Riona (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rionaleonhart) wrote2021-06-18 07:56 pm
rionaleonhart) wrote2021-06-18 07:56 pm
Entry tags:
Fanfiction: Clean Slate (Persona Q)
Here are some teenage boys being terrible at feelings at the end of Persona Q. (It should be understandable if you're only familiar with Persona 4, though!)
Title: Clean Slate
Fandom: Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
Rating: G? I think this might actually be G-rated. Nobody bleeds or anything.
Pairing: Yosuke/Persona 4 protagonist
Wordcount: 2,000
Summary: If they're going to have their memories erased anyway, it's okay for Yosuke to kiss Yu, right? No consequences. The perfect plan.
Yosuke pulls Yu aside when they’re about to leave Rei’s version of Yasogami High. “Hey, partner.” He jerks his head to one side. “Can we talk?”
Yosuke seems a little anxious, on edge somehow, and it makes Yu wary. Maybe this isn’t over yet.
To be honest, there’s a part of Yu that doesn’t want it to be over. He doesn’t want to put Zen and Rei through any more suffering, but they’ve just been told they’re going to forget everything that happened here, everyone they met. He’s not ready for that.
He follows Yosuke out of the Velvet Room and through the school corridor, over to the stairwell.
It’s quieter here, but Yosuke peeks around the corner at the students attending the festival, doesn’t seem satisfied. He heads over to the Wonderland exhibit.
“They’re not real people,” Yu reminds him, following. “If you want a private conversation, we could probably have it here.”
“I don’t know,” Yosuke mumbles. “It still seems weird.”
There’s nobody else around in Wonderland, obviously. Yosuke doesn’t seem any calmer now that they’re alone. His anxiety seems to be seeping into the air, making Yu uncomfortable too. When Yosuke’s this serious, things are usually pretty bad.
“Is there a reason we can’t go home?” Yu asks.
Yosuke blinks at him. “Uh, what?”
Okay. That rules out one of the larger concerns, at least. “It seems like there’s something you really don’t want to tell me. I thought maybe we couldn’t go back.”
“Holy crap,” Yosuke says. “Nothing that big. Sorry. I wasn’t trying to freak you out.”
“So what’s up?” Yu asks.
Yosuke sighs. “Okay. I know I just said I wasn’t trying to freak you out, but I think maybe I’m about to? Like, I’m freaking myself out with this, I—”
“Yosuke,” Yu says.
“Sorry. Sorry. I don’t like the suspense either.” Yosuke takes two steps towards him, and—
Yu’s pictured this before, and recently. When the Group Date Café tried to marry him to Yosuke, it was hard not to wonder how far it might go. So it takes him a moment to process that Yosuke’s actually kissing him, that it’s not just happening in his head again.
The fact that Yosuke’s the one kissing him helps to tell him it’s real. When Yu pictured it, he was sure that, if they were forced to kiss before they could escape, he’d have to take action himself; he couldn’t imagine Yosuke taking that step. Apparently there are still things he doesn’t know about Yosuke.
It’s probably quick. It doesn’t feel quick. Yu’s mind races through a month’s worth of calculations before it’s over.
But then Yosuke’s stepping away, and it hits Yu that he should probably have reacted in some way. Pushed him away or pulled him closer, taken the lead, opened his mouth. Something. It’s too late now.
“Okay,” Yosuke says, very quickly, “I know that was super weird, but we’re going to forget it, right? So it’s fine. I just wanted – it’s fine. We’re going to forget it. So basically nothing happened.”
Yu touches his fingers to his own lips.
There’s a long silence. Yosuke is fidgeting relentlessly.
“Did you just want to see my reaction?” Yu asks at last.
“I mean,” Yosuke says. He hesitates. “Yes?”
“Could you say that again, but not as a question?”
“Okay,” Yosuke says. “I – I get it, you wouldn’t be interested, I’m not – I’m not trying to make anything happen. I just – we’re gonna lose our memories, so I thought maybe it wouldn’t matter if...” He pauses. “Maybe that’s messed up? Uh, sorry. I guess I shouldn’t have done that.”
“It’s fine,” Yu says.
“It’s not, right? It’s not like I could’ve... punched you in the face and gone ‘oh, it’s fine, you’ll forget’. That’s still being a dick. Right?”
“Well, I didn’t mind,” Yu says. “You might need to apologise if you’d kissed Yukari.”
Yosuke turns scarlet. “Oh, man, don’t say that! Now I’ve gotta say goodbye to her, and I’m going to be thinking about it!”
“Why does it matter?” Yu asks, carefully keeping a straight face. “You’ll forget.”
Yosuke gives him a light shove. “Okay, I retract my apology. You don’t deserve it.”
There’s a pause.
“Wait, you didn’t mind?”
Yu puts a hand on Yosuke’s arm. Leans in.
Yosuke jerks away and takes a couple of quick steps backwards, batting at himself like he’s covered in spiders. “Uh, what are you doing?”
Yu’s on the verge of laughing, but he keeps it hidden; he’s not sure Yosuke would appreciate it. “Are we kissing or not?”
“The kissing’s happened,” Yosuke says. “It’s done. It’s just one get-it-out-of-your-system thing, and now we can go back to normal, right?”
“Hm,” Yu says.
“Right?” Yosuke asks again, two steps higher.
“I’m not sure it’s out of my system,” Yu says.
“Don’t mess with me. I know you’re into girls.”
Yu raises his eyebrows. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“I—” Yosuke swallows. “I, uh. Um?”
He’s looking increasingly like a cornered animal. Yu takes pity on him.
“I’m not messing with you,” Yu says. “I’m interested. I don’t want to forget what just happened.”
Yosuke’s eyes widen. Yu was hoping it might calm Yosuke down to understand exactly what’s going on here, but he just looks more alarmed.
“Why the hell would you be interested in me?” Yosuke demands.
That’s not the response Yu was expecting. He blinks, trying to put his thoughts in order. “I feel more secure when you’re there. And you make me laugh.” You make me want to laugh might be more accurate; he has a habit of suppressing his laughter. He’s never been an open person, but Yosuke makes him want to change. “And... I don’t know, I find you attractive. How do you expect me to put that into words?”
Yosuke looks horrified. “Oh, man, don’t talk like that! Don’t say things like that! This is so embarrassing!”
Yu scratches his cheek to hide his smile. “Do you need a moment to calm down?”
“I think what I need is to wake up from this dream I’m obviously having,” Yosuke says. “You like me?”
Yu nods.
Yosuke lets out a long, wavering whistle. “Okay. Wow. That’s not what I expected. Honestly, I thought you’d just stop talking to me or, like, sell the story to Kanji so he can have his revenge.”
There’s a brief silence.
“Is it okay if I try to kiss you again?” Yu asks.
Yosuke hesitates for a very long moment.
“Uh, I don’t know if I’m really... ready for that,” he says at last. “I – maybe in a couple of days?” There’s a pause, and Yu sees the realisation hit him. “Wait. Crap. We don’t have a couple of days, right?”
“We need to remember this,” Yu says. “I don’t want to lose it.”
“Uh, are you sure? This seems really complicated and,” Yosuke lets out a half-breath of a laugh, “terrifying, and I kind of think it’d be easier if we just went ahead and got our memories erased.”
They’re on the verge of something, a shift in their relationship. It’s new territory, it’s something stressful, but Yu doesn’t want to turn back. “We could stay here until we find some way to bring it back with us.”
“You want to stay in this weird tragic place where everything’s just gonna remind us of Rei?” Yosuke asks. “Like, this place where our options for hangout spots are our fake school, a terrifying school, a terrifying hospital, Spiderweb Central, a big gay festival and some robot voice trying to – trying to marry us?”
“You forgot Wonderland,” Yu points out. “We’re standing in it.”
“Oh, great! That changes everything! Let’s spend the next decade making out in a kids’ book!”
Now that Yu really thinks about it, staying here probably isn’t an option. This world is going to disappear when Rei does, isn’t it?
“I could ask Margaret to tell me about it when we’re back in our world,” Yu suggests.
“You cannot tell Margaret that I kissed you.”
“Marie?”
“That’s even worse!”
“What else is there?”
Yosuke’s shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea to try to tell ourselves,” he says, after a moment. “I don’t even know if I’ll feel like this once our memories are gone. I think the Group Date Café just put some weird stuff in my head. I’ll forget about it, and it’ll be fine, and everything’s going to be normal.”
“You never had any interest in me before we came here?” Yu asks. Perhaps it’s egotistic to be sceptical, but it’s crossed his mind to wonder exactly how Yosuke feels about him before, well before they came to this world. He doesn’t think that’s just because of his own feelings.
“I mean, uh.” There’s a blush creeping up Yosuke’s cheeks. “I mean, if I was interested, I didn’t know I was interested. If you tell me we kissed in another universe, it’s just gonna weird me out.”
“Would you want to stop being friends?” That’s something Yu can’t risk.
“I mean, honestly, right now I know I’m into you, and I still kind of want to bury myself in a box and cut contact,” Yosuke says. “This whole thing is just way too scary.”
Yu sighs. “I suppose we just have to forget, then.”
Yosuke frowns. “You seem kind of down about it.”
“Why wouldn’t I be down about it?”
“Wow,” Yosuke says. “You actually meant it. Right? You’re into me. That’s real.” He shakes his head. “Man, I’m sorry. I thought I was only screwing with my own feelings.”
There’s a pause. Yu glances in the direction of the exit.
“Should we go back?” he asks, at the same time Yosuke blurts out, “You can kiss me if you want.”
“What?” they both ask simultaneously.
“Um,” Yosuke says, blushing hard.
Yu moves in and kisses him.
Yosuke’s entire body is tense, it’s radiating from him before Yu even touches him, and Yu remembers from their group date with the Gekkoukan girls that Yosuke’s never kissed anyone else before. He tries to take the lead, to guide Yosuke without making it too clear that that’s what he’s doing.
It’d be too much to say that Yosuke relaxes. But he seems to respond to Yu taking charge, to become more at ease, even if it’s just a little. He makes a small noise into Yu’s mouth.
“Senpai!” a voice demands. “What are you doing?”
Yosuke breaks away instantly. Yu freezes.
“Oh, don’t interrupt them!” Fuuka’s voice says. “I think it’s sweet.”
“Oh, crap,” Yosuke whispers.
“I was worried about you jerks!” Rise exclaims. “This is what I get for checking on you?”
Of course. Yu should have thought of this. They’re in one of the exhibits. Of course the navigators can see them.
“Oh, my God,” Yosuke says, quietly. “Oh my God, oh my God.”
“Get back to the Velvet Room,” Rise commands. “No making out!”
“I think it’s okay,” Fuuka says, a little hesitantly. “I think you can do what you want to.”
“Back. Here,” Rise says.
The communication channel goes quiet. Yosuke breaks into semi-hysterical giggles, and Yu has to laugh as well, just a little.
Eventually, when his laughter’s calmed down, Yosuke drops his head back and lets out a long groan. “I can’t believe this. My life is over.”
“They’ll forget,” Yu reminds him.
“That doesn’t matter, because I’m going to die of embarrassment right here,” Yosuke says. “You’ll go back to the real world and you’ll never know what happened to me.”
“That reminds me,” Yu says. “Now that somebody knows, is it all right if I ask Margaret to tell me this happened?”
Yosuke groans again, louder. “Fine. Don’t blame me if you tell me and I flip out.”
Title: Clean Slate
Fandom: Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
Rating: G? I think this might actually be G-rated. Nobody bleeds or anything.
Pairing: Yosuke/Persona 4 protagonist
Wordcount: 2,000
Summary: If they're going to have their memories erased anyway, it's okay for Yosuke to kiss Yu, right? No consequences. The perfect plan.
Yosuke pulls Yu aside when they’re about to leave Rei’s version of Yasogami High. “Hey, partner.” He jerks his head to one side. “Can we talk?”
Yosuke seems a little anxious, on edge somehow, and it makes Yu wary. Maybe this isn’t over yet.
To be honest, there’s a part of Yu that doesn’t want it to be over. He doesn’t want to put Zen and Rei through any more suffering, but they’ve just been told they’re going to forget everything that happened here, everyone they met. He’s not ready for that.
He follows Yosuke out of the Velvet Room and through the school corridor, over to the stairwell.
It’s quieter here, but Yosuke peeks around the corner at the students attending the festival, doesn’t seem satisfied. He heads over to the Wonderland exhibit.
“They’re not real people,” Yu reminds him, following. “If you want a private conversation, we could probably have it here.”
“I don’t know,” Yosuke mumbles. “It still seems weird.”
There’s nobody else around in Wonderland, obviously. Yosuke doesn’t seem any calmer now that they’re alone. His anxiety seems to be seeping into the air, making Yu uncomfortable too. When Yosuke’s this serious, things are usually pretty bad.
“Is there a reason we can’t go home?” Yu asks.
Yosuke blinks at him. “Uh, what?”
Okay. That rules out one of the larger concerns, at least. “It seems like there’s something you really don’t want to tell me. I thought maybe we couldn’t go back.”
“Holy crap,” Yosuke says. “Nothing that big. Sorry. I wasn’t trying to freak you out.”
“So what’s up?” Yu asks.
Yosuke sighs. “Okay. I know I just said I wasn’t trying to freak you out, but I think maybe I’m about to? Like, I’m freaking myself out with this, I—”
“Yosuke,” Yu says.
“Sorry. Sorry. I don’t like the suspense either.” Yosuke takes two steps towards him, and—
Yu’s pictured this before, and recently. When the Group Date Café tried to marry him to Yosuke, it was hard not to wonder how far it might go. So it takes him a moment to process that Yosuke’s actually kissing him, that it’s not just happening in his head again.
The fact that Yosuke’s the one kissing him helps to tell him it’s real. When Yu pictured it, he was sure that, if they were forced to kiss before they could escape, he’d have to take action himself; he couldn’t imagine Yosuke taking that step. Apparently there are still things he doesn’t know about Yosuke.
It’s probably quick. It doesn’t feel quick. Yu’s mind races through a month’s worth of calculations before it’s over.
But then Yosuke’s stepping away, and it hits Yu that he should probably have reacted in some way. Pushed him away or pulled him closer, taken the lead, opened his mouth. Something. It’s too late now.
“Okay,” Yosuke says, very quickly, “I know that was super weird, but we’re going to forget it, right? So it’s fine. I just wanted – it’s fine. We’re going to forget it. So basically nothing happened.”
Yu touches his fingers to his own lips.
There’s a long silence. Yosuke is fidgeting relentlessly.
“Did you just want to see my reaction?” Yu asks at last.
“I mean,” Yosuke says. He hesitates. “Yes?”
“Could you say that again, but not as a question?”
“Okay,” Yosuke says. “I – I get it, you wouldn’t be interested, I’m not – I’m not trying to make anything happen. I just – we’re gonna lose our memories, so I thought maybe it wouldn’t matter if...” He pauses. “Maybe that’s messed up? Uh, sorry. I guess I shouldn’t have done that.”
“It’s fine,” Yu says.
“It’s not, right? It’s not like I could’ve... punched you in the face and gone ‘oh, it’s fine, you’ll forget’. That’s still being a dick. Right?”
“Well, I didn’t mind,” Yu says. “You might need to apologise if you’d kissed Yukari.”
Yosuke turns scarlet. “Oh, man, don’t say that! Now I’ve gotta say goodbye to her, and I’m going to be thinking about it!”
“Why does it matter?” Yu asks, carefully keeping a straight face. “You’ll forget.”
Yosuke gives him a light shove. “Okay, I retract my apology. You don’t deserve it.”
There’s a pause.
“Wait, you didn’t mind?”
Yu puts a hand on Yosuke’s arm. Leans in.
Yosuke jerks away and takes a couple of quick steps backwards, batting at himself like he’s covered in spiders. “Uh, what are you doing?”
Yu’s on the verge of laughing, but he keeps it hidden; he’s not sure Yosuke would appreciate it. “Are we kissing or not?”
“The kissing’s happened,” Yosuke says. “It’s done. It’s just one get-it-out-of-your-system thing, and now we can go back to normal, right?”
“Hm,” Yu says.
“Right?” Yosuke asks again, two steps higher.
“I’m not sure it’s out of my system,” Yu says.
“Don’t mess with me. I know you’re into girls.”
Yu raises his eyebrows. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“I—” Yosuke swallows. “I, uh. Um?”
He’s looking increasingly like a cornered animal. Yu takes pity on him.
“I’m not messing with you,” Yu says. “I’m interested. I don’t want to forget what just happened.”
Yosuke’s eyes widen. Yu was hoping it might calm Yosuke down to understand exactly what’s going on here, but he just looks more alarmed.
“Why the hell would you be interested in me?” Yosuke demands.
That’s not the response Yu was expecting. He blinks, trying to put his thoughts in order. “I feel more secure when you’re there. And you make me laugh.” You make me want to laugh might be more accurate; he has a habit of suppressing his laughter. He’s never been an open person, but Yosuke makes him want to change. “And... I don’t know, I find you attractive. How do you expect me to put that into words?”
Yosuke looks horrified. “Oh, man, don’t talk like that! Don’t say things like that! This is so embarrassing!”
Yu scratches his cheek to hide his smile. “Do you need a moment to calm down?”
“I think what I need is to wake up from this dream I’m obviously having,” Yosuke says. “You like me?”
Yu nods.
Yosuke lets out a long, wavering whistle. “Okay. Wow. That’s not what I expected. Honestly, I thought you’d just stop talking to me or, like, sell the story to Kanji so he can have his revenge.”
There’s a brief silence.
“Is it okay if I try to kiss you again?” Yu asks.
Yosuke hesitates for a very long moment.
“Uh, I don’t know if I’m really... ready for that,” he says at last. “I – maybe in a couple of days?” There’s a pause, and Yu sees the realisation hit him. “Wait. Crap. We don’t have a couple of days, right?”
“We need to remember this,” Yu says. “I don’t want to lose it.”
“Uh, are you sure? This seems really complicated and,” Yosuke lets out a half-breath of a laugh, “terrifying, and I kind of think it’d be easier if we just went ahead and got our memories erased.”
They’re on the verge of something, a shift in their relationship. It’s new territory, it’s something stressful, but Yu doesn’t want to turn back. “We could stay here until we find some way to bring it back with us.”
“You want to stay in this weird tragic place where everything’s just gonna remind us of Rei?” Yosuke asks. “Like, this place where our options for hangout spots are our fake school, a terrifying school, a terrifying hospital, Spiderweb Central, a big gay festival and some robot voice trying to – trying to marry us?”
“You forgot Wonderland,” Yu points out. “We’re standing in it.”
“Oh, great! That changes everything! Let’s spend the next decade making out in a kids’ book!”
Now that Yu really thinks about it, staying here probably isn’t an option. This world is going to disappear when Rei does, isn’t it?
“I could ask Margaret to tell me about it when we’re back in our world,” Yu suggests.
“You cannot tell Margaret that I kissed you.”
“Marie?”
“That’s even worse!”
“What else is there?”
Yosuke’s shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea to try to tell ourselves,” he says, after a moment. “I don’t even know if I’ll feel like this once our memories are gone. I think the Group Date Café just put some weird stuff in my head. I’ll forget about it, and it’ll be fine, and everything’s going to be normal.”
“You never had any interest in me before we came here?” Yu asks. Perhaps it’s egotistic to be sceptical, but it’s crossed his mind to wonder exactly how Yosuke feels about him before, well before they came to this world. He doesn’t think that’s just because of his own feelings.
“I mean, uh.” There’s a blush creeping up Yosuke’s cheeks. “I mean, if I was interested, I didn’t know I was interested. If you tell me we kissed in another universe, it’s just gonna weird me out.”
“Would you want to stop being friends?” That’s something Yu can’t risk.
“I mean, honestly, right now I know I’m into you, and I still kind of want to bury myself in a box and cut contact,” Yosuke says. “This whole thing is just way too scary.”
Yu sighs. “I suppose we just have to forget, then.”
Yosuke frowns. “You seem kind of down about it.”
“Why wouldn’t I be down about it?”
“Wow,” Yosuke says. “You actually meant it. Right? You’re into me. That’s real.” He shakes his head. “Man, I’m sorry. I thought I was only screwing with my own feelings.”
There’s a pause. Yu glances in the direction of the exit.
“Should we go back?” he asks, at the same time Yosuke blurts out, “You can kiss me if you want.”
“What?” they both ask simultaneously.
“Um,” Yosuke says, blushing hard.
Yu moves in and kisses him.
Yosuke’s entire body is tense, it’s radiating from him before Yu even touches him, and Yu remembers from their group date with the Gekkoukan girls that Yosuke’s never kissed anyone else before. He tries to take the lead, to guide Yosuke without making it too clear that that’s what he’s doing.
It’d be too much to say that Yosuke relaxes. But he seems to respond to Yu taking charge, to become more at ease, even if it’s just a little. He makes a small noise into Yu’s mouth.
“Senpai!” a voice demands. “What are you doing?”
Yosuke breaks away instantly. Yu freezes.
“Oh, don’t interrupt them!” Fuuka’s voice says. “I think it’s sweet.”
“Oh, crap,” Yosuke whispers.
“I was worried about you jerks!” Rise exclaims. “This is what I get for checking on you?”
Of course. Yu should have thought of this. They’re in one of the exhibits. Of course the navigators can see them.
“Oh, my God,” Yosuke says, quietly. “Oh my God, oh my God.”
“Get back to the Velvet Room,” Rise commands. “No making out!”
“I think it’s okay,” Fuuka says, a little hesitantly. “I think you can do what you want to.”
“Back. Here,” Rise says.
The communication channel goes quiet. Yosuke breaks into semi-hysterical giggles, and Yu has to laugh as well, just a little.
Eventually, when his laughter’s calmed down, Yosuke drops his head back and lets out a long groan. “I can’t believe this. My life is over.”
“They’ll forget,” Yu reminds him.
“That doesn’t matter, because I’m going to die of embarrassment right here,” Yosuke says. “You’ll go back to the real world and you’ll never know what happened to me.”
“That reminds me,” Yu says. “Now that somebody knows, is it all right if I ask Margaret to tell me this happened?”
Yosuke groans again, louder. “Fine. Don’t blame me if you tell me and I flip out.”
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Good luck with your fic! What's the concept?
Also, hello! I'm sorry I added you so quietly. I think I saw you mention Danganronpa in the comments of someone I follow, so I had a quick poke through your journal and discovered we shared a fair few fandoms. It's nice to meet you!
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(Even in my protagshipping fics I apparently have bits like this:
--
Except that, to Minato's eyes, Yosuke has at least as much of a crush on Yu as any of the girls. Yu has to know that. So why… and then that clicks into its own place too, and Minato feels a faint rush of smugness.
He eats slowly, working out how to phrase the thought.
"When I said asked why you didn't date anyone," he says, eventually, "I didn't just mean amongst the girls."
Yu's eyes go suddenly blank, which is as much of an answer as Minato needs.
--
...so even in other shipfics I can't help but ship Yu/Yosuke. :D)
Apparently I have a university Yu/Yosuke fic in my WIPs too but none of these have been updated since, uh, 2016. Maybe one day! I haven't stopped loving these boys.
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I grinned pretty hard at this. I'd love to read it, if you do finish it!
Your protagshipping excerpt made me smile as well, even if it's incredibly disconcerting for me to see the Persona 3 protagonist called anything but Kosuke. (I named him Kosuke because I played 5, then 4, then hit 3 and went, 'Well, we've already had a Yusuke and a Yosuke; I might as well keep up the "one letter changed" pattern.' Unfortunately, the name stuck so completely that I can't read fanfiction about him now; it doesn't feel right to see him called anything else!)
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