madimpossibledreamer

The 'annoying voice' thing is because I don't care for Chie's new voice actor.

Main Points: Persona 4 Playthrough Mild AU
Chapter Summary: Yosuke hangs out with Chie and presents a plan.
Word Count: 1,416
Rating: K
Note: ...Relatively spoiler-free, actually. Aside from who's in the team and stuff.

To prove that they were actually friends, not just acquaintances with Souji in common, Yosuke grabs his lunch and heads to the roof. Chie looks shocked to see him, but doesn’t comment, too busy savoring her bento box full of meat.

They eat in silence for a few seconds. It’s a little awkward, but then Chie breaks the silence to complain. “Okay, why does Souji never take me on the team anymore? Is it because I’m a girl?”

His mind is too busy stopping the comment ‘maybe it’s your annoying voice’ that he accidentally says the other thing on his mind. “Well, he takes Yukiko.”

It’s a sitting sideways kick, and he dodges a little, so it doesn’t hurt much. It’ll bruise later, yeah, but it’s not like she’s broken his leg or anything, which he thinks is maybe a possibility for those legs of hers. “I mean, of course he takes you,” she continues, and her voice is almost breaking, and he can’t have that.

“Here’s the thing.” He finds himself gesturing with his chopsticks and sets them down. “Okay, yeah, I’m dating him, so that’s a thing. But there’s also the fact that I know how to do a ton of different things. Kind of like Teddie, only I’m me, so that makes a difference. I think he likes having the versatility there.” She snorts, and yeah, okay, so hanging out with Souji might be spicing up his vocabulary a little. He likes to think it’s a good thing, though. Maybe his grades will even get better.

“And then there’s Yukiko.” He eats his pork dumpling before Chie can steal it. “As anyone who’s played videogames knows, you don’t neglect your healers. I mean, I can do it, and so can he, but you can never beat a dedicated healer. Especially Yukiko.” It’s an explanation she can accept.

“But why Kanji?”

This was a harder one, that Yosuke had considered himself. He’d even considered that maybe Souji had a crush on Kanji, too, but there’d never been a sign of it. Yosuke could be dense, reading into things too much, too, but after thinking about it, he’d discarded that, and finally realized something simple that made a ton of sense. So he actually had an answer ready. “He’s to be inclusive.” He’s not sure whether he’s not explaining well enough, or whether it’s the talking with his mouth full that has Chie staring with her mouth open. “Well, think about it. Have you ever gone up to him during lunch and asked him whether he can hang out with you after school gets out and he just gives you the saddest look you’ve ever seen?”

“Yes! I almost feel guilty about asking.” Chie’s excited, then frowns. “Wait, so what does that have to do with Kanji?”

He takes a deep breath. It’s only a theory, but the more he thinks about it the more he thinks it’s a good one. “He hates disappointing people. He wants to spend time with everybody, but he can’t. Kanji switches out, and he tries to include everybody, but he can't just keep everybody with him, all the time. He’ll occasionally even switch out Yukiko if he’s trying to get people to get stronger, but he has to have a main team, so he picks Kanji to fill it out. It’s like saying ‘I don’t care how many more people we get on the team, but I’m not just going to exclude you because you’re new’. If he chose you, you’re part of the old guard. They’re not actually on the team, but one of the newer ones is, so it’s like they’re being included, too.”

She frowns. For a minute, he thinks she’s going to argue with him, but then nods slowly. “Maybe your brain isn’t completely full of rocks.”

“Hey!” That results in some scuffling, but eventually they’re settled and with most of their bento intact, and eat for a little longer in silence. It’s less awkward. Chie seems a little happier.

It’s probably not the best time to bring his new idea up, but it’s not the worst timing either, and he’s hoping to get it up and running before too long because he'll chicken out. “So, since you’re feeling underleveled, do you want to go train?”

That leads to Chie’s bento box all over the rooftop floor. She’s staring at him like he’s nuts, and she’s probably going to make him pay for it later, which will hurt his wallet a little but he’s sitting a little more comfortably than normal, so he can afford at the very least a bento box. Though if she keeps making him pay for food, she’s never going to get a replacement for her precious Trial of the Dragon. “In the TV? Without Souji? Are you insane?!” she practically screeches, and he quickly makes shushing motions. The point is to do this without Souji knowing, because he’ll worry and probably put a stop to it quick.

“Keep it down!” he hisses. “It’s not like we’re going to be going alone. We’ve got Yukiko for healing, and the bear signed up—anything to help his precious Sensei. We’re not even going far. Maybe a couple floors of the castle, and I already bought a couple Goho-Ms. And medicine, and bead chains. And however many of the soda cans I could get out of the machines, because remember how Souji will just toss us cans and make us drink them during combat? They must be useful for something. I also managed to get some of the meat from Sozai Daigaku before they sold out.”

“You involved Yukiko in your harebrained schemes?” The mention of meat distracts her a little, though. She quickly shakes her head. “What about Rise?”

The conversation from the previous day’s still stuck in his head, and even he’s begun to tense a little at the mention of the name. He shakes his head. “With her Souji-worship, she’ll just run to him and tell him everything, and we don’t want that. Ted’ll be our backup, like before. Kanji will either decide it’s a great idea and join us, or go to Souji too. I haven’t been able to figure out which, yet, so I haven’t told him.”

She looks a little surprised, but pleased, at his quick dismissal of Rise. So he was right, they had been getting ready for an intervention or something. “I don’t know, I think it might be a good idea myself.” Chie toys with what’s left of her bento thoughtfully. “It’s really dangerous.”

“Everything we do in that place is dangerous. We’re playing it really careful, and it’s not like we don’t know how to fight.” The determination not to be a burden surges through him. Plus, he managed to make it through just on his own the night before last, but he’s not going to mention that. It probably won’t help his case.

“You’ve really thought this through. What brought on Mr. Maturity all of a sudden?” she teases, but she’s really curious.

He flushes. It’s still about Souji, of course it is. “I…Souji just…does he seem really stressed all the time to you? Because he does to me. And none of us are paying attention. We’re just ignoring him again, and what he needs. Like with his Shadow. I just want him to smile again and mean it. To not look like he’s constantly carrying this huge weight on his shoulders. Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m more to blame than everyone else, and I’m trying to fix it.”

“Well, good for you.” That, if nothing else, is starting to win her over. “We’re abandoning this plan of yours if we barely make it out alive, right?”

Yosuke nods. “I’ve got a couple things to escape fights, and then we’ll use a Goho-M and leave and not think about it again. We’re probably capable on our own, but Souji’s got that special…quality, you know?” His grin gets a little goofier, but he quickly shakes it off. This is serious.

“You’re such a sap.” Chie hits him, probably harder than she intends, but she’s smiling. It’s not meant as friend abuse, even though that’s what it comes off as.

“Assuming that you didn’t just give me concussion. We might have to wait for another day if that’s the case,” he adds quickly.

“Oh, shut up and use one of those beads you bought. I’m in.” She stands up and stretches her legs.