A/N Hey y'all, guess who's back in the Persona fandom? Yooo, it's Noa here with another fanfic, even though I have many other fics that I need to update an eventually finish…but whatever!
So anyways, here's the Persona 5 fanfic that I've been talking about writing on my tumblr! I've even started streaming the game on my twitch channel (that I have under the same name) and have the first streaming session up on my YouTube. I call it the Fanfiction Run and for a good reason, because it's basically gonna be the basis to this fic, in the same way I was playing Persona 4 Golden while writing Façade.
But that's enough about that, let's get onto the disclaimer!
DISCLAIMER FOR ENTIRE STORY: I don't own anything related to the Shin Megami Tensei series, which includes the Persona series, and Atlus!
Also, knowing how Façade went…don't expect this fic to keep its T rating. It's honestly only a matter of time before someone gets an awkward boner. Anyways, let's get this story started!
"This" is talking
"This" is thoughts
This is writing, dreams, flashbacks
"This" is transmissions, TV, radio,
…
…
…
"What? Are you for real? A mental shutdown?"
"It's the truth!"
"To a person though? That's gotta be a joke. You really love all that occult stuff, don't you?"
A glasses-wearing girl quietly observes a nearby conversation between two friends—a pair of girls who seem close to her age. A thought pops up in mind, telling her that she shouldn't eavesdrop on people's conversations (no matter how boring the train ride is), so she looks down at the bag resting on her lap. She hopes they didn't notice her staring and tries her best to distract herself by twirling a lock of her black hair in her fingers.
It won't be much longer now until her stop. "Just a little more…"
The girl tries her best to stay awake, almost nodding off a few times before the train finally came to a stop. She grabs her bag and stands up, taking a moment to yawn loudly before going on her way. She pulls out her phone as she gets off the train and ignores the feeling of unease that begins to well up inside of her.
She is in a new environment—one that is quite noisy and crowded. It makes her feel anxious the longer she stands still and the fact that she is at the complete mercy of her smartphone's GPS isn't making her feel any better.
"Transfer from Shibuya Station to Den-en-toshi Line…" she reads off the screen of her smartphone. Her GPS at least is doing its job…now if only it can tell her where the Den-en-toshi Line is. "Not again…"
She doubts she'll have enough time to look for it on her own, so she musters up enough courage and asks a nearby police officer for help. She tries her best not to tense up when he responds. She manages, although just barely. She finds it ridiculous that she feels so nervous around the man, when he's proven to be rather polite and helpful.
"Maybe…I shouldn't have gone alone." The thought pops up so suddenly in her head that it catches her by surprise. She blinks twice and, for a brief moment, wonders if it wouldn't be too late for her to make a call. All it would take is one call to get her out of this situation. She doesn't have to do this alone—she knows this quite well, for how often she's been told just that before boarding the train to Shibuya.
"Did you get all that?" The police officer's voice snaps her out of her thoughts. "If you'd like, I can repeat myself."
"P-Please do," she quietly says. This time, she listens intently to what the officer has to say. She doesn't let herself get distracted by her own thoughts and pushes away the urge that insists she makes a call. She has managed to get this far on her own—it really wouldn't do her any good to give up now when she's so close to her final destination. "Thank you."
The girl leaves the police officer feeling somewhat breathless, yet determined. She now has the information she needs and the only thing stopping her now is herself. And then she takes her first step outside of Shibuya Station and sees, for the first time in person, the famous Shibuya Scramble Crossing.
"There are so many people…" Much more than what she saw inside the station. Just the mere sight of it is enough to leave her wide-eyed in awe. About a minute passes before her phone beeps and snaps her out of her thoughts. "Oh right—Den-en-toshi Line…"
That's where she needs to go. Though, before that, she checks her phone to investigate the sound it made. She expects it to be a notification for a message or maybe an update for one of her apps. Instead, she finds that it's something completely different.
There is a red and black icon of an eye on her screen. There's a star in place of where a pupil would be within the iris and the red background it's on has an eerie glow to it that makes it appear as though it's pulsating. The icon is small at first, but after a few seconds, it enlarges itself on its own. It's now large enough to take up the entire screen and as a result, blocks the map and set of directions from her GPS.
"Huh?" She doesn't recall ever downloading such an app… She taps on it once out of curiosity, but nothing happens. "Did my phone freeze?"
She taps on the icon a few more times and sighs when nothing continues to happen. Great…she might as well restart her phone. Maybe then it will start responding, so she can get rid of the weird app.
"It's probably a virus…" Knowing her luck, it probably is. "And I just got this phone, too…"
She runs her fingers through her long, messy hair. The action eases some of her distress, though not enough to change her mood. It is at that moment that something out of the corner of her eye catches her attention. She looks over her shoulder and sees that a man talking on his smartphone who was passing by her just…stop.
Time had slowed to a halt and when she looks around at the crowd of people swarming the Shibuya Scramble Crossing, she is treated to a similar sight as before. Within seconds, everyone, except for her, freezes in place. There is no sound—all she can hear is her own breathing, which is growing more and more erratic with each passing second.
"What is this?!" She swallows hard, feeling far more overwhelmed than ever at the sight of a motionless crowd. Her stomach churns uncomfortably and her hands are far too sweaty for her own liking. She closes her eyes and focuses on controlling her breaths. When she opens her eyes, she sees something moving in the distance—blue flames flickering in the air with such intensity.
Seconds pass and the flames begin to take a more humanoid shape. It is of an imposing height, which makes it easier for her to see, despite the crowd in front of her. Suddenly, a large burst of flames erupts from the back of the humanoid figure. It flares outwards in two directions in a manner that resembles a bird spreading its wings before taking off into the skies.
The sight itself reflects off the lenses of her glasses as she stares out in awe. A vision suddenly comes to her, of a face developing from the flames. It stares back at her, with eerie eyes and a manic grin made out of red flames. Then, from within those flames, she sees her own face—with yellow eyes that are just as eerie and a wide grin to match.
The vision ends just as she finally snaps back into reality. She blinks a few times and then looks around once more. Time has resumed, the bustling crowd no longer frozen in place. She hears more sounds than just her own—of people talking as they make their way across the crosswalk.
"Wha…?" She is at a loss at what to make of this…so she just sighs and deletes the strange app on her smartphone. She barely has much time to think when she notices that the time reads 16:45 on her phone. "This late already?!"
She's going to miss her train if she doesn't get going! With that thought in mind, she finds that she no longer has any hesitations. She shoves her phone into her pocket and takes off in the direction she needs to go. She stops for no one and rather than take the escalators or stairs down, she jumps instead. There aren't that many people on the stairs, which makes it easier for her when she lands at the bottom of the stairs.
People stop to stare at her, while a few others begin to talk about her. She ignores them and keeps running, increasing her pace when she sees her train beginning to close its doors. She makes it in time, her long hair barely avoiding the doors as they closed shut behind her.
"Safe!" she pants out. It takes her several seconds, as she is catching her breath, to realize that people are staring at her. When she finally notices, she averts her gaze and, very quietly, says, "Excuse me."
The train ride to Yongen-Jaya is quiet, yet awkward. It takes every fiber of her being to keep herself from squirming whenever it comes to her attention that people are talking about her. She really should've thought twice before pulling such a stunt…
"Not like this was the last train to Yongen-Jaya…" Well, it's too late to do anything about it now… "Huh?"
Her phone beeps a few times and when she pulls it out of her pocket to check what it is, she sees that she's received a notification for a new message. She taps on the screen to open the message and then reads it. A smile tugs at her lips afterwards. The message is from one of her uncles—asking her if she's doing fine on her own. A part of her wants to say no, but she stops herself.
Instead, she messages back, saying she's fine—ignoring the stunt she pulled to avoid missing her train. The last thing she needs is any of her uncles worrying about her or worse—her parents.
Speaking of which…
Tell Eomma and Papa that I'm fine.
The message stays on her screen for a few seconds after it's written, her thumb hovering over the send button before she decides to discard it. It's better if she waits for her parents to contact her instead—just in case. For now, this is fine.
"Nothing gets by Eomma…" So she'll likely know of her daughter's response by the end of the day. "I wonder how everyone's doing…"
It's strange, being so far away from home.
"How long ago did that happen again?" She knows this isn't the first time she's been far away from home. Although, considering the situation regarding that incident… "Is this any better?"
When she stops to actually think about it, she didn't have to worry about some asshole pinning a crime on her—especially one she didn't commit. The most she had to worry about is one of her uncles' conditions worsening while he was admitted at the hospital. Other than that, it was nothing out of the ordinary… Although, it did become the reason she was homeschooled up until her first day of middle school.
Still…it could've been worse and really, her current situation is worse.
"I guess that's just my luck…"
…
…
The girl arrives at Yongen-Jaya Station without any issues and leaves shortly after, feeling less pressed for time than before. Her GPS guides her to her next destination, which is a small neighborhood. It takes her less than ten minutes to walk there and the first thing she notices upon arrival is how quiet it is.
It's a welcomed change of pace after spending so much time in a noisy and crowded environment. It's not as large as Shibuya, although it definitely feels much more spacious in comparison. According to her map, there are a few shops in the area, as well as a clinic. There is also a public bath and laundromat. There's even a movie theater and a café—but that's not what brings her here to Yongen-Jaya.
"My homestay should be here at this address…" She only has enough time to memorize the address before her phone's screen goes black and gives her a flashing image of an empty battery. "Seriously?!"
Just when she thought her luck couldn't get any worse…
"At least I got the address down before it shut off…" She would have been in some serious trouble if it happened earlier while she was in Shibuya. "Whatever…"
She shoves her phone into her bag and then goes on her way. It's a small neighborhood, so it shouldn't take her too long to find that address. That would have likely been the case, had she any inkling of information regarding her current location. From where she stands, she knows nothing and as a result, she finds nothing.
It's surprisingly easy to go around in circles, despite being such a small neighborhood. More than twice, she's entered the residential area and had to backtrack to avoid getting anymore lost than she already is. She spends ten minutes shopping at a grocery store, if only to buy a snack to ease both her nerves and hunger. It's not bad food, though she feels she's wasted enough time as is just stumbling about.
She is elated when she discovers the location of the batting cages and almost reaches for her phone to message one of her uncles. It takes her a moment to realize her mistake, to which she all but pouts when she looks at her phone's black screen.
"Right…it's dead…" It's why she's lost. "I guess I'll tell Shibi later…"
Until then, she has to find her homestay…wherever that is.
"Maybe I should ask…" There's a police officer nearby—one she's taken to ignoring, despite how many times she's walked right by him. She hesitates to approach him, losing whatever nerve she had when he suddenly looks in her direction. "Ahh…"
He stares at her for a moment and then smiles.
"Uh-oh…" She really doesn't like the look of that… "Crap—he's coming closer!"
In a sudden turn of unexpected events, it is the police officer that approaches her and not the other way around. He stops in front of her and kneels down to her level, being far taller than she is.
"Are you lost?" he asks in such a calm tone.
"Y-Yes?" There's no use in lying, despite how much she wants to. Of course, she's far too tense to even try and she doubts the officer will even believe her if she does. "D-Do you know wh-where I can find Sakura Sōjirō? I-I have his address…"
…
…
It takes less than five minutes for the girl to finally find arrive at the address of Sakura Sōjirō. She takes a moment to confirm if the two-story house in front of her is in fact his and checks the nameplate that's to the left of the doorbell. She rings the doorbell the instant she sees "Sakura" on the nameplate.
"I hope I didn't take too long…" It'd be nice if she could check the time, but her phone's too dead to function and she forgot to ask the officer after getting directions from him. "…Is anyone home?"
She rang the doorbell…but no one is coming to answer the door.
"Oh no…" Maybe he had gone out while she was lost… "Guess I'll have to wait for him, then…"
Well, it's a lot better than being lost.
"It better not rain…" She doesn't like how cloudy the sky looks and hopes that Sōjirō doesn't take too long to return home.
"Looks like no one's home…" And it seems she isn't the only person who has business with Sōjirō. A parcel deliveryman approaches the house, carrying a package in one arm. He tugs down on his cap and sighs…then it suddenly hits him. "Oh yeah—Sakura-san's usually at his café around this time."
"That's right—he has a café!" She wonders if it's the one that she saw on her GPS. She hopes it is, if only for how close the distance is.
"Well, Café Leblanc's in the back alley, so I should make other deliveries first…" And it looks like she has a café to find. This is turning out better than she expected, especially since she didn't need to ask anyone for directions.
"Now where's that back alley…" It shouldn't take her too long to find it—she's gone through it at least once during her attempts to locate the Sakura Residence on her own.
…
…
Today is just another day for Sakura Sōjirō, the glasses-wearing owner of Leblanc Coffee & Curry. He is a middle-aged man with dark hair that's slicked back and a chinstrap beard with a goatee that flares out. He wears a pink dress shirt with khaki capris, white shoes, and a black apron with white vertical lines. At the current moment, he is filling out a crossword puzzle to pass the time.
He sits across from his only customers—an elderly man and woman—that are seated in one of the booths. He makes no attempt to initiate any conversations with them as he lacks any motivation to do so.
"A public transit bus was driven down an opposing lane with its customers still in it! The citizens can't live in peace if this keeps up."
He doesn't bother to look at the television, either, despite the news that is being reported.
"How frightening," the elderly man remarks.
"What could be going on?" the elderly woman asks. "Didn't something similar happen just the other day?"
"Vertical is…the name of a shellfish used for farming pearls…" Sōjirō has nothing to add to their conversation, being far too engrossed in his crossword puzzle to really care. It is as he's filling in the empty squares on the puzzle that the bell that hangs from door starts ringing. It seems that someone has entered the café. "About damn time…"
He expects it to be a customer and is somewhat surprised to see a police officer when he looks up. Before he can even say anything, the police officer opens his mouth and asks, "Sir, did you lose a child?"
"A child…?" Sōjirō adjusts his glasses. It takes a moment for him to react—a moment in which an image of a glasses-wearing girl with orange hair pops up in his mind. "Wait—what?! Is she okay?!"
It takes every fiber of his being to keep himself from panicking after that outburst. He tries to keep his cool when he discards the newspaper on his lap and stands up. He has so many questions he wants to ask, though what he wants to know the most is what happened.
"Did something happen at…" Sōjirō trails off when he notices the glasses-wearing girl accompanying the police officer. "Huh?"
He expects a glasses-wearing girl with long hair—which is what he sees. The length is about the same, reaching down to her hips, but the color is all wrong. It's an unruly, ink-black mess that provides an interesting contrast to how neatly she wears her clothes. She wears a black, buttoned-up blazer with red buttons and a red-and-black plaid skirt with black tights. Underneath her blazer, she wears a white turtleneck shirt that has a black bow on the collar.
"Uhh…are you Sakura Sōjirō?" she asks, shifting awkwardly under his gaze.
It takes only until Sōjirō notices the emblem on her blazer for everything to click into place. "That's right—they did say that was today…what took you so long?"
"My phone died, so I got lost…" She clutches her bag tightly against her chest and looks down at her feet. "Sorry I kept you waiting."
Sōjirō scratches the back of his head and sighs. "Just don't let it happen again."
"I guess I'll be going, then," the police officer suddenly says, deciding he's done his job in helping the girl out. He leaves the café shortly after and it is only once the door has closed and the bell has stopped ringing that the elderly couple stands up.
"We'll be going now," the elderly man says. "The payment's on the table."
"Thanks for coming," Sōjirō says as a force of habit.
"This place is in the back alley so there's no worries of a car crashing in here," the elderly man remarks, to which the elderly woman nods her head in agreement.
"A what now?" The comment catches Sōjirō by surprise. He vaguely recalls what was being mentioned on the television, though not enough to really understand.
"There's been a string of those rampant accidents, you know," the elderly man explains. "I just hope that none happen around here."
"It's none of my concern," Sōjirō says as his eyes quickly glance over the girl in his café.
The elderly man only chuckles. "Haha, we'll see you next time."
He and the woman take their leave and it is only after the door shuts that Sōjirō sighs loudly in exasperation.
"…Four hours just for a single cup of Joe." Sōjirō scratches the back of his head and then looks at the girl. "A child, huh?"
"I'm sixteen," she responds. The light reflects off her glasses in a way that makes her lenses look opaque. It would make for an eerie sight, were she not so short. "And only 146.5 cm, in case you're wondering…"
"So she is shorter than her…" Sōjirō almost wants to laugh. "Kimura Jun…right?"
"That's me." Jun nods her head in confirmation. "Please take care of me."
So this is the girl he'll be caring for the next year…
"I was wondering what kind of unruly kid would show up, but you're the one, huh?" Sōjirō admits he wasn't expecting someone so…small. "Hard to believe you have a criminal record."
"…" Jun has no comment to make.
"Have you been told?" Sōjirō asks her. "A customer of mine and your parents know each other and—"
"Shiba—that's him, right?" Jun only knows as much as she's been told. It's only enough that she feels she can let her guard down for a bit. "Says your coffee is really good…"
Sōjirō blinks twice and then smiles. "I always did say he had good taste…how's he been doing?"
He hasn't seen Shiba in a while, considering Shiba only comes by whenever he's in the area.
"He's fine…" Jun says as she begins to play with her hair. "He says he might not be able to visit…"
Sōjirō can only assume why. No matter—it's none of his business anyways. "Follow me."
…
…
"This will be your room," Sōjirō tells Jun after leading her up a flight of stairs into the attic. It's a cluttered, dusty mess that's unpleasant to look at. He notices that she wants to say something, but refrains from doing so. "I'll at least give you sheets for your bed…do you have something you wanna say?"
"It's big." That's all she manages to say before going silent.
"Of course it is." Sōjirō snorts, finding it rather funny to hear that comment from such a tiny girl. "Although, it's on you to clean up the rest…you can do that, right?"
He's only heard bits and pieces about Jun's home-life—that she's grown up quite sheltered, due to an incident that happened while she was in kindergarten. He wouldn't be surprised if she came off as a spoiled brat from how much attention she received over the years, though he doesn't want to assume.
"I'm capable of cleaning up my own messes, if that's what you're wondering…" Dark gray eyes stare up fiercely at Sōjirō.
"Your sass is not appreciated." Though, Sōjirō should've expected it. "So here's how it's gonna go—I'll be leaving after I lock up each day. You'll be alone at night, so don't do anything stupid. I'll throw you out if you cause any trouble… Do you understand?"
"Yes." There's a look in Jun's eyes that make her look so defeated—as though she's lost the will to fight. Whatever fire she had previously just up and vanished.
"Now then…" Sōjirō pulls out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. "I got the gist of your situation. You protected some woman from a man forcing himself on her, he got injured, then sued you. Right?"
There is no response from Jun. She just averts her gaze and stays quiet.
"That's what you get for sticking your nose in a matter between two adults." Sōjirō's words are like a slap to Jun's face. "Worry more about yourself first before anything—a girl your size shouldn't be getting herself into such dangerous situations in the first place."
There is nothing that Jun has to say to that, despite how much she wants to. She just can't seem to find her voice…
"The situation escalated and you managed to injure him, yeah?" Sōjirō continues. "At some point, you got accused of participating in compensated dating, which has done nothing to help with your case. So now you've got a criminal record and been expelled by your previous high school."
Jun recalls how hard her family fought for her innocence, to the point of nearly risking their own safety… In the end, it just wasn't enough.
"The courts ordered you to transfer and move out here, which your parents also approved." Jun remembers the reluctance her parents showed when they gave their approval. "Am I wrong?"
She frowns. "No…"
"Anyways, it's best you not talk about anything unnecessary." Sōjirō lights up a cigarette. "I am in the restaurant business, you know. Behave yourself for the year. If nothing happens, your probation will be lifted."
"Probation?" The word feels so strange and unfamiliar on Jun's tongue. Even now, it still feels so unreal…
"Really now…" Sōjirō takes a long drag of his cigarette. A thin, trail of smoke leaves his mouth when he exhales. "It's the word that applies to you. Your sentence lasts until next spring, right? That's why you're gonna be here for the coming year."
Jun can only nod her head.
"Cause any problems, and you'll be sent straight to juvie." Sōjirō's tone is harsh and assertive. "We'll be going to Shujin tomorrow."
"Shujin…?" Jun repeats.
"Shujin High School—the school you'll be attending." Sōjirō taps on the emblem on Jun's blazer. "You're wearing their uniform, so try to be more self-aware."
"…" Jun brushes Sōjirō's hand away. "Don't touch me."
Sōjirō blinks once, but does as he's told. "We'll introduce ourselves properly to the staff there. There's rarely a place that'll accept someone like you, you know."
"I know…" Sometimes, Jun wonders if she should have continued being homeschooled. It could've saved her a lot of trouble…
"What a waste of my Sunday…" Sōjirō can't keep himself from complaining. "Your 'luggage' arrived earlier, so I left them over there."
Jun looks at the large box behind Sōjirō. "Oh…thank you."
"You sure packed a lot—it was rather heavy to move." Sōjirō can only wonder what is inside the box.
"Sorry…" Jun has a feeling that her uncles went overboard when they packed up her things. Maybe she should have cared more about it… "Too late for that."
"You're free to do as you wish," Sōjirō says. "I have to get back downstairs. Just try not to make too much noise up here."
When Sōjirō reaches the bottom of the stairs, he pulls out his cellphone and makes a call. "Hey, it's me—how are you doing?"
Back upstairs, Jun makes her way over to the cardboard box in the center of the room. She opens it up and sees that it's full of clothes and daily necessities, of which includes a brush that she knows she won't use.
"I should change into more comfortable clothes for now…" It wouldn't do her any good to get her school uniform dirty… So she pulls out a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved white shirt with black sleeves. She feels a lot more comfortable after changing out of her uniform, her new outfit allowing her more freedom to relax. "Now let's see what the damage is…"
Jun looks closely at one of the shelves in the room. Her face contorts when she sees that there's rust on some of its parts. There are so many difficult-looking books that have been crammed into it…
"So dusty…" It makes her almost want to cough. "What's over here?"
In the far corner of the room, there's a desk with a stack of books on top. It can't be used in its current state, so Jun decides that it's best that she starts cleaning now. It takes her some time to go downstairs and ask Sōjirō for some cleaning supplies, but the moment she has them, she gets to work.
She struggles at times with cleaning, due to her short height limiting her reach. It's easily solved with the help of a chair that she gets on top of for a boost, though the struggle continues with how much care she has to take in order to not fall off. Mopping, by far, is the easiest thing she can do that requires so little effort. Even moving the cardboard box into an empty space on the shelf by the stairs is easier than dusting.
"So tired…" she thinks when she plops down onto her bed for a break. She had just finished covering the mattress with a bedsheet. It's white, clean, and smells faintly of detergent—overall, not too bad. It feels nice against her face… "No—I gotta clean!"
Jun sits up so suddenly, realizing she was just seconds away from falling asleep. She runs her fingers through her hair and sighs when she sees how much more she still has left to clean.
…
…
It's late in the evening when Sōjirō comes up to check up on Jun. The first thing he notices is how much cleaner the attic appears. It's still just as messy, but it's a huge improvement to how it previously was.
"So you were cleaning…" Sōjirō smirks when Jun stares at him with tired eyes. "I guess it doesn't look too bad, either… Good work, Ojou."
"Hmm…" Jun rubs at her eyes and resists the urge to yawn. "Don' call me that…'s weird…"
"Why don't you go to bed for tonight?" Sōjirō can see how exhausted Jun is. "You don't have anything better to be doing, right? I'm going to close up shop and get out of here myself. I won't be the one looking after you if you get sick from staying up too late, you got that?"
All he receives as a response is a loud yawn from Jun. He shakes his head and makes his way downstairs. Jun waits a minute before walking over to the cardboard box containing her clothes. She pulls it out and opens it up to get her sleepwear out.
She changes in the restroom downstairs, deciding not to take her chances, despite Sōjirō having left. She leaves the restroom wearing a loose, black shirt with a baggy pair of olive-green sweatpants. She ignores the fact that she hasn't taken a bath as she walks up the stairs.
"I can take a bath tomorrow…" Right now, all Jun wants to do is sleep.
She lays on her bed and stares up at the ceiling. She tries her best to sleep, but finds that she can't—not now, at least. It's hard when she's trapped with her own thoughts.
"Arrest…trial…criminal record…" She got in so much trouble for helping someone out… "Still, I couldn't just let that go…"
That day…she had to go home early…
…
…
It was late in the evening, back in her hometown neighborhood. Jun was walking home from cram school, having left earlier than usual. It's not something she did often, preferring to stay late in order to get more studying done. But while Jun was on her way to cram school, a phone call from her mother changed all that.
"We're having dinner together, so don't stay late. Save your questions for your teachers tomorrow."
So when she left early, she felt a little excited to head home as soon as possible. It's enough to take her mind off of how empty the streets were at night and how alone she really was.
"Just get in the car!"
"Stop it!"
That's when she heard them—a man and a woman arguing in the distance. They were just up ahead of her and though a small voice in her head was telling her to ignore it, she kept going in order to investigate.
"How dare you cross me!" The man sounded so aggressive.
"Stop it—let me go!" And the woman—she really was so distressed.
Jun picked up the pace and started running. She ignored the pounding of her heart and the way her mind screamed at her to turn back. There were so many things she could do instead of this, but it just didn't occur to her because of how concerned she was for the woman who was calling out for help.
"No…!"
"Don't give me that shit…"
A drunk man was bothering a woman, ignoring every one of her pleas in his attempts to drag her into his car. This was the scene that Jun walked into, without any proper preparation whatsoever on what to do. She stares out in horror, her stomach churning in disgust.
"I can't ignore this!" There's no way she can just walk away from this. She needed to do something about this…
"Tch…what a waste of my time," the drunk man complained, finding the woman's struggles to be nothing more than an inconvenience. "You think you're worth causing me trouble? Huh?"
"Hey—let her go!" Jun wasn't thinking at all—she just blurted out the first thing that came into her head. There was no reaction from the drunk man, but the woman heard her clearly. Just knowing that she wasn't alone gave her the strength to continue fighting back.
"I-I'll call the police!" she threatened the drunk man. She tried her best to look as defiant as possible, though her expression wavered when the man started laughing.
"Heh, call them if you want!" The drunk man didn't care. "The police are my bitches. They're not gonna take you seriously."
He managed to wrap his arms around the woman, pressing her closely to his chest. It was lot more difficult for her to resist, but that didn't stop her from trying.
"No…Stop…!" It took a lot of effort, but the woman managed to squirm out of the drunk man's hold. Freedom had never felt so great, although it didn't last. Before the woman can take off running, the drunk man reached out and grabbed her by the wrist.
The situation was escalating in a direction that Jun was hoping to avoid. She took a few steps closer to the confrontation, stopping only when she noticed how badly she was trembling. She swallowed hard and tried her best to stay calm—it wouldn't do her any good if she looked so scared.
That was when the sounds of sirens began blaring in the distance. A wave of relief washed over Jun. Someone had called the police.
"They're on their way." Meaning it was only a matter of time before the police arrived. "Maybe now he'll stop!"
"Someone called the cops, huh? Get in the car!" Except he didn't…instead, the drunk man seemed far more annoyed and irritated than concerned. "Incompetent fools like you just need to shut your mouths and follow where I steer this country…What're you looking at?"
Jun nearly jumped when the drunk man finally noticed her. "Ahhh…!"
"Get outta my face!" The drunk man turned to face Jun and took a few steps towards her in an attempt to scare her off. "This ain't a show. Get lost, kid."
Jun managed not to flinch, though she couldn't stop herself from shaking. She looked ahead at the woman standing behind the man and wondered why she hadn't run. Was she too scared to move?
Or maybe…the woman had noticed how scared Jun actually was. It took her a moment to realize how wet her cheeks were—she was crying. She was actually crying and because of that, the woman was too busy worrying about her to run away.
"Dammit…!" Jun rubbed furiously at her eyes. She needed to stop crying, but the tears just kept coming.
"See? This is all because you're so damn slow!" The drunk man looked over his shoulder at the woman. "Get in the car, or else I'll take HER instead!"
…
…
Jun scowls at the memory she has of the incident. She hates how scared she was, if only because of how that drunk man tried to use her to get that woman into his car. It seriously pisses her off…
PI PI PI PI PI PI PI!
"Hmm?" Jun blinks and reaches into her pocket to pull out her smartphone. It's fully charged by now, since she had it charging while she was cleaning. She checks to see what it is, wondering if it might be a message from home.
It's not—it's just a notification for an app that she knows she deleted.
"It's that weird app from earlier." Jun makes a face at the red and black icon. "It's so creepy…"
She doesn't waste any time in deleting it. She shoves her phone back into her pocket and then lowers her head so that it rests on top of her pillow. She yawns loudly and then closes her eyes, feeling far too exhausted to stay awake any longer. Within seconds, she's fast asleep.
…
…
…
A/N Okay, here we! So like, waaaay back in summer of last year, just months before the game came out in Japan, UnstableFable and I were talking about what to name our protag. It was a long process that took like a few hours before we finally agreed on the name Kimura Jun, which is the name I decided to give this fem!Joker. I know that Joker has a canon name, Kurusu Akira, but this was before the manga came out, so Kimura Jun's grown on me a lot…
But don't expect me to ignore the name Kurusu Akira altogether, so keep an eye out for it. So another thing that was decided during the naming process is that Jun is half-Korean on her mother's side, which is why she calls her mother, Eomma (Eomma is an affectionate Korean term for mom). And the third, final thing that was decided during the naming process…I won't exactly go into too much detail just yet, but basically, Jun is a lot like Yu from Façade—in that they both have a different background from their canon counterparts that will have an effect on the way they act. For Jun, you can already tell that she's closer to her family (unlike poor Yu, who is starved for attention).
Also, she's pretty freaking short, being like 146.5 cm, which is 4'8"…reason for it was because I decided, waaay before we got any confirmed heights for the cast, to make fem!Joker the shortest. And as a result of that, she ended up being as short as she is, thanks to a certain orange-haired girl who made a cameo of sorts in this chapter (said girl who is 4'11").
Why did I decided to do this? For the sake of comedy…and ooohhh, how I do not regret ever making that decision! It certainly made for an interesting playthrough… By the by, I'm going with the personality I developed for Jun during my first playthrough of Persona 5, which has carried over to the Fanfiction Run.
You'll see what I mean when Jun gets the chance to actually start doing more things on her own. She's already shaping up to be quite different from Yu, though, which honestly amuses me because it wasn't exactly intentional—it just happened.
Anyways, many thanks goes to ShirakiNagi and awkward-screeching for helping me out with getting this chapter going with their contributions in directionally challenged Jun. Though, as a heads-up, that's was already gonna be a thing based off the fact that I got lost for like five minutes trying to look for the Ginza Line while I was streaming. If anything, you have these two for making it a thing that happens earlier. Though you have ShirakiNagi to thank for what became the "Sir, did you lose a child?" scene.
I like to also give a shout out to kurobook, for the fact that she's an awesome friend for helping me with this fic, and also memoriesofpurelight (aka, sealingdesigneejosephine), for screaming with me over Persona 5.
So it's like 4 am and I really need to go to sleep, so this is all I really have to say for now. Feel free to leave a review (I CRAVE validation), I'm gonna get some sleep… Until next time, everyone! KD out! XD