Minato's feet led him to the back alley of Paulownia mall , right in front of the door that leads into the velvet room . Somewhere deep in his mind , the thought of asking Igor and Elizabeth about the upcoming confrontation with Nyx was arising . However , it was quickly silenced the moment he was faced with the door .
" who am I kidding ?! I can't ask such a question ! "
He couldn't bring himself to open the door , what if they said it was indeed impossible to defeat Nyx ? What if the governors of power , who are the very ones helping Minato and Minako grow in strength , said that no amount of strength could defeat Nyx , what would be left for him ?
For the longest time , Minato's creed dictated that he would live his life apathetically without care to those around him , his world ended with his vision , sealed by his eyes that were fixated on the ground , and his ears that were closed off from the outside world by a pair of earphones . Whenever someone would ask him a question , he would most usually shrug and declare his disinterest . However , ever since last spring , his world began to open up , he met many people , he helped many of them , and had to fight some of them . His world became more varied , more complex and more precious . Now , he was told that the world he learned to cherish , with all those people he cared for , is going to end . Not only that , but he was given the choice of how the world would end .
He collapsed in front of the velvet door , and cried ...
After her failure to get a job in any other place , she had no choice but to go to that place . A girl with square glasses , long brown hair and trembling hands that pretty much dropped anything they hold in a matter of seconds . She stood nervously in front of the door to that little café in the alley behind Iwatodai mall , swallowed her fear , before she nervously stepped in . Immediately at the entrance , her senses abandoned her , as she stared at the many many cats that were flooding the store . Cold sweat began descending down from her forehead , and she felt her heart beating itself against her ribs from the panic .
" oh , a new customer ? "
" ahh !!! No ! Leave me alone !!! "
The girl screamed and ran out of the store as soon as someone addressed her . After a few minutes , she mustered up the needed courage to enter again . This time , she found the man who was addressing her cleaning the place , with the cats around him lounging and yawning lazily . He was a man in his fifties , but his face still seemed like that of a person who had abandoned all care and interest in the world around him . However, the girl didn't notice that , as she was too busy contemplating wether she had made a fool out of herself or not .
" coffee ? " he said nonchalantly
" n—no ! I ... I'm here for a job ... to ... to look after the cats ... "
" okay , you're hired "
" I'm a student in ... wait what ?! " the girl seemed confused " I'm ... I'm hired ... ? Just like that ? "
" yes ... it was my wife who insisted that I hire someone , I don't really care , myself " the man groaned tiredly " I'm Hiroshi Shirogane , but just call me Hiro or whatever floats your boat "
" okay , Shirogane-san ... I'm ... I'm Sumire Masen "
" Sumimasen ? " the man raised an eyebrow with confusion
" no , it's Sumire Masen " she embarrassedly corrected
" well , just don't get in the way of me preparing coffee , and I wouldn't mind your presence , Sumimasen "
" r—right ... " Sumire took a step forward , but in doing that she stepped on a cat's tail , and the screaming cat startled her , causing her to fall back onto the table that was behind her . She nervously stumbled upon herself and her words as she tried to stand up and apologize " I'm so sorry !!! "
However , by then the Hiroshi had disappeared in the kitchen , leaving her with the cats surrounding her curiously . While she was desperately trying to prevent herself from screaming , the front door was opened , and a blue-haired high schooler entered the café . Sumire immediately recognized the boy , with the earphones tightly snuggled in his ear , and his blue hair partially covering one of his eyes . That was definitely Minato .
" oh ! Arisato senpai ! " she exclaimed " is that you ? "
" what ?! " Minato was startled that someone recognized him " how ... how do you know who I am ?! "
" oh ... I ... well ... I'm your underclassman , my name is Sumire Masen " Sumire was disappointed that Minato didn't recognize her , but then there was no reason he would recognize her , when they've never even spoken to each other " I know we've technically never met , but you're famous in school . You're that student who caught the perverts that used to peek at girls in the school , and with your sister you stood up to Mr. Ekoda "
" I ... I see ... " Minato nervously replied " anyway, if anyone asks , I was never here ! It's embarrassing to admit that I frequent these places , okay ?! "
" I ... um ... okay ... "
" oh ... phones , you again ? " Hiroshi groaned as he peered his head from the kitchen , seemingly calling Minato by a nickname based on his earphones " the usual ? "
" Yup ... "
As Minato sat down on one of the chairs by the window , Sumire continued cleaning the café , occasionally freezing up every once in a while as a cat passed by her , and breaking into cold sweat whenever a cat purred and rubbed its furry body against her leg . She was just glad that Minato didn't notice it , and tried her best to continue her work .
" agh ! My back ! " Hiroshi screamed in the kitchen " agh ! Damn it , son of a bitch back ! Agh ! "
" Shirogane-san ?! " Sumire hurried to the kitchen , and she found him clutching his back in front of the cupboard " wh—what happened ?! "
" what... do you think ... happened ?! " Hiroshi glared at her " I pulled my back ! Why ?! All I did was reach out for the goddamn coffee bean jar !!! "
" m—maybe you should close the café for today ? "
" and then I'll never hear the end of it from my wife ! She's gonna go on and on about hiring employees and all that load of bull ! " Hiroshi glared at her for a second , before saying " you know how to make black coffee , right ? "
" I ... I think so .... ? "
" great , make that kid a cup of coffee or you're fired ! " Hiroshi said decidedly as he painstakingly walked out of the kitchen
" f—f—f—fired ?! "
Sumire couldn't possibly afford to lose that job , so she hurriedly tried to prepare a cup of black coffee for Minato . To say that was easier said than done would be an understatement , as Sumire found herself breaking thirteen cups in the process of preparing coffee for all sorts of reasons , from the very first cup she broke because she bumped her head in the door of the cupboard when she picked it up , to dropping a cup from her hand because it was too hot , to accidentally spilling hot coffee on herself while she was trying to open the door . Each time she would break something , she would apologize to basically no one , as she was alone in the room . She was a mess , and she turned the kitchen into a mess as well . In the end , the simple act of preparing a cup of black coffee in a serviceable state required completely breaking a coffee machine , shattering more than ten cups , and an hour and a half of trial and failure .
However , in the end , when she finally managed to bring the coffee to Minato , she tensed up as she saw him surrounded by cats . Truth be told , that was the only reason Minato managed to wait that long for one black cup of coffee . In fact , the coffee was just a side treat for him , as the main reason he came to that place was to be surrounded by lazy cats cuddling , purring and yawning . Unfortunately , that blissful experience was about to be interrupted harshly , as Sumire tried to approach him despite the cats surrounding him , she ended up stepping on the tail of one of the cats , causing it to freak out and startle her , and she ended up throwing the cup in the air in her panic , which landed right on top of Minato .
" check , please ... " Minato grumbled
—————————————
Minato just sat there , with the hot coffee dripping from his head and onto his clothes . He was wondering how was it possible that his life was going deeper and deeper down in the deep end , to the point that even relaxing with a cat on his lap was too much to ask for . Then there was Sumire , who had collapsed into a teary mess , making the situation that much more awkward for him . Was it not enough that the world is going to end ? Was it really necessary to rob Minato of his sweet time that he spends by himself surrounded by cats ?
" please don't fire me ! Please don't fire me ! Please don't fire me ! " Sumire sobbed
" why do I even bother ... " Minato sighed , once again he just couldn't force himself to ignore the situation , so he approached the crying girl and gently asked " do you want to talk about what's upsetting you ? "
" A—Arisato ... senpai ? "
" I mean ... I won't have a relaxing time for myself , anyway , so I might as well listen to what's troubling you " Minato mumbled it's not like I have the entire world on my back already !
" th—thank you ... " Sumire nervously stood up " let ... let me get you a ... "
" thanks , but I'll pass ... " Minato said annoyedly , thinking that , with her clumsiness , she would have the entire café collapse on his head the next time she trips " so tell me , what's wrong ? "
**********************
Yet another original social link , this time it's Minato and his secret free time in the cat café ! Ever since it was pointed out that I should have original social links , and also the suggestion of having one in the cat café that Minato frequented , I've been planning this . However , having a social link build from scratch is a lot easier said than done , so sorry if it took so long .
I already know that it won't be nearly as good as anything Atlus had organized in their new Persona games , but I'm counting on it being at least better than the social links in the mail route for Persona 3 . As much as I loved Persona 3 , the social links in them can be a bit rigid , more specifically for the male route , and there are a few that I absolutely couldn't bear through the first time I played it . It was the first game that they had social links in after all , and you can see how far they've come just by comparing the male and the female routes . This social link is specifically trying to replace the Nozomi ( Gourmet king ) social link .
Another thing I want to talk about is Sumire Masen , and no ... she has no relation or connection to anyone in Persona 5 Royal. I'm sure her manager gave away the secret behind her name , but I'll mention it here regardless . Her name is meant to be a play on the Japanese word ( phrase ? ) " Sumimasen " , which is for apologizing , because she's clumsy and tends to get herself in awkward situations a lot , so she tends to apologize a lot . Original , I wanted to name her Gomé Nasai , but I decided Sumire was much lovelier of a name , not to mention I know that such a name existed in Japanese .
Anyway , if you enjoyed this part , please consider voting for it , and don't forget to comment your thoughts regarding the changes I plan to make for Persona 4 in my fanfiction , and for more stories and updates , please consider following me , and I'll see you in the next part . Stay safe