Persona – Bonds of the Confidants

Chapter 2 – The Kingpin and his Okami

When Yu Narukami moved to the quiet town of Inaba for a year, he thought that things would be easy going and straightforward. He knew that school shouldn't be too difficult, but he was worried that he wouldn't have much to do in such a quiet little town. Thankfully, after a few weeks he soon grew to love the quiet little town. He not only learned new things, he even made quite a few friends. The unlucky yet reliable Yosuke Hanamura; the kung fu enthusiast and meat lover Chie Satonaka; the intimidating yet big hearted Kanji Tatsumi; the up-and-coming famous idol Rise Kujikawa; the mysterious bear pun expert Teddie; the detective prince/princess Naoto Shirogane, and the beautiful heir of the Amagi Inn, Yukiko Amagi.

From what Yu could tell, many if not all of the male students at Yasogami High had tried to ask Yukiko out, but each and every one of them failed, since Yukiko would turn them down instantly; even Yosuke made an attempt, but even he wasn't that surprised. Yu had found Yukiko to be cute from his first day at Yasogami, and after he and the Investigation Team rescued her from the T.V. world, they had both grew much closer to one another. They started spending more time together, with Yu listening to her problems and even tried some of the boxed lunches she made. To say that his little crush wasn't obvious was a lie, even Yosuke could tell.

Every moment they spent together brought them closer to one another, but what really sealed the Yu's feelings for Yukiko was when she stood up to group of shady reporters at the Tatsuhime Shrine. They wanted to make some crappy T.V. program about the Amagi Inn based around the events of Miss Yamano, but after seemingly having enough of their words, Yukiko told them to back off even after they had threatened her. Even after that incident, Yu had found Yukiko to be badass for standing up to shady reporters and found her even cuter after she asked him if she "scary" for saying the things she did.

Even though Yukiko wasn't the sunniest individual when they first met, that just made him want to help her even more. Every moment they spent together helped Yukiko gain more confidence in herself, and that moment with the reporters showed how far she had come in such a short amount of time. A few days later, Yukiko had asked Yu to come with her to the Tatsuhime Shrine, where she told Yu of her decision to stay in Inaba and inherit the Amagi Inn. Yu of course was glad that Yukiko had came to that decision of her own volition, since he knew that she would be much happier doing that with her newfound resolve. Right when they were about to leave, Yukiko asked Yu why he had hung out with her so much. Seeing his opportunity, he said that he really liked Yukiko, which caused her to blush and smile in response, revealing that she felt the same way about him.

A few days later, Yu had met up with Yukiko at the shopping district for the day, and she wanted to go to his room. With a simple smile on his face, he agreed and walked Yukiko to his room, holding her hand the way there.

"So, this is your room? It's a lot, uh, cleaner than I was expecting. You even sleep on a futon, just like me." Yukiko said.

"Are you alright Yukiko?" Yu asked.

"Oh, umm, Sorry Yu. I don't mean to make things awkward, it's just that I'm not sure what to talk about."

"Would the futon be with you?" Yu joked.

"What," Yukiko said, "Oh, you meant for sitting on. Um, anywhere is fine with me."

"Alright, how about we sit on the couch?" Yu suggested.

Yukiko nodded her head yes and both her and Yu were now sitting on the couch. They started talking about a few things like how their previous exams went, to their friends and so on.

"So, Yukiko," Yu asked, "Are you still studying those job licences?"

"Oh yes." Yukiko said, "I'm still studying them, along with my cooking skills of course. Even though I don't plan on leaving anymore, it doesn't hurt to learn."

Yu smiled at Yukiko as she turned to him and said, "You know Yu, I'm glad I realized what I really wanted to do with my life. Even though I wanted to be self sufficient, I think I may have been a bit, presumptuous about that."

"What do you mean by the Yukiko?" Yu asked.

"Well," she started, "looking back I realized that I had so many people who helped raise me to be who I am today. I have everyone at the inn to thank for that. When I think of things like that, then any of my problems aren't just my own. That's why I want to stay here, by my own free will."

"I'm happy you made your decision Yukiko." Yu said.

"Thank you, Yu, I'm happy to." Yukiko responded.

Yukiko stood up and Yu followed her lead, curious as to what she was doing. Yukiko then reached into her pocket and handed a charm from the shrine to Yu.

"What's this for Yukiko?" Yu asked.

"It's a charm that shrine… to protect you in my place. Since I'm staying here, I won't be able to be by your side. At least with the charm by your side, will always be together." Yukiko said sadly.

She waited for Yu to respond, and after about a minute of silence she was about to speak up until she felt Yu's arms envelop her into a hug and brought her body close to his. She looked up with a blush on her face and saw Yu's face with big smile and a few small tears in his eyes.

"Thank you for the gift Yukiko," he started, "I can't remember the last time I received such a precious gift from someone. But you don't need to worry about us being apart."

"What do you mean Yu?" Yukiko asked.

"I know I'm heading back home soon enough, but I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Once I finish my final year back home, I promise I'll come back to you Yukiko."

Upon hearing his feelings, Yukiko couldn't help but smile in response, with tears of pure joy coming down her face. She knew that she loved Yu, but his promise to her sealed her feelings for him. Before Yu said anything else, Yukiko grabbed his face with her hands and drew him in for a passionate kiss. Yu was a bit surprised, but he soon melted into the kiss and held Yukiko closer to him. While in Yu's arms, Yukiko felt something deep within her heart. She felt her Persona Konohana Sakuya evolve into Amaterasu, granting her new power to protect her love. After about a minute, the two drew away from one another to get some air. Once they caught their breaths, they looked into each others eye's, with gazes full of pure and true love.

After a moment of silence, Yukiko spoke up and said, "I love you so much Yu. Thank you for making me so happy."

"I love you too Yukiko," Yu said, "I love you too."

Notes:

I'm definitely happy with how this one turned out. I'll be honest, Yu x Yukiko is definitely my favorite ship from Persona 4 Golden. I know that there are more popular ones for Yu, but this is the one I like the most. Both of them just seem so right for one another. With Yu helping Yukiko to better herself with her cooking and with Yukiko always helping trying to help Yu, they really are the perfect match for one another. I'm definitely looking forward to writing the chapter in this little book of one-shots, and I hope you enjoy it too. Thank you so much for reading this one!