Fanfic - Persona: Full Moon [Part 1]
AND HERE IT IS.
♠ Fanfiction Index
Title: Full Moon
By: neutraltwin
Disclaimer: Don't own anything.
Rating: PG, probably gonna go up
Genre and/or Pairing: AU version, eventual Souji/Ai
Warnings: That bag of chips is gonna go straight to your hips.
Word Count: 1900+ SO FAR
Summary: For a kinkmeme prompt somewhere in the past with Ai on the Investigation Team. IT GOT BIGGER.
Notes: Hurhur this is kind of old. It's edited up a bit, but...not my best stuff. :V
April
Souji passed by a girl as he got off the train at Yasoinaba Station. His gaze lingered for a few moments - she was very attractive, curly hair of a colour he couldn't quite place straight away spilling down her back, dressed in fashionable clothes - before she glanced over, shooting him something between a glare and a smirk. He looked away, briefly chastising himself; it wouldn't be a good idea to offend anyone his first day in town, would it? He'd learned that enough times before. His uncle Dojima was waiting for him at the station, and he almost thought to mention her, but that wouldn't paint a good first impression at all...he consoled himself with the thought that it was a small town. He'd see her around.
A day and a handshake later, Souji found himself in front of the admissions desk, looking down at his new class schedule. Class 2-1...the room where he'd be spending a large part of the next year. It wasn't until he'd settled into his seat and passed pleasant conversation with some of his new classmates, memorising names and exchanging formalities, that she came in the door and sat herself right behind him. Souji spent most of the first lesson wondering about fate.
Three days later, he was swinging a golf club into a huge, pig-masked mockery of her, unable to think of anything other than those cold, yellow eyes and that broken voice that climbed into a sharp, wicked laugh. Wind buffeted him as the monster threw what Teddie had called Garu spells at him, almost slicing through his skin. Souji gritted his teeth as he clenched the card in his hand, calling out the word that would colour the rest of his life.
"Persona!"
Their ranks swelled as April wound down. Yosuke Hanamura, with no Persona but stumbling upon their secret when he saw Ai butt-first sticking out of the TV, swearing to help them by running cover as they went into the TV; Chie Satonaka, the only person Yosuke slipped the secret to, achingly worried when her friend went missing; Yukiko Amagi, their first trial and the first person they truly saved. Souji found himself thinking more and more of tactics - Ai with Garu, Chie with Bufu, Yukiko with Agi, Dia on Ai and Yukiko with himself as backup should they have to concentrate on taking advantage of their foe's weakness - and juggling more and more things with the assistance of that long-nosed man and his mysterious assistant.
(Margaret was very pretty, he realised, and those occasional rare smiles she gifted him with felt more revitalising than any good night's sleep could. The Velvet Limo may have been a place of fusion, but he liked that he could relax there. Time twisted so mere seconds passed outside while he was their guest, apparently, and Souji found himself taking advantage of that time-out more and more often as the months wore on.)
Souji was busy. Ai made damn well sure that the two of them - Titania and Izanagi, Garu and Zio - were utterly inseperable. Sometimes he felt as if he should have gotten Oberon instead.
May
Uncle Dojima sat him down just before exams, looking even more stern than usual. There had, it seemed, been rumours flying around that he and the Ebihara girl were 'an item'. Souji briefly wondered which decade his uncle got his slang from before smiling quietly in return. Certainly, she was beautiful, and a few late nights when he hadn't been able to focus on his studies had found his thoughts drifting in that direction, but...
"We're friends, Dojima-san." he answered. "That's all."
"You're sure?" Dojima asked. "Girls like that can take friendship the wrong way..."
Souji flashed back to last week, when he'd spent a little too much time training with Chie; Ai had cornered him in the third-floor hallway the next day - literally cornered, Souji stuck between a wall and the girl's bathrooms, and no amount of Courage could get him to go in there - demanding to know why he was so focused on training, weren't there other things he could be doing, what was so special about learning to kick things, anyway? Souji had a feeling 'other things' meant walking her home and doing her homework, but settled for soothing her concerns with smooth, honest words. In truth, he thought Chie was a very nice girl - and apparently he was the envy of the school, constantly hanging out with one or several of the three beautiful Persona-using girls - but...the thought of dating them? Rupturing the already delicate ecosystem that was growing here?
That would be almost as suicidal as the time Yosuke had said he didn't think of Chie as a girl.
"I don't think of her that way, Ai," he said; Ai started back in surprise before regaining her frown.
"Yeah, well...you'd better not!" she huffed. "Getting distracted by a relationship would totally mess up the team!"
She stormed off. Souji had a feeling, as he brushed himself down and returned a few of the less subtle stares that his schoolmates were giving him, that that rule wasn't supposed to apply to her at all.
At least the Social Link hadn't reversed.
* * *
The middle of the month grew near, and passed. Ai shot him a glare that could destroy mountains when he suggested that she and Yosuke should pair up to tail Kanji for their part of the stakeout. Souji took quiet amusement in the pair's hissed jibes at one another as he took Chie and Yukiko back to Tatsumi Textiles. More people hanging around would be better cover, after all. The slap was audible from the other end of the school when Yosuke suggested using the cover of the two of them on a date.
Ai's hysterical laughter when Kanji's Shadow took on its true form was hardly any better.
June
Ai shifted onto her other foot in front of Tatsumi Textiles, looking almost as awkward as Kanji. Souji nudged her gently in the ribs.
"Alright, alright, fine! Sorry for...saying that about your Shadow, Tatsumi."
Kanji shook his head, eyes downcast. "I-it's fine, Ai-senpai. I know ya didn't mean anything by it."
Souji gave an even stare to Ai. "And?"
"And...for laughing in your face."
"S'fine."
"Good," Souji nodded. "So, Kanji...would you like to come meet us after school? We have a proposition for you."
* * *
Ai seemed about as enthusiastic about the school campout as Souji had imagined she would be; the mountain was too rocky, the trash-pickup was demeaning, the tracksuit was totally ugly even if she grudgingly admitted that Chie and Yukiko could pull it off. (Although, god, what was Chie's deal with always zipping things up as far as they could go? Necklines were not her enemy!) But, Yosuke and Souji agreed, it was completely worth it when Ai slapped the wooden spoons straight out of Chie and Yukiko's hands once the food started to gurgle, taking over.
Chie and Yukiko gathered a newfound respect for her when she managed to stop Hanako from snoring, too. For some reason, the girls never articulated exactly how they did it...Souji sensed that it was in his best interests to not know. Some things were too much even for him to know.
Kanji had no opinion. The small, mumbled "holy shit" when Ai strode forward in her own swimsuit, completely without the self-conciousness of Chie and Yukiko, spoke volumes. Even Yosuke had to agree there with a hused, almost awestruck murmur of "Dude..."
All in all, aside from the incident in the river which they would never, ever speak of again? The group agreed it could have been much, much worse.
* * *
"What do you mean, I don't get a present?" Yosuke sputtered. "Dude, it's my birthday!"
Ai sighed, brushing back her hair. "Aren't you going to meet that overhyped Risette girl today, Hanamura? I'd figure from how much you've been going crazy over her, that'd be present enough."
"Overhyped? You take that back! Risette's got more talent in her pinky than you, and she's way hotter!"
Souji sighed quietly and turned back to his study review with Yukiko as the argument escalated between the two, arms already swinging in wide gestures. Hopefully they could get something done before those two got them kicked out of the library; hopefully that niggling, worried sensation in the back of his head was just him worrying too much.
* * *
Ai's voice was surprisingly stiff and toneless over the phone after Rise had faded from the Midnight Channel. Souji knew that tone. He'd heard it all too many times when he'd had training with Chie, or wanted to spend time with Yukiko. Frankly, he'd heard it enough in his previous schools too.
(His father's voice echoed in his head, misty with the passing of years. "Son," he'd said, "If there's only one thing you ever learn from me, it's this. Girls are very complicated, and you'll never understand them even if you live for a thousand years. Still, it's always worth the time to try.")
"So we have to save her, right?" was the calmest death sentence he'd ever received. Souji considered his next few words very carefully.
"Yes. It's that or let her die."
Ai was silent for awhile, long enough that Souji started to wonder if the connection had dropped. "...Ai?"
"That, and..." she began, giving a light sigh. "Hanamura'd never let us shut up about it, right? He's probably trying to call you right now."
"Probably," Souji agreed. "I'll call him next."
"Right. And he can go write it in his diary."
"Pardon?"
"Nothing. G'night, Souji."
"Goodnight, Ai."
* * *
Ai stopped to massage her temples at the third floor of the Marukyu Striptease; Souji immediately turned to check on her, borne of habit more than anything, tempered with the niggling fear always in the back of the head that seemed to have memorised the cries of pain every one of his team had given when Shadows struck too deep. She was a capable member of the team, he had to admit; her Garu skills were lethal, and her Dia healing was an indispensable supplement to Yukiko's. Her aim with the crossbow certainly wasn't something he could dismiss either. And yet...it worried him, even as he slipped a Moon Persona into place in his mind as he approached. Everything worried him. He should stop into the Velvet Room again once they'd gone as far as they could, fuse something new to gain yet greater power.
"Faring okay?" he asked. Ai glanced up, and she certainly seemed alright. Her eyes were tired, but searching, raking over every inch of his face.
"Yeah, this music's just...ugh. Remind me never to go into one of these places," she said. She already had that compact out, reapplying her lipstick. Her lips were slightly parted as she looked up at him, as if something had occurred to her. "You'd seriously never heard of Risette before this?"
Souji shrugged, sliding his sword back into its scabbard. "I'm not into that stuff."
A smile spread across her face, sudden and real, the girl giving a little sigh as she pushed herself up off the wall. One hand was planted on her hip; she was still tired, obviously, but he'd noticed a growing fondness in her gaze over the last few months. Maybe she was softening. Maybe his father had been right.
"You're really something else, Souji," she said, striding back to the group before he could respond. Souji blinked a few times, pushing his glasses back into place before rejoining her.
She was certainly something else as well.
♠ Fanfiction Index
Title: Full Moon
By: neutraltwin
Disclaimer: Don't own anything.
Rating: PG, probably gonna go up
Genre and/or Pairing: AU version, eventual Souji/Ai
Warnings: That bag of chips is gonna go straight to your hips.
Word Count: 1900+ SO FAR
Summary: For a kinkmeme prompt somewhere in the past with Ai on the Investigation Team. IT GOT BIGGER.
Notes: Hurhur this is kind of old. It's edited up a bit, but...not my best stuff. :V
April
Souji passed by a girl as he got off the train at Yasoinaba Station. His gaze lingered for a few moments - she was very attractive, curly hair of a colour he couldn't quite place straight away spilling down her back, dressed in fashionable clothes - before she glanced over, shooting him something between a glare and a smirk. He looked away, briefly chastising himself; it wouldn't be a good idea to offend anyone his first day in town, would it? He'd learned that enough times before. His uncle Dojima was waiting for him at the station, and he almost thought to mention her, but that wouldn't paint a good first impression at all...he consoled himself with the thought that it was a small town. He'd see her around.
A day and a handshake later, Souji found himself in front of the admissions desk, looking down at his new class schedule. Class 2-1...the room where he'd be spending a large part of the next year. It wasn't until he'd settled into his seat and passed pleasant conversation with some of his new classmates, memorising names and exchanging formalities, that she came in the door and sat herself right behind him. Souji spent most of the first lesson wondering about fate.
Three days later, he was swinging a golf club into a huge, pig-masked mockery of her, unable to think of anything other than those cold, yellow eyes and that broken voice that climbed into a sharp, wicked laugh. Wind buffeted him as the monster threw what Teddie had called Garu spells at him, almost slicing through his skin. Souji gritted his teeth as he clenched the card in his hand, calling out the word that would colour the rest of his life.
"Persona!"
Their ranks swelled as April wound down. Yosuke Hanamura, with no Persona but stumbling upon their secret when he saw Ai butt-first sticking out of the TV, swearing to help them by running cover as they went into the TV; Chie Satonaka, the only person Yosuke slipped the secret to, achingly worried when her friend went missing; Yukiko Amagi, their first trial and the first person they truly saved. Souji found himself thinking more and more of tactics - Ai with Garu, Chie with Bufu, Yukiko with Agi, Dia on Ai and Yukiko with himself as backup should they have to concentrate on taking advantage of their foe's weakness - and juggling more and more things with the assistance of that long-nosed man and his mysterious assistant.
(Margaret was very pretty, he realised, and those occasional rare smiles she gifted him with felt more revitalising than any good night's sleep could. The Velvet Limo may have been a place of fusion, but he liked that he could relax there. Time twisted so mere seconds passed outside while he was their guest, apparently, and Souji found himself taking advantage of that time-out more and more often as the months wore on.)
Souji was busy. Ai made damn well sure that the two of them - Titania and Izanagi, Garu and Zio - were utterly inseperable. Sometimes he felt as if he should have gotten Oberon instead.
May
Uncle Dojima sat him down just before exams, looking even more stern than usual. There had, it seemed, been rumours flying around that he and the Ebihara girl were 'an item'. Souji briefly wondered which decade his uncle got his slang from before smiling quietly in return. Certainly, she was beautiful, and a few late nights when he hadn't been able to focus on his studies had found his thoughts drifting in that direction, but...
"We're friends, Dojima-san." he answered. "That's all."
"You're sure?" Dojima asked. "Girls like that can take friendship the wrong way..."
Souji flashed back to last week, when he'd spent a little too much time training with Chie; Ai had cornered him in the third-floor hallway the next day - literally cornered, Souji stuck between a wall and the girl's bathrooms, and no amount of Courage could get him to go in there - demanding to know why he was so focused on training, weren't there other things he could be doing, what was so special about learning to kick things, anyway? Souji had a feeling 'other things' meant walking her home and doing her homework, but settled for soothing her concerns with smooth, honest words. In truth, he thought Chie was a very nice girl - and apparently he was the envy of the school, constantly hanging out with one or several of the three beautiful Persona-using girls - but...the thought of dating them? Rupturing the already delicate ecosystem that was growing here?
That would be almost as suicidal as the time Yosuke had said he didn't think of Chie as a girl.
"I don't think of her that way, Ai," he said; Ai started back in surprise before regaining her frown.
"Yeah, well...you'd better not!" she huffed. "Getting distracted by a relationship would totally mess up the team!"
She stormed off. Souji had a feeling, as he brushed himself down and returned a few of the less subtle stares that his schoolmates were giving him, that that rule wasn't supposed to apply to her at all.
At least the Social Link hadn't reversed.
* * *
The middle of the month grew near, and passed. Ai shot him a glare that could destroy mountains when he suggested that she and Yosuke should pair up to tail Kanji for their part of the stakeout. Souji took quiet amusement in the pair's hissed jibes at one another as he took Chie and Yukiko back to Tatsumi Textiles. More people hanging around would be better cover, after all. The slap was audible from the other end of the school when Yosuke suggested using the cover of the two of them on a date.
Ai's hysterical laughter when Kanji's Shadow took on its true form was hardly any better.
June
Ai shifted onto her other foot in front of Tatsumi Textiles, looking almost as awkward as Kanji. Souji nudged her gently in the ribs.
"Alright, alright, fine! Sorry for...saying that about your Shadow, Tatsumi."
Kanji shook his head, eyes downcast. "I-it's fine, Ai-senpai. I know ya didn't mean anything by it."
Souji gave an even stare to Ai. "And?"
"And...for laughing in your face."
"S'fine."
"Good," Souji nodded. "So, Kanji...would you like to come meet us after school? We have a proposition for you."
* * *
Ai seemed about as enthusiastic about the school campout as Souji had imagined she would be; the mountain was too rocky, the trash-pickup was demeaning, the tracksuit was totally ugly even if she grudgingly admitted that Chie and Yukiko could pull it off. (Although, god, what was Chie's deal with always zipping things up as far as they could go? Necklines were not her enemy!) But, Yosuke and Souji agreed, it was completely worth it when Ai slapped the wooden spoons straight out of Chie and Yukiko's hands once the food started to gurgle, taking over.
Chie and Yukiko gathered a newfound respect for her when she managed to stop Hanako from snoring, too. For some reason, the girls never articulated exactly how they did it...Souji sensed that it was in his best interests to not know. Some things were too much even for him to know.
Kanji had no opinion. The small, mumbled "holy shit" when Ai strode forward in her own swimsuit, completely without the self-conciousness of Chie and Yukiko, spoke volumes. Even Yosuke had to agree there with a hused, almost awestruck murmur of "Dude..."
All in all, aside from the incident in the river which they would never, ever speak of again? The group agreed it could have been much, much worse.
* * *
"What do you mean, I don't get a present?" Yosuke sputtered. "Dude, it's my birthday!"
Ai sighed, brushing back her hair. "Aren't you going to meet that overhyped Risette girl today, Hanamura? I'd figure from how much you've been going crazy over her, that'd be present enough."
"Overhyped? You take that back! Risette's got more talent in her pinky than you, and she's way hotter!"
Souji sighed quietly and turned back to his study review with Yukiko as the argument escalated between the two, arms already swinging in wide gestures. Hopefully they could get something done before those two got them kicked out of the library; hopefully that niggling, worried sensation in the back of his head was just him worrying too much.
* * *
Ai's voice was surprisingly stiff and toneless over the phone after Rise had faded from the Midnight Channel. Souji knew that tone. He'd heard it all too many times when he'd had training with Chie, or wanted to spend time with Yukiko. Frankly, he'd heard it enough in his previous schools too.
(His father's voice echoed in his head, misty with the passing of years. "Son," he'd said, "If there's only one thing you ever learn from me, it's this. Girls are very complicated, and you'll never understand them even if you live for a thousand years. Still, it's always worth the time to try.")
"So we have to save her, right?" was the calmest death sentence he'd ever received. Souji considered his next few words very carefully.
"Yes. It's that or let her die."
Ai was silent for awhile, long enough that Souji started to wonder if the connection had dropped. "...Ai?"
"That, and..." she began, giving a light sigh. "Hanamura'd never let us shut up about it, right? He's probably trying to call you right now."
"Probably," Souji agreed. "I'll call him next."
"Right. And he can go write it in his diary."
"Pardon?"
"Nothing. G'night, Souji."
"Goodnight, Ai."
* * *
Ai stopped to massage her temples at the third floor of the Marukyu Striptease; Souji immediately turned to check on her, borne of habit more than anything, tempered with the niggling fear always in the back of the head that seemed to have memorised the cries of pain every one of his team had given when Shadows struck too deep. She was a capable member of the team, he had to admit; her Garu skills were lethal, and her Dia healing was an indispensable supplement to Yukiko's. Her aim with the crossbow certainly wasn't something he could dismiss either. And yet...it worried him, even as he slipped a Moon Persona into place in his mind as he approached. Everything worried him. He should stop into the Velvet Room again once they'd gone as far as they could, fuse something new to gain yet greater power.
"Faring okay?" he asked. Ai glanced up, and she certainly seemed alright. Her eyes were tired, but searching, raking over every inch of his face.
"Yeah, this music's just...ugh. Remind me never to go into one of these places," she said. She already had that compact out, reapplying her lipstick. Her lips were slightly parted as she looked up at him, as if something had occurred to her. "You'd seriously never heard of Risette before this?"
Souji shrugged, sliding his sword back into its scabbard. "I'm not into that stuff."
A smile spread across her face, sudden and real, the girl giving a little sigh as she pushed herself up off the wall. One hand was planted on her hip; she was still tired, obviously, but he'd noticed a growing fondness in her gaze over the last few months. Maybe she was softening. Maybe his father had been right.
"You're really something else, Souji," she said, striding back to the group before he could respond. Souji blinked a few times, pushing his glasses back into place before rejoining her.
She was certainly something else as well.