Chapter 8; Locked Up in Your Mind
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Souji stared up at the shadow, smiling faintly. "It has been a while, hasn't it?" He pushed himself off of the ground with his hands, rising to his feet. He stood unsteadily, still feeling a bit dizzy from his massive headache. He brushed himself off a bit. "So, why am I here?"
"Who knows?" Yosuke's shadow shrugged, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Where's the real Yosuke?" Souji continued to interrogate.
" I AM the real Yosuke." Souji chuckled, humoring the shadow.
"Your not much help." The silver haired boy stumbled as he stepped closer to the shadow. "Why are you still here? Didn't we defeat you?"
"Don't be stupid. As long as Yosuke lives, I too will live. There's always going to be some kind of hidden feelings somewhere deep down in him, and I represent those feelings. The feelings themselves may change, but new ones will eventually arise." The shadow explained.
Souji shrugged, turning away from the shadow. "As long as you stay here, I don't care. I have bigger problems to deal with." The leader wobbled towards the door calmly, despite the severe pain he felt in his skull.
The gray headed boy made it to the door, gripping the handle in his hand. "It was nice meeting you again." He wiggled the door hand only to find that the door wouldn't budge. He pulled harder, trying as hard as he could to get the door opened.
Two hands slid over Souji's shoulders and slammed into the door. "Why'd you pick Kanji?" the shadow said in almost a whisper.
The leader's eyes widened as he kept his eyes on the door in front of him. "What are you talking about?"
"I love you too. I've known you longer, so why choose that hood?" he continued. "I've been with you since the beginning of this whole mess. I've always been right there by your side, so why not love me?"
"I um.." Souji was cut off by shadow Yosuke as it began to speak again.
"You and I, best of friends, as close as two friends can be. So why not be more than friends with me. I thought we could be more than just buddies." The shadow shook it's head in disappointment. "But then I saw you kissing that hood rat!" he moved his hands to the silver haired boy's back, shoving him firmly against the door. "I guess I'm alone again! Poor me, how unfortunate!"
Souji squirmed, trying to free himself from being wedged between the door and the shadow. "Let me go.."
"Why do I never get anything I want?" the shadow began to laugh manically. "Oh wait, I can! Even if he doesn't like it I will! I'll force Souji to love me! He'll have no choice. Yeah, that's what I'll do."
One of the shadow's hand crept it's way down to the front of the silver haired boys pants and unsnapped the button. It then proceeded to snake it's hand down under the denim to feel the other boys length through the silky material of his boxer. Souji's eyes shot closed as he gritted his teeth.
"Get off of me!" Souji desperately tried to break free again.
"This is what your 'best friend' really wants." Shadow Yosuke rubbed at Souji's crotch roughly, making it impossible for the leader to keep himself from getting turned on. Tears formed in his eyes as clawed at the door.
"Stop!" he cried out, reaching his hands down to pull the shadows hand out of his pants. The brunette's shadow quickly gripped both of the Seta boy's wrists in his other hand, pinning them above his head.
"Why don't you just relax and enjoy it?" The shadow slipped it's hand out of the boy's boxers only to push his hand immediately down into the boy's underwear. He slid his fingers down to Souji's growing erection, gripping it tightly.
"I-I can't.." The gray headed boy answered. "I won't."
"Really? Your body is saying differently." It smirked as it stroked the boy's cock quickly. A blush spread across Souji's cheeks as he began to cry silently. He continued to protest, still trying frantically to squirm out of the situation.
"I don't want this. I don't want this. I don't want this!" the gray haired male yelled.
The shadow leaned in close enough to whisper in the boy's ear, "Kiss me."
Souji threw his head backwards, the back of his skull colliding with the front of the shadow's face. It quickly withdrew away from Souji, a bit surprised by the hit. The leader picked up his katana off of the floor where he had left it. He held it up in front of him, ready to attack with it any time he needed to.
The shadow stood still for a moment, looking at the silver haired boy. He looked towards the ground and nodded. "Fine, you can go. Just remember that I warned you of Yosuke's intentions."
With that, Souji became very light headed. His stomach began to turn, making him feel as if he was going to vomit. He broke out into a cold sweat, goose bumps popping out all over his skin. The hair on the back of his neck stood up and he began to stumble, trying to keep his balance. The leader's eyes soon went black, making him unable to see anything as he plummeted into the ground.
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Kanji's eyes stayed locked on the replica of himself as memories of the last time he was there flooded back. He hadn't been able to remember anything directly after the incident, but now everything seemed to be coming back to him. His shadow knew everything about him, so he knew there was no use in denying anything it said. He was just thankful that this time there was no one else around to listen to his compressed feelings.
"I don't need to talk to you, damnit!" Kanji snapped, looking at the foldable chair that laid on the ground where he had been lying. He picked it up, gripping it in both of his hands. "Souji might be in danger. I can't just leave him alone!"
The shadow smiled, placing it's hands on it's hips. "Don't lie to yourself, you just don't want to face me again." It shook it head, looking off to the side. "It's not like your denying anything big, so why leave so soon?"
Kanji furrowed his brows, looking at the shadow questionable as he leaned most of his weight on one leg. "So there's nothing that I need to confront myself about?"
The shadow chuckled, "Don't be silly, darling. If that was true I wouldn't be here." He looked back to the blonde, "'I hate Yosuke you know. With all of my being I hate him.' That's what I tell myself." He smirked, stepping closer to the real Kanji. "I don't really hate him though, I'm just unreasonably jealous of him. Not only that but I might also admire him! Though I like to believe I don't."
"You've got it all wrong!" Kanji argued.
"I don't think so. I am you, so I know everything." The shadow slouched, keeping it's eyes on the other.
"I thought I got rid out you, you piece of shit!" he swung the chair at the shadow. The chair glided right through the other being, doing no damage what so ever.
"I told you, as long as there's something you're denying inside, I'll still be here. The only difference is, this time you won't be able to defeat me if you make me angry." He giggled softly, moving closer to Kanji. "The truth hurts, but you need to accept me for the time being." He moved his mouth close to Kanji's ear, whispering. "I am you and you are me."
Kanji let his head fall as he closed his eyes. He nodded, letting out a laugh of defeat. "Yeah, I guess I don't want a repeat of last time." He ran his fingers through his blonde locks. "You are me. But just so we're clear," he moved his eyes up to meet his shadow's face with a faint smile. "I admire Yosuke in a completely different way than I admire Souji. I love Souji, and I will until the end."
The shadow smiled, "It looks like we're done here." it sat on one of the steps, watching Kanji start to vanish again, "For now, that is."
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Souji's eyes shot opened as he awoke, immediately moving into a seated position. His headache had subsided and the air was a lot less dense. The fog around him was still heavy though, so he couldn't clearly see where he was. He sighed, taking his weapon in his hand again before rising to his feet.
He watched cautiously as the fog started to clear, revealing where he was. The familiar pattern of black and yellow rings appeared on the floor along with the painted body outlines. As more of the ground was revealed, so was the bodies of his teammates who laid unconscious on the floor.
He took a few steps forward, inspecting his friends to make sure they were still alive; which they were. He wasn't completely sure what they had gone through, but he knew if it was anything like his experience it was time to call it a day.
Souji moved his eyes back up to his surroundings as the fog completely cleared from the area. A blue butterfly flew in circles in the corner, distraught and unsure of where it wanted to go. A lavender door was placed in the other corner, a portal like image in the frame. He knew exactly where he was; he was at the entrance. If he was correct, the stack of televisions was behind him. He turned his head to look over his shoulder, catching a glimpse of the TV's.
A groan sounded from in front of him. He turned his head to see who it had come from. He watched as Naoto rose, her eyes still shut. She placed both of her palms over her eyes as she rubbed them.
One by one, all of the members of the team awoke to find themselves where they had started. Once everyone was up and alert again, they agreed on heading back to Junes for the time being. They all seemed eager to share their encounter, but none of them did until the reached their headquarters.
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Their table was filled with curiosity as everyone spoke about facing their shadow again. Souji was the only one who had not met his shadow, and he wasn't up for talking about what he had actually had to face.
"So, does this mean there's no real way to defeat our shadows besides death?" Rise asked, looking to everyone else.
"I think that maybe if you don't deny things and keep them in then you can get rid of it too." Chie spoke.
"Yeah, but who's really got enough courage to do that?" Kanji added, leaning back in his chair.
"Obviously Senpai does!" Rise said with a smile. "You haven't met your shadow, right?"
Souji shook his head nervously, not wanting to get into a conversation about what had happened to him. "No. I say we go back in tomorrow. With less people though, so we're not putting all of ourselves in danger."
"Agreed, that way if something happens to the ones in the other world, we're have reinforcements here." Naoto responded,
"You should chose who should go now!" Teddie said excitedly.
Souji gave a nod, making the hard decision of who to bring along. "Alright, Naoto, Rise, and Teddie will be joining me tomorrow."
"What about me?" Chie asked in a whiney voice.
"It'd be safer if you stayed behind." He looked to Kanji, "You too. I don't want you pulling a stupid stunt and getting yourself killed to save me."
The blond frowned, a bit frustrated that his partner was leaving him behind. He knew if he spoke he might come across angrier than he was, so he kept his mouth shut as he clenched his teeth together.
"I guess we're done here." Souji said, standing up and stretching. "I'll see you guys tomorrow." The rest of the table rose, dispersing and exiting the food court. He made his way over to Kanji, gripping the fabric of the larger male's shirt as he stood. "Come on, I want to spend some time with you."
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That chapter was terrible; I'm very displeased with it. T.T
Thanks for reading that piece of crud.
You should review and remind me how much that sucked.
Thanks.
