Persona Zero: The First Journey
Chapter 2: Piling Concerns
BlueDestiny: Hey, folks! Welcome to the new chapter! So, in this one, I'm going to-
Souji: Uh, hello? Is this Class 2-A?
BlueDestiny: H-Huh? Hey, what are you doing here? Get back in the story!
Souji: Oh, sorry! (Dang, I got lost in this big ass school!)
BlueDestiny: It's OK. Hey, while you're here, why don't you give the disclaimers?
Souji: Wait, isn't that your job-
*pulls out beam rifle*
Souji: O-Okay, okay! Sheesh! The Persona Series and all of its characters belong solely to Atlus. BlueDestiny does not own it in any way at all… Happy?
BlueDestiny…You may pass.
Souji: Sheesh. Well, enjoy the chapter!
"…And that concludes today's homeroom session. Remember, I want that essay on Monday, NO exceptions. Got that? Dismissed." And just like that, Souji's first day in Reisen High was over. It was a prestigious school for a reason; the lessons were pretty challenging to follow, and the amount of work given is staggering. But from what Fuyuki told him, most of the successful graduates of the school turned to be hotshots in the working world. "But still," Fuyuki said, ( Souji and Fuyuki sat next to each other in the middle row, with Souji sitting next to the window ) "How the heck did they survive with these mountain of work?!" He went through the day's assignments. "We got Tachibana's English essay, 5 pages of Chemistry and study for the Physics pop quiz!" "Aren't you forgetting the Calculus one?" Souji deadpanned. Fuyuki let out a pathetically weak groan. "I think I'm dying."
"Then why don't you just move over to the Literature Class?" came a rather haughty voice came from the front of the class. Both of them turned to find a girl with blonde, twin-tail haired girl with blue eyes standing in front of them. "Oh hello to you too, Your Highness." Fuyuki shot back at her. "I'm sure you don't need to mingle with us commoners now, do you?" For whatever reason Souji couldn't understand, she got riled up. "Don't call me that, Shirakawa." "You know her?" Souji asked Fuyuki. "Well..." Fuyuki started, but the girl cut him off. "Oh, right. You're the new guy, right?" Souji nodded. "I'm Tsugumi Hoshino." She flashed him a brief smile, before Fuyuki suddenly buts in. "Hoshi-chan here is the daughter to the Hoshino Corporation Chairman! A rival company to the Nanjo Group and successful…"
*SMACK!*
Fuyuki was silenced by a well thrown Math book to the face, to which he slumped over his chair, knocked out. Souji sat in stunned silence. Those Math textbook were really thick and heavy. Tsugumi seems to think what he's thinking. "He'll be okay. That thick skull he has probably is the only good thing about him." To which Fuyuki suddenly stood up. "Hey! I got lots of other fine points! Right, Souji?" He looked unto him with the look of an abandoned puppy on the street. "Didn't I just meet you today?" Souji said. "How should I know?" Fuyuki then slumped back to his seat. "Oh yeah…" Then his face suddenly brightened up. "Hey, I can show you my skills on the arcade!" He then grabbed Souji by the shoulders. "How about it, dude? Tomorrow's Sunday, right?" "Hey!" Tsugumi said. "Don't we have assignments to do?" "WHO FREAKIN' CARES!"Fuyuki then shouted at the top of his lungs, causing the students still in class to look at the three. "I'll go." Souji suddenly spoke. "H-HUH?!" Tsugumi looked at him in surprise. "Yeah! Thanks, bro!" Fuyuki gleefully thanked his newfound partner. "I'll show you I have points that would never teach us in school!" Tsugumi could not believe what Souji just said. "Are you as stupid as him? You do realize the amount of work we've got, right?" Souji then looked down on his feet for a moment, and then pulled out a reassuring smile. Complete with bishie sparkles. "I'll get them done."
"A-Ah…..Ummm…." Tsugumi then started to blush slightly, and then turned around. "Humph! Whatever floats your boat!" she said with an annoying tone then stomped off. Fuyuki looked at him with awe. "Dude… You didn't tell me you were a ladies' man back at your old place!" Souji then tilted his head. "Huh?" Fuyuki became exasperated. "Dude, I know Hoshi-chan since we were in middle school. And the only thing that makes her that flustered is if you talk about her flat…"
*SMAAAACK!*
Souji walked down the school courtyard after leaving Fuyuki to be patched up at the infirmary. He wondered what that was all about. What he didn't know is that he picked up his 'pretty boy smile' from his father, who was a successful salesman working with the…. What was that group called again? Nachos? He just couldn't get that name stuck in his head. He just about to reach the school gate when he saw the mysterious senior. He was pushing a motorcycle through the gates before climbing on it and revving up the engine. Then looked at Souji's direction again, causing him to panic for a bit. He looked at Souji for a few seconds, then turned around and started zooming off. Souji then calmed down a bit before he was lost in thought again. Who was that guy? He was still pondering when she saw a girl from behind a nearby cherry blossom tree. She was staring at the direction where the senior had just sped off. She was definitely a Reisen High student, as her black and white sailor uniform is the one wore by the girls here, and judging by her green ribbon, she was a freshman. She suddenly realizes Souji was staring at her, as she started to run away. "Hey, wait…." And she was gone as fast as the senior. "…a sec." Souji sighed to himself before deciding to head straight home. He has a lot of work to do tonight.
"…And that is report regarding to the public objection due to the increase in sales tax." Souji was lying on the living room sofa, taking a break from his work. Fuyuki was right. The amount was pretty staggering for the first day. But what concerns him isn't the workload, or the sales tax increase, maybe. Nope, he was still thinking about the mysterious senior. Now adding the first-year girl into the mix, Souji just couldn't comprehend any of this. Why was he so worked up over a dude who only looked at him funny? He began to stop hurting his head any further while sipping his juice while listening to the news. "Recently, there had been reports of extremely bizarre deaths being reported lately, with the latest happening in Iwatodai City, where a man was found repeatedly smashing his head into the wall while laughing hysterically." Huh? Souji thought. What the heck is this about now? "Police arriving at the scene attempted to stop the man when he violently assaulted them. When he was finally restrained, the man suddenly blurted out an incomprehensible stream of gibberish before expiring on the spot. The man, surprisingly, did not have any history of mental problems before."
"Dear me, that happened nearby?" Souji's mom watched the report with anxiety. "I sure hope your father is alright, Souji-chan." Come to think of it, he suddenly noted, his father is around. "Oh, he said he had to do some overtime at the office," she told him when he asked. "Sigh… Sometimes I worry about it him. He works too hard these days." She then went off to do some cleaning to the kitchen, leaving Souji to ponder more. The day just keeps on getting weirder, he thought. Let's just hope nothing bad happens tomorrow…
Downtown Iwatodai, April 8th, 1990
"Duuuuude!" He could hear Fuyuki calling him out from a mile away, Souji thought to himself. Perhaps Hoshino-san did overlook this other fine point of his. "You ready to get your game on, Souji?" Souji merely nodded. He might regret not taking this day to finish up the remains of his homework, but hurting another's feelings just doesn't sit well in him. "Great! Come on, onwards! To the place of excitement, joy and adventure!"
…..Perhaps Hoshino-san hit him too hard yesterday.
Fuyuki took him to the arcade, where it is inside the main shopping mall of the city. He didn't quite catch the name since Fuyuki was dragging him to fast. What was it again, Joones? Whatever. The arcade, when they finally arrived was filled with people, due to it being Sunday. It was filled with great games from the last decade like Dig-Dug and Missile Command. "Hey, there's that new fighting game I wanted to try out!" Fuyuki dragged him to the Final Fight machine. "Wanna be my wingman? Don't worry this one's on me!" Souji nodded. He admits, it's been awhile since he has played games like these. He remembered playing Pac-Man with his dad when he was kid, and he would always freak out when one of the ghosts got close to him.
Ah, such great memories….
The hours flew by during their time there. After saving Jessica from the evil gang, they decided to duke it out on Street Fighter. Fuyuki was winning at first, due to him being unfamiliar with the controls. He then makes a spectacular comeback later with busting out a super move which stunned Fuyuki. ("Dude! How the heck did you do that! That's unfair!" "Actually, I just mashed random buttons.") Then they wrapped it up with good ol' Pong. This, at least, was a battle of equals. Souji still won, though. "WHY CAN'T I WIN?!"
The sun was setting when the two finally left the shopping mall. The sky has turned a bright orange tint, making for beautiful sight. "Dude," Fuyuki said while munching on his crackers. (Fuyuki spent all his cash he brought today trying to beat Souji in Pong, so Souji paid for their snacks, after Fuyuki starts doing his puppy face again.) "…you gotta teach me some of your skills, man. I used to be the king of the arcades before you came by!" "Hmm?" Souji looked at him with mild surprise. "The kids there didn't stand a chance against my fighting skills!"
Challenging kids to a Street Fighter match is not a way to show you're the best. Souji, of course, being the nice guy he always has been, kept this to himself. "Well, later dude. I've gotta think of excuses to tell the teachers tomorrow!" Souji sweat dropped. "You're not going to do your work?" Souji asked. "Meh, a true man doesn't need to do something trivial as homework!" Fuyuki declared triumphantly. "I'm gonna stay up watching that rerun of Featherman Z!" Isn't that a kid's show? Souji sighed inside his mind. Well, at least he's happy. For now. They say their farewells and Fuyuki headed off. Today wasn't so bad, he thought. And with a little more grit, he would be able to finish the remainder of his work just before midnight. He was walking back home when he suddenly, "Oh yeah," He remembered his mom told him to buy a few stuff they were running out in the kitchen, so he took a detour to a nearby convenience store. Just then, he saw something familiar in front of an abandoned warehouse by the side of the road. He took a closer look at it and realized he's seen this before.
It was the motorcycle of that strange senior.
Souji looked around, but he could not see the owner nearby. He then deduced that he was inside the warehouse. What is he doing in there? The warehouse was off limits to people due to it being scheduled for demolishment. Souji then thought to himself. "Wait, why am I so worried about him? It's not like I have anything to do with him." Souji began to back away and continue to head to the convenience store when suddenly…
FOLLOW YOUR HEART
"W-Wha…" Souji couldn't get the words out when he was suddenly got hit by a massive headache. "Aaaargh!" He fell to his knees while stll clutching his head that feels like it's about to explode.
YOU WISH TO KNOW, DON'T YOU?
"Urgh…." Souji began to sweat profusely from enduring the pain. The voice he heard is getting louder in his head. "W-Who are you? What do you want?" He tried calling out to the voice.
IF YOU WISH TO KNOW, THEN FOLLOW YOUR HEART.
Then, as abruptly as it came, the headache stopped. Souji was panting heavily. Follow….my heart? He then looked at the motorcycle again, then at the warehouse. "You…..want me to go in?" He asked the voice, but it did not answer. But, for a reason, Souji knew that it is what he wanted to do. He really wanted to know who that mysterious fellow is, and what his deal was. If going through here may give him the answer… He checked his watch. I hope Mom doesn't mind me a being a little late. Steeling his nerves, he checked to see if anyone was around and entered the warehouse.
On a rooftop of a house behind where Souji was standing before, a figure was watching the whole scene. "Now, what shall you do, when you are confronted with the unimaginable, Souji Narukami?"
Well, here's chapter 2! Sorry it took awhile. Busy IRL. I'll try to post chapters fast while still making sure that is enjoyable to read.
Well, seeya on the next chapter!