#yu narukami & reader | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

sungjinwoouff · 4 months ago

Text

cotton candy. | yu narukami

where you’re secretly dating the investigation team’s leader.

pure fluff, might be a bit ooc, takes place during next year’s summer festival after the case is closed. au where yu doesn’t return to the city. not proofread.

note — this is really long... i'm a bit stiff, too, so i'm sorry this is a bit poorly written. also, this isn’t proofread.

you walk with the other girls in your yukata, heart beating rather heavily, your body warm due to excitement and nerves rather than the actual weather. you listen to yukiko and rise’s conversation, them walking in front of you, naoto, and chie. chie joins in a few times, yet you were too nervous to pipe in yourself.

you five had just come from the amagi inn where you spent time getting ready together — helping with each other’s hair, makeup, and yukatas. you were especially nervous because it’s the first time you’ve ever worn a yukata; hell, it’s the first one you’ve ever bought yourself, as all your other yukatas were chosen and bought by your mother. it was your favorite color, and it fit your body perfectly. you’re confident in it, yet you felt shy, especially since you were spending the night at the festival with your friends and your new boyfriend.

yu asked you out on new year’s eve, right before you both gathered with your friends. he had asked you to meet him first, and as always you had no problem with that. you initially thought that there was something he wanted to say about the case that he couldn’t share with the others, but when you left your house only to find him standing there at your front door, you knew something else was up. you still clearly remember the way your heartbeat instantly sped up once you saw him, especially so when he smiled seeing you open the door. for as long as you've known him, it wasn't like him to pick someone up from their house.

he ended up walking with you to the shrine, talking about mundane things at first like how school was going since you were in a different class, until you both finally reached the shopping district. the air was freezing, and the weather report told you that it'd be snowing at midnight, but you felt warm to your bones just standing there in front of the silver-haired boy who just so happened to be your crush.

it was then that he confessed to you, telling you that something in him woke up ever since he saw you facing your shadow in the tv world. suddenly everything made sense — the way he always kept you by his side, choosing you to join him in the main party instead of the backup party, always telling teddie or yukiko to heal you first, asking for your opinion before everyone else's — it was all because your feelings (which you initially thought were one-sided, considering how close he seemed to rise) were returned.

neither of you told the investigation team, not because you wanted to keep it on the low or anything, but because both of you never really felt the need to announce your relationship. besides, your interactions with each other should be enough to tip everyone else off — or so you thought.

and now, eight months later, your relationship seemed to have gone unnoticed as no one from the group ever mentioned anything, not even naoto. you and yu didn't mind, though. “it's more entertaining this way,” your boyfriend had said, mischievous as ever. “imagine the look on their faces when they find out.”

which lead to this moment, with you trying your best to calm your beating heart as your friends conversed with each other. though, the others seem to have finally noticed how you were unusually quiet, as rise finally drops the question, “what’s wrong? oh! are you worried about yu senpai's reaction?”

she was obviously just joking to tease you, yet the fact that her question hit the spot made your heart skip a beat. you were lucky it had already gotten dark, otherwise the four girls would’ve been able to see how your face reddened. “what? no, it’s not that,” you answer, far more composed than you expected. “i think you’re describing yourself there, rise.”

at that, rise squealed and dropped her curiosity immediately. “ah, i just can’t wait! i bet he'll fall head over heels for me the second he sees me!”

you laughed with the others at her excitement. that's another ‘positive’ point of being in a secret relationship that you made note of — you get this feeling of joy and authority whenever someone squeals or gushes over your boyfriend. sure, you feel a bit of annoyance every now and then, but the thought of having the boy they talk so highly about as your boyfriend and only yours gave you a thrilling feeling that rushes through your body. whenever you joke about it to yu, he always laughs along, and always reassures you that he isn't going anywhere, in a way that never fails to make your heart flutter.

“oh shoot, what time is it? we're way too late!” chie finally pipes up after their laughter dies down. her realization snaps the rest of you into a faster walking speed, although it was a bit difficult due to your yukatas.

finally, the entrance to the shrine comes into view, and so does 4 familiar heads of hair waiting right under the arch. teddie cheers and waves at you five once you’re close enough, and just then, your eyes met yu’s. your cheeks heat up in an instant, and you smile at him before looking away for the sake of your heart.

“hey ladies, nice to see you all dressed up for me,” teddie says in his usual ‘flirty’ voice once you reach them.

chie immediately answers with a witty comeback that ends up with teddie’s dramatic self being on the verge of tears, and so begins the friendly conversation-slash-argument about how and why you girls got there so late. as you debated with yosuke, yu watches you silently, and your heart races despite him not saying anything as you all continue your friendly banter.

“alright, alright! sheesh,” yosuke finally says as he admits defeat. “i get it now, you took a long time to get ready just for us, right?” he winked towards the end, earning a groan from chie.

“oh shut up, yosuke!” she grumbled.

“senpai, what do you think? i look cute, don't i?” rise, having noticed yu's silence, asked the upperclassman. “yosuke's right about one thing, i made sure i looked perfect for you, senpai!”

yu hummed and nodded. “i think (name) looks cute.”

his sudden and unexpected words caught you off guard, warming your face up yet again. “ah- um... thanks, yu.” you said, smiling softly at him. it definitely wasn't the first time he's said something of the like, he showers you with compliments every moment he can. still, it always flusters you, more so when he does it in front of the others, what with the unknown relationship thing and all.

rise pouted but nodded, “i agree! i haven't seen her in a yukata before. actually, i don't think any of us have, huh?”

the others nodded and complimented you as well. it was true. last year's summer, before you all had to save naoto, you decided to wear your usual clothes instead of a yukata. you just didn't feel like it was an occasion special enough, and besides, you had always planned to only wear a yukata with someone who matters the most to you. sure, the investigation team is your found family even at that point, but the 'someone' in your mind was more on the romantic side rather than platonic.

“well there's a first for everything,” kanji nodded. “but anyways, come on. let's stop waiting time and go walk around the festival.”

“wait a sec!” yosuke called out just as you all headed towards the gate. “shouldn’t we pair up? y’know, won’t that make things a bit more... romantic?”

yosuke's being his usual flirtatious self, yet the thought of pairing up with yu made you slightly nervous. not only because you were wearing something you don't usually wear, but because it'd be the first time you're openly 'going on a date' in front of your friends. but of course, the other girls disagreed with him, calling him a pervert.

“then i wanna go with all of the girls!” teddie suddenly exclaimed, earning groans from chie and rise.

“but you already did that last year, teddie,” yukiko said, calm as always. “don't you think that's a bit unfair?”

“naoto wasn't with us yet then, and (name) wasn't wearing a yukata. it's different, so come on!” teddie's voice turned whiny toward the end. at first, you and the other girls kept declining, but he kept getting whinier as time goes on. in the end, you finally gave in, albeit a little reluctantly.

“alright then, let's go.” naoto said, earning nods from the others as they all finally headed towards the gate.

you were the last girl to follow teddie's footsteps, and just as you turned to leave, your eyes met yu's again. you send him a smile, which he returned, not yet joining in on kanji and yosuke's conversation as he watched you walk farther away with teddie and the other girls.

“yo, yu, which stand should we check out first?” you heard yosuke’s voice just barely over the loud chatter of the crowd surrounding you before it disappears completely. you decided to stick beside naoto and chie as yukiko and rise walked with teddie, leading the way.

the night went on and you six checked out every stand one by one, playing mini games and buying the snacks that looked most delicious to you. you were laughing and giggling all the time, there wasn’t a single moment of silence between you and your friends as you kept chatting and joking about random things. finally, you stopped at another mini-game stand, where naoto and chie teamed up against rise and teddie to see who’d get the most points by knocking some sand-filled bottles with balls they were given by the stand-keeper. yukiko laughed out loud when teddie missed completely, her contagious laughter causing you to laugh along with her. the competition was fierce with only a one point difference, rise and teddie in the lead despite teddie’s missed shots. in the end they did win, which lead to chie and naoto asking (demanding, really) for a rematch.

“oof, i’m tired. do you wanna go ahead yukiko? (name)?” rise asked, shaking her hand to rid of the soreness that was coming up.

“alright, i’ll give it a try.” yukiko giggled, taking rise’s place as the younger girl moved to stand beside you. the round started immediately and you both cheered everyone on.

somewhere in the middle of the round, you looked around to see what other stands you had left to visit. a certain stand selling cotton candy caught your eye and attention, so you tapped rise’s shoulder.

“rise, i’m gonna go over there for a bit, okay?” you said, pointing towards the cotton candy stand. rise looked to where you were pointing and nodded, “be careful, senpai!”

you made your way over to the stand, slipping through the crowd, reaching it quickly. you were about to tell the stand-keeper that you’d like one stick of cotton candy, when a familiar voice beat you to it.

“two cotton candies, please. thank you.”

your heart skipped a beat as you turned to look at your boyfriend who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. his eyes were already on you, his hands inside his pockets like they always are. he towered over you, your face just inches away from his chest if you weren’t looking up at him.

“h-hi,” you giggled out, a gleeful smile stretching your lips. “how’s your night going?”

“it’s going great, yosuke and kanji are over there waiting for our food,” yu answered. “how’s yours?”

“i’m getting kind of tired, actually,” you answered honestly. “the girls, teddie, and i have been walking around and playing mini games nonstop. my throats getting dry because we’ve been laughing and talking so much.”

yu looked at you with this certain glint in his eyes — adoration, if you were confident enough to label it as that. his expression was soft and his smile was endearing, he looked as if he was listening to the love of his life.

which, really, he was.

“that’ll be 2.000 yen, sir,” the stand keeper said, holding out two sticks of cotton candy. you snapped out of staring at yu, moving to open your purse, but yu was faster and was already reaching out to hand the money to him.

“yu, you don’t have-“ you cut yourself off as yu took one stick of cotton candy and gave the money to the stand keeper before taking the other stick. he held it out to you, the same endearing and soft smile on his face as he completely ignored what you were about to say.

“you didn’t have to, you know,” you pouted but took your cotton candy anyway. “but thank you. i’ll make it up to you.”

yu chuckled, causing your cheeks to heat up and you to lightly slap his arm. “don’t laugh at me, i’m serious.”

silence falls upon you two. you feel yourself getting fidgety under yu’s unwavering stare, so you busy your hands by plucking your cotton candy and eating it, humming at how sweet it tasted. unbeknownst to you, yu’s heart fluttered at how effortlessly adorable and beautiful you looked just by standing and eating cotton candy in front of him — you looked like a small little girl enjoying her candy to him at that moment.

“you’re very beautiful,” yu finally said. “i like you.”

your hand stopped mid-air on the way to your mouth, another piece of cotton candy just barely reaching your lips. you blushed, finally gaining the courage to look at your boyfriend again. “t-thank you, you’re very handsome yourself,” you smiled bashfully. “i like you more.”

“do you like it?” yu asked, gesturing to the cotton candy in your hand.

you nodded and popped the piece from earlier into your mouth, grinning after you let it dissolve. “i like it a lot! if you don’t start eating yours, i might just take it from you.”

yu chuckled, plucking a piece of cotton candy and eating it ad you continued to eat yours. he glanced over to where he left yosuke and kanji to find them still standing there, but this time with food in their hands, chatting with each other. his eyes then moved to the game stand you had just left, watching yukiko and rise cheer an upset teddie up as chie and naoto celebrate their victory until his attention finally fell upon you once again.

“do you wanna break it to them?” he asked, the sudden question making you laugh lightly.

“so suddenly?” you asked in return before shrugging. “i’m fine with it. don’t think that they’ll be too happy to know we’ve been hiding something for so long, though.”

“it’s alright, i’ll be here with you.” yu smiled, patting your head. he would ruffle your hair, but he remembered how you told yosuke that you took a lot of time preparing with the other girls, including styling your hair, and he didn’t want to ruin it.

you feel a comforting warmth spread throughout your body, your eyes meeting his for the umpteenth time that night. you see the determination and reassurance in yu’s eyes, which was all you needed to know that he was telling the truth. you took yu’s hand from your head and squeezed it with yours, squeezing it as you grinned. “let’s do it, then.”

“yo, senpai!” you hear kanji as the younger boy and yosuke reached you both. “we were wondering what took you so long.”

yu turned his head to look at him, humming, “sorry. i was just chatting with her.”

“(name)! there you are!” rise called out, arriving by your side. “hey, is the cotton candy good? can you buy one for me, senpai?” she batted her eyelashes at yu, who only chuckled in response.

“hey, you’re both holding cotton candy… did you buy him one, (name)-san?” naoto asked, quick to deducing things as always.

you were about to open your mouth to explain but was beaten to it by the man himself. “no, i bought one for her.”

“hey, that’s no fair! why don’t i get one?” yosuke whined, pouting and crossing his arms over his chest.

“yeah, sensei! why don’t i get one too?” teddie followed up.

yu shrugged. “well, i mean, she is my girlfriend, after all. it’s the least i can do to make her happy.”

chie was the first to react, gasping loudly with her iconic ‘oh my god!’. the others followed suit, shocked exclamations and questions flooding both of your ears as you both stayed silent, you giggling, waiting for their ruckus to die down. at that point, some other visitors were looking your way but none of you paid attention, everyone was too busy piecing things together and asking you both questions about your relationship.

“wait, wait, wait! how long has this been going for?!” yosuke asked, disbelief written all over his face. “come on, partner! i’m here still single and everything and you went on ahead and got a girlfriend without telling me?!”

“i asked her out on new years, so,” yu hummed, counting in his head. “eight-ish months now.”

“eight months?!” yukiko gasped. “how have none of us noticed?”

“how did i not notice…” naoto muttered, more to herself. “sure, i’m the last to join… but shouldn’t two members dating each other be obvious…?”

you blushed furiously as they continued to bombard you with questions. “h-hey, i thought it was obvious!” you said in an attempt to defend both yourself and your boyfriend. “we... we did a lot of things that would've tipped you off, right, yu?”

yu chuckled and nodded.

“what things?! i swear i couldn't tell at all!” kanji exclaimed, earning a nod from rise, who was standing beside him.

“yeah, senpai! anyway, how could you not tell us from the beginning? if i had known, i wouldn't have flirted with you so much,” rise pouted, and you could tell that she felt bad for chasing after your boyfriend for so long. she looked at you apologetically, and you returned her gaze with a soft, reassuring smile.

“well... i guess now that we found out, isn't it about time you treat us to something, yu?” chie hummed, a mischievous smile on her face. yu chuckled nervously in response while your eyes widen once you've understood what she meant.

“what, you want him to treat you all since you've realized we're dating?” you asked to make sure, earning nods and sounds of agreement from the others, chie and yosuke grinning widely at you both.

“well it's the least you could do for hiding this from us for so long, partner,” yosuke teased, nudging yu's elbow.

finally, yu sighed and gave in, giving a small nod. “alright. let's get together tomorrow for lunch, then.”

the group cheered and thanked him, already excited and fired up for tomorrow's plans. “oh! we could go and eat steak at junes! there's a sale for a group order since it's summer. what do you guys think?” yosuke proposed.

“man, a discount! hell yeah, let's go with that!” kanji nodded. “and if i remember right, ma told me there'll be a fireworks show tomorrow night. we could go there together, too!”

as the group continues to discuss plans excitedly, you turn your head to look up at your boyfriend, who was already looking at you. you smiled brightly at him, cheeks red and sore from how much you've been laughing and smiling this whole time at the group's reaction. yu smiled back, his free arm reaching over and wrapping around your shoulders, pulling you closer. he landed a soft peck on your forehead, causing a familiar buzz to spread throughout your body as you giggled at his action.

“this went better than i thought,” you said, just loud enough for him to hear. he hummed and nodded, not exactly caring about anything else as his eyes and attention were all on you at the moment. he admired you as you continue talking about how glad you were that the group supported you both.

“hey, (name),” yu finally spoke, stopping you.

“yes? did i say something wrong?” you asked, nervous at how serious he sounded, but yu shook his head.

“i love you, so much.”

his words froze you in place as you stared up at him. you were sure he can finally see how red you were due to how close you stood, but you didn't mind if it could let him know how you felt. he's never said those words before, he's never expressed a deeper emotion towards you. he always said, 'i like you', and you were fine with that — you both had just started dating, after all, so you weren't expecting him to feel so deeply fond about you so early. now, as you hear those words leave his mouth, you're sure that he's saying it from the bottom of his heart, and that alone leaves you breathless and weak in the knees.

“i love you, more.” you finally breathed out an answer, earning a smile from yu. he's blushing, too, his hand reaching up from your shoulder to pat your head once again.

“alright, since we've already planned where to go, why don't we go home for tonight and rest up? i'm sure all of you are tired.” naoto suggested, snapping you both from your own world and back to reality. the group agreed with her, and you all eventually walked back to the shrine gate, where you bid goodbye to everyone before walking back home with yu by your side.

the walk home was silent in the beginning, your mind replaying your moment with yu from earlier. unbeknownst to you, yu's heart was racing just as fast as yours as he thought about how close he held you while being surrounded by his friends. he loved you, loved holding you, and even more so when it's to show off how much he cared about you to them. he's loved you ever since he laid eyes on you, and his feelings only grew stronger when he saw you face your shadow. now, that you've been with him for eight months, that love had deepened.

“so you love me, huh?” you asked in a teasing voice, snapping yu out of his train of thoughts. his lips stretched into a shy smile as he nodded.

“yeah, i do,” he said, and you could see how the love practically gleaming out of his eyes. “i really do love you.”

your heart fluttered and you covered your shyness with giggles. “that's really nice to hear,” you confessed. “i love you more, yu.”

yu reached his hand out for you to take, and you did, intertwining your fingers with his. yu was kind enough to walk at a slower pace than usual, he knew that you're struggling a little due to your yukata restraining you. you both didn't mind, though. after all, nothing beats a leisure stroll on a calm night with the one you love most.

“so you're buying steak for everyone tomorrow, huh?” you asked, earning a hum from your boyfriend. “isn't that a bit unfair? shouldn't i pitch in, too?”

yu shook his head and smiled at you. “it’s alright. there's no way i'm letting my girlfriend pay for something.”

you clicked your tongue and lightly pushed his shoulder with your free hand. “what kind of mindset is that? you should let me pay once in a while,” you said, pouting.

“what kind of gentleman would that make me?” yu chuckled. “it's fine, i promise. don't worry your pretty self, alright?”

yu always had a way of reassuring you so easily, maybe it's because of the calm and confident aura he always had. he squeezed your hand, and you smiled and nodded, using your other hand to hug his arm.

before either of you realized it, you've reached your house. you stood at your front door, facing each other, confused on how to say goodbye — not like you wanted to, anyway.

“so... i'll see you tomorrow, right?” you began, smiling sheepishly.

yu nodded, returning the smile. “i’ll pick you up as always. wait for me, okay?”

you hummed, your smile turning into a gleeful grin. “of course i will.”

“then i'll see you tomorrow.” yu concluded, leaning and kissing your forehead. he smiled at you once he pulled away before turning to walk away.

you grab his arm, more of a spur of the moment act, and he looked back at you with a soft questioning look. you struggle to meet his eyes, so you settle with staring at his lips instead, not even trying to hide the blush on your cheeks.

“i love you, yu.” you said, grinning sheepishly as you let go of his arm.

yu chuckled at your shyness, catching your hand in his, kissing the back of it as his eyes finally met yours. “i love you more.”

he let go of your hand with a wide smile. “good night, (name).”

you returned his smile, just as wide. “good night, yu.”

finally, he turned and walked away. you watched him go farther and farther until he was out of sight before you went inside your home, cheeks sore and heart full.

#yu narukami #yu #persona 4 #persona #persona 4 golden #yu narukami x reader #yu narukami x you #investigation team #fluff #narukami

29 notes · View notes

manias-wordcount · 10 months ago

Note

Hello, can I ask for the second part of Yu Narukami's story in Persona 4, the part about how their relationship will be after they confess to each other. I think you have a one-shot about Yu Narukami so you should know about it. And the last thing is can you do it as a one-shot?

Mess (Yu Narukami x Reader) PART TWO

𝗔/𝗡: 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗼!

𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁: 𝗼𝗻𝗲 || 𝘁𝘄𝗼

𝙒𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚? ⇒ 𝙈𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩

𝙟𝙤𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙧?

𝙗𝙪𝙮 𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙚?

Things don’t just magically improve overnight.

As much as you both want them to, it just doesn’t happen. It’s just not in the cards for you. No matter how much you both wish otherwise. Because most days, you still wake up in a puddle of your own guilt and anxiety and insecurity. It’s not the same river of negative feelings that used to drown and plague you every moment of the day. But an obstacle is an obstacle. And the chokehold those feelings have on you- it’s not to be taken lightly. When you’re not careful, it can keep you in cold, dark places for long, long times. When you’re not careful, it can consume your every waking thought. Fill every bone in your body. Paralyze you with feelings of self-doubt, self-hatred, and everything in between.

That said, you have many more good days. And they always start and end with him.

Some mornings, you’ll wake up to an email from your boyfriend. Something sweet and simple. A response from something you sent last night. A greeting hello. A reminder about something related to class. Or just a simple ‘I miss you’ when you were least expecting it. And some mornings, when you’re really lucky, you end up waking up with something a little more personal, like the sound of the ringtone you’ve set for him on your phone.

“Good morning, my love,” He would say to you. Maybe you’d still be so sleepy and tired that you could just barely mumble a greeting back to him as you struggled to pull yourself fully from your sleep. Maybe you’d be more awake and ready to receive his call. Maybe you’d be a little something outside or even in between. It doesn’t matter really. Because all you know is that it’s something that you look forward to. Something that cherish and never want to go away. Something that improves your spirit. Something that brightens your day.

Something that makes you feel a little less like the mess of a human being that your boyfriend had to drag out of the shadows and into the light.

Still, it’s all a work in progress. And in the couple weeks the two of you have been dating, things have been getting slightly better. Throughout the day, you may experience an episode or two. A flare-up here. A moment of panic there. It’s truly something that you can’t escape. At least, not so quickly now that it has built itself up in your mind with a foundation meant to stay.

But you’re working on it. And he’s helping you work on it too. Truthfully, you still haven’t found yourself feeling the way you used to be when things were fine and dandy unless you were

hand-in-hand with your boyfriend during lunch or tugged into his side after school while he talked to his friends. But you’re teaching yourself how to stop comparing yourself to all his female friends. And you’re reminding yourself that out of everyone he could have picked in this town- out of all the amazing, talented, beautiful people who he could have asked out in this town, he picked you. He asked out you.

And that’s what makes moments like these absolutely and utterly too sweet.

Moments where you get to spend the afternoons and evenings with each other. Maybe you’ll be at his place. Maybe you’ll be at yours. But either way, you’ll spend those moments together with your arms wrapped around each other. You’ll spend those moments lounging on top of each other’s futons, with your head in his neck and his arms wrapped loosely around you. Sometimes he’ll read out loud a few pages of whatever book he was reading the day prior. Sometimes he’ll urge you into talking about your day and your feelings. All of the good. All of the bad.

But in these moments, you only think about him. In these moments, he’s the only thing that exists to you. Not your teachers. Not your homework. Not the looming threat of making sure you make it home to dinner in time to ensure that your family won’t make any fuss. Not the great, powerful, and pretty Risa Kujikawa and her usual antics of always getting a little too close to comfort with your boyfriend and always toying the line in a way that never failed to get you at least a little bit frustrated. Not the amazing, intelligent, and resourceful Prince Detective Naoto Shirogane. She admires your boyfriend in almost the same way you absolutely envy her. But at the end, of the day, you’re the one who’s lucky. You’re the one with something to be proud of.

Because in these moments, you don’t even think of some of his truly close friends- Chie Satonaka and Yukiko Amagi. The selflessness the two of them show. Their poise, their confidence. Their joy and their bright spirits. All things you struggle with. All things you used to think you couldn’t achieve. But when you’re in Yu’s arms, you don’t think of them. You don’t think of anyone or anything. Except for your boyfriend, of course. Because in your boyfriend's arms, you can and could be anything. Because in your boyfriend's arms, you feel like a better person. One who has no need to compare themselves to others. One who could find their own happiness. Even if it comes shaped like the very person you’re laying on.

And sure, you still struggle sometimes within these moments. And you still come across the occasional negative feeling or thought and apply it to yourself tenfold- whether or not you actually believe that feeling to be true. You’re not perfect, you’re human. But with him? But with Yu, things start to become a little easier. Lighter on your soul. Brighter in the sky. Little by little. Day by day.

So you’ll take these moments, and you’ll cherish them. Because just a couple weeks ago, you couldn’t even bear the thought of being around him or his friends. A couple weeks ago,

A couple weeks ago, you were nothing. An insecure nobody. A big mess. But now?

You’re Yu’s girlfriend. And in the future, you hope to become more than that once again. In the future, you hope to not have to rely on your boyfriend for all your happiness and all your peace. You hope that all the negativity and all the bad feelings will one day go away. Or grow much more quiet. To the point where you can’t be sure they even exist at all.

But until that happens, you’ll take things slow. You’ll take the days one at a time. And you’ll hold dear every phone call and email and cuddle session and kind word your boyfriend sends our way. It’s all you can. It’s all you want to do. It’s all you can handle doing. It’s all you’re capable of doing. Because when cleaning up a big mess, you have to start somewhere. You have to start small. You have to start here. And for you and for him?

That’s more than enough. That’s more than enough.

38 notes · View notes

general--winter · 1 year ago

Note

May I please request headcanons for Naoto, Yu, and Kanji reacting to their S/O having anger issues and snapping when a bully goes too far?

author's note: So, hi y'all! i've had quite a year, i'll make a post later. I wanted to clear out the one or two things I had already finished in my WIP folder, though, so this is my return for now.

rating: teen

fandom: persona 4

pairing: shirogane naoto x gn!reader, narukami yu x gn!reader, tatsumi kanji x gn!reader

word count: 1336

summary: you stand up to your bullies! wish i was this brave when i was in high school and college LOL

Naoto Shirogane

For months, Naoto has heard story upon story about how you have been putting up with crap from a group of people in your club. It’s all endless, from how they give you backhanded compliments about your skills to them “accidentally” giving you the broken equipment and watching you fail over and over again for their amusement.

Honestly, you weren’t even aware of half of the incidents being their fault, Naoto had to be the one to sneak into your club room to investigate and find that your stuff was being tampered with in the first place. She absolutely hated breaking the news to you, but she knew she had to tell you the truth. What wasn’t expected, however, was the pure rage that shot through your eyes. Naoto thought there might be sadness, maybe even tears if you were particularly emotionally vulnerable at that moment, but this was so unlike you. “Let me handle it,” is what you told her. She kept her eyes on you from then on.

Which is exactly why she caught the beginning of the incident the next day over lunch. A leader of your club struck up a conversation with you at your desk, and Naoto immediately noticed you were snippy with them. It wasn’t until they dealt a snide comment, however, that you slammed your hands on your desk, sending your empty bento flying to the floor and catching the attention of every student in the room.

What came out of your mouth next could be described by Naoto as… needlessly vulgar. You tore into the leader, listing off bullying incident after incident in cruel detail, as well as what it said about the leader and their deepest insecurities that they actually did those things. It wasn’t for a few moments until Naoto realized that she had helped you put that list together (...sans emotional damage, of course) herself if you ever decided you wanted to go to the principal with the information. Oh, dear, she would think. I really should put a stop to this.

While you were in the process of tearing the club member down with a snide smirk, talking about how “their efforts will only set their own club performance and university admissions back” and “if they wanted attention so badly, well now they’ve got it undivided from the entire room”, Naoto took a hold of your wrist and dragged you out of the room, gently sliding the door shut.

Your breathing haggard from anxiety, she would drag you to a barren corner and tentatively hug you for a long time before pulling back and placing her hands on your shoulders, suggesting with a sigh: “I’m proud of you for sticking up for yourself, but next time do not use my data for your vigilante justice? Please?”

Yu Narukami

The last week of school was rough for everyone, but particularly you. On top of winter semester finals, you had to deal with a… let’s say, cast of characters that leeched on to whatever insecurity you radiated and made it as much of their problem as it was yours. Underhanded compliments, disguising random rude gifts as acts of kindness… Yu especially hated it when they played you into thinking they were your close friends. Couldn’t you see that the Investigation Team was more supportive of you than they could ever be? Couldn’t you see that he was trying his best to lift you up when all they wanted to do was bring you down?

But Yu isn’t about forcing people into their decisions. As much as he has a soft spot for you, he’s going to let you figure this one out yourself, of course with his own support. More times than he could count, Yu listened to your suspicions with an open ear and a sympathetic face, always reminding you of your positive traits. It was the only thing he could think of that would help, but your sorrow turned to anger slowly. Almost too slow for him to notice.

He’ll be clued in real quickly, though, when he sees you flinging a tray of “food” at a group of people crowded around you on the school roof. He’ll be shocked - Yu’s never seen you get violent with anything but Shadows. He seriously thought you didn’t have a mean bone in your body. However, he couldn’t help but feel a little bit of pride for his partner standing up for themselves. Maybe, you could hold back on the string of curses that flow from your mouth, though!

After this event, when the bullies run off covered in whatever mystery substance they had placed in your lunch box, Yu is there to sit beside you as the weight of your actions hit you.

“I… I just threw that shit at them,” you murmured to yourself, barely registering Yu’s presence beside you.

“You stood up for yourself, he clarified, just sitting down to wrap an arm around your shoulders. “I’m proud of you.”

Kanji Tatsumi

Kanji has always wanted to handle the problem himself. Every time he finds you upset or you have yet another problem with a bully, he’s ready to throw his weight around to close their mouths for you. You always refuse though, with a level of grace that sends Kanji into a fit that he has to tamper down. He wished he could take away every single problem in your life, but he trusted you to do it in the way that was best for you. However, that smile on your face was always there when everyone shit on you. Gleaming, wide, mistakenly joyous. But it never reached your eyes. It wasn’t even like Kanji’s own situation. He chose to look and dress and act the way he does. But you were being bullied for something you couldn’t control. It drove him, for lack of a better term, damn crazy. Which is why he was giddy when he caught the scene in front of Yasogami after school that day.

A circle of students were gasping and egging on some sort of event happening in the middle. With his shoulder, Kanji easily wedged into the inner ring, though he seriously couldn’t believe what he was looking at when he got there. You were hammering your knee into the stomach of the ringleader of the group of bullies, propping up their body with a fist in their uniform collar to take more blows. In between the crowd's noises, you cried out, "This is what you get for every. Single. Terrible. Hurtful. Word!" Before he could think anything, he was pulling you off of the bully, arms hooked under your shoulders, feet dragging against the concrete and asphalt as Kanji once again split the crowd. This time, it was his mere presence that had people parting easier than Yaso-Inaba's fields of wild grass in a storm's wind.

You didn't struggle against him at all, your limbs just went limp while Kanji carry-dragged you down the pathway to the Samegawa Floodplain. Kanji was proud of you for standing up for yourself. That was the first thing he told you after he sat you on top of his jacket on one of the walkway's benches, misted from the afternoon rain sputter.

Despite his words, your thoughts swirled. What had you just done? You never thought of yourself as the type of person to just… snap in public like that, but it happened. The lid on your ugly thoughts and feelings came undone, and you'd let them loose. Kanji settled next to you, placing an incredibly stiff arm across your shoulders as you shoved your face into your hands. "I know I'm not—shit… the best person to be lecturin' on this, but," he started, his voice gruff and unsteady, "you stood up for yourself, right? Maybe starting a walloping like that in the school yard might not have been your best moment, but, what I'm trying to say is, y-you did good. In my book, at least."

#persona #persona 4 #persona 4 fanfiction #naoto shirogane #naoto shirogane x reader #yu narukami #yu narukami x reader #kanji tatsumu #kanji tatsumi x reader #gender neutral reader #request #headcanon #i had a huge crush on yu when i was a senior in high school and i think this shows here

41 notes · View notes

glimmerfics · 7 days ago

Text

Get the chance to romance Makoto Yuki, Yu Narukami, and Ren Amamiya harem style in this Choose-Your-Own-Adventure!

Together, you might have one last chance to change a disastrous fate...

📖 Episode 1 of 2 🎮 interactive fanfic "Persona: Unbound" by xyteron 🔗 link to play: https://glimmerfics.com/stories/d6e5c0fc-persona-unbound

13 notes · View notes

0798f · 2 months ago

Text

💞 — I'm In Love.

RELATIONSHIP: Yu Narukami x Reader

SUMMARY: Over the course of a year, and then a little longer, you discover that Yu Narukami is easy to talk to.

WARNINGS: Spoilers for the entirety of p4g. Very long (5.5k).

A/N: A longer one-shot with a lot of ideas. Reader is the older sibling of p5 protag, because you can pry the headcanon that he's from Inaba from my cold, dead hands. You'll also have to forgive me for name inconsistency; I like 'Yu' better than 'Souji' but i also like 'Akira' better than 'Ren.'

APRIL 23RD 【CENTRAL SHOPPING DISTRICT, NORTH】

“Sorry, am i in your way?”

“Not at all.”

There was a person in front of the bulletin board. They were another student at Yasogami, judging by their uniform, but it wasn’t the same student who had told him about the upcoming job openings a week prior.

Yu recognized this student as (Name), the person seated in the back corner of his class, closest to the window. Half asleep during class and out the door the instant the bell rang, Yu never had the opportunity to meet them. From Yosuke he learned that they were a fellow Junes employee, worked to the bone as much as he was, and from Yukiko he learned that they were practically the sole caretaker for their younger brother.

He was an only child, but Yu knew a thing or two about neglectful parents. Even if this was their first time speaking, there was a lot Yu could confirm from the way (Name) carried themself. When (Name) turned around to apologize, Yu noticed the bags under their eyes and the disheveled appearance of their school uniform. Then the hunched over posture of someone with the weight of the world on their shoulders, but wanted to take up as little space as possible.

There was no time before this to talk to (Name), and there would definitely be no time afterwards if they were going to pick up another job— and Yu was curious.

“Are you looking for a part-time job, too?” Yu stepped up to the bulletin board, but left enough room for (Name) to stand next to him. They took a step back, expecting Yu to block their way, but paused at the wordless gesture. (Name)’s hands fidgeted with the collar of their uniform, and with the passing of a few more seconds, stood next to Yu and nodded. “You already work at Junes, don’t you?”

They couldn’t possibly get any smaller in their posture, but they certainly tried. (Name)’s eyes were glued to the ground and their arms clutched tightly to their chest. “I do,” they mumbled. In his periphery, Yu watched as (name) shifted their weight back and forth. “Pay sucks. I need a second income.”

That was another thing Yosuke mentioned about working at Junes; they paid the most minimum of minimum wage. Yet it was still one of the more lucrative jobs in Inaba, where working in the shopping district may save you from the wrath of the town, but will leave your wallet rather empty after a full day of work. Yu squinted at one of the job listings— it wasn’t even paid.

“That really sucks. Customer service is already bad enough, but here, your customers hate you for doing the work they’re asking you to do.”

A strained noise escaped (Name)’s lips. It was somewhere between a laugh and a scoff. “Exactly. It’s lame. Maybe getting a job at the shopping district will get them off my case.”

Whatever tension that may have been present at the beginning of the conversation slowly melted away. Yu smiled, “they should have some respect for Inaba’s hardest worker.”

Maybe it was his voice, or the fact that he was the charming new city boy and talk of the town, but his words struck a chord deep in (Name)’s heart. It was warm and inviting and it almost felt like being thawed from the inside out. “If only.”

The conversation was over with that, but it was a natural end. (Name) pulled a tab from the job listing for a daycare attendant, and waved goodbye to Yu. Yu grabbed a tab from every single job listing— yet was most excited for the volunteer paper crane folding position.

JUNE 20TH 【JUNES DEPARTMENT STORE】

“Oh, Narukami-san!”

“You’re supposed to be resting.”

The last thing Yu expected to see on a routine trip to Junes was (Name), who was rescued from the TV world, faced and accepted their own shadow to receive a persona, and was explicitly told to rest, just two days ago. Yukiko and Kanji were plenty evidence that, the longer the shadow was present, the more exhausted the user would be after defeating it.

(Name) collapsed onto the ground the instant they accepted their persona. With this being the fifth time Yu had seen this happen, he was prepared; in one swift movement, Yu was able to catch (Name) before their head hit the ground. They reached up and clutched his wrist, squeezing gently as a quiet thank you.

“Yosuke-san said the same thing when I clocked in for work today.” The words were accompanied by an eyeroll. They continued to stock the shelves in spite of Yu’s judgmental but harmless stare. “I rested, I’m fine.”

At that same moment, (Name) knocked over a box of oranges. One poignant motherfucker escaped their lips, but any other curses they wanted to say were suppressed by their impressive customer service experience. They crouched down to start cleaning up the mess, with Yu following suit.

“Yeah, definitely rested,” he said. His tone was sarcastic but the slight upturn of his mouth let (Name) know it was nothing malicious. While picking up the oranges, Yu leaned in closer. “Dealing with your shadow and getting a persona is really draining. You should really rest as much as you can.”

Either the headache they had since being rescued from the TV world got much worse all of a sudden, or their close proximity was another issue for their brain entirely. (Name) had no prior experience with either, so both seemed like reasonable possibilities.

(Name) didn’t respond until all the oranges were back in the box. “Thank you,” they started. It was like their first meeting again— tense and awkward. There was a certain bite to (Name)’s tone that, while Yu didn’t think was directed at him specifically, made him hesitate. “I did rest as much as I could. I’m tight on cash. My mom hasn’t sent any money for the bills.”

It wasn’t that Yu forgot about (Name)’s situation— everyone in Inaba was acutely aware of everyone’s business, and (Name)’s poor circumstances served as nothing but gossip for the housewives in the shopping district. But he frowned because it slipped his mind long enough to say something touchy.

So he apologized, “sorry, I know you don’t have it easy.”

Yu narukami’s ineffable sincerity humbled most people in its wake. He was supposed to be the trendy and electric city boy— and maybe he would’ve been the spitting image of one if Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko weren’t the first people to befriend him. Or if he had been disgusted and bored by the sheer nothingness to do in Inaba. Or, and most likely, if he didn’t become the leader of the Investigation Team and have the pressure of protecting his friends and the town at large.

But even if all that did happen, Yu would still probably be the same guy at heart. The guy who fed the stray cats in the rain and risked his life in the TV world to keep strangers safe. He was an honest guy through and through.

It hurt more to be mad at him. “No, sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped. It’s just… tough. I don’t know. I hate acting like this. At work, customers get pissed, and at home, my brother gets worried.”

“No worries.” Yu smiled, and it was like the sun breaking through on a cloudy day. “I understand how you feel.”

It was funny, because when they first met a few months ago, Yu couldn’t empathize with anything about (Name)’s situation, apart from the casual parental neglect. He didn’t have a younger sibling to take care of, he didn’t have a dire need for cash, and he didn’t have anyone’s expectations. But Nanako called him big bro’ and he suddenly became the lead investigator of a supernatural murder mystery. Igor told him he was on an important journey and he had to pretend like that didn’t keep him up at night.

Funnier that (Name) usually hated when people tried to say they understood how they felt. The housewives that didn’t hate them for working at Junes said that to them sometimes, as if their failing marriage or the affair they’re having with a handsome man from Okina was anywhere remotely relatable to being a family’s sole breadwinner at 16 years old. But, when Yu said it, there was an air of remorse and solidarity; he stood up straighter and didn’t say it like he knew better— he just knew.

“Your little bro’ is Akira-kun, right? I think he and Nanako are friends.” The change in subject reminded the both of them that the world was still spinning, and (Name) returned to stocking the shelves with the slightly bruised oranges that they hoped no one would give them shit for.

Yu only meant to lighten the mood and could not have predicted the way (Name)’s eyes lit up and entire demeanor changed at the mention of their younger brother. They nodded, “that’s him.” For the very first time, months after meeting them, Yu saw (Name) smile. It was small and only noticeable because Yu found himself studying (Name)’s face closely, but it was there, and it made him smile in return.

“You’re right. He was telling me about Nanako-chan the other day when he got back from school. Said they feed stray cats on their walk home.” They were a few years apart, but the elementary school and middle school were right next to each other, so it wasn’t surprising that the two knew each other. (Name) nudged Yu, the small smile turning somewhat mischievous. “You must be rubbing off on everybody. The cats in Inaba are gonna become spoiled.”

Yu laughed. Even with as little rest as they got, (Name) seemed brighter. It made him feel brighter, too.

“Good. Cats deserve nothing but the best.”

AUGUST 21ST 【TATSUHIME SHRINE】

Yu didn’t realize this would feel like a date until he realized he was struggling to have a conversation with (Name). It had become so easy in the last few months that it felt so foreign and wrong to be lost again.

“... I’m the only one you invited?”

The hustle and bustle of the summer festival felt so distant, even if it was only a few feet away from where they stood at the shrine’s entrance. He looked (Name) in the eyes once when they arrived, then lost the courage to do so again. His eyes darted everywhere from the ground to the night sky— everywhere but (Name).

Yu scratched the back of his head. “Yeah… I felt bad that you didn’t join us yesterday because you were too tired from work. I didn’t think you would go alone, so I wanted to invite you.”

The poignant silence afterwards made Yu want to crawl into a hole. He might’ve actually done so if he made eye contact with them in that moment, so he stuck to the concrete. A meiou cricket hopped over his foot.

“Well.” He had no idea how much time passed before (Name) finally spoke up again. It could have been any time between 5 seconds and 3 hours. “You’re right, I wouldn’t have gone alone… so, thanks. I’m glad you invited me.”

Yu breathed a sigh of relief, but the tension didn’t fully disappear. At the very least, He gained the confidence to look at (Name)— who seemed equally as awkward as him, if not worse. Their hands covered their face and they were practically squirming in their personal bubble, as if they were contemplating fight, flight, or freeze.

Maybe it was a little cruel, but knowing that he wasn’t the only one with their heart beating out of their chest made him feel a lot better. It didn’t make him feel less awkward, but it made him crack a smile. “Great, let’s go.”

Walking around made them feel better. The warm lights, happy voices, and smell of food reminded the pair just how lovely Inaba could be. The summer festivals in Tokyo were big, loud, and fun, but for a popular yet isolated guy like Yu, they were exceptionally lonely. A spectacular fireworks show didn’t have the same impact when he had to enjoy it alone.

But he was not alone this time, and it was as nerve-wracking as it was thrilling. They made conversation about school, their friends, their hobbies— anything, really. Yu never had a difficult time talking to them once they joined the Investigation Team. Sometimes (Name) was still timid, but from the depths of their psyche, buried by immaculate and demoralizing customer service, Yu slowly discovered a side of (Name) that was blunt and sarcastic.

“What the hell.” (Name) leaned over Yu’s shoulder to count the number of goldfish in his bowl. “24!? Geez, how are you so good at everything?”

Yu laughed and emptied the bowl of goldfish back into the pool. His high score secured him a large Jack Frost plushie that he tucked under his arm (the existence of persona merch always freaked Yu out. Are his frost family personas based off his memory of seeing this merch, or does this company know about personas? The latter option ate away at him sometimes). “It’s probably because I spend so much time fishing.”

“Please explain to me how your fishing skills translate to goldfish scooping,” they scoffed. “You have to be strong to reel in a fish. You have to be delicate to keep your poi from breaking. I don’t see a connection.”

“Technique.”

“Technique,” (Name) repeated, but with a serious furrowed brow that made Yu chuckle again. Their head tilted to the side when Yu held out the plushie to them. “... For me?”

It could have been the ego boost from crushing at goldfish scooping, or the atmosphere of the festival making his heart feel lighter and less embarrassed— either way, Yu felt a surge of confidence that was painfully absent when he was fumbling around with (Name) at the gate.

He nodded and placed the plushie in (Name)’s arms before they had the chance to refuse. “You can tell Akira-kun that you won the best prize for goldfish scooping.”

(Name) opened their mouth to speak, but no sound was heard. Instead, they shook their head with a smile and clutched the plushie close to their chest. Yu Narukami really was too much sometimes. An impossibly straightforward and kind guy that was easy to fawn over.

Not that (Name) was fawning. They didn’t think they were, anyway; anyone would feel like that around Yu. ‘That’ being their heart skipping a beat and butterflies threatening to burst from the pit of their stomach. That was normal. Right?

The more (Name) considered it, the more embarrassing the answer became. And that was something they weren’t prepared to confront right now— not with a murder case, the Midnight Channel, and the fog looming over their heads. (Name) swallowed the thought down before it could consume them whole.

Yet they still let their shoulder brush against Yu’s as they walked. Yu didn’t know what to make of it. Neither did (Name). But it was startlingly natural, and they both liked it. A lot.

As the night winded down, the pair found themselves on the front steps of the shrine. Much of the crowd, especially the children, had already gone home for the night, leaving a more quiet atmosphere in their wake.

“It’s getting late,” (Name) pointed out. “Let’s pray for a blessing then leave, yeah?”

Yu nodded, but it wasn’t like either of them really wanted to leave. But they both had family to return back to— younger siblings who would be upset if they were out later than their bedtime. He turned towards the shrine and paused to think. He spent time at the shrine nearly every night to catch bugs and beg the offertory box for a good blessing, so it’s very familiar to him. At the same time, though, it felt different. Probably because (Name) was leaning against his side and his heart was beating like crazy, but who’s to say?

He pressed his palms together and closed his eyes. There was really only one thing to pray for. “I hope we get closer,” he whispered just loud enough for (Name) to hear. Yu chewed the inside of his cheek and tried to pretend like he wasn’t completely red in the face.

Yu didn’t have to look at (Name) to know their reaction. From the way their body tensed after he spoke and the silence that followed, he imagined they looked pretty similar as they did when they were standing outside of the shrine gate.

“Geez,” (Name) huffed. The ambient noise of the festival and Inaba at night was drowned out by their intense heartbeat. With their eyes closed and shoulders touching, it was like they were the only two people in the world at that moment. It took a moment for (Name) to collect themself, and when they did, they elbowed Yu’s side. “You’re too much.”

It wasn’t a rejection. Yu grinned from ear to ear. “Sorry,” he mused, but he wasn’t really. “What did you pray for?”

when he looked at (Name), they made eye contact, then (Name) turned away in an instant. They kicked the ground and fidgeted with their sleeve, while their free hand shakily grabbed Yu’s. He blinked, looked down at their hands and back up at (Name), and slowly intertwined their fingers.

“The same thing.”

DECEMBER 3RD 【DOJIMA RESIDENCE】

“You didn’t have to walk me back home.”

“Oh, don’t even start with me, Yu-san.”

It was hard to see at this time of night. The fog obscured the moonlight and made it near impossible to see the empty, dark Dojima residence.

To say it was a long day would be the understatement of the century. Everything that happened was simultaneously a blur yet clearly and vividly in the forefront of Yu’s mind. He couldn’t believe the day started out normal.

Yu stood up straight with hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket. He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Because how could it? He had to smile because (Name) was standing next to him. He was the leader of the Investigation Team. He kept everyone calm, collected, and from committing manslaughter by throwing Namatame into the TV. Yu had to be stability, their voice of reason.

“I’m alright, really,” Yu insisted, even though (Name) didn’t say anything to prompt him. “Don’t worry about me.”

(Name) sighed, “Yu-san…”

He didn’t look at (Name) because he didn’t think he could take it. They were probably staring at him with a furrowed brow and a frown that would make Yu feel guiltier than he already felt— if that was even possible. It’s his fault any of this happened.

The key in his pocket was cold against his skin, and he clutched it so tight that it left a mark on his hand. There was nothing Yu wanted more in that moment than to crawl into bed and sleep, but his hands were shaking so bad that he couldn’t fit the key into the lock.

He only fumbled with the key twice before (Name) intervened. They grabbed his wrist and pulled him to face them. Yu’s eyes remained fixated on the door. “You don’t have to pretend like you’re fine. Today was— it was insane. You had to watch Nanako…”

(Name)’s voice cracked. Even just the memory was enough to make them choke up again, and, next to them, Yu struggled not to break down. His sweet little sister deserved nothing but happiness, but it was his fault that she got trapped in the TV world. His fault that she was in there long enough to get sick from the fog. If he had gotten through the dungeon faster, if he had grabbed her from Namatame right away instead of trying to reason with him, She would have been alright.

He couldn’t protect Nanako. How could he protect his team? The town? Yu couldn’t even figure out who the murderer was, and they were chasing them for months.

So if he can’t do anything right, the least he can do for everyone is remain calm.

“Nanako pulled through.” That was the truth. The doctor said she pulled through because she heard everyone’s voices calling to her, and while Yu wasn’t sure how scientifically accurate that sounded, it made him feel like he did something right.

(Name) pushed their way in between Yu and the door, forcing him to look at them. “I know she did. But she…” Again, their voice escaped them. The memory was too horrible, too wrong, and too close to home; Nanako was like the little sister to everyone on the Investigation Team, but (Name) also had a younger sibling of their own, and if anything were to happen to him, (Name) would never recover.

To be honest, (Name) was fine with throwing Namatame into the TV world. There was nothing in their heart in that moment other than pure contempt and hate for the man they believed killed Nanako. If Yu hadn’t reminded them things weren’t adding up, the Investigation Team would have had blood on their hands.

That’s why he was their fearless leader. A leader so fearless he couldn’t even cry when Nanako died and had enough mental fortitude to calm them down right afterwards. There was a lot to admire about someone so strong, but he was still human. And humans have limits.

“No one should have to go through what you went though,” (Name) started. They brought Yu’s hand close to their chest to try and comfort the both of them. “Listen, I get it. You feel like you have to be unbreakable because you’re our leader. But… we care about you. We dont want you to hide your pain just to make us feel better. That doesn’t make me feel better.”

A burning sensation behind his eyes made him freeze. Yu can’t. He can’t cry in front of the investigation team. They’ll figure out he was really a coward— the guy truly worthy of the fool arcana.

(Name)’s body was warm against his hand, and their heartbeat steadied his own back into a comfortable rhythm. They took one step closer, breaking into his personal space so he couldn’t keep ignoring them. “I get how you feel, but… we’re here for you. I’m here.”

Yu didn’t realize he started crying until the tears landed on his arm. A flood of tears that Yu had held back for who knows how long rushed out with an ugly sounding sob, but for that moment, Yu didn’t care. he let himself crumble in (Name)’s arms, burying his face in their neck as he grasped the back of their jacket. This time, (Name) was the strong and resolute pillar of support, tightly hugging him so he could feel grounded.

For once, Yu let himself share the weight of the world.

MARCH 20TH 【YOMOTSU HIRASAKA】

Hands of of pure darkness pulled Yu down into an endless void. It was pitch black night initially, until there a flash of light as his body hit the ground. Fog surrounded him, and his memory suddenly flashed back to his first night in Inaba, where his dream was filled with fog and he summoned Izanagi for the first time without understanding anything. When the true culprit was just a silhouette, an idea, and not the goddess Izanami herself.

Yu deserved to die like this, he thought. Drowning in the fog he tried so hard to overcome. It was a fitting and cruel end for the so-called leader who couldn’t even protect his own teammates.

Yu didn’t know exactly what happened. The shadow approached him, hands manifesting from the darkness and reaching out for him, Izanami laughing in the distance. Yu readied his sword, hoping he could at least parry some damage away, but he heard Yukiko’s voice call his name, and he was suddenly pushed aside. Yosuke and (Name) screamed, Rise shreiked something in his ear, but when he regained his bearings and looked back to where Yukiko pushed him, she was gone. Nothing but the shadow hands receding back into the darkness.

He waited for Yukiko to appear again. She couldn’t just be… gone. That wasn’t right. But they faced another brutal attack and Yukiko was still gone. The realization washed over him that she wouldn’t be coming back, but he couldn’t even let that sink in; if he had that realization, then Yosuke and (Name) did, too.

And they did exactly as he feared. First was Yosuke, who tackled him out of the way of the shadow before he could stop him. Yu couldn’t do anything but watch as the shadow consumed Yosuke, his best friend disappearing into the darkness. He thought he would have been prepared to stop (Name) from doing the same, but Izanami sent the shadow for him again he saw (Name) running for him out of the corner of his eye. Even as he grabbed onto their arms, begging them not to do it, (Name) was able to push him out of harm’s way just enough for the dark shadow to latch onto them instead of him.

The shadow ripped (Name) out of Yu’s grip, leaving him to scramble to try and grab them again, to stop them from disappearing like Yukiko and Yosuke, but he couldn’t reach. His fingers ghosted against (Name)’s hair as they sank into the darkness. Despite Yu’s failure, despite everything, (Name) managed a smile.

“Sorry.”

They were gone, Yosuke was gone, Yukiko was gone, and there was no one left to face Izanami but Yu. But who was he alone? nothing. Izanami sent the shadow after him again, and there was no one left to sacrifice themselves for his sake. This is how it should have been, Yu thought as the hands grabbed him. It should have been me.

He didn’t know if he was alive or dead, nor did he really care. There was no point after letting his friends die. Yu laid motionless in the middle of the fog, waiting to fade away and pay for his failures. Yet Yu remained— there was a reason he was still here.

A voice called out to him. It started out as a whisper in the back of mind, then surged to the forefront to be so clearly Margaret’s voice. Yu forced his eyes open to see the velvet room attendant standing before him.

“Get up,” she commanded. “You are not someone allowed to fall here.”

Yu didn’t get a chance to respond before she disappeared into the fog as quickly as she arrived. Loneliness and hopelessness began to creep in on him as soon as she left, but in her place, a visage of his uncle appeared to give him encouragement as well. Then Nanako, then his classmates, all the people he met while working— even Adachi appeared to give him a bittersweet backhanded compliment.

Then the Investigation Team. They begged him to get up again, for him to keep going, as if they weren’t the ones who laid down their lives before him. It would have been enough for Yu just to see them again, but their pleas pulled his heart from the fog to remind him why they wanted him to live in the first place.

His eyes widened and his whole body tensed when (Name) appeared before him. The mysterious light in the fog behind them made them look ethereal— even more so when they smiled at him again. “I know we ask so much of you,” they started, and Yu already wanted to cry. “But, please get up. We need you. we’ll be by your side when you do. We’ll do this together.”

The weight of the world was on his shoulders, and he had been acutely aware of that for almost the entire year. It was a burden to him, a source of his anxiety and nightmares. But if it was the burden he had to take for all the precious people in his life, he would do it a thousand times over. With their help.

Yu Narukami had the strength to stand again.

JUNE 15TH 【SAMEGAWA FLOODPLAIN】

“You look exactly the same.”

“No I don’t!”

“What changed?”

“I’m taller.”

He wasn’t incorrect— he had grown about 5 centimeters since he left Inaba last year, but (Name) rolled their eyes and nudged Yu with their elbow. They laughed in spite of their feigned annoyance, harmonized with the sound of the flowing river and cicadas.

“Okay, you’re taller,” (Name) conceded. “That’s still the only change. At least change up your haircut like the rest of us.”

It was fitting, though, that Yu had barely changed since he left. He spent everyday wishing he could be back in Inaba with the rest of his friends, who still had each other for support and could move forwards in their life. So they got new clothes and new haircuts and tried to make physical progress that Yu could see when he came back to visit. Yu, on the other hand, ate beef bowls to reminisce about Inaba at a hole-in-the-wall Chinese place that didn’t hold a candle to Aiya.

He was terrified that things would be awkward when he came back. That he would have been gone so long that they would have all moved on without him. It was a silly fear in hindsight; they loved Yu more than anything else in the world and welcomed him back with all the excitement, extravagance, and chaos one would expect from Inaba’s one and only Investigation Team. It was like Yu never even left.

There was a still a change. His fingers intertwined with (Name)’s without apprehension. (Name) leaned into his side and rested their head on his shoulder without hesitation. The year apart replaced their timidity with an unrelenting desire to be close to each other at all times. Rise called it sweet, Teddie told him it was unfair.

When the Investigation Team finally gave him some free time, Yu dragged (Name) to the floodplain so they could sit at the edge of the river together. His thumb traced circles on the back of their hand, trying to engrave the feeling in his memory. He would be back in Tokyo at the end of the summer, after all.

(Name) thought about the same thing. “You just got here, yet I’m already worried about when you’re gonna leave again. I don’t think I could take it again.”

They curled in closer to Yu, burying their face against his neck. To be honest, Yu didn’t know if he could take leaving again, too. It was hard enough the first time.

So Yu thought of other options. “I start university in the Spring. I’m gonna be moving out from my parents’ place, so I’ve been looking at apartments.”

A dry laugh from (Name) tickled his skin. “What a coincidence, I was also looking at apartments near Tokyo University. It’ll be hard to pay for a two-bedroom apartment on my own, even with how much I saved up. I need… a roommate.”

Yu pulled (Name)’s hand to his lips and kissed their knuckles. “A roommate? Is that the only thing you’re looking for?” (Name) turned their head to look up at Yu, who smiled. “How about a partner?”

“Yosuke is your partner.” It was hidden against his shoulder, but Yu felt the way (Name)’s mouth curled up into a smirk against his shirt.

His hands moved, his left on (Name)’s cheek to tilt their head up and his right gently touching the back of their neck. “Semantics,” Yu replied with a smirk of his own. “He’s my partner. I’m your boyfriend.”

It was said with a confidence Yu never could have managed just a year again, even though it was the first time he said it aloud to (Name). Because he was their boyfriend, and he was the leader of the Investigation Team, and he helped save Inaba and his precious friends. Yu decided that maybe he had finally done enough to be proud of himself, and he could revel in it just a tiny bit.

With that confidence, Yu leaned forward before (Name) had a chance to respond. It was a little clumsy, with neither of them knowing what to expect— It was a first kiss for both of them, after all. He felt (Name)’s hands fumble against his chest before grasping his shoulders to steady themself.

The kiss was the aftermath of a year of longing. A year of lingering gazes and timid touches, a desire to be close outweighed by a heavier responsibility to save the entire world. Now that responsibility was behind them, leaving no obstacles in between them.

They only broke from the kiss when they needed air. Yu didn’t move far; he leaned back in and bumped foreheads with (Name), gazing into their eyes with all the affection he could muster.

(Name) laughed, “you’re too much.”

masterlists.

#yu narukami x reader #seta souji x reader #p4 x reader #persona 4 x reader #f.smt #🎋 — fuji's work.

17 notes · View notes

kisakis-boyfriend · 5 months ago

Note

Hello! Anon with the Makoto & Akihiko Halloween Prompt here! Writing my thirst idea with Yu and Yosuke!

Context: Takes place during the field trip to Gekkou High, where the students had to stay the night at a love hotel.

Imagine: What if despite SEES's victory of ending the dark hour, bits and pieces of the Arcana Lovers shadow remain in a certain place, not enough to affect regular people but persona users...

The (Male) reader woke up to find himself alone in the bedroom, despite having to share it with Yu and Yosuke, who seemed to have vanished, with no power running in any lights... was that the sound of running water in the bathroom?

As he got up to check, the reader found the clothes of Yu and Yosuke, mixed together without care. As he opened the door, he saw something he can't and won't look away...

In the steamy bathroom, through the mist, had the view of Yu and Yosuke, nude as the day they're born, making out like they would die without the feeling of each other's lips, hands grabbing anything they could grab... Yu's eyes shifted to the Reader's frame, causing him to pull away, alerting Yosuke as well, leaving the two to look at the reader, inviting him over...

Hope you all like this!

Good lord 🥴 Your mind, anon, it is brilliant! ✨

There's no way that reader is going to have any self control after seeing that. Two close friends having a steamy makeout session riGHT IN FRONT OF HIM?!?! Is this what heaven is like? 😳

Yosuke is such a weakness of mine… ugh, I can picture how flushed he would be from the steam, and his elevated hormones due to the residual shadow's influence. Plus, Yu in all of his glory with water droplets running down his chest and back… wowee 🥴🥴🥴

#mailbox #thirst #yu narukami #yu narukami smut #yu x reader #yu x male reader #yosuke hanamura #yosuke smut #yosuke x reader #yosuke x male reader #souyo #just you mentioning Yosuke has given me an idea for something fun...

9 notes · View notes

akiology · 2 years ago

Note

May I please request headcanons for Yu, Kanji, Naoto, and Rise finding out about their female S/O running a popular food truck that sells tacos made with soul food classics?

Yu, Kanji, Rise, Naoto with an F!S/O running a popular food truck

Note: I hope this is accurate! If you are unhappy feel free to tell me what I did wrong and I will do my best! Sorry this took a long time </3

Yu has just recently returned to Inaba, and was already keeping himself busy. After learning that Dojima was probably working late again, he asked Nanako for dinner suggestions and then proceeded to pick up the ingredients for tonight. He decided he was going to pay you a visit as well, and maybe invite you over for dinner. As he was going down the Central Shopping District, he saw an unfamiliar food truck with a few people lined up. He, however, saw a familiar faces: yours.

You were serving the customers inside the food truck. You gave him a small wave, but quickly went back to serving. Yu sat down, and decided to wait for you. You handed him a serving of quesadillas, mouthing 'I'm sorry'. Yu waved you off and winked, 'It's okay'.

After a while, the customers started scattering. It was just the two of you now. The both of you started catching up, with Yu complimenting your skills and telling you how much he misses you.

"I didn't know you handled a food truck," Yu says, pouting.

"I just started, and when you said you were coming this week, I decided to just wait until you arrived." You poked his cheek to get him to stop pouting. He let up after a while.

"This is really good."

"You can have more if you want? Maybe Nanako would like to try some?"

Yu is really supportive towards the business, and would offer to help around from time to time. He finds it to be a win-win situation, he could spend time with you while learning more about you. When he returns to the city, he is surely going to miss you and your cooking.

Kanji

You can never keep a secret from Kanji, mainly because the both of you are together most of the time. So when you said you wanted to start a food truck, he was very excited! In fact after you said that, the moment he got home, he also told his mom you were starting a food truck. Mrs. Tatsumi is very excited as well! Also, he might've also told his

Kanji is a decent cook, so if you need extra help, he would be happy to! He just asks that you do not make him in charge of the customers, mainly because he is afraid it might make people turn away. He does not want that for you.

"They might not buy food if I was in charge."

"Then don't buy! It's probably better that way."

"Are you sure? I-"

"Yes Kanji. I want you to be a part of this, and if they don't like that, then they can go $%&*#~!" Remind Kanji to not make you that mad.

On days that Kanji cannot be with you, he convinces the Investigation Team, and some of his customers and/or students to visit your food truck. At the end of the day he would gladly help you clean up and go home with you.

He is really happy and loves you and your food a lot. He tries to recreate your dishes, but find that yours is still the best. He is very lucky to be able to know and love you!

Rise

You told Rise about it, and she hasn't been in town to check it herself. Which made her very sad, but all the more eager to see you and the truck! The moment she stepped foot in Inaba, she went straight for you, not even dropping off her things first.

She is very supportive and excited! She offers to help, and you ask her to just spread the word around about the truck. Although, granted, the truck was already pretty famous since it was a small town. Her efforts are still very much appreciated though! She loves hanging out, and watching you serve the customers. She would gladly chat with some of them, and gives you lots of praises. Even passersby started getting curious and decided to give it a try.

If you decide to share some tips, she is listening with full attention. She also likes asking questions, out of curiosity. It makes her feel closer to you.

"The thing with most soul foods is the quality of ingenuity, there is no strict way to make one dish," you stated, while you were showing Rise how to make mac and cheese.

"Oh! I love doing that!"

You remember the omelet incident at the Dojima residence. "Yes, sweetheart, I know. But we should start with the simpler dishes, yes?"

Rise giggled. "Okay!"

She loves eating the food you make, and misses it a lot when she has to go to the city for her job. Though she finds restaurants that sells soul foods, her favorite is still yours.

Naoto

Naoto was out of town, because of a few cases in the city that needs their attention. The both of you have been texting a lot, and sometimes they feel bad because they are very busy. You assure them that it's fine, and that you are excited for them to come by and see the food truck you're running!

When Naoto finally got some free time, they decided to visit. They stayed with their grandfather, while informing the Investigation Team that they might be available to hangout. Of course, the first person that they went to was you. They wanted to surprise you at your food truck, but then saw the line that was forming.

Naoto is very happy for you, and offers help should you need it. They are a quick learner, so if you need extra hands, then you are talking to the right person. Before this, they already had a great respect for you, so imagine their surprise when you started your own food truck and made it successful; they are very proud!

"I have to say, these are really delicious. Do you have a secret ingredient you use?"

"Hmm... I guess there is." You placed a finger under your chin, as if in thought.

"And what is that?"

"Love." You say with the biggest grin, and Naoto rolled their eyes playfully.

Naoto likes learning about you, and this includes everything. So if you decided to explain the significance and history of soul foods, then they are all ears.

#persona #fluff #yu narukami #souji seta #kanji tatsumi #rise kujikawa #naoto shirogane #yu x reader #souji x reader #kanji x reader #rise x reader #naoto x reader #persona 4 #persona 4 golden

43 notes · View notes

vexieeeee · 10 months ago

Text

Persona 4 Masterlist

(f) - fluff, (a) - angst, (af) - angst + fluff, (s) - smut

Yu Narukami:

Nothing yet...

Yosuke Hanamura:

Nothing yet...

Chie Satonaka:

Nothing yet...

Yukiko Amagi:

Nothing yet...

Kanji Tatsumi:

Nothing yet...

Rise Kujikawa:

Nothing yet...

Naoto Shirogane:

Nothing yet...

Ryotaro Dojima:

Nothing yet...

#persona x reader #yu narukami x reader #yosuke hanamura x reader #chie satonaka x reader #yukiko amagi x reader #kanji tatsumi x reader #rise kujikawa x reader #naoto shirogane x reader #ryotaro dojima x reader

7 notes · View notes

writers-reach · 1 year ago

Note

Slow dancing headcanons with Makoto,Ren and Yu?

persona 3/4/5: slow dancing headcanons (makoto yuki, yu narukami, ren amamiya)

notes: gn!reader, fluff, pretty short

makoto yuki

asks you to take the lead! he's seen those dancing lovers shadows in tartarus, but otherwise has no clue what he's doing.

mumbles to himself as he learns; he's a pretty quick learner, so in no time, the two of you are dancing about your room

ends up loving dancing with you! likes slow, more waltzy styles than anything else

yu narukami

he's got some dance experience under his belt, what with helping with that festival for rise. he takes the lead, but making sure you're keeping up!

every time you look up from your feet and into his eyes, he smiles, and you feel yourself trip slightly. damn him and his charming looks!

definitely tries to dance with you at the summer festival or something like that, to some dumb, cheesy ballad or another

ren amamiya

kind of like a mix between makoto and yu, i feel. like, has no idea what he's doing but pretends he does to appear confident. fake it til you make it, right?

despite not quite knowing what to do, he's trying his best and it actually turns out pretty well! he's got good body coordination, so you're never too worried about being stepped on

can't stop cracking jokes about being your "dashing prince charming" or "roguish lover". it's okay, though, since seeing you smile and roll your eyes makes it all worth it!

a/n: tysm for your request! hope you enjoy!

#persona 3 x reader #persona 4 x reader #persona 5 x reader #makoto yuki x reader #minato arisato x reader #persona 3 protagonist x reader #yu narukami x reader #souji seta x reader #persona 4 protagonist x reader #ren amamiya x reader #akira kurusu x reader #persona 5 protagonist x reader

336 notes · View notes

bayothemayo · 11 months ago

Text

Yu Narukami x Female! Reader (Headcanons)

The first time you met you don't really had an opinion on him. All you know that he is transfer student and only going to stay for a year or so.

He was the first one to strike up the conversation which later turned into a friendship.

You notice that most of the time he was silent, letting you talk for the entire time you two hang out. Even so he still makes good company.

Due to Inaba being small you two usually spot each other. Maybe you two do some chit chat or just wave to each other. The interactions would be brief if you two have somewhere to go.

Other than that the two of you's friendship is nothing really to take note about or something that is particular interesting.

Until you got thrown into the TV.

How fun.

Like the past TV victims, your silhouette shows up on the Midnight Channel. But due to plot reasons, Narukami didn't know it was you. He did notice that you weren't at school, or anywhere.

And then when your Shadow self was on TV, he finally realized that it was you.

Naturally, he was worried. He is always worried when with his now friends that got stuck in the TV with a chance dying is looming in the corner. But since he is your friend already he was a lot more worried.

Your dungeon went like how the previous ones went, fighting shadows, you rejecting your shadow self, them having to fight your shadow, and you accepting your shadow.

Naturally you needed to recover physically and mentally due to the TV world. So after a couple of days you came back to school. Narukami and the others were worried naturally, and they check up on you. They also ask if you remember who pushed you into the TV, which is you didn’t.

But you did joined the Investigation Team!

Narukami treated you like your other teammates but maybe with more care.

For the first couple of times when you all are in the TV world he kept a close eye on you just in case you needed help.

But nevertheless you were doing alright in the TV world.

Since you are now a part of the team, you have been hanging out with Narukami and the others more which you don’t mind. It was a nice change of pace.

Sometimes when you hang out with Narukami, the others who walk by join you. Again, you don’t mind.

Romantic Head canons

When you two start to date, the interactions are mostly the same but with an added ingredient called affection.

Most of the gestures are simple, kisses, small hugs, and holding hands. When it is more private situation, like home alone, you two mostly cuddle in the couch or bed.

You two share food from time to time, sometimes he hands feed you.

In the TV world he keeps eye closer eye on you, but he tries to make it fair for the other teammates so they won't feel like they are lesser than.

After finishing what you guys do in the TV World if there is time and if you two both feel like it you two cuddle in one of you's beds

When Narukami leaves Inaba you always call when you have time, mostly to just chat or maybe vent something. Depending how the two of you are busy you are, you two can chat for hours.

You two get a little more lovey-dovey, in private you don't want to make the others uncomfortable, when you two reunited.

Overall a very cute relationship.

...He also guards you from the dangerous and evil Mystery Food X, he doesn't want you to die from simply tasting it.

#yu narukami x reader #x reader #requested #request #persona 4 golden x reader #persona 4 x reader #fic #fan fiction #headcanons

27 notes · View notes

frickingnerd · 2 months ago

Text

sweater weather

pairing: yu narukami x gn!reader

summary: you're wearing yu's hoodie - but luckily yosuke doesn't realize that!

“oh, yu has a hoodie like that one too–!”

yosuke naively pointed at your new hoodie, noticing that it was remarkably similar to the one his best friend had. probably because it was yu's hoodie. but you couldn't let him know that.

“oh, really?” you chuckled and tried to play dumb, glancing towards yu besides you, who tried to keep a straight face. “i just bought that one yesterday! i had no clue yu had one like that too, how funny…!”

yosuke chuckled and so did you and yu, all while shooting each other a relieved look. luckily yosuke didn't realize why you were wearing yu's clothes and you didn't have to explain that to him.

23 notes · View notes

weeb-polls-with-pip · 1 year ago

Text

Autistic Anime Boys Round 1 Matchups!

Side A

L Lawliet (Death Note) VS Muichirou Tokito (Demon Slayer)

Gohan (Dragon Ball Z) VS Kiibo/K1-B0 Idabashi (Danganronpa)

Haruka Sakurai (Milgram) VS Seishirou Nagi (Blue Lock)

Satoru Gojou (Jujutsu Kaisen) VS Seto Kaiba (Yu-Gi-Oh!)

Umetarou Nozaki (Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun) VS Tamaki Suoh (Ouran High School Host Club)

Gin Gagamaru (Blue Lock) VS Taisei Yoshida (Assassination Classroom)

Itona Horibe (Assassination Classroom) VS Souichi Tanuma (Those Snow White Notes)

Light Yagami (Death Note) VS Tenma Matsukaze (Inazuma Eleven)

Shouto Todoroki (My Hero Academia) VS Sunny (Omori)

Broly (Dragon Ball Super) VS Kaworu Nagisa (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

Yu Narukami/Souji Seta (Persona 4) VS Sechs (XBlaze)

Kiyotaka Ishimaru (Danganronpa) VS Kento Nanami (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Nate River/Near (Death Note) VS Kyouya Ootori (Ouran High School Host Club)

Mash Burnedead (Mashle: Magic and Muscles) VS Noiz (DRAMAtical Murder)

Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist) VS Kabuto Yakushi (Naruto)

Lan Wangji (Mo Dao Zu Shi) VS Rui Kamishiro (Project Sekai)

James (Pokémon) VS Monkey D. Luffy (One Piece)

Yuusuke Kitagawa (Persona 5) VS Tsubasa Yuunagi (Hirogaru Sky! Pretty Cure)

Hitoshi-san (Nyan~ Neko Sugar Girls) VS Illumi Zoldyck (Hunter x Hunter)

Mikazuki Augus (Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans) VS Wakatoshi Ushijima (Haikyuu!!)

Homare Arisugawa (A3!) VS Kamille Bidan (Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam)

Subaru Mikazuki (My Roommate is a Cat) VS Atsushi Murasakibara (Kuroko no Basket)

Tanaka (Tanaka-kun is Always Listless) VS Natural Harmonia Gropius (Pokémon)

Haru (Tsuritama) VS Giorno Giovanna (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure)

Floyd Leech (Twisted Wonderland) VS Laios Touden (Dungeon Meshi)

Touma Akechi (The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.) VS Trafalgar D. Water Law (One Piece)

Lotte “Roy” Carmine (BlazBlue) VS Gon Freecss (Hunter x Hunter)

Nahoya “Smiley” Kawata (Tokyo Revengers) VS Senkuu Ishigami (Dr. Stone)

Ash Ketchum (Pokémon) VS Mafuyu Satou (Given)

Alhaitham (Genshin Impact) VS Shichirou Balam (Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun)

Shintarou Kisaragi (Kagerou Project) VS Izuku Midoriya (My Hero Academia)

Toshinari Seki (Tonari no Seki-kun) VS Takashi Natsume (Natsume’s Book of Friends)

Side B

Haruka Nanase (Free!) VS Tsukasa Tenma (Project Sekai)

Takeo Gouda (My Love Story!!) VS Karna (Fate)

Shintarou Midorima (Kuroko no Basket) VS Kim Dokja (Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint)

Roronoa Zoro (One Piece) VS Junpei Tenmyouji (Zero Escape)

Sig (Puyo Puyo) VS Kanata Shinkai (Ensemble Stars)

Kyoujurou Rengoku (Demon Slayer) VS Yugi Mutou (Yu-Gi-Oh!)

Legoshi (Beastars) VS Gaien "Enkidu" Enkidou (Under Night In-birth)

Doppo Kunikida (Bungou Stray Dogs) VS Hiroshi Odokawa (Odd Taxi)

Kusuo Saiki (The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.) VS Katsuya Serizawa (Mob Psycho 100)

Nagito Komaeda (Danganronpa) VS Haruhito Yano (Odd Taxi)

Yotasuke Takahashi (Blue Period) VS Manjirou "Mikey" Sano (Tokyo Revengers)

Kyouya Onodera (Talentless Nana) VS Misumi Ikaruga (A3!)

Miles Edgeworth (Ace Attorney) VS Shu Itsuki (Ensemble Stars)

Meguru Bachira (Blue Lock) VS Ren Mihashi (Big Windup!)

Ranpo Edogawa (Bungou Stray Dogs) VS Kaito (Vocaloid)

Zero (Puyo Puyo) VS Masayoshi Hazama (Samurai Flamenco)

Genos (One Punch Man) VS Jotaro Kujo (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure)

Vivia Twilight (Master Detective Archives: Raincode) VS Sora Harukawa (Ensemble Stars)

Satori Tendou (Haikyuu!!) VS Miles "Tails" Prower (Sonic X)

Houtarou Oreki (Hyouka) VS Kabane Kusaka (Kemono Jihen)

Ghiaccio (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure) VS Tenya Iida (My Hero Academia)

Malleus Draconia (Twisted Wonderland) VS Tetsuya Kuroko (Kuroko no Basket)

Kensuke Aida (Neon Genesis Evangelion) VS Goku (Dragon Ball)

Shinichi Kudou/Conan Edogawa (Detective Conan) VS Toya Aoyagi (Project Sekai)

Rei Suwa (Buddy Daddies) VS Gin Ibushi (Your Turn to Die)

Jade Leech (Twisted Wonderland) VS Akihiko Sanada (Persona 3)

Xiao (Genshin Impact) VS Loid Forger (Spy x Family)

Souya "Angry" Kawata (Tokyo Revengers) VS Sabro Sabnock (Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun)

Apollo Justice (Ace Attorney) VS Tobio Kageyama (Haikyuu!!)

Kurapika (Hunter x Hunter) VS Saitama (One Punch Man)

Sol Badguy (Guilty Gear) VS Langa Hasegawa (Sk8 the Infinity)

Subaru Natsuki (Re: Zero) VS Yusei Fudo (Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds)

#tumblr polls #autistic anime boys poll #fyi #poll info #information #to be updated #bracket #tumblr tournament #tumblr competition #poll bracket #tumblr tourney

238 notes · View notes

nenilein · 1 year ago

Note

Hello! Apologies for sending an ask out of the blue but considering your familiarity with localisation differences in persona 4/golden, I was wondering if anything comes to your mind regarding this aspect and how the game depicts queerness and queer themes? Thank you!

Heya! Don't worry, I was thinking people would probably ask stuff like this. After all, I already replied to somebody's tags asking this same thing previously, but I know not many people saw that, so let me use the chance to go into more detail:

Unfortunately, Persona 4's treatment of queer themes is not a result of the translation. The only things that were down to translation choices were small things, such as which pronouns are used in which situation (because Japanese does not at all have the same concept of third person pronouns as English, and the way first person classifiers that mean "I" work is very complex and a lot more vibes-based than actually tied to gender.)

But for the most part, everything is pretty much the same. Kanji's reaction to Chie mumbling about something being "off" about how he interacted with Naoto that first time, the tent scene, Yosuke's extreme insecurity in his own sexuality in addition to everyone else's... I think maybe the only thing that's a biiit better in Japanese is that Teddie is kiiinda genderfluid in Japanese, with the artbook outright stating that he doesn't necessarily consider himself "male" when he's in his bear form, unless it's necessary for a joke.

A lot of this can be traced to the really odd relationship the game's director, Katsura Hashino, has to queer themes. In interviews about Catherine Fullbody (a game which infamously has a rather weirdly handled gay romance route which, however, is notably also the only romance route in the game that cannot possibly result in a bad ending), he talks about how he's always admired queer people for being "strong" and wanted to write queer stories, but couldn't really do it until Fullbody because Atlus higher ups were afraid of backlash from the fans.

Traces of this are actually seen in Persona 4 Vanilla's data, where remnants of a surprisingly well done romance route for YOSUKE, of all people, are still present. That route made it far enough into development to have voiced lines in both, English and Japanese. However, it was dummied out in the final game and its script content was removed. Yosuke STILL has the "girlfriend flag" in the code that all the female romance options also have, but in the finished game it only checks whether you can hug him during his social link or not. Everything else was dummied out. You can still find the voice files on the cutting room floor if you want:

And yes, the "I like you" line is unambiguously romantic in Japanese. His wording is very hard to misinterpret.

However, in the finished game and the rest of the franchise Yosuke's bisexuality was reduced to an in-joke of the developers. It's most poignant in Persona Q (the first one), where if you get the "marriage" scene with Yosuke in the second dungeon, his reactions differ WILDLY depending on which Protagonist you are playing as, far more than other male characters. With Makoto Yuki he acts nonchallant and deadpan about it. With Yu Narukami he acts like a blushy Tsundere and panics constantly. So, yeah.

Okay, so, if the director had interest in writing queer stories since before Persona 4, why is Persona 4 the way it is then?

Well, because - and there's no way around it - he sucks at it.

Katsura Hashino has to be one of the clumsiest "gay activists" I've ever seen in my whole darn life. He finds queer people "cool", but seemingly never had any queer writers or sensitivity readers on his teams and it's caused enormous blunders in how these themes have been handled. For example, when after Persona 3 it was pointed out to him that the writing of the female characters in interaction with the male characters was bad, he immediately hired more female writers and gave them free reign for how to handle the female characters from then on out. But apparently the same thing never happened with his mishandling of queer themes. He wants Catherine's Erica and Rin to be empowering figures for trans women and gay men, but makes a lot of blunders in how he has other characters interact with them to the point it buries his good intentions. Erica's boyfriend having gay panic upon realizing she's trans is treated as "funny and cute", even by Erica herself. Rin technically being a monogender alien really undermines his story of becoming more secure in his sexuality. It goes on and on like that.

The intention with Naoto's story was to point out the extreme sexism in Japanese society and how it forces female nerds to find alternate modes of self-expression, but the clumsy choice of including surgery themes in Naoto's dungeon completely buried that for especially western queer audiences. Most people don't even remember Naoto's dungeon was outright modeled after a Kamen Rider villain hideout. They completely shot themselves in the foot with this one. Additionally, the way Naoto is handled AFTER the dungeon makes her (I'm using that pronoun because she calls herself a "woman" in Japanese in the game) seem more like someone who's on the verge of discovering they are X-gender (the japanese word for "nonbinary") than a repressed girl. Like, right down to how she has Rise help her experiment with clothes in the canonical drama CDs only to realize she really is uncomfortable with skirts and go for an androgynous but less restrictive look going forward. The way she dresses in the Golden epilogue and P4D is pretty X-gender core if you ask me. If they had leaned into that they could have genuinely have had something AMAZING, while also presenting the themes of sexism they wanted to explore, but the lack of queer sensitivity readers kind of ruined it.

Same for Kanji. The way they write him makes it seem like he's bisexual or pansexual, rather than straight, but they kinda shove that part of him aside after his dungeon is done, leaving his actual orientation up in the air and wasting a really good chance for representation. NOW, given what happened to Yosuke's social link, it's quite possible the original intent WAS to explore this more and it got cut, but as it stands, we'll never know. The huge problem of the internalized toxic stereotypes his Shadow presented never being reflected on and put into their right context in the rest of the game, when his social link could've given a great opportunity for that is also a huge shame.

All of this happened because of Atlus being unwilling to let their writers go all out with queer themes in fears of alienating a cishet audience AND because Hashino never sat his writing team down with any actual queer writers to sort this shit out and learn how to get across what the team was ACTUALLY trying to say. Now, given, Persona 4 was far from the only Japanese media property with that exact issue at the time, but it hurts especially much in its case because of the game's themes of exploring the truth to its logical conclusion, as well as psychology. These are issues that a remake REALLY would do well to address and correct. I feel like they actually will HAVE to do that, because sensitivity readers have become the NORM in handling these themes now in Japanese media, rather than the exception. You can thank trail blazing mainstream works like Zombie Land Saga for that.

All in all, Persona 4's handling of queer themes is an exercise in frustration that I hope is corrected soon.

#Persona 4 #Neni Replies #Naoto Shirogane #Kanji Tatsumi

101 notes · View notes