#and that Yu was the reason he started liking Inaba and the place he was in because its not about where he was and it's about who hes with

[daily-hanamura]

#p4 #p4g #persona 4 #persona 4 golden #souyo #hanamura yosuke #yosuke hanamura #you and i are what? FINISH THAT SENTENCE YOSUKE #didnt you mean to tell yu that the two of you are alike? that the two of you need/have/relate to each other? #i think this scene needs to be understood with his slink rank on the hill where he tells yu that he's special #TO HIM #and that Yu was the reason he started liking Inaba and the place he was in because its not about where he was and it's about who hes with #and for Yu to reciprocate here and say that he was settling in to inaba as well #yosuke coming really close to just straight up saying that they were each others raison d'etre that they're each others catalyst #everyday im obsessed with how yu arrived in inaba with the intention of keeping his distance?? how he watched on without genuine interaction #and then he pulls yosuke out of the trash can and then hes following yosuke back into the tv world and he has a real friend now and I JUST #IM INCONSOLABLE #anyway this scene is so souyo and for what atlus?? FOR WHAT #he's good with his queue

[emeyuko]

Not to rant about a very flawed game but Yosuke Hanamura's struggle is more than just "i am bored", his boredom isn't just bc he was stucked in a town in the middle of the nowhere, but bc he felt lonely and treated like trash by lots of people. In his social link number 9, he starts talking about how he felt about Inaba and how he loves It now "this town i hated so much? Now i love It, there's still nothing in here but i have family, friends and you" making it more clear, and another thing is when he talks about Konishi.

The reason why he got attached to her was bc he made him feel like he had someone and realize he should care less about what people think of him, and even if It wasn't genuine, she never openly judged him, like if he didn't felt fully lonely thanks to her, he always wanted to be "special" to someone, that's why he wanted her to give him a chance, to know her better, all of this was more like finding a place where he could feel a sense of belonging, he couldn't feel a sense of belonging at first in inaba bc he felt *lonely*.

His attachement towards Yu/Souji, is smth extremely similar to his relathionship with Konishi, i would say he did even more for Yosuke than Konishi did, he didn't only saw his real struggles and did everything to keep him safe from them but he also actually finds him likeable and the only one in the team (except maybe Teddie?) That tolerates him, he feels safe and comfortable with him, and it's shown multiple, how he tells him he doesn't need to be the funny clown of the group when he's alone with him, he can be just Yosuke (and then some people say him liking Yu would make no sense smh).

And my issue with Yosuke's character is similar to what happends to how the girls treats Naoto or how Yosuke himself treats Kanji, the team barely tolerates him, he's only truly close to Yu and he barely opens up, as well as getting constanly insulted, you may say he can be an ass too and you are right, but this doesn't justificate some of your friends (ehemCH*Eehem) telling to your face how unlikeable you are and how no one would likes you, when your character main conflict is about how you act happy and carefree bc you are afraid of being alone, that people would abandon you for your personality. Persona 4 has the tendency of not taking seriously his entire main cast after they accepted their shadows and that's a big problem

#seriously tho Yosuke is like my fav character #but i feel so little people truly understands him #it's a shame #yosuke hanamura #otp: my heat inside #souyo #short of??? #like i could talk about Yu and Konishi parallels all day lmao

[quil12]

Souyo + coming out? If you're still taking requests

So, you're saying that it's been 7 months... Yep... Sounds about right. I did write it though! So there is good news now!

"Yu, I don't know about this," Yosuke said from where he was sitting on their bed. 

"You were the one who was all gung-ho about it yesterday."

He leaned back, sighing. "I know, but that was yesterday."

Yu came over, sitting down next to him, placing a hand on his leg. "We don't have to if you don't want to."

"We don't have to, but we probably should, right?"

"They're all people who care about us."

He nodded, sitting back up. "Yeah, it's just kinda terrifying."

"I know it is. Are you almost ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's do this."

The both of them stood up from the bed, heading to the door of the apartment. They were about to drive down to Inaba to go see their friends and family. It was summer break so they had time off of university classes. 

They had been talking about it a lot in the past month or so and had come to an agreement. 

They were going to tell everyone that they were dating. 

The mere thought of that terrified him to no end. A large part of him wanted to keep this as a secret for the rest of his life, but, at the same time, he knew that that wasn't what Yu wanted. He wanted the people close to them to know that they were together. He understood that to some extent, but that didn't mean that he wasn't still terrified. 

The two of them made it out to the car, getting in. They could have easily taken the train, but they were staying there for a week, so it would be nice to be able to have a way to get around the countryside if they wanted. 

Yosuke insisted on driving - it calmed him down to be able to focus on doing that - and then they were on their way. 

It was only about a two hour drive, but it was nice the entire time. He really loved just spending time with Yu, talking to him about whatever crossed his mind. It would be fun to go on a road trip with him at some point. Maybe to go a lot further than Inaba. 

Before long, they got to the small town. He really loved living in the city, but he had also missed Inaba. There were so many memories associated with it - some bad, but the majority good. He didn't think that he'd want to move back there anytime soon, but he was glad to have the opportunity to visit. 

The first place they went to was the Dojima residence. He was just going to drop Yu off there, then head to his parent's house. That was another reason why it would be nice to have everyone know they were a couple. It would be weird if they were to stay in the same room as just friends, especially when they both had a place to stay in town. 

He pulled up in front of the house. "All right. I'll see you in a bit then?"

Yu nodded, reaching over, and taking hold of his hand, squeezing it. "And if you decide that you don't want to do it, we don't have to."

He took a deep breath. "Right."

"Just let me know, okay?"

"Yeah."

He gave him a small smile. "Text me when you start heading over."

"Okay, I will."

With that, Yu got out of the car, grabbing his things, before heading to the door. He waited until he got inside before heading toward his parent's house. 

They were having a get-together with everyone at the Dojima Residence that evening, but he wanted to go drop off his things and get settled first. He was also going to be bringing Teddie with him and he was genuinely looking forward to seeing him. 

He quickly reached the house - it wasn't that far - and pulled into the driveway. 

As soon as he parked, the front door swung open, and Teddie came barreling out toward him.

"Yosuke!" His voice was muffled through the car.

He unbuckled his seat belt, then opened the door, quickly stepping out. "Hey, Ted."

Immediately, he crashed into him, wrapping his arms tightly around him.

He couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips as he hugged him back.

"You were gone for so long. I thought I was never gonna see you again."

"It's been like two months."

"That's basically an eternity."

"Whatever you say." He pushed on his shoulder. "C'mon. I wanna go put my stuff inside and then we can go to see Yu."

Teddie immediately pulled away, a glint in his eye as he went to open the car door, pulling out his bag. "Hurry up. I want to go see Sensei."

Yosuke went and grabbed the rest of his things and they went inside, greeting his parents. Right. He was going to have to tell them too. That wasn't going to be fun. He was going to save it until Yu was there with him though. 

He followed Teddie up to his old room - it was really Teddie's room now. He had told him to do what he wanted with it once he left for college. 

He set everything down and then Teddie was pulling on his arm, telling him that they needed to get going. 

He put up a small bit of resistance - going there meant everything was all the closer - but eventually let in, texting Yu that they were coming, then starting the walk over. 

It wasn't that long of a walk and Teddie was chatting to him the entire time, telling him about everything that had happened over the past few months. Despite everything, he really had missed him. 

It wasn't long before they were walking up to the Dojima Residence, knocking on the door. 

After a few seconds, it opened, Yu standing there, immediately getting leaped on by Teddie. 

"Sensei! You're here."

"Hey, Teddie."

"It's no fair that Yosuke gets to see you all the time."

Yu let out a small laugh. "Well, maybe you can come and visit us sometime."

Yosuke groaned. Why had he offered that? Now that the idea was in his head, he might decide to just come and show up unannounced like he had done on the school trip.

"What? You don't want him to come?"

Teddie let out an over dramatic gasp. "Yosuke?"

"You can come, you just have to let us know beforehand."

Teddie hummed. "All right."

With that, they headed inside. No one else was there yet except for Nanako and Dojima. They exchanged greetings before going over and sitting around the low table in the living room. 

There was a lot of talking as everyone got caught up with everyone else. Nanako, in particular, seemed excited to tell them all about everything she was doing.

Before long though, everyone else started filtering in until the room was full of their friends.

Now that everyone was here in the room, his stomach was turning. What was going to happen if they found out? Would they hate them? He hoped not, but part of him never wanted to actually find out. 

He was lost in those thoughts when, all of a sudden, Chie touched his shoulder, her brow furrowed in concern. “Hey, Yosuke? Are you okay?”

He blinked. “What? I’m fine. Never better.”

She frowned. “O-kay. You just seemed distracted.”

“Oh, uh, I guess I’m just tired.”

She didn’t seem fully convinced, but luckily, she didn’t push him on it. 

He took a deep breath.

Yu caught his attention from across the room. He was giving him a questioning look, his head slightly tilted to the side.

He bit his lip. He really didn’t know if he wanted to do this or not. The anxiety was churning in his stomach, a sense of dread hanging over him. 

Yu stood. “Yosuke, can I talk to you?”

He took a sharp breath, standing as well. “Oh, yeah.”

Luckily, no one seemed too concerned as he followed him up the stairs and into his old room. It was slightly better in there. In the relative privacy where the thoughts of coming out to everyone seemed further away.

“Are you okay?” Yu asked, laying his hand on his cheek.

He looked down at the ground. “I just… I don’t know if I can do this.”

Yu gently ran his thumb beneath his cheekbone. “We don’t have to. I don’t want to do it if you’re not comfortable.”

He frowned, biting his lip. “But you want this, right? You want everyone to know.”

Yu hesitated. “I do, but-”

Yosuke turned away from him, taking a deep breath. Yu wanted this. He deserved to have it. He deserved to have something that he wanted. 

He opened the door, stepping out into the hallway.

“Yosuke? What are you doing?” Yu called from his room.

He was right behind him as he walked down the stairs, stopping in the entrance to the living room.

He opened his mouth before he could think about it. “Yu and I are dating.”

The once upbeat din of conversation pittered out, everyone turning to look at him. 

His face was on fire. “Just wanted to tell everyone.”

Nanako was the first one to speak, a look of excitement on her face. “Does that mean that you’re going to get married?”

“That’s not fair!” Teddie said. “I wanna marry Sensei.”

Yu took a step forward, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. “No one’s getting married, but, like Yosuke said, we are dating. You’re all people that we care about so we decided that we wanted to let everyone know.”

“Congratulations, Senpai!” Rise said from her spot on the couch, a wide smile on her face.

There was a similar sentiment from everyone around the room. 

Everyone was being so supportive. Even though he had been kind of expecting it, relief swept through his body.

He didn’t even realize he had started crying until a teardrop dripped down off of his cheek.

He immediately brought his hand up, wiping at his eyes with his sleeve.

Teddie let out a concerned sounding noise. “Yosuke, why are you crying?”

He took a deep breath. “I’m not crying, stupid bear.”

Yu wrapped an arm around his shoulders, leading him over to the couch. 

As they were sitting down, Chie let out a wolf whistle, smiling.

His face felt hot. “Hey!”

She laughed.

The rest of the day passed by much the same. Talking and laughing without any fear and uncertainty hanging over them. 

He still had to tell his parents, but somehow, now, that idea didn’t seem so bad.

#souyo #fanfiction #i did try to play this mostly seriously #at least in peoples reactions #except for one joke at the end lmao

[doctor-yamagishi]

Unwanted Attention: New Beginnings

Part 1 of P4 Verse.

Yu got on the train toward Inaba. It was such a strange feeling to be leaving a place he was so familiar with, but there wasn't much he could do. His parents constantly kept on the move with their jobs, that he was surprised that he managed to remain at his prior school for as long as he did.

Resting his bag on the shelf of the train, he would bring himself to idly staring out the window, watching the scenery pass by as the train started toward the Yasoinaba Station. There was several stops in between where he got on and where he would get off. Each stop would have people board and unboard as they arrived at their destination.

"Yu?" A voice inquired, steeped in curiosity as Yu could feel someone looking at him which tore him away from his gazing. Turning toward the center of the train, a young woman with blonde hair and grey eyes was looking in his direction, but seeing that she hadn't accidentally mistook a stranger for her cousin, a smile grew on her face as she made her way to the seat opposite of Yu.

The woman would set her bag on the shelf before taking a seat. "It's been a while, do you recognize me?" The woman inquired calmly yet sweetly.

Whether it was due to Yu not speaking much or him being unable to recognize the face opposite of him. The situation didn't perturb the young woman who would only let out a small playful laugh as she shakes her head. "As chatty as always, Yu. It's Madoka, your cousin." Madoka would apparently have to reintroduce herself, but the name immediately lit a light for Yu, who would immediately recognize the name.

"You had to transfer cause your parents went overseas too?" Madoka inquired. Yu would nod his though it was as much of a sore spot for him as it was for her.

"Guess we're in the same boat. On the bright side, we get to see uncle Ryotaro after so long." Madoka followed up, wanting to see the silver lining of the crowd. A small smile would form on Yu's face as he nods his head.

"It'll be some time before we arrive, so how about we talk about what we've been doing?" Madoka offered, wanting to use the available time to catch up with her cousin. Who knows if they will have as much available time in the future. Yu would nod his head and the two would begin to talking about the comings and goings in their lives up to the current point.

At the Dojima household, Nanako and Ryotaro would stare at the tv screen, examining the weather and news for the upcoming days. Examining the clock that was part of the program, Ryotaro realized the time and turned toward Nanako. "Guess we better get going." Ryotaro states and Nanako would shake her head.

"Next stop: Yasoinaba. Next stop: Yasoinaba. All passengers departing please exit the opposite doors." The train announcing system declares ending the discussion between Yu and Madoka.

"That's our stop." Madoka states as she and Yu both stand up and grab their belongings. Once the train arrives at the station, Madoka and Yu would both walk out of the station. "Over here." Ryotaro calls out to Yu and Madoka.

"Hello uncle Dojima." Madoka greets with a smile over at her uncle, though Ryotaro was surprised to see Madoka was at the station also. He could only recall a message saying that Yu would be arriving for a year.

"Madoka, why are you here? Not that I am not happy to see you." Ryotaro inquires, the cigarette in his mouth close to falling out as he tried to piece together her motive for being here.

"Um, the same reason as Yu." Madoka responds, though she wasn't keen about remembering the surrounding situation. Upon returning home yesterday, she discovered that the door was locked with a note from her parents. Her clothes were already packed for her and on top was her train ticket. Not like she had any real connection back home and at least here she had people she could consider family.

Ryotaro would open his phone and check through his messages. After combing through the messages several times, he still failed to notice any message mentioning Madoka. "Sorry Madoka, I wasn't expecting you." Ryotaro attempts to apologize for not being prepared for her appearance.

"It's alright uncle Ryotaro." Madoka answers, a calm smile on her face as she shakes his head. I wasn't expecting to be here until yesterday. She thought to herself before shaking her mind free of the negative to try and focus, hopeful that Uncle Ryotaro is a better parent than hers are.

"This is my daughter, Nanako." Ryotaro states as he lightly pushes Nanako slightly in front of him. "Come on Nanako, say hi to your cousins." Ryotaro states softly looking at Nanako.

".....lo." Nanako states anxiously, keeping her gaze down at her feet.

"Hello Nanako, it's nice to meet you." Madoka states sweetly, hoping to try and be friendly with Nanako. Nanako would quickly move behind Ryotaro, who would only let out a playful laugh.

"Looks like someone's a bit nervous." Ryotaro joked, causing Nanako to lightly smack his back. "Ow, haha." Ryotary would laugh it off.

"Nanako, would it be alright if Madoka stays with your in your room?" Ryotaro inquires over at Nanako.

".....Okay." Nanako responds dejected and keeping her gaze still at the ground.

"Sorry if the car is a bit cramped, it's this way. One of you can sit in the front, the other can be with Nanako in the back." Ryotaro states before him and Nanako make their way toward Ryotaro's car.

"You can take the front Yu. I will take this time to try and talk with Nanako." Madoka states, looking over at Yu, who would nod his head before the pair makes their way toward Ryotaro's car.

On the way, Yu would drop the paper with the Dojima's address, which Marie would pick up. "You dropped this?" Marie states bluntly, causing both Yu and Madoka to turn. While Yu was the one who dropped it, Madoka would be the one to walk over to Marie. "Thank you miss." Madoka states her gratitude.

"Whatever, I just picked it up." Marie states dismissively before continuing on her way.

Madoka would take a moment to try and figure out what she did to deserve that response before just letting it go and turning her attention to Yu. "Here you go, Yu." She would return the sheet of paper before the pair resume their walk to the car.

Meanwhile, at Tatsumi Port Island at the Kirijo Group, a young man with deep blue hair and emerald eyes was standing in front of a director.

"Yasanobu, there was a request made by the Inaba Municipal Hospital for additional workers. Given that while the city itself is small, the hospital is also small and that their budget is tight. To maximize the benefit for them in terms of service and to maximize a possibility of future partnership, we can only send one person, but that person has to be a skilled and efficient worker. You are the best fit. This also will give you experience in a different location with different requirements." The director states with a heavy appreciation for Yasonobu's skills and experience within the Tatsumi Port Island Hospital.

"......" Yasonobu would wait and listen for something to respond to, but would otherwise not respond.

The director was aware of this eccentric part of Yasonobu's personality. He was always willing to speak about work and doing his job, but was more willing to bite his own tongue than to talk about anything personal.

"So are you willing to make the move? The Municipal Hospital has agreed to accept whoever we send over." The director inquires. There wasn't much of a reason for Yasonobu to decline, but he had already had alternative options, though there would be a sharp decline in ability if Yasonobu wasn't sent.

"Yes." Yasonobu states though it was hard to tell if he wanted to make the move or not based on an apathetic tone.

"Wonderful." The director states happy with the response, though not like he could really penalize Yasonobu. Moving wasn't something that he could force.

"Anything else?" Yasonobu inquires.

"We'll provide you the information regarding the train ticket and have already found a place for you to live while you are there." The director states. "You are free to go. Thank you for accepting."

Yasonobu will nod his head before turning and walking away.

Arriving at the gas station, all four doors of the car will open. "Need to fill up the tank. Take some time to stretch before we get back on the road." Dojima states.

"I need to use the bathroom." Nanako states as the station attendant walks over.

"Regular." Ryotaro states.

"Right away sir." The attendant states before turning their attention to Nanako. "The bathroom is on the left. Do you know which way is left?" They inquire.

"I know." Nanako gripes before going into the store to use the bathroom as the attendant walks over to Yu and Madoka.

"You two come from the city?" The attendant inquires to which both Yu and Madoka nod. "There's not much to do in a place like this." The attendant states before walking over to Yu.

"If you have any free time, you can always work here." The attendant says before going to shake Yu's hand after which they will walk over to Madoka.

"It might not be much, but please consider us if you need to make a bit of money." The attendant adds on before going to shake Madoka's hand.

"Thank you for the offer, don't worry, we will. At least I will." Madoka responds with an affirmative nod of her head.

"It is appreciated. I need to get back to work. Hope you both enjoy it here." The attendant states before starting to fill up the car's gas tank.

Yu has to rest his left hand on the side of the car to keep from falling over as he feels dizzy while Madoka closes her eyes to try and regain her focus. "Are you alright?" Nanako inquires having returned from the bathroom.

"Is something the matter?" Ryotaro further inquires looking over at Yu and Madoka.

"Think we're just tired from the train ride." Madoka responds, her expression still slightly pained as Yu nods his head, keeping his hand on the side of the car.

"It was a long train ride for both of you. Why don't you both get some fresh air before we continue? We'll be waiting here." Ryotaro offers, not sure about continuing the trip with the two of them in their current states.

"Thank you uncle Ryotaro." Madoka states as she and Yu briefly part ways to explore the area to clear up their heads.

After a while, they would both return to the car, where Ryotaro and Nanako are waiting. "Are you both feeling better?" Ryotaro asks.

"Yes, thanks for waiting for us." Madoka states as Yu nods his head.

"No thanks are necessary. Let's be on our way." Ryotaro states as they all get back in the car and make their way to the Dojima residence.

Arriving at the Dojima residence, Ryotaro unlocks the door. "Yu, your room is on the up the stair. Nanako, can you show Madoka to where she will be staying." Ryotaro asks.

"....Okay." Nanako inquires and guides Madoka to her room.

Nanako's room was well kept with several items clearly marked with the Junes brand sign hanging on the wall. The right back corner contained a small blue dresser with an empty white clothes hamper next to it.

"You must really like Junes." Madoka states, though it was more of a question than a statement.

"I love Junes." Nanako states, though she was hesitant to do so around Madoka.

"What's your favorite thing about Junes?" Madoka asks, using the topic as a good way to help Nanako relax and get to know her.

"The jingle." Nanako states with a small smile on her face. "Everyday's great at your Junes." Nanako states in a mild singing voice.

"You're a good singer Nanako." Madoka admits, causing a warm smile on Nanako's face.

"My teacher says I'm the best in the class." Nanako responds before looking at the clock. "We should go to bed. My school is on the way to your school, so I can show you the way. Let me get the futon out of the closet." Nanako states before jogging over to her closet to get the futon.

"I'll help you Nanako." Madoka states before going over to join Nanako in setting up her bed.

#//Decided to do dual-protag. #//Will have some alterations in the story. #//Madoka's persona will be Izanagi Picaro with Izanagi-No-Mikoto as the evolved form. #//Her persona will be strong to fire but weak to wind for Picaro. #//Mikoto would nullify light dark and physical attacks. #//Base Izanagi is more offensive based. Picaro will be more support based with healing. #//Mikoto will also have victory cry. Also samarecarm salvation spell master invigorate 3 dekunda heat riser and ragnarok.

[jomatto]

Attack Weak Point for Mass Destruction

After a bit of internet sleuthing, I found that someone had archived everything on FF.net up until 2016 here.

I thought it was a long shot, but I went ahead and downloaded 5 gigs of old-ass fics in the "P" category. I opened it up and tried searching for my story but it didn't show up.

Just to make sure, I tried searching manually by scrolling through the txt files. I wasn't making much progress, so I tried the search bar again and it finally appeared. Guess I just had to wait for it to index.

Funny to think that I'd go through all this effort to recover this little piece of almost lost history. It was not at all how I envisioned today going, but I'm glad I went through the effort.

Since it was in a txt file, I had to do some minor reformatting to get those bolds and italics back. Aside from that, I did no changes.

I don't think I ever explained the reasoning behind the title. It's a combination of a meme born from Sony's infamous 2006 PS3 press conference and the battle track from Persona 3.

So, I present a long-deleted never-completed fanfic of mine:

Attack Weak Point for Mass Destruction

Category: Persona Series Genre: Friendship, Humor Language: English Status: In-Progress (DEAD) Published: 2012-05-31 Updated: 2012-06-13 Rating: T Chapters: 4 Words: 8,331

Chapter 1: A Leader's Responsibility

Yu Narukami opened his eyes to a pleasant sight.

It was just the ceiling, but it was familiar. After the ordeal he went through, something as ordinary as the ceiling was oddly comforting. The silver-haired youth was on his bed, enjoying the soft feel of his mattress. He hadn't relaxed like this in a long time. The case was now solved and there was nothing more to do other than enjoy his remaining time here in Inaba. He, along with his group of close friends, discovered the true culprit behind the serial murders and beat the crap out of it. The town was saved from a foggy demise and everything was back to normal.

There would be no more victims, no more mysteries, and no more battles, just three months, or twelve weeks, or eighty days of free time. He still had school, but compared to those days of investigating, chasing down leads, and enacting rescue operations, school might as well be vacation.

It was hard to believe that eight months could go by so quickly. It seemed just like yesterday when he arrived at Yasoinaba Station, greeted by his uncle and adorable little cousin. He was definitely going to miss this place. Even if it was short, it was truly the happiest period of his life.

He was a little worried though. With no more mystery to solve, what was there to do? As stressful as it was to fight shadows, it was also extremely rewarding. Nothing could match that feeling of victorious satisfaction from smiting a mighty foe. With no more enemies to fight, it was hard to get excited. For all he knew, this was the peak of his life. What there anything to look forward to after saving the world?

The thought was a little depressing, but he allowed himself a small smile. The world wasn't lacking in mysteries, heck, he was surrounded by them. The end of one journey was just the start of another.

His friends, no matter how much time he spent with them, continued to surprise. Eight months was hardly enough to learn everything about a person, even if he already saw their darkest secrets revealed. That was just one part of them though, and there was more to people than their dark sides. What about their hopes, dreams, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and everything in between? He recalled the words his junior, Rise Kujikawa, once told him:

"Senpai, I really admire your strength. I think you're the perfect leader. You have no weaknesses at all!"

She always heaped unhealthy amounts of praise on him, but this was one of the few times she actually meant it. His ability to wield multiple personas ensured that his weaknesses could very well become his strength the next moment. He had long ago memorized the weaknesses of each of his friends; he wouldn't be an effective leader otherwise, but it was a different story outside of battle. What about their weaknesses as people?

His smile widened into a grin. He finally found it; his next mission. Before he came to Inaba, he was always moving from place to place because of his parents. He never had a chance to really make friends. He was afraid of being alone.

Because of them, that changed. They turned his weakness—his fear—into his strength. He could freely admit that he was happy now. It was an honest and refreshing feeling. He owed them for that. It was his turn to repay the favor. He would help his friends the same way they helped him, and turn their weak spots into points of pride.

Enough lying around; he got up from bed and walked over to his desk. He opened a drawer and picked up a dart. He kept it as a memento from the Port Island school trip. He tossed it towards the ceiling and without looking, snatched it out of the air quite easily. He took aim at the dartboard across the room, and with a quick flick of his wrist, the dart flew true.

Bullseye.

"Attack weak point for mass destruction."

He knew what he had to do.

It was, after all, a leader's responsibility.

Chapter 2: Like A Dragon  

Chie Satonaka tapped her foot nervously.

When she woke up this morning, she definitely did not expect to be greeted with a text message from Yu, especially when it said:

Come over to my place today afternoon.

After convincing herself that he probably sent the same message to their whole group, she finally left the house and showed up at his doorstep only to discover that she was the only one there. What could this mean? From the street, it was amusing to see this girl fret to and fro in front of the apartment. She wasn't wearing her usual track sweater, and instead, opted for something more feminine than usual. It was hard scrounging up something that didn't scream "tomboy," but she managed somehow. It was a light, airy, and sleeveless blouse—something she would never wear if it wasn't for the situation.

She smacked herself on the head. Snap out of it, Chie! This was no time to be fantasizing. It wasn't like he was interested in her or anything. Why would he when he was surrounded by so many girls much prettier than her? She was starting to feel stupid. What was she getting so excited for? She should probably just go back home and switch into her normal clothes since it'd be awkward if he saw her in this outfit and—

"Ah, you're here."

She recoiled from his sudden appearance. She wasn't even ready yet! Yu's welcoming smile was the last thing she wanted to see, even if it made her warm in the face. "H-hey there," she stammered. She instinctively crossed her arms to shield herself from his curious gaze.

"You look cute today," he complimented.

"Sh-shut up!" What was wrong with her? The words made her happy, but she just had to lash out like that. She mentally cursed herself. This was why she never got anywhere.

He wasn't fazed at all. "Come on in."

Okay Chie, just take it one step at a time. She entered the familiar home. She had visited tons of times before, so why was she so nervous today? "Where's Nanako-chan?" she asked.

"She's with my uncle. It's just you and me here."

"Just us...alone?" Her heart sped up a little. She slapped herself lightly on the cheek to calm herself down. Her imagination was getting the best of her. "So uh...why'd you invite me over today?" she squeaked.

"Have a seat," he implored. She complied, sitting down at the dining room table. She watched as he opened the refrigerator, pulled out a package from the freezer, and held it up for her to see. It was a packet of beef. "Surprise," he said, grinning.

"Is that—!" Her mouth was already starting to water. Steak personally grilled by Yu? Could the day get any better?

"Yup. And you're the one cooking it."

"Huh? W-wait a minute, are you serious?"

Yu's face didn't budge a single inch. "Of course."

"You're joking, right? You're a much better cook than I am." And as much as she hated to admit it, her cooking skills were beyond abysmal. She would never be able to do the meat justice. "So you should just cook it yourself, and besides, it looks pretty expensive, and I don't want you to be wasting your money..."

He ignored her as she prattled on more excuses as to why she shouldn't cook. Honestly, he agreed with all of them, but that wasn't the point.

Mystery Food X.

Even the name gave him chills. His stomach groaned at the memory. Mystery Food X turned him off to curry for months. It was amazing how she was able to invert the very essence of cooking, turning sustenance into death. It wasn't fair to push all of Mystery Food X's failures on Chie alone, but Yukiko had been making earnest attempts to improve her cooking since, and she had an army of chefs to help her out at the inn.

Chie was a different story though. Yosuke would never again touch anything she ever made, and everyone else was less than willing to taste test for her. Her opportunities to improve were limited. Since he was the best cook out of all of them, and she the worst, it made sense for him to teach her. That wasn't the only reason though. Out of everyone, she was the one he owed the most.

To this day, he still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that she extended her hand to him in friendship. He was used to transferring in and out quietly, but Chie decided to step in and save him from King's Moron's fury, and even invited him to walk home with her and Yukiko on his first day. It might've been because he was a city boy in a small town, or she was just being polite, but whatever the reason, and he was forever grateful to her.

So it fell on him to make sure that she wouldn't kill anyone the next time she cooked.

"Don't be so hard on yourself," he admonished. "That's why I'm here, to teach you."

Her eyes widened. "You want to teach me? But..."

He smiled at her. "Don't you want to learn how?"

Of course she did! She never thought too much about it, but after the lunches Yu made for her, she realized how happy a meal could make a person. Receiving a well-cooked lunch was, in her opinion, the greatest gift she could ever receive, especially if it was steak! But the thought of subjecting Yu to her awful cooking made her wince. What if she never improved? What if he got so frustrated with her that he'd just give up? There were so many things that could go wrong. "Are you sure you want to? What if I don't get better?"

He patted her on the head. "Don't worry about it. It doesn't matter how long it takes, I'll stick with you until you can make something so delicious, even Yosuke will praise you for it."

It was condescending to be patted on the head, but if it was Yu, well... She blushed. He always had a knack with words. "Okay...I'll trust you then."

"Let's get started."

When it came to learning how to cook, it was best to start with a favorite dish. He figured if he started with steak, Chie would pick it up quickly. It also helped that steak was a relatively simple dish to prepare.

"Alright!" she yelped, clenching her fists. She was hyped now. She wasn't confident in her skills, but with Yu here with her, she felt like she could do anything. "So what's the first step?"

He was glad to see her so enthusiastic, it would make things easier. "Have you ever cooked steak before?"

"No, but it shouldn't be too hard. Don't you just nuke it in the microwave?" He just stared at her in awe. "Uh…is that wrong?"

"Steak is grilled," he explained.

She slapped her hand with her fist. "Ah! That's right! I totally forgot."

He was beginning to see why she was so bad at cooking. "You're not entirely wrong though. You can still use a microwave to thaw the meat, but lucky for you, I already thawed some out. But before we do anything, we have to make the marinade."

She perked up at that. "Ohhh, you mean the sauce!"

"Exactly. I have all the ingredients here, so let me tell you what they are: ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sugar, and sake. The first step in cooking is making sure that you have all the right ingredients." He grimaced as he recalled his time at the grocery store in Junes, when Chie and Yukiko decided to pick up anything that sounded remotely relevant to their planned meal. "The number one most important rule is to never, ever, stray from the recipe."

She chuckled uncomfortably. "Sorry about that, but—"

"No buts. You have a cell phone, don't you? Look up the recipes and make sure you have the right ingredients. There's really no excuse in this day and age."

"Okay, okay, I get it! Get the right ingredients."

"It's the number one rule." He grabbed a ginger root and a spoon. "Next, we have to prepare the ingredients. First things first, we peel the skin."

So that was what ginger looked like; she had no idea. It looked like a pale, skinny, and lumpy potato. He broke off a piece and handed her one. "What do I do with this?" she wondered.

"You take the spoon and scrape off the skin." He demonstrated by deftly moving his hands up and down, the skin disappearing with each stroke.

"Whoa!" she said in amazement.

"Give it a try," he encouraged.

She took the spoon hesitantly. Could she really do this? Yu's gentle smile gave her all the courage she needed. "Here I go!" She smashed the spoon into the root, causing it to splinter into useless bits. "Oh…was that too strong?"

"Maybe a little, no—definitely too strong." He handed her another piece of root since the other one was demolished beyond all repair. "Don't put so much force into it. Do it lightly this time."

"Got it!" She psyched herself up again and started scraping with much less force—actually, with hardly any force. She was barely grazing the surface. "It's not working!"

"Okay, here's my advice. Remember what you did before, when you did it too strongly?" She nodded. "And right now, you're doing it too lightly, so try to do it in between. Not too strong and not too light."

"It's working!" she gasped. The skin was finally peeling off. "That was some great advice!"

Some people needed the obvious to be pointed out for them. "Yeah…okay, next, I want you to pick up a knife and—"

"A knife? Couldn't you just, you know, smash the ginger into pieces with your hand?" It sounded just like her to smash things. Unfortunately, food was not made through martial arts, although it would be great for tenderizing meat. For everything else, a delicate touch was required, which could only be achieved through precision tools like knives.

"It's impossible to dice ginger with your hands."

"You don't know that! I once saw in a movie that you can cut vegetables with the right techniques."

"There's a big difference between—okay, so let's just say that you can. Are you saying you know how?"

"No…" she answered quietly.

"Then that means you have to do it like everyone else, and that's with a knife."

"I…" Damn it, this was so embarrassing! She knew the second he offered to teach her that this would come up, but she didn't think that it would actually come up.

"What's wrong?"

The normally excitable Chie suddenly turned into a scared kitten before his eyes. "I'm afraid of knives," she admitted.

"You're afraid of knives?" he repeated. Wait, that didn't make sense. She cooked things before, how did she do it without a knife? When he thought about it though, it actually did make sense. Yukiko probably handled all the cutting at the school campout, and a knife wasn't necessary to make an omelet—the same goes for cake. Then all this time, she was trying to cook without using a knife? He tried to look at Chie but she hid her face.

"You can laugh now."

He still had a lot to learn about her. After all this time and he had no idea. She hid it pretty damn well. "Why didn't you say anything about my katana, or even Yosuke's knives?"

"Th-that's completely different! And I trust you guys, so it's fine but… When I was kid, I was in the kitchen one time. I saw the knife on the counter, got curious, and ended up cutting myself by accident. I've been afraid of knives since," she confessed. It was a simple story, but just because it was simple didn't make it any less impactful. It was hard to let go of childhood fears, so he could understand. He always wondered why she used her feet in battle instead of a weapon, but this explained everything. "It's impossible for me to hold a knife."

"You'll never get any better at cooking unless you confront your fear," he stated bluntly.

"Aren't there like tons of dishes out there that don't require cutting?"

"Are you running away? That's not like you, Chie."

"I'm not! I'm just…avoiding it."

"It's the same thing," he said, sighing. He grabbed a knife and held it up. "Do you mind?"

She shook her head. "I trust you so it's fine."

"In that case…" He put himself behind her and grabbed her hand.

"W-what are you doing?" He was too close! She could practically feel the heat radiating from his body.

"Do you trust me?"

"I—" She resisted the urge to elbow his side and flip him over the table. "Of course I do."

"Then grab the knife," he ordered.

"I can't!"

"You can." He led her hand towards the knife. "Hold it and I'll make sure you don't cut yourself. Let me guide you."

She could spend her whole life running away from knives, or she could face her fear and hold the damn thing. How pathetic. She was cowering in front of him. How weak could she be?

"You're strong Chie. That's why I know that you can face this with no problem. Compared to what we've been through, a little knife isn't going to scare you, is it?" He was right behind her, and his overwhelming presence was enough to override her anxiety for the moment.

Before she knew it, she found herself holding a knife. "AH!" She let go but a firm hand covered hers, preventing it from dropping.

"Don't let go," he warned.

She was completely frozen, and it had nothing to do with the knife, but everything to do with his hand on hers.

Yu had no clue about Chie's fried brain and continued to hold tightly. If she trusted him with a katana, then surely she wouldn't protest if he was there to guide her? It wasn't just her, they were both holding the knife, and there was no way he was going to allow an accident to happen. "Are you okay?"

"You're so mean," she whimpered.

The comment drew laughter from the boy. "That's fine, as long you get over your fear. Just concentrate on holding the knife, and I'll handle the rest."

Yu's hand was large, engulfing hers easily, and warm. She felt like crying. This was so embarrassing, and her hands were starting to get clammy too. "S-sorry for sweat," she apologized weakly. He seemed to ignore it and continued guiding her. His grasp was gentle and left small tingles on her skin.

She shut her eyes. This was just a dream. Yeah, that was it. She must be daydreaming. Any moment now and she'd snap out of it. There was no way this was happening for real. The sound of the blade clacking against the cutting board continued to ring in her ears. Any time now… Wake up. Wake up, damn it!

"I knew you could do it."

She opened her eyes and saw the ginger was minced. "I did?" She looked at her hand and it was indeed by itself. Just when did he let go? She could've sworn he was still holding her. Was she imagining his warmth? He really was amazing. He made her forget all about the knife. The only thing on her mind was his touch. She smiled in relief. "Can you help me cut the garlic now?" she pleaded.

"Huh? But you—"

"One time isn't enough, idiot! You think I can get over my fear that easily? So, hurry up and hold the knife already!"

He let out a soft smile. It was probably too much to hope that Chie could get over her aichmophobia with a simple trick. He gripped her hand again and found her unusually pliant this time. She must've found her motivation. "Alright, let's do this again."

After they finished cutting up the garlic, they blended the rest of the ingredients together to make a rich teriyaki sauce. Chie dipped her finger in the bowl and gave it a taste. "Wow! This is great stuff."

"You should be proud; you made it."

"We made it," she corrected. "And you did most of the work."

He laughed. It was hard getting her to accept credit. "Now, all we have to do is let the steak marinade in the fridge for a couple hours and after that, it's grilling time."

"Woohoo! I can't wait!" She threw her arms in the air in excitement. "So what now?"

He shrugged. "Whatever you want."

"Whatever I—" Get a hold yourself, Chie, he didn't mean it like that. "Then let's uh…go watch some TV!" She hopped over to the living room and turned on the tube.

Yu followed her and took a seat by the low table. "Anything good on?"

She flipped through the channels until she saw a guy get kicked in the face. Whenever something like that happened on TV, that was when she knew she found something good. She turned to Yu. "Oh, do you like these kinds of movies? I can change the channel if you want."

He shook his head. "I don't mind."

"Awesome!"

It was a martial arts marathon, with hours upon hours of glorious punching, kicking, and acrobatics. Chie got pretty into it, but when the marathon ended, it was finally time to cook.

Yu showed her how to set up the grill and took out the marinated steaks. They were cut in thin slices. He opened a cabinet and pulled out a pack of bamboo skewers. "Now for the easy part. Just stick these through the steak and let it grill for a minute."

"Gotcha." She took a skewer and stabbed it through, forcing the meat to crumple and fold magnificently on the stick. If she could, she'd eat it right now.

They were in the middle of grilling when Dojima and Nanako came home. "Something smells good!" Nanako cried out.

Dojima looked into the kitchen. "Wow, steaks? What's the occasion?"

Yu thought about it for a second. "New Years?"

"Good enough for me," the detective laughed. "Come on Nanako, let's go wash our hands."

"Yay, steak!" The little girl's celebrations drew a kind gaze from Yu..

"I think I'm finished," Chie alerted.

Yu came over and inspected the slice. It was grilled to perfection. "Why don't you try it out?"

"Here I go!" She stuffed it into her mouth and chewed. It was… "Delicious!"

"It tastes better knowing that you made it, doesn't it?"

She agreed. It was the best steak she ever had. "Thanks a lot, Yu. Honestly, I decided to give up on cooking but… I guess I'm not as hopeless as I thought."

Yu took a fresh skewer off the grill and tried one for himself. It tasted satisfying. "I always wondered why you said 'pudding' instead of 'steak.'"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"The beauty pageant."

"Ugh, don't remind me." So she lied. Wasn't pudding more feminine than steak? It was the only reason she answered "pudding" as her favorite food during the pageant.

"There's nothing wrong with liking steak. It's pretty classy, I think," he told her.

"Really, you think so too?" she said excitedly. She knew Yu would understand!

"And it fits you perfectly."

"Wha—" What was he trying to say about her?

"Sh-shut up you idiot!"

He laughed out loud. Something about being called idiot by Chie made him happy. "Alright, I wonder what we should make next…"

"W-Wait, isn't steak enough?"

"Of course not. Beef is expensive. Are you going to be making steak every time you cook for yourself? "

"I…" Wait, what was she complaining for? This meant she could spend more time with him! "I'll be happy to learn. Just you wait; I'll make you something so good, you'll say WOW! After all, the student always surpasses the master."

"I look forward to it." He grinned when a brilliant thought struck him. "Oh, I got it! How about I teach you how to make chocolate-covered grasshoppers?"

"IDIOT!"

Chapter 3: The Bro Code  

Yu looked over his shoulder to see his best friend, Yosuke Hanamura, with his face down against the desk.

It was a familiar sight, and one that drew regular criticism from teachers. They chalked it up to laziness, but it was really because of his job at Junes. It wasn't easy being the manager's son. Fortunately, it was lunch time.

Yu debated whether or not to wake him up. Yosuke didn't appreciate it whenever he was roused from much-needed sleep, but on the other hand, he didn't like waking up on an empty stomach either. As he contemplated this conundrum, Yu's eyes fell on the headphones around Yosuke's neck.

He always wondered… What exactly was the point of those headphones? They weren't very functional considering its bulkiness, so he assumed it was some sort of fashion statement, but was that really the reason? Yu took this opportunity to find out. He grabbed the headphones and pulled them off carefully. Even though he wasn't expecting much, he put it on to see what was playing—if anything.

"—must exude extreme confidence. It requires patience and a certain mindset. One cannot be deterred by fear or niggling insecurities. You must push them aside and focus on the reality in front of you, for the essence of swag can only be achieved through—"

The headphones were suddenly ripped away.

"Whoa! What are you doing?" Yosuke shouted, now awake. He held the headphones protectively close. "D-Did you hear anything?" A bead of sweat ran down his neck.

Yu tilted his head curiously. What the heck did he just listen to? "Something about swag?"

The entire class instinctively turned to Yu the second he mentioned "swag." He was surprised by the sudden attention.

Yosuke looked around nervously and stood up. "Let's go to the rooftop," he suggested, wanting to escape from the probing stares.

"Sure."

The duo left the classroom and climbed to the rooftop. They sat down at their usual spot. Yosuke set his back against the fence and smiled in embarassment. "Well this is awkward," he laughed. "I guess I can't hide it anymore."

"What were you listening to?"

"Since it's you, I'll tell you. Before I do that though, uh, you wouldn't happen to have a spare lunch, do you?" He mustered his brightest grin, as if it would increase his chances of receiving food.

Yu returned the smile. "Actually, I do."

"Seriously? You're the best, partner!"

The silver youth produced a strange looking lunchbox and offered it to Yosuke. It was a green box with streaks of yellow on the sides. It reminded Yosuke of something, but he couldn't put his finger on it. It was fancier than the usual plain box Yuu gave him. "Did you buy a new box?"

"Something like that," he answered, chuckling eerily afterwards.

"I guess it doesn't matter. It's what's on the inside that counts, right?" He took off the lid, snapped the chopsticks apart, and started digging in. He shoved the food into his mouth with as much delicacy as a starving pig. It wasn't until after several minutes of chewing did he realize that something was off.

"Something wrong?"

Yosuke gulped. "Well, not exactly. It tastes kind of weird. Don't get me wrong, it's still good, but just not up to your usual standard. I guess even you have your bad days, huh?"

"Really? Chie's going be happy to hear that."

He paused as he tried to parse that statement. "What does Chie have to do with anything?"

"She's the one who made your lunch."

His eyes almost popped out of its sockets. "WHAT!" He looked at the lunchbox again, but this time, with extra caution. He finally realized how sloppy it looked. Yu's presentation was normally neat and immaculate, but this was messy and screamed "amateur!" Despite that, it tasted pretty decent, and that alone was enough to question Yu's statement. "You're joking."

"I'm not," Yu rebutted, chuckling at his friend's disbelief. "That is 100% Chie's cooking."

He couldn't believe it. "How is this even possible?" Chie and cooking went together like Naoto and dresses. They just didn't mix.

"I've been teaching her how to cook," he revealed.

"Damn. You're amazing. To think you can turn the worst cook in Inaba into a halfway decent one... Is there anything you can't do?"

He didn't buy into the flattery. It wasn't like he did anything special. "Actually, I wasn't sure if I did a good job teaching her. To be honest, I was afraid to try it myself. I'm glad to hear it's good though."

"Hold up, are you saying you didn't test this before serving me?"

Yu shoved his hands into his pockets and averted his gaze. "It's the first time she made something without my supervision. I wasn't sure how it would turn out so..."

"I was just your guinea pig? That is so not cool, man! I can't believe you put my life in danger like that!"

It was a little dramatic, even by Yosuke's standards. "It turned out fine in the end, didn't it?"

"That's not that point, it's just—ugh, never mind. I guess you're right, but next time, a little warning would be nice."

"But you never would've tried it if I told you."

He couldn't argue with that. "Let's just forget about it."

Yu smirked. He'd have to remember to tell Chie about this later. Yosuke would never admit it to her face that he found her cooking passable. She probably preferred to hear it was delicious, but it was baby steps for her. At least she was getting better. "So, about this essence of swag thing..."

Yosuke started choking on a piece of carrot. He slapped his chest a couple times to force it down. "Ack! Dude, don't bring that stuff up out of the blue!"

"I thought we were talking about it?"

"Wait until I finish my lunch," he pleaded. Yu was certainly pushing his buttons today. If Yosuke didn't know any better, he could've sworn Yu was just picking on him. He wolfed down the rest of the lunch in record time. It wasn't too hard since there wasn't much to savor.

"Finished?"

There were no more excuses left. He couldn't stall anymore. He would just have to tell him the truth. "Okay, just promise you won't laugh at me."

Yu considered those words carefully. "I promise."

Yosuke took a deep breath, held it, and let it out slowly. "At Junes, we sell all kinds of things. Whenever I help out, I usually don't do the same thing twice. So one day, I find myself in the CD section. There was a fresh shipment that needed stocking and I...heh, I guess there's really no good way to put this, but I found a series of self-help CDs."

"Self-help CDs?"

"Yeah... You know, stuff like Simplifying Your Life or How to Control Your Anger."

"I never knew you had anger issues," the silver boy joked.

"I don't, but one of the CDs stood out to me. It was called The Essence of Swag. You can go ahead and laugh now." He had to admit, it sounded ridiculous, but he wanted to become more confident, like Yu, who made it look so easy. He just wanted some of that swag for himself.

Yu blinked. Why would he laugh? It wasn't like he never resorted to books to improve his social skills. He had a whole of library of self-help guides, so he understood completely. "There's nothing wrong with that. I've done the same before."

"Really?" Yosuke was shocked. Wasn't Yu just a natural pimp?

The silver-haired boy nodded. "Maybe if you weren't so busy looking for my secret stash that doesn't exist; you would've noticed the stack of books on my shelf. I could let you borrow some if you want."

Yosuke waved his hands. "Nah, that's fine. I prefer to listen to my books, but thanks for offering. And I just know you have a stash somewhere, so don't even pretend you don't have one."

"So, why the sudden interest in self-improvement?" he asked, ignoring the last quip.

"It wasn't really sudden; it's been on my mind since…Saki-senpai."

A moment of silence for the dead.

"We never really had a chance to just relax," Yosuke continued. "We were always in the middle of investigating or fighting. I was kind of glad for it. It took my mind off things. But with the case solved, I figured it was time for a change. I think it's only now that I can say I've finally gotten over her. There are still things I don't like about myself, so I'm trying to do something about it."

Hearing that brought a smile to Yu's face. Yosuke seemed to have found an answer for himself. "That's great to hear."

"But man, this sucks. I thought I would've had a girlfriend by now. This wasn't how I imagined high school."

The silver-haired teenager laughed. At least Yosuke wasn't lacking in effort despite falling flat half the time—okay, all the time. "It'll happen. Just be patient."

"I sure hope so. I'm 0 for 2. Yukiko turned me down flat and Rise's all over you," he grumbled.

"Rise's just playing around," Yu excused. "It doesn't really mean anything."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, partner."

"What about Chie? Or even Naoto?" Yu brought up. It seemed odd to exclude them as candidates for girlfriend material.

The brunet let out a snort. "I like my girls to be, you know, girls." If they ever heard that, he'd probably get kicked in the face followed with a bullet to the forehead.

"Isn't that kind of harsh? I think they're both cute myself."

"I didn't expect them to be your taste."

"They're all cute to me," he declared diplomatically. He felt lucky to be even friends with them, and they were all attractive in their own way.

"I guess they are. Man… It's nice to just talk about girls like this. You're really the only one I can talk to about this stuff. Kanji probably doesn't have any clue about girls, and Teddie—well, the less said about him the better. I know I asked you this before, but… Is there anyone you like?"

Yu never gave it too much thought. It was enough to be surrounded by friends. He didn't need anything more than that. But since Yosuke asked nicely, he might as well give him an answer. "You."

"W-What? Dude! That is not funny!" He grabbed his own shoulders and shivered. "Don't even joke about things like that!"

Yu laughed out loud. Yosuke was too easy to tease. He and Kanji shared more similarities than Yosuke would care to admit. "I'm not looking for a relationship right now. You guys are good enough for me." As long as he wasn't alone, he was fine.

"Ha. You say that now, but one day it'll hit you. You're a lucky guy though. You probably won't have any problems at all."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He gave Yu an incredulous look. "It doesn't really need to be explained, you lucky bastard."

Yu was completely baffled by Yosuke's attack. "Thanks?"

"Enough about that, I just got the most brilliant idea!" he yelled, changing the topic.

"What's that?"

"Let's hit up Okina City this Sunday!"

Rise had taken Yu to Okina City on occasion, so he knew the place. There wasn't anything there that they couldn't find in the shopping district. "What are we going to do there?"

"What else? To pick up chicks, of course! Think about it. There's no more mystery to solve and we have a whole three months ahead of us. It's time to let loose and have some fun. I can't do this by myself. Can you be my wingman?" It sounded like a proposal. He even pulled out his puppy dog face for extra persuasion.

It had zero effect, but it was proof of his desperation, and Yu wasn't that cruel. He was free that weekend, so why not? "Alright then, it's a date."

Yosuke immediately grimaced. "Dude, don't say it like that!"

Chapter 4: Airheaded Princess  

Yukiko Amagi, manager-in-training and heir to the Amagi Inn, was trying to clear her head.

Whenever she was stressed, she liked to go to her favorite spot, the pavilion near the Samegawa riverbank. The place wasn't anything special. It was a small roof over a bench made out of cheap wood, but it offered an ample view of nature and her favorite animal: the birds. There were plenty of them here, and watching them fly soothed her tumultuous mind.

Running an inn was hard work. It seemed impossible to juggle so many different responsibilities simultaneously, but her mother made it look easy. Everybody at the inn was eager to help, and for that, Yukiko was grateful, but there was one thing she couldn't do no matter how much support the staff offered, and that was entertaining the guests.

Her mother was a natural. She could coax a laugh out of the staunchest stone-faced customer with a single sentence. Yukiko's training helped her to improve in many areas, but she was still awkward around people. Other than be polite, she couldn't see herself as a host. It was a task beyond her abilities.

She was knocked out of her thoughts when she spotted Yu walking home by himself. His appearance struck her with a bolt of inspiration. Perhaps he could help?

"Leader!" she called out.

His head snapped to her, surprised by the shout out, and his eyes lit up. "Good afternoon. Another stressful day at work?" he greeted back.

Yukiko smiled shyly. The fact that he accurately guessed her situation made her feel warm. She wondered if his memory was just that good, or if he cared for her more than he let on. She shook her head; now was not the time to let daydreams lull her into an awkward silence. Yu was someone she could trust, so she had no problems going to him for help. That was the only reason she called out to him. "Um, can I ask you something?"

The silver-haired boy took a seat next to her and folded his hands. A brief wave of nostalgia hit him. This was how they first met outside of school. The more things changed, the more things stayed the same. He wouldn't have it any other way. "Of course. What is it?"

She fidgeted nervously. Just how was she going to say this? Forget it; she'd just say it plainly. "Am I funny?"

"How do you mean?" he asked back, perplexed. It was an odd question coming from her.

"Do I make you laugh?" she clarified.

"In what way?" he answered, still confused.

"I mean..." She sighed. His inability to reply properly was all the answer she needed. "Never mind. Sorry for asking you something strange." Her shoulders drooped in resignation.

Yu wouldn't let it go that easily. It was clear that this was bothering her. It was his job as leader to make sure she was okay. He had an idea, but he wanted to make sure that it was correct before offering advice. "When you say funny, do you mean like a comedian?"

Her eyes widened. Those were the exact words floating on the tip of her tongue. "That's exactly it," she confirmed happily. She hated trying to spell out things for other people, especially when it involved something embarrassing.

"In that case... No."

Instant KO! She was crushed. All her hopes and dreams…dashed, just like that. Where was the delicacy? "Really?"

"I don't think being funny fits your image." He meant it as a compliment, but the heiress didn't see it that way.

"I guess it's impossible for me after all," she said tiredly, feeling depressed.

He got the feeling that he missed the mark. "Do you want to be funny?"

She turned red. "When you put it like that..." It sounded dumb and childish, but yeah, that was the gist of it.

He thought of her as the type to laugh than make others laugh, not that the bar for setting off her laughter was particularly high, but she never gave any indication that she wanted to be an entertainer. To be funny seemed to go against her shy personality, but it did make a lot of sense. Shy people don't want to be shy, and the best way to be friendlier is to become funnier. "What is this for?" he asked.

"It's for running the inn. I can greet customers and act polite, but there's more to it than that. I have to be a great host as well. Unfortunately, I'm not very good with people I don't know..."

He didn't doubt that Yukiko would make a great manager, but her social skills left something to be desired when it came to strangers. Comedy was perhaps one way to fix that problem. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm not funny either."

When he thought about it, the ones who were funniest were probably Yosuke, Teddie, and Kanji—Yosuke because he's such a spaz, Teddie because he says ridiculous things without realizing what they really mean, and Kanji because he gets worked up over the smallest things. The common thread that tied them together was that they didn't mean to be funny; it was just a happy byproduct of their personalities.

"Is there a way to become funnier?" she wondered. She wracked her brain for solutions but never got anywhere.

"Why don't you wear those special glasses?" he asked, referring to the joke nose and mustache rims.

Yukiko began giggling at the mental image of greeting guests with that getup. "I c-can't do that," she squeezed out between her giggles.

Yu crossed his arms and hummed to himself, probing his mind for ideas. "Do you know any jokes?"

"No." And she regretted it. Obviously, the most natural step was to learn some jokes. Why didn't she think of that before? "Do you know any?" she asked eagerly. She needed to hear some examples first.

He wasn't expecting her to turn the tables on him. "Uh... Not really," he admitted weakly. The thought of making people laugh was hard to fathom. He was a rather grim character before arriving here. He only lightened up because of Yosuke, Chie, and the others. Besides, there was more to comedy than telling jokes. "You can tell funny stories too."

The suggestion wasn't any better. It required funny stories, which she wasn't brimming with, and even if she was, she didn't have faith in her storytelling abilities. "I don't know any."

"Remember our camping trip?"

She cringed. "Ugh. Please don't bring up bad memories."

It was horrible at the time, but he recalled that day with fondness. Bad memories tend to get funnier over time. He could understand her reluctance to use that story though. "Okay, so you can't do jokes and you can't do stories, what else is there?"

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. She should just give up. "Why is this so hard?" she muttered.

Yu was thinking the same thing. People shouldn't go out of their way to be funny, it should occur naturally. It required a quick and witty mind. When he thought about it, Naoto would probably make a brilliant comedian. Her intelligence was well-suited to snarky quips. "You should act clumsy and trip over yourself a few times. That should be good for a laugh."

"I can't do that!" she protested strongly.

And that was why he wasn't a comedian. "I wasn't serious," he sighed. He violated the first rule of a good joke: they should never have to be explained.

"Oh," she let out, frowning. "Sorry. I thought…"

They both went silent. What a miserable conversation. They had gone nowhere and instead reminded themselves of how terrible they were at making others laugh. He might've been overthinking this. How about going back to the basics? "Yukiko, look at me."

"Huh?" The odd request set her heart a flutter. She deliberately turned her head slowly, wondering what could possibly be in store for her. To her surprise, Yu had the dumbest-looking grin on his face. His cheeks were abnormally high, his eyes squished into slits, and his mouth was wide open with his tongue hanging out. "Hrnk—" She tried to clamp her mouth shut but the laughter burst through anyways. "BWAHAHAHA! What kind of face is that?" she squeezed out between gasps. To see the calm Yu with such a ridiculous smile was too amazing. He looked like a bad drawing by a five-year old come to life. It was over; she was a lost cause now.

He didn't know whether to feel embarrassed for himself or for Yukiko. What he did wasn't very clever, but she always seemed to have a soft spot for the dumb stuff—like Teddie. Her laughter was infectious though, and it was hard not to get caught up in her pace. He found himself joining her.

That was it! He figured out how she could make others laugh. "You don't have to be funny," he realized.

She calmed down when she heard those words. "What do you mean?"

"It's hard to be funny. It's not impossible, but it's not something people can just do. You're better off not trying." As leader, he never failed to provide such poignant and discouraging remarks. Way to comfort her, leader. "If you want to entertain your guests, you should just be yourself."

"Be myself?" she echoed. She wasn't sure how that advice would apply. The problem was that her normal self wasn't funny to begin with.

Yu nodded. "It's simple. Don't try to make the customer laugh, but let the customer make you laugh."

"Let the customer make me laugh..." She never thought of it that way. She always focused on being polite, but… "I don't get it…"

"Everybody likes to think that they're funny. When you laugh at their jokes, they feel good about themselves. Everybody wants to be a comedian," he explained. When Yukiko laughed at his dumb joke, it made him feel pretty awesome.

If that was the case, "Then did I make you feel good?" she asked. She went into fits of laughter a lot, but she never considered that it could make somebody feel "good." Suddenly, she realized how her question sounded. "W-Wait, I mean—"

"Of course. You made me feel great," he complimented, grinning.

Hearing that gave her a lot of confidence. She felt elated. Those words, coming from Yu, meant a lot to her. "I think—I understand what you mean now. Thank you for the advice."

"It's no problem. Just keep on laughing. It makes the world a better place," he joked.

"If you want me to keep laughing, then you should do more funny things," she shot back, feeling her troubles fly away.

That was more like it. Yukiko was a lot more fun when she was confident. "Way to put me on the spot. Let me think… Oh, I got one. What does Chie ask for when she's thirsty?"

"Uhh…" She had no idea. It was an intriguing setup, considering it involved someone they knew. "I give up."

"Watah!"

"Snrk." It was a dumb joke, very stupid, basic, and lacked any kind of sophistication. But… "BWHAHAHAHAHA!"

It made her laugh.

Good enough.

#persona 4 #fanfiction

[chibitantei]

Anonymous asks: What is Naoto's opinion about IT members? (To canon!Naoto)

I just want to preface this by saying I’m not expecting anyone with an IT member muse to conform to this, nor will Naoto react exactly like what I have written here. The IT members I’m mentioning here are what I’ve extrapolated from the game, spinoff and various adaptations, and are not related to anyone’s interpretation.

This is longer than I expected (whoops) so click the read more.

Teddie is the one she’s the most unsure of. Compared to the others, he doesn’t go to school, so the best times to interact with him would be during team meetings, run-ins at Junes or out on the street. Already, it cuts out a good chunk of potential interaction time. Teddie is also a massive extrovert while Naoto is an introvert. She doesn’t want to hamper his mood by being her usual, quiet self because she assumes he’ll be bored.

The flirty gags tend to miff her a bit, so there’s another reason why she doesn’t speak to him much.

However, she doesn’t hate him. She understands there’s more to him than just that. Naoto is just a bit of a grandma and she’d rather let people who can keep up with his energy engage with him more.

Yosuke is the one she dislikes the most initially because of how she couldn’t get a good read on him. She even hated him for a bit around the Culture Festival since he signed her up without her permission and she felt massively uncomfortable during it. The way Yosuke can shift from being a caring and decently smart guy to an immature horn ball throws her for a loop. First month or two, she doesn’t exactly want to hang out with him much if he offers.

As she settles in with the group, she learns that his teasing is kind of his way of expressing that he likes someone. She learns to accept that while he’s immensely flawed, he’s a good guy at heart (though she’s still going to call him out hard if he makes her uncomfortable). It’s a slow and gradual change, so she’s not going to warm up to him overnight.

How she feels about him in threads is obviously determined by where in the timeline it takes place, as well as the individual interpretation as I mentioned in the very first paragraph of this post.

Chie is a bit of a mix between Teddie and Yosuke. She’s energetic and Naoto doesn’t want to be caught up in it since she is perpetually tired and can’t match. Chie can be insightful and other times, she’s immature and clenches that idiot ball so hard Naoto wonders how she should really feel about her. However, she respects Chie’s drive to protect those who are close to her, no matter where in the timeline she’s placed.

Yukiko is someone she respects, but that’s about all she can really say. With her working at the inn, I feel like she and Naoto rarely have time to talk to each other. Not only that, Chie is Yukiko’s bestie for life and Naoto would feel awkward trying to strike up a conversation because she’s someone Yukiko barely knows.

Never mind the fact that the two of them seem to be attached at the hip.

Provided that Yu is respectful and not a huge asshole, out of all the upperclassmen, Yu is the one Naoto has the easiest time talking to, provided that you’ve managed to start her social link. He’s the leader and has to keep the rest of the team in check, and that’s something she respects greatly.

However, even with the SL activated, she mostly focuses on things related to the case rather than herself. She does ask Yu to tell her more about himself, but she doesn’t say much about herself in turn, other than reluctantly putting snippets of her life on blast because of the Thief case.

Since Yu is one of the people who can manage to get to know her (even if it isn’t much), Naoto feels like he’s part of the reason why the team are more or less okay with her. She may be absolutely terrible at talking, but at least the leader can vouch that she cares in her own way, right? Yu indirectly keeping her connected to the team is the reason she stays another year in Inaba instead of leaving after the case is over.

He’s not going to be around and if she doesn’t want to lose the few friends she’s made in literal years, she has to step up and reach out to them herself, even if she’s struggling.

Regardless of how she feels about the upperclassmen individually, as they are older than her, she gives them the appropriate respect someone of their social standing deserves.

Naoto sympathizes with Kanji and I don’t think I really need to explain why considering their arcs kind of complement each other. She isn’t exactly soft with him, but she’s at least quick to tell the others to knock it off when they (especially Yosuke) poke at his insecurities.

Other than that, she’s not on the same wavelength as Kanji and it may be because of his raging crush on her makes him act like a shy school girl and from that, she assumes that he doesn’t like spending time with her compared to anyone else. He’s also not that book smart so I’d imagine Naoto is rather hesitant when it comes to talking to him. I think there are a few dungeon convos between him and Naoto that highlight what I’m talking about.

Rise might be the person she’s closest to out of everyone, but that might come from the fact that she’s very persistent when it comes to talking to Naoto. Besides being a fellow gal pal, she’s a fellow underclassman, so that gives her more ‘relatability’ than the upperclassmen.

Besides the differences between them being like night and day, they share some commonalities with their struggles and while Naoto is very reluctant with sharing anything, that and Rise’s persistence is why she has an easier time being open with her than anyone else.

I also think Naoto admires the fact that Rise seems to be comfortable in her own skin, and in her own femininity. She also admires that in Yukiko, btw. The issue with Naoto is obvious so I’ll refrain from explaining, but Naoto is envious that those two have embraced it and see no issue while Naoto is a coward and decided to conform to society’s expectation of what a detective should be.

But in general, when it comes to the underclassmen, Naoto is a bit closer with them. You can see it at the end of PQ, too, where she and the other kohai are sitting at a separate table from the others. Granted, they are studying so you probably don’t want to learn second year subjects, but still.

#Ask Status: Answered #anonymous #Headcanon: Confidential Information

[druvfrolic]

Persona 4 werewolf AU

Word count: 1586

Characters: Yosuke Hanamura, Chie Satonaka, Yu Hanamura (mentioned)

Proof read by my mutual who then refused to be patient

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

19:10 o’clock

It was Friday and Chie was visiting Yosuke’s place for a sleepover. They were holding their wii remotes in their hands as they were playing mario party 8. Chie looked at Yosuke as it was his turn to play, and he ended up landing on the Boo Space.

“Don’t even try.” She said.

Yosuke had a smirk on his face while he clicked on Chie’s character. Chie was now slamming every singular button on the controller in rage. It wasn’t enough though, Yosuke smirked before he pointed at the screen. With his “hard earned” star. That smirk however quickly faded when he got smacked in the face.

20:20 o’clock

Chie had calmed down, it was just a silly game y’know. Now she was sitting at the table eating some steak. Meanwhile Yosuke was too busy reading some of his magazines. Chie looked over the table and noticed a laptop being on. It seems to be Yosuke’s. She put away the plate in the dishwasher. Before she put her filthy hands on her shorts to wipe them off instead of washing them. She opened Google to check this week's news. Nothing unusual, it was just the good ol’ sport and politics. She scrolled for a few more minutes then stopped when something catched her eyes. She grabbed the laptop and headed over to Yosuke’s room. When she opened the door Yosuke quickly hid something behind his back.

“What are you hiding?” Chie asked

“Uhhh nothing…” Yosuke said.

Chie reached behind Yosuke’s back and found something. It was one of his magazines. She looked at it for a few seconds, before it was thrown in Yosuke’s face.

“Really?” Chie asked

“I read it for the articles!” Yosuke answered

Chie judged him in silence as she showed him the article she found. When Yosuke scrolled throughout the website, he titled his head a bit. It was one of those stylized horror websites in an almost unreadable font. He quickly read a few words from the article.

“Around 20 years ago, a mysterious thing happened in the small town of Inaba. It was one of the few times the moon shined the brightest in all of Japan. Then at midnight, some mysterious howling was heard. Then another one. Soon after that a mysterious large wolf was found roaming around until it disappeared, never to be seen again. Now people speculate that something like this might happen again. However we are unsure because we do not know if any of our readers are from that little place. That’s all for now.”

Yosuke looked up at Chie. It was a bad article. Felt more like a casual conversation than an actual article, felt more like a playground convo. Why on earth would anyone believe that?

“Where did you find it?” He asked.

“It started with an astronomy article about the full moon.” Chie explained

“Have you heard about this legend before?” Yosuke asked, before he put away the laptop.

“When I was younger.” Chie said. “Yukiko and I would always talk about it on the playground. Then everyone just stopped talking about it.”

“Yeah I understand why. Werewolves aren’t real.” Yosuke said.

“Maybe we should wait until midnight, should I also call Yu?” Chie asked.

Yosuke shook his head left and right. “No, please don’t” he begged.

“What’s wrong, do you think you will turn into one and kill him?” She asked with a giggle followed after.

“No it’s for… another reason.” Yosuke answered in a way that showed he was 100% speaking the truth and 100% not lying.

Chie looked at him trying to figure out the context. Her eyebrow was slightly raised. Yu wasn’t busy this Friday evening and the three are great friends. She just decided not to question it for the rest of the evening.

23:58 o’clock

It was just 2 minutes until midnight. Both of them were in Yosuke’s room waiting for something to happen. The moon's shine got closer and closer to the window, meanwhile the sky got even darker. Yosuke was playing some Nickeback on his CD player while Chie checked the article over and over again.

The clock then struck midnight, after that a wolf was heard. Chie didn’t notice that the music had stopped playing until she heard some howling from the room. It was… Yosuke’s? She jumped up from his bed and walked towards him. The moonlight shining right above him as that wolf was heard again.

“See, I told you it was fake!” He said, looking down at Chie.

Chie had zero words to say. Her expression was stone frozen as she pointed to his eyes. Yosuke approached the mirror in his room to look at himself in the mirror. His eyes had… changed. No more if that soft dark brown. Instead those had been replaced with a piercing topaz yellow color.

He turned around to look at the moon again. It was still there, shining down at them. Was this all a joke, maybe both of them were really tired. This can’t be happening! Chie tried to cover up the window and pushed Yosuke into the closet and put a blanket over the doors.

02:50 o’clock

Chie was now researching on the laptop, going from tab to tab to see if anything like this had happened before. She went back to the website she found earlier, to ones that were similar. She knew you shouldn’t just believe anything on the internet. But when your classmate starts to get glowy yellow eyes after howling at the moon. Something is obviously not right.

For better or worse, she ended up finding one that perfectly described the situation. She couldn’t wait to show it to Yosuke, who was still trapped in the closet. She tried to open the door to it, but when she did it. She fell to the ground.

07:40 o’clock

Chie woke up noticing the room was somewhat of a mess. Almost like a wild animal was let inside. The pillows all clawed up, the carpet flipped on its side somehow. Scratch marks on the closet walls… oh no. Oh no oh no oh no oh no. What happened yesterday wasn’t a weird, weird dream. She sprinted to the kitchen to see something sitting in the corner. This weird silhouette of something. Which also smelled like grilled meat for some reason.

Chie slowly approached it and touched the back of the thing. Closing her eyes as it turned around, thank god she did. Because she felt a sting directly afterward on her cheek, followed by some blood dripping down from it. Chie got another glimpse of the creature. It was Yosuke, it looked like him but with those glowy eyes from before. Now with a pair of wolf ears and sharp claws. Add it together with this new animalistic side. It seemed like it was too late. She missed her chance.

She slowly moved towards the bathroom, the only thing she could hear was her own heartbeat and Yosuke munching some meat. Chie looked down at the floor, there something in the corner of her eye interested her. A green tennis ball. She bent down and picked it up.

The chewing stopped. Chie looked over her neck, to see him standing there on his two legs, so still, so lifeless.

“CATCH!” She yelled while she threw away the tennis ball.

Yosuke flew away to the direction the ball was thrown in. Not noticing Chie had locked herself in the bathroom.

8:10 o’clock

Chie was walking around in circles. Looking around the room. What should she use to defend herself against a werewolf? They’re nothing like shadows for fucks sake. After a few seconds, she came up with the most smart yet stupid idea ever.

She opened the door to see Yosuke standing there with the ball in his mouth. Panting as he stared at her with his puppy eyes.

“No! Bad dog!” Chie yelled as she sprayed some cleaning spray at him.

Yosuke dropped the ball and his eyes went back to normal. He looked at her and then he turned around.

“What happened?” He asked.

Chue felt relieved when she heard him speak again. She grabbed his arm and pointed at the bathroom mirror. Yosuke got a quick glimpse of himself. He began to touch the top of his head. Pulling one of the ears really hard, which then caused him to bite his own lip, so he fell flat on the ground and hurt his… tail. Wait, that wasn’t here previously. Same with those sideburns.

“Chie, are you joking?” He asked.

Chie shook her head, afterwards she dragged him to his bedroom. Both of them were quiet for a good while.

“So yesterday wasn’t a weird nightmare? I am a…” Yosuke said.

“Well you aren’t a full blown werewolf. Now you’re more like a cat girl.” Chie said

Yosuke looked at her, his eyes turned yellow again. His claws came out. He tried to launch himself at Chie, however the cleaning spray was too strong.

“I’m not a cat girl, Chie! I AM A WEREWOLF! This is nothing to joke about. I hurt you! And I almost did it twice! Can’t you tell how serious this is?!” Yosuke yelled.

Chie didn’t have time to respond because someone got hungry. Yosuke headed into the kitchen and signed.

“Someone already ate all of the beef.” Yosuke sighed

Chie looked at the mess on the ground. Seeing several packages on the ground. She looked at the weight of those.

“You ate 4kgs worth of beef, and you’re still hungry!?” Chie said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was based on this

#persona 4 #persona 4 golden #persona 4 fanfiction #p4 fanfic #werewolf!yosuke #yosuke hanamura #chie satanoka #my mutual was patient zero #also Yosuke ate 8 T-bone steaks worth of meat #do not take it seriously #at all #werewolf au

[randoimago]

hello, i love ur blog!! 💕 can i get some headcanons of the investigation team boys reacting to their so working at a maid cafe that recently opened in inaba? say their so was acting strange and skipping out on dates, so they take it upon themselves to figure out what’s going on, only to find their so working in their maid get up lol. thanks in advance!

S/O Secretly Working at a Maid Cafe

FANDOM: Persona 4

Character(s): Kanji Tatsumi, Yosuke Hanamura, Yu Narukami

Type of Request: Headcanons

Word Count: 510

Note(s): Aw thank you! And I’m happy to write this!

Kanji

Definitely thinks you're avoiding him because you're finally scared of the rumors with his reputation. He doesn't blame you, he did think you were insane for dating him in the first place.

Him going into the maid cafe was because of a dare from Yosuke. When he notices that you're the one that is his "waitress" his jaw just drops.

He cannot make eye contact with you the whole time and his face is a bright red. He hears giggles from others about him being your boyfriend and how cute it is that he's shy.

Afterwards when you tell him that you got a job here that's when things fall into place. It's a huge relief to his self consciousness but also he's happy you have a job you seem to like.

Just be honest with him now, he won't say anything against it either. I mean he obviously finds you very cute with how flustered he gets.

Yosuke

Is starting to feel dejected and thinking you've moved on from him. Does his best to fight the negative thoughts though. I mean, you would've just broken up with him instead of leading him on, right?

Notices the new maid cafe opening up and of course he's tempted to go, he's a guy. So he does. He tries to get someone to go with him but no one does so it's just him.

Is very intrigued when he sees you're the one that greets him and works his table. He has so many questions but for now he is going to revel in embarrassing you.

At learning that this is the real reason you've blown him off, it definitely causes him to be a bit upset. I mean he has a job and always tells you his schedule to work around that. You could've just done the same instead of giving him the run around.

As punishment, he is teasing you about the maid cafe for the rest of your life. And also going to stop in and ask for a discount when he can.

Yu

Has brought up you flaking on him. Like if you're busy then just tell him instead of leaving him high and dry. Yu is very blunt about how he feels about this.

So one day you just sigh and tell him to meet you at a certain time at the new maid cafe. Yu is confused as to why that location but he agrees. Does not know what he expected but it wasn't you being all dressed up to serve him.

Has many many feelings about this whole thing. And also many questions. Of course you can't sit and talk with him the whole time but he starts to get the picture with how embarrassed you seemed when he saw you in the outfit.

He just wishes you had been honest with him in the first place, but he's glad he knows now. 

Will tease you about the cafe thing now too. It's what you get for lying to him in the first place.

#yu narukami x reader #yu narukami #yosuke hanamura #yosuke hanamura x reader #kanji tatsumi #kanji tatsumi x reader #persona 4 x reader #persona 4

[klvbxlove]

worried (yu x gn! reader)

a/n: God, i’ve got so many ideas for persona 4 fanfics so y’all might see some coming soon LMAO. but no worries, i’ll try my best to write more iida drabbles as well (of course, i could never forget my number one anime husbando. but i’ll be honest, kanji might take his place very soon? maybe? huehuehue). anyways, i saw some persona 4 requests in my inbox (which i did not expect, haha), but i’ll try my best to get to them whenever possible! so until then, enjoy this yu drabble :)

reader type: gender neutral 

reader specification(s): none

genre(s): angst, hurt/comfort

trigger warning(s): mentions of car accidents, mentions of injuries

summary: after being a coma from a car accident, you finally woke up, much to the huge relief of your family and friends, especially yu.

word count: 2.6k words

♡ ♡ ♡ (ꈍᴗꈍ)ε｀*) ♡ ♡ ♡

key:

(e/c) = eye color (l/n) = last name (y/n) = your name

♡ ♡ ♡ (ꈍᴗꈍ)ε｀*) ♡ ♡ ♡

   Today should have been another day of you and the Investigation Team hanging out with Yu. He had come back to Inaba a few days ago for another (surprisingly long) break, and you were excited to see him again. 

   But unfortunately, no. That day did not happen. 

   Instead, you found yourself in a hospital room. You had woken up almost a week ago, having no idea what had happened. All you remembered is that as soon as you got the strength to sit up from your hospital bed, you felt nothing but excruciating pain. And when you looked down at your body, your (E/C) eyes widened at the extent of your injuries. You were in terrible condition. 

   Then a few minutes later, the nurses and doctors rushed into your room in complete shock when they realized you woke up. At first, you were confused. But then they explained everything. From what you could recall, you were hanging out with your friends when you saw Yu’s younger cousin, Nanako, standing in the road. Realizing there was a car heading towards her, your instincts caught up with you, and you quickly pushed the younger girl out of the way, which ultimately resulted in you getting hit. 

   Unfortunately, the impact was so severe that you had slipped into a coma. Even with the surgery (which luckily was a success), you were still fighting for your life. The staff had no idea if you would even wake up. 

   Your eyes widened in shock. However, the one thing that made your shock worse was when one of the doctors said that there was a chance you would have died due to the severity of your injuries. “Consider yourself lucky,” one of the doctors said, “Because if not, well, there would not be much we could have done to save you,”

   You were in disbelief. You could have died?!

   WHAT THE HELL?!

   You swear, you almost thought your jaw dropped. You did not even know how long you laid there in bed, thinking of the word ‘died.’ 

   D-I-E-D.

   There was nothing but silence (you could almost hear a pin drop) for a few minutes after taking in the news. 

   Then you heard that your family and friends knew of the accident and you would be able to have visitors in a few days. But all you could do was think about how injured you were. It was bad enough that you were in this condition. However, you could not wrap your brain around the fact that you might have been dead. 

   And then your family would have to set up a funeral for you, bury your body underground, and you would be there until the end of time. 

   Maybe you would even have a spirit in whatever place you ended up after death. 

   Oh God, you could not even think to imagine how your family and friends would react. Especially the Investigation Team--

   Wait a minute. The Investigation Team! 

   Now the worry was starting to kick in. You just realized that you have not heard from your friends since you woke up. Not at least one thing from one of the members (and nothing from Nanako either!). You had no idea if anyone had told them what happened to you when you arrived or the fact that you were alive. Hell, you would not be surprised if they thought you were still in a coma and would be for who knows how long. 

   You sighed, the apprehension still in you. Today was certainly not your day. You just wanted to be able to hang out with Yu again before he had to go back to Tokyo (even though it was a long way from now). But you had no idea when you would be able to leave the hospital! Not for a while, that was for sure. You might as well try to dwell in pure boredom. 

  Oh yeah, and also try to ignore the pain. You might have felt slightly better for the past few days, but the agony was still shooting in almost every part of your body. You could only hope that all of this will be over soon. And then later, when you were finally feeling better, you would be back home with your family.

-

   “(L/N)?”

   You were in the middle of messing with your bedsheets when you heard your name. Looking up, you saw one of the nurses giving you a small smile as she stood next to your bed. You did not even remember hearing her walk towards you. I guess you got a little too caught up with your bedsheets. “How are you feeling now, sweetheart? Any more pain or anything?”

   You looked off to steal a glance at one of the hospital walls. The pain was still there, but it was not bothering you compared to the day you woke up. You could say that you were fine (mostly), but you could not find the strength to tell the nurse for some reason. No, you did not care that you looked like you were  staring off into the distance pondering about life. 

   “(L/N)? Are you alright?”

   The voice brought you back to reality, and you saw the nurse looking at you with a somewhat concerned look on her face. 

   “Oh, sorry. I’m fine, for now,” you said,  “No pain or anything,”

   “Alright,” the nurse smiled in relief. “I know the staff and I keep telling you this so many times, but if you begin to feel pain or need any assistance, you let someone know, okay?” 

   “I know, thank you,” you nodded. 

   “Of course,” the nurse looked over at the door, “Now, you got a visitor who wants to see you. Well, he and a couple of his other friends wanted to see you for a while. We had to tell them no since you were still in a coma at the time, but they were determined to go to your room,” she chuckled sheepishly. 

   “Who is it?” you asked. The last time you knew, your family members had visited first. 

   “Yu Narukami, one of your classmates,” the nurse answered. “Would you like me to let him in?”

   You blinked before nodding. “Yeah, sure,”

   It was only a few seconds of silence you faced in your hospital room. During that timespan, you began to feel nervous about your friend being in the same room as you without the Investigation Team (wherever they were). Your heart was almost beating at the thought of it, and you could feel a blush on your cheeks; if you were capable of blushing, that is. 

   But before you knew it, you instantly recognized the familiar gray-haired male as he walked inside. 

   Upon his eyes glancing upon you, Yu’s eyes widened. “(Y-Y/N),” he said, “You’re awake.”

   You nodded, giving him a weak smile and waving with your free hand. “Yep, I am.” 

   Yu walked over to sit at the chair next to your bed. “How have you been lately?”

   “Slightly better compared to when I woke up, but only slightly,” you replied honestly. “Still feeling some pain. Hopefully, when I get out of the hospital, I’ll feel much better.” 

   “That’s good to hear,” Yu gave you a small smile.

   Then you paused. “How about the others? Are they okay?--” And of course, there was another person you were worried about, “--What about Nanako? Is she hurt?”

   “No need to worry, everyone is alright, just a bit shook up after the incident, though,” Yu said, letting out a light chuckle. “Nanako only had some bruises on her legs when you pushed her out of the way, but that was only it. Everyone would have come to visit you alongside me today, but they got busy. And Nanako came down with some sickness. Not the flu or anything major, but we decided to let her rest until she recovers. They promised they would find the time to visit you when they can.”

   You sighed in relief. “At least no one else was hurt. As much as I hate being in the hospital in pain, it’s better than seeing Nanako here for the same reason. I think that would hurt more than my injuries, and they hurt like hell, you know?”

   “But being treated for severe injuries in the hospital is still frightening, (Y/N),” Yu pointed out, “Everyone watched as you got hit by the car. It was awful, you know? You were bleeding so much from your head, too.” The gray-haired male felt like he was about to wince in pain, seeing the injuries you had. 

   “Yeah, I honestly dunno much of what happened after getting hit, other than feeling immense pain,” you admitted, scratching your cheek, “I could only hear muffled voices, but that was it. And then I just closed my eyes. Must have slipped into that coma or something afterward.”

   “Maybe you did.” 

   Moments of silence passed, and Yu felt a knot in his stomach. It had been like that for almost a week. Every time he would think of you in your hospital room in a coma, he would have to go somewhere else alone to relieve his thoughts. But even then, it still was not enough to help him. How could he even talk about his feelings to someone? Yu was aware he had the other members on the Investigation Team to talk to, but he could see them struggling. 

   There was only one person he could talk to about it.

   “(Y/N), I-- Listen,” Yu spoke up in seriousness. Once you looked up at him after staring at your cast, he continued, “I have no idea how else I’m going to begin talking about this. But do you realize how happy I-- no, we are that you’re alive?”

   Huh?

   Okay, that took me off guard.

   You had to admit you were puzzled. How were you supposed to answer that? It was not as if you could put yourself in the shoes of one of your friends. You did not even know what it was like to wait for someone to come out of their coma. So really, you could only shrug at his question. 

   “I remembered when the nurses told us you slipped into a coma and you would need surgery," Yu continued, "God, we were just in shock. No one said anything; you could hear a pin drop in the waiting room. But as soon as they left us alone, we just started crying, you know. Silently, though. But Teddie was the only one wailing.

   “And Nanako?” Yu paused a bit before picking back up, “Well, at first, she looked like she was trying to hold back her tears. That is until we went back to my house. She just started sobbing, saying how it was her fault that you were hurt. She blamed herself for being on the road since she knew it was dangerous. Of course, we kept telling her that it wasn’t her fault, but it was no help. Not even Uncle was able to calm Nanako down, and so she just cried until she fell asleep.”

   If your heart could physically break, it might as well be in a million pieces by now. Your injuries were suddenly hurting way less than seeing Nanako sobbing.

   Meanwhile, Yu looked down at his lap as he felt himself about to shake. “It hurts so much just seeing her upset. And Nanako still blames herself to this day. By that point, it felt like there was not anything else the rest of us could do other than to dwell in sadness. We even had to wait to visit you at the time since the nurses wouldn’t allow any visitors. I just hated not knowing if you were going to live. I hated thinking that there was a chance you would die.”

   Something caught your eyes. 

   Teardrops. 

   They were coming out of his eyes and falling onto his lap. 

   You could even hear small cries coming from him. 

   Oh God, no.

   Why did this hurt a lot?

   “DAMN IT!” 

   You felt yourself jump hearing Yu yell out like that. But what startled you most (it made a squeal come out of you) was when the gray-haired male suddenly engulfed you into a warm hug. The grip was not tight enough to where you could not breathe, but you could tell he was holding onto you as if you were going to slip out of his reach. Yu rested his head against your shoulder, and you were beginning to feel tears staining your hospital gown. It did not even matter that there were butterflies in your stomach. 

   “D-Damn it, (Y/N),” you heard his voice almost cracking,  “You gave us a scare there! I know it would be rude to blame you for getting into that accident since you weren’t asking to get hit by a car. And, of course, I am incredibly thankful that you saved Nanako from getting hurt. But still! I could go over and over again about how relieved we were when we heard you had woken up. We thought it would never happen and that you would never make it.” 

   “Yu...” 

   You felt tears in the corners of your eyes. Damn, you were getting emotional. If there was one thing you hated, it was seeing someone close to you (especially if it was someone you loved) so upset that they cried. And that was what Yu was doing. So you wrapped your arms around him and rubbed his back. His grip on you tightened, but you did not care. All you wanted was for him to let out his tears. 

   Once his cries had turned into sniffles, he lifted his head to make eye contact with you. You could feel your tears pouring out just seeing his tears. You cupped his cheeks with your hands.

   “I’m sorry about that, (Y/N),” Yu mumbled. 

   “No need for an apology,” you assured him. “I know how you-- no, I know I’ll never fully understand what it was like for you guys after the car accident. I mean, how could I? But still, I had no intention of scaring you guys.”

   More silence passed. God, you had no idea what to say at that point. You had no idea how your other friends had been coping through this time, but it was evident there were tears shed. Besides Nanako, you did not even want to imagine their disheartened faces. You knew that you had to comfort Yu in some way. But how?

   You sighed.

   Saying this might as well work. 

   “Look...Yu, listen to me,” you found your voice as you looked into his eyes. “I know you and the others are still upset. I get it. But please don’t go dwelling on the past anymore, okay? Yes, it was a scary situation that should NOT have happened-- it sucked that it even occurred right when you were visiting us --but in the end, I’m alright. Of course, it will take a while for me to recover, but I will do my best to get through this as quickly as possible for you and everyone else.

   “So please,” your thumbs began to gently wipe at Yu’s on pouring tears, “don’t cry anymore. I promise you I’ll be alright.” 

   That was when a sudden bolt of bravery came from inside you. So you leaned in to place a kiss on his cheek.

   You spoke every word as if you meant it (because you did!). You no longer wanted to be a burden to everyone around you. You worried your family and friends enough in the hospital, so the least you could do was make it through your recovery. All you could hope was for Yu to be reassured by everything you said. 

   And thankfully, it worked as he gave you a nod and a tearful smile (you could almost see a light blush covering his cheeks from the kiss). Yu hugged you again, placing his forehead against your shoulder. “Thank you, (Y/N),” he mumbled, “Thank you so much,” 

   “You’re welcome,” you whispered.

#persona 4 #persona #persona 4 x reader #persona 4 imagines #persona imagines #yu narukami #fanfiction #persona 4 golden #p4g #yu narukami x reader #oneshot #gn reader #x reader #kristin's writings

[yushandholder]

Hmmm cute headcanon... both Dojima and Adachi go through a very long period of not having a label for what they are, for various personal reasons, but... well, it's a bit more obvious to the people around them that there's something going on, even if they don't have a label for it.

And considering Adachi's natural way of handling kids, especially Nanako, when the three of them are out in public anywhere outside of Inaba where they're Known... well, Adachi tends to be the one assumed to be the father. And when the person is corrected in that regard.... oh!!! Oops!!! Sorry!!! (TWO dads???? Or... father and his boyfriend-??) Or occasionally, a supportive ally or fellow lgbt individual just assumes they just straight up are a two dads situation.

And Nanako's a smart kid, so she'd put two and two together. And of course... well, Nanako would have been wary of anyone else even going near the place where her mom used to be. Afraid that if her dad were to start dating again that he might leave her and her mom behind- and Dojima himself has struggled with the idea of leaving Chisato behind as well, part of why he's hesitant to put a name to this. But that sort of situation is abstract... and Adachi is real. And Nanako realizes that she's okay with it. If it's Adachi. Because Adachi's already a part of the family, and he makes things BETTER.

So Dojima and Adachi are forced to very quickly figure out what it is they are when Nanako starts asking questions- and showing support.

Oh god thats so cute🥺🥺 Adajima is very cute might not be my number one but yall are getting me in a mood with all those cute hcs i love them😭😭

And i feel like they would be very confused about their relantionship overall, both of them

Adachi is not...really big on relantionships especially healthy ones and Dojima is struggling to move on from Chisato so it would be a struggle to say it outloud but with time they would figure it out

And omg!!like when people assume that Adachi is Nanako's dad and Dojima's boyfriend and he would get visibly both happy and flustered while still trying to deny the fact (but it fills him with serotonin!!)

And Nanako asking question and being unconsciously a wingman for them.....thats too cute

But imagine Yu getting involved too!!trying hard to make Adachi confess bc he knows how happy they are with each other

But srs, i really wonder how the conversation go,i want them to have deep conversations communicating their feelings uwaa

I love all of this!! I love them😌💗

#persona 4 #tohru adachi #yu narukami #ryotaro dojima #nanako dojima #adajima

[daily-hanamura]

I kind of wished that the persona 4 cast wasn’t stuck in a narrative where the main theme is ‘always accept the role thrust upon you and if you don’t like it, just force yourself to like it’. Yukiko actively wants to leave Inaba and create her own life, but is portrayed negatively when doing so, with her character arc involving her accepting the role thrust upon her. Don’t get me started on Naoto. I know you’re the Yosuke guy, and was wondering what are your thoughts on this when applied to Yosuke?

I want you to know that being called "the Yosuke guy" is now my greatest achievement you've made my day everyday for the last week

I do agree with you, and I think it was one of my initial issues with P4 where, for a game whose entire narrative is about being true to yourself, it sure falls back into that tired sense of social conformation a lot. It's grating, right, because it feels like what they really mean to say is "be yourself! but not too much and not in a way that makes other people unhappy and make sure you're still living up to other peoples expectations because that's the real reason why you're unhappy with yourself, you haven't accepted who we want you to be (which is the real you that we've decided) etcetc" and it just undercuts the emotional impact of their self-acceptance (see also kanji and rise). (dw I know P5 also kind of has the same problem, and I can go into a whole thing about the limits of transformative narratives written by capitalist corporations but i wont. today-)

I think with Yosuke though, it's really interesting because his character arc is more so tied to his relationship with Inaba as a place, rather than his fundamental self-perceptions. It's established early on that Yosuke hated the town for various reasons; he's a city boy who wants excitement and connection, but most of the town hates him so he's shit out of luck and it gives him little reason to like the town back. As the game progresses, he starts to like the town -- "it's not about where you are, but who you're with", so it's his friendships (and having people who accept him for who he is) that makes the place meaningful for him. And, at the end of the day, Yosuke did get what he wanted - excitement and connection.

But he's not tied to Inaba.

In P4AU, it's revealed that Yosuke's struggling to figure out what he wants to do in life, but by the end of it he tells Yu that he wants to leave the town and go to college with Yu in the city, and that he wants to see the world and experience more things for himself. It fascinates me because it very strongly implies that Yosuke's arc isn't complete as we're very expressly told that he's still developing. It stands in contrast to the other characters who have effectively been fixed into some role or position (Yukiko as an inn manager, Rise as an idol), and unlike them, Yosuke hasn't been permanently relegated to the things that he starts off hating. He hasn't been written to stay in Inaba or even to continue working at Junes after graduation, instead he gets the opportunity to try things. imo this makes his arc more situational (and therefore layered) - Yosuke's perspective on his circumstance matures, but who he is as a person doesn't have to change, and he's not forced to make a trade-off with the wishes he had at the start.

This might be because Yosuke is Atlus' favourite character of the contrast between Yosuke's city background and the rest of the Inaba folk. There's a guy in the school who talks about how most people who finish high school in Inaba just go on to get jobs, and very few actually leave for college and beyond. It's something deeply realistic and reflective of human geography IRL, because that's very common in small communities. A fear of the outside world because of how isolated they are (and Inaba kind of is - remember how Yosuke said they barely had cell connectivity up until recently) means they tend to look inwards instead of out, so there isn't as strong an awareness of what else there is out there and a belief that your options are basically just that (it also makes it all the more impressive that they have surprisingly well-traveled teachers). Yosuke, on the other hand, is very much connected to the internet and the outside world, and he also tends to think about the things that he's missing out on more tangibly.

It makes for a very interesting parallel with Yukiko, who had grown up in Inaba all her life and also expresses that same interest in wanting to go out and see the world. Yukiko's idea about the kind of options that she has is weirdly limited for someone who is supposed to be at the top of her class. When you meet her at the bookstore, she talks about getting a job license so she could leave town, and her first thought was interior decorator (do you even need a license for that? it's not a chartered profession unlike an architect or interior designer, but things might work differently in japan). And maybe she does have a genuine interest in it so I'm talking shit, but it also feels like it's a job that she's aware of only because of the ryokan. As far as I could tell, we don't actually see her express any interest in, say, furniture themes or colour swatches and fabric textures in the way Kanji very clearly does. Her world view, like everyone else, is bounded by the reach of her experience, but because Inaba is so small and cloistered it impedes her ability to imagine beyond that. Even when she's thinking of leaving, her options are still limited to her experiences at the inn. I'm still really salty about how she decided to stay at the ryokan in the end, because something much more satisfying in my opinion would have been for her to get the opportunity to try different things elsewhere in the world, and if she decided that the ryokan was the right thing for her, then, well, fine, I guess? Or some cliche like exploring other inns elsewhere so she could bring that knowledge home. Especially since she had the support of her family and the inn staff, it makes her narrative feel more like an acceptance of her lot in life, rather than a genuine realisation that yeah, this was what she wanted, which was what the game wanted us to think, except it's not convincing. Instead, it just feels like a weird stagnation because her initial wish of wanting to see the world beyond the ryokan was not satisfied.

But hey, guess who does!

Yosuke gets to learn how to make the best of a situation, but ultimately, he's not beholden to it. He - and his writers - understand that he's not done growing, so he doesn't fix himself to a role that he doesn't like. AND IT'S GOOD. I just wish everyone else got that opportunity.

#asks #get-hit-with-the-wimp-stick #as you can see i have many thoughts on this #frankly i might also be extremely biased as a city person who hates being a frog in a well so this has deeply skewed my interpretation #also human geography is my special interest so that's a weird take there huh #not sure if this was the question you were asking but this is my answer

[emeyuko]

Each day i am more fucking sure that at first, they were going to push Yosuke as the romance option like in p3 is Aigis and p5r is Sumire, not only for the obvious stuff (constant flirting from Yu's part, Teddie believing this two were a thing at the beggining of the game, they being close friends no matter what the player does, when Yosuke asks you about what's your type and you choose neither, the game will mention how you told your true feelings, etc...) But also something that i noticed about the other ships that they push you to get, the biggest example is Aigis, who showed to be a robot with lack of human emotions that came to understand what it means to be alive, from an apathic robot, to someone with a big heart that can call herself human, even if she's not physically one

The thing is that she shares a thing in common with Makoto, Makoto started as an apathic man, that didn't wanted to die, but didn't had strong feelings to "live" neither, they both found what was precious in life, but still accepting the final day of life, death.

They parallel each other in a way and somehow, they helped each other to grow, even if it isn't noticed as much in the game, it's noticeable in the anime specially, Makoto is the reason Aigis is "alive" while Aigis is what Makoto needed

But how it's related? Easy, how they handle the "love interest", someone that parallels the mc, a relathionship that fits the message of the game, a relathionship where both parties help the other to grow, who have this 3 in common the most? 𝙔𝙤𝙨𝙪𝙠𝙚

Yosuke's social link is about him finally finding somewhere he truly belongs where he doesn't feel alone, bc his shadow himself mentioned "you act happy and carefree to hide the fact that you are scared of being alone" but after Yu came in, he finally found himself comfortable, Yu is the reason he find himself in terms with inaba, why he found a place he could truly belong, like if the city didn't meant to him as much as Inaba now

What about Yu? Yu has a very similar parallel to Yosuke, someone who the city didn't exactly meant something to him, who was alone and was afraid of his own insolation, that's why, he truly thought he was empty, he's afraid of losing those that matters to him, like Yosuke said at the end of his social link, the power to protect those who matter, "friends, family...and you".

And no, this is not one-sided, Yu is constanly thanking Yosuke for being there in anime adaptations and the game itself, Yosuke is also the only one who knows him enough to wait for him after going after Adachi alone, he was hurt, he was maybe angry, but he wanted to let him know, that he can trust him.

And let's not talk about this, who was the one who was always saving Yu from darkness in the anime? Who they would 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩 to be the one who saves him in his shittiest moments like Aigis did to Makoto?

That's right

As for something that fits perfectly with the message of the game, this game talks about self-discovery, about self-acceptance, about maturity, about the "truth", and in this case, we are talking about two teenagers, one very agressive towards one of his friends for the possibility of him being gay, but as the game pass, even if he's still kind of an ass to him, he's chiller about it, two teenagers who started the first social link in the game talking how they will work together to find the truth and of course, how one of them discovers how he really feels, something warm, something he didn't wanted to accept, but for his own maturity ("i have been putting all my attention for the murders, to avoid having to confront myself"), he has to accept that:

TL;DR: Yu and Yosuke's relathionship feels more natural than the girls bc they actual put some effort into it like with aikoto, they parallel each other, they help each other, and they represent the themens of the game perfectly

TL;DR2: Removing the romance route was a mistake

#Souyo #otp: my heat inside #i really wanted to give my thoughts so badly #bc i feel like no one did yet #and i guess this could be a #meta

[obeysword]

yu starts off in inaba with too much independence to a degree that i actually find concerning. he can’t make attachments to anyone. chie was very welcoming to him, and yet he’s only polite to her and yukiko, to almost bored with their questions. everything about him is apathetic and cold, a kid who already stands out and presents himself above the others. he’s taller, he’s got unparalleled beauty, everyone wants to be his friend yet he doesn’t want anyone to come near him.

i don’t like the idea yu moved around throughout his life. it just doesn’t work for me in the way it has other characters i’ve written in the past. he seems grounded, and i like how he’s coming out of a place he’s lived his whole life in. there’s something in the way i’ve written him organically in that he’s been here his whole life, and just chosen not to be around people. he does it to protect himself, even though it’s also hurt him. at 16 he comes to be stuck in a countryside town in the middle of nowhere with his uncle and a daughter he knew nothing about, this little place has a major effect on him. there’s nothing here, it’s quiet, it’s boring compared to the city. but he adjusts pretty fast.

even when yu first met yosuke, he was trying to reject him. he helped him out of pity, he never thought he would actually get attached to him. chie dropping in and third-wheeling on their outing really pushes yu to go along with them. yu is not chie’s friend, yu is not yosuke’s friend, and yet he tells saki who was trying to get yu to see that yosuke is a burden that yosuke ‘is a nice guy’ she laughs it off, but given what she said in the tv world, her intentions with these words become really clear. it’s a pretty good thing that yu doesn’t care about anyone, a lot of others would have probably seen what she was saying. she’s at the end of her rope, she hates yosuke is attracted to her, she’s tired of the town and her family disappointing her, and while yosuke would have been totally fine just being her friend she couldn’t see past the puppy crush he had. naoki is unnecessarily cruel to yosuke given that yosuke was the only other person who actually respected saki for saki and didn’t care about the rumors surrounding her.

yosuke’s the reason that yu can branch out to others, that he starts to interact with nanako. p4 had a habit of giving someone a person, someone who evens them out and balances them. yu has yosuke, they make a storm with their elements. yukiko and chie are literally fire and ice and together they’re an incredible force to be reckoned with. naoto has kanji who lifts her up while she grounds him. everyone has someone who moves them forward. yu does help them throughout their links, but if you look closely, you can tell that their other half is the one who is really coming through and pulling them in the direction they need to go to face themselves and be themselves.

#▼ OOC △ #▼ HEADCANON △ #i think a lot about what their tarot means #and how that made yu into the world #and just how special all these people are toward their development #it's such a beautiful story of relationships and growing up #it's always going to be my fav game like ever lol #when i played it it gave so much at the time #and playing it again years later and writing a character i love beyond words #it means so much to me to get to express and share it

[stupid-sloot-headcanons]

I can’t help but to feel that Yan Adachi would be incredibly jealous if his foreign darling actually found another friend in Inaba (bonus points if it’s Yu or someone else on the investigation team). Lol I feel like especially after Adachi let’s them rest on his futon he starts fucking them in jealousy whenever they do come over to his house

He gets that they're a teacher, but do they really have to spend time with those brats outside of class that much? They're a bunch of kids! They're already running the risk of ruining his fun by investigating the killer and trying to prevent the Fog from taking over Inaba, but now they're inadvertently cock blocking him on top of it. Fucking brats.

Any time he "invites" (it's not like ____ can refuse him, given what he can do to them if they piss him off) ____ over after seeing them chat with one of the gang, it always ends with him being extra rough. It's only fair, given how they're the reason he's extra stressed out and annoyed in the first place.

#.persona #.persona 4 #.adachi #yandere persona 4 #yandere persona #yandere adachi #tw: dubcon #tw: noncon #thots

[notcorrect-persona5]

In Defense of Yosuke’s Parents

I’ve seen so many posts about Yosuke having bad parents which really surprised me because I didn’t get that impression at all. I’ve been meaning to make a post in defense of his parents, but I’ve been working on a Yu analysis. After I saw @personuhh​’s post I thought I’d offer an alternative perspective. I’ll be addressing some of the things they brought up first, and then I’ll get into additional evidence. I have edited this post since I originally posted it because I I wanted to elaborate and reword some things.

My Response

You’re right, Yosuke does take on way more responsibility than a part-timer should. However, I don’t think that’s his parents doing. It seems like Junes is extremely understaffed. In his social link, Yosuke says his dad was “bugging him to find helpers.” I volunteer at a small location of a large church (much like the Inaba branch of Junes), and I have been asked to find more volunteers over and over again because they’re desperate for more help. It’s a lot of work and not enough people. Additionally, both Yu and Chie come in to help due to the lack of staff. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mrs. Hanamura helped out too as Teddie’s under the impression that Yosuke’s parents are always together (which I’ll talk about later). 

On top of that, Yosuke mentions part-timers ditching work and slacking off. When an employee doesn’t show up, Yosuke (and Teddie) are often called in because their managers know they’ll show up. People who are reliable are given more responsibility, period. It sucks, but if someone needs help they aren’t going to ask someone who they don’t see as dependable. I volunteer at church every week, and I have been asked countless times if that’s okay because they don’t want to overwork me. Every time I say I don’t mind, and I assume Yosuke would have the same reaction if asked. Not only is it Yosuke’s natural instinct to help people, but he was kind of a pushover before the events of (and at the start of) Persona 4. In his third awakening, Yosuke says he was overworked and taken for granted. That’s not okay, and it’s a huge problem, but Mr. Hanamura isn't the cause of that. Mr. Hanamura is the general manager; his job isn’t to create the part-timer’s schedules. 

It’s true that Yosuke tries to work out the problems of other employees and listens to their complaints. There is no indication that Yosuke was told to do this, and I don’t know why he would be. In his social link, there are two girls who act as if he has more power than he does. They demand a raise, ask him to give them the day off, and assume he has knowledge about another employee’s schedule. Yosuke says he doesn't have the power to help them, and in a manga page he says “I may be the manager’s son, but I’m still just an employee.” Yosuke is doing much more than the average part-timer, but he isn’t being given the responsibilities of a manager.

As for the Junes concert, Mr. Hanamura did not tell Yosuke he was going to be fired. Yosuke came to that conclusion himself. Mr. Hanumura did not ask Yosuke to find a solution or ask Rise for help. Yosuke only asked Rise for help because he was scared of moving again. I understand how the phrase “awfully nice for some reason” could come across as odd, but I don’t think he meant his dad isn’t usually nice. In the Persona 4 Manga that scene is translated as “My Dad’s been extra nice to me” meaning his dad is nice, he’s just being extra nice, and I’m not surprised. Yosuke was extremely unhappy when he moved to Inaba. Despite trying to hide his feelings, you can see in The Magician that he didn’t do a very good job of it. And now that Yosuke is finally happy, they might be forced to move again. Of course, Mr. Hanamura would feel guilty. Oftentimes, when people feel guilty, they start acting nicer - unnaturally so - to make themselves feel better. Chie (who is already very kind) even does it after she and Yukiko spend Yosuke’s money on clothes for Teddie. Yosuke notices the shift in her attitude and tells her that he’s worried. It’s the same reaction he had toward his dad’s behavior.

The only reason I bring up Chie is to show an in-game example of someone being overly nice due to guilt. What Chie did was wrong, that’s why she feels guilty. The reason Mr. Hanamura would feel guilty is his job may have to move his entire family again. The cause of their guilt is different, but they are responding the same way.

I don’t think Mrs. Hanamura not wanting her son to own porn is unreasonable. My mom doesn’t like magic, so I wasn’t allowed to read or watch Harry Potter growing up. Similarly, a friend of mine wasn’t allowed to watch iCarly. As for Mrs. Hanamura burning Yosuke’s porn in Arena, that’s the third time (that we know of) that she’s seen his porn. I assume she’s told him she doesn’t want him looking at pornography, but he continues to do so anyway. Burning his magazines may seem dramatic, but she was likely just frustrated that he kept disobeying her. 

I don’t think Yosuke’s parents are the reason why Yosuke wants to be seen as manly. I haven’t seen anything that implies that. I think Yosuke’s desperation to be seen as a man comes from Japanese society and his fears regarding his sexuality.

Mr. Hanamura came up with this slogan because they were selling jinbei's which are traditionally worn by men. It’s a play on words. This isn’t the first time Mr. Hanamura has come up with a cringey slogan.

It seems Mr. Hanamura has that stereotypically “dad humor” which is typically associated with positive father figures (it’s not always). Yosuke saying his dad is still saying the “MANsoon” slogan gave me reminds of kids being like “Dad, that’s a bad joke, stop”, but the dad continuing to make his bad jokes regardless. It’s very Disney Channel and sit-com like.

I don’t remember Teddie saying he watches violent war movies with Mr. Hanamura, but I don’t see how that connects to the idea of Mr. Hanamura pushing Yosuke to be a “more masculine, traditional, unshakable, unemotional man.” The idea that only those types of men watch war movies is the type of thinking Kanji’s and Naoto’s shadows were trying to address. I don’t think Mr. Hanamura cares about being that type of stereotypical/traditional man because of his relationship with Teddie. Teddie is not very masculine (he even says so in Persona Q, screenshot will be later), and he isn’t hiding it. 

This exchange is from Kanji’s Persona 4 Club Profile. Teddie went to the store to buy female clothing, and he asked Kanji to make him a dress (the one from the cross dressing pageant). He already owned his “Alice dress” before the cross dressing competition, and I assume he’s worn it. In Arena, you can see the dress is hung out in the open in their bedroom. He also wears hair clips. 

This is not “masculine behavior” yet the Hanamuras don’t seem to have a problem with it. If anything, I’d say they’re pretty open-minded. If they disliked that way Teddie behaved, Teddie would change himself to fit the way they want him to be. I mean, the kid literally grew two new bodies in effort to get people to like him. Due to Teddie’s low self-esteem and need to be loved, he takes any sort of criticism to heart and does his best to act the way others want him too. In Persona Q, Yukari says he’d be cute if he was quiet, so Teddie stops talking. 

In Persona Q, Teddie says he’s realized that to steal hearts he needs to be manly. He gets this realization from Koromaru. He did not think this prior. 

Teddie saying Koromaru gave him this realization means the Hanmuras never said anything to him about his less masculine behavior. 

As for the song lyrics you posted, I don’t really think that means anything. Yeah, people often relate to the music they listen to, but they don’t have to relate to every lyric or even song. My favorite artist is Taylor Swift, but I don’t really like romance. I don’t relate to most of her songs, but I still jam out to them. I could be super wrong about the song thing though because I’m not a huge music person.

My Own Additional Analysis (with some elements of response)

In this section I’m going to talk about Mr. and Mrs. Hanamura’s character and personality, their relationship with each other, Teddie, and Yosuke.

Let’s start off by talking about their personality. They seem to be very carefree people. Yosuke has less than average grades. In the Persona 4 Animation, he didn’t even show up to one of the exam days. Academics is extremely important in Japanese society, yet his parents don’t seem to be pushing him to get better grades. Considering how carefree Yosuke can be, it makes sense that he may have gotten that trait from his parents. 

Yosuke’s family is pretty wealthy. It’s mentioned more than once. They also live in a pretty big house (you can see it in The Magician), Yosuke’s cell phone seems to be a newer model, and he has a large, flatscreen TV in his bedroom which wouldn’t be very common when the game took place. Despite this, Yosuke works for his own money. He complains about being broke and needing save up. I think the reason why Yosuke has a job despite being well-off is because his parents want him to have work experience and grow up to be a hardworking person, so he can succeed in life. It makes me think that hardwork is important to them.

Due to this conversation, I think Mr. Hanamura is a very honest man. Yosuke says he was surprised his dad was against selling gas masks, likely because from a business standpoint, that’s a really big missed opportunity. I think it’s also worth noting that ATLUS talks a lot about how people naturally fit into the masses, including the main characters. That’s why it’s surprising that his father is going against the masses. Although he’s losing money and has faced many hardships running Junes, Mr. Hanamura refused to do something that was against his moral compass.

In Persona 4 Drama CD #1, Junes is closing down half of the electronics section due to a lack of sales. Despite this taking place in March, Teddie panics and hopes to sell a TV set in a month in exchange for keeping the TV they enter the TV World through where it is. 

Yosuke isn’t afraid to ask his dad two huge favors with a not very good reason (side note: Yosuke had to lie because the truth is that’s the TV he and his friends used to go into the TV world and fight shadows). Despite Yosuke’s best efforts, his father says no. He doesn’t really have any choice but to close part of the electronics floor. Junes is losing money by keeping it open. I think Mr. Hanamura gave him the vouchers because that’s the only other way he can help. Teddie made a deal that if he sells one TV set by the end of the month, they’ll keep the TV that leads to the TV world. He’s trying to advertise the TV set by promising other surprise items coming with it. These Junes vouchers are part of those surprise items. 

It’s no secret that many of the shopping district families despise Junes and the Hanamuras. Many horrible things have been said about their family, yet Junes still teams up with the shopping district in the YasoInaba Case File to help keep them afloat. Whether or not this was Mr. Hanamura’s idea, he’s the one who has to approve it, and he does. Despite being treated horribly by them, he still wants to help the shopping district. Junes teaming up with shopping district might be a good business move, but they didn’t really need to do that. The problem is that Junes is taking away the shopping district’s business. Junes doesn’t need to team up with the shopping district to do well. The two of the teaming up benefits the shopping district way more than Junes. It doesn’t do much for Junes other than the shopping district maybe not hating them. At the end of the day, the shopping district families would still shop at the shopping district to keep their businesses afloat, so Junes isn’t getting a lot more business.

When Teddie came to the real world, Yosuke offered to take Teddie home with no hesitation. He didn’t think it would be a problem with his parents or show any concern about how he would convince them. I think this goes along with them being pretty carefree as well as showing that they’re kind and generous people. Not everyone is willing to take others in like that. Yosuke’s also comfortable with asking his parents such a huge favor.

Teddie talks about Yosuke’s parents in a really positive light, and I would say they treat him like their own son. For example, on January second Teddie says, “I got New Year’s gifts! Yosuke’s mom and dad gave them to me!” (edit: Someone said “notice how Yosuke doesn’t say the same thing.” He doesn’t need to. It’s Japense culture to give younger family members gifts for new Year’s. Yosuke saying something would be the equivalent of, “omg my parents gave me a birthday present!!” It would have been weirder if he did say something then. Teddie is excited because because this is his first New Year’s. He’s never experienced this before. Also, Yosuke did get New Year’s money. He talks about saving it on 1/10 when walking to school).

I think I remember Teddie saying he watches movies with Mrs. Hanamura, but I have no idea where he says that. There’s a 50/50 chance I made that up and convinced myself it was canon, so don’t take my word on that one. 

Teddie breaks A LOT of rules at Junes. He steals topsicles, rode a handi mover through the store, slept on both a display bed and the floor of electronics department, been yelled at for eating samples, been chased by store security, and Yosuke had to monitor Teddie during his late night shift because they didn’t trust him to work alone. Teddie’s a terrible employee, yet he hasn’t been fired. I think the reason for this is he’s basically the manager’s son. I do want to say that just because they consider Teddie as their own child doesn’t mean they treat Yosuke as anything less. I haven’t seen a single thing that has implied that there is favoritism going on.

Yosuke and Teddie act a lot like brothers (Naoki even suspects that they're related), and Yosuke’s parents seem to treat Teddie like their own son. He even wears their family crest in offical art. I looks like ATLUS wnted the four of them to be a family. And If that’s the case, it wouldn’t make any sense for Mr. and Mrs. Hanamura to be bad parents.

Additionally, if Mr. and Mrs. Hanamura treated Yosuke badly, and Teddie noticed, I think Teddie would say something.

The second Yukari said something slightly mean about Yosuke, Teddie defended him. He doesn’t like when other people say mean things about Yosuke. Not to mention conflict really stresses him out. If Yosuke’s parents treated him badly, I there’s a chance Teddie might see the problem.

I think it’s also worth noting that Yosuke’s parents have a really healthy marriage.

This quote implies that they’re rarely apart and get along really well. A happy marriage doesn’t automatically equal a healthy household or good parents, but it really increases the likelihood. 

For context, Yosuke is talking about Teddie in this picture. I’m not from Japan, so I don’t know if most families there eat breakfast together, but my family - despite being very close - does not. We all eat and start our day at different times. In my mind, eating breakfast together is a very domestic thing to do. Even the phrase “Hanamura family breakfast” screams domestic to me.

This conversation gives me the sense that Mr. Hanamura has a great deal of trust and respect for Yosuke. I mean, I don’t think he would accept Yosuke’s idea if he didn’t. Adding a kid’s menu would be pretty exspensive. Not only do they have to print the kid’s menu, but they have to design them, create new menu items, and depedning on what’s on the menu buy more food or ingredients. That adds up, and if it isn’t successful then they’ll lose money. Mr. Hanamura has to approve that idea, and he’s putting in trust that it’s going to be successful. Also, Yosuke is comfortable enough to “push really hard” for his idea.

All in all, it is my personal opinion that the Hanamurs are a really close family. It would make sense for ATLUS to go in that direction to create a contrast to the Narukami’s, after all. That being said, neither headcanon is wrong. It just comes down to how we interpret the very little information we’re given.

#yosuke hanamura #teddie persona 4 #persona 4 teddie #teddie #not a quote #analysis #persona 4 #p4 #Hanamura bros

[shartlord420]

Ahh sorry if im bein annoying or sth, i really like this au!

So i wanted to ask what do you think Yu's motives (as the culprit) are?

Not annoying at all!!!!! I'm honestly so thrilled that anyone at all is into my au, it's purely born from my own whims and enthisiasm so the fact that other people are enjoying it makes me really, really happy! I love being asked about it

Narukami's motives as a culprit is a REALLY good question because that's definitely a huuuuge factor in this au as a whole, because the actions of the culprit shape the entire narrative, and Narukami is.... different than Adachi, in more ways than one. They have their similarities, they're foils for a reason, but they're still different people and I couldn't see Narukami doing exactly what Adachi did. So... what would he do? And why?

Adding a read more becaue this is a LONG ANSWER. And content warning for like... if you played P4G, y'know, all things associated with the original games crimes.

Narukami's role as the culprit encompasses both Adachi and Namatame's roles. A mixed bag, somewhere inbetween.

There's less victims in this au. Same number of deaths, but less direct victims, a slight change in who, and circumstances are a bit more... complicated.

Mayumi's death was an accident. Well, even in the original case it was sort of an accident, but even more so in this case. And in fact, it wasn't even Narukami who accidentally pushed her in. Although that doesn't stop him from blaming himself.

Yu Narukami has a bleeding heart. Seems like such a harmless flaw, but it's still just as dangerous when left unchecked as other flaws can be. Everyone in Inaba knows he's someone you can rely on, knows that they can come to him with anything, and often times he'll even notice without you even having to ask.

This is how he met Namatame. Narukami knows everyone in town- he makes sure of that. It's important to him. So when Namatame arrived in town it didn't take long for Narukami to hear his story, and to see the state he was in.

So, of course he reached out. A supportive shoulder to lean on, to cry on, an ear to listen to drunken regrets. Yu Narukami was trying to help Namatame. He wasn't a bad person, after all. He just made a few mistakes.

What was he supposed to do when Namatame started talking about the midnight channel? About seeing Mayumi? About his increasing anxiety about what it means, an ominous sense of dread filling him? Namatame had to see Mayumi. He had to.

Narukami was hoping that seeing her would reassure him. Give him some closure, maybe. Maybe he was too optimistic, maybe he didn't think things through as much as he should have. After all, she was in protective custody. Helping Namatame sneak in to see her... he should have at the very least stayed in the room with them. He just wanted to give them privacy. How was he supposed to know what would happen?

It wasn't intentional. Namatame truly was just trying to talk to her, but he shouldn't have. How else was Mayumi supposed to react? Even if she did care about him, her career, her life was in shambles because of him. It was as much her mistake as his, but it's hard to not place the blame. It was just a push (he was just trying to get her away from him) and then she stumbled, and he tried to grab her- she pulled away of course, and the force...

By the time Narukami returned to the room, the both of them were gone. (How could Namatame just stand there, stay there, knowing where she had gone? He had to go after her. There was no other choice.)

And the next day they reappeared, hanging from the telephone wires.

There was no way Narukami could have predicted that. Who ever would have?

It was written off as a murder suicide, or perhaps even a suicide pact. (What else could they say? They couldn't even identify how they died. But circumstances... what else could it have been?)

And what could Narukami say? He couldn't even say for certain if it was true or not. All he knows is that he was the last person to see the two of them, and he was the one who let Namatame see her.

Either Narukami directly caused this by allowing Namatame to see her... or Namatame's hunch that she was in danger was correct, and that was perhaps even more terrifying of a concept to consider.

Saki Konishi gets a lucky break in this au. She does end up in the tv (another accident, falling in with Tohru and Yosuke), but while her shadow does emerge and injure her, they manage to book it and escape as a group. She's hospitalized for a few days, but that's it. She's safe.

Narukami's a teacher though, and a good one at that. He reaches out, talks to Saki, and manages to get her to admit the truth of what happened (if anyone would believe her, it would be Narukami. A good teacher, but even his students would admit he's a little strange).

Maybe it's a silly thing to feel relieved about, but her story offers him reassurance. Because if what she says is true... well, it lines up with some of the things Namatame had been saying.

Maybe it wasn't Narukami's fault they were dead. Maybe she had been in danger. But maybe Namatame just wasn't enough to keep her safe.

It was an alternate narrative where Narukami hadn't made a grave mistake, and he clung to it like a life raft. If he could understand this world a little better, if he could figure out what was happening and why.... perhaps he could keep others from ending up the same way.

He could make up for his failure to help Namatame, his failure to save Mayumi. He couldn't let anyone else die, right?

Narukami is a much more active part of the Investigation Team than Adachi ever was in the original narrative. He's practically an adult member. (Even in this au he just can't help himself- what's the Investigation Team without Yu Narukami?)

He helps them work on understanding that world, does the research, speculates, and comes to his conclusion.

The midnight channel must be selecting individuals who are repressing issues and feelings they're struggling with to the point that it may become a danger to themselves. But, there's a way to fix it- if they enter the tv world and have appropriate support in place, they can overcome their own Shadow and turn it into a power they can use to then help others.

But, it's a bit of a difficult story to tell to others, and there's also the fact that telling a child that they may just straight up die if they don't.... well, it would be a bit of a struggle. And these are individuals who are repressing issues they're likely very unwilling to admit, and would very likely not wish to be forced to face.

So Narukami makes a decision- it's just a small little white lie. It's to make things easier, for them and for the entire process. Less stress, less worry. They didn't need to know about Namatame and Mayumi. They didn't need to be pressured to make the choice to face their issues themselves.

Narukami would make that decison for them.

It wasn't particularly difficult, Narukami just had to be a bit more careful, a bit more particular about things. Maybe it was a little manipulative, maybe he was lying just a little, but it was all for the greater good. (It was what was best for them.)

Being a staple of the community, he could move around freely without arousing any real suspicion. It wasn't unusual for him to check in on his students, especially ones who seemed to be struggling. It wasn't unusual for him to bring a little extra food to share with students- he loved cooking, especially for others. It wasnt unusual to see him anywhere, really. He was always doing a million things. How could he seem out of place?

Special snacks with an extra dose of sleeping drugs and getting someone into the tv was no issue. Easy peasy. And no one had to know it was him- as far as they knew, the tv just sucked people right up. After all, what evidence did they have otherwise?

Clearly Narukami wasn't in the most sound state of mind, it didn't take a genius to figure that out. But he had found a way to relieve himself from his guilt while also feeling like he was making an actual impact after a long spell of feeling worn down and like his hard work hasnt doing much of anything at all. Seeing actual results from your actions, positive results, it's a type of euphoria.

Maybe he really could make a difference.

Narukami didn't plan on killing Morooka. It just kind of happened. One thing led to another, and...

He was just trying to talk to him about the way he interacted with the kids, Narukami was just trying to encourage him to be a little nicer, a little more understanding.

But of course King Moron went off on him. How dare a younger teacher try to lecture him on how to handle students? Disrespectful. Outrageous. Arrogant city kid from his fancy little school thinking he can just waddle in with his mushy gushy horseshit?

What really set Narukami off, though, were the accusations. Because why else would Narukami be trying to get Morooka to be a decent person to these kids if he wasn't trying to prey on them? Spending time with them outside of school, giving them food, clearly Narukami had ulterior motives.

It was a threat, not only to Narukami's job, but his reputation. And how could he? How dare he accuse him of such a thing? It was one thing to deal with the rumors about it (a young teacher like him, so popular with the girls... rumors were inevitable. He did his best to avoid them, though) but to have someone spit it in his face? To talk about going to the principal about his behavior as if Narukami was the teacher that needed reprimanding?

He wasn't thinking. Narukami struck once, and Morooka crumpled like a house of cards to the ground. There was no going back now. At the very least it would be assault. Narukami had dug his own grave.

But... there was a tv right there, in the teachers lounge.

And if Morooka couldn't handle facing the shadow staring at him from the other side of the mirror...

That was hardly Narukami's fault, right?

#yu narukami #culprit yu narukami #persona 4 roleswap au #roleswap au #the reversed sun au