer on the sleek, fast bullet train, but a two-car dinky shack that moved slower than molasses. At least the view was nice and the cherry blossoms were out. For now, Yu watched the scene fly by as the train crawled closer to its final destination.
-Cloudy - 4:00 PM-
A Residence in an Inaba Neighborhood, Yasoinaba, Japan
A man and his daughter were watching their television quietly, most likely about the most recent affair case. An alarm rang on his phone, showing it was 4:00 PM.
"It's about that time," he said with his deep, hardened voice. The little girl looked up at her dad and followed him to the front door.
Yasoinaba Train Station
"Welcome to Yasoinaba Station. Welcome to Yasoinaba Station. Doors will open to your right. Welcome to Yasoinaba Station. Welcome to Yasoinaba Station. Doors will open to your right…"
The doors opened as Yu grabbed his bags and proceeded to the terminal. The scene that played out before him was one he was not expecting. The station itself was old and run-down with a vending machine to the right and the ticket counter to the left. He stood at the top of the steps and surveyed the area.
If there was one word to describe his first impression, the word would be "dead." There was absolutely no movement about. At least the cherry blossoms were out and made it seem really peaceful, like the term "rest in peace" would actually hold value here.
"It sure is quiet here," he mused. Moving on from the rather uninspiring first impression, Yu reached in his pocket for his uncle's contact information and address. It should not be too hard to find in a town this small, apparently. He was unfolding the paper when a rogue gust of wind blew it out of his hand.
"Well, shit," he muttered to himself, moving to chase after the paper. He didn't know how he missed it, but the piece of paper landed on a pair of thigh-high black boots. Gazing upwards, there was a pair of knee-high black and white striped socks, a red plaid skirt, a black studded belt, a white sleeveless shirt, a pair of black, white and red, arm socks, and a face of a girl who was too pretty to ignore. She had short, face-length black hair and the greenest eyes he had ever seen. Her skin was fair, almost the perfect paleness and was rather short. She looked at the paper that was caught on her boots and picked it up. She walked through the piles of cherry leaves towards him, with the sheet of paper in hand. Once she neared him, she briskly handed the sheet of paper back.
"Here. You dropped this," she spoke in a rather unfriendly voice.
"Thank you," Yu replied, being a generally polite young man.
"Whatever, it's not like I did anything," she mumbled as she walked away. Just who was that girl?
Not a second later, two pairs of footsteps could be heard approaching from the other direction.
"Hey! Over here!" the large man said with a smile while waving his free hand. He was wearing a dark grey shirt, black pants, black shoes, and a red tie. He swung his suit jacket over his left shoulder and looked really intimidating without that smile. A little girl followed on his right side dressed in a pink overall with a white shirt underneath. She had twin brown pigtails. Yu walked up to them to see if they were his hosts.
"Well you're more handsome in person than in the photo your mother sent. Welcome to Inaba. I'm Ryotaro Dojima. I'm your mother's younger brother… and that just about sums it up." When was the last time he saw him? Yu pretty sure it was way back in the day when he used to come out to wherever Yu's parents were at the time. Of course, he stopped coming up when he had a daughter, and then Yu's aunt died in a fatal car accident and he stopped talking to anyone in general.
"Yu?" Dojima grabbed his attention back, having spaced out for a second.
"Oh. Yeah, it's been a long time," Yu replied, letting out a soft chuckle.
"I'll say. You've really grown. I still remember when you were in diapers, haha!" For an introduction, Yu thought it best to leave that part out… Dojima then pulled out his daughter from his side and coerced her to the front.
"This here's my daughter. Come on, Nanako, introduce yourself." So this was the cousin Yu's mother mentioned. She was indeed incredibly shy. She was looking down at her feet out of sheer nervousness.
"…"
"…"
"…'lo" she mumbled, barely audible to the human ear. Dojima looked down at his daughter and started to laugh.
"Haha! What're you so shy for?" Nanako slapped him rather hard in the leg, well hard for a six-year-old at least. She grumbled at the man while hiding her face in embarrassment. Yu chuckled along as well, seeing that was quite the cute reaction. Dojima turned his attention back to him.
"Well, then… Let's get going. My car's over there."
It was an older model Isuzu Rodeo, but compared to the town itself, one could say it was one of the luxury vehicles in this town. Yu's parents had always driven around in designated company cars, which were almost always Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, or BMW and the top of the line cars of those brands. So having to be driven around in a normal person's car was almost a welcoming and sobering change. Now, the distance they drove from the station to the central business district wasn't too bad of a drive in (10 minutes at most). The radio was tuned to the news station talking about Secretary Namatame having an affair with the Yamano reporter lady. Yu didn't really care too much on those subjects; they were always superficial and never focused on the true story behind it.
"So, I hear your parents are moving to Germany for the year. Must be exciting for them," Dojima suddenly said, trying to start a conversation. It wasn't working well because all Yu had to answer was…
"Yeah."
"Not much of a talker, are you? Don't sweat it. Just make yourself welcome here." Dojima felt a pull on his arm and saw Nanako squirming.
"Daddy… potty time… hurry…" Luckily, there was a gas station around the corner.
Moel: one of the most popular providers of fuel in Japan. Yu believed they are a subsidiary of the Kirijo Group, but he could be wrong. His mother would know about it, but he didn't feel like asking her. For a rundown town, this gas station looked pretty normal, although when they pulled up, there was an attendant there. He did think it safe to assume that this station was definitely not self-serve like the ones in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Sendai. They pulled into the first available pump and the attendant rushed over to them. Either he was happy to be doing his job, or he was going insane in the head, because no one is ever this happy pouring gas into a gas tank for a living.
"Can you go by yourself?" Dojima asked his daughter with concern.
"Uh-huh," Nanako replied as she ran off towards the bathroom. Apparently, the attendant thought she was lost.
"It's in the back, to your left. Do you know which way is left? The side you don't hold your chopsticks in! Haha." Nanako looked back visibly irked.
"I know… geeez…" she answered and ran off. The attendant turned his(?) ('I'd hate to say it, but there is nothing remotely masculine about this dude,' Yu thought rather confused.) attention to them. He probably wanted business by his excitement towards Dojima.
"So, are you taking a trip?" the attendant asked excitedly.
"Nah, we just picked him up at the station. He just moved here from Tokyo."
"Tokyo, huh?" he asked with amazement. Both the attendant and Dojima glanced down at the gas tank.
"Fill 'er up while you're at it. Regular's fine." The attendant looked quite happy at the order. Yu honestly hoped for a self-serve station; this guy is talking way too much, and it was bothering him. He noticed Dojima starting to walk away from the gas station, reaching into his shirt pocket grabbing a white carton of what is presumably a cigarette.
"Good a time as any for a smoke…" Yu was not sure if that was directed at him, or Dojima himself, but Yu watched him walk to the side of the main street and puff smoke. He just hoped Dojima doesn't smoke in the house…
"Does it surprise a city boy to see how little there is out here? There's so little to do. I'm sure you'll get bored fast. You'll either be hanging out with your friends or doing part-time jobs. Speaking of which, we're actually looking for part-time help right now. Give it some thought, why don't you? We don't mind you're a student," the attendant rambled as he stretched out his hand for a handshake.
'Holy shit he likes to talk a lot, and was now asking for a handshake. I guess there'd be no harm in accepting a handshake; it's good to be polite anyways.' Yu firmly took his hand and shook it, much like he would when meeting strangers.
"Oh, I should get back to work."
"Okay…" Yu watched him go back to doing whatever he was doing when…
"Unnngggh!" he grunted as he caught his head. A sharp pain rushed through his brain, making him feel rather queasy. The light suddenly got brighter, the sounds of the passing cars and conversations louder, and the vibrations got stronger for a split second. The food, it was definitely the food he bought on the train. In-transit meals weren't the greatest after all. He should probably stay away from coach food from now on. When Yu lifted his head, he saw Nanako staring up at him in worry; he didn't even catch her come back from the bathroom.
"Are you okay? Are you… car-sicking? You don't look good." Now that she mentioned it, Yu still felt a little dizzy from the onset of mental food poisoning, if that was even possible. Dojima also arrived back from his smoke break and also caught onto Yu's dizzy spell.
"Hey, you okay there? Must've been the trip over. Why don't you take a walk around the shopping district to get a feel for it, yeah?" It actually sounded like a good idea.
It looked old. It looked rundown. It looked like he walked into 1950 and never came out. Were these buildings even earthquake-proof? Yu questioned the town's running infrastructure. He looked to the other side of the gas station and saw something, or someone, he was totally not expecting. It was the girl that picked up his note from the train station. Her arms were still folded in the same manner as they were at the train station. She stood there silently, staring intensely at the area to the right of the blacksmith shop.
'Wait, they have blacksmiths in this area? Well, it's not too surprising now since this is out in the middle of nowhere.' In any case, he walked up to the girl to see what she was up to, not that he wanted to make friends… Curiosity piqued his interest.
"Hey," Yu greeted quite plainly. She turned her head towards him, confused and rather irritated.
"…"
"…have we met before?" she coolly replied. Now he was confused. Surely the girl remembered the note she picked up back at the station.
"At the station. You picked up my note. Thanks, again, for that."
"…I …don't remember…" she muttered, almost sadly, turning her attention back to the blacksmith. Yu gave up on talking to her and walked back to the car. He guessed it wasn't so bad. Girls came up and talked to him all of the time at all of his other schools, but he didn't think much of it.
"You feel any better?" Dojima asked.
"Yeah. That cleared up my head a little."
"It's a small town, but you'll get used to it." On that note, they hopped back into the car and drove off to the house.
-Cloudy – 6:00 PM-
Dojima Residence
It was a nice, quaint house, notably one of the bigger houses in town. It may look a bit worn on the outside, but it still seemed livable. It was a two story house situated on a slope. There was a car port next to the house and a scooter parked in front. To the left of the house were a patch of land and a mound of dirt, along with gardening tools. Yu took a step into the front gate while looking at the forlorn skies. The clouds got noticeably darker as the day went and looked like it was about to shed its tears. He hadn't even noticed the sun growing dangerously close to disappearing behind the hills.
Inside, the first thing Yu noticed was the low ceiling. This was typical of a rural Japanese house, and he was a bit tall for the male gender. Dojima was pretty tall, too, but it never was a problem. The beam separating the front of the house to the living room almost touched the top of Yu's head.
In the living room, Yu took note of the long couch at one end of the room, an old TV at the other end, and a kotatsu at the center. He presumed this was the area where they ate their meals, as the table in the kitchen area was filled with papers and sitting room for only two people.
Back on the living room table, Yu took note of the three sushi bentos that lined three out of the four sides, along with a drink for each. Dojima took one side, the side of the couch, and Nanako took the side nearest to the window. Yu thought it would be best to sit on the side of the kitchen. It was quiet for a good five minutes before Dojima raised his glass.
"I know this was supposed to be your welcoming party, but I'm not much of a cook and Nanako is a bit too young to cook, so here it is. All right, let's have a toast. To a good year will you make your home here in Inaba." Yu smiled softly along with the rest of the household.
"Ah, so you don't show any emotion, just like my sister, ha ha. So they decided to work in Germany, huh."
'Why do you keep bringing that up?'
"I know it's only for a year, but getting stuck in a place like this because of your parents… it's rough being a kid."
'Tell me about it… all I want to do is stay in one place longer and I get shipped off to the middle of nowhere…'
"Well, it's just me and Nanako here, so it'll be nice having someone like you around for a change. So long as you're here, you're part of the family. So make yourself at home." The least Yu could do in this respect was be grateful of the hospitality, even though it didn't work out like he planned. These were nice people, so he should at least return the kindness.
"Thank you for your kindness; it's much appreciated." Dojima chuckled again.
"C'mon! There's no need to be so formal. You're even making Nanako all tense!" Yu looked across from him to find Nanako fidgeting and blushing, while trying to keep hold of her chopsticks. He then noticed behind Nanako that it started to rain.
'Weird, the forecast on my phone said otherwise…weather can be a strange thing…'
"Well, anyway… Let's eat," Dojima finally said.
"Itadakimasu," the entire table said in unison while clasping their hands together. Just as Dojima was about to pick up the sashimi on his plate, a phone suddenly rang instantly killing the lively mood that had just been set.
"Ugh… Who's calling at the hour?! It better not be that rookie they just set me up with."
Even Nanako's face dropped instantly as if she was expecting it to happen. Dojima's eyebrows instantly furrowed as he glared at the phone. He reluctantly stood up picked up the phone and answered, quite exasperatingly.
"…Dojima speaking…"
"…"
"…Yeah? I see… So where is it?"
"…"
"…Uh huh…"
"…Alright, I'm on my way." He hung up the phone and looked at the rest of us. He had a forlorn expression on his face and looked like he needed to make up an excuse.
"Looks like I made the right choice to skip the booze… Sorry, but I gotta go take care of some business. Go ahead and eat without me. I don't know how late I'll be. Help him out, okay Nanako?" She looked saddened, but the kind of sad where one was used to it and it was just another day, a normal routine.
"…Okay," she mumbled sadly. Dojima turned to make his way to the front door and noticed it was raining outside.
"Nanako! It's raining out. What did you do with the laundry?!"
"I already brought it in!"
"All right. Well, I'm off!" The door was shut and the silence took over. It was, in the least, an awkward silence. Yu didn't know much about her and Nanako didn't know much about him. Not knowing what to do, she reached over to the remote and turned on the old television. It was flipped on to the news channel, with a female being the featured reporter this evening. It seemed the news was just finished a segment, most likely on the Yamano/Namatame scandal, and was now on the subject of the weather.
"Now, let's take a look at the hourly breakdown of tomorrow's weather. With storm clouds moving in from the west, expect rain throughout the day tomorrow in most areas."
'Well, that's good to know… It is a bit quiet in here. Maybe I should talk to her. If my memory serves me right, my uncle is a police officer of sorts… a detective, maybe?'
"Ummm… so you're dad's a detective, right?" Yu asked uneasily out of curiosity.
"He… investigates stuff… Like crime scenes."
'So I was right…'
"He's a detective."
"And now for the local news. City council secretary Taro Namatame is under fire for an alleged relationship with a female reporter."
'Are we really doing this again?'
"His wife, enka ballad sensation Misuzu Hiiragi, revealed to this station that she will likely pursue damages. In response, Eye Television has decided to cancel all of announcer Mayumi Yamano's televised appearances. Until allegations of an affair with Mr. Namatame are resolved, she'll remain off the air and out of the public eye."
"This is boring…" Nanako whined. Yu wholeheartedly agreed with her. She flipped the channel and on came a very familiar commercial.
"At Junes, every day is Customer Appreciation Day! Come see for yourself, and get in touch with our products. Every day's great at your Junes!"
As if on cue, Nanako's entire demeanor flipped within a split second. She sang the theme song, verbatim.
"Every day's great at your Junes!" She caught Yu staring at her in surprise and wonder of how her mood can flip like a switch. To even more of Yu's amazement, Nanako's mood flipped again to her depressed state and stared back at him. She noticed that he was still holding his chopsticks.
"…Are you going to eat?" she quietly asked. This snapped Yu out of his curiosity-induced stupor. They ate in silence afterwards.
-Rainy – 9:00 PM-
Yu knew he had school starting the next morning, so he decided to forgo his unpacking of the pile of boxes that littered his room (at least he unpacked his school supplies and his uniform that he will need… well, it was already at the house). Unpacking that box, he came across his old uniform: a simple suit with a black tie. Memories flooded back to him of his last day there…
-Flashback to 3/18/2011-
It was a cool, spring morning in Sinagawa District, Tokyo, Japan at a local private school where Yu Narukami attended for his last day. He stood at the front of the class, with the teacher about to make the announcement. His face held little emotion, but his head was cast downwards.
"As you may all have heard, Narukami will be transferring to another school." The class was in an instant uproar, deeply saddened to lose their best student and best basketball player. He didn't talk much, but apparently won the approval of the entire class. He only played basketball as a form of exercise, but was really good at it (must've come from the genes). And to the ladies, he was good-looking, cute, hot, whatever glorious adjective to best describe his physical attributes. It was all for naught, though, as he would be leaving them the next day. It was inevitable, but Yu could do nothing about it…
-End Flashback-
He looked at his new uniform, a much simpler outer jacket with the school's logo on the upper left with gold-colored hardware. This was where he will be staying and going to school for the next year, not that he was that happy about it, not that he'll try to do anything about it.
"So, I'm stuck here for a whole year…" he muttered to himself as he sat down on the couch. He noted the small TV in front of him and listened to the rain splatter on the windows quite loudly. It was this rain that put his mind into a resting state with the constant drone of the water running down the window sill. His eyes began to feel heavy and eventually shut. He fell fast into a deep sleep…
-?-
"MMMPH!" Yu grunted as he landed face-first onto the pavement. He opened his eyes to check his surroundings to find himself encased in a thick shroud of fog. He couldn't see anything further than the length of his arms and could barely see the floor. From what he could tell, it was a strange red brick pattern with an ominous accent of black.
'…?! Where the hell am I?!' he frantically thought as his mind degraded to a state of panic. He quickly tried to look for any clues to his own whereabouts. With nowhere to go, his only option was to move forward and hope for an exit.
Walking forward, he noticed the air around him start to get heavier. A few more steps forward, he noticed a very indistinct voice talking to him. Whether it was in or out of his head didn't matter at this point; he was freaked out he was hearing voices.
"Do you seek the truth?" the monotonous, indistinct voice rang throughout the area. Yu didn't really know how to respond to that.
"If it's the truth you desire, the try and catch it…" He came upon a red portal-like wall as the voice trailed off.
'Well, there's only one way to find out… we'll see what happens on the other side, and I didn't even finish high school.' The second he stepped through the portal, there was a figure ahead. He was only able to catch a glimpse of it before he seemingly blacked out…
-4/12/2011 – Cloudy – 1:00 AM-
The Grand Bay Hotel – Osaka, Japan
A girl around the same age as Yu collapsed on her hotel bed. She had just finished a meet and greet after a show in the area. By her drooping eyes and slow demeanor, she was exhausted. They played five shows straight for five days and were about to leave for another area of Japan in the morning, 5:30 in the morning. They had been doing this for well over two years straight with little to no breaks, only one day during Christmas and New Years to take off. She gritted her teeth to bear it, only to feel like she was losing her grip on her leash. She needed to get her mind off of the fame, the show biz, and the various personas that the media built for her. Never mind that, she was too exhausted to think about anything at the moment. She tugged her twin maroon pigtails and drifted quietly to sleep.
A/N: As you can see, the story and premise were altered quite a bit to take out any mention of Yu and Rise meeting each other. This was done as I could not get the idea to work out in the long run and incorporate itself into the main story. We'll see what kind of romance has in-store for us as the chapters keep moving along. Until next time!
