A Day in the Life of a Part Time Job Slave

[linefacingforever]

Who: Yu Narukami, and everyone and anyone and all the things.
Where: Virgo, Aquarius, and Taurus Districts; any given week.
Summary: Yu's still working his three jobs to help save up for an apartment. And now it's almost Christmas time... you can pretty much guess how this goes.
Warnings: Crossdressing antics.

[Christmas time again... never mind it had only been a few months ago for Yu. He didn't want to think much about what happened before last Christmas, so... well...]

[MONDAY-WEDNESDAY; MAYS GROCERY STORE CLERK, 5:00 3:00-11:00PM]
[Being the superstore of Hinoto-Ri, of course Mays is swamped on a regular basis. Yu is totally and completely not shocked when they start calling him in to work extra hours. He was thinking about going back to school, but that's obviously out this month... at least the extra money will help with his apartment funds.]

[Yu can be found, quite literally, all over the store. Seeing as it's busy, he's willing to go where ever they need him: grocery, check out, deli area... everywhere.]

[THURSDAY-FRIDAY; AQUARIUS DISTRICT LIBRARY, 5:00-9:00PM]
[He would say that Thursday and Friday are his break days, but guess where some shoppers drop their kids off while they shop? Hinoto-Ri really needs a Chuck E. Cheese or something...]

[When Yu isn't child wrangling, he'll be around helping with anyone that wants to study or needs some kind of tutoring. He would also bring Nanako with him while he works, if she wants to come.]

[SATURDAY; NYX'S NIGHTCLUB, 10:00PM-4:00AM]
[...he hates the fact that he's starting to love this job.]

[No, seriously, after he got over the overwhelming shame, he found himself having a lot of fun at work. Sure, it sucked when demons got a little too grabby, but he was strong enough to remind them that touching was against the rules.]

[Since it's going to be cold on the 8th, Yu's going to work wearing his wig. Hey, the extra hair helped to keep his ears warm.]

Comments

[destinedwaters]

Believe me, it normally wasn't easy on mine, either. Most involved either saving someone or fighting alongside them.

[She noticed that smile, and she couldn't help but smile as well. What? It's contagious!]

I guess so. [She knows, believe her. She does. It's why she trusted him enough to say as much as she did.]

[linefacingforever]

[Yu paused at that, staring at her in surprise. If he didn't know better, he would have thought her from some alternate universe where he was female. It was fortunate they looked nothing alike, otherwise that would have been really creepy.]

[After a moment, he let out a soft chuckle.]

...we have a lot in common.

[destinedwaters]

[She tilts her head, almost perplexed by how many times he's stared at her in surprise in the last twelve hours. Seriously.]

...Oh, really?

[Now she's genuinely curious.]

[linefacingforever]

That's how a lot of my bonds have started as well: helping others face themselves, saving them from themselves...

[destinedwaters]

...It's funny, how some worlds and lives can be so similar yet separated by barriers until they're brought to another place.

[It almost sounds like she's speaking from experience, but she is amused.]

[linefacingforever]

Mm... you sound like you've encountered this before.

[He can't say he's surprised; she did say she had come from a place that wasn't her own world before.]

[destinedwaters]

Once.

[...That's right. She had only told him before. No one else that she'd met before ever knew her fate, that she continued to fight despite the odds being stacked against her. though in that case, it was a memory being triggered by something so small and insignificant.

Even if it had reminded her of her failure to save those she loved most, just like the words said earlier.]

Though I wouldn't be surprised if they don't remember... Memories and dreams are fleeting things.

[She'd remember for them; it was the least she could do for them helping to keep her alive.]

[linefacingforever]

[...he really felt for Aqua. He really did. He wanted to comfort her, saying that everything would be all right, and maybe she'd see this person again, but he couldn't bring himself to. Even as he thought it, it sounded so hollow to him that it would have been rude to actually say it.]

[Instead he reached for her again, giving her shoulder a squeeze; it was the only thing, only way he could tell her "everything would be fine" at the moment.]

/keywords

[destinedwaters]

...We really are a lot alike.

[She shakes her head, placing a hand over Yu's. Seriously, hope kid. Don't waste pity on those who have accepted their burdens and learned to see the light in every pit of despair and bleak situations.]

Don't worry.

[How'd she know? Terra would make the same face when he wanted to say something but either didn't know how to word it or if they tried, it would seem rude and maybe even empty.]

Even if I don't see them again, I know that our hearts are one.

[Oh, the power of belief and faith in others. Taking old pains and showing the younger ones new lessons.]

[linefacingforever]

[...Yu felt a sharp pang in his heart at that, and he was pretty sure it wasn't just his reaction to what she said. He wanted to turn his thoughts inward, to make sure Izanagi was okay in there, but he refrained; he didn't want to space out on Aqua right now.]

...our bonds will never fade.

[destinedwaters]

Mm. Even if they are lost, they can be found again.

[Welcome to the club, because for a moment, she could have sworn she heard Eudora crying in her soul. Which is why she slips into one of the many tongues she knows, without the aide of the city.]

けがはないか？

[linefacingforever]

[Yu tilted his head, surprised by the sudden slip.]

...shouldn't I be asking you that?

[destinedwaters]

[Yu. You're the one with sudden heart pains.]

I have lost count how many times people have said that to me lately.

[Seriously. If you don't stop, you are going to get a wet and slightly melted snowball to the face. She'd do it, you know. Because she isn't above being silly when absolutely necessary.]

I'm telling you all this so that, even if you only remember these lessons in this city, you can take them to heart and it will remember for you.

... I was, first and foremost, a guardian and teacher.

[> She seems concerned for you...]

[linefacingforever]

[...Yu let out a soft breath. She was being so honest with him... it was only fair he do the same.]

My persona and I seem... very close, closer than my companions are with theirs. A lot of what you said just now... it was painful for him.

[destinedwaters]

[She gives an apologetic look.]

I'm sorry, then. It seems I still have to work on that...

[Yeah, not her first time she tried helping and ended up hurting someone because communication skills weren't a thing...]

[linefacingforever]

It's not that.

[Yu paused, trying to think. Aqua said her mother was Japanese, right...?]

Have you heard the story of Izanagi and Izanami?

[destinedwaters]

[She shakes her head. That was one story she hadn't gotten to before the last night under the same stars...]

I was young when my master took me in. Even if I had, I probably wouldn't remember much.

[linefacingforever]

[Yu nodded, before explaining.]

I only learned it recently myself, but...

[He paused a moment to make sure he remembered it correctly.]

Izanami and Izanagi were twin gods that made the islands of Japan. They were married after the land was created, and cared for one another very much. Izanami gave birth to many of the other gods, but when she gave birth to the god of fire, she was badly burned and died after. Izanagi went to Yomi to release her, but when he saw what she had turned into in death, he ran away and sealed her inside Yomi.

[destinedwaters]

[Ouch. That tale hits a little close to home.]

...I see.

[Aqua goes quiet for a moment, thinking. It sounded familiar, at least... it brought back the idea of curses and "Yomi"... Mom had said her dad's soul returned to the great heart because of an accident at sea, and she called that darkness with that word.

'Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if my feet had stayed glued to the ground...'

She fiddles with the wayfinder around her neck once more before mentally shaking it off. No good would come of those thoughts. She didn't even regret her decision either, save the fact it left the worlds she loved so much without another protector for ten long years.]

At least he had the chance. [Duty and her love for her friend made her face him, fight for their lives. No matter how fruitless the attempt may have seemed to the World, she didn't care. Because she tried.]

...Eudora.

[She knows she wouldn't want any stranger to know her life's story, so why wouldn't a god? Enjoy hearing the strange sound of a connection directly to the mind again as Eudora places her small hands over Aqua's ears.]

I thought this might be better in a way no one else can hear.

[a beat. ...Holy crap, they have a similar resistance.]

...and it may not be my place to say it, but Izanagi... Do you want to talk about it?

[linefacingforever]

[Yu had to admit he was a little surprised to see her summon her Persona, at least until he heard her voice in his head... sort of. It was a bit distorted, mostly because she wasn't speaking to him.]

[Izanagi stirred in his soul, quiet for a long moment.]

There ist not much more I can relate beyond what mine keeper has already told thee.

[...it was still weird, hearing Izanagi's voice so clearly and so often. Sometimes, he still didn't know how he felt about it...]

[destinedwaters]

[Sorry about that, bro. She's mainly best at support when it comes to Persona. And this distortion... may help later until she's ready to admit her shortcomings and just why she doesn't think she's strong.

The nod is visible, though.]

Mm. I hope you don't mind me getting to the point, because I know it's still weird for me to hear Eudora so clearly... But do you regret it? Running and having to seal her away?

[...She did not mean for the understanding she should not have to seep through the question, though it could be more clearly read as "Do you regret having to do something like that to someone that is family?"]

[linefacingforever]

[...thanks for that, Aqua. Izanagi's reaction to the blunt question was so strong, it felt like Yu's brain was compressing itself inside his skull. He winced, a hand going to his head as he tried to tell his head god to relax, but it was difficult to concentrate with that kind of blinding pain going on.]

[It's a very long moment that passes, an gradually, Yu's head pain began to lessen. When he finally did speak, he was brief, but the feeling behind his words was palpable.]

...I do.

[destinedwaters]

[Yeah, sorry. She kind of felt it too and the connection nearly broke as she heard screeching static. Yet she kept it open, keeping her own emotions down for as long as she could and shouldering as much as she could. Yet those feelings...

Come on, Aqua--get up-- [An almost choked-like 'sound', before:] --I won't let you die on me, too!

She knew them all too well, and it was all she could to to keep her voice level. As a result, it's barely a whisper...maybe almost a prayer.]

I have hurt so many because of my failure to communicate and barriers of the Heart. Watched helplessly as the three people I cared for most were claimed by terrible fates.

If there was anything I could ever do, it would be to apologize to my younger brother for not being there to wake him from his slumber... and my father for failing to protect both of them and the worlds I was destined to in his stead.

I only hope it isn't too late for you and her like it might be for me.

[...Even behind Eudora's sleeves, the tears are obvious. She can feel the bonds still as she keeps it from Yu and Izanagi, but their voices are becoming whispers. Static, like those raw emotions from the god of life.]

[linefacingforever]

[Gradually, the pain lessened more, until it was gone entirely. Still, he could feel Izanagi's aching heart, more like it was his own ache. His eyes fell closed as he clutched at his chest, feeling that hollow pain. This was... it was how he felt back home, when he thought of how he was going to have to leave his friends when March 21st came. That bone crushing Emptiness, that soul sucking Despair... it obliterated the Hope he had that they would all remain near and dear to each other, no matter how far apart they were...]

[...tears fell from Yu's own eyes, and his mouth moved against his will.]

...I still love her.

[destinedwaters]

...I think we both can tell.

[They are both going to need an asprin for this. Still, she was going to add something... for both of them.]

Do you see the blue stained glass star charm I wear around my neck? There's a legend about the shape:

Somewhere out there, there's a plant called a paopu tree that produces star-shaped fruit. If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. Sailors also make necklaces and charms in the same shape for safe travels.

I made these to show my two closest friends and brothers that no matter where our journey led us, no matter how far apart we are, our light would bring us back together someday. It's only an object, no matter what magic I weaved into it to draw on our strength... *and to Izanagi only* -but even after terrible events that drove us apart, *to both* the bonds never broke. *to Izanagi* Even when we said horrible things to one another.

I don't know Izanami, but I think humans have proven time and time again that there's always hope and a chance to reconcile. So long as both sides reach out.