Title: "Last Days"
Author: Agony-Howl
Summary: When the unthinkable happens, the Investigation team is on high alert. As they prepare for the killer to strike, Yosuke tries to figure out his feelings towards his partner and what he meant by "Today may be your last."
Pairings: Seta/Hana with Chi/Yuki on the sidelines. No complaints!
Disclaimer: I can only wish.
Rating: T for language-not something I'd expect for an M rated game.
WARNING!!! There will be shonen-ai and shojo-ai. So if you don't like it, then don't read or flame me!
Before I begin… I have been in a slump for the past few days, so I decided to replay Persona 4 on expert. So far, I'm about to start Kanji's dungeon. (Damn, it's hard!)
BTW, I made a change to the prologue's first scene due to some rethinking on what will happen later. It's a small change, though-so it's nothing you really have to reread if you don't want to.
Anyways, I couldn't really have any romance in this chapter. But I promise there will be some in the next-and more…
&
…If today was your last day
Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart?
You know it's never too late to shoot for the stars
Regardless of who you are…
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------"Insight"-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Daytime: October 23, 2011
Rise sighed as she walked along the Samegawa river. It had started raining the night before and didn't show any signs of letting up. According to the forecast, it was going to rain tomorrow as well.
Not too far from her, she could hear familiar voices chatting. She didn't have to look to see who was talking-she knew right away it was Chie and Yukiko. But what they said to each other was what caught the former idol's attention.
"…about the people around here?"
"Don't worry-they don't really care about what is going on in the pavilion."
'What are they talking about?' Yet even her curiosity couldn't get Rise to follow her older school mates just to see what they were talking about. Despite what her teammates might think, she didn't like butting into people's business; she had enough of that while she was Risette.
Yet soon the time came when she would have to head over to Junes-she had noticed something wrong with Yosuke and wanted to check on him. And to get there she would have to walk by the pavilion…
"Just don't ask them any questions." Rise told herself firmly. "I'm just passing by." This was easy to do when she climbed the stairs up to the road and began walking past where the pavilion stood. She was sure she would get by without any problems-
-Until she saw what was going on inside.
Chie and Yukiko were sitting closely to each other, arms around each other. At first, the first-year didn't think anything about it. She had seen girls hug each other either to show how happy they were for the other or for comfort. It wasn't anything new at all.
What happened next was.
Yukiko stood up, pulling her friend to her feet. And once she was, she leaned over and planted a kiss on the short-haired girl's cheek.
The former idol was unable to hold back a gasp.
Chie and Yukiko whirled around and faced Rise, shock all over their faces. "D-Did you just-" Chie stammered.
"Chie-senpai, Yukiko-senpai…you two are dating?" Rise asked, surprised herself.
Yukiko's face was starting to turn red. "Well..kind of…" she admitted, waiting for a worst-case scenario.
"…That's really…" Rise looked for the right word. "…I don't know…" she sighed.
"Oh, you don't like this sort of stuff…" Chie said, also preparing for what was to come.
The pig-tailed girl shook her head. "No, it's not that-I don't mind!" she quickly amended. "It's just that you caught me off guard, that's all! I always thought you liked Yosuke-senpai, that's all."
Chie shook her head. "No, not in that way." She explained. "He's more like a little brother-annoying sometimes, but that doesn't mean I don't care about him."
"So is 'sibling rivalry' the reason you two keep fighting?" Rise asked, smiling with good humor.
"Probably." Chie grinned, the awkwardness from before forgotten.
"That explains a lot!" Rise giggled. She was relieved that, despite this recent shock, she was still able to act normally around her older school mates. 'Well, duh!' she chastised herself. 'It doesn't matter who they love-they're still the same!' She was one of the people who had an open view on same-sex relationships; what gender a person loved was a very small part of the person themself. Hearing about Kanji's confusion about his sexuality didn't keep her from befriending her classmate. Although Yosuke kept making comments about-
"Oh! I almost forgot!" Rise exclaimed, startling Chie and Yukiko. "I've got to go-there's something that's been bothering me…"
"Is it about Yosuke-kun?" Yukiko asked hesitantly. "We can go with while we talk."
"Actually, it is." Rise admitted as the three girls made their way. "He just seems too…how do I say this?...Too set on catching the killer. Not that it's a bad thing, but when I found out he was being targeted, I was afraid he might do something drastic."
"That's probably part of the reason Souji-kun doesn't want him to be by himself." Chie pointed out. "Not just to keep the killer at bay, but also to make sure Yosuke doesn't try to do anything stupid. Though mostly, it's been Souji-kun who does the watching…"
"Wait, what are you implying?" Rise asked slowly.
Yukiko was the one who explained. "Chie and I thought that Souji-kun…may have feelings for Yosuke-kun. As more than a friend."
"That doesn't actually seem too far-fetched." Rise admitted. "Souji-senpai gets really protective over Yosuke-senpai whenever they're fighting Shadows. Of course, it could just be because they're best friends, but we can't leave anything out."
A familiar, cheery tune announced that the three girls had arrived at Junes. "Well, we'd better get going." Yukiko said. "See you later, Rise-chan."
"Same to you, Senpai." As the two girls walked off, Rise spotted one of the employees coming out of the elevator. "Excuse me, do you know where Yosuke Hanamura is working?"
"Hana-chan? He got off work about half an hour ago." The employee answered. "Though I didn't see him leave…"
Rise stared, her eyes wide. 'Senpai wouldn't pull a stunt like this, unless…'
She prayed she was wrong.
&
Meanwhile…
"Senpai, mind if I ask you something?" Kanji asked. He and Souji were in Aiya's, making an attempt at the Rainy Day challenge. So far, they were both doing badly-though Kanji was faring better than his older schoolmate.
"No-what do you need to know?" Souji asked, staring dismally into the seemingly bottomless bowl of meat. He was beginning to regret trying this challenge, though he managed to gather enough will power to pick up his chopsticks and put more of the contents into his mouth.
"Is there something going on between you and Yosuke-senpai?"
Souji's eyes widened as the meat went down the wrong way. He started coughing, trying to dislodge the piece of food from his throat. Kanji hit him on the back a few times before he finally coughed it up. "Thanks…" he muttered. "And did Naoto tell you anything?"
"No, I just…" Kanji paused while he thought of the right words. "You've…been keeping a close eye on him for awhile. I know he's the next target and all, but there seems to be something else when you look at him."
The silver-haired teen put his chopsticks down. He was too full and would not be able to finish his meal. "Something else?" he asked quietly.
"Yeah…it's kinda like how…Ugh, how do I put this…" the younger male huffed. "…It's kinda like…you have something you wanna tell him, but you won't. And you're not the type to hide stuff."
"Hmm…" Souji frowned. "Are you sure Naoto didn't tell you anything?"
"No! She didn't!"
The owner broke into their conversation. "Aiyaa! Too bad, you two!" he announced. "That'll be 3,000 yen from both of you. Better luck next time!"
After digging out money from their pockets and paying, the two males left the restaurant and began walking through the rain.
"So Naoto didn't tell you anything?" Souji asked again.
"No, I didn't hear a word from her about you." Kanji confirmed. "Why do you ask?"
"…It's nothing."
"…If you don't wanna talk about it, that's fine." The bleached haired male said.
Souji sighed. "No, it's alright. I feel like talking a bit about this anyways." He was quiet. "It's actually about what you mentioned earlier-about me wanting to tell Yosuke about something. I've…" he stopped.
"You've what…?" Kanji asked. However, slow as he is (he would admit that), he soon realized what his older schoolmate was telling him. "Wait, you mean you're…you're…"
"Yes." Souji said without blinking.
"So that's why you didn't look freaked out when my Shadow was saying those things!"
"No, but the sauna still freaked me out, no offense." Souji admitted. "I don't care if my sexuality is supposed to protect me from stuff like that-I do NOT enjoy getting hit on by people I barely know! And the voices from the beginning of it…I'd rather forget about."
"None taken-I don't like that place either."
Pi Pi Pi Pi Pi Pi Pi
"Hold on…" Souji flipped his phone open. "Hello?"
"Senpai! It's Rise!" her voice was panicked. "Yosuke-senpai's not at Junes!"
Gray eyes widened. "What!?"
"I was stopping by to check on him, but when I asked one of the employees where he was, she mentioned he got off work and she didn't see him leave." Rise explained quickly.
Fighting back the panic building up, Souji kept his voice level while giving instructions to Rise. "Find Teddie and head to the Electronics department." He ordered. "Go into the TV and check to see if he's there. I'll get everyone else to look around town just in case he's somewhere else."
"Got it. Keep your fingers crossed."
"No need to tell me." He hung up and turned to Kanji. "Yosuke's missing. I need you to check around here for him in case he's still in this world. Call Naoto and have her help."
"I'm on it!" While he called Naoto, Souji dialed Chie's number.
"Chie, where are you and Yukiko?"
"W-We're at the Samegawa river. Why do you ask?" confusion was evident in her tone.
"Good-I need you to look for Yosuke. According to Rise, he disappeared. She and Teddie are looking for him in the other world, but that doesn't mean we can't make sure he's still here."
"Alright, I'll call you if I see anything!"
"Good. If Rise finds anything, I'll let you know." Hanging up, Souji headed for the Hanamura household. 'If there's a God out there, then please prove what I'm thinking wrong!'
&
Hmmm…
Not saying anything!
