A/N:
This is a Persona-Plotbunny that just wouldn't leave me alone, no matter what I did. After I had already written 60 pages and shown them to Zero-Point-Nobody, I decided to finally start cleaning it up a bit and uploading it here. My main worry with publishing this was the frequent bias against OCs - this Fic, is going to contain plenty of them. Still, this is not going to shove Canon Characters into the background, rather, I want to pay great attention to creating an environment that feels familiar and yet new and interesting for fans of the games.
That said, without any further ado, I'd like you to sit back and enjoy the story now!
I wanted to tell you…
When in the heat of battle, we wanted to stand together. We were convinced that if we just stand together, just believe in each other and the power of our bonds, we could take on anyone… and anything.
"D-Damn it! Can we really go up against this? …Yukiko!"
But we did not expect to not be given a chance to even fight. We did not know we would be pinned down before we could even reach the goal… or would be led right into a trap.
I couldn't have seen… any of it coming.
"Ungh… I…I can't heal anymore!"
"Yuki-chan, hang in there! I'll help!"
"No, you two, get back!"
We did not know we would find our own love for each other turned against us.
I did not expect that it would end that way.
For me. And for them.
I wanted to tell you.
That there were things I didn't understand, back then. So much I wanted to learn from you. So much you never got to tell me.
We can't foresee the future. The cards only give us hints, ideas. There's no such thing as an unchangeable destiny. And what has been can never be erased… Or so we thought.
"Senpai, no!"
"Guys, get back to Inaba! There's not much time!"
"What about you!?"
"There ain't no way we're leaving you behind!"
"S-Sensei! "
"You cannot…"
"Just do it!"
In truth, anything can be destroyed, no matter how firmly it has been built up.
No… 'destroyed' isn't the right word. More like… "lost sight of it". Just because something cannot be broken, it doesn't mean it cannot be lost.
Life is a strange thing. Chances come and have gone already before we ever even noticed them. And everything good is tied to something bad. Or the other way around. We keep striving to fill our lives with good things and aim for the best future, but which way will lead there? Is there really a way to tell?
That's why I wanted to tell you…
"Just go!"
"You… You'd better come after us!"
"I will!"
People like me… we tend to give promises we can't keep. Either to soothe others, or to soothe ourselves. Or because we simply didn't know better. I wanted to teach you about this. I wish I could have. Can you forgive me?
"Senpai!"
"Time is like a river" someone told me. Every drop of water that flows in it has to find its path. But you will never know where this path will lead. Some things will go lost on the way, others go astray. There is no way to tell where you will end up. Everything's uncertain. Even if you try to change the factors further up in the stream, you will not be able to fully direct it.
That's why I wanted to tell you…
…that I can't chose yet, which "present" is the better one. Which "now" should be preserved. Which journey I want to make reality and which to cast into the shadows.
And that's why… I am not strong enough to save you yet.
I wanted to tell you…
I am sorry.
A machine hummed loudly, causing the air in the dimly lit room to grow rich with static quickly. The vibrations caused the liquid in the small plastic beaker of coffee on the desk, surrounded by a disarray of paper, to move in a rhythmic way. It was cheap Starbucks Coffee, nothing fancy, but just what his nerves needed right now. The tense air and the mental exhaustion caused by his task were taking their toll on him as always. He couldn't really remember what the days when he still wasn't in need of large, nightly doses of caffeine were like. In fact, it had become hard for him to even imagine such days. He could only wonder how the person leaning across his shoulder, a man in his early twenties, young enough to still be called a "boy" in his opinion, could go on night after night without those same doses of cheap caffeinated drinks. Then again, knowing the guy, he probably got his share of overdosed energy-boosters during the day already.
His eyes fixed on the screen-like projection, he arranged a few cursors with his fingers, making a last few checks, before he relegated himself to taking a sip from the beaker, sighing loudly as he did.
"Well… That's it. It's gone undetectable."
Undetectable. That meant it was over. Pointless to even try going on. Tonight, they had lost without even fighting. He was trying to drown his frustrations in the coffee, when already he heard the other person's fist hit the wall next to them.
"Damn it. Not another one!" The boy growled at the screen, as if that would change the readings in any way. Naturally it didn't. He just growled louder. "At this rate, it's going to…"
"It probably already has…" The man interrupted, taking a look at the clock. "Strike twelve. That was the last day. Looking at their track record, whatever it had been targeting is gone by now. Not like we had a way to check…"
"Grrr… And we couldn't do a thing to prevent it. I can't believe it…"
"That's just how it is. All we can do now is try to keep our eyes open for them and minimize the damage. The next one is gonna appear soon, so we need to stay on guard…"
There was a lack of response to this from the younger man, so he decided to turn around to check on him. It was hard to tell in the weak, bluish lighting of the room, but it was obvious that the young man felt like yelling or punching something. Probably both. It just so happened that neither of it would solve their problem, so he let it be. The older man was thankful for that, yet he still felt the need to make sure that it would stay that way.
"Calm down," he told his the other. "This is not the first of them that got away. It's a problem, yeah, but there's still a chance to get rid of this thing."
"If we get the right cross-sum together..." was the somewhat disheartened response. "Otherwise there's no way we can take it out for good, especially not now. …Didn't we get anyone?"
The older man shook his head, "I can't get Yukiko to pick up, no matter how many times I call… Naoto would have been here a week ago if she could have made it, but it looks like she's still tied up over in Europe."
A deep sigh, "But… they're the only two of our group who match! And Kirijo just won't send backup…"
"No surprise. After all, this isn't the only place where this is happening."
"Yeah, but the only one where we have such big ones…"
The younger one was walking around the room restlessly at that point, the man just looking across the chair he himself was sitting on, watching him. He understood the boy's feelings, of course, in fact, he felt much of the same, but how would raging to nobody in particular help right now? There was no use in it. What has happened just happened and they wouldn't be able to undo it now, even if they tried. They both knew it, but somehow, despite all the coffee pumping through his veins, the older man still knew how to keep control of his emotions much better than the younger one did. Years of experience, probably. He was used to keeping his frustration of things in check, after all. His younger friend could just never be bothered to acquire this kind of skill.
Finally, after three aimless rounds through the room, the younger man finally changed his path and aimed for the door, picking up a jacket on his way there.
"I sense a few smaller ones close by…" he mumbled, not turning as he opened the door. "I'm gonna go and hunt for a while."
"Don't stay out for too long," the older man said with notable concern in his voice. "You're gonna be a wreck tomorrow if you don't sleep."
Hearing this, the boy stopped in the door, just for a short moment. Then he turned around and looked at the older person. He smirked,
"Don't treat me like a kid, Yosuke. I can take the best of care of myself."
"Yeah. As long as you don't need to take responsibility for anything," the older man grinned.
The smirk was suddenly dropped.
"Oh, shush!"
And with that, the younger person left through the door, closing it behind him. Who stayed was the older man – who, for the record, was still in his twenties himself, even if the dim lights of the room made him look so much older and jaded than he really was. With one last sigh he took one last sip from his tasteless coffee.
"Don't overdo it, Lil' Bro," he mumbled to himself, chuckling...
…Before taking one last look at the screen behind him in worry.
He would watch this screen all night, just hoping that a certain number would not flash on the display.