Chapter 4

AN: I'm sorry for the long delay for this chapter, got kinda busy with other stuff but here it is the fourth chapter of the story. As I said comments are appreciated so if you can please leave one.

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 3, or any of the content from it. I make no money from writing this

3 years later

"How do you manage this, Ugh…." Minato spoke as his hands struggled to wear his tie while looking into a mirror.

"Seriously? You're 25 and you still can't wear a tie? How did you survive for so long" Yukari questioned as she came from the other room fixing the earing in her ear.

"Hey. We just had to wear a ribbon in high school and besides that I never had to deal with these infernal things" as he gave up and let the tie drop to the floor.

"What would you do without me?" She said in a lovably condescending tone as she picked up the tie and proceeded to tie it without breaking a sweat.

"Ya ya I know!" He spoke as he rolled his eyes.

He then saw the outfit Yukari was wearing. There she stood in a sky-blue dress extending up to her ankles with a sash just above the waist wearing a decent amount of foundation, lipstick and even a tinge of mascara. Her braided hair hanging behind as well as wearing a pair of bright red high-heels that gave her upto two inches of extra height.

He himself didn't look too bad, wearing a Navy-Blue suit with a crisp white shirt underneath it and a black spotted tie and pure black belt and formal shoes to go with it. His medium length blue hair neatly combed behind as well.

There they stood gawking each other for a moment with a noticeable blush on each other's cheeks. Something only broken by the untimely ring of Minato's phone, snapping both back to reality.

Minato grumbled a bit on seeing the phone number but still picked up.

"What is it Sora?" He said in an extremely annoyed tone.

"No! I can't pick up your shift."

"I specifically asked for this day off as I have something to attend. So, I ain't coming to work just because you scheduled a date with your girlfriend at the same time"

"I don't care! Bye!" He said as he forcibly hung up the phone and in an extremely tired voice just said "Work" as he rolled his eyes while doing so.

"I assumed" Yukari replied wearing a thin smile.

"So, you wanna leave?" He said as he headed towards the door as Yukari nodded, picked up her purse and joined him outside.

"Where the Fuck is Junpei?" Yukari hissed into her phone as quietly but as angrily as well.

"Well…. You See…." Minato tugged on his collar as sweat started to form on his forehead.

"I CAN'T DO THIS!" Was what Yukari proceeded to hear from the background as Minato still struggled to formulate words.

"OH MY GOD!" This came out in a pitch higher than she intended causing Chidori to look over from her Chair as final touches were being done to her face.

Mouthing the words 'Nothing', she returned to her call at a more agreeable pitch whispering "That Stupei better not be developing cold feet at this point. Chidori will be done in about 10 minutes. He better be ready and waiting at the end of the alter or else…." She then hung up in a huff.

Minato returned to his reality which involved Junpei having removed his pants and running around the room screaming about how he couldn't get married as the other groomsmen tried to chase him around the surprisingly large room in the hotel as Minato couldn't help but shake his head grumbling "Give him one drink. They said. He'll become calm. They said"

Minato tired of this bullshit, walked up to Junpei and slapped him right across the face, making him fall onto the floor. Junpei grabbed his now slightly red cheek and yelled "WHAT THE HELL!" as he proceeded to get up to face him.

Minato sat him down again and looked him straight in the eye "You don't want to go out there, Fine! I still however deserve to know the reason why my best friend isn't ready to get married to the love of his life, who he has loved for over 8 years? Don't you love her anymore?"

managed to regain at least a semblance of sobriety, Junpei spoke with sadness "That's not it" he then dejectedly stared down at his feet before continuing with his explanation "It's because I love her, that I can't feel like I can marry her." Shuffling a bit he continued " She's this amazing person who really deserves much better than me. I'm a loser who just plays baseball in a small league while she has a corporate job. I feel if I marry her I'm just pulling her down. She's totally out of my league."

Minato couldn't help but let out a chuckle which caused Junpei to stare at him with confusion. "Look dude. Chidori is definitely out of your league, not going to deny that. However, she did choose to stay with and even marry you. You really think if Chidori was thinking you were pulling her down, she wouldn't have left you a while back.?"

Minato placed his hand on his friend's shoulder looking into his eyes firmly "The thing is she didn't! That means she doesn't think that. You're not the first sap to think he isn't good enough for his girlfriend. Even I used to suffer from the same doubts in my relationship with Yukari back in the early days. However, don't undersell yourself or your girlfriend. You clearly have something attractive that keeps Chidori with you. Your Bride is smart enough to know whether to turn down or accept a marriage proposal, So the fact she accepted means she really wants to spend the rest of her life with you. Not trusting your partner is the worst thing you can do so instead of fearing for something that might not even happen, go out there and become a husband."

Standing up Minato put his hand forward "Let's get you a coffee and get you married."

Junpei with new renewed determination grabbed his best man's hand, stood up and proceeded to try and walk out the door telling "Nah, it's fine, I feel decent. Didn't have that much to drink also" when he heard Minato say, "Aren't you forgetting something?" with his finger pointing downwards.

Looking downwards to see only boxers, He couldn't help but give out an embarrassed chuckle as he came back to retrieve that important piece of clothing.

"Maybe ill take you up on that coffee."

"Well, a toast for pulling of a successful wedding" as Minato's golden champagne filled glass clinked with Yukari's glass.

"Honestly, I was scared this wedding would be called off when I heard Junpei screaming in the background."

"Trust me, so was I! Luckily one hopeful speech later, he was ready to tie the knot."

Finishing their champagne, they walked through the green backyard of the church to where the couple of the hour was located.

Seeing them approaching, Junpei walked forward and while shaking Minato's hand pulled him into a hug while saying "If it ain't the wedding saver."

"Come on, you're exaggerating" He said waving his hand forward dismissing that idea.

"No" Chidori said moving forward and pulling Junpei's ear in an equally stern and playful way "If it weren't for you're on-time speech, my husband wouldn't have been my husband after all. Junpei couldn't have asked for a better best man."

"Aw, Shucks. Thanks for the high praise"

"Honestly, this wedding turned out great" A voice came from behind as Akihiko walked towards the group with his arm on his wife's shoulder.

"It was mostly Yukari and Fuuka who were responsible for this" Chidori conceded

"Honestly, I assumed this wedding would be a bust because of Junpei."

"You can say that again" Minato said with extreme dead-pan.

"So how along are you?" Yukari asked Akihiko's wife

"About six months." Replied the Brunette with Pink eyes.

When they had heard that Akihiko was getting married, they were all in shock. The fact that his bride's name was Minako Arisato, didn't go unnoticed either. Apparently, she turned out to be Minato's third-cousin who had lived in another part of the country before meeting Akihiko when he was in that part, on his journey. They fell in love, and within a year of dating, they decided to tie the knot. Tying it about a year before Junpei and Chidori.

"Hey, I was wondering where you'll were" said Ken as he walked over the slowly growing crowd.

"Nah, we just chatting about how Junpei almost ruined his own wedding by getting cold feet and getting piss drunk" Minato said with non-chalance.

"I know, I was there. The fact that he has a wife right now, is nothing short of a miracle" He said in an equally non-chalant voice.

"Come on, is it National Making Fun of Junpei day" Junpei said as his shoulders and face dropped.

"So, Ken, how's sophomore year treating you" Akihiko questioned

"More of the same, I have to decide my majors this year, but I'm completely blank on that" He said as he let out a long breath.

"You'll find something, Even I couldn't think of Anything at first, but Business eventually won me over." Minato said laying on the boy's shoulders.

"I still, find it hard to believe you're just a year ahead of me in college"

"You and me too, you can blame it squarely blame it on a bitch known as Nyx"

"Don't even mention that terrible being. I don't want to remember anything about that crap, Still haunts me to this day" Ken said shuddering a bit and backed up with sympathetic nods from the rest of the group.

"Oh BTW, has anyone seen Fuuka and Mitsuru?" Yukari said to break the minute-long silence that succeeded the previous line.

"Mitsuru is getting drunk at the bar and talking to some of Chidori's friends." Aigis replied by coming towards them and then pointing towards her followed by pointing it in another direction saying "And Fuuka is awkwardly trying to maintain a conversation with a guy, she met here."

"Good to see you too, Aigis" Minato replied. "Mitsuru clearly seems to have the right idea. So, I'm going to go join her, because sobriety is not on my to-do list anymore."

A few hours later, everyone except Minako, Akihiko (who had chosen to just have 1 drink) and Aigis was pretty drunk. Their faces had become red and their speech slurred, and most were rambling incoherently. At first they split into their own groups of boys and girls with the boys questioning Minato when he was going to pop the question, after all besides the still too young Ken, he was the only left to tie the knot and on the girls side, they were mostly talking about their own love lives and Minako's upcoming baby but soon enough they joined together again and started reminiscing about their days back in high-school, particularly that academic year which had ended with the battle against Nyx. The memories included some of their more memorable fights against the shadows, and many light-hearted ones too.

"Ya Know that time where we had put so much effort into the school festival, but the school cancelled it at the last minute, Man did I get pissed" Junpei said

"I know, and the worst part was how we had to clean up something we could never do in the first place" Yukari replied

"Ya, but one memory I have of that time, is when you, Yuka and Chihiro were all in the same room and the conversation was about Minato's health. Man, the tension in that room was worse than in Tartarus. Luckily me, Kenji and Kazushi prevented you'll from finding out about this baller's infidelity" He said while drunkenly pointing at Minato.

The chatter between the group suddenly stopped and there was suddenly pin-drop silence as everyone stared at Minato and Yukari.

Aigis still knowing no social cues chirped in "Oh. I remember seeing Minato and Yuko walking out of school many times and one time I saw them entering her house and not leaving for a long time."

Junpei being the idiot also continued "Oh Ya…. I remember following Minato and Chihiro home one day along with Kaz and Kenji. We were standing outside for well over two hours before seeing him walking out dressed pretty messily."

All Minato could do was stand absolutely frozen as Yukari clearly seemed at a loss of words, but put on a smile which see seemed to have a hard time maintaining and said, "When did you see this happen?"

"According to my data, it was around October"

"And Junpei, when did you do your stakeout?"

Junpei stood for about a minute with his hands crossed, thinking hard before replying "It was November if I remember right?"

"Ha..Ha…Haaaa!" Yukari laughed as loud as she could as tears fell down her face " You know, I now remember, Yuko mouthing to on of her friends about how she lost her virginity to a person, I was out of hearing range by the time she said who she said she lost it to, but the way her lips moved, it seemed to mouth something similar to 'Minato'. I was kinda curious who it was, but I guess I now know the Answer."

The tension had escalated to the point where it was suffocating just to near the group.

"Did you know, When I had sex with him in January, it was one of the biggest and most memorable moments in my life and reaffirmed my undying love for him. You'll can't even imagine what hearing about how he was in sexual relationships with two other girls before he was together with me…." She trailed off as the forced smile she had been maintaining since the beginning of her speech finally left and the intensity of tears streaming down increased to the point where she had to put her hands on her eyes to reduce the tears.

"I need a minute…." She said as she ran off to inside the church.

After that big outburst, everyone just kinda stayed frozen until Junpei still being drunk yelled "What just happened?"

Everyone stared at him and if looks could kill, he would dead quite a few times over.

Minato now being broken from the trance ran after Yukari inside the church.

The church was surprisingly dark, for being afternoon and near the alter Yukari sat with her tears still flowing as she covered her face with hands to stop people from seeing her in this state. Minato slowly approached her, sat down next to her and tried to place his hand on her shoulder, Yukari feeling the hand reflexively moved a little away from it.

Taking his hand back, he started to talk "Ok, so I guess I do kinda owe you an apology, I probably should've told you I slept with those two, but honestly I didn't think I needed to tell."

Yukari lifted her hand and used it to hug her legs as she started to speak "I don't really know why but the moment I found you slept with people besides me, I couldn't help but feel this intense feeling of jealousy and possessiveness."

"Why would you ever need to feel jealous, this was before we started dating, we were just close friends, and after that You've been the only one."

"Earlier whenever I needed to reassure myself about our relationship, the idea that we only had sex with each other, used to be pretty comforting, and when I found out that this wasn't true, all those doubts came flooding back into my mind and I couldn't take it anymore."

"Ok, What!"

"Remember, a few years when you told me why you wanted to complete your education, the truth is that you are not the only one who faces such doubts about yourself. As you know I'm pretty self-conscious about myself and as a result, I can never see myself as worthy for you. You know how you seem to hold me on some pedestal as the perfect girlfriend, I hold you on an even higher pedestal as the perfect boyfriend. You seem to be so perfect at everything, you are smart, athletic, charismatic, brave and even the fucking saviour of the world. I'm but a lowly girl with average gifts in those categories, and tons of parental issues, so Why would you remain with me, I'm sure you could find a much better girlfriend. Every day I feel like when I walk into our house, you'll leave, never to return."

With this Yukari reverted to crying except unlike before the cries were loud, Minato grabbed her and embraced her in a tight hug and whispered the following words into her ear "I will never leave you. I love you too much for that."

"Why! Why do u love me so much?" Yukari yelled as she dove even deeper into Minato's chest.

I love you for who you are, I don't care what issues you have, or how gifted you are, I love you because you're a kind person who always looks out for everyone and is able to put up with me. I love how I can be comfortable around you and be myself. Before I met you, I was still empty within, you complete me.

"So why them both? Why did you sleep with them?"

He stopped the embrace grabbed her shoulders and looked her right in the eyes "I only slept with them once each and in both cases, they threw themselves at me, and I couldn't turn them down, without hurting them. I never felt genuine love for them, you however, I was genuinely in love with you, and the sex I had with you was the best I had."

He let go and slouched saying "Look Yukari. No matter what we think the other person is, at the end of the day we are just human. We'll never be the same as the versions we think of others as, I'm not perfect by a longshot, and neither are you as bad as you think you are. Honestly, if we keep playing this game of fearing for something that mostly won't happen, then this relationship itself is doomed. I mean don't you have enough trust in me that I won't leave you?"

Yukari stared into his blue eyes and spoke "I know, but can you blame me, you left me alone for 5 long years. You don't know the feeling when you think the person you love is dead and have to try and move on with life."

"Oh, come on, you're going back to that. What was I supposed to do? Let Nyx destroy the whole fucking world! I said I was sorry for that and honestly, I don't know what else I could've done in my situation. I couldn't let you along with everyone else die." Minato said with extreme annoyance in his voice.

"At least if we were all dead, we could've been together in the afterlife, instead of you jumping to become the new seal for Nyx and me having to finish high-school as the girl whose boyfriend died for unknown reasons." Yukari yelled back

"You don't know what would've happened if Nyx succeeded, for all you know, we'll be stuck in an empty void, where we don't even have bodies or even fucking exist." He grumbled before yelling

"It wasn't easy on my part either. It took a lot of mental deliberation on my part, you think I'm that suicidal that I was totally okay with sacrificing myself. I may have been a bit of an emo, but I didn't want to die. I had stuff to live for, including You! but I gave it all away just so this world could exist. It was painful for me too and being revived didn't do much to ease my hardships. I lost 5 years of my life. I'm still in fucking college at 26. You were the reason I could handle half of this shit, only to find out you, of all people think I'll leave them for someone else." He paused to catch his breath

"So, you know what, Yukari. I'm breaking up with you. You clearly don't seem to trust me at all, and honestly I don't think I want to be with someone who can't do that."

With this all said, he got up and stomped out of the church. Yukari just stood frozen, 'it couldn't be, it can't be. He didn't just end it.' With that the tears cascaded down her face as she stared at the floor below. 'I can't let it end like this!' with the tears still prevalent she ran out the door in an effort to catch her now ex-boyfriend. But when she came out, she almost tripped on something. Looking down, she saw the jacket he had been wearing and its seems he had basically led a clothes trail right to him. Picking it up she felt something in its pocket, on finding a small black box inside, she was astonished at it, 'now there was absolutely no way I can end it like this.' As she followed the trail of tie followed by his shoes.

As she continued, she could hear yelling coming from ahead, so on reaching the source to Minato yelling as loud as he could while banging his head on the wall with equal ferocity. She slowly approached him as he finally stopped and collapsed on the ground right below him with utter frustration and sadness prevalent on his face.

"Minato" was all she needed to say, to grab his attention, who on seeing her immediately developed a bit of a scowl and said in a cold tone "What do you want?"

"I'm just here to question you about this" as she threw the box to him, catching it and opening it, his scowl faded into a sadness laced smile.

"Ah, so you found the thing I had been planning to do."

"So why don't you do it?" Yukari exclaimed in a pleading voice.

"Like I said inside, I can't be with someone who doesn't trust me."

"I'm going to quote you when saying 'at the end of the day we are just human' and being human makes us imperfect. I'm sorry for not trusting you, I know I should, but I can't help myself. I'm self-conscious by nature so when I ended up with someone like you, I just felt like I wasn't worth anything to you, like you dated me out of pity or something and while I do know that is not true, that nagging feeling never goes away. I feel like one day you'll just get tired of me or dry out of pity."

"Yukari you are worth a lot more to me than you think. I never dated you out of pity, I dated you because you were you. I honestly can never see myself getting tired of you." With this Minato's face broke into a tiny smile "I guess you obviously can't fix your self-esteem issues right away, but can you at least try?"

"I'll definitely try, after all you're the man I'm madly in love with, Guess I I really overreacted in there, so can you please forgive your girlfriend for acting like a paranoid asshole."

"Definitely, and sorry too. For not telling you and for losing my temper in there, it's just life isn't always easy on a guy who lost 5 years. You just called yourself my girlfriend, Let's change that title."

He got down on one knee and opened the box for Yukari

The inside contained a big ring with both medium sized sapphires and diamonds embedded on its side and a bigger diamond embedded on the front.

"Yukari will you give me the honour of being my fiancée'?

Yukari couldn't believe her eyes, it was actually happening. She just whispered the words 'Yes' as tears fell for the umpteenth time today, as Minato pulled the ring out and slid it on her right ring finger as they embraced and had a tender kiss just as the sun set in the foreground, marking the end of one of the most eventful day in either of their lives.

"Wanna go back to the others and show of your new ring?" Minato asked as he broke the kiss.

"Sure"

They embraced each other's hands and walked towards their probably extremely confused friends.