Welcome to my massive P3/P4 crossover universe!
This is going to be a gritty, emotional roller coaster of a ride.
The relationships are mainly going to be Mitsuru/Akihiko and Naoto/Kanji, but there will be other 'ships explored and tried out.
This particular 'fic is going to address the popular topic: what if the P3 cast had to face their Shadows? It's going to be dark, and there's a lot of headcanons regarding Persona 3; apologies in advance if something doesn't suit you.
Thanks for reading!
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June 6th, 2012. A seemingly ordinary day by any means. The temperature in Iwatodai was beginning to get too warm for Mitsuru's liking, but not so warm that she would postpone a day with her best friend.
Yukari had been adamant that Mitsuru spend more time with her after the abduction and sham of a "tournament" Sho Minazuki had constructed. It had been a struggle, but the heiress had rearranged her meetings and found this one day where their schedules converged. Though she did not care for shopping, she would grin and bear it for Yukari's sake.
Why then, was Yukari's mind currently anywhere but here?
Was she angry that Mitsuru had brought Aigis? The robot had uncharacteristically insisted on seeing her former roommate today, as if the date had some sort of significance to her. Her burgeoning humanity had caused her to express feelings like wistfulness and nostalgia. After assuring Mitsuru that yes, Akihiko was on track with his remaining college courses, she accompanied her with what Mitsuru would swear was anxiety.
Not that Yukari would have noticed.
"I must say, I am certainly not looking forward to another press conference," Mitsuru was saying as they wandered down the sidewalk, skirting through the crowds of people who surely had better things to do than to gawk at them. Wasn't this what women their age generally did? "I've already spread myself too thin as it is, what with overseeing the additions to Gekkoukan on top of personally selecting new security."
"Yeah..." Yukari mumbled, staring off into space before an uncomfortable-looking mannequin wearing garish clothing.
Mitsuru watched her a moment before continuing on. "Also, I've agreed to film an orientation video, of all things. The board assures me it will 'give the impression that I care'. Wouldn't it be simpler to just care in the first place?"
"That's great, Senpai."
Now Mitsuru was positive Yukari wasn't actually listening. "Not to mention that, at approximately 4 pm this afternoon, I will be dancing naked atop Mount Fuji." That was sure to get a reaction!
"Mmm-hmm."
"Were you even listening to anything I've said?"
"Oh, yeah, sure! You just go ahead and dance naked-wait, WHAT?!"
"Yukari," Mitsuru stepped in front of her so she'd be forced to listen, "I've taken great pains to be here with you today. The least you can do is attend mentally."
"I'm sorry, Senpai," Yukari sighed, "It's just...I didn't think it would still be so hard after all these years."
"Yukari-san," Aigis spoke for the first time since they set off.
"I know, Aigis. I appreciate it, really."
Why were they both acting like this? "Is there something about today that I am unaware of?"
Yukari looked shocked at first before settling on bitter resignation. "I guess you wouldn't remember."
"Today is the sixth of June," Aigis added.
"And?"
"It's," Yukari struggled to hold back tears, "...it's Makoto's birthday."
Oh. What was the right response here? Mitsuru may have seen Yuki's birth date in his files, but she hadn't committed it to memory. Admitting that felt incredibly harsh. She'd dated the boy, and yet had no idea when his birthday was.
On the other hand...would reassuring Yukari that she had remembered set off red flags? She still hadn't found time to address that particular elephant. Yuki was such a sore subject that even talking about events he was present for left them all emotional. After Yukari's reaction to Aigis, Mitsuru was actually terrified to admit that the first thing they'd shared as friends was a boyfriend. But it wasn't her fault! Yuki never said anything about Yukari or any of the other girls when he kept asking Mitsuru out. She hadn't been thinking of anyone else at the time. She was still reeling from the loss of her father and the new responsibilities she had been carrying around. Yuki had been a welcome distraction, and falling for him had been a wonderful new experience.
But had she really cared for Yuki, or was she attempting to control her future in an act of defiance? If it hadn't been for Yuki's interference, she'd more than likely be married to a man she had no desire for whatsoever. She'd always be grateful to him for that. When she finally worked up the courage to tell him she liked him, he responded happily...but he never replied in kind. The thought hit her square in the face like a sucker punch from Akihiko. He never told Mitsuru that he loved her. How many other girls had he kissed, held, taken out for hamburgers and ramen, stood silently in front of as they confessed to him?
When Yukari broke down in tears at the thought of never seeing Yuki again, so distraught that she was willing to negate all the sacrifices they'd made just to see the man she loved once more, it wasn't jealousy that Mitsuru felt. It was guilt. Why had she never noticed that Yukari had felt this way? Why hadn't Yuki known, or cared, that Yukari felt this way when he was kissing Mitsuru? Did she tell him that she loved him, as well? Did Yamagishi? Fushimi? Aigis? Who, if anyone, did Yuki himself love?
All Mitsuru could feel at this moment was anger. Here was her best friend, so broken up about the death of her beloved that it still hurt years later, with no idea that she was merely another in his line of conquests!
"I'm sorry, Yukari," she said, because it was the only safe response. I'm so sorry for everything. "You didn't have to agree to come today."
"I thought it would help. He'd...he'd want me to get out and enjoy life, you know? Not hole up in my apartment and break the world record for most ice cream eaten in one sitting. I mean, it's been three years – I must be nuts, still moping over a dead guy."
Mitsuru couldn't help but wonder just how many other girls they knew were doing the same.
It was then that they realized they'd ended up on the same street corner where they'd been propositioned just last month. Mitsuru had been in no mood to deal with slimy men then, and she was in even less of a mood for them now. Evidently, there was a bar close by, because several cologne-soaked, loudly-dressed playboys were stationed by the crosswalks in the hope of cajoling some unsuspecting shopper.
"Heeeey, what have we here?" one man drawled.
Yukari blanched. "Ugh, not today! Senpai, let's just go. I'm not doing this again."
Mitsuru was about to agree with her until Aigis' alarms started going off.
"Please remain no less than two feet away from Mitsuru-san and Yukari-san for your own personal safety." she blared, aiming her arm cannons.
"Oh, Aigis..." Yukari facepalmed.
"And you said that I overreacted!" Mitsuru couldn't help but retort.
It did work, however, and the lounge lizards retreated back to the rock they'd been living under. This left the two humans with very little enthusiasm for shopping, so they returned to where Kikuno was waiting with a limo.
"That ice cream is looking really good right about now," quipped Yukari. "Why do we even keep trying to shop here?"
"Aigis," Mitsuru didn't want to reprimand, but she simply couldn't sanction overkill. "Please refrain from threatening to shoot civilians in future. Public Safety is already keeping tabs on my activity as it is. We don't need to send up flares alerting them to my location."
"Understood."
"We did blow up a building, Senpai," Yukari pointed out.
"Well, it was my building, and I was tired of it," replied Mitsuru. She sighed. Tsukuda's terrified face remained in front of her every time she closed her eyes. Are you happy now, Grand-père? I've killed a man – I'm truly a Kirijo. "If only I hadn't fired Father's legal representatives as well."
The cleansing of the Kirijo Group was not going as well as she'd hoped it would. Everyone from the executives down to the janitors knew enough trade secrets to take Mitsuru down once and for all. The moment they left, her competitors would snatch them up and air her dirty laundry to anyone willing to listen. It was a PR nightmare – and Akihiko would not be there to soothe her fears.
Yukari seemed to realize she'd taken it too far, so she tried to make amends. "I guess today wasn't such a good idea. Let's get something deliciously unhealthy to eat instead, huh? My treat."
Mitsuru's ringing phone answered for her. "Ah, Shirogane."
"Naoto-kun calls you now?" Yukari sounded a touch envious.
"She's been very helpful in predicting Public Safety's moves before they make them." Mitsuru didn't seem to pick up on the implications. "I really should call her back." For once, the chill in the air was not coming from her. Yukari more than likely didn't want to be alone today, and Aigis' earlier behavior now had a valid explanation. Her friends needed her.
Her family needed her. Support for the Kirijo Group was waning, and stocks were plummeting. They had to act fast before Public Safety made Mitsuru the laughing stock of the business world. Shirogane had promised not to call unless she had something crucial to report, and her sources could turn sour at any second. If they didn't stop Public Safety, it might be the last time Yukari got to ride in a limousine with her best friend.
There was an idea! "Why don't you keep the limo?"
"Senpai?"
"I might not be able to go with you, but you can still indulge yourselves. In fact, why don't you abduct Yamagishi from school? I'm sure she must be feeling a little blue herself today." It was a horrible choice of words, and she regretted them the moment they came out of her mouth, but it was more than likely true. Yamagishi had dated Yuki as well.
"That might be fun...poor Fuuka never gets out these days."
The limo arrived at the Kirijo Group offices, and Mitsuru got out feeling slightly less guiltier than she had before. She didn't notice Yukari looking wistfully out the window after her as they pulled away.
Meanwhile, at the Port Island police station, Akihiko was having flashbacks of his own. In all the years he'd known Mitsuru, he'd never seen her so insanely angry. Oh, she'd been angry – occasionally at him – but never with the same homicidal fury she'd displayed that day at the warehouse. It was as if she'd been possessed by someone else. One of the more gut-wrenching parts of his police training had been about killing someone in the line of duty, and what it might do to a person. A few of the P.I. Officers had been forced to take down a criminal, and the man Akihiko spoke with had the most haunted look in his eyes. Taking a life changed him. How often would Mitsuru look down at her hands and remember how she killed Tsukuda with them? Would her mind fracture along with each Plume of Dusk every time she summoned her Persona and saw the ice again?
A thump broke Akihiko from his dreading as Kurosawa dropped a huge stack of files in front of him. Damn, he was supposed to be working his way back into the cops' good graces. "Oh, for me?" he quipped.
"This is everything we have on Kirijo vs. Public Safety," Kurosawa explained. "They wanna throw a book at her bigger than this, if you can believe it. Infiltrating an elite branch of the government, bribing a detective-"
"Yeah, as if Naoto is the type to take bribes!"
"-destruction of property, endangerment, civilian casualties, murder, attempted murder-"
This caught Akihiko's attention. "Attempted?"
"We searched the remains of that warehouse with a fine-toothed comb, and found one pretty charred stiff...but there was no sign of Tsukuda."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE WAS NO-" The lights blinked for a second, and Akihiko struggled to control his temper. "That's impossible. He had to be there, Kurosawa. She literally executed him. Trust me when I tell you, you don't just shake off an execution and walk away!"
"I'd like to believe you, but from what you've told me, there were two men in that building, and we've got one guy. This Tsukuda is either alive, escaped but died somewhere else, or is made of concrete and rebar."
It was too early in the morning for bullshit. Tsukuda escaped? He somehow got out of a building with an icicle through his heart?
"Minazuki."
"Beg your pardon?"
"We were all at the damn warehouse – none of us were watching Minazuki!" Akihiko realized. "He'd been doing the kidnappings for Tsukuda in exchange for drugs. He could have pulled him out of the wreckage."
Kurosawa remained skeptical. "Inaba Municipal hasn't seen anyone matching either Tsukuda's or Minazuki's description. Where would you take a dying man if not to the hospital?"
"He's got a place out in the woods. We've seen him in there." Akihiko's head was spinning. If by some twist of fate, Tsukuda was alive...then Mitsuru wasn't a murderer! There was no doubt in anyone's mind that the bastard deserved it, but the world already thought the Kirijo Group got away with murder. They would not be sympathetic towards Mitsuru. But if he lived, he could be prosecuted. It would clear Mitsuru of all the charges and take Minazuki off their hands as well!
He owed it to her to see this through.
"You know, I'd like to go more than a few weeks without being called out to Inaba," Kurosawa sighed.
Akihiko shook his head. "You and me both."
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Short chapter to start with, but Part 2 has arrived!
I was looking up birthdays when I found that MC3 (as well as the other protagonists) doesn't have a standard birthday. I guess it's so you can put yourself in his shoes? Anyway, since his Japanese and English VAs birthdays are in November and March respectively, I decided to just pick a random date to make Mitsuru wonder if now is the time to bring up the old harem.
It seemed a bit out of character to have Mitsuru be a (pardon the pun) cold-blooded killer, so sorry, Akihiko - some bullshit is in the works. The whole idea of "who has the right to take a life/who 'deserves' to die" briefly touched on in Shadowborne will return here.