Shin Megami Tensei Fan Fiction ❯ Dear Diary ❯ April 23rd, 2009 ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

’s Note: Thanks to those who have read thus far! Make sure you review!

Music Suggestion: Same as a prior chapter. The music just fits this chapter, even if it’s short in length. : www . youtube . com/watch?v=5HX3U9veCO4



April 23rd

Dear Diary,

What a strange couple of days! My first visits to Tartarus were filled with danger and excitement! Yukari, Stu-pei and I did relatively well. I can feel us growing stronger together as we fight… perhaps this is what Igor meant by ‘Social Links.’

Speaking of ‘Social Links,’ I feel as though I have found yet another already… I’m wondering if I don’t mind so much helping this one grow. I’m not sure how to explain how I feel… I guess because I’m not quite sure exactly what it is that I feel quite yet. I’ll have to be careful…




The school day came and went as usual- Haruhi and Yukari took down notes avidly while Junpei slept through class, much to Yukari’s irritation. Haruhi found that she didn’t mind too terribly much- he was much less irritating while asleep.

After class, Junpei stood up with a stretch and a grin, turning to his left to Haruhi who was just gathering her things.
“Yo, Haru-chan!”

Giving him no more than a sideways glance, she replied nonchalantly.
“Ahh. I see you’re awake.”

“Wanna hang out after this? I know someplace that’s really good!”

Blinking, she turned to face him fully, standing from her desk.
“Me…? But why?”

Junpei stood as well, slipping his hands in his pockets in what he must have thought looked like a ‘cool guy’ pose. He leaned forward slightly, speaking in a tempting voice,
“I’ll be my treat! C’mon, let’s go!”

Haruhi frowned with a light, irritated scowl on her face as she turned away to put her final books and papers into her bag.
“Man, you’re so pushy!”

Junpei laughed and stepped forward to place a hand on the top of her head, gently ruffling her hair.
“Heh, don’t be that way! I’ll make sure that you don’t regret it.”

She felt one of her eyebrows twitch as she grumbled,
“I’m already regretting it…”






Finally giving in, Haruhi followed Junpei outside towards the front gate, watching him grin like a child. She couldn’t help him smile in return, amused at how he insisted on walking backwards ahead of her to lead the way as they conversed… she wondered how long it would be before he ran into something or someone and chuckled inside at the thought.

Before this could happen, however, he was distracted to a halt by the sound of high-pitched giggling. They both turned to see a flock of girls sprinting toward someone who looked rather familiar.

“Look! It’s Akihiko-senpai!!!” One squealed happily at the head of the group.

“Wait for us!!!” Another called in a twittering voice.

Junpei and Haruhi watched as they approached and crowded around Akihiko, who didn’t seem very pleased at the attention. Junpei threw his arms behind his head, stretching slightly.

“Man, would you look at that? I hear they’re always swarming Akihiko-senpai like that.” He sighed loudly, “I know he’s the captain of the boxing team, but… I mean, come on! You don’t even see girls like that on TV!”

Haruhi tilted her head to the side, peeking around Junpei’s shoulder to get a better look.
“Huh… I wonder where they’re all going…”

They watched for a few moments before Akihiko caught Haruhi’s eye, a relieved smile appearing on his face as he waded through the crowd of girls towards them.
“Hey, are you guys free this afternoon?”

“Huh? Who, us?!” Junpei stammered, glancing at Haruhi in surprise. She blinked up at him and shrugged, giving the decision solely to him. He shrugged back before turning to Akihiko,
“I… guess so…?”

Akihiko gave them a curt nod, speaking with authority.
“I want the two of you to meet me at Paulownia Mall. You know where that is, right?”

They both nodded in response before he continued,
“Good. I’ll be at the police station. See ya there.”

As he turned to leave them, Junpei blinked at him,
“Th-The police station? …Uh, are you friends gonna come along, too?”

Haruhi gave him an irritated glare out of the corner of her eye that he didn’t notice. Akihiko turned around again, giving Junpei a puzzled look.
“Who, these girls?” He scoffed with a wince, “I don’t even know their names. They talk so much they give me a headache. Anyway, I’m gonna head out. …Don’t keep me waiting.”

And with that, Akihiko parted through the sea of girls as if he were some biblical miracle maker. They girls seemed taken aback, but still continued to swoon as they all went their separate ways, leaving Junpei and Haruhi nearly alone by the front gate. They both just stared at the spot where all the girls had once stood, slightly stunned.

“Man, how can he not know their name?!” Junpei exclaimed, waving his arms around, “I mean, seriously! Just look at them!”

Irked, Haruhi shot him the deadliest glare that she could muster at the moment.
“Thanks, Junpei.”

With a chuckle and his usual toothy grin, Junpei swung a friendly arm around her shoulder.
“Aww, don’t be upset, ‘Haru-tan!’ Who needs flocks of girls when I’ve got you?”

Feeling very much like a grumpy cat, Haruhi mumbled irritably, not even bothering to shrug away his arm.
“Oh ha ha…”







And so, they made their way towards Paulownia Mall to meet Akihiko at the police station. Upon entering the station, they found Akihiko speaking to a surely looking man in uniform who was introduced as Officer Kurosawa. They chatted there for a short while, browsing what weapons Kurosawa had to sell for their cause against the Shadows before leaving.

As walked back out into the mall, Haruhi checked her wallet for her remaining money.
“Boy… that stuff was pretty expensive…”

“I know… and that cheap-skate Akihiko only gave us 5,000 yen for spending money…” Junpei sighed before glancing at her. “Still wanna grab some food?”

“I am rather hungry…” Haruhi frowned, only half paying attention as something else caught her eye. A shop with the words “Be Blue V” printed on the window glittered with several types of jewelry on display. She stepped away from Junpei for a moment to peer in, noticing a ‘help wanted’ sign for part-time positions. “Part-time, huh?”

“Oooo… Haru-chan’s thinking about being a workin’ girl, huh?” Junpei snickered, coming up to stand behind her. “Well, if you want my opinion, I think you ought to go for a job where you can wear a cute uniform!”

An angry blush crept across her face as Haruhi whipped around to glare up at him.
“Y- …L-Let’s just go eat!”






At the Iwatodai Strip Mall, there was a ramen shop that Junpei lead her to called Hagakure. It was pretty crowded, but luckily they were able to get in and find some seats at the bar rather quickly. Junpei gave Haruhi a moment to get settled before calling to the man behind the counter,
“Alright! We’ll have two specials!”

Haruhi threw him a sideways glance, blinking at the audacity of him ordering for her without her permission.
“The special?”

He gave her a wide grin, leaning back slightly in his seat while they waited for their meals.
“Haha, yeah. The normal meals are good, too, but the special…? Pure. Awesome.”

“Uh… huh…” Haruhi murmured, giving him a light scowl. ‘Man, he really is pushy.’

It wasn’t long before the waiter brought two bowls of hot, steaming ramen over to them. Almost against her will, just breathing in the fragrant smell rising from the bowl made her stomach growl. Junpei chuckled upon hearing this, causing her to blush.

“C’mon, try it.” He urged, resting his chin in his hand as he watched her with an eager smile. With a sigh, she pulled some of the noodles up from the broth with her chopsticks, placing it close to her lips for a moment or two to blow on it. After it was cooled enough to eat, she slipped some of the noodles into her mouth, sucking up the rest of the clump she had pulled up. She blinked, wide-eyed. As much as she hated Junpei being right about anything, it really was exactly as he had described it. ‘Pure. Awesome.’ She whipped her head to the side and threw him an excited smile.

“This is delicious!!!”

He laughed happily at her reaction, chin still resting in his hand.
“Haha! Good, right? I knew you’d like it.”

She blinked again at him for a moment, feeling herself blush for some reason, but Junpei didn’t seem to notice. He turned to his own bowl, picking up his chopsticks with a grin.
“Well then, I’m digging in too. Chow time!” He skewered a piece of meat while picking up some noodles, stuffing it into his mouth before even bothering to let it cool. Haruhi bit back a snicker as she watched his eyes begin to water.
“Ahh, hot hot hot…” He slurped up the noodles noisily with a loud, satisfied sigh, “Man, this is great!”

Unable to help herself anymore, Haruhi burst into laughter, causing Junpei to grin sheepishly, laughing with her. After their laughter subsided, he looked at her with a friendly smile.
“Hey… Do you feel okay now?”

Haruhi, who had just put more noodles to her lips to eat, blinked at him with a puzzled look.
“Uh…?”

“Well,” He set his chopsticks down for a moment, looking fully at her. “I heard that while you were out for a while, you were in the hospital. You seemed full of energy at school… but I was kind of worried.”

She blinked again before pointing at him in realization.
“Ahh! So that’s why you invited me out!”

It was his turn to look puzzled for a moment before chuckling,
“Well yeah! I had some problems myself when I transferred here, too. In your case, you’ve got all the fighting stuff on top of that…” She watched him with a look of wonder as he fidgeted with his hat, blushing as he continued, “I was wondering if you weren’t accustomed to school or whatever… Then again, I think you’ll do just fine.”

He smiled at her with a laugh, seemingly embarrassed. Haruhi’s face softened with a gentle smile.
‘He was… really trying to be thoughtful.’

Suddenly, she felt her heart skip a beat as the sound of shattering glass rang in her ears, coupled with a booming voice,
She felt a bond growing between the two of them as they sat there that moment, time seeming to stop until she understood.
‘Social Link…?’

A hand waved in her field of vision and she blinked with a gasp.
“Haru-chan… You there?” Junpei’s amused, yet concerned voice met her ears, bringing her back to the noise of the ramen shop. She nodded apologetically, causing him to grin, “Did my words of care shock you?”

She scoffed with a smirk and retort,
“Sure… Just didn’t expect anything like that to come out of your mouth.”

He leaned back, stretching in a mock-arrogant manner,
“Well, what can I say? I’m so deep.”

She chortled, pulling up some more noodles from her bowl. Junpei grinned, picking his own chopsticks up again,
“Still… Girls and guys livin’ in the same dorm, huh? That can’t be good.”

Halfway through sucking up her noodles she threw a sideways glare at him, cutting the rest of the noodles free with her teeth to swallow and turn to him.
“Stop smirking like that.”

Junpei immediately guffawed loudly for a few moments before grinning back at her,
“Aww… I can’t help it. Don’t worry, Haru-chan, I don’t drag love into work. Then again,” He poked her in the forehead with a cackle, “I can’t guarantee that I won’t fall for somebody, mwahaha!”

She smacked his hand away with a smirk of her own.
“That’s all depending if anyone would have you.”

He faked a wounded look, clutching his chest where his heart would be.
“Ouch! A sting! It hurts, ‘Haru-tan!’”

Haruhi couldn’t help but laugh at him, causing him to join in once again. Despite how odd he really was, she was really beginning to enjoy herself around him more or less. They continued to talk and laugh together as they finished their ramen. It was dark out by time they left Hagakure to head back to the dorm, Junpei chattering the entire way.

‘Maybe… he’s not so bad.’