ARC 1: Make It Happen
The desk beside Chie had been empty for a good few weeks now. The last person to sit on it was a girl named Tanakawa: bespectacled, not particularly cheerful or quiet, and was a top student of the class, second only to Chie's friend Yukiko. Though she had been sitting next to Tanakawa since the start of the year, Chie never really got to knew her. She'd always had been too busy studying to speak or hang out, and before Chie knew it, she transferred to some boarding school.
Looking at that empty desk beside her jogged that memory, as Chie rested her head on her hand, supporting herself on one elbow. The class had been busy chattering about the new transfer student that was coming in from the city. She overheard some girls gossiping about him - confirmed to be a him - speculating on whether he'd be cute or not. Chie didn't really bother, and her friend Yukiko in front of her cared even less.
Still, she wouldn't lie - it did cross her mind that if this possibly cute transfer student were to sit anywhere for the rest of her years at school, it'd be right next to her. She brushed away the thought - even if this cute transfer student sat next to her, he wouldn't notice her anyway. Given that he'd have to pass by Yukiko to reach her, that was a done guarantee.
Chie looked straight ahead at Yukiko's back, the light coming from the windows reflecting off her long hair - giving off a lovely sheen. She's almost ethereal in how pretty she looks that sometimes even Chie has to realise it, despite all her years of knowing Yukiko since they were kids. It's no wonder all the boys have their eyes on her, considering that really weird and creepy Amagi Challenge they came up with.
She'd catch his sights the moment he enters the room! Chie thought, her sigh followed by a little smile, unseen by her friend. She wondered when Yukiko would just go and pick someone to be her boyfriend already, but knowing her, it'd sure take a while.
She turned her attention to a boy sitting behind her, looking utterly drained, slumped on his desk like a used rag.
"A transfer student from the city… Just like you, huh Yosuke?" said Chie.
All Chie hears is a dragged-out groan in response.
"Huh? You look dead today," she said, trying to discern if he even understood what she had said.
"Yeah, um… I don't wanna talk about it…" came Yosuke's voice, strained.
His sorry condition seemed to have caught Yukiko's attention, who turned around to inspect.
"What's with him?" said Chie.
"Who knows?" replied Yukiko, in a tone that was completely innocent and yet disparately unconcerned about Yosuke's state of well-being.
"Awright, shut your traps!" yelled the homeroom teacher from the front of the class, reminding Chie of the terrible fate she and her two friends have been thrown to. Out of all the faculty, they had to be stuck with Mr. Morooka as homeroom teacher. Loud, obnoxious and generally unpleasant, Morooka was unofficially voted the least popular member of the teaching staff, and was dubbed King Moron by the students. While many of Yasogami High's teacher's were pretty loopy, they mostly meant well and were fully capable as educators.
Mr. Morooka, however, was the reason Chie and her fellow classmates ponder the reason why anyone would pick a line of work they were so ridiculously unhappy to be in. While Morooka was going on about nothing important, Chie passed the time wondering whether Yosuke had brought the copy of Trial of the Dragon that she lent him, until finally the man got around to introducing the transfer student. And as if by cue, in the transfer student walked.
His jacket was unbuttoned, his collar was popped up, and his hair was a lustrous silver - but oddly enough, his demeanour didn't fit his otherwise outlandish appearance. He seemed really calm and collected, and even had a very non-threatening vibe about him - approachable, even. It juxtaposed really weirdly against his gangsterly way of dress.
This oughta be interesting… thought Chie, trying to ignore the fact that she noticed all that about him and he hadn't even been in the class long enough to introduce himself. She tapped Yukiko's shoulder, and she leaned back, still looking forward at the transfer student as everyone else was.
"That's one weird-looking transfer student, huh?" she whispered.
"He does look… interesting," Yukiko whispered back in tentative thought before sitting forward again.
Agreeing, Chie leaned back into her seat. What she had neglected to say to Yukiko, and instead had kept to herself, was the thought of Well, they were right. He is pretty cute… that she promptly shooed away.
"Nice to meet you all," said the transfer student, his voice even, but not too monotone. His gaze, though blank, was somewhat purposeful. He didn't look lost, or even at all nervous like other transfer students would, as if he's gone through this a million times before. "I'm Souji Seta."
Chie looked at this new student while Mr. Morooka was starting up another tirade. He looked like he was scanning the class, probably for an empty seat. Feeling kinda sorry for the guy, Chie took a deep breath, pursed her lips and shot up her hand.
"Excuse me!"
Both Morooka and the transfer student, Seta, turned their attention to her. She quickly got to her point.
"Is it okay if the transfer student sits here?"
"Huh? Yeah sure," said Morooka, making a huge wave with his arm and giving a harsh point at the empty seat next to Chie. "There's yer seat, so hurry up and siddown, will ya?!"
Giving a short nod, the transfer student takes on a consistent stride towards Chie, and takes his seat next to her that was formerly Tanakawa's. Once seated, and Morooka's eyes are off him, he relaxes his shoulders and almost melts into his seat, giving off a very soft, almost inaudible sigh - like he had to let his breath out but restrained it.
For some reason, it amused Chie, so she decided she'd be nice and let him settle into this situation a little easier. She leaned a little towards him, keeping her voice low, throwing glances at Morooka to make her point. "He's the worst, huh?"
The transfer student turned at her voice. He apparently didn't notice her on his way to the seat - probably wanting to get there first over trying to look at any of his new classmates.
"Rotten luck for you to get stuck in this class… Well, looks like we'll just have to hang in there for a year."
One whole year... imagine that. Chie almost looked forward to third year already. She'd let the year whoosh by if it meant skipping Morooka's boring lectures, and if it meant skipping finals as well, then all the better. The transfer student looked like he wanted to say something in the middle of her talking, but only nodded again once she finished, same as the short nod he gave Morooka. Polite, controlled.
"Understood."
The way he said it so seriously tickled Chie a little, lightening up the terrible mood Morooka set. He said it like a soldier would, and yet also like a nervous kid getting ready for his kindergarten debut. She let that amusement show on her face, hoping that it might cheer the transfer student up and put him at ease, if only a little - to dampen the blow that this unfortunate first day of school has dealt to him.
This guy doesn't seem all too bad at all!
I had a lot of colourful, though unpleasant teachers in the past, but this man takes the cake.
He had a hunched back, a noticeable overbite and a bad haircut, which somehow still managed to be mere window dressing compared to his rotten personality. I had to follow him into Class 2-2, the place I'll be in for the rest of the year.
That'd be the plan, anyway. It's not unusual for my parents to suddenly say I needed to pack up and transfer again - "ahead of schedule", so to say - but I try not to think about it that way. Expecting sudden departures in such a pessimistic way isn't very healthy.
It's not healthy, though it doesn't mean it doesn't get to me.
The unpleasant homeroom teacher, Morooka, opened the door to the class and crept in. I took a little time outside the bounds of the class doorway to practice my routine. I went over my introduction.
Nice to meet you all. I'm Souji Seta.
Simple, boring, to the point. Just the way it should. I remembered what I'm supposed to do. Don't look at anyone in particular, but don't look lost either. Don't look around on the way to your seat. Don't stand out. Though I said I practiced it, I've gotten most of it down to intuition, so it's more like I ran it quickly through my head to prep myself up. I took a breath, not too deep, and stepped in.
I made my way into the class and towards Morooka's desk. Still, despite keeping my eyes straight ahead, I hadn't even turned yet when a flash of green caught the corner of my vision.
During Mr. Morooka's non-too-favourable introduction of me, I found out the striking green colour belonged to a short-haired girl in a bright sports jacket. From what I could see, she was certainly cute, but then again, so was the girl in front of her in the red cardigan, and one girl by the window, and another near the front…
They were all cute, I decided. All of them were.
The word were rang a little too loudly in my head, causing me to brush the thought off.
"Now I hate wasting my time, but I better introduce this transfer student," said Mr. Morooka. "This sad sack's been thrown from the big city out to the middle of nowhere like yesterday's garbage."
Despite my thoughts, it was really hard to ignore Morooka disparaging me in front of the whole class. I didn't want anyone to think highly of me, but taking it to its opposite extreme... well, was not exactly a welcome alternative.
"And he's just as much of a loser here as he was there, so you girls better not get any ideas about hitting on him!"
This guy was getting on my nerves.
"Tell 'em your name, kid, and make it quick."
A thought flashed onto my suggestion board for responses to say to this so-called teacher.
You calling me a loser?
Sure, it'd get me on his bad side for all the rest of my time here, but it doesn't really look like I need to do much to tick him off anyway. So far, all I did was… come from a city. Plus... I'll only be here a year anyway.
You calling me a loser?
I parted my lips a little, a vindictive spark simmering in me. Part of me wanted to experiment with that first-day-of-class routine, or rather throw it out completely in this case. Maybe I'll set a domino effect in motion. Me standing up to the teacher that no doubt the rest of this class doesn't like. It breaks the ice between me and my classmates. A year is long enough to want to be on good terms with everyone, but conversely is short enough to not bother with the consequences of not being on good terms with Morooka.
But then again, being on good terms with him doesn't sound likely. Nor, desirable.
You calling me a loser?
I decided I want to say it. I might even impress some of the people here. I can get through all the formality and get straight to normal conversation. I get to…
I get to…
You calling me a loser?
My vision lost focus for a moment in my glimmer of realisation. I looked forward again.
"Nice to meet you all," I said, showing a friendly smile. "I'm Souji Seta."
I guess he was, indeed, calling me a loser.
I let out a breath, deeper than usual, but not noticeable - I made sure it's not. I looked around the class, hoping to get a guess of where I'll be sitting. The only free seat was the one next to the short-haired girl in the jacket.
A little ember of hope crackled within me, even though I should know better than to let it catch fire in the first place. I let... made my eyes stray to the other students. One of them, draped over the desk behind the girl, was a guy who looked like the one who crashed his bike earlier this morning.
"You better not even think of getting involved with the girls here, let alone abusing them!"
While Morooka continued his rant, another flash of green appeared. I turned my focus to the short-haired girl again, her long jacket sleeve raised.
"Excuse me! Is it okay if the transfer student sits here?"
Taking note of her, Morooka snapped at me to hurry up and take my seat. I just nodded at him - like I do to all teachers regardless - and made my way. Didn't look at anyone else, and sat down. Finally out of the class stage, I let myself relax a little and let out another breath, being careful to keep it down so nobody - not Morooka, not anybody - would noti-
"He's the worst, huh?"
I turned my attention to the somewhat familiar voice. It was the short-haired girl, her voice much softer this time. Up close... she really was cute.
"Rotten luck for you to get stuck in this class…"
Not from where I'm sitting, I wanted to say, but I caught myself, chiding myself for thinking up such a creepy response on the fly.
"Well, looks like we'll just have to hang in there for a year," she continued. She looked pretty concerned, but I was almost certain it was played up. She seemed like an expressive sort. Probably just wants to break the ice and get the awkward introductions over and done with. Because of this, I didn't pay her much heed.
I wasn't in the mood to give her a response, and this of all days would be one day where she'd understand if I didn't. Still, something flared in me, unsatisfied I couldn't stand up for myself against the homeroom teacher. In any case, I wanted people to at least be pleased by my presence, not treat me like an outcast. It's times like these that I'm thankful I somehow have this knack for coming up with appropriate (or at least not terrible) responses to things in record reaction time.
Whether I said them or not, that was a different matter - but this time, I did.
"Understood."
I was looking straight ahead, but I could see from the corner of my view that the girl was smiling at my response. It was just a little smile, but it was a nice one, warm even. It... hit me a little deeper than I would have expected it to.
It made me feel a little bad for sizing her up and making assumptions on what her personality was - and a little manipulative for hand-picking my responses, instead of just saying what was natural to say.
But hand-picking responses is the only way I've ever responded to anything. So, sorry, short-haired girl…
But I don't know any other way how. And there's no way I'd expect anyone to teach me how.
There's no way I'd let them.
A/N: Hello again, fellas. I'm back with some more Persona stuff, and more Chie/Souji of course. I actually was trying to decide whether to go with his new name Yu Narukami, or stick with Souji Seta. I'm just so used to Souji as his name that I always picture the game character when I use it, and thus my take of him as I both play through P4 and write fanfics depicting him. Yu is a name I connect almost exclusively with his anime depiction, which is really quite different from what I pictured, obviously.
But alas, I figured I had to get with the times, so I went with Yu. Let me know if you prefer Souji yourself, as I don't mind editing and replacing his name while it's still early.
Anyway, yeah. This fic covers the events of the game (whether the original P4 or Golden is still to be decided, as I haven't played Golden's events first-hand to really know them), and is expanded on my depiction of the main character (Souji then) in my older fic Matching Wristbands. At this point, I'm not sure if I'll be going with a pretty close full adaptation of the game, or just highlight certain events. We'll see.
What I'm doing here is not just exploring the dynamics of Chie and Yu's relationship, but I'll also be diving into Chie's view of both him and the events of the game, along with exploring what my take on Yu/Souji is and what his supposed blank-slate past really is, which I think is a route not many people take. The rest of the Investigation Team will definitely be there, as I like them way too much to make it only about Chie and Yu.
Special thanks go to MirrorImage27, for writing The Kingpin and the Carnivore, which is my inspiration for attempting a Yu and Chie-POV story, Open by Domomomo, which inspired me to cover the events of the game with a Chie/Yu-centred view, and The Unknown Warrior 11 for writing One More Dance - the fic that finally made me get off my hiatus and get started on this idea (which I had since I first read the earlier fics in 2011! Note that One More Dance was published this year, 2014. :p).
Last but definitely not least, I want to thank my pal skywolf666 for her amazing story, Together, which is still hands-down my favourite Chie/Yu fic ever. She's my truest Chie/MC comrade. B]
Disclaimer:
The writing switches between Chie and MC, and may also differ between first-person and third-person view (like the 3rd-person Chie and 1st-person Yu you see in this chapter) by chapter. I ask that you forgive me if I switch too often - I'm trying to see whose mind I need to get into more, and I find first-person view easier for that. It was pretty important that Yu be written 1st-person here to show the workings of his mind, but I think from here on out Chie will be the one helming the main, more personal POV. Please bear with me as this fic is more of a spontaneous exploration than a planned-out story.
EDIT: So I went ahead and switched it to Souji Seta. We'll see how it holds up. I don't really mind, and I actually somewhat got used to Yu Narukami already by this point, but I'm so neutral about it by now that I figured I'd let you- the audience - decide what's comfortable for you to read.