Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 5!
Hello guys! I'm finally back from my exams! This chapter is a little longer to compensate for the time I had taken off this fan fiction, so I do hope you guys like it! But anyways, thank you guys so much for waiting for an update!
Also, do check out my other Persona 5 fan fiction when it comes out, Tricked! It is an Alternate Universe in which the Phantom Thieves are con artists. More information can be found on my profile. Do tell me how excited you are to read it, yeah? It will probably come out some time this week or next week, depending on the amount of time I need to edit the first chapter. (It may come out as early as a few hours later, but I cannot confirm that yet.)
Warning: Coarse language is involved. I'm pretty sure you guys already know why.
With that, enjoy the story!
Stepping into the school compound, Yusuke groaned. Another new day, another day for a crapload of horrible things to happen to him again. He already had enough of always getting sent to detention, and looking at his failed graded test papers. It wasn't like he cared much, but seeing something that you fail at is still one horrible feeling, after all.
Plus, now there was that asshole Yamamoto to care about...
Walking on the concrete floors of the school, the blue-haired boy made his way towards his classroom. No one paid any attention to him, since most of the students were pretty used to that rebellious aura that he gave off. However, what stopped him dead in his tracks was when he suddenly heard some sort of commotion going on in Class 2-D.
Curious, he paused, and stopped by the classroom. Peeking his head in, Yusuke felt his eyes widen to the size of golfballs.
What on Earth were Akira Kurusu and Makoto Nijima doing?!
"WAHAHAHAHAH! Dance, Akira! Dance, Nijima-Senpai!" Yuuki Mishima was cackling madly as he circled the two of them dancing to an... eight bit version of Swan Lake...?
"Na na na na na! Na na! Na na!..." Yusuke could hear both Akira and Makoto laughing as they tried to mimic the tune on the radio on a nearby table while spinning around and falling over.
"Um, Is Kurusu-san okay?!" Shiho was giggling as she watched the little slapstick comedic performance with Ann, who was also snickering along.
Yusuke couldn't comprehend whatever the heck was going on! "What the hell is going on here?!"
Akira turned to him and flashed him a big grin. "Oi, Yusuke! Wanna join us and dance to this... tune?"
He raised an eyebrow and shook his head, still slightly stunned at the sight. "Uh... no thanks!"
As he quickly turned and stepped away towards his own classroom, Akira suddenly walked over and button mashed the radio with a disappointed look on his face.
"So much for making this remix!"
Makoto gave a haughty laugh. "Doesn't matter! We had fun even though the plan didn't work! ... And even though Ryuji ran away when we asked him to."
As Akira squatted there with sad puppy eyes, he muttered, "Why couldn't he come over and try to teach us a few moves..."
Yuuki snorted as he walked over and patted his back. "Chin up, Akira! Didn't you have fun doing the remix with me, anyways?"
He nodded back as a smile grew on his face and he stood up once more. "... Yeah, you're right! At least I had fun! Come on, Makoto! Let's continue to dance to this beat!"
Makoto then turned to Ann. "Ann, the next plan is up to you and Ryuji now!"
Recess time. As usual, he headed towards the rooftop to chill for the rest of the break. Yusuke was always the type who didn't like to be near crowds, unless they were people whom he usually interacted with. But then again, it wasn't like he really interacted with that many people in the first place...
He stood in front of the vending machine nearby. That cherry cream soda seemed really tempting... but then he remembered what Mishima had remarked that day. Yusuke shook his head. No, he wasn't gonna let anyone call him a sissy!
Selecting a black coffee without sugar instead, Yusuke walked to his hideout and sat on top of the fence, hanging his blazer over it. The image of Akira and Makoto dancing like idiots popped into his head, making him groan in frustration. That was a nightmare to watch...
Just as he was about to open the can, his phone beeped. Curious, the grey-eyed boy fished it out and took a peek at the messages.
It was from his instructor.
"Are you going to come for practice today? If you're feeling tired or stressed out, don't hesitate to tell me, alright? From: Ohya."
A small smile slipped on his face. Despite everything that was happening, Ohya was always so caring of all of her students and is able to understand them well. Maybe that's why she was the only teacher whom he really respected in this school.
"I'm fine, Ohya-Sensei. I need to train in order to make our school proud."
"But are you sure about using a different name and wearing a mask in competition? No one is going to acknowledge your achievement at this rate. You know that, don't you?"
"It's fine. I'd prefer for others not to know."
He waited for a few moments for her reply.
"If that's what you want, then I'll respect your decision. Good luck on the competition then, Yusuke! Continue to put in effort and make yourself proud too, alright?"
"I will. Thank you, Ohya-Sensei."
Seeing that his teacher had gone offline, Yusuke placed his phone back in his pocket. As he opened the can of black coffee, Yusuke sighed. He actually really wanted his achievements to be acknowledged, but he knew that he was going to be made fun of if he were to announce it.
If that's the case, wouldn't it be better for him to just keep it a secret? Yusuke sighed to himself once more as he took a big gulp of the drink.
He immediately regretted his decision.
"... PFFT! AHEM, AHEM! OH MY FUCKING GOD!" Yusuke cursed and coughed in fury as he spat out the dark drink which had caused a strange, unfamiliar, sickening, bitter taste to attack his tastebuds. Was coffee always this horrible tasting?!
He wheezed. That was it. He was never going to try coffee ever again. That coffee did wake him up, indeed! Just not in the way he would have ever expected!
But he couldn't let that go to waste; he had already vowed that he wasn't going to drink or eat anything sweet! No way was he going to let that idiot Yamamoto have a chance to try and do something again!
As he pinched his nose and tried to chug it down, however, he suddenly heard a familiar voice nearby.
"Have you heard that our school's ballet dancers are going to take part in a competition real soon?"
Yusuke's breath hitched. Wasn't that Ann?
"Yeah. In about a week or so, right?"
He could recognise that voice from anywhere. The second person was Ryuji Sakamoto. Why were they talking about the competition he was going to participate in? Yusuke never knew that they were fans of dancing.
"Yup! That competition! Man, I can't wait to go and spectate their performances! Ballerinas are so graceful... can you imagine the freedom they feel when they dance to their own wishes?"
"It's not just about their performances. The effort that all dancers put into their craft is something we should learn how to appreciate. Don't you think so too?"
Yusuke rolled his eyes. Ryuji was just being Ryuji, as always. He could even imagine that blond-haired Teacher's Pet push up his glasses as he said that! But what both of them said did strike a chord in him. They were right... He did feel freedom whenever he danced, and he really wanted to be appreciated for whatever he did. But then again, the world is a pretty damn unfair place. There was no way in hell anyone would appreciate a guy doing ballet.
... Or would they?
"... By the way, are all of the ballet dancers girls?" He suddenly heard Ryuji ask Ann.
"I think so? I haven't seen a male ballet dancer in our school yet... But can you imagine if there was one? Oh my gosh! That would be, like, so romantic! Can you imagine a male dancer teaching a girl ballet and the two of them holding each other in their arms as they dance together under the dim lights of the dance room? Aw...! I wish that would happen to me!"
Yusuke could immediately feel his face heat up like a ripe tomato as he begun to sweat bullets. Ann wanted to what?!
"Wh-Whoa, Ann! You're gushing! Calm down!"
"Come on! Don't you think it's romantic too? To dance with the lady of your dreams if she happens to know how to dance too?"
"I can't dance, Ann..."
"Exactly! Let her teach you how to dance! Wouldn't that be the perfect scenario? But regardless, case in point, I think male dancers are awesome! I don't get why there aren't many male dancers!"
Yusuke could feel his face burn. Was Ann being serious? Maybe he could try to impress a lady for once...
Suddenly, Ann said, "Hm? Oh, hey Yusuke! I didn't know you were here!"
... Maybe not!
Turning around with an awkward smile on his face, Yusuke greeted in a weird tone, "Uh, yeah. Hey, Ann."
Ryuji pouted. "You greeted Ann, but not me? Come on, Yusuke!"
"Ugh, fine, fine! What's up, Sakamoto?"
"Hey, Yusuke! I want to ask you something!" Ann said with a huge grin on her face. "Do you think male dancers are cool?"
Crap, of all questions, she had to ask him that one question?! Yusuke started to sweat again, but it wasn't due to embarrassment this time.
What should he say?! Should he impress her, or should he just act like the biggest douchebag in the world?! But if he said something wrong, wouldn't she be pissed off? That would be bad... but he can't risk letting his secret being known too!
"... They're fucking weird. Isn't dancing a girl's thing to do?"
Ann pouted as she frowned at him. "Aw, come on! They aren't that weird, you know!"
Ryuji sweat-dropped as he nervously scratched the back of his head. "Erm... I think you may have gotten on her wrong side, Yusuke..."
Well, that sucked! But it was worth it if he had to keep it a secret... right?
That was when Ryuji noticed something. "Yusuke... are you drinking black coffee without sugar?!"
He glanced at the can in his hand and sighed. "Worse decision of my life. I should have known to just get a plain isotonic drink instead of being so god damn adventurous."
Ann stared in shock. "Wait, you didn't get the cherry cream soda this time? Are you sure you're okay, Yusuke?"
"What's wrong with wanting to try something for once?" Yusuke snorted as he chugged the rest of the can's content down and forced himself not to grimace. "Plus, I'm pretty fuckin' pissed with people telling me to cut down on my sugar intake... If that's the case, I'll show them I can take more than just diabetes material!"
Ryuji sighed. "Yusuke, once in a while is fine, just not everyday. Okay?"
Yusuke deadpanned as he turned back to his resting spot and stared into the clear blue sky, "Yes, Sakamoto-Sensei. Now, if you'd excuse me for a moment..."
"Man, there's no need to be sarcastic..."
"Sigh, ignore him, Ryuji... I guess he's just being a Tsundere..."
He could feel a vein pop. Did Ann just call him... a Tsundere?!
"But speaking of ballerinas, I do know that there are quite a couple of Prima Ballerinas from the past! Are there any whom you know of?"
"Well, I think there was Anita Polova, who was famous for performing in the ballet 'Swan Lake'?"
Yusuke stiffened and very nearly felt another vein pop. Hang on... what the hell did Ryuji Sakamoto just say?!
"Oh, I see... So she's the one who was famous for performing in Swan Lake. Cool!"
He bit his lips, expecting to taste blood. Fuck no! Anita Polova was famous for the ballet "Swansong"! Not "Swan Lake"! What the hell is wrong with that boy?!
"Yeah. It was first performed in year 1889. But it was originally a failure, according to what I heard."
Yusuke shook his head and breathed hard. That year wasn't even the premiere of any of the two ballet performances! Swan Lake was premiered in either 1875 or 1876! Swansong was premiered in 1905! The fuck is wrong with his head?!
He wanted to correct that cursed information so damn badly, but Yusuke knew better than to do that - it would blow his entire cover away! No, he had to get away from listening to that ear cancer in one way or another...
Crushing his aluminum can, Yusuke stood up and stomped on it until it became as flat as a pancake, then picked it up, washed it and tossed it into the recycling bin.
Yet he didn't realise that Ryuji was about to burst out laughing as he was telling Ann all of the hilariously wrong information.
"Oh lord, that was so cringeworthy..." Ryuji started chuckling as he covered his face with his hands.
Ann brought a hand to her chin. "But damn, he didn't fall for that one either? Yusuke's pretty strong-willed, I see..."
"Well, our trap failed. Looks like we got to count on Futaba, Okumura-Senpai and Akechi-san right now."
"True..." she muttered before she suddenly looked back at the brown-eyed boy. "By the way, Ryuji?"
"What is it, Ann?"
"I heard Makoto asked you to join her plan with Akira. Why didn't you join? I thought that it looked pretty fun..."
"I don't want to embarrass myself by dancing to an eight-bit version of Swan Lake, Ann."
Classes were finally over. Yusuke sighed in relief as he threw all of his things back into his bag, threw it over his shoulders, and started trudging down the stairs. His classroom was quite a long way from the Performing Arts building, which was a huge pain in the ass.
Oh well, what to do, when he was devoted in going for practice just so he could take the only chance to do what he liked?
However, just as he walked past the school hall, he suddenly heard piano music coming from within. He paused when he heard the keys. Wasn't that the song he was going to be dancing to in a week's time?
Yusuke couldn't help but peek in. Whoever was playing the piano was one with a huge talent; one who could bring out the emotions from within the song. His eyes widened in surprise.
Futaba Sakura...?
There was no mistake - it was definitely her, with those geeky glasses, headphones and long orange hair. He knew that Futaba was a music composer and even composed the songs for Persona 5, but damn! Was she always this good?
"Heh, isn't my daughter awesome? No wonder you can't keep your eyes off her..."
Shocked, Yusuke turned to see a well-dressed man with black hair and a goatee looking back at him. "Who-who the hell are you, old man?!"
He raised an eyebrow at the rude boy before he sighed and answered, "Come on, Kitagawa. I'm not that old. And don't look so surprised. My daughter has told me a lot about her friends, including you."
He looked at the man, then back at Futaba, then back at the man. "You're... Futaba Sakura's dad?!"
The man with glasses tipped his hat. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Sojiro Sakura."
Suddenly, another voice was heard. "He's the head of the world's famous coffee company, Sakura's Beans."
Yusuke lurched back in shock. "Wh-what on Earth?! Sakamoto, you're here too?! And who's that woman with you?!"
"Tsk, tsk. That's very rude of you, Kitagawa-kun," the bespectacled lady with the shook her head and remarked cheekily with a smile that was embellished with red lipstick. "Don't you recognise me?"
"Wait a second..." Yusuke examined her face before he freaked out once more. "Are you... our main makeup artist?!"
Sojiro nodded. "My wife and Futaba's mother, Wakaba Isshiki. And yes, I know, Futaba doesn't look like any of us, but that's because I'm her stepfather."
Yusuke turned to look back at Sojiro. "Welp, you just answered that lingering question that I have."
"Oh, by the way," Ryuji grinned. "They're going to be acting in Persona 5 too!"
"Wait, what?!"
"So, back to the question," Wakaba suddenly said, ignoring the commotion, "What do you think of my daughter's music? Isn't she talented? I'm really proud of her. I think really fits a ballet dancer."
"Uh..." Yusuke quickly turned to look at Futaba who was still playing the piano before looking back at them. "I guess it's okay. It's not really my type of music. I prefer heavy metal."
He couldn't help but die a little on the inside at that balant lie. What the hell is heavy metal, anyways?! He loved classical music, especially the relaxing type!
"Keeping that stereotype delinquent profile to a T, huh?" Sojiro chuckled. "Well, if that's what you say. Are we keeping you back from anything? If not, I'd like to chat with you and the rest of the cast sometime."
The words rang an alarm in his head as he quickly checked his phone. Much to his horror, Yusuke realised that he was ten minutes late for practice. "OH FUCK BALLS! I gotta split! Bye!"
As he dashed down the hallway, Sojiro laughed and shook his head. "Sorry, Sakamoto. Guess the plan failed, huh?"
Ryuji raised a hand and smiled back. "It's okay, Sojiro-san! I'm pretty sure we're actually close to having him being comfortable with telling us that he does like ballet..."
"Heh, since we're done, I might as well treat you to some of my coffee. How about that?"
"That sounds great. Uh, is it okay if I request for my coffee to be-"
"Strong and black with no sugar, am I right? Heh, you're really constant with your coffee, you know. And you don't need to thank me - I should be thanking you for always tutoring my daughter whenever she needs help."
"Wh-what?! We're really going to go with that soundtrack for the gala?!" Yusuke sputtered in horror as he stared at the schedule for the competition.
However, Ohya was giggling a little as she replied, "You've always been dancing to songs about unconditional love for a long time. Don't you think you should try to show off something a little different for once? I mean, you do it pretty well, you know..."
"B-But this...! I don't know, man..."
"Loosen up, Yusuke," Ohya smiled as she placed her hands on his shoulders. "I know you can do it! If you really don't want to, though, that's fine too."
"N-No, it's okay. I'll do it," Yusuke replied as he stood up. "I guess I'd better leave now. Dad doesn't like it when I stay back to continue to practice..."
"Okay, then. Take care, Yusuke!"
Yusuke quickly got out of the studio before Ohya saw his reddened face. Why that soundtrack, of all things?! He wasn't used to showing people that type of style at all, even though he had been trying it out for quite a while!
He groaned as he brought a hand to his face. "Hip swaying and other sexual innuendos... this is going to be the biggest embarrassment of my life. Thank god no one else is going to know about this..."
Quickly skimming down the now-empty hallway, Yusuke could feel his heart thumping like the clacking sounds of his shoes hitting the tiled-floors. He just hoped that he would be able to take the embarrassment when that day comes.
Just as he was walking past the club rooms, however, someone suddenly rushed past him, causing Yusuke to yell in surprise when he accidentally slammed into the girl.
"AH! Oh, it's you, Yusuke! Are you alright?"
As his eyes adjusted, Yusuke raised an eyebrow in recognition. "Okumura?!"
"I didn't expect to see you here this late," Haru remarked as she bent down to pick up the drafts that she had dropped. Seeing that the papers had flown everywhere, Yusuke decided to help her out.
However, his body paused once again when he saw one of the designs of Haru's outfits. Yusuke's eyes scanned down the intricate designs of the ballet outfit that the girl in the pink sweater had designed. What a fantastic masterpiece...
Would it be weird if he were to tell her that it is something he would like to wear for a performance?
"Do you like it?" Haru asked with a soft smile, but Yusuke could tell that she was excited. "I'm really proud of that one. I guess it's thanks to Ann that I've been hooked up on designing ballet costumes recently..."
He frowned, trying to add on to his cover. "... It looks like a fucking glitter bomb just exploded on it. What are you talking about?"
"That's how ballet costumes work, don't they? I know some of the costumes do 't glisten that much with gemstones and all, but I decided to try going for intricate, you know?" Haru explained.
"Huh, if that's what you like, I have no words," Yusuke shrugged as he handed the papers over to Haru.
"I know you just roasted my design, but thanks for helping me out," she smiled back at him. "See you tomorrow at filming, Yusuke. We're filming a few Palace scenes and some of your Confidant scenes, right?"
He nodded. "Yup. Anyways, I'll be going right now. Catch ya tomorrow, I guess."
As he hurriedly sprinted down the corridor, Yusuke immediately headed for the front of the school gate. Did that conversation take too much time such that his father was going to be pissed off?
Meanwhile, Haru looked at him with a disappointed look before she sighed. "He's evading every single thing we've planned out for him."
Sitting at the back of the car which was being driven by the family's chauffeur, Yusuke flipped through his social media wall, and came to a pause at the picture of Akira and Makoto dancing horribly which was posted by Yuuki. He groaned. What a horrible nightmare that was...
"Is something wrong, Yusuke?"
Yusuke shook his head. "No, Dad."
Yet the more he thought about it, the more he felt something was off... What the hell could have sparked this strange Ballet Craze with everyone whom he had interacted with? Could it have been the word that the Ballet dancers of the school were going to participate in a national competition?
Yusuke prayed that it was the competition, and not something else, that had caused this to happen.
Author's note:
"Anita Polova" is a reference to Anna Pavlova, who was famous for performing the ballet "The Dying Swan", hence the reason why the ballet that Anita performed was called "Swansong".