Persona: Detachment

Prologue

Date:???

Rain battered the hide of the umbrella. Her footsteps clashed with small puddles of built-up rainwater, making precise indentations with her high heels. The black raincoat battled back the slowly ascending winds and its associates as she progressed into the night. Sea salt assaulted her senses, as the Suno-Nada Sea was only about one train ride away from her. The lights of the train station were far behind, but the staggering speed of the mechanical behemoth still sped past as it transported people back home from another grueling day of sucking up to the boss and slave labor. Skidding on her heels, she made a sharp turn left into the alleyway and was greeted by a familiar sight. The sign lights were dim, and she simply smirked as a thought crossed her mind. Grabbing a hold of the cold, brown, and slightly rusted doorknob, she slowly opened the door. Instantaneously, she was hit by the aroma of different drinks being served, which soon gave her a loving fragrance of Whiskey and Sake. Putting her umbrella away in a plastic bag, she started stripping off the dripping raincoat and let her light and fair complexion shine, revealing her white virgin killer sweater, with a black mesh covering her skin. The bar was mostly empty. Booths, meant to hold up to six people, were being used by only one. Scanning her eyes around the room and more importantly the bar, she noticed it was only him there. Unrolling the scarf from her bag and putting it around her neck, she took a seat at the bar in an almost scripted and reserved way. She allowed her long, flowing, ashen hair that was tied up in a ponytail for hours the ability to breathe. Putting her raincoat behind her stool and the umbrella on the ground, she turned and looked to her left and saw him smiling.

"Hey there. Took you quite some time to get here." He said as he took the next whiff of his cigarette.

"Sorry about that, but you know how the trains go. It's always crowded and uncomfortable. Didn't help that work kept me back longer, even after telling them I was exhausted from my classes." She sighed and tapped on the table. "What're you getting this time?"

"Eh, something simple. I was about to get some of the hard stuff today. But from what you've told me so far, I can tell you had a much longer day than me."

"Aww, thanks." She said with the sweetest voice she could muster. She put a cigarette between her lips. He automatically flipped open his lighter.

"Mind telling me about it?"

"Maybe after I get a few rounds in me first."

"Fair enough."

As she said that the bartender, whose long black hair was tied into two long pigtails, brushed the bar gently as she gave the pair their favorite poisons.

"Thanks, Jill." She simply nodded as she attended to another customer at the far end of the table. A small silence fell upon them as they let their drinks rest. Looking up she saw the latest baseball game being played with her favorite player, the 'handsome pitcher' striking out another batter.

"Kanpai"

"Kanpai"

Their glasses clinked and soon enough the burning liquid was traveling down their throats.

"Mmph. That's the stuff." He said casually.

"You said it." She quickly took another whiff and looked down at her phone.

"Oh. Don't tell me guy troubles are involved with this?" He leaned slightly back into his stool with a grin on his face. "I would assume a workaholic like you Satomi, wouldn't have time for the 'intricacies' and 'fostering' of love?"

She rolled her eyes and gave a small smile to him.

"No, it's not guy trouble. You'd be the first to know."

"Yeah, I would. I mean, I'd have to. We share the same home and I'd rather you let me know if you'd be making some you know.." He simply made a small smile. She put her hand on his face and gently pushed him.

"Oh, be quiet Minato."

"Sorry sorry... Now that you got a few in you, why don't you tell me about your day?"

Another round of the Sake and Whiskey came through, with the occasional rum for her. As the night progressed, people silently came and went, all the while they, plus the music stayed the same. Her face was starting to turn red, but she knew she could handle herself better than most girls around her age. Most of them fake getting drunk so they can get picked up by some desperate loser to make desperate love. After about the 4th shot of hard liquor, the baseball game was nearing the final innings. She looked at her nails and then back at Minato. She decided to pry his attention away from the game.

"Do you remember when we first met Minato?" Satomi asked as she looked at the counter.

"Yeah of course I do. It was in Elementary. Your family and mine got along fast, and soon enough you and I started seeing each other a lot more at school."

"That's putting it mildly."

"Right. But why are you bringing this up?"

"I've been thinking... Do you think there'll ever be more to life other than working dead-end jobs just to make ends meet?"

"I dunno. I never thought about it. Shit with all we've been through, I'm happy just to have made a sister like you.... Why? What's on your mind?"

"I guess you can say it's probably the drink talking at this point but... Is this really how our reality will play out?"

"Oh boy. 'Reality'. Why're you bringing something so abstract up?"

"Just curious is all..."

"Well, curiosity killed the cat. I can deal with reality as it is. No matter how shitty it is..."

"I hope you're right about that." She took another sip.

"Of course I am. "

"I need another Rum. On the rocks, and mix the shit out of it Jill."

"Coming up Tomi."