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Today had been a rough day.
It seems like, regardless of where he goes or how much time passes, someone always has something to say - whether Yosuke wants them to or not.
At school, he hears the murmurs that follow him down the hall, "there's Yosuke, the Prince of Disappointment, we might fail our classes but at least we won't be as bad a him."
At the shopping district, he hears the whispered accusations thrown his way, "There's that Hanamura boy, some nerve he has stepping foot here after all the trouble his family caused."
At Junes, he hears the complaints waiting for him around every corner, because he's the manager's son so "of course we can use him as our messenger, Yosuke can get us time off, Yosuke will listen to me rant about the butcher, Yosuke will this, Yosuke will that, and if he doesn't? We can just tell his dad!"
If Yosuke has learned anything since moving to the small town, it's this - Inaba is loud.
Incredibly, terribly, frustratingly loud.
And it sucks.
It's like there's a constant tornado whirling around in his head at all times, a twister of their words, all those noises, the doubt, his anxieties, and Yosuke's left desperately trying to keep his footing in the face of gale force winds.
The days when the storm grows and Yosuke finds himself swallowed whole by it, trapped at its centre with no way out, those are surely the worst.
Trapped in the storm's eye, suddenly everything is too loud.
Try as he might to drown it all out, headphones on full blast as much as he can handle, he can still hear them. It's been such a constant in his life, for the past few months at least, that whenever he sees someone looking at him, he's just learned to assume the worst.
It's never because they actually like him, or want to talk to him but aren't sure how, like the naive Yosuke from before would have thought, no. They're looking at him and thinking 'theres that loser who can't do anything right.'
He sees the spite in their eyes, everyone just barely putting up with him.
Though he accepted his Shadow a while ago now, he still finds it startling just how correct it was. How correct it is.
And on days like today, when the entire town seemed to be so much louder than usual, a cyclone building in his soul knowing that it's destined to become a hurricane, it's hard to weather it all and put on a smile.
He tried to. He really tried to.
But the Investigation Team, the small group of people he can actually call his friends amongst the crowd of people who would surely see him chased out of town, none of them had bought it.
They'd seen right through him immediately.
In fact, in an attempt to crack a joke that fell way flatter than usual, Rise had just given him a nervous smile in return. It was a look filled with sympathy.
Of course she's the one who clocked him first - her entire career revolved around being in the public eye, after all. She probably understands more than Yosuke will ever know.
Chie caught on soon after, offering him some of her steak in her own attempt to cheer him up. A show of support.
He knows she hears what everyone says too. Probably a little too used to hearing comments about her friends at this point, if every creepy thing Yosuke hears about Yukiko is anything to go by. Quietly, he desperately hopes she never feels like he does.
Concentrating during that team meeting had been difficult. Everything was so loud. But he wanted to be there, needed to feel at least somewhat useful after hearing basically everyone in town tell him his true worth all day, whether they meant for him to overhear or not.
Though naturally ('because I can't do anything right') he had zoned out at some point. They'd been talking about that Mitsuo guy's dungeon and then all of a sudden everyone was leaving.
Yosuke blinked, snapping back from whatever mental wind stream he'd been flying through, and felt a hand on his shoulder.
It was Yu, he quickly realised.
"Come on," he had said, gesturing for Yosuke to grab his stuff, "Let's go home."
"I thought we were going in today."
Yu smiled.
"We were. I changed my mind."
Yosuke nodded - who was he to question the Leader? He probably had a reason, anyway.
Besides, now he could lie down for a bit, block out the world until the feelings whirling within go away.
But then when Yosuke had tried to take the turn to his house, Yu had gently tugged on his sleeve.
"Nanako was asking for you," Yu shrugged when Yosuke gave him a questioning look, "I'll cook."
Well, Yosuke never wanted to let Nanako-chan down, and man, did Partner's cooking sound good. So Yosuke nodded once again, allowed himself to be pulled across the floodplain and all the way to the Dojima house.
Long story short, that's somehow how Yosuke got here, lay on the couch in Yu's room, cuddled into his Partner's chest, with a hand gently carding through his hair and a belly full of ginger pork.
Maybe he should be more bothered about this position. Usually, he probably would be, but right now, as he's held like something truly special, something precious, he can't bring himself to care.
It's the safest he's felt in a long while.
Though, it turns out, while Nanako had been incredibly happy to see him, she hadn't actually asked to. Yu had admitted as much when they got upstairs, that he just wanted to make sure Yosuke came over.
He was worried.
For the first time that day, Yosuke's head felt lighter. Eating with Nanako and Yu had given him a proper distraction, allowing the winds to settle just a little bit.
And as the hand in his hair continues to glide through it, the other on his back tracing nonsensical shapes down his spine, the world quiets. Here, in the darkness of Yu's room, it feels like there's a barrier between him and the rest of the town, soundproof, refusing to let anything in.
Letting him breathe. Letting him relax. Letting him think.
He basks in it, revelling the silence for as long as it might last.
It's peace.
And with it, Yosuke feels a small smile bloom on his face. Every raging storm dies down into a gentle breeze eventually, it's just hard to remember that when you're at its centre.
Doubtless, Inaba will continue being loud, and Yosuke will continue having to drown it out.
But Yu squeezes him, a soft, wordless reassurance, and Yosuke, funnily enough, thinks he hears it all loud and clear. Like the words are spoken directly to his soul, trying to replace the gales of negativity.
"I'm here."
"I'll protect you."
"I care about you."
"You aren't alone."
"You're special to me."
It's all so clear to him, in fact, that he briefly wonders if people can communicate through their Personas. Jiraiya just chirps, answering absolutely nothing.
'….Later.' Yosuke thinks. Either way, he's just glad he can hear Jiraiya again. He missed his other self's croaking for once, realising how oddly empty he felt without it.
Yosuke squeezes Yu back, hoping his Partner can hear him as well.
"Thank you."
"I needed this."
"You're special to me too."
With a soft sigh, Yosuke feels all the tension built up in his body release, the winds finally petering out to a harmless zephyr right as the sun sets.
Today had been a rough day. But Yosuke persists nonetheless.