Author's Note:
Well, I'm finished with the drabbles for now. Which means that I'm now going to turn my attention back to Memento Mori.
Another thing is that I would like to thank those for reading and faving/following this collection. Thanks everyone for the support.
Character: Junpei
Setting: During the ride to the first expedition into Tartarus.
Summary: Junpei always wanted to be a hero. So when he gets the chance to be, he accepts.
Disclaimer: Persona 3 and its characters belong to Atlus.
Enjoy!
A hero. You want to be one of those rare human beings who make history,
rather than merely watch it flow around them like water around a rock.
- Dan Simmons
Hero
It was hard trying to keep his rising excitement from showing, but somehow he was able.
Junpei couldn't believe that this was actually happening. It all seemed too good to be true. Yet, here he was on the train ride on its way to this Tartarus...place. The name still sounded like some weird, toothpaste product to him. But, man was he psyched!
However, when he looked at the rest, he noticed how they all seemed uneasy.
His senpai, who sat across from him, wore serious expressions on their faces. Particularly Mitsuru.
Junpei looked from the corner of his eye to check on his fellow classmates...And he saw that they weren't any better.
Minato too had on a serious expression. His mouth was set in a frown and his grey eyes were dark, while his katana lay in another seat. As for the two girls, Yukari and Hamuko, who sat next to Minato, they were more nervous than anything. Yukari would fidget in her seat and continuously bite at her lower lip, her bow tight in her grip. Hamuko would look around the train and move around in her seat. Her naginata resting against her shoulder.
Junpei sighed and leaned into his seat.
What do they have to worry about? I'm sure we'll be fine. Hell, we have those Personas with us to fight with! Junpei thought to himself. He didn't understand why they were so nervous and tense. Weren't they excited? He knew that he was...
-XII-
To Junpei, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to actually make something of himself and get some excitement in his life.
Before this whole thing started, Junpei had always felt like his life was boring and had no meaning. Everyday was the same thing over and over. Get up in the morning and going to school. After school ended, he might hang out with some friends as well as occasionally going out a close field to play some baseball by himself before heading home. And then once he got home, pretty much he would eat, do a few things, and sleep.
In addition to the never-ending cycle of monotony, Junpei didn't have a particular talent for anything. School, sports - everything he tried only resulted in failure. As a result, Junpei often wondered what the whole point of his life was.
And to finally top it off, his situation at home was in shambles. When he got home, Junpei would mostly find his old man starting to drink or drunk as a skunk in his chair. Depending, it would only get worse from there. Arguments would erupt soon after which would include the back and forth sending of insults, throwing things around, and even blows. However, what pissed off Junpei the most was how his mother would defend the man.
God, he hated that!
Why? Why would she defend such a pathetic person like his father?
He didn't get it. Probably, he would never get it. Knowing that stung worse than seeing his old man sit in his chair seemingly doing nothing.
And so afterwards, Junpei would retreat into his room. There, Junpei would read manga, play videogames, or watch the small TV in his room while eating dinner. All of which he would do in order to get his mind off of his crappy, boring life. Which it did as Junpei would daydream about living a life similar to those that he saw on tv or his manga. He wanted to be like those people.
Junpei wanted to be a hero. He wanted to have powers and kick ass with them. He wanted to fight the bad guys and save the world from danger. And in the end, get the girl.
And yet...Junpei knew that this would never be the case. Real life was not like his videogames, manga, or tv shows. There were no heroes with powers. There were no bad guys to chase after. And there most definitely was no girl waiting for him in the end.
It was at this point that maybe Junpei should give up on these fantasies of his. There was no way in hell that any could be made into reality. At least...that was the case until that faithful night.
-XIII-
It was late at night and Junpei was down at the corner convenience store. A couple of hours ago he got into a pretty bad argument with his dad and just now decided to head out for some air. As he was walking around the neighborhood, he decided to come over here and get maybe a snack to eat for later while he was at it.
After a few minutes of perusing through the aisles, Junpei settled on just getting himself a packet of pocky and some other candy. It was when he was heading over to the cashier's to pay that all of a sudden the lights turned off, leaving the store in complete darkness. Junpei turned his head towards the store's entrance. Green light shined in through the glass windows and doors.
What the-?
The pocky now forgotten, Junpei was starting to back away. But, as he struggled to make his way out, he bumped into something. The capped teen cursed and he stood back to see what he walked into. His eyes widened as he did so when he found out.
A huge, dark coffin blocked his path.
"Aaaaaahhhhh!" Junpei screamed. He instantly scrambled away, bumping into aisles in his struggle to get away. All the while his heart was pounding in his chest and his breath was coming out in terrified gasps. His mind also was trying its hardest to figure out just what the hell was going on.
What's happening?! What's with that huge coffin there?! What is this…What's going on?!
In his scrambling, Junpei slipped and fell down.
"Ow!" He grunted.
It took awhile for him to get his bearings together after recovering from the stun of his slip. During this moment it was then that he realized that he was wet. He was sitting in something wet. Curious, Junpei let his hand drop down and brush against the liquid. Then he lifted his hand up and looked at it. The faint green light from outside was able light up Junpei's vision due to his location almost next to the windows.
When he was able to see what he touched, once again Junpei's eyes went wide.
His hand was stained with blood.
Junpei screamed.
And to make matters worse, Junpei heard a squelching noise from his right side. Still wide-eyed with terror, Junpei turned his face in the direction of the noise. His breath then hitched as he saw it.
The thing that was making those weird squelching noises was a black blob that was on the floor. The blob also had on a weird mask and had its hand stretched out from its body. It hissed as it slithered towards Junpei, its hand reaching for him.
To make this worse, it seemed another one of the blobs was around as Junpei heard another slithering noise. However, unlike the first one, the noise was coming from right in front of him.
Terrified, Junpei scrambled backwards on his hands till his back collided with a wall. Meanwhile, the two black blobs were coming closer. Unfortunately by backing up, Junpei had himself cornered with no means of escape. And he realized that.
His body shook with fear. Sweat beaded his forehead. And his heart was beating so fast that it felt it like it might burst any second.
Junpei frantically looked around, seeing if there was anything that he could use to attack those things or find a way to run away. As he did a quick lookover, Junpei found that there was no way for him to get out of here. Desperate, Junpei began to scream at the top of his lungs for help.
"Somebody! Anybody! Help me, please!"
No answer.
Tears started falling from the corners of his eyes as reality once more hit him. Who was he kidding? He was going to die here. No hero was going to come and save him...
"Zio!"
Flashes of light filled the room along with the crackling of electricity. The blobs that surrounded him shrieked in pain as the light struck them. Within a few seconds, it was over and the store became silent again. But, there seemed to be a lingering smell of smoke. Junpei wrinkled his nose at the smell. The teen scanned around to see who it was that saved him.
It didn't take long before he heard footsteps.
"Hey, are you alright?"
Junpei faced straight ahead in the voice's direction. The green light from outside revealed his savior. The man had short, silver hair and was wearing a red sweater over his school uniform with a red armband. Junpei couldn't believe it when he recognized the person in front of him.
Sanada Akihiko, captain of the boxing team at Gekkoukan and upper-classman. What was he doing here? And was he really the one that saved him?
"Yo, are you okay?" Akihiko repeated.
Realizing that he hadn't said anything, Junpei quickly wiped the tears from his face and looked up at the upper-classman's face.
"Y-Yeah, I'm okay…" He answered, before getting up and standing.
"Good," Akihiko nodded. "So, what's your name?"
"Uh...Iori...Junpei..."
"What school do you go to?"
"Gekkoukan."
Confused over why the sudden twenty questions deal, Junpei was about to say something before Akihiko spoke up first.
"Is that so? Alright, well, the reason that I'm asking is because I was wondering if you would like to join this group of ours. You may possess this special power that can help us in defeating those monsters that you saw. How 'bout it? Would you like to join?"
-XIV-
Junpei remembered how the fear from before disappeared and all he felt was ecstasy. And so he didn't hesitate to accept the offer.
As the train slowed to a stop, Junpei smiled to himself as his heart swelled with anticipation and excitement. He looked down at his own katana, his eyes twinkling in glee.
Watch out, Shadows! The Amazing Junpei is gonna kick ass and take names!
A/N:
- 2014 is starting to turn out to be a good year already in both videogames and movies. There's the release of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax. As well as Persona 5 and a lot of others. And as for movies, I can't wait for the new Godzilla movie.
- Anyways, please review, fave, or give feedback. Very much appreciated and thanks for reading.