This is my first Persona 4 fic, so bear with me here! It was inspired and named after the song First & Foremost by Ten Second Epic. I do not own the rights to the song, nor do I own the rights to the characters depicted in the story or the worlds. This is merely a work of fanfiction.
He could remember the day Souji started dating Yukiko. Sprawled out on the floor of his room, once organizing his stack of CDs before he gave up and flopped back on the hardwood, phone perched precariously between his ear and shoulder one Friday night.
"Yeah, yeah, we all know you're a ladykiller." He grumbled into his cell phone, aimlessly picking up CD cases and holding them high above his head before flicking them into the disarray that surrounded him. So much for organizing them alphabetically.
Souji laughed on the other end, his voice tinny, but still held all the warmth Yosuke knew. "I wouldn't say I'm that."
"You kidding?" Yosuke furrowed his brow, half at his friend's ridiculous statement and half at the CD he was holding (he was sure he had flicked this on his bed earlier for later listening). "Yesterday, you were shopping with Ai. Monday you were chilling with Rise. Sunday, you were training with Chie. Tuesday, you were acting out a love scene with Yumi, and today you were out with Yukiko." Another flick of a CD case and the clatter of plastic on wood. "You could get any girl you want and you're still single. How do you do it, dude?"
"Not anymore." He could practically hear Souji grinning on the other end.
Yosuke paused, arms frozen above him, a CD case open – empty – trying to comprehend what he just heard. "Wait... what?" He sat up, tossing the empty case aside, forgotten, his hair and shirt completely dishevelled.
"I'm not single anymore." Souji stated matter-of-factly. "I asked Yukiko to be my girlfriend-"
"And she said yes?!" Yosuke exclaimed. "You actually conquered the Amagi Challenge?!"
Souji laughed. "I guess you could say that." Why was Yosuke so surprised? If anyone could conquer the challenge, it would be Souji. And, surprise surprise, he did.
"I thought you weren't interested in her?" Yosuke squinted in accusation, feeling a little jealous. He got shot down the second he asked Yukiko out, and, worse yet, slapped at a misunderstanding of wanting to hook up with her. He winced, remembering the girl had quite the hand on that otherwise delicate wrist.
"I didn't really know at the time."
Yosuke flopped back on the floor again, his head bouncing off the hardwood, accompanied by an "ow" that had no pain behind it. He listened to Souji while the boy explained how it came to be uninterrupted.
"Man..." Yosuke whistled. "Either every guy in school is going to hate you, or praise you." As if they didn't enough already, he thought to himself. Souji laughed again, and Yosuke could hear a smaller voice on the other end. He couldn't hear much, but the telltale "Big bro" told him Nanako had walked in.
"Alright, I'll be there in a minute." Yosuke heard Souji say away from the phone before he returned with a slight sigh. "Sorry, Nanako had a bad dream. I'm going to go read her a story until she falls asleep." Yosuke smiled to himself. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah." He sighed, fingering the corner of a CD case absent mindedly. "I'll see you tomorrow, Big Bro Souji." And they hung up. Yosuke sat back up, looking around at the mess of CDs that was his room before he heard heavy footsteps and someone burst through his door.
"Yosuke!" Teddie cried, extending the end of his name into a whine. "Yosuke, Akiko died!" The boy wailed, and jumped half way across the room to jump on Yosuke, burying his face in the boy's shirt and sobbing uncontrollably.
"I told you, Ted," he began, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice, "it's just a show."
"I know that!" The boy bit back, temporarily forgetting to cry. "But she's still gone!"
Yosuke sighed. This was the reason why he didn't want Teddie watching cheesy soap operas. "They'll probably bring her back."
"Y-you think?" Teddie sniffled, looking up at him with watery eyes.
"Yeah. They'll all probably be at her funeral and someone'll barge in and announce she's not dead and she'll burst out of the casket or something stupid." He lost the air in his lungs when the boy pushed himself off of Yosuke and jumped up, clearly overjoyed at the revelation. It was then that he noticed the mess and asked what happened.
"Organizing CDs until Souji called." Yosuke stood up, rubbing the back of his head and kicking a few under his western style bed he begged his parents for.
"Sensei called and you didn't tell me?!" Teddie stomped his foot on the floor like a little kid.
"You were watching your show, I didn't wanna bug ya!" Yosuke lied, holding his hands up in defence. "Besides, it was guy talk. Nothing you'd really get."
"I can try!" Despite Teddie's search to score with a girl and his unbelievable charm over all females (and a few males), the boy – bear – did not understand the concept of a romantic relationship. "What did he say?" Teddie hopped up on Yosuke's bed and sat cross legged for story time. When Yosuke sighed and began picking up CDs quietly, the boy started hopping up and down on the mattress, rattling the CDs on top, his incessant "Tell me, tell me, tell me"s getting ever louder.
"Quiet, you'll piss off the neighbours again!" Yosuke hissed, but when the boy only got louder, he sighed and gave in. "Alright! Just stop all your bouncing and shut up." Teddie made a motion of zipping his lip and straightened his arms in the little ring his crossed legs made, waiting patiently but silently satisfied at his victory.
"Souji and Yukiko are going out now." This earned him a curious look. "Dating. They're dating."
"Oh! Sensei scored with Yukiko?!" Teddie looked shocked.
"No, he didn't score with her!" Yosuke shot at him. "They're just dating. Like boyfriend, girlfriend?" Teddie looked to be stumped with the concept, and Yosuke sighed. "Like Akiko and Yoh on your show?"
"Oh!" Teddie's eyes brightened at the example. "I'm so happy for Sensei!" He gleamed and began his hopping again. "Aren't you happy, Yosuke?"
Yosuke forced a weak smile. "Ecstatic."
"Hey, Souji!" Yosuke called to his best friend from down one of Yasogami's halls, jogging over lightly and ignoring the occasional glare his existence earned. "Wanna have lunch together today?"
"Err, sorry, Yosuke." Souji cast his eyes down and rubbed the back of his neck briefly; Yosuke's smile fell. "I already agreed to have lunch with Yukiko."
"Oh." Yosuke couldn't help but let a bit of his disappointment seep into his voice. He and Souji always ate lunch together; asking was just a formality, but lunch period was always reserved as their time together. With Souji being so popular and having a gajillion jobs, it was hard to fit into his friend's tight schedule after school or on Sundays, and the TV world only made their chilling time into killing time. Not to mention all their Investigation Team meetings and group hangouts. He never just got his best friend to himself anymore. "That's okay." He forced a smile to reassure the boy. Souji gave a small smile in return. "Make it up to you?"
"Yeah, how 'bout tomorr-"
"Ready to go?" Yukiko latched on to Souji's arm and smiled up at her new boyfriend. Souji smiled back and nodded.
"I'll call you later." He said quickly to Yosuke before being dragged up to the roof, Yukiko giggling all the way. Normally she would've said hello and most likely not interrupted, but she seemed distracted around Souji today. Yosuke sighed, letting his shoulders drop.
And that's how it began. Souji and Yukiko became near inseparable. At first, it didn't bother Yosuke all that much. Souji having lunch with her? That was fine, sometimes he didn't mind just unwinding with some tunes alone. Souji hanging out with her after school? That's alright, he really had to beat that level on his new video game. Souji cancelling study time to "study" with his girlfriend? No big deal, it was easier to focus this way.
But the less and less he saw his best friend, the more he started to shrink back into his old habits of lying and telling everyone he was fine with a big old fake smile plastered across his face.
"I am really sorry, Yosuke, but Yukiko invited me for the weekend to a special event the inn is holding." His best friend would tell him over the phone, cancelling plans for the umpteenth time that week. "Reschedule?"
"Oh, yeah, for sure!" He forced a grin, even if it went unseen over a phone line. "No problem, man, I'll just..." He racked his brain quick for something, anything that made him sound less like a loser. "I really need to go into the city, anyway. I gotta go pick up some stuff." Maybe he sounded cooler going into the city, responsible when it sounded like a necessity, and independent if he did it alone.
"You sure? I'm sure Yukiko wouldn't mind if I arrived la-"
"Positive." Yosuke cut him off. He wasn't going to be the clingy friend that was nothing without his other half. His best friend. He was an individual with his own life and own friends. Sort of. He didn't need Souji to have fun, it just sort of helped to have him around.
Souji made him laugh harder, made him smile wider, and gave him just a little extra boost of energy. Souji made him feel comfortable talking about Saki-senpai's death, made his shifts at Junes feel a little shorter, and his tunes a little more vibrant. Food tasted better, the air felt calmer, colours looked brighter.
Wow, that was a really gay inner monologue.
But, hey, all those things still existed without Souji, right? Maybe he'll hang out with Chie, or Teddie, or some of the lower class men. Maybe even Daisuke or Kou. Hell, he had a whole address book filled with people he could call up and invite out. He wasn't some shut-in with only one friend.
"Alright..." Souji sounded a little skeptical, and Yosuke could just picture him pursing his lips and staring at nothing in particular. Probably sitting at his desk, homework splayed out in front of him. So studious. Tapping his pencil against the table, letting the little rubber eraser bounce it back up. He heard a creak and a sigh – Souji probably leaned back in that squeaky desk chair. "How about Monday. You can come over since it's a holiday."
"Sounds good." He tried to sound bored, but ended up sounding just as unbelieving as of late. Souji kept penciling him in to his busy schedule, only to be erased and written over in permanent marker "SPEND TIME WITH YUKIKO", hearts filling up the little box.
"I promise." How many times had he heard that.
"Yeah, okay. Don't worry 'bout it."
"Thanks for helping me out." Yosuke sighed, placing the rewarding tray of steak in front of Chie. He slid out a plastic Junes chair and plopped himself down, stretching his legs out under the table and leaning his head all the way back, arms slung over the arm rests.
"It was my pleasure!" She sang, breaking her chopsticks and poking her payment. "But I thought you had the day off?"
"I did." He grumbled. "But I had nothing else to do today; may as well work." He let his head fall forward until his chin rested against his chest and crossed his arms. Souji had cancelled. Again. Promise my ass, he thought to himself miserably. The boy had apologized profusely, claiming Yukiko had made a surprise picnic ("She got help from the chef, so don't worry about me being food poisoned again.") and he would reschedule. Again.
Chie gave the sulking boy a worried look. "I know Souji and Yukiko have been together a lot lately," she sighed, "but you gotta admit, they do seem happier than before."
Yosuke felt a twinge in his chest upon hearing that. Yeah, he had noticed. Souji laughed harder, smiled wider, and had a small energy boost in everything he did. More than he ever had when hanging out with Yosuke. And from their late night talks, it wasn't because he was getting laid. Thank god, he thought to himself.
He furrowed his brow. Why had he thought that? What did it matter what they did behind closed doors? It was none of his business. Maybe... he was jealous his friend would be getting some and he wasn't? And from the school beauty, no less; even with Risette around, Yukiko was still number one. He shook his head. Whatever, those two could do anything they liked, it wasn't like he cared.
"It's still pretty early." Chie spoke up, sounding much more hesitant than her regular loud and slightly obnoxious self. "You... wanna go to the river?"
Yosuke offered an appreciative smile. Chie may insult him, cost him paychecks worth in steak, and kick him in areas only meant to be treated nicely, but she really was a good friend. She could always sense when Yosuke felt low, and she always tried to cheer him up. "Sure."
They walked down to the floodplain, Chie chattering on about one of her kung fu movies and Yosuke commenting whenever she'd let up for air.
"There was this really cool move the guy did!" She said enthusiastically, her fist tightened and she set herself in a determined stance. "He did this like flip, and then twirled, and then he kicked a few times and he totally knocked the guy flat on his back! I need to try that on the next Shadow we see."
"They do it with a harness; I don't think you'll be able to." Yosuke laughed, bending down and picking up a stone by the riverbed. "You gotta stop watching all those corny martial arts movies." He ran his thumb over one side before turning it over in his fingers and running it over the other side. Smooth. He smiled to himself, although small.
An image flashed in his mind's eye. Souji, sprawled out on the grass by the riverbed, his head turned towards Yosuke, his hand close enough to hold. His forehead was a little sweaty, his hair a grey mop, his knuckles a little bruised, and his lip was split. But he was laughing all the same. His face was red and dirty after brawling it out with Yosuke, the grin offsetting. His face...
Smooth...
"I so totally can do it!" Yosuke was brought back from his reverie with a swift kick to the shins. "Screw Shadows, the first one I'm using it on is you!"
He was thankful for the pain; it kept his mind on track. Because... what was that all about?
