Chapter Text
Yosuke can’t breathe.
He can’t tear his eyes away from the mangled body dangling from the antenna, no matter how much he wants to. Saki’s body is carefully pulled down, police and paramedics trying to close off the area.
This is his fault. He did this.
Yosuke's hands go and grasp on his arms, feeling a tear fall down his face. Her face..looked like she was in pain before her death. She was in pain, she was in so much pain- He can't seem to tear his eyes away from her body as she's covered in a tarp.
He caused her to get killed. He killed her he killed her he's a murderer he-
“Hanamura?”
Yosuke jumps at the hand on his shoulder, turning to see the transfer student. Narukami. Those silvery eyes are filled with intense concern, so much so that Yosuke isn’t sure whether to bask in the unfamiliar feeling or cry. “I know she was close to you…”
“I-I’m fine.” The sharp voice crack would be Yosuke’s downfall. “I mean...sh-she was special but I’m...going to be ok.”
I have to be ok-
Narukami tilts his head, but doesn’t press any further. “Well...I wanted to talk to you about something that happened last night.” His face is unreadable, much to Yosuke’s frustration. How am I supposed to know what he’s thinking?
"Something that..happened last night?" Yosuke glances around, before looking back at Narukami's face. Nope, still unreadable. Fucking hell. "What..happened last night?"
“I should really just show you.” Narukami grabs Yosuke’s wrist, pulling him in the direction of Junes. “There’s big tvs at Junes, right?”
"U-uh-" Yosuke tries his best to hold in a yelp of pain as he grabs his wrist. He forgot to bandage up his wrist- "Yea I'm- I'm pretty sure we have big tvs in Junes..w-why are you asking?"
Narukami just keeps pulling Yosuke along, his voice flat. “Curious.” That answers none of Yosuke’s questions, and on the way, he starts stressing. Oh god, what if Narukami saw me, what if he caught me, what if he knows I’m the murderer-
Yosuke let's out a shaky sigh, hoping Narukami takes it as just him being dragged. When he gets to Junes, Satonaka is also there, and he blinks in confusion. "...what exactly do you want to show me? And.." he points at the girl. "Why is she here?"
Narukami shrugs. “I told her too. I mean she talked to me after school yesterday.” He looks around them, as if waiting for everyone to leave the electronics section. Once he seems satisfied, he reaches out and touches the screen of a tv.
The screen rippled under his touch…. before giving way and allowing him to stick his hand in.
Yosuke’s eyes widen. He can hear a shriek of panic from behind, but he can only really focus on what's happening in front of him.
How the hell did the new kid do that?? That doesn't- w-what??
“I discovered that I can do this last night…” Narukami pulls his hand free, looking at the terrified faces of Satonaka and Yosuke. “I reached for that girl on screen...a strange voice…” He shakes his head. “It was weird.” He reaches back again, this time up to his shoulder. “I think there might be something on the other side-”
Yosuke feels his heart drop into his gut, panic shooting through his every nerve. He glances around nervously. There's no one here..he can just run to the bathroom and try and calm down there-
Yosuke starts to back up, and suddenly he makes a dash for it. Before he gets too far, he can feel Satonaka scream "Oh no you don't!!" before she grabs his arm. Right where the deepest part of the cut is-
He lets out a painful yelp, stumbling back and knocking into Satonaka, who knocks over Narukami, and next thing he knows he's falling through the tv. While the others scream, Yosuke furiously tries to predict where they’ll land and prays to anyone that will listen that Jiraiya isn’t here waiting this time.
As soon as Yosuke’s feet touch the ground, he trips and falls flat on his face, another yelp escaping his lips. Ow ow owww..
Yosuke tries to lift his head up, looking around. Yup, same tv place, same everything-
He hears Narukami mutter a small thing in confusion. Wait. More panic races through him. Can Satonaka and Narukami see through the fog? Or are they like he was? He chews the inside of his cheek nervously.
“Where the hell are we...I can’t see a damn thing…” Satonaka stands up, gazing around wildly. “Is this some kinda weird studio? This fog is so thick…” Yosuke looks around as well, trying to make sure that Jiraiya isn’t anywhere to be seen.
Narukami sniffs, trying to look into the fog more. “I thought I saw something move out there.” He shrugs after a moment. “Probably just my imagination.”
Yosuke looks over to where Narukami is pointing at, seeing two bright yellow eyes stare at him. Jiraiya quickly puts his finger to his lips, pointing at the others and nodding. Act like you haven't been here. Stay calm but worried sounding.
Yosuke grips his arm softly. "H..how the hell do we get out ..?" He ends up asking, making his voice shake to sound more concerned. Satonaka pales as she squeaks in surprise.
“How the hell should I know? All we can really do is try to find an exit!” Yosuke flinches at her panicked tone, though through the noise he could hear a strange squeaking. He waves at Satonaka, trying to tell her to be quiet.
Squeak. Squeak. Squeak.
Yosuke feels a chill go down his spine. What the hell is that? He squints, even though he can easily see through the fog, but for some reason he can’t make out the shadowy thing walking towards them. “W-we should really find that exit!”
He sees Narukami back away, and before he can say anything, him and Satonaka are running away. His eyes widen, and goes to chase after them, screaming "Hey wait for me!!" He manages to grab on to Narukami’s hand, not even paying attention to where they’re going. Where are we, Jiraiya never took me here-
The three students finally stop in a strange red room, ripped posters all over the walls. Yosuke takes a breather, panting heavily before he starts looking around. “Where….where is this?” The room is trashed almost beyond recognition, but there’s something familiar about the tattered sheets, broken closet door, and shattered guitar.
His heart crawls into his throat, ignoring what Narukami and Satonaka are saying as he approaches the bedside table. His fingers tremble as he opens the drawer, pulling out the clean piece of paper within.
He unfolds it, knowing why the room was so familiar now.
The suicide note is in his handwriting.
Yosuke grips onto the note tightly, staring at it, and then to the noose that hangs in the middle of the room, then at the note again.
Did..Jiraiya know that this place existed? What..why is the note here, why..why is just his room here-
He starts to hear footsteps come near him, and he quickly shoves the note back where it was, closing the drawer and sighing. "There seems to be nothing here.." Yosuke mutters, turning back to look at the other two in the room. Narukami seems to have this expression of doubt on his face (at least..Yosuke thinks he does? Narukami's faces are hard to tell..) before shaking his head.
Narukami opens his mouth, but right before he does the door swings open to reveal that strange shadowy thing that Yosuke had seen earlier. Except...it’s not super shadowy, it’s a strange red and blue bear. Yosuke blinks in confusion. He can tell it's a shadow, it gives off the aura of shadows but..it just doesn't look like a shadow.
After staring at each other for what seems like ages, the bear growls, pointing at the students. “What are you doing here? You guys have come in here riling up the Shadows, and now I’ve caught ya bear -handed!!” The bear’s voice is high pitched, startling Yosuke and causing him to leap backwards.
“Wh-what the hell are you? What do you mean riling up Shadows?” Yosuke squeaks, trying to hide the lie in his voice. He knows who’s riling up the Shadows, he’s seen how his presence affects them. But they can’t know that.
There’s movement behind the bear, distracting Yosuke as he leans around to look. “Wha! Th-they’re here!” The bear screams, turning around and running off as several blob monsters take form. Shadows. He’s used to seeing these creatures, but Jiraiya taught him how to fight them if they’re aggressive.
A second later it hits him that in order to fight the Shadows, Yosuke needs Jiraiya. His heart drops. Shit.
“Run!” Yosuke runs out of the room, Narukami and Satonaka behind him. He isn’t even sure if they’re going back the way they came, all he can think of is to just run. If we can make it to the exit tvs Jiraiya has we can leave, but…He’d have to lead them back towards that studio area. And right now, he has no idea where they are.
Yosuke stops all the sudden when shadows suddenly appear in front of him, as he lets out a small yelp and falls to the floor. One of the Shadows attacks Satonaka, causing her to crumble to the ground. This...this is all my fault! If only he wasn’t a coward and was able to summon Jiraiya to them, he could save them...but…
Narukami tries to move as well, but seems frozen in place. Yosuke can finally see the fear in his eyes, his calm facade cracking under the stress. “C-come on, move!” At once, his eyes dilate, body stiffening as he grabs his forehead.
Yosuke watches the transfer student turn over a blank card in his hand, his mouth curving into a smile as he holds it up. Blue lights flare around him as the card catches fire, a word forming in his lips.
“Per...son….a.”
Yosuke stares at the transfer student with wide eyes as a tall, ironclad being forms behind him. Narukami’s silvery eyes take on a new intensity that chills Yosuke to the core. The Shadows charge, but there’s a bright flash of metal and two of the three explode into dust. Th-that’s some serious power!
Narukami lets out a pant, slowly unbuttoning his uniform right as the last Shadow slams into his Persona. He gives a choked cry, before the Persona flings the Shadow free. His eyes light up blue as his voice deepens.
“Izanagi!”
A brilliant bolt of lightning slams into the Shadow, killing it in an instant. He pants as he finishes unbuttoning his uniform, the Persona vanishing.
Yosuke blinks, eyes darting from where the shadows used to be, and back to Narukami. "W..what was.."
He didn't have to accept himself..how the hell did he get a persona without accepting himself?!
Narukami stands still for a second more, panting softly until he catches his breath. “Persona…that’s what it was called.” He straightens his shoulders, his stony demeanor returning and his face becoming unreadable again. He walks over to Satonaka, shaking her shoulder to try and get her up. Yosuke scrambles up too, diving for Satonaka.
“Come on, get up!” Yosuke chews on his lip, worry sparking through him. What if the Shadow killed her?
There’s a groan as Satonaka sits up, holding her head. “What...happened?” She looks around, noticing how the Shadows are gone. “W-wait, where did those monsters go?”
Yosuke takes a glance around, looking at Narukami, before looking back at Satonaka. "Narukami..Narukami took care of them." He gets this small smile on his face. "It was..awesome, to be honest-" He can’t even lie about that. What Narukami did made….something stir inside him.
“It...was nothing, just….Persona.” Narukami whispers quietly, looking at his hand as if he can’t believe what he just did. “W-we should get out of here.” There’s a slight waver in his voice now, a small crack in the walls he put up around himself.
Yosuke helps Satonaka up, taking a look around, before nodding softly. "I..y-yes. We should try and get o-out of here.." Yosuke laughs softly. "I..I need to work soon anyways, so-" He shakes his head. "C-come on."
____
“You want to get out of here?”
The strange bear, which the students had learned is named Teddie, blinks up at them with big eyes. “Well, why didn’t you just say so?” He stomps his foot, summoning a tall stack of tvs. Yosuke tries to hide his surprise.
I thought Jiraiya was the only one who could do that!
Yosuke watches as Narukami and Satonaka jump back as he continues to stare at the bear in shock. "W..what the hell..?" He hears Satonaka ask in a confused tone. Who the hell is this bear?
“What are you waiting for?” Teddie pushes on the student’s backs, throwing all three of them back the way they came. They tumble out into the electronic section of Junes, Yosuke cursing that bear for such a rough landing.
Narukami is the first up, and any vulnerability he showed in the tv world was gone. “We’re back.”
Yosuke sits on his knees, groaning as he runs his head in pain. He blinks, looking around the familiar store. "Yea I..guess we are-"
He hears the tone of the announcements, recognizing the tone almost instantly. It's almost closing time-
“You guys should head home, I need to help close up.” Yosuke looks up at Narukami, who simply nods at him before walking off. Satonaka stays a little longer, trying to figure out what had happened and even going so far as to tapping her fingers on the screen. But before long, she left as well, leaving Yosuke alone in Junes.
Yosuke stares at the direction the two other students went off to, before looking back at the tv.
...he has some questions for Jiraiya.
Hoping back into the tv after he makes sure no one is there, he doesn't see Teddie anymore. Instead, he sees Jiraiya, talking to..
..Narukami?
"J..Jiraiya..what is-"
The Shadow whirls around and pounces on Yosuke, tackling him to the ground. “Yosuke!” Before Yosuke can respond, Jiraiya continues, saying something that leaves a knot of anxiety in his throat.
“You’re going to have to fake your awakening.”