"Get a hold of Yosuke and Kanji and tell them to meet us up at Junes. We're going into the T.V. again." Yu Narukami stood in one of the Yasogami High classrooms, dressed in his typical Yasogami uniform. The classroom was mostly empty- save for a few students still filtering out and one of Yu's friends- a girl by the name of Chie Satonaka, who was still sitting at the desk behind his.
"…Um, Yu-kun?" Chie began, a little anxious. "I know you're set on catching the killer, but I think we should sit today out." The girl was sitting at her desk, apprehensively fiddling with the sleeves of her green jacket. Yu looked at her, confusion visible in his features.
"Is something bothering you, Chie-san?" Yu asked her. Chie was silent, and thought that Yu was being sarcastic. She didn't really know with him- one moment he could be goofy and the next moment he could be as deadpan as ever.
She honestly didn't want to say anything. She wasn't sure if he knew, but the team had been in the T.V. the past few days back to back, and she wasn't sure how much everybody could take.
Some people were able to hide it well. Unbeknownst to the majority of her classmates, Chie was hiding some scars and cuts underneath her jacket sleeves. They weren't too big and didn't hurt that bad, but they were still there- small reminders of every time she had gotten either too careless or wasn't quick enough to defend herself.
"Yu-kun…" She began, her bright brown eyes downcast. "I don't mean to be rude, but have you looked at yourself in a mirror lately?" This statement caused Yu to raise one of his delicate gray eyebrows in a quizzical manner. He wasn't too sure how to interpret what she said- what did she mean by 'had he looked in a mirror lately?'
…To be fair, the answer to that question was no. Or, at least not long enough to really notice a difference. But given her tone, he wasn't too sure he wanted to even glance at anything reflective.
"…No, I haven't." He admitted, suddenly feeling more self-conscious than usual. "Did I forget to shave this morning or something?" Chie was able to detect genuine concern from her classmate, and it was weird that he hadn't noticed anything.
And to the untrained eye, you wouldn't. If you were to pass by Yu, Chie or anyone from the Investigation Team, you wouldn't pay more than a simple glance to anyone. Yes, there was a famous idol that roamed the halls, but people seemed to adjust to that very quickly.
But Chie had known Yu ever since his first day at Yasogami. And sure enough, she could tell that there was something wrong- something bothering him. Even though the boy was stoic enough to suppress whatever wasn't a calm demeanor, Chie could spot the metaphorical, hairline cracks forming within her classmate's resolve.
"Do you kind of see what I'm getting at?" Chie asked, hesitating. "You know it's okay to sit out a day or two to recuperate, right?"
"…I think I understand, Chie-san. And you don't have to worry. We'll go in some other time." At this point, the girl breathed a sigh of relief and got up from her desk.
"Thanks for understanding, Yu-kun." She paused before their eyes met for a brief moment. "Do you want to do something instead- the two of us? I think it's supposed to be nice out all day." She looked into Yu's grey eyes, and she saw a bright spark before turning dark.
"I'd love to… but I promised Kou and Daisuke that I'd go and meet up with them in a little bit." It was hard for Chie to read his expression after he said this- he really seemed like he wanted to go and hang out with her instead, coupled with the fact that he was never this sad about previous plans.
"Oh…" Chie replied, trying her best to hide any form of sadness or disappointment. "I guess I'll see you later, then." She gave a dejected wave towards him and exited the classroom. She had her schoolbag on her shoulders and walked downstairs to the shoe lockers where a certain someone met her- someone she didn't necessarily wish to see at this point in time.
"Oh, hey Chie-chan!" The former idol Rise Kujikawa, in all her permanent effervescence, greeted her. Rise was a year younger than the majority of the Investigation Team and was also the newest member.
Chie had a… mixed opinion on Rise, to put it lightly. Her Persona was an amazing asset to the group, as they now spent a lesser amount of time running around frantically trying to search the vastness of the T.V. world to figure out where they were going, not to mention her ability to pinpoint enemy weaknesses made it easy to determine which Shadows could easily receive a Galactic Punt straight to the face.
There was just a single, albeit large problem Chie had with the girl- the copious amount of time she spent flirting with Yu irritated her to no end. Not to mention that every time she called him 'senpai' was met with a need to roll her bright brown eyes (which was suppressed, for the most part).
"Hey, Rise-chan." Chie greeted, closing the door to her shoe locker and trying her very best to seem stoic. "What are you still doing here?" Rise gave one of her typical, perfectly rehearsed pouts that she did whenever she was mad.
"Well, Senpai said that there was a chance of going into the T.V. today, and I wanted to wait around so that the two of us could go together. But I haven't been able to find him…" Out of all the things Rise could've said, this was the one Chie most expected to hear. Rise would think of any excuse to be near her senpai- and this was certainly one of them. Even though if it were to happen, she would write it off as it being a coincidence, even though she would've staged the whole thing.
"Hate to get your hopes up, but I spoke with Yu-kun earlier today. I think he's pretty tired, and we aren't going in today."
"Oh, really?" Rise replied, in a tone that tried to hide her disappointment by masking it with relief. "How long ago was this?" Chie sighed and absentmindedly looked at her fingernails. She really needed something to pass the time tonight- perhaps she could treat herself to a bargain action movie at Junes, provided they actually have new ones.
"Just right now. He's up in our classroom still, but he said something about hanging out with Kou and Daisuke." As soon as Chie said this, she resisted the urge to facepalm pretty hard. Not only had she let it slip where Yu was, she let her know that it was just recent. She basically gave her free reign to go and flirt with him. Dammit!
"Oh, really? Well, I'll go see him now. I'll see you later, Chie-chan!" Not even after finishing those words was Rise gone and up the stairs in a flash. At this point, with no one else around, Chie did facepalm pretty hard.
"Why me…?" She mused to herself. A little depressed and wearing an uncharacteristic frown on her face, Chie walked outside and started on her walk home.
As she stepped outside, the bright rays and warmth from the July sun greeted her. It was a pleasurable feeling to her, even if her arms were covered with her super-warm jacket. Shoving her hands into the pockets of her skirt, she began her walk home, humming a tune and thinking up new ways to improve her training sessions.
However, it would seem that fate had other plans for her. Once she was content and cheerful, a black storm cloud arrived, in the form of a literal black storm cloud that blocked out the sun. Chie looked up and saw this and was quite worried- not only did the forecast not call for dark clouds, she wasn't prepared in the slightest for it to start raining.
Which, in a cruel twist of fate, it did. It started as a light drizzle, which was the biggest warning sign for Chie. She had to get home, and fast. With no umbrella or a way to protect her from the rain, the last thing she wanted was to be caught in a surprise storm and get sick.
So, she did the only thing she really could- pick up the pace and break out into a jog. So much for that treat she was going to give herself.
It was when she was on the Floodplain did things take a turn for the worse. The rain had intensified, to the point where it had become a full storm- and she was stuck in the middle of a loud downpour.
If you were to list the things that Chie Satonaka doesn't like, the only thing that would be higher than Rise Kujikawa and her interactions with Yu Narukami would be storms. It didn't matter where they were happening or how bad it was, there was nothing about a storm that she relatively enjoyed.
"Dammit!" She cursed to herself. There was no other option- she had to kick it into a run if there was even a chance of her getting home without being sopping wet.
She didn't last very long in the run however, as she got caught on something and fell deep into a puddle.
At this point, Chie didn't even want to get up. A quick examination of her right arm revealed that some of the cuts and scars from before had become aggravated, not to mention that some new ones had sprouted. On top of that, she was now completely soaked from head to toe, and there was still a large chance that Rise was off flirting with the one boy she had felt a form of attraction to in quite some time.
So Chie did what is custom to those who hate the world- break down and cry, right in the middle of the Samegawa. It started as little tears that made their way into big sobs and hate-filled punches directed at the dirt. Nothing was going right, and she wasn't okay with it.
She was brought out of her trance by the feeling of a soothing warm hand on her shoulder and the feeling of the rain no longer hitting her. She looked to see that Yu was kneeling beside her, his umbrella over the both of them.
"Yu-kun?" She asked, desperate to find out if her mind was playing some cruel trick on her. He gave her a warming smile and she saw his face light up with expression.
"You know, it's kind of funny." He began, taking one of her hands in his and feeling their hearts skip a mutual beat. "You remind me of how I was a few minutes ago." Chie tilted her head in confusion, but relished in the contact between her and him.
"…I don't get it. Were you crying in the rain also or something?" She asked him.
"Something like that." He replied before standing up and offering her his hand. "Here. Let me help you up for starters." She didn't hesitate at all in taking his hand. As she was brought up, she just realized what kind of condition she was in. She was soaked. She was still tearing up. She was embarrassed beyond belief that he's seen her like this.
"I'm not sure what to say, Yu-kun…" She wiped away tears from her eyes and shivered slightly. "I mean, I'm just feeling a rush of things right now and it feels like pure chaos." She was going to continue on, but he silenced her.
"Then let me settle the storm clouds in your heart." She gave him a confused look before he made her lips meet his. He brought her close into his warming and protective embrace as he used his arm to shield the both of them from the world, which it would seem had it out for the both of them.
And it was at this point that Chie realized he too had broken down. What happened within the time span of now and when she had last seen him, she wasn't too sure. But she understood that whatever he was feeling was far too much for him, just like it was for her.
It was when they parted that Yu looked down and saw that Chie's arm was still wounded. He gave a shudder and looked directly into her eyes with a serious expression that she had only seen a few times before.
"Chie… How many of these were there before now?" Hesitantly, she pointed to almost all of the scars and cuts, no matter how small they were. She could see his expression, and it looked like he was being stabbed with a small knife for every one he saw.
"Yu… don't look so worried!" She told him, trying her very best to console him.
"Chie… All of those, one way or another, were my fault." He looked down at her with a feeling of self-pity and regret. "Because of me, you're all injured like this. A sweet angel like you…" This time, it was her turn to silence him.
"Stop." She only uttered one word, but it was such a powerful one to them that it seemed to do just that- stop time around them. "Don't worry about a thing, Yu. You worry too much about everything, and it becomes too much to bear. That's what I was meaning earlier…" The two of them shared a brief silence before tears started to fall from both of them.
"Yu Narukami, I'm in love with you."
"Chie Satonaka, I love you more than anyone else." At a loss for what to do next, they both settled with another passionate, love-filled kiss.
When their lips broke apart this time, they looked to see that the rain had stopped. The clouds were still there, but there was no longer any rain to be worried about.
"So…" Chie began. "What does this make us now?"
"Two rain-soaked fools who hate the world and wouldn't have it any other way." Chie placed a kiss on her new boyfriend's nose and smiled.
"I'll take it. But only if you promise that it's always the two of us."
"I promise. Now, let's see about getting that arm fixed. I can fix it up at home, plus we can get out of these wet clothes…" The two of them smiled as he picked up the umbrella and walked hand in hand with her.
A/N: Uh... not much to say on this one, actually. This is probably one of the cutest pairings in Persona 4, but it doesn't get the love that it deserves. I've been meaning to do something like this for quite some time now, and now I have.