I Know You Are But

[madimpossibledreamer]

the school does in fact have an occult club which souji knows

Main Points:
Persona 4 Past Will Tell AU (protag swap + Average AU)
Chapter Summary: And then Souji's weird enough Yosuke has to notice him.
Word Count: 1180
Rating: Teen (some swearing; it's Yosuke)
they're all awkward in this one.  and yosuke has a small crush.  yukiko is there for 0.2 seconds but she's there.

        Things start getting weird when the transfer student also wakes him up for lunch.  Well, nah.  That’s not right.  Things are already weird.  They just get weirder.  “Are you all right?”
        Yosuke shrugs, sluggish now that he’s gotten a nap in.  “Eh, lots of shifts lately.  Which, hey, at least if you want some spending money the school allows it, right?”  No point in complaining, when he doesn’t even have it all that bad.
        “Do you think you could give me a tour after—” the guy starts, when Chie runs back into the room, which is good, because Yosuke doesn’t want to have to lie about his work schedule when it could be checked.  He’ll probably have to, anyway, but still.  The longer he can put that off the better.
        She announces what she’s been doing to the whole room.  “I ordered us two beef bowls.  Yukiko, I figured you’d just want the veggie one—”
        “Thank you, Chie, but I’ll pass.  I have to leave to go help out at the inn anyway.”  Yukiko stands up and then she’s gone before Yosuke can even muster the energy to wave.
        “I, um…”   His second-in-command looks seriously deflated.  “I mean, I guess you can have the rest, Seta-kun.”
        “I wouldn’t want to intrude,” he states politely, and Yosuke sighs, because he’d be saying the exact same thing, and that sucks.  “Besides, I already brought a bento of my own.”
        It’s mere impulse that has him offering to hang out, even though realistically he knows it’s a terrible idea to make friends now because he’ll have to hide things and he sucks at doing that—  “Then you can just eat with us, and I’ll have half of the veggie.”  Seta-kun still looks worried.  It’s all in the eyebrows.  And eyes.  Honestly he’s pretty good about hiding that stuff, if the whispers are any indication, only Yosuke finds him easier to read than most people with a good poker face, for some reason.  “I wish I had Chie’s appetite.  She’ll be fine.”  And maybe beef will heal her up just fine after all the excitement yesterday.  He’d hoped to get more sleep, or at least get to strategize with Chie, but it’s probably better to do that in the other world anyway, where nobody can overhear.
        Chie stares at him, but she accepts it.  He’s kind of shocked she’s following his lead.  Well, she’s the one leading them to the roof, but still, he means, uh, metaphorically.
        “So, what are the school’s seven mysteries?” Seta-kun asks, and suddenly Yosuke’s wide awake, because wait, what?  Does he know more—is he the culprit—wait, that makes no sense, he’s pretty sure.  He’ll check the dates, just to be safe, but he’s pretty sure the transfer student wasn’t even in town when the announcer disappeared, and she’d definitely been staying at the Amagi Inn.  It’s possible, if he knew what he was doing, he could’ve traveled between TVs and kind of…teleported, so he has an alibi, but even then Yosuke gets the feeling, from what Teddie said, that there aren’t natural exits so much as entrances, and he’s pretty sure Teddie would’ve noticed something like that, given how upset he’d been that humans had ended up in his world in the first place.  He’ll ask the bear later on.  Once Saki-san is fine.
        He exchanges a look with Chie, whose eyes are really wide—stop that, you’ll give us away, we’d make sucky secret agents.  At least it’s suspicious enough he’s pretty sure the ‘oh no someone knows’ is overriding the ‘shut up shut up we do not talk about horror’ impulse in her brain.  The only reason he even knows it exists is the fact that she’d invited herself over to his house to look at his video games, gotten freaked out at the horror games, and promptly demanded they watch a kung fu movie instead.  “Uh.  You know, I don’t think I ever bothered to ask.  Do we even have an occult club?”  The guy’s a weird one, but then, he’s not the only one, is he.  Not when they’re making plans to play superhero.
        “I don’t think so?”  Chie’s making a face.  “We’re not the ones to ask for that kind of stuff, anyway.  Yukiko’s the one you should be talking to for anything supernatural.”
        He shrugs, slightly alarmed, aiming for casual.  “Sorry we couldn’t help more.”
        “That’s all right.  So, what other kinds of attractions are out here?” Seta-kun asks after a pause.  He’s perfectly polite, but a little frustrated, maybe?  He’s not giving up, but he’s mad he’s not getting the answers he’s looking for, which, yikes.  They really gotta watch themselves around this guy.  Yosuke’d say that he’s too perceptive, but this is too weird even for that.  It’s like he already knows what’s going on and just wants them to be honest with him, but he’s not asking straight out and they’re sure as hell not going to just come out and say it.
        “There’s the Amagi Inn.  The hotsprings are great.  And I’m really happy about the specialty of steak, obviously.  You sure you don’t want any?”  Chie’s a little obvious, but it’s an improvement.  A slight improvement, but.
        “Maybe a little.”  He takes a little from Yosuke’s bowl with his chopsticks without even asking, and Yosuke’d complain, but he’s just too startled to say anything.
        He acts as if that’s completely normal for a good few seconds, to act like Yosuke’s just a best friend or family member, for a good few seconds.  Then he flushes, a dusting of pink on his cheeks, as Chie and Yosuke just sit there watching him, stunned.
        “Are you…not going to say it’s really good?” Chie asks, after a moment, and yeah, way to turn the tables, Chie!  Though that’s not the right question…but then, maybe he’s been too obvious and she’s trying not to embarrass him too, just the new kid?
        “…It is,” he confirms, hesitant.  Mostly it’s…it’s these contradictions?  And sure, everyone had those, but they’re weird in this guy.  What kind of guy talks back to King Moron, fishes for information, and yet is shy about them—
        And then it hits him, the memory of how he acts around Saki-senpai (thanks, brain, like he doesn’t already know he’s a complete loser).
        The kind of guy who cares what we, specifically, think about him.  Like he already knows us, but we don’t know him.  What the hell?  And sure, there’s a world inside the TV and Shadows and Personas, so maybe it’s time travel, but—
        “I think I’ve seen people fishing.  And strays—like, there’s a stray dog always at the riverbank, and I’m pretty sure there are cats around…”  He can’t help the laugh at the look the guy gives him.  Figures he’s a cat person.  “There isn’t really all that much, though.  You really gotta make your own fun.”
        “Speaking of fun, we gotta eat fast!” Chie exclaims, and he glances at his phone and promptly begins stuffing his face.  They’ll need the energy later.