Given the feedback from the original experiment, and after thinking harder about it myself, I decided to prose the original "Conversations."
Thanks a lot for the help!
Hope you enjoy! Critiques are very much welcome, as always.
- - - - - - - - - -
- On Lunch.
"That took forever..."
Yosuke Hanamura's stomach gave an almighty lurch in agreement. The bell rang, signaling the lunch hour and the end of another sexually suggestive and thoroughly unsettling Biology lecture by Yasogami's resident creep, Ms. Kashiwagi. Students milled out of the classroom en masse, as if herded on by an otherworldly call; the call of a brief freedom from mental death. Among those in the herd, he noticed, were his friends Chie Satonaka and Yukiko Amagi.
"Fooooood time!" squealed Yosuke cheerfully, reaching for a pair of slim, smooth wood chopsticks inside his plain wooden lunch box. The smoky scent of the chopped Junes grilled steak caressed his nose and filled him with even more hunger. He split the conjoined chopsticks down the middle.
"Clean split, hell yeah! Good day today, Yosuke!" he giddily muttered to himself as he leaned back on his chair, eyeballing his food. "Although...There's a lot here...mmm...Kinda boring by yourself..."
He tapped one chopstick on the table and twirled the other round his fingers. Daisuke maybe? Nah...he's probably eating with Ai-san. Naoto-kun? Ehh...I've never really hung out with her before. Heh, Kanji's probably stalking her...Yukiko-san just left for the library..that leaves...Chie, maybe? If Yukiko's studying then maybe Chie...but she just left too...
Yosuke leaned back on his desk. He gave himself a moment to ponder, complete with chin-rubbing and brow-furrowing action.
Junes grilled steak...Chie Satonaka...get hit a lot...eat no food?
Yosuke's grin became a pensive frown upon arriving at his best girl friend Chie. That girl...Kung-fu flicks are her life and Junes grilled steak was her cocaine. Ehh...I can already hear it...'When are you gonna gimme back my Raidou Kuzunoha vs. Ruce Blee DVD?!' Does it even matter what it's about at this point? I know I'm gonna get yelled at...guh...already told that girl a million times I didn't lose her stupid DVD. He groaned. It proved quite a dilemma that the last person he would invite to share his Junes steak also happened to be his best friend. For all their spats, he and Chie were great friends and shared many laughs.
However, fierce friends though they were...
....grumble....
...Yosuke Hanamura was hungry.
"On second thought...."
- - - - - -
"I'll see you back in class!"
"Kay, Yukiko, 'bye!"
Chie Satonaka stretched wide and yawned loudly as the red-clad, raven haired Yukiko Amagi made towards the library on the opposite end of the hall, where she spent a lot of her free time recently. She looked outside a window at the world outside the mental prison of school, where cicadas made their shrill kriiiii kriiiiii noise from deep inside the cherry blossom trees, shifting lazily in the bright summer lull.
She tied her green track jacket to her waist and dragged herself out of her classroom and into the noisy, congested halls of Yasogami High School. Students tall, small, junior and senior gathered round the corners and staircases, gossiping and eating and wasting their time away. Lunch time was a brief and valuable respite from the never-ending barrage of schoolwork.
Did time stop or something, she furiously mused. Today's just like yesterday! Argh, I almost wish a Shadow would appear...Oh, but just a little one! Why did Yukiko have to work tonight..? That means I actually have to do homework...Maybe I can do it with her in the library...
She blinked, giving the matter of following her friend into the library and studying during lunch all the attention it deserved, before walking on as though she never considered it.
She sighed and strolled down the stairs and into the Junior hallway, the rubber in her heels squeaking against the tile floors every now and again. Her hazel eyes were unfocused and downcast, unable to escape the boredom and unwilling to look at another textbook. Carelessly she bumped shoulders into a few anxious Juniors, all the while remaining oblivious of their nervous apologies. Lucky Rise...she gets to go around the world for a living...That's it, I wanna be an idol!
She stopped, frowning at what she just said. Okay, so I don't really want stalkers, but it can't be more boring than this!
Chie arrived at Classroom 2-2. A few students still remained, eating, studying, gossiping or napping their precious short recess away. Her eyes cast around near the front of the classroom. She pouted slightly as she saw a very androgynous blue-haired girl sit rigid as a statue. Her soft, delicate facial features remained motionless, save for her cool blue eyes darting back and forth, and her thumbs flipping page after page, clearly and utterly lost to the rest of the world.
Hmm...where there is a Naoto...
As predicted, three seats and two rows behind Naoto sat a tall, spiky white-haired boy, doing the same thing. His dark gray uniform's jacket slung over his shoulders like a cape, he mimicked the blue-haired boy's actions. His eyes glanced up to the statuesque girl, and back to the book. Its pages remained static, and its cover appeared to be curiously upside-down.
...there is a Kanji. Figures!
She turned on her heel and sauntered onwards, back towards the stairs at the end of the all, and and up to the third floor once again.
Wish Souji were here...he'd have found something to do...her mind wandered to her old friend and she smiled softly. The silver-haired nephew of detective Ryotaro Dojima had come from the big city and stayed in Inaba for a year while his parents worked abroad. Last year was like no other year in Chie's life, as the town was shaken by a bizarre serial murder case in which Souji, Chie and her friends had become intricately intertwined. Memories of the danger, heartbreak, and thrill of solving the case with Souji and her friends only served to make her more infuriatingly bored on this sweltering, sluggish...blah of a summer day.
Persona...TV world...the Shadows...That life seemed so distant to her now, months into this new peace. A year ago today she would have been at the Junes Food Court – the "special headquarters," as she and her friends affectionately came to calling it - whispering anxiously with her friends and crafting a plan of action in order to prevent yet another victim from falling prey to the deadly Shadows on the other side.
And now...she faced another long, hot, insipid summer day. Chie Satonaka, savior of the world and kung-fu prodigy, now had nothing to look forward to but another disappointing report card.
She rounded another corner and continued to meander through the busy halls and busy bodies. Argh, is this what war veterans feel when they come home?! Maybe Yosuke's not busy...? She thought slowly.
She paused her walking for the third time to think. I mean, the only thing he's ever studied is manga...Wonder what he'll do now that Souji's not here to help him cheat...
Her mind leapt onto her personal punching bag and second best friend, Yosuke Hanamura. Chie stifled a laugh, remembering the mischievous and mildly perverted exploits that her loud friend had wrangled her into last year. If Souji Seta was something, Yosuke was something else. Furious though she was at the thought of being made to wear swimsuits in front of hundreds of drooling boys for the Miss Yasogami High Pageant, she couldn't help but look back at the insanity of the "Miss" Yasogami High pageant with the hearty, content laugh that follows revenge served hot.
If anyone was as bored as Chie was, it was Yosuke...or so she hoped. Her pace quickened, perhaps towards her last chance at alleviating this unshakable boredom for at least twenty-five more minutes.
She trod back into the half-empty 3-2 classroom and looked around for her brunette friend. She grinned when she finally spotted him still in his seat, headphones on, clicking his chopsticks and mouthing what she could only fathom was whatever he was listening to. She could hear the crunching guitars and crashing drums grow louder as she approached his seat from behind.
"Yoooo," greeted Chie, plopping down on the vacant seat next to him with a dull flump.
"Bon-appe-WHOA!" yipped Yosuke, jumping at the sudden appearance of the last person he had thought of. He hung his orange headphones on his neck, allowing the heavy metal to become even louder.
"Hi to you too..." he panted.
"Ooh! Grilled steak!" squealed Chie upon spotting the lunch item inside his box. Wearing an expectant grin, she continued, "You're gonna share that, right?"
Yosuke blinked before sputtering "Pff—What?! D'ya ever stop eating?! Don't you ever just wanna talk--"
"Great! Guess you CAN be a great friend every once in a while, huh?" Chie's wide smile starkly contrasted Yosuke's gaping mouth as she took one of his chopsticks. She poked one of the steak pieces and ate it cheerfully. Within moments she was prodding another chunk and inserting it into her empty mouth.
"Wha-? Wait, wa-wait, not so fast--Chie!" called Yosuke to his gluttonous friend. He watched for a moment as his words fell on deaf ears.
"Bwerrra eet nwoww bufuwwwr 's alll gawwwn!" muffled Chie through a mouth full of food. She swallowed and continued to scarf the steak, her face glowing like a child's after eating candy "Stuff's good even when it's cold!"
"Guh...!" Yosuke knew better than to continue talking, and joined in the eating with his own chopstick.
- - - - -
"Ughh..."
Yosuke's stomach churned loudly. He had managed to eat less than half of what Chie did.
"Oh...ehehehe....oops?" Chie chuckled nervously.
Yosuke made a noise somewhere between a squeak and a groan.
"Well, I'm sorrr~ry!" apologized Chie, not truly meaning it completely. "I didn't mean to eat so much...it was just so good...!"
"Rrr...You owe me, Chie." replied Yosuke flatly, before laying his head on his desk.
Chie blinked, confused. "Whaaaa-"
"I want a fried rice bowl..." said Yosuke, his dejected voice muffled by the desk.
"But--"
"...with lots of eggs and shrimp and veggies..."
"-- but I'm--!"
"...and extra soy sauce." Yosuke finished, undeterred.
There was a moment of silence.
"...What?!" cried Chie indignantly.
"Chie..."
"I don't think I can--"
"...I am starving..."
"--afford a--"
"...and I may just die--"
"--It's not like I ate ALL of it!" Chie shrieked, aggravated. A few of the remaining students looked their way for a second before turning back to their own gossip. Chie glanced around, flushing slightly, before whispering harshly, "Sheesh, Yosuke, it was a cold steak not diamonds!"
"That was my lunch that you nearly completely ate." He spoke with strained patience, then gradually gaining an edge of exasperation. "MY lunch! Just like it was MY bike money that you nearly completely ate when you got Teddie those ridiculous clothes! Just like it was MY turn to go into the hot springs when you decided to throw HARD. WOODEN. BUCKETS. at my FACE! Chie Satonaka. You. Owe. Me. A. Damn. Rice. Bowl."
His face returned to its place under his arms and on the desk. Students looked their way once again, muttering and whispering.
"Ohhh--" Chie sought a comeback, but scowled when she realized that all of what he said was more than a little true. "Fine, dammit!"
A muffled, noncommittal "Mmm," issued from Yosuke's mouth.
"...Now could you please stop whimpering?" she added, burying her face under her palms after hearing a squeaky whine.
- - - - -
The Chinese diner Aiya on the north end of the shopping district was packed to burst with starving customers; from Yasogami students chewing a quick bite to stressed office men and women ravenously wolfing down their rice before heading home. The smell of fried rice and chow mein was strong enough to seep into clothes. The clanks of wood on porcelain, scrapes of spoons on woks, loud chatter, and the yelling of orders made for a claustrophobic atmosphere in the rush hour.
Yosuke and Chie sat small and snug between burly road workers and white-collar accountants at the bar facing the kitchen. Chie watched Yosuke eat with a disgusted frown.
"Could you at least slow down?" Chie whispered in his ear."People are staring..."
But Yosuke never looked up from his bowl. Indeed the loud slurps, wet smacks, and garbled grumblings of the hungry teen against his beloved rice bowl stood out, even through all the noise. Chie glanced around, a hint of embarrassment red on her cheeks. After a few more minutes of loud ingesting, Yosuke finally dropped his empty bowl onto the bar and slouched.
"Ahhh," He sighed, smiling contently. " 'M gonna burst..."
"Serves you right...pig." chided Chie, punched his arm lightly.
"Urgh...Whatever..." He rubbed where Chie's fist connected, "Heheh, we're even." he added with a painful smile and a small punch to her own arm. For a minute there was only the chatter and bustle of the diner.
"A new year..." said Chie wistfully, breaking the small silence.
"...our third year..." added Yosuke, sitting up and leaning against the bar.
"...and I'm so bored already." Chie finished with a sigh.
"Yeah..." concurred Yosuke. "I guess compared to last year everything else will seem really boring. Let's face it, hittin' the books isn't exactly fighting Shadows..."
"You're right. S'easier to fight Shadows," said Chie. "Argh, I already dread exams..."
"Thanks for the reminder..." replied Yosuke, wincing. "I can just hear it...'Wrong again, Hanamura...it's paaainfully obvious that the thingy goes in the doohickey blah blah blah this'll be on the exams blah blah blah ramble ramble ramble.' Be easier if Souji were here."
Chie chuckled at his thoroughly incorrect impression of their dull teacher. "You mean your cheat sheet? Yeah...and less boring. Definitely less boring."
"Hey, I resent that!"
The pair shared a laugh.
"But I do miss Souji..." said Chie wistfully, her mind back on Souji. "Things were exciting with him around. Now everything's back to being so...quiet...and peaceful..."
Yosuke gave her a puzzled look.
"I mean, no, don't get me wrong, I like peace!" She corrected herself hastily. "But I miss him. He really became a part of us in such a short year, y'know?"
"Right," Yosuke nodded, frowning a little himself. "I miss him too. He'll be back though. Distance means nothing. We'll all be friends forever."
Chie giggled, but quickly stifled it.
"What's so funny?" questioned Yosuke.
"It's just that when you put it that way, it sounds so lame!"
"Whaaaa? That's not what you said back at the train station!"replied Yosuke, sulking a little.
Chie laughed out loud and punched him again.
"Yeah...you're right. We'll always be friends." She gave Yosuke a smile, grateful for the attempt.
And they talked. From the unnecessary make-up of visual kei ("I have nightmares about those guy...girl...creatures.") to Rise's latest travel escapades ("She's in Tokyo right now. Prolly spending her checks on every store there,") to the best scenes in Trial of the Dragon ("Ooooh! I loved it when Ruce Blee broke that bouncer's arm in five places! Five! With three fingers! Hwataaa!")and the faithfulness of the American live action adaptation of the Punch of the Big Dipper anime ("Heard they hired an Italian supermodel to play Kenjiro...whassup with that?")
Half an hour became three whole ones, punctuated every now and then with pushes and punches back and forth between the two. Aiya gradually emptied after a while, relieving some of the claustrophobia as the day wore on. Through the front door, the glare of the setting sun shone in on the emptying diner, where only a few road-workers remained, chatting loudly.
Chie suddenly winced as the sunset glare played off her eyes.
"Ah--Sheesh! it got dark so quickly!" she said "Agh, and I got homework tonight..."
"Oh dammit---Yeah...me too." agreed Yosuke, standing up and slinging his messenger bag on his left shoulder. "I better get stepping. Thanks for the food, Chie."
The pair walked out of the diner and into the warm, orange glow of the shopping district.
"Er, 'thanks?' " Chie raised an eyebrow. "Whaddya mean, I thought I owed you....?"
"That you did," Yosuke said, nodding. "But this was more delicious than the steak. I can get Junes anytime anyway."
Chie stopped and Yosuke walked onwards. Yosuke walked a few paces before noticing.
"Eh...What?" asked Yosuke, confused by the wide-eyed Chie.
"WHAT?! That is NOT what you said earlier!" Chie shrieked, her friendliness evaporated and replaced by frantic screaming. "You were BITCHING up a storm in the classroom and everyone was watching! Y-you were whining about it all the way here, making me feel guilty, bringing up things that happened all the way LAST YEAR, and then you turn around and say 'It's okay I can get Junes anytime anyway," like nothing---!"
"--Wh-wait-what?!" interjected Yosuke, stung by the sudden mood swing. "W-w-well, sorr~y! PLEASE forgive me for trying to thank you! If you don't wanna owe me, you can try not eating my entire lunch again!"
Chie looked incredulous. "I-I apologized a million times and you still wouldn't shut up!" she retorted, her voice cracking. "You didn't even try to stop me! You just joined in!"
Yosuke opened his mouth to shout again, but Chie's fiery stare made him hesitant. His whining and moaning back at the classroom came back to him. Suddenly he became aware that the lukewarm, day-old taste of the Junes steak remained faintly in his palate. His usual will to argue began to leave him and a pang of guilt and humiliation replaced it.
He sighed, lowering his glare. He looked away from her livid gaze and into the street, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
"...I'm sorry, Chie." he finally said.
Chie's jaw went slack and her cheeks flushed. A quiet apology from the normally carefree Yosuke caught her off guard. She fidgeted awkwardly at the sudden somber tone of his formerly spiteful friend.
"Ohh...eh--J-just shut up about it already." She concluded; her voice still edgy, but her snarl now became a mild pout. "Y-you didn't have to turn it into a drama...Stupid."
The two looked around at everything in the shopping district except each other. Only the crickets, the wind through the trees, and the occasional passing car made a sound.
"Well...er..." Yosuke finally said, breaking the small but heavy silence. "Better go. S-see ya tomorrow."
"Oh...y-yeah." Chie snapped out of her reverie, still blushing slightly. "'Bye."
Yosuke's heart sank when she did not look him in the eyes. She began towards him...
"Chie--"
...And she punched him in the arm as she strolled past, before continuing north along the shopping district.
"Stupid."
Utterly nonplussed, Yosuke watched her walk until she rounded a corner and out of sight.
He placed his headphones on his ears and clicked the volume button on his portable music player before beginning the trek back home, south along the district. He pondered all the while just how in the hell he continued being friends with that girl. He hummed a tune, wincing as he rubbed his arm where Chie last punched him. He was sure it would leave a large bruise in the morning.
"'Good day today,' huh?" he muttered to himself before withdrawing the chopsticks from earlier out of his bag. He drummed the air to the beat of his music as he marched back home.
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And that's Chapter 1. To be continued.