AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello again! I decided to write another quick story using the Persona 4 cast. As always, I do not own the Persona series, nor do I intend to profit off of it using this.

Instead of following my previous Yu and Naoto romance story with another, I decided to write about a different pair in Persona 4 that I enjoy. This story is written from Chie Satonaka's perspective. I hope you like it!

- 1 -

Lonely Together

Many students were lining the hallways of Yasogami High, crowding around their lockers. It made it hard to force my way through to my homeroom. Any other day, this would make me furious. I might have delivered a few "critical hits". Today wasn't an ordinary day, however...

It was Valentine's Day.

I couldn't help but sigh. Today is a holiday where girls are supposed to bake chocolates for a boy they like and then spend the rest of the day together. Sounds simple enough, but it mostly relies on you already having a date in mind. Face it, Chie, you don't have a date. Again. Why did I think this year would be different? I tried to calm down, or not think about it, but every student I looked at was a quick reminder.

I took my usual seat next to Yu, who had already arrived. How he made his was through the halls so quickly, I have no idea. He greeted me kindly, as I'm used to, then Yukiko walked in. In her arms was a bag that she doesn't usually bring along. Was that because of today? I didn't ask about it, as I've been trying to be less nosy about Yukiko's life lately, but it definitely made me curious. She hadn't mentioned anything about it to me. Did she have a date? One by one, the rest of students began entering class 2-2. Yosuke stepped in, running later than usual.

"Good morning, Yosuke," Yu and I said in unison, turning to face him as he entered from the back of the classroom.

"Oh, hey guys," He replied with a very unenthusiastic tone. Yu and I looked at each other confused. I turned back to see Yosuke slide into his desk, cross his arms on top of it, then set his head down. This gesture made me frown. Yosuke can be a bit of a moron, but he's been a friend of mine since he moved to Inaba. I wondered if something happened on the way to school, but before I could ask, Ms. Kashiwagi entered and class began. Oh well, I guess that can wait until later...

School had flown by quicker than I had wanted. Traditionally, school can be a drag. Today, I wasn't looking forward to seeing how things would go afterwards. It became awkward immediately when the rest of the Investigation Team entered the class. Kanji entered without a clue what Valentine's Day was about. Rise stopped by to hand out 'friendship chocolate' to everyone. It was nice of her, but I felt a bit awkward getting chocolate from a girl on Valentine's Day. What were my parents going to say? She didn't give one to Yu, instead winking at him. I knew where that was going...

Surprisingly, Naoto even showed up. She barely stepped past the doorway at first. She was very shy, and slowly walked up to the rest of the group. I bet she hoped there wouldn't be a crowd when she came in. She told Yu that she needed to talk to him about something important. Yu stood up and nodded, agreeing to go with her. Of course, Rise wasn't about to let that slide. Rise grabbed Yu's arm and essentially dragged him out of the classroom, saying that he was 'taken' for the day. Naoto blushed, but chased after the pair. The whole thing was kind of cute, in a really weird way.

Yosuke sighed. "Uh, well, Kanji..." He started, turning to look over to Kanji. "Guess we're spending time with each other today!" He said, emphasizing the words to everyone but Kanji. Mostly to his 'partner' who wasn't in the classroom anymore. Yosuke was jealous. It made me smirk.

"Actually, I can't," Kanji said, rubbing the back of his head. "I promised Ma I'd help at the shop today. I gotta turn in early."

"What?!" Yosuke shouted. "Ugh, even Kanji has a date today..."

"It's not a date!" Kanji shouted. "It's my damn Ma!" Yosuke and Kanji began arguing, but I zoned out for a while. My eyes looked down by my bag. I brought it today because of the holiday, but I don't have any reason for it. Should I just leave it? Valentine's Day is supposed to be a fun time with the ones close to you, but it isn't a very special holiday to me. At least Yukiko doesn't have plans. I won't have to be by myself today.

"Hey, Yukiko," I said, poking her arm. She was staring at the two boys arguing, and I sort of snapped her out of it. "Can we hang out tonight?"

"Huh?" Yukiko said. "Didn't you have plans?" I shook my head. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you did, so I offered to work a shift at the inn tonight. Valentine's Day is a very busy day for us."

That makes sense. Holidays at Inaba are most likely spent at the most famous place here. I couldn't help but frown though. Great. Even my best friend wasn't going to be able to spend the day with me.

"That's okay," I said, putting on a fake smile for Yukiko. "I gotta go."

I got up from my desk, put on my backpack, grabbed my extra bag, and left the classroom. I just walked out, leaving Yukiko with the two boys yelling at each other. I wasn't really thinking straight. What was I going to do now? Was my date for Valentine's Day going to be my kung-fu DVD collection? While there are worse things out there, it is kind of a depressing thought. I slowly walked the halls, not really going anywhere in particular. Instinctively, I walked up to the roof. This was my usual spot after all. I sat down where I always do and got lost in thought.

The last few years' Valentine's Days weren't any better. I've never had a boyfriend, so I never had a date. Who was I going to give chocolate to? Some guy I barely know? It's funny, a few months ago, I might have given some to Yu himself. Not only is he currently dating someone now, but we both seemed to notice that we get along better as friends. It's nice not having to worry about relationship issues when around Yu; I can just be myself. Maybe Valentine's Day isn't all it's cracked up to be, or maybe I'm the problem.

Time passed, until I stood up again. It was getting late, so I decided to leave. Everyone will be gone by now, so the walk home should be quiet. Maybe my parents have a date of their own and I can just sneak in the house and deal with their game of twenty questions some other day. Not likely though...

As I made my way down the staircases to the ground floor I noticed someone sitting on the stoop outside. It was a boy sitting hunched over. I didn't know what to make of it at first. Was this just a student? Was he waiting for me? Is it a criminal? Should I leave a different way? I kept asking myself so many questions as I slowly approached the door. He was wearing a Yasogami High uniform, so I began to relax a little. As I approached, I noticed the boy was wearing headphones and bobbing his head slightly. He was also patting his leg in rhythm to a song. Finally, I put it together: it was Yosuke!

He hadn't heard me, but I was so confused as to why he was still here. As I thought, no one was in the main building. I think I heard a trombone or something coming from the Practice Building, but I couldn't quite tell.

"Yosuke?" I asked as I walked outside. He didn't react. I had stepped up behind him, but with his headphones he must not have heard me. I clenched my fists around my backpack straps and gave him a sorta light kick to the side. It wasn't hard, I think, but the way he jumped up looked like I was trying to punt him into space or something.

"What the hell, Chie?!" He shouted, yanking off his headphones. "What was that for?!"

"Why are you yelling at me?!" I replied, losing my temper with Yosuke already. "I thought you were gonna try and rob me or something! I almost called the cops on you!" Yosuke seemed to understand what I meant and relaxed a little. He leaned against the stair railing. "What are you still doing here?"

He looked over at me. "I could ask you the same question." We both looked down at our feet and sighed. I looked and saw he was holding a box, but it was the same one Rise handed out earlier. I had an identical looking one in my hand, too.

"No luck, huh?" I asked him, pointing at the chocolate box in his hand. He glanced where I was pointing then looked away.

"Yeah," He said reluctantly. "No surprise there," He mumbled, sighing once he got it out. I couldn't tell at first if he was blaming me or not. I let it go. I looked down at my bag I was still carrying and let out a nervous laugh.

"If it makes you feel better, I didn't have anyone to give this to today," I said, showing him my bag and what's inside. It was chocolate. My parents convinced me to bake some for Valentine's Day. They were trying to push me to go on a date, but wouldn't listen to me when I tried to refuse.

"Did you make that yourself?" Yosuke asked, pointing at the chocolate. I nodded. Suddenly, Yosuke smirked, threw his hands behind his head casually and said, "Well, maybe that's for the best!"

I looked up at him, stunned. What did he just say?

"What did you just say?" I asked through my teeth. I suck at cooking, I know that, but it's the thought that counts, right? I took a step toward Yosuke, clenching my fist again. He backed away, like he always does.

"Calm down, Chie!" Yosuke said, holding up his hands. "I'm just joking." I scoffed and looked away. Yosuke teases me more than anyone else, and I keep falling right into his trap. He sighed. "If it makes you feel any better, I'd rather have bad chocolate than no chocolate."

I looked back at Yosuke. At first, I thought this was just a trick to get me to give him chocolate. Then he'd probably brag to his co-workers, or call Yu and start a dumb rumor, or - worst case scenario - tell Teddie. He was looking away at the distant sunset. The way he said it also seemed more genuine. Maybe this time, he was actually trying to cheer me up. I don't think he was just meaning the chocolate, though. I figured he meant that he didn't want to be by himself today.

"Yeah," I said, looking out at the sunset myself. There was a long silence between us. I don't know about Yosuke, but it made me especially nervous. It was very awkward to see him being more thoughtful, and also being quiet.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" He eventually asked.

I shook my head. "Not really. I was just going to go back home, I guess." Trial of the Dragon, here I come. Normally, that would cheer me up, but not now. I wouldn't be able to focus on the movie, my mind would be somewhere else. Not focusing on that movie should be a crime, so I probably wouldn't even turn it on. I had no idea what I was going to do. What a waste of a day...

"What about you?" I asked Yosuke.

"Nope," Yosuke replied quickly. Then there was another long silence. I thought about leaving, but I remembered this morning again and turned to face Yosuke again.

"Hey, Yosuke," I began, causing him to look my way. "About this morning, what happened? You looked really down." Yosuke winced. I guess he hoped I wouldn't notice or remember that.

"Oh, well," Yosuke mumbled. "This is the first Valentine's Day since..." Yosuke trailed off. I stared at him. "You know..." He added, again trailing off. My eyes opened wide. I knew what he was getting at.

'This is the first Valentine's Day since Saki-senpai died...' I could hear Yosuke's voice in my head say it. It saddened me to remember that. I wasn't close to Saki, but Yosuke sure was. Even though Saki actually thought Yosuke was annoying, he was still infatuated with her. It's one thing for your crush to not spend Valentine's Day with you because she doesn't notice you, but it's worse that she can't because she is dead. I felt bad for bringing it up, or making Yosuke keep going.

"I'm used to not having a date for Valentine's Day," Yosuke said, "But it's just hard, you know?" He looked at the ground again, probably thinking about Saki and all the pain tied to her now. I reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. He didn't budge.

"I never had a date for Valentine's Day, either," I said, trying to say something to help. We can commiserate on this. "I'm sorry, Yosuke..."

He nodded, then slowly raised his head to look at me in the eyes.

"Chie?" He asked. I gulped. I became tongue-tied. Why was I nervous? It was just Yosuke!

"Y-yeah?" I replied. My stomach churned, and I started to shiver a little.

"Why would anyone want to date you?"

Yosuke barely got all the words out before my right leg raised to knee him in the stomach. I wasn't trying to be gentle now; I slammed it into him. He yelped then fell down. I could hear a small chuckle when he finally caught his breath.

"Jeez, Yosuke!" I yelled. "I'm trying to be nice here!"

"I know!" He said. "But it's so easy to push your buttons!"

I sighed, and actually smiled. At least Yosuke was back to being himself. I held out a hand to help him to his feet, and pulled him up. He dusted himself off and tried to take a cool stance again.

"You know," He started. "Besides the broken ribs, this might be the best Valentine's Day I've had."

Despite my shock at what he said, and my head snapping to look at him, I couldn't help but agree in my mind. Most Valentine's Days I've had involved me making chocolate, not giving it to anyone, leaving school the second the bell rings, and just waiting until the day is over. Who would have thought my favorite one would be with Yosuke of all people?

...With Yosuke...?

"Yeah..." I said, with my cheeks getting warm. "M-me too." Yosuke looked over and smiled, which I returned. I don't think I stopped blushing, but I'm glad he didn't make a point of it. As simple as this was, this little talk with Yosuke was kinda fun. I didn't believe it. I looked at my bag with chocolate again, and then back to Yosuke. A terrible idea jumped into my head. The kind that is so terrible, that you actually sorta want to do it. Besides, it's a holiday. You're supposed to throw caution to the wind, right?

"Yosuke?" I called, having him look at me. I looked away, and started shifting in place. "Don't tell anyone about this, okay?"

"About what?" He asked, not getting what I was saying. I outstretched my arms which held the bag of chocolate. Yosuke looked at them completely confused.

"Here," I said. "Happy Valentine's Day." I blushed again. I can't believe I'm doing this. Neither can Yosuke, as he slowly grabbed it out of my hands. Maybe he thought this was a trick to hit him again or something. It wasn't. He was still busy looking down at the chocolates when I gave him something else. Something that made Yosuke blush, and become entirely shocked and speechless.

I stepped forward and gave Yosuke a kiss on his cheek.

"T-thanks, Yosuke," I said, in a shy tone. I adjusted my backpack on my shoulder, and took a step back. "I'll see you tomorrow."