Title: New Beginnings
Category: Games ยป Persona Series
Author: Shenkovitch
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T
Genre: Friendship/General
Published: 11-13-10, Updated: 11-13-10
Chapters: 1, Words: 1,654
Chapter 1: Chapter 1
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters associated with persona 3. Please R and R Thanks ~Shenkovitch
Chapter 1
Shinjiro tapped his foot impatiently; The train to Port Island Station was never this late. Bluish-gray clouds loomed overhead, making him more anxious. As the initial drops of rain began to fall, the train approached from his far left, he exhaled softly. The doors whooshed open and he stepped aboard, noticing that the car was mostly empty, aside from an old couple seated near the front, he walked briskly to the back, not noticing the young woman quickly stepping onto the train after him.
Settling in and shoving his beanie further over his eyes, he nestled his head against the seat rest and closed his eyes as the train lurched into motion. A short while later he awoke; neck stiff from the slight jostling as the train came to a stop outside the station. His eyes drifted over the interior of the car, noting that the couple must have stepped off whilst he had dozed off. Pausing to take a glance at the young woman he noticed she was seated to his right further up the car. She seemed engrossed in reading a textbook, the title of which was obscured by her hands.
A monotone voice came over the intercom;
"Attention passengers, this stop is Port Island Station; please take your belongings and exit the train accordingly. This is the last stop on the line, please watch your step." With that, Shinjiro jammed his hands into his pockets and exited the train, not passing a glance at the woman. The rain had lessened to a slight sprinkle as he worked his way past the few people who were gathered by the entrance to the movie theater, he ducked inside and made his way to the ticket booth. Skimming the list of movies showing, he tallied three chick flicks, two romantic comedies, and a mildly interesting documentary about capitalism.
"One adult ticket for the movie Capitalist Diaries please" he gestured toward the list of movies, and rummaged through his pocket for some cash. After a short exchange, the clerk handed him the ticket and his change. Shinjiro avoided the popcorn stand(they didn't serve kettle corn popcorn) and went for a medium Dr. Salt instead. Picking a seat near the top rows, he noted the theater was rather full for being a late night showing. The theater darkened and as the opening credits rolled Shinjiro draped his feet over the seats in front of him. An hour, and two free drink refills later, Shinjiro checked his watch; the time was nearly midnight...
"Shit, it's nearly the dark hour." hastily gathering his coat from the chair next to him, he made his way to the exit. Stopping near the entrance to the theater he noticed a large group of coffins near the popcorn stand and the ticket line. The only audible noise was the rain outside and a low rumbling thunder in the distance. Hearing footsteps approaching, he ducked low behind the ticket booth and glanced through the shadows to see the same young woman he'd noticed on the train earlier.
"What was she doing out this late" he mumbled to himself; clearly she wasn't affected by the coffins around the area, nor the fact that the headphones around her neck weren't functioning properly. As she walked past and made her way to the double doors and the exit, he stood up silently but upon exiting the booth his foot crunched loudly on a discarded plastic cup. Gasping in mild shock, the girl whirled around to face him.
"Oh it's you," she said mildly, looking relieved. Walking over to him and extending her hand, he looked at it briefly before reluctantly extending his own. Looking him over she couldn't discern much about his physicality aside from the heavy coat he was wearing, even for such a warm time of year. Dropping his hand she remarked,
"Is this town...Always like this?" she said, gesturing to the coffins and the lack of lighting in the area.
"It's hard to explain." Shinjiro said bluntly. Adding a puzzled tone to his voice he said "You don't seem to be phased by any of this, are you a tourist or something?"
Chuckling to herself, she replied "No, just trying to keep a positive attitude. So what's your name? I'm Minako."
"Shinjiro" he said gruffly, looking past her to the set of doors, wanting to be on his way before the storm picked up. She picked up on his lack of eye contact and looked over her shoulder.
"Let's walk and talk; that storm looks like it isn't going to hold off for long." Reaching the doors first, she held one open for him, a smirk playing across her lips at his puzzled expression. Brushing past her then, he made his way towards Paulownia Mall. Minako fell in step beside him, keeping to herself for a few moments before asking quietly
"Do you know which direction is the Iwatodai Dormitory? I was supposed to be there a short while ago, but my train arrived early so I caught a movie and then this happened." She remarked, shoving her Mp3 player in a coat pocket. Shinjiro stiffened at the mention of the dorm where Akihiko stayed...Why there of all places...Dammit. Not responding at first, he continued walking towards the mall, hands balled into fists inside his coat pockets.
He looked in her direction and replied curtly,
"it's the stop you should have gotten off at before Port Island Station. Why are you still walking with me anyways? Sure I'm walking past that area of town, but still." Her smile seemed to illuminate the otherwise dark atmosphere around them,
"Because walking by myself would be dull, and you don't talk much so it works for my peace of mind. Plus you seem to know your way around here better than any map I looked over during my trip here, so..." she trailed off, her last few words a dull whisper in the presence of his thoughts about the rest of the journey to the dorm. Great, he was walking a girl he barely knew to her dorm, and her upbeat attitude was starting to grate on his nerves. The weather wasn't helping either; another clap of thunder echoed overhead, and he lengthened his stride, to outpace her and equally to steer his eyes away from the eerie greenish moon that loomed through the overcast sky.
Shinjiro pulled a pack of gum from his pocket and popped a piece into his mouth; it was preferable to smoking and helped him focus on something other than his thoughts. Glancing at his watch, he realized they'd been walking for nearly a half hour and they'd barely exchanged a few words outside of the theater. Fine with me Shinjiro said to himself; he was beginning to feel tired from the effects of the dark hour. Looking across the street to his amazement, he realized they were nearly at the dormitory. Taking a look back, he saw Minato lost in thought, glancing at the empty storefronts and vacant cars lining the street.
Seeing him looking back at her, she gave a small smile, to which he responded by acting as though he was adjusting his hat, averting his eyes from hers. She asked politely
"Are we nearly there? Seems as though we been walking for some time now."
"Yeah, we're about a block away if that makes you feel better." Smirking she replied
"A warm bed and a good meal would be the icing, but I'll settle for that."
Weird girl he thought mildly as they rounded the corner and the tall dormitory came into view. Looming in the darkness, it was nestled between two other brick buildings. Standing four stories tall, it was a brick structure with numerous tall windows, none of which had any lights on, due to the dark hour still being in effect. It was as he remembered, the same large wooden double doors stood before them as he came to a stop next to her. Gazing in awe at the architecture he assumed, he cleared his throat mildly and she seemed jostled from her thoughts.
"Oh...Thank you very much for guiding me here, It would've taken much longer on my own." Looking up at him, she paused as music once again bellowed from the headphones around her neck. As streetlights flickered on around them, she got her first good look at him since the train ride. He was much taller than her, by at least a foot, and wore a heavy red coat with flared brown pants and matching boots. His brown hair stuck out in a haphazard way from under a beanie and he had a tired look in his eyes. She turned away and took several steps towards the door before he spoke up,
"Tch, don't bother with the thank you; it wasn't out of the way for me. If you didn't go wandering around new locations at night you wouldn't have been in that situation." Still turned away, she tried hard to control the look of embarrassment that crossed her face. Composing herself, she forced a smile and pulled a set of keys from her pocket. Turning the key in the door, she glanced once more in his direction; seeing that he was making his way down the street to his destination she kept silent, opening the heavy oak door and stepping inside.