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THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE SOUJI PART 1
fandom: persona 4 ALSO INCLUDES SPOILERS beware
characters: from yosuke's pov, nanako is a focus!
rating: pg-13 for yosuke's innermost language
prompt: THIS IS FOR EM FOR CHRISTMAS and potentially new years
notes: merry christmas and a happy holidays to everyone! :) best wishes and i hope the new year treats you well! this is part one of a planned two part fic and it's for the lovely em. what better way to break in the new journal than to post fanfic to it? so enjoy!
There were a lot of things Yosuke didn't like about today, but Souji turning him down again for the third time in a month to hang out just hit him a little hard. Briefly he wondered if it was someone else asking him to go visit Nanako in the hospital if he'd say yes and they'd all get together to go see her. Instead the fates had decided Souji would approach him after school first, even though he passed Chie on the way right to him. Sometimes Yosuke wondered if he did this on purpose - coming up to talk to him after school like he wanted to chat and maybe hang only to turn him down the first time he opened his mouth. Not that Yosuke could begrudge him it, really. Seeing Nanako was depressing, because it reminded them all of their failures and sent everyone into a self-pitying spiral stump. Yosuke was no exception to that, but at the same time he didn't feel right just going on with his life while there was a sweet and innocent little girl suffering in the hospital because of him. There was even a part of him that wanted that excuse to go into a self-pitying spiral. A part deep inside him that wondered if Souji would say yes next time if he saw just how beat up Yosuke was about the whole thing. (That part of him decorated in white and yellow and black with bulging round slits for eyes and ninja stars for hands.)
Yosuke watched his partner walk away, hating to see him go but hating himself more for being beat up over it. Of course Souji was suffering just as much as he was, if not more. Sometimes he couldn't believe the things he thought. Of course Souji was going to visit Nanako, of course he wanted her to get better. If today wasn't the day then today wasn't the day, right? A sigh of frustration escaped through Yosuke's nostrils as he hung his head over his crossed arms. Then, in a rebellious moment of inspiration, it hit him. All it took for him to decide on it finally was hearing Souji close the sliding classroom door beside him. Conveniently, he didn't have any work to do today, which was why he was open to Souji's approach in the first place, and he had less homework today than usual. Well, less than the usual he was going to actually do. He knew better than anyone there were more important things than homework and school, and a little girl's well-being definitely counted as one of those things.
That's how Yosuke Hanamura was the first thing Nanako saw when she woke up that day. Sick as she was, her surprise came out a weak and raspy gasp.
"Don't try to talk, Nanako-chan. I'm just here to sit around and brood over in the corner trying not to disturb you while being here for you as much as possible at the same time." He said with a smile and a wink. There was a chair in the back corner Nanako could see if she strained her head up to look at it, which was what she did as soon as he mentioned it. She wasn't looking for the chair, though, and when she went to open her mouth Yosuke quickly cut in so she wouldn't speak and strain herself.
"He's not here today. It's just me. Sorry. I know you'd rather see him." Yosuke went to hang his head, but instead his eyes were caught by shot up eyebrows and a shaking head. A small hand twitched, almost as if it wanted to reach out to him but didn't think it could, what with his arms folded the way they were, and a little girl's shy smile grew brighter for his sake. Yosuke's expression softened in return, and for a moment he's taken with this angel who, for some strange reason, seemed glad that an annoying guy who messed up all the time was there instead of her much more desirable big bro. For a moment he was shot through to the core, and a familiar prickling tickled behind his eyes. He shook his head firmly, to try to get rid of it, instead of focusing on that he looked for the chair everywhere except for the place it was, until he found it and pulled it up close to Nanako's bed. Her smile seemed to grow wider the closer he got to her, so that by the time he sat down she seemed almost to be hurting herself with how wide it was.
"Do you want to hear about him? I could probably tell you a couple stories. He'd probably kill me if I told you some of them, though." Yosuke leaned in close and raised his eyes to the ceiling to think. "I wonder what sort of story you'd like most… Hey, would you like to hear the story of how your big bro rescued a princess? I helped, of course." Another wink, and on Nanako's giggle, Yosuke started. "Once upon a time… No, that's too boring. Um, it was a dark and stormy night… that's a little better, right?" On Nanako's enthusiastic nod, Yosuke continued. "Okay, we've got it. It was a dark and stormy night. Everything was dark because it was stormy, and anyway, Prince Souji-kun had received news that the Princess wasn't feeling well. So he got together with his best princely friend, Prince Yosuke-sama. See, that's me, get it? And even Prince Chie-chan tagged along." On a whim, the story had already breached into the land of make believe and Yosuke figured he might as well run with it. A little mouth opened to query, but he tried to keep her from talking by cutting over her again. Yosuke guessed at what she was going to ask, and since he got it right this time, Nanako could rest her weary throat.
"Why's Chie a Prince? Well, because Princess Yukiko-san pretty much decided she was. Even though there were times when Prince Chie-chan and Princess Yukiko-san didn't see eye to eye, they were best friends, just like Prince Souji-kun and Prince Yosuke-sama, so Princess Yukiko-san liked Prince Chie-chan the most out of all the princes. Anyways, they met up with some other princes and a princess. Prince Kanji-kun, the strongest of them all, was loyal and surprisingly gentle when he wanted to be, but could still beat up all the bad guys probably the best out of any of them. Then there's Princess Risette, who's support and grace and feminine charms won over the hearts of many. Prince Yosuke-sama was her favorite fan, though. Anyway! Last but not least, Prince Naoto-kun! Who was the smartest of them all. So smart, in fact, people started calling her the Detective Prince. She was the only one smart enough to bring umbrellas, and everyone was thankful for it, since, you know, it was a dark and stormy night."
Nanako looked like she wanted to ask something, but was holding off on voicing it to hear the rest. Yosuke continued unaware of what it was she was curious about. He was getting really into it. "It turned out King Dojima-san had summoned them all. He was so busy with kingly duties it seemed as though he couldn't afford to go out on the long and perilous journey needed to find the cure for the young princess's illness. King Dojima-san's right hand man, Advisor Adachi-san, explained this all to the Princes and Princesses and apologized for it. He told them he would've gone, but King Dojima-san really needed him for all the kingly duties he needed advising on to help things go over smoother."
By this point, Yosuke had run away on a story train! Nanako listened intently, not daring to interrupt with questions for fear she wouldn't get to hear the whole story. He continued, a more serious look on his face, but Nanako could tell he was having fun with it. "It turned out the origin of the princess's illness was in… the Hollow Forest? Yeah, that has a nice ring to it. A forest that surrounded the kingdom they lived in. It was a magical and enchanted forest, one that showed the truth of people's hearts, but it was dangerous. See, the Princess had wandered into it by accident - no, she was kidnapped! A bad man had taken her away from her family and taken her to the forest because… Because… Well, we'll get to that part later. None of the princes or princesses knew why, not at this point. All they knew was that the Princess was in danger and sick and they had to once again brave the Hollow Forest in order to find the cure.
"So they went. And guess what they found on the other side." Yosuke was grinning, and Nanako made a noise to speak, "Oh, wait! Don't, actually, I'll just tell you, even though I have a feeling you know what's coming next. What they found was a bear! This bear had lived in the hollow forest pretty much his whole life, but despite that, he didn't really know what he was or who he was. All he knew was he was a bear who'd lived in the Hollow Forest his whole life. Part of why the Hollow Forest was so dangerous was because of the fog that stayed there all the time, so it was hard to see and sometimes it would make people sick, like the Princess. Because this group of Princes and Princesses had already braved the Hollow Forest before, they'd already met this bear. His name was Teddie, and he knew how to make it so the fog didn't make any one of them sick. He gave them glasses with a special charm on them, so they could see through the fog and walk through it just as easily as if there wasn't any at all. Here, I'll show you my pair."
At that point, Yosuke turned and bent to dig into the bag he'd put on the floor beside his chair. He extracted a pair of orange glasses, folded and kept safe in one of the smaller pockets of his bag. "Here you go, Nanako-chan. If you want, you can even try them on." Two small hands took the frames from Yosuke's single extended one. There was a soft smile on his face now as he watched the little girl marvel in awe at the sight of them. Sometime during his storytelling, she'd managed to get herself to sit up little by little. The look on her face was priceless, which caused Yosuke to laugh. "Pretty sweet, right? Teddie sure knows how to work with his paws, doesn't he?" A weak nod answered his question, followed by a careful opening of frames and a sliding of them over two much smaller ears. They were much too big for her, but Nanako's face was lit up with a quiet and powerful joy. Yosuke smiled back, and for a moment that was all that existed. Him and Nanako and all this hardship was just a story he was using to cheer her up. In this moment, he felt like he may actually be contributing to her getting better. He felt good and warm, being able to bring so many smiles to Nanako's face when she wasn't feeling so well.
That was the moment the nurse walked in and told him visiting hours were coming to a close. Hands on his knees, Yosuke's head hung, still enjoying the moment, but nodding to let the nurse know he had heard her.
"Big… bro… Yo… suke…" Hearing Nanako's voice for the first time that visit got him to shoot his head up. She had taken the glasses off and were holding them delicately between her two hands, resting them on her lap.
"Yes, Nanako-chan?" In that moment, if she'd asked him of anything, he knew he'd do it. Move mountains, cure aids (more like, cure her fog illness), make it so the culprit never existed, force Souji to spend every single afternoon after school with her, he'd do all of those things and more. He so desperately wanted her to be happy. And despite wanting to tell her not to speak, to rest her voice, he felt this was important. It was something she needed to say.
"To… mor.. row…"
"Yeah, I'll be here tomorrow. We still need to find out how they get the Princess's cure, don't we? Right now, though, I've gotta go. I'll be back, though. I promise."
The next day Yosuke stayed after school to see if Souji wanted to do anything, but this time he wasn't all that disappointed this time when Souji only came by to check up on him and move on to the next sorry sucker who wanted some of his time only to get turned down again. Okay, maybe he wasn't entirely not-disappointed, but this time he actually had something to look forward to upon being turned down. There wasn't any work to be done and his homework was already suffering, a little more negligence couldn't hurt much worse than it was already suffering, right? At least, that's what Yosuke told himself as he left school and started toward the Hospital. Besides, this was way more important than schoolwork. He almost hated himself for considering it. Of course Nanako's health was more important than his schoolwork. All of this TV business was more important than his schoolwork because there were lives at stake. It's not the sort of thing you could put off for homework. This was a train of thought Yosuke had boarded long ago, so this time convincing himself took little to no effort at all.
He didn't think much of it when he passed by Adachi on the way in. Probably was visiting his partner to catch him up on things. What did come to mind was that same man in a cartoony medieval royal advisor suit, and he had to suppress his urge to snicker at the thought of the man in pantaloons. The thought didn't last long as he made his way to Nanako's room.
She was sleeping. Her little hand splayed out to the side, eyelids shuts softly as though there was nothing wrong with the world. It was a peaceful sort of sleep, the kind Yosuke didn't want to interrupt with his… well, with his is-ness. He could bullshit more story up for her whenever. For now, though, Nanako needed to rest. He couldn't help but be a little disappointed, and thus the consequent hating himself for being disappointed Nanako was getting her rest. That would help her, stupid! There wasn't much he could do but come back tomorrow and hope she was awake then. It wasn't his favorite thing to go back on his word, but there wasn't much he could do besides wait. He didn't want to crowd up her room with his awkward. What if a nurse saw him? And ugh, no, that was a stupid thing to think, Nanako needed anything she could get. And hey, if he went ahead and sat inside he'd be keeping his promise. So instead of going back home, he moved into the room. If worse came to worse and he started getting bored out of his skull, there was always homework to work on. He didn't want to disturb her, though, and it's only by the time he's sat down in a chair next to her bed that that thought was what made me want to leave in the first place.
Dumb. He was so dumb sometimes. But he also cared about the little girl sleeping in front of him, whose sleep was peaceful enough to calm his thoughts down a little. He told himself to think about that, about Nanako, but after about ten minutes of it his mind brought him to another place. He couldn't really help it, thinking about the culprit. That bastard who did this to Nanako, and put them all through this crazy adventure. Sure, there was a part of him that didn't know where he'd be without this case, without the TV World, and without his Persona. He recognized that part of him now, but he also recognized something deep within him, something that was growing each day, that looked at Nanako and said she doesn't deserve this. She didn't even have a shadow, not like the rest of them had. And Namatame, he was the one responsible for all this. If only he'd been the one to get sick, if only Nanako had been a little older… That world they went through to save her said it all: the inside of her mind was peaceful and serene. It was a beautiful place, not like the rest of them had been. Nanako wasn't like the rest of them. Yosuke knew that.
Sometimes he couldn't help it, putting people on pedestals. Souji definitely got one. Saki Konishi had gotten one, too. Hell, she was still on hers, and the similarity between her and Nanako, Souji and Nanako, the differences between Souji and her… Saki and Nanako were both victims, and Souji was the one to stand up and try to save any others before it was too late. God, Yosuke hoped it wasn't too late for Nanako. With a moment of paranoia, he made sure to look for the calm rise and fall of Nanako's chest, which was still present. He let out an exhale as soon as he recognized it, feeling stupid for even doubting her. Nanako would get better. Nanako had to get better.
In the end, Nanako didn't wake up before visiting hours were over, and by the time the nurse came around to check in on them, Yosuke had fallen asleep too. He woke with a start, lifting his head from his shoulder abruptly and wiping the trail of drool that had embarrassingly made its way down onto his shirt (damn it). He apologized to the nurse for the inconvenience, glanced over at Nanako once more to make sure he hadn't woken her up (he hadn't) and grabbed his school bag full of undone homework and headed out rubbing the sleep from his eyes along the way.
The next day was Sunday, and the whole group decided to visit Nanako that day. Yosuke was a little hesitant, since exams started the next day and the only studying he'd done was a single attempt in his room, headphones full of music for concentration, with Teddie bursting in to "help". He's sure anyone who knew that bear could imagine just how much of a help he ended up being. That, and the study group, which was just as productive, if not less. Well, it was productive for group cohesive… teamwork? Yeah, that's it, but that didn't mean he was comfortable enough going into exams. He was already stressing himself out!
That was how he ended up putting off ever thinking of exams ever (aka going to visit Nanako for the third day in a row), this time with everyone, and this time she was awake. Awake and surprised and full of joy at everyone being there. Yosuke smiled back at her when she saw him, but for the most part let the others do their visiting with her first. If Souji noticed how Yosuke was hanging behind, he didn't say anything or give any acknowledgement of it. That deflated Yosuke, whose lurk in the background turned into more of a sulk at that point.
Everyone loved Nanako. It wasn't just him, and it was dumb of him to think of himself first in this situation. Nanako deserved this attention, she'd been hurt so badly and they'd all gone in after her, didn't they? Head first and no looking back, they all risked their lives for her. All of them, it wasn't just him who'd cared that much. It was strengthening, knowing that the others cared along with him, and despite his sulking, he soon started to look a little brighter. This was what he'd wanted, right? In the beginning, all of them going to see Nanako and let her know they cared. It was stupid and dumb and all those other stupid dumb adjectives to think that even if someone hadn't visited her every day they could. It didn't even matter that someone else had beaten Yosuke to asking Souji to visit Nanako today, either, because of course it wasn't just because it was Yosuke who asked that Souji had said no… right?
Ugh, he has got to stop thinking about these things. It didn't help he wasn't paying as much attention to what Rise was telling Nanako, either, probably something about how Rise was so proud of her for being so strong. Kanji had made her a little doll, if Yosuke remembered right. Man, he wished he could give something of value to Nanako like that. And he'd thought Souji was good with his hands… Anyway, the point was his story didn't even have an ending yet and it was stupid and he probably wouldn't get a chance to tell her any more of it with the others there and -
"Yo… suke?"
"Nanako-chan?" The response was instantaneous and he was snapped out of his foggy funk in zero seconds flat.
"Can… you… tell me… the rest?" The voice that spoke was weak, like before. It was unmistakable like the face of the girl it came from. Every time he looked at her, he realized how much there was to lose, what was at stake if they failed. He realized how no matter how fucked the world may seem there was still light and innocence in it after all. Ever since they rescued her, he would also be reminded of the sick bastards of the world. Of the Mitsuo Kubos and Taro Namatames. It made his stomach clench and something deep rise in an uncomfortable way that didn't quite feel right, but righteous. In that moment he knew that if anything was to happen to this bright source of sunshine, that if someone was to snuff out that light, weak and dim as it was now… he wouldn't know how to handle it. And that was scary.
Despite feeling scared, Yosuke put on a smile and winked. This girl needed to know they believed in her now, and more importantly, she needed to know the end of that story was a happy one. "Of course. Everyone can help me too, now that they're here."
characters: from yosuke's pov, nanako is a focus!
rating: pg-13 for yosuke's innermost language
prompt: THIS IS FOR EM FOR CHRISTMAS and potentially new years
notes: merry christmas and a happy holidays to everyone! :) best wishes and i hope the new year treats you well! this is part one of a planned two part fic and it's for the lovely em. what better way to break in the new journal than to post fanfic to it? so enjoy!
There were a lot of things Yosuke didn't like about today, but Souji turning him down again for the third time in a month to hang out just hit him a little hard. Briefly he wondered if it was someone else asking him to go visit Nanako in the hospital if he'd say yes and they'd all get together to go see her. Instead the fates had decided Souji would approach him after school first, even though he passed Chie on the way right to him. Sometimes Yosuke wondered if he did this on purpose - coming up to talk to him after school like he wanted to chat and maybe hang only to turn him down the first time he opened his mouth. Not that Yosuke could begrudge him it, really. Seeing Nanako was depressing, because it reminded them all of their failures and sent everyone into a self-pitying spiral stump. Yosuke was no exception to that, but at the same time he didn't feel right just going on with his life while there was a sweet and innocent little girl suffering in the hospital because of him. There was even a part of him that wanted that excuse to go into a self-pitying spiral. A part deep inside him that wondered if Souji would say yes next time if he saw just how beat up Yosuke was about the whole thing. (That part of him decorated in white and yellow and black with bulging round slits for eyes and ninja stars for hands.)
Yosuke watched his partner walk away, hating to see him go but hating himself more for being beat up over it. Of course Souji was suffering just as much as he was, if not more. Sometimes he couldn't believe the things he thought. Of course Souji was going to visit Nanako, of course he wanted her to get better. If today wasn't the day then today wasn't the day, right? A sigh of frustration escaped through Yosuke's nostrils as he hung his head over his crossed arms. Then, in a rebellious moment of inspiration, it hit him. All it took for him to decide on it finally was hearing Souji close the sliding classroom door beside him. Conveniently, he didn't have any work to do today, which was why he was open to Souji's approach in the first place, and he had less homework today than usual. Well, less than the usual he was going to actually do. He knew better than anyone there were more important things than homework and school, and a little girl's well-being definitely counted as one of those things.
That's how Yosuke Hanamura was the first thing Nanako saw when she woke up that day. Sick as she was, her surprise came out a weak and raspy gasp.
"Don't try to talk, Nanako-chan. I'm just here to sit around and brood over in the corner trying not to disturb you while being here for you as much as possible at the same time." He said with a smile and a wink. There was a chair in the back corner Nanako could see if she strained her head up to look at it, which was what she did as soon as he mentioned it. She wasn't looking for the chair, though, and when she went to open her mouth Yosuke quickly cut in so she wouldn't speak and strain herself.
"He's not here today. It's just me. Sorry. I know you'd rather see him." Yosuke went to hang his head, but instead his eyes were caught by shot up eyebrows and a shaking head. A small hand twitched, almost as if it wanted to reach out to him but didn't think it could, what with his arms folded the way they were, and a little girl's shy smile grew brighter for his sake. Yosuke's expression softened in return, and for a moment he's taken with this angel who, for some strange reason, seemed glad that an annoying guy who messed up all the time was there instead of her much more desirable big bro. For a moment he was shot through to the core, and a familiar prickling tickled behind his eyes. He shook his head firmly, to try to get rid of it, instead of focusing on that he looked for the chair everywhere except for the place it was, until he found it and pulled it up close to Nanako's bed. Her smile seemed to grow wider the closer he got to her, so that by the time he sat down she seemed almost to be hurting herself with how wide it was.
"Do you want to hear about him? I could probably tell you a couple stories. He'd probably kill me if I told you some of them, though." Yosuke leaned in close and raised his eyes to the ceiling to think. "I wonder what sort of story you'd like most… Hey, would you like to hear the story of how your big bro rescued a princess? I helped, of course." Another wink, and on Nanako's giggle, Yosuke started. "Once upon a time… No, that's too boring. Um, it was a dark and stormy night… that's a little better, right?" On Nanako's enthusiastic nod, Yosuke continued. "Okay, we've got it. It was a dark and stormy night. Everything was dark because it was stormy, and anyway, Prince Souji-kun had received news that the Princess wasn't feeling well. So he got together with his best princely friend, Prince Yosuke-sama. See, that's me, get it? And even Prince Chie-chan tagged along." On a whim, the story had already breached into the land of make believe and Yosuke figured he might as well run with it. A little mouth opened to query, but he tried to keep her from talking by cutting over her again. Yosuke guessed at what she was going to ask, and since he got it right this time, Nanako could rest her weary throat.
"Why's Chie a Prince? Well, because Princess Yukiko-san pretty much decided she was. Even though there were times when Prince Chie-chan and Princess Yukiko-san didn't see eye to eye, they were best friends, just like Prince Souji-kun and Prince Yosuke-sama, so Princess Yukiko-san liked Prince Chie-chan the most out of all the princes. Anyways, they met up with some other princes and a princess. Prince Kanji-kun, the strongest of them all, was loyal and surprisingly gentle when he wanted to be, but could still beat up all the bad guys probably the best out of any of them. Then there's Princess Risette, who's support and grace and feminine charms won over the hearts of many. Prince Yosuke-sama was her favorite fan, though. Anyway! Last but not least, Prince Naoto-kun! Who was the smartest of them all. So smart, in fact, people started calling her the Detective Prince. She was the only one smart enough to bring umbrellas, and everyone was thankful for it, since, you know, it was a dark and stormy night."
Nanako looked like she wanted to ask something, but was holding off on voicing it to hear the rest. Yosuke continued unaware of what it was she was curious about. He was getting really into it. "It turned out King Dojima-san had summoned them all. He was so busy with kingly duties it seemed as though he couldn't afford to go out on the long and perilous journey needed to find the cure for the young princess's illness. King Dojima-san's right hand man, Advisor Adachi-san, explained this all to the Princes and Princesses and apologized for it. He told them he would've gone, but King Dojima-san really needed him for all the kingly duties he needed advising on to help things go over smoother."
By this point, Yosuke had run away on a story train! Nanako listened intently, not daring to interrupt with questions for fear she wouldn't get to hear the whole story. He continued, a more serious look on his face, but Nanako could tell he was having fun with it. "It turned out the origin of the princess's illness was in… the Hollow Forest? Yeah, that has a nice ring to it. A forest that surrounded the kingdom they lived in. It was a magical and enchanted forest, one that showed the truth of people's hearts, but it was dangerous. See, the Princess had wandered into it by accident - no, she was kidnapped! A bad man had taken her away from her family and taken her to the forest because… Because… Well, we'll get to that part later. None of the princes or princesses knew why, not at this point. All they knew was that the Princess was in danger and sick and they had to once again brave the Hollow Forest in order to find the cure.
"So they went. And guess what they found on the other side." Yosuke was grinning, and Nanako made a noise to speak, "Oh, wait! Don't, actually, I'll just tell you, even though I have a feeling you know what's coming next. What they found was a bear! This bear had lived in the hollow forest pretty much his whole life, but despite that, he didn't really know what he was or who he was. All he knew was he was a bear who'd lived in the Hollow Forest his whole life. Part of why the Hollow Forest was so dangerous was because of the fog that stayed there all the time, so it was hard to see and sometimes it would make people sick, like the Princess. Because this group of Princes and Princesses had already braved the Hollow Forest before, they'd already met this bear. His name was Teddie, and he knew how to make it so the fog didn't make any one of them sick. He gave them glasses with a special charm on them, so they could see through the fog and walk through it just as easily as if there wasn't any at all. Here, I'll show you my pair."
At that point, Yosuke turned and bent to dig into the bag he'd put on the floor beside his chair. He extracted a pair of orange glasses, folded and kept safe in one of the smaller pockets of his bag. "Here you go, Nanako-chan. If you want, you can even try them on." Two small hands took the frames from Yosuke's single extended one. There was a soft smile on his face now as he watched the little girl marvel in awe at the sight of them. Sometime during his storytelling, she'd managed to get herself to sit up little by little. The look on her face was priceless, which caused Yosuke to laugh. "Pretty sweet, right? Teddie sure knows how to work with his paws, doesn't he?" A weak nod answered his question, followed by a careful opening of frames and a sliding of them over two much smaller ears. They were much too big for her, but Nanako's face was lit up with a quiet and powerful joy. Yosuke smiled back, and for a moment that was all that existed. Him and Nanako and all this hardship was just a story he was using to cheer her up. In this moment, he felt like he may actually be contributing to her getting better. He felt good and warm, being able to bring so many smiles to Nanako's face when she wasn't feeling so well.
That was the moment the nurse walked in and told him visiting hours were coming to a close. Hands on his knees, Yosuke's head hung, still enjoying the moment, but nodding to let the nurse know he had heard her.
"Big… bro… Yo… suke…" Hearing Nanako's voice for the first time that visit got him to shoot his head up. She had taken the glasses off and were holding them delicately between her two hands, resting them on her lap.
"Yes, Nanako-chan?" In that moment, if she'd asked him of anything, he knew he'd do it. Move mountains, cure aids (more like, cure her fog illness), make it so the culprit never existed, force Souji to spend every single afternoon after school with her, he'd do all of those things and more. He so desperately wanted her to be happy. And despite wanting to tell her not to speak, to rest her voice, he felt this was important. It was something she needed to say.
"To… mor.. row…"
"Yeah, I'll be here tomorrow. We still need to find out how they get the Princess's cure, don't we? Right now, though, I've gotta go. I'll be back, though. I promise."
The next day Yosuke stayed after school to see if Souji wanted to do anything, but this time he wasn't all that disappointed this time when Souji only came by to check up on him and move on to the next sorry sucker who wanted some of his time only to get turned down again. Okay, maybe he wasn't entirely not-disappointed, but this time he actually had something to look forward to upon being turned down. There wasn't any work to be done and his homework was already suffering, a little more negligence couldn't hurt much worse than it was already suffering, right? At least, that's what Yosuke told himself as he left school and started toward the Hospital. Besides, this was way more important than schoolwork. He almost hated himself for considering it. Of course Nanako's health was more important than his schoolwork. All of this TV business was more important than his schoolwork because there were lives at stake. It's not the sort of thing you could put off for homework. This was a train of thought Yosuke had boarded long ago, so this time convincing himself took little to no effort at all.
He didn't think much of it when he passed by Adachi on the way in. Probably was visiting his partner to catch him up on things. What did come to mind was that same man in a cartoony medieval royal advisor suit, and he had to suppress his urge to snicker at the thought of the man in pantaloons. The thought didn't last long as he made his way to Nanako's room.
She was sleeping. Her little hand splayed out to the side, eyelids shuts softly as though there was nothing wrong with the world. It was a peaceful sort of sleep, the kind Yosuke didn't want to interrupt with his… well, with his is-ness. He could bullshit more story up for her whenever. For now, though, Nanako needed to rest. He couldn't help but be a little disappointed, and thus the consequent hating himself for being disappointed Nanako was getting her rest. That would help her, stupid! There wasn't much he could do but come back tomorrow and hope she was awake then. It wasn't his favorite thing to go back on his word, but there wasn't much he could do besides wait. He didn't want to crowd up her room with his awkward. What if a nurse saw him? And ugh, no, that was a stupid thing to think, Nanako needed anything she could get. And hey, if he went ahead and sat inside he'd be keeping his promise. So instead of going back home, he moved into the room. If worse came to worse and he started getting bored out of his skull, there was always homework to work on. He didn't want to disturb her, though, and it's only by the time he's sat down in a chair next to her bed that that thought was what made me want to leave in the first place.
Dumb. He was so dumb sometimes. But he also cared about the little girl sleeping in front of him, whose sleep was peaceful enough to calm his thoughts down a little. He told himself to think about that, about Nanako, but after about ten minutes of it his mind brought him to another place. He couldn't really help it, thinking about the culprit. That bastard who did this to Nanako, and put them all through this crazy adventure. Sure, there was a part of him that didn't know where he'd be without this case, without the TV World, and without his Persona. He recognized that part of him now, but he also recognized something deep within him, something that was growing each day, that looked at Nanako and said she doesn't deserve this. She didn't even have a shadow, not like the rest of them had. And Namatame, he was the one responsible for all this. If only he'd been the one to get sick, if only Nanako had been a little older… That world they went through to save her said it all: the inside of her mind was peaceful and serene. It was a beautiful place, not like the rest of them had been. Nanako wasn't like the rest of them. Yosuke knew that.
Sometimes he couldn't help it, putting people on pedestals. Souji definitely got one. Saki Konishi had gotten one, too. Hell, she was still on hers, and the similarity between her and Nanako, Souji and Nanako, the differences between Souji and her… Saki and Nanako were both victims, and Souji was the one to stand up and try to save any others before it was too late. God, Yosuke hoped it wasn't too late for Nanako. With a moment of paranoia, he made sure to look for the calm rise and fall of Nanako's chest, which was still present. He let out an exhale as soon as he recognized it, feeling stupid for even doubting her. Nanako would get better. Nanako had to get better.
In the end, Nanako didn't wake up before visiting hours were over, and by the time the nurse came around to check in on them, Yosuke had fallen asleep too. He woke with a start, lifting his head from his shoulder abruptly and wiping the trail of drool that had embarrassingly made its way down onto his shirt (damn it). He apologized to the nurse for the inconvenience, glanced over at Nanako once more to make sure he hadn't woken her up (he hadn't) and grabbed his school bag full of undone homework and headed out rubbing the sleep from his eyes along the way.
The next day was Sunday, and the whole group decided to visit Nanako that day. Yosuke was a little hesitant, since exams started the next day and the only studying he'd done was a single attempt in his room, headphones full of music for concentration, with Teddie bursting in to "help". He's sure anyone who knew that bear could imagine just how much of a help he ended up being. That, and the study group, which was just as productive, if not less. Well, it was productive for group cohesive… teamwork? Yeah, that's it, but that didn't mean he was comfortable enough going into exams. He was already stressing himself out!
That was how he ended up putting off ever thinking of exams ever (aka going to visit Nanako for the third day in a row), this time with everyone, and this time she was awake. Awake and surprised and full of joy at everyone being there. Yosuke smiled back at her when she saw him, but for the most part let the others do their visiting with her first. If Souji noticed how Yosuke was hanging behind, he didn't say anything or give any acknowledgement of it. That deflated Yosuke, whose lurk in the background turned into more of a sulk at that point.
Everyone loved Nanako. It wasn't just him, and it was dumb of him to think of himself first in this situation. Nanako deserved this attention, she'd been hurt so badly and they'd all gone in after her, didn't they? Head first and no looking back, they all risked their lives for her. All of them, it wasn't just him who'd cared that much. It was strengthening, knowing that the others cared along with him, and despite his sulking, he soon started to look a little brighter. This was what he'd wanted, right? In the beginning, all of them going to see Nanako and let her know they cared. It was stupid and dumb and all those other stupid dumb adjectives to think that even if someone hadn't visited her every day they could. It didn't even matter that someone else had beaten Yosuke to asking Souji to visit Nanako today, either, because of course it wasn't just because it was Yosuke who asked that Souji had said no… right?
Ugh, he has got to stop thinking about these things. It didn't help he wasn't paying as much attention to what Rise was telling Nanako, either, probably something about how Rise was so proud of her for being so strong. Kanji had made her a little doll, if Yosuke remembered right. Man, he wished he could give something of value to Nanako like that. And he'd thought Souji was good with his hands… Anyway, the point was his story didn't even have an ending yet and it was stupid and he probably wouldn't get a chance to tell her any more of it with the others there and -
"Yo… suke?"
"Nanako-chan?" The response was instantaneous and he was snapped out of his foggy funk in zero seconds flat.
"Can… you… tell me… the rest?" The voice that spoke was weak, like before. It was unmistakable like the face of the girl it came from. Every time he looked at her, he realized how much there was to lose, what was at stake if they failed. He realized how no matter how fucked the world may seem there was still light and innocence in it after all. Ever since they rescued her, he would also be reminded of the sick bastards of the world. Of the Mitsuo Kubos and Taro Namatames. It made his stomach clench and something deep rise in an uncomfortable way that didn't quite feel right, but righteous. In that moment he knew that if anything was to happen to this bright source of sunshine, that if someone was to snuff out that light, weak and dim as it was now… he wouldn't know how to handle it. And that was scary.
Despite feeling scared, Yosuke put on a smile and winked. This girl needed to know they believed in her now, and more importantly, she needed to know the end of that story was a happy one. "Of course. Everyone can help me too, now that they're here."