Sho’s Journey: Making Friends?
Sho Minazuki meets Rintaro Nagano, a very desperate young man that becomes a part of Sho's adventure.———-
Walking the noisy city streets, Sho kept a sluggish pace, still finding himself annoyed and bored every time he ventured into the outside world. Aside from having to run the odd errand, Sho only walked around to see if... something would happen. It's been at least a week since he signed the contract, and everything was still the same. If anything had changed, it was his patience wearing thinner, and Sho didn't have much of that to begin with. Speaking of things getting on his nerves, Sho felt a presence behind him as he turned into an alley. Anyone else would have not paid attention or not think much of another person walking behind them in a busy city, but Sho already knew this stranger walking into an alley with him was very intentional.
“I know you’re there!”
There was no answer, and Sho turned around to see that the alley was empty, save for himself. But he knew that wasn’t really the case. Giving an annoyed huff, he picked up an empty soda can and chucked it hard at the trash bin in front of him. It made a loud clanging sound, and accompanying it was a noise that was very much a startled cry.
“WAAH!”
A tall, lanky figure, sprang up from behind the bin. The person had their head wrapped in a bandana with brown curls slithering out from under the brim. While it was someone Sho did not know personally, he was already quite familiar with this stranger. The young man had a look of terror, but then his expression changed to something more relaxed, and he began speaking as if he wasn’t just discovered to be hiding behind a trash bin.
“Oh, hey! Never thought I’d run into you again. Whaaat a coincidence, I was just out doing errands, like… uh…”
“Why are you following me?” Sho asked bluntly. The boy's eyes widened at the question, and the anxiousness in his voice further implicated his presence not being a mere coincidence.
“W-What do you mean? I was just-”
“Shut up.” Sho interrupted, and stepped toward the boy, jabbing a finger at his shoulder, “You’ve been stalking me for the past few days! You looking for a fight or something?!” He jabbed again, harder.
“Ow, ow! Take it easy, man! It’s not like that.” The young man tried to say.
“Then, what?!“ Sho barked and gave one final stab into the boy’s shoulder with his finger, so hard that he stumbled back a bit.
“Jeez, you’re one scary dude,” He said with a grin, despite his shoulder throbbing from being poked at. “Just like when you took care of those guys a few days ago.”
“Huh?”
“C’mon, don’t tell me you forgot,” He urged.
Sho pondered for a bit, but then he remembered the first time he came across this boy: He was walking home, taking his usual route, but when it was time to go through a short-cut, Sho came across a group of men blocking the way. One of them was backed into a corner, while the other two encroached on him threateningly. Sho knew what was occurring, but he didn’t care. He even let the two thugs know that when the they noticed there was a witness, and demanded that he leave before things got ugly. Things did get ugly… for them. Sho was not one for patience, and he was not about to take a longer route just because some assholes didn’t want to get out of the way. They didn’t want to move, and he didn’t want to leave.
“Oh yeah,” Sho muttered to himself, and looked back at the person he inadvertently saved that night.
“There you go,” The curly-haired boy flashed a wide grin. To Sho, such encounters weren’t anything new (or even that big a deal), but for this boy, seeing this scarred-face stranger- someone that looked about the same age as him- single handedly dispose of two armed men, and walk away unscathed; it was something so unreal and amazing that he had been trying to get in contact with the mysterious boy ever since. “Well, anyway, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about, but every time I saw you, you’d suddenly take off or disappear around the corner.”
Sho snorted. Well, of course he did. If he wanted to talk, he would’ve let the bastard catch up to him the second he sensed him. It seemed this guy wasn’t getting the message though.
“So, what then?” Sho asked. “You wanted to thank me or something? I only did it because those guys wouldn’t let me through.”
“Hey, I’m not complaining. Whatever your reason, it saved my butt.” The boy chuckled, but it quickly lost its enthusiasm, and he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Sooo… about what you did. While I do appreciated you beating up those guys- even if you weren’t trying to help me- I’m… kinda in a lot more trouble now, hehe…" Sho narrowed his eyes, suspecting he was not going to like what this guy was about to say. "Those guys are still kicking, and they haven’t given up looking for me. And, because of… well, YOU… they’ve brought in more of their buddies.”
“And you’re telling me this… why? Sho asked. “I may have wrecked them that night, but it was only a one-time thing. It’s not like I’m gonna be around again when they catch you.”
The boy bent his head sheepishly as soon as Sho said that, and he realized what the curly-haired boy was getting at.
“Oh no…” Sho sighed heavily, and then he said it again, louder and angrier with each word. “No… No… NO!”
“What? I haven’t even asked you anything ye- Hey! where you going?!’ The boy called out upon seeing Sho walking away from him.
“I already know what you’re asking for, and I’m telling you, ‘No’. Don’t get me involved in whatever trouble you’re in.” Sho continued walking, increasing the speed of his steps, but his pest was not giving up just yet.
“Hey!” He shouted while scrambling after him. “Just wait a second-” He grabbed Sho’s shoulder, and immediately learned what a mistake that was. Within a fraction of a second, his arm was caught in a vice-like grip, before his entire body was yanked forward. He was spun around, then pushed forcefully against something flat and hard, meeting the feral glare of Sho’s eyes, and feeling a sudden pressure on his throat.
When the boy was finally able to process everything, he realized Sho was pinning him, and the tightness on his throat was his arm pressing down on it.
“Oh… damn… that’s some moves you got there, huh?” He said shakily, still mustering a grin, despite how utterly terrified he was in that moment.
“Stop. Following. Me!” Sho growled.
“Ok! Ok! I get it, you don't like being touched, but is that really a reason to get violent?” The boy gave a weak titter, and his answer was Sho’s arm adding more pressure against his wind-pipe. It was a warning, but he was not about to let opportunity escape him. Not after he spent days just trying to talk to this stranger.
“Y-you know… urk… with skills like that,” He said between gags, “Taking out a few thugs would be easy for you. So is it… really that big a deal… if you help me out here?!”
“You’re really starting to piss me off,” Sho grumbled. “Is your hair so wound up that no blood is going to your head?!”
“Hehe, good one- ACK!”
Sho pushed down more, not at all appreciating the boy’s patronizing comment.
“Now listen, you jackass,” He started, gradually adding more pressure to the boy’s throat as he spoke. “If I catch you stalking me again, you’re getting a knife in the ribs, got it?! At least, then you won’t have to worry about those assholes coming after you, ‘cause you’ll be DEAD!”
The boy didn’t answer. He couldn’t. With his air restricted more and more, all he could let out was gasps and chokes. Then, when he felt he was about to slip into unconsciousness, the pressure lifted instantly, and he dropped to the ground, coughing and grasping his neck.
Sho looked down at the other boy with a scowl, hoping the message got through, but as he walked away, he could hear a croak coming from behind him.
“W… w-wait,”
A scoff bordering on amazement escaped Sho. Unbelievable. Just how stupid was this guy? He was tempted to turn around and give the idiot a good beating, but even in his anger, Sho just couldn’t hurt someone that didn’t stand a chance against him. So he kept walking, and still reaching for him was the thin boy, watching with hazy eyes as Sho’s figure got further away, until it was gone completely.
A good minute passed before the young man was able to breathe properly again, and he stood in the alley, alone, and empty-handed. There was no mistake now. That stranger was something else. Something far more deadly than any street thug or mob boss. Any person that went through what he just did, would cut their losses and not mess with such a beast again. But desperation makes fools of people, and he was one desperate young man.
Not daring to go home, in fear that his pursuers would find out where he lived, he had been roaming the streets, constantly observing his surroundings in search of safe spots to rest, and ways to sneak around whenever he saw familiar, unfriendly faces. He had been successful so far, but he couldn’t keep that up forever. Sooner or later, he won’t be able to evade his pursuers, and he had a feeling they had something worse than a beating in store for him.
But, the boy also thought of Sho, and his threat if he ever saw him again. He could tell from the look in those eyes that the red-haired boy was not joking.
“Knife to the ribs would hurt like hell,” he said, before chuckling to himself dryly. Given his options between a group of angry thugs, and one lone monster of a man, he was going to take his chances with the latter.Aug 30, 2021
#digital
#persona
#illustration
#smt
#persona4arenaultimax
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