"You already miss them, don't you?"
I didn't need to turn away from the window to know who stood behind me; that voice belonged to the 7th Generation Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon, my 'younger sister' Aigis.
"Yeah, I really do." I kept my gaze on the Tatsumi Port skyline; twirling a strand of hair absently around my finger.
"I'm sure the feeling is mutual." She pulled a chair over and gracefully sat down beside me, studying my face.
Boy, this was gettin' awkward fast. I turned to my sister, trying to look as confused as possible. Even though Aigis was acting more and more human every day, I still tried to help her out when it seemed that she wasn't reading something right. "Is everything ok, sis?"
She nodded, pushing through to her point. "Preparations for departure are complete; we shall leave shortly to meet with Ressentiment-san and the others."
Ah, there we go. Now everything clicked.
"Yosuke-kun is just as close to me as the others, sis." I tried to deadpan my way out of this conversation, but Aigis would never let this go.
Hanamura Yosuke, member of Inaba's Investigation Team and a close friend of ours. Him and the others in that group solved a classified series of murders in their town a bit over two years ago, learning about Personas, Shadows and a hidden realm within TVs. A couple months after, they helped me outta a jam involving the TV world and my own Shadow. That's how I met them.
I've been busy since then, working with the Shadow Operatives to solve Shadow and Persona-related crimes. Mitsuru-san, bless her, gave me loads of time off to visit the gang. And just yesterday, I was able to meet up with them here at Tatsumi Port Island.
And that's where this whole mess started, honestly.
(-)
"You asked her WHAT?" That was Chie, blowing out my eardrum. Course, as I buried my face between my arms, I couldn't really blame her.
"You really never run out of surprises, Senpai." Naoto. As always, couldn't tell if she was complimenting me or egging me on.
"Wow, way to prove you're a man, Senpai!"
"Hey, I don't need that from you!" I really, really didn't want to hear that from Kanji. I honestly don't know why I brought this up in front of the whole gang, especially seeing the aftermath. Foot, meet mouth. Mouth, likewise.
I raised my head just enough to signal Yu to save me.
The leader of our Team, who's Persona-a mask used to face life's hardships-was Izanagi-no-frickin'-Okami, opened his eyes long enough to throw me a quick glance. "Sorry, what were we talking about?"
It was so Yu, deadpan in all the right ways. Bu he was my partner and I knew him better than that, he was always listening to people's problems. He wanted me to repeat myself for another reason. It seemed weird, but Yu was Yu.
"Nothing much, partner," Even still, I was frustrated, "just that I totally embarrassed myself earlier. I mean, why did I think for a second she may have liked me? I'm Yosuke Hanamura for god's sake. And to just let her walk away all awkward like that, now I probably messed up our friendship or something."
Everyone took that in, all eyes on Yu, which suited me fine. I could feel the heat on my face, and the fewer glances I had to deal with, the better.
"You know," he mused gently, "you didn't bring up how she's a robot, and you're human."
I froze, heart sinking. Despite how much I hated the idea, he was right. Labrys was an Anti-Shadow Weapon, an android. But we always treated her so human that I forg…
I had to stop my own thoughts, ignoring everyone's eyes back and forth between Yu and me, like a tennis match. I felt… something stirring up in my heart. Without a doubt, I knew it was Jiraiya speaking to me. Then it hit; anger. Yu's words pissed me off, and I knew why.
"That has nothing to do with this!" I was screaming, knocking the chair away as I stood. "I don't give two shits about that; Labrys is just as human as any of us! It doesn't matter what she is, that will never dictate how I should feel about her. She's just as much your friend as mine, how can you honestly say that about her?"
He cut me off with a glance, but damned if I wasn't still seething. "You never brought that up once. You're only worried about her feelings and how she sees you, as a friend or otherwise. The fact that you won't consider her appearance, but just Labrys for who she is, makes you a great match for her. Not many people could cross that hurdle, and you did it without thinking."
…Huh?
"And honestly," he chuckled, "you need someone like her around to keep you in line, partner. I think you two would be good together." And with that, our all-knowing Leader leaned back in his seat and popped another fry in his mouth, chewing serenely. I think I felt brain cells flicker and die, along with my anger.
He smirked and raised an eyebrow, glancing past me.
"What do you think, Labrys?"
I think my heart and lungs stopped functioning as I turned slowly, noticing Aigis, dressed in long clothes to disguise herself as a human, and her older sister, Labrys. The silvery-bluenette quickly averted her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. She too was dressed to look human, wearing some kind of black pea-coat and skinny-jeans. Her hair, free from that helmet-thing she used to wear all the time, hung in a pony-tail at her hip. Damn it, every time I saw her, she reminded me that she was freaking hot.
I gulped, noticing Aigis blatantly grinning behind a politely raised hand.
"Why don't you two go for a walk?" The blond-haired android cut into the conversation smoothly, pushing her sister in my direction. Labrys took two steps closer, her soft red eyes meeting mine before she made a quick right turn. I let out a long sigh before following slowly after her.
Awk. ward.
(-)
"How much did she hear?" Yu asked lightly, tilting his head to the side.
"We came into earshot in time to hear Hanamura-san's confession. Will that be sufficient?"
The male Fool nodded, smirking. "Yeah, thanks for that, Aigis-san."
Rise, the first to catch on, began to giggle uncontrollably.
Naoto glanced between the pair, then to the Lover, cogs in her brain turning. With a sigh, she lowered her hat over her eyes and shook her head. "Senpai, you're horrible."
(-)
"I won't pry anymore, Sister." I sighed, thank god for small victories.
A couple minutes passed, and she opened her mouth again. Yup, let's make this car ride even longer.
"Do you like him, though?"
"Dammit Aigis!" I huffed, staring out the window. How the hell was I supposed to know how to feel? This is all your fault, Hanamura Yosuke.
"I once had someone very dear to me as well." She continued, smiling gently. My eyes widened, but I realized what she was talking about.
"You mean him? The boy who passed his power onto you?" She nodded, a faraway glimmer shining in the back of her eye.
"You shouldn't deny your own heart. If he wants to be close to you, regardless of your appearance, or your past; and you feel the same, give him a chance. Otherwise, Ariadne will weep." I thought back to when I was inside the TV, about everything I learned back then. I chuckled.
"You know, he asked me out back then too." I could feel a smile tugging at the corners of my lips, as a strange feeling passed across my cheeks. That was probably a similar reaction to a human blush. I blushed harder thinking about that.
Dammit Yosuke.
"He did?" Aigis didn't seem too surprised, just amused as always.
"I even said yes." I giggled a bit. "I thought he was kidding though, maybe back then he was."
"Feelings mature." Aigis said simply as we came to a stop, "I'm positive he wasn't kidding yesterday though. Go give the poor boy an answer, and no running away this time."
I sighed, letting out a breath. "Thanks, sis."
(-)
"Everything ok?" His words shook me out of my thoughts. I glanced around, momentarily wondering how we had gotten to Paulownia Mall. He motioned to a bench, and I nodded. We sat. I sent the smallest of glances to the guy beside me, who was twiddling his thumbs absently.
"How much did you hea…"
"Enough." I answered quickly, that weird blush feeling now pulsing from my stomach. This was probably that butterfly-thing. A minute passed, and I decided to help him out, hoping he could return the favor. "It... really touched me, to hear you say that, Yosuke-kun." He blushed, I was sure about that.
"It's nothing much, I guess." He wasn't making this much easier.
"No, it really is." I hadn't meant to make it sound like an argument, but that's probably closest to what it was. "You've always treated me real nice, ever since you saved me from that fallin' TV. Even after you found out what I was, you fought so hard to protect me from my Shadow, and when I was hacked." That brought back some fun memories. Even if I hadn't been able to control myself, I clearly remember attacking Yosuke and the others. If his reflexes weren't so amazing, I may have… no, that's the past now.
"And, when I heard what you said about me earlier," now it was gonna get weird, "I knew we were friends, but I never expected you to..."
"I meant it." His voice was serious now, his voice strong and back straight, brown eyes locked with my own. This was Yosuke's other side, the one I didn't see all that often. Not that I liked his usual self any less, but the rare times he got serious reminded me just what kind of person he really was. I liked that about him.
I felt guiltier, hearing him speak strongly like that. "I'm… sorry about yesterday. I really didn't mean to leave like that." He waved a hand, shaking his head.
"Let's not worry about this anymore, ok? I promise, I'm fine. You didn't do anything wrong, I'm used to rejection. As long as you really aren't mad at me."
I blinked slowly, like some dumb goldfish. Hanamura Yosuke, what the hell?
"Re...rejection?" That was the deadpan-slash-Narukami tone I had been practicing. Any tension between us evaporated. "What the hell are you talking about, Hanamura? I ain't rejecting anything. You owe me one anyway, bud."
Yosuke's expression twisted into some kind of disbelieving stare. "Start over, please?"
I snorted, smacking my palm lightly into my forehead. "Like I said, I wanted to apologize for leaving you yesterday. I wasn't rejecting you, stupid, I was just way too surprised to answer that question then an' there. I never thought a regular person would ask me something like that. I never thought you would like me like that. Plus," I continued on, wondering why I had been so worried about this. It was so easy to talk to Yosuke, just like this, "you never did deliver on that romantic getaway. It's been almost two years; I'd say I'm due my date plus some interest. You owe a girl that much."
"Interest…" Later, he would tell me that he was just struggling to keep up with me, and that's what he decided to parrot, but right then, it sounded hell'a perverted. "Owww… sunnova bitch that hurt!" I huffed, looking away.
"I pour my heart out, and this is the crap I get? Why the hell did I fall for you?"
"Hey Labrys?" Yup, blush feeling. How did he do it?
"Yeah, Yosuke?" I turned to him, our eyes met, and my heart was definitely quickening.
"You wanna go out sometime, then?" I smiled, taking his hand and standing. They twisted and intertwined real easily, I noted absently.
"Why not now? We have time."
He turned to face me, and we leaned in together. He grinned. "We do, don't we?"
I pushed up, and we kissed.
Yeah, yeah we do.
(-)
Author's Note:
So... yeah, that was a thing. Honestly, I never liked Yosuke much with any of the P4 cast, so he was just Forever Alone, despite being The Best Bro.(kindalikeme) And then I got P4A(I suck at it) and played through Story Mode. Honestly, I love Labrys as a character, the only thing that kinda irked me was that she basically had the same set of stock lines for every character, with a couple edits here and there. Which I get, cause they had to tell the same story... I'm rambling. Anyway, the lines I refer to in the story are after Yosuke beats Teddie. Labrys and him leave to go to the Announcement Room, and Yosuke jokingly asked her out. That was kinda funny and cute, but what really hit me was Labrys's response. "Alright, you're on." And she just says it really sly, I love it. I feel like this is a line that really shows some of Labrys's actual personality beyond her stock phrases and the general freaking out she does that's similar to every victim of the TV (I especially like the way her VA delivers the line.) And from that moment on, Labyrs/Yosuke joined my headcanon.
Or maybe I'm deluding myself and this pairing is silly and horribly wrong. Thoughts? Review! Also, beyond the pairing, how is the portrayal of Labrys? Like I said, I don't feel that we get enough of her personality, plus this being fluff, I dunno if it's a good job. I know for a fact she seems split personality from beginning to end, but I was trying to give her some depth(trying.) And I'm not a girl and they're confusing..
Also the ending, it sucks and fluff isn't my thing. Apologies. Someone better at this, take Labrys/Yosuke and make it work, I've found nothing for this pairing and it needs love.
Shutting up now, ciao.