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. I don't want flames just because you don't like the pairing!
Disclaimer: If I owned Persona 4, there would have been an option to be gay.
Rating: T for language, mostly.
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…The last chapter was probably the most dramatic so far. Sorry if there wasn't much love in the air, but I'll try to amend that in this chapter. There's also a scene with Chie and Yukiko, but after that the rest of the chapter is going to be in Souji's point of view.
Moving on!
&
…If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late
Could you say good-bye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last,
Leave old pictures in the past?
Donate every dime you had?...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+0+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------"Yearning"----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Evening
Chie and Yukiko were walking home, holding hands, when Yukiko spoke up. "Chie, have you noticed that Souji-kun is acting a bit…odd, lately?" she asked.
"You mean ever since Yosuke appeared on the Midnight Channel?" Chie clarified. "Come to think of it, Souji-kun has been making sure he doesn't go home alone. But don't forget, this is the first time someone we really knew was targeted."
"I know, but there seems to be something else…" Yukiko said carefully. "Do you think…that Souji-kun likes Yosuke-kun?"
Chie thought for a moment. "That doesn't seem too far-fetched." She admitted. "I've seen girls crushing on him left and right, but he doesn't seem to have any interest in them. So I've been thinking that he probably might be gay. And I remember him tensing up when Yosuke was talking about Rise like a pervy old man…Now that I think about it, he might have been feeling jealous."
"So that would explain why he's more protective over Yosuke-kun." Yukiko concluded. She sighed. "But…Yosuke-kun doesn't seem to be interested in guys. Do you remember how he freaked out when we were rescuing Kanji-kun?"
The shorter-haired girl giggled. "Yeah, who could forget? Especially when Kanji-kun's Shadow mentioned that he, Souji-kun, and Teddie would make wonderful boyfriends! I wished I had a camera when I saw his face." Chie sobered up once she stopped laughing. "But if Souji-kun really does have a crush on Yosuke, I hope he doesn't get his hopes up too high…I don't want to see him get hurt."
"I don't either." the dark-haired girl agreed. "Souji-kun is a good person; no one wants to see him hurt…"
Chie sighed. "But at the same time, if Yosuke doesn't feel the same it's not really his fault. You know how people keep saying 'the worst they can say is no?' I had thought about it before telling you how I felt and I realized that 'no' isn't the worst answer. The worst a person could do is say 'yes' and later tell you that they didn't mean it."
Yukiko looked at Chie with surprise. "You thought I would do that to you?"
"No…I tried to tell that to myself so that you saying 'no, I don't like you' wouldn't sound so bad-I knew you weren't the type to lie like that." Chie quickly explained. She smiled. "But I'm still glad you felt the same." She pulled Yukiko over and kissed her on the forehead. Black bangs tickled her nose.
Her girlfriend smiled. "I'm glad you told me."
&
After School: October 20, 2011
"It's finally over…" Yosuke yawned. The midterms had just ended-he and Souji were talking while Chie and Yukiko were going over their answers. "I pulled an all-nighter last night, so I'm ready to collapse any second now…I'm gonna head home. See ya later." He walked out of the classroom without another word.
Souji got up and went after him, but then remembered he promised to be at basketball practice. 'Not good. I can't just let him go home on his own…' He caught sight of a familiar blonde and sighed with relief before running up to him. "Kanji, could you do me a favor?"
"Huh? Senpai, what's wrong?" Kanji asked, a bit confused.
"Yosuke's heading home early, and I have to be at basketball practice. Could you keep an eye on him for me? Just to make sure…"
"Make sure the killer doesn't get him again? Sure, no problem." The rest of the team had been informed of what happened that Sunday-as a result, they kept a closer eye on Yosuke. As much as the brunette protested, no one wanted him to be on his own if the killer decided to attack again.
As Kanji ran off to find the older male, Souji made his way to basketball practice. He had been missing practice quite a few times; so he figured he should make it up to Kou.
&
Evening
Souji said his good-byes to Kou and Daisuke and started to head home. Thankfully he had been able to focus on practice without worrying about Yosuke. Kanji was dim at times, but he stuck up for the group when there was trouble and wouldn't back down no matter what.
Thinking about Yosuke and the killer was a dangerous combination for the silver-haired teen. Whenever he did, his thoughts would travel back. And as much as he didn't want to think about that day, his mind had a different idea…
…He stood by silently with Teddie as the confrontation before him unfolded. It was surreal watching two people who looked nearly identical face off with each other-one revealing the other's true thoughts.
"That's not true!" Yosuke denied vehemently. "What are you!? Who are you!?"
The replica of him chuckled. "I already told ya. I'm you…You're Shadow…There's nothing I don't know about you!"
Yosuke shook his head. "Screw that! I don't know you!" he growled. "YOU CAN'T BE ME, YOU SON OF A BITCH!!" he yelled.
The other Yosuke snickered, and then began laughing. "THAT'S RIGHT!" he goaded. "SAY IT AGAIN!!"
Souji didn't have to see into the future to know that things were going to take a turn for the worse. Yosuke, however, was too upset to think straight and took his replica's challenge. "You're not me-YOU'RE NOTHING LIKE ME!!" he shouted.
The clone let out a short laugh. "Yeah, that's right-I am ME now!" Souji caught a triumphant look in his yellow eyes. "I'm not you anymore, see!?"
A dark aura gathered around the replica as it began to change shape. Yosuke backed away from it, as if sensing what was going to happen. As the shape became clearer and more defined, he passed out…
…"That's enough!" Souji muttered. He didn't want to go any further in that memory. It wasn't that he couldn't accept what his best friend had really been thinking-if that was the case he wouldn't have fallen for him in the first place. And besides, he wouldn't have befriended anyone else after learning about the darker parts of them.
But that memory had been different; it had lead to the most frightening experience of his life.
Coming into the house, the first thing he noticed was that Nanako wasn't home. "That's odd…" he murmured. "She's usually home by now…"
He heard the door open, than close. "I'm home." Nanako's voice called. He turned to meet his cousin. She smiled brightly when she saw him. "Oh, welcome back. There was a letter in the mailbox for you."
Souji took the letter and examined it. Sure enough, it was addressed to him-but there was no name or return address to be found. He opened the letter and found one sentence printed:
"dont rescue anymore"
&
Lunchtime: October 21, 2011
Souji had gathered the Investigation team on the roof to discuss the letter he received. Naturally, everyone was shocked.
"'dont rescue anymore'…Is this a warning?" Naoto murmured.
"No punctuation or capitalization…What a cliché." Chie commented.
"Ain't this a prank? The kinda stuff that only happens in the movies?" Kanji wondered.
"Did you show this to your uncle?" Yosuke asked.
"No-and I don't plan to." Souji answered. "If he knew, he'd probably wonder why I got the letter. And if he knew my involvement, he'd keep a closer eye on me."
"If this letter is real, what's most important isn't what it says…It's the fact it was delivered to the Dojima residence addressed directly to you." Naoto reasoned. "This means the culprit knows in great detail who has been interfering with his crimes. And of all of us, he chose to deliver his message to the Dojima residence, home of a police detective." She sighed. "I'd have this letter checked at a crime lab if I could…But even then, I doubt they'd find anything. The text is a warning, while the subtext expresses the culprit's confidence that we can't use this to pinpoint his identity."
"So it's useless to tell the police…" Chie concluded. "In fact, that would make things worse."
"Cross your fingers it's just a prank…" Yosuke said, biting his lip.
Yukiko looked doubtful. "I think the chances of that are slim…The message is too specific, too perfect to be a prank." Her eyes widened, as though she came to a realization. "But how could the killer know so much about us? Could he be watching us from somewhere…?"
Yosuke's head perked up. "Teddie's been saying for awhile that when we're over there, he senses someone watching us…" He paused. "Wait…Every time we went to the other side to rescue someone, did we end up on the Midnight Channel ourselves…?"
"I-I dunno…" Chie disagreed. "It seems like no one else knows what we're doing. I haven't heard any rumors about us at school. Even the people who I know check that channel haven't said anything…The only gossip I heard was about the people who disappeared."
"I see…Come to think of it, how the Midnight Channel works is still a mystery…" Yosuke pointed out.
"Let's put aside for now the matter of what that world truly is. There's too little data to go on." Naoto declared. "For now, we need to keep in mind that the culprit knows who we are…As long as we're all aware of that, it will be enough for now." She turned to Yosuke. "That means that you really must be careful if he decides to strike. If he knows who you are, then he'll be expecting you to be ready."
"Don't have to tell me twice…" Yosuke muttered.
"Anyways," Souji spoke up. "We'll have to wait until the situation changes. Until then, there's no use worrying about speculation."
Everyone immediately agreed while Chie changed the subject and brought up the Culture Festival coming up. The event that just occurred was forgotten for the moment.
&
After School
Souji was heading to the bus stop to work at the Day Care when he heard footsteps behind him.
"Hey, wait up!" Yosuke called.
He slowed down so that the brunette was walking next to him now. "Yesterday when I was walking home, Kanji came up and followed me until I got there." He stated. "Did you ask him to follow me?"
"I did." Souji responded calmly.
Yosuke frowned. "You didn't have to do that-I can get home fine on my own." He protested. "I'm not completely defenseless."
"If you're talking about being armed, then it's not the best defense." Souji pointed out. "Pulling out a knife will get the police suspicious and they will put you under surveillance. That wouldn't help the group, and also I've had a suspicion…"
"About what…?"
"What if the murderer is a cop?"
The brunette's eyebrows went up. "A cop!?" he exclaimed. "What made you think that!?"
"If he's a cop, than he can get close to the victim without anyone getting suspicious." Souji explained. "Everyone would think that he was protecting them, so they wouldn't give much notice to him. And he'd have access to information the police have."
Yosuke fell silent. "Now that you've said all that…it might make sense." He admitted. "Hold on…was that also why you don't want me under surveillance?"
The silver-haired teen nodded. "That's right…If the killer is a police officer and you were under surveillance, then it would be like handing you over to him on a silver platter."
"Alright…I guess I can put up with being watched." The brunette admitted. "But once the fog comes and goes, that's it!"
"Wasn't planning on having watched that long." Souji smiled. They reached the bus stop and sat down.
"By the way, Souji?" Yosuke asked. "Could you give some sort of hint about what you said about last days?"
Souji thought about it for a moment, than replied. "It was something I didn't give any thought to when I first came to Inaba. But as I spent more time here, it became more important to me. And once the mystery is solved, it's what I'll concentrate on."
"…I still can't make any sense of what you're saying." Yosuke sighed.
"The point of a hint isn't to give you the answer." The silver-haired teen chuckled.
Brown eyes widened. "Dude, did you just laugh!?" he asked incredulously.
"Oh-bus is here!" Souji quickly got up. Sure enough, the bus was coming down the street. "I got to get going. See you tomorrow."
"Hey, you're not getting off that easy!" Yosuke shouted. "That's it! Don't make any plans tomorrow-meet me at Junes after school!"
"Alright! But you're not getting anything out of me!" Souji grinned as he got on the bus. As it made its way to the Day Care, he looked back to see his best friend waving to him.
"I haven't laughed like that in awhile."
&
Another chapter done!
The next one is one you've probably been waiting for-no, it's not a confession. It's the next best thing! It's…(insert drum roll)
The hug!
Look forward to it!