A/N: Hello people of the Internet! Welcome to my first serious fic, the first one being a piece of prepubescent shit that withered & died. Anyway, enough on yesterdays, let us march onwards towards better tomorrows: towards a perfect masterpiece!
Now, first off: you may have come here wanting a Persona 4 rehash & in the barest loosest sense that's what this is, but, if you came for a close-to-cannon retelling: this ain't your fic. Forget what you knew about Adachi, Yu, Dojima, everyone, here, we're resetting the board, rearranging the pieces & starting a new journey.
You're still here? Good! Prepare to tune back into the Midnight Channel & see that Devils May Care!
[Opening Theme: Know your Enemy: Green Day]
Series I: Shadows at Midnight.
Episode I: Moel Gas makes you High!
11th April 2011 17: 25
Moel Gas Station, Central Shopping District, Inaba,
Weather: Rain.
'Godammit Dojima! Where are you? I'm getting soaked out here waiting for your slow ass!' Thought a young man with light black hair & stormy grey eyes who looks to be in his early 20's, dressed in a casual white shirt, black suit & red tie, trying to shield himself using a brown leather briefcase from the seemingly endless rain as he stumbled along, fighting against nature's heavy tears towards a new gas station which had just opened called "Moel Gas"
"Finally!" Came the man's rather loud outburst upon reaching the station. "Should've listened to Kirigiri-san (1) & brought my raincoat to work."
"Good Afternoon Sir! How may Moel Gas serve you today?!" Exclaimed a nearby chipper gas attendant suddenly, causing the man to jump "GAH! Where'd you come from?!"
"I was always here sir, are you alright? It's not even foggy yet & you didn't see me, that's quite dangerous in your line of work." There was a vague sense of worry in the attendant's voice. "Wait, you know me?" enquired the man. "Of course! It's a small town, I may be new 'round here, but I hear the stories of Tohru Adachi: The Trivial Sleuth!"
"Urgh! Even my moniker's underwhelming…" sulked the newly dubbed Tohru "Still, I'm surprised people even know me."
"Of course people know you silly!" reprimanded the attendant "Just because you don't have The Golden Ticket called Talent doesn't mean you can't effect people."
"W- w- what do you know!?" cried a suddenly shaky Tohru "Talent is everything in the world! The talented sit atop the useless plebs, that's how it's always been." The attendant seamed to tense at this bold declaration, & in a more formal tone enquires "Then tell me Adachi-san; why is it I chose to work as a 'mere' gas attendant in the Japanese countryside, whilst over in the United States my adopted father runs the nation's largest publishers: Holy Manuscripts?"
"Huh? That's insane! Why would you give that up?" asked a shell-shocked Tohru. Hearing this, the so-called heir sank into deep contemplation & started muttering to himself "One's whose journey is yet to unfold, yet is deeply touched by my domain …Yes; maybe you will show father I can indeed help people…"
"Excuse me? I don't mind helping out, 'specially if it breaks the monotony here, but I don't even know your name" prompted Tohru intrigued. "Oh" the unnamed successor looked at Tohru, as if seeing him for the first time. "My apologies, allow me to introduce myself: I am Victor White (2) & I may have a job for you, of course some of my associates will aid you, who knows? It may even boost your popularity" With this proposition, Victor extended his hand. "Heh, a reputation boost, a bit of excitement AND high-up contacts? You know how to strike a bargain Black-san." Grinning like the cat who caught the canary, Tohru shook his hand, only for the world to seemingly invert colours & warp, "Guh!" with his head feeling as though it was ripping in 2 Tohru keeled over, nearly emptying his stomach in the process.
"HONK!" "C'mon Adachi! Don't tell me you've caught a cold?!" that rather harsh beckoning came from a stern-faced middle aged stone-haired man dressed in a dark grey shirt, black dress pants & red tie, leaning out the window of a white SUV with a cigarette hanging from his lips. "Quit gawking at thin air & get a move on! I left Nanako alone with her cousin whose staying with us and I want to get back quick."
'Thin air?' Tohru wondered, turning back to Victor… 'It's not like Dojima to—'"EH?!"…only to find nobody there. "He was just here!"
"I'm sure he was Adachi, now come on!" grumbled the driver, presumably Dojima. 'sigh' 'should've known it was too good to be true, what fancy heir would pick ME for a high-end job?' fumed the younger man.
"Comin' Dojima-san! Now that ya mention it I might've caught something, my head's banging." Dojima rolled his eyes. "Didn't I tell you to cut back on the drinking?" Tohru sniggered while climbing into the car's passenger side. "& didn't I tell YOU Dojima-san, Hypocrisy doesn't suit you?" Both men chuckled at that.
"You still live in Kirinokita apartments (3) Adachi?" checked the elder man. "YES! Dojima-san, I've told you again & again: unless I get a HUGE bonus, the Kirinokita apartments are all I can afford." Groused Tohru, Dojima snorted "Don't get snappy with me rookie, I'm just making sure we head the right way." With that, Dojima pulled out of the station carrying the unlucky detective home.
11th April 2011 18:00
Room 516, Kirinokita apartments, Inaba
Weather: Rain
Tohru's PoV:
'Ah! Finally home' were my thoughts as I fumbled to get my door closed, as much as Dojima-san was my only real friend, he doesn't know when to switch off about work.
Looking around my apartment the best I can in the dim evening light & with my new headache, I see everything just how I left it: Brown threadbare couch positioned in front of a nice glass coffee table that took quite a while to buy, adorned with a whisky bottle half for decoration & half because I forgot to put it away last night. Lying against the back wall was an old-fashioned 15inch aerial TV, not the fanciest, but reliable. The Living room is painted that drab khaki green, weird color-choice for a living room but, oh well, the left side of the main area has been converted into a seldom used kitchen. Talking of, I really should get on the land-lords case about paying the gas bill, since I'm the only resident living in this god dammed shithole! In-between the TV & kitchen was a door which led to my room where I'm heading now,
My room is fairly plain, bookcase, desk, wardrobe, futon yadda yadda yadda, the only real hint of character in this room is my Inuyasha (4) calendar secured to the beige wall above my futon. Urgh! My head is killing me, suppose I should hit the sack. With that I dragged myself into the futon, not caring I was still dressed, just wanting this shitty day to end…
…Only it wasn't over yet.
11th April 2011 00:00
?
Weather:?
Tohru's PoV
Huh…Where am I? Last thing I remember is going to sleep at home. Now I'm in a void with red lines going across it like a TV with bad reception, all alone except for….WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING?! Sitting in front of me is a golden eye the size of a hot-air-balloon set in an obsidian cradle designed so that the eyelashes look like teeth, on the bottom half of the cradle was carved a net of canals filled with a rainbow-hued energy. Worse of all? It spokes in a demonic voice:
"To defy me is a senseless act! To forsake me is to forsake mankind's desire! Can you truly forsake man's desire?"
"Yes he can!"spoke a harsh, baritone voice that seemed to shake my very soul, as a pool of a dark ink-like energy condensed underneath the monster. Amidst the black pool I managed to catch purple & red runes floating around & pulsing, almost as if they were alive, also I noticed points of light appearing around the area like stars. "Now, Leave alone the heart and soul of my champion!" *NEIGH!* roared the bodiless voice, strangely accompanied by the neighing of a horse, as if in agreement with the command.
Next thing I know, the magic tar-pool thingamajig erupted, sending pure darkness flying, as if that weren't enough; the "stars" seemingly fired honest to kami LASERS! Piercing the eye from multiple directions as it was swallowed by the oozing blackness. Something shattered underneath me, causing me to enter freefall. The mysterious voice spoke one last time as I fell to who knows where-story of my life, eh?-"Tread forth upon a journey which is most traveled by another, yet, dare not walk the other's path of faith, 'lest it lead ye upon a path of calamity. Go! My Champion! My Squire! Ride forth upon the 11th black road of fate! (5) " & with that final decree; I landed, seemingly on a chair of some design, to hear a voice that'll haunt my dreams.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room…"
XXXXXXX
AN: Indeed, Welcome! Welcome to Persona 4: Devils May Care, a challenge response to EternalCombOver's "Persona 4 Dubious Days" challenge. Now, If you saw the numbers scattered through the chapter; those relate to notes I'll include here called "Artist's drafts" which'll contain: Trivia, Concept notes (I.E: How it came to be), my musings on the subjects or other stuff. So, here we go:
[ARTIST'S DRAFTS]
- (1): Dangan Ronpa fans will recognize this name & yes, it is THAT Kirigiri, To Social link or not to Social link, that is the question.
- (2): EternalCombOver requested Amano-Sagiri & Izanami still torment Tohru, but with this stories theme, and particularly Tohru's motif, I felt a different deity was needed, I do hope Magnusranger will allow me to use a bastardized version of his/hers "Fools mark" system from "A Fool Named Fortune: Reshuffled", whoever guesses which deity I chose can claim an Arcana & we'll work together on that social link.
- (3): Kirinokita is a bastard form of Kiri no Kita which in Japanese means: "Foggy/Misty North" referencing a) Tohru's canon role, & b) the apartments location in the north of Inaba.
- (4): Inuyasha! Ah yes, Inuyasha… From the absolutely microscopic amount I know about this show it fits Tohru's motif, but, if he ever talks about it I WILL need help! T_T Originally in the first version of this it was Toriko, but I took a good look at this Tohru's motif & realized "Hey, this doesn't explain his canon behavior AT ALL" so, I had to rewrite this ALREADY not 3 weeks after publishing…*sigh* luckily it was only the first chapter 'else I'd be screwed!
- (5): this references Tohru's main Arcana, fans are free to guess.
Any feedback will be greatly appreciated
Yours Black flame 09