Shinjitsu no Uta: Through the Mist
By: DeathNoteMaker
Disclaimer: I don't own Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4. That right belongs to Atlus. I own this fanfic, my ideas, and OCs.
Category: Games
Game(s): Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
Pairing(s): They will develop over time…
Rating: M
Warning(s): Blood, Character Death, Extreme Violence, Language, Lemons (Later), etc.
Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Humor, Romance, Supernatural, etc.
Summary: Narukami Shizuka believed that there would be nothing to look forward to in her mother's hometown of Yasoinaba. She had no idea how wrong she was – the night she arrived in town, a mysterious murder took place and shook the monotony in the sleepy country town. Receiving an enigmatic power, and following the advice of Igor – Master of the Velvet Room. Shizuka is given the responsibility of finding out the truth of not only the origins of the mysterious Midnight Channel, but also the one behind the murders. The only question is whether or not she will be able to do it.
A/N: Yeah, I couldn't help myself. I have about several different Female! Persona 4 Protagonist stories saved on my flash drive, but it seems that I like this one better than the others since I posted it. Hopefully I am completely done with this story (Most likely not LOL), and will only now have to schedule when I am going to update the chapters. But all I can hope is that you all enjoy this story, and sit back and enjoy the ride towards the truth.
The cries and gasps of dismay and outrage really warmed her heart a little – she really hadn't expected such reactions to the news. Really, she hadn't thought that anyone would actually care besides the close acquaintances that she had managed to make in the short two months she had been at this school.
Standing in front of the class, she held her bag down in front of her with both hands. Stormy grey eyes took in the faces of her classmates as the teacher got them all to settle down.
"As you've all heard, a classmate of yours will be leaving us – I urge you all to wish her luck."
More cries rang through the class, but she only closed her eyes with a small smile. Bowing, she felt a prickling sensation behind her eyelids. While she hadn't really gotten to know any of them, she appreciated their feelings towards her leaving.
"Even though I haven't been attending this school very long, I've come to like it here – thank you."
Standing up to her full height, she said nothing else as the teacher continued on.
Once again she was being uprooted after she had started to become comfortable, and was now being moved to somewhere else without a thought to her feelings – not that it was anything new.
She was used to it by now.
~000O000~
Shinjitsu no Uta
Prologue: Arrival
~000O000~
Leaning back in her seat, the silver-haired young woman listened to the instrumentals made by Shoji Meguro through her earphones. Turning her attention back to the book in her hand, she crossed her legs – all the while oblivious of the attention on her from the man in the seat across from her.
Flipping the page of the small romance novel she bought at the little stand in the train station, she allowed herself to become immersed in the story. Brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, and licked her lips. It was going to be a long ride to Inaba, and she had unfortunately found herself already halfway through the book.
Thankfully the day so far had not been eventful, though she did get a little irritated in the train station when the clerk was too busy ogling Kujikawa Rise's half-dressed body in her new commercial to ring up her purchases.
No matter what Kujikawa said – Qualorie Magic was garbage.
A ping sound from her pocket signified that she had received a message. Reaching into her pocket with haste, she smiled at the thought of it being a message sent to her from her parents. She hadn't had a lot of time to talk to them recently – more like years, but she hoped that it was from them to wish her luck.
Pulling out the cellphone, she flipped it open and pressed the button to open up the message. Looking at the sender of the message, her smile dropped a bit.
I'll go pick you up at the station. Be at the main entrance at 4 o'clock
Ryotaro
Sighing sadly, she slipped the cellphone into the pocket of the uniform that was sent to her by her uncle. It was a very nice uniform, though she had a bit of a problem with the skirt. Tugging on it subconsciously, she knew that due to her being taller than other females her age – the skirt looked shorter on her than others.
Of course, she intended to remedy this by wearing pantyhose or long socks – the former more likely than the latter. It wouldn't due for her to give everyone a free show if there was an unexpected breeze. Flipping the page, she rolled her eyes at the attitude of the young amnesiac detective.
Time passed quickly, and soon she found herself nodding off. Placing her book inside of her bag, she wrapped her arms around herself as she switched her legs. Sighing, she closed her eyes and relaxed. It would take a little while till she was even close to Yasoinaba, and she wanted to take a little nap. Minutes later, she quickly slipped into a blissful slumber.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room."
Jerking at the sound of the voice and the smooth purring of a high-tech engine, she opened her eyes slowly to see that she was no longer on the train. Snapping upright in her seat, she looked ahead and saw two people sitting on the opposite end of what seemed to be a limo. Blue seemed to be the theme, as almost everything seemed to be some shade of blue.
Even the blond man was in a blue suit that resembled a bellhop's uniform – had the hat and everything! In his lap was a black book that seemed to radiate some kind of aura, which seemed to call out to her.
"Ah, it seems we have a guest with an intriguing destiny…"
Her grey eyes turned to look at the strange little man that sat behind the small blue table at the end of the limo. She watched as he seemed to chuckle about something, and adjusted the small napkin that was sticking out of his coat pocket. A cryptic smirk slithered onto his face, and she noticed how long his nose was as he leaned forward – as if to get a better look at her.
Though she was confused as to where she was, she decided it would be better to find out who these two were.
"My name is Igor, and I am delighted to make your acquaintance."
Gesturing to everything around them, 'Igor' continued.
"This place exists between dream and reality – mind and matter…"
Clasping his hands together, he leaned back into his seat all the while keeping his eyes trained fully on her. Shifting a bit under his assessing gaze, she switched her legs once more while tugging down her skirt.
"It is a room that only those who are bound by a 'contract' may enter…"
For a moment, she glanced over to blond man – still nameless, who was smiling at her politely.
"It may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future – now then, why don't you introduce yourself?"
Placing her hands on her lap, she sat up with her back straight as if she was in class.
"Narukami, Narukami Shizuka."
A small twitch of his eyebrow at her last name, and his slowly growing grin was the only telling sign of whatever he was thinking. "Hmm, I see."
Glancing over at the blond male for a split second, he then had his bulbous eyes on her once again.
"Now, let's take a look into your future, shall we?"
Placing his hand a few inches from the table in front of him, a bright blue light encompassed his hand and caused her to squint a bit at the brightness.
When the light died down, there – much to her shock, were a deck of cards on top of the once bare table.
"Do you believe in Fortune Telling?"
Fidgeting in her seat, Shizuka uncrossed her legs and just pressed her legs together.
"Honestly, I've never thought much of it – the only time I had went to a fortune teller, the prediction wasn't accurate in the least."
Clenching her hands into fists on her lap, she bit her lip. It was one of the only times she had accepted an offer from some classmates of hers to hanging out outside of school. Thinking it was something fun to do, they had gone to a well-known fortune teller and had their fortunes told.
All she had wanted to know was whether her parents would ever have time to spend with her – though she lived a comfortable life due to their work, she sometimes wanted them to just take a day off to just be with her.
Obviously the woman was mistaken – instead of them finding more time to spend with her, the time they already had was reduced to nil.
After that, she hadn't ever tried to get her fortune read.
"Well, let's see if we can help repair this damage that this person has done."
She watched as with a flick of his wrist, the cards were spread out across the table face down.
"Each reading is done with the same cards, yet the result is always different."
Chuckling, he rested his chin on the back of his clasped hands, as his grin only seemed to widen to Cheshire cat proportions.
"Life itself follows the same principles, doesn't it?" Reaching forward across the table, he took the card on the upper left hand corner and flipped it over. A bit nervous as to what will happen, she didn't feel any better at the amused look on the man's face.
"Hmm, the Tower in the upright position represents the immediate future – it seems a terrible catastrophe is imminent."
Grimacing at the ominous message, she couldn't resist the shiver that wracked her body.
"The card indicating the future beyond that is…"
Reaching across the table once more, he flipped over the card on the upper right hand side.
"The moon, in the upright position – meaning 'hesitation' and 'mystery'…"
Chuckling, he looked at her with a knowing look that made her a bit uncomfortable.
"Very interesting indeed."
Moving back away from the table, he looked at her from over his clasped hands.
"It seems you will encounter a misfortune at your destination, and a great mystery will be imposed upon you…in the coming days, you will enter into a contract of some sort – after which you will return here."
Flicking his wrists, the cards on the table disappeared and he chuckled at the awed look on Shizuka's face.
"This coming year is a turning point in your destiny…if the mystery goes unsolved your future may be forever lost – my duty is to provide assistance to our guests to ensure that does not happen."
Nodding hesitantly, and then turned her head to look at the man sitting next to him.
Noticing who she was looking at, he cleared his throat. "Ah! I have neglected to introduce my assistant to you."
Turning his head in the other man's direction, he gestured towards him with his hand.
"This is Theodore – he is a resident of this place, like myself."
He seemed to take that as his cue, and turned to face her fully. Seeing the man's face completely now, a light blush colored her cheeks at how handsome this man was.
He had pale skin, bleach blonde hair, and pale golden eyes – very foreign features that she hasn't seen on any other person. Plus there was something about him that just told her that he couldn't be human – that he wasn't human.
Placing his gloved hand against his chest, Theodore gave her a small polite smile once more.
"My name is Theodore, and I will be here to accompany you on your journey."
Sitting back into his seat, and placing both hands on the book in his lap – Shizuka turned her attention back to Igor.
"We shall attend to the details another time – until then, farewell…"
Opening her eyes with a small gasp, she blinked as she came to find herself back on the train. Sitting up in her seat, she blinked to wake herself up fully and ran her fingers through her hair.
"That was a very stranger dream..."
For a moment, she didn't do anything before jumping as a voice came out of the speaker near her seat.
Next Stop: Yasoinaba in twenty minutes, Yasoinaba in twenty minutes…
Checking the time on the slim watch on her wrist, she sighed. It seemed that she slept longer than she thought she did. Making sure that she had everything, Shizuka put the strap of her bag on her shoulder.
She would be making it just in time to the station to meet her uncle – not that she thought he would leave her if she was a bit late. Just didn't want to take any chances with her uncle, as her mother had mentioned years ago that he just wasn't any fun in the passing. Tightening her grip on the bag strap, she hoped that her dream didn't hold too much truth in it.
There was nothing she wanted less, than her one year in the sticks turning into a complete disaster.
Twenty minutes seemed to pass quickly enough, and soon the train came to a complete halt and she looked at the train station. Noticing how empty it was, she stood up and walked off of the train with a sigh. As the doors closed behind her and the train took off, the gust of wind it caused ruffled her nape-length tresses.
Brushing them away from her eyes, she saw the exit and made her way towards it. If her uncle was telling the truth, she would be able to find him somewhere around here.
Walking out to the parking lot, Shizuka looked around her surroundings and mentally questioned how old this station was. Some parts of it looked to be done recently – like a few years ago, while others looked like they were touched even further back than that.
Coming to a stop outside of the station, she placed a hand on her hip and was about to pull out her cellphone when a voice broke the silence.
"Over here!"
Turning her head in the direction it came from, she saw a tall dark-haired man standing near a white car. Behind him – holding onto his leg, was a little girl with chocolate brown hair and large brown eyes. Deducing that this man had to be her uncle – she vaguely remembered him from the pictures she had found in one of her mother's photo collections, and moved towards him.
Coming to a stop in front of him, she noticed the surprised expression on his face.
"Wow, you look lovelier and taller than you do in the photographs–"
Blushing a bit at the comment, and she grimaced at that small fact being pointed out. Her height always seemed to surprise people, and she should've grown used to that by now.
She could only wonder how much she was going to be gawked at by the inhabitants of this backwater town. The sound of her uncle's voice snapped her out of her inner musings.
"I'm Dojima Ryotaro, and I'm the one who's going to be taking care of you – welcome to Inaba."
He held his hand out to her, and she sputtered a bit as she hurried up and took the hand with a small nervous smile. Though she knew this man in front of her was her uncle, she wasn't blind. Dojima Ryotaro was a very handsome man. Stepping back, she gave him a small bow and smile.
"It's nice to meet you, I'm Narukami Shizuka."
Chuckling in amusement, Dojima scratched the back of his head.
"There's no need to be so formal – I used to change your diapers you know…"
Gaping at him in mortification, she quickly composed herself though her face was a tomato red. Did he have no idea how awkward that statement made her feel!
Obviously he didn't as he didn't notice her horror, and quickly turned to the little girl who was watching her with unsure eyes.
"This is my daughter Nanako – come on and say hi to your cousin."
For a moment, she didn't move. Peeking around her father, the little girl stared at the older female for a second before diverting her eyes with a small blush staining her cheeks.
"…Hi."
Smiling encouragingly at the younger female, Shizuka watched as Nanako swatted Dojima on his butt for making fun of her being shy. It wasn't like the grey-eyed young woman expected a different reaction out of her, after all most children were shy around those they didn't know.
Noticing the time, Dojima quickly ushered the two females into the car as he took Shizuka's bag to put in the trunk. Slipping into the back seat, the silver-haired girl watched the scenery pass by the window.
Just from looking at the buildings around, she was positive that she was officially in the sticks. Leaning her head against the cool glass window, she closed her eyes.
This was where she was going to be spending the entire year.
Inaba would be the place that she would get to call home for an entire 12 months.
Even though the thought of staying in such a backwater town should've depressed her – she couldn't stop the small smile that formed on her face from the thought of having a place to call home for more than 2 months.
Not long after, she woke up as she felt the car come to a smooth stop. Sitting up in her seat, she rubbed at her eyes as she slowly came back to the land of the conscious.
"Welcome to Moel!"
Yawning, she looked outside the windows to see that they were at a gas station. Thinking it would be a good idea to stretch her legs, Shizuka opened the door and stepped out. Closing it behind her, she yawned once more and stretched her arms about her head.
Moving her neck, she sighed as she heard a small pop.
"The city, huh…?"
Fixing the sleeves of her uniform top, she noticed her uncle talking to one of the attendants of the gas station.
"Fill up my car while you're at it – Regular's fine."
The gray-haired young man grinned widely, and saluted in a mock military way.
"Right away, sir!"
Resisting the urge to giggle, she leaned back against the car and crossed her arms. Looking around, she noticed that they seemed to be near a shopping district of some kind. So lost in thought, she didn't notice the grey-hair attendant come towards her until his deep voice startled her.
"Are you in High School?"
Jumping a bit at the unexpected question, she turned her head and looked up at the male that was staring at her with a charming smile. Blushing a bit, she shuffled self-consciously as she realized that she was almost as tall as he was.
Nodding, she turned her gaze away from him.
"Does it surprise a city girl like you to see so little out here?"
Shaking her head, Shizuka glanced over at him from beneath her lashes demurely while brushing some of her bangs behind her ear.
"Not really, my mom had told me about it – was kind of expecting it to be like this."
Chuckling, the attendant turned to stand next to her.
"Yeah, you'll find that there is so little to do here so you'll get bored fast."
Tipping his hat back, he grinned towards her.
"You'll probably find yourself taking up some part-time jobs or hanging out with your friends just to pass the time."
Half-lidded wine red eyes peered at her from underneath wavy grey bangs, and the small blush on Shizuka's face only seemed to intensify.
"Speaking of which, we're actually looking for part-time help right now – Give it some thought, I wouldn't mind having to work with a cute girl like you."
Grasping her hand – smirking at the small squeak, he pressed his lips against her knuckles. Bringing her hand back to her chest, she diverted her eyes as the Moel attendant walked off. For some reason, she felt that her life was going to become hectic in the coming months.
~000O000~
End of Prologue
~000O000~
Wow! I've made it to the end of Chapter 1! 8D The urge to post this is just so frightening, but I will refrain! I want to at least get up to 'Rescue Yuki (?)' mission. But anyway, I hoped that you all enjoyed the first chapter and will be sticking around. There will be some parts that will be skipped, as I want to get up to Shizuka's first day of school already. If some people have noticed – fans of Persona 4 no doubt, yes I took both the manga name and the upcoming anime name for the protagonist to come up with the name for this fic.
Souji Seta is the name given to the manga version of the protagonist, and Yuu Narukami was given to the anime version. Since I thought Narukami (meaning Thunder God – ironic since his person is Izanagi, and the Protagonist's element is lightning) should be the last name (like in my HP/P4 Xover), while I looked for a feminine Japanese name that started with an S. I didn't want to use Soujiko, because everyone and their grandma seem to want to use that name. So I looked up names, and decided on Shizuka with using the kanjis meaning "Quiet" and "Summer". Thus the ironic name of Shizuka Narukami was born – Quiet Summer Thunder God indeed.
So yeah that's all from me for now.
Ja ne,
DeathNoteMaker