Player Choices

By psychored1911

Disclaimer: I don't own Persona 4 or Persona 4 Golden

4/12-Evening

I go inside my uncle's house. The food from that restaurant was amazing! Too bad I couldn't get that Mega Beef Bowl I heard about; they only serve it when it's raining, which is weird cause' it was raining this morning. I guess it has to be raining all day?

Whatever.

When the time comes, I'm will do it, and I will emerge victorious. That I swear.

I take a good look around me, I didn't even notice that Nanako was all alone.

I go up to her and sit down opposite from her.

Should I:

-Say something

Just let her be

I should probably say something.

"Hey, how's it going?"

She looks up at surprise. She then starts to stare at me.

Okay, starting to get a bit awkward. Not that I could blame her; this is a first for me too. I never had anyone around me when I was growing up. My parents were never around, and I spent countless nights waiting for a family dinner that never came to be. That heart-wrenching feeling of loneliness haunted me for years. If she's feeling the same way, then-

No, I won't let her go through the same thing.

…Okay, she's not saying anything. Not a good sign in my books.

"Are you always like this? Home alone I mean."

I asked, hoping for some sort of reaction from her.

"…N-Not always…" Nanako answered quietly "Sometimes dad comes home and talks to me…"

Inside, I sighed in relief. She's not at the point of no return yet. But she's really close.

"Hey Nanako," I turned to her and gave put my hands on her shoulders "Look, if you want someone to talk to or play with, you can always ask me." I smile at her "I'll always be there for you, okay?"

Wow, that sounded so very corny. It's like I took that straight from any cheesy romance movie scene.

Nanako slowly smiled at me "O-Okay…" she said adorably before hugging me.

"Around noon today, a woman was found dead near the Samegawa River in Inaba."

Aaaaaaand there goes the mood. Nanako almost immediately gets off me and focuses on the news.

Then again, this probably explained those police cars from earlier.

"The deceased has been identified as Ms. Mayumi Yamano, a 27-year old announcer at the local television station."

Wasn't she the chick who had the affair with that City Council guy, Namatame something I think? Hard to believe he'd cheat on someone like Misuzu Hiiragi. Meh, celebrity marriages never work out anyway.

"The initial results of the Inaba Police Department's investigation have revealed…"

"Ah! The Inaba Police Department! Th-That's where Dad works!" Nanako exclaimed.

Uncle Dojima's a cop? Huh, learn something new every day.

Nanako's trembling, obviously frightened.

I should say something…

I could say "Are you worried about him?" I could also say "It'll be all right." I could say nothing at all.

Instead I chose to say: "Are you okay?"

She responds by saying: "yeah, it's his job, so it happens."

"The body was found hanging from a large television antenna atop a local resident's roof. Authorities are uncertain as to why the body was in such a state. With the cause of death also uncertain, police continue to investigate whether the death is an accident or a homicide."

Wait, how can a TV antenna support a human body? Okay, getting off topic.

"A thick fog common to the area has slowed their progress, and plans to fully canvas the area are delayed until tomorrow."

…Well that was depressing…

The TV changes to a commercial for that department store.

"Oh, it's Junes!"

"At Junes, Every day is customer appreciation day. Come see for yourself, and get in touch with our products! Every day's great at your Junes!"

Nanako, who was clearly enjoying herself, repeats the ending jingle. "Every day's great at your Junes!"

She's looking at me as if she wants me to do something.

I think about what I can say:

"Do you like that song?"

"You're a good singer."

"Your Junes!"

Ignoring everything in my head, I say: "Encore!"

I think that should cheer her up. She goes on singing the song over and over to herself.

It takes herself another 5 minutes of singing until she tires herself out. I then put her to bed and go to sleep.

4/13- Early Morning

After getting up and putting my clothes on, I start walking to school. This place has regained its calmness from yesterday. Wait, isn't that the guy who crashed on the bike yesterday? And isn't he getting faster-

*CRASH*

Twice in a row this week. Ouch… and landing in a trash can too.

"Someone…"

I should help this guy; he seems to have a lot of problems. And he's kinda rolling in the trash.

I pick him up and get the trashcan off of him.

"Whew, you saved me. Thanks! Umm… Oh Yeah, that's right. You're that transfer student… Wait, what was your name again?"

Real nice dude.

"Sorry, it's just that you caused so much commotion when you came, that I don't remember you introducing yourself."

… Huh. Actually now that I think about it, I don't recall ever giving the class my name. I think the most I did was tell that pervy teacher off and then sit next to Chie. Wasn't I supposed to write my name on the board too?

"It's Narukami, Yu Narukami." I said in typical James Bond fashion.

"I'm Yosuke Hanamura. Nice to meet ya."

I could have said "Nice to meet you too." I could have also said "Are you okay?" I could have even asked if his bike was okay.

I chose to say: "I like you already."

Yosuke smiled at me "Yeah, the feelings mutual, man." He said as we started walking to the school together.

"Say, did you hear about the incident from yesterday? They found that announcer lady hanging from an antenna! You think it was some kinda warning? There's no way that weird could've been an accident."

I really don't want to talk about death. It's a really depressing topic to talk about. It was under pretty strange circumstances, but still. I have to say something anyway.

"Maybe we're being tested by something greater than ourselves." I joked.

Yosuke laughed "Yeah, a goddess will be trying to cause housewives to gossip."

Heh, this guy's funny.

*BRRRRRRRRRRRING!*

"Oh crap, we're late." Yosuke cursed as he points at his bike. "You wanna ride? It's a little squeaky, but it should be fine."

I took a step back. Yeaaaaaah, I kinda saw your biking skills yesterday… I'm not going anywhere near that deathtrap.

After School

Yosuke stretched his limbs before approaching me "So, you getting used to this place?"

Honestly, I could have said "Yeah.", I also could have said "Not yet.", but, as I glanced at Chie and Yukiko I ended up saying:

"Well, the girls here are pretty cute."

Yosuke laughed "Yeah, you seem to be the kind of guy who notices the girls first."

Meh, I wouldn't know; I usually don't hang around my old schools to know what people think of me.

"It's good you seem optimistic about this place," Yosuke sighed, before cheering up. "Hey, how about I treat you to some of this town's grilled steak. It's the least I could do for you helping me."

Suddenly, Chie walked over to us, scowling "What about me, huh? No apologies? My 'Trial of the Dragon.'"

…Something tells me Chie did get the special edition version…

Yosuke groaned "Urgh… You always come around when I'm talking about food…"

Chie turned to Yukiko "How about it, Yukiko? Don't you think he should treat us, too?"

Is it me or does Chie come off as a bit assertive when referring to Yukiko- nah, probably my imagination.

Yukiko shook her head "I'll pass… I don't want to gain any more weight. I need to help out at the inn today anyway."

Yosuke looked at her, amazed "Wow, Yukiko-san! You started training to take over the business?"

Wow, that's actually pretty impressive for someone like her. I pictured her as a bit frail when I first saw her. 'Never judge a book by their cover' they always say.

Yukiko shook her head "It's not like that! I'm just helping out when it gets busy." She looked at the clock "Well, I should get going." She said as she started walking away.

As she walked away, Chie just shrugged simply "Oh well. We should get going too."

"Alright then, it's a date." I said simply.

Chie flinched, her face turning red "D-Date?"

Okay, I know it's kinda my fault for the poor choice of words, but I can't help but tease her for this.

I wanted to say "Yeah, it's a date when you're with two guys." No wait, that'll just get me slapped. I'll just say:

"Do you want it to be a date?"

"…U-Uh…" Chie stumbled on her words, not knowing what to say.

Yosuke blinks in surprise "Wait, dude are you making me pay for you to go on a date with Chie-GURK!"

Chie slams her foot into Yosuke's gut, making him collapse into the ground "I-It's not a date! We're just going to have you treat us for what you owe us!" Chie stammers, hoping to salvage some sense of pride I accidentally shattered.

"Y-You could've said that without kicking me…" he groans.

Junes, Food Court

Yosuke walks over to us with a tray of food. Looks tasty.

"THIS is the cheap place you were talking about…?" Chie said, sounding very disappointed "They don't have grilled steak here."

I'm not complaining. As long as it tastes good.

"Yeah, well, once you hopped on the freeloader train, I had to change my plans." Yosuke told her.

"Still, that's no reason to take us to your place."

His place? He doesn't live here does he? I guess it beats living in a limo with a dude with a huge nose.

"Dude, this isn't my place or anything."

Okay, he doesn't live here. That's a good sign he isn't crazy.

"Oh, right. I haven't told you yet, huh?"

Told me what?

"I moved here from another city about six months back. This location just opened up, and my dad was assigned to manage it. So our entire family came out here."

Moved because of a parent's job… I can relate.

He takes a cup from off the table.

"Here, this is to welcome you to town. Satonaka, yours is on me too."

"Yeah, I know."

We start making small talk. So this is what hanging out after school is… not bad.

"It's only been half a year since this place opened up, but I haven't been to the shopping local district much since. A lot of stores there started closing, and… Oh, uh…"

An awkward silence comes out. Does she live there or something?

"You can't blame it all on Junes, can you?"

How is this not the weirdest conversation I've had recently?

"Hey… It's Saki- senpai! Sorry, be right back."

Two things came to my mind when Yosuke started going over to the pretty girl sitting down he obviously had a crush on. I could've asked "Who's that?" or "Is she Yosuke's girlfriend?" Instead I said something a little mean.

"Why do I get the feeling that he's whipped?"

Chie sputtered out her drink and starts laughing, while Yosuke was already on his way to talk to that girl. I can't believe he didn't hear me say that.

"Something like that. That's Saki Konishi. Her family runs a liquor store in the shopping district. I think she's working here part time though."

I can see the expression on Chie's face, she looks like she's still laughing at my joke.

Honestly I hope things are going well for him. I'm not sure if they're a couple but I think he likes her. I turn over so can see if I can overhear them. No such luck though. Wait, are they coming over here?

She says: "Are you the transfer student? Oh, did you hear about me already? It must be nice to have someone else from the big city to talk to, huh?"

I didn't get a chance to answer any of those questions she asked. Do they really expect me to talk over her?

"I don't see Hana-chan hanging out with other guys much."

So he's hanging out with a lot of girls? That doesn't sound so bad.

Yosuke looks nervous. "Uh—Not necessarily…"

"He doesn't have too many friends, so I hope you two get along good. Hana-chan's a good guy, but he can get nosy sometimes. You gotta tell him right to his face when he starts to annoy you."

I don't know why but that sounds like a warning. I could have said "Yeah, he's annoying." But I don't think he's annoying. I could have said "That's not true." Or "Nah, he's a great guy." But I can see the look in this guy's eyes. He seems to really like her; why not make him look good in front of her?

I say: "You seem to know a lot about his life. Do you have a crush on him or something?"

Yosuke panics. "Dude!"

"Well it's not like I haven't thought about it before."

Yosuke looks confused. "Huh?"

Wait, is she taking that seriously?

"Well, my break's about over. Back to work I go… Laters."

She leaves, Yosuke looks confused. "What just happened? What did she mean by that?"

I have done so many things weird in my life yet this is the thing that shocks me.

…

..

I broke the silence; I caused it so might as well.

"She seems nice."

"She has a younger brother, and she treats me pretty much the same way…"

Aaaaaand from that I doubt you will be getting her anytime soon.

Chie goes and says "Ohhh, you don't want her treating you like a brother, huh? Haha, I get it… So that's how it is… The daughter of a local family run liquor store and the scion of the invading chain… Hoho, the flame of forbidden love!"

"Wha-!? Dude, it's not like that."

It's one of the better forms of forbidden love, I'll tell you that. If I were you I'd take it and go.

"Oh really… Well, I know just the thing to cheer up that lovesick heart. You ever hear of the Midnight Channel?"

The what?

"You're supposed to look into a TV that's switched off, alone, exactly at midnight on a rainy night. While you're staring at your own image, another person will appear on the screen… And they say that person's your soul mate."

I have the weirdest feeling this was made by unlucky losers who hope for things to happen.

"What? For a second, I thought you were actually going to say something useful…"

I don't think anything she could say about getting a girl can help you.

"How can you get all excited over such a childish urban legend like that?"

I kinda have my doubts about it, but it does sound interesting…

"Childish, huh? You don't believe it, do you!?" Chie said, getting all up in his face.

"Of course I don't!" Yosuke barked back at her.

Why do I have the feeling that these two fight more often than I think they do?

"Well, it's raining tonight! Let's all try it out—then you'll see!" Chie replies.

I'm game for it.

"Try it out…? Wait, you haven't even tried it yourself!?" he looks surprised. "Wow, I'm trying to remember the last time I heard something this stupid…"

Says the guy who rode his bike into a trash can this morning.

"All that aside… you know that ''incident'' yesterday? Do you think it was murder?" Chie asks.

Well, it's clearly not tax fraud.

"Ooh, what if the culprit behind it was still lurking around…? Heehee."

…Why do people in this town like to talk about death?

"Sheesh, you shouldn't joke about stuff like that. Now who's the childish one…? All I am saying is, you guys better try it out tonight."

I'll do it. Might as well.

We started eating Yosuke's food and made idle chat before we go our separate ways.

Evening

I'm eating dinner alone with Nanako. An awkward silence fills the room… Like hell I'll let the awkward silence win. I gotta say something.

"Did your father call?"

"Don't worry."

"…"

-Flip to a June Commercial

I took the remote and flip channels until I see a familiar commercial.

"Every day is great at your Junes!"

Nanako instantly perked up and started Singing along to the tune "Every day is great at your Junes!"

Haha! Another good deed done!

She started singing along to the tune until we heard the door open.

"Oh! He's home!"

I look over and see that Uncle Dojima came back. He looks exhausted.

"What a day… I'm back. Did anything happen while I was out"

Nanako looks upset. "No. You're late again…"

Oh come on, I thought I cheered you up with that Junes Commercial!

…

Man, the air gets tense really quickly in this place.

"I'm sorry… Been busy at work." He sits down on the couch. "Can you put the news on for me?"

Nanako turns it to the news.

"Next, more details in the developing story incident in foggy Inaba. Announcer Mayumi Yamano's dead body…"

…Don't people here have anything else to talk about other than murder in this town?

"In addition, we now bring you an exclusive interview with the local student who found Ms. Yamano's body."

"*sigh* An interview with the kid…? Where the hell did they find her?"

Uncle Dojima looks upset. I look up at the screen… Wait a second, why does that person look familiar?

Ugh. I don't even want to listen to this.

Later

It's raining outside and it's almost midnight. I wonder if this will really work. 'Your soulmate appears if you look into a TV on a rainy night.'… I personally doubt it'll work, but what the hell…

2 minutes later

Okay either my clock is off or it doesn't work.

I took a look at my phone. Oh, my clock is off by a few minutes. It might happen in like 3 seconds

23:59:58

23:59:59

00:00:00

*static*

What the…?

There is a dancing girl is on the screen. The Midnight Channel really does work!

I am thou…

Huh? Why does my head hurt so much?

Thou art I…

This hurts so much.

Thou art the one who opens the door…

I feel exhausted. What was that? Was that because of the Midnight Channel? That was insane. Is the TV working right or something? I poke the screen just to see if I I'm imagining things. The screen starts rippling like a pool of water.

…What? No, no, I must be imagining things. That can't be it.

I put my hand in even further. This better not be one of those things where you stick your hand into something and it turns out to be something gross inside.

I must be tripping right now to think that this works.

It went in.

…

…

I'm being pulled in! Oh crap, this is like that horror movie except that the victim (as in me) going in instead of the monster coming out!

I tried yanking myself out of the screen that's probably too small to suck me in anyway. C'mon Yu, you are stronger than a TV!... Never thought I'd think that…

I pull out a bit too hard and lose my balance.

*THUD!*

Ow. Okay, not tripping, just tripped… bad pun…

"Are you okay…?" I guess Nanako heard the thud.

"I'm Okay."

"Kind of…"

"Did I wake you up?"

I didn't say any of that. I said: "Don't worry. I just tripped."

"Oh, okay." I hear her return to her room.

"What's that noise up there? You better not have a girl over!"

Oh, Uncle Dojima heard me too-

Hey wait a sec, why does he think I have a girl up here?! I literally just got here a day ago! I know my other relatives tell me I inherited my dad's looks and charisma, but he wasn't a playboy or anything! ...Then again- NO! Get back to the situation at hand! Wonder about who your dad was later!

"Even I'm not that good." Okay, that's probably not the best thing to say.

"I promise she'll be gone in like five minutes." No wait that's worse! I can so last longer than five- Hey wait! That's not the part I should be concerned about! There's nobody but me up here! I'm still a virgin!

-"I can personally guarantee that I don't have anyone up here."

"...Alright then. Go to sleep."

…Why do I sense doubt from him?

You know what, I'm going to sleep. There's too much going on in my mind right now.

A/N: And done! So, how'd you like it? By this point, you guys know how I based this Yu on my brother, he is a complete and utter flirt. The funny part is, is that he is only aware that he's flirting like 50% of the time. The other 50% he is completely unaware of what he's doing and then if he's called out on it, he doesn't even realize it and he denys it. This happened one time when it was our birthday and he was flirting with a waitress at a restaurant. He didn't even realize that after that one waitress left another one came over just to talk to him. Even later both offered a kiss to him, he thought it was a weird gesture because it was our birthday so he said no even though they genuinely wanted to kiss him. The whole time I was laughing my ass off. Please review!