Kishi: Wow, people seem to like these silly little stories of mine. I'm glad. I hope you guys continue to enjoy! Thanks again to Ominae for reading. Wish I could send something a bit more personal. ; But this is the best I can do to express my gratitude.
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Persona
The Drabble Project
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Minato had never really understood Yukari's obsession with the Kirijo group until now. He remembered her saying that she was alone, just like he was, but he'd never really put the two together in his mind.
Standing here on the beach with the crescent moon shining down, listening to her pour out all of the anger and frustration, he wondered how she'd managed to hold it all in. When his parents had died, it'd been one of those cut-and-dried kind of deaths. They'd both died at the same time, leaving him to mourn and eventually heal all in due time. But not Yukari. Her father had died and, from the sound of it her mother had simply and slowly slipped away. That was a harder thing to deal with, having the pain and the bitterness dredged up and shoved in front of you day after day.
But still, here she was, grinning and smiling day by day, like everything was all right and she wasn't bothered by it. Even now, though he could see her eyes shimmering, she was smiling.
"The world is so harsh," she said, her voice cracking. Minato looked at her, standing right where the water met the shore. "I keep trying to see the good, keep on hoping that everything will be all right. And… just… stuff like this keeps on happening."
Minato didn't know what to say. So Yukari just kept right on going.
"I mean, what's the use, right? Why hope for good things when it just gets worse and worse?"
"It's not like that…" Minato began, but he was furiously cut short.
"What do you know about it?" Yukari snapped. "Mr. Perfect! Able to call different Personas, able to lead through anything! Always able to save the day, that's you, isn't it Minato?"
Minato felt his cheeks burning, but he didn't answer it. He couldn't deny what she was saying. Somehow he was just adaptable. He could see through to the core of the situation and could usually come up with a suitable response every time. Even when it had meant trusting to luck and hoping everything would turn out all right.
Honestly, he wasn't perfect. Didn't she remember how very close they'd all come to dying on his account? How many times?
No, he thought, she doesn't. Not now. Be calm. She needs you.
Yukari shook her head. "No… I'm, I'm sorry. You don't deserve that. I keep forgetting… you lost your parents too." She sighed before looking at Minato. Her eyes were still shining, but her gaze didn't waver. "All right. Since you're so good at leading, tell me. What am I supposed to do?"
Minato thought for a moment, but he didn't need very long. He simply said, "Don't give up hope."
"Is that all?" she asked incredulously. But then she turned out to the ocean again, and her voice began to sound stronger. "But then again, maybe you're right. We have to keep hoping. If we can get rid of Tartarus then the Dark Hour will go away. We can give hope to other people."
She turned back to face Minato again, and she seemed cheerier. "Thanks. I'm sorry about this. I don't want to be a burden to you."
Minato grinned. "You're never a burden for me, Yukari-chan."
"Ooh! Fearless leader and a smooth talker!" Yukari said, giggling in amusement. "And thanks. Really, I don't know where I'd be without you around." And she was still smiling, but there was a sort of distant sadness to it, like she was trying to smile wholeheartedly but couldn't put the whole heart into it.
So without even thinking about it, Minato gave in to impulse. He stepped over to her and wrapped his arms around her. He felt her stiffen, but she didn't resist, and he could feel her heart beating faster.
And for that one moment, with the moon shining down and the wind blowing, Minato was pretty sure that Tartarus was the last thing on either of their minds.
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Kishi: Well, yeah. I already know what you're going to say – this isn't a perfect rendering of the scene. I know. I tried. I probably did a better job than Atlus did anyway. Speaking of which:
Persona 3 is copyrighted to Atlus Corp. I'm just a not-so-humble fan.
