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Working Out Knots
Original Prompt: This picture makes me so happy, you guys, you don't even know.
http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/590904/amagi_yukiko-black_hair-brown_hair-coat-dutch_angl
So on that note, might I request some Class 2-2 bonding? Short or long, pairings or no pairings, it's all up to you. Just as long as that silly, goofy bonding between the original foursome is present.
Chie wasn't used to being invited to boys' houses, and definitely not their rooms. She'd been in Yukiko's more times than she could count, sure, but that was Yukiko, and her room was nothing like a boy's. Yukiko's room had all the elegance and traditionalism of the Inn, and it always smelled nice. Souji's room wasn't bad – it didn't smell and it was cleaner than hers – but she'd never thought about visiting it. He was nice enough, but he was also reserved and a little odd and they barely knew each other. Anyway, didn't he have something for Yosuke? She was pretty sure he did.
So, once she was standing inside of it, she didn't know what to do.
"So…this is your room, huh?" she asked. Of course it was, way to go, Chie. Why had she agreed to this again? Right, because she'd had nothing else to do and Yukiko had been included in the invitation as well, and it'd looked like she was going to say yes, too polite to turn it down, but only if Chie agreed, and saying no just to go home and do nothing had seemed dumb and mean to Souji. It'd be really rude to be mean to a guy that had helped her save Yukiko even though he'd barely known either of them.
Luckily, Souji didn't care she was stating the obvious or notice that she didn't know what to do with herself. Wait, was that second part a good thing or a bad thing? "It is," he said seriously. As far as she could figure out, Souji had three modes: serious, sort of serious, and what he dissolved into around Yosuke, which was really close to Yosuke's level of stupid. "This is where the magic happens."
"What magic?" Yosuke shoved Souji onto the couch. "I'm the only one you've ever brought up here."
"Funny, that," Souji said, and pulled Yosuke down next to him. Yosuke tried to put some space between them, but Souji had a good hold on his shirt.
The two of them took up the entire couch, the way they kept jostling each other. Chie looked at the computer chair and the floor and the lack of extra seating. "Where are we supposed to sit?"
"I only have three seats," Souji said. "I'm sorry, it's a failing of mine, but I think Yosuke might be willing to sit on the floor."
"What?" Yosuke'd accepted that he wasn't going to be able to move away easier than Chie would have thought. "I am not; don’t volunteer me for stuff like that."
Souji looked at him sideways. "Not even if I let you sit by my feet?"
Yosuke blushed. "What the hell?"
"I'd sit by your feet. It's for a good cause, think about it."
Chie looked for Yukiko, who stood slightly behind her, unsure and uncomfortable. This must have been weird for her too; she'd never been a boy's room either and—wait, had she? No, not with the way her family kept track of her, and if she had Chie was sure she would have told her about it. Wouldn't she have? Definitely; it was the kind of thing best friends shared with each other.
Then again, a best friend should probably be able to tell when the other was worrying about something so deeply they fought themselves in the form of a giant talking bird.
Chie wished their Shadows hadn't made her start doubting everything.
Yukiko noticed her looking and gave a small, strained smile. Did she want to be here? She'd joined the team, but maybe she was still a little tired from her time in the TV. And the setting was so unfamiliar; Souji should have chosen a more neutral spot, like the floodplains. Then Chie would have been able to do some training while they hung out instead of standing around full of nervous energy.
"Chie," Yukiko said, "you can take the chair, and I'll make due on Souji-kun's futon, if he doesn't mind."
"It's a pretty good makeshift chair," Souji said. "Squishy, though."
"I can't let you do that." Chie shook her head. "You take the chair."
"It's no problem, and I offered first." Yukiko started pulling the futon forward, and Chie stayed where she was, wondering if she should protest again or if it was a dumb thing to fight over. She guessed there was no reason Yukiko couldn't sit there except… It just seemed weird. She wouldn't be thinking about this if the boys just gave up the couch.
"Watch out for the porn," Yosuke said.
Yukiko dropped the futon and took a quick step back, holding her hands away from her. "What?"
"There's tons of it. Souji's into some freaky stuff."
"Sorry," Souji said, not sounding apologetic at all. "It's another failing of mine, but I promise I only read them for the articles."
"The how-to ones," Yosuke added.
"I'm pretty good at tying knots now, aren't I, Yos—"
Yosuke elbowed him, hard, and Souji doubled-over briefly. Chie wasn't sure if he was trying to catch his breath or laughing, but she wished he hadn't said that. She didn't want to think of Yosuke tied-up with knots learned from dirty magazines or of—Yukiko met her eyes with an annoyed frown, and Chie decided that thinking about anything was bad. Better to just feel, and right now the best thing to feel was angry.
"How could you let Yukiko touch something so dirty?" she demanded, stomping her foot and towering over the boys. Yes, just feeling was much better.
Yosuke scrambled back, propelling himself with his feet. "Oh god, please don't kick my balls."
"You won't have balls by the time I'm done with you."
Yukiko's voice stopped her from taking another step. "Chie, it's fine."
It was like a slap; Chie jolted. What—oh right, Yukiko's Shadow had been all about wanting to be saved, and she'd hated it. Yet here Chie was jumping in without thinking again and trying to take care of it for her, not considering that she might want to or might be able to take care of it herself. How could she forget what she'd learned from their Shadows that fast?
Souji frowned at them, and caught Yosuke's ankle to make him stop moving. She wasn't sure she liked it when he got that look on his face, like he knew just what they were thinking. It didn't seem fair, especially not—she'd known Yukiko longer, if anyone was supposed to understand her it should have been Chie. But maybe helping them get their Personas had given him some insight and, well, he didn't know Yukiko personally, not like she did, so it wasn't so bad. "It was a joke. Sorry if I upset you, Yukiko-san, there's nothing there, I promise. It was actually just cleaned."
Yukiko pressed her lips together and eyed the futon doubtfully. "Are you sure?"
"Absolutely."
"That was a terrible joke," she said, bending over to move it again. Chie leaned down to help her get it closer to the center of the room, and Yukiko let her, which she took a good sign. She didn't give her any bad looks and that was another good sign, and once Yukiko was comfortable, as comfortable as she could get balancing on the folded blankets, Chie took the computer chair. It felt odd, sitting so much higher than her. Why couldn't Souji and Yosuke take the floor and give them the couch? No need to ask twice; Souji hadn't let go of Yosuke's ankle, and Yosuke wasn't complaining that his leg was on his lap.
She wondered what that was about. Did they hit it off because they were both from the city? Did it have something to do with the way they got their Personas? She wasn't in the mood to think about Personas and Shadows, and fiddled with the lever under the seat, hoping no one noticed.
"Bad taste," Souji agreed. "I won't do it again."
"Under the futon's too obvious anyway," Yosuke said. "Everyone looks there. When I get in trouble, that's the first place my dad goes."
Yukiko didn't seem sure how to react to this information. "Oh."
Chie found the lever and pulled. It gave easier than she'd expected, and the chair abruptly fell a foot, knocking her teeth together. She yelped and everyone turned towards her. "Er, sorry, I was just… So, uh, I heard you joined the basketball team, Souji-kun! How's that working out? I hear the team's really…" She tried to think of a nice way to say unmotivated.
Souji shrugged. "Okay. Boring. I'll probably keep going for another month to see if it's worth sticking with, but at least one guy seems nice so it's not a complete waste of time. I was wondering, though – drama club or band? I haven't picked yet, and I need to figure one out."
"I don’t know, I'm not in anything, and they both sound lame. Plus, I've got enough on my plate with Junes," Yosuke said. "Yukiko-san, what are you taking?"
Yukiko sighed. She should have looked ridiculous on top of the futon but she somehow made it seem like a perfectly natural seat. How'd she do that? "Nothing; the Inn's still too busy for me to join anything, although I was thinking about looking into the cooking club once things calm down."
Yosuke raised his eyebrows. "You cook? Don't let the boys at school hear that or they'll be begging you for a boxed lunch."
"Why would they do that? And, no, I can't cook, but I thought it might be useful to learn."
"I didn't know you were thinking about that," Chie said. Since when had Yukiko liked cooking?
"Yes, well, it's a new interest." She didn't expand on where it'd come from. "What about you, Chie? Have you joined anything?"
"I, uh, the clubs are already opened? I must have missed that." She'd been too worried about Yukiko, and anyway the only club she was interested in didn’t exist. Her request to make one devoted to kung-fu had been turned down when she couldn’t drum up enough interest, and joining one seemed like a waste of time now.
"I thought…" Souji looked back and forth between them all, confused. "None of you've joined any? Morooka told me clubs were mandatory."
Yosuke gave him a pat on the back. "Sounds like he lied to you, partner."
Souji looked hurt.
"If you really want to join a second one, you should think about what you're interested in," Yukiko said. "Can you play anything?"
Souji thought about this. "No."
Yosuke settled back against the couch's armrest and rearranged his leg more comfortably on Souji's lap. "Then why join band?"
"He could join it to learn something," Chie said. "You probably have no musical talent, but Souji-kun might."
Yosuke crossed his arms. "Hey, I'll have you know I play the guitar, and I'm awesome."
"You are?" Yukiko asked.
"You do?" Souji asked.
"No way," Chie said flatly.
With all their eyes on him, Yosuke developed a sudden interest in his shirt. "Yeah, I mean, I know a couple of cords."
"I didn't know that about you, Yosuke-kun," Yukiko said. Neither did Chie. Yosuke had no coordination; he crashed his bike at least once a week. Didn't playing an instrument require some of that? "I'd like to hear it sometime."
"Me too." Souji stared at him. "Play something."
"Unless you're going to pull a guitar out of your ass, it'll have to wait." He winced. "Sorry, Yukiko-san."
"About what? Oh." Yukiko waved a hand dismissively. "I've heard worse."
"Huh? Where?"
"We get some…unsavory customers at the Inn sometimes." Yukiko's mouth twisted, and Chie frowned with her. She'd heard stories of the drunken businessmen who came in for the hot springs and then hit on the maids, but Yukiko had never said if anything like that happened to her. They couldn't be dumb enough to try it, could they? Just thinking about it made her angry.
"Ah, okay, for a second I thought you were hiding a dirty mouth from us." Yosuke laughed. "Can you imagine how much your parents would flip? My dad still gets on my case when I say dammit."
"That's because you curse too much," Souji said.
"What the hell, no I don't."
"Sure you do. Remember when that Shadow snuck up on us and you turned around right before it touched you? You swore for the rest of the day."
"Yeah, but that was scary shit." Yosuke shivered. "It was like two inches away from me, they're not supposed to move that quietly."
Did they have to mention Yukiko's castle? Chie'd been hoping to avoid any mention of that and she definitely didn't want to remind Yukiko about it. She checked to see how Yukiko was taking it.
She was looking at Souji's little TV, her face turned away so Chie couldn't see her expression. The TV was big enough, Chie guessed, to fit through, if Souji hadn't been turned in such a weird way and gotten his shoulder caught. It was so weird to think that someone had tossed Yukiko into one. The whole thing was weird – women being targeted and two of them killed, Yukiko being kidnapped, and everyone at school knowing but not really knowing anything, and even Souji was thinking about what clubs to take. Clubs! Like those mattered right now, when there was some killer on the loose and only they knew how to save people, and they'd have to go back in soon and let Yukiko get more used to her Persona.
"It's all kind of overwhelming, isn't it?" she said impulsively, and Yukiko nodded, still looking away from her.
"What?" Yosuke asked.
Chie realized she'd spoken without any kind of lead-in. "The case. Going into the TV and fighting Shadows, all of that."
"Oh, that." He shrugged and looked out the window. "I guess, yeah."
"You guess? That's all? Aren't you scared or worried or..." How could Yosuke brush it aside like that when he'd been so torn up over Saki-senpai? Was she the only one who felt this way? "Or something? Shouldn't we be making a plan or training or looking for clues so no one else is kidnapped? To have someone else go through that…" To have someone else worry about her friend and cry herself to sleep and worry that she wouldn't have able to do anything, Persona or no…
Yukiko glanced up, but Chie couldn't look at her because if she did she'd start crying right in the middle of Souji's room, and she wouldn't be able to explain why she was crying, not really, except that she had so much on her mind and no way of getting it out.
"Of course I'm worried," Souji said quietly, "and that's why I invited you all over. Because I've been thinking about it constantly and I wanted to do something else for a while."
"But I can't stop thinking about it," Chie said, and despite what Souji said she couldn't stop the words from coming out. "It's just so weird now. Everyone at school is going around with no idea of what's happening, and I look at them and think that they have no clue how close Yukiko came to being killed or that we know something they don't. I feel like an outsider, and even now…"
Even now she felt out of place, different, because Souji and Yosuke had seen an ugly part of her and she hadn't seen any of them. Only Yukiko knew what that was like, and as much as Chie wanted to talk to her about it neither of them could bring it up.
"It is rather frightening." Yukiko broke the silence that had settled over them, eyes on her hands. "When I got out of the TV, right afterwards... I kept thinking it was all some crazy dream. That I'd eaten something bad or the stress of the Inn had gotten to me and I'd hallucinated it all. And when you all told me it was real and I summoned my Persona for the first time..." She took a deep breath. "Even now, it's hard to believe."
"Yukiko…" She wished they were in Yukiko's sweet-smelling room, or hers, even though she hadn't cleaned it in a week because Yukiko wouldn't care, she'd never cared, and they'd be alone. Right now, more than anything, Chie wanted to be alone with her and tell her everything – how much she wished she'd visited more when Yukiko was recovering, how sorry she was that she'd never noticed what Yukiko was going through, and even about her Shadow.
"Chie, I…" Yukiko stopped herself and looked at the boys.
Yosuke fidgeted, shoulders hunched and eyes lowered. Souji glanced between her and Yukiko before suddenly turning and tackling Yosuke. "Give me your headphones."
"What? No, what are you doing, get your own!"
"I want yours. Share."
Yukiko used the distraction to grab Chie's hand. "The whole time, I knew you'd come," she said.
"It must have been awful." Chie wasn't sure what she was talking about, the Shadow or the waiting or Yukiko expecting her, wanting to be rescued and hating herself for it and maybe hating Chie for being so reliable.
"I don’t remember much of it, but… I can't say that I'm glad it happened. Is that a bad thing, that if I had the chance to do it again I might never want to face that part of myself?" She turned her eyes to her lap again. "I definitely want to get stronger, but that was…"
"No, it's—I understand completely, Yukiko." Chie gripped her hand tightly. "Actually, Yukiko, could we… After this, would you like to come over to my house and talk? I…really want to talk about some stuff."
Yukiko smiled at her. "Yes, I think we should do that. I…there are some things I want to tell you too."
Chie exhaled, feeling a bit like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Not completely but enough, and next her to Yukiko relaxed as well, for the first time since they arrived looking like she might want to be here.
Souji and Yosuke toppled off the couch.
Yukiko snorted and broke into laughter, and Chie joined in out of the pure relief to hear it again.
http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/590904/amagi_yukiko-black_hair-brown_hair-coat-dutch_angl
So on that note, might I request some Class 2-2 bonding? Short or long, pairings or no pairings, it's all up to you. Just as long as that silly, goofy bonding between the original foursome is present.
Chie wasn't used to being invited to boys' houses, and definitely not their rooms. She'd been in Yukiko's more times than she could count, sure, but that was Yukiko, and her room was nothing like a boy's. Yukiko's room had all the elegance and traditionalism of the Inn, and it always smelled nice. Souji's room wasn't bad – it didn't smell and it was cleaner than hers – but she'd never thought about visiting it. He was nice enough, but he was also reserved and a little odd and they barely knew each other. Anyway, didn't he have something for Yosuke? She was pretty sure he did.
So, once she was standing inside of it, she didn't know what to do.
"So…this is your room, huh?" she asked. Of course it was, way to go, Chie. Why had she agreed to this again? Right, because she'd had nothing else to do and Yukiko had been included in the invitation as well, and it'd looked like she was going to say yes, too polite to turn it down, but only if Chie agreed, and saying no just to go home and do nothing had seemed dumb and mean to Souji. It'd be really rude to be mean to a guy that had helped her save Yukiko even though he'd barely known either of them.
Luckily, Souji didn't care she was stating the obvious or notice that she didn't know what to do with herself. Wait, was that second part a good thing or a bad thing? "It is," he said seriously. As far as she could figure out, Souji had three modes: serious, sort of serious, and what he dissolved into around Yosuke, which was really close to Yosuke's level of stupid. "This is where the magic happens."
"What magic?" Yosuke shoved Souji onto the couch. "I'm the only one you've ever brought up here."
"Funny, that," Souji said, and pulled Yosuke down next to him. Yosuke tried to put some space between them, but Souji had a good hold on his shirt.
The two of them took up the entire couch, the way they kept jostling each other. Chie looked at the computer chair and the floor and the lack of extra seating. "Where are we supposed to sit?"
"I only have three seats," Souji said. "I'm sorry, it's a failing of mine, but I think Yosuke might be willing to sit on the floor."
"What?" Yosuke'd accepted that he wasn't going to be able to move away easier than Chie would have thought. "I am not; don’t volunteer me for stuff like that."
Souji looked at him sideways. "Not even if I let you sit by my feet?"
Yosuke blushed. "What the hell?"
"I'd sit by your feet. It's for a good cause, think about it."
Chie looked for Yukiko, who stood slightly behind her, unsure and uncomfortable. This must have been weird for her too; she'd never been a boy's room either and—wait, had she? No, not with the way her family kept track of her, and if she had Chie was sure she would have told her about it. Wouldn't she have? Definitely; it was the kind of thing best friends shared with each other.
Then again, a best friend should probably be able to tell when the other was worrying about something so deeply they fought themselves in the form of a giant talking bird.
Chie wished their Shadows hadn't made her start doubting everything.
Yukiko noticed her looking and gave a small, strained smile. Did she want to be here? She'd joined the team, but maybe she was still a little tired from her time in the TV. And the setting was so unfamiliar; Souji should have chosen a more neutral spot, like the floodplains. Then Chie would have been able to do some training while they hung out instead of standing around full of nervous energy.
"Chie," Yukiko said, "you can take the chair, and I'll make due on Souji-kun's futon, if he doesn't mind."
"It's a pretty good makeshift chair," Souji said. "Squishy, though."
"I can't let you do that." Chie shook her head. "You take the chair."
"It's no problem, and I offered first." Yukiko started pulling the futon forward, and Chie stayed where she was, wondering if she should protest again or if it was a dumb thing to fight over. She guessed there was no reason Yukiko couldn't sit there except… It just seemed weird. She wouldn't be thinking about this if the boys just gave up the couch.
"Watch out for the porn," Yosuke said.
Yukiko dropped the futon and took a quick step back, holding her hands away from her. "What?"
"There's tons of it. Souji's into some freaky stuff."
"Sorry," Souji said, not sounding apologetic at all. "It's another failing of mine, but I promise I only read them for the articles."
"The how-to ones," Yosuke added.
"I'm pretty good at tying knots now, aren't I, Yos—"
Yosuke elbowed him, hard, and Souji doubled-over briefly. Chie wasn't sure if he was trying to catch his breath or laughing, but she wished he hadn't said that. She didn't want to think of Yosuke tied-up with knots learned from dirty magazines or of—Yukiko met her eyes with an annoyed frown, and Chie decided that thinking about anything was bad. Better to just feel, and right now the best thing to feel was angry.
"How could you let Yukiko touch something so dirty?" she demanded, stomping her foot and towering over the boys. Yes, just feeling was much better.
Yosuke scrambled back, propelling himself with his feet. "Oh god, please don't kick my balls."
"You won't have balls by the time I'm done with you."
Yukiko's voice stopped her from taking another step. "Chie, it's fine."
It was like a slap; Chie jolted. What—oh right, Yukiko's Shadow had been all about wanting to be saved, and she'd hated it. Yet here Chie was jumping in without thinking again and trying to take care of it for her, not considering that she might want to or might be able to take care of it herself. How could she forget what she'd learned from their Shadows that fast?
Souji frowned at them, and caught Yosuke's ankle to make him stop moving. She wasn't sure she liked it when he got that look on his face, like he knew just what they were thinking. It didn't seem fair, especially not—she'd known Yukiko longer, if anyone was supposed to understand her it should have been Chie. But maybe helping them get their Personas had given him some insight and, well, he didn't know Yukiko personally, not like she did, so it wasn't so bad. "It was a joke. Sorry if I upset you, Yukiko-san, there's nothing there, I promise. It was actually just cleaned."
Yukiko pressed her lips together and eyed the futon doubtfully. "Are you sure?"
"Absolutely."
"That was a terrible joke," she said, bending over to move it again. Chie leaned down to help her get it closer to the center of the room, and Yukiko let her, which she took a good sign. She didn't give her any bad looks and that was another good sign, and once Yukiko was comfortable, as comfortable as she could get balancing on the folded blankets, Chie took the computer chair. It felt odd, sitting so much higher than her. Why couldn't Souji and Yosuke take the floor and give them the couch? No need to ask twice; Souji hadn't let go of Yosuke's ankle, and Yosuke wasn't complaining that his leg was on his lap.
She wondered what that was about. Did they hit it off because they were both from the city? Did it have something to do with the way they got their Personas? She wasn't in the mood to think about Personas and Shadows, and fiddled with the lever under the seat, hoping no one noticed.
"Bad taste," Souji agreed. "I won't do it again."
"Under the futon's too obvious anyway," Yosuke said. "Everyone looks there. When I get in trouble, that's the first place my dad goes."
Yukiko didn't seem sure how to react to this information. "Oh."
Chie found the lever and pulled. It gave easier than she'd expected, and the chair abruptly fell a foot, knocking her teeth together. She yelped and everyone turned towards her. "Er, sorry, I was just… So, uh, I heard you joined the basketball team, Souji-kun! How's that working out? I hear the team's really…" She tried to think of a nice way to say unmotivated.
Souji shrugged. "Okay. Boring. I'll probably keep going for another month to see if it's worth sticking with, but at least one guy seems nice so it's not a complete waste of time. I was wondering, though – drama club or band? I haven't picked yet, and I need to figure one out."
"I don’t know, I'm not in anything, and they both sound lame. Plus, I've got enough on my plate with Junes," Yosuke said. "Yukiko-san, what are you taking?"
Yukiko sighed. She should have looked ridiculous on top of the futon but she somehow made it seem like a perfectly natural seat. How'd she do that? "Nothing; the Inn's still too busy for me to join anything, although I was thinking about looking into the cooking club once things calm down."
Yosuke raised his eyebrows. "You cook? Don't let the boys at school hear that or they'll be begging you for a boxed lunch."
"Why would they do that? And, no, I can't cook, but I thought it might be useful to learn."
"I didn't know you were thinking about that," Chie said. Since when had Yukiko liked cooking?
"Yes, well, it's a new interest." She didn't expand on where it'd come from. "What about you, Chie? Have you joined anything?"
"I, uh, the clubs are already opened? I must have missed that." She'd been too worried about Yukiko, and anyway the only club she was interested in didn’t exist. Her request to make one devoted to kung-fu had been turned down when she couldn’t drum up enough interest, and joining one seemed like a waste of time now.
"I thought…" Souji looked back and forth between them all, confused. "None of you've joined any? Morooka told me clubs were mandatory."
Yosuke gave him a pat on the back. "Sounds like he lied to you, partner."
Souji looked hurt.
"If you really want to join a second one, you should think about what you're interested in," Yukiko said. "Can you play anything?"
Souji thought about this. "No."
Yosuke settled back against the couch's armrest and rearranged his leg more comfortably on Souji's lap. "Then why join band?"
"He could join it to learn something," Chie said. "You probably have no musical talent, but Souji-kun might."
Yosuke crossed his arms. "Hey, I'll have you know I play the guitar, and I'm awesome."
"You are?" Yukiko asked.
"You do?" Souji asked.
"No way," Chie said flatly.
With all their eyes on him, Yosuke developed a sudden interest in his shirt. "Yeah, I mean, I know a couple of cords."
"I didn't know that about you, Yosuke-kun," Yukiko said. Neither did Chie. Yosuke had no coordination; he crashed his bike at least once a week. Didn't playing an instrument require some of that? "I'd like to hear it sometime."
"Me too." Souji stared at him. "Play something."
"Unless you're going to pull a guitar out of your ass, it'll have to wait." He winced. "Sorry, Yukiko-san."
"About what? Oh." Yukiko waved a hand dismissively. "I've heard worse."
"Huh? Where?"
"We get some…unsavory customers at the Inn sometimes." Yukiko's mouth twisted, and Chie frowned with her. She'd heard stories of the drunken businessmen who came in for the hot springs and then hit on the maids, but Yukiko had never said if anything like that happened to her. They couldn't be dumb enough to try it, could they? Just thinking about it made her angry.
"Ah, okay, for a second I thought you were hiding a dirty mouth from us." Yosuke laughed. "Can you imagine how much your parents would flip? My dad still gets on my case when I say dammit."
"That's because you curse too much," Souji said.
"What the hell, no I don't."
"Sure you do. Remember when that Shadow snuck up on us and you turned around right before it touched you? You swore for the rest of the day."
"Yeah, but that was scary shit." Yosuke shivered. "It was like two inches away from me, they're not supposed to move that quietly."
Did they have to mention Yukiko's castle? Chie'd been hoping to avoid any mention of that and she definitely didn't want to remind Yukiko about it. She checked to see how Yukiko was taking it.
She was looking at Souji's little TV, her face turned away so Chie couldn't see her expression. The TV was big enough, Chie guessed, to fit through, if Souji hadn't been turned in such a weird way and gotten his shoulder caught. It was so weird to think that someone had tossed Yukiko into one. The whole thing was weird – women being targeted and two of them killed, Yukiko being kidnapped, and everyone at school knowing but not really knowing anything, and even Souji was thinking about what clubs to take. Clubs! Like those mattered right now, when there was some killer on the loose and only they knew how to save people, and they'd have to go back in soon and let Yukiko get more used to her Persona.
"It's all kind of overwhelming, isn't it?" she said impulsively, and Yukiko nodded, still looking away from her.
"What?" Yosuke asked.
Chie realized she'd spoken without any kind of lead-in. "The case. Going into the TV and fighting Shadows, all of that."
"Oh, that." He shrugged and looked out the window. "I guess, yeah."
"You guess? That's all? Aren't you scared or worried or..." How could Yosuke brush it aside like that when he'd been so torn up over Saki-senpai? Was she the only one who felt this way? "Or something? Shouldn't we be making a plan or training or looking for clues so no one else is kidnapped? To have someone else go through that…" To have someone else worry about her friend and cry herself to sleep and worry that she wouldn't have able to do anything, Persona or no…
Yukiko glanced up, but Chie couldn't look at her because if she did she'd start crying right in the middle of Souji's room, and she wouldn't be able to explain why she was crying, not really, except that she had so much on her mind and no way of getting it out.
"Of course I'm worried," Souji said quietly, "and that's why I invited you all over. Because I've been thinking about it constantly and I wanted to do something else for a while."
"But I can't stop thinking about it," Chie said, and despite what Souji said she couldn't stop the words from coming out. "It's just so weird now. Everyone at school is going around with no idea of what's happening, and I look at them and think that they have no clue how close Yukiko came to being killed or that we know something they don't. I feel like an outsider, and even now…"
Even now she felt out of place, different, because Souji and Yosuke had seen an ugly part of her and she hadn't seen any of them. Only Yukiko knew what that was like, and as much as Chie wanted to talk to her about it neither of them could bring it up.
"It is rather frightening." Yukiko broke the silence that had settled over them, eyes on her hands. "When I got out of the TV, right afterwards... I kept thinking it was all some crazy dream. That I'd eaten something bad or the stress of the Inn had gotten to me and I'd hallucinated it all. And when you all told me it was real and I summoned my Persona for the first time..." She took a deep breath. "Even now, it's hard to believe."
"Yukiko…" She wished they were in Yukiko's sweet-smelling room, or hers, even though she hadn't cleaned it in a week because Yukiko wouldn't care, she'd never cared, and they'd be alone. Right now, more than anything, Chie wanted to be alone with her and tell her everything – how much she wished she'd visited more when Yukiko was recovering, how sorry she was that she'd never noticed what Yukiko was going through, and even about her Shadow.
"Chie, I…" Yukiko stopped herself and looked at the boys.
Yosuke fidgeted, shoulders hunched and eyes lowered. Souji glanced between her and Yukiko before suddenly turning and tackling Yosuke. "Give me your headphones."
"What? No, what are you doing, get your own!"
"I want yours. Share."
Yukiko used the distraction to grab Chie's hand. "The whole time, I knew you'd come," she said.
"It must have been awful." Chie wasn't sure what she was talking about, the Shadow or the waiting or Yukiko expecting her, wanting to be rescued and hating herself for it and maybe hating Chie for being so reliable.
"I don’t remember much of it, but… I can't say that I'm glad it happened. Is that a bad thing, that if I had the chance to do it again I might never want to face that part of myself?" She turned her eyes to her lap again. "I definitely want to get stronger, but that was…"
"No, it's—I understand completely, Yukiko." Chie gripped her hand tightly. "Actually, Yukiko, could we… After this, would you like to come over to my house and talk? I…really want to talk about some stuff."
Yukiko smiled at her. "Yes, I think we should do that. I…there are some things I want to tell you too."
Chie exhaled, feeling a bit like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Not completely but enough, and next her to Yukiko relaxed as well, for the first time since they arrived looking like she might want to be here.
Souji and Yosuke toppled off the couch.
Yukiko snorted and broke into laughter, and Chie joined in out of the pure relief to hear it again.
Poll #6375 Working Out Knots
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