#and then what would yus have been?

[quil12]

if i may request another (and ur into the concept heh)……. souyo + role swap?

Sorry that this took so long lmao - I had to think a while about what I wanted to do for this - mostly about Yu and how his Shadow would fit into everything. It also ended up being pretty long (almost 4k words), so it took me a little while to write.

That being said, here it is!

Yosuke yawned, stretching as he woke up. He could have sworn that he just had had a really weird dream, but he couldn’t remember much about it - just the faint memory of something blue. 

He glanced out the window of the car, biting back a groan. It was just fields, and grass, and trees as far as the eye could see. He hadn’t even been out of the city for half a day and he was already missing it. 

His dad had just gotten a promotion, although was it really worth it if they had to move all the way out into the middle of nowhere? 

They looked to just be reaching the town. Inaba. It was such a tiny little place - almost anywhere else would have been better. Why couldn’t they have at least been moving to another city? If he couldn’t live in Tokyo, he would have taken Sendai or Osaka or Kagoshima. Hell, he would have even taken Sapporo, moving all the way up to Hokkaido. But no, he had to be trapped in this tiny rural town with nothing to do for the next who knew how long.

He took a deep breath.

Maybe it would be fine. Maybe he would be able to make friends and find things to do. He didn’t have any reputation here yet. Maybe he could figure out some way to give himself a positive first impression and really make the most out of his time here.

They quickly got into the town, driving through the tiny shopping district. There were a few people walking around, but not a lot of them. 

“I’m going to stop and get some gas before going the rest of the way,” his dad said from the front seat.

Great. That meant longer sitting in the shopping district. At least there was some amount of excitement in getting to see their house for the first time, but now he had to wait to even do that.

They pulled into the gas station, parking next to one of the pumps. An attendant came by quickly, greeting them.

“I’m going to get out and stretch my legs,” his mom said, opening the door. “Yosuke, sweetheart, why don’t you join me.”

“Okay.”

He unbuckled his seatbelt, opening the car door, and stepping outside. It was starting to get into fall, so the air was brisk and chilly. Even in the middle of town, it smelled so much cleaner than any place in the city ever was. 

“How are you feeling?” his mom asked as soon as they were outside the car.

He shrugged. “It’s fine.”

She laid a hand on his shoulder. “I know this isn’t what you wanted to have happen, but I know that you’ll make lots of friends here and you’ll be able to make the most of it.”

Yosuke nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets. They had talked about this before, but it never got much easier. 

“I’m actually going to go walk around for a few minutes. Feel free to join me.”

“Okay.” He considered following her, but instead just leaned up against the side of the car, looking at the street beyond the gas station. So this was it, huh. The place he was living.

“So, you’re just moving here from the city?” 

Yosuke looked up to see the gas station attendant standing a few feet away from him. 

“Oh, yeah.”

“There’s really not a lot of things to do out here compared to the big city. You’ll probably either be hanging out with friends or working a part time job. Speaking of which, we’re actually hiring here if you’re looking for one.”

He gave a small laugh. “Unfortunately, I think I’ll have a job already working at the Junes that’s about to open up. My dad’s going to be the manager.”

“Ah, well, either way, it was nice to meet you.”

The attendant reached out his hand. Yosuke reached out almost instinctively, shaking his hand.

“Uh, yeah.”

Almost immediately, a flash of dizziness passed through him. He let go of his hand.

“Yosuke-kun? Are you feeling all right?” His mom was just walking back toward them.

He took a deep breath. “Yeah, I just felt kind of dizzy all of a sudden.”

She frowned. “All right. We should probably get going then. You can lay down when we get to the house.”

He nodded, getting back in the car. He was probably just tired.

- - -

Today was his first day as a second year. It was going to be a good year. He knew it.

People hadn’t been too thrilled to have him in town, and really, he couldn’t blame them too much. A lot of the shops in the shopping district were going under because of Junes, and he, by association with his dad, had become the sort of face of it. 

He tried to not let it get to him though, being as kind and pleasant to people as possible. He had even made a few friends - kind of. 

There was Chie, who had been in his class the last year. She had leant him a movie that he was going to return that day. She seemed like fun to hang out with. 

There were also Kou and Daisuke. He had hung out with them a few times after school when he had had nothing to do and one of them had been practicing. If he had more time, he would have joined one of the sports clubs, but he really couldn’t do that and work.

There was also Saki-senpai. She had really been his favorite of the friends that he had made. She was outwardly kind to him when almost no one else was. She had every right to hate him - her family’s liquor store was one of the businesses struggling to stay afloat with Junes in town - but she treated him kindly, telling him that he wasn’t responsible for what his parents did. 

Really, it was boring there, but he could feel that it was going to get better.

- - -

There was a new transfer student.

His name was Yu Narukami. 

He had helped him, pulling him out of a trash can when he had crashed into it. He wasn’t proud that that had happened, but at least he didn’t seem to be judging him for it.

“Thanks for the help, dude. I’m Yosuke Hanamura.”

“Yu Narukami.”

“Oh, yeah. I actually sit right behind you in class.”

“Right.”

The two of them started walking, heading in the direction of the school.

“So, why exactly did you move out to Inaba? There’s not exactly a lot to do around here.”

“My parents are overseas on a business trip for the next year, so I came to live with my uncle while they’re gone.”

Yosuke hummed. “I can kinda relate. I’m here because of my dad’s job.”

The two of them talked a little bit more about living in the town as they headed to the school. He seemed cool.

- - -

Yosuke stared into the turned off TV, his arms crossed. 

This was dumb. Why was he even actually trying to do this?

Earlier that day, Chie had told them about the rumor of the Midnight Channel, saying that if you looked into a turned off TV at midnight on a rainy night, you’d see your soulmate. 

There was no way that it was true, but he had promised to try it out. 

He glanced toward his clock, watching as the time ticked from 11:59 to 12:00.

All of a sudden, there was the sound of static as the TV in front of him flickered to life. He stepped back in surprise, staring with wide eyes at the screen.

There was a girl on it with long, wavy, brown hair. She looked familiar, almost like Saki-senpai. Did that mean that she was supposed to be his soulmate…?

All of a sudden, an intense flash of dizziness followed by a severe headache went through him. He groaned, holding his head in his hands. Words flickered from deep inside his head.

I am thou… Thou art I

He took a deep breath, looking back toward the TV. He had the sudden urge to lay his hand on it. What would happen if he did that?

He walked closer to the TV, reaching his hand out, touching the flat surface. 

Almost immediately, his hand slipped through the screen. He yelped, immediately pulling back as the image flickered, then disappeared. 

He scrambled back, away from the TV, watching it with wide eyes, but it had apparently turned itself off.

Had that all just been a dream?

He looked down at his hand - the one that had slipped through the screen.

A dream. That’s what it must have been.

- - -

It wasn’t a dream. 

That fact was made clear to him as soon as he had taken Chie and Yu to the electronics department at Junes, wanting someone else to be able to witness what had happened. 

Neither of them had believed him until he had stuck his hand straight through the screen. He hadn’t even quite believed it himself until he had gone tumbling through and into the almost limitless space beyond. 

Both Yu and Chie had fallen with him, all of them bearing witness to this unbelievably strange world filled with yellow fog. 

They had been looking for a way out when they had wandered into what seemed to be a bedroom. 

It seemed like it somehow belonged to the announcer, Mayumi Yamano - a woman who had just been found dead in Inaba. He wasn’t sure what to do with that information.

After a while of wandering around, they had come across this weird bear… thing, who had given them the means to get out of that world. 

He had gone home early that night, so confused, but also feeling so exhausted. 

- - -

Saki-senpai was dead.

She had been found in much the same way as the announcer - strung up upside down on a telephone pole.

He wanted to do something about it. He couldn’t just stand by and let someone get away with killing her. 

She had appeared on the Midnight Channel. Maybe that was somehow linked to that other world they had gone to. Maybe there were answers in there.

He had asked Yu to come with him, wanting someone to be there to help, before going to Junes after school, both of them heading inside. 

They met the bear thing again, who introduced himself as Teddie. He also accused them of being the one who had been throwing people in there. They had denied it, but he still seemed suspicious of them.

That being said, that meant that Saki-senpai really had come into this world. That meant someone had murdered her. He was going to find out who.

Teddie had given both of them glasses to help see through the fog. Putting them on had instantly minimized the oppressive feeling the whole place was giving off. He wasn’t sure how they worked, but he was grateful to have them.

They had asked Teddie to show them where she had been when she came in, and he had led them to a place that looked like some weird and twisted version of the shopping district. They walked until they found the liquor store.

All of a sudden, Teddie got scared, cowering. “They’re coming.”

“What’s coming?” Yosuke asked, frowning.

He looked toward the liquor store, watching as three black shapes materialized out of it, forming into monstrous shapes. They moved, coming toward them as if to attack them.

Teddie was still cowering while Yu was staring at them, fear apparent in his eyes. He needed to do something. He needed to protect them. He wasn’t going to let them die to these things. 

All of a sudden, a voice rang loud and clear in his head.

I am though. Though art I. The time has come to open thine eyes and call forth what is within.

He held his head in his hand as a headache started pounding against his skull. 

He looked down into his other hand, blinking as he saw he was now grasping tightly onto a card. He flipped it over, furrowing his brow as he saw that it was blank.

As he stared down at it, the headache slowly subsided, replacing itself with an almost tingly sensation. It filled him up, power coursing through his body. There was a blue light coming from around him, engulfing the whole area in the color.

One word entered his mind as he crushed the card in his hand.

“Persona.”

The power rushed through him, forming itself into a shape behind him. It was such an amazing feeling. He didn’t even really know what it was, but he really liked it.

The figure fully materialized. He somehow knew what it was called - Jiraiya.

A strong wind blew through the area, messing up his hair. He didn’t care though. 

The monsters - or whatever they were actually called - seemed to be struggling in the wind, backing off from where they were standing. He kept it up, continuing to batter them in it until they began melting into puddles of black goop. 

As soon as they were gone, he let the figure disappear, almost collapsing onto the ground. That had taken a lot out of him. 

Yu was immediately by his side, grabbing hold of his arm, keeping him upright. “Are you all right. What was that?”

“I’ll be fine. And… I… Persona?”

“Persona?”

“I think that’s what it’s called?”

“Oh wow, Sensei, that was so cool. I’ve never seen anyone stand up to the shadows like that before.”

Yosuke looked over to see Teddie a few feet to his other side, speaking excitedly.

“Sensei…? Are you talking about me.”

“Who else would I be talking about?”

Yosuke shrugged it off. He didn’t suppose that it mattered.

“Come on. Let’s go inside. I want to find out what happened to Saki-senpai.”

He started walking toward the door, heading inside the building. Yu and Teddie walked in behind him.

He looked around the room they had ended up in, walking over to a table off to one side, gaze locking on to a familiar picture. It was one that all of the part time employees at Junes had taken. He was standing there next to Saki, smiling widely at the camera. 

As he set the picture back down, a very familiar voice sounded from seemingly nowhere - Saki-senpai.

She started talking about how she hadn’t actually liked him and how she was just being nice to him because he was the manager’s son. Hearing those words said to him in her voice hurt, but, on some level, he had known that there had been part of her that had felt that way. 

All of a sudden, another voice started speaking.

“‘Is she Yosuke’s girlfriend?’” the voice said, as if imitating someone. “Well, very clearly not.”

That sounded like Yu. It was a little bit off though. He looked over toward him, but he was standing there, staring with wide eyes at something behind him.

He turned, blinking in surprise. It was Yu. Another Yu. He looked practically identical to the one standing beside him, except for the yellow eyes and the smirk that he had on his face.

The other Yu started speaking again. “She kind of hated him, then, didn’t she? Isn’t that great?”

“What are you…?” Yu said from beside him.

“Oh, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Now that it’s not some tragic love story, maybe I’d have a chance.”

Yosuke frowned. What was going on? Have a chance at what?

Yu’s eyes widened. “That’s not…”

“That’s not what?” He took a few steps forward, toward them. “Yosuke. I’ve been thinking since I met you about how hot you are. About all the things that I want to do with you. About all the things that I want to do to you.”

Yosuke took a step back. He looked toward Yu, who was standing there, staring intently at the floor. He wasn’t even sure how to react to that.

“Dude, what is it saying? Are you…?”

Yu looked up, gaze locking on to the other version of him. “I don’t know why you have my face, but whatever you’re trying to imply isn’t true.”

The other version of him let out a loud laugh. “Don’t try to play dumb. I know how you really feel because I am you.”

“That’s not-”

“And you didn’t want him to find out, now, did you? You finally found someone that you thought that you could be friends with, but he’s definitely going to abandon you after this. But that’s par for the course, isn’t it? You’re always going to be abandoned by people. Why would anyone actually want to hang around with you.”

Yosuke didn’t really understand what was going on, but it seemed like whatever it was, it was putting Yu on edge. Were these his real feelings about things? He could relate on that front of feeling abandoned by people - none of his friends from the city had even once tried to text him since he moved out here. 

And then there was the other part. The part implying that he might be into him. The thought of that should have freaked him out, but for some reason, it made his heart start pounding in his chest. Yu was hot, so the fact that he, of all people, might be interested in him was insanely flattering. 

Yu’s eyes were locked on this other version of himself, his fists clenched. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t… Whatever you are, you’re definitely not me.”

At those words, the atmosphere in the room seemed to shift. 

The other version of Yu began laughing - a laugh that he could never have imagined coming from his mouth, dark energy swirling all around him, electricity popping and flashing through the air.

“That’s right. I’m me now.”

Yosuke watched with wide eyes as he transformed with the energy, turning into something he could only really describe as a monster. 

Yu had fallen back, staring up at the thing, his mouth open. 

Whatever was happening, he knew that he needed to protect him. He wasn’t about to let him get hurt or die to this thing. He hadn’t been able to protect Saki-senpai and he wasn’t just about to sit back and let something happen to Yu now.

In the corner of the room, Teddie was cowering, also looking up at the monster.

“Teddie, do you know what’s going on?”

He looked up at him. “It’s his Shadow. It’s gone bearserk. If someone denies their Shadow, it becomes like this.”

His Shadow…? He would have to ask what that meant later, but for the time being, he would just have to deal with it himself.

He took a deep breath, thinking back to what he had done when he had summoned his Persona before.

He successfully summoned the card in front of him, crushing it.

“Persona.”

As soon as he summoned it, he had it batter the Shadow with wind. That had worked decently before. It seemed to be a good move as it tumbled back a little, seemingly stunned by the gale force winds that were rushing toward it.

He could only keep that up for a few seconds though, the effort exhausting him. 

As soon as the Shadow stood back up, electricity began crackling through the air, making the hair on his arms stand up. 

There was a flash of light. Completely on instinct, he jumped to the left, just barely making it out of the way as a bolt of lightning hit the ground where he had been standing mere moments before.

His heart was pounding. That had been close. He definitely didn’t want to get hit by one of those. 

That was how the rest of the fight went. He tried to hit it with wind whenever he was able, but that was broken up by him having to dodge the lightning strikes it was trying to hit him with. 

After what seemed like an eternity, he hit the Shadow with one last strong blast of wind and it collapsed to the floor, the same dark energy surrounding it, warping it back into a form that looked a lot like Yu. 

He was breathing hard, but he turned to Yu, who was still sitting on the floor, where he had apparently been watching the fight.

“Yu.” He walked over to him, crouching beside him, and laying his hand on his shoulder. “I know that you probably don’t want to admit it, but what it was saying was true, at least partially, right? I know what it’s like to feel abandoned by friends. I’m not sure I know about the other stuff.” He bit his lip. “But I’m not going to abandon you over it, okay? We’re friends.”

Yu looked down at the ground before standing up, walking over to where his Shadow was standing. He took a deep breath. “You’re right. I’m scared of being abandoned. I’m scared of losing friends and making people hate me. I’m scared that people won’t like me for who I am. I’m scared that Yosuke would hate me if he found out how I was actually feeling about him. I… You are me. I see that now.”

His Shadow seemed to smile at him before disappearing in a flash of light, a new form taking its place. It slowly faded, getting replaced by a card that Yu immediately clutched in his hand.

“Izanagi,” he whispered.

Was that his Persona? It certainly seemed like something similar to what Jiraiya had been. 

Yosuke walked over to him, grasping onto his arm - it seemed like he was about ready to fall over. “How are you feeling?”

“I’ll be all right.”

“Good. Let’s get out of here, okay?”

Yu nodded, and the two of them started heading toward the entrance, Teddie not far behind them.

He still had questions regard Saki-senpai, but he wanted to make sure that Yu was okay first. He didn’t know all of what was going to happen, but he thought that it would all work out so long as he was by his side.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Daughter of delta Yu, show them that you're no fool!

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[eikichi-supremacy]

If nothing else Koenma is a Kuwabara stan and I'm right there with him o7 (I need to write the kuwameshi fic that goes with this fr)

[cobaltfluff]

so i started playing persona 4

where are the QoL features

[benevolenterrancy]

"But in the end, I... still think... it's so unfair," Yin Yu sobbed. "If I wasn't destined to be perfect, I at least wanted to be perfectly kind. But... I couldn't even manage that. It's really... so unfair. And to tell you the truth, I can't get over it, even now. I can't swallow the fact that I'm dying for this little bonehead, Yizhen. I can't even let go and die without resentment or regrets. What the heck..." "Better than most people huh?" Yin Yu gave a small, arduous chuckle. Then he sighed, and the sound of his last regret passed along with his soul as he mumbled, "But I wanted to be a god..."

[daily-hanamura]

[silvertsundere]

they finally revealed the cards for the centurion archetype and it's magical girls and mechs

it already was the archetype I was the most hyped for in that pack just from the initial teaser alone but it blew the other 2 out the water easily

the designs for the characters and the mechs are great

and they even put in some famous poses which is extremely cool

[astralhope]

Another thing in Zexal manga ending that broke my heart (among many other things) is the fact that Astral wasn't going to tell Yuma and the others that he would sacrifice himself after gathering all the Numbers.

He wanted them to come back to Earth before completing his mission so that they would never know. He would have disappeared from their life with a simple goodbye, he would have become just a memory for them.

They would never know what had happened to him, Yuma would never know about his sacrifice to stop E'Rah completely.

He wanted them to only be happy about their victory, to return to a normal life.

He didn't want Yuma to be sad because of him, because of what he must do.

But Yuma knew what Astral was hiding from them, and he wasn't going to accept that. How could he? After all those battles, how could he let Astral sacrifice himself? All those discourses about hope and the future, and then Astral would seal himself for all eternity, alone, without letting any of them know what his real fate was.

No, Yuma wouldn't accept that, even if that meant fighting against Astral, even if he had to fight against all the Numbers with Utopia as his only hope. He was ready to do anything to keep Astral from sacrifice himself.

[tea-cat-arts]

Two wolves: one thinks Madam Yu shouldn't get married to anyone ever and that she would be unhappy in any long term romantic relationship no matter who she was with, the other is gay and wants to be Madam Yu's lame ass wife

[backpackingspace]

Okay but yin yu needs a raise this yin yu is overworked that. Where is the Ling wen needs a raise content

[jazzy-a]

I've been thinking, and... I kind of love the fact that Mai and Kaiba have a crap load of stuff in common and would probably get along really well in a crack timeline.

Please try to picture this and tell me you're not smiling:

(Both of them standing next to each other)

Kaiba: So... grew up rich?

Mai: (nods) Grew up rich.

Mai, side-eyeing now: Neglectful parents?

Kaiba, surprised: Neglectful parents.

Kaiba, thinking this is gonna be the deal breaker: Friends are stupid?

Mai, full on enthusiasm: OMG! Friends are stupid!

Mai: ... Joey Wheeler?

Both, now facing one another pointing like that Spiderman meme: JOEY F*CKING WHEELER!!

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

I want you whipped into shape!

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[quil12]

I'm literally at the point where I have to give myself a mental slap on the wrist at the thought of starting a new fic lmao

[cobaltfluff]

where should they eat ???

[fragmentedblade]

I have so many screenshots of Kalpas' face I could reconstruct his face at this point, and I'm afraid to say I'm not sure his face is scarred

[dyslexic-mess]

No, but the fact that sending someone/something to the shadow relm is still a pretty widely understood pop culture reference should tell you EXACTLY how successful Yu-Gi-Oh was.

Do I feel robbed that it was initially supposed to be a horror manga that mentioned the card game maybe twice and was geared mainly towards teens and young adults? But the author began using the card game more because that's what readers responded to? And eventually, it was picked up by an American cooperation who heavily sanitized and censored it so they could sell their card game to kids?

Yeah. Maybe a little.

But they made the right choice, is what I'm saying.