Player Choices
By psychored1911
Disclaimer: I don't own Persona 4 or Persona 4 Golden
This is what happens when Yu Narukami strays from his scripted dialogue in Inaba. I hope that you enjoy it. Now, on with the show!
Chapter 1: The Player
4/11- Afternoon
Ah, the fresh air bombarding my face from an open train window… I should probably close this thing; I'm freezing.
The thing about having traveling workaholic parents, is that I (their awesome, understanding kid) have to constantly be moving along with them. An unfortunate side effect of that little, teensy-tiny detail is that I lack any friends, close relationships, or any sense of belonging anywhere.
...Well, now I just sound like a total loser.
Where was I? Oh, yeah. So, now instead of leaving me alone in an empty apartment, my parents have done the sensible (and by that, I mean, they probably should've done this first) thing, they sent me off to live with my Uncle Dojima in this little town called Inaba. I… don't recall ever meeting my uncle, at all. Ever.
My mom told me she and my uncle were close… Well, that was obviously a lie… Way to keep in touch with your brother, Mom.
Hopefully I don't get too attached. Knowing from experience, I have to leave and abandon any sort of attachment I have for them once my time here is up, and probably never see them again…
...Well, that's a depressing note to end on.
I close the window and recline in my seat. Maybe I can sleep off my funk so I can be a bit more presentable once I meet my uncle.
Hmm…?*Yawn* That was a nice nap- What the hell?
It's usually a bad sign when I wake up somewhere completely different from where I went to sleep.
Normally, it's not so bad. Like waking up on a couch when you thought you slept on your bed.
Waking up in a fancy limo when you were definitely on a train is far, far worse! Especially when there's strangers in the car with you!
...Okay, it's not too bad, on my left is this really, really beautiful woman in a secretary outfit, with long blonde hair and glowing gold eyes.
The other guy here… not so much. It's an old guy with a big nose. A very big nose. As in 'DAMN! he must've swapped the cartilage in his nose for a friggin' toucan beak' big nose. He could probably poke an eye out with that thing!
...You know what? I probably shouldn't judge someone by their looks. Maybe he's a nice guy.
How did I even get here, anyway? Did someone drug me?! Did that secretary woman distract me with her hotness and then drug me?!
...Yeah, that would sound about right. I can totally picture that happening to me...
"Welcome to the Velvet Room…" Sir Big Nose says with a bizarrely welcoming grin. "Ah… It seems we have a guest with an intriguing destiny… *chuckle* My name is Igor… I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter… It is a room that only those who are bound by a 'contract' may enter… It may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future. Now then… Why don't you introduce yourself…?"
Should I really give my kidnapper my name? *sigh* Here goes nothing
"My name is Yu Narukami."
...I swear this is breaking those rules they taught in elementary school about talking to a suspicious looking old stranger in the back of a vehicle.
"Hm… I see. Now, let's see into your future, shall we?" He takes out a deck of tarot cards. "Do you believe in fortune telling?" He asks.
"Only when it says that I have good luck."
He then separates them, picking up one card in particular.
"Each reading is done with the same cards, yet the result is always different…*chuckle* Life itself follows the same principles, doesn't it?"
He flips over the card, one with a XVI, resembling a tower struck by lightning.
"Hm. The Tower in the upright position represents the immediate future. It seems a terrible catastrophe is imminent. The card indicating the future behind that is…"
He flips over another card with the power of the force.
"The moon in the upright position. This card represents "hesitation" and "mystery"… Very interesting indeed."
Oh, Great Nose of the Limousine, please give me more exposition of tarot cards and other fortune-telling bullshit I'm too dumbass to understand.
"It seems you will encounter a misfortune at your destination, and a great mystery will be imposed upon you."
Great, I just had to jinx myself.
"In the coming days, you will enter into a contract of some sort, after which you will return here. The coming year is a turning point in your destiny… If the mystery goes unsolved, your future may be forever lost."
That makes it sound worse…
"My duty is to provide assistance to our guests to ensure that does not happen."
He then makes the cards disappear from the table with a wave of his hand. Got gonna lie: Coolest. Magic. Trick. Ever.
"Ah! I have neglected to introduce my assistant to you." He gestures over to the lovely lady in blue beside him. "This is Margaret. She is a resident of this place, like myself."
Did he just say 'resident'? He doesn't stay here 24/7, does he? Don't get me wrong, this place doesn't seem half-bad, but still.
"My name is Margaret. I am here to accompany you through your journey." She says with a comforting smile.
Igor the big-nosed old guy gives me a not-so comforting smile. "Until then, farewell…"
I bolt upright. Well, that was lucid. A bit too lucid for my tastes… 'Cept for Margaret. Wouldn't mind having more dreams of her… heh, heh…
*ping*
I check my phone. I don't recognize the number? Is this Uncle Dojima?
Hey, I might be a little late. Just wait there until I arrive. Ok?
Sure, it's not like I'm even there yet, Uncle…
Later
I step off the train and walk towards the entrance of the train station.
"Well now, look what we have here. Hey there, baby, how are you doing?"
…I stop in my tracks. Did I hear that right? What kinda lame, creepy-ass pickup line was that? I look around a bit and it's coming from around the corner.
"Huh, oh, whatever."
"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA. Where're you going? We haven't had any fun yet!"
As I'm listening, I'm wondering how many people that time of "flirting "has actually worked on anyone. C'mon bro, you have a better chance of reading a phonebook to someone than getting someone to talk to you like that!
"I'm not interested."
From their voices, there's two men and one woman. They don't sound like they've talked to women without flashing some bills beforehand, but hey that's their problem, not mine.
"Hey, let go of me!"
...Okay, now it's my problem.
I spin on my heels and walk over, trying to find the source of the voices. I look over to my right and there are these two moronically-dressed tryhards who probably smell and a black-haired girl. A really hot black-haired girl. A really hot black-haired girl with a very questionable fashion sense. A really hot black-haired girl who is very much trying to get her arm out of the grip of one of the two men.
"Excuse me," I got the attention of the two- ugh, tryhards who smell like they haven't showered recently. "I think you are making the lady uncomfortable. Could you please leave her alone?"
Douchebag #1 frowned. "Why don't you mind your own business? We were just having fun with our brand new friend here."
"I don't know you, weirdo." The girl spits uncomfortably.
Well now, that is a huge red flag if I've ever seen one..
Douchebag #2 calms him down, putting his hand on his shoulder. "Now, now. We can let this guy have her after we have our way with her."
...Yep, these guys need their asses kicked for that comment alone…
What can I do here?
Call the cops.
Beat these assholes to a pulp.
-Talk your way out, mockingly.
I don't think I have enough Courage... What the hell am I thinking, of course I have enough Courage for this!
"Well, obviously the only women you've ever talked to were Mommy Dearest and your right hand." I say with a mocking tone, yanking the girl's hand free while they were distracted.
Douchebag #2's mouth went agape, while Douchebag #1's face curled into an ugly snarl "You want to say that again, punk?"
"Normally I would, but it doesn't guarantee you'll get what I said a second time. Instead of your obvious mommy issues, let's discuss your current obvious flaws in words you'll understand." I scoff. "You're holding a girl against her will as if you genuinely think that it will make her like you more, you smell like the concept of showering is foreign to you, and you have the fashion sense of manchildren in your 30s who think socks and crocs are a great combination with khakis. Or would you rather I say that again in shorter words that are actually comprehensible to that tiny, rotting clump of flesh you call a brain?"
A small crowd of bystanders starts forming around us, and now the two douchebags are at the center of attention.
"Drop dead, you asshole!" Douchebag #1 snarls as he winds up a punch- Seriously, a windup punch? Are you trying to telegraph how much you suck?
Punch a dickface
Punch a dick in the face
-His dick and face are wide open. Why not punch both?
Douchebag #1 swings wide. I duck and punch him straight in the crotch. He lets out a whimper, slouching forward in pain, giving me enough time to uppercut him right in the chin, sending him flying and crashing right into his buddy.
Douchebag #2 panics as he threw Douchebag #1 at him. "You son of a bitch. You fight dirty!"
Really? I didn't even hurt you.
"We'll remember this you asshole!" One of them says as they run away, pushing through the tiny crowd that surrounded them..
Ignore them.
-Snark back.
"Yes! Remember this!" I challenge them, goading them in front of the crowd. "And think about your other life choices while you're at it! Like your clothes and hygiene!"
When the two stooges leave and the tiny crowd disperses, I return my attention to the Unfriendly-Looking Hipster Girl with a sardonic bow. "You okay?"
"Tch, I didn't need your help! I could've handled it on my own!" The Unfriendly Girl barks.
"Right, like you so had it covered. How convincing." I roll my eyes.
The Unfriendly girl blushes, before yelling "S-Shut up! Ihateyoustupidjerkface!"
Well, that's a new one. "It's good you're safe." I say as I walk away.
"…Hey."
I turn around to look at her.
"You dropped this." She says while holding a piece of paper.
"Thank you."
"It's not mine."
-"...Did you take this out of my pocket?"
"What?! I didn't- S-Shut up! Itwasonthegroundyoustupidstupidjerkface!" She screeches as she slaps the paper into my hand.
I should probably stop teasing her.
"I appreciate it." I said as I took it back and returned it to my pocket. I turn my head to examine her; she looks troubled by something… Ah, well. Not my problem.
I leave her alone and headed back to the entrance. No one was there. There are only two explanations for this: either they didn't arrive yet or they left before finding me. Knowing my luck, it was probably the second one.
...It happened to me once, don't judge me.
...Come to think of it, I didn't have anything in my pocket. What did she pick-
"Hey! Over here!" I turn around and see a middle-aged man and a little girl and I walk over to them. That must be Uncle Dojima and my cousin. Great. They didn't ditch me.
"Well, you're more handsome in person than in your photo." The middle-aged man greeted, "Welcome to Inaba. I'm Ryotaro Dojima. I'll be looking after you. Let's see… I'm your mother's younger brother… and that about sums it up."
"It's nice to meet you."
"It's been a long time."
"..."
I could've said anything in this situation, but oddly enough I was concentrating more on the little kid next to him. She can't be more than 6 years old. I wonder if this isn't another time where my parents are shoehorning me into another babysitting gig.
...Then again, she is just adorable.
"Hi small... human? My name is Yu. What's your name?" I kneel down and face her with a smile.
She hesitantly peeked out from behind Uncle Dojima's legs. "I-I'm Nanako. N-Nice to meet you..."
My uncle looked at me with a surprised look. "Would you look at that; she's taken a liking to you already."
She blushes and punches Uncle Dojima in the thigh.
"Ow, hahaha." Uncle Dojima laughs. "Well then, let's get going, my car's over there."
5 minutes later, in the car
"I got to go to the bathroom." Nanako tugged at Uncle Dojima's shirt.
"Ok, we'll go to the gas station." He said as he pulled over to this MOEL station by the side.
"Can you go to the bathroom by yourself?" he asks.
"Uh-huh" she replied as she left the car, scampering into the store all by himself. He then turned his attention to the gas station attendant-
Wait a sec, you let a six year old out of your sight? Really, uncle?
I got out as well, if only out of immediate concern for the tiny human I'm about to live with.
Before I can go in after her, the gas station attendant directs his attention to me. "Are you in high school? Does it surprise a city boy to see how little there is out here?"
Huh? How'd he peg me as a high schooler at a glance?
...Wait a second… I look down at my clothes and… Oh yeah… Weird choice to go on a train ride in the uniform of a school I hadn't even entered yet, but yeah... I guess I'll live with that questionable decision in the back of my mind from here on out…
No wait, I remember why: I look great in this. That's why I'm wearing it.
"There's so little to do, I'm sure you'll get bored fast. You'll either be hanging out with your friends or doing part-time jobs. Speaking of which, we're actually looking for part-time help right now."
This guy then comes closer to me. A bit too close for comfort. I mean seriously, dude, personal space. I'm not that desperate for a job right now.
"Give it some thought, why don't you? We don't mind if you're a student."
He extends his hand out. I started to think that he was only going for a handshake. Whatever. I shake his hand hoping he will go away if I do.
Not even two seconds after he leaves, I start feeling woozy. What happened? Was that guy sick? Did he make me sick with a handshake? That bastard! What kind of jerk does that?!
Nanako looks at me and asks: "…Are you okay? Did you get carsick? You don't look too good…"
"I'm fine," I tell her, tousling her hair.
Okay, I might be overreacting. I'm probably just tired… or maybe that gas station attendant did make me sick.
Dojima then looks at me and says "What's wrong? You okay?"
Three things came to my mind the instant he said that to me:
"I'm just tired."
"It's nothing."
"I just felt lightheaded."
So I don't know why I said: "I think I caught something from the gas station attendant."
"..."
Uncle Dojima stares at me for a moment.
"Bwahaha!"
And then he starts laughing.
"Whew… Wow, that's pretty funny." He chuckles. "But out of all seriousness you don't look well. Just go take a short walk, get some fresh air and let me know when you're ready to go."
Thanks uncle… Whatever. Maybe I do just need some more fresh air.
Some fresh, country air.
I take a whiff… wow, that's actually much easier to breathe than city air. Why the hell don't people stay out here more often? They should just try to advertise that. Fresh Country Air: better than the city smog, we guarantee it! Hehe...
Anyways, I take Uncle Dojima up on that offer. There really wasn't much that stood out to me. A bookstore, a grocery store, okay a blacksmith shop kind of stood out, but I didn't see much inside. The one thing that did stand out to me was that unfriendly looking girl from earlier. I don't know what it is about her, but I want to get to know her a bit more. I try to approach her.
She looks at me and says "Hm…? Have we met before?"
Out of the things I could say, I could tell her "I met you just now.", I could ask her "What were you doing at the station?" or I can also say "It's just your imagination."
For some reason, I blurt out the lamest pick up line that has ever come to my mind. It wasn't even a good pickup line. Not that there are any, but this takes the cake; seriously, I say something as stupid as this:
"I'm your husband from a past life."
…
…
What the hell is wrong with me…? Not the choicest of words.
Backpedal immediately.
-...Fuck it. COMMIT.
Her face reddens… a lot. Did that lame-ass pickup line actually work?
"Whatiswrongwithyou?! Inevermetyoubeforeinmylife!"
Jeez, it was just a joke! I didn't think she would overreact that much!
Double down on your stupid pickup line.
-Okay, I clearly crossed a line. Backpedal before she has an aneurysm.
"Okay, okay, my bad. Calm down. Sorry. Backing off now." I say with my hands raised, feigning innocence while backing away. Well, that was worth a chuckle, but odds are I'll never see her again, even in this town.
I go back to Dojima and we leave in the car. It took only a few minutes for us to arrive. It was a small two-story house. For the next year, this place will be my home… It looked pretty cozy, actually. Hard to believe a single parent can afford a place like this, but I guess property prices are much lower in the countryside.
Evening
We all sit down for dinner. His house is actually pretty nice, it's cozy and warm. It's the first time something like this had happened to me in a while. As we were about to dig in, Uncle Dojima raises his glass:
"All right, let's have a toast." He cheers. "So… Your mom and dad are busy as always… They're working overseas, was it? I know it's only for a year, but getting stuck in a place like this because of your parents… It's rough being a kid. Well, it's just me and Nanako here, so it'll be nice having someone like you around. So long as you're here, you're part of the family, so make yourself at home."
This, this is different. I'm not used to this. Is this familial kindness? I'm used to moving to a place and then my parents going to work but this is… nice.
"I'll do just that."
"Thank you for your kindness."
"Yes, sir!"
"..."
-"I'll be the best family member you've ever had!"
Uncle Dojima just smirks, tilting his lifted glass towards me. "We'll see about that, kid."
"Hee hee…" Nanako giggles. Well, at least I made Nanako laugh, that's a good enough consolation prize if you ask me…
"Well… anyway… let's eat." He says as he puts his glass down and picks up his fork. Unfortunately, just as we are about to dig in, his phone starts to ring. "Ugh… Who's calling at this hour?"
He picks up his phone and answers it, standing up from his seat before eventually hanging up, pocketing his phone and slinging his jacket over his shoulder. Shaking his head, he turns towards us with a sigh. "Sorry, but I gotta go take care of some business. Go ahead and eat without me. I don't know how late I'll be." He turns towards my little cousin. "Nanako, you help him out, okay?"
"Okay." She says hesitantly. She looks kind of upset as he leaves through the front door. Once Uncle's gone, she turns on the TV.
And now we return to our regularly scheduled programming: unintentional parental negligence and loneliness.
Greeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat.
This awkward silence is killing me. I'm all alone with Nanako, and she doesn't seem like much of a talker to begin with. What should I say? I could ask what her dad does, say "It must be tough.'' Or I could have also said I could not say anything at all. I choose to say; "Are you always alone?"
"Yeah, but it's ok. I'm used to it." Nanako replies. I feel really bad about asking that. There is an awkward silence in the room. C'mon, TV, do something interesting. I can't take this awkwardness.
"And now for the local news." The TV announcer states.
Ok, here we go. There's no way that the news could be bad, it's local news, nothing but fluff pieces?
"City council secretary Taro Namatame is under fire for an alleged relationship with a female reporter. His wife, enka ballad sensation Misuzu Hiiragi, revealed to this station that she will likely pursue damages. In response, Eye television has decided to cancel all of announcer Mayumi Yamano's televised appearances. Until the allegations of an affair with Mr. Namatame are resolved, she'll remain off the air and out of the public eye."
What is it with politicians and having extramarital affairs? How hard is it to not cheat on your wife? It's easy! I never even had a girlfriend before, but I can break it down in two easy steps: Step one, don't take off your pants. There is no step two. Alternatively: step one, get a divorce; step two, date without impunity. Is it really that hard? I bet even Nanako here can understand that!
...But in all honesty, I really hope this kid doesn't understand the gravity of that situation at the age of six.
Nanako takes the remote and changes the channel. "This is boring."
Good call, kid. I ain't giving you anything resembling 'the talk' at your age.
A commercial starts to air. "At Junes, every day is customer appreciation day. Come see for yourself, and get in touch with our products! Every day's great at your Junes!"
Nanako lights up and starts singing along. "Every day's great at your Junes!"
She seems to like the Junes Jingle a lot. A weird thing to like, but hey, whatever makes her happy.
She then looks at me and asks "…Aren't you going to eat?"Wouldn't hurt to have a bite, I guess.
Later
I walk up to the room that I'm borrowing from Dojima. I'm tired. I just want to sleep. Starting today, I'm living here for a year. I wonder if everything will be alright…
I'm starting school tomorrow, I should probably get some rest while I can.
I plop onto my bed and stare at the ceiling.
Whatever happens from here on out is all up to me. Decisions, decisions.
A/N: And done! Now, I have to say this right now; I don't sound like this in real life at all, I swear! In fact, most of this flirty/sarcastic dialogue comes from my twin brother, who sounds like this in real life. He also comes up with most of the comedy bits in most of my fics, so I have to thank him for that as well. Anyways, writing this really got me out of my funk, and well I just hope this goes well. As always, please review!
9/13/21: This is an updated version as I tried to fix the grammar, add more details, and slightly change some jokes that I think aged poorly.