#the investigation team all really cares about teddie i think. he's just also A Lot (affectionate)- | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

forkanna · 4 years ago

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[AO3] [WATTPAD]

NOTE: Here we go. Little bit of a shift in this chapter... you'll see. Thanks for keeping up with this fic and all your comments!

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Everything was rather quiet for a couple of days. Rise threw herself into practicing her vocals with every spare moment, meeting with her manager and conferencing with her record label over the phone. She needed the distraction. Without any clear course of action with Ai, she had decided to let that matter fade into the background. Maybe something would come to her eventually.

On Sunday, she and the gang decided to go fishing, since that was one of Narukami's favourite activities and they were all missing him lately. For most of them, it simply meant getting to wave around poles and wade into the water, splashing each other. Kanji and Naoto resented this because they were much more serious about the matter, but the others didn't pay them too much mind.

"Hey, why didn't you invite Ai?" Chie suddenly asked as they re-baited their hooks. "She too snobby to get down here in the river with us?"

Rise laughed. "You're kidding, right?"

"Yeah," she responded, giggling right along. "No way would she be caught dead touching a fish that's not cooked."

"No… I meant that she wouldn't want to hang out with me anymore."

"Why not?" Yukiko asked. "I thought you were becoming sort of close with her."

Wow, how oblivious could they be? "Not anymore."

Once she had explained properly, which took the better part of half an hour, most of the joy had been sucked out of their springtime activity. Rise did feel a little bad about that, but it was as much their fault as hers, so she didn't spend too much mental energy on sympathy for her friends.

"Gosh, that is so sad," Teddie said with a pronounced pout. He really did seem genuinely disappointed not to have another friend. "I know you guys didn't really mean to hurt her feelings."

"Guess I thought he'd be over that by now," Chie confessed quietly.

"Yeah," Yosuke added. "Like, as long as he stays away from my butt, I don't really care what he does with his time. And man, he looks way better in drag than even Teddie did, so…"

While Teddie was harrumphing as if genuinely offended, Kanji chuckled harshly as he twitched his line in the water the tiniest bit. "What is it with you and that gay panic, bro? I'm surprised your Shadow didn't look more like mine."

"H-hey, I'm just a healthy, red-blooded Japanese male! I like girls who are actually girls! Is that a crime?"

"I'll buy you a butt-protector to keep all the dicks out," Chie cackled bemusedly. Yosuke just grimaced.

"I'm… starting to get why she didn't want this getting out," Rise sighed.

"Hm?" Yukiko said as she turned back in her direction. "What is it?"

"Nothing."

"No, that sounded important. I wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings…"

Which she appreciated. Even if the others were a little oblivious sometimes, Yukiko genuinely meant well all the time. Every minute of every day. "It's just… I'm no big expert on this subject, but you guys can see how much work she put into being taken seriously as a woman. Because she looks like one! Nobody could tell! And I think I haven't paid much attention to how hard that must have been for her… I'm… wow. And I really did almost ruin her life."

Not that she had been unaware of that before. She thought she understood, and she did — better than her friends did, for sure. But listening to them casually treat her like a drag act, a joke, a source of anxiety for Yosuke's extra-fragile masculinity, peeled back just enough of the curtain. Now she knew that she really didn't know anything at all.

"Don't be so dramatic," Chie sighed. "Like you said, he was able to play it off, and he's giving you a lot more shit now than is necessary compared to what you did on accident. Like, scales balanced. If he wants to keep being a dick then that's on him."

Rise shrugged helplessly as she tossed her fishing pole back onto the shore. "You're not wrong about that part. I'm not saying her trying to get revenge on me is right. I'm just saying I understand why she feels so betrayed. Didn't really get it before, but…"

"I still don't get it now," Yosuke grunted. "The whole thing makes me super uncomfortable. But it sounds like he already had the surgery, so… doesn't that mean he's a girl anyway?"

"What? No, it's… nevermind that part." She had been about to insist that Ai did not have "The Surgery" yet, even though she had probably undergone several other minor procedures. But that was the kind of detail that would get her even deeper in trouble than she already was, so she cut herself off.

"Well, I'm with Chie," Yukiko said cautiously. "You have apologized for hurting her, you didn't intend to in the first place. If she were a true friend, she would accept your apology."

"I'm not sure it's that simple."

They all turned to look at Naoto, not having expected her to speak. The girl was wearing a very thoughtful expression underneath her newsboy-casquette cap. "What isn't?" Teddie finally prompted when everybody had been quiet for a little too long.

"This situation with Ebihara-san. She's living her life as transgender, and you have jeopardized that life. Even if on accident, I can see how she would interpret that as an attack."

"Come on," Chie sighed. "Any idiot knows the difference between on accident and on purpose."

"Not necessarily. In law, there is such a thing as 'gross criminal negligence'. This means that even if it's an accident, even if you did nothing with the premeditated intent to do harm, you can still cause harm and be held accountable for it. At least, partially."

"So you're saying it's okay that this asshole is trying to frame our friend for cheating?!" Yosuke burst out.

"Hm? Oh, no, not at all," Naoto insisted, a slight crease in her brow. "But this is a matter of criminal pathology. Even if Ebihara-san is not a criminal, she is perpetrating criminal acts; understanding them requires the same skill set. Motive. Means. Opportunity. We already know the last two, more or less; security isn't especially tight at Yasogami High. I'm sure it was a simple matter for her to sneak into the classroom and pilfer the answer key, then sneak it into Rise's bag when no one was looking. So all that's left is… why?"

"Because he's a petty jerk," Chie provided immediately.

"It's not that simple."

"No, it really is. Maybe you guys get something about how serious us gossiping about him was that I don't, but I don't care. You don't treat a friend like that. Period! Even if he's really pissed at Rise, she did apologize, she's trying to make it right. He's not acting like a friend at all. So I say, screw him! Just let him self-destruct and be alone. And if he won't stop being a jerk to you, we will be jerks right back. I'm not going to sit around while he drags you down for something you didn't even do on purpose."

Rise felt a rush of affection toward Chie Satonaka. Even if she couldn't completely agree with everything she was saying, it was nice to know her friends had her back — that these were true blue friendships that had lasted beyond being part of the same Investigation Team. The passion with which she spoke, and the anger she clearly felt toward Ebihara because she was attacking her friend, made the existence of those bonds unmistakable.

However… she also couldn't ignore the way Naoto's brow furrowed further. Kanji also rested a hand on her shoulder. Was she simply upset about losing an argument, or was there more to that?

"I can't disagree with what you say. I was merely trying to point out that in Ebihara-san's estimation, Rise may deserve vengeance more than she does in any of our estimation. She is viewing the situation differently than we are."

"Well his 'estimation' sucks," Chie grumbled.

"Maybe," Rise finally cut in with a discomfited sigh. "But can you guys… can you promise me you won't do anything mean to her without asking me? At least that? I know she's being a jerk, but it's because I messed up. Huge. So this has to be between her and me."

None of them looked too thrilled with that. Yukiko nodded immediately, seemingly satisfied right away that she was doing what was asked of her by her friend. The others were a little slower to agree but they still all did at some point or another, dissatisfied as they were.

"Thanks. And I'm so happy you have my back, I can't express that enough. But I have to figure this out on my own."

"You got it," Kanji grunted as he started reeling in a fish. "Shit… it's a big one… but I'm not gonna forget how you looked when that old bag accused you of cheating. That ain't right. Ebihara better make it right eventually, or his ass is grass."

What an ominous threat. Well-meaning, but ominous. Rise knew she would have to sort this matter out post haste — before she had to find out just how far her friends were willing to go to come to her aid.

~ o ~

All of this gave birth to a very determined Rise Kujikawa, and this was the one who walked into school on a foggy Monday morning. Ai had done enough damage; she had to forge ahead as if everything was fine. Her new tactic had to be not to let the bullying get to her, because she better understood it was just her friend being hurt by her own actions. And if she wouldn't accept her apology… there was nothing more she could do.

But she didn't have it in her to give up. That option was stricken off the list. Rise was no quitter.

Everything was fine until her second-to-last class of the day. Rise had mostly focused on schoolwork and chatting with her other friends, taking her mind off more depressing matters. Gearing up for a promotional video she was supposed to shoot soon; that would be a first step toward reestablishing herself as an artist, even if she still didn't intend to go back to singing full-time until she graduated. And the class with Ms. Sofue was fine in and of itself… for the first ten minutes or so.

That was when she noticed the smell. At first, she was looking around the room to try and figure out who had lost control of their bowels in such close proximity to other students. Maybe it was something they had for lunch?

A brief investigation ten minutes later revealed the true culprit, once everyone was looking at her like she was being most unladylike. Deep in the recesses of her desk, which she never used to keep anything since she would just have to move it again after class, someone had stuffed an old sandwich. Unless she missed her guess, there was natto and egg on it, among other things. But there was too much mold growing inside the sandwich bag for her to be certain.

"Oh GOOD GOD!" cried one of the boys nearby, covering his face with his arm. "What's in that thing?!"

Waving at the air with her crooked heka, the teacher coughed and demanded, "Please dispose of your lunch in a proper manner from now on, Miss Kujikawa! Make no mistake, even I have no interest in mummified food!"

A few of them were able to wrap it in some paper and drag it to the trash can, amid Rise's protests that she had never seen it before. Nobody believed her, because the natto tended to make it seem obvious that it had come from Marukyu — even though their speciality was tofu, not other soybean offerings. A lot of bickering back and forth broke out until the teacher banged her cane on her desk.

"Enough! Miss Kujikawa has technically broken no rule, even if it was her sandwich. So we'll say no more about it. Please, open your books again and turn to page…"

But the entire class period, Rise couldn't stop thinking about the sandwich. She already knew who it was; only one person at that school was stupid enough to actively mess with a famous pop idol. The instant the bell rang, she pelted out of class so fast that quite a few students gasped. By now, she knew what class Ai was supposed to be in around this time… and where she could find her.

~ o ~

"Oh!" gasped one of the girls in the locker room when Rise barged past her. "Do you even have this class? What are you doing in the-"

"Ebihara?" she asked. Some girl with a towel wrapped around her hair pointed further into the room. Rise stormed over there to find a towel-clad Ai preening at the mirror hanging on the inside of her locker, running the brush through her hair over and over. "Thanks for your present."

Smirking a little, the girl didn't even glance over. "I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yeah? You don't recognise it?"

Everyone gasped when she threw it onto the bench nearest Ebihara. That was nothing compared to the chorus of disgusted noises that followed once its foul stench began to pervade the air within the steamy room. Even still wrapped in the plastic bag, it was horrendous.

"Oh, GOD," Ai joined in, though she was chuckling just a little. "Why would you be carrying that thing around? Just to throw at me like that?"

"Why?" she demanded. "This has crossed the line from mean to just… weird! What's the point of stinking up the classroom?"

Full of false innocence, she pressed a hand to her chest as she said, "Why, I don't know. Sounds to me like someone just forgot to throw away her lunch. Maybe you should be a little less wasteful. Then again, as rich and famous as you are, I bet you don't care at all."

A ripple of murmurs spread throughout the room. Rise knew that they didn't really care about the sandwich, or about wastefulness, but they were highly concerned with this argument between two students playing out right in front of them. Gossip fodder. So she decided not to give them any more ammunition.

"Okay. We'll just throw it away." She snatched it off the bench and flashed Ai a poisonous smile. "Have a lovely day, Ebi-chan."

"Don't you mean Ebi-kun?"

Rise stopped dead in her tracks. She actually looked around for what assholes had said it, determined to give them a dressing down. Even if they were fighting, nobody got to talk about her friend like that. But she realized it had come from Ai herself. "What?"

"You were one of the people that started the rumour, right?" She looked so haughty, arms folded over her chest and hip cocked to one side. "So I'm surprised you let it go that easy."

Deciding to play along, she smirked and shot back, "I heard you showed off the goods to some other girls and it proved it was false."

"Yeah. But since when do people like you care about facts? You would much rather be right than the truth prevail."

"People like- okay. Whatever this is, whatever you want from me, I'm done with it. I thought we could try to be adults and move on, but all you want to do is start a war — one I'm not interested in fighting. Just leave me alone if you really can't stand me this bad, okay?"

Ai laughed and took a step forward. "Rise-Risette, the gossip-monger. And now, the cheater! What terrible thing are you going to do next?"

"I didn't do anything in the first place!"

"You know you did." The smile disappeared for a second, leaving her friend's features full of cold fury. But it was so brief that most of the other girls probably wouldn't have noticed; then she was smiling like rainbows were shooting out of her ass again. "And hey, if you want to try to blame me for all of it, go ahead. You might as well."

"No, that's not necessary. Maybe it's just a series of tragic coincidences."

"Uh huh. Or maybe you're just a self-destructive pop idol, a little brat who couldn't hack it in the entertainment industry, and now that you're stuck in boring old Inaba, you want attention again. Don't you see you're going about it all the wrong ways?"

So that was her game. Now Rise could see this for what it was: it wasn't just any one incident meant to slander her and give her a bad name. All of them together were supposed to paint a picture of a celebrity spiraling out of control. Rise was going to turn into the Japanese Britney Spears if Ai Ebihara had anything to do with it.

"You really want to destroy me that badly?" she hissed now that they were so close their noses were almost touching. All the girls around them were whispering and chattering, watching the drama intently. The rub was, they were gossiping so much about what they were saying that they couldn't even actually hear what they were saying.

"You can bet on it. I told you I was going to, unless you destroy me first. And I think you will. I think you are exactly the kind of person who will shoot in self-defense."

"That isn't me," she breathed, glancing down at Ai's body. It was so close to her own… she couldn't help looking, couldn't help feeling flustered even though they were fighting right now. "We both know that. You're just mad I messed up, and you won't let me apologize, and you won't leave it alone. There's nothing else I can do."

"Yes there is." Then she hiked an eyebrow slightly, lowering her voice to barely a whisper. "What? What are you looking at?"

"Nothing. Just… trying to figure out what to-"

"You were trying to figure out if you could see my dick. Weren't you?" As Rise felt her brow furrow, Ai chuckled and pressed on, "Do it. Go looking."

She could feel her temper flaring hotter. It was getting hard to control. "Stop being so gross. I wouldn't do that, I haven't done that, and I'm not going to do that."

"Why not? Come on… all you have to do is rip this towel off me. Show the world. Maybe I'm tucking again, maybe I'm not. But wouldn't that be great if you exposed a scandal in the women's locker room? Risette the Hero, saving all these poor girls from the freak."

"You know — you know I have never once in my life called you a freak, why do you want me to hurt you so badly? What do you get out of it? Are you some kind of psycho masochist?!"

"Sure! Go with that. Even more reason to save everyone. Do it." No movement. "Clock's ticking. The longer you wait, the weirder it's going to be that we're standing here whispering to each other."

But Rise's mind was racing. She still had no idea really why she was pushing so hard for her to attack, to be so vicious. She thought back to the revelation she had when walking home — about Ai, about what these attacks meant for their relationship. And when she thought of it that way…

Everything came together. Of course, nothing was for certain until she heard it straight from the horse's mouth, but now Rise thought she understood the reason her former friend was trying so hard to get her to treat her like vermin.

"No," she whispered with a small smile.

"No? Aww, I guess the games continue then," Ai said with a fake, exaggerated pout. "You're going to have to be a lot tougher than that to make it as a star."

"Actually… let's play a new game. Unless you want to give up now?" Her pleading face returned. "Please, please just stop. I'll leave you alone if that's what you want, or we can go back to being friends and… try to put this behind us. But I'm not giving up, not going away. So…? Maybe?"

Ai shook her head. "This isn't your game, you don't get to change the rules, princess. So nice try."

"Fine," she sighed… before sliding her arms tightly around Ai.

"H-hey!" she burst out. Then a little louder, "Oh my GOD, now Risette is trying to molest me!"

Before the gasps really had a chance to deepen, Rise sobbed, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you, I just… I just love you so much Ai, a-and when you… when you pulled away, I didn't know what to do! Can't you forgive me?"

Even the girls who weren't watching before were glued to this scene now. And even though she could tell Ai didn't like losing control of the situation — hated might have been more apropos — she still drew back to gape at her.

"What… did you just say?"

"I asked you to forgive-"

"Cut the bullSHIT!" she snapped loudly enough that one smaller girl yelped and fell back on her ass, scrabbling for the nearest bench. "You can't mean that. Not in front of all these people, you… they'll know you're- if you say how you feel, that's…"

"I don't care about them! I love you, Ai, I… I didn't mean for us to end up this way!" Her bottom lip wobbled hard as she took a shaky breath. "But if you really can't forgive me, I'll understand! I just… I can't go on with us hurting each other like this!"

"Oh, this is so not going to work," she scoffed… until she saw a few of the girls putting their hands on Rise's shoulders, comforting her as the big fat tears rolled down her cheeks. Offering tissues, petting her hair. "Are you- wow, you guys can't be buying this! It's an act!"

"Hey, don't be so mean!" said some girl with bobbed hair; Rise thought her name was Matsunaga, but she couldn't remember at the moment. The moment Ai's gaze was on her, she said much more quietly, "S-sorry."

"Oh my GOD. Fine. Whatever, I'm out of here."

But a wall of girls blocked her way. They were all glowering at her now, looking ready to throw down; they would never have challenged alone but there was safety in numbers. Ai's eyebrows shot up, unimpressed… but the more she looked at all of them, the more anxious she appeared. Not frightened, just uneasy from the attention. The constant attention, while wearing a towel… prospect of a fight… she backed into a corner and they started to advance on her. This would get seriously out of hand if someone didn't step in.

Someone stepped in.

"Please, just give me another chance," Rise provided smoothly as she slid forward through the throng of girls, taking up Ai's hand — which was immediately yanked out of reach. Her voice was taut with emotion as she pleaded, "That's all! I'll show you I can be a better friend, a-and those pranks? Forgotten! And I won't ever tell another lie about you again, I promise!"

Ai took another good look around at the student body standing in opposition against her. The wheels were turning behind her eyes. Then she glared down at Rise with a shake of her head. "You… conniving… snake," she muttered.

Some of the girls heard it, and looked more scandalised. And because now everyone else was behind her… Rise felt comfortable allowing a smug, triumphant smirk to take over her features. Just for an instant. She even mouthed a few choice words:

"You only have one way out."

Oh, she had never seen Ai look that angry before. This wasn't just annoyance or rage. She looked murderous. But it only lasted a second before she sighed, shut her eyes, took a breath.

"Rise… fine. I know… I went too far. Can you forgive me?"

"Wow, really sounds authentic," one of the others closest to the lockers scoffed.

"No, really." When Ai opened her eyes again, she was smiling weakly. "I have missed you. I just didn't know… I was so angry when you started that nasty rumour."

"I know. It was a stupid mistake! And I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you, if you just… take me back! That's all you have to do." She took both of her hands, ignoring the way nails were digging into her own. Petty little revenges were par for the course now. "Just be with me."

One could hear a pin drop in that locker room. Ai pulled her close and whispered softly, "You want to play this game? We're playing it on a national level."

"Bring it on," she replied in kind, smirking again — even while her heart pounded in her throat from the closeness. "But c'mon, I beat you this round."

"Shut up."

Such a chorus of "WHOOOOO" went up when they kissed that it felt like they were shaking the foundation of Yasogami High. Probably because, metaphorically as well as literally, they were. Game-changer indeed.

To Be Continued…

#We'll Face Ourselves #saphir de lune #persona 4 fanfiction #forkanna writes #rise x ai #p4 fanfic #jess the writer

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twilightknight17 · 4 years ago

Text

Today on P5S, we’re taking a nice relaxing dip in the hot sprin--

Fukuoka, Kyushu! The plan was to keep going straight through to Kyoto, but Makoto was hurting from all the driving, so we pulled over with the intention of spending the night in a proper hotel and having a good meal. Which, of course, means ramen, because we gotta try the local ramen in each place. ^_^

Even Morgana wanted to try, though he requested that Akira blow on it, first, because “feline tongues are sensitive.”

The plan was to stay in Fukuoka until Makoto was feeling better, but Zenkichi called and basically said we had to get to Kyoto right away. So after a night of sleep, we got up the next morning, and we finally learned why Haru hasn’t been driving, despite having her license.

My wife has a lead foot.

Apparently no one but Joker and Queen ever drove the Mona Bus, because everyone but Makoto seemed extremely surprised.

Supposedly it was eight hours to Kyoto. We were there by noon.

Anyway, this old bar is apparently Zenkichi’s safe house, if anything ever goes wrong on an investigation.

He’s tracked the list of names that we found in the lab back to a politician called Jyun Owada, who was apparently a Shido supporter. This guy would benefit from changes of heart, and one of his supporters is the CEO of Madicce, Mr. Akira Konoe. They determine that Owada wouldn’t have a Jail himself, but that he’s probably getting Konoe to influence people for him. Which means that, since Sophia sensed a Jail in Osaka (that we missed because we were all screaming at Haru’s driving), it’s most likely that Konoe is a Monarch.

So my dart hit the board, I just gotta see how close to the bullseye.

Zenkichi heads to Osaka for a meeting with Konoe to try to get his keyword, and convinces the kids to stay behind. They need to rest and recover so they can be at their best for the Jail. Plus, he’s put them up in the nicest hotel in Kyoto! Which means it’s time to go to the hot springs!

The boys are having a lovely time relaxing. Even Morgana’s chilling on a rock with his tail in the water, basking in the chance to really unwind.

.......Atlus. We need to have words.

Not only was this absolutely unnecessary...

It’s the exact same scenario as P3. We’re even in the same goddamn city. If I thought Gekkoukan would be willing to spend 40K per person a night, it might as well be the same hotel.

Apparently, the boys went in right before the time switched over, and didn’t realize. And now, once again, they’re up for an unjust execution. At least Yosuke and Teddie were actually peeping in P4.

Personally, I think a better plan would have been to start yelling, “Who’s there?” as soon as the girls came in. Sneaking just makes it look like you’re up to something nefarious. It was an honest mistake. And really, trying to get out without causing a scene isn’t a heinous crime.

We don’t see who knocked over the thing that got them caught, but they do get caught. There’s no gameplay here. Defeat is inevitable. And...

The girls jump immediately to accusing them of being perverts. Never mind that they’re wet because they just got out of the damn hot spring. And the boys try to explain. They try their best. They explain that they didn’t realize the time had switched. They explain that they’d gotten locked in without noticing, because the men’s side doors lock when it switches over. “It was an accident,” Akira says, plaintively.

And Makoto looks at these boys that she’s fought alongside for over a year. The ones who risked their lives to save her and everyone more than once. The teammates that she stood beside as they shot a god and saved the entire damn world. The ones who, on this very roadtrip, stepped in to defend Haru from Natsume being a harassing jackass... And she says...

She sounds actually angry.

And she beats them up.

For an honest mistake.

I know this is a trope, but in this particular instance, it’s stupid, and it feels incredibly out of character. None of the boys deserve this, but Akira least of all. He’s your goddamn leader; he’s done more for any of you than anyone else. He’s been falsely accused of shit over and over, and now he has to deal with it from his own teammates?

For shame, Atlus. Shitty writing, especially because this event is never going to be brought up again. Was this supposed to be funny? Because in this situation, it wasn’t at all.

...now that I’m done being cranky, let’s go check how Zenkichi’s meeting in Osaka is going.

Hm. Nowhere, apparently, because Konoe’s gone for the day. Weird. Zenkichi had an appointment and everything.

Now let’s check on... well fuck.

Commissioner Kaburagi, Zenkichi’s boss, is summoned by the commissioner general and the previously mentioned Owada. This asshole is claiming to have evidence that the Phantom Thieves are behind all the changes of heart. They hacked into EMMA!

You’ve got a lot of fucking nerve, when you’re the one behind this.

.......maybe this lady is better than I thought.

She says that there’s not enough proof, and that they need to look into things more. The commissioner general counters that the Thieves are going to be tried for murder. Because apparently they killed that poor man at the Okinawa facility after they learned how to get into EMMA.

Kaburagi knows this is bullshit and wants to investigate more, but they basically tell her to do it or else. And promise that she’ll be commissioner general one day. After the current commissioner general launches his political career with the capture of the Phantom Thieves, of course. And she’s just going to follow orders. Never mind. God. I didn’t misjudge her at all.

Konoe goes on TV and announces that they’re shutting down EMMA temporarily, because the Phantom Thieves hacked it and stole personal information. He also informs everyone that they murdered one of his employees. Zenkichi and I had the same reaction, which was “WHAT?!”

Look at this asshole.

Zenkichi realizes what’s going to happen and takes off for Kyoto. Cut to that night, where there’s an entire fucking squad of police outside of the hotel in riot gear. For seven teenagers. Zenkichi shows up and basically pleads with Kaburagi to stop and think, because the real mastermind is still out there.

Kaburagi snaps back with, “You mean like with your wife?” and Zenkichi shuts up. Low blow, lady. She also points out that he seems very attached to criminals.

Before Kaburagi can have the police storm the place, Zenkichi yells for the kids to run, and gets arrested for it. The kids make it to the safe house, but when they find out about the arrest, they want to go after him. They end up agreeing to let Makoto handle that, and then we get a look at King Asshole himself.

I hate how nice this man’s office is.

And I’m kind of afraid of EMMA.

Good luck with that, though. You’d have to break them first; you can’t change the heart of someone stable enough to have a persona. Not that this fuck would know that.

God, he’s like if Shido and Maruki had a fucked-up kid. He wants his own personal team capable of entering the metaverse and changing people, to make the world “better”. Holy fuck.

Somehow I don’t think you’re the one in the right, when you’re talking about making us a “sacrifice to bring about [your] new world order.”

So the next day, the Thieves get a text from Akane’s phone number, that basically says she’s been kidnapped. It’s clearly a trap, but they all agree that they have to go. According to the text, if they want her back, they need to come to Inari Taisha.

Also known as Fushimi Inari, the largest Inari Shrine in Japan. I’ve been there.

I have literally been right there. I have a picture:

And so the kids head into a Jail based on Fushimi Inari where the keyword is “Phantom Thieves”, and I try not to explode from sheer glee because oh boy I thought I’d have to wait a lot longer for this and also I didn’t expect it to be somewhere I know.

Eeeeeeeee~

They find Akane tied up and all go running towards her. Futaba trips, and before she can catch up, a huge cage snatches up the rest of them, because surprise, the Jail Monarch is Akane, and she’s absolutely ready to lord it over them.

Meanwhile, Zenkichi is getting beaten up in interrogation and taking it like a champ.

But it’s okay, because Makoto called in a favor. <3

Futaba managed to get back to the safe house, and Zenkichi met up with her there after Sae got him released.

So you know that bit in P5 where the phan-site poll hits 100% belief and we summoned a demon the size of a skyscraper? That’s Zenkichi right now, except he’s hitting Maximum Dad Energy and I’m pretty sure he’s going to summon his persona.

There’s a cool stealth sequence where you have to sneak by a bunch of shadows, because Zenkichi doesn’t have a persona. Futaba runs navigation for him, but it’s so funny because he... sneaks like a regular person. He doesn’t leap into cover with superhuman speeds.

It might have been cool to play Zenkichi With A Gun, but stealth mode was fun, too. XD

And then the confrontation with Akane. She gives the Thieves a choice of who wants their heart changed first, but before anyone can stupidly volunteer, Zenkichi shows up, and a few more things get revealed. Most importantly, the fact that Owada is the one who killed Zenkichi’s wife, and Zenkichi got death threats directed at Akane if he didn’t stop investigating. No fucking wonder he couldn’t solve the case. But Akane is too disillusioned to listen, because she doesn’t understand. And Zenkichi is forced to confront that at some point, he compromised his morals, telling himself he was doing it for Akane.

This line wasn’t sung, but I kind of wish it was, considering who his persona is. :P

Zenkichi admits that he might have been wrong. But he was doing it to protect the only family he had left.

“But at least I know what makes a person evil. Evil only cares about itself. It’s the mark of a man who would bring another to ruin and dare not show remorse.”

And his awakening was badass.

Shitty picture, but his literal shadow had glowing eyes while it was forming the contract. It was so cool. :D

Wolf is awesome. After beating up a whole hoard of shadows by himself, Akane got away, the Thieves were freed, and we all went back to the safe house to rest. And I swear, you take a nap for one hour, and cannot get any peace. XDDD

Thank you, darling. Now I gotta figure out what deck that’s from.

So that was today. Technically I only played for like...2 and a half hours?? But god, we hit the hot springs and everything just flung itself directly off a cliff and all I could do was hold on.

I have so many thoughts about things!!! But I need to see more first. But this has been fantastic overall.

#god this is a long one #Li plays P5Scramble

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dumbassdisaster · 4 years ago

Note

For the character question, Yosuke??

give me a character and I’ll say some stuff about them

YOSUKE!!!! :D answers under read more

do I like them:

I LOVE YOSUKE!!! he took me a while to warm up to (on my first playthrough, I got him to rank 4, and then I got to Kanji’s arc, and then I didn’t touch his s. link again until January), but NOW he’s one of my favorites

5 good qualities:

compassionate!! he’s always checking on how his friends are doing and wants to make sure everyone’s okay. one of the things I really liked about PQ was that they focused on this character trait more and had members of the team POINT IT OUT TO HIM. he deserves that

he’s a huge dork, it’s so sweet when him and Chie get really into something and just start goofing off together (like how excited they are to do a stakeout!!)

Yosuke is very smart and analytical. other than Naoto, he’s the one that consistently makes the most headway on the case. especially in the beginning, since he’s the only one who connected the TV world with the murders

sentimental, but in a good way. he wants to make memories with everyone he cares about, who also care about him. it’s so sweet that he gets so excited planning the ski trip… just wants him and his friends to have a good time ;-;

extremely responsible. he takes Teddie in and takes responsibility for him as an older brother???? and gathers everyone to help look for Nanako when she runs away????? I love him

3 bad qualities:

gets stuck in his head a lot, which leads to him overthinking and making things issues when they really shouldn’t be

doesn’t let himself be himself. he tends to suppress his excitement when he starts to get a little too dorky. also a cause of his treatment of Kanji when he joins the team

look we ALL know how awful it was that atlus took out his romance route, but I’m mentioning it anyway. the two characters flaws I listed are directly related to his internalized homophobia and insecurity / inability to acknowledge his sexuality, and taking out the romance path is insulting to him and his struggles

favourite episode/etc: social link rank:

I ADORE his rank 9…telling Yu that he’s special to him while overlooking the town… hhhhhh he’s so sweet

otp:

Yu / Yosuke. there is SO MUCH THERE for so many reasons. they’re both lonely kids from the city who found each other in a small town, and help one another grow and accept themselves and learn how to have genuine friends ;-;

brotp:

Yosuke and Chie because I love it when they’re dorks together!! they’re both very sweet and responsible, and they have fun together when Yosuke is letting himself be genuine! I also love the idea that Yosuke will call up Chie late at night for no reason, and then they just talk on the phone for a bit

Yosuke and Kou and Daisuke. Kou and Daisuke (especially Daisuke) mention how cool they think Yosuke is multiple times throughout the game, and they think he’s nice, too!! it’s just a nice, friendly group. also, The Magician is the only persona manga I’ve ever read, and I like that they’re friends in it

ot3:

he’s one of those characters that I have a difficult time shipping with anyone outside of the one pairing I really like, so an ot3 doesn’t come to mind

notp:

Yosuke / Chie, it makes me very uncomfortable. they’re just platonic bros

best quote:

everything he says when he’s trying to convince everyone to throw Namatame into the TV tbh. I LOVE that this scene is in the game at all, since the investigation team isn’t a brutal group whatsoever. even though they’re dealing with life or death situations, their general tone is more lighthearted. so to have Yosuke, Yu’s BEST FRIEND, the first social link of the game, give this speech about how the only way to ensure that no other innocent people die is to kill who they think is the perpetrator?? it is so heavy, and emotionally charged, and raw… and is such a great example of how traumatized he is by everything that happened that year. my favorite quote from it is when he says, “someone close to me died… her killer can’t be convicted… and now I’m gonna let the same thing happen again?” holy fuck. it’s powerful and convincing

head canon:

he makes mixtapes for everyone on the investigation team, filled with songs that remind him of them. he hands them out when Yu comes back for summer vacation during his third year

also, he’s bi

#im really glad i got to answer this on dec 3 fjasdhfljkashdf #thank you for the ask!! i love him SO SO much #SO MUCH #andi answers #p4

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agastyatreepetals · 5 years ago

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Personas’ Gifts, P4 Edition

As I stated in the P3 version of this post, I’ll be exploring what happened to persona users after their game ended. And I we will not be doing Yū/the protagonist, because of his status as a wild card.

And so now it’s time for the Investigation Team!

How about we start with Teddie on this post? Teddie, the bear, the home-grown human, the legend, and he would absolutely jump into a frozen lake. Especially if he’s tired. He absorbs ice with his final golden persona, and so when he needs a pick me up he seeks ice. Yōsuke has found Teddie folded inside of the freezer. Yōsuke’s parents have also found Teddie in the freezer.

Teddie has pretty good night vision too, and oddly enough he can be a sort of guide. It’s...brighter around him in the darkness. He’s not glowing or maybe light it’s just that the darkness doesn’t touch him the same way. And he’s unbothered by wind, like Yukari in the P3 post. He does use those wind abilities to just...fly sometimes. The wind once carried him a mile, then he got dropped when the wind suddenly stopped and he broke a leg, oops.

A downside to Teddie liking his freezer time is the fact that freezer, unless they’re ice filled basements like ye olde days, are powered by electricity. And electricity has it out for Teddie. Phones will just explode if he uses them while they’re on the charger. He once murdered Junes’ TV section by running through there in a panic. Luckily, or rather unluckily, it had been during a bad storm so the storm was blamed. And it was in fact the storms’ fault, but that was because storms seek out Teddie-the-lightning-rod-bear. Don’t let Teddie outside during a storm, even if it’s just raining and no chance of lightning, the lightning will find him.

(I am both trying to change it up, and have fun with the fact that the Investigation Team have third tier personas which makes them uh...a little OP in some regards lol)

And now to Naoto, some of this is inspired by my conversation with @themusiciansword652231 on the original post). So, Naoto reflects both light and dark if their third tier persona is achieved, and blocks fire. And has no weaknesses.

Therefore, Naoto glows in the dark, having absorbed the daylight, and in the day provides shade to anyone who stays close because they absorb the shadows of the night. And on top of that are heat and fireproof. Naoto doesn’t like to be set on fire, but Teddie did set Naoto’s jacket on fire to test the theory and then everyone found out that Naoto is fireproof.

Teddie isn’t allowed to play with lighters anymore

Yukiko’s cooking disasters are now worse. If someone’s helping her, then disaster can be averted. However, the reason it’s a disaster is because absorbs heat. Too close to a fire? Absorbed it. Hot food? It’s cold now. Also cold hurt really bad and gives her blisters, so retrieving cold food hurts and ends up all over the floor.

Teddie becomes clingier to Yukiko because her persona blocks electricity. So when the electricity comes for him there’s a chance it won’t because it just stops because Yukiko’s body just....isn’t affected. Being named after snowflakes is really ironic when winter becomes her most hated month because it hurts and she gets sick more often because her body is in Crisis Mode.

Chie, on the other hand, thrives in winter. Snow and cold fill her with energy, and she never feels cold. She’s even played in the snow in a swimsuit. Oh, and like Ken, sunlight doesn’t phase her. She would never go snow blind, and in fact loves things to be as bright as possible. Fire is unpleasant however, and heat. Summer months are when Chie’s body goes in Crisis Mode, so no more beach time. Also campfires suddenly become The Worst Invention Ever. And she gets lots of burns from simple things like toast all the time.

Kanji can take a punch. It takes a lot to bruise him (like a metal pipe to the face) or break a bone (falling from a great height). Electricity gives him life. This does mean his phone has a hard time keeping a charge, because he’ll (especially if he’s ill, tired, or just worn out) just zap the life out of it. Naoto gives him a rubber case to help protect his phone. Windy days suck. These, unlike Junpei, don’t tear him up. They feel like punches and pummeling, so people think he gets into way more fights than he actually does. It was just a breeze that smacked his face, yes it’s swollen real bad, no he didn’t fight a biker gang again, they probably wouldn’t hurt him all that anyway.

And finally, Yōsuke. He has the same issue with electricity as Teddie, except he doesn’t pursue him like poor Teddie. Accidentaly shocks hurt way more and he has to be careful about plugging in and unplugging stuff. His headphones have occasionally shocked him while he’s listened to music.

Wind gives him life. As soon as a storm rolls in, his eyes flash and he’s outside and people have sworn they’ve seen him fly. His closest friends won’t confirm it but “Yōsuke I swear to god, stop jumping into the wind like a kite.” It bolsters his mood, his energy, and he just has a great time. In fact, anyone who absorb elements get a boost to their mood along with their physical state. And Yōsuke is in the fireproof club with Naoto, so if any fires need to be tended to their the people to help.

#shin megami tensei franchise #persona series #persona 4 #yukiko amagi #chie satanoka #kanji tatsumi #yosuke hanamura #naoto shirogane #teddie #shirogane naoto #hanamura yōsuke #tatsumi kanji #satanoka chie #amagi yukiko #long post

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nightmarenoise · 5 years ago

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Just comparing two cartoons I love

I understand that nobody asked in any capacity, but here I go anyway:

It feels fair to compare Ducktales 2017 to Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018), not only because they're only about a year apart and truly, what is a year, but also because they

1. Both use this style that looks like it jumped straight out of a comic book. Okay, it's mostly the solidly inked shadows, but it gives me, personally, comic-y vibes.

2. They have taken what's arguably the main characters (the triplets for DT, the Turtles for TMNT) and shaken the formula up a good bit. Were the triplets formerly indistinguishable and all had the exact same personality, interests and voice actor, they are now three entirely separate entities with different traits and appearances. And while the turtles had about one defining personality trait and looked basically the same, save for the color of their masks, Rise made them different species of turtle to justify giving them radically different designs and three-dimensional personalities. Both shows faced criticism for this decision from people who cannot deal with change. Despite this, in both cases, it just works and does so incredibly well.

3. The oldest bros wear red.

4. We have two middle bros associated with the color blue who are both voiced by Ben Schwartz.

5. Both shows have a focus on family, with Ducktales especially focusing on found family and Rise on brotherhood.

6. Anime references!

Ducktales has a larger cast overall, with a lot of different characters all interacting with each other and they all have the most pleasant voices I've ever heard in my entire life. It's all solidly animated, the style is consistent and the animation is fluid, the characters are diverse and they're all lovely in their own right, except for those who aren't. The writing is top notch. Everyone feels consistent despite the large cast and it's delightful to watch all those interesting people interact with each other in their own way. The show also handles its mystery elements and occasional action scenes incredibly well, building suspense and delivering laughs and gut punches without hesitation. They juggle different tones like a professional clown, except the true clown was us, the audience, all along, for ever having doubted them.

The overarching plot of Ducktales, for its first two seasons, was mostly to uncover the mystery of what had happened to the mother of the triplets and all that would entail. Mystery and mythical elements will likely continue to be afoot for season 3.

Rise works with less focal characters, we have the Turtles, Splinter and April as well as various bad guys, but more than makes up for it with a lot of animation. A lot a lot of animation and it's all high quality. There's usually so much going on on-screen that a watching it once isn't enough to catch it all. Despite that, it doesn't feel crowded or rushed. Lots of dynamic shots and incredibly-choreographed action scenes, but nothing the thoroughly solid writing has to hide behind. Even when the baddies aren't the main concern, they're still well-rounded, interesting characters with unique abilities and motivations. Although, most of the mutants are just really feral. Still a delightfully diverse cast.

The turtles on the other hand spent their first season trying to foil their various foes, from a yokai trying to mutate all of humanity, to his mutants, to dealing with random mythical stuff, to the nefarious Foot Clan trying to reassemble the Dark Armor in the shadows. It's generally a more action-driven show, but they still find the time for some heartfelt moments.

The triplets 2.0

Despite their conventiently color-coded caps, they were really mostly the same character possessing three different bodies at a time. Well, the times of eerie The Shining like-twins, except extended to triplets, are over!

We have Huey, the oldest brother, voiced by Danny Pudi. He's a gentle, intellectual soul who values red hats, science, scout badges and checklists. Huey is arguably the closest in characterization to the original triplets, with some additional neat freak sprinkled in for flavor. He tries to be the responsible older sibling and keep his brothers under control and out of trouble. He also seems to have the most fiery temper of the bunch and should clearly not be pressed to the breaking point. He's my personal favorite and I heard season 3 will bring more focus to him, which makes me elated to hear. 888/10.

Middle child Dewey, the blue one, voiced by Ben Schwartz, who will inevitably come for all the iconic blue characters. He's very clearly the middle one, because he craves attention and validation and occasionally dreams of being an only child. Dewey is the one who started the investigation into their mom's disappearance and kept it from his brothers, partially to save them from hurt, but also because he wanted to feel special. He's the most interested in going on adventures with their uncle, but can get reckless when doing so. He's a bit of a spotlight hog, who has his own talk show that nobody watches and sings his own theme song when he needs to get hyped up, or just to fill this silence. This may sound kind of negative, but rest assured, he's a good, sweet boy. The focal triplet for the first season. 500/10.

Louie, the evil triplet, a schemer and a conman. Voiced by Bobby Moynihan. The youngest of the bunch. While they call him evil, he's really far too lazy to cause serious harm, except for when it's his laziness that's causing him to take dangerous shortcuts, oops. He dreams of making a fortune, but without having to work for it and preferably without any responsibility either, thank you. He also occasionally dreams of being a spoiled fat cat. Despite his chill demeanor, he can be a bit of a crybaby and those tears are only fake 50% of the time. I feel like he likes getting babied, but mainly because that means there's less work for him to do. Season 2, which focuses more on him, reveals that he's actually quite brilliant, capable of seeing all the angles and giving him some chessmaster-like qualities. He needs to learn to use those abilities for good. 665/10.

Hi, she's Webbie! The honorary triplet, who also got a massive makeover, from annoying token girl tagalong to socially awkward, adorkable action girl. Be careful who you call ugly in middle school, indeed. Like a more ferocious Mabel Pines, she has a grappling hook and years of martial arts training under her belt. Webbie can absolutely decimate you, but won't, because she's a sweet girl. Voiced by Kate Micucci. She continues to like unicorns and the color pink, but assuredly in the most badass of ways. She helped Dewey with his quest to uncover the mystery of his missing mom, but works well with all of the triplets, with Huey taking her under his wing a bit and Louie trying to get her to chill out more. Webbie is a sweetheart and I would die for her, were it not completely unnecessary, since she's more than capable of taking care of herself. ∞/10.

A lot of the supporting cast also saw updates and changes, for instance Gyro being a genius without social skills and Fenton being an adorkable scientist, but again, they work really well. They're interesting new takes on beloved characters. Even the new additions to the cast are great. In short, I love me some birds and am excited for season 3, Disney, get your scheduling together.

The Turtles 2.14.2 - I upgraded my upgrade in the middle of the upgrade

Also, these guys have seen so many different iterations in their, what, 30+ years of existence. As someone with no prior attachment to the turtle brand, I don't have a lot to say here. Leo's not the leader in this one and Raph has more personality than being angry at Leo for being the leader. Donnie is not just a random nerd spouting technobabble and Mikey has more depth than yelling the catchphrase every now and again. Apparently, this made people upset. I don't know how to help you with that. The middle brothers exude some high chaotic energy and should not be left unsupervised, but the oldest and youngest seem fairly stable.

Raphael, the red-bandana'd alligator snapping turtle is an imposing figure. He's the oldest and therefore team leader by default. Raph has no reason to be upset at Leo, so he isn't. Despite his ferocious appearance, he's a soft guy, who likes teddies and doting on his brothers, but fears puppets. He's a bit of a knucklehead, most of his plans involve smashing things with his tonfa and he may refer to himself in the third person in the heat of the moment, but he possesses emotional intelligence, is open about his feelings and looks after his brothers. He is big and and strong, but his heart is bigger and stronger. He especially loves small animals animals, who don't usually return his feelings. RIP in F. This responsible guy is voiced by Omar Benson Miller. 300/10, very soft. Somehow both the heart and the big guy of the group.

Donatello has been upgraded from second-to-youngest to second-to-oldest, not that it makes much of a difference. His color of choice is purple and he continues in the character's tradition of being a nerd, although this time, with self-confidence. Donnie is very sure of himself and his abilities. As a spiny soft-shell turtle, he's less sure of his shell, but that's okay, he's made robotic battle shells to make up for it and his bō is the mother of all multitools. This guy can build you a tank out of a buggie and upgrade your animatronic into something to give the FNAF franchise a run for its money. He's the smartest of the four and when not focused on his phone, very focused on the mission. Due to having to deal with his bros, he can be exasperated a lot. Thinks of himself as an emotionally unavailable bad boy, even though he's just really sensitive and wants his dad or someone parent-aged to tell him they're proud of him. Theater kid. 999/10, give the middle child a hug and some coffee, you can't tell me he has a healthy sleep cycle. This sarcastic nerd is brought to you by Josh Brener.

Leonardo, Ben Schwartz's second blue character (Sonic (2020) being the third under his belt) and also his second ninja after Randy Cunningham. He's not the leader. He's still a good character. Leo has approximately 800 charisma and unwavering faith in both, his family and himself. Mostly himself though. Like Louie, season 2 revealed that he is a master of prediction and playing people like the cheap kazoo you can't tell me he doesn't have to play Darude's Sandstorm on. He dabs, he boards, he will pun you to death and back and he has an Odachi that can cut through space. Leo likes hogging the spotlight when given the chance and wants to be showered with attention and praise. Having four kids really only means twice the middle child nonsense. Leo is a red-eared slider, the original species of the TMNT, as I've been told. He's also the best at being a ninja, but usually too lazy to really apply himself. He's younger than Donnie, but tumblr suggested to read the two as twins, since they're approximately the same age, which sheds a whole new light on their dynamic and frankly, makes way too much sense. 420/10, for our memelord Leonardo.

Michelangelo, the eternally youngest of the bunch. An artiste, who puts stickers on himself, tags the lair, has a spiritual connection to his skateboard and the color orange. Mikey loves all things arts and craft, but he also tries his hands at cooking. He idolizes famous TV chefs and can do pretty much anything out of and into pizza. He's funny, without being annoying, like I feel a lot of other iterations of this character are. It's an easy pitfall for comic relief guys, but this one is more than that. If that's an issue, feel free to leave my house. Mikey is genuinely sweet and happy, optimistic and soft, but also the one brother who knows when it's time to take off the gloves and just get straight to the point. He's open about and in touch with his feelings. He's just baby. Don't treat him as one though. A lot of promo stuff says Leo has taken him under his wing, but he's had more episodes together with Donnie. Not that I'm complaining, they work very well together. Mikey and Raph are both the emotional centers of the group. Does not mind being yeeted after retracting into his shell, as box turtles may do. (Disclaimer, do not yeet actual box turtles!) His weapon of choice is a Kusari-Fundo that can turn into a fire-demon and is about as unpredictable as he is. Likes to jump and bounce around. Probably does parkour. Voiced by Brandon Mychal Smith who is audibly having a blast. 500/10, just an all around Kusari-fun guy.

For last, but certainly not least, April O'Neil, my girl, who saw an upgrade from flip-flopping love interest who was vaguely ninja-ing, but mostly damsel in distress-ing, to all-around spunky powerhouse and by God, she is glowing. Rise has her more as a big sister figure to the turtles, and I will not be told otherwise. She is independent and don't need no man, mutant or no. She has her teleporting pet, her faith in herself, her pinpoint baseball hitting skills and the a complete and utter lack of fear. Despite being a weirdness magnet, April is perfectly comfortable. She would like to be able to keep a job, maybe, but she has loving friends who respect and love her. Surprisingly good a ninja, fearless and fun. Occasionally thinks about being popular at school, but it's really not a big concern, she's not gonna throw a tantrum over it or anything. April is very chill. Not likely to be damseled. More likely to run after the turtles and clean up their messes or save them and everyone involved is fine with that.

The late 10's are really coming in to show us how dynamic and well-written female characters that aren't just "strong", but three-dimensional and relatable are done, huh?

An iconic performance by Kat Graham and ∞/10 for being the honorary better ninja non-mutant non-turtle and best big sister.

Here we have it, two older properties, having new life breathed into them to make them fresh and enjoyable. Have a new spin put on them, to better fit in with our current world. You can feel the love oozing out of every frame. At the end of the day, of course, it all boils down to taste and whether or not you like something. I gave Ducktales 2017 a go because a lot of the staff from Gravity Falls went to work on it and if you don't know me, I love me some Gravity Falls. It's a good show and I enjoy it. I recently got into Rise and while I don't know much about the people working on it, it is also a greatly enjoyable show, easily on the same level as Ducktales, if not above, yet with far less people speaking about it. Which is frankly saddening. I can only recommend the two of them wholeheartedly. If you love animation, yourself and occasionally feeling things, these are for you!

#ducktales 2017 #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt #huey duck #dewey duck #louie duck #webbie vanderquack #raphael #donatello #leonardo #michelangelo #april o'neil

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iconsumeheadcanons · 5 years ago

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P4 x P5 crossover

there are very slight p5r spoilers but its kinda just using some lines from the bad end like just a little ref...so up to you i guess :p

Ren (our protag) goes home to Inaba with Mona. Kinda connected to my other headcanons: his ‘family’ includes his mother, his step-dad, his younger half-brother (step bro? idk), and his twin brother Akira. Akira usually lives with their mother’s ex husband, but something is going on court-wise that he has been deemed unfit for child care, which is why Akira is back with his mother. For now Akira sleeps in the room where his father used to practice tea ceremonies.

The twins kinda reconnect but things are very different and they didn’t have contact at all last year so Ren is surprised to see Akira. Ren is still kinda (not) dealing with all of the stuff from the last very many months, and Akira is still kinda not dealing with how messed up things are with his dad and the fact that he’s pretty sure his brother is The Phantom Thief but absolutely no one in the Amamiya household will acknowledge it so he feels like he’s going crazy. Especially the weird cat Ren brought back home that he keeps talking to.

Anyway, Akira’s not really going to school and Ren’s going to Yasogami (the high school he didn’t get expelled from) so Akira doesn’t know what is going on until he comes back from his part-time to see his mother and her husband arguing over the whereabouts of Ren. Apparently he skipped school that day. Ren doesn’t come home that night and the adults argue over calling the police since Ren won’t answer his phone. Akira avoids them and instead searches Ren’s bedroom for his cat or any sign that he might’ve packed up and left. He finds neither so he goes to bed and tries to remind himself that Ren survived in Tokyo kinda on his own and that this is not the first time he’s gone off to be stupid.

Ren still doesn’t show up at school or the house the next day. Step-dad wants to call the police because Ren is missing and he’s causing trouble and stress for the family. (“Clearly last year taught him nothing.”). Mother doesn’t want to call the police because she’s tired of police stuff and she doesn’t want this kind of stuff to keep affecting their family. Mostly she’s worried about how this will affect her youngest son. She’s losing the argument mostly because she’s losing conviction in herself as a ‘good mother’.

Akira can’t handle their argument so he goes upstairs and finds Morgana trying to paw open the sliding door of Ren’s bedroom and meowing a whole lot. Akira opens the door for the kitty wondering if the talkative kitty just wants to sleep in Ren’s room like usual. Instead the cat paws at Ren’s laptop. Akira opens it and stares at the very intelligent looking animal. Mona unlocks the laptop (“Wait--is that his password?! That’s stupid as hell.” “Meow...”) and tries to get Akira to do something but Akira is mostly shocked so Mona uses a pen on paper to write, “Video Futaba.”

Akira doesn’t know who Futaba is, but he follows Mona’s instructions. He doesn’t find a Futaba in Ren’s contacts but Mona gestures at the one called ‘lil sis :3c’ so Akira calls.

In Tokyo, Futaba’s on a people-watching walk with Yusuke late afterschool when she gets a video call from the recent ghost Ren. She asks the person who she thinks is her pseudo brother where he's been and if he’s all good, but Mona jumps in before Akira can say anything and Mona starts talking away. Curious about the existence of a twin brother that they never knew existed before but more concerned for Ren’s safety, Futaba and Yusuke ask Akira to convince the adults to NOT call the police because Ren will definitely freak out while they call the rest of the group together to figure out what they can do. Futaba says she hasn’t been able to track Ren at all in the past two days and she’s worried he’s gone somewhere service doesn’t matter (like the metaverse). Akira tentatively asks if they and Morgana are part of the Phantom Thieves and Futaba’s like, “Duhhhhh,” and Yusuke very intimidatingly informs Akira not to get the authorities involved in any manner. Futaba says they’ll call back in an hour and hangs up, so Akira decides to get right to work (bc Phantom thieves can be very scary even if they arent trying).

Downstairs Akira tries to appeal with emotions. He warns the adults how calling the police to find Ren will not end well because Ren has had so many bad experiences already and anything that happens will not help Ren try to stay out of more trouble. Step-dad is mad that Ren wouldn’t trust law enforcement and Mother is just so-so tired of the whole mess. Akira doesn’t normally stand up against bullshit (normally Ren’s thing) but Akira is done with this so he’s like, “Of course he doesn’t trust the police! He’s the Leader of the Phantom Thieves and the police put him in fucking solitary! He’s never gonna trust you again after this either!” something like that.

Step-dad and mom are upset and they say Ren was doing the wrong things as a Phantom blah blah. Akira argues that the Thieves exposed bad people including the wrong-doings in the government where the law enforcement works, but the adults won’t hear it so Akira stops talking, turns and grabs a jacket, and leaves the house. It’s late, it’s raining, and Mona follows behind even when Akira climbs on his bike to go out and try to find Ren by himself.

The two end up at Samegawa after checking under bridges, mostly soaked and irritated when they spot a group of people up on the road with three umbrellas. Souji and Yosuke, Yukiko and Chie, and Kanji and Teddie are strolling around, hanging out, and what-not when they spot a teenager, a cat, and a ruined bike by the water. Souji goes down to help them because of course, and everyone follows because of course. Akira recognises like half of them and he’s wary these random adults just seem to bypass the distrust in the air by collectively worrying over him and his poor poor kitty.

Teddie thinks he recognizes the teen because he’s like, “Ren-kun? Why aren’t you at work today! You abeardoned me to unpack the freezer by my lonesome!” And Akira stares because he didn’t know Ren works at Junes. Yosuke tries to hop in but Akira cuts them off and explains that Ren has been missing for two days and he’s trying to find him before the police get involved. If these adults want to help out so bad then maybe they can look for Ren too. Yosuke and Teddie get confused though because they both saw Ren at work yesterday. The rest of the adults also mention seeing him around town yesterday as well, including when they went into Junes before they…

Akira is confused about all the glances they give each other, but Yukiko quickly catches on and asks if Akira thinks Ren might have been stalking them, and Akira gets offended. (Yukiko wasn’t making a serious accusation, she was just trying to distract Akira from the fact that they almost admitted to the existence of the TV World.) Chie asks what would be wrong with calling the police, and Akira says, “Bad experience,” ready to ditch these random people and continue his search, but Yosuke goes wide-eyed and urges Akira to wait. Yosuke clearly understands some of what Akira meant and says they’ll help out, especially since they were the last to see Ren.

They go to Junes where Yosuke unlocks the back door (after Kanji searches around any place in the area that delinquents like to hide. It’s raining too much for anyone to be out.) They check the worker room to look through any of Ren’s stuff. They don’t find anything weird until Souji points out that Ren signed into work yesterday but never signed out. Now that doesn’t indicate everything, but the weird hours he worked yesterday do, mostly because they line up with the time that the group went to Junes yesterday. Chie investigates on the security footage and finds video of Ren sneakily following the group around the department store until they finally end up at...the electronics section.

All the adults + Teddie get real quiet and Akira and Morgana get real angry about all the silence. Akira asks why the camera is angled so weird over the TVs, and why the adults had gone into the electronic section and had not come out until an hour later, or why they don’t see footage of his brother away he followed them into the TV area. No one says anything right away so he asks if they hurt him or if they did something magic to them, like put him some place where his team couldn’t track him. Kanji jumps up to defend them all to say they didn’t even know Ren was actually following them and that they would never hurt a kid, but of course Akira has many reasons to not believe a stranger, so they’re both very tense. Souji tries to stop the fighting when suddenly the old CR in the room turns on.

P5R spoilers sorta!!! But the Midnight Channel shows an Asia-based fantasy world where Ren (with horns because you know he would want them) is in a version of Leblanc soaking dishes in a pail of water when Sojiro (plain but nice human) walks over and mentions that he wishes Ren wouldn’t have to go back to his hometown. Ren asks to stay forever and Sojiro agrees, talking about how happy their little weird family is now. They tease each other over the honesty, but they both look happy. The Midnight Channel shows this like a scene in a drama and the camera does a close up of Ren’s genuine happiness until there are sudden distorted voices telling their vile prisoner to focus. The camera pans out to show Ren alone in a dark, gross, blue prison cell wearing ragged clothes and his hands bound behind him. Someone opens a cell door, and judging by Ren’s unmasked trepidation, whatever follows next will not be good. The clip ends with an echoing slam of the bar doors behind the visitor.

In the darkness following the end of the clip, the IT members all freak out over the recurrence of the whole thing while Akira numbly checks his phone . He didn’t realise he had gotten messages, but they are all from someone who is somehow in his phone as Alibaba. The messages are asking where the hell is he and that there better not be police involved and that the only reason he shouldn’t be looking at his phone is because he fell asleep or something. Judging by the (loud, knowing) reactions around him and Morgana scratching at the door, Akira thinks he understands what is going on and why that Phantom Thief said that she hadn’t been able to track Ren. Akira leaves a message that says, “I think I know where he is,” and then he turns to the others and says that it's obviously some sort of magic that they know about and if they won’t help him out further, than he and his brother’s magic cat will do it on their own.

Of course that is a problem so the IT goes nonono we’ll do this this is our job let’s go, and Akira successfully swindled the IT into shutting up and helping. They all go inside the TV where Morgana can stand on two legs, Teddie is in a bearsuit, and the world is gorgeous and bright. The IT gets straight to work, Teddie sniffing, everyone putting on glasses, and trying to explain things to Mona and Akira. They don’t have to explain much because Mona understands most of it already and he’ll likely ask Lady Lavenza later. Akira is so confused about talking cat-shaped embodiment of hope and this entire night, so Souji urges them to focus on at least finding Ren.

Teddie can only confirm that someone is in the World, just not who or where, so they need more info. Chie suggests leaving for the night and coming back with more info or maybe sleep? Guys? But Akira is worried out of his shit and Morgana is angry at Ren for running off so they start saying as much as they can think of. Akira mentions Ren’s obsession (big ol’ crush) with Naoto when they were in middle school (to everyone’s great discomfort), Ren’s average grades, and Ren’s favorite color. Mona mentions that Ren is a phantom thief (to the IT’s great surprise) and that recently they had a...disagreement.

Two days ago, Ren decided to skip school. Morgana had said that if he didn’t keep his grade up and/or his attendance, Ren would get in trouble and his mom would never let him go back to see everyone in Tokyo. Ren, who had been oddly quiet and down the past few days, suddenly got angry and said if Morgana wanted to go back to everyone so bad, then he should have never followed Ren to Inaba. Morgana said he came home with Ren to watch over him and keep him out of trouble, but Ren said there was no trouble that he hadn’t gotten into already and that he doesn’t need anyone breathing down his neck. Mona got pissed and asked why Ren wouldn’t want him (his roommate for a whole year!!) here when no one else was friendly, but Ren didn’t answer and left.

Morgana hadn’t seen Ren since they argued, and he didn’t understand why Ren had been so angry all of a sudden, but Akira realized quickly. Yes, the twins aren’t very close anymore, but Akira says that Ren won’t ever ask for help even from people he trusts. Ren stands up for others all the time, but rarely does anything for himself. When their parents divorced and the twins were split up, Ren only got mad for Akira’s sake. Ren definitely doesn’t see Inaba as home anymore (maybe not even since Akira and Dad left), but he’d rather send a friend home (his REAL home) than both deal with his feelings and drag friends into it.

This is plenty of info for Teddie but before they go Souji reassures Mona and Akira that they’ll find Ren, help him talk, and help him be some place where he’ll be happy and supported. (Souji works as a social worker so kids can find homes like he did when he came to Inaba.) They all set off in a direction and they find what seems to be a fantasy village of similar looks to the clip from the Mayonaka TV. Morgana starts to recognise some of the streets as streets in Yongenjaya so he leads the way to the street Leblanc is on. They get interrupted by the guy who owns the second-hand shop. He starts talking to Akira and Mona like he knows them (he’s assuming they were hit by a witch’s spell that changed their appearances) and says he’ll always give them a discount for everything they do for the community.

This is confusing wording so Mona points out that the man sells them materials for tools when they can’t get enough from the Metaverse. The man shouldn’t know what Ren does with those tools. Souji points out that this area they’re in does not seem to be wealthy, so maybe their Phantom Thievery has supported the area. They head to Leblanc to investigate more.

#thats all i have so far #my writing #..kinda #p5 #persona 5 #im soso sorry if read more doesnt work 4 u #i didnt think it would be this long #wip #ren #boop.txt

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ironwoman18 · 5 years ago

Text

The Worst Third Date Ever part 17

Chapter 17: The Aftermath

A few hours later Max arrived to the hospital. She walked to his room, and there were Diana and Penelope.

She stood there, leaning against the door frame as both women talk about him.

"Has he been here before?" Asked Diana "in the hospital, like this?" Max was wondering the same.

"Yes" her heart skip a beat, just imagined him like this.

"Were you here for him?"

Penelope nodded and smiled "yes"

"Aw, how awful"

"It was, actually" she looked down and then looked at the door, Penelope realized there was Max and continued "and then there was the time agent Hotchner was in the hospital. And Morgan's wife" Max did not know her but she met him and she just could imagined him been worry about her "and JJ earlier this year, and... me" she seemed like remember that day and the usually happy Penelope's face turned into a sober face "Yeah, I've... I've actually been in hospital more times than I am caring to admit. Sometimes I think there's got to be a better way, you know?" She looked sad and thoughtful "there's got to be a better place"

"There is. There is for all of us" Diana commented and then turned and saw Max "oh Max, come in"

She walked in and smiled "sorry but my dad asked me to take a nap before I returned here, I haven't sleep since yesterday" she looked at Spencer in his bed "how is he?"

"He is stable. He opened his eyes for a brief moment and the doctor said it was good" explained Penelope, then Max nodded and held his hand gently.

"Good, I'm happy he is getting better" Diana rubbed Max's back.

"I'm more happy you found him" she said looking at her son's girlfriend "it could have been worse if you didn't find him soon"

"Thanks JJ, she told me about his accident" she smiled with some tears "he's so stubborn that I bet he wouldn't let the paramedics check him"

"Yeah, you are right" then Diana told them some events in his life where he was stubborn and both, Max and Penelope, laughed softly. Then Diana looked at him and smiled "Spencer, I saw some cumuliform heaps today" then she looked at the two women "his favorite clouds. I plucked that for him. Everything is up there and we pluck what we want when we want and we let go what we don't"

"That sounds very good" Penelope said "ok, I'm plucking a memory about Spencer's eyes, and they are brown with gold on the outside" Max smiled at that.

"Oh yeah his eyes are beautiful, but I think they are gold on the inside" both looked at Max when she said so then she added "I'm plucking a memory about his smiles. That sweet smile he has when he throw facts about things or even his little smirk when he wins at poker or chess" Penelope and Diana nodded.

"Yeah he learned to play poker when he was little and before he moved to Virginia to do the profiling course at the FBI, he was banned to walk in the biggest casinos in the city"

"He told me and I tried to warm my sisters and dad but they didn't listen"

Then suddenly they saw Spencer opening his eyes and Diana said "gold on the inside"

"Hey, we were just plucking memories of you" said Penelope smiling

"I heard you" he said with a raspy voice "forgot how much I loved those clouds, mom. You helped me remember" he said looking at his mom then looked at Max "hey Max, I'm happy to see you" he smiles gently.

"I'm happy to see you too" she leaned in and kisses his forehead running her hand on his hair "I was so worry about you sweetheart"

Then Diana looked at the nurse from Brookfield and said her son "Spencer, maybe I can come back tomorrow and we can watch clouds together"

"Am I alive, or is this heaven?"

"Sweetie, you are very much alive" Penelope and Max signed as Diana rubbed his hair "I will see you tomorrow" then she turned to Max "take good care of him, ok?"

"Don't worry, I will" she smiled looking at him.

"I'm not worry. I know it" Diana Reid smiled and left the room with her nurse.

Both women turned to him "Can I have some water?" He asked still a little dizzy

"Sure babe" she called the nurse and when she arrived Max asked if they can give him some water. She nodded and returned with some ice cubes.

"He can't drink from a glass yet so we have these cubes" she handed her some and Max gave him some and when he was satisfied she put them away.

"Now rest Spencer, you are still too weak" said Max softly running a hand on his hair. He did not need to hear it twice, he just closed his eyes again and fall asleep, Max kissed his head.

Meanwhile Penelope got a call from the team telling her Lynch was dead. She got excited, then they mentioned her that Rossi broke his leg so they were heading to the hospital.

JJ asked her about Spencer, she told her and the rest of the team the situation then hung up and walked inside.

"They catch Lynch. He's dead so I told Anderson and Fernandez to leave" she looked at Spencer.

"Good news, that Lynch was a really bad guy, huh?"

"Yes he was. He made the house exploded and that made boy wonder to have that concussion" Max looked at her then at him "but he talked and he knew who we were, and I'm sure his brain is ok" Max nodded.

"I think so too. Now that he woke up I'm less worry" she looked at him "when I found him, his breathing was slow and so was his pulse" Penelope held her hand "it was horrible"

"I'm sure it was. But thanks to you and your dad, he is alright"

"Yeah... you are right" she smiled "and... um... how did you end up in the hospital? I mean you're not a field agent like Spence"

"Oh... um... well that happened because I was trying to help the families of some unsolved cases. The guy thought I was investigating him so he fake to have a date with me and shoot me in front of my apartment building"

"Oh my..."

"Yeah and he ended up been a man with hero complex who shoot people to try to act like a hero. But then his victims died and he was the hero even though the people died" Max looked at her and nodded "thankfully JJ shoot and kill him"

"Oh that's great and I'm happy that man can't bother you anymore" Max said looking at her "and why were you so sad when you said that you wish there's got to be a better place?"

Penelope sighed "well, mostly because this job affected me emotionally, I have to watch dead people, I have to read terrible things that causes people to kill and I have to visit hospitals more often than the average people" she looked at Spencer in bed "so I'm thinking seriously about leaving the BAU, using my abilities to do something least dangerous and I will be helping too"

"I understand, I have been dating Spencer for a while, if we include dates without been a couple, and I'm nervous when he goes on a case. I love him and I want him to do what he loves but also to be safe"

"That's what I feel about my furry friends, they meant a lot to me and if I lose any of them, I would be devastated. That's why I think it's better to leave and don't see more gory thing" Max nodded.

"Did you tell them?"

"I mentioned an opportunity in the Silicon Valley but I'm thinking to see if I can find something like that here. This is my home with my friends and I don't want to move there"

"I'm sure there are plenty of opportunities here for you. Programming is a profession with lots of opportunities"

"Thank you for listening Max. I will add you to the BAU girls WhatsApp group to invite you to our wild parties on weekends" Max laughed softly.

"I would love to but only on weekends. I'm an art teacher and I need to be sober for my little angels" she smirked gently "and I'm thankful because you made me relax. I was tense with all this" the two women hugged each other.

Then Penelope's phone vibrated "hey JJ, what's up?"

"We are in the hospital. Where are you?"

"I'm at Spencer's room with Max"

"Ok which one?"

"Room 229" said the TA of the BAU.

"Ok see you" they hung up.

"It was JJ, she wants to see Spencer and talk to us for a while" Max nodded then they walked out the room and the blonde woman walked to them with Luke "hey blondie and newbie what are you doing here?"

"It's good to see you too Garcia" said the man rolling his eyes but with a little smile "hello Max, how's Reid?"

"He's stable, he woke up and talked to us and his mom. He wanted water but since he was weak they gave him some ice cube"

"What did the doctor say?" Asked JJ.

"She said it was a good sign but they have to wait. I guess tomorrow they will run some test to see his brain. But our baby genius is weak as Max said"

"Can we see him? Oh by the way Penelope, Dave broke his leg. You should go see him. He's in an ER room" said JJ.

"Sure, he's sleeping but you can go in, I will go get something to eat and we can go to see David" JJ nodded at Max and then both of them walked to find Rossi while JJ and Luke checked Spencer.

Luke talked to him wishing he got better soon so they can keep kicking bad guys butts and then decided to leave JJ alone with him.

There was a silence while Luke walked out the room then the blonde woman walked to him "Spence... I know you can hear me and... I... I'm sorry I wasn't able to protect you from that explosion and that i wasn't more stubborn than you and forced you to check your head... maybe this would never happen and you would have been there when Everett Lynch died" she wiped the tears off her eyes "when you get better I will tell you everything and I hope it would be very soon" she leaned in and kissed his forehead "sleep well" then she left the room and walks back to the ER to check out Rossi who was getting a cast.

Then Max returned to Spencer's room alone. Penelope had to go home and JJ offered her the ride and the other members of the team needed to sleep.

Max laid on the couch with a pillow and a blanket the hospital gave her and falls asleep hugging an Spencer shirt that she took from his closet while he was taking a shower.

It was her teddy bear when he was not with her. She was happy he survived this and that he still will be with her.

OOooOOooOO

This chapter was more focus on showing what happened before and after he woke up in the hospital, with the addition of Max in it.

Hope you liked it. I'm sure where I should finish this story because I would like to show more of their relationship, his proposal, their marriage and when they have kids but I am not sure if I should let the time move slowly or do time jumps. What do you think?

#spencer reid #criminal mind #maxine brenner #maxcer #fanfiction

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sooghostwriter · 6 years ago

Text

Iliada

Pairings: Do Kyung Soo x OC

Genre: Mature, Romance, AU, action, smut in future chapters

Warnings: Kyung Soo is not a good guy, mention of violence, bad language.

Summary: After a long and hard assignment, Yoon Suji is sent to a new mission that involves less violence but needs a lot of acting. Do Kyung Soo has one of the biggest drugs rings in South Korea, but police haven’t been able to get him. They need proof that he is the one in charge and Suji is the one sent to get them.

She has the freedom to decide how is she going to get his trust.

Chapter 4

March 15

“What do you mean you don’t want us to stop that transaction?”

“Boss, are you an actual idiot?” Junmyeon went pale in front of the computer screen. Suji’s words didn’t have a hint of a joke, she was actually asking if her boss was an idiot. That always disarranged him.

“I’m not, I’m your boss”

“Then why are you asking such nonsense? It took me two months to finally get something, a very small something by the way. If you guys fail, you know who would be the first suspect for spilling all the information?” Suji enjoyed throwing rhetorical questions at her boss. She knew he hated them.

“We are not going to fail”

“Mister Kim, of course no, Minseok’s team is flawless, but if you guys catch him with only that, a small drug transaction, it would be a waste of time. How much could he get for that? 3 years in jail? I still need more evidence, strong evidence…please boss, I know why I’m telling you this” Junmyeon couldn’t fight with that. She was right. She was always right.

“Proceed as you say, agent Yoon”

“Thanks boss! Now if you excuse me, I need to hit the gym” Suji turned off the computer and Junmyeon couldn’t see her anymore.

“Can you believe her? She called me an idiot and she hung up on me, I’m her boss! And older! She doesn’t respect me at all!”

“She does respect you, but in her own way” Minseok stood next to Junmyeon, after listening to his conversation with Suji. He patted Junmyeon’s shoulder and left a cup of coffee on his table.

“But she is right, we shouldn’t get in Kyung Soo’s way yet”

“I know!” Junmyeon took several zips from his coffee and Minseok could see he was thinking deeply about something.

“Minseok…I have been thinking…for a long while…or wondering maybe, that someday Yoon could turn against us” Minseok answered as if it wasn’t a big deal, something that didn’t surprise Junmyeon.

“Yeah, I’m sure that under the right circumstances, for her of course, she might turn her back to us”

“But how? She is so trustful?” Junmyeon couldn’t answer that question himself, so he needed another point of view, from someone who knew Suji better.

“She is, but first, she is trustful to herself ”

Junmyeon cursed and drank his hot coffee.

From March 23th to April 12th

March 23th to March 24th

The day after the transaction Kyung Soo felt especially happy. Everything went well, and that was always a reason to celebrate. He had breakfast in bed and got up a little bit later. He took a long shower and for lunch, he asked for his favorite food. He had lunch with all the staff and Baekhyun. The plan for the afternoon was to take advantage of the bright sun outside and play with Taro and Sabotaro.

The relationship he had with his dogs was pretty special. He saved both of them from an abusive owner, and he made sure to make the owner pay. He liked how they looked like tough dogs, but in reality, they were a pair of teddy bears that enjoyed being scratched in the tummy, run around the garden and eat apples.

That afternoon Taro was acting weird. He didn’t run as fast as Sabotaro, and he didn’t touch the apple that he gave him. Still, Kyung Soo kept playing with them, Taro was always the calm one, and maybe he didn’t feel like playing.

Kyung Soo could catch Taro’s and Sabotaro’s attention with a fake chicken that made a horrible sound each time they pressed it. Kyung Soo would throw it and both of them would run, catch it and bring it back to Kyung Soo.

By the third run, Taro suddenly stopped and fell on the floor.

“TARO!” He ran and reached his dog in no time.

He was unconscious.

Kyung Soo moved him but there was no response. Sabotaro smelled and bit his friend’s ears, but there was still no response. Kyung Soo kept calling his name, touching him, trying to bring him back to consciousness.

“Mister Do, move!” He jolted and was pushed away by Suji. She sat on the floor next to the dog and sank her hands in between Taro’s back legs. She posed her index and middle finger on his inner thigh and kept them there for a couple of seconds.

“There’s no pulse…here, call your vet, tell him what happened” Suji passed him her phone and Kyung Soo grabbed it with shaking hands. Thank god he knew the number by memory. Meanwhile, he saw how Suji began the compressions in Taro’s chest. Kyung Soo explained to the veterinarian what was going on. They suggested applying CPR to the dog, which Suji was already doing. They told him that they would be there in 5 minutes.

“What did he say?” Suji took him out of his stupor. She was still applying compressions.

“He will be here in 5 minutes”

“Good, he will be breathing by then” Kyung Soo stood next to her, not knowing what to do, but admiring Suji’s assessment. Sabotaro sat next to him, and stared at Suji with his ears up, whimpering. Kyung Soo could hear her mutter a ‘Come on boy’ as she kept applying CPR with a synchronized rhythm. Kyung Soo was in charge of the time, Suji shouted at him ‘check the time!’ when she saw him with his arms resting on top of his legs.

Three minutes passed. Each time a minute passed, Suji would check Taro’s pulse. Nothing yet. She kept pressing, her voice wasn’t a whisper anymore, she screamed at Taro, asking him to come back.

“4 minutes” Kyung Soo said, and Suji checked Taro’s breath again.

“He is breathing!” She checked his pulse and smiled at Kyung Soo.

“The pulse is back” So did Kyung Soo’s. When the veterinarian arrived, Suji took the lead.

“He faded while playing, he had no pulse and he wasn’t breathing. I applied CPR for four minutes until he started breathing”

“Good job, let’s take him to the clinic” Kyung Soo and the vet took Taro in their arms and Suji stayed in the garden, holding Sabotaro, who insisted on following them.

≠

She never imagined that her direct ticket to Kyung Soo’s right side would come from such a humble existence as a dog.

She was cleaning the library when she saw it happen. Kyung Soo ran until he reached his beloved dog, desperate, trying to get a response from him. Her body responded immediately. She ran towards Taro, dropping to her knees so she could help him.

It was an old jail companion in North Korea who taught her how to do it. And it stayed in her head. She always wanted to have a dog, in the future, when retirement was her only option.

Kyung Soo spent the night at the clinic. Everyone’s mood at home changed. From worrying about their boss and his dog. Both of them were really loved, Suji already knew that. The rest of the staff thanked her for the help she gave, but she wasn’t quite sure how to answer. Saving the life of such a precious creature was an instinct of hers, not a duty. It didn’t matter who’s dog it was, she had to help Taro. She didn’t do it thinking about the pros.

Kyung Soo came back the next afternoon and found Suji cleaning the windows of his office. He looked tired and worried. Dark circles framed his eyes and his clothes were full of wrinkles. Suji went down the chair that helped her reach the high part of the windows and stood in front of him.

“How 's Taro?” Suji took a step back when he did nothing but bow. His head almost touched the floor.

“Miss Park, thank you so much for saving Taro’s life, the vet said that without your CPR Taro wouldn’t have made it. I can’t thank you enough, I own you so much”

A dark grin broke Suji’s face.

March 25th to March 26th

Kyung Soo woke up by the sudden landing of a heavyweight on his bed. In front of his eyes, there was Baekhyun, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your sleep, especially after what happened, but we need to hold a reunion. Our client wants more of that new meth. He got us new contacts in three new police stations, so we need to re-arrange some of our guys. Also, I already got in contact with the seller and he will send us a bigger shipment tomorrow. It will be here in two days.”

“Ok, I just caught half of the things you say, but I have to get up, I understand that much…thanks for taking care of the commission”

“No worries, I’ll go have breakfast…by the way, Where is Suji?”

“Miss Park for you, and she must be having breakfast with the staff”

“After she saved your son, did you fall in love with her or something?” Kyung Soo disappeared behind the bathroom door giving Baekhyun the middle finger.

≠

Everybody was ready to start working on their chores when Kyung Soo appeared in the kitchen.

“At 1 o’clock, I need all of you here in the kitchen. We will hold a meeting and we will probably be over by 3 or 4 o’clock….sorry for the bother” No one asked anything. Everybody nodded and started working.

Suji was left dumbfounded. She asked Miss Dada what was going on. Her only answer was.

“It’s his way to protect us, so there aren’t witnesses” She said nothing more and left Suji standing in the middle of the kitchen.

Suji understood something that had been going around her mind for a while.

Everybody knew that what Kyung Soo did wasn’t exactly feed the poor. They knew it. And still, they accepted it. It was as if they were under some kind of Stockholm syndrome.

March 27th to March 29th

Before leaving the household that night. Suji needed to try something. If Kyung Soo already trusted her, he could at least tell her what was going in there. She already knew it. That was for granted. But hearing it from his mouth could be a good thing for the investigation.

She turned on the recording system on her computer and went to Do’s office. She knocked on the door, identifying herself, and he let her in.

The smile he gave her made her feel sure about what she was about to do. She spoke first.

“Mister Do, I will like to talk about something, it will be short” Kyung Soo adopted a serious stare, stiffing his back. He saw this coming.

“Go ahead then” Suji kept standing, even after Kyung Soo invited her to sit. After a long pause, she finally asked.

“What business do you have here?” She had Kyung Soo under a watchful eye. Looking for any sign that could tell her something.

“Why do you ask?”

“Some things are suspicious…and I want to know the dangers around me”

“For you there are no dangers, that I can promise” She tried to act more relaxed as if Kyung Soo’s words could calm her.

“Then what it is you…”

“Miss Park… ignorance is bliss, that’s my way to protect you” Suji understood his tone. No more questions allowed.

She muttered an ‘understood’, bowed and left the office.

≠

“So, Yoon, what do you want me to do with all the information you got the other day from Kyung Soo’s meeting?” Junmyeon’s voice was full of irony. Since Suji referred to him as an idiot, Junmyeon took that attitude, and Suji didn’t fall for it

“I want you guys to investigate every name that appeared there. Anything that calls your attention, investigate it. With a low profile of course” Suji could hear Chanyeol’s keyboard in some place of his lab, probably writing down Suji’s directions.

“Chanyeol! Come in front of the camera for a while please?” Junmyeon moved from his seat giving Chanyeol some space.

“Chanyeol, I need some new gadgets. Lately Kyung Soo has spent a lot of time talking on the phone, do you have something that could let me hear what is going on there?”

“I think…I do, but Suji…his house has some kind of antenna that provides a shield, so no one can intercept his phone calls”

“I know, but from the outside, what about the inside?” Chanyeol shrugged his shoulders and started searching for something on his computer. Suji went to the kitchen, fetched herself some pizza for breakfast and came back to her seat. Junmyeon disappeared from her screen, leaving only Chanyeol, who waited until Junmyeon left the room to talk to her.

“Suji, the other day the big boss came to talk to Junmyeon, asking for news about your mission”

“So?”

“Junmyeon had a little quarrel with him… She always does a perfect job!, he said, I don’t see why this sudden hurry!… He was quite mad” Suji munched his pizza, feeling quite grateful towards her boss. She always appreciated when someone defended her. Especially her boss.

“Still, this was sort of an easy mission…is taking you a while…you should start using the big weapons If you know what I mean”

“Shut the fuck up Chanyeol, I’m leaving, talk to you later” Suji unplugged the computer and kicked the trashcan next to her desk.

She already knew that. She had to hurry up. But Do’s business was a fortress, and it had all the necessary things to stay like that. Very few people were involved, no digital register, loyal co-workers, and people inside the police and inside the government. She was so wrong when she thought that this could be an easy mission.

March 30th to April 1th

Suji’s new toy was a dispositive called RFTS (Random frequency tracking system). The system was quite simple, it will capture every single call in a ratio that could be adapted by the user. In big investigations it could be very chaotic, a voice recognition system will be needed, and probably a team of 30 people that will sit there and listen to the calls, searching for the voice or conversation they needed. But in this case, she only needed an antenna with a reach of 20 meters. And the voice recognition was quite easy when only two people would talk at the same time under that roof.

But she couldn’t be stuck to her computer all the time waiting for a call, so she left the MacBook on and recording. Later Chanyeol or Minseok will edit the recordings.

≠

Kyung Soo knew himself well enough to know that he was staring at Suji too much. He was expectant until another of her skills could come to the surface. Also, he found himself incredibly curious about what he could find under her long skirt. Since the beginning, she has been wearing long skirts that only showed her ankles and with the record he had about her, she was someone who worked out, so why hide her legs?

At the end of the day a man is a man, he thought. And thinking about something couldn’t kill.

“Sabotaro, maybe I should go visit Sara” The dog looked at him from the other side of the window with a stare that looked like a ‘whatever’. Kyung Soo was about to get up and get ready but a knock on his door stopped him.

“Come in”

“Mister Do, I’m going to clean the books”

“Sure, go ahead” Suji looked a bit lost, questioning Kyung Soo with her eyes.

“You will stay here?” He only nodded. She smiled at him briefly and got in with work.

Suji was silent. Too silent. Once in a while Kyung Soo had to look up from his book to check if Suji was still there. It took her three hours cleaning the first shelf. Skillfully she would get on top of a chair so she could reach the higher ledge. Kyung Soo gave a guilty, yet appreciative stare at her figure. He couldn’t get too much. Only the clear line of her waist, highlighted by her apron, and the obvious length of her legs.

“Mister Do, I quit my last job for this kind of thing” Kyung Soo knew immediately what she meant. Deny it was useless. So he only apologized.

“Ok, just…try not to do that again”

“Sure, I’m very sorry…may I change the subject?” Suji nodded and started cleaning the other shelf.

“You like reading Suji?”

“I do” Short answers made Kyung Soo anxious…and curious “What kind of books?”

“Spy novels, thrillers and…poetry” Kyung Soo smiled, a bit less anxious, but more curious.

“I have a lot of books like that, feel free to take them with you anytime you need it”

“Thank you, sir”

“What kind of poetry do you like?” Suji pursed her lips in a way that could be described as adorable, way too adorable.

“I like Japanese poetry…also Latin American writers”

“The bad thing is that because of the translation, you lose a lot of the meaning” Suji grinned as she kept working.

“That’s why I read them in their original language”

He was screwed. Damn, he had a thing for smart girls.

Some guys liked big boobs, some others had a thing for big butts. Kyung Soo had a thing for big brains. And bilingual brains were even better.

≠

Kyung Soo took the first step. Suji felt like getting on her knees and thank God. Not that she believed in him, but she had to thank someone for that change of events.

Just when she was thinking about hurrying up, Kyung Soo decided to stay there while she cleaned the library. That was for sure some kind of kink. And then she finds him looking at her from behind his book, his eyes squinting. She had two options. Let it happen and later take advantage of it. Or face him, stopping him with some prude attitude. She went for the second one. She remembered reading something in Kyung Soo’s profile. Something like ‘He likes straightforward attitudes’.

Then he started asking about her book preferences. And she answered quite honestly. Reading was a good way to stay away from headaches in the middle of missions, so she always hid a copy of some favorite book next to her bullets. He kept asking questions, showing interest, which amused her.

Chanyeol would have to shut his mouth. Suji now had a short time goal.

By the end of the week, she would have Do Kyung Soo eating from her hand.

Hopefully.

The next day, after a day of work, she locked herself in her room. With the curtains closed and only the dim light of the computer screen. She checked some recordings, labeling them with the dates and time. After finishing that, she checked the microphones. Looking for some late-night activities. The ones from the office registered nothing. When she checked the ones from the library, she only perceived the noise of light steps. Then some books falling and lastly a high pitch noise that made her jump and take off her headphones.

The microphone. That noise was familiar to her. Coupler. The most probable reason; it fell from where it was hidden.

She got up from her bed and opened the door looking outside her room. All her neighbors were sleeping, and all the lights were off. She walked outside her room, across the hallway and the kitchen in her tiptoes, carefully, making no sound. All the other rooms were dark. And from Kyung Soo’s room, she could hear the shower running. Hopefully, he didn’t hear the noise. When she reached the library, she got scared for half a second when she saw something moving in the dark. She turned on the light and could only see the tail of a cat going out through an open window. On the floor were a couple of books and the bible that she used to hide the microphone. She lifted it from the floor and found the little black thing under it, shattered in several pieces.

“Fucking Christ” She cursed under her breath. She hid the little pieces in the pockets of her pants and started picking up the books from the floor. Once she was ready to leave, someone called her name.

“Suji?” Fuck. Suji shut her eyes, organizing the ideas in her mind. She pulled off a calm expression and turned around, meeting Kyung Soo’s questioning eyes.

“Sir, I’m sorry…I just came here looking for a book, I was having a bit of trouble sleeping, and I already finished all the books I brought…sorry If I bothered you”

“No, please, go ahead, pick whatever you want” Kyung Soo crossed her arms and walked closer, standing behind her. She got nervous, she hated that feeling, so she grabbed the first book she saw in front of her. An old version of Sherlock Holmes.

“A classic” Kyung Soo said, and Suji heard it too close to her ear.

“Yeah, never too old, now If you excuse me” Suji got ready to leave but Kyung Soo called her name again.

“Suji, tomorrow I need you to accompany me to the temple. I need to deliver some donations”

“Of course sir, whatever you need” Kyung Soo bowed at her, she responded with a similar bow and finally walked outside the room.

A triumphant smile crossed her face once she was finally back at her room.

April 2nd to April 3th

The art of seduction consisted of finding the weak points of the human being. And Kyung Soo’s was quite clear.

The man was full of repentance and guilt.

Suji could tell by the way he prayed at the temple and how familiar the priest was with him. She has seen it before. Men that did bad, begging to God for forgiveness.

She skipped the praying thing telling him that she didn’t believe in anything, only herself. That brought a smile to his face, and Suji knew she did well. She didn’t talk that much when they drove to the temple. Kyung Soo tried to bring a subject of conversation, but she only gave him short answers, giving very little information. Every answer brought another question, but only superficial subjects. He asked once about her family, to which Suji only answered with the truth that Chanyeol had prepared for her. Both parents died, no siblings and no grandparents. No family at all. That was easier to fake. A couple of death records, no necessity of hiring actors. Kyung Soo didn’t ask how her parents died, so she didn’t have to keep lying.

Kyung Soo was an orphan. Maybe that’s why Jongdae and Chanyeol decided to make her an orphan too. How Do’s parents died was clearly explained in Chanyeol’s report. Car accident. It was a pretty horrible accident from what she could see in the pictures. Kyung Soo was left with no family and a small heritage.

She felt a little bit bad for him.

But if his weakness was repentance and guilt she needed to find a way to tell him something like ‘It’s alright, you are a good guy’. The how was the tricky part.

How could she make him believe that she understood his situation and gain his trust when she supposedly didn’t know what his situation was?

Suji sighed and asked God for a cigarette. She blamed the strong smell of incense.

“Suji? I think I’m ready, sorry to interrupt your sleep” Suji opened her eyes and stared at him with a frown.

“I wasn’t sleeping, just enjoying the smell of the incense” As soon as her words left her lips, she realized how rude she sounded. She wanted to apologize, but he was smiling. He sat next to her, not looking angry at all towards his employee.

“Maybe we should grab something to eat at the…just a minute” His phone rang inside the pocket of his joggers, and as soon as he saw the screen he got up and walked some good 5 meters away from her. Having the RFTS now would have been very useful. He spoke for two short minutes and walked back where Suji was, clearly worried.

“We have to leave, come on” Suji didn’t ask a thing, only followed obediently and got into the car.

Kyung Soo walked inside the backroom of a bar in Dongdaemun flanked by two of his guys. His frown stayed deep and dark, and his hands in his pockets gave away a very unfriendly look.

Inside the room were two guys, standing next to the window. One of them tall, built and with a frown as deep as Kyung Soo’s. The other one was as tall as his companion but less built, and his brows were raised in worry.

“Good afternoon gentlemen” Both of them stared at Kyung Soo and only one of them walked in his direction.

“Mister Do, long time no see”

“It's nice to see you again Mister Go, sadly, under these circumstances” Kyung Soo shook his hand and patted his shoulder, giving him a warm smile.

Go’s was Kyung Soo’s eyes and ears in the police department of Dongdaemun. A single man in his early 40ths, with a love for money but not so much love towards his work. Kyung Soo got to have him on his side thank to a very good monthly pay. It was really worth it though, Dongdaemun was the place with more customers, and if any weird rumor about him started going around the police station, Mister Go would make it disappear. The call Kyung Soo got hours ago was him doing his job.

“This is Mister Kang, works at the department, and don’t ask me how, but he had proofs about your business. I already confiscated them, but he is ready to talk” Kyung Soo walked toward him and bowed. The guy didn’t answer but looked quite dumbfounded.

“Mister Kang, please sit down, let’s have a nice talk…sit down, please…I’m very curious, how did you find out about my business?” The man did not answer.

“Kang! Talk, I’m warning you!” Go’s voice sounded less friendly. Kyung Soo said nothing but saw how his head lowered.

“Did someone say something to you? Someone from inside my group? Maybe a customer?” No answer.

“Let me see, if you put together all that information by yourself you must have a strong reason to investigate me…you’re a cop, but this is beyond duty right?” He nodded but didn’t look at Kyung Soo.

“Beyond duty uh?...revenge?” Kang got up from his seat and tried to reach him with his hands, but immediately he had two guys bringing him back to his seat by the shoulders. His attitude showed him that was the reason. Revenge. He could understand that.

“Did I do something to someone close to you?”

“You did”

“Please tell me” Kang’s stare made Kyung Soo feel sick. A strong nausea hit him when he saw the hate in his eyes.

“You fucking bastard killed my brother” Kyung Soo went through all the people he had to make disappear, but there was no memory of a Kang.

“I didn’t”

“You did, my brother died with a syringe in his arm, weighing 25 kilos and with nothing more than a blanket and a bag of crystal meth…I did some research, and his dealer bought the drugs from you” Kyung Soo swallowed that feeling that was building in his throat and adopted the cynic attitude he needed to show in this kind of situations.

“So, in your head…, I’m the one who killed your brother”

“You did, fucking bastard”

“I see, and tell me, how did your brother reach that situation? 25 kilos? And you didn’t realize he had a problem?” Kang didn’t answer.

“He was clearly addicted, but let’s take a minute to think about how he reached that state…tell me Mister Kang, why did you let that happen?”

“Don’t try to…” Kyung Soo’s voice was calm and low, he knew how annoying and terrifying it could be.

“I will, you are blaming me for something that I didn’t do, I have to defend myself. I did not kill your brother, you didn’t kill your brother, he killed himself…although I cannot deny that you should have done something to stop it” He tried to move from his seat, but Kyung Soo’s guys didn’t allow him.

“We did!”

“What, you guys told him to stop doing drugs, put him into rehab and what? Let the doctors do their magic?”

“He was a normal kid! He was a smart kid! A happy kid!”

“Was he?...Mister Kang, was your brother a happy kid?...” He stared at the man, who now looked a lot less angry. His face was now crossed by pain. Sudden realization maybe.

Kyung Soo exhaled a long sigh and rested his arms on top of the table “So, this is what is going to happen. I know that you still have copies of all the proof against me, and we have your testimony, which I think, can bring me some kind of trouble…I don’t like trouble…I know how to fight trouble, so I know how to fight you” Kyung Soo opened a folder that one of his guys handed him and looked at it for a while.

“Two daughters?...” Kang reacted as electrified, the two guys holding him could barely keep him in place “Don’t touch my girls!”

“I will never…but what about Tae Mi…your wife”

“Stay away from them!” Kyung Soo stood up, took the folder with him and went to stand next to him.

“I will, If you don’t mess with me” Kang lowered his head, nodded and whispered an ‘understood’.

That was it. Kyung Soo walked outside the room.

This time there were no deaths. Hopefully.

Suji took advantage of Kyung Soo’s absence. He called the house saying he would be back late. And since everyone was in the living room watching TV, she walked across the garden and got into his room with two microphones in her pockets.

She had already installed one under his bed. Maybe the acoustic wouldn’t be the best, but at least she knew he wouldn’t stick his head under his bed.

For the second microphone, she still wasn’t very sure about where to put it. One option was a small architectural detail on top of his bed…but it was too small, a small movement could drop the gadget. The other option was the ceiling lamp, which was a very good place, but it was pretty high and she would need a stair, maybe two meters, doing it by herself would be almost impossible.

Just when a third-place appeared in her sight, someone opened the bedroom door. She hid the microphone in her pocket and waited for whoever was, to get inside.

Her eyes met Kyung Soo’s, and no excuse came to her mind. “Sir…”

“Don’t say a word” He walked until he was close to her, too close. He grabbed her wrist and pushed her on top of the bed. Suji was suddenly terrified, but not for his actions. She was terrified because she didn’t know what to do. She was completely unprepared.

He didn’t look mad, but there was something in his stare.

“Take off your sweater” He ordered.

“Excuse me, sir?”

“You hear me, do it” Suji thought about resisting, but her instinct told her not to do it. She met Kyung Soo’s eyes again and she could see what he thought she was doing there.

And it was a misunderstanding.

A very useful misunderstanding.

This wasn’t going to be the first nor the last time that she will need to do this for a mission.

TBC

#do kyung soo #do kyungsoo #Kyungsoo #d.o kyungsoo #d.o #exo fanfiction #exo fanfic #kyung soo #exo scenario #bear #evo

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forkanna · 4 years ago

Link

[AO3] [WATTPAD]

The rest of the morning was spent getting dressed and ready for their day to begin. Rise only had a few of the more cliched touristy things in mind, since she had been planning it out with the whole of the Investigation Team — such as whale watching, or hitting up Okinawa World. Even though none of them were old enough to drink their fabled "snake liquor", they were all for exploring the caves that ran beneath the theme park.

When Ai had asked if she wanted her to return the favour, Rise declined. The truth was that while she desperately wanted to sate her urges, she knew they were both feeling a little out of sorts from all their exploration so far — which was why she thought the downtime would be good. Now they could sort through their feelings while sightseeing, and come back to it several hours later, hopefully having gained some kind of wisdom along the way.

Though there was one small problem…

"Will you stop that?" Ai hissed as she and Rise lingered toward the back of the group climbing the steps to the historical Shuri Castle. Yukiko was definitely the one most interested, but the others didn't mind seeing the notable sites.

"Stop whaaat?"

"Stop trying to grab me by the balls. I tried to tell you, it's not a toy!"

Pursing her lips, she pulled her closer to whisper in her ear, "It's my toy. I'm having a lot of fun with it." But then she dropped back with a giggle. "And we both know that if you didn't want me to, you'd try harder to stop me. But all you have to say is 'You need to stop' again and I'll know you're serious."

Ai pursed her lips… but said nothing. Perfect. She had a feeling she was enjoying the attention, even if not the specific form it took. "Dumb bitch," she said yet again.

"You love meeeeee," she cooed with a grin and a little bounce as they reached the top, leaning over to rest her head against her shoulder. Even though she decided not to grab for her unmentionables anymore, she wasn't going to leave her alone.

"Okay, you two," Yosuke sighed irritably as he laced his fingers behind his head. "I know you two have this whole weird 'bet' going, or whatever it is, but do you have to rub it in for the rest of us who don't have anybody? Like, look at Yukiko and Chie and Naoto; they don't have boyfriends! You're gonna make 'em feel bad, too!"

Apparently, he had thought appealing to their solidarity with other women would be more effective than pleading his own case. But Rise just giggled, because she saw the look Yukiko and Chie shared. Naoto was as stoic as ever… but she thought she noticed Kanji blushing. That would make perfect sense, those two — she just had no evidence they were also a thing.

Poor Yosuke. No chance at love unless Narukami came back, or he decided to give in to-

"WHAT A PRETTY CASTLE!" Teddie burst out in a gushy tone of voice, lacing his fingers together next to his own face as he stared up at the doorways. "Ohhh, can we live here? Pleeeeaaaase?!"

"No," Yosuke sighed very tiredly with no hesitation whatsoever. "And I thought I reminded you a whole damn five minutes ago to keep it down!"

Rise was laughing at that reprimand when her cell phone went off, making much more noise than Teddie ever had been. Holding up a finger, she stepped a little further away from the group to take it.

"Yes?"

"Miss Kujikawa."

After a brief second of surprise, she managed to breathe, "Minoru-chan! What's… I mean, hey!"

Minoru Inoue's stoic voice returned over the earpiece of her phone as she turned away from the group. "I have been trying to call you all morning. Is there an issue with your cell phone carrier? Would you like me to look into the cause of-"

"No, no, it's… it's fine." This was inconvenient, but she wanted to get it out of the way as quickly as possible. "So what's up? I'm out with friends, we're on vacation."

"Yes, about that… I'm going to send you a couple of images. Tell me if you notice anything."

So she pulled the phone back in order to check the screen. Sure enough, within seconds the images were coming in via text, and when they finally loaded…

"O-oh, you saw those!" she laughed as lightly as she could manage despite the way her heart began pounding in her throat. So many pictures! Each one featured her and it behara laughing together, walking hand in hand, arguing… only one or two showed anything that could be construed as romantic, but all of them could have been explained away as friendship if one tried hard enough. "Yep, all according to plan. It's fine! They're fine, don't… don't worry about 'em!"

"Which 'plan' was this? Certainly nothing approved by the label."

"Something I thought of on the spur of the moment. It's so easy for an idol to fade into the background, isn't it? Well… here's me, finding a way to stand out! It'll be great — you'll see!"

"There are already a lot of polarising comments on the message boards," Inoue went on, and Rise found herself glancing around to make sure nobody else could hear her. A couple of her friends — including Ai — were glancing over at her to make sure everything was alright, but they were far enough away they probably didn't catch a word. "Everyone is very invested — for both positive and negative reasons."

"See? It's working!"

"No, you misunderstand, Miss Kujikawa. The label is uncomfortable with your career taking this direction. They're considering severing their association with you."

Rise felt her blood chill in her veins. "They're gonna fire me? Because… I'm dating a girl?" She had considered adding a 'maybe' in there, but decided against it. That wasn't how she wanted to move forward with her life.

"They're considering it. There's no real official position on these matters, but businessmen tend to be more conservative. Even if they like the idea of flash and attention-seeking behaviour because it typically only helps a celebrity's visibility, if it's the wrong kind of visibility, it could eventually reflect poorly on the label itself."

"That's not fair," she immediately shot back. And then her higher reasoning skills kicked back in. "And they already know what a moneymaker my voice and my looks are, that I know how to work it. I'm cute, and I know how to be cute."

"The label wants you to be cute and available," he stressed. "They understand that most of our idols will marry eventually, but they hope to get as many men lusting after the idea of being your boyfriend for as long as possible."

"They're delusional."

"Yes, they are. But that's where the money is."

Sighing, she found a nearby pillar and leaned back against it as she thought about the entirety of the situation. Tried to weigh her options. "Well… okay, so I can ride the scandal for a while, can't I? Like, there hasn't been a lesbian idol. Not that I remember."

"Don't you think there's a reason why you can't remember? Because they aren't encouraged to be out publicly. And if they can't conduct that business in private, then the labels have no use for them."

Anger was starting to overtake her anxiety. "That 'business', huh? Maybe it's not any of their business."

"Of course it is. An idol in this country? Literally every aspect of your personal life reflects on your profession, colours public opinion. You know this as well as I do."

"Well… I don't care. Like, if they really want to cut me loose, they can go ahead, but I think they would really be shooting themselves in the foot if they don't see how this plays out first."

"They're already on point of doing that, Miss. You're already essentially 'retired' and trying to make a comeback. If there were going to be a homosexuality scandal, it would be ideally placed for when you're already riding high on the charts, or are on a slight decline — and even then, it's still very risky. So you should really start thinking about whether or not you want this comeback at all."

"Now you're starting to piss me off," she snapped. "This isn't a 'scandal' or a 'business' or any of that stuff! This is my life! Isn't the whole point for me to be entertaining? I can do that and be with a woman at the same time!" She heard him start to interrupt, but she pushed ahead, "Maybe it's about time Japan had an openly queer pop star, because there sure as hell aren't enough of us! So you can shut the fuck up until you have something a little less caveman to say!"

And she hung up on him. Deep down, she knew she was being unfair to Minoru; he was just trying to do his job, and seeing everything through that public relations lense. But she hated the fact that they were trying to tell her she couldn't even date the woman she wanted to date. Nevermind that she was serious about it, and they all thought this was either a publicity stunt, or just some random person she wanted to hold hands with for five seconds before throwing her away. Everything in the world of light music was so immaterial. She wasn't even sure she really was gay or bisexual or whichever label fit her; why did it have to be so important to everyone when it didn't even affect them?

Looking over at Ai was enough to reassure her that she had done the right thing. Even though she wasn't even paying attention to her at the moment, just looking around the brightly-coloured interior of the castle, she was still just as gorgeous as ever — and she was a woman. The only woman Rise had ever found herself thinking about as not just attractive, but as someone she was attracted to. Every time she tried to examine that and figure out if it was a fluke, she just found herself falling yet harder for the stunning upperclassman. Who wouldn't be? Plenty of boys wanted to be with her, so it was understandable.

Because at least some small part of her was lesbian. Maybe more than a small one.

As she stowed her phone, she took a look at Chie and Yukiko. Chie was cute in a playful, carefree way, and Yukiko was so elegant. Could she be into them? No, not really; she had never thought about them that way in the past and wasn't too inclined to start now. Though if she were to choose…

That was interesting. Her brain instantly whispered, "It would be Yukiko," and she didn't even understand the reason. Was she into girlier girls?! Turning her attention to Chie, she knew she was also appealing in a different way, but something about that extra-feminine… maybe it was because she associated that with Ai now. She and Yukiko were both very put together, even if Yukiko took a simpler approach to her dress and makeup and hair; more traditional.

Weird thoughts. Shaking her head out, she jogged to catch up with the group, putting on a happy face.

"What was that shit all about?" Kanji asked idly.

"Nothing," she said with a big smile, trying to put her best foot forward. "What about you guys? What's this all about?"

After a brief pause, Chie said, "It's… a castle…?"

"Well, um, yes, but are we all having fun? Come on, get excited — we're in Okinawa! Away from our parents and school and all that dumb stuff! Let's have FUN!"

Nobody could argue with that.

~ o ~

Only once they were at lunch did Ai catch up to her and confront her on trying to hide her true feelings about that phone call. After she had related the entirety of the conversation, Ai looked like she would throw her soba and chanpuru at the wall; she even threatened to pick it up and do that very thing.

"Shhh, stop that," Rise half-snickered. "It's not that big a deal."

"It is to me! That fucking asshole thinks he can push you around and tell you who to be?!"

"I know! It's so gross, and invasive, and… I just don't think it's very nice for the label to be breathing down my neck so much!"

Ai sighed as she stirred her noodles distractedly, posture slumping. "But you'd probably better think about doing as they say."

"Huh?"

"Well, you have your entire future to think about, right? I don't want to be the one holding you back. They're gross, but they're probably also just reading the room. They know what it takes to get you where you want to be, and… I ain't it."

A flash of anger welled up within Rise as she picked at her rafute. "No. You're what I need because you're my friend and you make me happy."

"Friend, huh? You do that with all your friends?" When Rise opened her mouth, she held up her hand, chopsticks still between her fingers. "Just messing with you."

"Shut UP, oh my GOD." Then they both laughed very briefly before Rise felt another sigh coming on. "Honestly, I think they're wrong about this. I've checked the online spaces myself, too — don't they think I have? Don't they think I'm better at it than those old crusty guys are?!"

"Tell them, girl!"

"Are you two okay over there?" Chie asked with a little laugh.

"NO!" they both answered, only making both tables laugh. There hadn't been enough space at any one table at the restaurant they found, so most of them ended up at the big one. Ai had volunteered the two of them to take another small one nearby — and Rise now realised the reason was this interrogation.

"Anyway, if they don't want me on the label anymore, that's that. I can find a way to pursue music without them."

Mouth full, Ai just nodded and pointed her chopsticks at her for a second until she swallowed. "YES. The internet is here and it's queer, and they're old guard who are going to die out. Viral videos are really starting to become a big part of how artists get noticed. YouTube and Niconico and stuff. Who even cares about TV anymore?"

"A lot of people," Rise sighed resignedly. "Especially in rural areas — which will also be the same people who don't want to see me dating a woman. Just not kids our age as much as we used to."

"Well… okay, yeah, that's true."

"It's okay, though. The future isn't for old people, it's for us. Me being who I am, dating who I want to date, is part of pushing forward, y'know? Not that I want to be some big activist… I don't know enough about that stuff. Not as much as you probably do. But I'm not going to hide who I am just because some old people tell me I have to; I've done enough of that for a lifetime. Now I just want to figure out the real Rise and love her, and show the world who she is."

Though she had finished and gone back to eating a moment later, waiting for Ai to respond, she never did. So eventually she glanced up to see her simply smiling across the table at her, elbows leaning on its surface as her mascara-laden eyelashes fluttered a little.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just proud of what a bitch you can be when you need to."

"Huh?! I'm not a bitch!"

"It's a compliment, dumbass. Bitches get shit done."

"Oh. Well, um… thank you?"

Ai chuckled at her for a moment, prompting Rise to kick her under the table. Then they both started flicking tiny bits of food at each other from across the tabletop until Yosuke asked what the hell they were doing, prompting a loud peal of laughter from them both. Even though at the time, Rise was mostly worried about her career and whether or not she was making the right steps, she would forever look back on that as a glorious moment she had shared with Ai Ebihara. With her girlfriend.

To Be Continued…

#we'll face ourselves #saphir de lune #forkanna writes #persona 4 fanfiction #p4 fanfic #rise x ai #jess the writer

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shadowtarot · 6 years ago

Text

Hidden Pain: A Persona 4 Drabble

Read this for context.

Junes Food Court, mid-day, Sunday. The Investigation Team had called for a day of training before the next possible event could happen. But so far only Kanji, Yosuke, Teddie and Yu were at their normal meeting spot.

Yosuke drapes his arms onto the table as he sinks his face into them slowly. “What’s taking the girls so long? We only have a few hours until that huge sale hits, and when it does it’ll be near impossible for us to slip into the TV...”

“They’re getting medical supplies, man. Yu-senpai mentioned we were low.” Kanji closes his phone as he stashes it away in his pocket before glancing at his leader who’s using this downtime to fold a few origami cranes.

“I said I was going to grab them on my way here, but I had to help Nanako with something and ran out of time...” Yu states, not even glancing up from his work as he sets the crane down on the table.

“Well I know you can’t refuse anything when it comes to Nanako-chan, so I get it.” Yosuke nods. “Also how many of those do you plan to make?!”

“Sensei’s got some real skill with that!” Teddie states, his bright blue eyes watching closely as Yu begins another one.

“That just made wonder something, hey Kanji are you able to do origami as well?” Yosuke glances over at the younger teen.

“Why wouldn’t I? It’s easy enough once you figure it all out, but it’s not really my niche if you catch my drift.” Kanji shrugs. “It’s right up his alley though.”

“It’s relaxing...” Yu smiles a bit.

But as he’s beginning the first few folds, Yu suddenly jolts, enough for the paper in his hands to tear.

“Yu?! Everything alright?” Yosuke gets up from his seat and walks to his best friend’s side.

Yu is wincing slightly, setting down the paper before looking up at his three friends. “Yeah, I think an old injury from the TV just popped up suddenly is all.”

“Really? Lemme know where it is when we get into the TV and I’ll heal it up for you. Could have sworn Yukiko took care of all the major ones last week....” Yosuke mutters.

“If Yosuke’s heals don’t do that much, I’ll help!” Teddie beats his chest once, smiling.

Yu chuckles, nodding. “Thanks you guys, but I think I’ll be fine. If it gets too bad, I’ll just heal myself.”

Yosuke focuses his gaze slightly before letting out a sigh. “If you say so...but don’t get too shocked if the girls start freaking out and try to heal you themselves.”

“heeeey! Sorry we’re late!” Chie calls out, waving her arm as she and the other girls walk up.

“Apolgies, but there was an issue with the cash register at the store where we normally get our medicine from.” Naoto explains, placing a hand in her pocket. “I hope we didn’t keep you four waiting too long.”

Rise starts counting the cranes Yu made before shrugging. “Seems he made twelve before we showed up. So they weren’t waiting that long.”

“Pffft, you can tell how bored they were by the amount of cranes? What if...we told time that way? ahahaha!” And there goes Yukiko on one of her laughing fits again.

“Geez, well if everyone’s ready we better hurry up and get in. Two more hours until the electronics sale starts. Plan to be in there for a few hours guys, we have to wait out the traffic.” Yosuke looks to everyone in the group.

“Let’s get going.” Yu puts all of his cranes away in a cloth bag before patting his hidden Katana with a small smirk.

Slipping through the currently average sized crowds, the group makes it to the TV they always use. Everyone puts their glasses on and slips into the TV World undetected.

Teddie slips into his bear suit, which he had left right at the hub area before looking at everyone present. “Alright! So who’s dungeon are gonna train in today Sensei?”

“Well, I was actually thinking we might want to try tackling that Reaper you mentioned before. So it really doesn’t matter what area we go into right?”

“Are you serious Senpai?!” Rise stomps on her right foot hard on the ground. “You guys almost got killed by a Reaper back in Mitsuo’s! I’m not going to sit back and watch you guys actively hunt something that strong!”

“....it was a joke.” Yu rubs the back of his neck.

“Dude...your sense of humor needs some serious work.” Yosuke shakes his head. “Well if I could offer something, you guys know those Treasure Hands we keep running into? What if we went after those?”

“Oooh! We can make it a competition!” Chie raises her hand and bounces a bit as she speaks. “First one to kill ten of them gets...uhh...”

“First ten gets to have the others cook for them!” Yukiko smiles.

Yosuke and Yu wince. “H-How’s about first to ten gets to request something from the losers...that isn’t cooked.”

Yosuke nods. “What Yu said.”

Rise nods, writing that down. “If you all are each hunting ten then that’s going to be a lot of gold hands to hunt for.”

“They’re good money makers though, so no matter who wins we’ll all benefit in the end right?” Kanji crosses his arms. “Why don’t we do it in Yukiko-sempai’s Castle? It’s a small enough place that we won’t loose each other.”

“Sounds good, let’s move out guys!” Yu leads the way to the castle.

“Treasure hands spotted! Wow...for rare shadows there sure are a lot of them right now!”

“Let’s do this! I’m not passing up a chance for a request!” Yosuke smirks, dashing at a treasure hand.

“...for our sakes let’s hope Yu at least wins...” Chie sighs as she goes after one as well.

Everyone begins fighting the hand hoard, but Yu keeps switching Persona as he fights.

“Black Frost!” Ice shatters and destroys a treasure hand with retaliative ease.

“That’s one for Senpai!”

“Perhaps we should bump the number up to twenty?” Naoto suggests. “Yu-senpai is having far too easy of a time right now.”

“Yeah, because he’s got more of an arsenal of Persona compared to us.” Kanji launches a treasure hand with a hard strike from his chair. “Just means we gotta work harder to keep up, yeah?”

“I’m with Kanji! No way I’m gonna lose to Sensei! KENTOKI-DOJI!”

Yosuke laughs. “Hell no, I’m not letting you take that one Ted! Jiryaya!”

Both Persona charge at the one Treasure hand, closing in before...

“Konahana-Sakuya!”

The hand bursts into flames as Yukiko cockily fans herself. “Oh I’m sorry, did you boys want that one?”

“One point for Yukiko-senpai!”

“ARGH! I’m not coming in last place here!” Yosuke goes after another one with increasecd speed, not wanting to be one upped again.

“If you’re getting serious then maybe I should too...Partner.” Yu adjusts his glasses. “IZANAGI!”

Yu runs right up beside Yosuke, using his Persona’s lightning to keep pace. The two smirk at eachother.

“This one’s mine, no doubt.” Yu gives Yosuke a small laugh as they rush at the shadow.

“Not if I have anything to say about it!” Yosuke has Jiryaya attack the shadow, and Izanagi does the exact same...but then...

Yu falls to the ground on one knee, coughing badly as Izanagi vanishes back into it’s tarot card. Everyone stops what they’re doing to look at their leader.

“Yu?” Yosuke kneels down beside him. “Dude, you don’t look so hot...”

“I’m fine...really.” Yu starts to get up, but Kanji places a hand on his shoulder.

“Like hell you are. You had that sharp ass pain before the girl’s showed up and now you’re coughing this badly? Stop trying to act cool with this kinda shit going on, man!”

Rise does a scan on Yu, focusing intensely. Yu starts coughing again, this time blood coming up as he does so.

“I can’t see any sort of spell on him...” Rise sighs, shaking her head.

“And my nose can’t sniff out anything abnormal either...” Teddie looks worried.

“Guys really, I’m okay...” Yu pushes Kanji’s hand away from his shoulder. “Let’s just go back to-”

“I’m sorry Senpai but I have to respectfully refuse.” Naoto states, arms folded. “It’s quite clear you’re not in the right condition to fight, despite your claims. Coughing up blood like you just did is not a sign of a healthy individual.”

“Yu...if something is going on, you know you can tell us right?” Chie pouts a bit as she speaks. “We’re your friends after all.”

“...I’d tell you...if I fully understood it myself...” Yu mutters a bit. “I’m going to hang around here a bit longer before heading back. That sale is still going on, so leaving now wouldn’t be wise anyway.”

Yosuke sighs, nodding. “Yu has a point. Well...we’ll all hang out around the hub. Ted’ll get you once the coast is clear.”

The others walk off, giving Yu some space. He holds his chest tight, as blue static seems to shock him before subsiding.

“It’s gotten worse...as he’s gotten stronger. I don’t know...how much longer I can hold out like this...but if I try to do what they did...will they even..NGH!” The static starts up again, but Yu sinks his katana into the ground as he closes his eyes...and the surge comes to a halt. “No...I refuse to lose the one thing tying me with them...not now...not ever.”

Yosuke watches from a safe distance away, seeing just how much pain his best friend is in. He may not fully understand what’s going on but...

“Maybe he’s just as scared of accepting a part of himself....like me.” Yosuke shakes his head. “I’ll stay by your side as long as I can. And maybe one day...we can all help you face yourself...like you have for us.”

#persona 4 #yu narukami #yosuke hanamura #Kanji Tatsumi #Teddie #Rise Kujikawa #naoto shirogane #yukiko amagi #chie satanoka #shad's drabbles

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qveensbury · 6 years ago

Text

operation: day of black sun

A/N: Based on this story.

Katara felt her breath catch. Zuko looked down at her with such warmth, his eyes like golden amber. She took his hand. “When can I see you again?”

“Kuruk,” Zuko pulled his hand away, slowly.

She tightened her grip. “I’m serious. It’s time I told you everything.”

“I have the day off on Thursday. How about then?”

“Okay.”

“Okay,” Zuko repeated, looking over her.

Katara remembered the first time they met and how he appraised her then, too.

“I’ll let you leave. Lest they call a SWAT team.” She let go of his hand.

Zuko snorted, “Night Kuruk.”

“Good night detective. See you Thursday.”

“Isn’t this that a little overkill?”

Katara glared at Zuko, slamming the box shut. “Can’t expect privacy when I’m committing crimes, right Detective? So I gotta make my own. The box blocks any audio recording and the VPN my brother designed will make sure it never looked like I was here.”

“You really think of everything.”

“I had to,” Katara said, softly, slowly. “For this to work, I had to think of everything.”

“What is this?”

Katara took a deep breath. “Have you heard of converging interests?”

“Yea.”

“The state department of justice has an interest in a multitude of things, including reducing the amount of organized crime. And, I have the same interest.”

Zuko frowned, “I can kind of see how but don’t understand completely.”

“The state wants to ensure there are less ––“

“No I get that. What do you mean when you say you want less families?”

“I told you I have no interests in this, the mafia life. We don’t need to expand. I took control and diverted a lot of operations. The Kuruk isn’t clean but ‘snot filthy either. I can live with myself.

“The other families don’t have that code of conduct. The terror they’ve put civilians through I can’t stand it anymore. Anything to get them out of making it impossible for these people to live. The state cares more about the control, there can’t be two big dogs in the arena. But, it’ll get the job done. That’s all that matters.”

Zuko nodded slowly, a small frown on his face.

Katara released a slow breath. Ok. Progress.

“So, the same way I helped RCPD with that sex trafficking ring, I give tips to the state.”

“But, you were so offended when I suggested that deal.

“I’ll never snitch, Zuko.” The snap returned to Katara’s voice. “When I can’t help, I’ll point for law enforcement. But I never snitch. Going on the stand, helping the DA, I never, I would never. It’s different.”

Zuko crossed his arms. “Ok.”

Ok. Cleared another hurdle.

“Can I ask you a question?”

Katara folded her hands. “Sure.”

“Okay. Several questions. So the Dao tip, why did you come to us?”

“It was in part to test you out. To test the department out. Next question.”

“Who is Suki?”

“Suki is my state liaison. That’s how she got me out of Boiling Rock. She also got Haru off RCPD’s radar.”

“Haru still baffles me.” Zuko scratched his head. “He doesn’t work for you.”

Katara shook her head.

“He’s affiliated with the crime families you’re trying to take down.”

Katara nodded.

“And you helped him.”

She nodded again.

“Why?”

“Because Haru is an undercover state agent. He’s part of the organized crime division. He wasn’t targeted by accident. We couldn’t let his cover be blown.”

“I don’t follow.”

“We have a formula. I help the state. They help me when I need it. The organized crime goes down. Or, at least it should in theory. But, for as many brakes we put on activity, the families keep going full throttle.

“We think something fishy is going on between the families and RCPD.”

Zuko sat back, eyes narrowed. “Do you have proof?”

Katara reached into her bag and pulled out a folder. She handed it to him.

Zuko flipped through the pictures. Mendoza. Tengku. With the godfathers of the Red Lotus, Dai Li, and the Rough Rhinos.

Katara could imagine what was going through his head: These weren’t small fries. They were the decision makers. Mendoza and Tengku weren’t undercover. There wasn’t a Precinct push. I would know. I’m on the Organized Crime team.

Zuko frowned and looked up.

“It’s a lot. I know. I’m sorry.”

“My uncle took down the Sozin family, his cousins. It established his career at the expense of destroying his family. He knew the consequences but wanted people to be safe in Republic City. He tried so hard to keep the cops investigating the mafia clean. How did this happen?”

“I don’t know how it happened, but, I know we can stop it.”

Zuko held eye contact. “How?”

Katara opened a bottle of rum and filled four shot glasses. She set them in front of Zuko, Suki and Jin, another state agent.

“Okay kiddos, listen up. We’re taking everyone down and it’s going to be big. Here’s the plan. If we can get the families and the RCPD moles in one room, for one deal, it’ll be enough to tumble the whole scheme. Suki?”

“Which is where I come in. I’ll be posing as Enko Tanaka, eldest daughter of the Tanaka outfit, Haru’s supplier of bikes for the couriers. My father will be so pleased with business he’ll invite everyone to my wedding. Haru will ensure everyone who’s anyone will be there.”

“Including state agents ready to arrest them,” Katara finished.

Zuko took his shot. “Is Haru a strong influence? These families never see each other.”

“The underground story is that I tried to take out Haru. The families are scared I’m planning something. They’re willing to form alliances. And, what better place than a wedding?

“The other families have been icing me out for years. When the Kuruk didn’t crumble under me, they started to panic. Haru won’t be forcing them into anything. We’re just giving them a venue.”

“Once the deal, we’ve been investigating for months, goes through, DOJ agents will swarm the place.” Jin took her shot. She grimaced. “Geez, Katara what died in this? A rat?”

Suki downed her shot. “Hey, no whining at my bachelorette.” She placed her shot glass on the table. “Any questions?” She looked around. “Let’s demolish some mafia families.”

“This is kind of anti-climatic,” Katara said to Zuko.

He glanced at her before returning to the monitor. “This?”

“I mean you’re not ta the wedding taking anyone down. You’re here in the war room with me.” The state had set up an operations center in the top floor of a building across from the reception hall.

“Most of our relationship has been on the sidelines, Kuruk.”

Katara’s heart skipped. He didn’t mean it that way. He meant crime fighting, not a romantic relationship. “Still,” she whispered, mindful of the other agents.

“And would you rather I chase you around? My investigation never got to that point.”

She snorted. “You’d never catch me.”

“You said we were evenly matched.”

She smiled, “Okay once. You’d get close once.”’

“Besides, how would that go if I ran into Mendoza or Tengku.” He changed his pitch, “Ryuku? What are you doing here?” He raised the pitched to his regular voice, “Oh, Enko and I go way back.”

“Hmm, you’ve got a point.”

“And no matter how good your next wig is, it won’t fool everyone there.”

“You’ve thought this through.”

Zuko shrugged. “Took a page out of your playbook.”

“I’m flattered.”

Zuko smirked. “What’s next after this?”

“What do you mean?”

Zuko sat back, crossing his arms. “What’s the next case? The next coup?”

“You don’t want to find something new to do, Detective? This is going to have pretty big aftershocks.”

“Yea, I know.” He shrugged. “But, y’know after I deal with Internal Affairs, what’s our next adventure? Fighting injustice never stops.”

Katara looked at him with her mouth wide open. He couldn’t be serious. She studied the monitor. “Suki, that’s Tengku, a city mole Detective Ryuku was telling you about. You’ll want to avoid him.”

“Is Jin talking to..?” Zuko cursed. “That’s the Captain.”

“Of your precinct?” Katara stood to look his monitor.

“This runs so deep.” He covered his face.

“Like I said, you’ll want to lay low.”

“Well, what will you be doing?”

“What I’ve always done.” “They’re going to sign the deal.” Suki said over the radio.

“Everyone in position.” Zuko said emphasizing Suki’s note and slipping into his detective mode.

Katara let out a sigh of relief. I don’t want to think about goodbyes. She brushed hair behind her ears, eyes flitting across the screen. Every piece in place to be captured.

Red Lotus.

Dai Li.

Rough Rhinos.

Republic City officers.

A state agent for each piece on the board.

“Cue the music,” Jin instructed. Not every agent in the room could get an ear piece, so Suki suggested playing a song to signal the operation was entering the final phase.

Seeing people shift gears always fascinated Katara. Bato went from teddy bear to machine the second an operation started. Sokka’s rabbit holes pulled out a laser focus like none other. Watching the ripple of the “game time” mood across the room was a thing of beauty.

Suki tapped her glass, a clear note ringing. The patriarchs looked up at her, away from the document they’d just sign.

“I’d like to thank everyone for joining me on our special day. I’ll never forget it. I have a small request.” She smirked. “If you’re a DOJ agent, can you stand up.”

Panic.

Katara knew it was far more palatable in the room.

They were surrounded and she watched the crime families realize any resistance would be futile. The head of the Dai Li, Long Feng, put his hands up first. Soon the rest followed suit.

Katara held her breath waiting for someone to signal their counterstrike or for an explosion. Anything that would mean the plan failed.

As Suki and her team began putting the guests in handcuffs, she let out a laugh.

They did it.

Zuko grabbed her shoulder, twirling her towards him. “Another successful blow! Hopefully, the giant stays down this time.”

Katara smiled. “Finally.”

The other agents started celebrating, whooping and laughing.

Zuko leaned towards Katara.

She turned her ear to him to better hear.

“You never told me what’s next.”

“Next for whom?” She shouted before turning her ear to him.

“For us.”

Surely, he meant it in a crime fighting way. What was their next coup or hijink. Katara knew that was the conclusion to draw.

How her heart wished he meant something else.

“We just barely finished this case, Detective. Let’s get these thugs on the books first.”

Zuko frowned, he opened his mouth but one of the state agents jostled him.

“They need help loading people into wagons,” he announced.

“We shouldn’t be seen here, we’re confidential informants.”

“The agent nodded clearing everyone else out. The door clicked shut.

“I wasn’t talking about another operation, Katara.”

“What did you mean?”

“Are you just gonna keep popping up when you feel like it? Or can we see each other more often?”

Katara couldn’t look at him so she watched the venue clear out. She gathered the fabric of her shirt into her hand. “I wasn’t really planning on popping in anymore.”

“So…that’s it.”

She shrugged. “I’ve terrorized you enough and I don’t think your life has room for me.”

“That’s what I thought.”

Katara heard him shift and glanced at him. He was much closer.

“Katara,” he took her chin in his fingers. “You’ve made yourself home in my heart.”

Katara’s eyes grew. “There are cameras in here,” she blurted.

“Ok then let’s go.” Zuko stood up, grabbing his things. He spoke to someone over the radio.

Katara felt like she was free falling. She liked being in charge and calling the shot. She liked being in the driver seat.

“Jin said it’s clear for us to go. They’re debriefing in an hour. Let’s get some coffee.”

“Ok.”

Zuko led them to a hole in the wall coffee spot two blocks away. He flashed his badge and the barista took them to a separate room.

“Two decafs is okay right?” Zuko asked.

Katara nodded.

“I’ll be right back,” the barista bobbed.

Katara crossed her arms. “Be careful, Detective. You don’t want to give the wrong impression.”

Zuko’s eyes were like amber again. “What do you mean?”

She tucked hair behind her ear. “That you’re insinuating that you want to be with me.”

“And you don’t want to hear that?”

“It’s impossible.” She crossed her arms. “A cop and a mafia boss can’t be together, not in the way I want.”

“Not impossible.” He took her elbow, pulling her to him. Not if I make some changes.”

“Like what?”

He shrugged, “Switching departments, leaving the force. These things will work out.”

“You’d do that for me?” Katara’s eyes were round. She searched his face.

“Oh!” He raised an eyebrow, smirking. “This wasn’t your master plan?”

The barista put their coffees on the counter by the door.” Enjoy!”

“Thank you!”

“No, the feelings,” Katara let herself say it, “were unexpected.”

“Unwelcome?”

“They made the actual plan more difficult but I could never imagine not loving you.”

“Geez, Kuruk. I’m supposed to be wooing you! you can’t drop lines like that.”

Katara laughed, “Go on then.”

“Thank you.” Zuko lifted her chin towards him and leaned forward. “I don’t care what it takes. We’re going to make this work.” His voice grew deeper, huskier. “I would do anything for you and that terrifies me. Katara, it terrifies me but I still would do it.”

“You don’t have to. I’m not asking.”

“I know that, but I want to. You still deserve it.”

Katara hummed in response. “So, what’s next Detective. You have me here at your mercy. The briefing is in an hour and our coffees are getting cold.”

Zuko’s eyes travelled over her lips. He let his thumb trace her lower lip. “I think I have something in mind.”

#zutara fanfiction #the honey heiress #the end of the road!#zutara AU #atla #ATLA AU

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chill4234-reblogs · 2 years ago

Text

Ok so I noticed a significant lack of the best persona game Persona 4, so please allow my contributions. (Also, I’m not a major mythology buff, so please forgive me if I get anything wrong.)

Having Izanagi for a persona has definitely been interesting for Yu. First noticeable change was boosted creativity, Izanagi was basically Japan’s creator, so obviously that creative spirit leaked into Yu.

But of course, can’t have Izanagi without his wife, Izanami. The woman famous for dying, her husband attempting to rescue her from the underworld, and her decaying corpse repaying the favour by trying to kill Izanagi.

Izanagi himself? Pretty brave guy, especially in the face of all the demons Izanami hired to kill him.

Yu, however, is just a teenager, which is a stage of life where your anxiety can get pretty high.

Yu is still the same confident, suave boy we know and love, but Izanagi’s life of fighting demons can put Yu a bit on edge, even when he’s perfectly safe.

Yosuke

Similarly to the phantom thieves, Jiraya was a famous criminal who, in his early life, robbed the poor, but later turned toward stealing from the rich. Yosuke doesn’t really care where all the extra money comes from, it helped him pay for his scooter, after all.

on an unrelated note, someone’s been pickpocketing from Yosuke’s dad a lot, which is weird. At least his dad’s management position pays well enough for the family to be unaffected.

Jiraya was also known to control the weather, which is useful when the whole game is about avoiding the rain.

Chie

There really isn’t much to say on this one, Tomoe was a famous warrior, Chie likes fighting. The only noticeable effects I can think of are an increased number of haircuts due to how long the real Tomoe’s hair was.

Yukiko

Konohana Sakuya is the god of mt. Fuji’s volcano, so at first, everyone around her shrugged it off when Yukiko began radiating this…warm aura? She’s often called the most beautiful girl in her class, so people attracted to her blame it on a crush, while those that aren’t find some other excuse, like Yukiko’s warm personality.

As time goes on, people begin to realise they were dead wrong. Nobody knows what it is or why it happens, but whenever Yukiko approaches, the temperature rises dramatically and Yukiko doesn’t even seem to care. Yukiko even complained the hot springs felt too cold, causing further bewilderment among the innkeepers.

Kanji

Out of nowhere, Kanji suddenly gains crazy leadership skills. He never outright tries to upstage Yu, but every so often Kanji will throw out advanced battle tactics or leader-like tenderness. The investigation team just…stares, like, did that really just come from the team idiot?!

Kanji never notices this change in his behaviour personally, he’s not the leader of anything really, and these strategies just feel natural, but every so often, Take-Milazuchi’s influence slips in, baffling everyone around him.

Rise

Ok while researching for this post, Rise’s persona Himiko definitely interested me the most. Himiko was said to be both a princess and a priestess who worshipped the sun goddess, and while Rise has begun to appreciate clear weather more often, Himiko has another affect on her.

Himiko exists in both Chinese and Japanese mythology, and while her Chinese descriptions are pretty detailed, her Japanese descriptions are rather vague, some sources even use different names for the same character. Rise’s career in music is definitely gonna take a hit because of this, almost like everyone in Japan barely remembers her.

But then there’s China.

Rise did expect her Japanese popularity to dip, but not for her to become massively loved by her overseas neighbours. Even though her songs are in a completely different language, China can’t seem to get enough of it.

Teddie

A rather simple one, Kintoki-Douji (or Kintaro, as he’s actually called) is a figure known for immense strength. The investigation team correlates it to Teddie just being a weirdo, Teddie says it’s because of all the sit-ups he did.

Either way, Teddie can now lift objects so heavy that it scares everyone who witnesses.

Naoto

Naoto’s persona is a deity of hot springs, agriculture, healing, magic, brewing sake and (most fittingly of Naoto) knowledge.

Similarly to Teddie, Naoto now has an increase in strength, albeit mental rather than physical. Naoto is the only member of the investigation team who’s taken notice of the persona’s odd affects on the user, which is partly why they prompted the hospital visit.

Naoto themselves is personally rather baffled by the sudden turn of events, things they had no interest in before are suddenly areas of expertise. The group could just be relaxing at the Amagi Inn when suddenly, Naoto lists off a bunch of facts about hot springs they weren’t even aware of.

It was personally embarrassing when the game’s killer was arrested. Naoto was filing the necessary paperwork, but their report goes deep into the second victim, Naoto going into frankly unneeded detail regarding the victim’s line of work and frequent involvement with Sake. The higher ups were certainly confused as to how some kid could know this much about alcohol, and why Naoto thought this much detail would be useful.

You know what would be fun? If having a Persona leaked into the rest of your life. Well, maybe not for the users, but it would be fun for us.

In Persona 2, Reiji Kido and Kenta Yokouchi are both door-to-door salesmen who work for the same company, but Kenta is successful where Reiji is not. Kenta’s Persona Mara induces greed in customers, while Reiji’s Persona Mot induces fear.

Imagine if we saw that elsewhere. Like, what if having a Persona made you fluent in the language they’d know? (And you didn’t lose it if you got an Ultimate Persona?)

Since all the starting Personas in Persona 3 are Greek, SEES uses Ancient Greek to pass messages during the day. Sometimes at the dorm, they wind up chatting and don’t realize that they switched to Greek; this happens a few times when Ryoji is over.

Ryuji realizes that English class is suddenly a lot easier with Captain Kidd. He understands everything the teacher says! Except his teacher has no idea how to grade his essays, which appear to have been written on Talk Like A Pirate Day.

Not just language things, too. There’s some inconvenient stuff as well.

One fine spring day, Sae asks Makoto why she hasn’t cooked meat in weeks, and Makoto can’t answer. It’s only after she checks the calendar that she realizes that it’s Lent, when meat is traditionally forbidden.

It turns out that Makoto’s been subconsciously following rules laid down by the Church, because of Johanna. She doesn’t get the rules that interfere with her own set of morals, such as anything involving the subjugation of women, nor ones that are unavoidable, such as not wearing mixed fabrics, but she does wind up following the rest. When she goes grocery shopping, she doesn’t think, “I will not cook meat,” she thinks, “fish would be good for dinner.”

Yusuke can’t stand hot baths anymore, because Goemon was executed by being boiled alive. Luckily, he’s not bothered by cold anymore.

Tatsuya and Katsuya wake up at dawn every morning because of Apollo and Helios, which is good for early shifts, but they also tend to start fading after sunset. Maya, on the other hand, now has a seemingly erratic sleep schedule because the moon rises and sets at different times.

Baofu is always late because like Odysseus, something always stalls him.

Some of the Phantom Thieves, and also Jun and Junpei, keep finding their hands in other peoples’ pockets because their Personas were pickpockets. Or they don’t notice at all and find stuff in their bags that they don’t remember buying. Yusuke finds that he keeps giving money to beggars, but it’s always money that he doesn’t remember stealing, since Goemon gave back to the poor.

But there’s fun stuff, too.

Futaba now knows dark magic. She almost makes a prototype Demon Summoning Program, but gets bored halfway through and stops. It is implied that this was divine intervention; the Nahobino is seem outside her window, sighing in relief.

Junpei starts brewing potions as energy drinks and sleep aids, since Hermes Trismegistus is an alchemist.

Jun subconsciously bends time around himself, so he’s never late, never has to wait long, and he always gets his homework and paperwork done much faster. However, he knows that his bosses usually measure work done by time spent, so he’s figured out how to work around that.

One day, the modeling company asks Ann to show off her special talent, and since ‘whip techniques’ gets vetoed, she blurts out that she sings. The manager expects some cute pop music, and is startled when she starts bellowing Italian opera.

#long post #persona #persona 4 #yu narukami #yosuke hanamura #chie satonaka #yukiko amagi #rise kujikawa #teddie #naoto shirogane

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individuationfic · 6 years ago

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Seeking to Seize Chapter 5

AO3

They have a meeting on the school roof the day Yukiko comes back. Yu, Yosuke, and Chie catch herup on what they’ve figured out and how Personae work, and Yukiko glumly admits she doesn’t remember much about her kidnapping. Chie hovers, concerned, as Yukiko speaks, and she flushes bright red when Yu cuts her an amused look.

Once everyone is on the same page, they stop speaking, so Yu pulls his notepad out of his bag and scribbles, Will you help us? and shows it to Yukiko.

Yukiko freezes. Yu can see the wheels turning in her head and the panic flashing in her eyes. He’s pretty sure the only reasons she isn’t breaking down are the combination of Chie’s shoulder resting solidly against her own and her Persona speaking to her in her head. Eventually a determined look takes over her wary face and she agrees.

Within him, Izanagi makes a pleased humming sound. Your bond with your team grows more powerful by the day, he says. The closer you become, the stronger I get.

Yu wonders if the others feel a similar pressure. This thought is more than a little pointed, and Izanagi laughs.

Chie announces that she’s hungry, so the team decides to migrate to Junes. As they approach the school gate, they see three people ahead of them. Shiomi-senpai, Yuki-senpai, and a woman with silvery-blonde hair.

Yu freezes up. He suddenly remembers his revelation about Shiomi-senpai, and this new woman makes him even more suspicious. There’s no way this can be a coincidence. She looks too similar to Margaret for that. Yu catches Yosuke’s attention and signs, ‘I just remembered something we need to talk about.’

Yosuke has gotten much better at signing in the few weeks Yu’s been teaching him. He’s mostly graduated from finger spelling and knows basic signs, so it’s much easier and much quicker to relay information to him. Yosuke must see something in Yu’s face because he nods, face resolute. ‘At Junes,’ he replies. Then he says, “Hey, Chie, Yukiko, you two should learn JSL, too.”

“That’s what you guys have been doing at lunch?” Chie asks.

“I was wondering where you went today,” Yukiko adds.

Yosuke nods. “Yeah, we go to the roof and Yu teaches me there. It’s a lot easier to talk to him with sign language than making him use his note pad.” Then his grins, mischievous, and continues, “Plus, I’m pretty sure his handwriting is getting worse.”

Yu shoves him, and he’s pretty sure Yosuke laughs. This finally seems to attract the attention of their senpai, because Shiomi-senpai waves. “Narukami-kun, Hanamura-kun, Satonaka-chan, Amagi-chan, come here! I want to introduce you all to someone!”

The others all look to Yu first, which momentarily surprises him. He knows he’s supposed to be their leader, but he didn’t know that extended to outside of the TV as well as inside. He makes his nod as small as he can, and only then do they approach. Chie, still a bit suspicious, clings to Yukiko’s arm, eyes hard. Yu’s pretty sure she won’t be letting Yukiko out of her sight for a long time.

“This is Elizabeth,” Shiomi-senpai when they finally get close enough. “She’s an old friend who helps take care of me and Makoto. Elizabeth, there are the kouhai we’ve told you about.”

Elizabeth’s golden eyes flash, curious. “Oh?” she asks.

Yu signs, ‘Ask her if she has a sister,’ to Yosuke, whose face is overtaken by a lecherous grin at whatever imagined implication he gets from the request. Before Yu can correct the obvious misconception, Yosuke asks the question. “Sorry, Elizabeth-san, but my friend wants to ask if you have a sister.”

Elizabeth smiles, her eyes drilling through any sort of defense Yu could have put up. “Yes,” she says, “I do. I’m told we look quite similar.”

Yu really does intend to tell the team about his suspicions. He does. He wants near-complete transparency regarding investigation matters.

But Adachi shows up at Junes, and Yu feels his hackles raise, and he says nothing.

Nanako is so happy to be invited to Junes.

Yu’s glad. She was devastated when Dojima cancelled their Golden Week trip and Yu couldn’t bear it. He thinks, perhaps cruelly, that it’s a lot easier for Dojima to deal with his daughter’s sadness because he’s never home.

Of course, he says none of this to Nanako, and she has an absolute blast. She adores Yosuke and gets fawned over by Chie and Yukiko. When she offers to get Yu a drink, she calls him “Onii-chan,” and he swears his heart flies away. By the time they get home, it seems like Nanako has forgotten about Dojima’s broken promise, at least for now.

School starts up once more. The whole team (sans Teddie, of course) meets on the roof. Under the guise and relative silence of a JSL lesson, they are able to discuss the investigation in secret.

They quickly touch base regarding the lack of missing persons and the status of the Midnight Channel. Then, after those topics are exhausted, and Yu is as certain as he can be that no one else is around, he finger spells, ‘I think Shiomi-senpai knows something about the TV world.’

Chie, startled, forgets their cover, drops her hands, and says “What?” aloud. While Yosuke rushes to quiet her, Yu pulls his notepad out. His explanation, he knows, will be too long to finger spell, so he wrote it down the night before. He very desperately hopes he’s explained the Velvet Room in an easy to understand way.

‘Do you think she’s a suspect?’ Yukiko signs when she’s finished reading. She’s picked up on JSL very quickly, Yu thinks. She’s still using basic signs, but she’s already almost at Yosuke’s level.

Yu shakes his head. ‘I don’t get that feeling. She helped us by giving me that Goho-M, after all.

‘So you think she knows more than she’s saying?’

‘Exactly.’

Chie’s brow furrows and she quickly looks at her cheat sheet. ‘How could she know about the TV world without being involved?’ she signs with much difficulty. Yu feels a little bad for her. He can only imagine how frustrated she is by all the signing.

Something like realization sparks in Yosuke’s eyes. ‘We might not be the first Persona users,’ he points out. ‘Maybe Shiomi-senpai is one, too.’

‘Do you think the killer is a Persona user?’ Yukiko asks.

Yu signs, ‘They have to be. How else would they know about the fog? If there was only one victim, I could write it off as an accident, but you and Konishi-senpai had to be premeditated.’

He feels a vibration in the air, and by the way everyone else whips their heads around, the school bell has rung. Aloud, Yosuke says, ‘The school gates will be closing soon. I’ll go to Junes and tell Teddie what we talked about.” He starts to stand.

Before he can get far, Yu signs, ‘Nobody goes alone. The buddy system is safest.’

Yosuke pouts. “I wasn’t planning on going in!”

‘The killer has to know someone is onto them. They could be waiting around and watching people spending time near TVs. It’s not safe to go alone.’

Yosuke looks like he wants to retaliate, but Yukiko, who can somewhat understand their argument, steps in. “I’ll go with you,” she says. “Junes is near my bus stop, anyway.”

Yu shoots her a grateful look. ‘I’ll walk Chie home, then.’

Yukiko nods and says, “Thank you.”

Chie is mostly quiet as Yu escorts her home. She has to give him directions, of course, but it turns out she only lives a few streets away from Dojima. Yu is internally grateful; he was worried about being able to find his way home.

She’s clearly troubled by something, so Yu types What’s bothering you? into the notes on his cell phone and shows her the screen.

Chie shakes her head. “It’s stupid,” she says. Yu’s glad the sun hasn’t sunk too far past the horizon, because it’s already getting hard to read her lips. He’s about to prod her again, but she continues, “It’s just—do you think Yukiko likes Yosuke?”

This startles what must be a laugh out of Yu, because Chie’s face turns red. He quickly types out a message before she can work herself up too much. Why do you think that?

“She offered to go to Junes with him.”

Yosuke was being difficult and we were about to start arguing. Yukiko stepped in to defuse the situation.

Chie’s eyes go wide. “You were about to fight?”

He’s underestimating the danger around us, Yu types. I want us to have a buddy system whenever possible, and he was being stubborn about it.

“Oh.” They’ve reached her house now, so they stop. “Is that why you walked me home?”

Partly. I also wanted to talk to you about Yukiko.

“What about Yukiko?”

About how you need to tell her how you feel.

Chie’s face goes pale. “I—I can’t do that! Her family is, like, super traditional! She could hate me forever if she finds out I’m—” She freezes suddenly, and then speaks, the movement of her mouth small as she says, “—gay.”

Yu feels a wave of sympathy wash over him. I know how that feels, he types, but it’s not fair to you to keep this bottled up. If it makes you feel any better, I’m pretty sure she likes you, too.

Chie goes from white to red in about two seconds. She sputters a quick, “See you tomorrow!” and bolts, running into her house and slamming the door behind her.

[Satonaka Chie]: I need to talk to you about something. Wanna go to Aiya’s after school tomorrow?

[Amagi Yukiko]: Sure! It’s supposed to rain tomorrow, too, so you can try the challenge again.

[Satonaka Chie]: I’ll beat it some day!

[Amagi Yukiko]: I know you will.

[Amagi Yukiko]: Good night, Chie.

[Satonaka Chie]: Night, Yukiko.

#individuation #ao3fic #cover #persona series #persona 4 #persona 3 #chie x yukiko #chie/yukiko

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okayhotshots · 7 years ago

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the more things change; jake x amy

ao3 link | tell me what you think

***

Jake Peralta isn’t big on change. He’s had the same car, same mattress, same attitude for longer than he can remember. But when his feelings for Amy Santiago come into play, Jake will either have to learn to deal with change or run from it.

A sequence of snapshots into Jake’s mind as his feelings for Amy change over time.

***

i. the “date” turned stakeout

He’s probably the furthest thing from romantic that a person can get. It’s not that he lacks the ability or the desire to be romantic, he’s just never had a reason. He prefers the light and breezy path of life he’s chosen to take. No broken hearts. No pining. No romance. He doesn’t need any of that. It would only distract him from work, and honestly, work is what matters most to him.

But, as he learned very quickly when he became a cop, things can change in the blink of an eye. And he had no idea when he took Amy Santiago out for their disaster date, that things would change.

Maybe it wouldn’t have if they hadn’t been sent to the stakeout location. He would have spent the night embarrassing her and rubbing his victory in her face. She would have been beyond annoyed and probably never would have spoken to him again. He’s glad things worked out this way.

He doesn’t realize what’s happening at first. The flirting and the teasing? It seemed so normal. They had never been quite this alone before, and Jake was seeing sides of Amy he’d never seen before, and somehow, seeing her in a new light all together.

But something changes. He doesn’t know the exact moment. It’s fleeting, but every so often, he’ll get a fluttering in his chest and swooping in his stomach when Amy does something he would normally consider annoying, and a warmth spreads through him when she smiles and when she laughs. It’s even worse when he’s the one to make her do either of those things. But it’s those changes that make it impossible for him to tell Holt to send the night team. He plays it off with Amy the next day, but it’s honestly the best date he’s ever had, spun from a bet or not.

When he finally gets home from the stakeout, he collapses on his bed, fully prepared to pass out to the sounds of Netflix in the background, but he can’t stop thinking about her. He closes his eyes but all he can see his Amy laughing on that rooftop as she attempted to catch a nut with nothing but her mouth.

It’s never been like this for him. It’s all sex jokes and one-night stands. He doesn’t catch feelings for people. He saw what it did to his mom when his dad left, and he never wanted to feel the way she felt. But god damn it. Amy has taken over every single one of his thoughts, and there’s nothing he can do to shake it.

The scariest part is, he’s not sure he wants to.

ii. the missed opportunity

He spends too long being afraid.

He keeps trying to tell himself that he’s somehow misunderstood his friendship with Amy for something more. Stranger things have happened. There was that week in middle school when he thought he might be into Gina. Thankfully, that week was so weird for both of them, neither one of them ever bring it up.

But he knows this is different. No one has ever consumed him like Amy. No one else has ever worked their way into every single thought he has, settled into his heart the way she has. But he’s scared. Jake Peralta, the guy who rushes into crime scenes without a second thought, is scared of letting himself feel something for someone.

It’s not just that he’s afraid he might get hurt. (Even though that’s a large part of it). He’s also worried about what it could do to their friendship, to the great dynamic they have going on at work. He likes having Amy in his life. Especially since they’ve grown closer since the stakeout. They even hang out when they aren’t at work. He doesn’t want to lose her entirely. So he keeps his mouth shut and his feelings secret.

That’s when Teddy comes along. It comes completely out of left field. Amy doesn’t usually date, and if she does, she’s very secretive about it. And by the time he realizes Teddy is making a move, and even worse, that Amy’s into it, it’s too late.

He beats himself up for it. Jake doesn’t miss windows of opportunity, especially not because he’s scared of the consequences that might unfold if he climbs through. That’s why when Amy and Teddy join them at the bar one night, he buys everyone a round before taking his beer and disappearing into a corner alone.

He could talk to someone about it, but what would be the point? Amy is dating someone else. She’s probably happy, and he’s just going to have to live with it. Besides, Charles and Gina can’t keep secrets and Rosa doesn’t do feelings. And the one person he would really be comfortable talking it out with is Amy but that’s off the table for more reasons than one.

Terry is the one that gets him out of his slump. They drink more than they should that night, and as Terry practically drags him back to his apartment, Jake finds himself spilling more than he ever planned on spilling.

“Terry, she’s just so great,” he says, vision blurry and words slurring more and more by the second. “I know I give her hell, but she’s great.”

He isn’t sure what Terry says in response. But he’s sure it has to do with the fact that he keeps repeating himself. He wonders, for a moment, if he should just call her. Only to be thankful the next morning that Terry took his phone.

He doesn’t remember getting home. He wakes up on his couch, a sloppy note from Terry on his coffee table. Something about Amy, and the location of his phone.

His head is pounding as he pushes himself into a sitting position, and he runs his fingers through his hair. He knows he drank too much. And it didn’t even work. He was drinking in hopes that it would make him forget Amy for awhile, but all it did was make his head hurt. He closes his eyes for a moment, trying to gain some composure before he gets up. But emories from last night start flooding in.

He remembers standing outside the bar, arm and arm with Terry singing a song he thinks might be from RENT. He remembers drunkenly walking into a Taco Bell and getting a 12-pack of tacos. And finally he remembers Terry dragging him into the elevator and into his apartment. And he kind of wishes he could forget what he remembers next.

Terry had just finished lowering him onto the couch, when Jake looked up at him, pointing a finger in his direction. “Terry, can I tell you something I haven’t told anyone?”

He thinks that the sarge might have been closer to sober than he was at that point, because he nodded. “Sure, Peralta. Lay it on me.”

“I love her,” Jake said, unable to keep his eyes open any longer. “I’m in love with Amy Santiago.”

He feels like his heart has dropped into his stomach, and the warm feeling he gets when he’s with Amy is far from him now. Instead, a rush of cold, icy, fear washes over him.

He just had too much to drink, right? Sure, he likes Amy, but he’s not in love with her. He decides that it’s the alcohol he has to blame, pushing the memory to the back of his mind, content to forget that it ever happened. As far as the sarge knows, he doesn’t even remember it.

iii. romantic-stylez

Jake is a master at playing pretend. Or maybe he’s just so busy with work, he doesn’t have time to think about Amy and Teddy, and the fact that he told Terry that he’s in love with her.

Either way, things get a little easier. He’s able to focus around Amy again. They work well together, they tease, and bicker, and sometimes they still hang out. But it’s harder now. Amy likes to talk about Teddy, and he has no valid reason to ask her to stop. If he did, it would only make things harder for her. It would ruin everything, so he grins and bears it.

He’s learned to stop being shocked when things change. That’s just how the world works, and he has, to a point, come to accept that. But he tries not to let it throw him too far off track. He hyper-focuses on work, doing his best to move on.

It would be his luck, that he stumbles on a case being investigated by the FBI. If this had been a couple months ago, Jake would have been through the roof. He would have gone undercover without a second thought, ready to be the cop he always wanted to be. But things have changed, they always do.

He still agrees to do the op. He’d be an idiot not to. But that means danger, that means possible death, and no contact with the Nine-Nine for the operations entire length.

He wrestles with his brain for hours. At first, he thinks he’s just being dramatic. Nothing is going to happen to him, he doesn’t have to say anything to Amy about the way he feels. But he’s quick to remember that things don’t always go as planned, and he’s stumbling out of the precinct to catch Amy before he can stop himself.

Amy looks shocked and mostly confused as he tells her how he feels. He doesn’t say he loves her. He’s still not sure he really does. But he does tell he wishes they could be together. Not quite as eloquently, but it gets the point across. He runs away before he can get a response.

He spends the next six months wondering what effect his words would have on her. He wonders if she’s still with Teddy, if she feels the same way. And he misses her. More than he would care to admit.

In the end, it doesn’t matter. Amy stays with Teddy, and Jake feels like a fool for thinking Amy could ever feel that way about him.

iv. the distraction

Either Terry doesn’t remember Jake confessing his love for Amy, or he thinks it’s a lost cause. He’s the one that actually convinces him to try and move on, and Jake, stupidly, takes the advice.

Sophia is great. She’s beautiful, smart, funny, and they have a lot in common. He genuinely enjoys spending time with her, despite the fact their jobs conflict a lot. He likes her, and he wants them to work.

Jake quickly learns that just because you want something to work doesn’t mean it will. He’s been playing pretend so long, he’s starting to believe it’s real. So when he pretends that he’s over Amy, he’s convinced himself that he is. Even though he’d rather hang out with Amy than go on a date with Sophia. He never admits that out loud, of course, it’s rare he even thinks it.

Part of him knows it’s not fair to string Sophia along. And he knows he’s being selfish keeping her around as a distraction, but he can’t let go. Maybe it’s because he wants to believe he can get over Amy. Or maybe it’s because he thinks that this is how to get over Amy. Either way, he’s almost desperate to get her to stay.

Things are weird after the dinner with Amy and Teddy. Sophia tries to let him down gently, but he won’t have it. Playing pretend has made him believe he might be in love with Sophia and he won’t miss another window of opportunity. So, as usual, Jake embarrasses himself.

It doesn’t hit him just what a negative effect this whole thing has had on Sophia until she’s standing in front of him with tears in her eyes, recalling that awkward dinner and the look on his face when he found out Amy used to have feelings for him.

“I saw the way you looked at her.”

He tried to so hard to play it off. But he knew he failed when a few of her tears actually slipped down her cheeks. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Sophia let out a laugh, but there was no humor in it. “Jake, you looked at her the way you’re supposed to look at me.”

And it’s then, perhaps for the first time, he realizes just how deep in this he is.

v. six months in

He can’t thank Rosa enough for setting this up for them. Jake has never been the romantic type. He always wanted to be, but he never had a reason. But with Rosa’s help, and a little bit of prompting, it all comes together pretty easily, and the look on Amy’s face makes it all worth it.

They spend the night searching through bookshelves, and he listens to Amy tell him about her favorite stories. And the warmth in his chest has only grown into a fire that consumes him every time he’s in Amy’s presence and he’s okay with that.

She fallS asleep in the early hours of the morning, their backs pressed against a shelf, her head resting on his shoulder, a light snore escaping her lips.

He watches for a few minutes as she sleeps, unable to deny any longer that he’s head-over-heels in love with her. He remembers months ago when Amy was still with Teddy, how she mentioned how how bad break-ups were and how she hoped she never had to go through one again. At the time, he had used it to gauge how well their relationship was going, but now he understands.

In that moment, he doesn’t know if she’s the one, but he knows he’d be devastated if this didn’t work out, or end on a positive note. Amy is sunlight and happiness, and makes him feel things he never thought he would feel. He doesn’t want to break up, and he’s going to do everything he can to make sure they don’t.

vi. april twenty-eighth

He’s learned not to be shocked when things change, in fact, Amy’s kind of taught him to embrace it. New mattress, new apartments, new places, new stories. That’s why when everything changes one random day in April, he isn’t afraid.

Jake is scrolling through his phone, trying to find something on his timeline other than Gina’s endless tweets. His phone vibrates signaling another test from Rosa, but he’s quickly distracted.

Amy gasps from her spot in the bed beside of him, and he looks over with a raised eyebrow. She’s doing a crossword, what could be so shocking? When she notices that he’s looking, she shifts the paper a little so Jake can get a better look.

“There’s a typo in the crossword!”

His expression softens as she goes back to concentrating, and his heart has dropped to his stomach in the best way. A slight smile pulls on the edge of his lips, and he feels at peace. And it dawns on him, he never wants this end. Relaxing after work, Amy nerding out over her crossword puzzles, just being with her. He wants to do this for the rest of his life. And not with anyone but Amy Santiago.

The random day in April quickly becomes something more. It becomes the day he stops running. It becomes the day he stops being afraid. It becomes the day that he makes the best decision he’s ever made. It becomes the day he decides he wants to marry the love of his life.

#b99 fanfic #jake x amy #peraltiago #b99 fic #idk what this is but i like it #enjoy i guess #my writing

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