#I struggled a lot with Narukami's hair

[eky11]

Can you draw NaruGenn? (Narukami x Genda) Please...? 👉👈

Ohh I just noticed Genda's gloves are basically the same colour as Narukami's hair. How cute jeje

[valdrinors-writing]

so ive been working on both my p4 and p5 asau concepts and decided to write down my current ideas for p4 (foolsuke plot bunny is coming soon too! i just need to think about it lol)

yu narukami - naoto shirogane

moving into a new town when your grandfather is sick is pretty rough and then you get swooped into this investigation? naoto is still pretty intelligent and good at deduction, but struggles with making friends - partially because he's distant and tends to get hyperfocused on his latest interest, and partially because he's just... so good at everything (except skiing, and talking to people). also im using he/him pronouns for naoto, i imagine that he's not out in terms of official papers, but he is out socially, and most people use he/him pronouns for him

yosuke hanamura - rise kujikawa

rise never became an idol in this universe, but has a desire to become one that she often keeps hidden because she thinks its embarassing. she works at her grandma's tofu place and was close with saki as they both bonded over not being linked to junes', but when saki started working at junes', they began to drift apart, with both rise and saki feeling like the other 'betrayed' them (saki by leaving rise and rise by staying at the shopping district). her shadow represents her idol wishes and her desire for attention (in reality her desire for someone to love her for who she is)

chie satonaka - teddie hanamura

theodore 'teddie' was adopted by the hanamuras when he was like about 8 years old, a fact that he has mixed feelings about. the hanamuras are much more strict about junes' in this world, often feeling like they have to lord over their children in order to keep them in line, which uh... doesnt help. teddie is outwardly an upbeat and athletic kid who just wants to 'score' with girls, but in reality feels insecure due to being not fully japanese as well as adopted (think a lot of ann's issues with her being not fully japanese, but with the bonus of him being in a fully japanese family). he's jealous of yosuke, the heir, while he feels like he's less important

yukiko amagi - yosuke hanamura

take yosuke's canonical small town boredom, add on the pressure of running junes' and being isolated for destroying the business district? yeah yosuke's not going so hot. he's still the kind, upbeat guy we know and love, distracting from his boredom by working his ass off at junes' to make his parents proud. as he's the third subject of the midnight channel, his shadow acts as the 'ruler' of that dungeon, which appears like a pirate ship with his goal being to escape inaba as quickly as possible - including escaping his responsibilities as the heir of junes'

kanji tatsumi - yukiko amagi

still the heir to the amagi inn, but began to lash out following a traumatic experience in middle school in which she was bullied for being 'prettier' than the other girls, because kids can be cruel. unlike kanji, who has a rough exterior but a soft, squishy centre, yukiko was made bitter due to her bullying experiences and views the amagi inn as a prison that she's trapped in, her entire life being decided by her parents and the people around her. she's much more distant compared to canon, but she managed to make the news due to a scuffle with another group of girls which lead to a report on delinquint problems plaguing inaba. this leads to her becoming a subject of the midnight channel... but its not a castle. its a prison, with yukiko being more resigned to the fact that she's stuck there no matter what she does

rise kujikawa - kanji tatsumi

ooh boy you thought kanji's rejection sensitive dysphoria and fear of being judged was bad in canon? add him to a visual kei style idol group and see how that goes. kanji is the drummer for the group, and is often considered very reliable and cool, with many people having crushes on him for his outwardly brusque and badass demeanour. but take off the makeup and the hair dye, and he's just kanji, a socially awkward timid kid who's scared shitless of being rejected by those around him. he moved back to inaba for a fresh start after an argument with the group lead to him being kicked out of the band, and the rumors forming around him are causing him to spiral. his dungeon is p much the same steamy bathhouse as in canon, but with the added bonus of shadow kanji switching between flamboyant and girly to tough and masculine because that's the 'role' he was given in the group

that's p much all at the moment, but star!marie and fortune!chie are coming soon once i think of their characterisation lol

[nyaitsu-writes]

Hihi! Do u mind do some hcs of Chiaki and Arashi with a s/o who is short, and have a minicomplex with that but cover it being sassy? Like-- "i could be short but i have the perfect size to kick ur knees"

Idk i think it could be funny, thx anyways <3!

omg i loved this it’s such a sweet idea!! i was also pleasantly surprised to find out that arashi is taller than chiaki by one (1) cm. i’m on the average/tall ish side but if there’s something i love is just,, height difference in ships

✧ arashi, chiaki | with a short but sassy s/o✧

ARASHI NARUKAMI;

✦ i’m sorry but arashi has appointed herself as your knight in shining armor and she isn’t giving up. she knows better than to judge someone by their looks but… look, you’re so tiny and so cute, her big sis senses are tingling and she wants to protect you and pamper you all day long.

✦ but ohhh she loves your sassy attitude when people make fun of your height. she knows that you can (and you probably will) kick their kneecaps if they keep at it. even more, if you do kick them, she will cheer for you. we stan a supportive gf in this house!

✦ now, arashi is really sweet and caring but from time to time she enjoys teasing you too because. you. are. so. cute. everything you do, everything you say it’s just adorable in her eyes and don’t worry, it’s not (only) because of your height. she’s just soooo in love with you she can’t help it! she’s bopping your nose in the sweetest way, a lovely smile on her face.

✦ “Aww, sweetheart don’t get mad! I’m just teasing, teasing! You know, great things come in small packages hehe”

✦ arashi’s teasing is always soft and nice, she knows what buttons to push to see a cute little pout in your face but not get you mad. she understands how you might have a bit of a complex about your height because she struggled with her own appearance for a while but she knows that love, time and a lot of kisses help a lot!

✦ she reassures you each and every time, saying that you’re perfect just the way you are. we all feel bad about ourselves from time to time but arashi is here for you, to remind you of how much of a wonderful person you are!

CHIAKI MORISAWA;

✦ chiaki has a great sense of humor and he’s always boosting everyone’s morals. so the first time he saw you snap like that he freezed for a second. and then started laughing like the adorable dork he is, ruffling your hair.

✦ “This is exactly what I love about you! The energy, the sass! But please don’t kick me okay? I love you!”

✦ from time to time, he has the habit of hugging you really strongly and accidentally lifting you from the floor. since you’re quite a bit smaller than he is he sometimes can’t control his own force so chiaki always ends up apologizing with a shy smile. but sometimes, it isn’t too much of an accident, you know. he likes having you between his arms.

✦ chiaki is always careful with his words because he doesn’t want to hurt people, and so he ends up overthinking what to say in important situations. he gives some awesome motivational speeches, in a very chiaki ish way (the references sometimes get lost but the message is still there, that’s the important part!)

✦ so let’s be real, this boy is great at taking care of people. he looks after everyone in ryuseitai and he’s really proud of his children and what they’ve accomplished. so he wants you help you to kick your insecurities. show them who’s boss here!

✦ for some reason that includes watching a lot of hero movies and reading manga. if his favourites heroes managed to overcome their weaknesses then he’s totally sure that you will too, he has his hopes up.

✦ his methods aren’t always the best or the most conventional, but he’s always doing his best for you. he knows you can overcome anything that gets in your way. you just need some aggressive cheering and a lot of love and he’s willing to provide both! he’s not only your boyfriend, he’s your biggest fan too.

[mypunkpansexualtwin]

📓

Hi Bones! You're getting the Big P4 Angst Idea! And it's going under a cut cause it's kind of A Beast even in summary form. Title in my head is Guilty Until Proven Capable or possibly just The Second Time Around. Fair warning, this is gonna get a little rambly.

So this one's a Persona 4 fic inspired by the handful of NG+ fics I've read that play with new game plus as a time loop for the protagonists because that's already a juicy concept. Specifically, it takes place at the beginning of the second time through events after getting the bad ending on December 3rd, Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200, Bad Ending. Narukami wakes up in the Velvet Room the day before he's supposed to leave town and is basically told "you done fucked up, we're gonna give you another shot, but be careful what you try and change." Naturally, after the losses that happened and the evil fog deep unease lingering over town over the three months between making That Choice and leaving town, he jumps right at the chance to fix things. Wakes up on the train going into Inaba and starts the whole cycle over fresh. Things go as expected for most of the first couple of days.

And of course, as is the nature of time travel as a narrative device, the rules and limitations don't get Really Explained until he fucks something up and tries to change too much. Specifically, he tries to prevent Saki Konishi's death.

Specifically, he succeeds in preventing Saki Konishi's death.

And spends the day riding that high until the next morning where he meets up with her again, feels incredibly vindicated that he's already doing better when the bond starts forming and that means she's safe, and... hold up... Magus Arcana? That sounds an awful lot like Magician. And Yosuke's missing from school. Another body's been found. And he knows what's coming at the school assembly, knows what's about to be announced, and somehow seeing it coming makes it so much worse when the principal announces that Yosuke Hanamura has been found murdered. The only thing worse than your best friend being murdered is feeling responsible for it. Even worse than that is not even being able to mourn him properly because at this point you've technically only known him for 3 days.

The second time around, it's Saki Konishi at his side going in to investigate the second victim's death. The second time around, it's not the liquor store in a distorted version of the shopping district but the break room of a dilapidated Junes where Yosuke's last thoughts about the town he hates and the girl who almost makes it worth staying there hang in the stale air and summon the worst parts of the person at Yu's side. The second time around, it's a lot harder to forgive those darkest parts when her shadow talks about how glad she is that he's finally out of her hair and how she only wanted to avenge his death to assuage her guilt at feeling that way.

Harder, but not impossible. She awakens to her persona, Ayame, and again, things proceed mostly as normal.

Next trip to the Velvet Room, the rules get explained: the true victims will always die even if it's not the same ones every time, but not every death that occurred last time was that of a true victim; be careful changing too much from last time lest the team go in just as blind as the first time and twice as out of their depth; face the journey with eyes open not just to what happened as he remembers but as they unfold again, without grief clouding his purpose and they'll find their way to the truth. Easier said than done with one new death on his hands and Nanako's death looming in the future.

Some of the Social Links get shaken up, with Yosuke's father as the new Hanged Man arcana (helping him work through his grief at the loss of his son as he swings wildly between throwing himself blindly into his work, acting as a surrogate helicopter parent to Teddie, and second-guessing everything he's done since his son's death; is he giving his wife space to grieve by taking up the extra work at Junes or is he just hiding from her and his own pain? Is he helping Ted out of the goodness of his own heart because this weird kid needs someone to look after him and it's the right thing to do or is he trying to replace the son he's quickly realizing he didn't know anything about and was probably driving away with the constant moving? Heavy questions to drop on a 16 y/o part timer.) and Naoki replacing Yumi/Ayane as the Sun arcana (medical club rather than drama or band, partly because Naoki cornered him into joining so he could keep an eye on him and get a feel for Narukami's intentions with his sister, and partly because Yu is fascinated by how different the guy is when not numbed by a massive burden of grief he won't let himself process.) And of course letting Saki out of the fridge to be the Magus arcana, as kind and angry and complicated and flawed as the rest of the team, and just as good a friend to him as Yosuke was. With bonus opportunity to relay what Yosuke wanted to tell her about being special if they had both had the chance to live, her rank 10 leads to her awakening to the persona Kushinadahime.

And of course, this wouldn't be complete without addressing the lingering dread of what Yu is certain Nanako's fate is gonna be. Initially he debates keeping an arm's length between them or being The Best Big Bro On The Planet for her and settles on the latter because of course. Throws himself into it when he's not working on the balancing act between essentially metagaming and being complacent in the investigation. As November draws closer and closer, he eventually convinces himself to interfere like he did with Saki in the beginning. Because the most likely person to die in Nanako's place is his uncle and if he knew everything, it's the call Dojima would make. Because he's spent another year of watching his uncle brushing off his daughter and breaking her heart because he can't look her in the eye and deep down, it's hard to feel charitable seeing that and knowing what's going to happen, even knowing why. So he starts working on his argument to convince his parents to adopt Nanako when the time comes.

Through a little extra interference, it's Dojima who gets dragged into the tv alongside Namatame after he fails to kidnap Nanako, although she gets hurt in the struggle to take her and still ends up in the hospital. Rather than Namatame trying to flee after they wreck, it's Adachi who shoves them both in and convinces the team Namatame took Dojima as a hostage. Their shared dungeon is Purgatory rather than Heaven, and Yu's not sure if it's better or worse. Things mostly go as they do in game, although there's also a confrontation with Dojima's shadow before the big fight. It's rough, but they bring everyone home.

Of course, they get the choice right the second time around with Namatame, and when Nanako recovers from the fog everyone's relieved as hell, especially Yu. Y'know, until the guilt of "oh god I was willing to sacrifice my uncle and orphan my cousin to try and save her, what the hell is wrong with me?" hits him like a ton or twelve of bricks. Now that Dojima has seen everything in the other world, has seen firsthand that Yu was telling the truth, Yu confesses everything everything, including the fact that he's done this before and the choice he was going to make. It's, naturally, a lot to process.

The confrontation with Adachi is even angrier, in part because he's done more this time around, in part because of Yu's own guilt. But again, things go as they do in-game.

Playing with the idea of either the Orb of Clarity or Myriad Truths at the very end of the true ending giving everyone else the memories made in the previous "playthrough" or just. Letting that be one of those Protag Things They Never Tell The Team, either way it's gonna be bittersweet as hell because I'm a monster.

I have put so much thought into this work that's gonna be too damn big for me to ever finish if I ever tried to do it. But I need it. But that means I have to write it. Naturally, Andi, if you wanna take this into dms and yell at/with me over this idea, then by all means please do. It's a big enough longfic idea that that's probably the only way it's gonna see anything resembling the light of day.

Send me a 📓 (or other book emoji) and I'll talk about a fic idea I daydream about but haven't gotten around to writing!

[welcometohashihigh]

The Rescue Mission: Ken

Ken clenched his fingers around the grip of his spear. Minato had given them all a few minutes to prepare themselves, insisting on holding a strategy meeting with the other two leaders. He turned to look at Aigis, who seemed to never take her eyes off of Minato. He sighed. Aigis would always be the same. 

Mitsuru was fencing with Junpei, practicing moves against each other. Ken admitted that his strikes were probably weaker than before, but he had been trying to keep up with his strength between school years. Even so, he cautiously practiced strikes and slashes with his spear through the air, daring any Shadows to come near. 

“Hey Ken.” Yukari had walked close to him. “What do you think of those two?” He followed where she pointed to Narukami and Kurusu. 

Ken drove the point of his spear into the ground as he thought a moment. “Narukami is pretty big, but he seems nice. His friends like him.” He thought that the gray haired boy gave off a big brother vibe, though he would be cautious about trusting someone like that. “Kurusu is friendly too, and he seems so cool.” Ken admired the other two leaders, but Minato was always the best in his opinion. 

“S.E.E.S.! It’s time to get started.” Minato walked back over, so Ken pulled his spear from the ground and unclipped the snap over his Evoker. “From what we’ve seen, this place is just an open area. There’s more hallways ahead, filled with Shadows.” His gray eye locked on to Fuuka, who was talking to the other navis. “We’ll be counting on you three for navigation.” 

With that, Minato pointed his sword down the hallway in front of the group, Kurusu and Narukami on either side of him. Ken took a deep breath. He was ready to fight any Shadow that came across his path. 

“Take that!” Ken dived down, thrusting his spear through the body of the Shadow beneath him. It dissolved into dust, and he let out a breath of relief. The Shadows hadn’t been too bad here, but there had been a lot. He wasn’t worn out yet, but was rather glad Kurusu and Narukami were with them. The two boys were frighteningly strong, with Narukami being able to take out Shadows in a single swing and Kurusu being so fast Shadows were dead before Ken could even blink. 

They had been making considerable progress through the Realm, especially with the help of all three Navis. Ken stretched his shoulder out a little, ready to continue on. 

“Good job guys, but be careful! There’s a ton of of strong Shadows up ahead.” Fuuka’s voice echoed around them. “But we think you guys are getting really close to a new area.” 

“Let’s go then.” Minato nodded in the direction of the hallway. Ken twirled his spear in his hand and ran after everyone, silently cursing his short stature. He was so distracted that he failed to see the large Shadow lunging at him until it was right in front of him. Ken let out a shriek and whirled his spear around, aiming for the neck but missed, the blade piercing the beast’s shoulder. It tackled him despite the injury and Ken had to push hard on his spear to keep the monster’s snapping jaws away from his face. Panic shot through him. 

A long blade sank deep into the Shadow’s side, knocking it off Ken. He shot up, yanking his spear from its shoulder. Narukami pulled his sword from the Shadow before stabbing it right through again. The Shadow writhed, so Ken pulled his Evoker out and held it to his chest. 

“Nemesis!” He pulled the trigger, his Persona rising into the air. “Kouha!” Light flew from his Persona and stabbed through the Shadow, effectively killing it. Ken retracted his Persona and nodded to Narukami, who threw himself back into the fray. 

The Shadows around them were big and ferocious, and the whole of S.E.E.S. was struggling to fight them off, even with the aid of Narukami and Kurusu. Ken gritted his teeth and flung himself at a Shadow that was sparring with Junpei. With a shout, he stabbed the beast through the back, letting Junpei recover enough to summon Trismegestus and defeat the Shadow. Ken helped him up, and together the two charged forward to assist anyone else. A Shadow lunged for him, but two swift slashes from Kurusu were enough to stop it in its tracks. The thief pulled off his mask to summon that winged demon, Arsene. Ken watched as Kurusu attempted to kill the Shadow with Eiha, but it bounced off its shell. 

“Kurusu!” A crazy idea popped into Ken’s head, and he hoped it would work as he wanted it to. “Use Eiha on my spear!” The thief didn’t protest, and dark energy wrapped around the sharp blade. “Go down!” He rushed forward, stabbing his spear through the center of the Shadow. The magic attack exploded outwards, destroying the beast. Ken planted his feet, the dark magic making him feel a little weak. Once it was done, he shook himself off, turning back to look at Kurusu, who smiled proudly at him. Ken felt warmth spread through him. 

He looked around, glad to see that the other Shadows had been killed. Minato stabbed his sword down into one repeatedly, making sure it was dead. S.E.E.S. had won this fight, but it was clear it had been taxing. Ken felt pain spark across his left arm. He winced as he looked at it, seeing where a Shadow’s claws had cut his skin. His armband had avoided getting torn, but his sweater would need to be sewn later. He inspected his other pained spots, only finding bruises and scrapes. The cut would need to be treated soon. 

Yukari had been going around, looking at everyone’s wounds. She came up to Ken and looked at his arm. “You’ll be ok. Here.” She carefully wrapped the wound despite Ken wincing at her touch. “There. Minato wants to keep going a little farther. He wants to know about the new area Fuuka was talking about. Do you think you can keep going?” He rolled his right arm around. His muscles would be sore tomorrow if he kept going, but he should be ok otherwise.

“I’ll be ok. If Minato wants to keep going, I can keep up.” Ken held his spear across his shoulders and walked after Minato, who had started leading the group onward. He had to jog to keep up thanks to being significantly shorter than anyone here. Eventually the hallway opened up into a wide open space where an eerily large building loomed before them. 

“So this is the new area, as Fuuka had mentioned.” Minato’s gaze swept up the tower as he spoke. “As much as I want to go on, S.E.E.S. needs to rest. That last group of Shadows was hard to fight. Fuuka, can you guys tell anything about this tower?” 

“It’s not too high or big, but we can tell that it has a very different feel than what you’ve been dealing with so far. You should find a way back so you can rest.” Ken looked around at the black and white walls, eventually noticing movement by the door of the building. 

“Minato-” 

“I see them.” Minato held up his hand to keep S.E.E.S. to show he would look by himself. Kurusu and Narukami joined him, and even from here Ken could feel the prickliness radiating from his leader. Wow, Minato doesn’t like them, but I don’t know why. Ken watched as the three approached the Shadowy figure. Even from here, the thing’s voice carried. 

“Y-You’re back! He was right, you God Slayers are dangerous.” God Slayers? Is it talking about us? There was some scuffling and Ken could see that the thing was actually a person, a person with something in their arms. He wanted to step forward to help, but the voice stopped him. “Come any closer and I’ll kill her on the spot.”

“Minato! He’s not bluffing!” Fuuka’s voice was filled with desperation. Ken shook, unable to decide what to do. “That man is much stronger than you and S.E.E.S. could defeat.” 

The man laughed. “If you want to beat me, come to the top of my Temple. Better do it before she dies!” He slid into the building, shutting the door behind him with a solid click. Everyone stood silently, struggling to process what just happened. Ken could see Minato’s arms shaking by his side. After a few more silent moments, Kurusu exploded. 

“What the hell are you standing there for? We have to go save her!” Kurusu slammed his foot into the door, but it didn’t budge. Ken flinched at the sound, but turned to look at Minato. “Arisato, these are your people. We have to go.” He looked at the blue haired man with an accusatory glare. 

“Kurusu. Look at them, they’re battered and bruised. They can’t continue on at this rate. We’ll head back and figure out what to do next, and don’t you dare try to argue with me.” Minato glared back. “S.E.E.S. needs to rest. We’ll return for now.” 

“Minato?” Fuuka’s voice rose to life around them. “We’ve found another entrance to this place nearby you guys. It should be over to your right.” Ken turned in the direction that Fuuka had mentioned, and he noticed a wavering light blue square on the wall. He approached it, seeing that same strange circular symbol that was on Hanamura’s window. 

“Ken, be careful. We don’t know what’s on the other side.” Mitsuru walked up behind him, gazing into the window. He thought he could almost see into it, the room beyond looking kind of like the dorms at Hashi. “Leader, will you go on through first?” 

Minato walked up to the window and just glared at it before poking his head through. After a moment he came back out with a huff of relief. “Thank god, it’s Ken’s room.” Why my room? “That means we can use this window as a way to get back here to this place.”

“Didn’t that weirdo call this place a temple? Does that mean he’s part of those cultists of rumor?” Narukami had walked over, sheathing his sword on his back. He folded his arms. “What are these windows anyway? Why the windows of our rooms?” 

Minato shook his head. “I’m too tired to think about it right now. Come on, we should go rest for now. Let’s meet up later in the planning room.” He leapt through the window and was gone. 

“Here, Amada.” Narukami was standing behind him with a small smile. “I’ll help you through.” He knelt down and offered a boost to the child. While normally Ken would have scoffed and walked away, he felt warmth spreading through him at the gray haired boy’s kindness. It was quickly followed by a sharp pang in his chest, but he swallowed the feeling. 

“Th-thank you.” He graciously took the assistance and stepped through the window and tumbled into the floor. Minato helped him up, though Ken could feel his arms shaking. They were all out of it. “Minato, are you ok?” 

“I’ll be fine. It’s been a while since I’ve fought, so I’m just sore. Is your arm ok?” Minato gently brushed his fingers on the bandage. Ken felt a prick of pain from the pressure, but otherwise it was ok. He nodded. “Good.” The rest of S.E.E.S. had begun coming through the window. “Take your time resting.” With that Minato left his room.

Everyone had long since left his room, leaving Ken to relax by himself. He had been working on school work when the chime of his phone rang out through his room. He picked it up and checked it, seeing a message from Minato. 

<< Ken, we’ve gotten a message from Mishima. Please come to the planning room.

Ken stacked his work together neatly before standing up. He wasn’t sure how long he had been sitting there, but his legs were stiff. He walked out anyway, as the planning room was a bit far. He’d stretch out his legs by walking. When he made it to the room, a lot of people were already there, including Narukami and Kurusu. He made his way to a seat near the front and sat down. 

Once everyone else was in there, Kurusu spoke of the message. It made sense that Mishima would have texted him first, considering how close friends they were. Despite that, Ken did wonder why Kurusu only called Mishima by his honorific.

“Mishima messaged us just a few minutes earlier. He said that a girl from his class named Nishi went missing. Her friends claimed she was last seen working at the same convenience store that Hokori manages.” Kurusu’s eyes were so dark and piercing, Ken fought to keep looking at the dark haired teen. “I think it’s rather safe to assume that Hokori dragged her into that big building thing we saw in the Chaos Realm.”

“So we’ve decided to take him out, topple that wretched temple of his, and save Nishi.” Minato’s gray eyes swept over everyone in the room, though it was clear the warmth in his glare was only for S.E.E.S. Ken felt excitement shoot through his chest, spreading across his entire body. A new mission. He stared down at his hands, clenching his fingers closed. It wasn’t vengeance that was driving him this time. No. 

This time I want to save people.

[starline148]

[Memories] KDFD Ch. 04

Fan Fic Info:

Name: Memories Main couple: Kidou&Fudou Secondary couple: Genda&Sakuma Language: English, but you can ask for a Spanish version!

» First chapter: Memory 01 » Previous chapter: Memory 03 » Next chapter: Memory 05 » Index: Here

Chapter Info

Name: Why are you so noisy? Words: 2976 Warnings: The first part can be boring, because is the nomination. Summary: The new Inazuma Japan Team is going to be chosen, who would be part of the time this year?

[Memory 04] Why are you so noisy?

“I will proceed to name the players who have won a place in the Inazuma Japan team this year to participate in the International Championship. When I name you go down here and line up.” An overwhelming silence was made in the stadium where they were going to announce to the members of the football team that would go to the World Cup, until then it had been noisy because of the voices and laughters of more than one hundred young people from all parts of the country who had already attended, either because they expected to be on the team or because they did not want to miss the moment when a friend was chosen to represent their country.

“In the position of goalkeeper, Endou Mamoru …”

They heard a shout of joy not far from them, Endou had jumped up with his fists up and was running towards the football field, as if it were not obvious that he was to be chosen and it would have really surprised him, being him, surely it was. Endou was the only player, along with Gouenji and Kidou, that Fudou knew had a place, they simply could not include them, they were the three players with more merits. He clenched his hands nervously, he hoped that he had also achieved it that year, after all that had happened... At his side he saw Sakuma and Genda even more expectant and sweaty than him. If he thought about it coldly, his games with the Teikoku team were perfect and had attracted the interest of many people, they were also very good players.

“And Genda Koujirou.”

The boy sitting on the other side of Fudou roared in excitement without being able to restrain himself and hugged the white-haired boy on his right.

“You did! You did it, Genda!”

A faint smile had appeared on Fudou's lips, as he watched sideways at his friend who was hurrying to get to the field, afraid they would change their minds and put another goalkeeper in their place. The previous year Genda wasn’t in the national team. He snorted, sure he was going to be unbearable for a time of the joy of being on the team.

“In the defense position, Kazemaru Ichirouta, Fubuki Shirou, Kogure Yuuya, Kabeyama Heigorou, Handa Shinichi and Kurimatsu Teppei.”

The called boys were going down, some of them had real tears of happiness, in fact all but Fubuki cried from the excitement of being selected, the most Handa since the previous year wasn’t even one of the players to be considered. So far Fudou had not really been surprised with any of the elections, maybe he did not expect so much that Handa managed to stay that year in the nationals but the boy had worked hard together with Raimon Team, and had improved a lot despite continuing not to stand out especially in something; but Fudou thought that was fine, surely Handa was the most complete player of all and his individual game would become stronger and stronger if they knew how to direct it well. He also knew that if Tachimukai was not among the chosen goalkeepers it was because he had been severely injured shortly before the ceremony and could not play, although he was certain that if he recovered in time they would include him in the team, he was not only a very good goalkeeper but he earned everyone's affection quickly. On the other hand, Tsunami, Tobitaka and Hijikata had passed the age allowed to play in that league, but they had remained in the League of the High School. Like Nishikage, Saginuma and Mizukamiya, rivals of the National during the last year and who had remained in the Japanese senior team.

“In the position of midfielder…”

Fudou swallowed, that was his position, he noticed a cold sweat that ran down his neck and a warm hand grabbed his, Kidou had brows more frowned than ever and had automatically grabbed the hand of the brunette, although his sight behind those glasses was immovable in the man who spoke in the middle of the field.

“Kidou Yuuto” Fudou heard a sigh of relief from the boy with cinnamon hair and rolled his eyes, which a fool were all of them “”Kiyama Tatsuya, Midorikawa Ryuuji” a shouted across the stadium broke the silence of the place and they saw the green-haired boy who had hugged all his friends and jumped more than excited,”Inamori Asuto, Nosaka Yuuma, Hiura Kirina and …”

Fudou's eyes closed and that hand tightened even more, a knot had been made his stomach and heart beat with fear.

“Ichihoshi Hikaru.”

The brunette boy opened his mouth without anything coming out and felt it sink into a pit; he wasn’t chosen. The hand that squeezed him grabbed him harder, his owner's mouth had opened in stupefaction. No, it could not be. Fudou let go and hid his head in his hands, quite annoyed and disappointed with himself, he had not succeeded, he had not succeeded. He noticed the eyes of his Teikoku teammates and a buzz of fury grew inside him and he covered his ears, he didn't want to be pitied! He didn't want to be looked at! Why didn't everyone disappear !?

"Kidou, you should go down," Sakuma murmured, he had changed seats when Genda left and looked palely at the brunettet.

"But…"

"Don’t worry, Kidou, do what you should do," Fudou growled without raising his head as he struggled not to cry from frustration, that Kidou stayed there only made things worse.

Kidou left with great discomfort, despite having been chosen he did not feel cheerful, quite the opposite, his heart ached.

“In the position of forward, Gouenji Shuuya, Utsunomiya Toramaru, Someoka Ryuugo, Haizaki Ryouhei, Kira Hiroto, Matsuno Kuusuke and Sakuma Jirou.”

Sakuma opened his only visible eye and winced. Fudou looked at him sideways; yes, he was excited, but the look that Fudou discovered in his eye when he looked at him made him understand that despite that he was not happy. They couldn't be without him after all. Sakuma also left and he was left alone, the rest of the Teikoku team was behind and they were still watching him, some had begun to murmur with indignation.

“They are idiots, why have they not included it?” he heard Narukami say.

"Fudou is one of the best strategists in the country ... The best with Kidou would dare to say," Doumen growled.

“Finally …” the bustle that had begun to be made in the stadium disappeared again, nobody expected any more announcement “at the post of libero …”

Fudou raised his eyebrow with his face still buried in his hands. It was not usual for a team to have a libero, it was a position of great responsibility and creativity in the game and there were not many people who could achieve it successfully, trust and teamwork were indispensable, as was an agile mind with great ability to analyze, the libero carried the hopes of his team on his shoulders, it was a figure of faith.

“Fudou Akio.”

Fudou opened his eyes in amazement, it took him a long time to assimilate, had he heard right? Had he been appointed in the position of libero? A deafening bellow of all his companions upon receiving the news rose from the field, when he looked up and still without believing that, he discovered that Kidou was smiling from ear to ear and raised his fist towards him, he also smiled and stood up to go to meet with his teammates, although before he went through a round of claps, hugs and whistles of the Teikoku team that seemed to be radiant with emotion. 

Had he really really heard correctly? Was he going to be a libero? Was he going to be the libero?

“As captain, Endou Mamoru and sub-captain, Kiyama Tatsuya. The coaches will be Zhao Jinyun and Kudou Michiya.”

Fudou walked slowly to the field, he did not want to appear desperate, but as soon as he set foot on the grass he saw that several companions threw themselves to hug him.

“What scare you had given us, Fudou!” exclaimed Genda with tears hugging him with a tackle that almost knocks him down.

“Congratulations, Fudou! Now you'll have to be a responsible boy” Sakuma laughed, punching him in the chest.

“Let's play football, Fudou!” shouted Endou hugging him so hard that Fudou thought he was going to break his back.

“We'll be back in the field together, buddy!” Someoka ruffled his hair at his mock disgust as he ran his arm around his shoulders.

Kidou said nothing, but stayed there, smiling; but the boy with turquoise eyes didn't need anything else. All the words he didn't say were written on his lips. And that smile was better than anything else, a warm feeling had replaced the dark oppression of moments before.

The boy with cinnamon hair was the one who had shouted loudest of all when they had named his friend, not for nothing he was the one who was most pleased with his nomination. For a terrible moment he feared he should fight without him... and found no emotion in it. At that point, playing without Fudou was unthinkable for him.

Fudou shrugged his shoulders trying not to seem exceptionally excited, otherwise they might believe that he had not hoped to stay on the team and therefore he did not trust his abilities, that would begin his work as a libero very badly.

They were instructed to return to the stadium for the nomination of the Women's League team and then meet with their coaches. That was equally exciting.

Norika, Touko, Rika, Reina and Takanashi were among other girls in the team, but nobody was surprised, there were not so many female players and they were exceptionally good. They would be in command of Hitomiko and to everyone's surprise Megane was going to be one of their managers.

The boys went to meet with the coaches although on the way their friends stopped them to congratulate them. Fubuki could barely let go of his brother Atsuya, who hugged him tightly and shouted at him that next time he would also be on the team. The appearance of Atsuya had been the news of the year, Fubuki's younger brother had managed to survive the car accident years before, but he had lost his memory and it was not until he recovered that he began desperately searching for his older brother until he found him. They had barely fitted themselves with such joy when Fubuki had told them! Although as he had not been playing football for a long time, he did not have the necessary level for the international championship.

In the dressing room the coaches made the team managers Aki, Haruna, Fuyuka, Anna and Tsukushi give the boys the uniform. No one was surprised by Natsumi's absence, she had asked to be the manager of Little Gigant again.

They were also instructed about their training that would begin in two days and where they would stay for it. The same place as the previous year, a residence on the outskirts of the city with large training camps.

“Why are we so many players on the team, coach Kudou, coach Zhao?” asked Nosaka strangely.

“Last year there were several casualties during the championship and substitutions had to be made. Each substitution breaks the pace of the team. In this way there will be no need to bring someone outside to replace and lower the level we expect for the Internationals.”

“How many casualties do you expect?”

“This year there are several teams with very dangerous games.”

"Surely half of you will leave on the way" the coach from China laughed without giving it much importance.

That was received with great tension, how many of them would be able to reach the final? Because everyone pointed to the final. Each of them thought that he would not be one of those who would leave.

The boys went to celebrate the International Team nomination with their friends, Tsunami and Tobitaka congratulated Fudou and Someoka effusively and entrusted their hopes of winning the tournament. 

“You have to win for us, guys! Show what we rebel boys are capable of!”

“Fudou, Someoka, we count on you.”

“Of course, and you put Japan in a good place with the seniors.”

“Why are you so noisy?”

The four boys beat each other with laughter and began talking about their opinions regarding both teams.

Tachimukai approached Genda with his plaster leg and held out his hand, he shook it with great determination.

“I count on you to protect the goal of Inazuma Japan.”

“I’m going to protect it with my life!”

"You don’t need to go so far, Genda" Sakuma sighed in exasperation at his side.

During the small celebration, Fudou did not miss that Kidou kept watching him from time to time, every time he caught him, a mocking smile appeared on the lips of the second strategist. Although perhaps it was not so rare, his eyes also turned to the goggle boy who spoke with Toramaru and Kurimatsu. He couldn't help it.

It started getting late and the boys headed to their homes or hotels. 

"I accompany you home, Fudou," said the boy with cinnamon hair and blue rubber goggles.

Fudou looked at him with a mute question in his eyes and Kidou shrugged. Fudou said nothing more about it, when it was late according to the criteria of the boy always accompanied him to his house, and from there he asked to be picked up by car. Although it sometimes bothered him in the deep it didn't bother him, it was weird.

On the way they didn't talk much; but none of them cared, a trust between them had grown during the last year that allowed them to remain in a silence that connected more than a thousand words. They had learned to read on their faces, their gestures, their silences and their stories.

They had shared a lot together, in their training, in their matches... they had learned to be in sync.

They reached the building where Fudou lived and went inside, waiting until the car would arrive. They barely exchanged some trivial phrases regarding the team members. They were sitting on the stairs that went up to the upper floors, Fudou's hand rested on Kidou's.

The car reached the door and Kidou got up, that was the moment they liked least, when he had to leave. Fudou stayed sat. Seeing him.

“See you the day after tomorrow, Fudou.”

“Yes.”

Kidou took a couple of steps but then he turned, his cheeks were a little red, he seemed troubled by a thought he couldn't express, as if he couldn't find words for what he wanted to say. Fudou watched him in silence, allowing him that time without interrupting, a strange kindness on his part.

“Facing the World without you would not have been worth it.”

Fudou raised an eyebrow.

“Did you doubt that I would be on the team, Kidou-kun?”

“What!? Of course not!”

Fudou got up and reduced the distance between them, his forearm resting on the wall being very close to Kidou, with the bodies almost stucked together. With his other hand he lowered his glasses and looked at those eyes that appealed to him so much, although there was some anger in his turquoise eyes. 

“Tell it again to the face!”

“I had no doubt that you would enter the team.”

“Not even when they said all the positions?”

Kidou's lip trembled a little.

“Tsk ... liar.”

“They couldn't not include you, you are fundamental to the team.”

“None are indispensable, Kidou-kun.”

“You are for me. You are like a breath of fresh air that oxygenates my blood and my brain.”

Fudou looked surprised and laughed. Kidou looked away annoyed that he laughed, felt his pulse fastening and had a hard time stopping himself fromhis desire to jump over the brunette.”

“What a weird things you say, Kidou-kun. I’m gonna think you like me.”

Kidou raised an eyebrow, although his ears had inevitably turned red and his heart began to beat even faster, realizing that he had to force the expression of indifference on his face he knew there was something that did not fit. That time was the first time that Fudou mocked him that way, although over the years there would be many more times.

“Don't give yourself so much credit, Fudou.”

“Whatever.”

Fudou stared into his eyes for a moment, the hand with which he did not lean against the wall rose to Kidou's face and stroked his cheek with an unusual softness, Kidou was left without air, that contact was as tender as unexpected. He wished he didn't take his hand off his face.

“I did believe that I wasn’t chosen. I felt so disappointed ... I thought I would not be able to run after the ball with the team ... that I would not be able to run with you.” His face reflected a very sad expression and Kidou, who watched him silently until that moment hugged him. Fudou buried his head in his neck. It smelled good, although he didn't wear a perfume, but he didn't need a perfume, Kidou's smell was pleasant, he always smelled clean, like a new book and a touch of sweat that Fudou really liked.

They stayed that way until the sound of a car horn made them separate quickly, as if they were afraid someone might find them that way.

“Let's play football, Fudou.”

Kidou had stretched his arm with his fist clenched so that the brunette would bump fist.

“Let's play football, Kidou.” Fudou's fist gave a soft blow to the other boy and he left after hearing another honk.

[miss-writes-a-lot]

Persona 6 Chapter 11: Help from a new old friend

(This chapter might get ridiculous but here we go. Warning: mentions if dyslexia. If this representation of dyslexia is offensive and/or incorrect, please let me know.)

Thrusday March 6th, 20XX Lunch

Jumin sat himself nervously in the corner with his laptop, staring down at his lap, shaking. He had never sat alone, not without Isas at least. But he wouldn't be alone for long if the girls would just hurry up. Finally, the girls sat down with their food trays and Suki with her notepads.(she filled out the last one. That's her "protagonist thing")

"T-took you long enough..." Jumin said, barely audible. Kimi rolled her eyes. "Relax, no one was even staring at you!" Jumin sighed and opened his laptop, opening the window he had earlier in the day.

"These are Isas' medical records. They haven't been updated once since he was admitted. It says the same thing it always says: illness: unknown, condition: unknown, possibly..." Jumin took a breath before speaking again. "Possibly...fatal...."

A lump formed in all their throats once the words left Jumin's lips. Jumin held back tears and gripped the edges of the table. Suki rubbed his back a little to calm him down.

"I'll get you some water..." Kimi said, standing up without another word. Suki continued to rub Jumin's back as he breathed in and out, calming himself down. "Y'know...Isas used to do this, too." He said quietly.

"Calm you down?" Jumin nodded. "I always ate lunch in the computer lab when I was younger because I hated going out and having to face..."him" and the bullies when I was younger..." Suki tilted her head. " 'Him?' "

Jumin shook a little. "Guess I didn't tell you...huh? I guess I should now that it's out there..." He swept back his large fringe of hair on the left side to reveal a large and purple bruise on the side of his head.

"I got this a few days before his arrest...he was an ex-boyfriend of my mom's before she met my dad. One day, he came up to me when I was five and he followed us home. Mom got a restraining order against him but that didn't stop him from coming around....he said he would hurt them...that he'd kill my parents and kill me too...so, everytime he came around, I'd fight him with everything I had. It didn't matter for shit how old I was-I fought him! ....He called me a dumbass everytime he'd beat me down. Said I couldn't read, see, or fight for shit...and that's what all the kids said when I started school....and they'd beat on me too..."

Jumin gripped his pants and gritted his teeth, a few tears falling down his face. "I-I'd skip school a lot and be on my computer all the time...but then my parents stopped sending out fake sick notes a-and...I have dyslexia...I can't read as well as everyone else...and everyone else, teachers, tutors...they gave up on me...I gave up on me...but my parents did it.... Isas didn't...Isas helped me! He went through all my crap and helped me! He's my best friend and I-" Jumin teared up even more, choking back sobs.

"I-I didn't help him...I-I S-should've known....i-I can't lose him, S-Soup...I can't..." Suki sighed and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug.

"I know, Jumin...I know. I've...I've been down that road. But I promise you, you will not lose him. We can save him. We will save him, just like we'll save everyone else. Together." Jumin looked down at Suki, a hopeful smile on his face through tearful eyes. Suki could feel a strong beacon of hope form inside Jumin. (Here we go again)

"I am thou...

Thou art I...

Thou has created a new vow.

Thou has birthed new life and

Blossomed forth the vow of the Hermit Arcana..."

Hermit Arcana: Rank 1

The voice faded out in Suki's head. Wow, three in only two days! She thought. Jumin was now calm and wiped away the last of his tears. "T-thanks, Sou-I mean...Suki. S-sorry, I-it happens when I get..emotional and-"

"It's okay. I actually quite like the name." Suki joked, giggling a bit. Jumin chuckled. "I'll use it more often~" Suki blushed and continued giggling until Kimi returned with a cup of water.

"Well it seems you two are getting along nicely. Come up with a plan yet, Leader?" Kimi asked, turning her head to Suki.

"Not yet-wait, leader? Where did that come from?" Suki asked. "Huh? Oh, yeah! You got your persona first, you're pretty straightforward and strategic when it comes to battle and coming up with things-well, except for right now." Kimi said. Suki nodded, feeling a bit of pride in herself. Leader...I like that.

"So? What do we do for a plan?" Kimi asked.

The trio thought for a moment until Jumin remember something. "I think I know who can help."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Afternoon

"Why did you bring us to your house?" Kimi asked, puzzled as she and the other two stood outside of Jumin's small house.

"Uh...my dad may or may not be or has been a...persona user...heh." Jumin said hesitantly.

The girls eyes went wide in surprise. "WHAT?!" They shouted in unison. "Y-yeah. And so is my mom."

"AND YOU'RE JUST TELLING US THIS NOW?!" Kimi shouted. "I just remembered..." Jumin whispered. Kimi sighed. "W-whatever. We need all the help we can get anyway."

"Trust me. My dad can help. He was the wild card-whatever that means." He...was a wild card? He was the fool too? Suki thought. Jumin unlocked the door to his house and they walked in. "Ma! Dad! I'm home!" Jumin called.

"You don't have to yell, JuJu." His mother said, walking into the living room. Jumin blushed at the nickname while Kimi snickered. "JuJu?"

"S-shut up!!!" Ghara laughed and walked to her son. "You just love to embarrass me in front of girls, don't you?" Ghara smirked. "I'm your mom. It's my job." She said jokingly. Jumin playfully rolled his eyes as his mother kissed his cheek as he introduced the girls. "Mom, you know Kimi. And this is the new transfer, Suki Ichika." Suki bowed before shaking her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Eko."

His mother smiled. "You can just call me Grey, hun." Suki smiled. "So, where's dad?" Jumin asked. "He's in the garage. I'll go get him."

"Thanks Ma." Grey smiled and went to the garage to retrieve her husband. Meanwhile, Kimi and Suki broke off to invade the privacy that was Jumin's house. They were both made their way to Jumin's room, covered in caution tape, when Jumin stopped them. "Woah, woah, woah! What do you think you're doing?" He asked, blocking the door with his body. "We wanna see your room!" Kimi said proudly. "Please Jumin? We really wanna see!" Suki exclaimed.

Jumin sighed, relecuntly lower his guard and stepped out of the way. "F-fine...just...don't touch anything that is not meant to be touched."

"Which is?"

"EVERYTHING." He opened the door to his room and let the girls enter first. Jumin's room was a mess of things. Many anime and game posters covered the walls. A pile of thankfully clean clothes and hoodies laid on top of his futon, which had one side being held up by books. One side on the room was entirely tech and wires in a tangled mess. Four outdated computer screens sat on his desk covered in notebooks and cake snack wrappers. "Your room...is absolutely disgusting." Kimi said, laughing a bit.

"I-I didn't have time to clean! And I didn't exactly think girls were gonna come into my room..." Kimi continued to laugh quietly.

The girls walked around the room, looking at Jumin's possessions. Suki spotted a small picture on his bedside table.

"Jumin~Kun, is this you?" She asked. "Hm? Oh, yeah. This is when I was ten and visiting my aunts and uncles in my dad's hometown. Ma kinda caught me by surprise with picture." Jumin replied, chuckling. "Where is your father from?" Kimi asked.

"Inaba. It's a four hour car ride there, so I guess it's pretty close."

"Close my ass..." Kimi muttered. She turned her head to the corner and saw a red wooden guitar. "Hey, you play?" Kimi asked, turning her head to Jumin. "Yeah...it used to be mom's. I'm gonna get my own and give it back to her..."

"She taught you how to play?" Jumin nodded. "Yeah...Dad and Isas taught me how read regular stuff...mom taught me how to read music..."

"Then when and how did you learn to hack?"

"It just happened. The way my dyslexia works made it easy to just scrunch numbers and stuff. I don't really know a lot of the technical terms....but I can do it...generally okay!" Kimi chuckled. Jumin's father walked in, leaning against the door frame. "You called." He said.

"Oh, dad! We need to talk to you about...Y'know, the thing." Jumin said, shifting nervously. "Son, if everyone else is aware of what you're talking about, you don't need to call it 'the thing'." His father said. "S-sorry..." Jumin whispered sheepishly.

His father patted his back. "It's fine. Now, come into the living room because I cannot seriously talk to you in this room until it's clean."

"Fair enough." Kimi and Jumin left the room first. Jumin's father was about to leave when Suki grabbed his hand. "Um, I'm sorry to do this or ask this of you, Mr. Eko, but...Jumin said that you were the Wild card...is that true?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Still have my membership, too. I'm assuming you're the new one?" Suki nodded, shaking his hand. "Yes. I'm Suki Ichika."

"Yu Narukami. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Um...I promise to protect your son! I'll make it my goal! And I'll save Isas too!" Suki declared. Yu chuckled sadly, looking down. "You...don't have to do that. I know being the fool isn't the easiest job and...you can't really protect everyone. But I know you'll try. And my Jumin can protect himself, trust me. He's...." Yu struggled with his words. "He's had a lot of hits...."

Suki nodded sadly. "I-I know...I just...I don't want to lose anyone...because of me..." Yu sighed and looked back in the living room, watching his son converse with Kimi. "Look, I can't ask you to make sure he comes back in one piece...he's gonna get hurt...I'll feel it when he does...and it'll hurt me too...but I can't blame you. Because you're still just a kid. A kid with big responsibilities that I think no kid should have...so if something does happen, know it isn't your fault, okay?" Suki nodded. "Okay..." Yu smiled. "Good. Glad we had an understanding."

"Yes...oh! One more thing, you said you could feel when he gets hurt...what do you mean by that?" She asked. "That? Oh, yeah. Persona users who have strong bonds with each other can feel when they're injured. It's usually active in battle.". Suki nodded in understanding. Yu smiled at her and they left to the living room. Suki sat with the others on the couch while Yu sat on an arm chair in front of them. "Alright, so what do you need help with?" Yu asked. "It's about Isas. He has some kind of castle and his shadow...he doesn't want us in there. At all. He's probably heightened his security and everything." Jumin said. "Easy, you scope out the area before you make any moves. Make sure you have somewhat of an easy escape and easy entrance."

"I-it's not just that." Kimi said hesitantly. "Obviously."

"Isas...his state is critical. We don't know when he could possibly..." Kimi could not finish. Instead, she bit her lip.

"How was it for you? When you needed to defeat someone's shadow?" Suki asked. "For me, it was always before the fog rolled in. That's usually when the killer would strike so her wouldn't be caught." He replied. "We don't have fog..." The group thought for a moment when Jumin thought of something. "W-what about a date that has significance?" He opted.

"What do you mean, Son?" Jumin bit his lip, gripping his pants. "Uh...well, I don't know if it would be really...right or anything but...this Sunday...it marks the day we first met....if he wasn't busy, we were gonna go hang out and eat ramen and those fancy cake things in the park..." The other three gave each other a look. "That...that could actually work. " Yu said. Jumin smiled proudly. "But...that means we only have what? Three days until the deadline?" Kimi asked worriedly.

"Then you act fast. And you act smart. Everything you collected, everything you gather-use it. Use it to make a good plan. It doesn't have to be a great plan, it just has be-put together, to say the least." The trio seemed to have a better understanding on what to do, thanks to Yu. "Thanks for the help dad." Jumin said. Kimi then stood up enthusiastically and energetic. "Alright! Now let's go to Jumin's room and get planning!"

"Wait-why does it have to be in my room?!"

"Because it'll be easier! Now let's go!" Kimi pulled Suki off the couch and ran to Jumin's room. Jumin was about to chase after them, when Yu stopped him. "Dad?"

"Jumin...could you please do, or at least try to do something for me?" Jumin tilted his head a bit. "Uh...sure I guess. What is it?" Yu exhaled deeply. "Please...try and stay safe? You are our only son....I care about you a lot, your mother cares about you a hell of a lot! And...I don't want to see you get seriously hurt....or...y'know." Jumin nodded and hugged his father. "I-I know dad...I promise that I'll try not to die while in the Toxic Isles."(the name idea is by olala9911)

"Thank you son..." Yu said, pressing a kiss to his temple. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must retreat to my sanctuary before it is tarnished." With that, Jumin sprinted off to his room, the door slamming close behind him.

Yu chuckled, but there was still a twinge of worry inside him. He only hoped that his son would stay clear of harm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Isas, wanna play sandball?"

"What's sandball?"

"It's like snowballs but with sand!"

"...Okay!!"

"Jumin...."

Sorry this chapter took so long. Hope everyone enjoyed it though.

[artikgato]

Souyowrimo Day 4

Prompt list here

Day 4 - Clothes Swap

“I hate this,” Yosuke grumbled. Souji looked up, to see him holding up the red, plaid skirt and frowning at it. He paused in pulling on his own skirt, which was quite a bit longer.

“It’s your fault we got signed up in the first place, Yosuke-sempai,” Kanji grunted in response. He was struggling with his own dress.

“I know that!” Yosuke barked, with a huff. “I just...Chie didn’t tell me the skirt would be so short!”

“Want to switch?” Souji offered, holding up his own skirt. Yosuke frowned over at him, looking from him to the skirt and back again.

“But then you’d have to wear this thing, Partner. It’s way too short!” he protested, and Souji shrugged, crossing over to stand in front of Yosuke and holding his own skirt out.

“I don’t mind. It’ll give me a chance to show off my legs,” he joked, and Yosuke sighed, grabbing the skirt from him and shoving the plaid skirt at him.

“You’re so weird, sometimes,” he complained. Then he frowned again. “Hm, but...won’t it look weird if you’re wearing the Yasogami uniform top and a red skirt? We should switch tops, too.”

“Sure,” Souji shrugged, setting the red skirt down on a nearby desk and tugging the uniform top off with no hesitation. He noticed that Yosuke was blushing when he handed over his uniform top, receiving the white shirt and yellow pullover in return. He considered teasing him about it, but decided to let it go.

The skirt was really short, though. Almost short enough that his boxers stuck out underneath it, so he had to roll them up a little and hoped that they would stay through the competition. He relented his black stockings to Yosuke as well, realizing that they looked out-of-place with the short red skirt now.

Rise and Chie frowned at both of them when they entered the room to help with hair and makeup.

“Why did you switch?” Chie asked, with a pout.

“It was his idea!” Yosuke deflected, gesturing over to Souji. She sighed.

“I gave him an extra-short skirt to punish him,” she explained. Yosuke glared at her.

“As if having to participate in this contest wasn’t punishment enough!” he protested. Souji shrugged.

“I don’t know...I kind of like it. It’s very...freeing,” he said.

“You say the weirdest things sometimes, you know that, right?” Chie asked, and Souji just shrugged, managing to keep a straight face the entire time. She sighed.

“Well...I was gonna make his makeup look awful too, but now I don’t wanna,” she replied. “And the hair clip doesn’t go with his outfit now so...whatever.” She left, sliding the door closed behind her. Yosuke shrugged. Rise bounced over to Souji excitedly.

“Sempai! That outfit looks soooo~ cute on you! You have really nice legs, I’m jealous!” she chirped, and he laughed.

“Make me look cute, okay?” he asked, batting his eyelashes at her. She squealed in response.

“You’re way too into this, Partner,” Yosuke complained.

“Might as well have fun, right?” he asked, as Rise pushed his bangs back and plopped the gray pigtail wig onto his head. She applied a little bit of makeup, not too much at his own request. Just some eyeliner, lip gloss, and a light amount of blush on his cheeks. She turned to Yosuke, who was sitting on one of the desks and fiddling with the long hem of his skirt.

“Want me to do your makeup too?” she asked, and he frowned.

“There’s no point in doing that. I don’t have a wig and I’m not gonna look like a girl with this hairstyle,” he grumped in response. She put a finger to her lips and thought for a second, before a devilish smirk appeared on her face.

“What if I could do something about your hair?” she asked, turning to rummage through the large bag she’d brought with her. Yosuke looked reluctant, but came over to stand beside Souji anyway. She brought a hair straightener out of her bag, a gleam in her eye, and Yosuke blanched.

“Hell no!” he refused. She pouted.

“But I think I could make you really cute, Yosuke-sempai!” she protested. He looked back down at her, and sighed.

“Ugh...fine, do whatever. Let’s just get this over with,” he relented.

“It won’t be bad, I promise!” she cheered. About ten minutes later, Yosuke’s hair had been straightened out to fall just above his shoulders, and he had on the barest hint of makeup - just like Souji. She stepped back and observed her work, a pleased grin of triumph on her face. Souji grinned, and made a wolf-whistle sound.

“She really did make you cute!” he teased, and Yosuke went red.

“Sh-shut up,” he grumbled in response, snatching up the mirror that Rise offered him. He looked shocked when he saw himself in the mirror. “Th-this is...uh, wow. Good job, Rise.”

In the end, Teddie ended up winning the vote by a landslide, but Souji...gained a lot of respect from his classmates, oddly enough. And even stranger, so did Yosuke.

“Man, Narukami, you’ve got guts goin’ on-stage in a skirt that short!”

“Dude, I can’t believe you did that. You’re crazy!”

“If it weren’t for that foreigner, you would have won for sure, man!”

“I knew you’d make a pretty girl, Yosuke-sempai!”

And even more odd were all the love-letters Souji kept getting, for about a week after the pageant. Most of them were anonymous, but a few were signed by under-classmen, and they all had a similar vein: “You looked really cute in that outfit”, or “I never knew you could be so cute, Narukami-san!” or “You have really nice legs!”

“Yeah, I’ve been getting ‘em too,” Yosuke said, when Souji showed one in particular to him. “I’m sure they’re just a joke, well mine at least. Some of yours might actually be serious.”

“Why would you think they’re a joke?” Souji asked, and Yosuke sighed.

“Dude, c’mon. I’m ‘the Junes kid’ around here. Nobody’s gonna be putting love letters in my locker unless they’re joking. And even if they aren’t a joke, I’m not sure I want someone to like me just because I might have looked good in that stupid pageant,” Yosuke explained.

“You did look good, though,” Souji protested. He wasn’t lying, either. He hadn’t been able to get the image of Yosuke with straight hair and full, shiny lips and black tights under a long skirt out of his brain ever since. Yosuke rolled his eyes, slapping him on the shoulder.

“Sometimes it’s really hard to tell when you’re kidding, you know?” he complained.

“I’m not. You looked good, and maybe that changed some people’s opinions about you?” Souji offered, and Yosuke sighed.

“Dude,” he protested.

“It changed my opinion about you,” Souji continued, and he saw Yosuke stiffen, and look at him in a panic. “And my opinion is that you were really cute.” Yosuke went beet red, and turned away from Souji in a huff. Just when Souji thought he’d pushed Yosuke a little too far, Yosuke muttered something.

“What was that?” Souji asked, and Yosuke sighed.

“I said you looked cute too,” Yosuke grumbled, a little louder. Then he started walking away, arms folded and back straight, and even the tips of his ears were red. Souji stared after him, before rushing to catch up. He couldn’t hide the pleased grin on his face.

[kolons-reaper]

Honestly, man.

I don’t think I’ve seen a group of friends with such good chemistry depicted in video games in a very long time.

The dynamic is just so GOOD though!

(Character appearances for anyone confused: Yu Narukami is the white haired boy with stern eyes, Yosuke Hanamura is the Headphone wearing reddish-brown haired kid, Chie Satonaka is the brown haired girl in the green coat, Yukiko Amagi is the girl with the long black hair, Teddie is the bear suit! Kanji Tatsumi is the thuggish-looking blonde boy, Rise Kujikawa is the girl with the pretty reddish pigtails, and Naoto Shirogane is the one in all blue with the rad hat.)

————————————————————

Yu Narukami/Protag-Kun can be summed up simply with; “Don’t worry about it! I’m the leader and so I can solve your problems! But also I eat 5 week old oatmeal to raise my courage because I have the self preservation skills of a wet carrot”

————————————————————

Yosuke Hanamura, Who ATLUS decided could only have one personality trait, and that was not respecting women. He still has shining moments of kindness and genuine good behavior! I really like him and I think he comes a long way from the beginning of his life

————————————————————

Chie Satonaka is the one I like the least, but that’s not to say she’s a bad character! She’s just a little lacking in some areas. The whole “I’m into action movies and Steak but I’m also a Girl!” Shtick got kinda old after a while, but I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t bust out into tears laughing over Mystery Food X

————————————————————

Yukiko Amagi is a tough one for me to talk about because I remember really liking her!.. I just don’t remember exactly WHY. See, I know that she’s a very hardworking and kind girl who struggles a lot coming into her life as a business manager, and she’s got some great moments of character growth! But I honestly CANNOT remember most of her social links! (This is either credited towards me having the memory of a goldfish, or just Yukiko being more forgettable than the rest of the bunch.)

————————————————————

Teddie is my sweet soft son who definitely ALSO has some “disrespecting women” type moments, but never as bad as Yosuke, tbh. He’s got this air of naïveté around him that makes most of his Mascot-Type goofs WAY more tolerable than say, ahem, another atlus mascot, (I wanna SKIN Morgana I SWEAR TO GOD DUDE) and his sweet moment towards the end of the game (No Spoilers!) is so heartwarming that I legit cried. Teddie is a good boy

————————————————————

KANJI TATSUMI! He’s so... perfect.

He’s a first year age student at good old YH (Yasogami High) and yes, that makes him the youngest in the group.

But oh my goodness he’s also like 6’2? And beats up local gangs? And is like? Scary as fuck? But that’s NOT EVEN THE TIP OF THIS ICEBERG MY MAN. He’s also a QUILTING AND SEWING EXPERT. You heard me right! His family runs a textile shop and he makes little kids stuffed animals and stuff and I just wanna die for this man. And you know what too? He’s Bisexual! An honest to god Bisexual man who can be tough and intimidating and still have a heart of gold makes me so fucking happy. Not to mention all of his other FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC Social Links! (I still have a picture of him saying “I’m gonna renovate your ass!” On my phone) Overall, Kanji is a baby boy who deserves to be loved and protected. Because he has the brain capacity of a singular French Fry.

————————————————————

Rise Kujikawa is a very powerful example of what early fame does to somebody at a young age. She’s the Investigation team’s navigator type character, so she’s the one helping you out from the sidelines in the dungeons and whatnot. But in the real world? She has a very “Center-Stage” presence. Once she joins the gang she’s never excluded from the conversations and drama, and is always there to be the same kind of cheery idol character that everyone knows her from on the TV!.. but Rise isn’t always so sunshine and rainbows. Because she’s got just as much stuff to work through as the rest of the team. Like how she’s a Sexual Symbol on the TV to sell product...... and she’s not even 17. It’s really sad. But once she opens up to you it feels a lot more genuine of a friendship, Y’know? I ended up liking Rise way more than I thought I would, tbh. I was scared about it too because she seemed very... (oh god how do I say this without sounding rude...) Ann-Ish. And I wasn’t so huge on Ann in P5 because I felt she didn’t get any character development after a while. But that’s not the case here!

————————————————————

And then, finally, Naoto Shirogane.

Where do I fucking start with Naoto? Honestly? I’ll start first by saying I’m not gonna spoil any big twists here, that’s what.

So anyways, Naoto is another first year student at YA. And is also the lone heir of an entire Detective Lineage.

You heard me right! It’s a lot of stress to put on somebody! Being a prodegé at 16! But Naoto handles it with such amazing grace and poise that it’s hard to put into words, but I’ll try.

First off, Naoto is the only one (Arguably) on the entire team to possess the sacred Brain Cell. Once Naoto hits the scene in-game things become a lot more... intelligent? Not to insult anyone else! Honest! It’s just hard when you’re dealing with somebody so DAMN SMART not to compare everyone else. Anyways, Naoto’s big flaw is that growing up, there wasn’t much time for... Y’know... “Feelings.” This doesn’t mean that Naoto is just some big robotic husk! Oh no! It’s just really really REALLY hard to get any sort of emotional reaction at first. (The more I’m writing this the more I’m thinking of somebody else... huh. Cough-Edgeworth-Cough.) But once you do? All the cute shit comes rushing out at you like a damn broke. I swear the first time I saw the “Blushing” sprite I just about choked up. It’s really heartwarming when you find out just how much Naoto likes to climb trees, Hoarde old childhood memories, and Make little detective tools from scratch! It’s awesome! (Personally I can’t get over <1m tbh)

————————————————————

And the best part about all of this is just HOW WELL all of these character bounce off of each other! It makes EVERY. SINGLE. INTERACTION. Feel like a little treat! There’s so many good moments in fact, that I can’t even list them all! (Stand outs include the Night our drinking, The group date cafe, MYSTERY FOOD X, and anything involving Yu’s house/Nanako. The omelette one is my favorite though. So cute!) it’s just refreshing to see a group of characters who really feel like they’d all just... be real friends! (Cause honestly, no offense to Persona 5 but I don’t like the dynamic in that game nearly as much. Certain characters just don’t seem like they’d put up with the rest of the group without Akira, Y’know? It’s harder to fall in love with a group if it doesn’t feel like the group is super tightly bound I guess? Who knows, maybe I’ll die about it.)

So yeah! Sorry for this hugely long rant post. In short, I just like Persona 4 a lot and I’m gonna play it again soon for sure. (And I didn’t even mention all the stand-out background characters! Just know that the whole team works really well with other Characters like sweet little Nanako, or tough and stern Ryotaro, or even that lazy goofball Adachi) Either way, I’m going to bed now. I’ve been writing this for well over an hour, and it’s 4:57 AM and I don’t wanna die of exhaustion. Also sorry about Yu/Yosuke/Chie having smaller descriptions. I wasn’t intending this to be so long, I just got more passionate the more I wrote.

————————————————————

I just fucking love Persona 4, man.

————————————————————

[thepersonaimaginecompendium-blog]

hello!! i love this blog very much that i always have it on notifs! keep up the awesome work! may i ask for a scenario with p3, p4, and p5 protags experiencing a "too close for comfort" moment with their crush/would be s/o?

-Akihiko Voice- IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS…!!! And thank you so much for having this blog on your notifs! It means so much to me! I will do my best for this blog so please continue to support me!))

Lol the more i wrote the more inspired i got I’m sorry they only got longer and longer pfft))

Minato Arisato:

>Your Knowledge increased

With finals coming up and your overwhelming desire to be in at least the top 10, you begged Minato to help you study. He had softened up a bit thanks to his friends and he had no problem accepting your desperate calls for help. You look between the address he had written down and the tall building in front of you. So he lived here, huh?

You go in and are met by quite a few pairs of eyes. You gulp nervously and ask for Minato who immediately comes out thanks to Junpei’s yelling.

“WHAT?! LUCKY BASTARD! I WANNA STUDY WITH HER TOO!” Junpei loudly complains as he looks between you and his blue haired bestie.

“…You don’t even study, Junpei…” Minato responds, walking up to you and taking you by the hand. “Cmon, I’m in dining room.”

The two of you sit down and begin studying quietly. Some time passes and you were having trouble with a complicated math problem. Your hand gripped at your hair, your foot bounced rapidly, and your pencil tapped away at the page with the same impatience.

“What’s wrong?” He asks suddenly, taking you out of your frustrated trance.

“Oh! Uh…This stupid problem has me stumped.”

“Lemme see…” Instead of bringing your notebook closer to him, he leans in closer to you.

He smells nice, was your first thought. Once you realized what just went through your head, you could feel the heat rise on your cheeks and your chest felt tighter than usual. Minato didn’t seem to notice your embarrassment as he narrowed his eyes down at your problem. He adjusts himself, only resulting in getting closer. This time you’re able to vocalize some kind of sound to catch his attention. “M-Minato…?”

“Hm…?” The hard blue stare of his softens when he looks up, his face closer than expected.

“C-c-close…!” You manage to squeak. God, his eyes are so intoxicating…

It takes a few moments until the color on his cheeks deepen as he registers the situation. “Oh, uh, sorry…” He straightens up and looks away bashfully, scratching at his cheek a bit.

There is a slight tension in the air before he clears his throat and gives you a small smile. “I know what you did wrong… I can show you…” He gestures to your notebook.

You respond with a smile and scoot a little closer to him, moving your notebook where it was in the middle. The rest of the time was peaceful but it seemed the two of you never stopped blushing over that one moment when it came back into your mind.

Yu Narukami:

>Your Charm increased

After everything that happened at the Love Meets Bond Festival, you became interested in the art of dance. You hadn’t realized how easy it was to pick it up and how fun it was to express yourself in such an artistic way. One dance that had interested you was Tango. One problem though: It takes two to tango.

So you called up Narukami in a desperate attempt to get someone you were familiar with to be your partner. And thankfully he agreed to take the classes with you. One more problem: Tango involves close contact and passionate gazes between the two parties.

“I hadn’t realized how close we’d have to be…” Narukami confesses, chuckling a little.

Your heart sank a bit. Did you force him into this? Did you make him uncomfortable?

Narukami chuckles again, being able to read your worried expression. “Don’t worry about it, [Name], I’m having fun! Justbeingclosetoyoumakesithardtocontrolmyself.”

“What was that last part?” You tilted your head in confusion.

“Nothing! Don’t worry about it.” He smiles so sweetly that you went ahead and forgot about it.

The weeks fly by and it becomes a blur to you until the final day where you have to perform the dance, not only in front of your class but also in front of a live audience of guests, you had been practicing since day one. You were nervous to say the least. A lot of the time you blanked out during the dance but you knew today wouldn’t be the case. Narukami asked if the two of you could go last so he could watch the other performances. At the time you had no problem with it but now your heart and soul were trying their best to escape your body.

You felt a strong and warm hand grip yours. Reassurance flooded your body and once again you felt calm. As the dance for the team before you was coming to a close, you take a peek at the audience. Full house. And the Investigation Team was there to show their support, even Teddie took it seriously by showing up in his human form.

The next thing you know, you and Narukami are getting into place. The audience claps and cheers once your names are introduced and then it’s quiet. The music plays.

Why you hadn’t noticed Narukami’s strength at this point was a shocker to you. The way you two moved together was breathtaking. Just as breathtaking as being to intimately close to Narukami’s face was. Your face becomes flushed but you somehow manage to keep your composure. His strong hands holding you firmly but gently, the passionate look in his eyes, the strength and skill that is portrayed to the audience at the climax of the dance where you do a complicated move in which you are lifted up and trust your body to move along his until he catches you.

Your performance ends and you feel breathless, more so than when you first started practicing. The audience goes wild and the team is the loudest out of everyone. Narukami takes you backstage and sits you down in a chair.

“You alright? I could tell you were ready to faint.” His face seemed just as flushed as yours.

You nod quietly, refusing to look at him.

He laughs softly and leans in close, “Don’t worry about it…. I know exactly/ how you feel…”

[Mini Bonus, the video that inspired this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3vsiiRK5GU ]

Akira Kurusu:

>Your Guts increased

You weren’t really the courageous type but there were times you were able to pull through for the greater good. Saving a stray dog from being beaten by a bunch of idiot bullies was no different. You recognized their faces from your school, Shujin High. Before they could touch the dog, your voiced boomed an authoritative “Quit it!”

“What are you gonna do about it, bitch?” One of the guys scoffed.

You lifted your phone, “I know how to contact the police and inform them of idiot bullies like you for terrible behavior. I’m also willing to throw in a white lie of harassment, if I have to.”

“Tch. Let’s bale man. She’s killin my fun.”

“We’ll remember this, [Name]! Don’t think I don’t know who you are and what class you go to!” You forgot one of them was in your class. Shit…!

They run off and the dog scratches at your shoe until you look down at it. Its eyes thank you silently before it runs off. Now the anxiety begins to seep in. What’s going to happen to you? What are you gonna do? What are they/ gonna do??

While you were lost in thought thinking of the worst possibilities, you almost missed a gentle voice. “Uh, excuse me?”

“Ah! Please don’t kill me…!!” You jolt and look at who was speaking to you. You relax when you see it was your desk neighbor, Akira Kurusu. “Oh…! Akira! You scared me…”

“Are they bothering you?” He sounded concerned.

“No…but they might try something tomorrow… You don’t have to worry about me. My life will be over by tomorrow anyway…” You groan, conflicting emotions causing a massive headache. “Sorry, but I’m going home…” You push past him and make your way home.

You could have sworn you felt someone’s eyes on you…

The next day you were on edge and barely made it to class on time. You struggled to focus in class and you didn’t dare leave the classroom for lunch like you normally would. You wished so desperately to turn back time. Each second was shaving off five years of your life. Finally it was time to go home. You noticed Akira hurriedly gathered his things and left the room and decided to follow his example.

The boy in your class reacted a little slower to make it seem like he wasn’t still interested in making your life a living hell, which was his first mistake. You make it out of the classroom and try to make a run for it for the school entrance until a hand snapped closed around your wrist. You gasp and turn to see it was Akira, quietly shushing you with his finger. “Come with me…”

He pulls you along and runs down the halls, a lot of eyes staring and wondering just what had gotten into him. Was the delinquent going to hurt you? Eh, it wasn’t any of their business…. Akira eventually makes it to the janitor’s closet and opens the door before rushing you inside. He quickly follows and starts to slow down his breathing as he shuts the door.

You were really out of breath. This guy was more athletic than he looked. “Wh-what are you doing…?”

Without answering you, Akira gives you a serious look and closes the distance between you. Naturally you stepped back, scared and vulnerable. Oh, you thought, I get it. He’s the one that’s going to dish out my punishment for messing with those guys… Your back hits the wall and you flinch, closing your eyes. When you feel no pain, you peek up. Akira has his arms on both sides of your head, trapping you. But you notice his focus was elsewhere.

“Akira…?” Your voice was breathy.

“Quiet…” He shushes you gently, pressing a little closer.

You gasp and wait it out. Then you hear familiar voices. It was those boys from before, calling out to each other and swearing a storm. They stopped in front of the closet and you held your breath. Akira noticed your discomfort and pulled you into a protective hug.

He smelled like all kinds of delicious blends of coffee. Your ear was pressed against his chest. Why was his heart pounding? He looks so calm and collected, so serious. So why…? Once they leave, he lets you go. He chuckles seeing your disappointed face.

“Heh… you’re pretty cute when you pout…” He smirks down at you.

“Wh-what?” Your face flushes with many shades of red.

“Ah, nothing… Who were they?”

You explained the situation to him from yesterday. When you finish by thanking him, he pats your head and gives you a gentle smile.

“You’ve got a good heart… One more thing: Do you know their names…?”

[undeadimpulsereviews]

Persona 4: Dancing All Night

I try to keep my reviews as spoiler free as possible, and the same goes for this; regardless, if you haven’t played Persona 4 then you’re better off staying away from this game for a little while. It doesn’t necessarily spoil anything, but it takes place as the last canonical part to the Persona 4 story line. You have been warned.

According to what I’ve seen, Golden Week has started in Japan; Golden week is around a week of national holidays that starts end of April, usually on April 29th, and goes into May. Students and workers will get the week off to enjoy the holiday; though for me Golden Week has always reminded me of the Persona series. Persona 4 especially, though I already reviewed the main game, and I’m currently working on one of the other numbered titles. So let’s look at one of the spin-offs, shall we.

Persona 4:Dancing All Night is a Rhythm game from developer Atlus for the Playstation Vita. It was released in 2015 and continues the story of the Persona 4 series. Persona 4, is the start of the story line and it was widely popular among the people; so much so that it was re-release for the vita, received an anime adaptation as well as two fighting games, a spin-off on the 3DS, and finally this rhythm game. My intro to P4 is actually the anime; I later ended up playing through the re-release, Persona 4 Golden, and am currently pretty much up to date. The only game in the series I haven’t finished is the 3DS game, Persona Q; however, this is Persona 4: Dancing All Night we’re talking about, and I’ve been known for loving my rhythm games. So where does this stand for me? Well I like it, but it clearly has it’s problems; it’s not perfect, but still a fun time. Lets address the story first, and remember this takes place well after the events of the main game.

Persona 4: Dancing All Night, while taking place past the events of Persona 4, starts about roughly a month after the conclusion to the main game. It stars all your favorite characters from before as they tackle a new threat; Rise, the idol of the group, has returned from her break and has continued her life on stage; however a festival is fast approaching and she’s looking for background dancers. Instead of getting people suited for the job she asks her friends if they would like to accompany her. They accept and thus must start training to perfect the dance; so they leave for the studio where Rise is to practice before the festival. While there we meet a rising idol group known as Kanamin Kitchen, or at least the lead Kanami; her group has gone missing and the festival is fast approaching. Not to mention that the website for the festival shows something at midnight, much like the midnight channel; shadows must be the cause and it’s up to you and the rest of the investigation team to find these missing idols in time for the festival, but how will you manage this and learn your dance all at the same time? Will you be ready for the festival, or will you fall flat in front of millions? Only time will tell.

For me, Persona 4: Dancing All Night is pretty good in terms of story; however, it has its fair share of problems.The story feels a tiny bit lazy at times with the new elements introduce; like I said before the midnight channel that was used in pretty much every game prior to this is gone. Instead it’s the midnight stage and it’s triggered through a website; why go to all the trouble and make a partially new world away from the midnight channel for this one game. The only difference with the midnight stage is that you can’t fight the shadows through normal means. Instead you must dance and entertain the shadows to defeat them. The story struggles to build upon both it’s characters and it’s world; having already been developed well in the main game, there is little room for development. Instead of this being another adventure for the Persona 4 cast, this is more of a story that wraps things up while at the same time building upon our new character Kanami. The best way I can describe this is that the story just feels like one big social link; The cast is focusing on Kanami and her group, and their problems in show business; what story and development the game adds is well done, but it falls short in many regards. Honestly speaking you could go without ever knowing the story of Dancing All Night and lose nothing; while they created this story for Kanamin Kitchen, they still seem like characters that won’t make a return, a one and done sort of scenario. Overall for what it’s worth the story isn’t bad, but it doesn’t really over much to further what’s already set in stone; however, it doesn’t hurt the story, but the same can’t be said for the characters. While some of the cast may grow, some actually lost development the first game worked so hard to create.

Persona 4: Dancing All Night is a spin-off game, lets remember this; like most spin-off games, the main cast is well past the point of being developed. So who better to ride the development train then our new additions. Kanami and her group are the main people who get developed over the course of the game. The game is short so there isn’t much time for development, but what small development the group undergoes is still well done. Kanami give off this light hearted energetic aura while on stage, but that it just a front made for the stage. Instead, Kanami is a very shy and klutzy girl.

This is Kanami, or at least the character created for her while appearing as an idol; on stage she seems like the cheerful girl that everyone wants to meet, the perfect idol poster child if you will. Thank to Rise you and your group have the back stage pass to practice in the studio used by the idols; through this you are one of the lucky few who can meet Kanami, and what you are met with couldn’t be farther from what you’ve been sold.

This is Kanami in her normal life; no pink hair, glasses, etc. It’s almost as if the two Kanami’s were two separate people, but they are one and the same. Throughout the story you and your group help save the rest of her idol group, as well as help her face her fears and repressed past during her time as an idol. It’s short and easy to get through, but kanami’s tale is really well done for what it’s worth. Now what of the main cast, I said before that their characters are pretty set in stone, and for most of them that is the case, but even spin-off games can offer some movement for those who’ve already made their case. Dancing All Night does this for two of the main cast; one character grows from where they left off, while another actually moves back. These two characters are Chie and Naoto; Naoto, for me, really grew as a character in Dancing All Night. It’s not a big growth, but from her experience dancing she had a lot of enjoyable scenes in the game. I like Naoto as a character, but I feel that this game really pushed the side of the character that the original game did not. I’m speaking of the thing that is revealed in Naoto’s dungeon. Chie on the other hand goes from a well develop character who has come to terms with her strengths and weaknesses from Persona 4, and instead is just a 24/7 hungry meat maniac. It’s no secret that Chie is a tomboy in nature; she likes kung fu movies, she’s tough, and she loves anything with meat in it; however, instead of taking the character from the maxed out social link, they just had her talking about meat whenever the chance presented itself. This really made me sad, Chie was one of my favorite characters in the base game and instead of getting the character that I enjoyed, I’m met with a poorly done caricature of her. I understand that this was done in correspondence with the fact that Kanami’s group is centered in the kitchen, hence Kanamin Kitchen, it’s meant to be comic relief that coincided with the fact that the idols of the group are all paired with an animal that is meat based. Yet it’s more shoved down your throat then funny, almost like atlus is like “Hey remember Chie; remember how she was this complex interesting character. Well forget all that, MEEEEEAAAAATTTT”. Overall the new characters are well done, for what little time we have with them; it’s clear that while they are the new additions and focus, they still aren’t our main team. Yet the main team isn’t at their finest. This along with the story is where the most, if not all the problems arise for me. I don’t hate them, but Atlus took a gamble with this game; it’s different from the RPG’s we’re use to. It’s not perfect, not by a long shot, but regardless of it’s problems it still delivers. Visuals haven’t changed much, but the music had it’s fair share of remixing, and what’s a rhythm game without a worthwhile soundtrack.

We’re not going to be taking to much time on visuals of the game; if you’ve played any of the spin-off or the base game itself the character designs and visuals are generally the same. Honestly speaking the only thing that changed from this to the base game is the character costume designs, and the characters themselves look a little smoother.

Above is a picture of the player character from the base game of Persona 4

Then here is a picture from Dancing All Night; you’ll notice many things from the attire of Yu Narukami (canon name for protagonist). Stuff like the headphones, looser button up shirt, higher collar, etc. All the returning characters got their own altered look for this game to better fit the image of a dancer; that aside lets compare the images once more.I think the thing that stands out the most for the characters is the change in gradient on the face and hair; as well as, the alter shape on facial features, and shading. It really makes the character look older, even though this is only suppose to be a month after the ending of Persona 4. Just like the base game, I really like the visuals presented in Dancing all Night; be it the stages you dance on, or the upgraded character visuals, it looks really good. As for the soundtrack, if you have played through Persona 4 you’ll recognize most of the songs featured in this game; some of the songs are from the spin-off games, but not to many. The only difference is that each song has been remixed to fit the game; some of these songs were already available before the release of this game. Having loved the original soundtrack to the base game, I again found myself enjoying this one as well; it pulls back memorable songs throughout the series and fits them to the rhythm game style and being an avid lover of rhythm games I couldn’t be happier. Here are a few out of many that I’m still listening to.

I usually put four song, and that is still the case, but the fourth song will come later when I show how the game is played. Overall I really like what the game has to offer in terms of it’s visuals and soundtrack; soundtrack especially, it’s got something for everyone. If you’re a fan of the series then you’ll be able to hear your favorite tunes in a new style, and then those a little less familiar can get a taste of what the series offers musically as well. Now the soundtrack is fitting for the style of game, but that’s only half the equation. A Rhythm game needs a good soundtrack, but it also needs good gameplay to back it up.

Dancing All Night is fairly easy to understand, but offers something for everyone in terms of difficulty. I played most of the game on normal, unless I was asked to go higher for a trophy; I went through the game with relative ease, and I recommend the difficulty for those just starting out. The way you play is fairly similar to other rhythm games; press the buttons as the prompts reach them. You have your holds, your single presses, etc. In Dancing All Night you have a circle around the screen; on one side you have the triangle, circle, and X button. On the other side you have up, down, and left; the prompts start in the middle of the screen and work their ways towards the sides. All you have to do is have the timing to hit the buttons, simple right? After that it’s up to you; you can kick up the difficulty or add modifiers to change how the song plays out. The gameplay isn’t overly complex, but it doesn’t need to be; it does what it was intended to do, and it’s a lot of fun. If there is one problem I have with the game it doesn’t necessarily come from the gameplay, but the audio; while playing the character voices, or hit confirm might get annoying to some. While playing it wasn’t to big of an issue to me because I was more focused on playing the game then anything, but watching the game through a video did start to have that effect on me. Below is a video to show you what the game is like; it’s set to the highest difficulty and is one of the regular versions of the song. The song does have a remix, but I just like the “dance” that Kanji performs for this and I couldn’t pass it up.

The song is the main theme to the first Persona 4 fighting game if anyone was curious; that aside I really enjoyed what the game had to offer in terms of gameplay. It’s nothing overly complex, but I don’t mind a simple play style. A rhythm game doesn’t need to be complex to be good; it just needs to follow the rhythm it’s showcasing and be engaging in some fashion, at least that’s what I think.

Overall I give Persona 4: Dancing All Night a 7.5 out of 10; it’s hard to say that it’s just good, but at the same time I don’t think it can be called great. It’s not the best in terms of story, and some characters they didn’t even try with; but it’s not all bad. The story and characters still offer something no matter how small. This is why I can’t justify an 8, but it still matters where it counts. The soundtrack and gameplay of the game are fun and engaging in my opinion and I still recommend this game be played; you don’t have to play the story, but if you like rhythm games I think you’ll find enjoyment in Persona 4: Dancing All Night just like I did.

That will do it for April, I might update for may later this week; though if not this week then next week. Until then however, have a nice day.and I’ll see you next time.

[welcometohashihigh]

Tohru Adachi: Yu

Yu gazed up at the ominous tower in front of him. The three groups had decided to come the next day after they found out about Nishi, hoping that they could clear the tower before it was too late. Luckily he had enough time after school to change out of the stiff dark blue blazer and opted to just wear the gray undershirt with his sword holster. 

Arisato’s team was nearby, waiting for the signal to head in. Yu didn’t particularly like working with the blue haired boy, but the rest of S.E.E.S. was rather endearing. Especially Amada, who was fencing with Iori at the moment. Yu had to admire the child’s speed and strength. He wanted to talk to Amada before they went in, but Arisato spoke up, sending a small flash of annoyance through Yu. 

“I think everyone’s here now.” Arisato rested the flat of his blade on his right shoulder, absentmindedly tapping his foot against the ground. “S.E.E.S., we’re going to break a path for the other two groups to follow behind. Stay on guard.” He swung his sword into the doors barring them from the dark temple, breaking them off their hinges. Yu shivered as the three leaders stepped inside. This place had such a different feel from the rest of the Chaos Realm, almost heavier and more dense. 

The area lit up as the rest of the teams flooded in, looking oddly like some kind of storage room for a store. They wandered about, looking for Hokori. Yu wondered why some cultist would build their temple to resemble something like this, but before he could think too long, two people in identical black robes walked up to them. Their hoods were pulled over their eyes so it was hard to make out their facial features. Upon noticing the Persona users they got into fighting poses. 

“How did you get in here? Who are you?” One had a rather feminine voice. These aren’t the normal cult robes. Who are they? 

The other quickly shushed them. “Be quiet! Those are the god slayers the Acolyte was talking about! We have to get rid of them!” This one had a deeper voice, and was slightly taller than the girl. “Come to me! Shadow of the Soul!” Dark energy swirled around the cultist as a shadowy monster rose from them. Is that a Persona?  

“Watch out!” Yamagishi’s voice echoed in his head. “He just summoned a Shadow from himself. It’s a lot different than a Persona, so stay on guard!” Yu nodded and pulled his sword from its sheath and pulled it smoothly into his palm. With his weapon firmly in his hands, he turned to watch as the girl also summoned a Shadow. He glanced from Arisato to Kurusu, both of whom had pulled their weapons forth. The two cultists sent their Shadows forward, and Yu ran forward to meet them. 

The girl’s Shadow was a humanoid creature with an axe, and it swung the weapon as Yu swung his. There was a loud clang as metal hit metal, and Yu could feel the impact travel up his arms. The two broke away for a moment before clashing back together. This happened a few times before he started noticing the attack patterns. It’s so unpracticed, only swinging to try and hit me. No elegance or skill at all. Only power. And that was fine, he could deal with power. 

Yu planted his feet in preparation for the next strike. This time when the axe hit his blade he poured his strength into a parry, knocking the Shadow backwards. It stumbled a bit before falling to the ground, apparently not used to such skill. Now that he had time to take a short breather he was aware of Iori and Amada beside him, weapons drawn. He looked at both of them, thankful for their help.

“I’ll give you support from Nemesis!” Amada shot his gun through his chest, the Persona rising from him to join the fight. Yu clenched his fingers around his sword, turning his attention back on the Shadow, who was back on its feet and rather angry. It charged forward as Amada sent blades of light to intercept it. The Shadow didn’t show any signs of stopping, but the magic certainly slowed it down. 

“It has no skill. We’ll be able to take it down with ease.” Yu was ready to parry its attack again, and hopefully Iori would follow up with a strong strike. His blade met the axe, slamming the Shadow backwards, and thankfully Iori slashed through its body with a heavy attack. That paired with more of Amada’s magic sent the Shadow into dust, with a high pitched scream from the girl. 

There was a screech from the boy, and Yu looked over to see that the other Shadow had been taken care of. The two cultists collapsed to the floor, unmoving. Are they just knocked out? He nudged the boy with his foot, a low groan escaping them. Oh good. He turned back to Kurusu and Arisato. “We should-” 

“Oh very well done!” An oddly familiar voice oozed through the area. Yu could feel his muscles clench in retaliation, something about the voice set all of his instincts on edge. He looked around for the source, eventually seeing that same man who had kidnapped Nishi earlier. Hokori. “You dispatched my Followers with such ease. Just what I would expect from you God Slayers. Good thing I’ve been preparing myself and gathering strength.” Hokori started laughing, and Yu could feel power radiating from him. He braced himself, anticipating some sort of attack. “See how powerful I really am!” 

There was a sharp pain in Yu’s head. He gripped his forehead hard, trying to ride out the pain as Hokori laughed. When it finally subsided, he wasn’t in the same place as before. Instead, he was deeper in the storage room, with Kurusu and Arisato on either side of him. 

“What the hell?”

Yu whirled around to come face to face with the Investigation Team. I thought they were left behind to follow S.E.E.S.! “What are you guys-” Yosuke cut Yu off with a shout, pointing past him. 

“Is that… Adachi?” 

Before Yu could turn around that sickeningly familiar voice rang out through the corridor. “Oh, so you remember me.” He faced the dark haired man, his fists clenching hard. No. “Come here, Yu, you missed me, I know you did.” Yu gritted his teeth hard. Adachi’s twisted smile made his gut wrench, his head spinning as suddenly he was thrown into his memories of the past school year. 

“Don’t you remember how we first met, Narukami?” Yu could see the police station, Yosuke and Chie on either side of him. He couldn’t hear what was being said, but he recalled that Adachi had been saying that Yukiko was the murderer. He felt his stomach lurch and twist in pain. All this time you were covering your own crimes. 

“And eating dinner with me, and Dojima-san, and Nanako?” He was taken into another memory, sitting cross-legged on the floor of his uncle’s house. Seeing Nanako across from him made his heart leap with joy, but Adachi on his right sent his head reeling again. Yu struggled to breathe with the memories being pulled out of him. Leave me alone, get out of my head!

“Of course don’t forget when we fought, our Personas so alike in every way. You battling that fog, and I battling against you.” A deep chuckle. “You won of course.” Yu could feel the pain in his body from the fight, his own Persona struggling against Adachi. Shut up, shut up! He felt like crying angry tears, his fingers digging into his palms. 

“And don’t you forget when Nanako died.” Yu resisted the urge to vomit. His throat burned with fire as his memory opened up of seeing his cousin’s hospital bed. Her hands cold and lungs empty. He remembered the horrible anguish that had filled himself and his friends at seeing her lifeless. “Wasn’t that fun.” 

Yu felt something in him stir. Something that sent chills through him. His gray eyes rose to meet Adachi’s, his body shaking. Fun? “You shouldn’t have beaten me, you idiotic, empty boy. I’ll kill you this time!” No. You’re not the real Adachi. 

“You’re not real. The real Adachi cared for Nanako, and he knew that my bonds were far from empty!” The fire in his chest blazed forward, pulling him from the depths of his mind. The Chaos Realm flooded back into his vision, the screams of his friends begging him to stop rushing into his ears. In front of him was that fake Adachi, holding its hand out for Yu’s sword. He realized he had been handing the weapon over to the strange Shadow thing, and now that he was awake, his fingers clenched around the hilt tighter. 

“Get out of my face!” He slammed his fist into the side of Adachi’s head, knocking the person backwards. The Investigation Team cheered for him, and Hokori’s voice rang out in disbelief. 

“How? You weren’t supposed to be able to get rid of my control that easily! What on earth are you? You were supposed to be weak!” 

Yu rolled his shoulders around. Silently, he cursed himself for even giving into the mind control, but now wasn’t the time to lament the state of his head. Testing the confidence of his arm, he tapped the tip of his sword against the floor. “I’ll show you true power!” He ran forward to the Shadow, the white lights glinting off the sharp blade. With a scream he slashed towards Adachi’s body, his blade clanging off the Shadow’s own weapon. So that’s how it is. 

He fought with fury and anger in every strike, but every swing was calculated. He was wearing the Shadow down, sapping its strength with powerful strikes and jabs. Adachi was stumbling, barely able to keep up with the boy’s intense movements. Now! Yu caught Adachi’s blade with a hard thrust, knocking him back. Quick as a flash he pulled his sword back and jabbed it through the Shadow’s chest. There was a sickening sound of the blade tearing through flesh and bone, blood spurting around the sword. Yu felt fire threatening to rise in his throat, but he swallowed it down. What kind of Shadow has blood? 

He didn’t give himself too much time to think. With an angry cry he pulled his blade free, holding it firmly in his left hand. Drops flew through the air, landing upon his arms. His limbs shook upon seeing the crimson there, but he fought against the gut wrenching feeling. Time to end this. “Izanagi!” With a cry he crushed the tarot card between his fingers, power blazing to life within him. Static flooded the air as his Persona rose to life, staring down at the Shadow-Adachi, who was clutching the deep sword wound. 

“You don’t have the guts to kill people.”

Yu’s face didn’t change as electricity sparked all around him. “Good thing you’re not a person.” The hairs on the back of his neck rose as Izanagi shot a white hot bolt from his hands, slamming the electricity into the fake Adachi. There was a screech from the Shadow before being cut off as it disintegrated. Yu retracted Izanagi and turned his attention to Hokori. 

“Very well done. I should not have underestimated the power you God Slayers have.” Hokori stood on the shelf he was perched on and clapped. Yu looked away, not wanting to give the cultist his attention. The blood that covered his sword dripped to the floor rather rhythmically, though looking at the red made his gut churn. “But I’m not done with you yet.” 

There was another sharp pain in his head, lights swimming over his vision. He clenched his eyes shut until the pain subsided. Upon opening them he saw a different section of the storage room. The Investigation Team had disappeared, instead, the Phantom Thieves were standing nearby. The hell? Hokori laughed, and Yu looked up to see the robed man sitting on another shelf. A Shadow appeared on the ground, sporting long brown hair and yellow eyes. 

“Who is that?”

There was a snarl from Kurusu. “Goro Akechi.”

[miss-writes-a-lot]

Persona 6 Chapter 10: where we begin but not where we end

Little Jumin never went outside.

He didn't like the outside. The outside was filled with strangers and people and he didn't like that. But little seven-year-old Jumin wanted to make his mom happy, so he went to the park to "socialize". And by, "socialize", that meant Jumin would go to the park-and play on his gameboy.

On this particular afternoon of "socializing", Jumin was hiding out in the playground structure, playing on his gameboy, when his eyes happen to catch a young boy on the other side of the playground, sitting on one of the swings. He was wearing one of those little suits and his hair was slicked back. He was bruised and crying. Jumin was conflicted. Should he go over there and see what's wrong? I mean...it would be a good thing to do. The right thing to do...

With much hesitation, little Jumin stood and crept over to the crying young boy, standing a good few feet away from him. "U-umm...hey. Are you okay?" Little Jumin asked nervously.

The boy looked up, tears in his eyes, shaking his head. "N-no..." He said, trembling. "W-what's wrong?" Jumin asked. "Mother and Father hate me now...I-I am not the son they want me to be...." Jumin tilted his head, confused. "What?"

"I-I keep...m-messing up..." The boy cried. "You're a kid! It's okay to mess up! At least you tried!" Jumin exclaimed.

"That doesn't- does not matter...at least, that is what my parents have taught me...." The boy mumbled, hiccuping now. He looked up and his eyes widened. "W-what happened to your eye?!" He asked worriedly. Jumin touched his bruised eye-the one he forgot he had- and sighed. "M-my mom's "old friend" came over...he....he doesn't like me much either...he says I'm an idiot cause I can't read...I have...dy-dys..." Jumin struggled trying to pronounce what he had. "Do you mean....dyslexia?" The boy said for him. Jumin nodded. "Well, you are not an idiot. You just have some difficulty reading and understanding this because of your ailment."

"...are you speaking English?" The confused little Jumin asked. "I can!" The boy exclaimed. He now had a smile on his face, bowing and shaking his hand. "My name is....my name...My name is Isas Chikako. Would you like to be..my first friend?" He asked, hesitantly, as if his name was something to look down upon.

Jumin lit up and smiled warmly. "Yeah, yeah I would. And I'm Jumin. Jumin Eko."

"I can help you read...and maybe you can help me too?"

"We'll help each other! You and me! Isas and Jumin, against the world!" Little Isas laughed and smiled. "Yes...together."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Together...that's the promise we made together!Jumin could feel an unbelievable amount of power rush through him, making the weight feel like a book on his back.

He felt the power...the power his father felt long ago...the power he needed to protect his family...the power he needed to protect Isas!Jumin threw the chandelier off of him, feeling and gripping onto his power, his now yellow eyes burning in determination.

"Holy shit....this is so fucking cool!" Jumin exclaimed, very enthralled in his new abilities. He then shot a glare at Shadow Isas and his guard, who were obviously not happy by this event. He looked down at the girls, down and hardly moving. Now he was pissed.

"No more...no more holding back...no more hiding when things get rough...now, it's time to step into the eyes of the storm! Let's go- KAMI-NO-KAZE!!" With an unbelievable burst of energy and power, the Japanese god of wind, Kami-No-Kaze, and casted a hard blow of Garudyne and Margaru at once at the guard, blowing him out of existence, dissolving into smoke.

Shadow Isas was furious. "NO! YOU RUINED MY GRAND HALL! YOU BASTARD!" He shouted, storming off in anger and slamming all the doors shut behind him. I'm going to save you Isas...whether you like it or not....I am going to save you...Jumin panted heavily before eventually falling to his knees, exhausted.

"Ugh...ngh...J-Jumin...?" Suki groaned as she was beginning to wake up. Once her vision was adjusted and she saw Jumin, she immediately jumped and scurried to him.

"Jumin! Are you-?!"

"I-I'm fine, Suki...just...getting a persona takes a lot outta ya..." He groaned. "We should get you home..." Suki said. She stood up and walked over to Kimi, shaking her slightly. "Kimi...Kimi...wake up!"

"No...five more minutes..." Kimi mumbled. Suki sighed. This may take a while....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once the escaped the other world, Jumin immediately went..to vomit up everything he had that day and the last, probably because he wasn't that used to having and/or awakening a persona. After he was done puking up his guts, he regrouped with the girls.

"I-I'm okay now..." Jumin said, cleaning his mouth a bit with his hoodie sleeve.

"You should go home and rest..." Kimi said, rubbing his back. Jumin nodded. "Y-yeah...I will...I just...need to do a few things before that..." Kimi smiled, when she noticed something hanging from Jumin's ear.

"Is that..? Did you...pierce your ear?" Jumin turned a deep red. "H-how did you-?!"

"Look!" Jumin felt his ear, gently taking off a small hanging lapis earring. "Woah...."

"Pretty cool, right?" Kimi said, showing off her own little accessory. Jumin smiled softly and pulled both girls in for a tight hug. "J-Jumin...?"

"...t-thank you..." Both girls smiled and hugged him back. "No problem, Eko-Kun..." Suki said sweetly. They broke away from the hug and Jumin left to take care of some long awaited business.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jumin's mother, Ghara, was in their small kitchen, making dinner for the family when she heard the front door open. "Yu, hun? Is that you?" She asked. "N-no mom...I-it's me..." Jumin replied, walking into the kitchen nervously. "Oh, Ju! You didn't tell me you were going out this late-"

She turned to face her son with a smile, but that smile changed to shock and her hands flew over her mouth as she saw the strange condition her son was in. "Jumin! The hell happened to you?!" His mother exclaimed, "and why do you smell freshwater and vomit..?"

"I-it's...a long story." Jumin sighed.

"Jumin, what the hell has been going on with you? You've been coming home with bruises and black eyes, you won't tell your father and I, what is-?!" She was cut off by her somewhat short son hugging her tightly and crying. "JuJu...?" She asked concerned. "I'M SORRY!!!" Jumin yelled, his voice cracking. "Sorry? For what baby?"

"I....I'VEBEENTAKINGBEATINGSFROMTHATEXBOYFRIENDGUYYOUMETBECAUSEHETHREATENEDTOHURTYOUBECAUSEYOUDON'T-"

"Woah, woah, woah. Slow down baby....you're not making any sense. Tell me slowly, okay?" Jumin nodded, sniffling. "R-remember when I was four and that guy came up to me and you pulled me away because you sad he was bad...?"Ghara was confused but nodded. "Well...t-that wasn't the only time he came to see me..." Ghara's eyes widened. "W-what?"

"He...he beats me, mom. H-he comes over here looking for you...but h-he comes to me instead..." Ghara let out a small gasp as she pulled away and rested her hands on his shoulder. "J-Jumin Narukami Eko...how long has this been going on..?" She asked, looking him dead in the eyes. Jumin stiffened up. "U-uh...."

"Jumin. How long?" She asked again, this time more demanding. Jumin choked back a heavy sob before speaking. "S-since I was six....."

Ghara's eyes widened to the size of saucers, tears flooding out. "Oh my Jumin..." She breathed as she hugged him tightly, both began sobbing. "J-Jumin...m-m-my little baby....I-I'm so, so sorry...I should've known-"

"N-no! No, it was my fault...I didn't want you to blame yourself! I didn't want him to hurt you or dad! I was stupid! Like always..."

"You are not stupid...you're plenty smart...You're just...stupidly brave and heroic...just like your father." Jumin smiled a bit as he buried his head in his mother's shoulder. "Thanks mom...I-I love you...a-and I love dad too...I love you both..."

Ghara smiled and kissed his forehead. "We love you too, JuJu...and I promise I won't let the asshole touch you ever again!" Jumin hugged her tightly, but sighed sadly. "That means...you gotta tell dad...he's gonna be mad..."

"Not at you, but he will be mad....but that's only because he loves you, hun." Jumin nodded. "I know mom...I know..." Ghara smiled and broke away from the hug, kissing his forehead. "Now, hurry up and go shower so that I can shower. You got your gross water, boy, and vomit juices on me!" Ghara said jokingly. Jumin chuckled and nodded. "Okay mom....thanks."

"Of course sweetie..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suki arrived home to see Akiniko sitting at the table going through some notebooks when he caught glimpse of her. "O-oh, welcome home, Suki..." He said, a bit awkwardly. Suki sighed and walked over to Akiniko...and hugged him tightly.

"I'm sorry I called you a liar. It was wrong of me to do that..." She huffed sadly. Akiniko slightly smiled. "It's okay, Suki...I don't really expect you to trust me-"

"But I could at least try! Try for your sake, and my sake, and for mom's!" Those words hit Akiniko hard, he almost wanted to cry. But instead, he hugged her back and smiled. "Thank you Suki...thank you..."

Suki felt a strong change and resolve in their relationship, the voice in her head coming back again.

"I am thou,

Thou art I....

Thou has created a new vow...

Thou has birthed new life and blossomed forth the vow of the Hanged Man Arcana.

Hanged Man Arcana: Rank 1