The Other Side

The mystery of the shadow. Something that could not yet be understood. They were so close, yet so far. How could they not see it?

"Tch. That one...Teddie, right?" A voice spoke. Every word was filled with resentment. "He was accepted. It was all too easy for him. But me? They hate me. They see me as a threat that shouldn't exist. All I did was show them the truth..That was what they were searching for, right?" He lay atop many television sets, listening to music that the other him played often. They were the same after all. Every thing his human side had, he would have as well.

"Yosuke, you don't need to be so angry." Another voice said, it being sort of sweet and calm, but at the same time it was taunting. "We'll have our freedom someday."

"Yeah, right...That "acceptance" crap that they pull? The first time I thought it was true. But we're back here aren't we?" He waved his arm out to the open area. It was a dump. Stacks of televisions everywhere, fog causing a loss of sight. Yet, the shadows had no problem navigating through it. "We aren't are own people. We're tools. Weapons those humans need to survive. If they would let us be our own people, there would be nothing to fight. Why the hell do we fight for them?"

"To survive." The other shadow said sadly. "Without them, we would die too. If they die, we die. We're nothing without them, remember?"

A T.V fell from the top of one of the stacks. Yosuke had smashed it and tossed it down. "Damn it, that's my point, Yukiko! We're attached to them! The moment they die, we do. Why? I don't want to die because my dumbass human side got hit by a bus! I want to have my own life! To decide how I live and die!"

A faint smile spread across Shadow Yukiko's face. "We are caged birds hoping to be set free. Every day I hope my sweet prince will come and rescue me..."

A grumble came from Shadow Yosuke once again. "You and your metaphors...But it's those words that make you the only one I can really talk to."

"Oh? What about Yu?"

"He's never around. I think he enjoyed being a puppet so much that he stayed that way.." A sad tone came to the shadow's voice then. His golden eyes snap shut at the thought.

"Then, Kanji? Naoto?"

"Naoto's crazy. I don't want to be anywhere near that creepy lab of hers. And being near Kanji just gives me chills..."

Yukiko let out a small dignified laugh. A complete opposite to her other half, whose obnoxiously loud laugh was known even to the shadows of the other world. "How'd you manage to control that stupid laugh of yours?" Yosuke asked.

"Years stuck here, playing the princess. A princess like me couldn't have such an annoying laugh, could she?"

"The normal you sure doesn't think so."

"I'm more normal than the normal me."

"Says the girl who's always wearing princess clothing."

"Hmph."

She turned away, but a small giggle could still be heard. Yosuke grinned, something he'd realized he hadn't done in a long time. Not that he could tell time in such a place.

"Yosuke." Yukiko called out. "Do you think...maybe we already are people? Our own people?"

"What nonsense are you going on about now?" He said. In reality, he was thinking the same thing. To laugh and smile with a friend. Wasn't that what they did on the other side? He'd always felt a bit of discomfort looking at his other self smile with his group, but now...

"We still need to escape." He said. "Do you really want to be stuck in this loop? Where they overcome their fears and unite with us for a short time, but forget a year later and have us stuck here again? Human emotions are fickle. They'll forget to overcome their flaws if they aren't brought attention for awhile."

"I wish there was something we could do, Yosuke. But for now, we wait and see."

Yosuke sulked for a moment, realizing there really was nothing he could do. Then, he rose his head and turned to Yukiko again. "Let's go over to your place. I'm sure that palace of yours has more than broken televisions."

"I actually preferred to be here than in that prison built for me.."

"Well, let's see if we can make that prison into something worthy of a princess." He said, lifting up one of the smaller televisions. "At least we can watch the originals from somewhere comfortable."

"We'll have to clear out all of those other pesky shadows that have come too."

"You let other shadows into your home?!" Yosuke said, almost dropping the little T.V. Even with how trashy his place was, he never let any shadows get near. Then again, they rarely bothered to attack his place.

"Don't worry, Chie's there. She's cleared out most of them. But there's a much stronger one that still needs to be taken care of. I don't think she and I will be able to take it out on our own. Will you help me, my sweet prince?" Her tone was teasing, but her gaze was infectious. Yosuke stared back into them, gold eyes glaring into each other, before getting onto one knee and kissing Yukiko's palm with much more style and grace that his other self ever had.

"It would be my pleasure."

The two walked together through the shadow world. Yosuke thought about this world many times, but realized even he still didn't understand the true nature of the shadows. Why did only some of them gain consciousness? What made the others so violent? What makes some so different from others? Though, he did learn one thing today.

Humans and shadows...Despite all their differences, they are all the same.

Notes: I was...overabundant in my writing this weekend. I found myself unable to stop. I needed something to write, causing this little drabble to come about.

It sprang from nowhere. I just suddenly got the idea that the shadows of the Investigation Team, as well as the shadows of everyone else, did have their own thoughts and feelings. Their personalities reflecting those of their originals, but under different circumstances and in different ways.

The idea of them coming back every time they were forgotten? That idea came from the idea P4 Arena brought up. I found it logical.

I hope readers out there truly enjoyed this short story. Thanks for reading! Remember that I'm human and make mistakes, so if you see anything prominent in that, tell me alright?