The One He Chose
If you ask any girl what their strong points are, they can name at least one or two areas. Those strengths tend to become things you're proud of, and ultimately the things that make you who you are. So for a long time, I had to ask- who am I and what can I be proud of?
My friends were no exception, especially my best friend, Yukiko. She's always been a great student, and helped me on the subjects I wasn't so hot at. As heiress to her family's inn, she had to learn a lot of different skills- cooking, cleaning, running a small business, customer service and even moving around in a kimono- and mastered virtually all of them, save for cooking (of course, I wasn't any better in that regard). She's quite kind and polite, and able to keep a cool head around all but a select few individuals. She's also very attractive, with long dark hair that goes nicely with her outfits, from the pink kimono she wears at the inn to the red cardigan she wears over her school uniform. Yukiko's good looks were something I didn't notice so much when we were kids, but when we reached adolescence, I started to realize how beautiful she was- and so did most of the boys at our high school.
My other friends also had their own strong suits, and the other girls in particular came to mind. Rise-chan's an up-and-coming idol, even if she's on hiatus, and she has a natural talent for singing, dancing and other public performances. Naoto-kun's an ace detective and also quite smart herself. So what am I in comparison? I'm an amateur martial artist with average looks and grades between above average and failing, an ordinary girl from a boring town. As long as I thought of myself that way, I couldn't be happy with myself- the obvious answer was to stop doing that, but it was easier said than done.
My jealousy of others, mostly Yukiko- as the person closest to me who had the most of what I lacked- was tough to accept, but once I did, I not only got a Persona, but also began the process of changing myself. It wasn't long before I found out that even the seemingly perfect Yukiko had secrets of her own, and so did Rise-chan and Naoto-kun- in the latter's case, the fact that she was a girl was the secret. Instead of worrying about what others had that I didn't, or where I fell short, I decided to find out what good traits I had.
Of course, it wasn't always easy. I was mostly fine with my grades as long as I passed, and was kind of relieved that some of Yukiko and Rise-chan's more pervy "admirers" didn't have me on their radar, but that wasn't entirely comforting. Takeshi, one of my oldest friends, had known me for a long time, but instead was attracted to Yukiko- not because of who she was, but because she was good-looking. I then had to wonder- when I found my soulmate, would he feel the same way about me, or would he choose one of my more traditionally attractive friends instead?
That someone was Yu Narukami, a transfer student who joined my class in my second year of high school. He'd gone with me in our accidental foray into the TV world, and was willing to help me rescue Yukiko, someone he'd only met a few days ago. He'd stood by me even as my Shadow told him everything that I was ashamed of, and after defeating it, convinced me to accept it by saying that he saw more to me than my weaknesses. Granted, Yosuke and Teddie did all that, too, but Yu-kun got on my nerves a lot less than those two did, so I felt more comfortable being myself around him.
Over the next few weeks and months, I became friends with Yu-kun, and spent a great deal of time with him. We went to class and adventured in the TV World together. We ate together at Aiya, Souzai Daigaku and on the roof of the school. We trained together at the Samegawa riverbank, walked home together and chatted at night on the streets of Inaba.
I was glad to get to know Yu-kun better, but he also saw some of my more embarrassing sides, like the time when I got scared of a bug that girls like Yukiko and Nanako-chan, a girl less than half my age, had no trouble with. More seriously, my attempt to challenge a gang of bullies that were harassing Takeshi, my old friend (although I use the term somewhat loosely here), nearly got me into a fight that wouldn't have ended well for me if Yu-kun hadn't intervened. Still, it was water under the bridge for him. When bullies started to pick on a kid, and threatened to hurt Yukiko if I butted in, I offered myself up instead, forcing them to back off. Rather than scold me for almost getting myself badly hurt, Yu-kun wholeheartedly approved, simply saying that I protected that kid. I might not have much besides good intentions, but I was glad to see that Yu-kun recognized them.
I knew then that the moment had come to tell Yu-kun how I felt, and so, I confessed to him in the only way I knew how to- offering to protect him. To my surprise, he asked me out, whether to say yes to my offer or to make one of his own without knowing what I had said. I could hardly believe what I was hearing- that he'd chosen me over Yukiko, Rise-chan, Naoto-kun and all the others who had crushes on him- but he wasn't backing down, so I didn't, either.
I still found it a bit hard to believe that he'd chosen me, and confessed as much to him when I met with him on Valentine's Day. As I called myself "stupid" for worrying about a thing like that, Yu-kun simply said it was like me to do so. Being told that I didn't need to be smart, beautiful or talented, just myself, might sound like a cliche, but since we'd spent the past year facing our true selves, it really rang true coming from Yu-kun, and put my doubts to rest.
If you had to ask me what I'm most proud of I'd say that it's being loved by Yu-kun and being friends with Yukiko and the rest of the Investigation Team, people who know full well the kind of person who I am, and like me in spite of that. I don't know if that counts by most people's standards, but I'll always consider those my most precious treasures.
Author's Notes
Thank you for reading this fic.
This is inspired by Chie's line if you romance her on Valentine's Day, about how she didn't expect you to pick her over Yukiko, Rise or Naoto (to say nothing of the other girls). It's quite heartwarming and nicely fits into her character arc. Yukiko might be my favorite pairing option for Yu, but Chie's Valentine's Day dateis probably my favorite, with Yukiko's coming in second.