Disclaimer: Persona Series obviously doesn't belong to me.
Warnings: This is an AU of where P3 The Journey ended differently, angst, past major character death.
Author Note: This fic is loosely based on a song with the same title and a solemn fic for the most part. I promise I'll write happier fics, but it's impossible for the moment :T There will be a sequel, probably.
Without further ado, enjoy!
Blessed Messiah
Iwatodai remained the same.
Probably, it was what struck as Akihiko's first impression when Junpei's excited voice woke him up from the headache-inducing jet lag. Both athletes touched down in Japan after coincidentally taking the same plane from the States. Junpei immediately brute forced his way to exchange his seat to an unfortunate girl who sat next to Akihiko, to which the experience would've traumatized her if only she wasn't an avid fan of Junpei's team.
The next twelve hours en route were loud. Understatedly so. Their ceaseless conversation only lulled into sniggers and hushed talks when the stewardess asked them to not disturb the other passengers with a tight smile, but it didn't hold a candle to Mitsuru's glare.
"Man, I miss everyone, even Yuka-tan's bitching." Akihiko tried to mask his laughter into a cough, since the stewardess has been eyeing them and looked ready to throw them out from he plane if it was possible.
"We totally should eat out in the delicious sushi restaurant that Mitsuru-senpai ordered after we-" A blank look passed over Junpei's face and Akihiko shook the younger man worriedly.
"Hey! Snap out of it," Akihiko grumbled.
Junpei scratched his goatee in confusion. "...Err, do you think Mitsuru-senpai ever ordered us big servings of sushi?"
"Nah, it's not like her to do that." The boxer shuddered visibly. "If anything, I'd bet that she has hidden agenda behind her back. Like forcing us to study our ass off or something."
"Ha! Damn true," the former class clown nodded sagely and they settled into companionable silence, bodies stretched out uncomfortably on the small seats. Akihiko yawned, but he remembered something and snapped out from the tempting offer of sleep.
He yawned wider, taking out his backpack under the seat and shook Junpei awake as he rummaged through in search of a pamphlet the Kirijo heiress gave to him before he took the flight. Once he found the crumpled paper, Akihiko gave it to Junpei who smiled in apparent nostalgia as his eyes scanned the paper.
"Wow, can't believe it's been years since graduation, huh." The pro Major League Baseball's top batter smoothed out the edges with calloused hands and grinned. He held out the pamphlet against the reading lamp above him and squinted his eyes.
"...New... doom, ...Uhh, devastation?" Junpei's eyes traced the kanji, cursing his lack of attention to Ms. Toriumi's lesson as he seemed to have forgotten most of the harder ones. He could hear his senior smothered an all out laughter that would have been enough reason to kick them out from the airplane, resting his mouth in his hand to muffle it with his palm.
Junpei felt a vein popped on his forehead in irritation. "Hey! It's not my fault kanji is so difficult to read! Everything should be available in hiragana!" he said irritably, trying to murder the offensive pamphlet with his eyes.
For his trouble, Akihiko took the pamphlet from his hands and read out loud, "New dorm development, Stupei."
"I resent that!"
Akihiko just shrugged good naturedly and studied the information, "It looks like our old dorm needs remodeling. The developer will tear the building down next month,"
"Well, it's kinda sad but it's not like there's anything memorable about it. I mean, heck, you should see my team's accommodation! The rooms are big and we partied each week." Junpei wiggled his eyebrows and grinned, "Blond chicks are da bomb."
Akihiko rolled his eyes and propped his head on his chin, "Speaking about our dorm, you still remember Arisato?"
The batter tsked and snorted, "The guy was a weird bastard. I swear he should've been in a mental ward, that friggin' emo. Good riddance, though."
"Hey, he was actually decent to me." Akihiko shook his head, frowning.
Crossing his arms, Junpei replied, "As if nodding and ignoring you by stuffing his ears with earphone is decent."
"At least he didn't throw temper tantrum like certain someone I know." The boxer huffed and retrieved a black sleeping mask, ready to welcome the oblivion. "Wanna visit the dorm later?"
"Yeah, maybe."
"Okay, good night."
"Night."
Their dorm remained the same.
Even as they walked around to the familiar city, passed the infamous Moonlight Bridge, reached the building which paint has been stripped down by weather and mold, gazed up at the closed and chained door, the dorm was still familiar to his young-adult eyes. They arrived at night, deposited their belongings to a hotel near Paulownia Mall and walked their way to the other side of this artificial island.
Junpei leaned against the tree outside their dorm, noticing that the neighborhood was silent and empty. Force of habit made him looked warily to the sides, expecting to see zombie-like humans roamed and sat around the pavement.
There was nobody there -of course- but something tugged at him from the dark. The air was solemn, heavy with lingering quietness. It was as if the city's liveliness was gone right after The Lost phenomenon left the city. Many people moved from Iwatodai that year, building new lives and fresh start outside. Including them.
They left Iwatodai right after graduation, going their separate paths and somehow happier that way. He was drafted straight into a pro baseball team during his college years, Akihiko continued to pave his fame into the world of boxing though he has yet to meet everyone else.
Well, life goes by, after all.
His life was exciting, filled with wild parties and heart-stopping matches that pumped adrenaline into his extremities. Strikes of victory landed him with enough money and chicks to a lifetime of comfort that was so different from his younger years. He enjoyed it.
And it would've stayed that way if only he hadn't bumped into Akihiko-senpai out of all people. It would've stayed that way if only he dismissed the bout of nostalgia as something that would pass with time. Because as they left the barren tree with the moonlight on their backs, they felt a motion as they walked away.
They looked up.
And Minato Arisato's empty gaze stared back at them.