Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 4.
Summary: Souji, wanting a part time job, apps for work at the Moel Gas Station. He's pleased to find out he has the opportunity of a Social Link with one of the employees already working there. Basically, a hypothetical Social Link with the Gas Station Attendant (aka Izanami).
Admittedly, the premise is a bit cracky. Not that it would stop this fic from being written.
Enjoy!
Sunday, July 3
It was one of those days where he knew that it would be a pain to get up in the morning. The rays of dawn sifted through the blinds, forming parallel streaks across his cheek. The small bit of warmth produced from light was enough to make him stir and open his eyes. His familiar bedroom wall, posterless and plain, greeted him.
I should really try decorating.
Too bad Souji Seta had almost no creativity when it came to interior design. Time after time, he had been told his room was neat and clean. Odd for a boy his age and expected because of how studious he was, but never interesting. Although he pinned most of the excuses for his lackluster room on the fact he had recently moved, the truth was that even his own room back home was just as plain.
He had always thought that the extra decorations would just be a hassle to clean or arrange. That, and he'd eventually have to pack it away come spring. His method of thinking was being practical, although others had misinterpreted it as humbleness. Initially he had thought that other teenagers thought at least somewhat like him when concerning their rooms. Now with meeting colorful people in Inaba he realized that his lifestyle was rather basic. This thought came off as ironic, considering the hectic tension surrounding the events of the year thus far.
His eyes drifted to the small television sitting quietly. Its screen was a silent gray.
Souji ran his fingers through his silver hair, ending in a confused scratch. It was not good to start the day ruminating about something so simple as room decorations. After all, simple or no, the way his room was arranged should be the least of his concerns.
Then again, that the thought had come up in the first place meant that the serious matters were not demanding enough to require full attention. This possibility disturbed him. The Midnight Channel, the Shadows, and two murders were undeniably important. The following thought was that the room-decorating question was a distraction, maybe a mental defense mechanism. He hoped this option was the case.
The teenager lifted himself off his low bed and set off to complete the meaningless morning rituals of undressing, showering, and redressing in his overused school uniform. He haphazardly ran his fingers through hair one last time before grabbing his books and wallet and slipping out of his room. Walking down the stairs he could already smell the cheap, strong coffee his uncle enjoyed.
"Good morning," Souji greeted.
"G'Morning," was the tired reply. Looked like he hadn't yet finished his morning cup.
Souji opened the refrigerator. Some eggs, fish, beer, eggs, rice. It wasn't a hard decision to pick the eggs and rice.
"We're out of soy sauce," Dojima informed.
Souji stopped rummaging through the shelves, pulling his hands out and straitening up. Well, then. It would be hard to miss the disappointment on his face. He'd probably have to go buy some later today.
"Could you buy some today?" And there it was.
"Yeah. No problem."
"I'll give you cash." Dojima reached into his back pocket for his wallet and handed Souji five hundred yen. He took the bill and put it in his own wallet. "That should be enough."
Souji nodded as a reply.
Dojima grasped the mug in his hands and brought it up to his lips. Before he took a sip he looked at Souji up and down once, frowning. "What are you doing up this early?"
"I have school today," Souji stated. The question seemed strange. He had always got up on time, no matter how late he stood up studying or watching that channel.
"On a Sunday?" He rubbed his chin. "You kids sure are hard-working."
"I gue—wait." Souji blinked, letting his uncle's words fall into his mind. "Today's Sunday?"
"Yeah." Dojima took another sip of his coffee, raising an eyebrow.
The follow-up in his mind was a painfully obvious train of thought: If today is Sunday, then that means yesterday was Saturday, and today is a free day, and I had been planning for this to be Monday, but it's not, because it's Sunday. This high schooler was one of the rare ones that kept to a tight schedule. In fact, 'tight' would be an understatement. Souji Seta was practically obsessed with his schedule, planning almost everything at least six days in advance. The only time his schedule faltered was with the damn weather—always bringing the unexpected, despite the meteorologist's best guess. Despite weather predictability, Souji more or less kept to what he had planned.
But this? That an entire day was forgotten?
For a moment, it was like Souji had been hit by a brick wall through Dojima's words, and then the brick wall got up on its own and walked away. If he had simply forgotten a day, then that would mean his schedule was still on track. Souji was left standing there a bit broken but relieved that the wall was gone. "Then I don't have school today," he concludes aloud. If anything, today was meant to be free.
"That's what I thought." His uncle then looked at the coffee mug, brown eyes distant. It seemed as if he had something to say, so Souji kept quiet. After a moment or two, Dojima glanced back to his nephew. "About what happened a couple days ago…I didn't mean to yell at you."
'A couple of days' was being generous—'it' happened exactly a week ago. Dojima had been too drunk to walk, stumbling in with Adachi-san's help. His uncle had scolded him for hanging around the crime scenes. The worst case scenario would be that his uncle was beginning to suspect him, but Souji personally didn't believe that was the case. Really, the scolding was just how Dojima expressed his concern. True, his uncle could have done a better job yelling while being sober and not screwing up sentence structure, but Dojima still conveyed his worry just as well.
"It's fine. I probably deserved it," Souji said. He would have to be more careful when investigating to not draw any more suspicion onto himself. Souji was grateful for having at least friends in which to confide, but sometimes he wished he could just tell Dojima the truth. Whatever the case, Dojima's drunken scolding had practically left his memory. When Dojima had brought it up again, there was one last thing to say about the whole thing. "I think you scared Nanako more than me."
Dojima's jaw tightened. Nanako was always a sensitive subject.
As his uncle remained silent, Souji offered a small condolence, "She probably understands."
For a minute the detective was gone and the father took his place. He stood concerned, relieved, and a bit ashamed at his behavior. A moment later, he was back to being a detective. There was a jingle of keys as Dojima grabbed his jacket before opening the door. Mug still in hand, he turned to Souji saying, "Don't forget: soy sauce."
"Yes, Sir." He had all day to get the soy sauce. How great was that?
"Stop being so formal," his uncle waved, as if brushing the formality away. He was about one step out the door when he said, "Oh yeah. You might want to start looking for part-time work if that's what you're interested in."
Part time...? Do I even have time for that? He quickly runs a scenario through his head about work. "Okay, thanks. I think I'll try that."
Dojima closed the door behind and locked it. A few seconds later, Souji heard the car engine start and the wheels pull away. Forgetting that this particular Sunday could have been a free day in who knows how long, Souji decided that it would be dedicated to finding a decent part time job. If he was lucky, he could find one during the night shift. If he was really lucky, he could find a decent paying night-shift job. He hoped this would be the case.
Souji quickly changed out of his uniform and into casual clothes. He decided it was a good thing he got up early, because now he could job hunt in the morning and still have something to do during the afternoon and evening. He briefly checked his cell phone for any messages, gratefully finding none to which he should reply. Rise was still recovering; he really shouldn't bother her with questions until she felt better to talk. As for the others, well, they had their own lives to live.
He felt guilty not being able to do something more for the case, but it seemed that the entire thing was out of their hands at this point. There was nothing else to do besides wait for more information, and it could not hurt to pass the time until then with work or recreation. Of course, if and when any new leads came up, everything would be dropped to pursue it.
"Going already, Nii-san?" a small, tired voice asked behind him.
Nanako. "Yeah. You'll be alright in the house alone?" If not, she could just tag along. Having his cousin around might make him look responsible in front of a manager.
"Uh-huh. You don't have to worry about me," she smiled. "I'm going over to a friend's house today."
"Okay. You don't want me to walk you there?"
"No, I'll be fine." Nanako paused, glancing at the digital clock on the kitchen counter. "What are you doing today that you're up so early?"
"Looking for a part-time job," he replied.
Her smile could encourage one hundred men to pledge their lives to her. "You're going to be hired, I'm sure!"
"Thanks for the encouragement," he smiled back, having nowhere near an effect. Souji nodded to her before leaving. "Take care."
With that, he stepped out into the open. It felt like an early morning in July—bright and pleasant. The hot and humid part would hit later in the day. Souji made his way downtown shopping district, taking the usual route. The trip was quick, considering that he did not have to avoid any wayward students. When Souji got to the advertisement board, he immediately started browsing the bold titles. Paper crane folding, tutoring… he kept those in the back of his mind.
The two that stood out the most were advertisements that appeared too perfect to be true. One was for hospital part-time work. The other was for the Moel Gas Station. Which one to choose?
If he was lucky, he could squeeze in some studying and homework during his gas station attendant shifts. At the hospital, he would probably be needed to work all the time. Then again, the hospital work would definitely look better on his resume.
Perhaps it would be best to take a look at each job before deciding.
"And you really want to work here?" The manager's tone was one big eyeroll that had been converted into a voice. He was at least twenty years past Dojima. Unshaven, peppered hair, and dark circles were the most noticeable of the man's features, but the sense of unproductively coming from him was his most overpowering trait. The laziness this guy gave off even distracted Souji from the fact that the manager was cleaning his fingernails with a hunting knife.
To the ever occupied and working Souji, he could already feel that maybe the gas station job would not be the best choice. Instead of answering the manager's question directly, Souji replied, "I would like if you could tell me more about working here, Sir, before making a decision."
"Uh-huh," the manager said, resting a head on his hand. "Polite, ain't ya?"
"I've been told so before, Sir."
"One of my employee's also very polite. Gets annoying sometimes, with the smlin' and the talkin'… So, uh," he looked at the top of the application, "Souji Seta. Are you a hard worker?"
"Yes." Exactly who would answer no to this question in a job interview eluded Souji to no end.
"Good. Maybe you'll get stuff done here…not that's there much to be done. We don't that many visitors besides the locals. "
Something in his explanation made Souji straighten. "Wait, I'm already hired?"
"Eh? Yeah. You sold me at the 'I'm a hard worker' bit." The hunting knife in the man's hands suddenly seemed much more noticeable. The manager stared at Souji through beady eyes. "Not to mention we're kind of short on hands."
"I see." Souji said, not showing any outward concern towards the blade.
"With the murders and all, not many want to be in this gas station alone at night. So, you'll be working the night shift with a senior employee. Just in case you get scared, ya know?"
Souji could have guessed that any night shift job required some amount of courage. He simply nodded. "For security reasons, I can understand that."
"Exactly." Finally the manager smiled, showing golden teeth. "Glad to have you. You can start tonight."
"I'm grateful to be hired—ah, tonight?"
"That's what I said." The manager shuffled files—Souji's files—into a disorganize pile on the corner of his desk. "Problem, employee?"
Job, Souji. Job. "No, Sir."
"Stop with the politeness. You'll find that not everyone coming into this gas station is as nice as you."
"Yes, si—I mean, yeah."
"You're doing night shift, which means thankfully there will be even less people to deal with. Since you say you're a hard worker and all that, I suppose you'll just be stocking up the little convenience store we got attached to the station. And cleaning." The manager yawned, and then his eye hardened. "I hope you've been watching the news lately."
"Of course." Like anyone in this small population wouldn't hear about the murders.
"Huh. Can't even tell with youngsters these days. Anyways, because of what's been going on in our little town, be happy that you won't be alone during the night shift."
"For security reasons, right? That's good to know," Souji feigned relief. Deep down, he hoped he would be the next target for two reasons. First of all, he would be better defending himself from the murderer than the average citizen. Better him than an innocent, after all. Secondly, if he was attacked he might be able to get a look at the perpetrator. However, Souji doubted he would be attacked because of the patterns involving the victims.
The manager ran thick fingers through his hair. "That's not all I'm worried about. A handful of outsiders pass rough this station on the way to and from somewhere else. Just be wary of them. We had trouble with that one bike gang you heard about." He looked at Souji thoughtfully. "With handling the likes of those type of folk, I'm sure your politeness will come in handy then."
Souji allowed himself a small smile. If it's one thing he knew how to handle, it was people. He passed off his grin as bashful. "Hopefully my supposed charm won't be necessary, but thank you for your esteem."
"Eh, whatever." The manager scratched his nose. "Your training can be tonight, if you like."
Souji ran his schedule through his mind. "Yeah, that sounds fine. I'll be here at eight."
Planting the hunting knife into his desk, the manager extended his hand. Souji took it; a firm handshake. "Welcome to the team."
The day was over too quickly. The sun had set an hour ago, but the warmth of the day was just beginning to fade. The street lights cast an amber haze on the area. The cicadas' crys were not a tired hum in the surrounding mountains.
He had a fun time hanging out with Kanji, eating and chatting. In all honesty, he wasn't too sure if he was up to go to work. Kicking that lazy thought aside, Souji made his way to the main street of the South Shopping District. He walked down to where it smelled less like Inaba and more like a city: the gas station. It was an awkward truth to admit that the faint scent of pollution and cars reminded him of home, where people never slept and the lights never turned off and cars and busses were always running. He looked at his watch. The silver haired teenager arrived ten minutes early to his training session.
Souji stepped through the automatic doors into the Moel Gas Station's little store. Fluorescence lights and air conditioning took over for a moment before he adjusted his sight to the indoors. The inside was like any other convenience store, except smaller. Remembering that the manager had said an employee would be here to show him the ropes, he looked towards the sales counter. It was unattended.
He walked to the red painted counter, wondering how any employee could leave the register alone. Souji frowned inwardly. Either the employee wasn't here or was simply a bad worker. He touched the small silver bell on the counter once. Its ring echoed loudly in the empty store.
He heard a shuffle from the employee's door beyond the counter. The steps seemed hasty and rather unbalanced. Souji tilted his head. The attendant must be beyond the door. He'll just have to wait until the employee comes out to—
A crash came from inside the staff room, along with the sound of something spilling solid contents. Souji winced. He bet his first assignment while training would have to do with cleaning that mess up. Just his luck. Souji sighed. Might as well get started. He rolled his shoulders for a brief stretch for what would be a long night. Moving behind the counter, he pressed open the door. "I heard a crash, are you alright?"
What Souji saw was nothing short of a mess. Stock contents—an odd combination of candy and batteries—littered the floor. Four empty and large cardboard boxes were overturned or on their sides in the pile. It looked like they had been either knocked over from their own tower, or were carried all at once and dropped suddenly.
The employee in the center wearing the red, black, and yellow Moel uniform quickly stood up when Souji entered. Somehow, the Moel hat remained on from what was an obviously ungraceful fall. The attendant was smiling meekly as if this sort of accident happened plenty of times before. Something about the attendant struck Souji as familiar, and he was still for a moment trying to remember if he had met the person before somewhere.
The attendant scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Yes, I'm fine," he said. His voice was familiar, too. Again, Souji was struck with a sense of déjà vu. "I was just rearranging the boxes back here, and then I heard the bell at the counter. It, uh, surprised me and you can see the result of that here."
The Moel Gas Station attendant appeared a little older than Souji, but would be able to pass off as a high schooler. College age, most likely. He was tall too; not as tall as himself, but close enough—around Adachi's height. He was also excessively thin for his stature. Despite this, the attendant appeared anything but lanky. Instead he seemed very poised and almost graceful, judging from the swift moment Souji had seen in the moment the attendant stood up. For a moment, Souji was perplexed as to why he was getting this feeling from him after he had so clumsily spilled stock.
"You weren't expecting me?" Souji asked.
"Well, traffic around here was slow so I thought maybe I could do some organizing in between cars. But I'l l be out there for you in a second." The attendant paused, glancing over Souji. "…Aren't you a bit young to be driving?"
Souji shifted his weight under the youth's gaze. He felt like he was being evaluated for so much more than just his perpetual age. He hadn't noticed before, but he could see under the deep shadow of the Moel uniform hat that the attendant had intelligent red eyes and colorless hair and skin. Souji had never seen these features in a person before, so he tried his best to keep surprise under his expression. Despite the strangeness in appearances, there was something even greater that nagged at Souji.
This attendant was completely forgettable. Forgettable enough to overpower the oddness of the light hair, the pale skin, the red eyes—it was like he was emanating a sense of average and ordinary that reduced him to the background noise of the world. Nothing appeared interesting about this smiling attendant. It was if qualities of this person were found in every other person in the world, only more pronounced in them so that this attendant was left with relatively unimportant traits. Souji felt like he was meeting someone who was completely anonymous. This disturbed Souji, but he quickly shook the feeling off.
So, this attendant didn't know he was going to be working here? That made things complicated. "No, I'm not a customer. I was hired today. The manager said I could come tonight so that I could be trained, presumably by the person who's on the shift." Which would mean you.
"The manager said...? Oh! Yes. Now I remember, haha." The attendant chuckled softly. "I almost forgot."
More like completely forgot.
"Well, I have to clean this up right now. This'll be done in a couple minutes."
"I can help," Souji offered.
"Really? That'd be great!" The attendant's smile brightened. He placed the four cardboard boxes upright. "That sure is helpful of you, considering you're not really working just yet."
"Don't worry about it. This could be considered part of the early training, right?" Souji smiled.
The attendant laughed. "True, true."
Souji paused. He recognized that laugh.
"No, the country-side is quite nice. Anyhow, the air is a lot cleaner here, unlike the city."
A respectful smile.
"But it reeks like gasoline here."
The two share a quick glance, and then—
Shared laughter.
"I met you before," Souji stated suddenly. He stopped mid movement of placing a battery pack into the box.
The attendant paused, furrowing his eyebrows. "You have?"
"You're the one that greeted me here when I first arrived in Inaba."
The attendant placed a king-sized candy bar into the box, seeming trying to recall something. After a moment, his eyes light up. "Oh, that's right! Sorry about not recognizing you earlier. I say 'hi' to a lot of people. Comes with the job." He adjusted his hat proudly with the last statement. "You're a high school student, if I remember?"
"Yeah. Souji Seta." Souji honestly couldn't believe that the attendant remembered him at all. With everything that had happened, the people that he had met, the friends he had made, his arrival seemed so long ago. He barely remembered their meeting.
"So, you took this part-time job after all." The attendant seemed pleased.
"Guess I did," Souji said. They were about half way through putting the items back in place. "I was going to check out the hospital, too, but the manager readily hired me. The sooner I start working, the better."
"You sure are diligent for a high schooler." The attendant then smiled again, but this time it was more playful. "I bet you've been told that before plenty of times."
Souji blinked. "Uh, yes. Actually, that's exactly right." He cast a sideways glance at the attendant. "Thank you all the same."
"The compliment never gets old?"
"Sure doesn't," Souji smirked. Their eyes caught, and they both laughed. When he finished, Souji said. "By the way, I don't think I got your name last time."
"Ah, how thoughtless of me. Hm. Since I'm technically you're superior, does this mean I get to be addressed as senpai, like back in high school?" Catching the dubious expression on Souji's face, the attendant laughed a little and said, "Don't worry, I'm not particular with honorifics. You may address me as Shirasagi-san." He offered a thin hand.
"Nice to meet you again, Shirasagi-san," Souji took his hand and shook it.
Shirasagi smiled warmly, genuinely. "I look forward to working with you, Seta-san."
His smile was a bit disarming, but Souji was focused on the lingering cool touch on the palm of his hand. It was the same handshake as a couple months ago, but there was a slight difference in the meaning. It was still a greeting, but this time instead of a normal welcome it was an invitation into a friendship.
The world slowed for a moment. Souji began to feel a connection between him and Shirasagi-san. Familiar words of promise and potential filled his mind.
Thou art I…I art Thou…
Thou hast established a new bond…
It brings thee closer to a new truth…
Thou shalt be blessed when creating
Personas of the World Arcana…
Souji breathed, closing his eye for a second. The World? That was a new one. He opened his eyes to Shirasagi-san looking at him pensively. For barely an instant the attendant's smile was knowing, almost smirk-like. It was gone before Souji had time to think anything more about it. "Yeah." Souji returned the smile. "Me too."
And now for a lengthy A/N:
Why 'Shirasagi'? In the first MegaTen game, the hero and heroine were the reincarnations of Izanagi and Izanami, respectively. The heroine's name was Yumiko Shirasagi. (Because 'Megami Tensei' means 'Goddess Reincarnation'. They're talking about Shirasagi/Izanami, yo.) No, I'm not claiming that that Yumiko grew up and became a gas station attendant (or that she is the Izanami we all know and love to hate). Her name is simply being used as an alias here because I couldn't think of anything else. On a side note, it would be very weird if the real Yumiko Shirasagi ever met the gas station attendant. That'd be an interesting fic to read.
Why the World? The World in P4 was not only used to represent the bonds with others. Its power was also used to transform Izanagi into Izanagi-no-Okami, the god form of itself. The representation of power used to do so by the World was fueled by the partnership you had with your group of friends. It's a god's power, and the World appropriately reflects that. Since Izanami is Izanagi's counterpart and a god as well, I decided to use the World for this fake link. (We Westerns may have been able to get away with not doing our homework in P3 because that was dealing with Western mythology, but P4 is much more Eastern-lore. Read Japanese mythology, it is GOOD…if it's not told by Wikipedia.)
Wouldn't the Social Link be able to tell if one of them was cheating the system? If we're talking about 'lies' here…bonds can still be formed even in deceit. Though the trust is misplaced, the connection remains. (Translation: I really don't know. This probably can just be handwaved to 'she's a god, 'nuff said'.)
Wouldn't Souji notice something? In the game, Souji suspected nothing up until the end—that's how good Izanami's, uh, cloaking was. Everything changed upon the reveal. However, in this fic he eventually will notice something much later on. (Lol when I played the game I totally forgot about the attendant and thought for a time the normal ending was the true ending. X.X)
Pairings? Not too sure about this one. Depending on how this flows and the feedback, this may or may not change. However, there will undoubtedly be hints to something more than friendship (this is a Slink, after all).
What about the whole only-appearing-on-rainy-days thing? Welllllll, to that I say look at the April 11th. She plays the derp attendant so well on a day that isn't rainy. Let's just say she makes a special exception for the protagonist, at least in this fic. (TBH, she always struck me as a hands-off person. Observing rather than excessive interacting: the main reason that this Slink wouldn't happen in the first place. Since fanfiction is meant to be a bit of an indulgence, screw it.)
When does this take place? The above chapter took place on Sunday, July 3 which is a week after rescuing Rise from the TV World. To be honest, I don't wish to concern myself with dates too much because they seem to be a likely cause for messing up the time line of the game and this fic. If no date is given, there will be event markers here and there that Souji will mention during his inner monologues. They should be enough to determine around what days he works part-time. Still, I'll try and stick to dates.
Feedback greatly appreciated! :D