As the days kept flying by though, things finally started to get better.

"So you're just wastin' your life away as a janitor now? Yeah, that sounds like a better life to me Garbage Guy!"

The payment from Mitsuru had successfully given him enough money to live off of,

"Having fun with your 'therapist' huh? Has she taught you to stop being a lil' shithead of a son?"

and the appointments with Maki-san were more fun and relieving than the last, with the place feeling closer to a home than it did a therapist's office.

"Hah! A girlfriend!? Now that's a riot! What's next, you're a fucking fiancé too?"

Everything was supposed to be all fine and dandy now…

..So why won't his voice go away already?

April 24, 2010

"Is something wrong Junpei? You look distressed." Maki asked right from the start, noticing how Junpei had just walked in and already looked like he just killed a man.

"Wait, I do?" Junpei replied with a look of surprise like a kid being told that they had some ketchup stuck on their face.

"Junpei, would I lie about something like that?" Maki pouted like a pufferfish and crossed her arms; something that seemed familiar to a way Yukari would react. This spurred a small laugh from her client.

"Hah, point taken…" Junpei chuckled out, even with his eyes having a downcast gaze, and drumming his fingers on one knee. "…Well, I'm not gonna sound crazy if I admit something… do I?"

That question immediately caused Maki to smirk with a giggle. "Oh Junpei, did you forget this is a therapy session already?" She asked in a perky tone, while her hand gave a widespread of the room akin to a waiter showing off a dining room. "Admit whatever you want to, no matter how crazy it sounds."

"Alright, thanks." Junpei let out a chuckle of his own from seeing Maki act like her typical upbeat self, but it quickly faded away once he took in a breath. "…Well, there's been a lot of times where I feel like there's this annoying as hell voice in my head, of my old man bitching at me no matter what I do, even though he's not around. Hell, even right now I can hear him calling me a little cocksucker and threatening me with another spanking for talking about him like this." Junpei let out a wavering chuckle from his last statement, with his eyes drifting to the empty side of the couch he was sitting on.

"I see." Maki however, didn't laugh or smile back. "Is your father away?"

"If you mean away rotting underground in some shoddy graveyard, then yeah." Junpei snarked aloud without a smirk, as his eyes looked back to Maki. "Ya don't have to pity me though, since my dad was a total bastard anyway." Were his words too harsh? Maybe. But Junpei felt that was the most basic summary of the whole situation.

"What do you mean by he was a total bastard?" Maki simply asked, without even appearing mournful or horrified by Junpei's words.

"That after my ma left the scene, the only way he could 'get over it'" He made the sarcastic quotations with his fingers. "was to drink himself stupid off of anything, even fucking cooking wine." A low growl crawled in Junpei's throat after saying all of that, while his hands tightened and gripped one another; one of which was already in the form of a fist.

Maki gave a nod. "I take it he also wasn't supportive to you either, was he?"

"Fuck no he wasn't!" Junpei's head shot right up, with one hand landing on his knee and scrunching up his pant leg. "Whenever he wasn't off chugging barrels of booze down, he'd get pissed off at home over the stupidest reasons! Just thinking about him makes me want to strangle that bastard!" He clenched both of his hands into fists, with his fingernails no doubt digging into his palms, while his breaths became heavy through his gritting teeth. After a few seconds though, his body started to loosen as his heart stopped pounding like a jackhammer, and he stopped growling, with his face as red as a ripe beet. "I-…Sorry Maki-san, I didn't think I'd get that angry just from talking about my dad…"

"It's alright Junpei." Maki nodded again, simply listening to what Junpei was saying. "Was your dad different when your mom was still around?"

Junpei grimaced, as the scarlet shade of his face started to fade. "All I can remember from back then was that those were the only moments of my life where he was actually sober for more than five seconds, and didn't spank me bare-butted." He stated with a quick sigh, as his eyes drifted to the patterns on the carpet. He knew that all of the text messages his dad sent him had been deleted.

"Mm." Another nod from Maki, as she listened to every word Junpei said. "So it was when he fell into drinking that your relationship disintegrated, huh?"

"Pretty damn much…" He muttered amongst the growl in the back of his throat. "That and the times he slapped me just because he got pissy, and nearly blasting my eardrums out when he was yelling at me 'cause I moved into a high school dorm." A fist soon formed once again, tight enough to draw blood from the palm. "Along with all the calls and messages he'd throw at me just to tease me about living in a dorm, even though anyone with half a brain could tell it was better than having to stomach him all the fucking time!"

"Junpei, it sounds to me that you have quite a lot of pent-up anger regarding your father." Maki stated sedately, resting both of her hands on her lap and sitting straight up, even with Junpei almost never following the rule of eye contact at the moment.

First came the quick and dazed look up from gazing on the carpeting, mainly from hearing such a calm response to his ranting, then the chagrin sigh and squint of his eyes. "Yeah, I do honestly…" He rubbed the back of his neck, closing his eyes again. "Must sound pretty sickening since my old man's dead now huh?"

"No, I can understand perfectly where you're coming from." Maki answered, but not with the expected doting tone of pity. Instead, it was calm and focused. "If anything, I think you're right to call out on your dad's behavior, given everything that he's done."

That was a surprise if Junpei ever heard one. No prattling on about how his dad was 'still family' or any other shit like that?

"However… is all of this anger actually proving anything?" She asked with a prominent frown, as her eyes gave off a firm glare.

It was just one question, yet it already made Junpei fluster with every emotion you could name right away. His eyes widened open, and his pupils dilated, but they also started to sting. His hands began to lightly twitch, trying to not curl back up into fists. Even his breaths felt heavier; both breathing them in, and exhaling them out. "B-but…my dad…"

"Who has passed away now, right?" Maki didn't show a drop of hesitation in so much as a syllable. "So what's the point in holding onto it if he's no longer here to see it?"

Junpei nearly winced back. He felt the urge to yell right back at her rattle inside him, but his throat was closing up, and his lips felt sewed shut. The stinging sensation in his eyes began to worsen, until his vision almost completely blurred, and his eyes dampened.

"…Fuck, I don't know…" Junpei choked out as the first set of droplets rolled down his cheeks, and only kept on coming from there. Before long, his hand was pressed right up against both of his eyes, becoming just as sodden as his face.

"It's all right. Let it all out Junpei." Maki couldn't have said that in any quieter and simpler of a tone of voice, as her previous sternness eroded away.

Junpei wanted to reply back, but couldn't. The only thing that escaped his throat was an array of silent sobs, while more tears kept trickling down.

Minutes passed in silence, with only the tears falling onto the carpet, and Junpei's entire body shaking as they kept on coming.

It wasn't until the minute hand had landed on the next number that Junpei felt the lump in his throat fade away, and could finally open his eyes without them stinging or soaking.

Maki showed a faint smile once Junpei looked back up again. "Here." With one hand, she offered a box of tissues to Junpei, causing the young man to smile back at her as her took a few to clean his face. This, in turn, gave Maki a more relaxed smirk. "Do you feel better now?"

"Y'know… I do actually." Junpei answered with a more positive perk in his voice from before, while wiping his eyes. "I don't even know why really. Guess realizing how much of an idiot I've been this whole time really helped me out." He then let out a chuckle after that sentence, this time with a more lighthearted inflection to it; similar to the times he'd laugh at his own jokes in high school.

But Maki shook her head once again. "You weren't being an idiot at all Junpei. There aren't a whole lot of people who realize how much anger they're actually holding onto in their lives, and there are even less who understand that they're only hurting themselves as a result of it all."

"I…I see." Junpei responded as both his laugh and smile diminished. With how much he understood about this whole 'holding onto anger' stuff at the moment, he felt like he fit exactly into the category of those people who never realize it.

"Relax Junpei. The important thing right now is that you finally look like yourself again." Maki told him peacefully, and soon pulled out a small object from one of her side pockets, holding it out to Junpei. "In fact… I think you could use this."

"Huh?" Junpei blinked upon the sight of what Maki was holding out, and took a hold of it himself. It appeared to be a necklace, tied together by both string and wood, with a copper pendant dangling from it. Etched onto said pendant, was a pair of wolves, one on top, one on the bottom, and both forming a circle.

"It calls back to an old tale from the Native Americans." Maki answered composedly, putting both of her hands on her lap again. "The tale is of a war between two wolves that dwell inside every being, including you and me. One of the wolves is evil, for it is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other wolf is good, as it is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith."

It was a short and simple story, but it was enough to riddle Junpei's expression with perplexity, and get the wheels in his head turning like they never had before.

Before Maki could continue though, a constant beepingsuddenly went off in the room, causing her to look down at her watch, to discover that her alarm was going off. "Oh, the session is over already?" She said to herself as she looked down at her wrist. "Ah, sorry Junpei, but it looks like our time is up. You weren't too uncomfortable during this session I hope?"

"Oh uh, no it's alright." Junpei gave a quick shake of his head as he tucked the necklace into his side pocket. "I'm just wondering… are you saying I should forgive my dad then?"

Maki looked back up, and shook her head. "…I'm not saying anything about that Junpei." She said with an air of honesty. "What you decide to feel about your father is your decision, not mine. I just hoped to let you know how much harm you were causing to yourself by refusing to let go of your anger regarding him."

"…I gotcha." He nearly sighed out as his head slumped back down a bit. "Sorry about all that then."

"Don't apologize Junpei, this is exactly what these sessions are for after all." Maki said with a smile before she stood up out of her seat. "Can I hope to see you next week then?"

"Sure." Junpei stood up himself and regained his grin, and headed to the door, but only opened it halfway before his arm stopped in place. "…Can I ask something really quick though?"

Maki nodded to him. "Oh, why of course you can. Go on Junpei."

"…In that story you were talking about…" Junpei asked, referring back to the tale of two wolves. "Which wolf wins?"

Maki gave a serene smile.

"The one that you feed."

Junpei's eyes widened, filled with bewilderment, while the rest of his body stood still.

"Don't worry, it'll make more sense when you think about it." Maki told him before patting his shoulder a bit, and closing the door behind him once he walked out of the room.

Outside the room, Junpei looked down at his hand, flexing it open and closed several times. When he finally did move his legs to leave, they felt heavier than usual.

The Paulownia Mall was bustling just like it always was, even in the middle of a month of school like April as the plaza was filled with parents and kids, teens, and everything in between.

While most people took off to a certain store, Junpei just sat on the first bench right by the central water fountain, his mind still full to the brim with the conversation he had with Maki just a couple minutes ago. All the while his eyes wandered wherever they wanted to.

"Do you think I'm sending my daughter to school just so she can fail her courses and play baseball!?"

Until a sudden shout like that practically rang in his ears, instantly causing his head to turn to his left, to which he saw a middle-aged man with a near permanent scowl on his face, and a little girl, who couldn't be any older than ten, crying her heart out as she held a baseball bat.

"When I come back from the Police Office, you better have that bat in the garbage where it belongs, do you hear me?!" He yelled again at the child, scowling furiously even as the girl nodded amongst the tears coating her face. Soon afterwards, he simply walked off into the Police Station, leaving his kid to stand there as all the other shoppers tried to cruise right along without staring.

It would've been easy for Junpei to focus on the father, considering how much he was scolding his lungs out in the same fashion his old man did to him as a youngling. But instead, he took notice of the young girl, never taking her eyes off of her when she tossed her baseball bat into a nearby trashcan while her dampened eyes looked away, before she bolted into an alleyway within the cracks of space in between the stores.

Junpei stood up from the bench.

He took a look at the trashcan, and pulled out the baseball bat with ease.

It didn't even get messy, and the bat appeared to be Canadian Yellow Birch on top of it; a high quality wood.

After that, the capped young man turned his attention to the alleyway, as his feet already started strolling along towards it.

Just one look in, and there she was, sitting down in the dust and cobwebs that littered the floor here, and her face buried in her legs as a faint array of sobs and sniffles almost echoed in the lonely corridor.

"Hey, you forget something?"

The girl almost froze upon hearing an unknown vice though, as she finally lifted her head up and saw where it came from.

That someone was Junpei, squatting down right next to her, and sporting a gentle smile as he held the bat she had previously tried to throw away.

The child shook her head in response to his question though, and concealed her face back into her knees.

Junpei's smile soon turned into a mournful frown, seeing the poor kid like this. His legs went from a squat to pretzel as he sat right down next to her.

"Your dad doesn't like it when you play baseball huh?" He asked her once he crossed his legs successfully, and putting the bat in his lap to keep it from getting dirtied by whatever kind of gunk gathers in this forgotten bit of the mall.

No direct reply came from her this time, but her muffled sobs served as a sufficient answer.

Junpei softly placed a hand on the girl's back and gently rubbed it as she continued to cry, in the hopes of offering at least some kind of comfort that'd actually get through to her. The child let out a bit of a jolt at first from Junpei's touch, but it disappeared as soon as it came, as her sobs continued along.

"Are you just planning on sitting in this dirty old alley then?" He asked her quietly, still rubbing her back. The girl's only response amongst her faint crying was a nod of her head. Junpei let out a somewhat exaggerated sigh of disappointment, and stood back up placing the bat on his shoulders. "So much for having a buddy to play a game or two with outback in the field behind the mall…"

"H-huh…?" The girl perked her head up a bit when she heard that, like a puppy peeking out of a birthday box.

Junpei smirked. "You wanna come along? I'm not gonna force you if you don't want to."

The young girl sank her chin back into her legs, clearly pondering about the idea, while Junpei just stood there and waited for her response. After about a half-a-minute, she stood up from the dust and gunk, brushed off any of it that got attached to her shorts and shirt, taking a tiny scoot of her foot closer to Junpei. Her eyes were still glued to the ground though.

Another gentle grin grew on Junpei's face. "Wanna get some fresh air then?" He saw the girl give a nod to the floor, and took his time walking to the door, to make sure that she didn't feel pressured or let behind.

In that time, he took out the pendant from his pocket that Maki had given him, and put it on around his neck.

"Ah man, this is more like it! Haven't felt sunshine this good in a long time." Junpei exlaimed as soon as he reached the field he was talking about earlier right behind the mall, not only coming complete with fine green grass sprinkled with dandelions here and there, but also a baseball diamond right smack dab in the middle of it.

The young girl that followed a few steps behind him was already wide eyed at the sight of this place.

"Beautiful place isn't it?" Junpei asked her, unable to hide his grin at the sight of her astonishment. The girl didn't look up or nod her head or anything, but that wasn't even surprising at this point. Junpei just placed the bat in front of her, allowing her to take a grasp of it, and pulled out a baseball himself. Where it suddenly came from was one of the deepest and darkest secrets of SEES, sworn to absolute secrecy even should the Fall make an attempt to reoccur 3 times over. "Wanna play ball now?" He smiled, tossing the ball up and catching it in the same hand.

The young girl finally looked up at Junpei now, seeing his iconic goofy grin, and smiled back with a nod of confirmation.

"Awesome!" Junpei exclaimed in high spirits. "Race ya to first base then!" With that, he already took right off to the baseball diamond in the middle of the field, with the young girl already taking off to catch up to him.

"Haha, made it!" Junpei clamored once the heel of his foot slammed right onto the worn out patch of dirt that was apparently a base, even leaving a cloud of dust in its wake.

"No fair! You got a head start!" The girl panted out with a prominent pout as she came running right behind him.

"Aw, you're right, that was a low blow on my part…" He said with a sulk in both his body and voice in a tone hammier than a serving of BLT, but soon picked himself right back up and snapped his fingers as the lightbulb atop his head lit up with a ding! "Okay then, because I was the one who cheated, I'll be the pitcher while you get to be the batter and show your skills, alrighty?"

The child's eyes had something of a glimmer once they lit up from Junpei's suggestion, and a smile found its way onto her face. "Okay!"

"Now that's what I like to hear!" Junpei grinned profusely to see the little girl's face finally have a pretty smile, like it should. "By the way, what's your name?"

"Oh... " The child's head made eye contact with the ground again while her smile had gone away, and her neck scrunched up a tad, just like a turtle retreating back into its shell. "It's Seicho. That's not typically a girl's name I know, but-"

"Calm down Seicho, it's a cute name." Junpei said before she could even finish, giving her a soft rustling of her brunette hair. "I'm Junpei Iori, nice to meet ya." He chuckled a tad after he gave his old-fashioned introduction, and held up the baseball once again. "Now ya ready to swing it?"

Once Seicho saw Junpei with a grin on his face and a baseball in his hand, her smile came right back, as did her widened eyes of sheer jubilation. "Yup!" She nodded ecstatically.

"Awesome!" Junpei bursted aloud with glee, soon taking a couple steps back to the middle of the field, with his legs planted in place to the side while his torso faced the front, over to Seicho's direction. His right arm was now firmly set in position, holding the baseball to the skies. "Now give it all ya got."

Seicho nodded back, and got into a batter's pose herself now and held her bat straight up, ready to let 'er rip.

Junpei took a firm step and made a strong pitch with his lucky right arm, sending the baseball smoking. Seicho swung with all her strength the very millisecond the ball was in range, and sent it flying right back across the diamond. Junpei even flinched out of harm's way, just barely avoiding the official annihilation of every last bone in his face. His bewildered look back to the ball only lasted a second though, as he noticed Seicho scurrying right to the bases. Junpei dashed to the ball and scraped it off the ground. He soon darted straight to 3rd base as quickly as his legs would allow.

As he did, a small bump in the soil caused him to slip and fall right on his stomach, landing with a grunt of pain slipping out.

"Ah! Mr. Iori!" Seicho immediately took notice, and hurried right to Junpei, leaving her spot on the field. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt anywhere?"

"Ngh…Yeah, I'm fine Seicho, don't worry." Junpei smirked back at her while sitting back up and brushing the dry dirt off of his clothes. "Awfully considerate of you to ask though." He smiled to her gently, giving the young girl a near instant blush that tickled her entire face peach pink.

To which she didn't notice the baseball in Junpei's hand that tapped her shoulder.

Seicho's eyebrows furrowed, while her cheeks went from a fuzzy pink to an enraged red.

"YOU JERK!" Seicho shouted right into Junpei's ears and pelting him with small punches that looked worse than they actually were, all the while Junpei laughed to himself like a hyena.

"Alrighty then, you wanna have a rematch tomorrow after school?" He asked aloud while being pummeled by the tiniest pair of fists he ever felt.

That question however, caused Seicho to stop her onslaught of punches as she disappeared, allowing 'Miss Gloomy who's Best Friends with the Floor' to return and take her place. "B-but, my dad wouldn't approve of me playing baseball, let alone with a stranger…"

"Stranger?" Junpei said, repeating her last word with a question mark, and soon appeared to be pondering from how he was stroking his goatee with a few fingers. "I got it! How 'bout I hold on to that bat of yours so that your dad doesn't see you still hanging onto it? After all, a stranger wouldn't return the next day to give back a high quality Canadian Birch, would they?"

"…Okay then." Seicho showed a small smile from his words. "Thank you for the game Mr. Iori." She bowed down ever so politely in front of him, becoming a full on 90-degree angle in the process.

"Please, just call me Junpei, 'kay?" He chuckled, giving her hair another rustling. Seicho stood back up smiling at him, and let him take a hold of her baseball bat before running back to the mall.

Junpei smiled gently to himself as he saw Seicho run back happily, and started trotting back home himself, with a baseball bat resting over his shoulders, and a set of clothes covered in dusty dirt.

Every good match needed to end with a warm shower.

April 25, 2010

Junpei stood out in the field once again, looking left and right, up and down for where Seicho could be. Sure, he arrived a few minutes early, but better to be a tad bored for a while than to break a child's heart.

"Junpei!" A familiar young voice called out, causing Junpei to look behind where he stood, and saw Seicho running to where he stood, with a great big smile.

"Seicho! Glad to see ya back!" Junpei called right back to her, handing her bat back to her as she reached the edge of the baseball diamond. "Ya ready to even the score then?"

"That last game didn't count for anything! You cheated!" Seicho screamed out in a tantrum, jumping up and down as if she was a Tezuka character. That of which mostly served to make the late teenager laugh.

"Haha, alright alright, we'll start from scratch then." Junpei replied as his laughter died down, but not his smile. "You happy now?"

"…Yes." Seicho responded, albeit with the pufferfish pout and her arms crossed.

"Great!" The utter goofball of a late teen grinned, then stroked a dramatic point to home base. "Then get yourself ready for a brand new ballgame now!"

The game started in a flash once Seicho went right to home base and choked up her bat. One inning went by in one second with every run made and base hit, and of course, every baseball that was sent smoking. For once, it was an activity that wasn't all about getting good grades or mulling through people's bullshit, but actually letting loose and having a good time, like he was a little kid having a blast playing baseball again.

After the final inning, both Seicho and Junpei could be found collapsed on the grass, and panting like crazy, complete with their tongues sticking out.

"Seicho?" Junpei muttered in the middle of his pants. "What was the score again?"

"Um..I kinda lost track?" The young girl embarrassingly admitted, once she caught her breath again.

"Haha, so did I!" Junpei answered in a burst of laughter as he started to sit up, despite being out of breath.

"…Um, Junpei sir?" Seicho asked while she sat up, causing Junpei to look back at her.

"I want to thank you, for coming here again." She told him with a smiling face that screamed of sheer gratitude.

Junpei happily grinned right back at Seicho, and gave her a one-armed hug right around the shoulders. "No prob Seicho."

The young girl let out a gratuitous giggle from the hug. "…So, if it isn't too much trouble, could you keep doing this then?"

"Are you kidding? I thought you'd never ask!" Junpei exclaimed as his whole face lit up just from hearing that. "Okay, how 'bout every Saturday after school then?"

"Sure!" Seicho gleefully nodded.

"Great then!" Junpei replied happily, and already had a pen and notepad in hand from who knows where. With it, he quickly scribbled something on the first page, and tore it off to hand to Seicho. "Hold onto this if anything comes up then, okay?"

Seicho seemed to have a question mark above her head upon the sight of the small paper, and took a look at what was written on it as Junpei capped his pen. The paper contained a set of hastily scribbled numbers, spelling out what looked like a phone number.

"This way you'll know to call if something comes up, 'kay?" Junpei said to her in a gentle tone of voice. In mere seconds, he was bombarded with a hug from the little girl.

He simply smiled from that, and hugged her right back.

May 14, 2010

"Uuuugggghhhhh…"Junpei entered the apartment, and immediately collapsed on the couch again to recover at least some feeling in his fingers after the near endless hours of cleaning the dorm.

Pi Pi Pi!

The ring of his phone buzzed in the air once again, causing Junpei to perk his head straight back up. Upon getting it out and flipping it open, his weariness immediately turned to joy from seeing Seicho's Caller ID on the screen.

"Seicho! How ya doing? I take it you're looking forward to-"

"Is this Junpei Iori?" A gruff and masculine voice said on the other line.

Junpei went silent. That definitely wasn't Seicho's voice, but the phone showed her Caller ID. "Um… yes? Who is this?"

"Shogai Seijin. Seicho's father." The other line replied in a tone that made Mitsuru sound upbeat and wisecracking. "I'm calling to give a word of advice."

"What would that word of advice be Seijin-san?" Junpei asked, his words already laced with a feeling of dread.

"Stay away from my daughter." His words were simple, and his tone harsh. "The last thing she needs is the idea that she can trust older strangers on a whim, along with developing the habit of playing baseball after school rather than actually accomplishing something."

Junpei felt offended by that; not just by the assumption that he was no better than a predator, but that all of those games where Seicho was as happy as could be 'didn't accomplish anything'. "…Why is that?"

"Because she's my daughter that's why!" His yell was even louder than the speaker function. "You think that I'm raising her to do nothing with her life but smack baseballs and run around a dirty field while making herself an open target for any bypasser?" After the ringing in Junpei's ears from Shogai's scoldings finally went away, he heard the rest of what he had to say. "So don't let me see you around her or any of her friends again, got it? I won't hesitate to call in authorities to settle the situation once and for all."

"…I got it." Junpei replied, hiding the growl that riddled in his throat, and hung up right away. If he listened to that guy any longer, he'd feel like he was back at Wild Duck Burger again. Once he tucked the phone back in his pocket, his hand curled into a tight fist.

The trees were coming back into sight, but the deep haze still lingered on.

The white wolf was recovering, but limping while batted with scars.

The earth was fresh with footprints

Ones with a paw of only three.

A growl emanated through the remains of the forest

and the black wolf leaped again, aiming for the throat.

May 15, 2010

A sigh escaped Junpei's mouth as he stood in the middle of the baseball field behind the mall, with Seicho's bat on his shoulders. Just yesterday morning, he was ecstatic just thinking about meeting those two kids again, and seeing their bright smiles as they dashed from one base to another. But now, it was even more deserted than the old dorm Junpei had to clean day after day.

"Junpei!"

His head shot up at the sound of a familiar voice, and quickly turned it to see Seicho running towards him, her face already soaked with tears.

"I'm so sorry! I-I tried to keep my dad from finding out but when he finally found the number…!" Her throat closed up from her tears before she could finish, and before long, she fell down to her knees and sobbed into her hands.

Junpei just bent right down, and held her close in a tender hug, much to the little girl's astonishment.

"It's alright Seicho. I know it wasn't your fault." He told her while giving her back a gentle rub. Seicho tried to respond, but no words could come out of her mouth, and she simply buried her face into Junpei's chest as her sobs continued.

Junpei had a melancholic smile as he let Seicho weep in his shirt. "I'm sorry that I couldn't meet up with ya more often…" He said in a whisper, all the while Seicho cried into his chest.

"…Can you at least do me one last favor Seicho?"

Seicho's sobs ceased for the moment, but her head didn't lift an inch away from Junpei. "Of course I can."

"…Make sure that you keep moving forward with baseball, okay?" The young adult uttered, giving the child another calming embrace. "Don't do what I ended up doing…"

"…Don't do what?"

Junpei didn't reply, but he did show a smile on his face and let out a weak laugh from his throat. He soon carefully let go of Seicho to stand back up, and once he did, he took off the baseball cap that was always adorned atop his head, and placed it right on Seicho's.

"Give up on what you love." Junpei said while smiling wistfully. "No matter what your dad keeps saying, keep up that burning passion of yours." He then ruffled her head again, even with the hat on.

The brink of a shower of tears tickled at the back of Seicho's eyes, but she held it back.

"Here's your bat back." He lightly placed the bat into her palms, and gave her one last pat on the head. "Take care of yourself now."

Even though Seicho initially looked like the bat would roll right out of her hands, her grip soon tightened on it, with a firm look in her eyes. After giving a stern nod to Junpei, she began walking back to the mall

Junpei chuckled, and began returning to his apartment himself. He was definitely going to miss that good ol' cap of his, especially with it being the last memento left of his entire family. But Seicho needed it a lot more than he did; Junpei could tell from how much she had dampened his tank top shirt.

May 17, 2010

"If you wanna battle, then I'll take it to the street

Where there's no rules

Take off the gloves ref, please step down

Gotta prove my skills so get down"

The beats of hip-hop buzzed in Junpei's head with his earbuds set in his ears, while his hands were being occupied by his COMP system, and trying once again to take out that goddamn Miltank already; Just a typical afternoon in the Iori apartment.

In fact, it was only by sheer luck that he noticed the vibrating of his phone against his left thigh. Once he did, he tugged out his buds, closed his game shut, and pulled his phone right out. "Y'ello?"

"Hello. Is this Junpei Iori?" The other end of the line definitely wasn't the douchebag of a father that previously called him.

"Uh, yeah that's me." Junpei responded hesitantly. "Who the heck is this though?"

"Oh, my apologies for not introducing myself right away Mr. Iori! My name is Junko Hoshino; I'm a teacher from the Gekkoukan Elementary School, and I'm currently in search for a coach to hopefully establish our Little League team."

"Wait, a coach?" He already felt the question mark hovering right above the tips of his hair.

"Yes. One of my students had suggested you, so if isn't too much trouble, could you come down tomorrow morning for a quick synopsis at least? The kids and I would greatly appreciate it!"

"Oh uh…sure." Junpei said, and hung up without even waiting for a reply back before flopping down on his back across the couch. What the hell just happened in that sudden phone call?

And what the hell was going to happen tomorrow?

May 18, 2010

Quite the quaint elementary school this place appeared to be, unlike its high school counterpart. Not only was the building itself fairly low in comparison, but all of the colorful announcement boards on the walls and the more cozy Victorian style of the Visitor Room certainly didn't make it feel nearly as constructed as his high school.

"Ms. Hoshino, the visitor you were talking about is here and waiting now." One of the faculty members announced into the phone, while Junpei simply sat in one of the open chairs while his eyes were darting around in every direction of the place, and his hands on his knees with his fingers strumming.

However, he also soon heard the sound of hustling footsteps from the halls, to soon see a middle-aged teacher in the typical fancy attire, one hand holding onto the stairway railing for deal life and the other grasping a simple clipboard, come to a halt in the visitor room and panting like it was the middle of a summer heat onslaught.

"Junpei Iori's here? Already?" The teacher just barely said as she was still catching her breath.

The faculty member simply nodded as she pointed to the Visitor Room. "Why yes Ms. Hoshino. In fact, he's sitting right behind you."

"Ah!" The teacher looked like she had a jolt in her spine like a cartoon character, but still turned back to see Junpei sitting in one of the available seats. Once she did, a quick hand of hers streamed over her hair to fix it up a tad, and she walked over to him with a calm and collected strut.

"Greetings Mr. Iori." Ms. Hoshino said gleefully as she offered her hand. Upon taking another look at Junpei though, her eyes perked open, and blinked with surprise. "Oh, you look quite different than how I imagined you from hearing your voice."

"Heh, thanks." Junpei put on a wry smile from what he could only assume was a compliment, and shook her hand as he stood up. "Nice to meet ya too Junko-san."

Junko couldn't help but smile again at Junpei's amiability, and soon swiveled right on her right high heel towards one of the halls. "Now, if you would follow me to the outside field then."

"Sure thing." Junpei nodded, and started following her throughout the main hall of the school, all the while still a tad disoriented from all the vibrant bulletin boards.

In that moment, Junko raised up the clipboard she had, while the other swiftly pulled out a black pen. When she turned her head back to Junpei, there was no doubt that she ready to write on the papers it held. "So then Mr. Iori, how many previous experiences have you had with coaching then?"

"C-coaching?" Junpei stuttered. Growing up as a child who had the impossible dream of becoming a pro baseball star was one thing, but having experience in being a coach was another. "…Um, I was really desperate for the Leader role in my after-school club?"

"…Hrm, I see." Her lower lip stuck out a tad when she said that, and her hand could already be seen writing something down on the paper she held. "Any degrees then?"

Junpei 's shoulders slumped a bit now, since he already knew the answer to that question all too well. "Uh no, I haven't found a college that'll accept me yet." He said in a rather plain and soft-spoken tone; the happiest tone of voice he could muster when conversing about that certain topic.

The teacher seemed to anxiously murmur to herself now, all the while she continued to write away. "…Your resume?"

Junpei felt a sharp chill down his spine. There was only one thing in this known universe that was worse than the eighteen-year old's grades, and that was the absolute train wreck that was his resume, no thanks to the Wild Duck fiasco. "…Uh, I don't have it with me right now." He admitted right away; he wasn't lying to hide his bad rap either, since the thought of bringing a resume didn't hit him until just now. For once he was actually grateful that he was a forgetful son of a bitch.

Junko came to a stop, and let out a disgruntled sigh. Junpei didn't blame her after hearing a shoddy track record like that. "...Could you at least come outside with me to see the field for a minute then?" She asked. But instead of her one hand inscribing who knows what on her papers, it rested on the handle of a metal door that was embedded through the thickest wall of the school. From the look of the light pouring in through the single window in the door, it seemed to lead to the outside area.

Junpei only gave a rather reluctant nod, and Junko immediately pushed the door open, where the very first sight that could be seen was that of a baseball field, swarming with the most gung ho of little kids dressed in the finest of tiny baseball uniforms. One of whom was a little girl with a finely crafted Canadian Birch baseball bat, and an all too familiar hat.

Junpei's eyes widened within a fraction of a second. "S-Seicho…?"

The girl perked her head up at the sound of the name and voice, and turned her head towards Junko and Junpei. In a single millisecond, a smile stretched across her face, and she bolted right to the two of them, and soon wrapped her arms right Junpei's torso.

"Junpei! You really did arrive! I just knew you would!" She blurted right aloud while jumping for joy.

Naturally, Junpei couldn't stay confused at a face like that, and already had one arm gently hugging her back.

Junko herself couldn't help but smile. "Well, I'm glad to see that you've met one of the team's members already." She said.

"Wait, member?" Junpei said with surprise as he pulled his arm back, and looked down at the youngling. "Seicho, did you…"

"Yup! My school has been trying to arrange a team for the Little League for a while. I was usually too nervous to speak up on it since I'd be the only girl, but…well, after all that stuff that you said before…" Seicho hid a bit behind the baseball cap she wore, in the hope that it would hide the splash of rosy pink on her face.

"Seriously?" Junpei's entire face lit up, and he soon picked the young kid in a big bear hug. "That's awesome! I'm so happy for ya Seicho!" He uttered out ever so ecstatically as Seicho hugged him right back and giggled all the while.

The teacher let out a chuckle herself at the near-diabetic scene. "Well, at least you're good with the kids then." She commented before pulling her pen back out, and wrote down something or other on her papers again.

"Ehe, well thanks then." Junpei admitted as he put Seicho back down, unaware of all the curious glances some of the other kids were giving.

"Could you come with me to the office then?" Junko asked politely.

"Oh, okay." Junpei agreed, and gave Seicho a quick pat on the head. "Seeya Seicho, alright?" He told her, and was glad to see her nod in response. He could never get tired of such an adorable smile.

The graduate and the teacher then returned to the front office, Junko's fingers soon started to fumble through the massive mess of papers that somehow all stayed within the grip of a single clipboard. An eyebrow of Junpei's raised at the sight of Junko intensive searching, until she finally pulled out a whole set of dense job descriptions, causing both brows shoot upward.

"Here are all the details of the job." Junko told him. "The head of school will call you later this week to let you know if you're hired or not, so make sure to answer your phone." After she placed the papers right into Junpei's hand, she immediately put one hand on his shoulder as well, looking right at him with sincere eyes. "…Just pray for the best now, okay?"

Junpei put on a bitter smile, since he knew the reason for all of the encouragement after seeing his glorious list of post-high school accomplishments. "Thanks Junko-san." He said, and held the papers under his arm for carrying. He headed to the door without even a 'goodbye', and Junko's smile quickly faded once he did so.

"Arrive after school on the dot every weekday then. I'm hoping that you won't be a disappointment Iori." Said the stout and deep voice on the other end of the line; the kind of voice that almost always belonged to a head of school.

"Yeah, that's what I'm hoping too." Junpei's words were atop a wimpy chuckle, and soon lowered the phone from his ear.

He then put it down on top of the grimy beer stain on the table in front of the couch, and leaned as far back as he could on the old piece of furniture, with his eyes glued to the ceiling again.

Becoming a Little League coach…that was definitely a new one. Especially since he spent a lot more time in the position of Jealous Douchebag Who Wishes He Could Be Leader rather than Actual Leader. Along with the fact that, well, who could take a total class clown like him seriously as a quote unquote 'leader'? Much less one in baseball: the one sport that he was doomed to forever suck in!

Junpei sat straight up and shook his head for a half-second to drown out the sudden onslaught of thoughts he had right then and there. This was the typical procedure of his mind: have a simple wondering thought float in, and then in came another thought about himself, and another thought, and another, until his brain was dizzying with inner thoughts like the tiny beads in a maraca.

Junpei let out what he officially dubbed a 'grigh' -a cross between a groan and a sigh-, and looked back down at his phone on the table. Now that he was attending yet another job, he shouldn't rely on the support of his senpai anymore, should he? But at the same time, considering that he was a Persona-user, was that even an option?

He picked his phone back up, despite the small flurry of thoughts flowing back into his head, and already opened up his list of contacts.

"You're hoping to only work part-time from now on?" The eloquent voice of Mitsuru Kirijo said with a spark of surprise. "This isn't because you're unsatisfied with your occupation of cleaning the dorm, is it Iori?"

"Nah Senpai, I already know how effective it is to try and negotiate with ya. I learned that the hard way after all." Junpei chuckled into the receiving end of his phone, remembering his chilling 'execution'. "It's mainly 'cause I just got hired for a different job yesterday."

"A different job?" Mitsuru asked curiously. "What would that be?"

Junpei's head lowered, and a twitch tugged at his mouth. "…Promise ya won't laugh?" He eventually asked, but didn't get a response back. Once a quiet minute had passed by, he took Mitsuru's silence as a yes. "…I just got hired as a Little League coach."

The silence continued, much to Junpei's astonishment. Usually when somebody said 'promise you won't laugh', that guaranteed at least a chuckle or a snicker underneath the other person's breath.

"Uh, Senpai?" Junpei soon asked, wondering if the reception died or something.

"And the schedule you were given conflicts with that of the Shadow Operatives I take it?" Mitsuru eventually replied.

"Oh! Um, yeah exactly." Junpei stuttered back.

A sigh could be heard from the other line. "Very well. You'll be dismissed from your Shadow Operative responsibilities unless the situation is dire."

"Yeah, I figured it was stupid of me to try and weasel my way out-…Wait, what now?!" Junpei spat into the receiver. "O-oh, sorry Senpai, I was just, um…"

"Don't apologize Iori." Mitsuru said, no doubt smirking on the other end. "While I am marginally disenchanted that our group is down one reliable fighter, I'm glad to hear that you've found a career that you'll enjoy. Especially one that you've decided to pursue on your own."

"H-huh…" Junpei had a bit of a hard time believing his ears, but at least it was the good kind of disbelief. "Uh…thanks Senpai."

"Merci Iori." Mitsuru replied in her natural tongue. "Make sure that your job performance is C'est Magnifique now."

"I got it Senpai; you can tone down on the French now." Junpei snarked back. With all of that said and done, Junpei flipped his phone closed and set it on the table, and planned to lie on the couch 'till he fell asleep, but when he tilted his head to the side, he saw the door to his old bedroom once again.

He still remembered what was in that room that kept him out, but for whatever reason, his eyes couldn't turn away from it. Neither could his feet, since they practically started moving on their own towards the door. A hand rested on the doorknob, fitzing it around left and right before taking in a breath, closing his eyes shut, and finally opened the door all the way.

When Junpei opened his eyes again, he was greeted by exactly what he expected; the dried bloodstain on the wooden floor left from his dad. Upon first sight, Junpei quickly raised a hand to cover his mouth from feeling his vomit stirring at the back of his throat.

He knelt down near the stain, and slowly lowered his hand towards the stain until his fingertips touched the surface: completely dry. He picked his hand back up, and rubbed his fingers together.

Memories flew in from every direction of his brain now. From first moving to the apartment in Iwatodai, to the hundredth game of 'Dodge the Broken Beer Bottle' they played when Junpei was moving into the dorm, and every fight filled with fucks coming left and right that happened in-between.

Junpei's hand curled into a loose fist, remembering how pissed off he constantly was. Every night after a fight, he felt like he came back from the toughest battle of his life, and returned covered in blood and piss to lick his wounds. Even when the old man wasn't around, just so much as an angry text from him or becoming the underdog of SEES (Even moreso than the actual dog) was enough to rekindle that feeling.

The moments he didn't feel like that as far as he can remember were the times with his best friends in SEES, his true love Chidori, and most recently, with Seicho.

Junpei stood back up, gently pressing his fingertips against his forehead. Suddenly, he had a better understanding on Maki's words about anger.

His eyelids were already halfway closed though, as a whole wave of drowsiness seemed to coat him from head to toe. With a glance to the left, he spotted his old bed, with the pillows perfectly aligned at the top, and the sheets even tucked into the sides. Before Junpei could wonder how his bed was so damn clean, he lifted all of the sheets up and laid right on the mattress, letting his head sink right into the comfy pillow. In but a few seconds, he fell asleep to the silent rhythm of his own heartbeat.

Puke spewed from the black wolf's mouth, its vomit filled with swirls of blood.

One ear had been chewed up, a front leg was nearly rendered to bones,

and patches of fur were ripped away to show the deep gashes on the skin.

The white wolf snarled and barked,

even with reopened wounds

and ceased to stop for as long as the black wolf was in sight.

In a frustrated growl,

the black wolf ran off into the forest,

as the white wolf finally hushed, and trotted along.

The black wolf would return as soon as it was healed,

just as the fog that shrouded all would always stay, no matter how much it thinned.

But the white wolf still stood, walked, and breathed.

It came to a stop at the tallest cliff there was,

with the sight of a magnificent lake, as the mist danced upon the water's surface.

The obsidian lips on the wolf's face ever so slightly curled into a smile,

right before letting out a haunting howl of everlasting beauty.

May 19, 2010

A set of fiddling fingers drummed on the many baseballs in the plastic crate as Junpei sat on one of the various benches placed around the school field, being the early bird again. As such, he had a quick perplexed look when he heard the heavy doors to the school building opening up, and a young girl walking through them.

Upon a second look at her, the young girl was Seicho, and Junpei's surprise turned to glee.

"Seicho!" Junpei happily called out with a wave to her, while Seicho came running towards him with the biggest smile on her face.

Upon where she didn't notice the smooth rock in the middle of the field, and soon fell right in the middle of the diamond with a face-full of dirt.

"ACK!" Junpei went into a small panic, and rushed right to Seicho's side to help her back up. "You okay Seicho? You didn't get scraped or cut anywhere, did ya?"

"Y-yeah, I'm okay." Seicho said once her mouth was free of dust and dirt that got in there, and stood back up smiling. "Thanks for helping me though."

Junpei couldn't help but chuckle, and smiled right back at her. "No problem, I'm just relieved that you're oka-" He didn't finish his sentence though, for he was interrupted by something lightly bopping him on the nose; said something being a baseball that a grinning Seicho was holding in her hand.

"AH CURSES!" Junpei bellowed with both arms up in the air and his hands shaking in utter defeat. "FOILED BY MY OWN SCHEME!"

Meanwhile, Seicho started laughing her head off at all of the sheer hamminess that was taking place.

Junpei soon joined in on the laughing as well, once he finished his burst of overacting. "What're ya doing here so early though Seicho? Don't tell me you're that excited now are ya?"

The edge of Seicho's mouth twitched a bit. "Well…yeah! Of course I am!" She responded with a quick smile.

Junpei however, didn't smile back; not after noticing that quick wince. "Is something still wrong?" He asked is a soft tone of voice, and squatted down next to her as well.

When Seicho was asked that, her smile soon faded, and Miss Gloomy who's Best Friends with the Floor was starting to make a comeback. "…My Mom and Dad were fighting a lot earlier, so Mom drove me here early…Dad's just given up."

"Given up?" Junpei asked. From the sound of it, her dad giving up hadn't been a good thing liked he wished it could be.

Seicho nodded. "…Given up on me." Alongside her desolate tone, her hands started to curl, and even shake.

Junpei wanted to say at least something to cheer her back up; maybe a 'At least you can play baseball now, right?' or a 'Well, it's good that your mom's helping you out.' but he didn't. Instead, he put a hand on Seicho's shoulder, and once she raised her head back up, kept perfect eye contact with her moistened eyes.

"…I'm sorry about all that Seicho." He told her dolefully, before soon showing an honest smile. "But I'm glad you were willing to tell me."

Despite Seicho's trembling hands and soggy eyes, she smiled right back at her new Little League coach, and just outright hugged him, complete with burying her face into his chest. At the same time, Junpei hugged her right back, and calmly rubbed her back once again.

"You wanna start off another game then?" He asked her during the hug.

The very minute Seicho heard that question, she pulled herself right out of Junpei's chest and nodded her head right at him with a bright smile. Her eyes were wet and puffy, making her look like a sad panda, but she couldn't care any less.

Junpei let out a chuckle again, and stood back up, with the baseball that Seicho used to 'tag him out' back in his hand and ready to be sent smoking again.

By the time the other kids arrived, the game was already in action, even with the staggering maximum of two people playing. As such, the introductions were instead glazed over for deciding who would be on whose team, and the game only continued from there. It was a bizarre first meet up for a Little League team, but nobody could deny that they had a good time; especially not Junpei himself.

He may not have suddenly become a pro baseball player, or the King of Shadow Slaying, but his life finally started to be looking up.

Junpei Iori, Persona 3 (C) Atlus