Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 5!
Whoa, 32 favourites and 46 follows?! Thank you guys so much for your support! This is currently the most number of favourites and follows that I have right now based on the number of chapters I have posted! :) (Mostly because I suck at writing HAHA) But anyways, sorry about not posting so often! I'm trying my best to write out more chapters, but I'm currently having a Writer's Block for this story, so...
But moving on, Ann's arc has been completed, and now we'll be moving on to our favourite delinquent in this story, Yusuke Kitagawa! His secret will be revealed in this chapter.
There will not be any extras in this chapter, but don't worry, I'll begin to upload some more extras starting next chapter! There will be more than just bloopers, and we'll also be able to see them play some random games that do not have anything to do with the storyline as well.
With that, enjoy the story!
"... Hello? Oh, Ohya-Sensei, what is it?"
Resting in his room back home, Yusuke laid under a goose-feather duvet on his bed as he held his phone to his ear, listening to whoever was talking to him. Surprisingly, the delinquent's room was incredibly neat, tidy and a couple of furniture from designer brands decorated the room. An intricate, shimmering white costume hung on a hanger attached to the closet.
"… Yes, yes. I've been practising for the competition…It's currently going fine. … Huh?! Um… I… "
Suddenly, he fell silent, and his hand froze halfway in the air as he was about to reach for another piece of honey-glazed cookie. Yusuke's bored expression immediately hardened into one of seriousness and slight sadness as he continued to listen to Ichiko Ohya on the phone.
"… Yes, Ma'am. I'll do my best to get the performance for the Gala section of the competition ready as soon as possible."
As he ended the phone call and locked his phone up once more, Yusuke groaned in dismay and flopped onto the soft, plush bed, running his fingers in his hair such that he was pulling it.
"God damn it! What the fuck am I supposed to do right now?!"
Sighing in frustration, Yusuke removed his hands from his head before turning his head and looking down at the plate of honey cookies. He raised his hand, reaching for one more, only to remember what Mishima had remarked about his habit.
"Nah, I'm just surprised, because of the stereotype that girls are usually the ones who like sweet stuff."
Gritting his teeth in fury, Yusuke let out another loud groan of irritation as he squeezed his eyes shut and rolled over to the other side such that he wouldn't be tantalised to eat those sweet, sweet cookies again.
As Akira watched, he couldn't help but smile in joy for his friend. Ann was beginning to look much happier, and was also starting to hang out more with Shiho Suzui. It was definitely a huge development, and was also for the better.
"Whoa! Come on, Shiho! You can't be serious!"
"I'm not kidding! He really did say that! Can you believe it?!"
"Well, and Ann's finally cheerful all over again," Goro remarked with a light laugh as he made his way towards Akira. "It's nice to see her laugh like this."
Akira nodded. "Yeah. She's definitely changed for the better. For her, confidence is the key to stand up for herself, after all."
"Mm-hm. Oh, by the way," Goro said as he turned to his friend. "Are you planning on doing any stand-up comedy skits on stage anytime soon?"
The bespectacled boy shook his head. "I doubt it. I'll probably wait and do my best to fit myself into the school as much as possible first before I even try to perform onstage in front of a live audience again. Currently, it's just uploading YouTube videos on our family channel so that our fanbase would at least be entertained."
"I see…"
"AKIRA! ANN! GORO!"
SLAM!
The classroom door suddenly slammed open and Ryuji crashed into the room, a concerned look on his face which glistened with sweat. Panting madly, he stopped in front of them as he asked, "Have you… Have you guys seen Yusuke anywhere?!"
Ann cocked her head to the side. "No…? Did he skip remedial again?"
He nodded and sighed as he scratched the back of his head. "Yeah… He escaped morning remedial again, and Shibata-Sensei said that I had to go find him since I'm his study partner for that lesson… Makoto-Senpai already knows about this and is on the lookout for him, but so far, there's no single clue about his whereabouts."
Goro frowned. "Are you sure you've search everywhere, Ryu-chan?"
Ryuji bit his lip. "Well… There is actually one place that I didn't search… But I didn't because if he was really there, it would be kind of embarrassing for him to realise that…"
Akira stared at him with a weirded-out expression. "What kind of thing would he be doing for him to feel embarrassed?"
"Oi! Sakamoto!"
Loud, rushing footsteps echoed on the floors of the school, and Yusuke dashed in with a panicky look on his face. "Why the hell did you get Niijima hot on my heels?!"
"You were late for remedial, Yusuke! I had to get her help to find you since she's usually able to detect you!"
"Oh my god, are you serious, dude?!"
Suddenly, Makoto strode in with a slight swagger as she slapped Yusuke's back and laughed loudly, "Ryuji, I'm not a dog to help you sniff this buddy out, ya know!"
"Thank you so much, Makoto-Senpai…"
She laughed even louder than before. "Aw, cut it with the honorifics, will ya?! Just call me Makoto! It's okay!"
Yusuke shivered in an obvious manner as he stepped out of the classroom "Yeah, yeah! Let's just go, Sakamoto! Don't want anything else to happen!"
"W-Wait up, Yusuke!"
As Ryuji stepped out of the room to catch up with Yusuke, Makoto suddenly gave a loud sigh, catching the attention of everyone else. Ann was the first to speak up.
"What's wrong, Makoto?"
She brought a hand to her head as she looked back at the blonde with red eyes. "Something seems to be bothering Yusuke. Don't you guys feel it?"
Akira shook his head. "I'm not quite close with Yusuke, so um… not really."
She slowly nodded. "I can understand why. I mean, I've been hanging out with Yusuke for a pretty darn long time. But anyways, his behaviour today just seems a little… strange. He isn't eating anything in his leisure time for once."
"Is that not okay? I mean, he could be trying to change for the better."
"It just seems weird that he would suddenly change," Makoto remarked before she sighed once more. "Maybe I'm just imagining things, huh? Oh well... I'd better head back to my class too. See you guys later at filming!"
As Makoto turned to leave, Akira couldn't help but feel as if Yusuke was really trying to hide something from all of them, and that if revealed, it would change their entire perspective of him.
Sitting in class, Ryuji tapped his pen on the table as he listened intently to his teacher's lecture on Trigonometry. Yet even as he listened, he soon found his mind slowly slipping off to an incident which had happened recently.
A few days ago…
Ryuji stood outside the male washroom as he listened intently to what was going on. Yusuke had just went in there, probably to speak to the guy on the phone earlier.
"Didn't I tell you not to call me when I'm busy with filming?!"
Another voice; an unfamiliar voice rang out, "Oh, but you don't seem to be busy, since you managed to find time to come here to meet me."
"That's cuz you forced me to come over, damn it!"
"You better watch your manners, Yusuke Kitagawa. If you don't treat me with some respect, I'll expose your dark secret to everyone in the school. Let's see here… what do you do for club activities…? Oh, right! No wonder you're such a sissy in the first place! It's because you d-"
"Shut up, Yamamoto! Don't you dare!"
"Ho, so now you're threatening me, when I am the one who's got the evidence? Well, I don't mind! I'll just post this video, and then the entire world can see just how much of a sissy you really are!"
"… You…"
"Well now, I'm just here to tell you that your deadline for the money is due next week, got it? You'd better pay up, or I'll have to just share it online and everyone can see your performance! Plus, you are a rich kid in school, after all. There should be no problem getting 100,000 yen from your parents, should it?"
Ryuji gasped softly. Yusuke was being blackmailed? But what for?
"Fine. I'll pay up next week! Now, get lost, I need to go!"
Upon realisation that Yusuke was leaving the bathroom, Ryuji quickly made his escape back to the set.
-End of Flashback-
Ryuji groaned softly in concern as he clutched his head. That Yusuke… always so problematic! Not only does he have to tutor Yusuke on every single subject a couple of times per week, but he also has to bribe Yusuke with the desserts that he can whip up just to prevent him from running away or smashing out of the window like he always does! Why can't Yusuke just stay well-mannered for once?!
Yet there was something about how Yusuke's loyalty towards his friends that seemed to cause Ryuji to want to be friends with him.
"Ryuji, what is cosine (90 degrees - A)?"
"Wh-what?!" The blond-haired boy gasped in shock and sat up, scrolling through the questions on the board through his glasses. "Um… 7/8!"
The female teacher nodded in approval. "Not bad. I guess you were listening in class, after all. I thought you looked rather dazed out for a moment."
He breathed a sigh of relief. Thank god that his brain was always active and alert! As he relaxed and continued to lean on the back of the seat, he couldn't help but think back to that incident once again. Subconsciously, his brown eyes travelled towards the blue-haired boy, who had long conked out on his desk and was softly snoring away.
"Yusuke… what exactly happened to you?"
"Ugh… Finally! Lessons are over!" Akira watched Goro sigh dramatically as he tossed his papers into the air and stretched out. "Mmm…"
He stared at his friend. Recently, it seemed that Goro has been rather tired everyday, and he was feeling worried about him. What could have happened to him?
Concerned, he asked, "Hey, you look really lethargic recently, are you okay?"
Goro laughed in what seemed to be a slight bitter tone. "Nah, I'm fine. I'm just tired after so much lecturing from him yesterday…"
"'Him'? ... Oh, you mean..."
He nodded. "Yeah. Or should I say, my biological father. He and Mom divorced a long time ago after they felt that the relationship just wasn't right for them. Have your forgotten about Masayoshi Shido?"
Ann whirled towards them in shock. "Hang on! Your father is the veteran of the media industry?! That sounds so awesome! But…"
Goro looked back at the girl and chuckled. "Judging by your expression, I assume that you're wondering why my father had left even though he was so famous? Well, I guess you can say it's because my family's a soap opera."
Akira mused, "Soap Opera… Wait a second. What on earth happened? How did I not know about this back then?"
"Long story short, he was originally married to my mom before he divorced her and married another woman. I didn't tell you because it was something Pops wanted to keep under wraps," he explained before sighing once more. "Sorry, it's just that I don't feel like talking about this for now."
"Nah, it's okay. I'm pretty sure you don't wanna speak about him either."
"Alright, I'm going to take a break and head over before the Mob arrives," Goro said as he stood up. "I'm heading over to the greenhouse to hide and relax for a moment. Care to join, Akira?"
Ann pouted. "Hey! What about me?!"
"Sorry, Lady Ann, but I can only bring in one friend at a time. See you tomorrow," he chuckled as he headed out of the classroom. "Come on, Akira! Let's go!"
As the two of them headed out, Ann grunted in frustration before she slammed her hands and stood up as well. "I'm not gonna give up on some desserts once in a while! Come on, Shiho, let's go get crepes!"
"W-Wait! I thought you were always a health nut?! WAAAH!" Shiho could only scream as Ann began to drag her out of the classroom.
"So your parents are well and all, right?"
Akira nodded as he started to giggle at the memory of his parents. "Yeah. Still as eccentric as before. Bu that's why I love them."
Goro smiled. "Still, those videos your family upload online are pretty hilarious! It wasn't like how you all used to perform on stage, but it's still funny, nonetheless!"
"Really? I'm just happy that I can make people laugh sometimes... even with those puns. By the way, Goro?"
"What is it?" He looked back at his friend with curious eyes.
"How do you keep an idiot waiting?"
"I don't know, how?"
Suddenly, Akira stared down at his watch. "Crap! I just realised that I have to go home right now! I'll tell you tomorrow! See ya!"
As the black-haired boy quickly sped past him, Goro had a look of confusion on his face. Then it hit him.
"OI! You come back right now, Akira Kurusu! Forget my compliment about you guys being funny earlier!"
Guffawing madly as Goro began to chase him, Akira yelled down the hallway, "Can't take back your words once you said them, though!"
"H-Hey, Akira-san!"
He came to a pause when another voice caught his attention. "Ryuji? Oh, you're with Futaba too!"
Futaba nodded as she looked back at him through her huge glasses. "Y-Yeah. I asked Ryuji-Senpai to teach me some materials I couldn't understand... Apparently, Yusuke-Senpai was also supposed to meet him for some remedial, but..."
Ryuji placed his phone back in his pocket as he asked, "Have you seen him? I couldn't contact him by phone - it was on 'Do not Disturb' mode. It seems as if he's been going missing after school hours most of the time for a couple of days now..."
Goro stroked his chin. "Hm... that's worrying. Yusuke-chan usually doesn't act like this. Have you checked his usual hideouts?"
"Been there, done that," he sighed as he adjusted his glasses. "But there's no sign of him anywhere."
"We were planning on searching for him around the school, but we don't know where to start..."
"Hey," Akira suddenly turned to Goro. "You've known Yusuke for quite a while, haven't you? Do you know where he could possibly be?"
Goro closed one eye. "I... actually do. But I don't know whether our dear Yusuke-chan would be happy when we find out about his little secret he's been trying to keep."
"He had left quite a ton of his homework back in class too... or it's more like he's trying to ditch doing homework, so I got to return it to him to ensure that he does it," Ryuji added as he raised an entire file of worksheets before he sighed. "This file isn't even his..."
"Well, if you insist, I can't stop you," he told them as he began to walk down the corridor. "Come, I'll show you where he is."
"Isn't this the Performing Arts building? Wh-What are we doing here?"
Goro smiled at Futaba. "Well, Futaba-darling, Yusuke's club happens to be one of the performing arts, just in case you want to know."
"Y-Yusuke-Senpai's in a Performing Arts Club? That's awesome...! I didn't know that!"
"He is indeed very talented, but... he feels that his club activity seems too feminine to let anyone know about, so he isn't very comfortable with it."
Akira raised an eyebrow. "He finds it too feminine? But shouldn't everyone be free to do what they like?"
Ryuji bit his lip. "Is that why he's being blackmailed?"
The entire group froze and paused their paces. "What...?"
"Do you guys remember that time when we were practising parkour for the Palace scenes? Yusuke had a call from someone demanding money from him, and had quickly excused himself just so he could meet that guy. I suspect that he may have been blackmailed by that person..."
Futaba gasped in shock. "B-Blackmail...? That's...!"
Akira blinked. "I never knew that someone like Yusuke would end up getting blackmailed..."
Goro nodded upon hearing the news. "Hm... this may be an even more serious issue than I thought. To think he'd want to keep it a secret so much that he would get blackmailed about this... But let's not get distracted. We need to go and find him."
As they continued to walk down the empty corridor which caused their footsteps to echo through the silence, Goro suddenly turned to the way towards the dance rooms. As he peeked through the windows, he smiled back, "Here, if you're curious about how those dancers train, take a look. We can proceed to find out which studio he is in later."
Curious, the remaining three of them peeked through the one-way glass, only to see a tall and lean shadowy figure stand on pointed toes before it began to turn, another arm and leg beginning to stretch out in the most graceful way they've ever seen. Choral music echoed in the room as the figure leaped, doing a perfect split in midair before falling down and landing gently.
Futaba was staring with eyes shining. "Wow... that's beautiful..."
Ryuji nodded. "That is really incredible."
The figure continued to twirl, before raising its hands up into the air and then putting them down in a swift motion. With a couple more jumps and spins, the group continued to watch as it slowly began to conclude its performance. Akira pouted. "What? The performance ended already?"
However, it was then when the group heard a female voice say, "Good job! Perfect as always!"
Suddenly, the rest of the lights in that studio flickered back on, and the three of them gawked in shock. Futaba could only breathe out the word, "Whoa..."
"H-Hang on! Hold the phone!" Akira began to hack for a moment before he took another deep breath and exclaimed,
"Yusuke's a ballet dancer?!"