Disclaimer: I don't own Persona 4, but the characters and the plot belongs to their respective creators.
Chapter 2: Ramen so good it's to die for!
The chatty group strolls down the gloomy looking shopping district. The fog that covers the street makes the place look awfully grey at this time of year."I haven't been here this long, but I must say, I think I would love to shop around here." Kiyoe said, a slight gleam in her eye. "And now I've got two strong boys to carry my stuff for me!" She giggled slightly, "Just kidding guys. How much further Miyatomo-kun?"
"THERE IT IS!" Jiro ran to the small ramen shop, "IM STARVING! There sitting at the end of the shopping district was a Chinese style ramen place where a worn red sign hung on the building. A faded looking restaurant looks like it was devoted from life, but steam issuing from the doorways told a different story.
Daichi lags behind the group, keeping a close eye to Akane. Inside the place was steaming with mouthwatering smells of broths. He and Akane take their usual seat by the counter. Two 'ramen it's so good to die for' please."
Kiyoe sat at the counter as well, "One ramen for me, and one for the tough guy over there." She said gesturing towards Jiro.
"What? You sayin Im a muscle head?" Jiro shouted as he sat next to Kiyoe..
A waitress was a blue haired and brown eyes jots down the order and disappeared behind the counter. They waited not even ten minutes and already the girl passes bowls of ramen.
"I hope you enjoy your meal." She said as the girl went back to the kitchen. Both Akane's and Daichi's ramen was piled sky-high of bamboo shoots.
"Itadakimasu!"
Akane giggled at the outburst. While Daichi choked at his ramen. His mouth full of bamboo shoots made Akane laughed even harder.
Kiyoe shook her head, "No you just seem to want to pick a lot of fights, plus you look pretty strong." Kiyoe shrugged, "It's not a bad thing."
"Dam right I am!" Jiro said as he took his ramen and chowed down, "Mmm mhmhmm mmm mh!"
Kiyoe smiled softly at Akane's laughter, "You alright there Daichi-kun?" She asked while slowly eating her own food.
"Y-yeah.." He coughed quietly at his napkin while Akane claps his back. "I'm fine, really.
"Slow down man! SECONDS!" Jiro held up his now empty bowl.
Daichi was the next to react. He blushes a little before hurry responded. "N-no o-of course not." The teen began shoving ramen to his mouth earning another giggle from Akane. "hehe onee-chan is blushing." Daichi finished his bowl and quickly order a second. "N-no Akane-chan it's just...the heat. He added lamely.
"Hm..." Kiyoe tapped her chin with her finger. "Alright that settles it, we are all going to hang out together again soon!" Kiyoe smiled widely, "My mom always told me you could tell a lot about a guy by asking that question, sorry for making you both blush..."
"I dont blush!" Jiro went right to eating his food.
"Oh... well ok then, you know I wouldn't mind if you did right?" Kiyoe said with a small smile, "There's nothing wrong with it."
Daichi again mumbles "it's the heat." Slurping his ramen he ate in silence.. Akane finished her ramen and was staring to look sleepily. "Hey, Akane-chan I can carry you home if you want." She nodded her head slightly before leaning on his shoulder.
"Well, I do care..." Jiro stood up, "... I'm done."
"You leaving Daichi?" Kiyoe asked concerned. "Do you want us to walk with you?"
"Us?" Jiro considered this, "... Yeah..."
"It's just a little bit odd today, and it would be better if we went as a group," Kiyoe reafirmed.
Daichi shrugged as he picks up Akane on his back, her head resting on his neck. "Sure just as long you can find your way home." He picks up the bag with difficultly and pays his share of the ramen.
Kiyoe nodded happily and paid for both herself and Jiro. "Yep I have a pretty good sense of direction, even with the fog."
"S-someone should still walk with you home!" Jiro stated
"Well with three of us at least one is walking home alone, and I live kinda far out of town, so it would be way out of both of your ways probably." She mused softly, "Seem kinda silly to make you walk all the way there and then back."
"I DONT MIND!" Jiro stated like he offered a challenge, "I'll walk you to your house and I'll head back alone!"
Kiyoe jumped at his sudden volume increase, "I guess... yeah alright thanks." She said simply, "are we all ready to go?"
"No it isn't." he said shifting the bags for a better grip. "I don't know about you guys but...can you guys help?" Daichi said as a bag fell to the ground.
"Get some muscle!" Jiro said as he picked up the bag and opened the door, "Kiyoe first."
"Right, we'll go to your house first of course. Anything else I can carry?" She asked in a worried voice.
"N-no that's all." he mumbled leaning a bit forward more to balance Akane's weight. "thanks."
Jiro tapped his foot, "Lets go! Ladies first!"
Kiyoe nodded slightly, then made her way out the open door, "Thank you very much sir!" She said with an wide smile to Jiro.
"Thanks." said Daichi as he walked through the entrance.
Jiro nodded at Kiyoe, "Of course!" Jiro ran over next to Kiyoe, Hands in his pockets.
"So where do you live Daichi?" Kiyoe asked, glancing over her shoulder every few seconds to make sure he was alright.
The teen panted as they walked for a few minutes. The something caught his eye, a huge group of people gathering around an area that is surrounded by yellow police tape. "H-hey isn't that a crime scene?"
"Lets go see! I wanna see a dead body!" Jiro shouted with a grin.
"What?" Kiyoe turned her head to stare at it. "Wow you're right... I wonder what happened." Kiyoe suddenly dashed off towards the tape.
"Oi w-wait for me!" Careful not to wake up Akane he slightly jogged to catch up, only to stop next to Kiyoe and Jiro. "W-what's going on?" he said as he pushed his way to where Jiro and Kiyoe were standing. The crowd was starting to thin out as the seconds tick by.
Then at that moment, a young man ran out from the yellow tape and started to throw up his contents on a nearby flowerbed. An angry voice bellowed: Kobayashi! How long are you gonna act like a rookie?" Sure enough Okudaira Kenshin, Daichi's uncle steps out of the yellow tape staring disapprovingly at the young man.
"S-sorry." he managed to say before throwing up again.
Kiyoe wrinkled her nose slightly, "Ewww... gross."
"Like a hose set to jet!" Jiro stated.
"Must you be so crude?" Kiyoe asked softly, "He's probably feeling bad enough already..."
"Pff." Jiro crossed his arms.
Daichi grimace, thankfully Akane was asleep. The detective frowns as he continues to shout: Do you want your ass to be hauled back to HQ? Geez." Finally he noticed a familiar face in the crowd. "Daichi-kun what are you doing here?" He gaze moves up a bit to see a sleeping Akane. "Oh..."
"Oji-san we're just passing by." the teen said hastily hazel eyes cast down. The young man finally got up to his feet, though shakily. "Okudaira-san I..."
"Just get us some coffee." Daichi gave the assistance an apologetic look knowing full well of his uncle's attitude to work.
"Aye sir.." As the older man walked away the young man sighed deeply he had an unhealthy pale ting on his skin. "Man what a day."
"Officer... um... What happened here?" Kiyoe asked softly trying to discern from the surroundings.
Jiro was looking for any sign of a body, "... Wheres the corpse?"
The young man clutched his head as if he was having an internal conflict. "Uhm...am I allow to say?" He shot a glance at the body bag. The forensics already haul in the bag into the car to the crime lab."Well...you're going to see it tonight, so you see…there was a dead body hanging from at telephone pole."At the mention of the 'corpse' he started to feel sick to his stomach."P-packed away...the coroner would want to see it first, so we can determine the cause of death."
"Dam! Already packed up!" Jiro said, disappointed.
"S-someone actually died?" Kiyoe put a hand over her mouth, like she was going to be sick herself, "D-did you catch who did it?"
The teen looked positively livid at Jiro's reaction, but suppressed the urge to say anything.
The detective shook his head. "No we got a call, we...came here to see him traumatized and..." he swallowed hard. "It was brutal."
"What, was he gouged open?" Jiro asked as he crossed his arms.
"Wait so whoever did this is still... out there?" Kiyoe was visibly shaking in fear at the thought.
"Y-yeah he was..." The detective opened his mouth to say something but a harsh tone cut the air. "Kobayashi! Where is that witness report?" 'Kobayashi' jumped visibly. "R-right here sir!" He turns to the group. "Please don't tell anyone." With that the detective ran off to the older detective's direction, staggering at the first few steps.
"We..we should keep moving." suggested the quiet teen watching his uncle and his partner having a heated discussion.
"I ain't scared of some bullshit murderer!" Jiro stated.
"Y-y-yeah le-let's get home." Kiyoe readily agreed, "Your still first Daichi, lead the way."
"Thinks he can kill me? I'd love to see him try!" Jiro threw a punch at the air.
"I don't know Jiro-san, if the murderer is bold enough to murder here...then I doubt he will be afraid to it."
Adjusting Akane on his shoulders he lead the way towards his house. It was a long walk but they arrived at house close to the hill. At the door he fished out his keys and inserts it at the lock. Opening it slightly with his foot he led them inside. The house consists of a kitchen by the door and a living room with a sofa, T.V and a couch. The teen climbs the stairs with Akane on his back, after a few minutes he returns down the stairs to see Jiro and Kiyoe exactly the same spot he had left them. "Um..do you want to call your parents to pick you up? I'm mean...it's safer right?"
"I can beat this murderer to a pulp! He won't go near us!" Jiro threw a kick.
"Slow down there Rambo, let's not go and invite any trouble." Kiyoe said gently placing a hand on Jiro's shoulder. "My aunt is still working, so I can't drive anywhere..."
"Then I'll walk you home!" Jiro suggested right away.
"Well I guess that would work," Kiyoe said softly, "Let's just be careful, I don't want any problems."
"Are you sure? I mean.. I could drive you there but... oji-san had taken it." Daichi thought back of the murder. Great he thought. " Jiro-san, take care of Kiyoe-san I'll see you tomorrow."
"Murderer won't come near us! I'll slug his face in!" Jiro threw a punch, "Let's go!"
"Bye Daichi-kun we'll see you tomorrow!" Kiyoe said in a sing-song voice.
"Shall we?" Jiro asked. He was prepared to fight any menacing person.
"Yes we shall," Kiyoe walked alongside Jiro quietly, deep in thought.
He walks out with them just in front of the house's gate and waves in farewell as he watched them disappear from the fog. He shivered slightly, a chill immediately settles in his bones as he walks back in the house.
The duo walks down the darkling street, the fog making it even harder to see what's up ahead. The silence stretch for a good three minutes until the blond teen broke the silence."... Something on your mind?" Jiro asked curiously.
"What?" Kiyoe jerks up from her thoughts side glancing at Jiro for moment. "You mean besides the deranged killer running loose in the city?" Kiyoe shrugged, "Just wondering why you were so interested in the dead body..."
"Never seen a dead body is all!" Jiro stated loudly, "Whats wrong with that?"
"I just..." Kiyoe sighed softly, "Never mind, let's just keep going."
"... Where- where are you from, Kiyoe-chan?"
"Oh I'm from the city, really busy and loud over there, so this is a nice change of pace. Or um... was I guess. So did you say earlier that you've lived here your whole life?"
"I did... Just me and my mom." Jiro explained with a sigh, "... Somethin wrong with that?" he said this quite softly.
"Why are you so aggressive?" Kiyoe stopped her walking and stood with her hands on her hips. "You need to calm wayyyyy down." She undid her ponytail, before running a hand through her hair and doing it up again. "I don't have a problem with anything you do, say or feel. You're my friend and I will support you no matter what."
"... Right, whatever." Jiro didn't sound as aggressive anymore, "How much farther?"
"Not much, are you going to be OK walking home?" Kiyoe asked, her eyes darting around the fog soaked landscape.
"I can take on whatever the world throws at me." Jiro said as he stared at the ground.
"I'm sure you can." Kiyoe said, nodding slightly. "Well here we are." She stopped at the entrance to a fairly normal looking house. "Will I see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah... I'll be at the school gate... See ya tomorrow..." he started to head back home.
"Bye Miyatomo-kun, please be safe walking home." Kiyoe called out, waving from her doorstep.
Jiro waved and walked on, "... Friends... With me?"
Credits:
RP members: OC character
One Face Two Souls: Kiyoe Fujii
Hibishi: Jiro Miyatomo
: Daichi Hayashida, Okudaira Kenshin, Okudaira Akane and Kobayashi Hiraku