So this was supposed to be a oneshot, and haha, never mind, it's a fucking multichapter fic that I might never continue, and I am so sorry that I am trash.

Protagshipping is a wonderful thing. The reason why I wrote this was because I was inspired by a picture made by chimelon on Tumblr, who is a fantastic artist you guys should follow and rejoice their beautiful artwork! Also, look, this is my first Persona fic! I'm trying to touch on all of the fandoms I want to go to before reverting back to my Vocaloid fics, so yeah, this will be fun.

Oh, and Souji is 14 in here, but he'll be 16 by at least Chapter 3. If I update this. -nervous laughter-

If there are any mistakes, please inform me! I'm not the best author, so I need readers to tell me my grammar mistakes!

EDIT: So, chimelon actually let me use their fanart as the cover of this story! Kudos to them! You can check the cover art on my profile.

Without a further ado, I hope you enjoy this fanfiction of mine!

Souji thought he should have a say in matters that involved his personal life as would anyone. He was at the prime age of fourteen, after all. He had grown from those days of being immature to... well, for lack of a better word, mature. Fourteen was the age of transitioning from some random kid recklessly biking through tall fields of grass to a well-respected adult who had their work cut out for them.

His parents, however, thought otherwise.

Apparently, his parents were moving. Again. They were always absorbed with their careers, he had to admit, but constantly moving because of their work was a hassle he could live without. His parents left to their new home before him due to circumstances (although they did bring his luggage with them, so that was something already taken care of), and Souji had to travel to his new home on his own through the means of public transportation.

That explained why he was crammed in the corner of a subway car with some portly, hideous business man.

The silver-haired boy shifted uncomfortably in the overbearing crowd, trying to make some room for himself, but the business man didn't leave that much breathing space. The strong scent of cigars stuck to the man, making it even harder to breathe than it already was. As discreetly as he could, Souji coughed into his hand and wiped it on his dress pants.

How long would he exactly have to deal with this? An hour already passed, but he swore at least ten of them already came along. Your stop is only two hours away, he reminded himself. Only two more hours.

Luckily, Souji was later freed from the tyrannical man (not really tyrannical, but he stunk like he spent his free time literally bathing in cigars while also smoking one) once the man's stop came, and after swatting away with his hand, he breathed in the fresh air, reveling in it. I will never take you for granted ever again, he thought appreciatively.

He sighed once he stopped praising the fresh air the train was somehow able to emit and instead focused on the crowd pouring in and out of the subway. Grayish-white eyes flickered from the people rushing in to fill up seats to wait, was that an empty spot?

God really does exist, huh.

Before any one else flooded in from the subway station, Souji's legs worked like lightning and dashed to the empty seat a few steps in front of him. Passengers peeked at the running fourteen-year-old before resuming whatever they were doing, the young teenager internally squirming under their gaze. Plopping in between two strangers, he finally had the opportunity to relax and enjoy the rest of the ride. He rolled his shoulders, the tension fading away, and waited for the subway car to start.

A few moments passed, and the subway car began moving again once the metallic doors slammed shut, emanating a noisy, mechanical groan. Souji was careful to not be swayed into bumping into the passengers he shared seats with. At least he wouldn't have to make small talk with them, most likely. That business man had questioned him about the weather, unleashing the worst morning breath Souji ever smelled in his life. But the people next to him didn't reek of toxins, so...

Curious, he looked over his shoulder and saw an old lady with a hunched over back, a peaceful expression on her face. Her silver, almost-violet hair was tied up in a bun that defied gravity, like wisps of a thin stream of smoke reaching for the sky. She wore a brown shawl over a navy blue yukata to keep herself warm. In her lap was a round calico cat, snoozing away among the ruckus of passengers chatting and feet hitting the ground, although he had no idea how she snuck in a cat at the subway station.

… Not like Souji minded, of course.

It would be a lie to say that the fourteen-year-old wanted to pull out his phone and take a picture of the feline right next to him.

The corners of the teenager's lips twitched upwards, and the granny, taking notice of the boy next to her, returned it with a wrinkly smile. Souji grinned back, albeit awkward and not as warm of a smile as the one before, and quickly redirected his gaze to his folded hands.

There was no way the fourteen-year-old would tell her that he was smiling at the extremely adorable cat napping in her lap and not at the old lady herself.

To avoid any more awkwardness from that old lady, he switched his focus to the passenger on his right. The one next to him was another teenager, who looked to be the age of about sixteen, with hair as glossy as gold but with the color of the darkest depths of the oceans. Souji could already tell that even though this guy was probably older than him by at least two years, he had a thinner build than most people. His eyes were closed, with one of them hiding behind a lock of hair, so God only knows what color they are, but he imagined them to match his hair or to be something completely unexpected, like bright red.

At first glance, the teenager looked like he was sleeping, but he was at least half-conscious, with slender fingers drumming lightly against his knee as he listened to whatever music his MP3 player provided.

Maybe he likes Beethoven. Souji side-eyed the stranger more, studying his face. Or alternative rock? I don't listen to music that often, so I wouldn't really know…

The stranger sat still as a bat, with the exception of his tapping fingers, and the fourteen-year-old gladly enjoyed his and the cat's company over the sweaty and paunchy man he had to deal with for what seemed to be years.

Taking a closer look at the stranger's clothes, he recognized the white undershirt and black ribbon to be apart of Gekkoukan High's uniform for males. Along with the stranger's slacks, black shoes, and belt, he was probably a student from that high-profile academy. All he was missing was the jacket, and then the uniform would be complete.

If I'm in Iwatodai for two years, then I would be wearing that uniform... A dry laugh slipped from his mouth before resting his head back. ... That isn't likely, though.

Time ticked by slowly. Strangers flew in and out of the subway, with men and women lugging around thick suitcases and parents holding their children close to themselves so they wouldn't be devoured in the crowd. The old lady later hobbled off, her age showing in the way she moved, and Souji was almost tempted to wave goodbye to the cat but held back the urge. Instead, he flashed a small smile, and the cat let out a little mewl of delight.

Scratch that. He ended up waving to the cat anyway.

Right after the old lady left, a girl with bubblegum-pink dyed hair, who appeared to be about the age of twelve, sat near Souji, their shoulders knocking against each other, and flipped through her contacts on her phone with no word of apology. He didn't deny the fact that he missed the cat, but as long as he wasn't being bothered too badly, then he didn't mind anyone's presence.

The blue-haired stranger, unlike the elder lady and the feline, was still besides him, quieter than before. His legs were spread out, probably taking up more space than needed, and Souji forced his legs together in response. With the stranger's head leaned back and all, it would be easy to mistake him as—

Oh.

No one really touched Souji. It wasn't as if he was magically cursed or anything; It was only something that never really happened. Because of his parents, moving around became such a familiar activity and making friends just wasn't. So no, there weren't any friendly slaps on the back after shooting hoops or wrestling matches over who gets to be the first player in a video game. It was just obnoxious laughter and maybe that one rare highfive he'd get after letting his classmates copy his math homework.

His parents weren't any better. His parents were loving, sure, but that didn't stop them from working to the point until they didn't see Souji as often as they could have—should have. The last time the silver-haired teen remembered when he received a hug from his dad was at the age of six, and that was practically nine years ago.

Souji wasn't used to anyone touching him, so when he felt soft hairs tickling his neck, he was surprised, to the say the least.

Apparently, the stranger was sleeping. On Souji's shoulder. In a public place.

It was impossible to stop the rising heat in his face. Fidgeting under the sudden weight on his shoulder, he spluttered, "Um, I, uh, you're—"

A quiet snore interrupted him mid-sentence.

This was almost like those romantic scenes in shoujo manga. The love interest would accidentally fall asleep on the heroine's shoulder, and the heroine, with colored cheeks, would think at that moment, 'Wow, I never knew he was so cute until now...'

Maybe in a shoujo manga the love interest would be sparkling in the eyes of the youthful heroine. Maybe he would smell like the flowery shampoo he had to use because his normal bottle was empty, and the only substitute he had was his little sister's. Maybe the heroine would tuck loose strands of hair behind his ear, and try to kiss him on the cheek before he woke. And maybe, he would wake up at the gentle touch of hers and slowly leaned in to close the distance.

This was a bit different.

First and foremost, Souji was definitely not a cliché heroine from some cheesy romantic comedy. If anything, he was the protagonist of a rated E show that would get cancelled in a week or two due to poor reception. His life was sadly that boring.

Second of all, whoever was nuzzling against his neck smelled less like girly shampoo and more of the yakisoba bread you'd find being sold in a school cafeteria. … Not like Souji minded, anyway. It may have been the embarrassment of some guy sleeping on him or the awkward stares he received from strangers getting to his head, but the young teenager rather liked the scent of freshly packed bread sold at cheap prices. Plus, the scent of yakisoba bread would beat the stench of cigars any day of the year.

That didn't solve his problem, though. His mind proceeded to run rampant, thoughts accumulating wildly. He inwardly sighed. Should I just lend my shoulder to whoever this stranger was or shake him awake? But that would be a pretty rude thing to do to someone that meant no harm...

There was a high chance that Souji wasn't all too mature than he thought he was, because his imagination, without warning, suddenly let loose at full force.

Maybe the guy was having one of those days, he pondered, like he got laid off his part-time job, and now he's job-hopping to pay for a crippling debt. Maybe he only had few hours of sleep due to an exam he was studying ten hours for, and he ended up getting a 20 on it. Or maybe he was a transfer student like me and he was suffering with family problems and the concept of making friends.

Eyes fluttered shut, and the stranger seemed like the smartest person in the universe at that moment to a still immature Souji; Napping sounded like a fantastic idea and an excellent way to get rid of your problems.

Souji almost didn't notice the smile creeping up his face as he lost consciousness. Maybe he's like me.

"So, you lent me your shoulder to use as a pillow because I was napping, and then you fell asleep with me?"

Okay, so maybe sleeping on a subway car wasn't the best idea, after all.

The silver-haired teenager opened his mouth, closed it, and repeated this action a few times before letting out an embarrassed sigh. "Yeah," he answered, rubbing his neck in a sheepish manner.

The stranger blinked at him, hands in his pockets. "Huh."

Azure orbs bored into shining gray eyes, as if the stranger was trying to glare holes into Souji's head. The mysterious person's eyes matched his hair, sure, but unlike his hair which was a soothing blue, swallowing its victims up like the waves of the deep ocean, his eyes were dull and uninteresting.

Almost like a blunt pencil, the fourteen-year-old noted.

Rummaging through his pockets, the stranger pulled out a flip phone, with a surprisingly cute key charm hanging from it, and stared at the screen before returning it. "It's ten already."

"Sorry," was the only reply from Souji, staring down at his shoes. He missed his stop, but wherever the two were, he knew he had to be at least somewhere near Iwatodai, or so his hopeful self told him. He had no clue where the stranger was heading towards though, and a slight pang of guilt itched the silver-haired boy for his careless actions.

"My place is only in the next town over, so I'll call a taxi to pick me up," the stranger immediately answered, as if to soothe the fourteen-year-old's thoughts, brushing it off as if it was nothing. "How about you?"

It occurred to Souji that he probably shouldn't tell this guy he only met—and shared a nap with, his mind added, ever so eager to be of help—where he was heading to, but it was late at night, and he was sure that this guy wasn't bad. Maybe napping with the guy made him feel a little more trustworthy, even if he didn't know his name.

"I'm going to Iwatodai," Souji responded.

Something lit up in the stranger's eyes, dull blue transitioning to a glowing sapphire, like polished jewels. The fourteen-year-old squinted at the person in front of him. Suddenly, this person had changed from a guy he barely knew to someone he didn't have the slightest who they were in under five seconds. Cerulean orbs shone bright, like a small flame flickering from a melting candlestick in a dark, serene night.

And then, they switched back to that uninteresting blue again, the color they were when he met the guy. He felt pretty disappointed at how quick the sight lasted.

"I'm going there as well," the stranger commented, his tone of voice nonchalant, before adding—

Then was that a flicker of recognition?

"Do you want to share a taxi with me?"

It took a few moments before Souji had registered what the mysterious person said.

"What?" he uttered, a perplexed expression on his face.

"Do you want to share a taxi with me?" the stranger repeated. Although Souji had no right to say this, but whoever this was had a face that was practically emotionless, almost as if he was a chiseled statue. "If you don't have money, I'll pay for your fare, too."

It took a few moments and a lot of incoherent noises in his brain before he was able to stammer, "... I would appreciate it."

Well, any grammar mistakes? If so, please tell me!

So, who was the old lady and the girl sitting next to Souji? If you tell me their names, maybe I'll update quicker...

That ends it for the first chapter. Until next time, Persona fans!