[Persona 4/Persona 3: Yosuke, Ensemble +1] Billie Jean 2/10
Title: Billie Jean, Chapter 2/10: Human Nature
Author: buongiornodaisy
Fandom: Persona 4/Persona 3
Characters: Yosuke, ensemble +1
Pairing: Some really fucking random ones implied.
Labels: An AU, genderbending crossover son of a gun.
Warning: Spoilers for Persona 3 FES and Persona 4
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,306
Summary: When an old friend returns to town, Yosuke must face the confusing facts about the past and present. CHAPTER TWO: Yosuke has an awkward dinner, and Naoto has information.
Thank You: khaman for giving this the look over! ♥
Disclaimer: If I had an original bone in my body I'd be writing profic, not fanfic!
---
Following the pattern of the past ten years, Yosuke had a hard time getting in a word with Souji at the dinner party. Nanako was hogging her cousin's time as if she were the one who hadn't seen Souji in years. Yosuke understood why Souji gave so much time to Nanako. They adored each other, saw themselves as siblings rather than cousins, and Nanako could be chatty around people she knew well. All that aside, Nanako was on the verge of departing for college and was grilling her “big bro” for advice. Souji had attended universities in three different countries and had a PhD in psychology. If there was anyone qualified to give a lot of advice about college, it was Souji.
Of all the people in this room besides the kid, Yosuke was the one who wasn't talking to anyone. Chie and Dojima were chatting happily in their corner (in a manner vaguely unsettling to Yosuke), Nanako and Souji still chatting about college in theirs, and the kid was slumped in a chair, idly flipping through songs on his mp3 player, looking back and forth from the screen to Nanako in a manner that was more than vaguely unsettling to Yosuke. It was a little angering, in the way he suspected fathers and big brothers felt at the prospect of young boys checking out their daughters and little sisters. Yosuke cleared his throat. “Nice headphones,” he said. That got the boy's attention away from Nanako. “Did you get them from Junes?”
The boy nodded.
“I work there,” said Yosuke.
The boy nodded again. “You ducked behind an aisle when you saw us,” he replied. “I didn't tell her, if you were wondering. I don't think she noticed.” He stared at Yosuke a moment longer before resuming his vigil of the mp3 screen and Nanako. Yosuke stood where he was, mouth slightly agape and cursing himself and this damn kid who--
A screen door slid open and closed, and he suddenly noticed Nanako sitting next to the boy. Souji was outside going through the motions of a bad habit. Giving the room a cursory glance-to the kid and Nanako starting up a conversation, to Chie and Dojima still chatting-he walked ahead and out to the back porch just in time to get the first whiff of cigarette smoke.
“Jesus. You should really stop doing that.”
“I know.”
She was sitting cross-legged on the back yard patio, staring at the dark sky. Yosuke shook his head, taking a seat next to his old friend.
“I heard Chie broke up with you,” she said.
“...yeah,” Yosuke replied with a sigh. No one had brought it up all night tonight. He was hoping to avoid it.
“Did she say why?”
“She said it wasn't working out.”
Souji remained silent for a moment, taking a drag of the cigarette. “My uncle is going on vacation soon.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“At the same time as Chie.”
“It's a slow time at the station.”
The look Souji gave him was an odd one-an incredulous, confused, vaguely disappointed look, as if Yosuke had got the answer wrong to a question as simple as “what's one plus one?” She shook her head and looked back to the sky, breathing out a plume of smoke.
“So, uh, how have you been?”
She shrugged. “Busy.”
Yosuke nodded. “Yeah...Chie forgot to tell me you were moving back here.”
“Chie is sleeping with my uncle.”
There was a long pause, a very long pause in which Yosuke would have dropped something had he been holding anything. At the end of it, the only thing he could bring himself to say was, “What?!”
“It's just a feeling I have. They're very...close, tonight.” The cigarette had been reduced to a butt, which she casually flicked into the grass. She rose to her feet, brushing down her pants legs. “Have you met him?” she asked, jerking her head back to the house.
Yosuke looked behind him, to the kid who was still chatting up Nanako. “The kid?” he asked. Souji nodded.
“I think he's worse than I was when I was...”
“His age?”
She didn't nod, but looked to the grass.
“How'd you get stuck with him, anyway? You don't seem like the adopting type.”
“It's a long story.” She checked her watch. “We have to go. I'll see you around.”
And for the second time that day, Yosuke was left alone before he could come up with a response.
---
The next day, Yosuke almost ran into a petite woman standing in front of one of the new office buildings.
“Naoto?”
It was Naoto all right. She had changed over the years, no longer doggedly masculine like she was when he first met her, which didn't mean she had traded in her boyish clothes for an exclusively feminine wardrobe. She had simply decided to focus more on solving cases and less on her apperance; and, indeed, ten years later she was still an ace detective, albeit one on the trail of a certain tall gentleman currently conversing with a slightly shorter, bespectacled gentleman inside the office building.
“In a rush, are you?” she said wryly, before giving Yosuke a hug.
“What are you guys doing in town?” Yosuke asked after they separated.
“Kanji wants to talk Souji into doing another shoot for him.” She shook her head, staring at the still ongoing conversation inside. Yes, that was Kanji and Souji in there, Souji evidently wearing a different set of undergarments today than he-she-had worn yesterday. The flat chest wasn't anything new to Yosuke. The glasses were, although they did look familiar...
“I told Kanji that he wouldn't be able to talk Souji out of the career he's been studying for the past eight years,” Naoto continued, “but he...insisted, and we hadn't visited town in quite a while...”
“You missed Dojima-san's dinner last night,” Yosuke replied.
“Oh? I most sincerely regret that. Unfortunately, our visit here was done on the fly, otherwise we would have gotten into contact with one of you. How are you and Chie doing, by the way?”
“We aren't.”
Naoto looked at him, confused.
Yosuke shrugged. “She broke up with me yesterday. Souji seems to think she's sleeping with Dojima.”
Naoto's eyes widened. “What would make him say a thing like that?”
“Who knows. Said h-she had a feeling.”
Naoto frowned. “After he's been here for all of a day... Very perceptive. A good quality to have in a psychologist, though I remain uncertain as to the veracity of his claim. I suspect you've met his ward?”
“You mean that kid that follows her around everywhere?”
Naoto nodded.
“Yeah. Where did that come from? She didn't seem like the adopting type.”
“It is strange story. Much stranger than you or I know. What little I know is strange enough.”
“How so?”
Naoto looked back to the building. “You recall where we took our Cultural Exchange trip during my first year at Yasogami High?”
“Port Island?”
Naoto nodded. “When I learned that Souji had become legal guardian to this child, I did a quick investigation. My first action was to call Rise, who had been the last person to speak with Souji before he emerged with this child. According to Rise, Souji made an overnight trip to Port Island without explaining why. The next day he came back with the boy. His name is Minato Arisato.” She turned to Yosuke with a deeply troubled expression. “Twelve years ago...Minato...died from unknown causes.”
Chapter 1