Fanfic - Persona: Full Moon [Part 2]
♠ Fanfiction Index
Title: Full Moon
By: neutraltwin
Disclaimer: Don't own anything.
Rating: PG (OOOOH KISSIIIIING)
Genre and/or Pairing: AU version, eventual Souji/Ai
Warnings: That bag of chips is gonna go straight to your hips.
Word Count: 4100+ SO FAR
Summary: Ai gets a Persona and joins the Investigation Team instead of Yosuke. Shenanigans ensue!
Notes: My neck hurts. 8(
July
The striptease proved to be their greatest challenge so far. All told, Souji had to bring the team back four times, the fog coming closer, painfully closer each day - and pay a chunk of yen to the fox that was positively painful to part with - before they reached the top, bursting in through the final set of doors in the Marukyu of Rise's mind. Souji caught the choked noise that Yosuke made when he saw Rise's Shadow wearing that bikini - he'd been practicing, and he was good backup now, even without a Persona - but Souji's eyes were locked forward. What form would it take this time? Could they handle it?
Souji noticed Ai's hands trembling as the rainbow-coated beast took on its true form, even covered as it was with a derisive snort and a comment about exactly where she wanted her 'true feelings' to go, if this was her Shadow. He shifted closer, Chie and Kanji already gearing up for a fight.
"We can do this, Ai," he murmured. She glanced towards him, briefly surprised before that confident smirk came back onto her face.
"Well, duh. Just don't go getting any ideas, Souji."
Titania was summoned, and the team plunged headlong into battle once more.
* * *
Ai visibly shuddered as Teddie's Shadow hefted itself out of the ground.
"Jesus christ. Who knew that stupid bear could be so creepy?"
Those bulbous yellow eyes turned around in their sockets, rolling slightly as it began to speak, and Souji found he had to agree. Ai fell for the first time during that fight, letting out a pained scream as a particularly vicious Bufu spell struck her in a weak moment. The others shouted as one as she crumpled forward onto the ground. Souji's mind whirled with strategy, all emotion going numb but for a cold, deep rage. Ai had never died before. He'd tried to stop it from happening, and it had never happened, should he use Recarm or focus on attacking? There was too much to think about, too much to consider, he couldn't-!
Izanagi bucked inside of him, causing him to tilt forward slightly, thinking something vauge about boulders and betrayal. Souji clenched his eyes shut, changed his Persona to something purely offensive, and let the spell fly.
The Shadow screamed in Teddie's voice once more and dissolved away. Yukiko was already at Ai's side as he stumbled over - his spirit was ebbing too low, he could barely muster up a Dia, let alone a Recarm - and could only watch, Chie and Yosuke at his sides as the girl sent magical energy washing over her. Ai's face scrunched up as she returned to life, letting out a slight groan. Souji knelt beside her, laying his katana on the ground.
Their heads nearly collided as she sat straight up with a shout, her chest heaving. She stared wildly around - Yosuke and Kanji trying to calm Rise, Yukiko and Chie consoling Teddie - and then back at Souji. She blinked once, twice, then surprised even herself by bursting into tears and yanking Souji forward into a fierce embrace. The boy nearly toppled off-balance.
"Ai?" he said, carefully.
"Don't..." she breathed, shivering slightly. "Don't let that happen again. I'm never letting that happen again."
"Okay," Souji said. There was a shout of 'sensei!' behind him and he turned just enough to smile and nod at Teddie as the bear's Persona manifested, the bear sighing with relief.
* * *
One night of sleeping like the dead and three days of school later, everything seemed to be normal...at least, until Ai nearly choked on her soda as Teddie took off his suit for the first time.
"Holy crap," she mumbled, staring wide-eyed. "He's hot!"
It seemed like Yosuke could take up a career in mimickry from the way he choked on his soda in the exact same way as Ai.
* * *
It filtered through the grapevine next week that Ai and Chie had gotten into a huge shouting match, one day in the middle of exams. Souji had stayed behind in the classroom at the time, engaged in conversation with that nice shy girl who asked him to get things sometimes, when Chie stormed back in, muttered something about forgetting her books, then stormed back out.
Later, Kanji assured Souji that he really, really didn't want to know what it was about.
* * *
"Hey, Ai-senpai. You alright?" Kanji asked, the morning after Mitsuo appeared on the Midnight Channel. She had run into him on the way to Junes that day, and the two had decided to walk together. "You're kinda getting bags under your eyes there."
Ai heaved a small sigh, nodding. "Yeah, I'm alright. It just never seems to stop, you know?"
Kanji gave a grimace of his own, nodding. "Yeah, I get it. Ain't much we can do except keep going, though."
"Yeah, you're right. Looks like we're losing the next couple of weeks of summer vacation to this, huh?"
"I dunno...we might get it done quick, from what I heard," Kanji said. "Chie-senpai's birthday's coming up, and Souji-senpai's s'posed to have something big planned."
"Oh, does he," Ai muttered, darkly enough to make Kanji shiver. "Well, isn't that nice. I think I'll do something nice for her, too..."
August
Souji winced as he dug his finger into his ear, wiggling it around; it was still ringing from the yelling that Chie had subjected him (and, inexplicably, also Yosuke) to after her debacle of a birthday party. The Chariot Arcana inside his head murmured of a reversal, something that he would have to fix. He gave a sigh, prompting a curious glance from Yosuke, walking at his side.
So much for siding with Ai being the 'safe' option. Multiple-choice answers really could be a bitch.
* * *
"Ugh," Ai said, hefting her crossbow up higher as they entered the main gate of Mitsuo's game. "Nerds."
Things were becoming easier and easier, much to Souji's surprise; despite the tense nature between Chie and Ai, the team had fallen into a workable sort of pattern, covering each others weaknesses and bringing forth their strengths no matter what combination he put them in. There were certain subsets, of course; Chie protected Yukiko - and Yosuke, much to Souji's surprise - with fierce determination, the other girl healing them both and guarding their backs; Kanji was almost like a bodyguard to Rise, slamming down Shadow after Shadow for Teddie to decimate with his shockingly powerful magic, and of course...Ai and Souji were at the forefront, working in tandem every time, like the leading pair in some big action movie.
It was times like this, traversing a retro-game themed dungeon inside a special television world, chasing a murderer the same age as them while summoning any number of mythical beings residing inside his head, that Souji really wondered what his life had become.
Then he watched Chie punt a robot ten times larger than them into the stratosphere, Ai giving a triumphant laugh at his side, and he realised that he knew exactly what it had become; or rather, what he had gained.
Purpose. Purpose, strength, and a place to truly belong.
* * *
"Hey...you're that stuck-up bitch, aren't you?" Mitsuo wheezed, crumpled on the ground after his Shadow had fallen. "Princess Ebihara...heh. What a joke."
"Shut the hell up," Ai said, almost in unison with Kanji. The synchronicity shocked all but Mitsuo into silence, the boy giving a tired laugh, petering out into a cough as he shifted around to sit properly, staring blankly up at them.
"You know what people say about you, don't you? That you'll spread your legs for any guy who's got some money...hell, I heard you're fucking every guy around here." Another laugh; Souji could sense Kanji forcing himself not to deck the kid, reaching an arm out in his direction to hold him back. As long as he said nothing else, Souji could handle it. He could-
"Hey, Ebihara...I got some money saved up, too...how about you lift that skirt and get over here? A slut like you should know what to do..."
That was it. Souji's lips parted, already stepping forward to do something he was very sure he wouldn't regret...
But then Ai was already there, the noise of her palm meeting his cheek echoing through the empty arena. Mitsuo drew in a shocked breath, emotion flickering into his gaze as he looked up into Ai's eyes; she was positively shaking with anger, the pink tint on her glasses glinting in the light.
"You don't know a goddamn thing about me, Kubo," she snapped, her tone harsh and annoyed but undeniably calm. "Think whatever the hell you want, but don't think for a fucking second that you can say those things about me. You say one more word - one more word! - and the only way I'll be touching your dick is to cut the goddamn thing off."
Silence held in the room. Ai glanced back over her shoulder, looking straight past Souji to jerk her head at Kanji, the boy already hurrying forward before she even spoke. Her gaze had turned icy-cold now, absolutely no pity evident in her expression. Souji held back a shiver as she turned back to Mitsuo, Kanji already hefting him back onto his feet.
"Let's get this little shit out of here," she said, holstering her crossbow. "Time for him to pay for his crimes."
The team could do nothing but agree.
* * *
Souji held Ai's hand for the first time as they watched Adachi drag Mitsuo away, both of them refusing to look at one another until the police car had disappeared over the hills, sirens fading into silence. Hopefully this was the end of it; hopefully now he could find a few purpose and really, truly belong.
Hopefully he'd never get the image of Ai, standing tall and defiant against Mitsuo's accusations, fading from his memory. She was beautiful, that much was true, but never so much as in that moment to him.
Tomorrow, he decided, those mounting requests and the pressing need to fuse more powerful Personas could wait. It was time to take her out on a date.
* * *
Souji hung up with a bit more force than usual, frowning hard enough at the display on his phone to nearly burn a hole through it. There went his plans for the next week of Social Links, lost to Yosuke's absolute insistence that he help out at Junes. Sure, he needed the money, but...
He really needed to stop being such a pushover to these sorts of things.
* * *
The summer festival rolled around, and even Souji felt his breath catch in his throat, just for a moment, as the girls all strode up together in their yukatas. There was hesitant steps and nerves in Chie and Yukiko's movements, of course, and simple joy in Nanako's face...and of course, confidence with Rise and Ai.
"Ya know," Yosuke commented, under his breath. "It's time like this I really dig Inaba."
Souji couldn't help but agree. The rest of the night seemed to blur into walking around, Ai's arm looped through his, and a faint scent of jasmine which pervaded everything, wafting from her hair in a strangely comforting way. There were a few odd looks from Chie and Yukiko as they slipped off towards the actual shrine itself, Ai and Souji nodding a greeting to the fox as he watched from the bushes, but it was soon enough before they were hidden away behind the shrine. Even with everything else so close by, it felt a world away, ringed by trees and old wooden walls on all sides.
Souji didn't resist when Ai tugged on his lapels. Ai didn't resist when he leaned in, closing the distance between them, faces mere inches from each other. Souji's only thought as he leaned in to kiss her, aside from how right it felt, was that he wasn't sure which would be a worse turnout; if the fox was watching or if Chie walked in.
As it turned out, neither happened. Small miracles.
* * *
The evenings at Souji's place might as well have been the Junes food court as friends came and went, all eager to help cute little Nanako-chan with her homework. With everything solved, he felt more free than he had in his entire life; free to spend time with his friends and not worry about Social Links, free to idle away the days on various hobbies and jobs, free to begin a real, lasting relationship (that, like it or not, always had the nagging thought in the back of his head burning bright with the date of his departure next year). It was about as much freedom as he'd ever expected, Souji relaxing more and more, letting gently go of that constant train of thought that dealt with teams and weapons and Shadows.
When someone suggested using the sunset days of their summer vacation to have a party, complete with watermelons, the small grumbles from Ai about how totally messy and cliche watermelons were went all but unheard. He could think of no better way to end things. What could, after all, go wrong?
Title: Full Moon
By: neutraltwin
Disclaimer: Don't own anything.
Rating: PG (OOOOH KISSIIIIING)
Genre and/or Pairing: AU version, eventual Souji/Ai
Warnings: That bag of chips is gonna go straight to your hips.
Word Count: 4100+ SO FAR
Summary: Ai gets a Persona and joins the Investigation Team instead of Yosuke. Shenanigans ensue!
Notes: My neck hurts. 8(
July
The striptease proved to be their greatest challenge so far. All told, Souji had to bring the team back four times, the fog coming closer, painfully closer each day - and pay a chunk of yen to the fox that was positively painful to part with - before they reached the top, bursting in through the final set of doors in the Marukyu of Rise's mind. Souji caught the choked noise that Yosuke made when he saw Rise's Shadow wearing that bikini - he'd been practicing, and he was good backup now, even without a Persona - but Souji's eyes were locked forward. What form would it take this time? Could they handle it?
Souji noticed Ai's hands trembling as the rainbow-coated beast took on its true form, even covered as it was with a derisive snort and a comment about exactly where she wanted her 'true feelings' to go, if this was her Shadow. He shifted closer, Chie and Kanji already gearing up for a fight.
"We can do this, Ai," he murmured. She glanced towards him, briefly surprised before that confident smirk came back onto her face.
"Well, duh. Just don't go getting any ideas, Souji."
Titania was summoned, and the team plunged headlong into battle once more.
* * *
Ai visibly shuddered as Teddie's Shadow hefted itself out of the ground.
"Jesus christ. Who knew that stupid bear could be so creepy?"
Those bulbous yellow eyes turned around in their sockets, rolling slightly as it began to speak, and Souji found he had to agree. Ai fell for the first time during that fight, letting out a pained scream as a particularly vicious Bufu spell struck her in a weak moment. The others shouted as one as she crumpled forward onto the ground. Souji's mind whirled with strategy, all emotion going numb but for a cold, deep rage. Ai had never died before. He'd tried to stop it from happening, and it had never happened, should he use Recarm or focus on attacking? There was too much to think about, too much to consider, he couldn't-!
Izanagi bucked inside of him, causing him to tilt forward slightly, thinking something vauge about boulders and betrayal. Souji clenched his eyes shut, changed his Persona to something purely offensive, and let the spell fly.
The Shadow screamed in Teddie's voice once more and dissolved away. Yukiko was already at Ai's side as he stumbled over - his spirit was ebbing too low, he could barely muster up a Dia, let alone a Recarm - and could only watch, Chie and Yosuke at his sides as the girl sent magical energy washing over her. Ai's face scrunched up as she returned to life, letting out a slight groan. Souji knelt beside her, laying his katana on the ground.
Their heads nearly collided as she sat straight up with a shout, her chest heaving. She stared wildly around - Yosuke and Kanji trying to calm Rise, Yukiko and Chie consoling Teddie - and then back at Souji. She blinked once, twice, then surprised even herself by bursting into tears and yanking Souji forward into a fierce embrace. The boy nearly toppled off-balance.
"Ai?" he said, carefully.
"Don't..." she breathed, shivering slightly. "Don't let that happen again. I'm never letting that happen again."
"Okay," Souji said. There was a shout of 'sensei!' behind him and he turned just enough to smile and nod at Teddie as the bear's Persona manifested, the bear sighing with relief.
* * *
One night of sleeping like the dead and three days of school later, everything seemed to be normal...at least, until Ai nearly choked on her soda as Teddie took off his suit for the first time.
"Holy crap," she mumbled, staring wide-eyed. "He's hot!"
It seemed like Yosuke could take up a career in mimickry from the way he choked on his soda in the exact same way as Ai.
* * *
It filtered through the grapevine next week that Ai and Chie had gotten into a huge shouting match, one day in the middle of exams. Souji had stayed behind in the classroom at the time, engaged in conversation with that nice shy girl who asked him to get things sometimes, when Chie stormed back in, muttered something about forgetting her books, then stormed back out.
Later, Kanji assured Souji that he really, really didn't want to know what it was about.
* * *
"Hey, Ai-senpai. You alright?" Kanji asked, the morning after Mitsuo appeared on the Midnight Channel. She had run into him on the way to Junes that day, and the two had decided to walk together. "You're kinda getting bags under your eyes there."
Ai heaved a small sigh, nodding. "Yeah, I'm alright. It just never seems to stop, you know?"
Kanji gave a grimace of his own, nodding. "Yeah, I get it. Ain't much we can do except keep going, though."
"Yeah, you're right. Looks like we're losing the next couple of weeks of summer vacation to this, huh?"
"I dunno...we might get it done quick, from what I heard," Kanji said. "Chie-senpai's birthday's coming up, and Souji-senpai's s'posed to have something big planned."
"Oh, does he," Ai muttered, darkly enough to make Kanji shiver. "Well, isn't that nice. I think I'll do something nice for her, too..."
August
Souji winced as he dug his finger into his ear, wiggling it around; it was still ringing from the yelling that Chie had subjected him (and, inexplicably, also Yosuke) to after her debacle of a birthday party. The Chariot Arcana inside his head murmured of a reversal, something that he would have to fix. He gave a sigh, prompting a curious glance from Yosuke, walking at his side.
So much for siding with Ai being the 'safe' option. Multiple-choice answers really could be a bitch.
* * *
"Ugh," Ai said, hefting her crossbow up higher as they entered the main gate of Mitsuo's game. "Nerds."
Things were becoming easier and easier, much to Souji's surprise; despite the tense nature between Chie and Ai, the team had fallen into a workable sort of pattern, covering each others weaknesses and bringing forth their strengths no matter what combination he put them in. There were certain subsets, of course; Chie protected Yukiko - and Yosuke, much to Souji's surprise - with fierce determination, the other girl healing them both and guarding their backs; Kanji was almost like a bodyguard to Rise, slamming down Shadow after Shadow for Teddie to decimate with his shockingly powerful magic, and of course...Ai and Souji were at the forefront, working in tandem every time, like the leading pair in some big action movie.
It was times like this, traversing a retro-game themed dungeon inside a special television world, chasing a murderer the same age as them while summoning any number of mythical beings residing inside his head, that Souji really wondered what his life had become.
Then he watched Chie punt a robot ten times larger than them into the stratosphere, Ai giving a triumphant laugh at his side, and he realised that he knew exactly what it had become; or rather, what he had gained.
Purpose. Purpose, strength, and a place to truly belong.
* * *
"Hey...you're that stuck-up bitch, aren't you?" Mitsuo wheezed, crumpled on the ground after his Shadow had fallen. "Princess Ebihara...heh. What a joke."
"Shut the hell up," Ai said, almost in unison with Kanji. The synchronicity shocked all but Mitsuo into silence, the boy giving a tired laugh, petering out into a cough as he shifted around to sit properly, staring blankly up at them.
"You know what people say about you, don't you? That you'll spread your legs for any guy who's got some money...hell, I heard you're fucking every guy around here." Another laugh; Souji could sense Kanji forcing himself not to deck the kid, reaching an arm out in his direction to hold him back. As long as he said nothing else, Souji could handle it. He could-
"Hey, Ebihara...I got some money saved up, too...how about you lift that skirt and get over here? A slut like you should know what to do..."
That was it. Souji's lips parted, already stepping forward to do something he was very sure he wouldn't regret...
But then Ai was already there, the noise of her palm meeting his cheek echoing through the empty arena. Mitsuo drew in a shocked breath, emotion flickering into his gaze as he looked up into Ai's eyes; she was positively shaking with anger, the pink tint on her glasses glinting in the light.
"You don't know a goddamn thing about me, Kubo," she snapped, her tone harsh and annoyed but undeniably calm. "Think whatever the hell you want, but don't think for a fucking second that you can say those things about me. You say one more word - one more word! - and the only way I'll be touching your dick is to cut the goddamn thing off."
Silence held in the room. Ai glanced back over her shoulder, looking straight past Souji to jerk her head at Kanji, the boy already hurrying forward before she even spoke. Her gaze had turned icy-cold now, absolutely no pity evident in her expression. Souji held back a shiver as she turned back to Mitsuo, Kanji already hefting him back onto his feet.
"Let's get this little shit out of here," she said, holstering her crossbow. "Time for him to pay for his crimes."
The team could do nothing but agree.
* * *
Souji held Ai's hand for the first time as they watched Adachi drag Mitsuo away, both of them refusing to look at one another until the police car had disappeared over the hills, sirens fading into silence. Hopefully this was the end of it; hopefully now he could find a few purpose and really, truly belong.
Hopefully he'd never get the image of Ai, standing tall and defiant against Mitsuo's accusations, fading from his memory. She was beautiful, that much was true, but never so much as in that moment to him.
Tomorrow, he decided, those mounting requests and the pressing need to fuse more powerful Personas could wait. It was time to take her out on a date.
* * *
Souji hung up with a bit more force than usual, frowning hard enough at the display on his phone to nearly burn a hole through it. There went his plans for the next week of Social Links, lost to Yosuke's absolute insistence that he help out at Junes. Sure, he needed the money, but...
He really needed to stop being such a pushover to these sorts of things.
* * *
The summer festival rolled around, and even Souji felt his breath catch in his throat, just for a moment, as the girls all strode up together in their yukatas. There was hesitant steps and nerves in Chie and Yukiko's movements, of course, and simple joy in Nanako's face...and of course, confidence with Rise and Ai.
"Ya know," Yosuke commented, under his breath. "It's time like this I really dig Inaba."
Souji couldn't help but agree. The rest of the night seemed to blur into walking around, Ai's arm looped through his, and a faint scent of jasmine which pervaded everything, wafting from her hair in a strangely comforting way. There were a few odd looks from Chie and Yukiko as they slipped off towards the actual shrine itself, Ai and Souji nodding a greeting to the fox as he watched from the bushes, but it was soon enough before they were hidden away behind the shrine. Even with everything else so close by, it felt a world away, ringed by trees and old wooden walls on all sides.
Souji didn't resist when Ai tugged on his lapels. Ai didn't resist when he leaned in, closing the distance between them, faces mere inches from each other. Souji's only thought as he leaned in to kiss her, aside from how right it felt, was that he wasn't sure which would be a worse turnout; if the fox was watching or if Chie walked in.
As it turned out, neither happened. Small miracles.
* * *
The evenings at Souji's place might as well have been the Junes food court as friends came and went, all eager to help cute little Nanako-chan with her homework. With everything solved, he felt more free than he had in his entire life; free to spend time with his friends and not worry about Social Links, free to idle away the days on various hobbies and jobs, free to begin a real, lasting relationship (that, like it or not, always had the nagging thought in the back of his head burning bright with the date of his departure next year). It was about as much freedom as he'd ever expected, Souji relaxing more and more, letting gently go of that constant train of thought that dealt with teams and weapons and Shadows.
When someone suggested using the sunset days of their summer vacation to have a party, complete with watermelons, the small grumbles from Ai about how totally messy and cliche watermelons were went all but unheard. He could think of no better way to end things. What could, after all, go wrong?