a/n Here we are, chapter 9 :D This time more about social links, but we're slowly getting towards the final act of the story :D I gotta say, I have an idea for the finale that I think... you'll never see it coming :D Enjoy this chapter!
Sojiro stood pale behind the counter and quietly observed as Futaba and that devil spawn finished their portions of curry, ready to immediately fulfill any of the boy's wishes and praying he'd go to bed early today.
Futaba's long, red hair have already started to become grey, despite her being only fifteen years old, (They probably lost their colour due to stress of the last few days, as well as continuous interrogations by Dojima and Adachi) and were clearly unwashed and messy. The girl seemed like she had no idea where she is.
"AAAAAAAAAARGHH!" Futaba yelled suddenly
"Futaba!" Sojiro quickly ran towards her "What's wrong, Futaba!?"
"Those voices!" the girl replied weakly "Those voices again..."
That's right - immediately after moving here Futaba began to hear voices, blaming her for her mother's death, calling her murder, and calling her out for crimes she didn't commit. At first, she heard them only when she was in her bed, but, with her fragile psyche, she quickly began hearing them elsewhere. Sojiro was really worried about her, as nothing like that happened when she was living in their old house. Here, they started suddenly and Sojiro could not find a reason why.
Ren calmly finished his curry.
"Sojiro..." Futaba whispered "Why did I run over all those people?"
"It's okay, Futaba." Sojiro replied "It's okay, you didn't ran over..."
The doors opened.
"Why haven't you answered my calls?" asked a middle-aged man in a blue baseball cap.
Sojiro's eyes widened.
"Leave now, or I'll be forced to contact the police." The old bartender warned in a shaking voice "I am not giving you a penny."
"What was that!?" The man in the baseball cap asked furiously "Quit fucking with me!"
Ren passionately observed the scene
"Look, Futaba may is my daughter." Sojiro replied "You may be her uncle,but you have no connections with her anymore. We can take it to court if you want. Don't underestimate how hard I'm willing to fight."
"What!?" Futaba's uncle yelled "I don't give a crap about Futaba! I'm here for the sixteen and a half million yen you borrowed from me!"
"Oh..." Sojiro replied "Oh..."
"Where are my money, you asshole!?"
"Please... you see.. my house burned down recently, and my restaurant isn't doing too well at the moment..."
"So." Futaba's uncle exclaimed angrily "Not only do you have massive debt, but you failed in yet another buisness venture!? How many times have you already filled for bankruptcy, Sakura? Seven? Nine? Last year that hotel chain, earlier that pizza place... one would hope you'd learn that buisness is not for you."
"OOOH!" Ren exclaimed "What a burn!"
"Please, give me some time..."
"No time left! If you don't have those money, then I'll just take the paintings you bought with it!"
"Don't you dare..." Ren stopped smiling and walked towards the man "Don't you fucking dare."
"Who the hell are you?" Futaba's uncle looked at him with contempt "Get out of my way, you brat."
"You better not piss him off..." Sojiro warned quietly
But it was already too late. Ren's extreme hatred mode was already activated. With one swift grab, he took Futaba's uncle by the hair and hit the man's head against the wall."
"YOU WANNA TAKE MY PROPERTY AWAY YOU ASSHOLE!?" The boy screamed, hitting again "NOT SO TOUGH NOW, HUH!?"
"Dear God!" Sojiro yelled "Stop! You'll kill him!"
Ren did not stop - he only grabbed the man towards the stove and dipped his face in boiling curry.
"You poor, stupid bastard... I'll teach you to mess with me..." He muttered as he continuously submerged and emerged the man's head in the dish.
"HEY!" Sojiro yelled and grabbed him from behind "That's my curry!"
"AAAAAH!" Futaba grabbed her head and sat on the floor "THOSE VOICES AGAIN!"
"Good evening." An older woman entered the store "I would like to order two cups of -" She stopped and widened her eyes as she observed the scene "Oh my God!"
"HEEELP MEEE!" Futaba's uncle looked at her desperately before Ren dipped his face again.
"Welcome to Cafe LeBlanc." Ren greeted "Today we have a special recipe..."
The old woman quickly turned and ran out.
"No, Please!" Sojiro ran after her "Don't call the police! He'll kill me if you do!"
Finally, Ren decided that's enough. He dipped the man one last time before pushing him towards the door.
Futaba's uncle examined his face, which was all burned and bruised.
"Thishs ish asshault" He said faintly, as his lips were swollen "I'll su!"
"What are you talking about?" Ren asked "You clearly did it on your own, isn't that right Sojiro?"
"Ah-Yes!" Sojiro nodded with terrified expression "Yes, i saw everything! You did this to yourself!
"Thish cafe ish finished! Ah won't let you get afay with 'dis!"
Ren took a few steps towards the man, clenching and releasing his fists.
"Argh! Am sorry! Yesh, I did this! Pleashe, I won't su!"
"Get the hell outta here." The boy said in a threating tone
"YESH! Yesh, am gettin the hell out! Shorry for trublin you, Shakura-san!"
"Wow." Ren muttered as the doors closed "What an asshole."
LINE BREAK
"Margaret!" The old man entered the Velvet Kitchen,where a young woman was washing the dishes "Have you seen the girls?"
Margaret stopped.
"Maybe they escaped?" She asked, trying not to sound hopeful "I-i mean..."
"What was that!?"
"Well, if Elizabeth..."
She stoped as the old man hit her in the face.
"I told you never to say that ungrateful girl's name again in this Velvet Room!"
"Apologies, Master." the woman whispered, massaging her cheek.
"What did I do wrong back then!?" The man continued "I only left to visit a Kindergarten and find another brother or sister for you, and when I came back she was gone!"
"You left the Velvet Door unlocked...and that Minato Arisato kid helped her get out."
"Don't think I don't remember, you stupid girl! That was rhetorical question!"
"Forgive me Master, but something has been bothering me for a long time now... why do you suddenly sound so different?"
Igor coughed a few times.
"My throat... I think i caught a cold.."
"Hello!" a young voice emanated "Help! I think something is wrong with this place!"
"Ah." Igor smiled "I see the Trickster has arrived in the Velvet Prison. Have you already cleaned the Velvet Toilets?"
"Not yet."
"Well then, hurry up!" The old man was not impressed " When you finish, please clean the Velvet Living Room too. And I think the lights are out in the Velvet Catacombs. Please fix that when you're done"
"Yes, master." The girl bowed down as her master left "If only my guest has been so considerate as the Arisato kid..." She whispered sadly
-A FEW YEARS EARLIER, in the Persona 4 universe.
"Hey, what the-" Margaret hear a familiar voice.
"Oh, thank God, it's only Yu." She whispered to herself "Welcome to the Velvet Room. As you see, my master is currently away, I must ask you to... no, wait a minute" She muttered to herself.
"Where's Igor?" the silver-haired boy asked.
"Thank god that old creep isn't here... Kid, let's drop the charade." Margaret looked at him pleadingly "You have to get me out of here."
"Can you fuse Personas?"
"Listen to me!" She yelled "I don't want to be here, okay!? This is my only chance! Please, help me!"
"But what about my Per-"
"Yu!" Margaret was desperate "Please! We don't have a lot of time, he'll be back soon! I just want to see my family again!"
"But I only came to fuse Izanagi and..."
"Goddammit!" Margaret grabbed him and shook furiously "I'M BEING KIDNAPPED, YOU IDIOT! HELP ME!"
The doors to the limousine opened.
"I'm back, Margaret!" The old man entered and noticed the scene "What are you doing with our Guest?"
"Nothing." The girl let go of the boy, feeling her heart stop "Welcome to the Velvet Room, would you like to view the today's Fusion Forecast?"
PRESENT TIME, Velvet Kitchen
The more the girl thought about her tragic past, the more she felt she's going to cry. Unfortunately, her thoughts were cut off by a loud scream.
"MAAAARGGGAAAAAREEET!" Igor's voice was furious "COME HERE RIGHT NOW!"
Whenever Igor's voice reached the critical level of fury, that was never a good sign. The young woman gulped audibly and quickly ran towards the Master. Soon, it was clear that something was very wrong, - as she ran, for some reason, there has been water on the Velvet Floor. At first it wasn't much, but as she reached the Prison, the level of water was already reaching her ankles.
The moment she entered, she noticed Igor standing on his desk, glaring at her angrily, and that new Trickster guest jumping on his bed, as the level of the water was rising quickly.
"I thought I told you..." Igor said with anger "To clean the Velvet Restroom yesterday!?"
Out of every lavatory, in every prison cell filthy, stinky brown water was pouring out heavily, contaminating the room.
"What are you waiting for!?" The man yelled "Go get the Velvet Plunger right now!"
LINE BREAK
Ren woke up after Igor furiously kicked him out of the Velvet Room, and immediately noticed that something stinks. Having his suspicions, he got out of the bed and realized that his pants were soaking with the brown water. He preferred not to think about why the water had such color.
With disgust, he took his pants off and replaced them with his school uniform. Irritated by Futaba's screams coming from downstairs, he decided to go for a walk.
"There, there, Futaba, you haven't blown up the Diet building." Sojiro was conforming the girl as Ren left.
The boy was already regretting recording all those hateful lines and placing a wireless speaker under the girl's bed. At first, when he activated it at night, it was quite fun, but this was really getting irritating. Who knows, if this continues, he might have to get rid of Futaba for good.
"Hey there!" A young, cheerful woman shouted after him "Care about your future? How about a reading then?"
"No, piss off." He replied as he passed her by.
But then, he remembered something - all the people at school have been talking about a fortune teller named Chihaya Whatsherlastname. Maybe it was worth giving her a shot? And, of course, humiliating her in front of the bystanders to prove there's no such thing as fortune telling.
"You know what?" He said as he returned "I changed my mind."
"That's great!" She exclaimed " This is your first time here, isn't it? It's not often that I get young men stopping by my stand."
"Gee, I wonder why." Ren coughed.
"What was that?"
"Nothing!"
"Anyways, my name is Chihaya... uh..." she widened her eyes "I am Chihaya... Chihaya... what's my last name?" She smiled again "You know what, that's not important. I will be reading your fortune today. You can begin by telling me your name."
"..." Ren wasn't going to tell her his name.
"Well, I could try and divine it if you like... You're... I got it! Yamamoto Mishima, is that correct?"
"That's right." It is hard to pretend to be astounded, when you're trying not to burst out with laughter. "How did you know that!?"
"Oh, it's all here!" Chihaya pointed to a blank space on the table "I mean, here. In the Cards." She smiled " So what type of service can I interest you in today?"
"Give me the full package." Ren said nonchalantly. He still had some money that he stole from Sojiro when leaving.
For some reason, Chihaya's expression saddened.
"Full package...?" She asked herself "Oh, yeah, the full package! Very well, I suppose the life of a high-schooler is difficult."
"You know it."
"Now, then, let's start with an initial reading to test the waters of your fate." The young woman closed her eyes and began shaking "O divine power... bring forth this boy's fortune!"
She reached to the table with her eyes closed , and she began pounding it heavily, at the same time swiping her other hand through the table, causing all of the cards to fall down.
"NO!" She exclaimed, shaking massively "The power of the Devil Arcana is too strong! I feel it calling for me! Salvation!? The only salvation you will find is death!" Chihaya began pounding her head against the table.
"What the hell!?" Ren jumped backwards.
"Ah, ignore her." A passer-by patted him on the shoulder "She does that every time."
"I hear it! I hear the demons calling my name! BRACE THYSELVES, HEATHENS, FOR THE DARK MASTER IS BEING REBORN! The forgotten scorn of Babylon..." Chihaya stopped suddenly and opened her eyes rapidly." I see. There seems to be new wealth in your financial future is looking good today. This wealth I speak about will come... from your house." She smiled " Head over home, and precisely five thousand yen will await you there."
"OK." Ren got up.
"Hey, wait!" Chihaya yelled after him "You forgot to pay me!"
Ren did not return to pay her, but let's just ignore Chihaya's outburst of profanities and satanic prayers, and move to Cafe LeBlanc, where, at the same time, a tragedy was taking place.
"My money!" Sojiro Sakura yelled, opening the register "My five thousand yen! Where did it go!? What am I supposed to pay the bills with!?"
"SOJIIIROOO!" Futaba cried "I didn't want to bomb Nagasaki!"
A few hours later Ren returned home, ignored the crying Sojiro, and entered his room, where he suddenly found five thousand yen waiting for him.
"Meh." He said, putting the cash in his pocket "But she didn't get my name right."
LINE BREAK
"Hey, guuueeesss what, guys!" Ren happily entered the class room the next day "Our Home Room teacher is a maid!"
Kawakami looked at him with terror, as the class erupted with voices.
"For real!?" A boy from the second row asked with disbelief
"You mean... that kind of maid!?" Ann Takamaki loked at the teacher.
"That's right!" The boy proudly exclaimed "Here, I' even have some pictures!" He handed some pictures to the people in the first row "Feel free to show them around school!"
"Wooah." Mishima muttered "That really IS her"
"Wow, what a beauty..." Another boy exclaimed.
"I was asked to keep it quiet." Ren continued "But SOMEONE forgot to pay me the next thousand yen."
"I told you i don't have so much money..." Kawakami replied with tears in her eyes
"And I told you I don't care!" Ren turned to her "I'm curious what other immoral activities have you been engaging in."
"What are you implying!?"
"Oh." The boy put his hands in his pockets "Now that you ask, I think I have some more pictures!"
"What pictures!?"
"Check it out, guys! Our Home Room teacher works in strip club!"
"WOOAH!" Every boy in the class gasped.
Kawakami paled.
"I was asked to keep quiet about it, but someone forgot to paid me another thousand yen."
"Is that true, Kawakami-sensei!?" Ann asked shocked
"That's not it!" kawakami yelled "I have a difficult situation, you kids would never understand..."
"Oh?" Ren asked "Is that why you are MODELLIING in your free time? I was asked to keep it quiet, but..."
"YES!" Kawakami screamed "I get it! I didn't give you another thousand yen!"
"Um... no, this one's actually because of that F on the latest test."
Kawakami burst out into tears and ran from the class as her secrets have been exposed.
"Well." Ren muttered to himself "I wonder what else's Ohya going to tell me for exchange for a drink."
LINE BREAK
Sojiro was trying to calm Futaba down, as she was having yet another panic attack. Ren was watching television, and Morgana was trying to get out from the garbage bin.
"And now towards the Political News: The elections are getting near, and all of the parties have started their campaigns."
"Futaba, I swear, you didn't kill Ronald Reagan! Put the knife down!"
"However, there is one politician, and well known philanthropist that decided that the needs of other are more important than political campaign." the screen showed a few pictures of an old, bald man playing with mentally handicapped children. Ren dropped his fork. "Shido-san, last year you decided to hand over all of your party's yearly income to multiple animal shelters, and this time you resigned from campaign funds, and donated them to a foundation for disabled children. Why are you so generous?"
The man from the pictures appeared on screen. He had a warm smile, and good-natured look in his eyes.
"Well, I just can not stop thinking about all those suffering people in our nation and worldwide." Shido replied "I believe we should support each other as a nation, but also as a species, because after all, we are all human. We need to care about the weak and persecuted. Money can't buy you happiness, but they can make life a bit better for suffering people. I have decided that I will donate most of my future incomes to charity, and..."
Ren's fist collided with the table, as realisation struck him.
"You..." he growled, looking with hate at the bald politician.