Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 3 or related properties. They all belong to their respective owners, namely Atlus and its parents (at this time: Sega Games Co., Sega Sammy Holdings, etc.). Some dialogue is identical to that present in the game itself, or features only minor changes. This is not mine and is used entirely as buildup — it will not be a recurring feature once the opening of the game has passed (that is, the first trip to Tartarus) and does not compose a majority of the dialogue (though it may enter into the realm of statistical significance in chapters that focus more on description than speaking).
Control
Makoto's eyes flew open the second before the sound of Yukari's hand impacting the door rang out.
"It's Yukari. Are you awake?"
The blue-haired girl grumbled as she got out of bed and padded over to the door. Yukari was standing there, fully dressed and disgustingly cheerful for the early hour.
"Good morning! Did you sleep okay?"
Yukari cringed under the force of Makoto's glare, but rallied herself to continue.
"Um… Mitsuru-senpai wanted me to take you to school today…?"
Makoto sighed and walked back over to the bag of clothing that she had discarded the previous night. She stripped off her clothing, ignoring Yukari's surprised squeak, and changed into the school's uniform.
She returned to the door and raised an eyebrow at Yukari, whose face was burning a bright red. Makoto noted with no small amount of amusement that, despite the other girl's obvious embarrassment, she hadn't turned around or covered her eyes. This… could be useful.
Yukari spotted the glint in Makoto's eyes and huffed. She held her head high, ignoring her blush as she grabbed the blue-haired girl's arm and dragged her out of the dorm.
Makoto admitted to herself that it was a good thing that she had decided to let Yukari haul her along. Reaching the school apparently required the use of a monorail, something that wasn't mentioned on her map and that she would never have figured out herself.
She half-listened to Yukari telling her about the island that contained their school as she tried not to let the motion of the train lull her back to sleep. It was, however, a losing battle — she felt herself slipping down, and before she knew it she was being shaken awake.
Yawning, she noted with some surprise that she had been allowed to sleep for the remainder of the 15-minute trip despite the fact that she had evidently cuddled up to Yukari while asleep. The other girl was blushing and made sure to keep at least a foot of space between them as they approached the school, but glanced over at Makoto with a strange look in her eyes whenever she didn't think the blue-haired transfer student was aware of it.
Silly girl, Makoto was always aware. Except for when she was asleep. Or reading. Or listening to music. Or thinking. Or distracted. Or-
Silly girl, Makoto was sometimes aware. Still, this was more evidence that Yukari was unprofessional enough to get interested in a target — though Makoto was still uncertain of why exactly she was a target.
She noticed that a lot of people were greeting Yukari and giving her curious glances. Apparently the girl was popular — just what she needed. That would make it harder to cover up her disappearance if it turned out that she needed to be eliminated.
As they neared the large doors of the school, Yukari spun around and threw out her arms. "Welcome to Gekkoukan High! You're gonna love it here!"
Makoto frowned. The words had been spoken cheerfully and the other girl had a large smile on her face, but something about it rang false. The question was… Did Yukari's underlying feelings mean that she, Makoto could expect to hate it here, or that she, Yukari hated it here? If so, why?
Yukari directed her to the faculty office to get her room assignment, but before Makoto could move off, the brown-haired girl caught her arm again.
"Hey… About last night… Don't tell-" Yukari caught herself and gave a self-deprecating smile. "Right, silly me. If there's anyone that I don't need to worry about spreading things around, it's you."
Makoto rolled her eyes.
"See ya later!" Yukari called, already getting swept away in a tide of other students.
To Makoto's relief, the faculty office was easy to find. It was almost empty — there was only a single brown-haired teacher. She bore a passing resemblance to Yukari — Makoto wondered if they were related. If they were, that would be… curious. Both of her dormmates having familial connections to the school would add another layer of mystery to the fact that they were able to remain awake during the Witching Hour — was the school involved somehow?
Of course, it was also possible that Yukari and this teacher just had similar coloration. It wasn't a particularly unusual combination, after all.
"You're Makoto Moriya?" The teacher asked, looking up from the folder she was reading. "I was just looking over your file. You've lived in a lot of different places… Let's see… In 1999, your parents-"
She froze, giving Makoto a deer-in-the-headlights look. "I'm sorry! I've been so busy that I didn't have time to read this earlier."
Makoto waved it off. She hadn't been all that close to her parents anyway, so it's not like it mattered. The past was the past.
The teacher gave her a strained, thankful smile. "I'm Ms. Toriumi. I teach Composition. Welcome to our school."
Makoto acknowledged this with a nod. Ms. Toriumi's smile became more natural — it seemed that she hadn't expected a verbal response, so the note about her silence must have been placed earlier in the file than the date of her parents' death was. Makoto approved — teachers had no need to know her family situation, but it was important that they not waste words by calling on her in class.
"You've been assigned to 2-F, which is my class," Ms. Toriumi continued. "But first we should head to the auditorium for the Welcoming Ceremony. Follow me!"
The auditorium was larger than Makoto had expected, and many of the seats were empty. The principal, a rotund old man with a bushy mustache, was practically quivering with nerves as he stepped up to speak.
She sighed and tuned out his boring preaching about the value of hard work.
"Pst, hey!" A boy behind her whispered. "I saw you walking with Yukari this morning. Do you know if she has a boyfriend?"
'Considering the way she was staring at me earlier, that may be the wrong question,' Makoto mused. Rather than answering, however, she stared at him blankly until he flinched back.
"Right, um, sorry for bothering you! I'll just be… Over here, not doing that!" He spluttered, retreating as far back as his chair would let him go.
Makoto smiled to herself as she turned back towards the front of the room and returned to her daydreaming, only half-aware of an argument starting between Ms. Toriumi and another teacher about the need for students to remain quiet while the principal indulged in his long-winded babble.
She must have dozed off again, because she woke up near the end of the speech when the girl sitting next to her shook her awake.
Makoto drifted along to her classroom with the rest of the students, planning to nap through whatever lecture was coming up. She clearly needed more sleep than she had been getting.
She dropped into a chair near the back, closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.
"'Sup! How's it goin'?"
She wasn't sure how long she slept, but it certainly wasn't long enough to deal with an obnoxiously loud voice waking her up. She opened her eyes and fixed the baseball cap-wearing boy that had interrupted her rest with a bleary glare as students milled around, slowly draining out of the room. Were classes really over already?
"Oh, come on. Let me introduce myself, at least," he grumbled, wilting. "I'm Junpei Iori. Nice to meet ya! I transferred here when I was in 8th grade. I know how tough it is bein' the new kid… So I wanted to say, 'hey.' See what a nice guy I am!"
No, Makoto did not. Here she was, trying to get some sleep, and Mr. Tall-and-Scraggly here just had to disturb her. She considered throwing one of her books at him, but before she could decide which one would do the most damage Yukari spotted them from her place a few rows up. The brown-haired girl rolled her eyes as she walked over.
"Hey, it's Yuka-tan!" Junpei called, his smile returning. "I didn't think we'd be in the same class again!"
Yukari groaned. "At it again, huh? Can't you see she doesn't want you bothering her?"
"Nah, we're cool! She's just a little cranky that I woke her up, right? She'd say something if she wanted me to go," Junpei laughed, directing his smile back at Makoto.
She returned it with a scowl, and the smile vanished again.
"She doesn't talk," Yukari told him, smirking. "If she's glaring at you like that, I think it's pretty obvious that she wants to be left alone."
…she had been thinking it since they got off the train, but maybe Yukari really wasn't so bad. Twitchy, but if she was new to the Witching Hour that could be excused. She still needed to be watched closely, and managed if at all possible, but… She was useful to have around for things like this.
Yukari dismissed Junpei and smiled at her. "Some coincidence that we'd be in the same homeroom, huh?"
Makoto returned the smile.
"Um, hello? Are you forgetting that I'm in this class too?" It seemed that Junpei really didn't like getting shut out of conversations, because Makoto doubted that he could sound more annoyed if he tried.
"By the way," the boy drawled, a smirk working its way onto his face. "I heard you two came to school this morning. Something you wanna share with the class, Yuka-tan? Break the hearts of all the boys?"
Makoto revised her opinion of Junpei as a red-faced Yukari sputtered denials. The boy was clearly more perceptive than he looked, if Yukari's behavior this morning had been anything to go by. Of course, he could also simply be teasing to rile Yukari up — there was nothing strange at all about a pair of girls going to school together, despite the brown-haired girl's reaction. That reaction was, in fact, the only suspicious thing about it.
That said… The more flustered Yukari was, the less attention she had to devote to any kind of planning or observation of Makoto. The girl in question had her back to Makoto's desk, so the transfer student gestured with her hands and hoped that Junpei could figure out what she meant. Luckily for her, it seemed that her new estimation of him was at least somewhat correct.
"Oh yeah? So what color underwear is she wearing today, then?" he asked, grinning broadly.
"Green-" Yukari froze as the word left her mouth. Makoto wasn't even sure that she was breathing.
Junpei doubled over in laughter. A smile tugged at the edge of Makoto's mouth. Watching Yukari break down like this was amusing, and the fact that Junpei could cause it so easily made him useful — if she could have a normal person around to keep a threat off-balance, that would be wonderful. Yukari could manage Junpei, and Junpei could manage Yukari. A few students who had been eavesdropping on the conversation were staring at Yukari, mouths open.
"L-Listen!" Yukari begged. "I just met her yesterday! There's absolutely nothing between us!"
A flurry of whispers burst out across the classroom. Yukari groaned and collapsed into the seat next to Makoto, burying her face in her hands. "Thanks Stupei," she muttered. "This was exactly how I wanted to start the new school year."
To his credit, the boy looked sheepish. "Sorry," he offered weakly as he leaned against a desk in front of them. "I didn't realize how many people were listening in."
"And to think I thought I didn't have to worry about last night because you don't talk," Yukari sighed, giving Makoto a glare that lacked any real heat. It was clear that she didn't suspect the quiet girl had given Junpei any hints, which was probably for the best.
"Wait, so you really-" Junpei began, eyes wide.
"No!" Yukari hissed. "It's nothing like that."
"If you say so," Junpei said, rolling his eyes. "Not like I'm gonna judge ya, Yuka-tan. Do what makes you happy."
Yukari blinked, her anger disappearing in an instant. She obviously hadn't been expecting that kind of response. Makoto's opinion of Junpei went up another notch. She doubted she'd ever like him, but he was proving tolerable despite the idiocy of his initial approach.
"Whatever," Yukari muttered, trying to hold on to some of her resentment. "Just think a little harder before you start any more rumors, okay?"
"Cross my heart," Junpei promised. "Tell ya what, I'll see if I can't get the word out that I tricked you there. They all know me — shouldn't be too hard to convince them that I was full of shit."
Yukari gave him a strange look. "You'd really do that?"
"Sure, why not? I don't have much of a reputation to protect, ya know," he laughed. "Not like you, Miss-Queen-of-the-School."
"I think you're confusing me with Mitsuru-senpai," Yukari said, a reluctant smile making its way onto her face. "And… Thanks for the offer, but it's fine. I'll deal with it myself."
Makoto blinked. She had expected Yukari to take Junpei up on his offer, so… Either Yukari wasn't quite as far in the closet as she seemed or Makoto was missing something here. Perhaps the girl had some more effective way of quashing the rumor? She dismissed it — whether Yukari wanted rumors that she was a lesbian to spread or not was up to her.
That said, if Yukari truly was infatuated with her, as the evidence thus far suggested… That was, perhaps, something to cultivate. It would be an excellent deterrent against a betrayal. Still, Makoto balked at the idea of doing anything overt — the thought of actively pursuing a relationship with someone, even as protection, made her nauseous. Letting someone that close was just asking for trouble.
"I've got to go do some errands for archery club," Yukari announced as she stood up. "I'll see you later, okay Makoto?"
Makoto smiled and waved her off. The moment Yukari left, Junpei leaned in.
"Believe it or not," he whispered. "She's actually pretty popular. A lot of guys are gonna be after your head — let me know if anyone gives you too hard a time, okay?"
'Did he just offer to protect me?' Makoto wondered incredulously. That had never happened before. It had always been Makoto against the world, and she was proud of her perfect score. Part of her wanted to be insulted — she wasn't some fragile doll, she could handle any idiots who thought that she was 'stealing' Yukari from them — but she was also flattered, if extremely suspicious.
She had seen the way that Junpei looked at Yukari when she first walked over. When he asked Yukari if she was planning to "break the hearts of all the boys", he hadn't been excluding himself. And yet… Here he was, not only choosing to be accepting (if not entirely correct on the details — Yukari was telling the truth, there was nothing between them) but willing to defend them against anyone who wasn't.
Makoto could respect that. He may be an idiot, but he was a good guy… Unless this was a ploy to get her to drop her guard. He was more perceptive than she had thought — perhaps he was also better at hiding his true feelings? Two could play at that game.
She smiled at him and patted his hand.
"Yeah, I'm sure you can take care of them yourself," he laughed. "But that doesn't mean you should have to do it alone. Nothin' wrong with wanting friends standing with you in a fight. No one can do it alone all the time, yeah?"
Well there was a thing. A teenager willing to admit that he wasn't all-powerful. Perhaps she should petition for him to be named one of the wonders of the modern world. There was precedent for naming living people national treasures…
"This is gonna be a fun year. I can feel it!" Junpei laughed, pumping his fist.
Makoto thought about disagreeing, but…
This was the first time that she had ever actually had people decide to spend time with her, and none of them seemed all that bad. If they were genuine, she had a source of amusement for however long she remained here at this school. If they weren't, well… Junpei was a normal human, and thus of little consequence. She would rather not have to kill Yukari, as the girl was proving interesting and covering up after the disappearance of a popular girl would be difficult. The jury was still out on Mitsuru — they had only interacted briefly, after all — but she stood by her feelings from last night. Marring that skin would be a sin.
The blue-haired girl let Junpei lead her out of the building, only half-listening as he rambled on about the other students in the class. She gave a noncommittal shrug when he asked her about joining a sports club — it wasn't outside of the realm of possibility, she supposed, but the odds were low. She would be expected to socialize with team members, and that didn't appeal to her at all. The two-maybe-three people that she was considering spending time around were more than enough.
"Welcome back," Mitsuru greeted her as she entered the dorm, looking up from the newspaper. "How was your first day?"
Makoto shrugged, collapsing onto the couch across from her. Yukari spotted them and moved over from the kitchen, a cup of tea in her hands. She sat next to Makoto, closer than the quiet girl would have expected based on her earlier embarrassment. This could be an opportunity to test her theory from earlier. If she leaned over just a little…
Yukari's cup wobbled in her hand, but she made no move to escape as Makoto nuzzled into her neck. It was just as comfortable as it had been on the train.
'Yukari should charge for the use of her shoulder as a pillow,' Makoto thought idly, suppressing a smirk. If it was this easy to get close to the girl, that would be perfect — all Makoto would need to do was show a little affection to throw Yukari's feelings about any kind of traitorous action into turmoil.
Mitsuru raised an eyebrow, but didn't say a word. If Makoto wasn't mistaken, there was even a hint of a smile on her face. Curious… Either Yukari was bait, or Mitsuru simply took pleasure in the apparent closeness of others. This would require further investigation.
"S-so, how was your day, Mitsuru-senpai?" Yukari asked, voice a little too loud.
"It was rather busy, but nothing that I couldn't handle," the red-headed senior replied, now openly grinning at them. "There's always so much paperwork for the student council to deal with at the start of a new year…"
"Oh, yeah, I'm sure there is…" Yukari agreed, wincing. "It's bad enough for me, and I'm just in archery club."
She took a sip of her tea, the tension in her shoulders relaxing.
"You look quite tired there, Moriya," Mitsuru said gently. "Would you like to head up to bed?"
Makoto waved her off and snuggled deeper into Yukari. She almost jolted when she felt the girl wrap an arm around her body — first Junpei, now Yukari. Why was she misreading people so badly today? She never would have expected the brown-haired girl to get comfortable with her so quickly based on their initial meeting.
…right, the Witching Hour. Perhaps she shouldn't be basing her assumptions about someone based on how stressed the constant threat of a monster attack made them.
"It's okay, senpai," Yukari said. "I'll make sure she gets up to her room when I go to bed. I was just going to sit here and think for a while, anyway."
"All right." Makoto could hear the smirk in Mitsuru's voice. "Goodnight, you two."
She heard the older girl's footsteps heading towards the stairs. The last thing that Makoto was conscious of before sleep claimed her was the feeling of Yukari shifting and laying her head on top of the blue-haired girl's.
'Somehow,' she thought, 'I don't think either of us are going to make it to bed tonight.'
AN:
Yukari's acting a little strange, huh… I wonder if something critical has changed? Well, really, there are plenty of little hints about larger changes scattered in the first two chapters, and they won't be letting up for some time. I wonder how many you can find?
Whether or not it will actually be a ship… Who knows? Makoto's not very good at trusting people, and it's not like Yukari doesn't have plenty of hangups of her own… So anything pairing-wise is very much up in the air. Makoto's certainly willing to use anything that gets tossed her way, though… Trouble ahead?
As should be clear, I have no intention of doing any character bashing. Do I think Junpei is something of an idiot and find his attitude throughout much of the game frustrating as hell? Absolutely. Do I think he's a bad guy who needs to be treated horribly? Absolutely not. Junpei's got some flaws, but at his core he's a nice guy suffering from a terminal case of Anime Tropes. I would need to flanderize him pretty badly to change that, and I don't think that would do anything to improve the story. I won't be writing things like his jealousy out of the picture, but there's a lot more to him than just that.
I'm not going to be holding chapters hostage for reviews — my plan is to release one a week, and hopefully I can keep that up. I didn't start posting until I had about two months' worth stored up, so as long as I can write a chapter every few days I should be good to go, but…?
That said, I would love to have reviews to let me know what I'm doing well and what I'm doing poorly! I can't improve without feedback, after all. If there are things people want to see more of or less of or whatever, I'll take it under advisement — no chapter is final until it's been posted, so I'll be making tweaks based on the feedback that I receive. If I don't get any feedback, I'll just be tweaking things to my liking, which… I mean, okay, that means I'll have a story that I like out there, and that's great, but I'd also like at least somebody else to be enjoying it. Feel free to enjoy mocking it, if you want! That's cool too. The key is having fun. Please don't keep reading if you hate the story, though — I don't want you to waste your time. I would love to know what it is that turned you off so badly so that I can address it if it's a significant issue with my writing, though! Toss out a flame if it makes you feel better (I'll even read it, and I won't be upset or anything!), but then go read things that you do like! There's tons of stuff on this site, so I'm sure you can find something that suits your tastes.
I'll respond by PM to any review I get from a logged-in individual, positive or negative (unless you have those turned off or explicitly state that you don't want to hear from me) so don't be afraid to start conversations! For the most part I'll avoid spoilers in such responses (unless they're required to address a specific question), and some things I won't spoil (or can't spoil) no matter what, but you're welcome to ask for them!