Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 5!
Let me tell you, I seriously DID NOT expect myself to actually write such a solemn part for the previous chapter. The only thing which was planned was when Yusuke had a panic attack during filming, but I never actually thought about writing the argument and him quitting ballet until I was actually writing the story on my document. In short, I was pretty god damn shocked myself.
But don't worry, I'm not planning to end his arc on such a sad note.
With that, enjoy the story!
Yusuke quickly stashed his phone into his pocket as he walked out of the school gate towards where the car was waiting. He had made his decision. Though his heart felt heavy when he did just that, he had to do it. There was no way he could get through with this… not especially when people knew about it already.
How?! How the hell did they find out about what he did?! Did they happen to pass by the studios, or did someone tell them?!
"... God damn it, it must've been Goro Akechi, that Drama Queen!"
However, as he moved into the car, he sighed. There was no point putting the blame on anyone, and he still had to deal with Hideki Yamamoto. Yusuke had the 100,000 yen ready and was planning to give the money to him in two days time, but he didn't even know if Yamamoto was going to destroy the evidence of him practising ballet with Ohya-Sensei...
Yusuke actually felt bad for his teacher - she seemed genuinely worried about him! But what's done is done. He didn't even know if that was the right choice... but did he even have a choice back then? He wanted to break free from those voices, break free from that burden which was weighing him down!
Plus, he didn't want to cause a conflict between the group. It just wasn't worth it. Those angry screams he heard were enough for him to want to do something about it.
Despite that, somehow, he felt so, so empty.
"You're spacing out again, Yusuke."
"What?" Yusuke turned to his father, who was already looking right at him from the front seat.
His father sighed and shook his head. "Are you sure you're alright? You have been looking very listless for the past few days."
"I'm... fine. Just tired from everything happening in school."
"Yusuke, your common tests are coming up. You mustn't fall ill. You're already repeating a grade, and I don't want to see you deprove any further. Understand?"
"... Yes, Dad."
No one seemed to have been able to tell just how controlling his father actually is. Of couse no one would be able to tell - he always appears so God damn dignified whenever he speaks to others just so that he could give a good impression of himself to others! He had to do that, because he was a big boss of a company!
But even if he is a big boss, does that really give him the rights to be so controlling of his son's life? Yusuke knew that his father did it for him - after all, the popularity of Ballet performances have been dwindling recently, especially with the rise of Hip Hop, Street Dance, and the likes. Of course, including the fact that he was a guy doing Ballet, he wouldn't go very far with it!
Yusuke hated it - why did such a social stigma have to exist? He wished he could just be like Ann and finally accept the fact that not everyone can be pleased, but now he really knew how Ann had felt when she was discriminated against by some of the students in the school.
It was so, so painful.
"No way... Ohya-Sensei, are you serious about that?!"
Makoto stared at Ohya in horror as the teacher fiddled with the glass of orange juice she had in her hands. Sighing sorrowfully, she looked back at the tomboyish, hot-headed girl.
"Niijima-san, I'm telling you this because I know that you're a good friend of Yusuke. I'm seriously at a loss right now, and I really don't know what to do..."
Makoto shook her head in disbelief. "B-But why would Yusuke suddenly...?!"
"I don't know, either. He never told me why he would suddenly have a change of heart."
Change of heart... Makoto could only chuckle internally at the irony of that sentence.
"Then... would you happen to know why Yusuke doesn't want others to know that he likes to dance ballet, like you told me?"
Ohya nodded. "As a matter of fact, I do."
A look of determination crossed Makoto's face as Ohya said that.
"Will it be okay to share it with the group of us who want to help Yusuke?"
"Yusuke told me about what happened to him at one point of time during practice. It all started back when he was in elementary school."
The rest of the cast were sitting around the benches as they listened intently to what Ohya had to say.
"Ever since young, he always loved ballet. Even before elementary school, he loved to dance to his heart's delight. Even so, he long knew about the social stigma in the world around him, so he was a little reluctant to tell his parents."
Ann nodded slowly. "So he's aware of that even as a child..."
"However, one day, his father found out that he was secretly taking ballet lessons from the ballet teacher back in his elementary school, and Yusuke was forced to stop taking Ballet lessons since his father really disapproved the performing arts. He still tried to practice at home, but his plan backfired when his passion for ballet was found out by his friends who wanted to give him a surprise visit. His reputation plummeted overnight. People started to call him sissy, or even insulted him by cracking homosexual jokes." Ohya sighed as a reaction to the incident.
Haru frowned in displeasure. "Those are some really immature kids..."
"The thing is, Yusuke's love for ballet never faltered, even if he had to keep people from knowing about it," the teacher closed her eyes before she opened them and looked back at them. "So I really don't know why he would suddenly quit. It could be the fear of people finding out, or maybe he wanted to give up under the pressure that his father was giving him. His mother, Sasaki, never stopped him, but was worried about him getting bullied by everyone else."
Akira pondered for a moment before he screeched and stood up. "... Or did Yusuke somehow figured out thay we knew about his hobby?! Think about it! We were arguing about what to do on the day he suddenly collapsed!"
Futaba whirled around and stared in horror. "Th-Then maybe he would quit, because he didn't want another repeat of that incident!"
Ryuji ran his fingers through his hair as he breathed deeply. "This is bad... if he had quit because of us, then... Hang on."
Everyone turned to look at Ryuji, whose face had slowly contorted into one of shock. "Do you guys think that he had quit, because he didn't want us to fight over his case?!"
Ann raised a brow. "Would Yusuke be someone who would do that?"
Makoto nodded. "Despite his aggressive nature, Yusuke's the kind of guy who doesn't want to cause trouble for the people who he cares for. And as much as he wouldn't admit it, I think we all know that Tsundere really cares for us."
"He's secretly a cinnamon roll, that Yusuke-chan," Goro chuckled. "So, what's our group's plan right now?"
"There's only one thing we can do right now..." Akira began and looked at everyone.
They all nodded at each other. They had to go and personally speak to Yusuke before things become even worse.
Her sneakers trudged on the terrain as she continued to train herself during her evening run. With swear running down her face, Makoto panted heavily as she forced her legs to continue to run. It was a free day for her that day, so she was able to use the rest of her free time to run and train in the park.
Thoughts flashed through her mind as she ran down the path. How did she not notice how troubled one of her closest friend was? Yusuke may always seem to be dissing her, but she knew better!
Why the heck was she so useless?
As she slowly made her way towards the exercise corner and grabbed the pull-up bars, Makoto sighed listlessly.
"Are you going to be okay, Mako-chan?"
"What the-?" Makoto quickly spun around, only to realise that Haru was sitting at a bench not far from her. "Oh, hey Haru. What's up?"
"Just getting some inspiration from the scenery in this place," Haru smiled back serenely as she lifted up her sketchbook. "I've always liked to come here to cleanse my mind a little. Just continue your training regiment. I shan't bother you."
Makoto nodded as she took a deep breath of air before pushing on her biceps and lifting herself off the ground. "One... two... three..."
Even as she did her pull-ups, however, she couldn't help but let her mind wander off. Just what on Earth was Yusuke thinking, quitting somwthing he loved just like that?! There was no way she was going to forgive him if he was going to just give up like that!
Or maybe this 'black and white' equation isn't really like all she thought. She may think that one should just do what they love, but it's just her own opinion. Maybe it's Yusuke's own emotions and thoughts that is turning this equation so grey.
"Hey Mako-chan?"
"What's up?" Makoto asked as she let go of the bars and let herself drop towards the ground.
Haru closed her sketchbook, looked right at Makoto and asked, "Why is it that you train so hard in martial arts?"
Makoto rubbed the back of her head as a sheepish smile grew on her face. "To be honest, I guess it was Goro's mom that inspired me to want to become a herione."
She looked on curiously. "Akechi-kun's mother?"
Makoto nodded. "Yeah, Kazuki Akechi. She's one of the veterans of those action films, and she looks so cool everytime she beats up the bad guys!"
"Ah, not following in your sister's footsteps, I see," Haru chuckled lightly.
"Nah. Sae's pretty awesome as a lawyer fighting for justice in those law films, but I really love the action parts, y'know? I gotta admit, I admire my big sis and all, but I really prefer to act as someone who gets to smack all those criminals and give them what they deserve," she grinned back. "It's the reason why I went to audition for one of the action movies that's coming up: The Dragon. I hope they choose me to play the heroine!"
"Your sister must be pretty proud of you."
The red-eyed girl cackled loudly. "No way. Compared to my Sis, I'm a useless pile of trash. I'm not earning any big bucks yet for my family, unlike her."
Haru raised an eyebrow at her friend. "Don't call yourself that, Mako-chan..."
"Heh, don't worry about that, Haru! I can assure you that I'm gonna make myself useful once I graduate!" she grinned back cheerily as she lifted her water bottle to her lips to take a sip. "Or, I'm gonna do that right now, to be exact. I'm gonna make sure that idiot Yusuke changes his mind about giving up his passion for ballet!"
The auburn-haired girl glanced at Makoto for a while before she smiled and chuckled once more. "Still as determined as always, aren't you?"
Akira groaned in dismay as he sat up from his bed. Checking the clock, he sighed once more upon realization that it was only one in the morning. Insomnia was starting to kick into him ever since that incident with Yusuke, and he had no idea how he was supposed to curb it.
"Yusuke... Just what exactly is going through your mind?"
Tomorrow was the day the entire group was going to confront him, but despite being the so-called 'Leader', Akira felt vulnerable and unprepared. It was as if he couldn't do anything to bring his friend back from going down a path he may regret... Well, technically speaking, it wasn't that bad, but ditching what one loved just to please the others isn't worth it.
What could he say once he goes to face him? Yusuke was such a stubborn guy, Akira wasn't even sure if he could convince that boy to listen to them once!
The weather was slowly starting to get warmer. Indeed, they were already halfway into Spring, and their tests were coming up. Akira shook his head, pulled the covers off himself and flipped himself out of bed. The door creeked as he stepped out of his bedroom and into the living room.
As he made his way into the kitchen to get a glass of juice...
"Can't sleep, Akira?"
"What!" Akira heard a voice which spooked him out! Yet as he whirled around to see who it was, he sighed in relief to realise that it was just his mother. "Oh, hey, Mom."
Mrs Kurusu, or better known as Akemi Kurusu, smiled softly at her child as she redid her bun in her hair. "I just finished up organising some of the schedules for our performances. We may be able to perform on stage pretty soon, maybe even after your tests."
Akira's mouth curled into a wide grin. "I see... that's fantastic! We can perform on a stage again just like before! ... Oh, but..."
"You have something on your mind, don't you?" Akemi chuckled as she poured herself a glass of juice. "Well, if you'd like to talk, I'll be at the dining table."
The black-haired boy quietly tailed behind his mother as he sipped on his orange juice. The two of them say opposite each other on the chairs.
As she swirled her glass of juice around which caused a clinking sound with the ice, Akemi opened her brown eyes and smiled. "So, is there anything you'd like to tell me?"
Despite always being so crazy and energetic in the morning, Akira knew that after nightfall, his mother would be surprisingly calm and composed. In fact, compared to her spunky attitude in the day, she was always very gentle once day turned to night.
Akira took a gulp of the orange liquid.
"Um... do you remember the friend that I told you about? You know, the delinquent-like friend that I had?"
Akemi nodded with a smile. "Ah, Yusuke Kitagawa, was it? You have so many friends, I had to learn all of their names whenever you talk to me about them."
He gripped the edge of his glass as he continued, "The rest of my friends and I just realised that Yusuke had been hiding the fact that he loves Ballet from us. And we also found out that he's been blackmailed by someone in the school because of that. Even worse, I think he found out that we knew, and told his instructor that he was going to quit..."
"Hm... I see. And then?"
"None of us understand what he's truly feeling, but we do know that back at elementary school, he was bullied by his friends for doing Ballet, and even his father disapproves him from dancing. We really want to help him, but we don't really know if there are any emotions mixed into this equation that causes everything to be so complex... Mom, what should we do?"
His mom continued to swirl the glass of juice in her hands for a moment, before she took a small sip and placed the cold glass back on the table. "Well, there's just one thing left for you to do, isn't there?"
Akira was dumbfounded. "What do you mean?"
"You want to help Yusuke, but what can you do about it since you and the rest of them don't know his reasons for quitting ballet from himself?"
His mouth snapped shut. It was true. They didn't know the true factors that had caused Yusuke to suddenly quit. All they had done up till now was to guess and speculate.
"So... you're telling me that I should go and ask him why he had quit in the first place?"
She smiled back softly and replied, "That is for you to decide, my child."
"I guess that means that when we confront him today, we'll just have to ask him directly. We can't just keep telling him not to quit," Haru muttered when they heard about the entire conversation that Akira had with his mother.
Akira nodded as he gently pushed up his glasses. "Mm-hm. My mother's explanation does make a lot of sense, so I thought that I should tell you guys about it."
"But speaking of which," Ann suddenly asked, "Where's Yusuke?"
"You called?"
Makoto sighed and smiled when Yusuke started walking towards them. "Speak of the devil."
Yusuke stopped in front of them, then he asked, "So what did y'all call me here for?"
Akira took a deep breath, then he stepped out and said,
"Yusuke, we need to talk to you. It's regarding you quitting Ballet."
The blue-haired boy snorted and turned around. "So it's about this, huh? I knew it. You all know about it."
"We just want to know why you don't want to do Ballet anymore, Yusuke-chan," Goro replied with an eye closed. "Maybe we'll understand if your reason is valid."
However, none of them expected Yusuke to snap so quickly as he roared, "Valid?! What kind of fucking reason is valid to people like you?! I bet it's you who blabbered to them about what I do for my club activities! Why the hell did you do that?!"
The brown-haired boy looked at Yusuke calmly before he sighed. "Look, Yusuke-chan-"
"Don't you dare call me that again, Akechi."
Goro pinched his nosebridge. "Alright, fine. Look, Yusuke. There's no point in hiding what you did if people like Hideki Yamamoto know about it already. Even if he doesn't upload that video, who knows if someone else will get their hands on it? You'll never know. We don't want you to be burdened by the fact that people can blackmail you for doing what you like. Do you get it now?"
He stared at them in disbelief. "How did you guys know about that too?! Just how much do you know?! Who told you?!"
"W-Well, I found out just as I was heading to the washroom that day..." Ryuji's voice faltered off as Yusuke turned his attention towards him.
"Oh... I see. No wonder you were looking at me so weirdly that day!" Yusuke breathed deeply in irritation before he started to turn to walk away. "Don't try to stop me - I have already made up my mind."
Ann suddenly yelled out, "B-But Yusuke! Isn't ballet your passion for your entire life?! You can't just give up on it because there are people who don't accept it! I've been there before, and you know it!"
They all watched as Yusuke paused his footsteps, and Ann hurriedly continued, "There will always be people who do not like what we do. We can't blame them - people have different opinions! Yet despite all this, there will also be people who love us for who we are, and for what we do! There's no way to please everyone... so why can't we just do what we wish to excel in?"
"... Do you really think you understand me?"
Blue eyes blinked as she was taken aback. "H-Huh?"
Yusuke turned towards the group the face them, and they gasped when they saw the fury in his eyes.
"Discriminated against by strangers is one thing. Of couse you can't please everyone, and I know that! But when you are looked down upon by even the people close to you?! That's something I don't want to go through again! Of course I do wish that my father would allow me to do Ballet, but would he allow me to do so when Ballet is starting to fade out of existence?!"
"F-Fade out of existence?! That's not true, Yusuke-Senpai!" Futaba yelled out desperately. "There are people out there who appreciate the performing arts too, not just people who want everything to be new!"
"And how many people is that, exactly?!"
The entire group fell silent. Yusuke glared at them before he sighed. "As far as I know, not many people appreciate us, despite our efforts in our performances. Just look at artists - do you think they get appreciated for the artworks that they produce? If you ask me, right now, people simply just look at them and appreciate them for being a part of a recognisable brand because they can't truly understand the true emotions and the efforts that these people have put in!"
Haru frowned. "You aren't quite accurate with that. There are some people out there who actually do appreciate the performing arts and other creative activities. Maybe you just haven't come across them."
He shook his head stubbornly as he began to walk away. "Save it! I don't need to hear you guys trying to force me to back out of the path that I chose for myself!"
As he vanished down the corridor, Makoto groaned and slammed her head against the wall in exasperation. "Why does he have to act like such a lost cause?!"
"No, actually…" Goro suddenly said as he stepped out, "I think I may have found a way to convince him to continue with his passion for Ballet."
The group all looked at him in confusion, but Akira could tell what Goro may be hatching in his mind.
Author's Note: Hey guys, hope you enjoyed this week's chapter! Anyways, the next chapter will be a little wacky, so do brace yourselves for some crazy things to happen! With that, this is A1t0Aria, signing out!