A/N: Well now, after finishing Persona 4 I felt a bit unsatisfied like I did with Persona 3. It's always the whole what else could have happened between the characters. This story was born from the desire to have an even truer end to P4. At the moment this story is more on the fluffier side, but if inspiration strikes me it will end up being action filled.
Oh one more thing, the main character will be Souji Seta which is his official name in the manga. And his personality is sort of like how it is depicted in the manga but with my own style.
I hope you all will enjoy this story :)
Later Additions: Thank you Darkforce222 for catching my mistake ;)
Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Shin Megami Tensei franchise, Atlus does. Any similarities to other works are coincidental. I do however own this fanfiction and all original characters and ideas. Besides, if I did own anything I would have made Souji stay in Inaba with his little harem.
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Prologue
"Yes, I understand mother…"
"I'm really sorry dear. I know we promised to be home by today, but I got tied up in China and grandfather wanted your dad on one of our tougher clients in the States."
"Don't worry about me and just focus on your job."
"…Well okay Souji, remember to ask the maids if you need anything at all."
"Yeah I will, good-bye mother."
"Bye dear, I love you."
"Love you too."
The young silver haired man hung up the phone silently letting out a sigh as he replaced the cordless phone on its stand.
It's always been like this, heh it kind of reminds me of back then. I can't believe that it's already been a year.
-x-
When Souji arrived home his parents were in an uproar over the incidents that had been occurring in Inaba. They were overprotective and even though he told them that everything was calm and peaceful in the rural town once more, they refused to listen. Ignoring the words of her brother Ryotaro, Akemi strictly forbade her son from returning to that 'cursed town'.
Sure he could have ignored their commands since they were gone from the country ninety-nine percent of the time, but no, that was not the manner in which Souji Seta would act. He would play the part of the good son and stay put.
Even after a year had passed, Souji had yet to make a return to the town where it all began for him; the place that had changed him from a pessimistic loner to a determined leader and a faithful friend.
For reasons unknown even to himself, Souji remained determined to not disobey his parent's orders which were all but forgotten even to them. Perhaps because he felt like he would have no place among his old friends. Despite the events that they had gone through with fighting Ameno-sagiri and the true conductor of everything, Izanami…things would be different.
After all, the others had spent their high school days together while he had to return to the city. Most likely they would have inside jokes and would be closer to one another than he could ever be. No, if he returned now, it would feel like he was but a mere transfer student once again. With people coming to talk to him simply because they were curious or felt pity towards the friendless newbie.
Why hadn't he just stayed in Inaba?
Well whatever his reasons, he always refused the invitations of Yosuke and the others to come spend the breaks with them. They knew of his situation but remained determined to have him visit.
Everyone else had been busy themselves and could not find the time to leave Inaba.
Somewhere inside, he felt satisfied. There were people out there who wanted to be around him just because it was him. He enjoyed their feelings of disappointment when he told them he would be unable to come. And he most certainly thrived on the continued invitations.
Sure it was a sort of perverse thinking, but returning to the city had affected him greatly.
--
The fresh air of the country, the wide expanse of green, the never-ending pastures; the moment he stepped into that town, he felt free. No longer would he have to deal with his so called "friends" in the city.
His first day at school and people were already talking to him, well they were curious sure but at least their intentions were pure.
Not like in the city where everyone at school knew who he was.
Here he was known simply as the transfer student.
Not as the rich transfer student from the Kanda family.
He was just Souji Seta coming from Tokyo.
Not Souji Seta the grandson of Ichiro Kanda, CEO of Kanda Corporations.
He was just a new face in town.
--
His mother was originally Akemi Kanda, daughter of the prestigious Kanda line. When she married Tooru Seta a rising star in the corporate world, she was practically disowned from her family.
Why you may ask?
It was simple. She had refused her arranged marriage and married the one she loved. And the one she loved just happened to be one of the workers in her father's company.
Although Tooru was a talented man with a model's face, he was a "commoner".
But when Ryotaro Kanda the only other heir gave up the Kanda name and became a detective under his mother's maiden name of Dojima, Ichiro became pressured.
His only male heir had forsaken the family name and his daughter had married a man with no high standing in society.
His daughter eventually gave birth to a handsome boy and that was all the encouragement he needed.
That boy would be the heir to the Kanda Corporations when he chose to retire or he died; which would not be anytime soon since he still had many corporate takeovers to lead.
For now he would simply groom the boy into a proper heir and have him change the name Seta to Kanda when he would take over the company.
Yes, it was a brilliant plan. But first, he had to get back in the good graces of his daughter and son-in-law.
That would be easy; he would provide his daughter and her husband with jobs in the company. They were talented and would rise quickly in standing. Then it'd be only natural if their son followed in their footsteps.
--
Souji had his whole life planned out before he was even a month old.
As he grew older and entered school, his parents continued relocating from place to place because of the jobs given to them by his grandfather.
His grandfather wanted him to learn from his parent's work and had him continually transfer from school to school. There were other devious motives in this as well. Ichiro wanted to keep his precious diamond in the rough in his territory. For Ichiro had been pleased to discover that his grandson was a talented individual. He grasped the concept of things quickly and he had a drive to know everything about anything.
But that year, Souji grew tired of listening to commands and moving to different places every month or few months. Against Ichiro's decision, he had convinced his mother to allow him to stay in one place for one of their trips abroad. And that place had been with the Dojimas. In spite of Ichiro's rage towards him going to Inaba, Souji had gone anyways. It was his way of rebelling against the cage that he had been placed in the moment he was born. Just one time he would not listen and just enjoy himself.
With his arrival in Inaba, he changed for the better.
But the city changed him back, even worse than before.
--
He was once again the pessimistic loner who was just a pawn who went along with the machinations of his grandfather.
His rebellious spirit had been crushed the moment he came back to Tokyo. Ichiro had seen to it immediately. He refused to have another Ryotaro in his hands.
Though it was Souji's parents who refused to let him return to Inaba, it was under the pressure of Ichiro that they did all of this. And it was he who had kept Souji grounded in Tokyo for the past year.
He was the mastermind behind all of this.
And Souji knew, but he did nothing.
If he wanted to he could have probably gone back easily. But…inside he felt like he would be an outsider the next time he returned to that quaint town of Inaba. Even though they had all gone through so much, it was all in the past now. And Ichiro had reinforced this idea. Despite Souji knowing better than to listen to his grandfather, the seed of doubt had been planted.
-x-
It was spring break at the moment and in a rare act of mercy, his grandfather had given him the entire break to spend leisurely.
He had planned on spending the time with his parents but now they were telling him that they would not be returning until the end of the break.
Damn that old man! He sure as hell knew that I was going to spend my break with them!
Sigh I need something to do. He kept me so busy with lessons that I had barely anytime to relax. But now…I don't even know what to do with all of this free time.
It's not like I have any actual friends in the city. They all just want connections with the Kanda family.
Last year I had a mystery to solve, friends to hang out with, and family to spend time with.
Jeez I'm so pathetic. I should just go back to Inaba, but…it's too late now.
I've just brushed off everyone's attempt to get me to come back.
We text with short 'hellos' and 'how is the city'.
We call but the conversation is idle chatter.
We write though the letters are few in number and even shorter in content.
"Seta-sama, a package has arrived for you" called out one of the maids after a short knock on the door to his room.
Standing up tiredly, Souji headed towards the door pulling it open briskly. With a curt thank you he grabbed the package and closed the door once more. Placing the package on the bed he glanced at the sender.
"Nanako Dojima"
Reminiscing slightly on his adorable younger cousin he realized that it had been awhile since he had last sent her a letter.
Grabbing a pair of scissors from his desk, he opened it wide and placed one of the blades under a flap of the box. He slit the tape and then did the same with the other side. Feeling a bit excited, Souji replaced the scissors onto his desk as he fumbled with the small box.
Opening it, he found a letter inside along with a few items.
A teddy bear that was a familiar blue and red.
A bunny that looked handmade.
A shrine charm for good luck.
A picture of an idol.
A pair of headphones.
A mini dragon keychain.
A pen that when twisted revealed a variety of tools.
And lastly a small bracelet made from thin chains.
He smiled as he glanced at these things. Grasping the letter he read through the contents.
"Big Bro,
How are you? You haven't visited us at all yet.
Dad says that grandpa won't let you. But I really miss you.
Everyone here is lonely without you. All of your friends wanted to write to you too.
So we decided to just write all at once."
"Sensei! When are you coming back? Yosuke is always being mean to me when I come back to visit from the other side. You better come back soon or I'll cry."
"Yo! Senpai, don't wanna sound all sappy…but… I miss you man! Come back and visit or I'm coming to Tokyo to drag you back!"
"Hello Souji-kun it's been awhile. It's been pretty lonely without you here and the others miss you as well. We can all have a celebration at the inn when you head back so come soon."
"Senpai! Stop being such a loner and come back! I'm already planning to start my debut soon and I want you here with me when I do!"
"Dude where the hell are you?! What happened to coming when we had that long break? Seriously don't make me have to beat you up again!"
"Your being so mean leaving all of us alone like this! It's just like the time you and Yosuke first went into the T.V. by yourselves and left me with the 'life line'. Come back or I'll have to use my Trial of the Dragon moves on you!"
"Souji-senpai, if I known that you were going to not come and visit us for so long I would have really hopped on that train and gone back to the city with you. Everyone really misses you so I hope you plan on heading back. I can always use my connections to hunt you down though I rather not resort to that."
"Haha, maybe this break won't be so bad after all."
--
Well this chapter was far from fluffy and it may have been confusing at times. I sincerely apologize if anyone was lost. But this is only the prologue and I really wanted to have a background to Souji's life as well so more will be revealed in due time. At the moment Souji seems sort of odd but you'll understand eventually.
And if you're wondering why the others couldn't visit, let's just pretend that the third years had exams and the second years were just busy. It's a fanfiction people so no complaining about the details. If I go into it too much it will be too complicated.
Hope you liked the first chapter! And don't forget to review please :)