NO OWN OF THE PERSONA. DO NOT OF THE OWN.
He never imagined he would ever find himself in this position, huddled in a school bathroom stall nervously twirling daggers in his clammy hands. What would they think if they knew what he was about to do? Yukiko, Chie, Naoto, Kanji, Rise…Souji. Yosuke cradle his head in his already occupied hands and squeezed his eyes shut.
This is wrong, he knows that it's wrong what he's about to do, but the torture has to end. How much longer could he hold up if he didn't do something now? No, he was already past his breaking point. He needs everyone to understand just how much they've hurt him. All of the teasing, neglect, mental torture, it would be over soon but so would his future.
"I told you I can't work weekends!" Yosuke backed away from the female prodding his chest angrily. She was livid, and had apparently brought her posse of friends to back up her argument if needed. "So you'd better take me off the schedule."
"Junes is hosting an event this weekend, we need everyone to be there. I can't take you off the schedule."
This did not bode well at all. The girl snarled, and stepped forward backing Yosuke into one of the store's outdoor tables. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Souji making his way up the street and towards the scene. Great timing…He shows up when I'm getting abused by a girl.
"I'll quit!" The girl shrieked. "I'll quit and if I quit so will half your staff. Everyone loves me." He could see Souji now, eyeing the situation carefully on the side. "You're doing a shit job. You're lucky you're the owner's son otherwise you'd be fired by now. Do you even know how many people have sent in complaints about you?"
Yosuke rolled his eyes and didn't even bother to address her insults. "You gave me late notice. What are you expecting me to do?"
"Just scratch my name off!"
"If he can't take you off the schedule then he can't. It sounds like it's your fault for not thinking ahead." Yosuke smiled, now thankful that Souji had arrived. The girl and her friends turned a glare onto Souji but he stood tall, not at all bothered.
"This has nothing to do with him," she whined. "Take my name off or I'll be talking with your father." With that she spun on her heel and lead her group away from the Junes food court.
"Junes hires the most interesting characters," Souji commented dryly as they watched the group grow further and further away.
Yosuke nodded, sighing. "Yeah…So what are you doing here, partner?"
"Nanako wants to make takoyaki for dinner. I'm getting supplies."
"Sounds great!"
Souji nodded, but didn't seem to catch on to Yosuke's happy mood. "Are you alright?"
"Huh?" The Junes employee scratched his head idly, and after thinking for a bit responded. "Yeah, I don't feel like fighting her right now. I'll just take her name off and deal with being shorthanded…again."
"I'll work it."
Yosuke's eyes grew wide. "Really, partner! That's great!"
The homeroom bell…
Everyone would have noticed his absence by now, especially the three Investigation Team members. That is, if Chie wasn't fantasizing over steak. No, Souji would have said something by now. He was the most perceptive. He was the one Yosuke feared the most at this moment.
His plan needed to come into action before Souji caught on.
Yosuke lift himself to stand on shaky, unstable legs. He felt sick. His stomach rolled angrily, threatening to force up what little breakfast he'd eaten. He found himself spinning around. Just in time to lean over the toilet and spew rancid chunks of food and bile into it's waiting mouth. His body shook so hard it was amazing he could keep a solid enough grip on his blades to keep them from slipping and clattering to the floor.
"What am I doing?" Yosuke let a sob break free to echo off the bathroom walls.
"Go back to the city!"
Fist after fist connect with his face, until he grew too tired to try and defend himself. Yosuke was pushed to the ground. He land on his back, coercing a sharp hiss from his split lips.
He wasn't surprised. He was never surprised anymore at these random attacks on his way home or to school. It was beginning to become a part of life here in Inaba. As long as Junes existed, he would be the poster child for a store everyone hates.
"What are we supposed to do, Junes boy? My family's business is done because of you. Are you going to pay my folks bills?"
Yosuke looked up at his attacker with his good eye as his other currently had swollen shut. If this were the world behind the TV he would have a better chance. One against two, he could use Garula and sweep both of these creeps away. Or, since he would have his blades he wouldn't even have to rely on skills. He could just attack them as is. It didn't look like either of them had weapons on them.
"Answer me!" A foot collided with his stomach, forcing him to curl in on himself.
If they were shadows…
"Little shit thinks he's too good to talk to us." He saw stars as the foot now came down on his head.
If they were shadows…
They'd be dead by now.
When the stars cleared both boys were gone and he was left huddled in the middle of an alley, bleeding. But he wasn't crying, and he wasn't angry. No, he was smiling.
"What do you mean Yosuke's been acting weird lately, Ted?" Chie asked before digging her teeth into a bite of steak. The group looked to the small boy, waiting. Occasionally one would glance in the direction of the food court, checking to see if the boy in question was coming back.
"He won't take me anywhere anymore! Whenever I want to go visit Nana-chan he says he's too tired or busy. But all he does is sit in our room and listen to his music thing!"
"Ipod," Naoto corrected.
"Then, yesterday I saw him playing with his collection of kunai. He looked really scary…" Teddy seemed to shiver at the memory, causing the group to look at each other in concern for both of their friends.
"What do you mean scary?" Souji prodded.
"He…he looked weird." He paused, trying to think of a proper word. He looked excitedly to Souji. "Kind of like his shadow, sensei! He looked like his shadow but without the yellow eyes!"
Souji frowned.
"Maybe we should ask him what's up." Kanji suggested.
"Who?"
The group grew silent.
"You." Souji answered. The IT group held their breaths. "We were talking about how you seem different lately."
"Me?" Yosuke didn't seem at all bothered by this. "I'm just tired is all. I've been taking on extra shifts at Junes for my dad and it's all just getting to me I guess."
Naoto nodded. "That's logical. Stress can cause one to act unusual."
"You didn't get us any food!" Teddy whined, looking at Yosuke's empty hands.
"O-oh sorry. I wasn't very hungry so I decided not to eat. I forgot that I had to feed you too, Ted."
"It's alright. I'll do it. Let's go Teddy," Rise smiled, grabbing his hand and leading him away.
Yosuke sat, and after a moment looked over at Souji expectedly. "Hey, can we go into the TV today? I wanted to get some practice in."
"Weren't we taking a break since things have slowed down?" Yukiko asked.
Souji nodded. "We need to rest. There's no need to tire ourselves out needlessly."
"I know but I'm getting antsy! C'mon, we don't have to take everyone else. It can be just you and me, partner. I really need to go let out some steam."
"We can go tomorrow with everyone." That was the closest Souji would allow much to Yosuke's frustration.
"It can't be tomorrow!"
"Why not, sempai?" Naoto questioned. She stared at him in suspicion.
He fumbled for a way to fix his sentence. "I just…I don't really know. I just feel like tomorrow is a bad day. I feel like it'll be a rainy day." He paused, eyes lighting up with an idea. "You know, maybe we shouldn't go to school tomorrow. I mean wouldn't we be more prepared and rested if someone got kidnapped."
"No one has showed on the Midnight Channel. We're safe," Souji responded. "Or are you worried about something else?"
"N-no. Forget I said anything."
Yosuke straightened, and after hiding the blades in his uniform jacket opened the stall door. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was about to do, and stepped out of the bathroom entirely.
He jumped back at the sight of a familiar face.
"I knew you came to school today," Souji pushed him back into the bathroom without much struggle from his best friend, and locked the door behind them. "It was just a matter of figuring out where you were hiding until you put your plan in action."
Yosuke's body grew stiff. "What plan?"
"Yosuke…" Souji trailed off. "We both know what plan I'm talking about."
Yosuke's hands flew to his jacket, pressing a hand against the weapons concealed there. He looked down to the floor, and gripped tighter. "Don't stop me, partner. Please."
"I'd be a bad friend if I let you do this."
"Cut the crap!" Yosuke screamed. "You don't really care. Why should you? You're leaving in a few months. I'm tired of dealing with everyone. They're either showering me with fake kindness or giving me shit that I don't deserve."
Souji stared, seemingly unbothered by his friends accusation against him. "If I didn't care then I wouldn't push you out of harms way in battle nor would I have put up with you for this long." He continued when Yosuke didn't respond. "And, if you didn't care about me, you would have killed me by now instead of letting me try to talk you out of this."
Yosuke shook, eyes glassy with unshed tears.
"And if you really thought your friends were being fake, you wouldn't have warned us to stay away from school today."
"But you came anyway! Why didn't you just listen?"
The brunette stepped back closing his eyes, but no matter how much he tried to shut out Souji's words they still rang in his head. He opened his jacket, and grabbing his blades took his fighting stance. Tears ran down his determined face unabashedly.
"Are you hurting that badly that you're willing to stoop lower than their level just for payback?" His best friend questioned.
"I'm really sorry, partner," Yosuke stepped forward, raising his blades. "I have to…"
"So, you're going to kill me first?"
"I won't let you stop me…" His voice shook, and he closed his eyes momentarily. "Na-Nanako, Dojima-san, please forgive me. I'm so sorry."
Yosuke took another slow step forward, then another until he stood, pressing one of his blades to his best friend's thin neck.
"I'm really, really sorry." Yosuke cried, sniffing. His hand shook violently causing the knife to occasionally knock against Souji's chin. He took a steadying breath, and pressed it deeper into the skin. "Just leave. I won't have to hurt you if you leave."
Souji raised a hand to wrap around the one that held the knife to his neck. Somehow despite Souji's tight grip on Yosuke's hand, and the sharp gaze of his friend, it didn't seem as though Souji was angered with him. He felt a strange calm looking into those eyes. Souji spoke, "You won't get out of this bathroom if you keep me alive. I won't let you hurt anyone in this school."
"Don't make me do this…"
"I'm not making you do anything. This is something you decided to do on your own." Souji responded. He inched the blade away from his neck, but Yosuke's grip tightened and resist.
"Jiraya…please guide me," Yosuke mumbled under his breath. He inhaled deeply, eyes narrowing. "Help me. I can't do this on my own."
"Is it Jiraya that's guiding you, or your shadow?" His friend commented drily.
The brunette used his free hand to roughly grab a handful of Souji's school uniform and slam him back into the closed bathroom door. "Shut up!"
Cold laughter echoed off the walls of the bathroom. "I'm going to do this. I'm really going to do this. I have to. I'm so fucking tired! I hate this town! And I don't need to hear your mouth!" Yosuke emphasized his words by pushing Souji harder into the wall. "I get it. You're perfect. You're God, but I'm not! I know this is wrong, but guess what? I'm not perfect like you! I don't have girls at my feet and guys kissing my ass. I have people wanting me dead. I'll give them what they want, but I'm taking them with me."
"Yosuke…"
"Stop!" Yosuke growled, his grip tightening. "I'm going to kill you. I'm sorry, partner." His eyes softened. "I'll make sure it doesn't hurt, promise."
Stop me.
His blade glint dangerously as he raised it above his head, and with a guttural scream he brought it crashing down. It scraped the wooden door just barely before his body was thrown back and onto the cold tile floor. Yosuke looked up in surprise to see Souji pounce on him, fighting him for the blades in his hands.
"Let go!" Yosuke snapped.
He kicked the boy on top of him in the gut, sending him backwards in pain. Yosuke took this opportunity to climb on top of the boy, moving to strike a finishing blow once again. Souji didn't give him this opportunity. He dodged the swipe just barely. Yosuke could see a line of blood pool to the surface of the new scrape on Souji's cheek. The next thing he saw were stars after a nasty hit from Souji, causing his face to snap in the direction of the punch.
Souji mounted him, pressing his weight down on the struggling teen and grasping his wrists so he could get no more surprise cuts. "Calm down, think, and I'll let you go."
"Dammit!" Yosuke cursed, bucking up against the boy, trying to knock him off.
"Calm down…" Souji repeat.
Yosuke's chin quivered, and he closed his eyes giving into the torrent of rage, sadness, and betrayal brewing within him. Tears leaked from his eyes slowly, then the dam broke. He sobbed openly and let his grip on his knives go slack, letting them clatter to the floor.
"Calming down won't make this go away."
"Killing won't make this go away," Souji echoed with a slight change of words. His own grip grew slack, seeing as Yosuke was no longer a threat. He rolled off, moving to sit beside the boy after throwing the blades to the opposite side of the room.
"I'm sorry," Yosuke sobbed. "I almost…I'm really sorry."
"I'm glad you're back, Yosuke."
This only made the boy cry harder. His body shook hard, and he crossed his arms in front of his face in a failed attempt to hide his tears. "What was I thinking?"
"You were thinking, that enough is enough, and I can't blame you. If I were in your position, I might have tried the same thing." Souji said, comforting his friend.
Yosuke uncovered an eye to look up at him. "Really?"
"Believe it or not, I'm not God," Souji smiled. "We all crack from time to time. You and I are no different. You just don't have many factors on your side right now, but you do have us, your friends, to lean on. Who cares what other people think. We know you for who you are, not for Junes."
Nodding, Yosuke sat up, rubbing his bruised face absently. "Thanks, partner."
"Go home." Souji was given a look of confusion. "If you go to class now you'll get in trouble for being so late. First period is almost over."
Yosuke cursed, looking down at his watch. "What about you? You've been here the entire time."
"I'll deal with the repercussions." Souji stood, grabbed Yosuke's weapons and placed them gently in his lap. "Text me." He unlocked the door to the bathroom and stepped out into the hall, only looking back to give his friend a smile before trekking to class.
He had texted Souji, all day in fact. He'd gotten home, much to Teddy's surprise, and sent Souji a text as soon as he stepped through the door. His blades were shoved under his bed, and he'd taken a long shower to calm his thoughts.
The rest of his day went by uneventful, until he was invited to Junes. As soon as he round the corner and the store came into sight he knew something was off.
Chie gave a growl of anger at the sight of Yosuke. She marched up to him and, winding up her arm, punched him in the gut. He hunched over, gasping.
"What the hell!"
"That's for being an idiot and scaring us half to death!" Chie screamed, uncaring if she was getting strange glances from the food court. "Did you think we weren't going to find out?" She kicked him this time, causing him to fall to the ground and hold his aching leg.
The boy turned a glare onto Souji, but he only shook his head.
Naoto stood, pushing away from the team's usual table. "He did not inform us of anything that went on between the two of you. We figured it out on our own."
"On your own…?" He repeated dumbly.
"Hey, even I figured it out sempai and I'm not the brightest guy in the world," Kanji piped up. "What were you expecting us to think when you told us not to come to school?"
"Jeez, if this is how you act when you're worried I'd hate to see what would have happened if I'd actually gone through with it." Yosuke grumbled from his position on the ground.
"I'd have found your sorry ass in jail and beat some sense back into you." Chie growled.
Yukiko looked up, pondering. "Don't most people like that kill themselves in the end." Yosuke winced. She was spot on.
"Then I would have…would have…" Chie spun around and stomped back over to their table to sit next to Yukiko.
"Ah, don't cry, Chie-chan." Rise soothed.
"You're acting like I actually went through with it," Yosuke spoke. He looked to Chie, then to the side in shame. "I didn't so can we drop the subject."
"A single ripple can create a wave." The shamed boy stood, and looked to Naoto in confusion. "A single thought can lead to more. In your case it had the potential to be deadly if sempai hadn't stopped you in time."
"I'm sorry okay. I don't know how many times I've had to say that today," Yosuke rubbed the back of his neck gingerly, looking at the group with a shamed frown.
Chie snorted. "Well you better keep saying it because I'm not going to be forgiving you for a long time."
"You were really that worried?"
The girl looked up at the approaching boy. "Of course I was, idiot! We all were. Did you think we really wouldn't care?" Noticing she was turning soft when she was supposed to be angry, she replaced her soft tone with a growl. "And you hurt poor Souji when he was trying to help you!"
Yosuke bent down, enveloping Chie in a warm hug. "Thank you, for worrying. It means a lot."
She allowed the hug momentarily, wrapping her arms around him and rubbing his back soothingly, before shoving him off.
"Come on Yukiko, I'm in the mood for steak." Yukiko rolled her eyes, but followed close behind her hungry friend as she quickly disappeared into the marketplace.
Kanji stood, stretching. "I guess we're eating now."
"Food!" Teddy waddled over in his bear suit. "I want to come! Yosuke, Yosuke, I want steak too!"
Yosuke smiled and wrapped an arm around the blonde boy, "Okay you stupid bear. Let's go."
Something not Ouran related. I'm amazed at myself. This is my first time writing Persona fanfiction so if anything is off or out of character let me know please. I'd also like to know what you guys think. This is a really controversial story in my opinion since it deals with a sensitive subject.
Review. Tell me bad things. Tell me good things. Also this is unbeta'd so...yes mistakes will probably be found scattered about. I did my best to scout them out.