Persona 4: Ten Steps (Part Sixteen)

[chisotahn]

Title: Ten Steps
Fandom: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
Characters: Souji/Yosuke (eventually); ensemble
Summary: AU, longfic; fill for this prompt on badbadbathhouse; details in the first part, here.


Notes: This will spoil you in the face for events up to August + elements of November. This is part sixteen of sixteen. Thank you for reading. ♥




"Okay, Yosuke - this one's yours," Souji said evenly, bringing his sword up into guard position; the Shadow bobbed and floated in front of them, its oversized tongue lolling. "Just hit it with a wind spell, and it'll go down."

Yosuke nodded, his eyes narrowed in concentration. It was weird, reaching into his own head and finding power there that he could use and direct, but he was starting to get the hang of it. A sharp mental movement combined with physical motion, a twisting leap into the air to shatter the tarot card waiting for him there, and the Persona - his Persona - materialized over him as he landed in a crouch. He still couldn't help watching Susano-o in fascination as the Persona easily called forth a burst of wind that blasted the Shadow into tiny bits.

This is so freaking cool.

"Nice, Yosuke-kun!" Chie called out, flashing him a v-sign.

Then Souji was there, reaching down one hand to help him up; Yosuke took it and got to his feet, then brushed his hair out of his face and tugged his headphones down to rest around his neck in the same movement. "How was that?" he asked, shifting to turn off the music.

"Perfect," Souji assured him with a grin. "Doesn't jumping around like that every time you call Susano-o tire you out, though?"

Yosuke grinned back and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Nah, I can take it. It just feels... right. Like that's the way I'm supposed to do it."

"You learn bear-y fast, Yosuke!" Teddie beamed, bouncing as he shifted from foot to foot, making faint squeaking noises. "I think that's all of them, Sensei," he added, turning to Souji.

Yep, the floor's clear, Rise chimed in. Ready to come back? I think Yosuke-senpai's getting tired.

"I am not," Yosuke protested, but Souji raised one eyebrow at him and he grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, well... maybe a little." A Shadow had smacked him earlier in the fight, and while Souji had healed him, it still ached a bit, and while working with his Persona was amazing, it also took a lot out of him.

"I got it! Sensei, let me do it?" Teddie begged, then puffed up proudly when Souji nodded. "Okay! Go, Kintoki-Douji!" The odd, round Persona sprang into being above Teddie's head; a moment later, they were all standing in the 'strip club' entrance, blinking away the glare from the Traesto spell.

"Man, that feels weird," Yosuke muttered, reaching out to grab at the edge of the stage for balance.

"-short break, make sure you're all healed up, then we'll see what we have time for," Souji was saying, and Yosuke looked up to see everyone else nod; the rest of the team was dispersing, heading for the backlot. But Souji turned, then walked back to join him, sitting on the edge of the stage. "How're you feeling?"

Yosuke quickly moved to sit on the stage, too, then winced slightly at the ache in his side. "I'm mostly okay, I think. It's a lot to get used to, but... man, I could kick your ass for not telling me about it sooner. This is all... it's amazing, killing Shadows, chasing down a murderer, using Personas... I've never done anything like this before."

"Heh." Souji's smile remained, but something in his face changed a bit, his eyes losing focus slightly. "It's not all fun and games, though. These Shadows are easy, since we're just practicing... the real thing hurts a lot more. We could die doing this."

Yosuke bit his lip and edged a little closer to Souji. "Not if I have anything to do with it, you won't."

Souji's expression softened. "We'll be careful, and we'll make it, and we'll catch this bastard and make him pay for what he's done," he said, firmly.

"Yeah. I owe him a wrench to the face for kidnapping me and throwing me in here," Yosuke muttered, putting one hand on the impromptu 'weapons'; Yukiko had borrowed them from the Inn's maintenance closet. "Though, you know, now I kinda wish he'd come after me sooner. I missed out on a lot."

Souji shook his head, a wry smile on his face. "And I wish you hadn't gone through all that to get here - but it's nice that I don't need to hide this from you any more. I hated having to do that."

"It's okay," Yosuke said, then jumped as Souji's free hand wandered down and squeezed his own, tightly. He squeezed back after a moment, and shifted to lean against Souji. "Getting kidnapped, thrown in here, having to face my Shadow - yeah, that kinda sucked, but... well, I think it was worth it."

Souji didn't say anything in reply, but he didn't have to; the comfortable silence was more than enough. Yosuke wasn't sure how long they spent like that, but he was startled out of that easy reverie by Rise's voice - in his head, of all places. Souji-senpai? Are you and Yosuke-senpai ready to go? You haven't moved for a while...

Startled, Yosuke tried to let go of Souji's hand, but Souji wouldn't let him. "We're fine, Rise," Souji replied, an amused look on his face. "And yeah, I think we're just about ready." His eyes flicked over to meet Yosuke's. "How about it?"

Yosuke laughed and straightened up, and that time Souji let him go. Yosuke scooped up his wrenches from the stage and jumped forward in one easy motion, then glanced back at Souji with a grin. "Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go, partner!"

Yeah, Yosuke thought as Souji smiled back at him. Definitely worth it.

Comments

[karmacitadel.livejournal.com]

OH GOD I SHOULD'VE KNOWN.

You completely and totally made my day. (I'm the one who has to work tomorrow and is going to freak out until I can get home to read an update!) I've reread all the posted parts on the meme thread like three times. I'm obsessed. @_@

[chisotahn]

Hehe, thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it, and... uh, if you haven't already finished it, I hope you like the rest? XD

[karmacitadel.livejournal.com]

!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG I only saw 16 and I didn't realize it was finished!! ::RUNS TO FINISH IT::

[EDIT] ::Wibbling:: Oh my god, I can go to bed happy now. That was... just awesome. ::GLOMP:: You made my night, that's all I can say.

[chisotahn]

Haha, yeah - the numbering here and on the meme is different, since the meme has that pesky 4000 character limit per comment and all. :)

Glad the rest of it was also good! :D

[devotfeige (from livejournal.com)]

Incoherent happiness may have to do. ♥

_{This story really made me wish there had been a crazy Junes dungeon to crawl through, that would have been awesome.}

[chisotahn]

I'm glad you liked it! :D I admit to also being inordinately amused at the idea of Shadow!Yosuke in a Junes apron...

(And oh hey, you're the person who found me on the Backloggery, aren't you? XD)

[devotfeige (from livejournal.com)]

I think the Junes apron may have been one of my favorite details. XD That and the dungeon taunts being over the store speaker, which is all too perfect, really. Also, s.link convos. <3

(And I am indeed! I think I actually found that from here, though how I ended up here in the first place... it was quite the trip through the intertubes, let me tell you. Anonymous meme > 'oh hay guiz who wrote what fills' > 'lol doujin of fill' > "Dude this is great. *reads original fill*" > "holy god sequel." > "SO MUCH AWESOME THERE MUST BE MORE. ♥")

_{I must have wasted hours the other night just reading everything I could get my grubby hands on. I'm not much of a writer myself, but damn do I appreciate what I find. I hope you don't mind my semi-awkward internet-stranger brand of stalking. :D;; I promise I'm less of a freak once I stop going 'holy god don't look like a total jackass in front of people you've never spoken to before or they'll never speak to you again'. o-oy I'll shut up now.}

[chisotahn]

Nah, it's cool, I don't mind. :D ♥

[devotfeige.livejournal.com]

derp.

_{n-no I didn't just make an LJ entirely so that I could skulk around various people's writing journals...}

[chisotahn]

Skulk all you like! ♥ It's what the comm's for, after all. :>

[syvia.livejournal.com]

^^ Thank you for posting this! It was wonderful. I wanted to give Yosuke hugs in every chapter. XD It made me ache to think of all the crap he went through six months before the game, with no Souji to see through the fake smiles. *pout*

I love the boy- your AU version had such a poignant sweetness that I think now I love canon Yosuke even more.

[chisotahn]

You are quite welcome! I'm glad you liked it. :)

The one thing I was sad to lose in this fic was the dynamic with Saki - she was killed before Yosuke even got there. :/ But the whole Junes thing was an interesting character development dynamic to explore, especially in this kind of AU!

[syvia.livejournal.com]

I know I'll be reading it again~ and keep it in mind the next time the Bathhouse slows down.

XD To answer your other question~ no, no reputation for the Souji/Yosuke. I mean the fic was long, rich in detail, and after Reach Out, I know your writing to have that kind of quality.

Yeah. :/ It was his driving force in the game, but of course it doesn't have to be~ and how intriguing to see what else can motivate him! The Junes issues were perfect. ;)

[chisotahn]

o///o thanks? XD I usually don't... well, didn't write fanfic before now, so this is all pretty new for me. :) Er, not writing, but... yeah. *spectacularly incoherent*

[strangestquiet.livejournal.com]

Thiiiiis was amazing and fabulous. *____* Oh man. I just loved ... all of it, really, but especially the showdown with Yosuke's Shadow. And the fireworks. And the team creepin' on him while he's at work. The dungeon being Junes was ace, and you built up Yosuke's frustration with his association with it so well over the entire fic that seeing it was just like Souji's reaction - of course it would look like Junes.



*sigh* This made me happy. ^___^&hearts Awesome, awesome work!

[chisotahn]

♥! Glad you liked it, and that it was worth the wait! :D

(I... still can't stop internally giggling at the Shadow-in-an-apron thing. I'm dumb.)

[zero-damage.livejournal.com]

Now I've read the whole thing again, I can elaborate in my gushing.

This was awesome! Great characterization of everyone, not just Yosuke and Souji (though I think your portrayal of Yosuke in this fic was particularly good, rounded out quite a few aspects that barely get touched on in game, such as the whole Junes-vs-old-town thread that's dropped so quickly. Also really liked his reaction to getting a Shadow, I'd think it was cool too)

More importantly (for me), you made this a convincing AU. Tied it in with the game completely (even down to Teddie being the shopping district mascot, haha!). So many neat details, all the way through the fic.

So, great stuff! You are an AU master :-D

[chisotahn]

Glad you enjoyed! ^.^ I had fun with it, even if it took me for-freaking-ever to write out.

I also admit to being overly amused by one aspect of this AU that was only mentioned (I think) once - Teddie ends up freeloading at Kanji's house. Which, I imagine, started with his mom saying (in that meaningful way) what a nice boy he was, only for Kanji to finally get it and start blustering about how it AIN'T LIKE THAT, YOU OLD BAG-

Too bad I had no reason to put that in the fic. XD

[zero-damage.livejournal.com]

SIDEFIC SIDEFIC WRITE A SIDEFIC

Oh man, I cannot believe I missed that! Kicking myself now :)

(btw, I respect and admire you for writing the entire story before posting. Very diligent! I would do the same thing with my longfic but it would take me about five times as long as you)

[chisotahn]

Haha, I would, but Kanji is the hardest character out of the main team for me to write. No lie! Not really sure why.

[zero-damage.livejournal.com]

You're not the first I've heard say that, though...Kanji is apparently tricky.
(He's the easiest for me, which may say something of my mental processes)

I think I might be alone in the universe, because I find Yosuke really difficult :(

[chisotahn]

Okay, you can write that sidefic and I'll write Yosuke for you and then we'll be an UNSTOPPABLE FORCE.

Or something.

(I think part of it is the way he talks; I have a hard time grabbing the idiosyncrasies of his 'voice' for some reason. I dunno.)

[zero-damage.livejournal.com]

PLEASE DO
Yosuke is kicking my ass in both my post-game fics :( Someone needs to show him what's what.

Basically the way I write Kanji is to mirror his manner of speech in-game - language, brittle sentences, etc. So I can see where you're coming from. Your knack for Yosuke's voice is uncanny. I'm still trying to mark him out from other characters and not quite managing it (Yukiko's even worse)

[chisotahn]

I had a hard time with Yukiko for... forever... and then 'Healing' popped into my head fully formed. Go figure!

(Seriously, if you want to write the AU Adventures of Kanji and Teddie, feel free. XD I would giggle forever.)

I have... no idea how I write Yosuke? I had his voice down pretty much immediately. Probably because I'm a goddamn spazz myself!

[zero-damage.livejournal.com]

Healing was great, you really captured her voice there! I think it's difficult because she really doesn't speak that much in game.

...you know, I just might, if you don't mind. Fanfic of your fanfic :-D

Hey, maybe better to channel Yosuke than Kanji ;-) Apparently my mental voice works like a fifteen-year-old punk...

[chisotahn]

Nope, I don't mind at all. Heck, Reach Out was effectively fanfic for fanfic, so. XD

[frames-in-aria.livejournal.com]

*melts into a puddle of goo* That was great~! It was one of the best SoujiYosuke fics that I have ever read. Lovely plot, brilliant characterization, nice pacing, and the fluff... killed me in a good way :D

Thanks for sharing~

[chisotahn]

Thanks! :D I'm glad you liked it.

[seiei.livejournal.com]

AHHHHHH. This is like, seriously one of my favorite existing Souji/Yosuke fills. ♥ The characterization is completely spot on. Also I see you using one of my icons and that makes me happy.

MAJOR PROPS. :D

[chisotahn]

Thank you! :D I'm happy you liked it~

(And, haha, I'm, uh... glad you made that particular icon! It's one of my favorites, actually. ^^)

[akisazame.livejournal.com]

FINALLY READ THIS.

I seriously can't get over how good you are at writing Shadow Yosuke. Everything about that whole confrontation was perfect. (And it makes me giggle to imagine Yuri Lowenthal singing the Junes theme oh god.)

I wish I could write AU stuff as well as you. D: I'm such a sucker for detail and canon and meh.

But yes this was AWESOME and I'm sorry I took like a week to read it >_>

[chisotahn]

Thanks! :D I'm glad you liked it. ♥

Even in my fic, Yuri Lowenthal still gets to talk to himself. It's absolutely inescapable!

[sinnatious.livejournal.com]

Persona 4 Longfic! *___*

Can I just say - Junes as a dungeon was so AWESOME, and I honestly actually thought it would be the final dungeon all the way through the game, and was kind of disappointed when it wasn't. That disappointment has now been erased! Your take on it was all kinds of perfect, so creepy... I can hear the messed up jingle in the my head, and it gives me nightmares.

Also, Souji and Yosuke's friendship throughout, all the relationship development and troubles... ♥ It was interesting thinking about it from an outsiders perspective, poor Yosuke!

I've read three of your Persona fanfics now, and loved ALL of them, I think I'm going to have to be watching this community like a hawk from now on.

[chisotahn]

Thank you! I'm happy you liked it. :) Uh, sorry about the nightmares, though? XD

[seki-yumizu.livejournal.com]

Ahh! I've finally found you!
I'm not too good at elaborating comments, but I've enjoyed both Ten Steps and Reach Out so so much at the kink meme~

I really like how you fit in all the missing pieces, with Teddie staying at Kanji's and working as a mascot for the shopping district, and how you weaved in some of the social link events :D Yousuke's characterization was spot on and I'm not surprised that if he wasn't so hung up over Saki's death, that his second biggest concern would be Junes. (Seriously, with the way he keeps asking you to help out and how he's familiar with the store, you'd think he was the manager, not his dad)

I am so stalking this comm now. Great name too XDD I love it when Yousuke says that hehe

[chisotahn]

Ah, thank you! I'm glad you liked it. :D Been away for a week and a half so I'm just now getting around to commenting on things.

Oh, by the way, I saw your post on mayonakatv, this part in particular? You absolutely did meet me, I was the person in the P4 shirt who came by first thing Friday morning and bought all the P4 bookmarks! (And then came back for seconds later.)

It's a small internet. :D

[seki-yumizu.livejournal.com]

oooh so that was you XD
I vaguely remember how you look like =D
I'm so sorry you had to stand there waiting for me to rummage through all my stuff. I was so nervous on Friday XD

[chisotahn]

Nah, it's okay! The bookmarks were totally worth the wait. :D I have them on my desk right now, haha.

I had to laugh when akisazame pointed out that comment exchange! Small world indeed.

[0x.livejournal.com]

Absolutely wonderful. I really needed something soft and sweet today. Thank you, very very much.

[chisotahn]

You're quite welcome! Thank you for reading and commenting; I'm trying to work my way back to writing P4 fic again and your comment came at a perfect time to be really encouraging. XD

[0x.livejournal.com]

/ENCOURAGEMENT ♥

I read everything you posted and then was terribly sad that there wasn't more! You're a fantastic writer. With the new P4 game there will definitely be more people getting into or returned to P4, so having your talent around would be wonderful. Keep it up!