Whew, Chapter 6!
This did not turn out the way I expected. Just sorta wrote itself.
Another note; itallics serve two purposes during this chapter; Talking to Charon is one, Flashback is the other. Not that hard to guess which is which.
More after the chapter.
Chapter 6: Hanging Out and Remembering
Yoshiro did not feel better after sleeping.
He woke up with a bad taste in his mouth and a splitting headache, with barely enough energy to turn his stupid alarm off. Thank god he doesn't have to go to school today, it being Sunday and all.
Did he use up too much energy last night? He did throw around spells without much thought about it, but still, spells cost mental strength, not physical, so what's wrong?
…Maybe a few more hours of sleep would do him good.
At around noon, he finally mustered enough energy to get up out of bed, and also to think.
Last night, right after they beat that shadow, he knew he saw something, someone. He was absolutely positive of it. It had to be Momoka. But why did she run away like that?
...In any case, that was the first genuine clue he found since he had began searching. Before, he was only driven partly by instincts, partly by desperation. It worked, though, since it brought him here. And his instincts are telling him that he'll find her here.
...Enough thoughts, he's hungry.
He was partly surprised to see Minato alone in the lounge when he came down, seemingly doing nothing but listening to music on those headphones he always seem to wear. Since it's a Sunday, he had traded his uniform for casual clothes, which in this case is a grayish jacket, black pants, and loafers.
Yoshiro, for his part, had also put on his more casual clothing, a black windbreaker over a red t-shirt, with his jeans and black loafers, all well-worn. Clothing wasn't really a priority for him, even after he left the streets.
Minato had intrigued him since their first exchange. He comes across as the cool, calm, and capable type. But there was something about him…It's right there in front of him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"Hey," he greeted, "Where is everybody?"
He looked up with his usual borderline bored look. "They left a while ago," he answered simply. "Going out?"
Yoshiro thought for a moment. Was he planning to go out? He was really only going to find something to eat in the fridge. "Nah, just hungry. Couldn't very well stay in bed with a growling stomach," he answered. "Is there a good place to eat around here?"
"Well, we could go to Hagakure. They have really good ramen." Minato offered.
"How good?" Yoshiro asked.
Minato actually grinned. "You'll see."
Yoshiro wolfed down the bowl of ramen in front of him, barely pausing to take breaths, until the only thing inside his bowl is empty air. He leaned back, taking a deep breath.
"Oh. My. God." He breathed contentedly. "That was…heaven…"
He looked at Minato, who's eating at a much more human pace.
…Until he noticed the three empty bowls next to him.
"Damn," Yoshiro said with a whistle, "How did you eat so much?"
Minato looked up at him and shrugged before returning to his fourth meal.
"Ah, whatever, it's no business of mine," He said, reaching for his wallet to pay for the meal before realizing that it's empty. He bit his lip. "Damn," he murmured, turning to Minato. "Hey, could you spot me some money? I...sorta forgot that I ran out."
Minato raised an eyebrow.
Oops, him and his big mouth. Perhaps he should explain "…If you must know, I've been moving a lot the past few months so I hadn't been able to get a job or anything like that, so I don't have much spending money. I get by, though," Yoshiro added quickly, "The people paying my tuition aren't going to let me go hungry, just…sometimes I miscalculated and ran out before their next allowance. That's all." He chuckled, "But don't worry, I know what it's like to go hungry, so I'm always fine until they send me more money."
Minato shrugged. "Sure." He said, subsequently paying for the five bowls they had eaten.
"Thanks, Minato." He said before facepalming inside his head. His bad habit had started to kick in again. "I mean, Minato-san."
Minato looked at him before smilling. "Don't worry, I don't mind, as long as you don't mind me calling you Yoshiro."
Yoshiro breathed a sigh of relief in his mind. No need to offend anyone more than he needs to, especially Minato. "Alright then, deal. Now let's get back before – is something wrong?" He asked Minato, who had a faraway look on his face before frowing.
"Nothing," He replied. "Say, Yoshiro, your persona is of the Death Arcana, right?"
Well that was an odd question. "Yeah. Still not sure what that means, though," he answered.
"It's based off the major arcanas in a tarot deck," Minato explained before standing up and heading to the door, mumbling something to himself. Yoshiro quickly followed. He caught some of Minato's words, but they only served to confuse him.
What does a star have to do with the Death Arcana?
Everyone was already there, relaxing in the dorm when he and Minato arrived. From what he could gather from their faces, Junpei and Yukari are still tired from the previous night's operation, but they're making an effort in not making it show.
"Oh, hey, where've you been?" Yukari asked them as they walked in.
"Minato was showing me heaven in the guise of a ramen shop," he answered somewhat jokingly.
"Oh, you went to Hagakure? Man, why didn't you tell me? I would've come!" Junpei said, all traces of edginess from last night gone from his voice. "You know how much I loved their food." He said to Minato, who merely shrugged.
"You weren't there," Minato answered simply.
"Ah, whatever," Junpei said somewhat resignedly. "But man, was I beat. Last night was tough."
"Yeah. I don't know what would have happened if Minato-kun hadn't hit the right switch at that moment," Yukari agreed, "My knees still goes weak when I think about it."
"It would've been a lot worse if Yoshiro wasn't there," Minato pointed out. The others, surprisingly, nodded in agreement. They weren't at all surprised that Minato didn't use honorifics.
"Yeah. Would've been skewered if you hadn't saved my sorry ass," Junpei admitted.
"And I would've been crushed if you hadn't jumped in the way, Yoshiro-kun." Yukari agreed, "How's your ribs, by the way?"
"Ah, he'll be fine. We men are made of tougher stuff than that," Junpei said jokingly.
"Can it, Stupei, it's a serious question," Yukari barked at Junpei.
"I'm fine. I almost forgot that I got hit there in fact," Yoshiro assured, "Your healing skills were amazing. Guess I know why you're our healer."
"Hey, I'm the one that's supposed to be thanking you, not the other way around," Yukari said, somewhat embarrassed, "But are you sure you're okay? You got hit pretty hard last night, but you seem to be doing better than the rest of us."
"Obviously you weren't there this morning. I couldn't move a single muscle. I was only able to get up at around noon," Yoshiro stated truthfully. "And besides, Minato looks better off than me."
"He always looks like that," Junpei said, waving away the comment. Minato didn't seem to mind that, though. Must've known that Junpei was joking. Or didn't care. Oh well, he chuckled anyway. The tense atmosphere that was between them yesterday is all but gone now. Must be something to do with nearly dying together.
Yoshiro stretched. "Well, I'm still kinda tired. G'night," He said, heading up the stairs.
"Night," Yukari replied.
"You're going to bed this early?" Junpei remarked, "Eh, whatever. See ya in the morning dude."
Minato replied with a nod.
"Hey again."
Great. He's back in the fields, standing in front of Charon, whostillheld his head down.
…Is it just him, or is the place different? It's still pretty empty, but the feel in the air is nowhere near as stagnant, almost lighter.
"You've noticed?"Charon asked as if reading his thoughts,"This place is a reflection of your soul. Seems lighter, doesn't it?"
"A little," he agreed.
"Wonder why?"Charon asked mischievously.
He shrugged. "No clue," he said. "But if we're going to meet like this all the time, then I'd appreciate it if I could see your face."
Charon chuckled."Well, it's really nothing special,"He said, starting to raise his head to reveal…
He stared at the face, at the pale skin, the deep black eyes, the black hair. He knows that face. After all, he sees it in the mirror every day.
It's his face.
"Why are you so surprised?"Charon asked, twisting his face into a mischievous smile,"I'm a reflection of you, remember? Why is it so odd that I would have your face?"
"The other's Personae didn't have such a resemblance," He replied curtly.
"The others also doesn'tturninto their Persona."Charon pointed out.
"…Fair enough," He said, still a little weirded out by Charon's face. "Anyway, is this going to be a regular thing? 'Cause if it is, it's going to be damn annoying."
"Don't worry, This won't happen every time you fall asleep,"Charon assured,"And no, I also won't be able to talk in your head all the time either. Just when you're using my powers."
"Good, then. Is there a particular reason why we're talking right now?"
"Just wanted to congratulate you on surviving last night. You seem to be getting a hang of using my powers."
"Well, thanks. Is that all?" He asked. Charon nodded.
"That's it. That, and I wanted to show you the change in this place."
"Not much of a change if you ask me," Yoshiro remarked, "Now, if you'd please, I really need the rest."
"I'd like to point out that you'd rest just the same even when you're 'here'. But very well."A soft mist started to rise in the fields, growing thicker by the second."Sweet dreams."
"Thanks for coming with me, Yoshiro!" Momoka exclaimed happily, then her expression turned sullen. "Sorry I kept you out so long."
"'s fine, Momoka, I wasn't doing anything anyway," Yoshiro assured. They're walking away from the train station, returning from a concert. The full moon shone brightly above them.
"Still, I didn't expect it to run this late," Momoka said with a pout, fixing her long br0wn hair, "It's nearly midnight."
"I'm sure Tou-san and Oka-san wouldn't mind." Yoshiro said again.
"Geez, Yoshiro, the way you said that makes you sound as if we're related or something," Momoka said with another pout.
"Well it does feel that way sometimes, seeing how I always have to clean up after your mess," Yoshiro teased, "It's like I'm your butler or something."
"Oh, shut up," Momoka said, punching his arm, "Idiot."
"You're a bigger one," he retorted before they both laughed.
"Say, Yoshiro," Momoka said after the laughter stopped. She turned beet red, and started to play with her fingers. "Would you mind…"
Whatever she was going to say was cut off as midnight struck. Instantly everything around them turned a sickly green. The street lamps turned off and the person that had been walking in front of them inexplicably turned into a coffin.
"Wh-wha…" Yoshiro stammered unbelievingly.
Then Momoka started to scream.
That scream turned into a laugh, the most horrid he had ever heard, something not human.
Before Yoshiro knew what was going on tendrils of darkness lashed out and hit him.
His eyes snap open.
He sat up, head in his hands, panting. His body won't stop shaking.
"Damn," he murmured bitterly. Of all the things to dream about, why that memory?
That laughter echoed in his ears and he shuddered. He hadn't been able to forget about it, just like everything else.
Damn his photographic memory.
…It's time to go to school. He should get ready. He could wallow in grief later.
Any of you guessed what the first part with Minato was about? Here's a hint; Social *cough* Links *cough*
So, yeah... character development plus foreshadowing plus backstory. Go me!
And still no reviews *sad face*. I don't care if you think this is bad, but I would really appreciate any feedback. As I've said, this is my first project, and I'm kinda flying blind right now. Any review'd help guide the story along.
And yes. I do realize that I'm begging.
Anyway, I'm gonna slow down the pace I'm dishing out these chapters from now on since life hates me. Hopefully it won't be too long before the next chapter'd be then.